We trade jokes and hard truths about stablecoins, surveillance, and why “self-custody” means very different things depending on who holds the off switch. We move from BTC Prague and Europe’s privacy-first Bitcoin culture to South African capital controls, then finish with a hands-on tour of tools like silent payments and Start9 for anyone who wants more real-world sovereignty.

• BTC Prague highlights and why European Bitcoiners feel more cypherpunk
• DAC8 as automated KYC data sharing and why Bull Bitcoin takes it to court
• On-chain spam arguments and why virtue signalling does not fix technical problems
• Rwanda and South Africa regulatory pressure through the lens of property rights
• Why capital controls undermine a free and open society
• Party politics scepticism and why “a saviour” narrative fails
• Silent payments in Sparrow Wallet for better Bitcoin privacy
• Progressive web wallets as a path around app store gatekeepers
• Nostr VPN, decentralised tools and peer-to-peer messaging under censorship
• Start9 OS 0.40, remote access and making self-hosting usable
• Private AI trade-offs, data retention and why cloud convenience has a cost
• Mining centralisation, Stratum V2 and the nation-state angle

If you've got any SATS lying around, please donate to property rightsdefense.org. Send some SATS over to us, please.
@OKIN @Ricki Allardice @vryfokkenou

https://fountain.fm/episode/5qAinf7cQ4JdepKX7DEm

They don’t need to pass a new law to change your life, they can update “regulations” and call it a day. We sit down to unpack South Africa’s draft capital flow regulations from Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank, why the public comment window matters, and why the process feels like it dodges real democratic accountability. @Ricki Allardice @OKIN @vryfokkenou

https://fountain.fm/episode/M5cYVubxgBtN484BApxM

A government can threaten bans, taxes, and capital controls, but what happens when the thing it is trying to control is just code running on a global, decentralised network? We sit down with Jacques “Jabu Jacks” Strydom to get past the noise and talk about Bitcoin in South Africa the way business owners, engineers, and everyday people actually experience it. The conversation starts with identity and lived experience, then quickly lands on a practical question: how do you fit Bitcoin into the real world without turning it into another hype product?

https://fountain.fm/episode/wAik5NAxdplAQ5qO0jkb

The latest monthly roundup episode:
We go deep on what “sovereign computing” looks like when you try it for real, from spinning up a Fedimint federation to self-hosting services that keep working even when platforms or politics turn against you. We then connect local AI, persistent knowledge bases, and geopolitics to one question: do we own our tools or do we rent our future?
@OKIN @vryfokkenou @Ricki Allardice

https://fountain.fm/episode/TZH8CDPw9GF6Hu0fow6r

Scammer alert. This clown repostes all Jimmy's posts to make it look like he is the real deal. Follow the real one here @jimmysong

This is a humble request for banking executives (the C-Suite types), to try and use their own services as a normal client would have to use them.

Just give your support number a call and see what you have to deal with. I have just completed a security check, after two days of trying to reach the right department, only to be told I have failed the security questions. I have never heard of most the accounts, companies, credit cards, etc they asked me about, but I failed the test.

I guess some database was bought, probably on the cheap, with BS data and that is viewed as more reliable than me on phone, logged into both my online banking site, and mobile phone app, while on the phone with the banking consultant, answering their questions.

This is not a dig at any one bank. I have accounts with all the colours - take your pick.

Please don't tell me it's for my own protection. It's for YOUR protection.

If your security systems worked, then the much-touted increase in fraudulent transactions and activity would not be possible, and you would not have to keep tightening the screws.

Have a wonderful Friday.