We dig into why scams and hacks feel relentless right now, from AI-powered trickery to supply chain compromises that shake confidence in hardware wallets. We also challenge the “just use an ETF” narrative, then close with a sobering look at CBDCs and how control can be enforced from the top down.

• the simple rule that “too good to be true” is always a scam

• Grokbot agents, browser access and the privacy trade-off

• Ledger supply chain attacks and why authorised resellers are not enough

• self-custody threat models, open source components and DIY options

• the Blink wallet hack, why 2FA matters and custodial versus self-custody risk

• African Bitcoin Corporation red flags and how reputations get laundered

• how scammers write, promise and recruit using repeatable patterns

• why scammers go after critics with lawsuits and intimidation

• Russia’s CBDC rollout strategy and the bigger lesson for adoption

• Tether’s scale, freezing power and why it resembles a de facto CBDC 

https://x.com/abcptza

https://x.com/BitcoinEkasi

https://x.com/OrangeSaaS

https://x.com/handre

https://handre.substack.com

https://bitcoinonly.io/

https://www.useorange.com/

https://btcpayserver.org/

https://btcpay386617.lndyn.com/login?ReturnUrl=%2F

https://bitcoinfriendlysa.co.za

https://fountain.fm/episode/oWq038Blag0QRAurej7g

Humans are the top of the food chain because of our brains. Hands too soft to break open a coconut? Use a rock. Suffocating prey too hard? Sharpen flint to use as a knife. Too slow to chase down prey? Shoot it with a bow and arrow. We have used tools to our advantage since the beginning. It's our brain that has helped us make those tools. AI is now the tool for our brains. It will help us with our natural limitations so we do so much more. What a time to be alive.

Only 29 days left of winter. Southern Hemisphere rocks 🤘🤘🤘

We unpack why South Africa’s new draft crypto regulations could be less about protection and more about control, then pivot into what real pushback might look like when the rules sit on top of unsettled legal ground. We also confront a brutal self-custody lesson from the Coldcard RNG failure and ask how Bitcoiners stay paranoid without becoming reckless followers of loud voices.
• draft crypto and Bitcoin regulations in South Africa and why process matters
• challenging regulation through litigation strategy rather than debating each clause
• capital controls as the real fight and why banks benefit
• grassroots campaigns versus corporate compliance culture
• Coldcard entropy failure and what it breaks in self-custody trust
• why open source hardware and verifiable code become non-negotiable
• practical entropy methods including dice rolls and device-based randomness
• BIP110 activation fallout and why proof-of-work changes look fringe
• strategic Bitcoin reserve companies leverage risks and why late entrants struggle
• cult personalities in Bitcoin and why humility matters when stakes are high
join property rights defense, it’s propertyrightsdefense.org. We’re getting a legal fund together. You can send some Bitcoin our way, and we’ll use it for funding the legal offense
@Ricki Allardice @vryfokkenou @Handre Van Heerden

https://fountain.fm/episode/4W7oNQLJSF3LrpZXptgL

I first bumped into @NoGood ✌️ at TABConf2024 @TABConf 8 - Oct 12-15, 2026 ATL when I volunteered to help out at the event. He wasn't there. Or if he was, we wasnt introduced. The posters and banner artwork immediately caught my attention. Comic books are always something I've enjoyed, fat as far back as I can remember. And it's almost always the visuals that gets me. I've been away from comics for a while but walking into that room brought it all back to me. It's also not just the style I love about NG, it's the subject matter too. My dad bought a ZX Spectrum 16k machine in the early 80's. You needed to plug in a tube TV and tape deck (software was a cassette tape back then). Growing up with computers, watching them evolve (along side myself) but struggling to get other people to share my fascination was just how it was. My best friend could even switch it on. Building PC's from ordered parts, adding in sound cards and video cards, watching Commodore and Amiga do amazing things that pc's couldn't do (back then), has been a huge part of my childhood and teenage memories. In my adult years it was setting up a raspberry pi to my my first bitcoin node, and btcpayserver, and all the wallet & nostr stuff. No Good brings all that wonder back into one book. (The stickers are a wicked bonus too). Thanks man, the wait was worth it.

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