Bitcoin for Blind People, The Age of Average, & The Fascinating History of the Lightning Network.
Plus, How the IMF and World Bank Sell Exploitation as Development.
Hi friends,
I just got back from Switzerland where I participated in the baptism of my God-daughter. During the ceremony, the priest shared a wonderful story about Buddha, a small boy, and his father.
Everyday, the boy and his father would walk by the forest. The father would point to a bird and call it “bird-y.” At last came the day when the small boy pointed at the bird and called it “bird-y.” Buddha thought this was a sad day. Because from this moment on, the small boy would see the word “bird-y” every time he saw the bird rather than admire the bird for what it was.
For me, this story was a reminder that perhaps we focus a little too much on understanding and labeling things – our relationships, our work, nature – rather than experiencing them for what they are. Instead of being present, in appreciation, and in awe of the divinity that surrounds us, we focus on boxing things.
Are there opportunities in your day today to focus on admiring things as they are – not as they should be, could be or ought to be?
From The Misfit Podcast.
Gary Jordon (“The Blind Bitcoiner”): On Navigating Bitcoin as a Blind Person, the Challenges of Self-Custody, & How to Make Bitcoin More Accessible for Blind People
Gary Jordon is a man of faith, a lover of music, a self-proclaimed bookworm, and a blind bitcoiner. I wanted to learn about his experience navigating Bitcoin as a blind person so I invited him over to The Misfit podcast.
We discussed:
Being legally blind vs. being visually impaired
Braille and navigating online websites and apps
The challenges of accessing online banking
Government support for people with disabilities
How he got into bitcoin
Buying bitcoin and why it's easier to navigate the Lightning network
The challenges of self-custodying bitcoin (and his inability to be on a hardware wallet)
Concerns with being on a bitcoin standard
Opportunities for developers and entrepreneurs to making Bitcoin more accessible for blind people
Listen to our conversation on Spotify or Fountain.
Read.
Brazil’s Bitcoin Beach Says Lightning Network Works Better Than Visa
Praia Bitcoin means “Bitcoin Beach” in Portuguese. It’s located on a beach town northeast of Brazil, in Jericoacoara. Here small businesses and donors are transforming the local economy from being reliant on the dollar to bitcoin.
In fact, they recently set a world record for peer-to-peer transactions on the Lightning Network. That record was running 71 transactions in 3:33 seconds – “making it the largest number of peer-to-peer bitcoin transactions via Lightning to occur in the shortest time possible.”
“This was only possible because the Lightning Network is ready for the masses,” Praia Bitcoin’s creator, Fernando Motolese
Read this inspirational article to explore how Praia Bitcoin is creating a circular economy of small businesses who accept bitcoin as payment.
Perhaps mass adoption of bitcoin won’t come from a top-down approach. From governments, regulators and policy-makers.
Perhaps it will be local communities scattered around the world, creating bitcoin circular economies, that will catapult bitcoin adoption. Why wouldn't it be the case when bitcoin is the people’s money – one that is protected against inflation, censorship and financial abuse?
The Age of Average
In the early 1990s, two Russian artists named Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid hired a market research firm. They wanted to understand what Americans desired most in an artwork. So the firm asked participants:
“What’s your favourite colour? Do you prefer sharp angles or soft curves? Do you like smooth canvases or thick brushstrokes? Would you rather figures that are nude or clothed? Should they be at leisure or working? Indoors or outside? In what kind of landscape?”
Wanting to expand, the artists then repeated this process for Russia, China, France and Kenya. Here’s the interesting thing though: despite gathering research and the opinions of over 11,000 people from 11 different countries, each of the paintings looked almost exactly the same!
“We have been travelling to different countries, engaging in dull negotiations with representatives of polling companies, raising money for further polls, receiving more or less the same results, and painting more or less the same blue landscapes. Looking for freedom, we found slavery.” – Vitaly Komar
This article explores how art and other aspects of our lives have become homogeneous. From branding, to fashion, architecture, cars, movie covers, and people, our ability to be distinct and creative has died. Everywhere we look, everything looks the same. This is the age of average.
The Evolution of the Bitcoin Lightning Network: A Historical Perspective
The Lightning Network (Lightning or LN for short) is a Layer 2 protocol that enables faster, cheaper, more efficient bitcoin transactions.
This blog post explores the making of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. From the 2016 whitepaper called "The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments," to its early development, to the launch of the first Lightning transaction, the growth of the Lightning ecosystem, and the daily use of Lightning in international brands like McDonald’s and Starbucks in El Salvador, you’ll enjoy visiting the delightful history of the Lightning network.
Hidden Repression: How the IMF and World Bank Sell Exploitation as Development
This morning I woke up to an email from Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer of the Human Rights Foundation. He just launched his second book called Hidden Repression: How the IMF and World Bank Sell Exploitation as Development.
Here’s why Alex wrote this book:
“In particular I was driven by one big question, relevant to my work at the Human Rights Foundation: why did the IMF and World Bank support, bail out, and even prop up so many dictators historically, from Marcos to Mobutu to Suharto?
I was also concerned that we were seeing a repeat of what happened in the early 1980s, when the US government quickly raised interest rates, leading to the Third World Debt Crisis and enormous suffering across vast swathes of the planet. Over the past 18 months, something very similar has happened, as many developing countries have collapsed economically and even politically as a result of the sudden and dramatic rise in the global cost of capital. The IMF — which had faded out of the news cycle — all of a sudden was back, "bailing out" governments in Egypt, Ghana, Pakistan, and elsewhere as local fiat currencies devalued against the dollar and as the dollar-denominated debt these governments owed suddenly got much more expensive.”
And he goes on:
“And I had more big questions: Why has the external debt of the developing world increased exponentially since the early 1970s? Why does Africa import 85% of its food? Why — despite our assumptions about rich countries helping poor ones through aid and investment — has the flow of resources actually flowed from the global south to the West since 1982? Why are citizens of countries that have been hit hardest by IMF and World Bank structural adjustment policies adopting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency most rapidly? What happens to the IMF and World Bank should Bitcoin grow to have a bigger role in the international economy?
Hidden Repression is my attempt to help answer these questions. It's designed for anyone who is curious about the mechanics of "development" or globalization and its related impact on human rights, the environment, and the global financial system.”
You bet I’ll be buying and reading this book.
Friends, thank you for reading my newsletter today. I hope you will take a moment – or two – to appreciate things as they are. To notice and admire the divinity around you in the same way that a toddler does.
I for one, am very grateful for you, dear reader.
– Ayelen xx
As always, please give me feedback. Which piece above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Do you have other suggestions? Please let me know by replying to this email.
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You covered great topics that really make me think, particularly on hidden repression!