Author: Aaron Van Wirdum | Bitcoin Audible

Aaron Van Wirdum

Two Taproot Activation Clients!

"discussion about Taproot activation turned out to be a long and sometimes heated debate. Now, it has resulted in two different Taproot activation paths, embedded in two main software clients that could in some scenarios even become incompatible with one another." - Aaron Van Wirdum

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LOT true or false? The Last Hurdle for Taproot

"As a consensus system without central authority, Bitcoin protocol upgrades can be challenging. If one segment of the network upgrades to a new version of the protocol before another segment does, different nodes might enforce different rules, introducing the risk that the network fractures between them." - Aaron Van Wirdum

The Untold Story of the First Bitcoin War

"With his choice of words, Taaki had outed an elephant in the room. It was true, Nakamoto had enacted soft forks, but by late 2011, the network no longer operated as it did in those early days." - Aaron & Pete

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Poolin’s Initiative to Activate Taproot

“Taproot will unlock a new range of possibilities for Bitcoin, improving privacy and expanding smart contract possibilities”

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Genesis Files: Hal’s Quest for Digital Cash

"Most Cypherpunk veterans on the Cryptography mailing list had by then seen one too many electronic cash experiments come and go, without any real successes to account for..." "But Hal Finney, ever the optimist, wasn’t ready to give up." - Aaron Van Wirdum

BIP 9, 8, or MSFA, How Bitcoin Could Upgrade Next

:This risk is probably best countered by offering enough time to upgrade. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on how much time is enough; some think forced signaling could start within a year, others believe it should take several years." - Aaron Van Wirdum

Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy

“At the moment, the Bitcoin network is improving but is far from as usable and private as it needs to be with authoritarianism and surveillance on the rise in many countries,” - Alex Gladstein

Bitcoin Core 0.20 Released!

"Users can now create a transaction without a signature in the Bitcoin Core GUI using the partially signed bitcoin transaction (PSBT) format" - Aaron Van Wirdum

Paying Yourself for Privacy on Lightning?

"The Lightning Network is best known for its fast and cheap payments. But the Layer 2 protocol could also offer more privacy than on-chain payments [...] the developer thinks that “self-payments” could be an important part of the privacy puzzle." - Aaron Van Wirdum

Does Bitcoin Need Accounts?

Another clever & censorship resistant system for identity within the Bitcoin system is being proposed. Called developer Jose Femenias Canuelo has created a system to safely & independently create a static on-chain account system, that would solve the need both of having to reuse Bitcoin addresses, & having to constantly generate new ones for every payment.

Statechains, Sending Keys Not Coins

If you've heard of statechains but couldn't understand how they worked, who better to break it down than Aaron Van Wirdum & Bitcoin Magazine? Today we get to read Aaron's piece on the recently conceptualized "Statechains" from the mind of Ruben Somsen. An entirely different way to think of exchanging Bitcoin, by handing keys to the receiver, rather than sending coins.

Taproot is Coming

>One of the many amazing technologies coming to Bitcoin, Taproot is one of the most promising improvements to the privacy, efficiency, & capabilities of the Bitcoin system. Another excellent article breaking it all down by Aaron Van Wirdum. Published at BitcoinMagazine.com, today we read & discuss: "Taproot Is Coming: What It Is, and How It Will Benefit Bitcoin"

Simplifying Lightning, The “Noinput Class”

Today we take a dive into the future of Lightning and one of the amazing developments to make it simpler and more reliable, the new sighash flags referred to as the "Noinput Class." Who better to take us through it than Aaron Van Wirdum & Bitcoin Magazine?

Investigating Bitcoin with Aaron Van Wirdum

Today we have on the show one of the best journalists in the Bitcoin ecosystem, Aaron Van Wirdum! We chat about his path to finding Bitcoin, his process in investigating protocol developments, social impacts of paradigm shifting technology, the growing need and coming battle for privacy, his most anticipated new tech, and much more!

Bitcoin as a PrivacyCoin

“Ever since its inception Bitcoin has never really been private…. Fortunately, spying on Bitcoin users is becoming increasingly difficult.” - Aaron Van Wirdum

With Bit Gold, Nick Szabo Was Inches From Inventing Bitcoin

The 4th in the excellent Genesis Files Series from Aaron Van Wirdum (@AaronvanW) and Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine). Today we read about BitGold and How Nick Szabo (@NickSzabo4) was "Inches From Inventing Bitcoin."

If Bitcoin Had a First Draft, Wei Dai’s B-Money Was It

"Dai would become best known for an idea he casually announced in November 1998… 'I hope this is a step toward making crypto-anarchy a practical as well as theoretical possibility.' He called his proposal B-Money." - Aaron Van Wirdum

The Future of Bitcoin – What Lightning Could Look Like

Splicing Payments, Submarine Swaps, Atomic Swaps, Dual-Funded Channels, Eltoo, Channel Factories, AMPS, and More! Listen to Aaron's recent article to hear more of the awesome potential and the future of the Lightning Network. Listen to the end for a special thank you for all the incredible work at Bitcoin Magazine and the always reliable Aaron Van Wirdum!