Individual Economists

A Circular Economy & The Four Archetypes Of Bitcoiners

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A Circular Economy & The Four Archetypes Of Bitcoiners

Authored by Fernando Motolese via BitcoinMagazine.com,

Trying to build a Bitcoin circular economy in Brazil and lobbying politicians led me to uncovering four archetypes of Bitcoiners: the coordinators, the market pragmatists, the monetary purists, and the Bitcoin minimalists. Here’s what I’ve learned...

A few years ago, I made an unlikely bet: to build a Bitcoin circular economy in the heart of a fishing village in Brazil’s Northeast. No venture capitalists, no “crypto,” no empty promises. Only nodes, satoshis, in‑person education and plenty of sidewalk conversations. 

That is how Praia Bitcoin Jericoacoara was born: a radical experiment in financial sovereignty built with open source tools and feet in the sand.

In four years at Praia Bitcoin Jericoacoara, we turned a beach town into a living Bitcoin classroom: We onboarded families, shopkeepers and street vendors; taught self‑custody in small groups; installed reliable Lightning routes and point‑of‑sale tools; ran social programs paid in sats; and hosted meetups that made Bitcoin part of daily life.

Living on the Bitcoin standard, I began to see what is really happening at the technological edge. 

In August 2025, I published four short articles on X. Different in form and tone, they converged on the same question: What role should Bitcoin play, and what role should we play in building it? They came in fours:

  • a field report on our work with the Bitcoin Community Bank in Jericoacoara

  • a critique of bitcoin maximalism’s rigidity

  • a diplomatic letter inviting Bhutan’s prime minister to consider the satoshi as a unit of account, and

  • a public appeal to keep Bitcoin a peer‑to‑peer cash system. 

What they share is the desire to align practice, theory, and a future‑facing vision.

In the first piece, I shared the challenges and lessons from a real experiment: building a Bitcoin‑based circular economy in Northeast Brazil. Inspired by Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador, we rooted the Jericoacoara project in education, inclusion and local infrastructure. We installed servers, onboarded merchants and neighbors, created social programs and sought institutional recognition as a Community Bitcoin Bank.

We were rejected by the local authorities. Even in the face of the state’s legal and political unpreparedness, we moved forward with conviction. We believe that when Bitcoin is rooted in place, it can be more than money; it can be a tool for community transformation. Yet authorities struggled to understand this, and they denied our request to register what would have been the first Bitcoin community bank.

In the second piece, I confronted an ideological tension within the community itself. Maximalist rhetoric, which defends Bitcoin as the only legitimate project and treats the rest of “crypto” as scams, had its historical role. It helped protect the integrity of the ecosystem, exposed frauds and accelerated market maturation. But does it still serve the goal of large‑scale adoption? Does it help communicate Bitcoin’s value to newcomers? I caught myself ignoring relevant technological solutions simply because they were outside the maximalist bubble. 

After revisiting the discussion and reading every reply and quote, my conclusion was that other projects end up serving as funnels, sandboxes or distribution channels that drive people toward real Bitcoin adoption. Stablecoins, altcoins, memecoins, and centralized cryptocurrencies are moving toward Bitcoin, absorbing inflation and even helping to establish the prices of other commodities. Perhaps it is time for a new posture: not abandoning principles, but embracing a Bitcoin that keeps the focus on the essence while remaining willing to engage with a world in constant transformation, with skepticism and an open mind; by educating regulators that Bitcoin is the decentralized cryptocurrency and that all other projects are centralized cryptocurrencies.

In the third piece, I took this vision into the diplomatic arena. I wrote an open letter to Bhutan’s prime minister suggesting that the country consider adopting the satoshi as its national unit of account.

The proposal, more symbolic than technical, had a clear goal: to imagine how Bitcoin can engage with alternative development models that do not depend on the IMF or the dollar and that respect local culture and sovereignty. The reaction to the letter revealed something important: even within the Bitcoin ecosystem there are ideological lanes: conservatives, centrists and progressives, each trying to interpret the protocol through a distinct worldview.

This article is therefore a point of convergence. It ties together those three experiences (practical, ideological and diplomatic) to propose a fresh look at what we are really trying to build. More than repeating dogmas, this moment calls for discernment. More than talking about freedom, it is time to practice it where it is most needed — on the ground, in our language, in our institutions and in our relationships.

In the fourth piece, I distilled my open note to Bitcoin Core into a simple point: keep Bitcoin a peer‑to‑peer cash system, not a generic data host.

I argued that loosening default data‑carrying settings invites bloat, legal risk and reputational damage, and asked developers to think in centuries, not release cycles. I also noted that recent Core releases, v29 and v30, revisited how much extra data transactions may carry by default. That lives at the technical edge of the protocol — software defaults, not the monetary rules. Bitcoin is money. Like a banknote you can scribble on but not use to publish a book, transactions can include small notes but should not be hijacked for unrelated content.

This context raised a bigger question: What do we want Bitcoin to be? The exchange made the fault lines clear: different groups love Bitcoin for different reasons and accept different trade‑offs. In the next section, I name those lanes and show how they fit together.

Watching Bitcoin Knots gain visibility relative to Bitcoin Core, and hearing developers complain about its pull‑request process, reminded me of the First Follower lesson. Knots is largely maintained by a single developer. 

Movements do not scale because a lone leader is brilliant. They scale when early followers make participation visible and easy, lowering social risk and showing others exactly how to behave.

From inside the industry, spending countless hours analyzing geopolitics and future trends, I began to see Bitcoiners in four main categories, with the extremes on both sides clearly defined so let’s break them down. 

The Four Archetypes of Bitcoin Bitcoin Database, Coordination Builders

Core belief: Bitcoin is a neutral public record. It can coordinate people and software. Money is one powerful use, not the only one.

What they prioritize: Time‑stamps and proofs; public records; identity attestations; new media on Bitcoin; social protocols like Nostr; building most features on upper layers so L1 stays stable.

What they get right: They attract builders and new users with fresh ideas and on‑ramps. More experiments mean more chances to find lasting utility.

Risks and blind spots: The spotlight can drift away from money. Too much nonmonetary data can waste block space and invite controversy. New systems sometimes reintroduce trusted middlemen.

Attitude to Lightning: Open, when it helps apps feel instant. Also explore other rails. Keep L1 simple.

North Star checks: Useful apps with real users; active developers; low, respectful footprint on L1.

Frequent examples: Casey Rodarmor and Ordinals; Muneeb Ali and Stacks; Burak and Ark research; Maxim Orlovsky and RGB; fiatjaf and Nostr; OpenTimestamps. (Note: this is illustrative, not endorsements.)

Tagline: “Bitcoin is a database.”

Bitcoin Central, Market Pragmatists

Core belief: Bitcoin is money and an asset. Price and liquidity drive adoption at scale and help fund security and development.

What they prioritize: ETFs and treasuries; compliant on‑ramps and off‑ramps; deep, healthy markets; education for investors and institutions.

What they get right: Liquidity brings the next wave of users and pays for builders, mining and education.

Risks and blind spots: Convenience custody and short‑term thinking. Distribution can concentrate in a few large hands.

Attitude to Lightning: Pragmatic. Use it when it helps reach more people.

North Star checks: Market depth and volumes; hashrate security budget; ETF and retail participation.

Frequent examples: Michael Saylor; iShares and Fidelity Bitcoin ETFs; market makers; on‑chain analysts. Edge Case: High leverage and over‑reliance on corporate treasuries.

Tagline: “We care about price.”

Bitcoin Conservatives, Monetary Purists

Core belief: Bitcoin is money. Protect the base layer. Scarcity, neutrality and self‑custody are nonnegotiable. Save first, then spend (e.g., in a circular economy).

What they prioritize: Simple, stable rules on L1; run your own node; education on keys, UTXOs, and fees; miner and client diversity; long time horizons.

What they get right: Clear incentives and strong culture. If money is broken, every price in the economy is wrong. Fix money first.

Risks and blind spots: UX and payments can lag. Newcomers may feel gatekept. Adoption can slow if everyday use is ignored.

Attitude to Lightning: Often skeptical. Prefer on‑chain finality and warn about complexity and custodial drift.

North Star checks: More coins in self‑custody; healthy node count; decentralized mining; growing long‑term holder supply.

Frequent examples: Saifedean Ammous; Pierre Rochard; proof‑of‑keys style campaigns; full‑node culture and cold storage. Edge Case: Never sell. Treat every altcoin as a scam.

Tagline: “Bitcoin is digital gold.”

Bitcoin Minimalists: Digital Gold and Digital Cash, Tool for Social Transformation

Core belief: Bitcoin should be digital gold for saving and digital cash for spending, with the smallest possible trust surface.

What they prioritize: Save on‑chain with final settlement; spend via noncustodial Lightning where possible; use ecash mints like Cashu for privacy with simple exit to keys; merchant flows that settle to self custody.

What they get right: Align savings and daily use without giving up sovereignty.

Risks and blind spots: Friction and slower distribution; reluctance to adopt UX abstractions; fragmentation across minimal stacks.

Attitude to Lightning: Yes, but strict. Prefer noncustodial or minimally trusted setups. Be cautious with large custodial hubs.

North‑star checks: Users who both save on‑chain and spend via non‑custodial L2; easy withdrawals to keys; high payment success without custodians.

Tagline: “Buy, spend, replace.”

Conclusion

Bitcoin’s culture includes four honest defaults that often talk past one another. Builders expand the surface area, market pragmatists prove everyday utility, monetary purists scale distribution and minimalists protect the base.

Together. they create a productive tension that keeps Bitcoin useful and resilient for real people.

After years of working in a circular economy and writing publicly about these debates, my view is simple. Bitcoin is money. Keep the base layer simple. Save in bitcoin on-chain. Spend in sats when it serves people, as it does in a circular economy. Support Lightning only when the exit to your own keys stays clear and simple. I do not support the “Bitcoin as Database” path, because turning Bitcoin into a general data host distracts from its monetary mission and invites waste, confusion, and reputational harm.

The way forward is practical and principled. Judge ideas by whether they grow self custody, make payments reliable without custodians, deepen liquidity that funds security and education and respect the limits of the base layer. If we hold to that standard, the lanes can complement one another and more people will share in the benefits of a free, neutral and credibly decentralized money.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/16/2025 - 08:05

Ground Beef Inflation Sizzles, Egg Prices Cool Off

Zero Hedge -

Ground Beef Inflation Sizzles, Egg Prices Cool Off

The best bang for the buck in the grocery store protein aisle this year hasn't been beef, it's been eggs. Prices have plummeted thanks to President Trump's swift action to fix the Biden-Harris regime's botched bird flu culling disaster. By contrast, ground beef has surged to a record $6.32 per pound, squeezed by the smallest US cattle herd in decades, with a bleak outlook despite some signs of a rebuilding phase nearing. 

Here's more from Bloomberg: 

For more than a year, egg prices have served as the poster child for the higher cost of living in the US. That distinction may soon move over to the beef market, said Darin Parker, president of global meat trader Parker-Migliorini International Llc. Parker warns that Americans will keep paying more for burgers as restrictions on Brazilian imports further squeeze already tight domestic supplies. Indeed, one measure of US retail prices shows that ground beef has climbed more than 10% since January, while eggs dropped nearly 30%.

Beef inflation is sticky, while egg prices have cooled.

Egg prices are back to pre-crisis levels. 

Meanwhile.

Related:

The next cattle herd rebuild cycle must bring small, family-run ranchers back into the fold if America wants a resilient domestic beef supply.

Supporting independent journalism goes hand in hand with supporting independent ranchers - both make this nation stronger. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/16/2025 - 06:55

"Be Warned, We Are Hunting You": Trump Unleashes Second Attack On 'Narcoterrorists' Near Venezuela

Zero Hedge -

"Be Warned, We Are Hunting You": Trump Unleashes Second Attack On 'Narcoterrorists' Near Venezuela

With Venezuela President Maduro stating the country is readying for an "armed struggle", President Trump has unleashed hell on a second vessel ferrying drugs from Venezuela, confirming his determination to proceed with attacks.

US forces “conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists” in the US Southern Command’s area of responsibility, Trump wrote in a social media post.

“The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics  (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.”

Trump continued:

"These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests.

The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action.

No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike. 

The post included a link to a video that showed a vessel rolling in the waves in unidentified waters. After several seconds it is consumed by a massive fireball.

Trump concluded with a warning:

"BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!

The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens.

NO LONGER.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”

Just hours earlier, Maduro reiterated that recent incidents between his country and the United States are an "aggression" by the U.S., not tensions between the two countries, and that there is no communication between the governments.

Also on Sunday Trump while talking to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey, suggested he would not rule out strikes on mainland Venezuela, amid speculation that Maduro could at some point retaliate in some form.

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"We'll see what happens," Trump said. "Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers, and drugs. It's not acceptable."

Just as the second Monday strike was being widely reported, The Intercept issued some new information concerning the first strike, which occurred on September 2:

Last Tuesday, senior staff from House leadership and relevant committees were barred by the Office of the Secretary of War from attending a briefing on the first attack, according to three government sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The military cited “alternative compensatory control measures” — the term for enhanced security procedures designed to keep information under wraps — as the reason.

The War Department has attempted to conceal numerous details about the attack that killed 11 people in the Caribbean, including the fact that the vessel altered its course and appeared to have turned back toward shore prior to the strikes. Men on board were said to have survived an initial strike, The Intercept reported last week. They were then killed shortly after in a follow-up attack.

If this continues to escalate, and it looks to - given this latest strike, there will be serious questions raised about Congressional involvement - especially if limited briefings are only happening after the fact. For example, it is only now belatedly emerging that the first strike came from a drone attack, according to one of the lone Congressional dissenters, Republican Rep. Rand Paul.

"A very small number of Senate and House staffers, mostly from the Armed Services committees, received highly classified briefings about the attack last Tuesday, after the military delayed the meeting for days," The Intercept detailed further. "Staff for key members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversee war powers, were conspicuously absent."

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/16/2025 - 06:55

Speculation Is Swirling About The Future Of Turkiye's S-400s

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Speculation Is Swirling About The Future Of Turkiye's S-400s

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Turkish media recently claimed that Russia offered to buy back their country’s S-400s that it received in 2019 in order to then resell them to other clients, which Turkiye is supposedly receptive to since it wants to end its spat with the US over this and is also developing a domestic analogue that can replace them. 

Polish media added that “Ankara still does not actively use them. They were never integrated into NATO, their missiles are already halfway through their shelf life, and maintenance costs pose a burden”.

Meanwhile, Indian media suggested that this deal could result in their country finally receiving its delayed S-400s, which would first have to be upgraded by Russia. While neither Russia nor Turkiye have confirmed this report, it’s sensible enough to be taken seriously for the time being at least. Russia can’t spare any S-400s from the front for export, Turkiye has since largely reconciled with the US and no longer needs the S-400s either, while India is eager to receive more of these systems as soon as possible.

Each corresponding party’s interests are more urgent than ever because:

  • Russia needs to regain its rapidly declining role in the global arms market after most of its production has been redirected from export to the front since 2022;

  • the new TRIPP Corridor creates the basis for a US-Turkish military-strategic partnership along Russia’s entire southern periphery so long as the S-400-related US sanctions are first lifted;

  • and spring’s Indo-Pak clashes made air defense a renewed priority for Delhi.

The original goal behind Turkiye’s import of the S-400s is no longer relevant either. Back then, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan deeply distrusted the US due to its (at minimum indirect) role in summer 2016’s failed coup, hence why he agreed to this air defense deal a year later. Turkiye was also very displeased with direct US military support for Ankara-designated Kurdish terrorists in Syria. After TRIPP and Jolani’s/Sharaa’s rise to power, however, the aforesaid imperatives became outdated for the most part.

The stage is therefore set for a grand deal between the US, Turkiye, Russia, and India, at least in theory and only tacitly in the case of the US-Russia, US-India, and Turkiye-India, but it remains to be seen whether it’ll materialize.

There are some forces that might torpedo it though, chiefly hardliners in the US and Russia, who might respectively object to the principle of a NATO ally selling military equipment back to Moscow and Russia buying back a weapons system that it sold to a NATO ally who now funds Ukraine.

Each side’s hardliners would therefore have to be sidelined in order for this deal to go through and it can’t be assumed that both Trump and Putin are able to do so in the current political conditions amidst escalating US-Russian tensions.

Furthermore, the US is also taking a hard line against India nowadays led by Trump personally, which reduces the odds that it would agree to have Turkiye indirectly supply India with Russia’s S-400s after Trump just punitively tariffed India for continuing to buy Russian arms.

Accordingly, while the details of this proposed arrangement make perfect sense with respect to each side’s interests as explained, political factors vis-à-vis the calculations of American and Russian hardliners could ultimately ruin any possibility for such a deal.

If the political will exists at each of those two’s highest levels, however, then it’s recommended that they encourage their media surrogates to articulate the inherent strategic benefits in order to help persuade the hardliners to reconsider their resistance.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/16/2025 - 06:30

How Much Metal Can $10K Buy?

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How Much Metal Can $10K Buy?

The prices of metals reflect a contrast between rarity, utility, and value.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, breaks down how much of each metal you could purchase with $10,000, showing their respective weights in kilograms.

At one end of the scale, $10,000 barely buys a handful of gold dust. On the other, it secures literal tons of industrial metals like aluminum and zinc.

The data for this visualization comes from Daily Metal Prices.

Precious Metals: Small in Size, Big in Value

Gold tops the chart in value, costing over $108 million per metric ton. That means $10,000 only gets you 92 grams, barely more than a chocolate bar.

Platinum and palladium are slightly less expensive but still highly valuable, offering just a few hundred grams per $10,000. These metals are prized for their rarity, beauty, and industrial applications, especially in electronics and catalytic converters.

Industrial Metals: Value in Volume

On the opposite end are base metals like aluminum, zinc, and copper. These materials are far more abundant and are critical to infrastructure and manufacturing. For example, with $10,000, you could buy 3,815 kilograms of aluminum, enough to construct dozens of bicycles. Even copper, a more valuable industrial metal, yields over a metric ton for the same amount of money.

Strategic and Emerging Materials

In between are metals like lithium and nickel, which are crucial to green technologies, batteries, and energy systems. Lithium, priced at nearly $12,000 per ton, yields 838 kg for $10,000, while nickel provides 667 kg.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Charted: Where the U.S. Gets Its Rare Earths From on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/16/2025 - 05:45

Risk In France Is Not Quite Gone Or Forgotten

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Risk In France Is Not Quite Gone Or Forgotten

Authored by Simon White, Bloomberg macro strategist,

Risk spreads in France have continued to ease back on a trend basis, even after Fitch’s downgrade on Friday.

However, some spreads remain elevated in absolute terms, indicating the market continues to price in structural problems.

As a reminder that agencies’ ratings changes are lagging, French bond spreads and asset swap spreads are slightly tighter today after Fitch’s downgrade of French government debt to A+ from AA- on Friday.

A holistic measure of market-based French risk spreads, in the chart below, shows it is back to its one-year average.

However, the measure is on a trend basis.

In absolute terms, some risk spreads, such as the French-German bond spread and the asset swap spread, remain wide.

What that tells us is that risk is no longer acute, but it remains chronic.

Spreads will not significantly decline until there is clear progress in reducing the deficit.

France may have got a pass from the bond market for now, but it’s still in a fix.

That clemency will be reassuring to other countries such as the UK, yet what happens in the EU’s second largest economy will still be consequential for developed bond markets around the world.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/16/2025 - 05:00

"I've Never Experienced Crime Of This Magnitude Before": 20-Year Veteran Austrian Police Spox

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"I've Never Experienced Crime Of This Magnitude Before": 20-Year Veteran Austrian Police Spox

Via Remix News,

More than 30 victims of a Syrian youth gang, known as “505,” have been recorded n the cities of Graz and Vienna.

The suspects range in age from 17 to 20, with police reporting they dealt a “severe blow” to the group with mass arrests.

“I’ve never experienced a dimension (of crime) of this magnitude before, and I’ve been in this business for 20 years,” said police spokesman Fritz Grundnig.

The organized gang is accused of a long series of extremely violent assaults between November 2024 and June 2025, mostly in Graz. Styrian police have released details to the national media about the group, including their involvement in the narcotics trade.

“A total of over 20 crimes have been reported, with over 30 victims injured and assaulted by this gang,” said Grundnig.

“The men are suspected of having intentionally committed grievous bodily harm, aggravated assault, robberies, dangerous threats, and coercion in Graz since the end of 2024, with varying degrees of involvement, and of having joined forces in a criminal organization,” an additional press release reads. The investigation revealed that the “505” group used blunt and stabbing weapons. Among the victims were minors, according to media outlet Die Presse.

Despite the gang being focused in Graz, a number of arrests were made in Vienna as well.

Many victims faced extreme violence.

“For example, in June, the group stabbed another man at Griesplatz. He suffered a stab wound in the thigh,” Grundnig reported.

The police spokesperson also said that the gang is involved in the narcotics trade.

“During the house searches, which were of course carried out as part of this operation, a considerable quantity of drugs was found,” he stated.

The gang apparently named itself after another Arab clan gang, which participated in brutal clashes between Chechens, Turks, and Syrians, who gathered under the name 505 or 505/515, in Vienna in 2024.

Those clashes saw gun battles, multiple stabbings, and routine violence.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/16/2025 - 02:00

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