Full audio recordings from our weekly Bitcoin talks at PubKey, discussing topics that range from bitcoin mining and Lightning to institutional adoption, self-custody, and financial privacy. We invite special guests to discuss the projects they're working on and take questions from the audience.


PubKey Bitcoin Meetups

<a href="https://x.com/tpacchia" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Thomas Pacchia</a>⁠ sits down with ⁠<a href="https://x.com/jmelton21mm" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Jonathan Melton</a>⁠ (Head of Lending at ⁠<a href="https://x.com/unchained" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Unchained⁠</a>) for a fireside chat and open Q&A about:<ul> <li>Why Melton left Wall Street to build Bitcoin-native lending infrastructure</li> <li>How Unchained’s multi-institution custody model protects against counterparty and rehypothecation risk</li> <li>What makes collateralized lending on Bitcoin fundamentally different from fiat debt markets</li> <li>Why most “bitcoin-backed loans” still rely on fiat rails</li> <li>How Unchained evaluates risk, liquidity, and client behavior across bear and bull markets</li> <li>Why Melton believes the next generation of bitcoiners won’t think of borrowing and custody as separate concepts</li> </ul>▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together:🗽 PubKey NYC🗽 85 Washington Place🗽 New York, NY 10011<a href="https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/</a>Follow us on X: ⁠<a href="https://x.com/PubKey" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://x.com/PubKey⁠</a>

The Past, Present, Future of Bitcoin-Backed Loans (w/ Jonathan Melton)

In this collaboration with the <a href="https://x.com/HRF" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Human Rights Foundation</a>, <a href="https://x.com/frankcorva" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Frank Corva</a> (political correspondent at <a href="https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Bitcoin Magazine</a>) sits down with Venezuelan opposition leader <a href="https://x.com/leopoldolopez" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Leopoldo López</a> for a fireside chat and open Q&A about:<ul><li>How the Venezuelan government used the central bank to silently tax citizens through hyperinflation</li><li>Why López believes Bitcoin could have prevented the worst parts of Venezuela’s economic collapse</li><li>What it took to build a resistance movement under constant surveillance, censorship, and arrest</li><li>Why authoritarian regimes fear Signal, Tor, and Nostr</li><li>What López learned from organizing protests from a prison cell and a safe house while being hunted by intelligence services</li><li>How financial surveillance became a weapon, making privacy-preserving tools essential for political organizing</li><li>Why the World Liberty Congress is building infrastructure to connect dissidents across 60+ countries</li><li>Why U.S. and EU-based developers need to stop underestimating the real-world stakes of open-source tech</li></ul>▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together:🗽 PubKey NYC🗽 85 Washington Place🗽 New York, NY 10011<a href="https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/</a>Follow us on X: ⁠<a href="" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://x.com/PubKey⁠</a>

Venezuela Will Be Free (w/ HRF & Leopoldo López)

<a href="https://x.com/_drewarmstrong_ " target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Drew Armstrong</a> sits down with <a href="https://x.com/Leishman" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Alex Leishman</a> (CEO & CTO of <a href="https://x.com/River" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">River</a>) for a tavern chat and open Q&A about:<ul><li>How and why Alex started River (even though he isn&#39;t a "finance guy")</li><li>Why most U.S. bitcoin companies are derivative casinos, and how River is different</li><li>The challenge of building real bitcoin UX in a market addicted to speculation</li><li>How Alex thinks about custody, nodes, and what it means to “actually use Bitcoin”</li><li>Why ETFs might help price go up... but won’t help people become financially sovereign</li><li>What it takes to raise capital in a bear market when you&#39;re NOT peddling garbage </li></ul>▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together:🗽 PubKey NYC 🗽 85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011 🗽 ⁠⁠<a href="https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/⁠⁠</a> Follow us on X: ⁠⁠⁠<a href="https://x.com/PubKey%E2%81%A0" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://x.com/PubKey⁠</a>

The State of Bitcoin (w/ Alex Leishman)

<a href="https://x.com/tpacchia" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Thomas Pacchia</a> sits down with <a href="https://x.com/PeterMcCormack" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Peter</a> and Conor McCormack (the father-son duo behind <a href="https://x.com/realbedford" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Real Bedford FC</a>) for a tavern chat and open Q&A about:- How buying a tiny English football club became a real-world Bitcoin test case- How Real Bedford funds operations, pay players, and stacks sats without relying on fiat- What it’s like for Conor to be Vice Chairman of a team his dad owns- Whether Real Bedford is just following in the footsteps of Wrexham A.F.C. or becoming its own serious football project with its own ambitions- The long odds of climbing the English football pyramid—and why Peter and Conor know they will eventually prevail ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together: 🗽 PubKey NYC🗽 85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011🗽 ⁠⁠https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/⁠⁠ Follow us on X: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/PubKey⁠

Welcome to Bedford (w/ Peter McCormack)

<li>The COIN BASED gang (<a href="https://x.com/tpacchia">⁠Thomas Pacchia⁠</a>, <a href="https://x.com/_drewarmstrong_">⁠Drew Armstrong⁠</a>, and <a href="https://x.com/arbedout">⁠ArbedOut⁠</a>) sits down with Bitcoin Core dev <a href="https://x.com/darosior">⁠Antoine Poinsot⁠</a> for a tavern chat and open Q&A about: - The real reason why the OP_RETURN change broke people’s brains - The growing rift between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots—is Knots the “censorship-resistance” client now? - Whether or not Bitcoin Core contributors wield soft power through default settings - Yes, mempool rules are political - What Antoine ACTUALLY believes about the risk of censorship... and why neutrality might be slipping away - Do we need more devs or just fewer gatekeepers? ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together: 🗽 PubKey NYC 🗽 85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011 🗽 <a href="https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/">⁠https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/⁠</a> Follow us on X: ⁠<a href="https://x.com/PubKey">⁠https://x.com/PubKey</a> </li>

OP_RETURN Limits (w/ Antoine Poinsot)

<a href="https://x.com/tpacchia" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Thomas Pacchia⁠</a> sits down with <a href="https://x.com/gladstein" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Alex Gladstein </a>(Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation) for a fireside chat and open Q&A about: <ul><li>Why government and corporate adoption doesn’t contradict Bitcoin’s cypherpunk roots </li><li>Why democracies can thrive with Bitcoin, but dictators can’t </li><li>How HRF became a Bitcoin-native nonprofit by actually using it, not just holding it </li><li>Why 100 million self-custody users matter more than any ETF or price chart </li></ul>▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together: <ul><li>PubKey NYC </li><li>85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011 </li><li>https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/</li></ul>Follow us on X: <a href="https://x.com/PubKey" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://x.com/PubKey</a>

The Paradox of Nation-State Adoption (w/ HRF & Alex Gladstein)

<a href="https://x.com/tpacchia" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Thomas Pacchia</a> sits down with software architect, Navy pilot, and author <a href="https://x.com/evoskuil" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Eric Voskuil</a> for a wide-ranging fireside chat about: <ul><li>The true story behind Libbitcoin</li><li>Why Bitcoin Core’s architecture can’t scale and may already be eroding full validation</li><li>A first-person account of Amir Taaki’s wild journey from Bitcoin dev to Kurdish militia fighter</li><li>Why Voskuil sees “assume valid” as the beginning of the end for permissionless money</li><li>Why the performance gap between Bitcoin Core and Libbitcoin matters</li><li>How funding pressures, philosophical drift, and tech debt are shaping the future of Bitcoin infrastructure</li></ul>▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together: <ul><li>PubKey NYC </li><li>85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011 </li><li>https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/</li></ul>Follow us on X: <a href="https://x.com/PubKey" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://x.com/PubKey</a>

The Battle for Bitcoin Core (w/ Eric Voskuil)

<a href="https://x.com/_drewarmstrong_" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Drew Armstrong</a> sits down with <a href="https://x.com/wsfoxley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Will Foxley</a> and <a href="https://x.com/arbedout" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">ArbedOut</a> for a wide-ranging fireside chat about: <li><ul><li>Why even Bitcoin’s top developers can’t agree on how to change Bitcoin</li></ul><ul><li>How obscure opcodes like OP_CAT and OP_CTV are driving ideological rifts</li></ul></li><li><ul><li>The “Great Consensus Cleanup” proposal and the real threats it’s trying to fix</li></ul><ul><li>Why some believe we should do a low-stakes soft fork just to prove we still can</li></ul></li><li><ul><li>How miner ignorance, core dev vetoes, and reputational politics shape protocol progress</li></ul><ul><li>The unlikely impact of NFTs, sandwich emojis, and anime cats on Bitcoin governance</li></ul></li><li><ul><li>What’s actually needed to activate a soft fork — and why we probably aren’t close</li></ul></li>▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together: <ul><li>PubKey NYC </li><li>85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011 </li><li>https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/</li></ul>

Who Gets to Change Bitcoin? (w/ Will Foxley & ArbedOut)

<a href="https://x.com/frankcorva" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Frank Corva⁠</a> (political correspondent at <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Bitcoin Magazine⁠</a>) sits down with <a href="https://x.com/jdennehy_writes" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠John Dennehy⁠</a> (founder of <a href="https://myfirstbitcoin.io/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠My First Bitcoin⁠</a>) for a wide-ranging fireside chat about: <ul><li>The moment John realized he wasn’t free... and how that set him on a collision course with state power </li><li>Why every other Bitcoin education initiative in El Salvador failed, and how his survived without funding or permission </li><li>How a noisy classroom of Salvadoran teenagers changed the mission for good </li><li>The quiet war over curriculum (and what happened when the Ministry of Education tried to shut him down) </li><li>Why teaching kids might be the best way to reach the adults </li><li>The radical plan to bring Bitcoin literacy to every U.S. prison inmate </li><li>How John’s open-source model is spreading to 39 countries and how the Bitcoin community can help </li></ul>▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together: <ul><li>PubKey NYC </li><li>85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011 </li><li>https://www.meetup.com/pubkey-meetups/events/</li></ul>Recorded on March 31st, 2025 at PubKey NYC.

My First Bitcoin (w/ John Dennehy)

<a href="https://x.com/tracemayer?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Trace Mayer</a> makes his first visit to PubKey NYC for a fireside chat with <a href="https://x.com/_drewarmstrong_" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Drew Armstrong</a>. They discuss Trace&#39;s perspectives on how the Bitcoin space has changed over the last decade and a half, and what the future may look like in another 16 years—and beyond.▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬PubKey meetups are FREE and PUBLIC. Join us to ask live questions, engage with experts, and enjoy a pint together:<ul><li>PubKey NYC</li><li>85 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011</li></ul>Recorded on March 19th, 2025 at PubKey NYC.

Bitcoin Past and Future (w/ Trace Mayer)

Join us for a live AMA with <a href="https://x.com/keidunm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Max Kei</a> (CEO Debifi), <a href="https://x.com/adam3us" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Adam Back</a> (CEO Blockstream), and <a href="https://x.com/macrocrunch" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Sean Bill</a> (CIO Blockstream).<a href="https://debifi.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Debifi</a> is building bitcoin-backed lending with their "Never sell. Borrow." mindset—helping you access liquidity without letting go of your sats.<a href="https://blockstream.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Blockstream</a> is building the backbone of a bitcoin-powered future, from the Liquid Network to Lightning and beyond.Recorded on February 26th, 2025 at PubKey NYC.

WE'RE NOT SELLING (w/ Debifi & Blockstream)

<a href="https://primal.net/p/npub1d3f4m9dgvkdjxn26pqzsxn6lpfn78sxwllxyt8mp76q0a9zyyjlswhr4xv" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Lawrence Lepard</a> is a professional investor and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Big-Print-Happened-America-Sound/dp/B0DVTCVX8J" target="_blank" rel="ugc">The Big Print: What Happened To America And How Sound Money Will Fix It</a>. He joins us to break down the hidden forces driving economic instability and explain why sound money is the key to restoring financial freedom. Don’t miss this chance to engage in a thought-provoking discussion on the future of money and markets.Recorded on February 25th, 2025 at PubKey NYC.

The Big Print (w/ Lawrence Lepard)

Bitcoin mining is changing the way the world produces and uses electricity. Once considered a wasteful expenditure of compute power, it is rapidly becoming a transformational force in rural, remote areas with untapped renewable energy sources.Join PubKey's <a href="https://x.com/tpacchia" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Thomas Pacchia</a>, the inimitable <a href="https://x.com/_drewarmstrong_" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Drew Armstrong</a> of <a href="https://cathedra.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Cathedra</a>, and this month's special guest <a href="https://x.com/whiteafrican" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Erik Hersman</a> of <a href="https://gridlesscompute.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Gridless</a> as they discuss this topic, and much more.

Africa: The Future of Bitcoin Mining (w/ Erik Hersman)

It&#39;s Just an Electronic Transaction:Bitcoin as a Medium of Exchange
​<a href="https://x.com/breez_tech" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Breez</a> and <a href="https://x.com/1a1zbtc" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">1A1z</a> present their upcoming report on bitcoin as a medium of exchange. <a href="https://x.com/dannystagg" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Danny Stagg</a> (Breez) and <a href="https://x.com/danoprey" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Dan O&#39;Prey</a> (1A1z) will be joined by <a href="https://x.com/MiyaharaUmi" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Umi Miyahara</a> (Breez) to discuss why Bitcoin is more than "just" digital gold and why the time has arrived for bitcoin payments. They&#39;ll be sharing the stories of apps and merchants leading the growing trend around the world.
Recorded January 30, 2025

It's Just an Electronic Transaction: Bitcoin as a Medium of Exchange with Breez and 1A1z 01.30.2025

It&#39;s our first Coin Based since the 2024 presidential election, and my…how things have changed.
Ideas that only a few weeks ago were laughed at by pundits and commentators are now on the table, with Cynthia Lummis leading the charge right out of the gate with her November 6th xweet:
WE ARE GOING TO BUILD A STRATEGIC BITCOIN RESERVE 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
So, we ask: How does this actually happen? How will the government acquire, HODL and use bitcoin? What&#39;s the strategy for the strategic reserve? What concepts of a plan does the second Trump administration have for long-term adoption?
Join us as <a href="https://x.com/arbedout" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Arbedout</a>, <a href="https://x.com/tpacchia" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Thomas</a>, <a href="https://x.com/_drewarmstrong_" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Drew</a> and special guests <a href="https://x.com/davidzell_" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">David Zell</a> and <a href="https://x.com/brian_trollz" target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">Shinobi</a> ruminate on these topics, and answer your questions as best they can.

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