A Letter From The Editors — Bitcoin Magazine Censorship Resistant Issue
By Bitcoin Magazine

Of all of Bitcoin’s achievements, none are as vital to its design as its ability to unstoppably settle transactions. When all is said and done, Bitcoin is just speech – an exchange of numbers that mediates financial settlement between distrusting parties. It is by definition neutral, impartial, a financial system open to teenagers, terrorists and everyone in between. 

It’s no surprise then that people who are attracted to Bitcoin oppose censorship. It’s why many of us are here to begin with. Because the traditional financial system excluded us. Made us feel victimized. Left us with a feeling of hopelessness. Of despair. Bitcoin offered a different way. 

And for a while, Bitcoin was our enclave. Our safe space. The place where you could think different, act different, be different. The place where it was okay to question things, to explore ideas without judgment, without fear. Free from systemic abuse.

But more and more Bitcoin is colliding with the censored world. What was once counter-culture has subverted the mainstream. What was once an archetype, The Bitcoiner ©, has grown to include all walks of life, rushing to the exits of the collapsing status quo. 

This magazine is an attempt to explore the resulting highway pile-up. To unmask our newly masked world. To make sense of what happened and what might come next. To learn from how we got here. 

You may find some things you don’t like in this issue. Maybe it supports your beliefs. Maybe it offends them. We asked our writers to think deeply on divisive subjects. We now humbly ask our beloved readers to do the same. 

The Censorship Resistant Issue explores the censorship resistant quality of Bitcoin, holding it up to judge the journalists, the gatekeepers, the policy makers and the freedom fighters of recent memory. 

A stark reminder that a world that can censor speech is a world that can censor Bitcoin. 

But a hopeful reminder that a world that champions free speech is a world in which Bitcoin can flourish. 

Free speech. Free money. Free you.

The Editors

🌳 BITCOIN FOR CLIMATE

Bitcoin Mining Can Prevent Climate Change
By Daniel Batten

Over the last few years, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) narrative emerged into the mainstream and started infiltrating all industries — many thought it would be a net negative for Bitcoin, but as it turns out, it is the opposite.

In this article, the author describe his thesis on how Bitcoin mining has the potential to avoid an astonishing 0.15°C of global warming simply by tackling the world's most deadly greenhouse gas: methane.

Oil fields emit methane when natural gas is released during extraction, but until now, there was no economical way to use that gas. Since flaring is not efficient, and even building its infrastructure requires incredible cost, this is exactly where Bitcoin can help, as a mobile energy buyer of last resort.

🌞 DEMO DAY

Tim Draper’s Bitcoin Studio Hosts Demo Day
By Craig Deutsch

The Draper Decentralized Studio is a “three-month program for teams working on making Bitcoin not only a firm asset class, but also a global payment network, global money network and, eventually, a global social network.” On June 16, 2022,  the studio hosted a demo day so that early-stage companies could share their work in contributing to bitcoin adoption on a global scale and propose their solutions to an invite-only group of 60-plus investment funds, angel investors and media.

By participating in the program, startup founders worked closely with relevant industry experts and got guidance in strategy, compliance and fundraising. After witnessing the demo day, it is easy to realize that exciting things are happening in the Bitcoin ecosystem and it is thrilling to learn about the future of Bitcoin, Lightning and money.

For anyone working on Bitcoin projects, and interested in participating in the Draper Decentralized Studio’s program, they will start accepting applications in mid-July for its next cohort.

📰 THE DAILY BITS

In A World Of Growing Repression, Bitcoin Enables Freedom Of Movement
By Jessica Hodlr

The current regime — manipulators, corrupt and tyrannical — have managed to camouflage slavery and imprisonment through lies and a well-designed, falsely labeled capitalist system. Current monetary policy is just another tool to control the population and force them to spend their lives searching for freedom, while at the same time, making it impossible to achieve. What kind of freedom is it when we force subjects to present identification cards to do pretty much anything: open bank accounts, get on planes or even stay at hotels.

This article is the first in a series inspired by the limitations imposed by governments on their citizens and the need for Bitcoiners to find sovereignty through unrestricted, global travel. The author of this article explores the exponentially increasing restriction measures taken by governments through time,  since the founding of worldwide passport standards in 1920 to the extreme and lunatic measures imposed of late allegedly due to the pandemic.

MEME OF THE DAY