What’s up with the blockchain space?

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On the latest episode of CoinGeek Discussions, co-hosts Zach Weiner and Alex Vidal were joined by Sylvain Cloutier, Brittany Bitz, Guru Lloyd, and several other guests. They discussed what’s happening in the blockchain space, including the latest BSV blockchain developments. Check it out here.

What’s the biggest news story this week?

Vidal kicks things off by asking everyone what news story stood out to them this week.

Weiner answers first, saying he has a bullish, optimistic vibe. His company, VX Technologies, is about to implement some new features, which he’s excited about. For him, the biggest story is that SoFi Bank gave up its digital currency division to Blockchain.com. It wasn’t willing to take on the risk, which Weiner says speaks volumes.

Podcaster Brittany Bitz says she’s been a little out of the loop about news. She highlights the whole drama surrounding Ben ‘BitBoy’ Armstrong in recent weeks.

Guru Lloyd points to recent research in quantum computing and the fears it may make cryptographic keys crackable. He also says what Xiaohui Liu has been working on is super interesting.

Sylvain Cloutier says the most significant recent story is Bitcoin Magazine admitting the Lightning Network is dead. He’s also been following news on regulations in recent months.

Vidal thinks podcaster Peter McCormack recently sharing his thoughts on BTC was an interesting development. McCormack seems to be finally twigging on to what big blockers have been saying all along—that most people won’t be able to own UTXOs on BTC and, therefore, won’t be able to be financially sovereign.

Weiner also points to how the Ocean mining pool is censoring Ordinals transactions. Vidal underscores how they see Ordinals as an attack on Bitcoin.

How did everyone get into Bitcoin?

Guru Lloyd shares his Bitcoin story first. He has been involved in electrical and computer engineering for a long time. He’s been in software for about 15 years and has been “hardware hacking” for double that. He’s an entrepreneur in tech who heard about Bitcoin early and is trying to implement peer-to-peer electronic cash in all of his ventures.

Brittany Bitz heard about it way back in the early days. She dabbled in some speculation after hearing about it from her friend. However, being the curious type, she started looking into how everything works. She now has a podcast where she interviews people in the BSV blockchain ecosystem and works with Film.io on Polygon (NASDAQ: MATIC-USD). While she isn’t massively keen on the technology, she loves the concept and wants to use cartoons to educate people on what has happened in Bitcoin’s history.

Cloutier is in an unrelated business but sees potential for blockchain technology to transform it positively. He got in right before the BCH/BSV split and started studying what both camps were saying. He’s now an administrator for a BSV-focused group on LinkedIn and creates YouTube content, too.

Since both Brittany Bitz and Cloutier interview people, Vidal asks them who they have interviewed that truly stood out. Brittany says her interviews with Kurt Wuckert Jr., Stefan Matthews, and Jerry Chan stand out. Cloutier says he’s had two memorable interviews with Wuckert, and he also interviewed one of the co-founders of Horizon.

What excites everyone most about blockchain and its transformative potential?

Brittany Bitz says making governments more accountable is the most exciting aspect of blockchain. She recommends everyone check out her interview with Jerry Chan to find out more about that.

Cloutier is also excited about blockchain’s ability to hold powerful entities to account. He sees it extending beyond government and into the corporate world, too.

Guru Lloyd is most excited about a global currency that no one controls. This can change the power structure in the world, but it has to be scalable and with low fees to work.

To hear more about the data VX Technologies is putting on the blockchain, why Bitcoin is a really bad choice for criminals, and how blockchain and AI can and will work together, check out the discussion on X.

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