THESIS Karo Zagorus 2020 8E06 CD72 ACE6 1F00 2 Art by Koridian Lionell 8E06 CD72 ACE6 1F00 3 Bitcoin and the Trust Problem: Is Bitcoin adoption accelerated by the abuse of trust? Examining how our trust is being breached and abused, how we are used for rent-seeking, how governments impoverish us through the use of Monetary Nationalism and examining whether Bitcoin is the solution to restore individual freedom and limit the reach of government. Art by Made X Forever Location Redacted Faculty of Arts Applied Social Sciences Department Karo Zagorus Dr. Miklos N. MA Student Associate Professor 2020 Released under CC BY 4.0 license 8E06 CD72 ACE6 1F00 4 Table of Contents DISCLAIMER ................................................................................................................................... 6 LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................ 7 FOREWORD ...................................................................................................................................... 9 I. INTRODUCTION TO THE DISSOLUTION OF TRUST ................................................ 11 A. THE UNBANKING OF TRUST ............................................................................................... 16 i. The Unbanking of America ............................................................................................ 20 B. THE ERA OF POST-TRUTH ................................................................................................. 22 C. THE GREAT CHASM OF POLITICAL POLARIZATION ......................................................... 27 i. The Legacy of Brexit ...................................................................................................... 27 ii. Fallout of the 2016 US Presidential Elections ............................................................... 30 iii. Hungary’s Illiberalism ................................................................................................... 34 D. MONETARY NATIONALISM ................................................................................................ 38 i. The Disruption of the Global Time Preference .............................................................. 44 II. BITCOIN ................................................................................................................................ 50 A. “BITCOIN: A PEER-TO-PEER ELECTRONIC CASH SYSTEM” ............................................... 52 B. THE END OF CURRENCY COUNTERFEITING...................................................................... 58 C. THE SEPARATION OF STATE AND CURRENCY ................................................................... 59 D. FREEDOM FROM INFLATION .............................................................................................. 61 E. CIRCUMVENTING AUTHORITARIANISM WITH THE USE OF BITCOIN ................................ 63 i. Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 38-39 ............................................................................ 65 ii. Wikileaks ........................................................................................................................ 65 III. CENSORSHIP RESISTANCE OF THE BITCOIN PROTOCOL ................................... 67 A. “JUST PULL THE PLUG OUT, AND THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED!” .......................................... 67 B. BITCOIN, SOFTWARE AS A FORM OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH ................................................... 68 i. On-Chain Privacy .......................................................................................................... 69 C. BITCOIN NODE ................................................................................................................... 70 D. OFFLINE BITCOIN TRANSACTIONS .................................................................................... 72 8E06 CD72 ACE6 1F00 5 i. Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions ........................................................................... 73 ii. Bitcoin over Satellite ...................................................................................................... 74 a. @SatNode: Blockstream Satellite Transmission Feed ................................................... 74 iii. Bitcoin over Radio Frequency Signal ............................................................................ 75 E. TOR LAYERED CENSORSHIP RESISTANT BITCOIN INTEGRATIONS .................................. 76 F. BITCOIN PRIVACY, FUNGIBILITY AND ANONYMOUS BITCOINS ........................................ 78 i. CoinJoining .................................................................................................................... 80 G. SCALING BITCOIN: THE LIGHTNING NETWORK............................................................... 81 IV. THE SOCIAL LAYER OF THE BITCOIN ECOSYSTEM.............................................. 83 A. PROTECTING BITCOIN THROUGH SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.............................................. 85 i. “There’s Bitcoin, and then there’s Shitcoin.” ................................................................ 87 ii. Bitcoin Maximalism ....................................................................................................... 90 iii. Pseudonymous Bitcoiners .............................................................................................. 91 iv. The Bitcoin Plebs ........................................................................................................... 94 v. Bitcoin as Socio-Political Basis for Cooperation .......................................................... 98 V. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 100 NEXT STOP: TERMINUS ............................................................................................................. 112 APPENDIX 1: THE BITCOINER’S LEXICON ........................................................................ 114 APPENDIX 2: CRYPTOGRAPHIC PROOFS .......................................................................... 123 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 125 8E06 CD72 ACE6 1F00 6 Disclaimer This Thesis here, is not, in any sense, shape or form a financial advice. Information found in this Thesis are the findings of the author and his own personal views and does not constitute an advice in any form. Investing in Bitcoin, other Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain Technology or Companies that use Blockchain Technology comes with an extreme risk. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and often traded on illiquid markets. Investing in cryptocurrencies can incur complete loss of investment. Consult a professional before investing. The author of this Thesis or his Consultants are not liable for any damages deriving from reckless investments that resulted from uneducated decisions that originate or manifest from information within this Thesis or based on the content of this Thesis. Loss incurring from reckless investment based on the findings in this Thesis is not in any way the responsibility of the Author of this Thesis. This is a scientific academic research; it is not a financial advice. Public and private keys and addresses displayed within this Thesis are only for technical demonstration only. BY PROCEEDING TO READ THIS THESIS YOU AGREE TO NOT HOLD LIABLE THE AUTHOR AND HIS CONSULTANT(S) FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM INVESTMENT DECISIONS THAT WERE BASED ON THE CONTENT OF THIS THESIS. YOU FORFEIT ALL RIGHTS AND ABILITIES TO ABITRATION AND CLAIMS OF DAMAGES PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE BY PROCEEDING WITH THE READING OF THIS THESIS. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. 8E06 CD72 ACE6 1F00 7 Letter of Acknowledgement I want to thank first my Family, my Mother, Father, my Grandmother and Grandfather for the past 10 years of my continued presence at home and giving me the opportunity to finish my studies in higher education. The second person I want to thank is Satoshi Nakamoto for creating Bitcoin and showing millions of people around the globe that there can be alternatives and we can achieve those if we work hard enough to create them. The third person I want to thank is Professor Miklos N. for taking the red pill and following me down the rabbit hole with this thesis as I went onto explore Bitcoin further to uncover its underlying past and its secrets. I thank you for your continued support and time listening to my crazy ideas and being open about them. The fourth person I want to thank is Martin Habovštiak who introduced me to Paralelná Polis. Thank you for coordinating my stay in Bratislava and giving me this unforgettable experience of how freedom and liberty looks like. Also, I thank those who accompanied me and shared their views and experiences with me during my weeklong stay at Paralelná Polis. Further thank you for Modus Operandi, Giacomo, BitcoinOldGuy, Andrej, Erik, Simon, Richard, Palo, Dusky, Juraj and his mother Zuzka. The fifth person I want to thank is Samourai Wallet for making it possible for me to attend the 6th Annual Hacker’s Congress Paralelní Polis 2019 in Prague. You were right, it has changed my perspective and opened new doors of possibilities and opportunities for me. I want to also thank the organizers of HCPP19 and every other new and old bitcoiner friend I met at the conference. I also want to thank Balint Harmat and David Molnar and the rest of the guys at Wasabi Wallet for participating