Watchman Privacy

43 – Bitcoin and Beyond: An Interview with Max Hillebrand

Gabriel Custodiet speaks with Max Hillebrand about the philosophy behind Bitcoin, as well as proper techniques for using it as it was intended. Along the way they discuss Monero, Max’s appreciation for German economist-philosopher Ludwig von Mises, and Max’s interest in Qubes OS. This conversation at times gets into the depths of Bitcoin, tackling the nature of UTXOs, Bitcoin taint, coin control, privacy holes in the Lightning Network, crossing borders with Bitcoin, and the Wasabi Wallet controversy.

Guest Links → https://twitter.com/HillebrandMax → https://towardsliberty.com (Max’s website) → https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters → https://bitcoinaudible.com

 

Watchman Privacy → https://watchmanprivacy.com (newsletter, consultation requests) → https://twitter.com/watchmanprivacy → https://www.amazon.com/Watchman-Guide-Privacy-Financial-Lifestyle/dp/B08PX7KFS2

 

Bitcoin Privacy Course → https://rpf.gumroad.com/l/privatebitcoin

 

Monero Donation Address (If you can’t see the whole string, double click in the middle to select all) →8829DiYwJ344peEM7SzUspMtgUWKAjGJRHmu4Q6R8kEWMpafiXPPNBkeRBhNPK6sw27urqqMYTWWXZrsX6BLRrj7HiooPAy

 

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Timeline

0:00 – Beginning 7:27 – Why not use Monero? 10:14 – Underlying world view of Max Hillebrand 13:22 – How does Bitcoin solve the world’s problems? 16:03 – Naming the enemies of Bitcoin privacy 24:03 – Erasing Bitcoin taint 27:59 – What is a UTXO? 31:20 – How confident can we be in CoinJoin? 37:44 – How to accumulate large amounts of Bitcoin privately 41:57 – Lighting Network for privacy? 45:21 – Rapid fire digital privacy tools 52:04 – Max’s favorite Bitcoin resources 52:50 – Crossing borders with Bitcoin 56:46 – Wasabi Wallet controversy response by Max Hillebrand 1:04:39 – Gabriel thoughts on “aiding evil people with privacy” 1:11:17 – Final thoughts