Adam Back | Bitcoin's origins, the Satoshi mystery & why quantum won't kill it

Adam Back invented the proof-of-work system that became Bitcoin's foundation. The New York Times says he's Satoshi Nakamoto. He says he isn't, but he was the first person Satoshi ever emailed.

Every major publication is asking whether quantum computing will break Bitcoin. The consensus is nervous. Adam Back, the man who built Bitcoin's cryptographic foundation, is not.

In this conversation, he explains why none of the quantum computers that exist today can perform a useful calculation, why you shouldn't expect a real threat before 2035 at the earliest, and why the institutions buying Bitcoin through BlackRock ETFs changed themselves. Not Bitcoin.

They also get into the real state of building on Bitcoin, why Lightning Network channel numbers are shrinking is actually fine, how $2 billion in Mexican promissory notes ended up on a Bitcoin layer 2, and what a lifelong cypherpunk actually thinks about AI.

Also in this episode

- Why Lightning Network channel numbers are shrinking (and why that's fine)

- How $2 billion in Mexican promissory notes ended up on a Bitcoin layer 2

- What a lifelong cypherpunk actually thinks about AI

Timestamps: 

0:00 Intro

0:30 Is Adam Back Satoshi?

1:37 Does the speculation bother him?

1:53 First contact: Satoshi reached out to Adam

2:53 Weirdest thing about being a Satoshi suspect

3:21 Hashcash and the CipherPunk mailing list

4:28 Why proof of work was the breakthrough

4:58 CipherPunk identity vs. BlackRock adoption

6:02 How he reconciles crypto anarchism with institutions

8:01 Are institutions changing Bitcoin or vice versa?

9:25 The case against institutional Bitcoin

10:19 Paper Bitcoin and synthetic derivatives

14:04 Why governments are buying gold, not Bitcoin

16:41 Has "build on Bitcoin" failed?

19:32 Lightning compression isn't a demand signal

19:57 Stablecoins and RWAs on Bitcoin layer 2

21:20 Why Mexican promissory notes ended up on Liquid

22:03 Adam's stance on quantum panic

23:33 The timeline skepticism 

26:45 The danger of rushing a quantum solution

28:18 The security budget problem

31:13 What does a CipherPunk think of AI?

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