Skip to content

Zem

To prove a negative in COPA v. Wright

In the upcoming trial of COPA v. Wright, COPA sets out to prove that Dr. Wright is not Satoshi, while Dr. Wright provides evidence that he is. How do you prove a negative? There is a misunderstanding about “negative proof”, especially among the supporters of Dr. Wright. The saying is that it is impossible to have “negative proof”. First, there is an issue of terminology. In philosophy, science, and logic, “negative proof” typically refers to… Read More »To prove a negative in COPA v. Wright

Satoshi’s secret in the Genesis block

Much fruitless thinking (especially mine own) is going on about the mysterious 26.9 BTC transferred to the address in the Genesis block of Bitcoin. This is largely due to the lack of clear and definite information. Dr. Wright has said something about the Genesis block in the past. But in his typical fashion, he speaks in his domain and at his own level, with little sympathy for how others are positioned. For example, in one… Read More »Satoshi’s secret in the Genesis block

The price is just a symbol

In this post, the author accuses SEC of committing a crime for causing a drop in stock price. People who do this assume that stock prices must be protected as if they were a value in themselves. That is wrong. It is a good example of what’s wrong with today’s financial industry as a whole. It confuses symbols with reality and price with value. A temporary drop in stock prices is not a destruction of… Read More »The price is just a symbol

IPv6 Bitcoin-Certified Addresses

Mathieu Ducroux of nChain published a paper entitled IPv6 Bitcoin-Certified Addresses. Abstract: A pivotal feature of IPv6 is its plug-and-play capability that enables hosts to integrate seamlessly into networks. In the absence of a trusted authority or security infrastructure, the challenge for hosts is generating their own address and verifying ownership of others. Cryptographically Generated Addresses (CGA) solves this problem by binding IPv6 addresses to hosts’ public keys to prove address ownership. CGA generation involves… Read More »IPv6 Bitcoin-Certified Addresses

The Additional Documents in COPA v. Wright

On December 20, 2023, Judge Mellor, who presides the trial of COPA v. Wright, handed down a pretrial judgment to adjourn the trial from the originally scheduled January 15, 2024, to February 5, 2024. A three-week adjournment of the trial does not seem to be such a significant change, especially considering that the case was filed in April 2021 and has been pending for well over 2.5 years. However, what is significant is the cause… Read More »The Additional Documents in COPA v. Wright

Is Bitcoin decentralized?

“Do you prioritize low transaction fees for everyday use, or are you more concerned about security and decentralization?” The above is a question I hear from people who are at least honest enough to acknowledge that BSV is more practical for everyday use due to its low transaction fees, but nevertheless insist that BTC is superior due to its better security and decentralization. These things are all important. But they are not mutually exclusive. People… Read More »Is Bitcoin decentralized?

Man and machine, intuitive logic and arithmetic logic

The barber paradox If the barber shaves everyone who does not shave himself, who shaves the barber? The question is the so-called Barber paradox. It is paradoxical because it always leads to a self-contradictory answer. The barber paradox may strike as a trivial witty remark to many, but it is related to something far more serious. It is an example of Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, which says that formal logic (arithmetically expressible logic) cannot be both… Read More »Man and machine, intuitive logic and arithmetic logic

Using smart contracts to manage real-world contracts

Using smart contracts on a blockchain to manage certain aspects of regular contracts such as status (validity, termination, etc.) monitoring, renewing, or rolling has broad business applications. Note that it is not to use a smart contract to replace a regular contract. Doing such would be impractical in many cases. By “regular contract”, I mean real business contracts in a legal sense. These can be vastly more complex than the so-called smart contracts. Not only… Read More »Using smart contracts to manage real-world contracts

A fundamental question both the West and China must answer

The following question is the most fundamental cultural question facing the West and China at present and in the next century: To what extent are individual human rights and national identity and strength compatible or otherwise contradictory to each other? The answer to this question will determine the fate of the West and that of China. The West Consider the United States of America. Until the 1950s, strong and positive coexisting energy (perhaps even synergy)… Read More »A fundamental question both the West and China must answer

Bitcoin must have utility before it can become anything

“An honest man is one who knows that he can’t consume more than he has produced.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged. Before you take pride in how much wealth your favorite coin has extracted from the real economy, ask what your coin has contributed to the world, or at least will contribute. If you believe it has real productive value, please justify it using an honest theory that makes economic sense. Whenever destroyers appear among men,… Read More »Bitcoin must have utility before it can become anything