Chat_146 - Building for Sovereignty with Craig Raw

"When you hold the Bitcoin yourself, you already have the
control over it that you don't get with any other custodial
financial instrument. And I think that people need to think about
that more because you can come to Bitcoin... because... it sounds
good, I'm going to invest my dollars, and I'm going to get the
Bitcoin, the Bitcoin is going to become worth more than the
dollars over time, that's usually what gets them
in.But I would say what makes them stay is
the permissionlessness of it. Is the fact that you can have this
money, and it's your money. And the bank can't decide "We're not
going to bank with you anymore, you gotta go and find someone
else". The exchange can't get hacked. If you want to go
somewhere else in the world, it's not like they're just going to
say, "Well, I'm sorry, we don't allow our money to go to that
part of the world".
It's not really your money in that sense."
~ Craig Raw


What's it really like to build essential tools in Bitcoin when
the world keeps changing around you? And how do you keep pushing
for true self-sovereignty when everything feels so complicated?


In this chat, I'm stoked to sit down with Craig Raw, the
legendary developer behind Sparrow Wallet. We get into his
journey, why he built Sparrow out of pure passion, and how his
own path to financial freedom led to such a powerful tool. We'll
also dig into other topics like how the Patriot Act might affect
Bitcoin privacy, and the technical magic of PSBTs and Miniscript.


Craig also drops some really cool insights into how Bitcoin is
actually being used for everyday payments in South Africa with
apps like Money Badger. Plus, we chew on the bigger ideas of
personal sovereignty and why holding your own keys is more
important than ever in today's wild financial climate. If you're
curious about the real grit and genius behind the tools that
empower us, you won't want to miss this one.


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