BLUF*
Luke Dashjr built Bitcoin Knots to filter blockchain “spam.”
Recently, Dashjr proposed a committee empowered to sweep the blockchain for blocks that contain CSAM (child sexual abuse material).
Road to 🔥?
Paved with good intentions.
Good morning,
"So who's in charge of Bitcoin?"
Simple: no one. That's the genius—and the gamble.
Every cycle, someone steps up to “fix” what’s broken.
But Bitcoin’s only promise is no promises—No rulers. Just the rules of code.
Cost of interference? A chain of events that can’t be undone.
Keeping it real,
Austin Campbell
Teaching Blockchain & DeFi at NYU
Talking to institutions at Zero Knowledge
BITE THE APPLE
Bitcoin’s bottom line: no human overrides.
Luke Dashjr begs an exception—to eliminate child abuse content.
Adam Back, the cryptographer Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi cited, calls this “censorship tech.” When he says it’s a line you can’t cross without breaking everything, believe him.
Dashjr’s pitch? Empower a select committee (multisig quorum) to spot CSAM —not by looking at the content, but by using tech that can sniff it out & swap it out.
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Open source's fatal flaw—you can't fire volunteers. Even toxic ones.
But that flaw is gaining ground.
4,700 Knots nodes are already running.
Every download? another vote for committee rule.
SNOWBALL EFFECT
Day 1: Remove illegal content
Week 1: Add terrorism financing
Month 1: Include sanctions violations
Year 1: Expand to "broadly harmful" content
KNOT THE KING
BACKSTORY
“Rosa Parks was committing the sin of disobedience.”
— Luke Dashjr
Jameson Lopp suspects its sus…sabotage disguised as stewardship.
PRICE OF PRECEDENT
Markets don't wait for implementation —they price in risk.
On censorship support, Bitcoin can expect a 10% price cut.
When Dashjr's proposal leaks? Bitcoin dips 2%.
When MARA mining pool "considers" the framework. Another 1%.
When Ocean Pool announces "openness to safety measures." Down 3% more.
6% in three days? If this spreads, $100 billion vanishes.
| WINNERS vs LOSERS | |
Winners
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Losers
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ZERO OUT
Nobody wants CSAM.
But neutrality is Bitcoin. Not neutral? Not Bitcoin.
Trade neutrality for discretion, and markets slash trust. (Think: -10%)
Fix CSAM with law enforcement—not force-edit committee, vigilante.
Bitcoin: rules without rulers—or everything breaks.
Bottom line: First exception “feels fine”. Last one never does.
ZERO TIME
$300 Trillion Oopsie
Paxos minted $300T in PUSD.
…2.5x all money on Earth 😂
Blockchain: Fixed in seconds
Banks: Hides errors for weeks
SWIFT Picks ETH
*Screams overheard in XRP*
Basically, Brad Garlinghouse (Ripple CEO, XRP's main promoter) shifts
"SWIFT partnership imminent" to "Actually, SWIFT doesn't matter"
XRP price: Down.
Sad!
ZERO INSIDER
Austin
Spoke (and made my modeling debut) at the Chicago Payments Symposium.
David
Book launch incoming. Stealing the Future drops November 11th - our launch party at Powerhouse Arena in Dumbo. Seats filling up so get on the list.
1 More on Knots and his crusade for a committee? Jump to Zero Insights.
2 Missed out? Read letters 008 on Plasma + Cloudflare, 007 on WLF + Justin Sun, 006 on DATs & MicroStrategy