Option Plus Podcast with Juraj Bednar

Hosted by Juraj Bednar

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May 2026

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About the show

Option Plus podcast is your tool to growing freedom, biohacking, life improvement and cryptocurrencies. Hosted by Juraj Bednar.

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10 recent

May 22, 20261 hr 10 min

How the cypherpunk dreams came true

Recording from my talk at Bitcoin Retro in Bratislava — one of the most Lunarpunk events I’ve been to. I have two introductory observations. First, the world has gone to shit — war, censorship, central planners doing increasingly batshit-crazy things. Second, we’re in 2026 and the cypherpunk project is mostly done. The technology is here. You can live a mostly free life if you’re willing to spend the energy. I walk through what works, what doesn’t, and why — and how the cypherpunk dreams quietly came true while most people weren’t paying attention. KYC everywhere, travel rules, payment gateways requiring licenses — the dystopia Frank Braun was warning us about a decade ago (in his mask, sounding like sci-fi) actually happened. And alongside it, so did Bitcoin, Lightning, Monero, Nostr, Signal, Simplex, Tor, mesh networks, GrapheneOS, local AI, and permissionless markets like Peer.xyz, Aave, Firefish and proxy merchants. The parallel path isn’t a thought experiment — you can run on it today. The talk also covers why politics won’t save you, why you should assume any surveillance system will eventually be used by someone hostile, and why memebionts (the ideas we plant in people’s heads and in AI training data) might be the missing societal piece for actually building a Lunarpunk world. I close with a short bit about my new novel Tamers of Entropy, which is partly about exactly that. Links: Tamers of Entropy — my new novel about a parallel-path life, available in English, Slovak and Czech, standard and premium editions Cypherpunk Visions and Trends 2023-2025 — the book this talk is an update to (a longer rewrite is coming) Peer.xyz — permissionless crypto-to-fiat with ZK proofs CashuPayServer — Lightning and Cashu payments for your shop on shared PHP hosting, no third parties MeshCore – a decentralized p2p mesh network over lora radio. Follow me on Nostr

October 7, 20251 hr 2 min

Running for the digital hills

What do the modern cryptoanarchists and the hill tribes of Zomia (area the size of Europe in southeast Asia) have in common? They have evolved strategies to become state-repelling – not only avoiding the state, but making the state avoid them. What are the similarities of their strategies to cryptoanarchy? Can we learn something from them? And can they become cryptoanarchists themselves, since the digital dystopia landscape in Asia is taking over? Links: Dark Forest ZIN

June 24, 202537 min

Tinkering, vibe coding and the long tail of open-source

People often praise big open-source projects. The number of users is pareto-distributed, most projects have very few users, if at all. But do they make sense? Is it worth creating projects with few users? Should you release software that you write for yourself? I have written quite a lot of projects that have very few users if at all. But building in public and sharing my work has many benefits – for me and sometimes for others. Something that has been tried, even if not successful provides the dark data. And of course, the new trend of vibe coding enables many more people to contribute to the Free and Open Source code.

December 5, 20242 hr 33 min

The Albycalypse is near – the present and future of Lightning payments in the value4value and Nostr ecosystems (ft. Josh / Bitpunk.fm)

This is a deep and somewhat technical conversation with Josh (Bitpunk.fm), where we talk about the implications of the imminent “Albycalypse” in the value4value (podcasting 2.0 and Nostr) ecosystems. We discuss the transition happening with various podcasting apps as they move away from using Alby, a Lightning wallet API, which has become instrumental for Lightning payments by many podcasting apps. We explore the reasons behind this shift, particularly the regulatory and custodial pressures that necessitate a migration to alternative payment solutions. We start by unpacking the current state of podcasting payments, emphasizing the two primary types of Lightning payments: Keysend and Bolt-11 + Bolt-12 invoices. We share insights into the mechanics of Keysend, a preferred method for podcasters, and the complications that arise. We then talk about Bolt11 invoices, explaining how they work and the challenges they bring due to their need for persistent connectivity and the requirement for platforms to support them. As we move into Bolt12, we detail its advantages, including enhanced privacy features and the ability to communicate solely through the Lightning Network itself, thereby bypassing traditionally cumbersome domain name system and web infrastructure. This lays the groundwork for discussions around the adoption hurdles this protocol faces and how it compares to solutions like Cashu, which serves as a hybrid model aiming for both ease of use and control over funds. We touch on the Uncle Jim model, where one individual could run a node to serve multiple family members or peers, lowering the barriers for those less technically inclined. Links: Bitpunk.fm and Bitpunk.fm unwound podcasts (Josh) The mindmap with the structure of this conversation Urza’s “payto” utility for core lightning lndk – a way to do BOLT-12 with lnd Podcasting 2.0 podcast – The Fugue State (episode about Albycalypse) Juraj’s books: The Orange Flash of Freedom: Understanding and using the Bitcoin Lightning network Cryptocurrencies – Hack your way to a better life (start with this one) Cypherpunk visions and trends 2023-2025 Juraj’s Lightning course – Lightning network for private bitcoin payments among friends and for products and services Juraj’s free course for onboarding new users that includes Lightning Come over to Nostr – How to start with Nostr using Primal How I save my time and attention with value4value podcasts (audio version) loaditfor.me – convert any blog to an episode of your private podcast My blog about this project Podcaster Boost Dashboard for Core Lightning ytchapters2json – create a podcasting 2.0 chapters file auphonic magic audio fixer (it creates chapters automatically)

November 14, 20241 hr 8 min

How to fix the Internet – Nostr, Reticulum and other ideas

The internet is broken. We want free stuff, so we are the product. The datacenters are not free. Our identities, our social graphs, our channels and often our revenue are either owned or passed through intermediaries, who can flip the switch – and we’re gone. There are ways to take our online lives back, but it needs a bit of a cypherpunk mindset, and willingness to experiment. Reticulum is a low-level mesh network when the basic Internet infrastructure fails. We can run it in cities over radio. Nostr is a protocol for publishing content, building social graphs and building replacement for Twitter/X, Instagram, but also Meetup, maps-based apps and many other things. And most of it (somehow) works today. If you are a bit cypherpunk and not a normie, come over!

July 18, 202420 min

You are a Bitcoiner now, what’s next?

Swallowing the orange pill is only the beginning. What comes next has very little to do with the exchange rate or your wealth. What Bitcoin gives you is new outlook on life, through experience. Suddenly, you notice hierarchies are not required for most relationships. A decentralized networks works – tick tock next block – without the need of central planner. And by the way, it’s the 6th largest reserve currency of the world. How does this day to day experience with Bitcoin impact you and how you can participate in this revolution by letting it change your life? How do you enter – not only financially, but fully – to the orange Bitcoin world? Links: Cryptocurrencies – Hack your way to a better life – book

June 10, 2024

Cypherpunk: Past, present and future

A look into cypherpunk’s history, goals, current status, and possible futures. Cypherpunks are individuals who build the technologies for the strategy of cryptoanarchy. This strategy involves using cryptographic tools to enhance personal liberty in everyday life, without waiting for systemic changes. I explain how cypherpunks have worked on cryptographic primitives to enable private communication, censorship resistance, anonymity, electronic cash, decentralized file sharing, permissionless social networks, and more. I talk about the importance of anonymity in increasing personal freedom by detaching physical actions from identities that can be targeted. We celebrate the progress made in utilizing cypherpunk technologies and acknowledge the revolutionary impact of projects like Bitcoin. Bitcoin has become a significant reserve asset globally (number 6!). I discuss the remaining challenges facing the cypherpunk movement, such as the need for truly private peer-to-peer markets, improved reputation mechanisms, better coordination, and a shift towards prioritizing anonymity over mere privacy. Additionally, building “pipes” between different cypherpunk technologies, like the old school unix pipe. Links: Cypherpunk visions and trends 2023-2025 – Amazon, my e-shop

April 20, 202456 min

Bitcoin Finance with 10101, Firefish – How to harness the value of Bitcoin without having to sell it

We are Bitcoiners. We HODL. But what then? Do well sell our Bitcoin? Hell no! This is a podcast about Bitcoin-backed finance and our options after the proverbial moon. This podcast is a recording of a Twitter Space on the topic of Bitcoin finance. I explain my book and course How to harness the value of Bitcoin without having to sell it, Martin and Chairman explain Bitcoin-native lending protocol Firefish and Richard and Science Genial (who also organized this space, thanks!) explain 10101. Links: How to harness the value of Bitcoin without having to sell it – course and ebook How to harness the value of Bitcoin without having to sell it – paperback on my e-shop and Amazon Firefish (participants: Martin and Chairman) 10101 (participants: Science Genial and Richard) My book Cryptocurrencies – Hack your way to a better life (or on Amazon, there are also Spanish and Slovak versions) Lightning Discreet Log Contract Channels paper by me and René Pickhardt

January 19, 202416 min

Nutband – a post fiat apocalypse Cashu client working over Reticulum

A demo of Reticulum, Cashu and my project Nutband that combines them, in order to use a Cashu mint over Reticulum mesh network – in this case over long range radio, and without internet. I recommend watching video this time, but audio explanation should be ok too. Nutband project Learn more about cypherpunk stuff, tech and Bitcoin in my books: Cypherpunk visions and trends 2023-2025 Cryptocurrencies – Hack your way to a better life (also available in Spanish and Slovak).

December 6, 202343 min

Welcome to the Dark Forest – a pathway to resistance

In this episode, I want to show you where are we going – what is the alternative, or rather parallel system. Does it already exist, or is it a hallucination of dreamers? How do we enter it – do we wish it into existence or is there another pathway? How big is it? It is a recording from the 10th Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis – Resistance. I hope you enjoy this quite positive episode. I believe we already have a working solution in case world collapses. We have an out!