Open Letter to /r/Bitcoin
Dear Reddit,
Let me begin by introducing myself; my name is Rod Palmer. I'm a journalist covering Bitcoin, politics, and current events for an independent media outlet called The Bugle (formerly Bitcoin Bugle). The Bugle is widely recognized by our readers to be the Bitcoin Standard of journalism. We think for our readers and we break news that's so fake, you'll think its real. In addition to breaking some of the most important stories in the industry, we recently launched a podcast called Bugle Weekly which debuted #1 on Fountain in March of 2024.
The Bugle is a mission driven news organization. Driven by our visionary founder, decorated journalist Richard Greaser, The Bugle is exposing the seedy underbelly of the Bitcoin industry and cleansing it of its iniquity. The Bugle penned a term which encapsulates the corruption and moral rot permeating the Bitcoin ecosystem: The Podcast and Conference Industrial Complex. PODCONF for short. PODCONF emerged from the shadows during the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 on platforms such as Clubhouse and X (formerly Twitter) before spreading and replicating, like the virus itself. It compromised respected Bitcoin podcasters such as Pomp, Peter McCormack, and Robert Breedlove. Within a few years, the mind virus mutated and began manifesting itself as Bitcoin conferences. As I am writing this letter, there are more Bitcoin conferences and Bitcoin podcasts than Bitcoin. Like Hydra, cutting the perceived head off PODCONF only results in two new conferences or podcasts to take its place. The industry has become deadlocked by the vicious cycle of Bitcoin companies sponsoring podcasts, podcasts sponsoring conferences, and conferences sponsoring podcasts.
This has resulted in a DDoS on the social layer of Bitcoin. New adopters and OG's alike are now inundated with an avalanche of noise whenever they search for signal. Cypherpunk pioneers continue to blaze trails and create new social networks where the signal to noise ratio is balanced in the favor of truth like Nostr and Stacker News but the average person is far less likely to stumble upon these digital citadels where knowledge and wisdom seek refuge. In order to connect with the normies, we need mainstream platforms where they can come to learn. Luckily, that platform already exists.
r/Bitcoin has successfully navigated the turbulence of the 2020s and managed to resist the spread of PODCONF. Some might think its a coincidence, others may attribute it to the fact that r/Bitcoin is oldest and strongest mainstream social network in the community and the first to emerge outside the BitcoinTalk forums. While there is certainly some truth to those assertions, I believe the primary reason is unwavering dedication to compliance by the r/Bitcoin moderators. The mods' strict rules, policies, spam filtering, and gatekeeping, enforced by code and guided by wisdom, have allowed the subreddit to amass over six million members and still keep PODCONF out. This achievement must be applauded.
To say that the staff at The Bugle admire r/Bitcoin's level of compliance would be an understatement. The Bugle believes discipline is freedom and compliance is sovereignty. The Bugle has tirelessly preached the importance of compliance and self censorship as the key to defeating the state and it's inflationary fiat monetary system. The Bugle actively invites and encourages all other Bitcoin companies, media outlets, podcasts, platforms, and conferences to compete in an attempt out comply us but, to date, only one has succeeded: r/Bitcoin. When the mods say comply, Redditors ask "how hard." The Bugle sees this as the blueprint for defeating PODCONF and ushering in HyperBitcoinization.
And that leads me to the purpose of this letter. We at the Bugle would like to publicly declare our desire to form an alliance with r/Bitcoin and its six million members to help fight PODCONF wherever it may manifest itself online. We at the Bugle want the moderators of r/Bitcoin to know that we are committed to compliance and will comply as hard as necessary to earn the ability to share our news with the r/Bitcoin community, post in the subreddit, and build relationships with the most knowledgeable and compliant members of the Bitcoin community.
We hope this letter reaches the mods and inspires them to reach out. It's no secret that r/Bitcoin has faced criticism in the past regarding its censorship policies and demands for compliance. We want to make it very clear that we do not share in that criticism. We recognize the importance of compliance and the imperative of self-censorship. You will not find a group of journalists or cypherpunks more dedicated to these core values than the staff at The Bugle. We can be stronger together.
Note from the Editor (Richard Greaser): If the mods of r/Bitcoin keep on removing our posts, it shows that you're gay and you hate real journalism.
