Trace Mayer on Proof of Keys

Location: Skype
Date: Tuesday, 26th Nov
Project: Premier Ark LLC
Role: Manager

When Bitcoin is held on an exchange or with another 3rd party custodian, that 3rd party owns the Bitcoin, they have control of the private keys and can they have the ability to use it as they choose. As the customer to that custodian, all you have is the promise of that Bitcoin.

One of the core fundamentals of Bitcoin is that it allows you to become self-sovereign; so is adding a layer of trust to a trustless system antithetical to what it was designed to do?

On the anniversary of Bitcoin’s genesis block Trace Mayer’s Proof of Keys campaign encourages everyone to take control of their Bitcoin and remove it from these 3rd party custodians. Not only does this encourage everyone to control their private keys, but it also ‘stress tests’ the exchanges and offers proof that they are running fully reserved.

In this interview, I talk to Trace about his Proof of Keys campaign, exchange hackings, claiming your monetary sovereignty and stress testing custodians.

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Connect with Trace:
- On Twitter @TraceMayer
- On LinkedIn
- On Medium
- On CrunchBase
- His website: https://www.tracemayer.net/
- The Bitcoin Knowledge Podcast
- Proof of Keys

Mentioned in the interview:
- Hackers liquidated 3.2 million from Cryptopia hack
- Hacked Cryptocurrency Exchange Cryptopia Goes Into Liquidation
- The History of the Mt Gox Hack: Bitcoin’s Biggest Heist
- The Strange Tale of Quadriga
- BlockFi
- Celsius Network
- Genesis Capital
- Executive Order 6102
- Coinbase move 5% of all Bitcoin
- Reddit thread on Mimblewimble and Extension Blocks with Pieter Wuille
- Mimblewimble
- Bitcoin Whitepaper

Other relevant WBD podcasts:
- WBD158: Be Your Own Banker with Pascal Gauthier
- WBD153: Trace Mayer on Claiming Your Monetary Sovereignty with Bitcoin
- WBD127: Saifedean Ammous on Understanding Bitcoin Economics
- WBD058: Trace Mayer on Why You Must Own Your Bitcoin Private Keys
- WBD042: Casa's Jeremy Welch and Alena Vranova on Crypto Custody

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