The anonymous developer who created a Bitcoin bridge

Bolivia’s Central Bank outlawed the use of bitcoin in 2014. It was the first in a series of events that led one crypto developer underground, where he’s been avoiding authorities by using the moniker Berzeck, which he picked up in elementary school.

“Berzeck” constructed and presented the Nerve Network, which builds a bridge to the Bitcoin blockchain, as a principal developer of NULS, a blockchain solutions platform for businesses, in March.That’s significant because it’s an interoperable platform, similar to Polkadot, that can help non-tech organizations use blockchain technology. Though NULS isn’t a household name in the United States, it has a sizable following in Europe, Asia, and South America, and it recently received its first North American listing with BitMart.

Now, as NULS prepares to take the next step in its evolution and allow Bitcoin staking on Nerve next month, a change in Bolivian political authorities has permitted Berzeck to market the enterprise under his true name, Mario Blacutt.

Evo Morales, the political activist who became president of South America’s poorest country in 2006, existed before Nerve, NULS, or even Bitcoin. Morales was a socialist, a coca farmer, and a supporter of Bolivia’s indigenous community, of which he was a part.

Morales rose to popularity on an anti-imperialist, populist platform, and was considered as a threat to established institutions and interests. However, as Blacutt told Decrypt in a recent interview, the Morales regime was also dogmatically seeking control that decentralized technology cannot deliver. As a result, rather than embracing Bitcoin, it banned it.

Blacutt, a software developer at the time, purchased his first Bitcoin in the same year, and the problems began. His bank accounts were closed, his credit cards were canceled, and he was unable to obtain loans.He dusted off the old pseudonym, formerly saved for video games and social networking accounts, and began using it full-time for his job. He wasn’t yet a blockchain engineer, but he was concerned about the direction things were heading.

In a Zoom interview with Decrypt from Bolivia, Mario Blacutt said of his alias, “There was an Atari game…called Berzerk, and I liked the name, so I adjusted a few letters and it sounded beautiful.”

To avoid government overreach, the name was changed. It might have been far worse, according to Blacutt. He was still able to purchase Bitcoin by wiring funds to a bank in Peru, where Bitcoin is legal, and then to a cryptocurrency exchange. “I’m pleased they weren’t too brilliant to monitor my actions,” he continued, “since they basically didn’t have any concept how crypto works below.”

Pseudonymity and crypto

Cryptocurrency has a long history of pseudonymity, dating back to Satoshi. Even now, there are significant crypto personalities whose identities are unknown, such as Ethereum maximalist @antiprosynth.

The subject of pseudonymity was brought to the forefront this week when “Scott Alexander” (not his real last name), the author of popular blog Slate Star Codex, deleted all of his posts after a New York Times reporter writing a profile on the site obtained Alexander’s real name and informed him that it would be used in the piece in accordance with the Times’ editorial policy.

Alexander, a licensed psychiatrist, wished to keep his identity a secret in order to prevent influencing his patients’ impressions during therapy.

Coin Center co-founder Balaji Srinivasan is working on methods to better combine pseudonymity with online life for reasons like these. People might have a separate internet persona from their professional persona.However, without knowing their true identities, many pseudonymous actors’ motivations for being anonymous may only be speculated. We know it’s political with Berzeck. Which is paradoxical for a developer who calls himself a pragmatic and sees the good in even the socialist regime he despises.”Monopoly regulation is a good thing,” he remarked. “Not fully a free market,” says the author, “since, like everything else in life, there must be a good balance, a decent compromise in order to find the most effective answer.”

His work with NULS, which intends to “create a platform where enterprises can build their business solutions to blockchain,” has the same spirit.

Companies aren’t going to adopt blockchain technology because of the ethos or ethics, according to Blacutt—about it’s the bottom line. Even if the aims of blockchain and business are aligned, you must communicate in their language. Blacutt stated:”You must learn how businesses operate and what you can give them. That’s what I’m attempting to achieve with NULS. I don’t give a damn about dogma. We have our objectives, and we will pursue them in the most practical manner possible.”

Morales may have been doomed by intellectual fanaticism in the end. After weeks of protests in the wake of a contested election, he was forced out of office in 2019.

Without it, Blacutt believes Bolivia would have followed Venezuela’s lead and produced its own digital currency:”I’m sure they were waiting to see what happened to [the] Petro and then take those moves because this type of regime wants to get around country sanctions sooner or later.”

Despite the fact that the transition administration has not sought to modify the law since Bolivia is focused on managing the coronavirus pandemic, Berzeck no longer fears using the name Blacutt:”The new administration will be more receptive to such technology. Because, as I constantly say, attempting to prohibit cryptocurrency is similar to attempting to outlaw the internet. In truth, there is no way to prohibit the use of the internet. You have a self-imposed internet prohibition. As a result, it’s a mistake.”

Twitter, Jack Dorsey And Bitcoin Mining

By Aleksandra Wilson

3 min read • September 15, 2021

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and Twitter, recently published that he’s currently exploring new horizons by mining Bitcoin. He has been using the services of Compass Mining for the aforementioned task. Compass Mining is a service that hosts and sources significantly powerful mining rigs all over the globe in different facilities. Jack Dorsey has been known for years now for supporting big projects that are centered around Bitcoin. He expressed his BTC preference and even stated that he firmly believes that it can bring peace to the world. Now, his last contribution to the boost of this crypto is that he’s now mining it too.

The Story With Jack Dorsey

On August 15, he replied to a tweet from a user about getting into mining Bitcoin. The statement was simple but straightforward: “I’m trying to mine with Compass Mining too…”. He didn’t have to elaborate on it, Compass made sure to share it with its +25k followers. They just retweeted the comment.

The Background

As it’s well known, Bitcoin is minted through a process called proof of work; such a process is energy-intensive. Computers compete to perform a variety of compounded mathematical calculations in exchange for rewards in crypto. The task is pretty much unpredictable. Miners expand the power of computing. Due to the current price of Bitcoin, the potential reward can be pretty valuable.

Even though it is actually possible to do mining with just a computer at home, the chances of making a big profit out of it are low. The money that you could potentially get out of it would probably not be enough to cover the energy bill. The process of mining demands a vast supply of power. Mining Bitcoin in a profitable way nowadays typically requires computers with extra powerful or personalized ASIC mining rigs.

The Consequences 

The company that Jack Dorsey mentioned in his comment brings the option of finding an ideal location to host a mining rig. You pick the ASIC rig you’d like to buy through Compass Mining, and they set it up and join the pool of mining of your preference. You’ll pay for energy costs for the equipment, and you get the reward from Bitcoin straight into your wallet of crypto.

After Jack Dorsey’s comment, the company decided not to make any specific comment about his activities with the firm. In the end, it was made clear that the company’s primary goal is to encourage anyone who wants to do mining. That by providing access to similar power costs and the supply of hardware and rack space that the best miners in the world enjoy.