Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Before Ethereum. Before smart contracts. Before the hype around NFTs and ICOs — Bitcoin was already experimenting.

In this episode of Beyond Digital Gold, we rewind to 2012–2014, when developers were pushing Bitcoin’s limits with:

• Colored Coins were early real-world assets
• Mastercoin, the first ICO in crypto history
• Counterparty and Rare Pepes, the first NFTs
• Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s first native Layer 2

Featuring JR Willett, Matt Luongo, Yoni Assia, Adam Krellenstein and Elizabeth Stark, and co-hosted with Nathan from StarkWare, this episode asks a fundamental question:

👉 If Bitcoin has already succeeded as digital gold, is it even worth experimenting anymore?
The answer may surprise you.

🎬 Episode 1 of the Bitcoin DeFi mini-series
📺 Subscribe for the full series on Bitcoin’s past, present, and future

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