Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, CoinCenter’s Research Director, Peter Van Valkenburgh, joins the hosts for a discussion about FinCEN’s “Self Custodied Wallet” rule. The recently proposed, much commented attempt to extend rules which govern how banks must report on their customers would apply to companies like CoinBase plus a whole lot more. It’s a bit of a wonky topic, but one that’s critically important as bitcoin continues its march towards the mainstream and governments seek to grapple with the implications.
Interested in sponsoring Speaking of Bitcoin? Send an email to Sponsors@SpeakingofBitcoin.show
CoinCenter is a 504c not-for-profit technology advocacy and lobbying group, for the month of February, they’ve got a sponsor (Grayscale Investments) who are 1:1 matching donations up to a million dollars. To learn more, donate or otherwise support their work, visit CoinCenter.org
Image Credits:
Photo by Caleb Perez on Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
Photo by Kyle Mills on Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
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On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, CoinCenter’s Research Director, Peter Van Valkenburgh, joins the hosts for a discussion about FinCEN’s “Self Custodied Wallet” rule. The recently proposed, much commented attempt to extend rules which govern how banks must report on their customers would apply to companies like CoinBase plus a whole lot more. It’s a bit of a wonky topic, but one that’s critically important as bitcoin continues its march towards the mainstream and governments seek to grapple with the implications.
Interested in sponsoring Speaking of Bitcoin? Send an email to Sponsors@SpeakingofBitcoin.show
CoinCenter is a 504c not-for-profit technology advocacy and lobbying group, for the month of February, they’ve got a sponsor (Grayscale Investments) who are 1:1 matching donations up to a million dollars. To learn more, donate or otherwise support their work, visit CoinCenter.org
Image Credits:
Photo by Caleb Perez on Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
Photo by Kyle Mills on Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
Prefer to listen as a Podcast? Subscribe to Speaking of Bitcoin:
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-bitcoin/id1463398832?uo=4
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2u3oXWilTSFmZ034vQeUGq
Google Podcasts: google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9iNDIxZmQ0L3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz
PocketCasts: https://pca.st/DU8V
RadioPublic: radiopublic.com/lets-talk-bitcoin-8jOrdv
![Pinning Attacks on the Bitcoin Network and the Tradeoff Between Censorship and DoS [2023]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nRxP3ZyU2FI/mqdefault.jpg "Pinning Attacks on the Bitcoin Network and the Tradeoff Between Censorship and DoS [2023]
In this video, Andreas answers the question What are Pinning Attacks and Should We Fear Them? First, he describes what pinning attacks are and why a solution isnt as easy as it might seem. Balancing censorship and denial of service network attacks, Andreas explains these technical issues in his usual clear and easy to understand way.
Andreas regularly answers questions on livestreams from his patrons at https://patreon.com/aantonop Take a look to learn more.
COMMENT below and let us know what you think of the video. Post your follow-up questions there too!
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LEARN from Andreas in one of his popular Workshops which will teach you practical crypto skills. There’s even a FREE Intro to Bitcoin & Open Blockchains to get you started. https://aantonop.io/takeaworkshop
You can also learn from one of aantonops many books. Andreas has written three technical books for developers about blockchain technology, Mastering Bitcoin, Mastering Ethereum, and Mastering the Lightning Network published by O’Reilly Media. He’s also written The Internet of Money Series books, which explain why bitcoin, ethereum, and open blockchains matter.
About aantonop: Andreas isnt promoting a company or an organization; hes paid by the community (people who support this work on Patreon and YouTube) and provides an unbiased look at open blockchain technologies, what they can do for our societies, and how to get involved. Learn more at https://aantonop.com
From Andreas: You may already know that my mission is to educate as many people as possible about #Bitcoin and open blockchain technologies. Watching these videos and sharing them with others is a big part of that. Thank you for being part of this mission.
***Learn More From Andreas’ Workshops, Books & Events**
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Thanks for watching, sharing, and subscribing!")
![Cryptocurrency Explained: What is a Mnemonic phrase? [Understanding Bitcoin Ethereum Crypto Keys]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pIvgjCvGlwo/mqdefault.jpg "Cryptocurrency Explained: What is a Mnemonic phrase? [Understanding Bitcoin Ethereum Crypto Keys]
What is a cryptocurrency mnemonic phrase? How does it relate to a bitcoin or ethereum private key? Are they the same thing? Are seeds and mnemonics the same thing? Can someone guess my bitcoin private key or mnemonic? Watch this video to understand how mnemonic phrases work, why theyre used in bitcoin, why theyre considered secure. Hint: turn on closed captions to help you remember whats being taught.
Chapters
0:00 If a bitcoin private key is such a big number and you can never guess it, how does relate to mnemonic phrases?
1:03 Lets discuss what a mnemonic phrase actually is.
1:23 Cryptographic keys are just numbers. A bitcoin private key is just a number.
1:42 What is a mnemonic phrase?
2:10 Bitcoin Improvement Proposal or BIP39 is the standard for seed phrases
3:03 There are 2048 words in the BIP39 dictionary
4:00 How do you make a number out of words?
6:09 Example of how to take a number like a bitcoin private key and encode it in 24 words
8:06 Derivation function that allows you to take the mnemonic and generate the same sequence of keys
8:27 Summary of why a mnemonic phrase is as secure as a bitcoin private key written in decimal or binary
This video help explains how mnemonic phrases or mnemonic seeds as theyre often called, relate to cryptocurrency private keys. It discusses the bitcoin improvement proposal BIP39 and its implementation. If you want to understand how your cryptocurrency wallet works, this video is for you. This video was made as a followup to the Can Someone Guess My Bitcoin Private Key video here: https://youtu.be/2eZ5DP2P5As You may want to watch that video first to really understand whats being explained.
Learn more about bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrency private keys in these videos:
Passwords and authentication: https://youtu.be/m8jlnZuV1i4
Bitcoin and crypto security: https://youtu.be/P7IuPA26GGc
Learn why bitcoin, ethereum, and other open blockchain technologies are different in my talk The Fairness Protocol: https://youtu.be/JtyRN4YFRFI
Community Builders who support this free work on Patreon get to ask questions and vote on questions at least a week before the event. YouTube Community Members who support this work get to ask questions and vote an hour before the event starts. Everyone else gets to ask questions and vote on questions when the event starts. Giving early access is a small way Andreas can give something to the people who help to financially support the mission and still include anyone who wants to participate.
SUBSCRIBE to this YouTube channel and select the bell 🔔 for notifications: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJWCJCWOxBYSi5DhCieLOLQ?sub_confirmation=1
JOIN this YouTube channel to become a YouTube Community Member and access custom emojis and other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJWCJCWOxBYSi5DhCieLOLQ/join
BECOME a Community Builder: https://patreon.com/aantonop
You may already know that Andreas’ mission is to educate as many people as possible about Bitcoin and open blockchain technologies. Watching and sharing these videos is one way to do that. Thank you for being part of this mission!
About aantonop: Andreas isnt promoting a company or an organization; hes paid by the community (people who support this work on Patreon and YouTube) and provides an unbiased look at open blockchain technologies, what they can do for our societies, and how to get involved (if you decide you want to). Learn more at https://aantonop.com
***Learn More From Andreas’ Workshops, Books & Events**
Amazon & Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00MVAG8Z8
Audible: https://www.audible.com/author/Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/B00MVAG8Z8
E-books & Merch: https://aantonop.io/shop
Patreon: https://patreon.com/aantonop
Website: https://aantonop.com
Workshops: https://aantonop.com/workshops
***Connect with Andreas on Socials***
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndreasMAntonopoulos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amantonop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aantonop/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aantonop
Thanks for watching!")
