Welcome to Slate Sundays, fomofactorynews’s new weekly function showcasing in-depth interviews, skilled evaluation, and thought-provoking op-eds that transcend the headlines to discover the concepts and voices shaping the way forward for crypto.
It’s not usually that you just meet somebody with as a lot integrity as Jameson Lopp. Being in his presence for any size of time, whether or not on-line or in meatspace (the place you’ll know him beneath a pseudonym), it begins to rub off on you and make you need to be a greater Bitcoiner; a greater human, for that matter.
Few folks have finished extra to advance the realm of Bitcoin and crypto safety than Jameson. Regardless of peddling a message nobody desires to listen to (till they’ve misplaced entry to their personal keys), he stays undeterred, making it his life’s work to teach folks of the potential risks surrounding their crypto safety setups and the Bitcoin community basically.
His specific model of product isn’t attractive. It doesn’t lure with the promise of Lambos or NGU. Bitcoin safety is such an uncompelling matter, actually, that Jameson’s discovered himself bumped from the primary stage at massive occasions. The rise in wrench assaults is such a “Debbie Downer” that he’s been relegated to the developer’s stage.
“The big non-technical conferences typically don’t even need the technical folks on stage speaking concerning the issues inherent to the system,” he says. “Having rational, sensible discussions concerning the issues within the house conflicts with plenty of the narratives that individuals need to push on the market to pump it up and enhance adoption.”
As co-founder and Chief Safety Officer of Bitcoin safety supplier Casa, creator of Bitcoin real-time node monitoring platform statoshi, a slew of extra facet initiatives geared toward elevating consciousness, and over half one million followers on X, Jameson confesses he’s “inundated,” and considerably “overwhelmed” making an attempt to remain on high of all of it.
I caught up with the dwelling legend and business OG to debate his extraordinary life, invaluable work, the rise in bodily Bitcoin assaults, and every thing in between.
Jameson Lopp and mastering the artwork of disappearance
Inform me what you realize about Jameson Lopp, and I’ll inform you what number of years you’ve been in Bitcoin. On second thought, maintain that info to your self. As Jameson’s posted and reposted on X:
“The primary rule of the 21 million membership is that you don’t speak about becoming a member of the 21 million membership.”
Topic to a grueling SWATting assault in 2017, he’s lived firsthand by way of the trauma inflicted on Bitcoiners when his home was raided after the police obtained fraudulent calls from an attacker claiming to be him.
The caller advised the police that he had shot somebody 15 occasions with an assault rifle, was holding others hostage, and had rigged the entrance door with explosives, earlier than demanding a ransom of $50,000 in Bitcoin and threatening to shoot any approaching cops.
It was the stuff of flicks and the kind of ordeal that may have triggered most individuals to lift a white flag and retire from the business altogether.
However Jameson Lopp isn’t most individuals.
Not solely did he maintain his head excessive and proceed to stay defiant, however he set about making himself unattainable to search out—whereas educating others to erase their very own information trails. From utilizing ad-blockers and VPNs on-line to establishing a second residence as a decoy tackle, Jameson’s footprints are in invisible ink.
Not even his household is aware of the place he lives.
“The better and safer factor for me to have finished could be to fully disappear,” he acknowledges, “however I felt like that may be giving in to the stress from dangerous actors. I needed to proceed to leverage the status that I had constructed and have the ability to attain folks and speak about Bitcoin.”
I recall inventing a pseudonym one evening at a celebration and making up an entire new life. It was amusing at first till I couldn’t maintain a believable Spanish accent, and saved contradicting myself till the jig was up. I can’t even think about the psychological and bodily logistics concerned in dwelling this fashion long-term. It’s fairly excessive:
“The toughest half is that it’s a life-style change. Once I began off, I used to be making a bunch of various pseudonyms that I used to be utilizing with totally different folks in meatspace, and it rapidly turned too troublesome to maintain monitor of, so I settled on only one pseudonym and one identification.
Then, after all, I’ve my actual identification that I solely use to work together with folks remotely, as myself, my authentic authorities identification… It will get extra sophisticated should you’re pulling extra folks into your state of affairs, like household, and youngsters.”
I wager. However Jameson has a signature look. Immediately recognizable, his unmistakable beard is streaked with silver like the paranormal bristles of a seasoned wizard. Has his cowl ever been blown?
“It’s extraordinarily uncommon,” he replies, “however that’s one in all my tough issues and a kind of balancing act that I’m making an attempt to navigate. I don’t go on mainstream media exhibits for that motive. I don’t need my face to be broadcast to tens of millions and tens of millions of individuals. I do smaller podcasts and stuff, that are solely going to be seen by the people who find themselves already deep into this house.”
200 recognized wrench assaults on Bitcoiners to date
Once I noticed one in all Jameson’s newest posts on X, warning concerning the rising variety of wrench assaults and pointing to a well-maintained log of recognized bodily Bitcoin assaults, I knew I needed to attain out. However given his capability to fade in plain sight, I didn’t anticipate him to reply. I used to be pleasantly stunned. He could also be unattainable to bodily discover, however he’s obtainable on the click on of a mouse to anybody who desires to speak Bitcoin.
In response to Jameson’s data, there are over 200 documented bodily assaults on Bitcoiners, greater than 30 of these within the first half of 2025. Why is the quantity going up so alarmingly?
“It’s going up as a result of the entire worth and measurement of the ecosystem are going up, and the general consciousness of the ecosystem is rising. So, you realize, that is only a pure phenomenon… There’s all the time going to be some tiny proportion of sociopaths who’re keen to harm different folks for their very own private achieve.”
What’s extra attention-grabbing, he factors out, is the final development of incidents carried out by organized crime teams specializing in any such assault.
“There was a slew of them up and down the east coast of America a number of years in the past, after which not too long ago there’s been a slew of them in France, and in each circumstances, regulation enforcement ultimately arrested the folks behind it.”
I point out listening to him say beforehand that, oftentimes, wrench assaults are orchestrated by individuals who don’t reside in that nation however particularly journey there to hold out the assault. He nods:
“My attain and understanding of all of that is restricted by what’s being reported, however I’m seeing a sample in Southeast Asia of expats who’re being focused by what appears to be organized crime from their nation of origin.
I’ve seen a variety of assaults, for instance, the place Russian residents who’re both vacationing or dwelling in Southeast Asia are getting hit by Russian organized crime. They’re coming into the nation, wrench attacking them, after which making an attempt to get out as rapidly as attainable, and presumably making an attempt to leverage jurisdictional arbitrage.”
I ask whether or not wrench assaults largely occur to high-profile folks, and he shrugs.
“It’s exhausting to say as a result of I by no means know who these persons are. I do know “high-profile” people who find themselves on X. But when they’re high-profile on Instagram, I don’t know, and I don’t use TikTok. So, excessive profile may be very relative and fragmented.”
He says he does know of a number of victims who have been Instagram influencers who have been “principally flaunting their wealth,” and bragging about their costly automobiles, wristwatches, and luxurious existence. He shakes his head:
“In case you are on any kind of public community and you might be flaunting your wealth, that’s one of many extra dangerous issues that you would be doing.”
Finest recommendation to guard your self? By no means KYC
With most jurisdictions hellbent on combating cash laundering and counter-terrorism finance, it’s virtually unattainable to be lively on this house with out handing over mounds of personal information. Sadly for many people, nevertheless, this usually finally ends up being doxxed on-line, like within the Ledger breach of 2020, or Coinbase just some weeks in the past.
What can we do to guard ourselves within the period of KYC with out going to the acute measures of shopping for a proxy home or being untraceable by even essentially the most extremely expert of personal investigators?
“The most secure factor to do is to by no means KYC and solely use non-KYC companies. These are all the time going to be much less handy. They’re not as user-friendly, and there aren’t as lots of them on the market. Should you’re utilizing KYC companies, I might say ideally you’re not giving them your property tackle.”
He acknowledges this may be tough since most suppliers require your home of domicile, however you may cut back the chance by contemplating which doc you add.
“Personally, after I’m doing KYC, I want to make use of my passport as my doc as a result of there’s no tackle on there. Then I’ll all the time initially strive giving them a non-public mailbox tackle that I’ve. Generally that works. But when they’ve stricter and better ranges of KYC, then I usually discover that getting rejected.”
When this occurs, Jameson reluctantly arms over the tackle of his now authorized residency, which he rents however doesn’t spend time in.
“After all, that’s going to be out of attain for most individuals to simply have one other tackle that they’re not really utilizing,” he concedes.
And what about offering a utility invoice? There’s no workaround for that:
“That’s actually robust for me as a result of I’ve no utility payments in my identify by design.”
A proud Libertarian and totally fledged Bitcoiner
As a self-proclaimed Libertarian, I ask Jameson whether or not he’s ever voted, or if that’s even attainable now. He smooths down his beard and ponders my phrases, saying he stopped voting when he realized “no Libertarian was ever going to develop into president” or win any high-level workplace.
“The bi-party system is just too entrenched for that. However no, I undoubtedly haven’t any intention of ever registering to vote once more due to the general public data that that creates. You realize, the ROI of voting, just like the precise affect of my votes versus the period of time I must spend evaluating all of the politicians, their platforms, and whether or not or not I even belief them, it’s simply simpler for me to disregard politics as a lot as attainable.”
And with a lot hoop-jumping and painstaking planning behind each transfer he makes, whether or not on-line or within the bodily realm, is all this actually value it? Did he ever take into account quitting fully? He pauses for some time and displays:
“There’s this cybersecurity saying. One thing just like the most secure approach to make use of a pc is to by no means flip it on, by no means contact it, by no means use it… The pc, and particularly with the arrival of the web, is a massively highly effective device, but it surely’s a two-way system, proper? On one hand, you’ve got entry to primarily the complete sum of human data. However, you’re exposing your self to billions of potential attackers. You’re primarily opening up a door to the remainder of the world for them to start out knocking on.”
I say that jogs my memory of the same chorus: A ship is protected within the harbor, however that’s not what ships are for. He smiles and agrees. Let’s face it, there’s no world during which Jameson leaves the pc untouched.
“An important factor that you are able to do for Bitcoin is to speak about it. That was one of many extra necessary points of my life. I didn’t need to surrender on that.”
Bitcoin company treasuries and Saylor’s outsized benefit
Jameson’s conviction is indeniable, and the lengths he’s gone to advocate for Bitcoin deserve a Nobel prize. Did he all the time anticipate the business to evolve this fashion, with $100K value models, Bitcoin company treasuries, and an AI and crypto czar within the White Home?
“I’ve all the time been stunned by the extent of volatility,” he admits. “Once I initially received into Bitcoin, I used to be viewing it as kind of a 30-year generation-level financial savings account. I wasn’t seeing it as a speculative funding that was going to go up many orders of magnitude simply over the subsequent decade.”
That’s to not say he’s happy with every thing, although. Bitcoin on the Oval Workplace is a far cry from the peer-to-peer digital money system initially offered to the world.
“I actually have plenty of considerations with the present state of the ecosystem, primarily that plenty of the adoption that appears to be taking place proper now’s taking place by way of TradFi autos that don’t even give folks an choice to take self-custody. So, that worries me each from a cultural perspective and a systemic threat perspective of the place the system is headed.”
With Michael Saylor pledging to purchase Bitcoin till Technique scoops up 10% of the availability and Bitcoin treasury corporations popping up like weeds, I think about that is fairly a priority…
“If an excessive amount of Bitcoin will get concentrated in too few arms, we run the chance of primarily recreating a extremely centralized system,” he replies.
He confesses to being “conflicted” over the rising phenomenon of Bitcoin treasury corporations as a result of, on the one hand, Bitcoin is for everybody, but, on the opposite, Technique is “to date forward and so they maintain pulling out additional forward.” He want to see a extra degree taking part in subject, which is why he determined to put money into David Bailey’s Nakamoto.
“It’s not as a result of I feel that company Bitcoin treasury adoption is one of the best factor since sliced bread. It’s as a result of I felt like we would have liked to have a broader and extra numerous group of company treasuries to compete with Saylor, to attempt to decelerate how a lot he can proceed accumulating. He has lots of of 1000’s of cash. What if he received to the purpose of getting like 5 or 10% of the entire provide? That’s reaching systemic threat ranges.”
Jameson on quantum computing (or, we’re all ‘screwed’)
I ask what the best risk to the Bitcoin community is: centralization or quantum computing? Jameson’s been tweeting concerning the latter so much not too long ago:
“There’s a number of long-term existential points that I fear about. Quantum is a matter that I fear about at the side of issues like ossification and scaling.”
He continues:
“With quantum computing, there’s like half a dozen issues which might be occurring in parallel, and with the intention to “resolve the quantum computing drawback,” we’ll have to return to consensus on these half a dozen issues concurrently, which is just about unprecedented. Given the slowing and the growing issue and consensus modifications to the Bitcoin protocol, that is why I began speaking about it a 12 months in the past.”
He compares the quantum computing drawback to local weather change, in that it’s an ever-present risk, but appears distant when there are extra urgent points to face.
“I feel it’s the same sort of drawback inside Bitcoin, but it surely’s exacerbated by the truth that, first, it takes years to get consensus on a change. Then it takes a number of years after the consensus change is activated for the remainder of the ecosystem to implement it, and, on this case, there’s an
extra delay of a number of years as a result of folks should migrate their funds. We’ve by no means been in that state of affairs earlier than.”
And the way far-off is quantum computing?
There are a variety of predictions on this, he explains, from those that say it’s already right here to others who consider it is going to by no means arrive due to “some quantum physics degree attribute that may stop us from ever reaching that degree of computation.” What we all know for sure, he says, is that a number of authorities and requirements businesses are advising folks to arrange for it inside a minimum of 5 years.
“Assuming that’s conservative and that we have now a minimum of 5 years, then, you realize, possibly we even have 10 or 15 years… I actually hope that we have now 10 years. If we solely have 5 years, I feel we’re screwed as a result of it is going to take a number of years to get the consensus change, after which a number of years for it to matriculate and everybody emigrate. I’m hoping we have now a minimum of 10 years, that may be a great buffer.”
Sleeping soundly in a world of uncertainty
Of all of the shifting narratives and cultural clashes over the previous few years, the one which bothers Jameson essentially the most is the pervasive dogma that Bitcoin is “inevitable” and “good” as it’s. It is a harmful view, in his opinion—and one usually purveyed by proponents of ossification. He says:
“That results in what I take into account to be the best risk to Bitcoin over the long run, which is apathy. If persons are apathetic about persevering with to speak about bettering Bitcoin, that’s when it turns into weak and extra weak to new threats that may emerge.”
Between perilous narratives, God-like AI, centralization of the community, and quantum computing looming forward, the long run feels fairly bleak. There’s a lot to fret about, I exclaim.
As a safety pioneer and defender of the soundest cash the world has ever seen, does Jameson handle to get any sleep in any respect? He frowns for a second earlier than replying:
“I strive to not let all of these items which might be exterior of my management maintain me up at evening. Like I stated earlier than, persevering with to speak about Bitcoin and focus on its issues is without doubt one of the finest ways in which folks can contribute to the house…
It’s about retaining folks and engaged and fascinated with what we are able to do to deal with issues earlier than they occur.”
