Edan Yago has been in the “Bitcoin DeFi” ecosystem since before that term was a thing. An early adopter of Rootstock, Yago developed the “largest DeFi ecosystem in Bitcoin” through DEX @sovryn before becoming obsessed with Zero Knowledge Proofs and the promise of BitVM for enabling more trustless rails into and out of Bitcoin. While Yago has most recently been working on the modular-style BitVM bridge @bitcoinOS - we got deep in this episode about the early days of Bitcoin DeFi - and Bitcoin in general - including: – Why the internet didn’t work for libertarians… until bitcoin came along. – Why the concept of “securities” is fundamentally flawed– Why Bitcoin’s taproot upgrade was the true unlock for Bitcoin Season 2– The under-appreciated role of Etheruem in “testnet-ing” Zero Knowledge Proofs– Why BOS decided NOT to build a rollup after all… and how they become the BitVM bridge for @cardano As always, this episode can be viewed on Spotify or YouTube—full episode in the comments or linktree in my bio. This episode is powered by Best In Slot—the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing.TIMESTAMPS: —01:08 Edan Yago, founder of BitcoinOS01:58 How Yago discovered the Bitcoin whitepaper03:20 What was so intriguing about Bitcoin?05:58 Yago’s childhood gold story08:00 Yago’s many Bitcoin ventures: from BTC gaming to BTC banking12:20 Did Yago invent “blockchain not Bitcoin”!?14:40 Using Bitcoin for remittances17:00 Getting debanked by JPMorgan19:30 Hot take: Bitcoin exchanges are a grift20:45 Yago’s complicated take on tokens22:50 “There are no such thing as securities”25:40 Our population is native to true free markets28:50 Wildcat banking: America’s most prosperous time30:35 Moving away from the regulated space33:13 The genius of decentralized stablecoins: Maker and Curve36:45 Yago launches Sovryn: Bitcoin DEX on Rootstock38:23 Sovryn’s success: earning dividends in BTC40:30 Rootstocks problems: security and user frictions42:50 How ZK Proofs changed everything45:10 Yago’s early research into trustless bridging46:45 The “holy shit” BitVM moment48:15 Explaining Taproot and Taptrees50:50 Verifying ZK Proofs on Bitcoin: What it meant52:00 Major L1s coming home to Bitcoin52:40 BitcoinOS: Bring everything home to Bitcoin55:45 Crypto doesn’t know what it’s trying to do56:50 Vitalik’s loss of patience and Ethereum’s mistake58:20 Why we have too many tokens and blockchains59:42 Why ZK trims away the redundant chains01:00:32 What is a “Bitcoin Operating System”?01:02:42 Graduating for “bridging” and “unchaining” crypto01:06:20 Even in a pile of dirt, you’ll find a diamond