Where the panel landed
The panel partially agreed: Blake Anderson and Jimmy Song saw Blockstream Satellite as useful redundancy and a strong execution story, while Tone Vays was openly unimpressed and wanted internet access before space-based Bitcoin relays. On price, all three leaned higher for the next week, though Tone warned Bitcoin had already moved far beyond his old expectations. On Bitcoin Cash and the coming 2X fork, Tone remained the most hostile, Jimmy became more accepting of forks as an immunizing stress test, and Blake framed the whole thing as a recurring blackmail dynamic.
What they were watching
Bitcoin was discussed at 4,050 dollars and falling, while Bitcoin Cash was discussed at 618 dollars and later around the 500 dollar range. The panel’s directional read on Bitcoin was still modestly higher by the following week, but they expected slower movement and more turbulence from Bitcoin Cash mining incentives. Bitcoin Cash was seen as likely to remain alive through Christmas, though Tone expected a lower price and Jimmy treated a 0.1 BTC Schelling point as plausible.
Blockstream puts Bitcoin in space
The panel opened with Blockstream Satellite, a project to broadcast Bitcoin data through leased satellite capacity. Blake saw it as redundancy and failover infrastructure, Jimmy wanted a consumer satellite kit, and Tone dismissed it as less useful than ordinary global internet access.
Bitcoin at 4,000 dollars
Tom Lee’s 6,000 dollar by 2018 and 25,000 dollar by 2020 predictions led the panel into a broader price discussion. Jimmy credited network effects and Bitcoin’s anti-fragile response to drama, Tone warned that Wall Street analysts had just arrived, and Blake favored long-term holding over knife-catching trades.
Bitcoin Cash profitability
Bitcoin Cash’s price surge and difficulty drops created moments where it appeared competitive or even temporarily more profitable to mine. Tone called the profitability metrics incomplete without fees and liquidity, while Jimmy explained that miner decisions also depend on coinbase maturity, exchange confirmations, and the ability to sell.
Tone’s Bitcoin Cash line
Tone argued that Bitcoin Cash was still technological garbage despite its price and that holding it was not a legitimate hedge. His deeper concern was that if a fork could rival Bitcoin’s price and hash rate, the market would have damaged Bitcoin’s store-of-value claim by proving that monetary scarcity could be politically copied.
New buyers and missed-Bitcoin psychology
Jimmy suggested some Bitcoin Cash demand came from Korean and Japanese buyers who felt they had missed Bitcoin’s earlier gains and saw a cheaper near-Bitcoin substitute. Tone connected those markets to Bitcoin.com and big-block influence, while also noting that Bitcoin Cash had taken attention away from other altcoins.
The New York Agreement doubles down
The signers of the New York Agreement were still expected to pursue a 2 MB hard fork in November despite SegWit activation and reduced spam pressure. Blake mocked appeals to Satoshi’s vision, Jimmy said the fork might simply become another altcoin launch, and Tone argued the signers did not understand what they had committed to.
Hard forks as recurring model
Jimmy’s position had softened from fear toward acceptance: hard forks might impose costs, but they also teach the ecosystem how to defend itself. Tone objected that repeated fork dividends begin to resemble a proof-of-stake reward for old Bitcoin holders, while Blake compared the dynamic to paying blackmail and inviting more demands.
Hardware wallets and ICO Russia
The closing stories covered a reported Trezor vulnerability and Tone’s experience at an ICO-heavy event in St. Petersburg. Jimmy and Blake emphasized passphrases and the danger of physical access to hardware wallets, while Tone reported that many Russian ICO developers he met had never owned Bitcoin.
redundancy and failover networks are good in terms of Bitcoin especially.— Blake Anderson
I want my Bitcoin on the road, baby.— Jimmy Song
Am I the only one that's like totally not excited about this?— Tone Vays
Bitcoin is one of those things that gains from this order.— Jimmy Song
My job is not to make you money. My job is to provide analytics.— Tone Vays
I think this is good for Bitcoin. I think Bitcoin will survive and thrive— Jimmy Song
Story of the Week
Bitcoin Cash becomes temporarily profitable to mine
The dominant story was not merely that Bitcoin Cash had survived, but that its price and difficulty adjustments had made mining incentives messy. Tone’s long answer made the issue plain: if Bitcoin Cash became meaningfully competitive with Bitcoin in price and hash rate, it would threaten Bitcoin’s store-of-value narrative, but if it remained a funded altcoin pump, it was just another stress test. Jimmy supplied the miner mechanics, including difficulty adjustment, confirmation delays, liquidity limits, and the temporary nature of profitability windows. The episode’s institutional concern was that the Bitcoin name had become forkable, tradable, and politically reusable.
If becash survives, then blockchain's failed in my opinion.— Tone Vays