I am done with being angry and I am done with feeling guilty for what I have done and achieved. My family stays out of this, they will not be bandied in political games as some would, but I will step forward.

Some of what Greg (nullc) and other members of Core/Blockstream have tried to wave about without fear of anything from me will now come to haunt him. I am going to start addressing some of the many myths. At my leisure and as I see fit. Here is what this means, as I see fit. What I want, as I choose. To whom I choose. What I share publicly and what I do in private are my choices and I shall share as I see fit.

This is one thing I have discovered, I am not the one receiving anything for others here, I am being called to give to others with little to nothing in return. It is as if this is expected. Others tell me what it is that I want, well, they are in error. I have all I can ever want. My wife, my family and my friends and an absolutely amazing life where I have opportunities to see the world and its people and even again to teach. I would be greedy to ever ask for more.

People wanted to have me feel shame for some of what I am and have been. They have a free choice on what they believe, I have for what I do. In the past decade, I was a lay pastor with the Uniting Church in Australia [1]. This is a Wesley form of Presbyterianism or basically a Scottish prudential form of Christianity.

I was with this and involved long enough to have been appointed to a trusteeship of the Synod Church Banking group [2]. The image on this earlier version was myself with a small beard [3]. I liked the goatee, but my wife hates facial hair as it is “scratchy”… so we made a marital compromise and I am now without facial hair.

So, yes, my first doctorate was a DTh or a Doctor in Theology. My second is a PhD in Computer Science/Economics but that is easy enough to find online. I am about to begin on earning my third. Trolls aside. One can be a scientist as well as holding a belief in more. These are not mutually exclusive, but I also do not believe that the bible is the hard facts and that it cannot be challenged. I believe that maths and science detail the world.

The Uniting Financial group is only a small bank on the scheme of things. It managed around 5 billion in assets in Australia and had a great deal many dedicated people, many who gave their time freely. They funded Burnside, a group I was heavily involved with and supported for many years. They are and were a bank.

Interestingly, I have issues with the overreaching paternalistic levels of government control, but I do not believe that banks are an evil in themselves. They fulfil a role that Bitcoin does not do. They are more than a depository and they are more than a simple money market fund. Banks are a means to consolidate and distribute both capital and risk. Without banks, many small organisations, family firms and even home-owners would not be solvent today.

I am not perfect, I do not profess to be. Nor do I seek to be, that would be a vanity that I reject. There is no perfection that can be achieved in the world. What there is however is work. The Protestant work ethic is a concept in theology, economics and history that I strongly subscribe to. This ethical framework emphasizes that demanding work, self-discipline and prudence. These are values espoused by the Protestant faith and they are also the core of Bitcoin. That is, proof of work (PoW). This is a recurring system where there is no rest. Unlike proof of stake, PoW details continuous growth and self-improvement. It is developed as with Carrol’s world of the Red queen (Alice in Wonderland):

“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”

This is how hash rates and mining function. It is an unending race. Just to maintain a position, one needs to invest over and over and never stand still. As soon as you stop, the game moves forward and you are left to watch the runner in the distance.

This is how I live my life. I have completed the last of my courses now for the MSc (Financial Econometrics) that I was taking at the University of London and now I shall be starting on my third doctorate. I will share the details of this in time, but as I have stated, at my leisure.

So, I have work to be getting on with and papers to check and complete.

There shall be more in time, little by little as I decide to release what I have to share and in the manner that I choose. For now… this is today.

[2] "Synod Standing Committee Minutes August 2010" (PDF). Uniting Church. p. 8.