About this episode

Derek Ross discusses the division of the internet and the implications of censorship, identity ownership, and Bitcoin in a personal conversation with CK.

The internet is quietly splitting in two. A KYC, permissioned, censorable web on one side… and a small, unstoppable, permissionless one on the other. Derek Ross has deleted every legacy social account, staked his name and face on Nostr, and is betting his life on freedom tech, Bitcoin, and open protocols, even if his own family doesn’t fully get it. In this deeply personal conversation, Derek and I dig into what censorship actually feels like in the so-called “free world,” why YouTube and X suspensions are not a China-only story, and how Nostr lets you truly own your identity with private keys you can’t be deplatformed from. Derek explains why the “Nostr is too technical” myth needs to die, how circular Bitcoin economies and zaps are already working at scale, and why losing your keys would mean losing years of “proof-of-work” reputation. We talk about family who don’t believe in Bitcoin, political blow-ups at home, changing his mind 180° on COVID restrictions, and the real emotional cost of being visible instead of anonymous. Derek also shares how AI “vibe coding” turned him into a builder overnight, why he’s now doing dev-rel for Soapbox, and how he ended up literally marrying…

People in this episode

Host: CK

Guest: Derek Ross

Topics covered

• internet censorship
• freedom tech
• Bitcoin
• open protocols
• identity ownership
• circular economies
• AI development

Keywords

• internet split
• KYC
• permissionless web
• censorship
• Nostr
• Bitcoin
• AI coding
• identity
• freedom tech

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: YouTube, Nostr, Soapbox

More episodes of All In Bitcoin

• 030 Jameson Lopp: Why Privacy Is Losing & Bitcoin's Next War I All In Bitcoin w/CK · April 15, 2026 · 1h 14m
• 029 Derek Ross: They Can't Ban This! All In Bitcoin w/CK · April 1, 2026 · 1h 8m
• 028 Preston Pysh: Liquidity, Empires & the Future of the Global System I All In Bitcoin w/CK · March 18, 2026 · 1h 5m
• 027 Preston Pysh: Military Discipline, Broken Systems & Bitcoin Sovereignty I All in Bitcoin w/CK · March 4, 2026 · 48 min
• 026 Peter McCormack: From Bitcoin King to Prime Minister (Part 2) I All in Bitcoin w/CK · February 11, 2026 · 1h 19m
• 025 Peter McCormack: From Chaos to Bitcoin King (Part 1) I All in Bitcoin w/CK · January 28, 2026 · 1h 43m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the All In Bitcoin podcast page.