Beyond the Narrative: Bitcoin, Free Speech, and the Future of Social Media
In a wide-ranging conversation spanning over 90 minutes, Dmitriy Fabrikant (creator of Tree Chat) and Gavin Mehl explored topics that sit at the intersection of technology, media, constitutional rights, and the future of Bitcoin. Their discussion offers valuable insights for anyone interested in how blockchain technology might reshape our digital landscape.
Media Skepticism in an Era of Distrust
The conversation began with reflections on mainstream narratives, particularly around recent events like the Charlie Kirk situation. Both speakers emphasized a healthy skepticism toward institutional messaging.
"We're just in a situation where there's like zero trust," Dmitriy observed. "You can name the authority—the medical authority, the justice system, the politicians—there's just so little institutional trust that almost no matter what they say, you have to be skeptical because we've just been lied to over and over again."
This skepticism extends to visual media as well. In an age of deepfakes and AI-generated content, both agreed that blockchain technology could eventually provide solutions by timestamping and verifying the provenance of videos and images—creating an immutable record of when and where media was created.
First Amendment Maximalism
Perhaps the most passionate segment of the conversation centered on free speech principles. Using the example of a Texas university student who was arrested after making offensive comments about Charlie Kirk, both speakers defended broad First Amendment protections.
"For those who aren't familiar with the laws, fortunately for the First Amendment, people have the right to say what they want even if it's despicable, absolutely rude, hateful, and just mean," Gavin emphasized.
Dmitriy agreed, adding: "It's not about her—it's about the standard that you're setting so that you can speak out when more important issues come up... I'm a First Amendment maximalist, fundamentalist. I really don't care who you are or what political party you're in."
Their defense of speech rights—even speech they find objectionable—sets the stage for their discussion of censorship-resistant social media.
Tree Chat: Reimagining Social Media
The core of the conversation focused on Tree Chat, Dmitriy's platform built on Bitcoin SV. Unlike conventional social media platforms, Tree Chat operates without advertising, instead using microtransactions to monetize content and fund operations.
"By having microtransactions and being able to post and earn money, and Tree Chat takes a small fraction of that to monetize, we don't have to do ads," Dmitriy explained. "We're going to have a social media that is ad-free, doesn't harvest your attention, doesn't do rage-bait, doesn't collect your data, and doesn't censor on anyone's behalf—including advertisers, because there are none."
This model addresses what both speakers identify as a fundamental problem with current platforms: "You're not in control of your attention on these other networks... You're literally trading your attention, something valuable, to be able to use these networks."
BSV vs. Solana: Technical and Philosophical Differences
When Gavin asked why Dmitriy chose to build on Bitcoin SV rather than more popular blockchains like Solana, the answer revealed both technical and philosophical considerations.
On the technical side, Dmitriy cited superior scaling capabilities and significantly lower fees: "I can send like 1/1000th of a cent in Tree Chat. Some people are sending like 10 Satoshis, which is just tiny amounts of money. We want the friction of money moving to be very low."
These nano-transactions enable not just content monetization but also on-chain storage of all posts: "You're creating an on-chain record of what people care about, what people are reading, what's happening in the world. It's almost like a historical archive created through the use of this social media."
Philosophically, Dmitriy emphasized Bitcoin's original vision of a fixed protocol without centralized control: "There's a corporation behind Solana... someone can lean on them, influence them. The whole original idea of a fixed protocol, of Bitcoin as a commodity—that's a very appealing idea to me."
The Mystery of Satoshi's Coins
The conversation took an intriguing turn when discussing recent movements of 80,000 BTC, allegedly from Satoshi-era wallets. These coins moved with a message offering a 90-day notice period for anyone claiming ownership, after which the current possessor would take legal possession.
Gavin proposed a theory involving Craig Wright: "What's happening is it's separating Satoshi and Craig Wright once and for all... It's going through 100% legal process to give the world notice."
While Dmitriy found the theory plausible, he remained skeptical about the legal precedent: "I'm not sold on the idea that just by announcing that, they get all these legal rights... I'm unconvinced that if Satoshi doesn't sign, then this other person gets the money."
This discussion highlighted the evolving nature of legal frameworks around cryptocurrency ownership—an area still developing as blockchain technology matures.
The Future: Hyper-Bitcoinization
Looking ahead to 2030, both speakers explored the concept of "hyper-bitcoinization"—the rapid adoption of Bitcoin that could fundamentally reshape the global financial system.
Dmitriy noted that Bitcoin SV's shared hash algorithm with BTC creates unique dynamics: "If Bitcoin SV succeeds, there's all this hash power sitting on a competing network that, if Bitcoin SV can prove itself, will just immediately flow into BSV."
He also drew parallels to historical transitions: "I was born in the Soviet Union... that happened extremely fast relatively speaking in terms of geopolitics. You can imagine people coming to the realization that the fiat order is doomed and also unjust."
The key advantage of BSV, in Dmitriy's view, is eliminating the hierarchy of money: "What BSV does is give you that reserve asset and then actually lets you transact in it... You have the reserve asset and you can extremely almost for free send it around, and that's a huge deal."
Hands-On Tutorial
The conversation concluded with a detailed Tree Chat tutorial, with Dmitriy guiding Gavin through posting content, connecting to X/Twitter, managing threads, and using AI image generation features.
This practical demonstration showcased Tree Chat's capabilities, from creating threaded content to generating AI images and videos—all monetizable through BSV micropayments.
Conclusion: Building the Future
Throughout their conversation, both speakers emphasized the importance of creating compelling applications rather than focusing on cryptocurrency prices. As Dmitriy put it: "If you offer a compelling product that can only be had on the Bitcoin network, then no one will care [about the underlying technology]."
This pragmatic approach—building useful tools that leverage blockchain's unique capabilities—may ultimately determine whether Bitcoin fulfills its revolutionary potential. By focusing on real-world utility like censorship-resistance, data ownership, and frictionless micropayments, platforms like Tree Chat are showing what's possible when we move beyond speculation to practical application.
For those interested in the future of social media, free speech, and Bitcoin's original vision, this conversation provides a thought-provoking roadmap of what might lie ahead.