Penn Quarter Rules
A debate format being built in Penn Quarter, DC
Innovative tools to animate and curate critically important conversations. Penn Quarter Rules creates space for honest debate with privacy-first participation and merit-based recognition.
Not running yet. No Penn Quarter Rules event has been held, and no date is scheduled. The sections below describe how it is designed to work. Register your interest and you will hear when the first one is set.
Live Debates
In-person discussions, once events begin
Vote & React
Curated Sentiment Analysis
Level Up
A four-stage identity ladder, from Normie to Cypherpunk
Bitchat
Anonymous participation over a Bluetooth mesh network — no internet required and no accounts tracked. The design lets on-site attendees vote, react and engage with a debate without revealing their identity or connecting to the cloud: devices talk directly to each other in the room.
Status: the message parsing, scoring and badge logic are written and working. The Bluetooth mesh transport itself is still simulated — no device has yet talked to another over it.
Remote Viewing
The plan for members is access from anywhere: longer cuts beyond the public highlights, full transcriptions, AI-generated summaries and curated highlight reels. None of it is built yet — there are no recordings of our own to serve, because no event has been held.
Extended Cuts
Transcripts
Highlights
AI Summaries
Merit-Based Membership
Earn your way in. The design scores contribution on argument quality (35%), factual accuracy (25%), audience reaction (25%) and engagement (15%), and the top 15% are set to earn free entry to the next event. Your ideas are your proof of work.
Status: that scoring is real, working code. The reward has never been awarded to anyone, because no event has been held — there is no leaderboard and no one has a score.
Direct Sponsorship
Fund the conversations that matter. The model is direct sponsorship with transparent revenue splits — no middlemen, no gatekeepers.
Status: the revenue-split arithmetic is written. Payment rails are not: this system validates a Lightning address but cannot send to one. No sats have moved.
Chatham House Rules - Remixed for Bitcoin Discussions
Penn Quarter Rules adapts the classic Chatham House Rule for the livestream era—protecting speaker identity while enabling meaningful participation and recognition. This is the rulebook the first event will run under; none of it has been tested with an audience yet.
On Stage
Hosts and panelists may or may not reveal their faces. The focus is on ideas, not personalities. Audience participants must register before taking the mic, ensuring accountability while preserving the option for privacy.
Anonymous Voice Option
Prefer to speak without showing your face? Choose the Knight avatar—the guardian at the front door will be displayed while you speak. Familiar voices may be heard, but only under your Bitchat alias. Your privacy is respected.
Real-Time Recognition
Every contribution is posted for the community to like and comment on in real time. The intent is a rewards system where constructive input earns merit points—unlocking membership tiers, moderation rights, and prizes. The tiers and scoring exist in code; the prizes and moderation rights do not yet.
Protected Record
Full transcripts will be anonymized for the public record, and only curated highlights broadcast at a later date. Members will keep access to extended recordings and their own contribution history. There is nothing in the archive yet to protect.
The aim: a membership club of thought leaders building rough consensus on the critical ideas shaping the Bitcoin industry—where your reputation is earned through the quality of your contributions, not the size of your following. It has no members yet. The first ones will be the people who register before there is anything to see.
Penn Quarter Rules — Where ideas compete on merit