1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:22,000 Music. 2 00:00:21,842 --> 00:00:25,922 Welcome in to This Week in Bitcoin, episode 55. 3 00:00:26,262 --> 00:00:30,882 My name is Chris, chrislas.com, jupiterbroadcasting.com. 4 00:00:31,382 --> 00:00:35,302 This entire last month of shows has been a ride. 5 00:00:35,362 --> 00:00:40,582 If I had recorded this episode yesterday, it would have been a very different show. 6 00:00:40,882 --> 00:00:44,102 Well, except for a couple of very important parts, and you're going to want to hear that. 7 00:00:44,362 --> 00:00:48,322 But if you're new here, this week in Bitcoin, each week I try to curate the 8 00:00:48,322 --> 00:00:52,382 signal in the Bitcoin space, Cut out the noise and the emotion and pack it into 9 00:00:52,382 --> 00:00:55,182 one high-impact episode for you to listen to each week. 10 00:00:55,642 --> 00:01:02,282 Because Bitcoin moves fast, and these days, everything around Bitcoin seems 11 00:01:02,282 --> 00:01:03,782 like it's moving even faster. 12 00:01:04,322 --> 00:01:08,162 So, boost it if you dig it. This is a value-for-value show. It works both ways. 13 00:01:08,262 --> 00:01:12,122 You bring your time and attention, and if this podcast brings you some value, 14 00:01:12,382 --> 00:01:15,002 consider boosting a few sats my way. 15 00:01:15,702 --> 00:01:19,422 Bitcoin has been holding strong as the market has been puking, 16 00:01:19,542 --> 00:01:25,662 then ripping, and then puking, even sometimes all of those within a single day. 17 00:01:25,802 --> 00:01:29,102 And I've been remarking on the show how well Bitcoin has been holding up. 18 00:01:29,342 --> 00:01:31,162 You know, I mean, we're talking trillions here getting lost. 19 00:01:31,802 --> 00:01:37,662 And since the last episode, since last week, Bitcoin's USD price is up about 9%. 20 00:01:38,282 --> 00:01:41,622 And it seems clear that the financial wonks have noticed. 21 00:01:42,322 --> 00:01:48,302 Bitcoin is firmly back above 93K right now, up double digits over the past week of trading. 22 00:01:48,502 --> 00:01:51,922 Dom Chu here with more. Morning, Dom. Hey, Sarah. So it's even more so. 23 00:01:52,042 --> 00:01:56,182 It's up about 25% since the lows that we saw back earlier this month, 24 00:01:56,362 --> 00:01:57,602 just that first week of April. 25 00:01:57,762 --> 00:02:01,162 So if you take a look at the price chart here, that move that we've seen has 26 00:02:01,162 --> 00:02:03,202 been roughly 26% to the upside. 27 00:02:03,362 --> 00:02:08,222 And we are now just about 15% away from the all-time highs in Bitcoin. 28 00:02:08,222 --> 00:02:12,822 Now, that move higher has not resonated so much in terms of the all-time highs 29 00:02:12,822 --> 00:02:15,542 against some of the stocks that are part of the ecosystem. 30 00:02:15,762 --> 00:02:19,242 If you look at strategy, for instance, or Mara Holdings or Coin, 31 00:02:19,582 --> 00:02:23,522 each of these stocks has done very well over the course of the last week and 32 00:02:23,522 --> 00:02:27,502 a half or so, recovering from the lows, but are still way off where they were 33 00:02:27,502 --> 00:02:29,802 earlier on for the highs this past year. 34 00:02:29,922 --> 00:02:33,242 So keep an eye on whether or not that trade has a catch-up more so than at one 35 00:02:33,242 --> 00:02:36,062 point Bitcoin is still outperforming these guys. these. 36 00:02:36,342 --> 00:02:39,422 That's the key thing there, is that Bitcoin's outperforming those stocks. 37 00:02:39,762 --> 00:02:42,002 Stocks, in terms of the way that they are from their record highs. 38 00:02:42,162 --> 00:02:46,262 And then take a look at the real catch-up trade that some traders are watching right now. 39 00:02:46,442 --> 00:02:52,302 Womp, womp, womp. Up on the screen, he has a price chart of Ethereum priced in USD. 40 00:02:52,702 --> 00:02:57,822 And it's down 44.12% over the last year. And that's in Ethereum. 41 00:02:58,322 --> 00:03:01,442 Ethereum has also gone up by a similar percentage amount short term, 42 00:03:01,442 --> 00:03:05,342 But it's way off where it was at the highs over the past year. 43 00:03:05,482 --> 00:03:09,662 So as Bitcoin has held up very well over the course of the last year, 44 00:03:09,822 --> 00:03:13,622 even in terms of the price volatility, Carl, Ethereum has not played catch up yet. 45 00:03:13,922 --> 00:03:17,902 It could be something to watch if this has any steam left in the cryptocurrency 46 00:03:17,902 --> 00:03:21,882 trade, Carl. I'll send this back over to you. That sounds like some ETH skepticism. 47 00:03:23,082 --> 00:03:28,222 Anyways, I think that that OK, what he's what he's quantifying there is is a 48 00:03:28,222 --> 00:03:31,702 bigger deal than it seems even on the surface because it's outperforming while 49 00:03:31,702 --> 00:03:33,382 the rest of the market is tanking. 50 00:03:33,662 --> 00:03:35,822 And it's not just CNBC that noticed. 51 00:03:36,302 --> 00:03:41,422 Bloomberg said up on the screen that Bitcoin is becoming a safe haven. 52 00:03:41,702 --> 00:03:44,862 But they also make an interesting reverse comparison. 53 00:03:45,042 --> 00:03:50,182 I say reverse comparison because it's the opposite of the type of analogy we typically hear. 54 00:03:50,182 --> 00:03:54,762 Lee breaking away from tech stocks at a pretty good time trading more like gold 55 00:03:54,762 --> 00:04:00,042 just in time for gold to rocket higher you can see that physical bitcoin gold 56 00:04:00,042 --> 00:04:04,922 is up about nine percent over the past month and did you catch it did you catch it. 57 00:04:05,692 --> 00:04:12,612 Physical Bitcoin, gold. I love it. I love that. 58 00:04:13,072 --> 00:04:17,112 That is, you know, physical Bitcoin, a.k.a. gold. 59 00:04:17,332 --> 00:04:23,512 And then behind her on the Bloomberg terminal screen that they have, big, bold text. 60 00:04:23,732 --> 00:04:28,852 Bitcoin acts like a safe haven. To rocket higher, you can see that physical 61 00:04:28,852 --> 00:04:33,592 Bitcoin, gold, is up about 9% over the past month in April alone. 62 00:04:33,592 --> 00:04:37,052 That has dragged Bitcoin higher, especially in the last couple of days. 63 00:04:37,212 --> 00:04:42,672 The crypto is up about 6% or so. And take a look at what has happened to tech stocks. 64 00:04:42,812 --> 00:04:47,352 In blue, you have the Nasdaq 100 actually lower by 6.5% or so. 65 00:04:47,552 --> 00:04:51,252 So Bitcoin may be taking on some safe haven characteristics, 66 00:04:51,252 --> 00:04:54,672 at least when it comes to its relationship with gold, Tim. 67 00:04:54,912 --> 00:04:58,412 I just, that's really something. I mean, did somebody put that in the teleprompter? 68 00:04:58,512 --> 00:05:02,852 Did she come up with that? And, of course, this kind of price action, 69 00:05:02,852 --> 00:05:07,432 it leads to talking about the big D, decoupling. 70 00:05:08,132 --> 00:05:11,252 Welcome back. Not a lot of green on the screen today, as you know. 71 00:05:11,432 --> 00:05:13,872 However, you probably didn't look at Bitcoin. 72 00:05:14,712 --> 00:05:19,092 Tanae McKeel did, and she's here. It's up 3%. What do you make of the way that 73 00:05:19,092 --> 00:05:22,352 this has been trading? It's decoupled, obviously, from the Nasdaq. 74 00:05:22,512 --> 00:05:26,472 Oh, there's the word, decoupled. Now, of course, this is from a couple of days ago. 75 00:05:26,572 --> 00:05:29,772 Which was a trend for a while. How do you see it? Something that people were 76 00:05:29,772 --> 00:05:32,812 looking for all month, because if you go back to earlier this month, 77 00:05:32,932 --> 00:05:35,612 it really was trading in line with stocks. 78 00:05:35,792 --> 00:05:39,732 It just was not seeing the big, you know, pops and drops that one we're used 79 00:05:39,732 --> 00:05:40,632 to seeing out of Bitcoin. 80 00:05:40,952 --> 00:05:45,252 And two, it is outperforming the S&P. You know, it's funny just to just to stop 81 00:05:45,252 --> 00:05:46,752 here for a second. They're never happy. 82 00:05:47,112 --> 00:05:51,952 Right. So the market loses 10 trillion dollars and Bitcoin holds steady around 83 00:05:51,952 --> 00:05:54,952 84 to 82,000. Not good enough. 84 00:05:55,781 --> 00:05:59,041 But if Bitcoin had been dumping, then there's the where's the store of value question. 85 00:05:59,361 --> 00:06:02,501 How come Bitcoin's dumping? How come Bitcoin isn't storing value? 86 00:06:02,701 --> 00:06:06,821 What's going on here? I'm looking at the last 10 days, and I don't understand. 87 00:06:06,901 --> 00:06:09,441 You call it a store of value, but the price is down. 88 00:06:09,661 --> 00:06:14,121 That's what they would have done. But in this case, when it held its price, not that impressive. 89 00:06:15,101 --> 00:06:18,981 Not that impressive. Looking for all that, because if you go back to earlier 90 00:06:18,981 --> 00:06:23,381 this month, it really was trading in line with stocks. It just was not seeing 91 00:06:23,381 --> 00:06:27,321 the big, you know, pops and drops that, one, we're used to seeing out of Bitcoin. 92 00:06:27,641 --> 00:06:33,681 And two, it is outperforming the S&P. It has not really caught up with gold, the leading safe haven. 93 00:06:33,841 --> 00:06:39,661 But I think you are seeing evidence, not just I think that the obvious and easy 94 00:06:39,661 --> 00:06:42,801 narrative would be that we're talking about Fed independence today. 95 00:06:43,061 --> 00:06:46,161 So Bitcoin is kind of acting as that hedge against, you know, 96 00:06:46,241 --> 00:06:49,141 political uncertainty. That was the narrative they tried, of course. 97 00:06:49,321 --> 00:06:54,561 Then Bitcoin continued to rip even after Trump started backing off of his remarks 98 00:06:54,561 --> 00:06:55,801 about firing Jay Powell. 99 00:06:56,281 --> 00:07:00,241 Now, you'll remember Trump said that that he was Mr. 100 00:07:00,361 --> 00:07:03,601 Too Late, that he was a loser, that he needed to cut rates or the recession 101 00:07:03,601 --> 00:07:05,761 or we could have a recession. He said all of these things. 102 00:07:06,401 --> 00:07:09,581 Here's a little audio just from two days ago. On Jerome Powell, 103 00:07:09,741 --> 00:07:12,861 you said that the termination of Jerome Powell cannot come fast enough. 104 00:07:13,081 --> 00:07:16,761 He says he won't leave even if you ask him to. Oh, he'll leave. 105 00:07:16,921 --> 00:07:23,601 If I ask him to, he'll be out of there. But I don't think he's doing the job. 106 00:07:23,601 --> 00:07:29,101 He's too late, always too late, a little slow, and I'm not happy with him. 107 00:07:29,681 --> 00:07:35,681 I let him know it. And if I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me. 108 00:07:37,101 --> 00:07:42,341 You know, the irony is that the trade war stuff and the tariffs have made J-PAL's 109 00:07:42,341 --> 00:07:43,681 decision-making process harder. 110 00:07:43,981 --> 00:07:48,561 And when they don't know what to do, they wait. That's what the Fed does. They wait. 111 00:07:48,921 --> 00:07:53,561 Because none of them want to take a risk. They're all risk-adverse. 112 00:07:54,593 --> 00:07:58,233 So they wait. So ironically, by creating the market uncertainty with the tariffs, 113 00:07:58,453 --> 00:08:02,893 he sort of forced J-Pow and the other governors, the governors that also vote, 114 00:08:03,073 --> 00:08:05,113 to wait and not cut rates. 115 00:08:05,273 --> 00:08:09,813 But I am a bit sympathetic to Trump's argument. I am. 116 00:08:10,413 --> 00:08:14,753 In the context of the fact that all the other, well, not all, 117 00:08:14,893 --> 00:08:18,813 but other major world banks have been cutting rates, are cutting rates, 118 00:08:18,953 --> 00:08:22,793 and are doing so to support their government in these trade wars. 119 00:08:24,253 --> 00:08:31,033 So that is working together to help the economy absorb tariffs and things like that. 120 00:08:31,493 --> 00:08:35,353 Should it be? I don't know. But it is happening, and it has typically worked that way. 121 00:08:35,353 --> 00:08:38,773 The other thing that I am sympathetic to, and I don't necessarily agree with 122 00:08:38,773 --> 00:08:43,813 the theory, but I am sympathetic to the fact that when you put the rate cuts 123 00:08:43,813 --> 00:08:47,013 on a timetable, they look political. 124 00:08:47,433 --> 00:08:50,393 I'm not saying they were, but I'm saying they look that way. 125 00:08:50,933 --> 00:08:54,693 If you go all the way back to inflation is transitory, and when they were too 126 00:08:54,693 --> 00:08:59,253 late to raise rates, then we had the 50 basis point cut a little bit before 127 00:08:59,253 --> 00:09:03,753 the election when the inflation data didn't really look that good. 128 00:09:04,293 --> 00:09:07,653 And after the election, we paused again. And now we're waiting for better inflation 129 00:09:07,653 --> 00:09:11,473 data when the inflation data is actually, at least if you go by Truflation and 130 00:09:11,473 --> 00:09:13,153 other sources, pretty good. 131 00:09:13,833 --> 00:09:17,153 Employment remains pretty steady. So the conditions for a rate cut, 132 00:09:17,373 --> 00:09:20,553 especially when you're trying to support a trade war, could be there, 133 00:09:20,573 --> 00:09:24,153 if not for the uncertainty caused by the tariffs. 134 00:09:24,493 --> 00:09:28,693 So Trump has been pretty clear that he wants to fire J-POW. And, 135 00:09:28,813 --> 00:09:35,353 of course, that rocks the market because traditional market traders live and die on every word. 136 00:09:35,553 --> 00:09:38,633 You know, J-Piles and upset stomach the markets down that day. 137 00:09:38,733 --> 00:09:41,393 So for them, it was just, oh, my gosh, how could this be? 138 00:09:41,493 --> 00:09:46,173 And then the French came out and said that it would undermine the respectability 139 00:09:46,173 --> 00:09:47,673 and value of the reserve currency. 140 00:09:48,133 --> 00:09:53,753 So you had quite a bit of pushback. And then today, it seems Trump's backing off this talk. 141 00:09:53,753 --> 00:09:59,393 President Trump saying he has no intention of firing Fed Chair Jay Powell before 142 00:09:59,393 --> 00:10:04,413 his term for leading the central bank before it ends next year. 143 00:10:05,653 --> 00:10:10,173 None whatsoever. Never did. The press runs away with things. 144 00:10:10,333 --> 00:10:14,493 Now, I have no intention of firing him. I would like to see him be a little 145 00:10:14,493 --> 00:10:19,453 more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates. It's just a perfect 146 00:10:19,453 --> 00:10:20,913 time to lower interest rates. 147 00:10:21,753 --> 00:10:26,053 If he doesn't, is it the end? No, it's not. But it would be good timing. 148 00:10:27,033 --> 00:10:31,013 She could have taken place earlier. But no, I have no intention to fire him. 149 00:10:31,737 --> 00:10:34,977 The president has increased his criticism of Chair Powell lately on Monday, 150 00:10:35,117 --> 00:10:37,677 calling him Mr. Too Late and a major loser. 151 00:10:37,817 --> 00:10:43,037 But he spelled it correctly, L-O-S-E-R, versus most of our viewers that spelled it with two O's. 152 00:10:43,617 --> 00:10:47,257 When you're talking about who. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It could be you, 153 00:10:47,337 --> 00:10:49,617 it could be me, it could be Andrew, it could be Trump, it could be. 154 00:10:49,737 --> 00:10:54,457 The Wall Street Journal says some of the president's advisors told him that 155 00:10:54,457 --> 00:10:59,357 an attempt to fire the Fed chair would result, thanks, no flies on them, 156 00:10:59,357 --> 00:11:04,177 It could result in some pain for the financial markets like yesterday and a legal battle. 157 00:11:04,297 --> 00:11:08,537 Treasury secretary or the day before yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Besson 158 00:11:08,537 --> 00:11:11,057 was said to be one of the people who spoke with Trump. 159 00:11:11,157 --> 00:11:16,197 But, you know, it was Hassett last week who supposedly has a line to the president 160 00:11:16,197 --> 00:11:22,117 and doesn't just speak, you know, out of turn, who said that they were investigating ways of doing it. 161 00:11:22,317 --> 00:11:27,677 So whatever happened, you know, I think someone maybe the lead editorial in 162 00:11:27,677 --> 00:11:30,177 the journal said they're not sure what happened. But we'll take it. 163 00:11:31,597 --> 00:11:35,357 Yeah, I bet they will. It would have been interesting to watch go down, 164 00:11:35,497 --> 00:11:38,897 I think. And so now we're backing off firing J-Pow. 165 00:11:39,097 --> 00:11:43,217 We're talking a little more dovish about negotiating with China. 166 00:11:43,857 --> 00:11:47,717 Really feels like perhaps this strategy has backfired. 167 00:11:48,057 --> 00:11:51,777 Initially, Besson was out there and Trump was out there bragging that the bond 168 00:11:51,777 --> 00:11:56,457 yields were coming down and that things were looking good for interest payments in the future. 169 00:11:57,807 --> 00:12:02,307 If I look at the situation in totality so far, we're about a month in, 170 00:12:02,427 --> 00:12:08,547 and it seems that things really changed when Trump blinked and paused tariffs 171 00:12:08,547 --> 00:12:10,887 for 90 days, which may have been a good decision. 172 00:12:10,887 --> 00:12:13,447 But I think that's when things turned. 173 00:12:13,947 --> 00:12:18,147 You know, that was a sign that the bond market was in control, 174 00:12:18,207 --> 00:12:22,767 that it spooked the Trump administration. And so despite aiming to lower interest 175 00:12:22,767 --> 00:12:24,167 rates and stabilize the U.S. 176 00:12:24,227 --> 00:12:28,347 Debt, the administration's tariff play here seems to have backfired. 177 00:12:28,707 --> 00:12:32,607 The stock markets crashed, maybe as intended or as expected at least. 178 00:12:32,767 --> 00:12:37,067 They'd made comments that, well, this isn't really a mega problem. 179 00:12:37,227 --> 00:12:39,227 It's a Meg 7 problem because DeepSeek. 180 00:12:39,407 --> 00:12:43,247 The stocks have been going down since DeepSeek day. So perhaps they had factored 181 00:12:43,247 --> 00:12:46,967 in some stomach for a market crash or correction. 182 00:12:46,967 --> 00:12:51,787 But the problem is the bond market got really cranky, undermining the core strategy, 183 00:12:52,447 --> 00:12:56,407 raising bond yields, which showed declining confidence in the U.S. 184 00:12:56,467 --> 00:12:58,207 Fiscal health. It started to make the U.S. 185 00:12:59,127 --> 00:13:02,627 Start to look like a third world country, a developing nation. 186 00:13:03,007 --> 00:13:09,027 Stock market going down, bond yields getting screwy, moving quick, almost like a crypto. 187 00:13:09,027 --> 00:13:13,147 So I think we're now in a position where in a couple of years, 188 00:13:13,167 --> 00:13:17,767 we may be able to look back at this and go X, Y, Z and A, B and C were improved 189 00:13:17,767 --> 00:13:19,667 because of these trade negotiations. 190 00:13:20,987 --> 00:13:26,727 But they'll always, always quantify it with, but look at the cost. 191 00:13:27,047 --> 00:13:28,427 That's always what they'll say. 192 00:13:28,847 --> 00:13:35,487 Look at the cost. But the question I have for you and for myself is, 193 00:13:35,667 --> 00:13:39,187 are we ironically with Bitcoin in a better position? 194 00:13:39,427 --> 00:13:43,487 I mean, sure, we don't have 120,000 Bitcoin like the market was predicting in 195 00:13:43,487 --> 00:13:45,927 December or November for the end of January. 196 00:13:46,607 --> 00:13:52,887 But we saw something even more remarkable. We saw Bitcoin cling to its 200 moving day price. 197 00:13:53,367 --> 00:13:58,067 We saw the market recognize that perhaps this was a better investment, 198 00:13:58,207 --> 00:14:02,707 at least for the time being, than stocks because it has less counterparty risk. 199 00:14:03,527 --> 00:14:07,687 And we saw when people were selling like crazy, not everyone was selling their 200 00:14:07,687 --> 00:14:09,867 Bitcoin. And these are ginormous shifts. 201 00:14:10,347 --> 00:14:13,347 So the question is, what has been going on with Bitcoin? 202 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:24,080 Music. 203 00:14:23,923 --> 00:14:28,363 I'll admit it, it is exciting to see Bitcoin do well, especially during times 204 00:14:28,363 --> 00:14:30,423 that seemed like it was built for. 205 00:14:31,303 --> 00:14:35,623 But why did we chop sideways for so long and then start ripping? 206 00:14:36,323 --> 00:14:40,183 Is it some great decoupling that's finally come to Bitcoin? 207 00:14:40,543 --> 00:14:44,863 Have the Wall Street investors all of a sudden seen the light? 208 00:14:45,503 --> 00:14:49,683 I don't think so. I think maybe people are a little too excited about the decoupling. 209 00:14:49,883 --> 00:14:52,963 I think it's actually a much simpler, simpler explanation. 210 00:14:53,503 --> 00:14:58,683 On the whole, my theory breaks down to this. There have just been slightly more 211 00:14:58,683 --> 00:15:00,923 sellers than buyers for the last few weeks. 212 00:15:01,663 --> 00:15:07,383 Sometimes it would flip and we'd have slightly more buyers and the price would go up to 84 or 85. 213 00:15:07,803 --> 00:15:11,583 Then it would flip again and we'd have slightly more sellers and the price would go down to 82. 214 00:15:12,203 --> 00:15:15,903 But there was enough market activity of buyer and sellers to kind of hold that 215 00:15:15,903 --> 00:15:17,863 200-day moving average price, which is a big deal. 216 00:15:18,563 --> 00:15:23,723 And we did that until we essentially exhausted the sellers. The market also 217 00:15:23,723 --> 00:15:29,683 started to stabilize a bit, especially as Besant became the messenger of the 218 00:15:29,683 --> 00:15:30,543 White House more and more. 219 00:15:30,703 --> 00:15:34,763 So he exhausted sellers, started to stabilize the market a bit. 220 00:15:34,923 --> 00:15:41,243 So the market now is just starting to go risk on again, but a little more motivated 221 00:15:41,243 --> 00:15:43,883 to find something outside the Meg 7 tech stocks, 222 00:15:44,143 --> 00:15:48,123 perhaps looking for something that's still a bit of a hedge against possible 223 00:15:48,123 --> 00:15:50,143 trade negotiations and trade wars. 224 00:15:51,065 --> 00:15:55,065 And so that all came together in the last week or so, in the last seven days 225 00:15:55,065 --> 00:15:57,145 or so. Sellers were exhausted. 226 00:15:57,765 --> 00:15:59,505 The market is slightly more risk 227 00:15:59,505 --> 00:16:04,365 on, looking for a place to put money that might be outside tech stocks. 228 00:16:04,525 --> 00:16:09,285 And then, of course, M2 global money supply has been ripping. 229 00:16:09,865 --> 00:16:15,665 And it's been ripping for a while now. And it takes, it's hard to say. 230 00:16:15,785 --> 00:16:19,925 Some people say, you know, 90 days. Some people say 100 days. Some people say a year. 231 00:16:20,685 --> 00:16:23,725 It takes a little while after m2 232 00:16:23,725 --> 00:16:26,645 money supply goes up for that money to actually make 233 00:16:26,645 --> 00:16:29,985 its way into the hands of quote-unquote investors right 234 00:16:29,985 --> 00:16:33,025 i don't know what kind of investor you are if you're basically getting free 235 00:16:33,025 --> 00:16:38,545 money and then just buying stuff but lucky one i guess so it does take a little 236 00:16:38,545 --> 00:16:42,025 while for the once m2 has been ripping and it has been you can go look this 237 00:16:42,025 --> 00:16:47,445 up go look go google m2 money supply chart m2 global money supply chart you'll 238 00:16:47,445 --> 00:16:51,065 see there are also charts where you offset Bitcoin by 100 days and it almost 239 00:16:51,065 --> 00:16:52,645 matches M2 money supply exactly. 240 00:16:52,925 --> 00:16:55,705 And so we're just about at that point right now, along with gold and all of 241 00:16:55,705 --> 00:17:00,525 that. So all of these things are coming together to create an environment where there is some interest. 242 00:17:00,785 --> 00:17:04,265 How long it sustains, not sure. Could sustain for a while, could be temporary. 243 00:17:04,485 --> 00:17:09,205 But we're at a point where there's enough contention in the supply that the price is ripping. 244 00:17:09,845 --> 00:17:13,685 And that supply might be about to get a lot tighter. 245 00:17:20,345 --> 00:17:26,685 Today, 21 Capital was announced. Cantor Fitzgerald is teaming with SoftBank, Tether, Bitfinex, 246 00:17:27,605 --> 00:17:33,585 on a $3 billion Bitcoin deal. So Jack Mahlers, the CEO of Strike, 247 00:17:33,965 --> 00:17:38,645 will be leading this group of Tether SoftBank and Cantor Fitzgerald to create 248 00:17:38,645 --> 00:17:45,345 a Bitcoin treasury company, sort of in the model of Michael Saylor's strategy. 249 00:17:45,625 --> 00:17:51,685 And 21 Capital will launch with 42,000 Bitcoin already in their treasury. 250 00:17:51,925 --> 00:17:57,205 And 21 will become the first Bitcoin native public company. The only thing they do is Bitcoin. 251 00:17:57,605 --> 00:18:02,085 Their entire focus is to maximize Bitcoin ownership per share. 252 00:18:02,525 --> 00:18:07,685 They say they will pursue a range of Bitcoin-related financial and advisory services as well. 253 00:18:08,085 --> 00:18:12,565 They state in their announcement that, quote, they are a potentially superior 254 00:18:12,565 --> 00:18:17,325 vehicle to MSTR for investors seeking capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure. 255 00:18:18,205 --> 00:18:24,005 Okay. Interesting. They're going right after MicroStrategy. And they're funding 256 00:18:24,005 --> 00:18:27,785 this with $200 million just to do all the paperwork. 257 00:18:27,985 --> 00:18:30,525 Cantor Equity Partners raised that in January. 258 00:18:30,785 --> 00:18:33,985 That's what's being used to do the formulation, hire the lawyers. 259 00:18:34,405 --> 00:18:38,145 The Financial Times reports that they're also going to then receive $3 billion 260 00:18:38,145 --> 00:18:41,525 in Bitcoin from other investors and trading firms. 261 00:18:41,645 --> 00:18:47,965 So we know Tether alone, Tether is going to contribute $1.5 billion Bitcoin. 262 00:18:48,805 --> 00:18:54,305 SoftBank and Bitfinex will also contribute $900 million and $600 million, respectively. 263 00:18:54,925 --> 00:18:58,305 Tether and Bitfinex are owned, by the way, by the same parent company and share 264 00:18:58,305 --> 00:18:59,845 a lot of the same key leadership. 265 00:19:00,085 --> 00:19:04,245 So it's essentially one big company, Tether and Bitfinex, but legally they're separate. 266 00:19:04,885 --> 00:19:08,185 Eventually, SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex will see their Bitcoin investments 267 00:19:08,185 --> 00:19:12,505 converted into shares of 21 Capital at $10 per share. 268 00:19:12,505 --> 00:19:16,525 So if you do the math, that means at the time of the contribution of Bitcoin, 269 00:19:16,685 --> 00:19:19,885 they pegged the value at somewhere around $85,000 per coin. 270 00:19:20,405 --> 00:19:25,565 And your buddy, Jack Mahlers from Strike, joined Bloomberg today to talk about 271 00:19:25,565 --> 00:19:27,005 the launch of 21 Capital. 272 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:32,240 BPS stands for Bitcoin per share as opposed to earnings per share and the other 273 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:36,620 is BRR which stands for Bitcoin return rate and my job and what I'm dedicated 274 00:19:36,620 --> 00:19:42,180 to do for our shareholders in which we view similar to our customers is grow our Bitcoin per share. 275 00:19:42,620 --> 00:19:47,000 So we're an operating company and when you buy a share of 21 in a hypothetical 276 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:51,260 sense what we intend to do is let's say our Bitcoin per share is 0.05. 277 00:19:51,460 --> 00:19:57,420 Our intent is to be able to grow that to 0.06 Bitcoin per share, 0.07 Bitcoin per share. 278 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,200 Where a vehicle like an ETF, your exposure is static. 279 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,820 So 21 is an operating business and we will be building Bitcoin products, 280 00:20:05,140 --> 00:20:09,620 Bitcoin operative cash flow, and then using the capital markets to accretively 281 00:20:09,620 --> 00:20:11,420 grow the Bitcoin on our balance sheet. 282 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:15,520 So we want our shareholders to get wealthier, get richer in Bitcoin terms. 283 00:20:15,740 --> 00:20:19,300 And our metrics encourage the market to view us not in fiat terms, 284 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,400 in Bitcoin terms, because we're not here to necessarily beat the market. 285 00:20:22,580 --> 00:20:26,780 We're here to build a new one and encourage the world to adopt Bitcoin in a 286 00:20:26,780 --> 00:20:28,020 sense that we believe it hasn't yet. 287 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,500 But Jack, you already have a Bitcoin product and it's Strike. 288 00:20:31,860 --> 00:20:35,320 Yes. And it's where people can buy, sell, store their crypto. 289 00:20:35,580 --> 00:20:37,480 What happens to that? Are you still going to be leading that business? 290 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:42,620 Yeah. I'm the CEO of both companies. We're actually disclosing today at Strike some of our financials. 291 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,600 So Strike, immensely profitable. We have over 20% EBITDA margin, 292 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,220 85% gross profit margin. We have only 75 employees. 293 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,960 So on a gross or net profit, per employee basis, we got to be one of, 294 00:20:54,020 --> 00:20:57,500 if not, you know, the biggest in the Bitcoin space in that regard. 295 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,840 And so it's an incredibly strong business. It's doing well. I'm so proud of 296 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,480 the employees and our investors and thankful for our customers. 297 00:21:03,700 --> 00:21:07,520 And, you know, Caroline, you can just do things. And I'm going to lead both businesses. 298 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:12,760 I truly believe my purpose on this planet is to try and help Bitcoin have a 299 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,540 chance to change the world in what I believe is the right direction. 300 00:21:15,540 --> 00:21:19,560 And I think Strike and 21 both independently work towards that. 301 00:21:20,300 --> 00:21:22,440 I have to say, picking Jack. 302 00:21:23,195 --> 00:21:28,055 As the CEO to lead this is probably a pretty good move. 303 00:21:28,275 --> 00:21:33,795 He has a good reputation in the space, and he can also speak the language of the market. 304 00:21:34,115 --> 00:21:36,715 He also seems to be very passionate about the topic. 305 00:21:37,595 --> 00:21:42,115 And I mean, well, look, they're actually, they're going to get into some of 306 00:21:42,115 --> 00:21:44,175 the details of how the shares work. So I'll play that bit. 307 00:21:44,595 --> 00:21:50,095 I have to say this next host really comes in strong with the Karen energy. 308 00:21:50,295 --> 00:21:52,575 You'll see what I'm talking about here. Just prepare yourself. 309 00:21:52,575 --> 00:21:55,215 One, both independently work towards that. 310 00:21:55,975 --> 00:21:59,155 Jack, you have plans to raise capital, and I guess not just like as a one-off, 311 00:21:59,315 --> 00:22:01,415 over time raise capital, right? 312 00:22:01,615 --> 00:22:04,575 How will that work in practice? What mechanisms will you use? 313 00:22:04,635 --> 00:22:08,375 And a lot of people that watch the show ask if they're not registered institutional 314 00:22:08,375 --> 00:22:10,895 investors, how can they participate in that? 315 00:22:11,475 --> 00:22:15,135 Yes. I thought for a second you were going to offer me some money to buy some Bitcoin. 316 00:22:15,435 --> 00:22:19,995 Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I'm kidding, man. Go with my actual question. No, totally. 317 00:22:20,275 --> 00:22:24,375 So listen, we, I just find that intensely rude. 318 00:22:24,715 --> 00:22:28,375 You know, I've done hundreds of interviews and I would never, 319 00:22:28,935 --> 00:22:30,695 ever talk to my guests like that. 320 00:22:30,815 --> 00:22:34,335 I might, what I would do is I'd have a little bit of fun back and then I'd try 321 00:22:34,335 --> 00:22:37,215 to get them politely back on track to show some respect. 322 00:22:37,975 --> 00:22:40,975 You know, they're taking their time. They're providing you content. 323 00:22:40,995 --> 00:22:43,555 They're answering your stupid question. 324 00:22:43,775 --> 00:22:46,735 And he has, no, absolutely not. 325 00:22:46,995 --> 00:22:50,055 Try go with my original question. It's... 326 00:22:50,436 --> 00:22:55,976 If you put yourself in the position of an interviewer, it's kind of an inappropriate thing to do. 327 00:22:56,516 --> 00:23:00,416 And I don't know if this guy is like, maybe he's an XRP guy. 328 00:23:00,576 --> 00:23:02,756 That's probably, you know what? That explains it. 329 00:23:03,076 --> 00:23:06,536 He's a ripple XRP guy. With my actual question. No, totally. 330 00:23:06,816 --> 00:23:12,916 So listen, we are hopeful to have our shares listed on a stock exchange under the ticker XXI. 331 00:23:13,156 --> 00:23:17,416 Today, we are trading under CEP, which Caroline mentioned is our Cantor Equity 332 00:23:17,416 --> 00:23:19,936 Partners. And that stock is trading in live today. 333 00:23:20,436 --> 00:23:24,096 If it's successfully merged upon closing, it will be XXI. 334 00:23:24,436 --> 00:23:28,996 We do intend to raise as much capital as we possibly can to acquire Bitcoin. 335 00:23:29,316 --> 00:23:33,076 Again, my one rule to my shareholders is it will be accretive. 336 00:23:33,296 --> 00:23:38,056 Our Bitcoin per share will grow. We will never have Bitcoin per share negative. 337 00:23:38,236 --> 00:23:39,176 At least that's our intent. 338 00:23:39,376 --> 00:23:42,176 Our intent is to make sure that when you're a shareholder of 21, 339 00:23:42,516 --> 00:23:44,756 that you're getting wealthier in Bitcoin terms. 340 00:23:44,876 --> 00:23:49,136 And that's my job as a CEO to deliver that. So we plan on raising capital in 341 00:23:49,136 --> 00:23:52,876 all different type of sectors and markets and really blending Bitcoin and incorporating 342 00:23:52,876 --> 00:23:56,936 it in the traditional financial system to deliver a powerful equity to the public 343 00:23:56,936 --> 00:23:57,956 markets for Bitcoiners. 344 00:23:58,316 --> 00:24:01,296 All right. He's on point there, isn't he? 345 00:24:01,396 --> 00:24:05,276 So we have a Bitcoin treasury company with Cantor Fitzgerald's institutional 346 00:24:05,276 --> 00:24:08,516 capital markets expertise and their network. 347 00:24:08,516 --> 00:24:12,976 You have Tether's money bags, just constant money bags, and SoftBank's huge 348 00:24:12,976 --> 00:24:16,896 money bags and portfolio of companies. And then you have Jack Mauler's in the leadership. 349 00:24:17,276 --> 00:24:19,956 And starting, they're going to hold more than 42,000 Bitcoin, 350 00:24:20,196 --> 00:24:22,996 which priced right now is around $4 billion USD. 351 00:24:23,276 --> 00:24:26,716 They have that on the balance sheet. And then they're going to work to raise. 352 00:24:26,716 --> 00:24:32,016 Money and acquire as much more Bitcoin as possible in the coming years. I mean, whoo! 353 00:24:33,056 --> 00:24:36,976 Okay, that's going to be interesting to watch. Speaking of MicroStrategy, 354 00:24:37,096 --> 00:24:38,256 they bought again this week. 355 00:24:38,776 --> 00:24:43,956 They increased their Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 Bitcoin. 356 00:24:45,071 --> 00:24:53,091 In the latest purchase, the company has spent more than $555 million to buy 6,556 coins. 357 00:25:04,011 --> 00:25:10,671 So here's my question. Are you tempted or are you already buying shares in things 358 00:25:10,671 --> 00:25:16,031 like MSTR, MSTY? And would you consider buying stock in 21 Capital? 359 00:25:17,151 --> 00:25:19,851 I think to some of you, it sounds crazy. Why would you just stack sets? 360 00:25:20,031 --> 00:25:21,831 Stack sets. Keep it easy. Keep it simple. 361 00:25:22,311 --> 00:25:26,211 But one thing I'm noticing is a trend in the Bitcoin community to try to ride 362 00:25:26,211 --> 00:25:32,711 the Bitcoin adjacent stocks like MicroStrategy and now probably 21 Capital to 363 00:25:32,711 --> 00:25:38,731 increase their cash pile temporarily and then smash buy Bitcoin at the right time. 364 00:25:38,731 --> 00:25:42,591 So they claim, and I'm curious if this is you, that their long-term goal is 365 00:25:42,591 --> 00:25:47,291 still to buy Bitcoin, but to use these more volatile, sometimes more performant 366 00:25:47,291 --> 00:25:50,391 vehicles to accumulate the cash pile. 367 00:25:50,571 --> 00:25:53,031 So are you tempted by this quote-unquote strategy? 368 00:25:53,631 --> 00:25:56,991 Is it something you've thought about or is it something you're going to avoid? 369 00:25:57,751 --> 00:26:00,271 Boost in and tell me what your thoughts are on this. I'm curious to know where 370 00:26:00,271 --> 00:26:02,991 the This Week in Bitcoin audience stands on this kind of thing. 371 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:22,000 Music. 372 00:26:21,845 --> 00:26:25,245 Well, coming up on the show, it's your boosts, a lot of lightning updates, 373 00:26:25,445 --> 00:26:28,505 a final clip of the week, state of the network, and more. 374 00:26:28,905 --> 00:26:31,765 First, I want to mention you can support the show just by doing what you do. 375 00:26:31,865 --> 00:26:33,085 You stacking sats? I hope. 376 00:26:34,145 --> 00:26:38,005 Well, you should check out River. I think it's the best way to stack sats in the U.S. 377 00:26:38,105 --> 00:26:40,665 They have a lot of great options, some of the best features, 378 00:26:41,005 --> 00:26:46,365 that 3.8% sats on your cash savings account that is FDIC insured. 379 00:26:46,565 --> 00:26:49,285 I have a link to River. If you click through it, it supports the show. 380 00:26:49,845 --> 00:26:52,565 Now, if you're all about the self-custody, you want to go straight to your own 381 00:26:52,565 --> 00:26:55,265 wallet, or if you're in Canada and you're looking for a great source, 382 00:26:55,685 --> 00:26:57,825 the Bitcoin wealth is available in the U.S. or Canada. 383 00:26:58,125 --> 00:27:01,645 It's an amazing automatic self-custody platform. Link in the notes. 384 00:27:02,025 --> 00:27:05,005 The Bitcoin company, if you got some sats on a Lightning wallet and you want 385 00:27:05,005 --> 00:27:09,285 to convert them real quick into a gift card, hundreds of companies, 386 00:27:09,505 --> 00:27:13,685 only Bitcoin, you get rewards. I get rewards when you use the link in the show notes. 387 00:27:13,845 --> 00:27:16,325 If you're ready to stack sats with your debit card purchases, 388 00:27:16,585 --> 00:27:20,285 when you pay the bills, those types of things, Check out the Fold Card. 389 00:27:20,445 --> 00:27:22,545 Very popular in our community. I'm a customer. 390 00:27:23,045 --> 00:27:26,045 And last but not least, if you're trying to get access to your Bitcoin value 391 00:27:26,045 --> 00:27:29,245 without selling it, Salt Lending has a bunch of great features. 392 00:27:29,405 --> 00:27:33,765 All these companies I use and a lot of people in our community use them too. 393 00:27:33,885 --> 00:27:37,865 And you can support the show by doing what you do when you click those links. 394 00:27:38,665 --> 00:27:41,185 Thank you, everybody who does that. I really appreciate it. 395 00:27:42,405 --> 00:27:45,405 Oh, we got some boost. Look at that right there to get into. 396 00:27:45,565 --> 00:27:53,345 And our baller booster this week is Satsquanch. was 72,888 sats. Hey, rich lobster! 397 00:27:55,385 --> 00:28:01,205 Well, I'll be dipped. Ah, Sasquatch writes, Hey, Chris, I'm sending this from my AlbiHub. Ha ha ha! 398 00:28:01,685 --> 00:28:03,585 Love that. Using Podverse. 399 00:28:05,005 --> 00:28:08,785 I tried and failed to boost from Fountain, and then I tried to boost again on 400 00:28:08,785 --> 00:28:13,305 Monday from my Breeze wallet, and it worked, but ultimately also failed and then closed my channel. 401 00:28:14,285 --> 00:28:17,705 So hopefully my new channels on the AlbiHub connected through my Start 9 node. 402 00:28:17,705 --> 00:28:19,345 This one will hopefully work, 403 00:28:20,162 --> 00:28:23,482 My buds at the Secret Thousand Oaks Meetup are responsible for the funding. 404 00:28:23,782 --> 00:28:27,442 Shout out to the Secret Thousand Oaks Meetup folks. 405 00:28:28,382 --> 00:28:33,002 Always nice to hear a check-in from you guys. Now, as far as boost failing from 406 00:28:33,002 --> 00:28:36,722 Fountain, that's pretty rare. But if it happens to you, please do let me know. 407 00:28:37,122 --> 00:28:41,102 When you boost from Breeze, the tricky thing can be is you need to let Breeze 408 00:28:41,102 --> 00:28:43,422 set up, you know, get going for a little bit every now and then. 409 00:28:43,422 --> 00:28:45,882 I have occasionally had problems with Breeze, but it's been pretty solid. 410 00:28:46,422 --> 00:28:49,222 But it's awesome you got it working for you. I'll be hub. Well done. 411 00:28:49,862 --> 00:28:54,862 You know what I would like is if people wanted to boost in the large channel 412 00:28:54,862 --> 00:28:57,902 providers or whoever, whatever it is that you've connected your AlbiHub to that 413 00:28:57,902 --> 00:28:59,042 are working for you for boosting. 414 00:28:59,722 --> 00:29:02,542 Because one of the things that I think would make the Breeze stuff a little 415 00:29:02,542 --> 00:29:05,542 smoother, especially when boosting our shows, because I have self-hosted nodes, 416 00:29:05,782 --> 00:29:10,762 is like what channels do my Lightning nodes need to be connected to for Breeze 417 00:29:10,762 --> 00:29:13,622 Boost to work well and for AlbiHub Boost to work well? 418 00:29:13,622 --> 00:29:17,422 You know, there's nodes out there like ACQIN and others, and I'm connected to 419 00:29:17,422 --> 00:29:21,282 those, but are there specific Breeze nodes or there's other ones that people are connecting to? 420 00:29:21,402 --> 00:29:27,022 Because as a community, if we were sort of, you know, for the most part, 421 00:29:27,222 --> 00:29:29,722 connected to some of the same nodes and some of the same channels, 422 00:29:29,942 --> 00:29:33,102 we would essentially build our own hub and spoke community. 423 00:29:33,582 --> 00:29:38,002 So boost in what channels, or I'm sorry, who you've opened channels to that 424 00:29:38,002 --> 00:29:42,182 have helped solve your boosting issues and things like that and just other channel 425 00:29:42,182 --> 00:29:44,522 providers in general. that I could put out there. 426 00:29:45,042 --> 00:29:47,822 I don't know if I have the best. I'm always looking for better ones. 427 00:29:48,502 --> 00:29:51,442 Thank you for the boost, SatSquatch. I really appreciate the baller support. 428 00:29:52,242 --> 00:29:56,762 J-Cube comes in with 20,000 sats. Oh, this is Cajun spicy. 429 00:29:57,182 --> 00:30:00,062 I agree with you on your miner analysis in the last episode. 430 00:30:00,402 --> 00:30:02,762 Please keep up the coverage and analysis that you've been providing. 431 00:30:02,982 --> 00:30:06,602 I find the insights very valuable. Stay frosty, my friend. 432 00:30:07,122 --> 00:30:11,582 Oh, boy, day one was our guarantee. Yep, yep. Thank you very much. 433 00:30:11,682 --> 00:30:13,462 I will keep an eye on the mining situation. 434 00:30:14,082 --> 00:30:17,922 I'm going to try to double down on getting good sources for that. 435 00:30:18,102 --> 00:30:20,622 And if you're out there, if you're a miner, you've got some experience, 436 00:30:20,802 --> 00:30:25,682 please do share with me, boost in, jump in the matrix, whatever works for you 437 00:30:25,682 --> 00:30:26,782 to try to get me your insights. 438 00:30:26,942 --> 00:30:29,282 I very much appreciate it. I appreciate that boost. 439 00:30:29,882 --> 00:30:33,842 Thank you, JQ. User 54 comes in with 2,121 sets. 440 00:30:34,762 --> 00:30:38,642 Keep up the good work. Well, thank you. I will. Thank you for the boost. 441 00:30:38,722 --> 00:30:39,882 Ace Ackerman's here with a row of ducks. 442 00:30:41,222 --> 00:30:45,102 I think there's a very low probability of the miners mounting attack on the 443 00:30:45,102 --> 00:30:48,162 network. Just not sure who would benefit long term. 444 00:30:48,902 --> 00:30:52,502 Yeah, it's the incentives, right? The incentives just don't really line up. 445 00:30:53,082 --> 00:30:57,442 You would crash the value of the network. Who wants that? Thank you for the 446 00:30:57,442 --> 00:30:58,462 boost. Nice to hear from you, Ace. 447 00:30:59,340 --> 00:31:03,400 Master Reboot is here with 5,000 Sets. Yeah, I got answers and I want some questions. 448 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:08,020 Loving the show, this and the Bitcoin dad is the reason I'm into Bitcoin, but I need your input. 449 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:11,800 I have a Bitcoin node and a Lightning node installed on Umbral, 450 00:31:12,220 --> 00:31:16,740 but I have no clue what to use for a wallet, neither for Lightning or for Bitcoin. 451 00:31:16,900 --> 00:31:19,460 What would you recommend that I should connect to my nodes? 452 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,520 I'm torn between something on my Android or on my desktop wallet. 453 00:31:22,700 --> 00:31:27,460 I'm currently buying and storing using the Cash app, but I hate the KYC. Thanks in advance. 454 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:32,460 Oh, well, congratulations first on having the node and getting both your Bitcoin 455 00:31:32,460 --> 00:31:33,260 node going, but also Lightning. 456 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:39,260 Take a moment to recognize that's awesome. And you're contributing to the network just right there. 457 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,260 Number two, you got a lot of options and I know that's part of your problems. 458 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,520 So what I would do is focus on just a couple. 459 00:31:47,060 --> 00:31:48,640 First and foremost, I have to 460 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,700 mention the Zeus wallet. It's pretty straightforward to connect to Umbral. 461 00:31:51,940 --> 00:31:55,640 And what's so fantastic about Zeus is it could be a Lightning node in your pocket 462 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,280 or it can just be a front end. to your already existing node. 463 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:03,760 And it does such a great job. So I'm going to put a link to the Zeus wallet in the show notes. 464 00:32:04,340 --> 00:32:10,320 I've also, I've been recently testing the BitBox 2 hardware wallet and the BitBox 465 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,320 wallet app. And I'm really impressed. 466 00:32:13,276 --> 00:32:19,176 I had not really heard of or was familiar with Bitbox. I have to be honest with you. 467 00:32:19,516 --> 00:32:23,796 I'm familiar with other hardware wallets out there. But they're a Swiss company, 468 00:32:23,796 --> 00:32:26,016 and they have a really great product. 469 00:32:26,196 --> 00:32:29,176 And I've been testing it for a couple of weeks now, about three weeks. 470 00:32:29,356 --> 00:32:35,676 And one of the things I love is it's working fantastic with my Graphene OS Pixel 7. 471 00:32:35,936 --> 00:32:39,536 And so I've got the Bitbox app on there over USB-C. 472 00:32:39,696 --> 00:32:44,156 I plug on the Bitbox O2 hardware wallet. and their app implements the Breeze 473 00:32:44,156 --> 00:32:48,876 SDK and their app supports Lightning and OnChain, the BitBox app. 474 00:32:49,076 --> 00:32:53,836 So it's a really nice combination and it works with other wallets on the phone 475 00:32:53,836 --> 00:32:55,736 as well. So you don't just have to use their app. 476 00:32:56,016 --> 00:33:00,756 I'll have more when I've used it further, done a few more transactions and things 477 00:33:00,756 --> 00:33:02,916 like that, but so far it's been going really well. 478 00:33:03,056 --> 00:33:06,876 And so that is something else you could look into is the BitBox and the BitBox 479 00:33:06,876 --> 00:33:11,216 app, but you might just start with Zeus and see how that works for you. 480 00:33:11,636 --> 00:33:13,016 And take it from there. And then 481 00:33:13,016 --> 00:33:16,176 report back. Let me know because I think you're not alone in that quest. 482 00:33:16,416 --> 00:33:19,656 And thank you for the boost. Alder comes in with a row of decks. 483 00:33:20,656 --> 00:33:23,576 This is boost with a flag and a heart. 484 00:33:23,856 --> 00:33:26,936 My emojis don't render in Firefox right now. Does anybody else have this problem, 485 00:33:27,436 --> 00:33:28,736 where emojis are not rendering? 486 00:33:29,596 --> 00:33:33,156 It's in Firefox. It's the worst. It just happened recently. 487 00:33:33,396 --> 00:33:36,056 But thank you for that boost. Thank you everybody who boosts in the show. 488 00:33:36,156 --> 00:33:39,536 I got a bunch below the 2000 cutoff for reading on air. And I really appreciate 489 00:33:39,536 --> 00:33:40,936 that. I saved those in the doc. 490 00:33:41,216 --> 00:33:46,356 We had 35 of you stream sats as you listened, and you stacked a nice 73,025 491 00:33:46,356 --> 00:33:48,596 sats for the show, which I really appreciate. 492 00:33:48,836 --> 00:33:53,136 When you combine that with our boosters, we didn't have a blowaway week this week. 493 00:33:53,276 --> 00:33:57,236 But, you know, I recognize not every freaking week can be a blowaway week. 494 00:33:57,316 --> 00:33:59,936 I think for me a blowaway would be like 400,000. 495 00:34:00,356 --> 00:34:05,236 And, you know, like a getting by week is like above 250,000. 496 00:34:05,476 --> 00:34:10,296 This week we stacked 181,299. Not the worst week ever. 497 00:34:10,656 --> 00:34:14,796 They're not a great week. And I'm actually okay taking that one on. 498 00:34:15,196 --> 00:34:18,636 Maybe, you know, last week's show maybe wasn't very good. It sometimes happens. 499 00:34:20,333 --> 00:34:23,093 I hope you get some value from the show. If you do, please consider boosting. 500 00:34:23,413 --> 00:34:26,533 One of the easiest ways to do it is Fountain FM when it works, 501 00:34:26,653 --> 00:34:30,853 but it generally does because they have an entire infrastructure to host all of that for you. 502 00:34:31,073 --> 00:34:37,953 However, like others, you can go the full self-hosted route with your own Lightning 503 00:34:37,953 --> 00:34:42,133 Node, maybe using AlbiHub and a podcasting app of your choice. 504 00:34:42,893 --> 00:34:46,773 From totally taken care of for you to total sovereignty, there's a whole world 505 00:34:46,773 --> 00:34:48,633 out there of podcast and Lightning options. 506 00:34:56,613 --> 00:35:00,293 You can use something as simple as breeze b-r-e-e-z and 507 00:35:00,293 --> 00:35:02,973 it'll set up a lightning node in your pocket and you can find the 508 00:35:02,973 --> 00:35:05,773 show in there in boost it's a great way to support the show use 509 00:35:05,773 --> 00:35:09,433 the lightning network learn more about the lightning network and send a little 510 00:35:09,433 --> 00:35:12,773 value back and thank you everybody who does that we'll have links in the show 511 00:35:12,773 --> 00:35:25,353 notes to help you get started I don't know. 512 00:35:25,893 --> 00:35:28,833 Now, I have a lot of Lightning updates for you. 513 00:35:29,013 --> 00:35:33,213 First is I'm going to link to a longer blog post by the OpenSats folks, 514 00:35:33,293 --> 00:35:36,213 and it covers advancements in Lightning infrastructure. 515 00:35:36,733 --> 00:35:43,813 It really explores how projects are starting to develop next level solutions 516 00:35:43,813 --> 00:35:45,333 for the Bitcoin and Lightning layer. 517 00:35:45,553 --> 00:35:49,713 Just new kind of ideas, new ways, and new innovation of solving things. 518 00:35:49,713 --> 00:35:54,873 And the article itself tries to really tackle scaling Bitcoin for everyday payments 519 00:35:54,873 --> 00:35:59,953 and how they believe Lightning can help it accomplish that, at least directly. 520 00:36:00,813 --> 00:36:05,253 And some of the technologies that they're helping invest in to enable that, 521 00:36:05,493 --> 00:36:08,973 like splicing, which enables dynamic channel resizing without downtime, 522 00:36:09,473 --> 00:36:13,493 validating Lightning signers, which secures private keys by using an external 523 00:36:13,493 --> 00:36:18,373 signer, which reduces the risk of compromised nodes. I love this. 524 00:36:18,613 --> 00:36:25,433 And then they're working on a simulation tool called Blast, which tests interoperability 525 00:36:25,433 --> 00:36:29,453 between CLN Lightning Demon and LND and LDK. 526 00:36:30,013 --> 00:36:34,733 CLN is getting pretty popular. LND still is the most widely deployed, 527 00:36:34,993 --> 00:36:36,873 LDK obviously being the development kit. 528 00:36:37,033 --> 00:36:40,953 It models real-world lightning conditions by running nodes in a single process, 529 00:36:41,253 --> 00:36:45,793 optimizing routing and liquidity strategies, and helps diagnose inconsistencies 530 00:36:45,793 --> 00:36:51,353 and prepare also for a broader lightning ecosystem where you have all these 531 00:36:51,353 --> 00:36:53,953 different types of lightning nodes. I think that's just great. 532 00:36:54,273 --> 00:36:59,073 And there's also now a new Python-based modular testing library to help validate 533 00:36:59,073 --> 00:37:00,453 cross-implementation protocols. 534 00:37:00,753 --> 00:37:04,633 It's called LNPrototest. It's an out-of-tree testing. 535 00:37:04,653 --> 00:37:09,833 It lets you test things out of tree that aren't implemented yet as well as things 536 00:37:09,833 --> 00:37:12,693 that are in tree. And these projects... 537 00:37:13,627 --> 00:37:19,927 And a bunch of other ones add up to something like 250 OpenSats grants to back all of these. 538 00:37:20,007 --> 00:37:24,787 I mean, OpenSats has really been helping the Lightning Network build out a large, 539 00:37:24,927 --> 00:37:26,607 robust set of infrastructure tools. 540 00:37:27,007 --> 00:37:30,307 And they highlight a lot of that. So it's a really long read, 541 00:37:30,327 --> 00:37:32,867 but it's a really good read if you're a Lightning fan. 542 00:37:33,047 --> 00:37:35,787 That is linked in the show notes. It's pretty nice. 543 00:37:37,307 --> 00:37:42,327 More Lightning news. Albie held a hackaday. And I'll link to it, 544 00:37:42,367 --> 00:37:43,407 but there's some good stuff in here. 545 00:37:43,627 --> 00:37:48,007 During a two-day internal hackathon, Albi developed and prototyped three different 546 00:37:48,007 --> 00:37:52,727 types of Bitcoin payment tools aimed at improving the user experience and utility 547 00:37:52,727 --> 00:37:54,347 of the Lightning Network ecosystem. 548 00:37:54,767 --> 00:38:00,387 They talked about SparkyHub, which is a new NostraWallet Connect-enabled wallet 549 00:38:00,387 --> 00:38:04,807 with a React front-end, Node.js back-end, SQLite in there, too. 550 00:38:04,807 --> 00:38:09,267 It leverages Spark, which is a scalable Lightning-compatible Bitcoin Layer 2 551 00:38:09,267 --> 00:38:13,447 solution, and it allows them to coordinate multiple users under a few large 552 00:38:13,447 --> 00:38:16,207 channels without compromising key custody. 553 00:38:16,727 --> 00:38:21,127 SparkyHub integrates seamlessly into other apps via the Nostra Connect protocol, 554 00:38:21,827 --> 00:38:23,647 so it doesn't require its own UI to do that. 555 00:38:23,767 --> 00:38:26,847 It connects with wallets like AlbiGo and the Albi Browser extension. 556 00:38:27,107 --> 00:38:32,387 They also worked on auto-swaps inside AlbiHub, designed to automate swap-outs 557 00:38:32,387 --> 00:38:36,867 from Lightning to on-chain, ensuring that users always will have receiving capacity. 558 00:38:37,407 --> 00:38:44,127 This feature uses the Bolts API and it runs in the background as a job triggering 559 00:38:44,127 --> 00:38:47,587 a swap once a user-defined balance threshold has been exceeded. 560 00:38:48,287 --> 00:38:53,047 And then in the hackathon, they focused on the swap outside and they have plans 561 00:38:53,047 --> 00:38:55,987 to enable manual swaps and swapping and automation as well. 562 00:38:56,307 --> 00:38:58,687 And then last but not least, something else that grabbed my attention. 563 00:38:59,407 --> 00:39:06,247 They developed an idea or prototype for a value-for-value RSS feed reader. 564 00:39:06,687 --> 00:39:11,167 It's an HTML app supporting direct Lightning payments to content creators via 565 00:39:11,167 --> 00:39:13,647 the RSS value tags that we use in podcasting. 566 00:39:14,207 --> 00:39:18,767 You could use, say, the Albi WordPress plugin. Creators could add a Lightning address to their feeds. 567 00:39:18,927 --> 00:39:23,227 But, you know, any way to add the value block to your feed, the reader fetches, 568 00:39:23,367 --> 00:39:27,487 displays the RSS content, and it includes a little pay in Bitcoin button. 569 00:39:28,454 --> 00:39:32,454 And I guess it's worth mentioning, I think they vibe coded this thing. 570 00:39:32,574 --> 00:39:36,914 So just so you know, the tool promotes supporting writers the same way that 571 00:39:36,914 --> 00:39:40,234 you can boost a podcast using the same underlying technology, 572 00:39:40,494 --> 00:39:43,674 which is really neat to see. So look at Albie Go. 573 00:39:44,214 --> 00:39:48,494 And then speaking of really innovative lightning developers, 574 00:39:48,854 --> 00:39:51,554 the Breeze folks put out a newsletter, their seventh newsletter, 575 00:39:51,754 --> 00:39:55,654 and they highlighted major strides in their lightning and Bitcoin adoption through 576 00:39:55,654 --> 00:39:56,854 new offerings that they have. 577 00:39:56,854 --> 00:40:01,654 One of them is Misty Breeze, a new open-source reference app built with Flutter 578 00:40:01,654 --> 00:40:07,254 on top of the Breeze SDK, which is nodeless, and it's designed to simplify Lightning payments. 579 00:40:07,554 --> 00:40:10,934 It's white-label ready, allowing developers to just quickly deploy apps with 580 00:40:10,934 --> 00:40:15,014 features like multi-format send and receive support, offline payment reception. 581 00:40:15,594 --> 00:40:21,534 Custom Lightning addresses, and key ownership, all without having to manage a node. 582 00:40:21,694 --> 00:40:26,334 And this is just ready for app developers to just plop right into the app they're 583 00:40:26,334 --> 00:40:27,714 building. It's awesome. 584 00:40:28,074 --> 00:40:30,994 There's a bunch of other really great apps from Breeze as well, 585 00:40:31,154 --> 00:40:34,934 including they're working on Wasm support for the Breeze SDK. 586 00:40:35,414 --> 00:40:40,274 They have an update to their SDK in general. And they're also talking about 587 00:40:40,274 --> 00:40:43,314 doing demos at PubKeyBar and other events as well. 588 00:40:43,434 --> 00:40:44,834 So you'll have to check out the 589 00:40:44,834 --> 00:40:46,934 show notes for the links to these because they're all pretty long posts. 590 00:40:47,034 --> 00:40:52,194 But I walked away from this feeling like we are really seeing some incredible 591 00:40:52,194 --> 00:40:54,694 developments in the Lightning space. 592 00:40:54,694 --> 00:41:00,254 And it's one of these things where I swear half the people in the Bitcoin space 593 00:41:00,254 --> 00:41:03,994 are saying lightning has failed, it's never going to work, it won't scale to the world. 594 00:41:04,134 --> 00:41:07,974 And then we have people that are actually developing things and building things, 595 00:41:08,054 --> 00:41:13,114 or in the case of OpenSats, funding things, and they clearly believe the opposite. 596 00:41:13,154 --> 00:41:14,754 And they're building to that future. 597 00:41:15,174 --> 00:41:20,994 And I'm just here for it. Either way, I think I have really become a fan of 598 00:41:20,994 --> 00:41:26,394 the idea that Bitcoin is a rock solid fundamental layer one. It's like TCP IP. 599 00:41:26,634 --> 00:41:32,014 And then you can build stacks on top of that, like HTTPS or whatever else it might be. 600 00:41:32,214 --> 00:41:37,754 And that is going to be extremely valuable because the bulk of the noise and 601 00:41:37,754 --> 00:41:41,494 the action and the day-to-day stuff can happen in those second or third layers. 602 00:41:41,934 --> 00:41:45,854 And then they have the security and the finality of that first layer when they 603 00:41:45,854 --> 00:41:49,394 need it. but it doesn't need to be every single little transaction. 604 00:41:49,914 --> 00:41:56,354 It really is silly if you think about it. If you think of block space as precious and rare. 605 00:41:57,217 --> 00:42:01,497 It's ridiculous to want to have your payment for coffee to be on the blockchain. 606 00:42:01,677 --> 00:42:03,437 That's silly. It's stupid. It's selfish. 607 00:42:04,077 --> 00:42:07,117 Layer two solved this problem. And we have a lot of options here. 608 00:42:07,637 --> 00:42:10,957 You know, ARK is something else that I'm looking into. You guys know that I 609 00:42:10,957 --> 00:42:14,017 also use Liquid. You can technically consider that a layer two, 610 00:42:14,137 --> 00:42:14,957 although it's really a side chain. 611 00:42:15,657 --> 00:42:23,397 But Lightning, I think, offers the possibility of being the SMTP to Bitcoin. 612 00:42:24,017 --> 00:42:27,237 Now, Bitcoin has a network built into it. But again, that's the layer one. 613 00:42:27,697 --> 00:42:32,217 It really needs something that is node to node level. 614 00:42:32,477 --> 00:42:38,517 And I do expect, you know, down the road, it's going to be the majority of banks 615 00:42:38,517 --> 00:42:42,957 and corporations and businesses that are providing Bitcoin services via Lightning. 616 00:42:43,237 --> 00:42:45,197 Maybe they're even transferring to each other via Lightning. 617 00:42:45,697 --> 00:42:49,157 And it won't be the majority of us plebs that are running the nodes. 618 00:42:49,277 --> 00:42:53,037 But we'll still be able to. Like, we have sustained this far. 619 00:42:53,397 --> 00:42:58,557 We have made it this long with the culture of self-hosted nodes and peer-to-peer 620 00:42:58,557 --> 00:43:00,877 lightning network that it will never go away at this point. 621 00:43:00,997 --> 00:43:04,957 But I do think they will have a majority of big players that will probably run 622 00:43:04,957 --> 00:43:08,357 the lightning infrastructure because they need it to be as reliable as they 623 00:43:08,357 --> 00:43:10,177 needed SMTP to be reliable. 624 00:43:10,397 --> 00:43:12,877 And if you don't know, that's the Simple Mail Transport Protocol, 625 00:43:13,117 --> 00:43:17,117 which is essential for moving email between different servers. 626 00:43:17,117 --> 00:43:21,297 You know, when you send an email between Gmail and somebody at Outlook.com, 627 00:43:21,377 --> 00:43:25,177 they're using SMTP still to this day, which if you had the initiative, 628 00:43:25,417 --> 00:43:30,537 time, and desire for paying, you could set up a Linux box and you could install 629 00:43:30,537 --> 00:43:34,517 SMTP and you could install everything you need, spam filter, 630 00:43:34,637 --> 00:43:37,457 all that kind of crap, set up the DNS, and you could run your own email server today. 631 00:43:37,677 --> 00:43:42,217 I think Lightning will always be easier than that for us self-hosters. 632 00:43:42,397 --> 00:43:46,457 And the Bitcoin nodes, that's baked in. That's always going to be a thing we can do. 633 00:43:47,117 --> 00:43:52,497 I love seeing all of these groups just crank out useful thing after useful thing, 634 00:43:52,697 --> 00:43:56,537 bringing the usability and accessibility of Lightning down to more and more users. 635 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:09,200 Music. 636 00:44:09,046 --> 00:44:14,286 To our final clip of the week. You're probably familiar with Samson Mao, 637 00:44:14,406 --> 00:44:16,286 or maybe you've heard the name before. He's an OG. 638 00:44:16,626 --> 00:44:19,286 He's a gigabull. There you have it. 639 00:44:19,866 --> 00:44:24,746 Permagigabull. That's what Samson Mao is. A permagigabull. He now works at Jan3. 640 00:44:24,886 --> 00:44:26,946 They make the AquaWallet, amongst other things. 641 00:44:27,266 --> 00:44:30,526 And he points out that we ain't seen nothing yet. 642 00:44:30,766 --> 00:44:35,766 If we start to see FOMO level at the government level buying Bitcoin, 643 00:44:36,506 --> 00:44:39,086 things are going to get real volatile real quick. 644 00:44:39,946 --> 00:44:46,106 As more countries look towards Bitcoin as the solution to their problems, which it is. 645 00:44:46,806 --> 00:44:51,446 And the kind of normalization of Bitcoin strategies, especially from the US, 646 00:44:51,686 --> 00:44:56,226 like even before the SBR, you can look to the ETFs and say the largest asset 647 00:44:56,226 --> 00:44:58,606 manager on the planet has launched a Bitcoin ETF. 648 00:44:58,986 --> 00:45:01,086 Why wouldn't a poor country allocate 649 00:45:01,086 --> 00:45:04,746 some of their capital, some of their reserves to Bitcoin in some way? 650 00:45:04,746 --> 00:45:08,826 Just as a prudent asset management strategy, which in theory, 651 00:45:09,026 --> 00:45:12,286 every central bank of every country should be doing if that is their mandate 652 00:45:12,286 --> 00:45:15,466 to stabilize prices and ensure economic stability. 653 00:45:15,726 --> 00:45:19,746 But that is not enough, actually. But the SBR, I think, is very different because 654 00:45:19,746 --> 00:45:22,346 it is direct government acquisition. 655 00:45:22,406 --> 00:45:27,306 And I think once that really kicks into high gear, the executive order now just 656 00:45:27,306 --> 00:45:30,086 says don't sell and acquire and budget neutral strategies. 657 00:45:30,086 --> 00:45:34,706 But when they do actually have legislation that says go and buy, 658 00:45:34,866 --> 00:45:40,746 or if Howard Ludnick puts together one of those budget neutral strategies and 659 00:45:40,746 --> 00:45:42,306 starts executing acquisition, 660 00:45:42,686 --> 00:45:45,346 then I think we'll start to see a rush. 661 00:45:45,546 --> 00:45:50,426 And that rush is likely going to be something that we haven't ever seen before. 662 00:45:50,426 --> 00:45:54,186 It is going to trigger that rampage of capital into Bitcoin. 663 00:45:54,526 --> 00:45:58,646 And that's when you see Omega Candles. And that's when you see even more volatility. 664 00:45:58,926 --> 00:46:03,426 We could go up 300,000 and then down $200,000 in a couple days. 665 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:16,560 Music. 666 00:46:16,401 --> 00:46:22,461 Network, this episode is wrapping up at block height 893,667. 667 00:46:22,861 --> 00:46:31,381 The current USD price of Bitcoin is 93,840, which puts the sats per dollar at 1,066. 668 00:46:31,381 --> 00:46:39,201 We're up now 12% in the last seven days, still down 14% from our all-time high 669 00:46:39,201 --> 00:46:44,201 93 days ago of 109,160 on January 19th, 2025. 670 00:46:44,781 --> 00:46:51,461 As of right now, Now, the reachable Bitcoin nodes on the network are 21,547. 671 00:46:52,601 --> 00:46:56,421 Kind of a fun number, but let's see if we couldn't get that to 550. 672 00:46:57,161 --> 00:47:01,481 You have some work to do out there, audience. Go deploy your nodes. Go deploy your nodes. 673 00:47:02,301 --> 00:47:05,341 V-rate right now, still just two sats per V-byte. 674 00:47:05,581 --> 00:47:08,381 Still a great time to open up channels, too. Really is a good time to set up 675 00:47:08,381 --> 00:47:11,921 a node, move some sats around, things like that. Big recommendation. 676 00:47:12,521 --> 00:47:18,481 Bitcoin is cranking right along. Things are looking great. The Bitcoin Network is strong. 677 00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:31,280 Music. 678 00:47:29,241 --> 00:47:35,041 Now i want to let you know a programming note here in two weeks on may 7th i 679 00:47:35,041 --> 00:47:38,861 don't plan to have an episode of this week in bitcoin i'll be on the road doing 680 00:47:38,861 --> 00:47:40,761 a van rescue with my buddy brent, 681 00:47:41,321 --> 00:47:45,161 and i expect we're going to be pretty busy however if i Everything goes really 682 00:47:45,161 --> 00:47:47,161 smooth and there is some big breaking news. 683 00:47:47,521 --> 00:47:51,741 I'll do an episode from the road. But right now, May 7th, I don't plan to have an episode. 684 00:47:51,921 --> 00:47:56,521 So prepare yourself. Could be a time to jump back into the back catalog and 685 00:47:56,521 --> 00:47:59,581 see what I got right, see what I got wrong, and then boost it and tell me about it. 686 00:47:59,781 --> 00:48:04,761 Speaking of boosting in, do you agree with my take that the White House tariff 687 00:48:04,761 --> 00:48:10,261 strategy seems to have backfired and that the bond market ended up being the ultimate boss? 688 00:48:10,381 --> 00:48:13,161 We thought it would be Wall Street with the Trump administration. 689 00:48:13,161 --> 00:48:15,181 That turns out to be the bond market. 690 00:48:15,601 --> 00:48:18,541 I'm curious if you agree with my take or if you have a different one. 691 00:48:18,921 --> 00:48:25,561 Also, I want to know your thoughts on buying the 21 Capital and MSTR stock to 692 00:48:25,561 --> 00:48:30,221 cash accumulate and then smash buy Bitcoin, at least so they claim. 693 00:48:30,421 --> 00:48:33,441 I want to hear your thoughts if you're trying that strategy and how it's been working for you. 694 00:48:33,881 --> 00:48:36,801 My goal here is, of course, not get distracted by the emotions, 695 00:48:36,921 --> 00:48:39,501 but focus on the signal and what's happening. So you can always boost and let 696 00:48:39,501 --> 00:48:40,741 me know how I did there as well. 697 00:48:40,961 --> 00:48:44,601 Now, links to what I talked about, That's at thisweekinbitcoin.show where you 698 00:48:44,601 --> 00:48:49,821 will also find the back catalog, feed, contact information, and more. 699 00:48:50,001 --> 00:48:53,101 Now I'm going to leave you with a value-for-value track like I always do. 700 00:48:53,181 --> 00:48:54,721 So if you boost in while the music plays. 701 00:48:54,640 --> 00:53:42,813 Music.