1 00:00:55,253 --> 00:00:57,353 Welcome into episode one of This 2 00:00:57,353 --> 00:01:00,813 Week in Bitcoin. You're a brave one for checking out the first episode. 3 00:01:01,453 --> 00:01:06,513 The plan is to focus on the most important signal of the week. 4 00:01:06,613 --> 00:01:10,353 My name is Chris. I've been covering Bitcoin for like 14 years in various places. 5 00:01:10,773 --> 00:01:15,693 But this is my first Bitcoin podcast in 12 years. But I think right now it's 6 00:01:15,693 --> 00:01:18,653 some of the most interesting times in Bitcoin. First of all, congratulations. 7 00:01:20,013 --> 00:01:24,473 Nearly all of you are in profit unless you bought it. It's a tippity-tippity top. 8 00:01:25,693 --> 00:01:29,313 That's pretty great. It's been a little bit. It feels good. It was a long bear market. 9 00:01:29,653 --> 00:01:32,993 But if you'll indulge me just for a moment, I know the Bitcoin's now the fifth 10 00:01:32,993 --> 00:01:34,953 largest base money in the world, and that's very exciting. 11 00:01:35,373 --> 00:01:39,153 Number is going up. But as a long timer, if you will, allow me to say, 12 00:01:39,273 --> 00:01:41,973 you should be prepared for anything in the short term. 13 00:01:42,533 --> 00:01:45,633 I'm going to talk about some stuff that is fairly bullish in this episode, 14 00:01:45,753 --> 00:01:53,033 but with the caveat, always expect for face ripping either direction in the short term. 15 00:01:53,293 --> 00:01:55,973 In the long term, I'll expect to have your mind blown, really. 16 00:01:56,213 --> 00:02:02,333 I think one of the biggest signals is just this week there has been a notable 17 00:02:02,333 --> 00:02:06,033 narrative shift around Bitcoin by some of Wall Street. 18 00:02:06,113 --> 00:02:09,893 Not all of Wall Street, but by some of Wall Street. And it is enough now that 19 00:02:09,893 --> 00:02:13,353 the media industry that covers Wall Street is trying to adapt, 20 00:02:13,533 --> 00:02:14,373 but they're struggling. 21 00:02:15,133 --> 00:02:18,693 There's underperformance, OK? It's depressing. 22 00:02:18,993 --> 00:02:23,733 I don't want to. What has Bitcoin ever done for mankind? Are you ever on a Bitcoin phone? 23 00:02:24,033 --> 00:02:27,473 What has Bitcoin ever done for mankind? Have you ever had a Bitcoin phone? 24 00:02:27,813 --> 00:02:31,053 Jim might be a little salty there. He looks like he's in physical pain because 25 00:02:31,053 --> 00:02:33,653 he did just happen to call one of the Pico bottoms again. 26 00:02:34,613 --> 00:02:38,713 The inverse Kramer effect remains strong. But the idea that Bitcoin hasn't done 27 00:02:38,713 --> 00:02:42,853 anything for humanity could only really be said from a position of immense privilege. 28 00:02:43,653 --> 00:02:46,813 Because if you've been financially struggling and you put a little bit of money 29 00:02:46,813 --> 00:02:50,433 in the last year into Bitcoin, well, you just got 170% return. 30 00:02:51,453 --> 00:02:55,353 And if you put money into Bitcoin in a four year period, you've you've never lost money. 31 00:02:56,949 --> 00:03:01,449 It's giving financial tooling to the unbanked. It's giving access to just investing 32 00:03:01,449 --> 00:03:05,769 basic types of wealth investing and saving to the people. 33 00:03:06,829 --> 00:03:12,669 It is an immense, immense change. It is a sea shift and it is minting millionaires right now. 34 00:03:13,849 --> 00:03:18,949 The other thing is that it is just is equally massive is that Bitcoin represents 35 00:03:18,949 --> 00:03:22,189 sound money that is separated from the state. 36 00:03:23,129 --> 00:03:27,949 Bitcoin separates state and money. That is going to be huge for humanity. 37 00:03:28,129 --> 00:03:31,629 I realize it's maybe not great for those of you who have really been lapping 38 00:03:31,629 --> 00:03:36,429 up this easy money cycle and really Fed policy since the 80s. I get that. 39 00:03:36,609 --> 00:03:40,169 But for some of us, it's a massive sea shift with immense value. 40 00:03:40,349 --> 00:03:45,749 It's depressing. I don't want to. What has Bitcoin ever done for mankind? Are you a Bitcoin phone? 41 00:03:46,229 --> 00:03:48,909 I like, too, that his measure of success is a Bitcoin phone. 42 00:03:49,149 --> 00:03:51,169 Well, I mean, Solana's got a phone. 43 00:03:52,249 --> 00:03:55,669 What does that have to do with anything? But not everyone's struggling. 44 00:03:56,089 --> 00:04:00,549 Some are starting to come along, like CNBC's old-timer Joe, who's willing to 45 00:04:00,549 --> 00:04:04,369 go on record and call Bitcoin a store of value, which has, if you're not familiar, 46 00:04:04,729 --> 00:04:08,589 been a point of contention on CNBC for years now. 47 00:04:08,589 --> 00:04:13,049 It's down a day. Not a lot happening in treasuries. 48 00:04:13,089 --> 00:04:18,049 The 10-year has sort of been locked in a little bit of a range as far as yield goes, 428. 49 00:04:19,089 --> 00:04:25,369 But, and that's a big but, crypto, 59. Yeah. 59. 50 00:04:25,869 --> 00:04:27,349 Not crypto, Bitcoin. 51 00:04:27,649 --> 00:04:30,449 And what I was going to say last time when we were talking about it at 58, 52 00:04:30,709 --> 00:04:34,749 when we were talking about it, Andrew, time goes fast. 53 00:04:34,829 --> 00:04:39,509 You'll see the older you get. but we were talking about twenty six or twenty seven, 54 00:04:40,049 --> 00:04:43,609 really it seems like last week it wasn't it was couple months ago but we were 55 00:04:43,609 --> 00:04:47,609 wondering what's going on when there is a good move on the anticipation of the 56 00:04:47,609 --> 00:04:54,229 piaf it what about the fed the easing is that going to be what finally you know you go to bed, 57 00:04:55,207 --> 00:04:57,007 wake up at 59, 58. 58 00:04:57,307 --> 00:05:02,187 I think what Joe's trying to say is that we thought it was going to take Fed 59 00:05:02,187 --> 00:05:04,487 easy before we see Bitcoin ripping again. 60 00:05:04,587 --> 00:05:06,667 But then you go to bed and you wake up and it's ripped overnight. 61 00:05:06,807 --> 00:05:08,587 It's ripping without the Fed printing. 62 00:05:08,727 --> 00:05:12,987 That's unbelievable. It's almost back to where, you know, you always point out 63 00:05:12,987 --> 00:05:17,227 how anybody who bought at 63 or 64 is losing money. 64 00:05:17,327 --> 00:05:19,727 You're not going to be able to say that. I won't be able to say that. 65 00:05:19,767 --> 00:05:23,627 Well, you might be able to It might go back down. 66 00:05:23,827 --> 00:05:29,027 That's that is one of the things that if you buy it, you better be ready for 67 00:05:29,027 --> 00:05:33,867 anything, which goes to the idea of is this a store of value? 68 00:05:34,047 --> 00:05:39,347 Oh, and Andrew has the smug look on his face. This debate has been ongoing forever. 69 00:05:39,647 --> 00:05:42,107 You can go back and find clips of them arguing this years ago. 70 00:05:42,107 --> 00:05:47,207 And what's remarkable is that through all of this time, Andrew hasn't gotten through his head. 71 00:05:47,327 --> 00:05:53,087 Even though he sits on a financial analysis show every morning on the CNBC network, 72 00:05:53,327 --> 00:05:57,807 he doesn't seem to understand that in order for something to bring returns of 73 00:05:57,807 --> 00:06:01,787 significant value, it's going to have to have volatility. 74 00:06:02,347 --> 00:06:08,527 That volatility goes both directions. You don't get the ups without the downs. 75 00:06:08,687 --> 00:06:09,807 That's just the nature of it. 76 00:06:09,807 --> 00:06:13,627 So if you want small returns, you get into something that's very stable. 77 00:06:14,347 --> 00:06:17,587 And, you know, maybe that's good for you. But if you want something that fights 78 00:06:17,587 --> 00:06:21,507 22% compound inflation over the last two years, well, then you need an asset 79 00:06:21,507 --> 00:06:24,307 that does better than 22% over the last two years. 80 00:06:24,567 --> 00:06:26,647 There's not a lot. There's not a lot there. 81 00:06:27,047 --> 00:06:30,467 And Bitcoin is there. Bitcoin is that asset. 82 00:06:30,667 --> 00:06:33,887 But you don't get there without the swings in both directions. 83 00:06:33,907 --> 00:06:39,187 And how Andrew doesn't understand that boggles my mind. And I feel like the 84 00:06:39,187 --> 00:06:42,847 old Joe guy here, he's, well, he's just had it. He's just done with this conversation. 85 00:06:43,107 --> 00:06:48,867 Better be ready for anything. Which goes to the idea of, is this a store of value? 86 00:06:49,507 --> 00:06:52,527 I don't think it does. Is it a speculation? I don't think. Is it a store of 87 00:06:52,527 --> 00:06:54,107 value? No, I don't think that does. 88 00:06:54,227 --> 00:06:58,267 If you have something that's the best performing asset over five, 89 00:06:58,407 --> 00:07:02,707 10 and 15 year periods, it's a store of value. I'm ready to say that. 90 00:07:02,727 --> 00:07:03,127 There you go. 91 00:07:03,167 --> 00:07:04,727 I'm ready to give it the. On the record. 92 00:07:05,127 --> 00:07:10,387 So brave. So brave. Over at Fox Business, they're struggling to really report, 93 00:07:10,587 --> 00:07:12,147 but they did get some deets. 94 00:07:12,787 --> 00:07:17,067 It seems the White House is very concerned about the energy use of Bitcoin mining. 95 00:07:17,787 --> 00:07:22,667 You may have heard there has been surveys going around asking Bitcoin miners to dox themselves. 96 00:07:22,807 --> 00:07:27,147 They've had some success on pushing back on the deadline, but the Biden administration 97 00:07:27,147 --> 00:07:29,167 still wants this registry complete. 98 00:07:30,087 --> 00:07:36,967 And it seems with the rise in Bitcoin's price, the alarm over in the White House is escalating. 99 00:07:38,191 --> 00:07:43,211 Bitcoin on an absolute tear, hitting $57,000 for the first time in more than 100 00:07:43,211 --> 00:07:47,771 two years and lifting the rest of the crypto market right along with it. 101 00:07:47,811 --> 00:07:50,831 As you can see, Bitcoin right now, $57,170. 102 00:07:51,191 --> 00:07:55,131 Ethereum up also $3,200. Litecoin up at $74. 103 00:07:55,191 --> 00:07:59,471 I don't know why they have to talk about Litecoin and Ethereum. Litecoin, really? 104 00:07:59,771 --> 00:08:03,371 And then Ethereum, OK, but it's like $3,000. 105 00:08:03,491 --> 00:08:07,771 And Bitcoin's like, you know, one is like a brand new used car price and one 106 00:08:07,771 --> 00:08:08,991 you can't even buy a used Honda with. 107 00:08:09,091 --> 00:08:14,711 I don't understand why they put all of them together because it just confuses the viewer. 108 00:08:15,971 --> 00:08:22,111 It's like when folks go to buy gold and they get sucked in by all these other precious metals. 109 00:08:22,231 --> 00:08:26,451 Well, gold costs a lot of money, but you could buy this precious metal and this precious metal. 110 00:08:26,831 --> 00:08:29,651 And silver, you should really stack up on silver. Of course, 111 00:08:29,671 --> 00:08:31,811 Bitcoin is about to topple silver in value. 112 00:08:33,431 --> 00:08:39,671 The altcoins is the precious metal thing. Really, you'd just be better off investing in the Apex asset. 113 00:08:40,758 --> 00:08:44,978 But they confuse the average viewer by talking about Litecoin and Bitcoin and 114 00:08:44,978 --> 00:08:46,778 Ethereum all in the same sentence. 115 00:08:46,878 --> 00:08:51,978 And crypto and the crypto world and crypto this. It's Bitcoin. It's a Bitcoin ETF. 116 00:08:52,458 --> 00:08:56,338 It's Bitcoin mining, right? There's no other crypto miners out there anymore. 117 00:08:56,438 --> 00:08:57,918 It's proof of work, which is Bitcoin. 118 00:08:58,138 --> 00:08:59,678 I mean, yeah, there's some Monero here 119 00:08:59,678 --> 00:09:02,098 and there, but there's nobody professionally doing it as far as I know. 120 00:09:02,578 --> 00:09:06,978 If you know otherwise, let me know. But you see, Fox, they just haven't been 121 00:09:06,978 --> 00:09:08,498 able to update their thinking on this. 122 00:09:08,618 --> 00:09:13,298 What is going on? Well, guess what? Charlie Gasparino is here to tell us exactly 123 00:09:13,298 --> 00:09:15,578 what's happening in the crypto world. 124 00:09:15,718 --> 00:09:19,718 Charlie, it seems like we've come a long way from the collapse of FTX and all 125 00:09:19,718 --> 00:09:21,758 of that fraud. It's been on fire. 126 00:09:22,338 --> 00:09:24,538 I wish I could invest in some of this stuff. 127 00:09:25,398 --> 00:09:29,658 I mean, I can't because I cover it. But here's what we do know. 128 00:09:29,738 --> 00:09:33,578 And this is a kind of interesting sort of side story. And it's a scoop. 129 00:09:33,698 --> 00:09:37,278 It's an exclusive for Fox Business. Fox Business has learned that the Biden 130 00:09:37,278 --> 00:09:40,778 administration is actually closely watching the surge in Bitcoin. 131 00:09:41,038 --> 00:09:45,778 They are very worried that the Bitcoin's rise is going to have, 132 00:09:45,818 --> 00:09:50,238 and by the way, not just a rise, that's a pretty significant spike, 133 00:09:50,398 --> 00:09:55,418 is going to have essentially put a lot of pressure on the power grid, 134 00:09:55,538 --> 00:09:57,518 the U.S. power grid. Now, why is that? 135 00:09:57,738 --> 00:10:01,438 Again, that's them saying it. I'm not saying I agree with this because a lot 136 00:10:01,438 --> 00:10:04,198 of people in the crypto industry would disagree with this. But as you know, 137 00:10:04,318 --> 00:10:09,898 Bitcoin is mined. It's mined by computers essentially figuring out complex mathematical 138 00:10:09,898 --> 00:10:11,318 questions and problems. 139 00:10:11,538 --> 00:10:15,338 And those computers take up a lot of electricity. 140 00:10:15,338 --> 00:10:20,878 I guess there is an erroneous assumption here that the more activity on the Bitcoin network, 141 00:10:21,098 --> 00:10:26,318 the more price or I'm sorry, I guess I should back up the higher the price, 142 00:10:26,418 --> 00:10:30,438 the higher the activity, the higher the activity, the more power usage, 143 00:10:30,478 --> 00:10:33,078 I think, is the erroneous assumption being made here. 144 00:10:33,438 --> 00:10:35,858 Right. Do you follow me? I know I kind of I kind of botched a little bit, 145 00:10:35,878 --> 00:10:40,538 but I think the White House is genuinely thinking price goes up. 146 00:10:40,558 --> 00:10:43,238 So activity must be going up. So power usage must be going up. 147 00:10:44,244 --> 00:10:46,264 That's got to be what's going through their mind right now. 148 00:10:46,364 --> 00:10:50,364 They put a big strain on the power grid of the U.S. 149 00:10:50,384 --> 00:10:55,944 And right now, because we have so much inflow of retail investors putting money 150 00:10:55,944 --> 00:11:01,464 into Bitcoin ETFs, you know, all those exchange traded funds that just got approved by the SEC, 151 00:11:01,784 --> 00:11:06,404 the Bitcoin miners can't mine fast enough to meet that demand. 152 00:11:07,064 --> 00:11:11,664 Oh boy, this is, it really shows you how poorly they understand this topic and 153 00:11:11,664 --> 00:11:14,484 why this really has to be analyzed in the domain of podcasts. 154 00:11:14,724 --> 00:11:19,284 Not to toot our own horn here, but the traditional media just can't wrap their head around this. 155 00:11:19,504 --> 00:11:24,224 First of all, the intraday trading in and out of ETFs buying and selling, 156 00:11:24,404 --> 00:11:25,484 that's all paper Bitcoin. 157 00:11:26,544 --> 00:11:29,744 That's not happening on the blockchain. All that activity has actually been 158 00:11:29,744 --> 00:11:30,964 removed from the blockchain. 159 00:11:31,144 --> 00:11:36,524 And then those ETF funds settle up either at the end of the day or the next day. 160 00:11:37,544 --> 00:11:40,184 And when they do that, they generally 161 00:11:40,184 --> 00:11:43,704 are doing one large transaction or a couple of large transactions. 162 00:11:43,964 --> 00:11:48,284 And they're probably not a ton of little UTXOs. They're probably no monkey JPEGs. 163 00:11:49,364 --> 00:11:52,704 They're just doing large transactions either in or out to settle. 164 00:11:53,744 --> 00:11:58,884 And as a result, the fees on the Bitcoin network are the lowest they've been in like a year. 165 00:11:59,444 --> 00:12:04,044 The activity happens in the ETF. F. They settle out after business hours. 166 00:12:04,344 --> 00:12:08,104 The fees spike momentarily. And then we go back down to super low fees. 167 00:12:08,904 --> 00:12:18,964 Not only that, the difficulty adjusted today as I record, February 29th, downward by about 3%. 168 00:12:18,964 --> 00:12:22,764 Now, if we were spinning up more mining and using more power, 169 00:12:22,824 --> 00:12:26,504 the difficulty would be adjusting upward because there's a fixed issuance schedule. 170 00:12:26,724 --> 00:12:29,804 And the the difficulty adjust to maintain the fixed issuance schedule? 171 00:12:30,104 --> 00:12:35,204 Well, the difficulty just went down by 3% because power usage has gone down. 172 00:12:36,024 --> 00:12:40,084 I don't know exactly why. I would speculate that it's because of curtailment 173 00:12:40,084 --> 00:12:41,104 programs during the winter. 174 00:12:41,204 --> 00:12:45,644 I have links in the show notes, but in January, there was about 42% curtailment 175 00:12:45,644 --> 00:12:46,824 by some of the miners out there. 176 00:12:47,484 --> 00:12:50,864 Those are big numbers, links in the notes, really good resources around Bitcoin 177 00:12:50,864 --> 00:12:55,684 Bitcoin and its supporting of renewables and the demand programs. 178 00:12:56,604 --> 00:12:59,644 Good links in there if you've been looking to convince plebs that Bitcoin isn't 179 00:12:59,644 --> 00:13:02,584 boiling the ocean this week. The show notes are useful. But you can see how 180 00:13:02,584 --> 00:13:03,304 they have this misunderstanding. 181 00:13:03,724 --> 00:13:08,724 They think somehow the increased ETF activity is causing the miners to work 182 00:13:08,724 --> 00:13:11,724 super hard to produce more Bitcoin to meet the new demand. 183 00:13:12,464 --> 00:13:17,124 And I guess I can kind of understand this thinking because this would be true in gold or diamonds. 184 00:13:17,784 --> 00:13:22,264 This would be true in real estate. They go build more houses and try to create more lots and whatnot. 185 00:13:23,024 --> 00:13:27,084 And so I can kind of – I can see that – or if you think of it from a financial standpoint. 186 00:13:29,385 --> 00:13:32,445 I can understand why, like, if you're used to MasterCard or Visa or banks, 187 00:13:32,725 --> 00:13:37,005 when they reach a bunch of new demand, they have to deploy new data centers 188 00:13:37,005 --> 00:13:38,845 and use more power to reach that demand. 189 00:13:39,685 --> 00:13:44,005 But the Bitcoin network uses the same amount of power regardless of the number of transactions. 190 00:13:44,425 --> 00:13:49,605 The fees go up when there are more transactions, but the power usage does not change. 191 00:13:49,965 --> 00:13:55,245 Now, you could argue that as the fees go up, it incentivizes more mining so 192 00:13:55,245 --> 00:13:56,465 the miners can earn those fees. 193 00:13:57,425 --> 00:14:00,445 But that is like, that is a second order effect thing. 194 00:14:00,805 --> 00:14:05,065 And right now the difficulty is down by 3% and the having is coming up, 195 00:14:05,105 --> 00:14:06,525 which will probably wreck a lot of miners. 196 00:14:06,945 --> 00:14:11,845 So it's funny that the white house is raising these alarm bells when on-chain 197 00:14:11,845 --> 00:14:16,265 activities at like a year low difficulty, just a dent, just went down by 3%. 198 00:14:16,265 --> 00:14:18,525 And the miners are about to get wrecked from the happening. 199 00:14:18,685 --> 00:14:23,825 The Bitcoin miners can't mine fast enough to meet that demand. 200 00:14:24,185 --> 00:14:27,265 So they are working overtime to mine. 201 00:14:27,485 --> 00:14:32,825 How do you work overtime to mine something that runs 24-7 and has a fixed issuance schedule? 202 00:14:33,465 --> 00:14:36,605 I mean, you could run the clock a little bit, get those blocks a little early. 203 00:14:37,205 --> 00:14:42,825 Like, I love the idea that, well, guys, we're going to have to work 28 hours this week. 204 00:14:43,045 --> 00:14:46,945 It's all week, 28 hours every day. We got to do it. We got to get those extra blocks. 205 00:14:47,505 --> 00:14:51,485 The price is going up as they try to create more Bitcoin. 206 00:14:52,225 --> 00:14:56,045 But as they're doing that, what the Biden administration is worried about, 207 00:14:56,085 --> 00:14:59,945 and I'm getting this from people in the crypto industry who are getting emails 208 00:14:59,945 --> 00:15:01,765 and letters from the Biden administration, 209 00:15:01,945 --> 00:15:04,925 my producer, Ellie Terrett, has been doing a lot of reporting on this, 210 00:15:05,025 --> 00:15:08,325 is that the Biden administration is really worried that it's going to put a 211 00:15:08,325 --> 00:15:11,245 strain on the power grid if this keeps going. 212 00:15:11,305 --> 00:15:15,805 Now, Now, is this a real worry, you know, a sort of theoretical worry? 213 00:15:15,965 --> 00:15:17,885 And it depends on who you talk to. 214 00:15:18,065 --> 00:15:21,265 People in the crypto industry tell me it's purely theoretical. 215 00:15:23,851 --> 00:15:26,871 I'm sorry. I just get the sense that this guy has somebody in the crypto industry 216 00:15:26,871 --> 00:15:31,231 constantly whispering in his ear because he just has to like couch everything he says constantly. 217 00:15:31,371 --> 00:15:34,111 Whenever he gets off air, he's somebody he's going to get talking to. You can tell. 218 00:15:34,211 --> 00:15:38,411 I don't know who it is, but they're working hard to keep that guy on the straight 219 00:15:38,411 --> 00:15:43,031 and narrow. Let's talk about these ETFs for a moment, because this week has 220 00:15:43,031 --> 00:15:48,351 been blowout, blowout in single in one day. 221 00:15:48,471 --> 00:15:53,791 In fact, in fact, yesterday, in half the day, by half halfway through the day, 222 00:15:54,591 --> 00:15:57,891 BlackRock had done more volume than the first two weeks combined. 223 00:15:58,211 --> 00:16:00,191 The ETFs are just soaring. 224 00:16:00,271 --> 00:16:03,611 It's the primary driver. That's what we're seeing. But I'll tell you, 225 00:16:03,651 --> 00:16:06,771 after this meeting, I'm getting on a plane to go talk to one of the largest 226 00:16:06,771 --> 00:16:09,191 institutional consultants in the U.S. 227 00:16:09,251 --> 00:16:14,511 This is Bitwise's CIO. They obviously have a Bitcoin ETF. 228 00:16:14,851 --> 00:16:18,471 As a Bitcoiner, not sure if I'm going to really be recommending an ETF. 229 00:16:19,451 --> 00:16:22,951 If you were going to get an ETF, the Bitwise ones would probably be the one 230 00:16:22,951 --> 00:16:26,811 to get. They have that program to give 10% back to the development community. 231 00:16:27,351 --> 00:16:31,291 But they also are the ones that first published their on-chain address so you 232 00:16:31,291 --> 00:16:34,911 could actually verify their Bitcoin funds, which if you're going to participate 233 00:16:34,911 --> 00:16:39,071 in paper Bitcoin, it seems to me that going with one that's publishing proof 234 00:16:39,071 --> 00:16:41,611 of funds would be the one to trust. 235 00:16:41,771 --> 00:16:46,411 So he is sitting down and he's talking about a meeting coming up with some big mucky muck. 236 00:16:46,711 --> 00:16:51,411 That's interesting, the timing of that, because BlackRock just held events for 237 00:16:51,411 --> 00:16:55,131 mucky mucks to talk about the Bitcoin ETF as well. So there's a lot of institutional 238 00:16:55,131 --> 00:16:57,371 meeting happening right now, and 239 00:16:57,371 --> 00:17:01,471 it's on the shadow or the back of just unbelievable performance this week. 240 00:17:01,591 --> 00:17:04,691 It's the primary driver. That's what we're seeing. But I'll tell you, 241 00:17:04,711 --> 00:17:07,811 after this meeting, I'm getting on a plane to go talk to one of the largest 242 00:17:07,811 --> 00:17:11,471 institutional consultants in the U.S. about this ETF. 243 00:17:11,651 --> 00:17:14,951 So we're going to see that next wave of institutional capital. 244 00:17:15,051 --> 00:17:19,351 You did mention hedge funds, which I will put in sort of an institutional or 245 00:17:19,351 --> 00:17:20,331 professional category. 246 00:17:20,911 --> 00:17:25,171 Before he gets to this question, before Andrew finishes his question, I just want to translate, 247 00:17:26,768 --> 00:17:31,828 Bitwise, the CIO, just said. He's saying that he has reasons to believe that 248 00:17:31,828 --> 00:17:36,748 in the next couple of months, another tranche of institutional money will be coming on board. 249 00:17:37,988 --> 00:17:41,328 So even if we get our historical pattern where we dip before the halvening, 250 00:17:41,368 --> 00:17:46,068 which right now we're not, we're already in that phase and we typically are in a dip. 251 00:17:46,228 --> 00:17:49,208 We're currently not. Of course, we've never had these ETFs either. 252 00:17:49,968 --> 00:17:54,048 However, as the market begins to sputter, if it does with the BTF, 253 00:17:54,048 --> 00:17:57,368 whatever it is, the bank short-term funding program, long-term funding program, 254 00:17:57,468 --> 00:18:00,308 the bank bailout program that J-PAL has going, 255 00:18:00,468 --> 00:18:06,148 when that wraps up and maybe they go a little bit longer without cutting the 256 00:18:06,148 --> 00:18:09,508 rates than people expected, maybe things get a little rocky, right? 257 00:18:09,608 --> 00:18:13,408 But then he's saying this institutional money is coming on board and they're 258 00:18:13,408 --> 00:18:15,988 going to have, they're going to, they're laying down the wires is what he said 259 00:18:15,988 --> 00:18:17,748 earlier. They're laying down the wires right now. 260 00:18:17,988 --> 00:18:20,528 And then that money is going to just come in like an avalanche, 261 00:18:20,548 --> 00:18:24,188 like a wrecking ball as a wise woman once said. 262 00:18:24,288 --> 00:18:28,768 In terms of this big move, do you think it's that money that's pushed this or 263 00:18:28,768 --> 00:18:30,248 do you think it's straight retail? 264 00:18:30,868 --> 00:18:34,908 Oh, I think it's both. I think it's both. It's just new demand. 265 00:18:35,008 --> 00:18:40,788 If you think about Bitcoin pre the ETFs, there was only a small set of investors who could buy it. 266 00:18:40,968 --> 00:18:46,348 Now, almost everyone can buy it. And the supply demand dynamic is just off the hook. 267 00:18:46,528 --> 00:18:50,888 There are 30,000 Bitcoin purchased by ETFs this week alone. loan. 268 00:18:50,988 --> 00:18:54,048 Bitcoin miners have only created less than $3,000. 269 00:18:54,348 --> 00:18:59,708 That's what's driving the price. And it's both hedge funds and retail and that advisor community. 270 00:19:06,001 --> 00:19:09,401 All right. So a lot of people are talking about Bezos buying Bitcoin. 271 00:19:09,681 --> 00:19:13,281 I'll tell you what has them all worked up. But first, I wanted to mention that 272 00:19:13,281 --> 00:19:17,041 when I do spend sats, I use the Bitcoin company, the bitcoincompany.com. 273 00:19:17,141 --> 00:19:18,821 And you can use our promo code unplugged. 274 00:19:19,221 --> 00:19:22,601 This is a way to buy gift certificates on the Lightning Network. 275 00:19:22,761 --> 00:19:24,941 So you can zap your sats quick, private and cheap. 276 00:19:25,301 --> 00:19:28,921 If you use our promo code unplugged, you'll get a $5 in-app credit once you've 277 00:19:28,921 --> 00:19:32,141 spent $21 and also a thousand sat bonus. 278 00:19:32,441 --> 00:19:36,441 And then they're going to kick 10% back to me to prepare for a road trip I'm 279 00:19:36,441 --> 00:19:40,601 going on where I'll be using the Bitcoin company to make the entire trip possible. 280 00:19:40,621 --> 00:19:41,901 It's a SaaS road trip to scale. 281 00:19:42,341 --> 00:19:47,381 I love it. It's such a minimal, but exactly what I need type of app. 282 00:19:47,441 --> 00:19:50,841 They have a mobile and they have a web app and they have an API too. 283 00:19:51,041 --> 00:19:54,081 And if you're going to spend your SaaS and you've already got them on the Lightning 284 00:19:54,081 --> 00:19:55,761 Network, I think this is the way to do it. 285 00:19:56,181 --> 00:20:01,261 The bitcoincompany.com promo code unplugged, or I'll put a link in the show 286 00:20:01,261 --> 00:20:03,861 notes if I can, so you can just click that and make it easy. 287 00:20:04,181 --> 00:20:08,541 Now, I want to take a moment and play a song that came out on the internet this 288 00:20:08,541 --> 00:20:11,821 week. Yes, this is topical. This was released this week. 289 00:20:12,061 --> 00:20:15,741 I think it's called the We're So Back Song or We're Back. I'll put a link in 290 00:20:15,741 --> 00:20:18,181 the notes because it's great. It's a great watch too. 291 00:20:18,321 --> 00:20:23,181 But one of the fun things when the price is ripping or dipping is the memeing 292 00:20:23,181 --> 00:20:24,841 and just people's reaction online. 293 00:20:24,981 --> 00:20:27,101 And the vibe has been good this week. 294 00:21:11,543 --> 00:21:16,923 All right, so everybody is wondering if Jeff Bezos is buying Bitcoin this week. Now, why? 295 00:21:17,043 --> 00:21:20,223 Why has there been all of this speculation about Bezos bags? 296 00:21:20,643 --> 00:21:25,083 Well, you know, he just sold $8.5 billion of Amazon stock. Okay. 297 00:21:25,323 --> 00:21:30,463 All right, that's interesting. But then what kicked things up a notch was the 298 00:21:30,463 --> 00:21:37,703 press got snapshots of Bezos hanging out on his boat and having dinner with Michael Saylor. 299 00:21:38,363 --> 00:21:40,203 And the rumors are they were talking Bitcoin. 300 00:21:41,543 --> 00:21:44,463 Now, I don't know the timeline exactly, but shortly around this period of time, 301 00:21:44,603 --> 00:21:51,323 a mysterious new Bitcoin wallet popped online with 26,200 Bitcoin, 302 00:21:51,563 --> 00:21:55,603 which is around 1.6 million U.S. fiat as I record. 303 00:21:56,063 --> 00:22:00,243 Now, who knows? But that's a big first buy, whoever it is. 304 00:22:00,423 --> 00:22:06,583 And if you were Jeff and you had $8.5 billion, it'd be pretty logical to take 305 00:22:06,583 --> 00:22:10,763 1.6 mil of that 8.5 bill and put it into Bitcoin. 306 00:22:11,983 --> 00:22:16,883 Especially after talking to Michael Saylor, who, if CEOs aren't noticing what 307 00:22:16,883 --> 00:22:20,203 he's been doing with MicroStrategy, are going to be considered negligent soon. 308 00:22:21,183 --> 00:22:24,063 People were really kicking him in the bottom of the market, but now, 309 00:22:25,403 --> 00:22:27,803 jeez, now he looks like some sort of freaking genius. 310 00:22:28,883 --> 00:22:31,103 They're adding to their margins. 311 00:22:33,923 --> 00:22:36,023 They're adding to their balance sheet something like, 312 00:22:37,617 --> 00:22:41,257 They're two years worth of revenue almost every night when Bitcoin rips. 313 00:22:41,397 --> 00:22:44,437 The numbers are just staggering that I can hardly wrap my head around them. 314 00:22:44,977 --> 00:22:50,957 But to give you an idea, to be listed on the S&P 500, you have to be worth $15.8 billion or more. 315 00:22:51,357 --> 00:22:55,657 Well, MicroStrategy crushed that this week by reaching $16.5 billion, 316 00:22:55,897 --> 00:23:00,217 which means every American with a retirement fund could soon have levered Bitcoin 317 00:23:00,217 --> 00:23:04,517 ETF in their portfolio, essentially, if you think about the MicroStrategy stock. 318 00:23:04,517 --> 00:23:08,617 They flipped United Airlines and TransUnion this week. 319 00:23:09,677 --> 00:23:12,657 MicroStrategy started buying Bitcoin in August of 2020. 320 00:23:14,117 --> 00:23:22,897 Since then, Bitcoin is up 448% and MicroStrategy's stock is up 614%. 321 00:23:24,277 --> 00:23:29,917 Wow. And they hold somewhere around 193,000 Bitcoin right now. 322 00:23:30,477 --> 00:23:33,177 Now, if I were Bezos, I'd be looking at that. 323 00:23:33,837 --> 00:23:38,017 Again, these are two tech CEOs that got their start during the dot-com boom. 324 00:23:38,897 --> 00:23:44,037 They both watched their stocks ramp and crash together, and they've managed to stick it out. 325 00:23:44,637 --> 00:23:48,257 And they're both founders. So they may have some common ground here, 326 00:23:48,277 --> 00:23:49,497 more so than we'd initially think. 327 00:23:50,157 --> 00:23:51,637 They've been around for a long time. 328 00:23:52,617 --> 00:23:54,497 Amazon may even be a customer of MicroStrategy. 329 00:23:55,597 --> 00:23:59,177 And if you're looking at what Mikey over there is doing, you're thinking, 330 00:24:00,017 --> 00:24:02,317 man, the Fed is about to turn the money printer back on. 331 00:24:02,317 --> 00:24:06,317 J-PAL is going to make it rain, and I need to have some rain buckets set up 332 00:24:06,317 --> 00:24:11,737 because I can take the microstrategy playbook and apply it to whatever business he wants. 333 00:24:13,097 --> 00:24:17,017 And to get those rain buckets in place before the money printer turns back on 334 00:24:17,017 --> 00:24:20,617 and J-PAL makes it rain would be a very savvy move, making Jeff even richer. 335 00:24:21,277 --> 00:24:22,877 And I bet Jeff would love to be richer. 336 00:24:24,464 --> 00:24:28,424 So is it Bezos buying Bitcoin right now? I don't know, but it should be. 337 00:24:29,624 --> 00:24:34,184 And other CEOs that, you know, have a mill or two to burn should probably be 338 00:24:34,184 --> 00:24:36,864 doing it. And I wonder how long until they do. 339 00:24:37,764 --> 00:24:40,804 It seems to be only a matter of time, assuming Bitcoin doesn't crash and burn. 340 00:24:42,564 --> 00:24:45,684 Okay, I want to do some software updates. So let's get to that. 341 00:24:48,704 --> 00:24:52,644 Graphene OS has a new release for the end of the month with a new setup wizard. 342 00:24:52,644 --> 00:24:55,524 Wizard, totally new wizard implementation, they say. 343 00:24:56,444 --> 00:24:59,044 Got a new theme picker so you can make your color schemes nice. 344 00:24:59,084 --> 00:25:03,184 If you are a Bitcoiner using mobile wallets, you should really be considering graphing OS. 345 00:25:03,904 --> 00:25:06,864 And one of the things that caught my attention is they've updated their Google 346 00:25:06,864 --> 00:25:10,944 Play Sandbox compatibility layer to add support for Android Auto 11.3. 347 00:25:11,464 --> 00:25:14,944 And they've tweaked it now so that way they can update Android Auto via the 348 00:25:14,944 --> 00:25:20,704 Play Store instead of having to be an entire OS update. I'll link to NoBSBitcoin 349 00:25:20,704 --> 00:25:24,764 in the show notes, NoBSBitcoin.com, where they cover the release. 350 00:25:25,144 --> 00:25:28,744 I am a very happy Graphene OS user and do recommend it. You do need a Pixel 351 00:25:28,744 --> 00:25:31,864 phone, but it's the only Android OS I'm trusting right now. 352 00:25:32,244 --> 00:25:35,664 Now, if you're a Liquid user or you like Blockstream, they have updated the 353 00:25:35,664 --> 00:25:36,644 green wallet for desktop. 354 00:25:36,844 --> 00:25:40,184 It's just nice to see a new desktop wallet get updated. They got a new UI and 355 00:25:40,184 --> 00:25:42,004 they say a new user experience in here. 356 00:25:42,904 --> 00:25:47,504 They want you to have a nicer and smoother onboarding process when you get a 357 00:25:47,504 --> 00:25:48,704 hardware Jade wallet, if you do. 358 00:25:49,084 --> 00:25:52,044 And they say they want to minimize errors during initial setup. 359 00:25:52,644 --> 00:25:54,824 They also have a feature that sounds really interesting to me. 360 00:25:54,884 --> 00:25:57,044 If you have tried this, please do boost in and tell me. 361 00:25:57,444 --> 00:26:01,184 They've added the sign with address to prove its ownership functionality. 362 00:26:02,084 --> 00:26:05,444 Somebody tell me how that works. And they're also trying to make it easier for 363 00:26:05,444 --> 00:26:08,464 you to hold your Bitcoin and your Liquid in the same place. 364 00:26:09,564 --> 00:26:13,544 I think, you know, we'll see. Liquid will take off if the on-chain fees go up, 365 00:26:13,584 --> 00:26:16,024 but otherwise I think people just hold their sats as sats for now. 366 00:26:16,304 --> 00:26:19,704 But it is really nice to see a wallet on the desktop get updated. 367 00:26:20,164 --> 00:26:22,884 I have a link for you in the show notes that I'd love for you to check out. 368 00:26:22,964 --> 00:26:27,284 It's one of my favorite websites out there. It's called pricedinbitcoin21.com. 369 00:26:27,544 --> 00:26:28,484 Have you seen this? 370 00:26:29,164 --> 00:26:33,844 It's so good. And go look at the fiat section. Oh man, everything's down, 371 00:26:33,924 --> 00:26:37,684 but the fiat stuff, it is absolutely brutal. 372 00:26:37,864 --> 00:26:41,044 It is just something else. Thank you for joining me on the first episode. 373 00:26:41,124 --> 00:26:42,244 These first ones are always the worst. 374 00:26:42,524 --> 00:26:45,424 So boost in, tell me what you'd like to see from the show, what you think works, 375 00:26:45,484 --> 00:26:47,564 what doesn't work, what else could be covered. 376 00:26:48,404 --> 00:26:52,544 If I were to be ambitious, I'd say my goal would be to make this the number 377 00:26:52,544 --> 00:26:56,004 one Bitcoin news podcast for the JB and podcasting 2.0 community. 378 00:26:56,344 --> 00:26:59,964 So I'd love your suggestions on how I could do that. Your boost will also help 379 00:26:59,964 --> 00:27:03,324 others discover and find this episode through fountain and other charts. 380 00:27:03,524 --> 00:27:07,264 So your boosts are also a great way to send this first episode off into the 381 00:27:07,264 --> 00:27:08,944 discovery zone. So blast off. 382 00:27:09,564 --> 00:27:11,384 Thank you for joining me. I'll see you next week.