1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Greetings and salutations my fellow plebs. My name is Walker and this is the Bitcoin podcast. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:15,000 It's Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023. At the time of recording the Bitcoin block height is 801-404. 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:19,000 And the value of one Bitcoin is still one Bitcoin. 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:25,000 Today's episode is the Bitcoin Weekly News Roundup. I'm going to run through the big stories of the week. 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Then zoom out and talk about narrative shifts and Bitcoin mining. 6 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,000 Without further ado, let's get into it. 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,000 MicroStrategy Keep Stacking 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Yesterday MicroStrategy announced their second quarter 2023 financial results. 9 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,000 Per executive chairman and gigachat Michael Saylor on Twitter, 10 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:59,000 in July MicroStrategy acquired an additional 467 BTC for $14.4 million and now holds 152,800 BTC. 11 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:11,000 Since Q1, MicroStrategy has acquired 12,800 Bitcoins for $361.4 million, which is around $28,233 per Bitcoin. 12 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:22,000 And in total those 152,800 Bitcoins, wow that is a lot, were acquired for a total of $4.53 billion, 13 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:27,000 which is an average of $29,672 per Bitcoin. 14 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:35,000 You can read the full report and see the Q2 presentation in the article version of this podcast which is linked in the show notes. 15 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,000 Moving on, Tether Keep Stacking. 16 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:47,000 Via Steven Lukka, Tether has acquired another $176 million in Bitcoin since March 31, 2023, 17 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,000 purchased using excess profits, not reserves. 18 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:58,000 With Tether and MicroStrategy continuing to accumulate Bitcoin, I hope the picture is becoming clearer for you. 19 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:07,000 Forward-thinking companies are acquiring as much Bitcoin as they possibly can in advance of the next halving in April 2024. 20 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:16,000 We'll also likely see BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF approved soon, which will bring an entirely new wave of institutional money into Bitcoin. 21 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:21,000 So what's a pleb to do with these big corporate whales gobbling up Bitcoin? 22 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,000 Well, follow Odell's advice. 23 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,000 Stay humble, stack sats. 24 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Brian Armstrong says Coinbase is looking into lightning. 25 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,000 Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong quote-tweeted Jack Dorsey yesterday and said, 26 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,000 We're looking into how to best add lightning. 27 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,000 It's non-trivial, but I think worth doing. 28 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,000 I'm all for payments taking off in Bitcoin. 29 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,000 Not sure why you think we're ignoring Bitcoin. 30 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:51,000 We've onboarded more people to Bitcoin than probably any company in the world. 31 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:57,000 Jack Dorsey responded to Armstrong in typical Jack fashion, saying, 32 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,000 No doubt Coinbase introduced more people to Bitcoin than anyone else, and I'm grateful for that. 33 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:10,000 Putting more of your resources towards your original focus on Bitcoin and Layer 2 technologies would be amazing, and we'd be happy to partner. 34 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:19,000 We want an open protocol for money transmission for the internet that's not controlled by a single individual, company, or government. 35 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,000 Same team. 36 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:30,000 Michael Riani, the product lead at Cash App, followed up saying, We at Cash App integrated using Lightning Dev Kit by Spiral BTC. 37 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:35,000 Our team is happy to jump out of call, share our learnings, and help however we can. 38 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:42,000 Highly recommend unifying the BTC on-chain address and lightning invoice into one unified QR code. 39 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:47,000 Now, we'll see how long it takes Coinbase to look into it. 40 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,000 Bitfinex, Kraken, Cash App, Strike, and Binance have all integrated lightning. 41 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:01,000 Coinbase is the clear big players still holding out, but hopefully they'll take the helping hand of Bitcoiners like Jack and Michael, 42 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:05,000 who realize that a rising tide lifts all boats. 43 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,000 And shout out to Jack and Michael for being true class acts. 44 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:18,000 It would have been easy to respond flippantly and make some crack about Coinbase being a shitcoin casino, and maybe some of us did do that, 45 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,000 but they didn't do that. 46 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,000 They reached out their hands and offered help. 47 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaking of Coinbase and potentially being a shitcoin casino, everything except Bitcoin is a security. 48 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:41,000 In the media financial times, SEC asked Coinbase to halt trading in everything except Bitcoin, CEO says. 49 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:49,000 Now, this is a huge deal, but it's also not surprising if you've listened to any Bitcoiners over the last few years. 50 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:58,000 If you still don't understand the difference between Bitcoin and crypto, fear not, because I did a whole episode on that. 51 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,000 I'm not a fan of the SEC as they are a bloated government organization with far too much power. 52 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:10,000 They're supposed to protect investors, but they clearly fail in that mission frequently. 53 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,000 Sam Bankman Freed's FTX was able to defraud investors at an absurd scale. 54 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Where was the SEC then? 55 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:24,000 That being said, sometimes people are too stupid to realize that a shitcoin Ponzi is a Ponzi, 56 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,000 and need the government to spell it out for them by labeling it a security. 57 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,000 So, at least there's that. 58 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,000 The moral of the story is the same as it ever was. 59 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:39,000 Avoid shitcoin Ponzi's and work hard to accumulate Bitcoin. 60 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaking of shitcoin Ponzi's and the SEC, the SEC sues Richard Hart. 61 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:54,000 On Monday, the SEC made an announcement that was a long time coming, via the SEC. 62 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:01,000 Today we charged Richard Hart, aka Richard Schueller, and three unincorporated entities that he controls, 63 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Hex, Pulse Chain, and Pulse X, with conducting unregistered offerings of cryptoasset securities 64 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,000 that raised more than $1 billion in cryptoassets from investors. 65 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,000 Hart called on investors to buy cryptoasset securities in offerings that he failed to register. 66 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:23,000 He then defrauded those investors by spending some of their cryptoassets on exorbitant luxury goods. 67 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:33,000 They go on to say that Hart began marketing Hex in 2018, claiming it was the first high-yield blockchain certificate of deposit, 68 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:38,000 and began promoting Hex tokens as an investment designed to make people rich. 69 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:45,000 Now, if you don't know who Richard Hart, aka Richard Schueller, is, consider yourself lucky. 70 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,000 It means you haven't fallen for his scams or lost all of your money. 71 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:59,000 This is a guy who constantly flaunted his wealth on social media, posting absurd and laughable photos with luxury goods and sports cars, 72 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,000 and was generally just an insufferable manchild. 73 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Regarding the getting rich part that was promised to investors, Jameson Lopp subbed this up well. 74 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:17,000 Over the past two years, Hex has lost an astounding 98.8% of its market cap, $83 billion. 75 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,000 Richard says he tried to save people from block-fi, Celsius, and such, 76 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:27,000 but according to my math, Hex lost more value than all of those bankruptcies combined. 77 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:35,000 The big takeaway here is, when a flamboyant egomaniac pitches you an idea that sounds too good to be true, 78 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:40,000 and promises he'll make you rich, laugh in his face and walk away. 79 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,000 Bitcoin isn't a get rich quick scheme. 80 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:51,000 It's a way to save wealth slowly, to save the value of your time and energy across time and transfer it across space. 81 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:58,000 It's not about flashy watches and fancy cars, unless you're into that kind of thing, in which case do whatever the fuck you want, it's your money. 82 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:11,000 But Bitcoin is about building a better future for yourself and your family, and hopefully making the world at large a little less full of shit. 83 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:16,000 Twitter officially changes to X. 84 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,000 Twitter finally made the switch to become just X. 85 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:27,000 It seems silly to throw away the brand recognition of the bluebird, but hey, Elon owns it and can do whatever the hell he wants with it. 86 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,000 And that's the point. 87 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:35,000 X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is a centralized platform. 88 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,000 It's controlled by one company, by one man. 89 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:47,000 If you're thinking to yourself, man, I wish there were some other social media that wasn't run by Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. 90 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,000 I have good news for you. 91 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:55,000 There's a protocol called Noster that has dozens of different apps that you can use to interact with the network. 92 00:08:55,000 --> 00:09:07,000 It's an open, decentralized protocol, like Bitcoin, not a centralized platform like Twitter, X, shit, sorry, Threads, Instagram or Facebook. 93 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:12,000 You don't need to give away any personal information to start using Noster. 94 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,000 You just need to generate a username and a password. 95 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,000 On Noster, they're called your public key and your private key. 96 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,000 So keep that private key like you do your passwords safe. 97 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:38,000 You can start using Noster in seconds by downloading Damos on iOS, Amethyst on Android, or trying any number of web clients, like Primal.net, Iris.to, Snort.social and many others. 98 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,000 But wait, there's more. 99 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:48,000 In addition to being open source and censorship resistant, on Noster, you can get paid in Bitcoin for your posts. 100 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,000 This is called zapping and it's made possible by the Bitcoin Lightning Network. 101 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,000 It's value for value in action. 102 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,000 So give Noster a try. 103 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,000 Share your thoughts, share your art, share nature, share pictures of your feet. 104 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,000 Share whatever the hell you want. 105 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,000 No one can stop you. 106 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:09,000 You can find me on Noster by going to Primal.net slash Walker. 107 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,000 I'll see you there. 108 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:16,000 KPMG Bitcoin ESG Report 109 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:27,000 Top four accounting firm, KPMG, released a report called Bitcoin's Role in the ESG Imperative. 110 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:31,000 Here's the highlights of the report as summarized by Sam Callahan. 111 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,000 Environmental. 112 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:43,000 Bitcoin can reduce emissions through one, use of renewable energy, two, demand response, three, recycled heat, and four, methane reduction. 113 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,000 Social. 114 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:55,000 Bitcoin can benefit society by one, promoting financial inclusion, two, improving cross-border payments, three, providing a new method of global fundraising, 115 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:03,000 four, making microgrids financially viable, which provides cheaper and more consistent electricity for communities. 116 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,000 Governance. 117 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:14,000 Bitcoin's decentralized governance structure makes the protocol immutable, ensuring the validity of data which provides a high degree of confidence in the overall system. 118 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:18,000 This results in a system that can't be abused or manipulated. 119 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:23,000 Now, I think the general ESG movement is a bit of a scam. 120 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:32,000 The way for asset managers to extract higher management fees from their clients by framing a fund as ESG, I'm looking at you, BlackRock. 121 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:44,000 That said, a report like this from a top four accounting firm is further proof that the narrative around Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining is shifting in a very positive direction. 122 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,000 It's also just a recognition of objective facts. 123 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:56,000 I went back in June that made the argument that Bitcoin is the ultimate ESG asset, and I can't believe KPMG didn't even reference me, but whatever. 124 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:04,000 But not the fake performative fiat ESG that defense companies use to pretend making bombs is good for the planet. 125 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:10,000 It is genuinely the best investment in terms of environmental, social, and governance. 126 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:18,000 Bitcoin mining incentivizes renewable energy use and build out its uniquely positioned to harness otherwise wasted energy like flared gas. 127 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:28,000 It promotes financial inclusion by providing financial services for unbanked populations worldwide via a decentralized system that is free from government control and overreach. 128 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:32,000 And it's open source operating on consensus mechanisms. 129 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:39,000 It's completely transparent, auditable and predictable and resistant to censorship and manipulation, which we see a lot of these days. 130 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:45,000 It's not controlled by any single entity or government removing the risks of corruption and mismanagement. 131 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,000 No trusted third parties required. 132 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:56,000 At this point, if you don't hold Bitcoin, you're signaling to the world that you don't care about environmental, social, or governance issues. 133 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,000 Is that really the message you want to send? 134 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:07,000 Landfill gas Bitcoin mining accelerator. 135 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaking of Bitcoin and the environment, yesterday Daniel Batten announced that they kicked off their CH4 capital landfill gas BTC mining accelerator. 136 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:28,000 Quote, eight Bitcoin mining companies all committed to turning an environmental pollutant, vented methane, into a source of power for the future of finance. 137 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,000 This is really incredible news. 138 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:40,000 Congratulations to Daniel Batten for spearheading this initiative to take energy that is otherwise harmfully wasted and turn it into the ultimate sound money. Bitcoin. 139 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,000 United States credit rating downgraded by Fitch. 140 00:13:52,000 --> 00:14:08,000 Fiat Reuters. Rating agency Fitch on Tuesday downgraded the US government's top credit rating, citing fiscal deterioration over the next three years and repeated down to the wire debt ceiling negotiations that threaten the government's ability to pay its bills. 141 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:22,000 In a previous debt ceiling crisis in 2011, standard and pours cut the top AAA rating by one notch a few days after a debt ceiling deal, citing political polarization and insufficient steps to write the nation's fiscal outlook. 142 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,000 Sound familiar? 143 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:33,000 Now I know this may seem worrisome, but don't worry. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called this decision arbitrary, so I'm sure it's fine. 144 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:43,000 After all, as my dear Canadian friend Greg Foss likes to say, the US is the prettiest horse at the glue factory. Now that was a terrible Canadian accent. I'm not even going to try. 145 00:14:43,000 --> 00:15:03,000 But anyway, this downgrade situation was perfectly summed up by James Lavish who said, US government's plan, increased government spending, increased GDP, increased taxes, lower deficits, US government's reality, increased government spending, interest expense exploding, deficits exploding. 146 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:19,000 The result? Treasury must borrow 1.85 trillion in the second half of 2023, US credit rating downgraded. 147 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:33,000 To finish up this show, let's zoom out and talk about the larger narrative around Bitcoin mining and the environment. Across the world, the amount of gas flared into the atmosphere is truly massive. 148 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:43,000 The University of Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimates that global gas flaring alone could power the entire Bitcoin network five times over. 149 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:58,000 So when you hear the ripple funded idiots of Greenpeace USA's propaganda arm say things like, Bitcoin is not sustainable. Remember that they are either lying through their teeth or are just too dumb to realize objective truth. 150 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:10,000 Bitcoin mining is one of the most sustainable industries on the planet. It uses over 50% renewable energy, far better than the traditional finance industry, and way better than gold mining. 151 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:21,000 Far better than basically every industry, as a matter of fact. Bitcoin isn't dirty. It simply uses electricity, just like your computer or electric vehicles. 152 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:36,000 And if you really want to get into indirect energy sources, Bitcoin uses a higher renewable energy mix than electric vehicles do, because unlike EVs, Bitcoin miners are able to use off grid power, mostly renewable sources such as hydro. 153 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:48,000 So it has a lower scope to emission profile than EVs. Put simply, if you're still claiming that Bitcoin is bad for the environment, then pardon my French, you're a fucking idiot. 154 00:16:48,000 --> 00:17:02,000 But not only are you a fucking idiot, you're a privileged fucking idiot. Because if you think Bitcoin is a waste of electricity, then you clearly haven't thought through how people around the world, especially in the global south, 155 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:19,000 struggle with monetary colonialism like the 14 African countries forced by France to use the CFA franc, access to financial services, and hyperinflation, which can make the money you worked hard for worth next to nothing overnight. 156 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:31,000 Bitcoin is good for humanity and a net positive for the environment. Bitcoiners have been saying things like this for years, but now it's not just Bitcoiners saying it. 157 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:49,000 Now, top four accounting firms like KPMG are saying it. Now, presidential candidates like RFK Jr. are saying it. Hell, even the freaking Biden White House released a report in 2022 saying crypto asset mining can be powered by stranded methane and renewables. 158 00:17:49,000 --> 00:18:06,000 The tides are changing. The narrative is shifting towards truth. In a few years, it will be widely regarded as incredibly ignorant to say something as supremely stupid as Bitcoin is a waste of energy. 159 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:23,000 Change happens gradually and suddenly until then, all the Bitcoin naysayers can do is lie. All we must do is tell the truth. 160 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:36,000 And that's a wrap on this week's Bitcoin news roundup. You can find the written version of the show along with all the references via the link in the show notes or by going to BitcoinPodcast.net. 161 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:50,000 You can find me on Noster by going to primal.net slash Walker. And if you want to follow the Bitcoin podcast on Twitter or X or whatever we're calling it these days, go to at TTC podcast and at Walker America. 162 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:57,000 You can also find the video version of this podcast and others at youtube.com slash at Walker America. 163 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Bitcoin is scarce. There will only ever be 21 million. But Bitcoin podcasts are abundant. So thank you for spending your scarce time to listen to another fucking Bitcoin podcast. 164 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:26,000 Until next time, stay free.