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The trajectory of Bitcoin's innovation and adoption will continue,

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with or without the active participation or understanding of any single nation.

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The question that remains is whether we will be leaders or laggards in this inevitable financial

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evolution. Greetings and salutations, my fellow plebs. My name is Walker and this is the Bitcoin

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Podcast. It's Wednesday, October 25th, 2023. The Bitcoin block height is 813823 and the value

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of one Bitcoin is still one Bitcoin. Today's episode is a Bitcoin out loud read and I'm going

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to read you a piece by Preston Pish that Bitcoin Magazine published just a few hours ago. As soon

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as I read this piece, I knew I wanted to read it for you guys. Preston does a fantastic job of

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synthesizing the ideals of Bitcoin as rebuttal to the totalitarian FinCEN proposal and absurdly

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ill-informed letter to the White House led by Senator Warren regarding cryptocurrencies alleged

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use in terrorist funding. I had Preston on the Bitcoin Podcast back in September and I highly

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recommend checking out that episode for a deeper dive into Preston's perspectives after you finish

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listening to this one today. It's called Parasites vs Producers and you can watch the Bitcoin

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Podcast by searching for At Walker America on Rumble, YouTube or X or listen on Fountain.fm

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or wherever you get your podcasts by simply searching for the Bitcoin Podcast. If you listen

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to the Bitcoin Podcast on Fountain, consider giving the show a boost or creating a clip of

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something you found interesting so more people can find the show. For those that have boosted this

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show already or zapped me on Noster, thank you. If you haven't checked out Fountain yet, I highly

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recommend it. You can send Bitcoin to your favorite podcasters and earn Bitcoin just for listening.

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Okay, that's enough of that. Without further ado, let's get into this Bitcoin Out Loud Read.

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Bitcoin Equals Anti-Totalitarianism How to Protect Financial Freedom in an Age of Market

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Manipulation and Policy Overreach by Preston Pish. In the face of ongoing challenges to our

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cherished freedoms, it is imperative to critically examine the forces at play that threaten the very

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fabric of democracy. The ideals of freedom and open markets are at risk of being undermined by

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influential political forces seeking to impose oppressive order and control in the name of security.

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This article delves into the pressing need to fix our manipulated markets, protect Bitcoin,

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and its inherent anti-totalitarian qualities and inform U.S. policymakers that democratic values

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are what's at stake. The Erosion of Free Markets and Capitalism

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People who think we currently have capitalism and free and open markets haven't been paying

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attention. The American economic landscape, once a paragon of capitalism, has undergone a seismic

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shift, particularly since the 2008 financial crisis when lawmakers selectively bailed out

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bankers at the expense of the broader economy. The central banking system's pervasive influence

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has led to a distortion of free markets, with quantitative easing, QE, being employed as a

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tool to manipulate the bond market, artificially lowering the cost of capital, and thus distorting

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the prices of everything. This manipulation has had far-reaching consequences, including the gutting

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of the middle class and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. In the wake of the Silicon

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Valley bank failure this March, the deployment of tools such as the bank term funding program,

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BTFP, has further exacerbated these distortions, providing de facto yield curve control for banks,

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while leaving ordinary citizens to grapple with soaring interest rates and inflation.

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This divergence from naturally occurring economic markets and the suppression of a free and open

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cost of capital has pushed us closer to an economic model reminiscent of, you name it,

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communism regime, threatening the fundamental principles of capitalism and democracy.

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The newest assault on financial freedom and bitcoin. In a recent letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren

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and numerous congressional members, they leverage international crises to further their own political

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agenda and curtail financial freedoms, armed with a freshly published Wall Street Journal article

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that falsely suggests Hamas raised a significant sum of crypto funding to attack Israel. The truth

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couldn't be more obscured. The irony of the claim is that the bitcoin blockchain provides evidence

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that anyone can dispute, which is exactly what happened the day following the senator's letter

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to the president. On October 18th, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis clarified that while

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some terrorist organizations, including Hamas, do leverage cryptocurrencies for funding,

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the scale is extremely small relative to traditional fiat banking means. They emphasized

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that the transparency of blockchain technology makes it a less suitable medium for illicit

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activities, including terrorism financing. Additionally, Chainalysis pointed out that

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government agencies and private sector organizations can collaborate using blockchain

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analysis solutions to trace and disrupt the flow of funds to these terrorist groups.

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They also highlighted the importance of understanding the role of service providers

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in these financial networks, and cautioned against overestimating the scale of terrorism

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financing in cryptocurrency based on flawed analyses and misinterpretations, delving deeper

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into the facts revealed by Chainalysis. It becomes increasingly evident how Senator Warren's letter

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dramatically skewed the situation. The detailed analysis zeroes in on a specific address that

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conducted over 1,300 deposits and 1,200 withdrawals within a mere 7.5 months, with a total inflow of

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roughly $82 million in cryptocurrency. However, a mere fraction of this amount, approximately $450,000,

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can be linked back to a wallet associated with the terrorist activities.

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This represents a mere 0.3461% of the purported $130 million claimed in the letter, a staggering

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discrepancy that lays bare the deceptive nature of the narrative being pushed to the White House.

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Not only has Business Insider reported on October 21 that Hamas operates with an annual budget of

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$300 million, but a significant portion of its funding also stems from taxing imports into Gaza,

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as well as international connections with Iran, a country to which the US government recently,

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and rather ambiguously, may have released $6 billion in fiat currency too in September,

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just a month prior to the attack on Israel. Unlike Bitcoin, which offers a publicly accessible

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audit trail, citizens are left in the dark about this substantial financial transaction.

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The narrative on what was actually released depends heavily on the news outlet or political interest

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one consults, often resulting in biased and self-serving points of view.

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The irony, this stark contrast between politically manipulated numbers and the transparent reality

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a public blockchain provides, underscores the urgent need for thorough factual analysis

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and the adoption of publicly verifiable monetary units like Bitcoin.

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Why is this so concerning?

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Need-jerk policy reactions, based on false information and poor reporting, can have devastating

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long-term impacts to the US's competitive economic position and more importantly,

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the liberties and freedoms of the citizens in what appears to be a coordinated policy response

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one day after Senator Warren's letter. The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Finsen,

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came out with a proposal for special measures regarding convertible virtual currency mixing

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and labeled it a primary money laundering concern. Based on all the information contained in the

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Finsen proposal, it opens the door for expansive policy to infringe on the rights of individuals.

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For example, the increased surveillance and potential loss of privacy could subject individuals

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running Bitcoin full nodes to unprecedented scrutiny. They might find themselves burdened with

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regulatory requirements that are not only onerous but also infringe upon their personal privacy

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and the privacy of users transacting through their nodes. The uncertainty and legal risks

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associated with running a full node under these proposed measures could discourage individuals

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from auditing their property, thus increasing their risk and reliance on bad actors. Bitcoin

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holders that ran their own node and took custody of their property in 2022 were not impacted by

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fraudulent centralized gatekeepers like Sam Bankman Freed and third-party custodians that

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act maliciously. Additionally, a policy attack on node operators creates less financial freedom for

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US citizens and an incentive for business in this new sector of finance to move offshore.

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Developers might be discouraged from creating and implementing privacy-enhancing features,

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limiting the potential and the very essence of American citizens and builders within this country.

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What is the essence of a Bitcoin node and why is it important?

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In the gold market, how would you know if someone gave you a pure bar of gold? Well,

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you can own an XRF, X-ray fluorescence, device that emits energy waves into the metal to determine

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the elemental composition based on the frequency of energy that comes back to the device.

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In short, a purity audit ensures that you have purchased actual gold. Why is this device so

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important? Because if you buy a million dollars of gold, you want to make sure that it's the real

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stuff, right? In Bitcoin, that purity test is conducted by running a full node. The test can

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be outsourced to a third party, or it can be conducted by the individual. This point is vital.

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If a person is not allowed to run their own node and audit delivery, it would be the same as saying

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a person accepting the delivery of a billion dollars in gold is banned from conducting their own

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personal audit. Since Bitcoin is a digital commodity, this right to audit delivery is essential

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to protect their liberties against foul play. Suggesting such a device be banned is a vote

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for autocratic control by government handlers at the expense of the individual's rights to protect

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themselves from thieves. While we are on this important subject, Bitcoin is the only blockchain

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that has a code base small enough to allow for everyday citizens to afford and operate their

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own node and provide independent audits on their property, ensuring its legitimacy and overall

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security. In short, Bitcoin is different. Bitcoin promotes individual freedoms, sovereignty,

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and liberties at the individual level, an idea consistent with our Declaration of Independence,

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endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that to secure these rights, governments

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are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

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A call to action. So what do totalitarian governments embrace? They embrace control.

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Such a control is often established through small and incremental changes that mask a deeper

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trend and direction that citizens don't notice. This progression ultimately leads to absolute

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control. Now, what is the paramount lever to pull if a government was interested in absolute control?

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That's right, the money. Because money is the energy that fuels every action and desire of the

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individual citizen. Therefore, let me be very clear. You will not be the totalitarian government

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by becoming more totalitarian. America was founded on the principle of individual rights

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and freedoms. Those freedoms in turn create the strongest economy and most powerful nation on the

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planet. It is those very freedoms that are at risk with knee-jerk policy decisions to remove

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your individual rights in the name of security. In the face of the unstoppable tide that is Bitcoin

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and decentralized finance, it is paramount that we, as a society and particularly as citizens of

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the United States, recognize the critical crossroads we find ourselves. The trajectory of Bitcoin's

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innovation and adoption will continue with or without the active participation or understanding

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of any single nation. The question that remains is whether we will be leaders or laggards in this

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inevitable financial evolution. Our cherished ideals of liberty and open markets are at stake.

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We must urgently commit ourselves to a deep and nuanced understanding of Bitcoin's potential

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to secure financial freedom in an increasingly digital future. By actively choosing to educate

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ourselves, our communities, and engaging in meaningful dialogue with our elected representatives,

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we are taking essential steps toward protecting our position as a global financial leader.

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This is not just about maintaining economic dominance. It is about safeguarding the very

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liberties and freedoms that define us. The false sense of security provided by manipulated markets

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and snap policy decisions has eroded the foundation of capitalism, a system that, in its true form,

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no longer exists. We must recognize this distortion, challenge it, and champion the cause of financial

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freedom through Bitcoin. Supporting organizations dedicated to digital rights and financial freedom

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becomes not just a choice, but a duty. By contributing our time, resources, and voices,

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we are making a stand against the forces that seek to centralize control and diminish our economic

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sovereignty. On an individual level, embracing the tools that ensure our financial freedom,

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such as setting up Bitcoin wallets, running full Bitcoin nodes, and educating ourselves on the

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secure use of Bitcoin, is a powerful act of promoting freedom. We are fortifying the network,

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protecting our assets, and affirming our commitment to a future where financial freedom is accessible

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to all. The challenge is formidable, but the stakes are too high to remain passive. The United

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States has a choice. Adapt and embrace the decentralized future of money, securing our

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liberties and financial leadership, or risk being left behind, tethered to the outdated systems

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and eroding freedoms. The power of informed, engaged, and proactive citizens is our greatest

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asset in this pivotal moment. Together, we can shape a future that upholds the principles of freedom,

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innovation, and financial sovereignty. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a

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little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin.

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And that's a wrap on this Bitcoin Out Loud episode of The Bitcoin Podcast. If you are a

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Bitcoin-only company interested in sponsoring another fucking Bitcoin podcast, head to

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BitcoinPodcast, head to BitcoinPodcast.net, or hit me up on social media. You can find me on

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Noster by going to Primal.net slash Walker, and I'm at Walker America and at TITCOIN podcast on

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Twitter. You can also watch the video versions of the show on X or at YouTube.com slash At Walker

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America and At Walker America on Rumble. Bitcoin is scarce. There will only ever be 21 million,

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but Bitcoin podcasts are abundant. So thank you for spending your scarce time to listen to

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another fucking Bitcoin podcast. Until next time, stay free.