1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,080 Greetings and salutations, my fellow plebs. My name is Walker and this is the Bitcoin podcast. 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:13,680 It's Friday, September 29, 2023. The Bitcoin block height is 809.929. And the value of one 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:19,280 Bitcoin is still one Bitcoin. Today's episode is the Bitcoin news roundup. I'm going to go over the 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:24,880 big stories, run through some rapid fire news, then zoom out and give you some perspective. 5 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,440 You can find all the links and accounts mentioned in this episode via the article 6 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:35,920 version of the show, linked in the show notes, or by going to bitcoinpodcast.net slash words. 7 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,880 And of course, you can always watch the Bitcoin podcast on rumble or YouTube, 8 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:47,600 or listen to it on fountain.fm or wherever you get your podcasts. If you do listen to the Bitcoin 9 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:53,040 podcast on fountain, consider giving the show a boost or creating a clip of something you found 10 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:58,480 interesting. For those that have boosted the show already, or zap me on noster, thank you. 11 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:03,200 So moving forward, I'll accept questions, topics or general funny comments from the top 12 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:08,800 boosts I receive on fountain. If you haven't checked out fountain yet, I highly recommend it. 13 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,200 You can send Bitcoin to your favorite podcasters and earn Bitcoin just for listening. 14 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,360 Without further ado, let's get into the Bitcoin news roundup. 15 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:32,480 Debt by 1000 cuts. Does debt matter? Well, if you're an individual, some people may advise you to 16 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:37,280 take on as much debt as you can while interest rates are low and debt is cheap to buy assets like 17 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,680 real estate with that debt because when rates are low, it's basically free money, right? 18 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,560 Others will say you should try to stay debt free as much as possible. Don't overextend 19 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:51,360 yourself because things can get out of hand fast. And the future is always uncertain. 20 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:57,280 When interest rates are low and the money printer is purring, things seem to be going okay on the 21 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:03,440 surface. But when the Fed decides to raise rates at a historically fast pace like they are now, 22 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:09,920 things start to look a little less rosy. So what does the household debt situation look like in the 23 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:18,160 US right now? On September 13, the Kobayashi letter reported the US now has a record 17.1 24 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:25,280 trillion in household debt, record 12 trillion in mortgages, record 1.6 trillion in auto loans, 25 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:32,480 record 1.6 trillion in student loans, record 1.0 trillion in credit card debt. The average house 26 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:39,280 payment is about to hit $3,000 a month for the first time in history. All as oil prices are up 27 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:46,480 40% in three months, mortgage rates hit 7.5% and credit card rates are at a record 25%. 28 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:52,480 Borrowing more debt is not the solution to high inflation. This is unsustainable. 29 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:59,440 So the household debt situation is looking pretty bleak. But what about government debt? 30 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:05,760 Well, if you are the government suckling off the teat of the taxpayer, or one of the state-sponsored 31 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:11,200 fiat economists stooges, you'll likely say debt doesn't matter, it's just money we owe ourselves 32 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:17,760 or some other idiotic thing like that. Remember, the government does not produce anything. We, 33 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:22,880 the taxpayers, produce value and the government takes an ever-growing chunk of the fruits of our 34 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:28,720 labor to finance their ever-growing bureaucracy and the military industrial complex because it's 35 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:35,440 always hungry. But they also spend more than they take in from us, and so they must borrow money 36 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,240 to make up the difference between the tax revenue they take in and the massive amount they spend. 37 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:47,120 So just how much debt has the US government accumulated? On September 23rd, the Kobai 38 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:53,200 C letter reported, US national debt has jumped by nearly $1 trillion per month since the debt 39 00:03:53,200 --> 00:04:01,200 ceiling crisis came to an end in June. Total US debt is now up $10 trillion since 2020. 40 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:07,440 To put this in perspective, it took the US 232 years to add the first $10 trillion in debt. 41 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:14,160 The worst part? The debt ceiling is effectively uncapped until 2025, in the latest debt ceiling 42 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:21,600 agreement. Deficit spending has no limits until 2025. If we see a recession, we could easily see 43 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:27,200 $50 trillion in US debt within five years. Why is this not getting more attention? 44 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,280 And on September 25th, the Kobai C letter reported, 45 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:39,440 total US debt has jumped by $100 billion since it crossed $33 trillion exactly one week ago. 46 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:47,360 That's $14.3 billion per day being added to the US debt over the last week. Add in $3 billion per 47 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:53,520 day in interest expense, and that's over $17 billion per day. Meanwhile, deficit spending has 48 00:04:53,520 --> 00:05:00,080 become so large that the US is issuing $2 trillion in bonds over six months, which is driving rates 49 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:06,720 higher. Simultaneously, the US is refinancing debt at current rates, which have more than doubled. 50 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:13,120 US debt and interest expense are on track for exponential growth. When will this be called a 51 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:18,320 crisis? As a side note, I highly recommend following the Kobai C letter on Twitter. They've 52 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,320 been putting together a ton of great information. And I think you'll find it really valuable. 53 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:33,120 Their handle is at Kobai SSI, L E T T E R. That's at Kobai C letter. James Lavish, 54 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,760 quote tweeting a great threat he wrote on government debt, summed it up succinctly on Twitter. 55 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:43,520 And you should follow at James lavish as well. When I wrote this a year ago, federal debt was 56 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:51,280 $30.7 trillion. And the annual interest expense was $400 billion. Today, the federal debt is over 57 00:05:51,280 --> 00:06:00,000 $33 trillion. An annual interest expense is $970 billion and growing. This is why it is called 58 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,520 a debt spiral. 59 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:16,720 The hypocrisy of Chase. Earlier this week, Chase Bank sent out a notice to their customers in the 60 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:22,000 UK stating that they will no longer be allowed to purchase cryptocurrencies using debit cards or 61 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:27,840 through bank transfers. Here's what the notice said. To help keep you and your money safe from 62 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:34,560 fraud and scams, we're changing the types of payments you can make from Chase. From 16 October 63 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:40,400 2023, if we think you're making a payment related to crypto assets, we'll decline it. 64 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:46,000 If you'd still like to invest in crypto assets, you can try using a different bank or provider 65 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:51,360 instead. But please be cautious, as you may not be able to get the money back if the payment ends 66 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:57,440 up being related to a fraud or scam. We've made this decision because fraudsters are increasingly 67 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:04,000 using crypto assets to steal large sums of money from people. Declining these payments is one of 68 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:11,280 the ways we're helping keep you and your money safe. Now, it's important to note that the crypto 69 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:16,880 industry is rife with fraud and scams. If you're new to all this and want to understand the 70 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:23,520 difference between Bitcoin and crypto, I have a whole episode dedicated to that. TLDR, Bitcoin, 71 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:29,520 and crypto are not the same. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm not going to focus on 72 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:35,520 that distinction today. Instead, I want to point out the blatant hypocrisy displayed by Chase. 73 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:41,200 Because earlier this week, it was announced that JP Morgan Chase just settled their Jeffrey Epstein 74 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:49,680 sex trafficking lawsuit with the US Virgin Islands for $75 million via CNBC. JP Morgan Chase said it 75 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:56,240 will pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit by the US Virgin Islands, alleging that the American bank 76 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:02,400 facilitated and benefited from the sex trafficking of young women by its longtime customer, Jeffrey 77 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:10,560 Epstein. JP Morgan Chase, whether it's the US or UK division, claims they care about fraud and 78 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:17,040 scams. They want to keep you safe because they're the good guys, right? But in reality, JP Morgan 79 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:23,440 Chase is one of the worst facilitators of crime in existence. Don't believe me? Here's a rundown 80 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:30,480 of just some of their dirty dealings over the last couple decades. 2002. JP Morgan Chase settles with 81 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:36,480 investors for $2.2 billion over its role in the Enron scandal. 2003. JP Morgan Chase agrees to 82 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:44,000 pay $135 million to settle SEC allegations that it helped Enron commit fraud. 2011. JP Morgan pays 83 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:50,160 $153.6 million to settle SEC charges of misleading investors in CDO tied to US housing market. 84 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:58,160 2012. JP Morgan paid $5.29 billion over mortgage practices related to the 2008 financial crisis. 85 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:06,080 2013. The London Whale Trading Scandal. The bank paid $920 million in penalties due to large and 86 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:12,800 risky trading positions resulting in over $6 billion in losses. 2013. JP Morgan settled for 87 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:20,320 $1.7 billion for its oversight linked to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. 2013. The bank paid $410 88 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:27,680 million for manipulating the electricity market in California in the Midwest. 2013. JP Morgan was 89 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:32,160 fined $108 million as part of a larger bank settlement over manipulating the LIBOR rate. 90 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:39,760 2013. Again. Illegal credit card practices. They were fined $389 million for deceiving customers 91 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:46,480 into signing up for costly, unnecessary services when opening a new credit card. 2014. The bank 92 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:51,600 agreed to pay a $13 billion settlement related to its sale of toxic mortgage-backed securities. 93 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:57,440 2014. JP Morgan paid over $1 billion in fines for manipulating the foreign exchange market. 94 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:04,000 2015. Violation of the Bank Secrecy Act. Here, the bank agreed to pay $2.6 billion 95 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,760 penalty for failing to report suspicious activity tied to Bernard Madoff. 96 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:13,600 2018. Sanctions breaches. They were fined $5.3 million over their 97 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:20,880 princely hiring practices breaching U.S. sanctions. 2019. The seizure of the MSC Geyhan, 98 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:25,680 a ship financed by JP Morgan, was seized due to discovery of 20 tons of cocaine on board. 99 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:32,320 2019. Precious Metals and U.S. Treasuries Market Manipulation Now. They faced fines and 100 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:38,800 criminal charges over these market manipulation allegations. 2020. Record $920 million spoofing 101 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:43,280 penalty that the bank paid for allegations of manipulating commodities markets through spoofing. 102 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:49,840 2020. They paid $250 million for misleading investors about their SPOE strategy. 2020. 103 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:55,840 Unauthorized Trading. The bank was fined a paltry $3.9 million in Hong Kong for regulatory breaches 104 00:10:55,840 --> 00:11:02,000 including unauthorized trading. 2021. JP Morgan admits to widespread record keeping failures 105 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:10,320 and agrees to pay $125 million penalty to resolve the SEC charges. 2023. JP Morgan fined $4 million 106 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:16,080 for deleting 47 million emails including some requested in subpoenas. I wonder what they were 107 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:23,040 trying to hide and for whom. And of course their most recent achievement. JP Morgan will pay $75 108 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:29,520 million on claims that enabled Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operations. I feel like I need to 109 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:35,280 take a shower after reading all those, but here's the point in sharing these stories of which there 110 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:41,600 are many, many more. Big bankers like to claim that Bitcoin is only used by criminals and it's 111 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:47,840 only good for money laundering. But in reality, the biggest money launderers and criminal supporters 112 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:54,240 on the planet are bankers. And they do it all with fiat money. No Bitcoin required. 113 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:07,920 Now for some rapid fire news via Bitcoin Archive. Bitcoin mining energy mix is now 114 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:15,680 plus 50% from sustainable sources, according to Bloomberg intelligence via CK Snarks. HRF, 115 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:23,520 the Human Rights Foundation, gives 19 BTC $505,000 via its Bitcoin Development Fund to support 15 116 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:30,240 projects worldwide targeting global education, Bitcoin Core, DLCs on lightning, eCash and 117 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:36,720 scholarships for some noster news from Will Kasarin aka JB 55, someone built a hacker news for 118 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:45,200 noster. So cool. Here he links oddbean.com. Go check it out via BTC Times. Nomura's $500 119 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:51,760 billion digital asset unit launches Bitcoin Fund for institutional investors via Bitcoin Archive, 120 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:58,400 SEC delays BlackRock, Valkyrie and Bitwise spot Bitcoin ETF application decisions via Bitcoin 121 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:06,320 magazine, SEC further delays $94.2 billion wisdom trees spot Bitcoin ETF application via Michael 122 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:15,600 Saylor. Micro strategy has an acquired an additional $5,445 BTC for $147.3 million at an 123 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:27,840 average price of $27,053 per Bitcoin as of 9 24 23 micro strategy holds 158,245 BTC acquired for 124 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:38,320 approximately $4.68 billion at an average price of $29,582 per Bitcoin via Daniel Batten KPMG 125 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:44,800 report picked up in the mainstream media quote mainstream media remained unfair and inaccurate 126 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:50,400 in its criticism of Bitcoin's energy consumption. The KPMG report counters this showing the 127 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:56,080 significance of Bitcoin across the three pillars of ESG. Here Daniel links to the article on Yahoo 128 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:02,400 news via Bitcoin archive Bitcoin miner core scientific buys 27,000 Bitcoin mining rigs 129 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:07,120 for $23 million in cash and $53.9 million equity investment. 130 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:21,280 To wrap up today's show, let's zoom out and talk about narrative shifts. I recently read a 131 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:26,880 surprisingly fantastic article on Bitcoin mining in Africa shared by Daniel batten. The reason this 132 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:33,280 article was surprising is that it was published on MSN.com a legacy media site. I want to read a 133 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:40,240 couple excerpts from this article written by Steven Sidley entitled the surprising simple answer to 134 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:46,400 Africa's rural energy problems Bitcoin mining small Bitcoin mines can be immediately profitable 135 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:52,960 and can therefore fund a renewable mini-grid and supply power to the community at no cost. And if 136 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:59,120 this seems too good to be true, it gets even better. Bitcoin mines are unlike any other industry. 137 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:05,040 They can live anywhere. And if the energy is stranded uncontested and free, you have a perfect 138 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:12,240 marriage where everyone benefits the community, the investors, even the Bitcoin bros. Unlike any 139 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:18,000 other buyer of bulk electricity, Bitcoin mines are a buyer of first resort, when no one else is buying, 140 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:24,480 a buyer of last resort, when there is no other demand, and a grid bouncer of last resort, keeping 141 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:30,800 the grid stable at all times. No other energy consuming enterprise has this profile. I love 142 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:36,800 that this is a factual, well researched article about Bitcoin mining in rural Africa, published on 143 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:41,920 a legacy media site. These are topics that Bitcoiners have been talking about for a long time. 144 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:46,960 But often that conversation doesn't make it outside of the Bitcoin Twitter echo chamber. 145 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:52,160 Now, we're seeing these conversations begin to reverberate into the greater public consciousness, 146 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:57,040 and that's beautiful. But getting positive stories about Bitcoin into the larger discourse 147 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:02,960 doesn't just happen. It requires hard work. It requires that Bitcoiners tell these stories first, 148 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:08,000 and often many, many times. It requires that Bitcoiners seek these stories out across the 149 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:13,920 world and share them. Joe Nakamoto and Pakodela India, aka run with Bitcoin, are doing a great 150 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:19,760 job of this right now in Peru, documenting stories of Bitcoin adoption on the ground in small communities. 151 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:24,640 You should check out the stories they're sharing. You'll learn something and laugh a lot along the 152 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:30,800 way, guaranteed. Riki and Laura, aka the Bitcoin explorers, are two other Bitcoiners currently 153 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:35,200 traveling the world sharing stories about the realities of Bitcoin adoption on the ground, 154 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:40,480 the good, the bad, and the ugly. They just published a great piece on bdctimes.com about 155 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:45,120 their experiences in Turkey. I encourage you to check them out as well. You can grab all their 156 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:50,880 links in the article version of this episode at bitcoinpodcast.net slash words. The great thing 157 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:56,400 about Bitcoin is that it is fundamentally based in truth. As Bitcoiners, we don't need to make up 158 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:02,880 imaginary tales about why Bitcoin is good. We just have to continue telling the truth and wait for 159 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:17,600 more people to listen. And that's a wrap on this week's Bitcoin news roundup. If you are a Bitcoin 160 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:23,760 only company interested in sponsoring another fucking Bitcoin podcast, head to Bitcoinpodcast.net. 161 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:29,360 You can find me on Noster by going to primal.net slash Walker. If you want to follow the Bitcoin 162 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:36,000 podcast on Twitter, go to at titcoinpodcast and at Walker America. You can also watch the video 163 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:42,240 versions of the show at youtube.com slash at Walker America and at Walker America on Rumble. 164 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:49,440 Bitcoin is scarce. There will only ever be 21 million, but Bitcoin podcasts are abundant. So 165 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:56,000 thank you for spending your scarce time to listen to another fucking Bitcoin podcast. Until next time, 166 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,000 stay free.