You don't need to be a scientist to see that Bitcoin is the best.
And I think if you're wasting time with Ethereum because you think that people are going to use the utility of these very expensive apps, then you're wrong.
The son of the CEO of the company that was hired to protect it is the one who pulled this heist.
Somebody should make a movie out of this.
OK, you can use encryption. We're not going to bother you to protect yourself from like everyday threats.
But if the government, like the real enemy in my view, if they need access to your data, sorry, like they're going to get to see whatever it is that they want.
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Bitcoin Banter.
I have Greer and Tony here with me, gents.
Let's jump right into the news.
So up first, we have Kevin O'Leary saying that poo-poo coins are done and he slashed his portfolio to Bitcoin and ETH.
So he is refining his thesis.
He's close.
I think his mindset's still wrong, but let's look at this video here.
And when you do the data, it's quite depressing.
You get 97.2% of all the alpha of the entire crypto market with simply two positions, BTC and ETH.
That's it.
You don't need anything else.
And that's one of the reasons in Q4 you had a complete collapse of what I call the poopoo coins, and they haven't come back.
There is no good news for poopoo coins.
No indexer is going to buy any of them.
They're worthless in terms of capturing alpha
because there's such a correlation between a Pupu coin and BTC.
And until you somehow differentiate that
so that you could outperform crypto by owning a different basket,
but you can't.
In 16 years, you can't beat just ETH and BTC.
And so it's a very sobering message that they're giving the market
about, you know, I know there's advocates and, you know, that they love this blockchain product
or that blockchain product. Okay. So first of all, I think we've, we have a new term that we need to
be using poopoo coins. I love it personally. Very G rated. Kudos to Mr. Wonderful. It's good.
Greer, what's your, what's your thought on this one? He's so close. You know, he's almost there.
Yeah, it's funny that he has to take the data and say, you know, Bitcoin is 92% if you throw
ETH in there. But Bitcoin is the dominant cryptographic currency. I mean, I even hate
saying crypto with Bitcoin because they're so different. But you don't need data. Look at the
price. A Bitcoin is $88,000. And the next nearest crypto is in what, like the 2000s. And there's
plenty of coins that are less than a penny. So, you know, I think this is great. You don't need
to be a scientist to see that Bitcoin is the best. And I think if you're wasting time with Ethereum,
because you think that people are going to use the utility of these very expensive apps,
then you're wrong. And it's great to see that he's almost there. It's wonderful,
but he's got to get all the way there. It's going to be Bitcoin only. I'm calling it.
Greer, I think my concern, so I agree with you, but my concern is that he's still talking about
alpha like and tony this is i think this is probably what you were would bring up is that
he's still talking about like oh you know your dollar denominated returns are going to be higher
if you just invest in these two and so he's gonna like we're gonna hear this in a few years he's
like i shouldn't have sold my bitcoin and like he's like i made me a millions of dollars but now
it's worth you know a billion dollars so tony i don't know what do you think what's what's
depressing for me is that there are people that still listen to this shit coining scammer i mean
this is like the worst person to take advice from for anything money related. But if folks like him
are finally starting to see the light, I mean, like you said, he's almost there. Then there's
some signal in there. There is some hope for even more folks to finally light up.
The mindset of chasing yield, man, for worthless paper, that thing has to die. Bitcoin is the money,
You know, and, you know, like you say, Michael, the yield on that is your freedom.
It's not some meaningless piece of paper that some, you know, thieving criminal can print whenever they feel like it.
Yeah, I think the directionally, I appreciate where he's headed.
I think he still has there's like there's a switch that needs to be flipped in his mind as to what Bitcoin is and represents before.
I think his advice could be anywhere near useful.
So the upside of this, I guess, is if people are listening to him, they're hearing Bitcoin.
Maybe they're dabbling a little bit in what I would call shit coins.
I mean, I'll just continue to use that.
But again, right direction.
We'll see where he is, you know, a few months, a year, a couple of years from now.
All righty, guys.
So we've got some crazy news.
I don't think most people are probably laughing at this.
I am.
so the son of the ceo of the company hired by the u.s marshals to safeguard the nation's bitcoin so
the confiscated strategic bitcoin reserve stole 40 million dollars from it now appears to be
running this is according according to david bailey treasury must secure the private keys
from the justice department asap before more is stolen so i i don't support crime however i think
there's a net you know a positive externality uh to this particular crime because i don't want the
government having Bitcoin. And this was, of course, Zach XBT, who figured this out and was paying
attention to what was going on. Tony, this is a wild story. Like, think about the guts that this
guy had. What a ballsy move. He just steals from the federal government. He's just like, I'm just
taking your Bitcoin. Well, he's learning from the best, right? I mean, if the U.S. government is
stealing people's Bitcoin, so he's just stealing it back from the U.S. government. He's like he's
He was learning from his masters.
But the fact that it was the son of the CEO of the company that was hired to protect it is the one who pulled this heist That is like you can make this stuff up man I mean this is like somebody should make a movie out of this I don know what the punishment or what the conversation must be like at this guy house
after this news broke out.
But man, if I would, I'd pay anything to be a fly on that wall.
I think it's safe to say that this company will probably no longer be the custodial provider
of the U.S. Marshals.
Greer, what do you think, man?
I think his alibi is that he's, you know, setting up the geographical multi-sig distribution of the keys, right?
So he takes $40 million worth of Bitcoin.
He goes on the run, but he's not running away.
He's just redistributing and, you know, smoothing out the risk gradient for the Bitcoin.
So I agree with you guys.
This kid is toast.
I mean, not only is his dad going to, you know, spank him,
But Daddy Trump is also probably not going to be pleased when he finds out his stolen Bitcoin has been stolen again.
So, yeah, I mean, just absolutely entertaining.
You know, what is what does the world come to?
I think it just shows you that, you know, young men, teens, we have a hard time of understanding consequences until we're like 25.
Yeah. Do we know do we know how old this kid was?
I don't. I'm just assuming that he's a teen, you know, and he's probably on the company payroll.
So, you know, I think the alibi, you know, don't be surprised if he tries to get out of this.
Yeah, hopefully they at least run a security audit of some kind after this and try to figure out where they went wrong.
Alrighty, guys.
Speaking of strategic Bitcoin reserves, China is now 4,012 Bitcoin short of surpassing the U.S. and government Bitcoin holdings.
And at this rate, it could be any day.
They're going to get there faster.
I mean, yeah, I wonder if the CEO has another son or a daughter who's about to run off with some more.
So we just don't know.
But it seems like theft alone from the SBR could lead China to the to the front of the pack.
Tony, do you get bittersweet?
Are they are bittersweet?
Are they actually looking at this, though, China and in the U.S. and saying, like, do they care who's ahead?
Or I feel like this is just an afterthought for at least the U.S.
i wouldn't know man but i mean boys will be boys why not they're probably laughing at each other
behind the scenes over over everyday news just you know just as much as we do but the fact that
you know nation states are starting to accumulate at these levels i mean this this this is like real
like big signal here because i mean that's the short squeeze is coming um a lot sooner than most
people realize and so the sad thing for me is that retail is going to be completely you know
discarded in all of this because, of course, none of them are paying attention to what matters,
except for, you know, the very few that are holding Bitcoin in self-custody. But the fact that,
you know, these big players are in now, you know, the headlines are going to change very,
very soon. And that's when you're going to see probably a lot more retail FOMO, you know. But
by then, like, I don't know what kind of scraps you're going to try to accumulate when the price
is six, seven digits or more.
I wonder if Xi Jinping has a son
who might help take them the other direction.
Greer, what do you think about this?
Yeah, I mean, we talk about nations acquiring Bitcoin
and of course, Trump and Venezuela,
it's nations that acquire nations that have Bitcoin.
So, you know, I think the game
is just zooming out even further.
You know, think about the territories
that Trump could conquer and occupy
and steal their Bitcoin once this thing goes worldwide.
You know, and I don't think it really matters if China has 4,000 more than us.
You know, the U.S. has plenty of ways to just confiscate Bitcoin from American companies.
You know, we've invested in Intel.
We've invested in a variety of corporations that will secure America's future.
And Bitcoin's just the next one on the list.
So I think when it comes to the nation state race, it's really most important if a nation
refuses to adopt any Bitcoin at all.
You know, the races was has already started clear leaders between America and China and some others.
And yeah, I think I think this is just it's all playing out in game theory.
You know, we get very impatient, but just zoom out.
You know, this is going to be an incredible race to watch.
Is it is it Bhutan that has been mining Bitcoin for years now?
I wonder if I wonder if China is going to Venezuela them and and take over their strategic reserve.
That seems like an obvious play.
Okay, guys, we've got the Stoic Trader.
By the way, I saw this in a couple of places
from different people experiencing the same challenge.
He said, I'm sitting on 1,000 ounces of silver bars.
Bought physical, did what everyone says to do.
Real assets outside the system.
When everything collapses, you'll be glad you have it.
Tried to sell some last week.
Trying to sell it today.
Refineries won't touch it.
Dealers low-balling, 30% under spot.
Banks look at me like I'm selling contraband.
Turns out owning something and being able to exit something are two very different skills.
This is the same trap I see in trading.
People hold positions they can't exit.
Stocks with no volume, options with no buyers.
Sit down on value that only exists on paper.
Supply and demand lesson learned.
And I saw the same thing from Santiago Capital.
I think that, is that Brent Johnson?
Is that the dollar milkshake guy?
uh but he he was saying he he said his dealer in florida wouldn't wouldn't buy his silver he's
sitting on like 5 000 ounces or something and so he's asking around x if there's anyone who
they could refer him to who would be willing to buy his physical silver i just think this is
hilarious like imagine me coming to x and saying guys i've got this bitcoin my guy isn't buying it
though anyone knows someone who wants it like the illiquidity of the actual physical commodity is
basically dried up at this point. So Greer, take this one.
Yeah, I would take the alternate view and say, I'll bet these posts were paid for. I think that
the people who are short silver let say your favorite bank they actually funding this fear uncertainty doubt narrative I don think the santiago capital thing was real i think that he was he was paid to post that just just a speculation
but i i think that people are still wanting silver today and if you can't sell a five thousand dollar
bar of silver it's probably because it costs 500 grand and most of your dealers maybe don't
that have that kind of cash just sitting there in the vault at the store. So I, for me, I just think
this is spun up just to tampon down the FOMO. You know, everyone's buying silver, everyone's buying
gold, retail wants it. And I think, of course, we know how this ends, you know, we're, they're going
to sell at the top and it's going to rotate into Bitcoin because the position size is too large in
their portfolio. But I just think this is cooked up. Okay. That's an interesting take. So I wonder
how much you'd have to pay me to say something that made me look stupid like that. So I don't
know. I guess it would be a lot. Name your price. Fair. I guess the big banks have some cash.
Tony, what do you think? I don't know, man. That's an interesting perspective, Greer. But
I know for a fact that there's a lot of folks dealing with this stuff and not just with silver,
with gold as well. Because depending where you are, it becomes more of a headache to carry them
than the store of value that you think you're saving your money in.
And so that's why when I see people FOMO-ing into physical assets,
physical metals in a digital world, to me it's just mind-blowing.
It makes absolutely zero sense because it's more of a psychological reflex
than a carefully thought out one.
I would never hoard on to a lot of my wealth in any precious metal
because I can't do anything with it.
like if you have to leave how are you going to take it with you like and how are you going to
pay someone with it like there's so much headache associated with it that you just rather not have
it and let alone you know being low-balled which you will depending again on where you uh where
you're situated so i don't know you have an interesting perspective that i didn't consider
but i know for a fact that you know being stuck with these rocks is a thing so i would be curious
I want people to leave comments and give their take.
I want to know if people, our viewers think Greer is on to something with this or if this is a real issue that people are having.
Greer, the reason I didn't go conspiratorial, which is my tendency, I think, in a lot of cases, is because I've seen these.
I think we talked about maybe last week about people taking silver bars and their stuff in them with other metals and like exactly sort of nightmare scenario.
And so are these banks or these, I guess, these traders being inundated with so much that they're having a hard time verifying everything without going through like a full due diligence process and verifying that what they're actually are being sold is real silver.
And maybe there was some element of that.
That said, I think you make an interesting point and potentially a compelling case.
So I want to know what our listeners think.
All righty, guys.
Tony, you're going to take this one first, man.
So Microsoft has confirmed it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked.
Why does Microsoft have your data encryption key?
Because it's a garbage company from the day it was born.
You know, like I've never spent a penny on any Microsoft product.
I've only had to use them when I had to use them, when I forced to use it.
And it was usually using somebody else's hardware.
But this is definitely not a company you can trust.
There is zero security in any of their products.
It's an illusion.
There never was.
It's not there by design.
And so the fact that they're giving away your information, of course, man, this is like a government puppet.
So I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them.
And Microsoft Windows is definitely not an operating system that I would recommend.
I know a lot of people use it.
Of course, we can work with it to do what we have to do.
But the foundation, the base of this operating system is complete and utter trash.
so uh the way forward is you know to embrace open source but again that requires a bit of uh you know
proof of work you have to learn a few more steps get maybe a little bit uncomfortable
other comments might chime in but what about apple apple is a i'd say like i wouldn't say
they're like the ultimate solution but i do know they are much better off than a company like uh
like microsoft especially if you activate what they have as known as the advanced protection
mechanism that's been around in their operating system for a while now. But that means that the
onus of responsibility of saving your recovery key and everything else that's involved is on you.
What you absolutely don't want to do with Apple is use their iCloud backup system,
because even though it's encrypted, Apple has the key. So if they were compelled to, you know,
give up information, they can do it. However, if you've got the advanced protection on,
then, you know, that's everything is in your hands at that point.
So it's a better option.
But ideally, you want to go something that you can verify and audit yourself.
And that's fully open source.
I'd say Linux is going to become far more popular as we read more of these stories.
So I'm going to draw an interesting parallel.
Hopefully I can articulate this well.
So right now there's this sort of gun control debate in the country.
Like you shouldn't have guns to protect yourself from the government.
is basically like where MAGA has landed, which is hilarious that they've been the Second Amendment.
And it's really it's for hunting. It's for home defense. It's, you know, for like, you know,
when the real bad guys show up, not government. And it's like, OK, you can use encryption. We're
not going to bother you to protect yourself from like everyday threats. But if the government
like the real enemy, in my view, if they need access to your data, we're going to, you know,
sorry, like they're going to get to see whatever it is that they want.
It's it's the unfortunate thing that I see in this world is that people view
government as some sort of benevolent overlord who, you know, you don't need
to protect yourself from in any way with Bitcoin with firearms with encryption or other advanced tools And like that exactly that my number one concern is how do I protect myself from the government Because they the people most likely to impact my life
Greer, do you have any perspective on either of those topics?
I mean, when it comes to Microsoft,
I would probably rather be tortured than use PowerPoint
and be on a Teams call, give me a break.
Yeah, I mean, these are products I stay away from just anyway,
you know, just because they're so unusable in my view. So yeah, the fact that they also will leak
your data to the FBI. I mean, you know, it's it's a no brainer for me. Yeah, I completely agree.
Guys, we have blown through this Bitcoin banter. We've got one more story. There are now over 5000
verified merchants in the US accepting Bitcoin. So I feel very bullish about this. It's not.
It sounds like a lot of first. If you think about the number of merchants out there,
It's very few, but it seems to be a growing list.
And more and more places you can actually go and use your Bitcoin as money, as peer-to-peer
electronic cash.
No one can stop you.
And I think we're only going to see an uptick in this in 2026.
Tony, what's your take?
Absolute signal, man.
This is fire.
Only just like if you just calculate a couple of years ago, you know, you are far from 5,000.
And these days, every single day, you know, hundreds of merchants adopt Bitcoin as the
tools become easier, right?
Like, remember, again, not that far, like a long time ago, Square unlocked the ability for 4 million, you know, merchants to do this.
So it wouldn't surprise me if we see this number skyrocket, like within a matter of days to something a lot larger.
And that's just in the U.S., man.
I mean, once once that wheel starts spinning fast, you're going to see this explode worldwide.
Yeah, I agree.
Greer, are you bullish?
Think about when the retailer, you know, let's say they do 1% of sales in Bitcoin.
and let's say they hold on to the Bitcoin and Bitcoin increases in value, you know, that 1%
is going to be a huge portion of their profit margin. And I think this scales over time. So the
first year it might go from 1% to 5%. And when the retailer is sitting on, you know, this hoard
of Bitcoin, let's say they, you know, it goes from 10,000 to 50,000. They're going to figure out
that, wow, I'm going to get a lot farther in my business if I accept Bitcoin and hold
on to it.
So I think that we're going to see the fruit of this a year from now, maybe a little bit
longer.
But the incentives are going to drive this to where the retailer says, you know what,
if you pay in Bitcoin, you get a discount.
Or if you pay in cash, it's going to cost you more.
And I think we're going to see the preferences move towards people accepting Bitcoin.
And for the person who has Bitcoin and likes to use it as money, you know, this is a win for them also.
So I think the incentives are just going to drive this completely forward and it's going to be adopted everywhere.
I mean, it's just a matter of time.
I would be curious of the Square merchants, what percentage of them are keeping that payment in Bitcoin, like in their native wallet versus converting automatically to dollars.
um i have a feeling there's it's a mixed bag but i think it's likely in the earlier days though
a lot of the a lot of the people who are turning on bitcoin payments are doing so because they are
bitcoiners they understand what bitcoin is at least to some degree and they're going to retain
it i think over time we're going to see more people who just accept it out of convenience but
they're converting automatically to dollars and then when they reach that max paying threshold
that we talk about then they're going to start keeping everything in bitcoin that they possibly
can. Well, the thing is, at some point, people are going to realize whether they understand
Bitcoin or not, that they're going to need that instead of, you know, instead of dollars or euros,
because those are worthless. They, you know, they just don't work anymore. You know, like they can't
collect enough of that garbage to pay for their most basic needs. And so they're going to switch
to anything that that gives them back their purchasing power. So in this case, it's Bitcoin,
But I don't expect them to fully understand it the way we do for them to adopt it.
They're just going to know that this is what I need to live and survive and buy stuff compared to what I've been accumulating for the last God knows how many years.
Yeah, I agree.
All righty, guys, I think that's a good place to wrap up, unless either you have more comments.
But I appreciate you guys being here.
And for everyone who tuned in, thank you so much.
Stick around for another minute.
You can learn a bit about the Bitcoin way, how we can help you.
and we'll be back again later this week.
Thanks, guys.
Thank you.
Thanks, guys. It's great.
Cheers.
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