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Hey, hey, welcome back to the Bitcoin Matrix. I'm your host, Cedric Youngelman. The Bitcoin

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Today's guest is someone who didn't find Bitcoin through a white paper or a Reddit thread.

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He found it the hard way. After watching Lebanese banks steal his life savings overnight,

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Tony Yazbek went from cybersecurity veteran to full-on Bitcoin sovereignty advocate.

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Now as co-founder of The Bitcoin Way, he's on a mission to make sure what happened to him

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doesn't happen to you. This conversation gets real. We're talking bank collapses,

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self-custody, opting out of the system entirely, and why proper Bitcoin education might be the

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most important thing you do in 2026. If you're getting value from the show, the best way to

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support us is to subscribe on Fountain. Five bucks a month gets you early ad-free episodes and

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membership perks. Drop a five-star review, share the Bitcoin Matrix with a friend, grab some merch,

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or hit me up at thebitcoinmatrix.com. Every sponsor and affiliate on the Bitcoin Matrix

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is something I personally use and believe in. So when you support them, you're helping keep

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the Bitcoin matrix independent. Love this community. Appreciate you all. And now let's

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enter the Bitcoin matrix with Tony Yazbek. What is real? How do you define real? You can't jump

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into cash. Cash is trash. What do you do? You get out.

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Tony Azbeck, welcome to the Bitcoin Matrix. How are you?

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I'm fantastic, Cedric. Thank you for having me, man. Very, very excited to get into this

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conversation. Yeah, me too. You're doing tremendous things in the space. But, you know,

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before we get into all that, how did you find Bitcoin?

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The most horrific way, man. You know, I wish I could say I just, you know, opened up the white paper one day and the light bulb just went off. But the truth about this is very far away from that.

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I just I came into Bitcoin after a horrific collapse in Lebanon when I woke up one morning

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to find out that the banks had have stolen all my life savings so I literally you know woke up

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homeless with no options no one to call and no idea what the next move is going to be and so I

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went through a very dark period of my life trying to figure that out because you know like literally

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overnight, we were catapulted back into the Stone Age, where survival was, you know, based on instinct

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and barter. You had to, you know, trade service for service. And those services were very primal.

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I mean, my tech skills, cybersecurity were worth absolutely nothing in a world of turmoil and chaos

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when people, you know, they had to find out where to eat.

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And so, you know, you had to do whatever it is that came instinctively

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and that was at your disposal in order to survive,

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especially, you know, if you had dependents relying on you,

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well, man, you had to figure something out and fast

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in a world that was completely unstable and literally insane.

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So that's what brought me into Bitcoin.

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Nine months, you know, after dealing with that darkness,

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I stumbled across a Andreas Antonopoulos video.

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And that, I think, for the first time during, you know, that those nine months that I smiled again.

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And, you know, the journey took off, you know, from there.

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I dove deep down the rabbit hole.

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I learned, you know, the truth about the money that we're using, you know, the lies we've been told, who's responsible for the collapse.

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You know, I was able to put names behind, you know, the horror show that, you know, we went through.

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And once you discover all of this, your lens on the world changes forever.

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And so when I decided to rise back up, I made the very, very difficult decision to do this on a platform where the chances of exploitation are zero.

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And even though that was the path that the fewest people have taken, I knew deep in my heart that that was going to be the right path forward.

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and you fast forward to today, thankfully it was the right bet.

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So that's really what brought me into Bitcoin to warn others

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who have not yet experienced their Lebanon moment

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that Lebanon was not an isolated case.

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It wasn't the exception, it was really the rule

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because the mechanics of that collapse is global

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and it's coming to every city of every country at some point.

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So when we eventually put together the Bitcoin way

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is to help people get into Bitcoin the proper way.

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Because since it comes from the world of tech,

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a lot of people shy away from it

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and have a lot of misunderstandings around it.

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So that's like the TLDR of what brought me here.

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Well, that's a lot to unpack.

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I want to go more than the TLDR,

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especially on the Lebanon moment.

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I mean, I think that's how I would describe

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how it impacted my life.

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I saw it on X and I heard about it

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and it was a moment in time for me,

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but I don't know what it really means

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to go through sort of the mechanics of a financial collapse.

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It's hard to fathom someone being retired

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and then being homeless within a very quick period of time.

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So no one really prepares you for that moment, man.

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It's very hard to describe other than a horror show

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that you've never seen before

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because people are running on instinct

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and they're not thinking rationally

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and they're doing, you know, whatever comes to mind.

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I'll give you like a brief example, just one of like really thousands. When the food runs out in

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your kitchen, where do you replenish it from, right? Like if you have kids, you know, what's

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for lunch and what's for dinner? I have no idea. So your gut move is to go find food, but the

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supermarkets are closed. And even if they weren't, how are you going to pay for the food? Your cards

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don't work. There's no money in the ATMs. The banks are long gone and nobody's picking up the

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phone anywhere. So instinctively, you're going to go and like steal the food, right? Like that would

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be like your next logical move. Except when you go to do that, you realize that there's like 10,000

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people that have also had that brilliant idea before you and are waiting already there, looting

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guns, knives, hammers, screwdrivers, you name it. And so when you see this, you're like, you know

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what the you know a diet sounds good just about now because you know that that that bag of toast

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is gonna potentially cost me my life and so you have to figure out other ways to get that food

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and so this is just like a a preview of the many things that this shit show looks like

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and of course i'm not gonna get into like uh all the the horrific stories because there are many

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But the point here is not to doom and gloom this message, but to really highlight the reality of when fiat money fails, everything collapses very fast.

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And we're starting to see this now again in Iran.

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Iran is actually worse than Lebanon.

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As bad as I thought we had it, they have it much, much worse.

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And so every place will react differently.

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My biggest fear is that the United States experiences a Lebanon moment.

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And the main reason for that fear is that Lebanon doesn't have 500 million privately owned assault weapons.

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The United States Constitution allows people to be bearers of guns, right?

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So when these folks get locked out of their bank account or worse, realize that their purchasing power has been depleted, reduced to zero, what happens, right?

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I mean, there's no logical conversation you can have with someone in that predicament.

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they're going to react first think later and when you have that reaction you know uh equipped with

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guns or whatever else you know is at their disposal that again is that horror show that

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no one has seen before unless you've lived in that situation this is what the uh the people

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stuck in iran are unfortunately going through right now so um very bad news you know but again

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all of this is like the cause of all this now is known it's broken money nothing else will fund

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this type of evil and get to these types of result unless it's like a massive ponzi that

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has finally collapsed which was the case in uh in beirut in beirut lebanon and now in iran and god

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knows what the next country is going to be like but tiktok it's i am 100 convinced it's coming

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everywhere. And so we're trying to push out as much education and warning in order to make folks

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still living in, you know, relatively comfortable, financially privileged countries that don't hide

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behind this delusion, thinking that you're safe. You're not safe. It's just you might be the last

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one to be hit, but your turn is coming. So, yeah, let's try to focus a little bit on the positive.

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Was there any, maybe around community, working with your friends and families and neighbors?

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in nine months before you discovered even Bitcoin and even after.

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But can you sort of relate like how maybe people came together

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to figure things out in this chaotic, uncertain environment?

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Absolutely. You nailed it.

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It was a very, very powerful sense of bonding among strangers.

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And of course, some people that you know that, you know,

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we're living within your proximity.

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Everybody was helping each other out, you know,

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like doing things you never thought you would ever be doing.

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But just because, you know, the situation called for it. And not only was it survival tactics that were important, it was also self-defense. Because in a situation of complete mayhem, you know, the next thing that, you know, pops up like a bad weed are the gangs that, you know, all of a sudden now want to claim, you know, their territory.

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and the skills these guys come with is you know murder theft all that fun stuff so how do you

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protect yourself against against that a lot of people don't know how to how to fight or how to

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you know engage in such situations because they've never had to before but now this was a reality like

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almost at every block so there was a lot of things that had to be learned very quickly you know so

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So like the strongest, you know, bonded together for certain things, protected those, you know, that were a little weaker.

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And then, you know, everybody had their strong points.

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And collectively, we figured it out.

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We figured something out to take us to the next day and the next week and what have you.

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But it wasn't an easy journey, man.

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It was a very horrific one.

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And like I tell this to everyone, sometimes it's almost like a miracle that I'm still sitting here, you know, doing what I do at the Bitcoin way and just in general sitting on podcasts.

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considering where my mental health was and my physical, you know, being was, you know, just a

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few years ago. And so I don't want to see anyone go through anything remotely close to that. But

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if you want to discover who you are, this is the best way to figure that out because you are stripped

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down to your DNA. There's nothing left. And so this is how you discover what you're made of,

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And of course, the strong survive and the weak don't, unfortunately.

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Yeah, maybe talking about what people are made of or what people need to do more like, maybe frame it that way.

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What do people can do to improve their individual physical and mental self-sovereignty beyond Bitcoin and self-custody, which we'll talk about?

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What do you mean Self goes I think beyond just stacking sats probably In a situation in Lebanon you know maybe there were people around you not the many

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but the few who somehow through some sort of form of luck or skill came through this

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financial collapse.

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Maybe a few of them were because they were in this commodity business.

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They did well or this service or they were in this gang or they had Bitcoin or something

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else.

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But you still have to kind of live in the physical environment.

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and have, like you were saying, mental health to come back or rise from these things.

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Yeah, man, this is it. It was, you know, human support.

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You know, everybody had to support one another.

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Just when somebody thought they were going to break down and give up,

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you know, you'd have others rally and, you know, try to comfort them

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and lift them up and boost them, try to distract, you know,

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their attention from all these dark thoughts and what have you.

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But it's very difficult.

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I mean, there are a lot of folks that I grew up with that I knew that are unfortunately not here anymore because of everything that unfolded.

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I don't talk about this too much because, you know, like there's no point of it.

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It's too dark and it's not going to make much of a difference.

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Just, you know, bringing back all these dark memories.

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But, you know, people learned many skills.

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I learned many skills.

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I learned how to cut hair.

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You know, I learned a little bit of plumbing.

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I learned how to change tires you know like become a bit of a mechanic like there's a lot

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of things that you think you will never do I'm a tech guy like I have no business changing tires

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or learning how to fix a car engine or you know turning such tools into different you know

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different utility factors right but you learn all of these things because you know it's survival

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tactics like how to turn a wrench into a weapon type of thing you know like how to use that for

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that people had to adapt like we had to become chameleons in everyday life in order to survive

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because you never knew when the next threat was going to come and in those first months there was

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no bitcoin anywhere like nobody nobody knew this thing even existed it was find me cash in order

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to trade it for a piece of bread or some fruits and vegetables to feed my kids it was like imminent

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needs. Nobody was thinking about saving or investing or anything. It's like, I need to eat

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by 6 p.m. Let's figure something out to get something and then we'll split it amongst everybody

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that's here. That's really how everybody was rallying together. And so nine months of hell.

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And then when I discovered, when one day I just sat down in front of the computer again

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and just decided just to disconnect and I came across that video. I don't know, man,

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like I think my past career just, you know, came back to me and it's just, you know, I just felt

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alive for like those 30 seconds. And I had to watch that video many times because, you know,

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like in my mental state, I couldn't trust like if I was being delusional, right? Because I was so

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desperate that anything sounded like good news. And so this is why, you know, I sat down, watched

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it several times and then, you know, then it just clicked. And that's when, you know, the whole

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the whole rabbit hole uh unfolded but you know starting your life on a bitcoin standard when

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everybody around you has no idea what that is and has no interest in learning about anything except

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where the next meal is coming from that is you know like trying to run up mount everest you know

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when you've had no training whatsoever so it's uh but you know i'm living proof that even under the

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most seemingly impossible conditions when there's a strong enough will bit by bit you can lift

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yourself up and you can rebuild your life and once you do you become a completely different human

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being i mean like tony 1.0 before the collapse it's not the same person sitting in front of you

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here having this this conversation i was very successful in the past like fiat successful very

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successful. I ran three companies, extremely successful. I was essentially retired. So I was

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living the life of someone who's not worried about money. And then you go from that to what I just

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described, flatlined, homeless, having to figure things that I've never done before out. And so

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now money means nothing to me, right? Like now when I discovered all of this, I'm completely

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desensitized to money. I don't give a shit about money at all. Even with the work that I do now,

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I don't do it to get rich. I have a sense of purpose now that goes way above and beyond

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any form of currency that you can possibly offer me. My mission here, my currency is the

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separation of money and state. I know who's responsible for these attacks. I know who's

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responsible for the evil in this world. And I'm going to do whatever I can in order to put an end

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to it, if I can. And the way I'm going to do this is by arming as many people as possible

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with the knowledge and intellect to protect themselves and opt out of the very system

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that is causing all of this, right? We can't go to war with these people. This is an octopus that

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has grown far and wide beyond anybody's capabilities, like physical capabilities.

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So the only way to defeat it is to render it irrelevant. And the only way I know how to do this is by refusing to use its product. You opt out of the dollar, you opt out of the fiat currency, you pretend it doesn't exist now that we have a viable option that allows us to do this.

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so as of 2009 that entire world became optional as far as i'm concerned you don't have to live in it

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of course it's it's a bit of a workout depending on where you are to get to this level of conviction

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but it is possible and i and millions of other people are living proof of it and once you live

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in that new future nothing phases you anymore you know like you develop the sense of a fearlessness

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because now you know that they can't confiscate you.

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They can't shut you down.

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They can't debase you.

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You don't give a shit about what they're doing.

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Whatever they say, whatever they babble about,

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whatever they try to regulate, it doesn't matter.

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You are no longer living in that world

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when you understand Bitcoin truly for its essence

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and you just decide to walk forward, right?

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So there's a lot to unpack here,

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but really like I'm trying to sum up the transition

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between someone who has done really well in a fiat world,

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collapsed through reasons that have nothing to do with his failure,

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and then rebuilt himself in a way that that past can no longer affect them.

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Yeah, I'm really trying to process all that.

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You know, the ride and the journey of being very successful

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in the way everyone sort of denominates or sort of categorizes.

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I mean, we can call it the fiat world, but that's everyone else's world for the most part.

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I mean, Bitcoin adoption is very low.

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Of course.

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And I can't imagine a fall from grace.

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Even of not my own fault, I'd still have really, you know, the weight of the world on my shoulders.

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And my pride would probably be wounded.

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And I get sort of the idea of like money means nothing now because we're in this weird economy or being that traditional world.

256
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but it just, it can screw with people

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and through no fault of your own,

258
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you're in this position.

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And now you, but then you find Bitcoin.

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I, but to go from finding Bitcoin on a video,

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it sounds like to the mission

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and conviction you have now.

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I mean, I kind of want to hear more about that journey,

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but I can only imagine also,

265
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I'm sorry to interrupt,

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but like, I can only imagine then my family being like,

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wow, we were whatever you want to call it.

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Let's call it rich.

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Now we're poor.

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And now we're on our way back to stabilization again.

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And I'm, dad, this is kind of crazy what you're talking about.

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We just want to be back to normal.

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Like now you're talking about not even going back to normal when we get upright.

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You're talking about taking on the world and this new mission and Bitcoin standard.

275
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And what does that mean?

276
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You know, and were they on board?

277
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Yeah, it's really interesting.

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Man, there's no normal anymore when your life collapses in such a way.

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If you survive it, there's no way you remain the same human being.

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You know, like there's a saying that when you die, you are free, right?

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So back then I died.

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And when that happened, I became free.

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Free of all the lies and the bullshit that I've been fed since the day I was born.

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This is something that to this day, too many people don't comprehend.

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They don't understand what money is.

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They don't understand who's behind the money that they're slaving for.

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they don't understand that they're being exploited on a daily basis no matter where you are in this

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world if you're using that product like for them like this sounds like crazy talk because their

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turn hasn't come yet right i mean a lot of people complain high prices you know too much taxes blah

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blah all that shit but that belongs to a club that has created this system specifically for the

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exploitation of everyone that uses it. It's not by fluke that things are expensive, that, you know,

292
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everybody knows what the word inflation means now, all of a sudden, it's like 20 years ago,

293
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nobody even knew that word, right? Now everybody talks about it because it's like inflation,

294
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inflation, inflation, because now they can't buy anything, right? So pain causes you to learn

295
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things very, very quickly. And so once you understand who is fueling this world of pain

296
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and evil, that rabbit hole becomes endless. I was never a historian. After my collapse,

297
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I started reading things that you can't possibly pay me to read previously. The wars, why they

298
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happened. Now all the pieces start to fit together, right? Like, how is a war possible? Well, it's

299
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possible when it's a business, a profitable business. How is it funded? A money printer.

300
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Who controls that bloody money printer? Aha, well, now we know where the origins are. Now,

301
00:24:15,928 --> 00:24:22,028
connect the dots everywhere else, right? And so once you go down that rabbit hole and you absorb

302
00:24:22,028 --> 00:24:28,308
all that information and you factually prove it as a human being, why would you willingly

303
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keep yourself in that world, right? When you know you have an option, but because it sounds too good

304
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to be true when you first hear about it, people dismiss it. They think, oh my God, this is like,

305
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no chance. That's where you had, you know, the previous Fed, oh, the government's going to shut

306
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down bitcoin oh they're going too much energy oh blah blah blah you just the list goes on and every

307
00:24:51,168 --> 00:24:56,228
single time all of them have been debunked and tick tock next block 17 years later bitcoin is

308
00:24:56,228 --> 00:25:04,108
is bigger stronger than ever right now so it exists as an option the problem is that the people who

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need it the most don't understand this and the people who shouldn't understand it understand it

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the wrong people understand it governments institutions all the folks that bitcoin was

311
00:25:14,828 --> 00:25:21,048
created to replace understand Bitcoin. And they understand that this is something they cannot stop.

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They tried. They tried to kill it many times in the past. Every single time they failed. They know

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from a tech point of view, it's not going to happen. So what do they do? They try to attack it

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in a different way. They're not stupid. They're corrupt, but they're not dumb.

315
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So they attack the narrative. They try to rebrand Bitcoin into what we have it today.

316
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For the most part, they've rebranded Bitcoin as a risk-on tech stock asset.

317
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This is what if 9 out of 10 people you talk to about Bitcoin, they tell you, yeah, yeah, I bought it and I made money.

318
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How did you make money?

319
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Well, I bought it at X dollars.

320
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Now I have X plus whatever dollars.

321
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I'm like, so clearly you don't understand what you have and what it is that you're doing.

322
00:26:09,588 --> 00:26:13,988
because if you're still measuring in dollars, then you don't understand Bitcoin. You're seeing it,

323
00:26:14,448 --> 00:26:18,088
you know, you're playing right into that narrative that they're trying to make you believe it is.

324
00:26:18,728 --> 00:26:25,928
Bitcoin is not a speculation. It's not a stock. It's money itself. But if enough people understood

325
00:26:25,928 --> 00:26:31,948
this, the fiat system would collapse because the incentives of sound money completely destroyed

326
00:26:31,948 --> 00:26:33,828
out of the fiat system, right?

327
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I've said this many times.

328
00:26:36,248 --> 00:26:39,568
If the US dollar and other fiat currencies

329
00:26:39,568 --> 00:26:41,348
were such good products,

330
00:26:42,308 --> 00:26:45,068
why do you have to be threatened to use it?

331
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Why do you have to be threatened in jail time

332
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if you don't pay your taxes?

333
00:26:49,568 --> 00:26:52,008
Why do you have to be coerced into using it?

334
00:26:52,308 --> 00:26:55,828
Why do you have to go through all of this AML, KYC bullshit

335
00:26:55,828 --> 00:26:57,728
under the pretext of your protection

336
00:26:57,728 --> 00:26:59,268
if it's such a good product?

337
00:26:59,548 --> 00:27:01,188
If it was such an amazing thing,

338
00:27:01,188 --> 00:27:06,728
people would like willingly jump to go and get it. But if they don't play by these rules,

339
00:27:06,988 --> 00:27:12,488
they get either killed or thrown in jail. Now you have another product that does none of these

340
00:27:12,488 --> 00:27:19,548
things. It restores your time and energy to you. You actually can own it because nobody owns fiat

341
00:27:19,548 --> 00:27:24,928
money. When you put it, you know, with a custodian, it's the custodian's money and they technically owe

342
00:27:24,928 --> 00:27:30,008
it back to you. So if they don't like your face for whatever reason, fuck you, no more money,

343
00:27:30,008 --> 00:27:35,908
right and you have no recourse try to do that with bitcoin in self-custody bitcoin in self-custody

344
00:27:35,908 --> 00:27:53,816
reverses that middle finger back to that system and that empowers 8 billion people and so once you get that sense of empowerment everything about your perspective on life changes because now you actually working for something that has value not something

345
00:27:53,816 --> 00:27:58,616
that somebody else can debase by printing, by hitting a button and printing trillions, right?

346
00:27:59,116 --> 00:28:03,736
And then coercing you and like telling you you can or cannot use it because of X, Y, and Z,

347
00:28:04,076 --> 00:28:08,316
and answering 700 questions when you want to withdraw some cash to do whatever it is that you

348
00:28:08,316 --> 00:28:15,736
want right this is this is not freedom this is the illusion of freedom so the fiat system was by

349
00:28:15,736 --> 00:28:23,236
design created to extract sensor and control which is the complete opposite of what bitcoin was created

350
00:28:23,236 --> 00:28:29,196
for it's the free empower and you know restore your time and energy for you to do whatever it

351
00:28:29,196 --> 00:28:33,676
is that you want whenever you want it transact from point a to point b with anyone no permission

352
00:28:33,676 --> 00:28:38,796
required. So you have two incentives, very clear incentives. Which one would you logically choose?

353
00:28:38,996 --> 00:28:44,956
Of course, the obvious one is Bitcoin. But you need to learn how to do it, how to use it,

354
00:28:44,976 --> 00:28:50,236
because the world has never seen anything like it. It comes from the world of technology. And so most

355
00:28:50,236 --> 00:28:54,976
people, you know, believe that they're terrible behind the computer. Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't

356
00:28:54,976 --> 00:29:01,616
matter. But everybody can learn seven or eight new steps to figure this out. The main obstacle

357
00:29:01,616 --> 00:29:06,396
that I've encountered through my experience, you know, with dealing with people is that they can't

358
00:29:06,396 --> 00:29:11,916
wrap their heads around that money can exist when it's not government or central bank issued.

359
00:29:11,916 --> 00:29:19,456
It's such a novel concept that, you know, it forces you to admit that you've been, you know,

360
00:29:19,496 --> 00:29:24,656
lied to your entire life, right? And so all your professional career and everything that you've

361
00:29:24,656 --> 00:29:30,796
been doing now, all of a sudden was like completely fake, right? Like some based on rubbish.

362
00:29:31,616 --> 00:29:53,136
A lot of some people don't want to accept that. And so they dismiss Bitcoin. They're like, whatever, man, that's going to go down to zero and whatever other nonsense comes out of their mouth. But then you have some folks that don't think that way. And they're like, hold on, let me verify it myself. So they go in, they do the work, they go down the rabbit holes themselves. They watch podcasts, you know, like this one, they ask the right questions.

363
00:29:53,136 --> 00:29:55,036
and then it just clicks.

364
00:29:55,376 --> 00:29:57,576
Like why am I subjugating myself

365
00:29:57,576 --> 00:30:02,076
to a life of pain unnecessarily

366
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when I can go the extra mile,

367
00:30:05,756 --> 00:30:07,736
sure there's a few steps in the process for now,

368
00:30:08,436 --> 00:30:10,016
but opt out into a world

369
00:30:10,016 --> 00:30:12,876
that restores my freedom 100%.

370
00:30:12,876 --> 00:30:16,876
This is the conflict that I see in the world today.

371
00:30:16,956 --> 00:30:18,476
People who want to accept that

372
00:30:18,476 --> 00:30:21,636
and people who just, I don't know,

373
00:30:21,636 --> 00:30:25,636
It's like self-inflicted pain by refusing to listen.

374
00:30:26,376 --> 00:30:26,516
Right.

375
00:30:27,056 --> 00:30:29,756
So I'm very bullish on the future anyhow.

376
00:30:30,136 --> 00:30:32,076
So but I mean, there's a lot to unpack here.

377
00:30:32,196 --> 00:30:34,576
So I'll let I'll throw the ball back to you.

378
00:30:34,636 --> 00:30:34,916
Yeah.

379
00:30:35,036 --> 00:30:37,896
In case you want to in case you want to fire some questions.

380
00:30:38,136 --> 00:30:38,456
Yeah.

381
00:30:38,976 --> 00:30:40,156
Anywhere you want to go.

382
00:30:40,796 --> 00:30:46,036
Well, my next question would be, what do people do if they they want to they want freedom?

383
00:30:46,356 --> 00:30:48,136
And what steps do they take as a Bitcoin?

384
00:30:48,316 --> 00:30:50,476
Are they like I'm talking someone's like, OK, I get it.

385
00:30:50,476 --> 00:30:50,996
What do I do?

386
00:30:50,996 --> 00:30:52,816
Do I buy the ETF?

387
00:30:52,936 --> 00:30:54,356
It sounds like I have to do more than that.

388
00:30:54,436 --> 00:30:55,356
What do I do?

389
00:30:56,036 --> 00:30:57,896
Do I buy Bitcoin and keep it on exchange?

390
00:30:58,036 --> 00:30:59,476
Do I put it in this hardware?

391
00:30:59,616 --> 00:31:02,576
What do I have to do to be a Bitcoiner and live on a Bitcoin standard?

392
00:31:02,956 --> 00:31:09,716
All right, look, the TLDR, like you really have to be gifted to screw up Bitcoin if you

393
00:31:09,716 --> 00:31:11,296
understand what it is, right?

394
00:31:11,696 --> 00:31:13,196
That's how simple it is.

395
00:31:13,836 --> 00:31:15,016
Bitcoin is not a speculation.

396
00:31:15,016 --> 00:31:16,636
It's not an investment.

397
00:31:16,816 --> 00:31:17,996
It's a savings technology.

398
00:31:17,996 --> 00:31:26,056
so when you go out and provide value in the world what you want normally is to earn and sound money

399
00:31:26,056 --> 00:31:32,476
not debasing paper that's still that's stealing from you all day long so that's one if you don't

400
00:31:32,476 --> 00:31:41,196
want to do this 100 from the from like day one that's cool but step one is understand why you're

401
00:31:41,196 --> 00:31:45,916
looking at bitcoin if you're looking at it from a lens of a savings technology and proper sound

402
00:31:45,916 --> 00:31:52,636
money then you're on the right track if you're not stop doing anything that you are until you

403
00:31:52,636 --> 00:31:57,116
you you know cement that understanding and then come back to bitcoin because otherwise you're

404
00:31:57,116 --> 00:32:01,236
going to screw it up you're either going to leave bitcoin on an exchange or you're going to buy a

405
00:32:01,236 --> 00:32:06,616
worthless etf or some other chatify bitcoin wrapper thinking it's your bitcoin and you're

406
00:32:06,616 --> 00:32:10,276
going to realize that you have nothing really except for hot air bitcoin is bitcoin and the

407
00:32:10,276 --> 00:32:15,716
only way you have that bitcoin is that if you own it yourself in 100 self-custody and that means like

408
00:32:15,716 --> 00:32:16,936
in your hardware wallets.

409
00:32:17,296 --> 00:32:19,416
But that's a process to learn, right?

410
00:32:19,456 --> 00:32:20,436
It comes from the tech world.

411
00:32:20,796 --> 00:32:21,976
It's not rocket science.

412
00:32:22,036 --> 00:32:22,876
It's really not hard.

413
00:32:23,356 --> 00:32:25,156
But you have to learn, you know,

414
00:32:25,196 --> 00:32:26,396
like how you learned how to drive

415
00:32:26,396 --> 00:32:28,296
or whatever other skill you picked up,

416
00:32:28,356 --> 00:32:29,396
you know, during your career,

417
00:32:29,556 --> 00:32:31,996
you're going to learn how to use this new form of money.

418
00:32:31,996 --> 00:32:35,356
And once you do, there's no going back.

419
00:32:35,916 --> 00:32:37,436
Compared to 17 years ago,

420
00:32:37,576 --> 00:32:41,336
the tools to use Bitcoin have been so simplified

421
00:32:41,336 --> 00:32:43,556
that now really there's no difference.

422
00:32:43,556 --> 00:32:51,976
I mean, almost no difference between, you know, what you're accustomed to using in TratFi in the fiat world versus what you have in Bitcoin.

423
00:32:52,496 --> 00:32:55,376
So people that live on a Bitcoin standard, how do they do it?

424
00:32:55,456 --> 00:33:01,256
Well, first of all, there's a lot of merchants around the world today that accept Bitcoin, way, way more than a lot of people realize.

425
00:33:01,736 --> 00:33:05,616
I'm sure sometimes you have to do a bit of research to find what you're looking for, but you will find them.

426
00:33:05,736 --> 00:33:11,096
And every day thousands adopt it because, you know, they're realizing that, you know, this is the way to go.

427
00:33:11,096 --> 00:33:16,436
And there's a lot of tools that are enabling more merchants to adopt Bitcoin easily.

428
00:33:16,636 --> 00:33:27,736
For example, not that long ago, the Square and Cash App in the US was a monumental bullish news where 4 million merchants now have the ability to start accepting it at a click of a button.

429
00:33:28,176 --> 00:33:37,976
To me, this is the signal that people should be focusing on rather than the worthless charts and metrics and all that nonsense that people go on about with the macro and micro on Bitcoin.

430
00:33:38,476 --> 00:33:39,936
This is not where the attention should be.

431
00:33:39,936 --> 00:33:46,096
The attention should be on the ecosystem that is being built on Bitcoin, because at the end of the day, it's a protocol, right?

432
00:33:46,116 --> 00:33:47,516
It's money, but it's also a protocol.

433
00:33:48,156 --> 00:33:51,296
So those tools, you need to learn how to use them.

434
00:33:51,376 --> 00:33:54,416
And once you do, everything unlocks.

435
00:33:54,496 --> 00:33:55,416
You can pay in Bitcoin.

436
00:33:55,916 --> 00:33:56,916
Find circular economies.

437
00:33:57,016 --> 00:33:58,016
You'll find tons of them.

438
00:33:58,676 --> 00:34:03,716
The other part of the puzzle is look for jurisdictions that actually want you.

439
00:34:03,956 --> 00:34:06,376
Like a lot of people complain about their home country.

440
00:34:06,936 --> 00:34:08,076
Ah, the taxes are bad.

441
00:34:08,116 --> 00:34:09,616
The government is shit and blah, blah, blah.

442
00:34:09,616 --> 00:34:33,636
All right, cool. If you're in a position to move, why don't you consider it? Like it's a it's the missing piece of the puzzle. You can own your money. But if you're living in a hellhole, then you're still not free. Both of them, that circle needs to be complete. So it's your money. And it's your the freedom of your body. Your jurisdictional freedom also matters.

443
00:34:33,636 --> 00:34:41,776
you find places in the world that are pro-Bitcoin, pro-freedom, pro-humanity coming in and contributing

444
00:34:41,776 --> 00:34:46,016
to their economies, right? They're not overtaxing you, they're not hounding you, they're not harassing

445
00:34:46,016 --> 00:34:50,456
you or threatening you all day long. They leave you alone. And as long as you're not, you know,

446
00:34:50,496 --> 00:34:57,236
breaking any legitimate rules, your life is your life, man. Nobody cares, right? And so you can pay

447
00:34:57,236 --> 00:35:02,136
in Bitcoin. The tools are simplified. In the event where you have to pay a fiat bill, there are many

448
00:35:02,136 --> 00:35:07,836
Bitcoin friendly banks now that'll give you debit cards, you know, Visa, MasterCards, except they're

449
00:35:07,836 --> 00:35:13,156
powered by your Bitcoin. And so you tap, tap, tap like you normally do. The only difference is that

450
00:35:13,156 --> 00:35:18,316
in the background, it's your Bitcoin in action. The merchant may not, doesn't even know that.

451
00:35:18,316 --> 00:35:23,956
You know this because it's your card. So you earn in Bitcoin, you increase your savings in Bitcoin.

452
00:35:24,176 --> 00:35:29,076
When you need to use it, you use it either Bitcoin natively or via, you know, those debit cards. And

453
00:35:29,076 --> 00:35:33,216
I know as time moves forward, there's going to be a lot more tools coming about.

454
00:35:33,316 --> 00:35:35,716
It's like, you know, it's like the flourishing of the Internet.

455
00:35:35,916 --> 00:35:38,716
You start off with two apps and then you end up with like an infinite amount.

456
00:35:39,096 --> 00:35:40,256
This is what's coming to Bitcoin.

457
00:35:40,376 --> 00:35:42,216
This is already happening in Bitcoin.

458
00:35:42,876 --> 00:35:44,296
And so how do you live on a Bitcoin standard?

459
00:35:44,416 --> 00:35:44,956
It's very easy.

460
00:35:45,176 --> 00:35:48,956
You just, you know, ask the right questions, learn a few new steps and you just do it.

461
00:35:49,536 --> 00:35:50,796
And it's as simple as that.

462
00:35:50,796 --> 00:35:58,636
And when you surround yourself with like minded individuals, which there are plenty of, by the way, because one thing I also get is that, oh, but I'm all alone here.

463
00:35:58,636 --> 00:36:02,936
everybody thinks I'm the crazy one in the family or in my neighborhood. Sure, because, you know,

464
00:36:03,036 --> 00:36:08,016
globally, you know, we're still a minority, but that minority represents millions of people.

465
00:36:08,816 --> 00:36:14,896
So come to meetups or jurisdictions where everybody around you is like you or on the same path,

466
00:36:15,056 --> 00:36:21,456
and then it doesn't feel so lonely anymore, right? And so at the Bitcoin Way, part of our mission is

467
00:36:21,456 --> 00:36:28,616
to also enable those connections so that people don't feel that they're all alone anymore. In fact,

468
00:36:28,636 --> 00:36:34,696
people that live you know on a bitcoin standard amongst like-minded individuals for a big part of

469
00:36:34,696 --> 00:36:38,796
their everyday lives they don't even think about the fiat world anymore like i like myself i don't

470
00:36:38,796 --> 00:36:45,096
even think about it anymore for me it's like wow man like holy shit i can't believe i lived you know

471
00:36:45,096 --> 00:36:52,696
so many years in that horrific product and so again you you disconnect you structure your life

472
00:36:52,696 --> 00:36:58,456
to allow you to disconnect and then once that's done you're already living in the future that i

473
00:36:58,456 --> 00:37:05,296
know we are headed towards. Maybe living through what you did in Lebanon, massive volatility. I

474
00:37:05,296 --> 00:37:10,956
don't know how much volatility there was before the major event, but what kind of perspective

475
00:37:10,956 --> 00:37:16,116
has that given you on the volatility of living on a Bitcoin standard? Sounds like, I mean,

476
00:37:16,116 --> 00:37:20,276
it feels like you would not experience that much because, you know, you've experienced it more

477
00:37:20,276 --> 00:37:24,536
before you're expressing already. You don't even look at the fiat prices in the world. And it's

478
00:37:24,536 --> 00:37:32,056
So maybe how did that influence your thinking or what is the volatility like for you?

479
00:37:32,196 --> 00:37:33,336
Does it just feel like nothing?

480
00:37:33,676 --> 00:37:36,816
Does it still feel volatile?

481
00:37:37,476 --> 00:37:42,596
Look, Cedric, there's nothing more volatile than having your bank account seized, right?

482
00:37:43,976 --> 00:37:46,296
So one, you wake up with a big fat zero.

483
00:37:47,056 --> 00:37:47,796
That's it, man.

484
00:37:47,936 --> 00:37:50,336
Like what volatility is going to phase you afterwards?

485
00:37:50,656 --> 00:37:52,076
So it goes up a little bit.

486
00:37:52,116 --> 00:37:53,256
It comes down a little bit.

487
00:37:53,256 --> 00:37:53,956
So what?

488
00:37:54,536 --> 00:37:57,336
Besides, it's not even Bitcoin that's volatile.

489
00:37:58,036 --> 00:38:02,716
It's the fact that, you know, so many are denominating it in fiat money.

490
00:38:03,236 --> 00:38:04,316
That's the volatility.

491
00:38:04,756 --> 00:38:07,156
But one Bitcoin is one Bitcoin, right?

492
00:38:07,496 --> 00:38:11,356
So sure, some days you're spending more Bitcoin and other days you're spending less Bitcoin.

493
00:38:11,516 --> 00:38:12,696
But it's money.

494
00:38:12,836 --> 00:38:13,456
Like, who cares?

495
00:38:13,576 --> 00:38:16,196
Like, you don't obsess over these details.

496
00:38:16,316 --> 00:38:23,296
What you obsess over is making sure that you are building your life, your savings, you're increasing them on sound money.

497
00:38:23,296 --> 00:38:30,256
so that's where the uh the energy should be placed not on oh shit now i'm spending more bitcoin oh

498
00:38:30,256 --> 00:38:36,176
i can't spend i can't do this because i'm gonna lose no that's the wrong mindset if you're holding

499
00:38:36,176 --> 00:38:42,156
onto a tiny amount and that's it that's all you're doing you know we're not living in that future yet

500
00:38:42,156 --> 00:38:46,636
so ultimately if you're going to need some money you're going to lose that bitcoin but if you're

501
00:38:46,636 --> 00:38:53,176
continuously working towards increasing your stack by whatever means possible either upgrading

502
00:38:53,176 --> 00:38:58,536
your worthless paper to sound money or earning that sound money flat out, then the volatility

503
00:38:58,536 --> 00:39:00,496
is a nothing burger.

504
00:39:01,456 --> 00:39:08,696
So when Bitcoin was at, I don't know, 126K, okay, so if I had to buy something that was

505
00:39:08,696 --> 00:39:11,856
worth, let's say, 100 US dollars, I'd pay X amount of Bitcoin.

506
00:39:12,296 --> 00:39:15,916
Today, I'd pay a little bit more Bitcoin for that same thing.

507
00:39:16,376 --> 00:39:17,156
Doesn't matter.

508
00:39:17,356 --> 00:39:18,636
That shouldn't be the focus.

509
00:39:18,636 --> 00:39:24,556
the focus should be on remembering that no one can stop you from transacting

510
00:39:24,556 --> 00:39:30,876
that is what you're investing in when you start saving in bitcoin you're investing in your freedom

511
00:39:30,876 --> 00:39:36,636
not in some bullshit yield number that is completely meaningless and controlled by a

512
00:39:36,636 --> 00:39:41,756
pack of thieves and you know every other description in the book right that is what

513
00:39:41,756 --> 00:39:48,576
bitcoin represents and that is ultimately its value proposition so if you don't want to live

514
00:39:48,576 --> 00:39:54,156
in a world of evil, in a world that, you know, every other week something comes out, like now

515
00:39:54,156 --> 00:39:59,596
we have the Epstein files. Are you happy about living in that world? Like they say Bitcoin is

516
00:39:59,596 --> 00:40:04,756
for criminals. So what's fiat for? Pedophiles, right? So like there's an argument that can be

517
00:40:04,756 --> 00:40:12,816
made everywhere at this point. So Bitcoin is leaving that world behind. It's like walking

518
00:40:12,816 --> 00:40:18,096
away from an abusive relationship, like a bad breakup. You know, like, all right, get lost now.

519
00:40:18,576 --> 00:40:20,816
I'm moving forward into something much better.

520
00:40:21,056 --> 00:40:23,156
And I want nothing to do with you anymore.

521
00:40:23,256 --> 00:40:25,136
You are completely dead in my head.

522
00:40:25,276 --> 00:40:26,356
You don't exist anymore.

523
00:40:26,496 --> 00:40:26,716
Done.

524
00:40:26,976 --> 00:40:27,196
Right.

525
00:40:27,416 --> 00:40:30,996
So to me, this is the power of Bitcoin.

526
00:40:31,236 --> 00:40:36,476
This is what it restores to humanity, where promises matter again.

527
00:40:36,816 --> 00:40:38,016
Work matters again.

528
00:40:38,016 --> 00:40:42,316
People are accountable for their smart and stupid decisions.

529
00:40:42,816 --> 00:40:46,716
That is the world that is going to propel us forward.

530
00:40:46,716 --> 00:40:54,496
You cannot be living in a world that is paralyzed and handicapped by those that have no good intentions towards you.

531
00:40:54,956 --> 00:40:59,516
If you're still trusting in exchange to hold your Bitcoin, have you learned nothing?

532
00:40:59,976 --> 00:41:06,336
Self-custody is non-negotiable, and that means your seed phrase needs to survive whatever life throws at it.

533
00:41:06,496 --> 00:41:11,556
And even if you've already moved your coins off in exchange, is your backup actually secure?

534
00:41:11,896 --> 00:41:15,556
Now is the time to lock that down while you're calm and thinking clearly.

535
00:41:15,556 --> 00:41:20,256
Don't wait until the price rips again and you're too nervous to touch anything.

536
00:41:20,256 --> 00:41:23,196
Get your setup right while the pressure is off.

537
00:41:23,196 --> 00:41:27,036
That's why the Bitcoin Matrix is proud to partner with StampSeed.

538
00:41:27,036 --> 00:41:32,316
Their patented toolkits let you stamp your seed phrase deep into solid titanium.

539
00:41:32,316 --> 00:41:45,964
Fire resistant waterproof crush proof not etched not engraved Deeply stamped so surface scratches won ever put your stack at risk They even include a practice strip so you nail it before committing to your plate

540
00:41:45,964 --> 00:41:51,164
Go to stampseed.com and use the code matrix at checkout for 15% off.

541
00:41:51,624 --> 00:41:53,224
Secure your keys the right way.

542
00:41:53,584 --> 00:41:55,404
So I love the fire and the conviction.

543
00:41:55,884 --> 00:41:57,084
We can stick with that.

544
00:41:57,864 --> 00:42:01,804
But where's the optimism coming from?

545
00:42:01,804 --> 00:42:05,104
And I ask that in a sense of like, I get, you know, maybe we could just say blank.

546
00:42:05,244 --> 00:42:06,724
Bitcoin fixes everything.

547
00:42:06,864 --> 00:42:09,104
Bitcoin fixes this, fix the money, fix the world.

548
00:42:09,224 --> 00:42:14,184
What can you outline or describe your optimism or things you're optimistic about?

549
00:42:14,464 --> 00:42:16,844
Yeah, I'm the perfect answer to your question.

550
00:42:17,164 --> 00:42:20,024
I came from nothing and now I'm back up on my feet.

551
00:42:20,344 --> 00:42:23,944
And the only reason I am back up on my feet was because of Bitcoin.

552
00:42:24,484 --> 00:42:26,084
Bitcoin literally saved my life.

553
00:42:26,084 --> 00:42:32,364
And so everything I do now and everything I'm able to do now was thanks to Bitcoin.

554
00:42:32,984 --> 00:42:36,424
If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't be sitting here talking to you.

555
00:42:36,944 --> 00:42:41,944
And there's a lot of folks that are using Bitcoin as money because that's really what it is.

556
00:42:42,024 --> 00:42:48,504
In financially privileged countries and in the West and EU, they're like taking a very spoiled brat position on Bitcoin,

557
00:42:48,704 --> 00:42:53,464
treating it as an investment or an extra like an extra sprinkle on their portfolio.

558
00:42:53,464 --> 00:43:11,704
This is a very, you know, very, very silly way to look at something that is revolutionizing the entire planet. Right. But for those that have been debanked their entire lives, that have never seen a bank account, that have been shunned from society because a group of people decided that that's how it should be.

559
00:43:11,704 --> 00:43:19,544
these people now have a have a sense of untouchable purpose they own businesses they you know they are

560
00:43:19,544 --> 00:43:25,184
completely independent they they live on a bitcoin standard like they're not saving bitcoin to make

561
00:43:25,184 --> 00:43:31,264
dollars they're not looking at it as a speculation they can't they earn 20 they spend 10 because they

562
00:43:31,264 --> 00:43:36,164
have to buy food and whatever it is so they are using bitcoin you know the way it was meant to be

563
00:43:36,164 --> 00:43:42,184
used. And I think it's because it's being used as money that it has value. Since, you know,

564
00:43:42,244 --> 00:43:47,264
Bitcoin is three things, the store of value, medium of account and unit of exchange. We can't pick and

565
00:43:47,264 --> 00:43:51,924
choose which part of it we want and let somebody else figure out the other one. It's like a wheel.

566
00:43:52,304 --> 00:43:57,304
Everything has to work together. But depending on where you are on this planet, you know, if you're

567
00:43:57,304 --> 00:44:02,164
comfortable, you're going to look at the store of value. And if you're you need to survive, you're

568
00:44:02,164 --> 00:44:08,184
to use it as a medium of exchange because that's what makes sense. But the only way Bitcoin remains

569
00:44:08,184 --> 00:44:14,664
decentralized and secure is if it's used as money, because if it wasn't, it would get co-opted

570
00:44:14,664 --> 00:44:21,704
and that's it. Game over, which is thankfully not the case. Yeah, for sure. So, I mean,

571
00:44:22,464 --> 00:44:29,884
why or how did you get the idea to start the Bitcoin way? What is the mission? How did you go

572
00:44:29,884 --> 00:44:35,964
from you know bitcoin i founded it bitcoin saved my life to i'm going to start a bitcoin company

573
00:44:35,964 --> 00:44:41,704
and decide what you're going to focus on and uh what the mission is you know what that's a funny

574
00:44:41,704 --> 00:44:46,964
story and that's like uh if you want to believe in you know the stars aligning type of uh thing

575
00:44:46,964 --> 00:44:52,664
this this will fall right into that after i you know decided to get back up on my feet and use

576
00:44:52,664 --> 00:44:58,384
bitcoin to restructure my life i was literally talking about it to anyone that crossed my path

577
00:44:58,384 --> 00:45:03,944
you know supermarkets grocery stores barbers like you name it so I was like freelancing my

578
00:45:03,944 --> 00:45:09,644
way through life anyone like 200 people a day I would talk to a lot of them would ignore me of

579
00:45:09,644 --> 00:45:15,164
course you know but some of them would listen and you know slowly but surely I started you know

580
00:45:15,164 --> 00:45:21,404
charging like I was essentially freelancing the the orange peeling you know business

581
00:45:21,404 --> 00:45:27,804
in order to sustain myself and to sort of like slowly rebuild my life.

582
00:45:28,344 --> 00:45:31,524
And then one day, you know, out of nowhere,

583
00:45:31,524 --> 00:45:37,884
I received a text message on Noster by one of my partners, Endy.

584
00:45:38,844 --> 00:45:41,604
And he's like, yeah, we saw your profile, you know,

585
00:45:41,644 --> 00:45:44,864
and it's very interesting, you know, let's talk.

586
00:45:45,124 --> 00:45:49,184
And I'm like, all right, man, okay, so this is either another scammer

587
00:45:49,184 --> 00:45:51,824
or, you know, there's something to it.

588
00:45:51,904 --> 00:45:55,364
And the only reason I answered him

589
00:45:55,364 --> 00:45:57,604
is because he contacted me on Noster.

590
00:45:57,804 --> 00:46:00,404
Back then, like barely anyone knew Noster.

591
00:46:00,684 --> 00:46:03,124
And so if a message came on that platform,

592
00:46:03,824 --> 00:46:06,104
he must have an idea of what he's doing, right?

593
00:46:06,624 --> 00:46:09,644
And so I entertained the call and, you know, we spoke

594
00:46:09,644 --> 00:46:12,524
and he said, you know, I want to start, you know,

595
00:46:12,524 --> 00:46:14,904
figuring out a way to orange pill more people about Bitcoin

596
00:46:14,904 --> 00:46:15,684
and blah, blah, blah.

597
00:46:16,284 --> 00:46:18,084
And so like the connection aligned.

598
00:46:18,084 --> 00:46:30,104
And so, you know, given, you know, a few more conversations, we decided to put the team together here in order to bring this knowledge and education to as many folks as possible.

599
00:46:30,764 --> 00:46:33,824
And, you know, you fast forward to now and here we are.

600
00:46:34,004 --> 00:46:37,924
We started this project about, I'd say, three and a half years ago.

601
00:46:38,684 --> 00:46:44,184
And, you know, I'm happy to say that, you know, it's been a very, very good journey.

602
00:46:44,184 --> 00:47:07,664
We've met tons of folks, a lot of folks that are coming into Bitcoin today are coming in for the right reasons. And to me, this is extremely bullish. You know, like when you have people, you know, fearful out in the streets, and you've got other folks that are like excited to get started on Bitcoin in self-custody, you know, there's a change in the world, right?

603
00:47:07,664 --> 00:47:10,984
and the silver lining is Bitcoin's fixed supply.

604
00:47:11,384 --> 00:47:15,204
It's not going to take 8.3 billion people for Bitcoin to win.

605
00:47:15,304 --> 00:47:16,504
Bitcoin has already won.

606
00:47:17,164 --> 00:47:21,704
It's just getting that much more people across the line

607
00:47:21,704 --> 00:47:26,464
before everybody else decides to FOMO in.

608
00:47:27,084 --> 00:47:30,064
So this is essentially how the Bitcoin way came about.

609
00:47:30,064 --> 00:47:34,764
And the services that we focus on have everything to do with the journey to self-sovereignty.

610
00:47:34,764 --> 00:47:40,464
so we're about teaching you how to self-custody properly we don't have any sponsors by the way

611
00:47:40,464 --> 00:47:46,424
nobody pays us to say anything we test everything out there in-house try to blow it up ourselves

612
00:47:46,424 --> 00:47:50,884
filter out the good from the bad put out these recommendations and you know people buy whatever

613
00:47:50,884 --> 00:47:55,424
it is that they want and we guide them into putting the whole infrastructure together so

614
00:47:55,424 --> 00:47:59,364
there's a bitcoin side of things then there's also the cyber security side of things where

615
00:47:59,364 --> 00:48:04,284
you're protecting your you know your your digital footprint um you want to dig old phones you know

616
00:48:04,284 --> 00:48:12,984
When you were putting out, you know, the knowledge about the realities, about the phones that you're carrying in your hands, those spy tools that you're paying a thousand or more for.

617
00:48:12,984 --> 00:48:21,624
Well, now, you know, you understand what they're really doing, how you can get rid of them without really changing your everyday usability factor with these phones.

618
00:48:22,104 --> 00:48:24,544
And of course, we have jurisdictional freedom.

619
00:48:24,544 --> 00:48:40,064
You know, we have our plan B service that helps people move from bad places to better places, live amongst Bitcoiners and amongst, you know, like minded individuals and really complete that whole journey to self-sovereignty.

620
00:48:40,664 --> 00:48:50,024
Wow. That's a lot to unpack there, though. I'm trying to think, how is maybe your has your life changed? Have you moved jurisdictions?

621
00:48:50,884 --> 00:48:51,864
Yeah, absolutely, man.

622
00:48:52,044 --> 00:48:54,804
My life has changed in a major, major way.

623
00:48:55,484 --> 00:49:00,604
I'd say it has been the biggest upgrade to my existence was Bitcoin.

624
00:49:01,344 --> 00:49:04,444
I left, like I'm no longer in Lebanon, obviously.

625
00:49:05,124 --> 00:49:06,864
Right now, we're in Central America.

626
00:49:07,024 --> 00:49:11,424
We're in Panama, where our plan B is currently focused.

627
00:49:12,224 --> 00:49:17,544
And Panama was not chosen, you know, just, you know, from like a paper and a hat type

628
00:49:17,544 --> 00:49:17,864
of thing.

629
00:49:17,864 --> 00:49:24,884
we spent about nine months tearing apart every jurisdiction on the planet to see which one

630
00:49:24,884 --> 00:49:30,344
checks the most boxes because essentially Panama was for me. I needed to go somewhere where the

631
00:49:30,344 --> 00:49:37,324
chances of another Lebanon was as close to zero as humanly possible. And so we looked high and low

632
00:49:37,324 --> 00:49:43,524
for a very long time and Panama won. Even back then, you know, like a few years ago, two, three

633
00:49:43,524 --> 00:49:47,944
years ago, Panama wasn't really pro-Bitcoin, but it wasn't against it either. Just like whatever,

634
00:49:48,064 --> 00:49:53,744
it's here, it's here, like nobody's going to interfere with it. But some of the banks were

635
00:49:53,744 --> 00:49:59,224
already pro-Bitcoin. Some people were already interacting in Bitcoin. Bitcoin was a thing here,

636
00:49:59,224 --> 00:50:06,084
right? And so you fast forward to now, now the government is pro-Bitcoin. The banks are even

637
00:50:06,084 --> 00:50:11,384
more bullish on Bitcoin. And a lot of folks are coming here because the incentives of the country

638
00:50:11,384 --> 00:50:17,584
are incredible. They see this an opportunity to go from the back of the line to becoming like

639
00:50:17,584 --> 00:50:22,164
potentially like one of the new Monocos of the new world, which I genuinely believe they have a very

640
00:50:22,164 --> 00:50:31,144
strong likelihood of achieving. And so, so far, the bet, the gamble has paid off tremendously

641
00:50:31,144 --> 00:50:36,924
in the amount of, you know, good quality folks that are coming to the country. And so,

642
00:50:36,924 --> 00:50:41,704
this is why I'm bullish. You know, like we have Bitcoin adoption is growing. Like if you come to

643
00:50:41,704 --> 00:50:48,964
Panama, Bitcoin is, I wouldn't say everywhere, but it's in a lot of places. So if you want to find

644
00:50:48,964 --> 00:50:53,224
yourself on a Bitcoin standard here, it's much easier than, for example, I don't know, somewhere

645
00:50:53,224 --> 00:50:59,324
in the US or somewhere in Europe or what have you, where it's not as prevalent yet. But, you know,

646
00:50:59,384 --> 00:51:05,364
that's going to come because at some point we're going to head into a two-tier world. You're going

647
00:51:05,364 --> 00:51:11,024
to have one half stuck in hell, UBI, central bank, digital currency, digital IDs, and all that

648
00:51:11,024 --> 00:51:16,744
rubbish. And you're going to have another half that is completely free, sound money, no permission

649
00:51:16,744 --> 00:51:22,404
required, transact whenever you like, live in a jurisdiction where the government wants you,

650
00:51:22,484 --> 00:51:27,784
where people like you, and you're surrounded by people just with the same ethos and values that

651
00:51:27,784 --> 00:51:33,284
you have, and you're not thinking about anything else, right? And so when that happens, at some

652
00:51:33,284 --> 00:51:38,904
point, those stuck in hell are going to realize that, you know, there are a whole bunch of other

653
00:51:38,904 --> 00:51:45,464
people that are not living in hell. And of course, they're going to want to move from here to there.

654
00:51:45,864 --> 00:51:53,624
Except, you know, at that stage, there's no ticket. Like, who's gonna sell their freedom

655
00:51:53,624 --> 00:51:59,884
or trade their freedom for that? It's either not going to happen, or it's going to be extremely

656
00:51:59,884 --> 00:52:08,404
expensive. And if you're not in a position to, you know, to buy that ticket by whichever way you can,

657
00:52:09,304 --> 00:52:14,684
then what happens? Wow, it's an interesting way to put it. You understand? And that's not a pretty

658
00:52:14,684 --> 00:52:22,304
scenario either. Because you can only suffocate people so much before, you know, before they push

659
00:52:22,304 --> 00:52:26,824
back, right? Like when you're boiling water, and you're trying to hold down the cover to that kettle,

660
00:52:26,824 --> 00:52:29,564
There's only so much you can hold it before it builds up in your face.

661
00:52:29,884 --> 00:52:31,844
And so that's what I mean.

662
00:52:31,884 --> 00:52:37,024
It's not a pretty scenario because by hook or by crook, people are not going to accept,

663
00:52:38,044 --> 00:52:42,944
maybe not everybody, but a lot of them will not accept being suffocated and bullied anymore.

664
00:52:43,464 --> 00:52:44,704
And so they're going to react.

665
00:52:45,444 --> 00:52:47,704
That reaction is not a pretty picture.

666
00:52:48,224 --> 00:52:50,224
So a lot of folks don't see this.

667
00:52:50,224 --> 00:52:56,284
I see this like crystal clear for me because I lived through that hell.

668
00:52:56,824 --> 00:53:00,564
I know what people are capable of when they have no options.

669
00:53:01,064 --> 00:53:09,504
It's very hard for you to really resonate with this unless you are in these shoes.

670
00:53:09,644 --> 00:53:13,884
I mean, sure, you can listen to me and you might be empathetic and you're like, holy shit, this sounds terrible.

671
00:53:14,244 --> 00:53:14,564
Fine.

672
00:53:14,564 --> 00:53:19,324
But unless you are in these shoes, it's not going to hit you the right way.

673
00:53:19,964 --> 00:53:22,904
And when you are in these shoes, you never forget it.

674
00:53:22,904 --> 00:53:31,584
And so every decision you make is strategically based on protecting yourself from that situation.

675
00:53:31,884 --> 00:53:34,104
That's where the fearlessness comes in.

676
00:53:34,364 --> 00:53:43,044
Because now you've inundated yourself with all this new knowledge and information that you were completely oblivious to before.

677
00:53:43,724 --> 00:53:49,904
That transforms your brain, like your mental strategic capabilities.

678
00:53:50,884 --> 00:53:52,084
Like it's completely different now.

679
00:53:52,084 --> 00:54:20,324
You don't put yourself at risk. You know who the enemy is. You know what their game is like. It's very obvious. And you just, you don't play on that chessboard anymore. You're like, okay, do your whatever it is that you want to do. But I'm not there anymore. So good luck to you and whoever else you're going to screw on that chessboard. It's not going to be me. And it's not going to be the millions of others that have opted out of your chessboard.

680
00:54:20,324 --> 00:54:22,344
And we're seeing that chessboard fall apart.

681
00:54:23,204 --> 00:54:28,424
I mean, we're reaching the endgame here now, at least it seems like it,

682
00:54:28,464 --> 00:54:34,064
because when you have an escalation of bad news in a very short period of time,

683
00:54:34,544 --> 00:54:38,664
that's usually the indication that the mothership is about to come crashing.

684
00:54:39,084 --> 00:54:39,304
Yeah.

685
00:54:39,524 --> 00:54:43,684
I was going to ask you what are sort of maybe the telltale signs before the collapse.

686
00:54:43,884 --> 00:54:49,224
If you could orange pill anyone in the world, who would that be and why?

687
00:54:49,224 --> 00:54:55,944
everybody man i orange people every single day we work with a ton of folks but we do it not by

688
00:54:55,944 --> 00:55:04,224
making empty promises like we don't talk about price we don't you know market bitcoin as your

689
00:55:04,224 --> 00:55:10,744
ticket to dollar riches because that's not what it is we talk about bitcoin you know as a as a

690
00:55:10,744 --> 00:55:18,964
lifestyle as sound money as truth and we educate folks on how to use it and how to protect it

691
00:55:18,964 --> 00:55:30,644
and how to, you know, become aware of scams and, you know, possible cyber attacks, you know, against it, because, you know, I expect these to increase as well as it's valuing.

692
00:55:30,672 --> 00:55:35,612
value continues to appreciate. And of course, more importantly, we help educate folks

693
00:55:35,612 --> 00:55:42,312
to desensitize from the noise that's out there. Like a lot of people now are freaking out at the

694
00:55:42,312 --> 00:55:47,852
Bitcoin price. Oh my God, it crashed 50%. What are you upset about? When it was 126,

695
00:55:47,852 --> 00:55:51,672
you were complaining, oh shit, it's too expensive. All right. So now it's like 66.

696
00:55:52,352 --> 00:55:58,672
Now you think it's going to zero, right? So that stupidity is what we help

697
00:55:58,672 --> 00:56:04,692
neuter and that comes we know with proper education providing you know verifiable facts

698
00:56:04,692 --> 00:56:11,452
and and what have you and then once people once it clicks that's it man you're you're not going

699
00:56:11,452 --> 00:56:18,272
back to that chart like it doesn't really matter this chart is part of the whole attack on bitcoin

700
00:56:18,272 --> 00:56:24,132
right again framing it as this oh my gosh this scary thing that's so risky don't touch it while

701
00:56:24,132 --> 00:56:29,332
the wrong people accumulated in the background, which is what they're doing, because they want to

702
00:56:29,332 --> 00:56:37,972
hold it in self-custody. But you, the worthless pleb, should only use it as a service that they

703
00:56:37,972 --> 00:56:44,312
provide. You don't deserve the right to own your own freedom because you're not elite enough, right?

704
00:56:44,612 --> 00:56:52,792
So that's what's happening. And as long as people fall for these tricks, ETFs, Bitcoin treasuries,

705
00:56:52,792 --> 00:56:57,712
borrowing against your Bitcoin, all these little carrots that they dangle to separate the ignorance

706
00:56:57,712 --> 00:57:03,292
from their Bitcoin, they're going to lose it. Most of our clients, most of our clients, I'd say like

707
00:57:03,292 --> 00:57:10,132
95% verifiably during this quote unquote crash, we're buying. That means we're doing something

708
00:57:10,132 --> 00:57:16,932
right, right? When the price goes from 126 to whatever it is now, most of our clients, 95% of

709
00:57:16,932 --> 00:57:21,812
them are buying. They're not selling because they understand why they're here and what they're

710
00:57:21,812 --> 00:57:25,812
So, again, proper education matters a lot.

711
00:57:25,812 --> 00:57:27,812
It's not about hype or fake promises.

712
00:57:27,812 --> 00:57:40,952
It about understanding why we here This is awesome I can tell you how much I enjoyed this conversation Tony has been so dope How would you describe the best candidates for the Bitcoin way

713
00:57:41,612 --> 00:57:47,612
People listening, what makes a Bitcoiner think, I could use the Bitcoin way?

714
00:57:47,772 --> 00:57:54,112
Well, look, if you no longer want to be ripped off in your daily life,

715
00:57:54,112 --> 00:58:01,732
if you're tired of being lied to if you no longer want to fund indirectly you know all the evil in

716
00:58:01,732 --> 00:58:06,392
the world because you know you're spending money on things you didn't vote for like if you're tired

717
00:58:06,392 --> 00:58:13,272
of that type of abuse asking for permission always being you know under somebody's uh chain

718
00:58:13,272 --> 00:58:19,932
then bitcoin is for you because it's it's it's your ticket it's your ticket out but if you're

719
00:58:19,932 --> 00:58:25,652
going to come to Bitcoin thinking, you know, you're going to become dollar rich, then don't come to

720
00:58:25,652 --> 00:58:31,572
Bitcoin until you stop thinking that way. Because you're going to make emotional mistakes. You're

721
00:58:31,572 --> 00:58:36,612
going to look at the price every five minutes and you're going to panic and do something irrational.

722
00:58:36,872 --> 00:58:43,932
Bitcoin is the long game, right? But I mean, as the world decays and deteriorates, that long

723
00:58:43,932 --> 00:58:48,812
timeframe becomes shorter and shorter organically. None of what's happening out there, by the way,

724
00:58:48,812 --> 00:58:55,412
is organic. That crash that happened now is man-made because there's a psychological war

725
00:58:55,412 --> 00:59:01,372
going out there in order to destroy people's perception of Bitcoin. Because of course,

726
00:59:01,432 --> 00:59:06,552
like I said earlier, they can't kill the tech, but they can try to attack people's perception of it

727
00:59:06,552 --> 00:59:13,052
to keep them away from it. And when the price goes from $126 to $66, that's exactly what's happening.

728
00:59:13,352 --> 00:59:17,572
It tells you that those that bought it initially understand nothing of what they were holding.

729
00:59:17,572 --> 00:59:20,512
and now they're panicking, oh my gosh, there's bad news,

730
00:59:20,512 --> 00:59:25,512
they scram right back into the worst product

731
00:59:25,512 --> 00:59:30,072
that they were trying to escape from in the first place.

732
00:59:30,072 --> 00:59:44,052
So it a bit funny but that only comes because people feel safe in something that they always known not necessarily because it the better product Yeah for sure Well you really piqued my interest in Panama

733
00:59:44,852 --> 00:59:52,212
I'm in the States, but we think a lot about a plan B and what that might be and how to go about that.

734
00:59:52,612 --> 00:59:54,372
Maybe we can come visit you.

735
00:59:55,112 --> 00:59:55,932
Absolutely, man.

736
00:59:56,252 --> 00:59:59,172
There's a lot of Americans here, by the way, like a lot.

737
00:59:59,172 --> 01:00:01,972
and so when I walk down the street

738
01:00:01,972 --> 01:00:04,092
you know I'd say like 7 out of 10

739
01:00:04,092 --> 01:00:05,972
people are from the United States

740
01:00:05,972 --> 01:00:06,572
wow

741
01:00:06,572 --> 01:00:09,452
I see locals but

742
01:00:09,452 --> 01:00:12,392
not as frequently as I see Americans

743
01:00:12,392 --> 01:00:13,672
I don't know if this is good or bad

744
01:00:13,672 --> 01:00:14,152
maybe we were

745
01:00:14,152 --> 01:00:17,492
good or bad

746
01:00:17,492 --> 01:00:18,532
good or bad

747
01:00:18,532 --> 01:00:20,752
some of the nicest folks

748
01:00:20,752 --> 01:00:23,192
at least my interactions with them have been

749
01:00:23,192 --> 01:00:24,412
tremendously positive

750
01:00:24,412 --> 01:00:26,312
very nice people here

751
01:00:26,312 --> 01:00:28,872
but of course my interactions with them

752
01:00:28,872 --> 01:00:29,752
are very superficial.

753
01:00:29,892 --> 01:00:30,512
Hey, how's it going?

754
01:00:30,592 --> 01:00:31,632
How's your day type of thing?

755
01:00:31,712 --> 01:00:32,192
You know, we're not,

756
01:00:32,312 --> 01:00:34,972
there's no intimate conversations beyond that,

757
01:00:35,072 --> 01:00:36,452
but they're definitely here.

758
01:00:37,072 --> 01:00:39,432
And you have a lot of Europeans as well coming here.

759
01:00:39,492 --> 01:00:41,872
There's a ton of Australians that are coming here.

760
01:00:42,872 --> 01:00:46,772
It's becoming like a honeypot of expats.

761
01:00:47,312 --> 01:00:47,852
That's awesome.

762
01:00:47,952 --> 01:00:49,492
And I've heard, I mean,

763
01:00:49,572 --> 01:00:51,772
a lot of talk in the Bitcoin world about El Salvador.

764
01:00:52,852 --> 01:00:55,252
I've personally, I guess, heard some anecdotes

765
01:00:55,252 --> 01:00:56,732
that Colombia is awesome now.

766
01:00:56,732 --> 01:00:59,412
I went on my honeymoon to Costa Rica

767
01:00:59,412 --> 01:01:02,092
Definitely want to go back to this part of the world

768
01:01:02,092 --> 01:01:04,092
Beautiful countries, man

769
01:01:04,092 --> 01:01:06,912
El Salvador is doing remarkable things

770
01:01:06,912 --> 01:01:09,252
The only thing with El Salvador right now

771
01:01:09,252 --> 01:01:11,152
Is that citizenship costs a million bucks

772
01:01:11,152 --> 01:01:14,792
So there's that barrier to entry for some folks

773
01:01:14,792 --> 01:01:16,192
Some people love it

774
01:01:16,192 --> 01:01:18,372
But if the cost is an issue

775
01:01:18,372 --> 01:01:19,832
There are other options

776
01:01:19,832 --> 01:01:23,072
Panama is way more affordable than that

777
01:01:23,072 --> 01:01:25,812
And of course it's personal preference

778
01:01:25,812 --> 01:01:29,312
You know, like Panama is a bit more mature as a country, like city life.

779
01:01:29,712 --> 01:01:47,272
I describe it as like a hybrid between you know New York Miami and Vegas but like without the junk it a really beautiful clean city And if you more the outdoorsy type just Google it Panama Caribbean and just look at the pictures that show up It literally like a page out of a fairy tale And the people here are super friendly The

780
01:01:47,272 --> 01:01:54,372
food is phenomenal. The cost of living, I would estimate is at least 20 to 30% cheaper than you

781
01:01:54,372 --> 01:02:01,432
have back home. And if you're a carnivore and you like your steaks, I'll place a bet that the

782
01:02:01,432 --> 01:02:09,972
stakes here win all right salt uh this has been so dope i'll leave it to you for any parting words

783
01:02:09,972 --> 01:02:14,392
and let people know where they can find you and the bitcoin way absolutely man you guys can follow

784
01:02:14,392 --> 01:02:21,072
me on twitter you know my handle is v4 btc of course the bitcoin wake up underscore handle is

785
01:02:21,072 --> 01:02:26,852
also very active we put out a lot of content on a daily basis you know we love meeting folks face

786
01:02:26,852 --> 01:02:31,672
to face, especially myself. I'm very old school in that sense. We try to go to as many conferences

787
01:02:31,672 --> 01:02:37,092
as possible in order to spotlight the truth and the knowledge and the education about this.

788
01:02:37,572 --> 01:02:42,212
We don't buy or sell any Bitcoin. We handhold people through the entire process. There's no

789
01:02:42,212 --> 01:02:48,512
stupid questions on any of our calls. And of course, we help folks get this whole sovereignty

790
01:02:48,512 --> 01:02:53,572
thing right the first time. Love it. Sounds awesome. Thank you so much.

791
01:02:53,572 --> 01:02:55,652
Cedric, thank you for having me, man.

792
01:02:55,652 --> 01:02:56,852
Yeah, it's been really great.

793
01:02:56,852 --> 01:03:00,452
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Bitcoin Matrix.

794
01:03:00,452 --> 01:03:04,932
If you enjoyed the conversation, don't forget to like, subscribe and drop a comment below

795
01:03:04,932 --> 01:03:08,452
with any questions or thoughts you may have. We'd love to hear from you.

796
01:03:08,452 --> 01:03:12,852
You can support the show by checking out our sponsors and affiliate links in the description.

797
01:03:12,852 --> 01:03:16,932
It helps keep bringing you great content while connecting you with awesome products that I

798
01:03:16,932 --> 01:03:21,812
believe in. Share this episode with your friends, family or anyone curious about Bitcoin.

799
01:03:21,812 --> 01:03:24,012
and let's keep growing this community together.

800
01:03:24,292 --> 01:03:25,832
Stay curious, keep stacking,

801
01:03:26,052 --> 01:03:27,812
and I'll catch you in the next one.