What Bitcoin Did

“Imagine tomorrow you hear that the US government started putting Bitcoin on their balance sheet. Guess what happens next? Everybody tries to front-run it. Everybody and their mother tries to front-run it.”

Misha Komarov and Clara Shikhelman of [[alloc] init] join me to discuss Shielded Bitcoin, their plan to make Bitcoin private.

We get into how Bitcoin PIPEs use witness encryption to lock Bitcoin behind a cryptographic proof, how a shielded transaction actually works, why you leave with someone else’s deposit rather than your own, and what it would cost compared with a normal transaction.

We also discuss why governments and institutions will need privacy, whether brand new cryptography can be trusted with billions of dollars, how the team plans to pay people to break it, and why they wouldn’t be comfortable with large amounts in it today.

Finally, we get into whether Bitcoin’s resistance to change is a feature, whether soft forks are dead, why quantum resistance is a must-have upgrade, and the legal risks of building privacy tools after the Samourai Wallet case.

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“You have inflation, you better own assets.”

James Lavish returns to discuss why America’s $40 trillion debt problem limits the Fed’s ability to fight inflation, and why Bitcoin still isn’t ripping. We get into Kevin Warsh’s latest rate decision, how the war in Iran is feeding higher energy prices, and why raising rates could make the debt problem worse while cutting them could push borrowing costs higher.

We also discuss Bitcoin fatigue, the money flowing into AI and prediction markets, and why institutions are still moving slowly despite JPMorgan’s bullish long-term forecast. James explains why he believes the Bitcoin bottom is in, his base case of $400K–$500K in early to mid-2029, and why another major drawdown could follow the next bull market.

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“Your house isn’t getting more valuable. Your dollar’s becoming worthless.”

Leon Wankum, real estate developer and author of Digital Real Estate, joins me to discuss why he believes Bitcoin will replace property as the world’s dominant store of value. We get into how homes became savings accounts, why rising house prices can hide currency debasement, and whether buying property still makes sense as a way to build wealth.

What happens when people stop treating houses as investments? We discuss the housing crisis, the difference between buying a home and saving in real estate, and how much of the wealth held in property could move into Bitcoin.

We also get into Bitcoin-backed mortgages, corporate Bitcoin treasuries, and why governments have so much at stake in keeping house prices high. Could Bitcoin make housing affordable again, and how long might that transition take?

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“Our vision was one, his vision was different. Why would he stay?”

Nacho Pauls, Chief Commercial Officer at OCEAN, joins me to discuss why Luke Dashjr and Mechanic left the company, the fallout from BIP110, and how the controversy cost the pool nearly half its hashrate. He gives his account of the internal disagreements, the painful split and what comes next.

We also get into why major Bitcoin miners are turning towards AI, and why Nacho believes the shift could actually strengthen Bitcoin.

How decentralised is Bitcoin’s mining industry? We discuss the influence of large pools and hardware manufacturers, the risks of government pressure, and why control over which transactions enter a block matters. We also get into stranded energy, the economics of staying competitive and the challenges miners face heading towards the 2028 halving.

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"This doesn’t stop, it accelerates from here."

Rob Hamilton returns to discuss the AI attacks on Bitcoin, the fallout from the Coldcard hack and the volunteers racing to find vulnerabilities before hackers do. He explains how the Bitcoin Red Team scanned around 650 codebases, flagging more than 10,000 potential issues, including 1,500 rated high or critical.

We discuss how a $1 AI scan helped Rob identify the Coldcard flaw, what the team found when it tested Bitcoin Core, and how AI is uncovering problems that security audits missed. Rob also explains why he expects the attacks to spread beyond Bitcoin.

We also get into what this means for self-custody, the risks of relying on a single hardware wallet, multisig, testing your backups and whether Bitcoiners really understand the systems protecting their life savings.

Finally, we discuss why some American AI models refused to help with the defensive work, how Chinese open models filled the gap, and why Rob sees attempts to restrict access to AI as a threat to freedom of thought.

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“The people who bet right by being early to Bitcoin are the ones who get blamed.”

Avik Roy returns to discuss why he believes America’s debt crisis is far worse than official forecasts suggest, and why Bitcoiners shouldn’t assume they’ll be safe. We get into his 15-year warning, the risk of bank failures and inflation, and how governments could restrict access to Bitcoin or target those who hold it.

We also discuss self-custody, capital controls and the freedom to exit, before getting into Bitcoin treasury companies and whether their incentives align with shareholders.

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“The worst thing is to not own any of it.”

Eric Yakes returns to discuss why he believes Bitcoin’s four-year cycle is breaking, why diminishing returns may not be inevitable, and how institutional and nation-state demand could change the next rally. He explains why Bitcoin needs to become bigger and more liquid before its largest potential buyers can make meaningful allocations.

We also get into Bitcoin’s role as a hedge against debasement, the debate over money versus digital gold, and why Eric rejects the “private Bitcoin” pitch around Zcash. We finish with how AI could make Bitcoin’s scarcity more valuable, the security risks that concern him most, and why he still believes the biggest mistake is owning none.

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“Bitcoin feels alive, but not intelligent. And AI feels intelligent, but not alive.”

Dhruv Bansal joins to discuss why AI may need Bitcoin to survive, why autonomous agents could choose Bitcoin over dollars and stablecoins, and how earning Bitcoin to pay for their own resources could align them with human needs.

We also get into how Bitcoin could help rebuild a free and open internet, the problems with advertising and surveillance, and whether AI could accelerate hyperbitcoinization. Dhruv explores how Bitcoin and AI could give rise to a new form of digital life and why he sees an optimistic path for both.

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“We experienced, as a percentage of deposits, the biggest bank run in history.”

Alan Lane joins to discuss the fall of Silvergate, the bank run that followed FTX’s collapse, and how his team kept meeting withdrawals as 70% of deposits left. He explains why he believed the bank could rebuild and what changed between surviving the run and deciding to close.

We also get into Operation Choke Point 2.0, why Alan believes Washington wanted the industry cut off from banking, and the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature just days after Silvergate’s wind-down announcement.

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“You actually have the president and the Treasury working for Bitcoin because they’re working for a weaker dollar.”

Matt Cole joins to discuss why he believes America’s debt crisis leaves the government with few good options, how rising bond yields could force the Treasury and Fed to intervene, and why a weaker dollar could fuel Bitcoin’s next bull market.

We also get into why AI could create abundance without generating enough tax revenue to fix the debt problem, his case for $500K Bitcoin by 2030, and whether Bitcoin is entering a supercycle.

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“I think everyone is underestimating the speed of AI.”

Jordi Visser joins the show to discuss why he believes AI could trigger a major shift in global wealth, weaken the investment appeal of stocks and real estate, and create a new bull case for Bitcoin. He explains why wealthy investors haven’t needed Bitcoin yet, and how AI’s deflationary effects could change that.

We also get into whether AI is a bubble, how agents and tokenization could transform finance, and why Big Tech may struggle to maintain its dominance.

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“The things they need to do to bring inflation down are just too painful for them.”

Andy Constan returns to discuss why he thinks politicians will keep running large deficits, how inflation can shift the cost of America’s debt onto savers and future generations, and why that creates a bull case for Bitcoin.

We also get into how institutions decide whether to own Bitcoin, why its volatility and weak correlation with gold keep Andy on the sidelines, and whether a US debt collapse is inevitable. Andy explains why bonds look more attractive to him today, what it would take to bring inflation down, and whether AI could change America’s debt outlook.

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“You don’t need inflation for anything whatsoever. It’s essentially a counterfeiting cartel.”

Peter St Onge returns to discuss why he believes 2% inflation is a scam, how central banks transfer wealth from savers to governments and Wall Street, and why technological progress should be making life cheaper.

We also get into Austrian economics, his argument that the Fed causes the recessions it then tries to fix, and America’s growing debt problem. Peter explains why he thinks the AI bubble still has room to run, how he uses Bitcoin as a place to park profits, and what could bring money back from AI into Bitcoin.

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“I think the primary product that they’re the most interested in selling is AI psychosis.”

Erik Cason returns to discuss why he believes American capitalism has already ended, how AI could accelerate the rise of the surveillance state, and why owning your own AI could become as important as holding your own Bitcoin.

We also get into AI dependence, his warning of a “digital 9/11”, the competition between Chinese open models and American AI companies, and the personal AI system he’s building. Erik explains how Bitcoin and cryptography fit into this future, and why Bitcoin could become essential for paying for AI when governments restrict access.

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"The rest of the world, of course, should always have been paying attention to Bitcoin, but they should be paying attention to it for a very different set of reasons now because they’re next.”

Jameson Lopp returns to discuss how AI is accelerating the race between hackers and defenders, what the Coldcard and Liquid hacks reveal about Bitcoin security, and why he sees Bitcoin as the canary in the coal mine for other industries.

We also get into hardware wallets, multisig and protecting life-changing amounts of bitcoin, the risks of KYC leaks and physical attacks, and what Jameson learnt from talking to scammers and interviewing North Korean applicants trying to get jobs at Casa.

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“I think AI is officially too big to fail.”

Jeff Ross returns to discuss why he expects an AI-led manufacturing boom in the US and how rising productivity could help America grow its way out of debt.

We also get into why AI-driven deflation could benefit people but threaten a debt-based monetary system, and why the government may eventually have to backstop the AI buildout with QE or yield curve control.

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“We don’t really have the tools to deal with fiscal-driven inflation.”

Lyn Alden returns to discuss why the US is entering deeper fiscal dominance, what the Treasury’s recent buybacks signal, and why America’s growing debt and $2 trillion deficits are changing what monetary policy can actually achieve.

We discuss the increasingly K-shaped economy, why developed markets are beginning to take on characteristics once associated with emerging markets, and why Lyn believes this macro environment could persist well into the 2030s.

Lyn also explains why she believes Bitcoin is increasingly well positioned for the years ahead, why capital could rotate out of the AI trade, and what would need to happen for Bitcoin to enter a stronger bull market.

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“There is a reckoning. There is a point at which something has to be addressed.”

Nik Bhatia returns to get into America’s $40 trillion debt problem, why the real danger is the share of tax revenue being consumed by interest, and how continued Treasury bill issuance could eventually trigger stress in the repo market and force the Fed to intervene.

We discuss whether Treasury buybacks helped drive Bitcoin’s recent 20% rally, why the UK, France and Japan may face major monetary intervention before the United States, and how Washington is attempting to reclaim control of the offshore dollar system. Is the world entering a new kind of financial war?

Nik also explains why he believes Bitcoin’s bottom is in but the next bull market has not yet begun, what his liquidity indicators are signalling, and why the bond market could determine Bitcoin’s next major move.

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“You could have a massive cycle here this time around that will shock people.” — Joe Carlasare

Joe Carlasare is a commercial litigator, Bitcoiner and author of Unconfiscatable.

In this interview, we discuss why he believes the Bitcoin bottom is in, how the recent drawdown changes Bitcoin’s risk profile, and why a move above $100K could trigger the next major cycle.

We also discuss institutional adoption, the future of the four-year cycle, Bitcoin-backed banking and credit, Treasury buybacks, fiscal dominance, AI investment, structural inflation and why Joe is bullish on the economy, markets and Bitcoin.

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“Everything’s structurally changed.”

Eric Yakes is back on the show to explain why Bitcoin may never suffer another 80% crash, and why the recent 50% drawdown could prove that the four year cycle is finally dead.

We discuss whether yield curve control has arrived under another name, why Bitcoin is becoming a hedge against monetary debasement and the potential for a great rotation out of AI and gold and why gold could reach $10,000 while Bitcoin runs from $80,000 to $800,000.

Eric also gets into how the US push for stablecoins could unintentionally accelerate Bitcoin adoption, why stablecoins may provide the route to hyperbitcoinization, how Bitcoin could become the world’s most valuable collateral and why fractional reserve banking might actually help Bitcoin win.

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