Is this why Bitcoin EXPLODED? | EP 1453

Bitcoin has exploded to $73,000. And I think we're all just wondering why. We saw Donald Trump attack the banks over the Clarity Act while in the beginning of a war in Iran. A Bitcoin exchange just gained an account with the Fed, but it's not the one everyone thought it was going to be. And Morgan Stanley partners with BNY Melon to launch a Bitcoin ETF. There's a lot of headwinds, or rather sorry, a lot of tailwinds to discuss today. But first, let's watch Jamie Diamond's recent clip in regards to the war happening with the Clarity Act to really set the context of what we're talking about today. >> You and your peers have reportedly clashed with Coinbase's Brian Armstrong over the Clarity Act and specifically this idea of crypto exchanges uh offering rewards for stable coins. And Armstrong was on CNBC with Sarah Eisen a few weeks ago from Mara Lago and he said there's a path forward for the market structure bill that's a quote win-win outcome for everyone. How are you feeling about it right now? >> The banks feel strongly that there should be you know rewards are the same as interest and that you know a compromise would be that you could pay rewards on transactions not balances. If you are going to be holding balances and paying interest that's the bank you should be regulated by a bank. So we've been firm one thing over here yes but if you want to be a bank become a bank then you can do whatever you want under bank law. So I remind people your your viewers may not know banks have restrictions and requirements FDIC insurance AMLBSA we have community responsibility act which means we have to open 25% of our business l neighbors we have social requirements we have liquidity requirements capital requirements transparency requirements reporting requirements board requirements governance requirements if they want to be a bank so be it. So what we basic level playing field by product it can't be you have these people doing one thing you know without any regulation like that and these people do another and if you do do that the public will pay it it will get bad so I just people should take a deep breath at what is you want to and we want competition you know we're actually one of the biggest users of blockchain and you know and you know we created the JP Morgan deposit coin we've moved money real-time payments you know we're moving a lot of data now using blockchain so we're in favor of competition but it's got to be fair and balanced level playing field it's not it can't be completely skewed >> [laughter] >> Yeah, the gaslighting by Jamie Diamond's kind of crazy. I saw a lot of people talking about this on Twitter and and I'm going to get into all the different news, but as we've been covering for the last couple of weeks really, there is this war happening right now with the Clarity Act and we see on one side it's the banks. That's why we have Jamie Diamond is kind of the figurehead and now he's on CNBC talking about this war. though he is saying, "Hey, we love competition." And then he follows that up with, "We need a level playing field. They're they're literally they got the regulatory moat here. They got, you know, $4 trillion banks saying, hey, look, these these crypto companies are not on a level playing field. We got to make sure it's a level competition." And you're just like, "Wow, the the insane gaslighting here by Jamie Diamond to really paint this as, hey, the banks are here to protect you, the cities, the citizen." And and let's not let's not like gloss over the fact that he he broke the fifth wall here. He's like, "Let's talk to the the viewers back home watching this. I'm here to protect you. There is a war right now, and it is the banks." And it's it's becoming very clear. It was speculation for a little bit, but the more news coming out of the White House, it is the banks that are actively fighting the Clarity Act right now, and it is over the stable coin yield. Now, we can argue over the specifics of whether the Clarity Act is actually going to be beneficial for Bitcoin. I think that's still yet to be resolved, but at least that's the framing. And actually to start off, I was going to start off somewhere else because there is some very big news coming out of a Bitcoin exchange or you could say crypto exchange to the point that Jamie Diamond said, but I'm going to start here with literally last night Donald Trump tweeted about the Clarity Act or truth social post, whatever you call it, about the Clarity Act. And there was rumors that were confirmed later that this tweet happened right after he had a closed door meeting with Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase. I thought it very in interesting that Trump is even tr tweeting about the Clarity Act right now considering, you know, what's happening in the Middle East. Like I personally I think there might be bigger issues right now than the Clarity Act passing. But that didn't stop Donald Trump from posting something and it was very favorable for the Clarity Act. So, we might be seeing a war happen right now from the banks versus the crypto industry. And it does seem like Trump has thrown his hat into the ring. And here we go. Here's a tweet. This was last night. I can confirm this is a real tweet. This is not a fake news tweet. Here's Donald Trump. He goes, "The Genius Act is being threatened, undermined by the banks, and that is unacceptable." Again, the kind of crypto white house press secretaries [snorts] or you know the re crypto white house journalists have been saying this that the reason the clarity act has been stalling is because of the banks. Now we have Donald Trump of course the president of the United States saying the exact same thing and goes further goes we are not going to allow it. The US needs to get market structure done ASAP. Americans should earn more money on their money. Kind of an interesting take here. I'm not going to lie. The banks are hitting record profits and we are not going to allow them to undermine our powerful crypto agenda that will end up going to China and other countries if we don't get the Clarity Act taken care of. The Genius Act was the US's first big step to make the United States the crypto capital of the world. and getting the Clarity Act done is the next step to finish the job and most importantly keep this big and powerful industry in our country. The bank should not be trying to undercut the Genius Act or hold the Clarity Act hostage. They need to make a good deal with the crypto industry because that's what's in the best interest of the American people. This industry cannot be taken from the people of America when it is so close to becoming truly successful. Thank you for your attention to this matter, President Donald J. Trump. So again, there has been a lot of speculation. I mean, even for me, I' I've been very skeptical from the jump of how serious the Trump administration is taking this quote, you know, crypto capital of the world or Bitcoin capital of the world. And slowly but surely we we are getting headlines and you know snippets and voice captures and just different headlines coming out of the White House that they are in fact very serious about the quote crypto capital of the world. Now in the last few weeks I have become very skeptical that the Clarity Act will even pass because we are getting a lot of opposition. But further as Brian Armstrong said and I know it it was a big surprise to me when I said I I tend to agree with Brian Armstrong. I'm not the biggest fan of Coinbase, but I do agree with him on this idea that probably no bill is better than a bad bill. And from all the amendments that we're seeing added to the Clarity Act, it started to look like this was becoming a monstrosity. It's it's really probably going to do more damage than good. Well, now we have President Donald Trump saying, "Hey, we we got to get this passed and we got to do it correctly, too." of course, as he said, make sure that Americans can get more money from their money. And two, that it is in the best interest of the American people for this to pass, which is something I have been saying. Look, with all of Donald Trump's faults, the Bitcoin idea in and of itself is a very good idea. Yes, I know we are the separate money from state show here, but from my perspective, Bitcoin is as American as apple pie. America embracing Bitcoin, embracing the 21st century of money, embracing digital money and not from a CBDC completely coraled and controlled network dynamic is a good thing. I think Americans should be allowed to use Bitcoin to transact in Bitcoin and uh we will be able to outperform the dollar. The dollar has, you know, constantly losing purchasing power. And I don't know if you guys saw this morning, I actually didn't bring it up on the show for you guys today cuz I I have a lot to cover on on this news story, but it was in line on this. Senator Lumis was on Squawkbox this morning talking about the war in Iran, of course, the Clarity Act, but they did talk about the dimmin Dominus capital gains tax or dimminimous tax break on Bitcoin. Uh, shout out to Joe Kernan on Squawkbox. He's he's the best Bitcoin podcaster in the world currently and he brought it up though from what we're hearing, it's not really in a good place. on the dimminimous tax. Senator Lumis reiterated the fact that it was, you know, $600, it went down to $200. Currently, they're talking about a $300 dimminimous exemption from Bitcoin. So, if you, you know, buy something worth $300 or less, then you shouldn't get tax on it. But Joe Kernan, again, the best Bitcoin podcaster, he he was making fun of the idea. It's like look, if we are seeing capital gains tax on Bitcoin, then maybe we should be getting tax exemptions from the dollar because it is literally designed to steal your purchasing power. Love to see the narrative spread. Anyways, remember what Jamie Diamond just said. He said if crypto exchanges or bitcoin companies, bitcoin exchanges want to basically act like a bank and you know provide yield on stable coins or rewards as the bitcoin crypto industry has been calling it then maybe they should become a bank. Well, we did get some pretty historic news this morning in line with that idea. So maybe Jamie Diamond is asking for something that he really doesn't want. Maybe he thought this was a dunk because this did happen last night. So, he wasn't privy to this news this morning. Maybe he thought it was a dunk by saying, "Hey, if if crypto exchanges want to do bank things, then they should become banks." Well, this morning we got some pretty big news. So, I'll start there. This is the news coming out this morning, which is a first, a world first here. And and I know, you know, it has to do with the Fed. So, I know a lot of Bitcoiners are like, "Yeah, whatever, dude. What What's this? What's this really mean? But the headline, Kraken becomes the first crypto company to secure a Fed master account access. Excuse me. The approval lets Kraken speed up deposits and withdrawals for large traders and institutional clients, but of course, it is limited. So, just breaking this down, Kraken again secured a Federal Reserve's master account, giving its banking arm direct access to the Fed's core payment systems and allowing it to settle payments itself. You heard that correctly. Kraken now doesn't have to deal with the middleman's to settle their money. They can settle directly with the Fed. From one perspective, this is a Bitcoin Trojan horse narrative happening right now. From the other one, maybe you guys are thinking like, oh, we're just bending the knee to the Federal Reserve. But guys, this is how banking works. Look, for better or worse, if you're if you're doing banking things, you're most likely dealing with the Fed here. So, this is a big news story. This is a big first for the quote unquote crypto industry. Obviously, from the Bitcoin maxi perspective, the Bitcoin only perspective, you would have loved to see just like a Bitcoin only bank be the first one or Bitcoin only exchange be the first one, but hey, you know, little wins, little wins here. Going further, the approval lets Kraken speed up deposits and withdrawals for large trades and institutional clients. Of course, it's limited with Kraken not earning interest on reserves or accessing the Fed's emergency lending. So, I saw some people saying like, "Oh, Bitcoin exchange getting bailed out by the Fed." Very clearly, they don't get Fed's emergency lending. So, they're still going to have to be very smart with their balances. They they will have to be full reserve. They don't get the luxury of being fractional reserve here, but they can settle with the Fed directly, which it's going to be very interesting to see how this improves Kraken, how this fully supercharge charges the Bitcoin industry. And maybe very soon we see more crypto companies, Bitcoin exchanges getting similar access. Though again, we know how the banking system works. This could be a regulatory moat kind of scenario giving Kraken the advantage. Again, the move is part of Kraken's efforts to expand the operations and move towards a potential IPO, initial public offering, following in the footsteps of other crypto firms like Coinbase and Gemini. Of course, Kraken is the first one. Yes, they mention Coinbase and Gemini, but that's because they're all trying to IPO. IPO is the big, you know, exit for all of the OGs, the CEOs, the seauite of these exchanges. It's their payday. And you know, a lot of people are just kind of wondering like, okay, what is this master account? Well, we we broke it down already. It gives it banking arm direct access to the Fed's core payment systems. And of course, it's the first one. So, huge news coming out of more of the crypto, you know, sector here. But this does show that Bitcoin is slowly and surely taking over the banking system. Yes, I know. Trojan horse meme of Bitcoin hasn't been going the best recently, but I think first and foremost, Bitcoin has to get a foothold into trad. That's just how it's going to work. I know there's been a lot of ideas or a lot of takes that, oh, Bitcoin being a parallel economy, it will just do its own thing and eventually people will pour into Bitcoin and completely ignore the traditional financial system. It it's a good theory, but in practice, you need banking services. And for better or worse, the banks do not see Bitcoin like we see Bitcoin, you still have to use banking services. So, I know there's a lot of talk about Bitcoin parallel economy, medium exchange, but for most of us all in on Bitcoin. Yes, you can do the heavy work of trying to live 100% on Bitcoin, but at a certain point, you're still going to have to interact with the fiat system. Kraken, they just kind of cut out a middleman. They're going directly to the Fed. It's a pretty big move. This is actually a a pretty huge move here. So, we're seeing a war with the Clarity Act, banks versus the crypto industry. Looks like Trump is siding with the crypto industry here. We're seeing Kraken get a master account at the Fed. Huge story, huge first historic moment right now in Bitcoin. And then of course the bigger news, well maybe not bigger news, but a big news in the same vein of just how excited I think Wall Street is or institutions are for Bitcoin. And it brings its own problems. Of course, it brings its own problems as we are currently living through. But we see Morgan Stanley now tap Coinbase and BNY Melon for custody in a proposed Bitcoin ETF. So more ETFs though this one is a little different. Um this is a Bitcoin trust. So BNY to act as administrator, transfer agent, and cash custodian for Morgan Stanley's proposed Bitcoin trust. Kind of interesting uh what what the Bitcoin trust might actually be. Uh Morgan Stanley filed with the SEC a perspective outlining the structure of a proposed Morgan Stanley Bitcoin trust revealing that the fund plans to use Coinbase custody and the Bank of New York Melons to safeguard its Bitcoin holdings according to the S1 submitted. So big banks coming into custody Bitcoin. Yes, they're partnering with crypto companies here. But again, as we've been covering for years, Nico keeps reiterating the same idea about what Michael Sailor's been saying is going to drive us into the seven figure numbers. It is, of course, the Fazby accounting rules, the ETFs, and the banks custodying Bitcoin. Well, we're starting to see more of the banks custodying Bitcoin. Now, again, this does come with its own problems. I would say personally I'm not going to be trusting the Tradfi brand names to be custodying my Bitcoin because I sell custody my Bitcoin. As the meme always goes, you know, oh wait, I didn't pull it up for you guys. Sorry. Um, as the meme goes, you know, you don't have to trust the banks anymore because you can become your own banks. And of course, that also comes with its own set of attack vectors here. But it is interesting how a lot of people are waiting for the institutions to get into Bitcoin when in reality you don't need permission to get into Bitcoin. You just need to, you know, sell your fiat to get some Bitcoin. But it is a stark contrast to where we've been the last, you know, 15 16 years of Bitcoin where we've been on the outside. We've been getting foughten. We've been kind of relegated into the dark corners of the internet and ever since last year now you're starting to see there is a a gradual move into Bitcoin. And for all of us that's been in Bitcoin for a long time, the Bitcoin or the the meme institutions are here. You know, they're going to save Bitcoin. They're going to pump our pump our bags. It hasn't really happened yet because I think they are still like we're seeing with this Morgan Stanley ETF and BNY Melon ETF. It it takes it takes a while. They these institutions move very slowly. Now, one other thing I do want to bring up real quickly is do you guys remember who one of the biggest donors to the Trump administration was? It was from a banking family. Can you connect the two? It was BNY Melon. So now they're getting into Bitcoin. One of the biggest donors to the Trump administration was this banking family, the Melons. And now we're seeing, hey, they're getting into Bitcoin. Look, I think you guys seen me on the show be like, I don't know how excited I am for Bitcoin and politics to collide. Yes, I've gotten more political. Yes, this show has gotten more political, rightly so, in my opinion, because politics is here, but you're seeing the political machine is starting to get behind Bitcoin. The institutional machine is starting to get behind Bitcoin. Again, there's pros and cons to this. Obviously, the pro is always they're going to pump our bags. That that's that's all I care about really. It's like, are they going to pump our bags? If they do, all right, cool. We don't really need you. But I I'll take some, you know, some bag pumpage here. On the flip side, we are seeing there is this seemingly coordinated effort to centralize a lot of Bitcoin to literally incentivize you to give get rid of your Bitcoin into these products and then they can do whatever kind of crazy move they want to do or whatever crazy plan they have for your Bitcoin. As I always say, it's usually about the shitcoiners. You know, shitcoiners love Bitcoin. They just love your Bitcoin more. I think we can, you know, put an iteration on this. Wall Street loves Bitcoin. They just love your Bitcoin more. So, you have to do whatever you can to make sure that you do not give up your Bitcoin. Do not fall for the siren song. Now, I know we're all wondering what exactly is pushing the Bitcoin price. Like, why is Bitcoin currently in the face of macro geopolitical uncertainty that you would expect Bitcoin to drop? I was fully expecting Bitcoin to crash on Monday. And here we are. Bitcoin is up at 73K. It is a very interesting thought experiment that I will talk about towards the end of the show because I'm going to compare it to other assets currently and how well Bitcoin has performed. So maybe there's not one storyline that is pumping Bitcoin right now. It could be had as Nick Batia tweeted a combination of all these things. He's like I reflect reflected on this morning Bitcoin news for a couple of hours. This was at 10:00 a.m. You know, this news came out in the morning. He goes, "The combination of cracking getting a Federal Reserve master account. Morgan Stanley filing for a Bitcoin ETF with BNY Melon as custodian feels like just another institutional adoption news day." But in reality, it's probably one of those days that changes the game again forever in Bitcoin's favor. The USA is Bitcoin country. And I think with the news of Trump coming out and really standing on the front lines of being like, "Look, we have to get this Clarity Act through." It really is, oh, I didn't pull it up. It really is kind of changing the tide here, especially when you we you see that like we're in another war in Iran right now. A lot of a lot of conversation, a lot of contention of whether we're in a forever war or whether this is going to end in, you know, a few days, a few weeks, a few months. We really don't know what's going on. And that is where I was most curious about this this morning. It's like look, Trump I feel like has a lot more on his plate this morning in in regards to what is happening in Iran that the fact that he's tweeting about the Clarity Act now. It is a it is a strange move to me personally. Now you guys in the chat might think differently, but from my kind of, you know, game theory of what is the highest bullet point on Trump's list of things he needs to do. I was fully convinced that the crypto stuff, the Bitcoin stuff, the Clarity Act would be at the lower part of his list. And here we are in the middle of the skirmish. He thinks it's important to be tweeting about the Clarity Act. Now, you could argue a lot of different ways on this. I know some of the chat is not so Trump friendly. I've been very critical on Trump. Nico is still wrapping his head around the idea of is Trump good or bad for Bitcoin? Was it a mistake to vote him in? Again, I truly believe that the Bitcoin idea, the Bitcoin superpower of the world, I think it is a good idea. We saw it take place in El Salvador. It was a great idea for El Salvador, though El Salvador is a tiny country. It's a blip on the map. The US being the world reserve superpower, being the head superpower, at least for now, embracing Bitcoin is a huge narrative shift from what we've been doing in Bitcoin in the past to where we currently are now. Now, I know a lot of us, and me included, and some of you guys in the chat, we look at Trump getting into Bitcoin and we're probably wondering and debating like, was it really a good idea? It It's almost like he's done more harm to our space than good recently. But if the Clarity Act does get approved or the bill that they're going to vote through does get approved and it is favorable for the industry and capital does come into Bitcoin or sorry into the US for Bitcoin and crypto at large, I think it will be one of those defining moments. So I do I don't want to do the um the the you know quintessential like sometimes centuries happen in days and sometimes there centuries that nothing happened. But today's news story does or multiple news stories does seem like one of those days that we will probably be looking back on and being like okay you know in hindsight the signs were there. It's very obvious what is going on. I think a lot of the uncertainty, a lot of the division going on right now, I really believe that the Bitcoin stuff, the crypto stuff was going to just completely be sidelined, not talked about again, especially since the midterms are coming up. But Trump found it very important to be tweeting about this. And again, you know, he just he did have a meeting with Brian Armstrong, and the timeline apparently suggests that he had a closed door meeting with Brian Armstrong, then he tweeted this. So maybe Brian Armstrong was able to get in his ear and be like, "Look, it's the banks that are fighting us. We want to try to get what your agenda is across the goal line, but it's the banks that are fighting us." Yesterday, like the clip I played you, Jamie Diamonds out here like, "Hey, we want, you know, we're not the ones that are slowing the Clarity Act." Bill, he's like, "We want to get this done. We just want to make sure it's fair and competitive and level playing field where they're literally the biggest bank in the world and they probably have all of the not so fair advantages here. The timing is very interesting for my opinion and especially now that Bitcoin is pumping well I mean for us that's been around for a while this could be considered a you know pump for ants here. But the fact that Bitcoin is at 73K and we're seeing all these news, I don't think we can pinpoint one specific news line to really explain the Bitcoin pump. I think it's a multitude of factors right now. And of course, the simple supply demand dynamics of Bitcoin, it's probably just because someone wants to buy a lot of Bitcoin. The reason the Bitcoin price goes up is because people are buying Bitcoin right now. But again, that narrative in and of itself is very interesting considering I think most of us would think that World War II would be bad for Bitcoin. Now, we're still not necessarily in World War II, but that is what the narrative is. It's like, man, did did Trump just start World War II and now he's focused on Bitcoin and the Clarity Act passing? It's like, I think he's got bigger fish to fry right now. But hey, it seems like they're still very serious to try to get the Clarity Act across. Excuse me. And I know I I said there was like a kind of a pseudo deadline of March 1st. Now, that's the deadline that Trump wanted to make it happen. It's not the official deadline. There's still speculations and rumors that we might get something for the Clarity Act through by the end of March. So, this is an ongoing developing story here. Again, I'm I'm really not holding my breath on it, but this is a a some positive momentum that the Clarity Act will pass. And the only reason most Bitcoiners probably want the Clarity Act is the whole regulatory, you know, rules of the road here is most likely, or at least this is the thesis, going to attract more capital into Bitcoin. The idea is that a lot of institutions and investors are sitting on the sideline until they get some clear rules of the road. Now, obviously, there's other factors playing out right now, which is, of course, the war in the Middle East. I think a lot of investors, a lot of people that are looking where to deploy their capital are sitting on the sidelines. They're not really sure, but the markets are reacting very interesting. They they've been whipsawing in equities, and gold and silver this morning. Almost everything is up. So it's very interesting when you try to understand the investing mentality here is like is are investors pricing in the idea that we're not going to be in a forever war? Are they finally fully digesting the fact that we are in a new war in the Middle East even though Trump said we weren't going to be there? So I think we are starting to see that people are currently at least going through the first phases of deploying their capital where they think it it needs to go so that they can get a really good return. So we'll see. We we're definitely on the sidelines. Us Bitcoiners that are all in, we're just kind of sitting here like twiddling our thumbs just like, "Okay, can something happen? Can something finally happen?" Because it's been slow. It's been boring. the news has been pretty slow recently and then this morning we get a bunch of news happening and you're like okay well maybe maybe the first you know first month or two of the year was very slow and maybe now we're going to ramp up the news cycle and a bunch of things are going to happen just consecutively back to back to back. Now, I I don't have any insight if we're going to get anything big happening this week, but it does seem like the, you know, the actions around Bitcoin are are starting to ramp up a little bit. So, I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing some fireworks happening in Bitcoin, whether it's big news story, whether it's the price start going up. Though, I did ask you guys yesterday, do you guys think this is a suckers rally? I think a lot of us are thinking it is a suckers rally. Obviously, I'm I'm on the opposite side. I'm like, no, bro. I told you the bare market wasn't going to go to 40k. I I told you we were going to go sideways. Yes, it went lower than I thought it was. So, I'm I'm still I'm still unsure. I'm 50/50 right now. I'm prepared for the worst, but I am starting to get hopeful. I am starting to get a little bullish that hey, maybe this isn't the absolute breakout out of the bare market, but this could be the beginning of the end of the bare market. If that's the case, then we might not have to wait till October to get a bottom here. We might not even have to wait till summertime to get a bottom here. We could start seeing the price action respond very well. And I I've been seeing some some uh you know, Bitcoin influencers saying that Bitcoin always goes up in March and we're going to crash after March. That could be the case. This could be the suckers rally. This this could be, you know, historically Bitcoin does pretty well in March. So, this could be the fake out pump and then we dump again. So, I'm not going to get too excited here, but I am starting to get a little more optimistic about where we currently are in the bare market cycle. Again, only hindsight will show me whether I was right or wrong. So, look, I I leave, you know, the optionality of me changing my opinion as more information comes in, but it it's looking pretty good. Again, the biggest surprising thing for me is one, how Bitcoin has reacted on the news of a a new war in the Middle East, and then two, Trump talking about the Clarity Act while he's in the middle of Operation Epic Fury. You know, continuing this mission in the Middle East, it's just the the coincidences, the timing, however you want to look at this, it's all very interesting for my opinion. It's starting to make the case like, oh, okay, maybe maybe the bare market wasn't as bad as we all expected it to be, which is kind of what a lot of people have been saying. No eight, you know, no blowoff top, therefore no 80% correction could be playing out like this. So, the point remains the same. For you guys that are just stacking Bitcoin continuously that don't look at the price, this really doesn't change anything. But the narratives around Bitcoin, the the the happenings, the news stories that are happening around Bitcoin, it is starting to, you know, change course. It is starting to feel a little more positive for the Bitcoin industry. Maybe the end of this year, we will be seeing some fireworks is all I'm saying. May maybe the doom and gloom, demoralization of Bitcoiners, maybe we saw the worst behind us. It's all I'm saying here, guys. That's all I'm going to say. Okay. Now, for the rest of the show, I do have an interesting clip coming out of Fox News in regards to the, you know, free Iran, what what happens if the Trump administration is successful in Iran and what that means for Bitcoin. Again, shouts out to Charles Payne, another really great Bitcoin podcaster. He's not really, he's on Fox News, but he's pro Bitcoin. And then we got some interesting news coming out of the ECB. My girl Chrissy Lagarde, she's getting very scared here and saying the obvious out loud. She's saying the quiet parts out loud. Guys, maybe we are winning. Maybe this is what winning feels like. And then like I said a minute ago to in the culture, I am going to analyze a little bit of how Bitcoin has reacted in regards to all of these geopolitical macro events. And you know, spoiler alert, Bitcoin's still doing the best in regards to all of the crazy stuff happening. So, first commercial break. I'll be right back after this announcement or, you know, commercial from our partners. One second. Today's episode is brought to you by Bitcoin [music] Well Infinite. If you're a serious Bitcoin buyer, you've probably hit the same wall. Most platforms make you give up custody just to play by the rules. Bitcoin Well Infinite fixes that. They're North America's only publicly traded non-custodial OTC desk listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, which means transparent operations and zero counterparty risk. You buy Bitcoin, you take immediate control, period. 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Titanium stamp seeds will survive nearly triple the heat produced by a house fire. They're also crushproof, waterproof, non-corrosive, [music] and timeproof. And now you can customize your titanium seed plates. You can upload your design or logo and they will laser engrave it on the back of your seed plate, the opposite side of where the words are. Stamp your seed on stamp seed and use promo code simply to get 15% off anything on the stampseed.com store. All right, guys. So, uh, [laughter] chat, you guys are funny. Uh, the current Bitcoin price is $73,150 per Bitcoin, which is a 42% discount from alltime high. The market cap, it's inching back up, guys. We're getting closer to two trillion. That $1.3 trillion market cap, man, that was brutal. I It's really making me feel bad about myself. [laughter] We're currently at 1.46 trillion. The block height, Tik Tok, next block. The universal time on planet Earth is the block height. We are currently at 939,296. All right, guys. So, as I was telling you, um, we are seeing interesting stuff, some interesting developments. And you know what we like to do here on the show a lot is some days we don't just talk about the news per se. We talk about how the corporate press, the propaganda machines talk about Bitcoin. And obviously for the entire history of Bitcoin, they usually have a biased bent against Bitcoin. [snorts] And only in the last few years, really because of Joe Kernan on Squawkbox and Charles Payne on Fox News, did we see a a more positive view on Bitcoin. And this is why I call them the Bitcoin podcasters, the best Bitcoin podcasters. It's really because they have huge platforms and they obviously are pro Bitcoin. This clip is pretty interesting though from my perspective. Um I would say maybe it's a little it it's a little hopeful. Okay. It I think while the the theory is probably correct, I think it's assuming a lot. But nonetheless, the fact that we're hearing this come out on Fox News is very interesting. Though we we could we got to be 100% obvious honest here. Look, in the last few weeks or sorry, the last few days, I have been flipping between CNN, Fox News, CNBC, just to see how each side is talking about the war in Iran, just to see what narratives they're talking about, you know, what what the bias is, who's pro, who's who's for it, you know, who's somewhat neutral on this idea. Obviously, you could probably guess who's who just based on what I what I said. And Fox News, obviously, they've been very favorable towards the war in Iran. So, this is a favorable take on the war in Iran, but they brought in an interesting take here, which is Bitcoin. And we're seeing this conversation happen on Fox News on the public press, the corporate press, this idea of like, wait, and actually me and Sophie were talking about this. Um, we were we were joking about a title for a show and it's like, is World War II actually good for Bitcoin? Like, how come Bitcoin's pumping? Why are we seeing on Fox News, they talk favorably about Bitcoin in the context of a war? I know Bitcoin and from our perspective, one of our big memes is this idea of Bitcoin being anti-war, fiat being pro-war, fiat is literally the money of war. They they took a pretty interesting interesting take on on this clip on Fox News. So, I'm going to play again. You know, I think directionally it's probably correct in the sense of like, yeah, I I can see this playing out. I think it's it's a bit hopeful, but let me play the clip and then and then uh I I'll gauge your guys's opinion on it. >> 87% of the Iranians inside Iran and 93% of Iranians outside Iran are ready to topple that down this regime. We have a leader Resabi who's going to lead the transition into a free Iran. And after that, oh my gosh, it is going to be a new day in the world. Less fewer proxy world wars, less terrorism, a new ally for the US with a lot of energy. >> And that's why you talk about a freedom run the big picture because everyone's looking right now at oil prices. You're like, forget about that. Let's look at the big big picture. Bitcoin, I just talked about it with David forming a bottom here. Are you buying Bitcoin here? So here's another I'm going to actually bring back Iran. Islamic regime actually controls 2 to 5% of Bitcoin hash rate globally. So because it's again the energy. So supply of Bitcoin in the free Iran is potentially going to go down. What does that mean? Low supply for the market. Low supply, high demand. So yes, I'm buying. >> Love it. Love it. Uh yeah, you know, more demand usually means Bitcoin price goes up. Again, the framing is the most interesting aspect of this. They're on Fox News historically right leaning. They are pro pro whatever the Republican president does. So, they are painting the war in Iran very favorably. You know, a free Iran is kind of the idea. If you guys remember what Trump said in regards to why they did Operation Epic Fury, it was essentially to destroy the leadership there and let the people, you know, rise, let the people take control of their government. There's still a lot of debate if whether that is actually going to happen. They are trying to do the Venezuela model on Iran, though apparently, you know, wasn't able to happen over the weekend. It wasn't able to happen from Friday night to Monday morning. We're there now. And the narratives that we are hearing from the Trump administration is is a little conflicted. They started off with, hey, this is going to be four to 5 days and then it's going to be 4 to 6 months. And now the the most recent headlines are like, we don't know if we're going to be there for a little bit. We might be there for a lot longer. Trump is even saying forever wars now. So look, the idea, at least the official narrative is, look, this is going to be short. This is going to be quick. we will be seeing a free Iran and that's at least what they want to happen. Now whether that will happen is a totally different conversation. But again bringing the Bitcoin narrative back in here, the Bitcoin story of this is they're on Fox News talking about, hey, a free Iran will obviously benefit Bitcoin in in a few ways. The people will be able to save in Bitcoin. As we saw when I showed you guys the chart yesterday, since the war or actually preceding the war, the buildup to the war, we are seeing a lot of money on Iranian exchanges or from Iranian citizens flowing into Bitcoin and we're seeing that Bitcoin leave the exchanges. So the Bitcoin narrative of when you need Bitcoin because of geopolitical uncertainty because you maybe don't trust your government because you know when there is a war it's hard to get your money out of the banks. We are seeing that flight to safety into Bitcoin as Bitcoiners have always been saying this was going to happen. It's happening now. The interesting take on this is like hey there's a lot of energy of course in the Middle East. They do have a significant amount of hash rate. Now will that increase if there is a free Iran or further will the proliferation of Bitcoin increase in the country once people understand the power of Bitcoin? That idea that hey you don't have to trust the banks. You don't have to trust the traditional banking system. All you have to do is get money into it, take it off the exchange. So, if this does play out exactly like the Trump administration views it will, a short-term free Iran, then you could kind of venture to guess or at least speculate that Iran might become a a hotbed for or maybe that's not the best. They might become a a perfect soil for a circular economy to build in Iran. Now, that is the fabled, you know, moving goalpost that Bitcoiners always like to talk about. This idea that true Bitcoin adoption is not just about the price going up, but it's people actually using Bitcoin. And by that, they mean using Bitcoin as money. Though I would argue what we're seeing from the data is Iranians actually using Bitcoin as a flight to safety as a store of value as something that if you do need to move you put it in Bitcoin and it's a lot easier to move cross border than you know say a hyperinflating currency or gold or jewelry or whatever it is. This is the use case of Bitcoin happening being tried being tested and fully vindicated in real time. you actually love to see it. It is it is a a bit bittersweet considering the chaos and the turmoil that's happening over there. But this is what Bitcoiners have been saying for a long time. This is why you need Bitcoin. For anyone out there that's saying there's no use case for Bitcoin, I don't think this is a better like you couldn't have a better example than to be like look this is on the ground real time use of Bitcoin that no other money in the world can even come close to. It's it's honestly again it's bittersweet and it sounds kind of messed up to say but this is this is great to see. You love to see that. Yes, there is turmoil in the Middle East. Yes, you the the Iranian realale is absolutely hyperinflating currently. And we are seeing a flight to safety to Bitcoin. Anyone that says there's no use case for Bitcoin, all you're doing is hoarding Bitcoin. I this this might be one of those new stories to really pull on their heartstrings. Now, you know, not to say that we need to emotionally manipulate everyone to buy into Bitcoin, but emotionally persuasive data points do get people to start to change their tune around Bitcoin. So, it is a ve very interesting development to just see that Fox News talking about the war. They're talking about Bitcoin being a use case to offset the troubles of the Iranian people. It's happening, guys. It really is happening. Now, I know I've been critical. I've been cynical on the idea of like, if this is what winning feels like, it doesn't feel that good. Okay? I I've been on that boat. I I am on that boat. But seeing these data points or seeing these news stories, seeing this happen in real time, it does make me feel a little more optimistic about where we're going. It does make me, you know, feel less of a doomer, less, you know, beat down, less demoralized because Bitcoin is working exactly as it's been designed, as we've all been saying. It's doing exactly as it should be when people need it most. And that's probably the biggest takeaway for Bitcoin. Yes, you know, we want the Bitcoin price to run. We want Bitcoin to go up. We personally I feel cheated by not having you know number go up in 2025 but Bitcoin is winning. People are using Bitcoin when they need it. And that is one of those narratives or rather one of those memes those rhetorical tools that Bitcoiners have been using. It's hey look Bitcoin's not going away. Tik Tok next block. Bitcoin will be there for you when you need it most. And it's happening guys. So there is silver linings throughout all of the crazy stuff that we're seeing in the world right now. There is a silver lining starting off 2026. Maybe maybe just maybe I'm going to have to be a little more stoic here. You know, I I can't let my emotions run with the price, with the headlines. This is a bittersweet feelood news story in my opinion. And hey, Bitcoin's working like we we thought it would. All right, guys. This one's going to be a little fun. I actually here's a here there was a good comment in here by uh one one of our friends in the chat. Let me let me just say this comment before if I can find it before I move into um yeah here we go. Our boy winsome uh and I'm saying this because I think it sets a good context for the ECB news that we're going to see. Win some hacks goes if you steal something you end up not being allowed to do certain jobs. Not when you're lagard social class. So, just just keep that little troll in mind while we talk about the ECB in the next segment. I'll be right back. I want to give a shout out to our partner, Letin, the leader in Bitcoin back loans. Unlock the liquidity in your Bitcoin without [music] having to sell your Bitcoin. They've issued $9 billion in loans to over 10,000 customers [music] since 2018. I absolutely love these guys. Not only do I have an account with them, but I also have a loan. And what I love about them is that there are no monthly payments [music] and you could pay back the loan at any time. 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[laughter] Maybe you'll get one minute to join. All right. Um, okay guys, get get this. So, uh, a new European Central Bank paper dropped, uh, research paper, and the short of it, and I will read just a little bit of it, but the short of it is the ECB dropped a paper warning that growing stable coin adoption could pull deposits out of banks, constrain lending, and weaken its ability to transmit money, transmit monetary policy with the risk rising sharply as adoption scale. Uh it's almost like that's the point, right? Like [laughter] uh I I think look Chrissy or ECBA, she didn't write it. I was like um you know it's almost like that's the point. It's almost like you're pointing out the obvious again. We're seeing we are seeing a narrative from banks, central banks, regional banks, you know, the Jamie Diamonds, the Chrissy Lagard, the Jerome Powels of the world really point out the obvious of what Bitcoin and I guess for their stable coins are doing and they kind of paint it as like, oh, this is a bad thing and you're just like, uh, no, like this like that's the po this is the point. This is the point of this. Okay, so anyways, let me uh let me pull up the paper real quick. here is on the ECB. This is actually from the European Central Bank. Uh I went I went to the government. I searched for it, guys. And it is titled working paper series stable coins and monetary policy transmission. Again, you know, it's 46 pages. We're not going to read this mumbo jumbo, but I will read a little bit. Not the abstract, but the non-technical summary. of course start talking about digital assets and how people are starting to use it and how you know the central bank might need to update their infrastructure or at the very least keep in mind that this is a phenomenon that's happening. So here's the first point with the question how do stable coins affect banks. The first key finding is that growing use of stable coins can lead people and firms to move money out of the traditional bank deposits and into digital assets. Again, dude, the absolute obvious. Like, these guys get paid to do I thought these guys were smart. What are we doing here? And it goes, "Banks rely heavily on deposits as a stable and lowcost source of funding to support lending to households and businesses. When deposits decline, banks may be forced to rely more on wholesale or market-based funding, which is typically more expensive and less stable. Our analysis shows that increasing interest in and attention towards stable coins are associated with a measurable decline in retail bank deposits and a reduction in bank lending to firms. In other words, stable coins can reduce the amount of credit banks provide to the real economy. Importantly, these effects are nonlinear and depend critically on the scale of stable coin adoption. their design features and their regulatory treatment. Uh yeah, that is literally the point. Bitcoin and I guess to some extent stable coins do limit your ability to create money out of thin air. This is the point of all this. If you don't understand how banking works very simply and maybe this is too simple, but when you give your money to a bank, they take your money. It doesn't sit in an account untouched. They take your money and they lend that money so that they can make a return. Therefore, expanding the money supply, creating literally money out of thin air. You got to remember debt is money. Those dollar bills you have in your pocket, that is just an IOU. That is just a claim on debt. It's not real. It It's literally just a paper IOU saying, "Hey, this was created out of thin air. This is someone's debt that we are monetizing so that you can use it as a currency." Here we have the ECB report stating the absolute obvious. It's like it's yes, this is the point. At least we can all agree on that this is the war going on. Hence, this whole theme of today's show is very simple. And someone in the chat said it earlier. I think it was down under Blues. He's like, "This is a war with fiat. This is Bitcoin versus fiat currency. This is a monetary war happening. It's not kinetic. It's not violent. It is an ideological information war. But finally, we're seeing the ECB acknowledge what is going on. Yes, if people start using Bitcoin, you will have less money to create more debt. That is the literal point of this. That is what we're trying to do. I'm glad we can agree on the terms. Finally, though, of course, this this whole report is making this seem like a bad thing, which in in fact is uh really a good thing. Now, going further, it goes, what does this mean for monetary policy? The second finding concerns how monetary policy works in the euro area. Banks play a central role in transmitting interest rate changes to households and firms. When deposits shift into stable coins or from our perspective into Bitcoin, this transmission mechanism changes. We find that stable coin adoptions interfere with multiple monetary policy transmission channels, potentially weakening the predictability of policy actions. I mean maybe just like you know a small group of people shouldn't be in control of monetary policy maybe you want to use a neutral scarce money that no one controls and you know the market will very organically get to the interest rates that are fair for the market but no you know let's let's blame Bitcoin let's blame stable coins for the fact that no one has the right insight to accurately create the interest rates that the economy needs. Maybe we should outsource that to the market. I don't know. Maybe I'm an extremist. May maybe I'm uh you know, too far gone down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. Maybe I've drinken the orange Kool-Aid a little too much. But from my perspective, it sounds a lot better than trusting a small group of people that are literally fleecing everyone, stealing from you, and saying, "Hey, we're doing we're doing the doing you the favor. We're hey, we're here to protect you, the little guy. We're we're you need us to push back the flood of [laughter] of you losing your wealth." Hence why I brought up that that comment by Winom is like we're we're getting to the point where they're like look if people start using Bitcoin and and I'm uh I'm I'm paraphrasing here. This is this is OP's paraphrasing of what the ECB is saying that they're basically saying, hey, if you use Bitcoin or if you use stable coins, we'll use their example. If you use stable coins, then you are going to distort our ability to take from you more. Uh I don't know. It sounds like a good thing to me personally. So I I do I look I'm I'm honestly completely on board with uh their their whole analysis here. I I'm totally on board with what the ECB is saying for once. They're like, "Yeah, you're kind of you're kind of finally saying the truth out loud. kind of like we're finally on board with the same ideas of what we're actually doing here. Okay, now one more point and then I I will, you know, get a get a funny look at that. Get a funny uh you know breakdown from a Bitcoiner, a fellow Bitcoiner. Here we go. Why does the currency of stable coins matter? The third policy relevant finding relates to the currency in which stable coins are denominated. If stable coins linked to non- euro currencies such as the US dollar were to become widely used in the euro area, the risk to monetary policy would increase significantly. In such a scenario, changes in global financial conditions, foreign monetary policy decisions, or shifts in investor confidence could directly affect liquidity and spending conditions in the euro era area, sorry, regardless of domestic policy decisions. In simple terms, foreign monetary conditions could be imported into the euro area through stable coins. This would weaken the central bank's control over financial conditions. I repeat, weaken the central bank's control over financial conditions, reduce the effectiveness of traditional monetary policy instruments and make it harder to stabilize inflation and economic activity, especially during periods of financial stress. And of course, their findings. These findings highlight the importance of thoughtful regulation. Man, it's honestly, this is beautiful. It's a masterclass. Shouts out to the ECB. Absolute master class um in I don't know, information warfare. Though, as you can see, when you read that, you probably get the perspective like, oh yeah, maybe maybe these stable coin things are a bad thing. But when you get the filter, when you get the Bitcoin filter through this, you're like, uh, yeah, honestly, I kind of totally agree with everything you're saying. And I'm kind of totally on board with this. I totally believe that central banks around the world should have less financial control. They should have less financial control. I'm like, yeah, this this is great. Now, I would go further and I I think really really the it should be Bitcoin in here instead of stable coins, but as we know, the ECB is very very adamant about them dropping a CBDC. And right now, stable coins are the threat to their CBDC system. Because why would you need the ECB CBDC if you could just use a stable coin? One, you're probably going to get a better yield on it. to the central bank can't cut you off whenever they want to. But really in reality when you look at that three paragraphs that I read and you add Bitcoin into that instead of stable coins that is the real play at hand as the US has done with stable coin regulation using stable coins as a Trojan horse from my opinion for Bitcoin to get in because you can't acknowledge stable coins and not acknowledge or accept Bitcoin at least in some semblance of respect for what Bitcoin is or digital assets are. You're seeing that the ECB is doing the opposite. They're using stable coins as the big bad boogeymen, but in reality, it's Bitcoin that that really should be the eye of the ECB. But, you know, I I think they're they're starting to see that that probably isn't going to be looked upon favorably. And and personally, I'm I'm okay with this. This is one of the things that Bitcoiners have been saying for a long time. like the only use case for shitcoins and I'm not necessarily saying stable coins are a shitcoin per se. I know some people do uh as we've seen there is actual adoption of stable coins around the world. So I think the idea of stable coins as a bridge from fiat to Bitcoin maybe it's a first step to Bitcoin. I I think it's pretty apt. I I think it it's a legitimate kind of narrative. But they're doing the ECB is is doing exactly that. They're they're using shitcoins as the kind of like the squid ink here, you know, the octopus ink to confuse not only themselves but everyone else. And that is that is the beauty of shitcoins. While they all try to regulate the shitcoins and again not necessarily saying stable coins are shitcoins, but it's not bitcoin. Um it's cover for bitcoin. So look, let let the US government embrace stable coins or, you know, export dollar hedgeimony around the world. Bitcoin's going to get through the door. Let the ECB attack stable coins. I don't think they're going to be successful, but with that comes Bitcoin gets through the door. I think this report is is very telling in what their narrative is and and also what their hubris is. It's like, yeah, look, this is the point. We want you to have less control. That was the literal inception of this idea. That was the initial root of all of this. You should have less control. There shouldn't be central banks around the world controlling interest rates, controlling the money. We are living in a debt ponzi right now. Personally, I want to move into something that is scarce, that is neutral, that cannot be debased, that cannot be controlled by a single entity or entities. This is the point of all of this. So, Chrissy Lagarde, maybe maybe we slow clap for her for approving this report because it's beautiful. It's a beautiful master class. I I love to see this again. They are talking about stable coins, but man, they're finally saying it out loud. You got You got to love it. You got to love it. I absolutely love this. Let's go. This is This is good stuff here. This is really good stuff from the ECB. But, you know, in reverse counter counter signal here from the ECB. Gotta love it. Love to see it. All right, guys. Before I move on, though. Oh, actually, sorry. I do have a good tweet. Shouts out to Fernando. Um, he is working on Bitcoin perception, BTC Perception. He was at Blockstream for a little bit. I love I love this tweet here. This is great. I'm not going to read the whole thing because he he talks about himself a little bit and he used to work in the music industry, but he goes, "Wait a minute. Hold on here. So, the European Central Bank published a paper warning that stable coin adoption could pull deposits out of the banking system. The people who run the monetary system are admitting in an academic paper that their product might lose to a better product. The diagnosis is correct. The conclusion they'll draw from it, of course, will be to regulate the competition instead of improving their own product. As I mentioned, [gasps] the threat assessment was always accurate, but the response was always protectionism, and protectionism always loses. Absolutely beautiful. Absolutely beautiful master class from the ECB and just how to wreck yourself. Got to love it. Got to love it. All right, guys. Before I move on, like I was saying, make sure you get your tickets to Las Vegas 2026, April 27th through the 29th. It's going to be at the Venetian. Bitcoiners are taking over Vegas again. Last year I had a blast. I might have have a had a little too much fun in [laughter] in Vegas. Uh but hey, you know what stays in Vegas or what happens in Vegas almost stays in Vegas until Nico comes on the show and starts saying about me in Vegas. Guys, you're look, hey, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. All right. So, Bitcoin is taking over Vegas again for the world's largest Bitcoin conference, April 27th through the 29th. Again, get your tickets today and if you use simply all caps, you get 10% off. All right, guys. So, to wrap up today's show, we are going to talk about how's Bitcoin reacted in the face of all of the biggest moments we've seen in the last few years from a geopolitical macro perspective. Spoiler alert, it's still the best. All right, it's still the absolute best. So, quick commercial break, last commercial break, and we will wrap up today's show. I want to give a shout out to our partner Hive Digital Technologies. Fueled by clean energy, Hive has quadrupled [music] its global Bitcoin mining footprint and channels that same scale into high performance compute where their AI cloud is now ranked number one in the world for network performance. At Hive, you've got dual engines, Bitcoin and AI humming, [music] roaring, accelerating in unison. They're lean and mean. They're green and clean. And they're rewriting the playbook on sustainable digital infrastructure. You can catch the latest buzz at Hivedigital Tech or at hivedigitaltech.com. [music] Sorry guys, it's getting a little cotton mouth here talking for an hour. So, forgive me for taking a sip of water. All right, guys. So, bringing back an idea that I brought up in the beginning of the show. Actually, I've been talking about it all week, and it is my surprise to how strong Bitcoin has reacted in the face of the new war in the Middle East or the new operation. I know they're not calling it a war yet, but for all intents and purposes, we are at war in the Middle East with Iran. and I was very surprised to see Bitcoin not tank on the opening of the markets on Monday. Now, there is a few things you can point to. Um, one of the things is obviously a lot of Bitcoiners saying, "Oh, hey, Jane Street's no longer manipulating the market." Now whether they were or weren't, there is a coincidence here that ever since the court case against them for price manipulation in the 2022 collapse came to light or rather was issued and came out. We aren't seeing the 10 a.m. slams on Bitcoin. And maybe maybe that push down of the Bitcoin price potentially from Jane Street is why Bitcoin is seemingly running right now. Now I know it's at 73K. It's like what is this a pump for ants? I think we're up today or in the last two days about 6 7%. But since the Iran war, Bitcoin is up 12%. And again, that to me is the most surprising signal here. the fact that Bitcoin is up multiple percentages when you'd expect it to go down. Now, I saw a really good tweet kind of analyzing this and comparing this to the S&P 500 and gold, and it just it just shows you that even though Bitcoin maybe has not performed as well as we'd like in the last year, Bitcoin has still been outperforming everything else in the face of huge geopolitical events. So, here's James Van Stratton. Of course, he's senior analyst at CoinDesk. And he goes, "Remember this chart?" And this is a chart. This was by um Black Rockck, Robbie Mitchnik, Mitchik, Mitchnik, I think it's Mitchnik. Uh [snorts] this So, this was an official chart from Black Rockck. And they're showing the S&P 500, gold, and Bitcoin through major geopolitical events. The first one of course was the US Iran escalation last year January or sorry not last year January 3rd 2020 and you can see 10day returns and 60-day returns based on um you know gold S&P 500 and Bitcoin response to these huge geopolitical events. So, in 2020, after the US Iran escalation, S&P 500 went up 2%, gold was flat, and Bitcoin went up 12%, 10day return after the 60-day return, S&P 500 was down 7%, gold was up 6%, and Bitcoin went up 20%. Again, the 2020 uh pandemic pand wait, pandemic, sorry, that I I misspoke there. Uh S&P 500 was down 20%, gold was down 9%. Bitcoin did go down further. It went down 25%. But the 60-day return, S&P 500 was up 2%, gold was up 3%, and Bitcoin went up 21%. Now, going further, the 2020 US election challenges in November 3rd, 2020, S&P 500 up 7%, gold down 1%, Bitcoin up 19%. 60-day return, two-month return, S&P 500 up 12%. Gold down 1%, Bitcoin up 131%. Now going further, Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Bitcoin did go down more than S&P 500. S&P was 1%, gold 2%, Bitcoin went down 6%. But the 60-day returns, Bitcoin up 15% while gold's at 9, S&P 500's at three. US regional banking crisis in 2023, remember that? That was fun. Uh S&P 500 down two, gold up 10%, Bitcoin up 25%. 60-day return. Bitcoin up 32%, gold 11, S&P 500 4%. Now, the yen carry trade, which was all the rage last year, August 5th, 2020, or sorry, in 2024. Last year, we saw it unwinding, forgive me, we saw S&P 500 up 2%, gold and Bitcoin flat. Now, we have the updated numbers here because this chart wasn't updated. And it is just to fill in the blank. The 60 days after the yen carry unawign in August 5th of 2024, Bitcoin went up 21%, gold went up 9%, S&P went up 3%. Bitcoin outperforming again on geopolitical events. Now, this is the past, right? I didn't I I it might not be a one minute chart, guys, but we we will look at some charts here. Okay, I maybe I'll put the one minute chart after. And and forgive all my lines. This is the deep value red range. You know, I I got little descending triangle that the price literally pumped off of. So, I will do the one week here just to kind of show. And I'm only going to do actually I'll do all of them. I'll do them all for you guys. Whatever. It's the end of the show. Um here we go. You know, Bitcoin up almost 13% started this week since the Iran war. So, we're not really at the 10day returns yet for this Iran war or Operation Epic Fury, but so far, Bitcoin's up 13%. Let's see. Gold, which is probably the most interesting. Gold is down uh about 7.8%. So, still still doing well. We're we're still, you know, we're still holding up to Bitcoin performs best on these huge geopolitical moves. And here's the S&P 500. Let's see what is this. I didn't actually check here. All right. So, S&P 500 up 2.84%. I don't know, guys. It's almost like Bitcoin is doing exactly here. Actually, before I go, it's almost as Bitcoin is doing exactly as designed. Here's the one minute chart for you guys since you guys love it so much since I've mean that Oh, I didn't even show you guys. Oh, rip. All right, just trust me on those numbers. I was doing them live for you guys, but just trust me that those were the numbers. So, Bitcoin up 12 almost 13%. Gold's down almost 8%. S&P 500 is up almost 3% since the start of the Operation Epic Fury. So again, another data point that Bitcoin, it it really is the best performing asset no matter the conditions. Yes, we had a bad 2025. You know, you could always cherrypick data points, but again, huge geopolitical event. We're almost at the 10day return for Bitcoin. Bitcoin's reacting the best out of the last huge geopolitical event out of gold and the S&P 500. I don't know, man, guys. It's almost as if Bitcoin is doing exactly what we thought it was going to do. When you when you put it in this context, [snorts] it does show that even if we're down on the year, Bitcoin is still the best thing to hold no matter what the geopolitical event is. And I'm I think I think it's going to be eye opening to see this continue to maintain and and at a certain point it is just going to be undeniable. Bitcoin is the only thing you want to be owning. [snorts] I don't know guys. Is this what winning feels like? Is this what winning feels like? Yes. Best money on earth, boss. Sorry. Sorry, guys. I I I can't look at the chat. Do you guys Do you not trust me? Okay. All right. Okay. All right. Since you guys don't trust me, you you guys man guys don't trust me. Okay, I see how it is. I see how it is. Here we go. All right, so here is the low for the week to the high almost 13%. We're going to do gold start of the week and we're and we're even we're even being maybe I'm being a little too, you know, cherry-picking, but this week from the high to the low, it's almost down 8% 7.8%. 8%. And then S&P 500, again, I am being charitable here. From the low of the week to the high, it's up 3%. Though in reality, I guess we should do something like that. It's up. It's not even up a percent. S&P 500 from market open on the week to current price, it's up 81%. And it just turned red. Love it. So look, Bitcoin Bitcoin is doing exactly as designed. Any of the haters out there saying that Bitcoin has failed. It's been hijacked. You know, it's been compromised by the banks, yada yada yada. They're trying to sell you something. And they're trying to be bearish on Bitcoin. They're trying to sell you anything but Bitcoin. At least you guys know my job here is to sell you Bitcoin. I lean into the idea I'm a Bitcoin propagandist. I know my bias. I am biased towards Bitcoin. Bitcoin has reacted the best since Operation Epic Fury started. I take that information as you will, boys. It's almost like Bitcoin is doing exactly as designed. It is almost like Bitcoin is the best money in the world. Simply chart boys. Yeah, dude. We're chart. I'm a chart boy. Everyone knows I'm a chart boy. I have meme'd the one minute chart. I literally get you guys tweeting at me like, "I better see the one minute chart today." You know, it's trolls. The one minute chart is just fun to watch, guys. All right. It's even more fun when it's dumping or it's pumping. So, whenever you see the price going crazy, I'm telling you, put on the one minute chart and then monitor your emotions. The situation you should be monitoring is your emotions when the price does something. That's the funnest thing here. All right. Can you walk and chew gum? No, I can't. I I have two brain cells left, guys. I have two brain cells left and I cannot do multiple stuff. Alrighty then, guys. Well, well, well. All right. So, uh, end of the show. Um, but just to inform you and you guys might be happy. Nico is going to be gone the rest of the week. Uh, [snorts] he he's got to take a trip. So, tomorrow I will have a guest with me in person if my if I remember my schedule correctly. Friday I will be doing the show most likely alone. So, simply opty for the rest of the week. All right guys, on that note, I appreciate you guys. I love you guys. Have a good rest of your day. Eat some good food. Get a workout in. Get some step get your 10k steps in. And of course, get some sun on you guys. Get get on your eyes. We are We are ascending in 2026. I want you guys to be the best you can be physically, mentally, and of course, financially, and spiritually. We are rising. We are ascending in 2026. All right, guys. So, put down the donuts. [laughter] from watching calories. Let's get going out. All right, guys. All right. Love you guys. I will see you tomorrow. Have a good rest of your day. Peace out. Today's episode was brought to you by bitcoinwell.com, a Bitcoinonly platform on a mission to enable financial independence. [music] >> [music]

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