What Bitcoin Did

“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. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN - Explore Bitcoin-backed loans and get 0.25% off your first loan. https://learn.ledn.io/wbd BITGO - Secure your Bitcoin with institutional grade security. https://www.bitgo.com/danny ANCHORWATCH - Insured Bitcoin custody, security & inheritance. Book a consultation: https://www.anchorwatch.com/wbd BITKEY - Get 10% off the new Bitkey wallet with code WBD. https://bitkey.world/wbd EXPAT MONEY - Build your Plan B. Explore second residencies, citizenship and offshore wealth protection. https://expatmoney.com/wbd FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles Avik Roy: https://x.com/Avik

“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. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN - Explore Bitcoin-backed loans and get 0.25% off your first loan. https://learn.ledn.io/wbd BITGO - Secure your Bitcoin with institutional grade security. https://www.bitgo.com/ ANCHORWATCH - Insured Bitcoin custody, security & inheritance. Book a consultation: https://www.anchorwatch.com/wbd BITKEY - Get 10% off the new Bitkey wallet with code WBD. https://bitkey.world/wbd EXPAT MONEY - Build your Plan B. Explore second residencies, citizenship and offshore wealth protection. https://expatmoney.com/wbd FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles Dhruv Bansal: https://x.com/dhruvbansal

“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. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN - Explore Bitcoin-backed loans and get 0.25% off your first loan. https://learn.ledn.io/wbd ANCHORWATCH - Insured Bitcoin custody, security & inheritance. Book a consultation: https://www.anchorwatch.com/wbd BITKEY - Get 10% off the new Bitkey wallet with code WBD. https://bitkey.world/wbd EXPAT MONEY - Build your Plan B. Explore second residencies, citizenship and offshore wealth protection. https://expatmoney.com/wbd FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/\_DannyKnowles Matt Cole: https://x.com/ColeMacro

“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. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN - Explore Bitcoin-backed loans and get 0.25% off your first loan. SWAN - Buy Bitcoin, Build Wealth. Discover Swan’s Bitcoin products for individuals and businesses. ANCHORWATCH - Insured Bitcoin custody, security & inheritance. Book a consultation: BITKEY - Get 10% off the new Bitkey wallet with code WBD. CAPE - Get 33% off your first six months with code WBD. FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles Andy Constan: https://x.com/dampedspring

“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. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN - Explore Bitcoin-backed loans and get 0.25% off your first loan. SWAN - Buy Bitcoin, Build Wealth. Discover Swan’s Bitcoin products for individuals and businesses. ANCHORWATCH - Insured Bitcoin custody, security & inheritance. Book a consultation: BITKEY - Get 10% off the new Bitkey wallet with code WBD. CAPE - Get 33% off your first six months with code WBD. FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles Erik Cason: https://x.com/Erikcason

“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. • - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN - Explore Bitcoin-backed loans and get 0.25% off your first loan. SWAN - Buy Bitcoin, Build Wealth. Discover Swan’s Bitcoin products for individuals and businesses. ANCHORWATCH - Insured Bitcoin custody, security & inheritance. Book a consultation: BITKEY - Get 10% off the new Bitkey wallet with code WBD. CAPE - Get 33% off your first six months with code WBD. • - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles Jeff Ross: https://x.com/FormerDrJeff

“Who is left now that wants to sell at $65K?” Bitcoin has gone through the price pain. Now comes the time pain. Alex Thorn, Head of Firmwide Research at Galaxy, is back on the show in New York to get into whether Bitcoin has already found its bottom, why sellers may finally be exhausted, and how the next rally could begin before the wider market notices. We discuss the on-chain signals around $58K, the changing shape of Bitcoin’s market cycles, and how the enormous debt funding the AI boom could revive the currency-debasement narrative and put Bitcoin back at the centre of the market. We also get into whether a court can declare dormant Bitcoin “abandoned,” the attempt to claim legal ownership of coins linked to Satoshi, the quantum-computing risk, government control of superintelligent AI, and the last-minute fight to protect self-custody through the CLARITY Act. *Note, this was recorded before the recent Coldcard vulnerability. For more info watch this… https://youtu.be/rf-9rf93OpE THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN SWAN ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE BITKEY CAPE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles Alex Thorn: https://x.com/intangiblecoins

“This is as code red as it can get for Bitcoin self-custody.” Rob Hamilton joins me for an emergency episode on the catastrophic Coldcard entropy bug that has exposed Bitcoin held in wallets generated on affected firmware. A firmware change introduced in 2021 prevented Coldcard devices from generating the level of randomness users believed they were getting. The result is that attackers may be able to reconstruct seed phrases and drain wallets, even when the device was air-gapped and the seed words never touched the internet. Rob explains which Coldcard models and setups are at risk, why updating the firmware does not repair an existing vulnerable seed, and what affected users need to do now. We also get into the risks facing single-signature and multisig wallets, whether passphrases and independently generated entropy provide protection, how attackers are finding and sweeping vulnerable wallets, and the role AI may have played in discovering the bug. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: LEDN SWAN ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE BITKEY CAPE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles Rob Hamilton: https://x.com/Rob1Ham