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Join me today for Episode 1081 of Bitcoin And . . . 

Topics for today:

• Univ. of Hesperides Launches BTC Master's Degree
• Plebs Sold While Sovereigns Bought
• Cantor Shares PUMP! on 21 News
• Florida Playing With Encryption Fire

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Articles:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/university-of-the-hesperides-launches-first-spanish-language-masters-program-focused-exclusively-on-bitcoin
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/blackrocks-bitcoin-etf-sees-643-million-inflows
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/metaplanet-buys-additional-%c2%a51-92-billion-worth-of-bitcoin
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/04/24/cantor-equity-shares-surge-55-jump-another-15-pre-market-on-bitcoin-spac-deal-buzz
https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-fought-bond-market-bond-market-won

• https://www.cnbc.com/futures-and-commodities/
• https://dashboard.clarkmoody.com/
• https://mempool.space/
• https://www.bitcoinandshow.com/
• https://fountain.fm/show/eK5XaSb3UaLRavU3lYrI

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/ruya-becomes-first-islamic-bank-to-offer-bitcoin-and-virtual-asset-investments
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/04/floridas-anti-encryption-bill-wrecking-ball-privacy-theres-still-time-stop-it
https://decrypt.co/316129/sovereign-wealth-funds-bought-bitcoin-as-retail-pulled-back-coinbase-exec
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/russias-finance-ministry-and-central-bank-to-launch-crypto-exchange-for-super-qualified-investors
https://www.theblock.co/post/351813/alex-mashinsky-sentencing-date

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[00:00:02] David Bennett:

It is 09:08AM   Pacific Daylight Time. It's the April   2025.   This is episode ten   eighty one   of Bitcoin, and you're tuned in to figure out what the hell is going on in Bitcoin today.   And there's a lot of stuff going on in Bitcoin today.   We are not going to make any bones about it. We're going to jump right in with this one from Bitcoin magazine written by Nick.   University   of Hesperides   launches   the first   Spanish language master's program   focused exclusively on Bitcoin.   And we'll get into what the hell University of Hesperides   is here in a second because   I never heard of it before, you probably never heard of it before,   but it's not going to be Harvard that actually does this kind of thing this kind of thing first. Right? They're gonna be   they're gonna dabble in it, they're gonna, you know, I don't know, bandy around it a little bit, you know.  

MIT is pretty much   the the one place that I would imagine that is a huge university   that   would, in fact, embrace this kind of thing. They have the MIT Bitcoin Club, for god's sakes. But generally speaking, major universities are not going to be the people that put in place a Bitcoin focused program.   Not first.   They're going to be mostly last. It's going to be small universities like Hesperides   that does this, and they are an institution   known for, of all things,   classical   liberal   academic   philosophy.   And when when we say classical liberal, we're not talking about the hair on fire folks that are running around   stacking bricks in the middle of streets so that they can go on a riot. And we've seen   all manner of of people getting this the wrong way when we talk about   classical   liberal   arts.  

It it does not mean what you think it means. It means English   and literature and philosophy.   It used to be called it was actually part of what was called natural science before we had a schism   between arts   and sciences.   Right? Or rather   arts and sciences had a schism. But there   alright. You used to go to university for engineering   a lot, and we're talking hundreds of years ago. Right? And engineering, the only way that you would be a functional engineer, and I'm talking like, no, you're not building jet engines in the sixteen hundreds,   you had to understand   how to communicate first.  

So English literature or literature, what what whatever country you're in, that was a thing.   Being able to think properly, that's why they had philosophy.   And then you started getting into the mathematics.   And then you started getting into the sciences part, and then you would be able to traverse over into the engineering   disciplines,   whatever those were at the time.   Generally speaking, engineers   first started being engineers when they were digging underneath castles   to ultimately,   you know, fell castle walls or plant bombs. Those were that's where engineering came from was siege engines,   you know, back in the dark ages and shit like that. Digging under castle walls,   trying to topple those walls by   destroying its foundation.  

That was what engineering was, but you really had to be able to think properly before you did that. That was is, generally speaking,   a classical   liberal academic   scholar scholarly path. Right?   And somewhere around, I wanna say, the '8 late '18 hundreds,   engineering   split off from all the rest of it. And that's why we have the College of Arts and Sciences in most universities,   or in some play in some cases, the Department of Arts and Sciences. Generally, it's a college when you're talking about a university.   And then you have the College of Engineering.  

Those used to be rammed together. It was all one thing back in the day, and we don't have that anymore.   Right? So that's what we're talking about when we talk about class or classical liberal academic philosophies.   But, anyway,   the University of Hesperides   has launched   the first ever master's program in Spanish   dedicated exclusively to Bitcoin according to an exclusive press release sent to Bitcoin magazine Starting April twenty eighth of twenty twenty five, the fully online program aims to prepare professionals   with the technical,   economic, legal, and philosophical   tools   needed to lead in the Bitcoin era. Quote, without sound education,   we risk continued misunderstanding   and underutilization   of its potential.  

This program is intended to close that gap and train professionals who can engage with Bitcoin   responsibly   and knowledgeably,   said Alvaro   de Maria,   director of the program and author of   the philosophy of Bitcoin.   The masters in Bitcoin is designed as an interdisciplinary   curriculum covering Bitcoin's philosophy,   history, economics,   technology,   regulation, and business development.   It promises to offer students a complete view of Bitcoin,   not just as a speculative asset, but as a transformative   monetary network quote.   Bitcoin is the most important monetary revolution in in decades. And, well, I'd say in in thousands of years, honestly, but it will shape our future.  

We must be ready to use it to defend our freedoms against the state. That's why at Hesperides   University,   we see this program as essential, said Juan Ramon Rayo,   dean of the undergraduate school and a leading economist specializing in Austrian theory and Bitcoin.   The program is structured to answer practical and foundational questions like, what makes Bitcoin unique amongst digital   assets? What technological and economic principles underpin the protocol?   How do regulatory frameworks impact its adoption? And what skills   are most in demand across Bitcoin native firms.  

Geared towards entrepreneurs,   engineers,   economists, lawyers, and investors, the curriculum combines theoretical instruction with practical insights.   Students will participate in master classes, case studies, and seminars,   learning from experts who work directly in the Bitcoin industry.   The faculty includes a roster of Bitcoin experts and instructors such as Christina   Mazankova,   the Bitcoin conference, or I guess she she's from the Bitcoin conference. I'm not exactly sure. Manuel Polajevo,   monetary in monetary theory,   Kilian Rausch from Boltz Exchange,   Manu Ferrari,   and it just says money on chain. I I I don't know if that's a book or not. Sergio Fernandez,   and decentralized,   a prominent educator in the space. I guess that decentralized is a nim.  

Institutional backing further strengthens the program. Key partners   include oh, shit. Key partners include   BTC Incorporated,   Jan three, that's,   Samson Moe's outfit,   BTC Consulting three sixty, Watch Out Bitcoin,   Negotios TV, and the Institute of Philosophy and Economics of Bitcoin.   This network ensures that the curriculum stays closely aligned with industry needs while offering students pathways   to professional opportunities.   The program is accessible to international students and working professionals alike,   delivered fully online and entirely in Spanish.  

So if you're only, you know, unit you know,   monolingual   in English like I am, you're probably gonna have a tough time. But it does allow students to pursue academic   depth without compromising their existing responsibilities.   Enrollment is now open, and you can visit their website here. And here is a link, and the link to this story will be in the show notes in case you want to go check that out more. Here what here is what was not said, and I'm sure you're asking,   where the hell is this place?   I've never heard of University of the Hesperides.   It sounds Greek. Literally, it sounds like it's Greek. It's not.  

It's Spanish. It's in the Canary Islands, and it's on an island   called Las Palmas.   Yeah. I it's funny because I just got finished watching.   It was either on Netflix or HBO Max or something like that. Yeah. I think it was like a four part miniseries called Las Palmas.   And the TV show is a Norwegian television show.   And it's about a whole bunch of Norwegians that go to Las Palmas. They're on vacation. And while they're there,   this giant volcano that is in fact on the island of Las Palmas   basically cracks in half and half of the island slides into the ocean and it creates this giant tsunami.   It was really inter it was actually really interesting the it's it's,   it's English dubbed. So, yes, the the lips are kind of out of sync when you're watching people   talk, but it's it's, honestly, it's actually a very good production.  

I highly recommend watching it. It as far as the science as to what's going on on the island of Las Palmas, I'm not sure just how accurate it is. They keep talking about the history of a 1949,   eruption that happened on that volcano, and there's some kind of crack and I don't know. They they get a little far. I think they might be getting a little far fetched. I'm not exactly sure how much this this crack is a potential. But if I were to just get all my knowledge from this TV show, which I'm not going to do, then this crack, if if for whatever reason this island, part of this island slides into the ocean, it could be pretty bad for all the coastlines in the Atlantic Ocean. But be that as it may, there's another thing about Las Palmas that you should understand.   It's basically off the coast of Morocco.  

This place is gorgeous.   This place is it's like, you know, how, like, a bunch of Bitcoiners went to The Maldives?   I'm thinking this may be a Bitcoiner entry point into a different   low you know, a different Mediterranean   locale even though it's Mediterranean climate. It's not in the Mediterranean, but it's Mediterranean climate.   It it's it's gorgeous. There's this university here. We got a whole bunch of Bitcoiners. It looks like that looks like they may be taking root. We're like weeds, man. We're we're worse than viruses. We're like weeds. We our seeds just blow on the wind over ocean and yawn, and there are no barriers.   We will end up putting roots down everywhere, and it looks like University of Hesperides   is next on the list.  

Okay. A couple of short notes here. BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF   has seen a $643,000,000   worth of inflow   into it. Let's get into this one. I'm just gonna get just a little bit of a of a overview here.   BlackRock's flagship Bitcoin ETF attracted $643,000,000   of net inflows on one day. That was yesterday, marking its strongest single day performance   since January.   The substantial inflow comes as Bitcoin continues its upward momentum. So there you go. But if we were to actually look at all of the Bitcoin ETFs and what they've done,   over, like, on on April   or April   through April,   it looks like that   in total, the Bitcoin ETFs have brought in   $917,000,000.  

Yes. No. This is just on April.   So yesterday,   almost a billion dollars flowed into Bitcoin ETFs.   So   do with that whatever the hell you want.   And it also happens that Meta Planet has bought yet more Bitcoin.   They've added an additional 1,920,000,000.00   yen worth of Bitcoin,   and they, for that price, were able to acquire an additional 145   Bitcoin.   And they have brought their yeah. They brought their holdings   to half of their goal. They are already at 5,000 BTC   in total holdings.   So Meta Planet is not backing down at all.   Okay. So yesterday's big news   was Jack Mallers being being named the CEO   of a company called Twenty One,   and it was backed by Binance   and Tether and SoftBank and Cantor Fitzgerald.  

And for anybody who thinks it's like because there people are looking at, like, charts   Kantor charts trying to figure out which Kantor is it because Kantor equities group, you know, they blasted off and somebody was, like, going, well, wait a minute. Is this Kantor   is this a different Cantor? Is this Cantor Fitzgerald? Who is it? It's Cantor Fitzgerald,   guys. This is not a small this is not a small player on the block. But   Cantor,   the stock,   has skyrocketed   a 30%   as traders immediately   FOMO'd   into the stock on the Bitcoin SPAC frenzy.   Shares of Cantor Equity Partners, which is representing   Cantor Fitzgerald,   k, surged 55   on Tuesday and are up an additional 15% in premarket trading, which is trading below $19 a share. The skyward movement was driven by investor optimism   around its proposed merger   with Twenty One Capital,   a Bitcoin native investment vehicle backed by Tether, Bitfinex, and SoftBank.  

I did not I'm pausing to say I   did not get the sense that this was a merger.   I I'm at this point, I'm a bit confused.   I guess that's because there's still, like, you know, the fog of war is still kinda present. We're not exactly sure what the hell is going on. But if Cantor Fitzgerald is actually   merging   with twenty one Capital, I'm   not sure I'm I'm not sure that this is correct because that means that Jack Mallers would be CEO of that, wouldn't it? If they merged   in just into twenty one Capital and Jack Mallers was named CEO yesterday of '21?   I don't know, man.  

Like I said, I think the fog of war is a little thick here, so take it with a grain of salt. But led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers and Brandon Lutnick,   twenty one Capital   is being positioned as a public proxy for Bitcoin,   potentially holding over 42,000   Bitcoin at launch and introducing metrics like   Bitcoin per share or BPS   and Bitcoin return rate or BRR   to measure shareholder value in BTC terms. Let's pause just a second to talk about   KPI,   a key performance   indicators. Right? That's what KPI means. And we had the first KPI that was Bitcoin based come out of the mouth of Michael Saylor   a cup you know, a few months you know,   actually, not a few months ago. More, you know, more than a good couple of fistfuls a month ago. He started talking about this BTC yield per share or whatever, and that was his   key performance indicator. Well, we're going to see more key performance indicators   come online   as more and more of these things   get spun up. But according to the latest pro form a ownership tables, Tether will control 42.8%   of equity and 51.7%   of voting power,   while Bitfinex and SoftBank hold 1624%   of the company respectively   post conversion,   public SPAC holders will retain a mere 2.1   or 2.7%   ownership,   underscoring   the extreme dilution   but significant upside if BTC rises.  

With BTC trading near 94,000   and the entity holding nearly $4,000,000,000   in BTC exposure,   investors are rerating   CEP   as a high leverage bet   on institutional Bitcoin adoption.   The stock is set to relist   under the ticker   XXI   once the merger is finalized.   So CEP is Cantor Equity,   Partners, I think is what it was. Yeah. Kantor   Equity Partners or CEP.   It's the extreme dilution that worries me.   It's it's   I'm okay.   There are a lot of people that are losing their shit about this entire deal. I've seen some really bad things already said about Mallers.   I I honestly think that the kid's capable, dude.  

You don't you don't build something like Strike essentially, you know, out of pulling it out of a an idea out of your mind and and doing all the things necessary to make that thing a reality. And, yeah, he had help to do it. Once he pulled it out of his his head, he had to shop it around. That was the initial work. And people said, this is a good idea.   Let's back this kid. And all of a sudden, kid's got money. What does he do with the money?   Well, he doesn't spend it on himself. He goes out and he hires people that that he would probably think are smarter than him. That's the other side of the work. And then they all work together as a team, and they made strike what it is. That's not somebody who's incapable.   That's somebody who can execute.  

Kinda tired   of seeing Jack Mallers get shit on. And I'm also kinda tired of people whining and crying about how this is not what was meant for Bitcoin. A, unless you built it yourself, you don't know what the fuck was meant for Bitcoin.   I'm sorry to say that, but you don't, and neither do I. Alright? Bitcoin is for enemies. That is the one thing that I'm sure of.   And if Bitcoin is for enemies, that means anybody can hold it, anybody can buy it, anybody can do whatever the hell they want. If if they they could buy it and send it to a burn address,   and I wouldn't be able to stop them. That's the point.  

That's the point. What you're seeing with this with all this strategy and Misty and   MSTR and,   Cantor Fitzgerald and Binance and Tether and all these all this stuff. The convertible notes.   You can't stop it.   This is this is what was always going to happen,   but it doesn't mean that we knew that it was going to happen, and it also doesn't mean that you have to like it. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying   if Bitcoin is what we really think it is, then this, what we're watching right now, was always inevitable.   So I shed zero tears about this.  

All I can do is figure out which way the wind is blowing. And right now, the wind is blowing directly towards institutional   and sovereign wealth funds   saying that they want as much Bitcoin as they can possibly get. And your first   your first response to that statement should be, but it's mostly paper Bitcoin.   Probably,   but we don't know.   And we're probably not going to be able to know because that's one of the other issues about Bitcoin is that if you do it right,   pretty damn private, but you gotta do it right.   Right? It's it's it's the whole ledger's transparent,   but   if you do it correctly,   it's possible that there's a whole bunch of wallets out there held by giant wealth funds that we don't know anything about.  

I'm just saying, man.   I think everybody needs to calm down.   But one thing that I will say   is that getting back to the shareholder dilution situation,   I don't like that, but there's nothing that I can do about it. If I was a shareholder in Cantor Equity Partners, I'd be pissed   that I got I got my ass diluted right down to 2.7%.   You know? And that would be all of like, all of the shareholders   that were preexisting before this shit happened. It looks like they got diluted out the wazoo,   and they better start buying Bitcoin themselves to help support the price so that they can realize and get back to what they actually had equity wise in Cantor Equity Partnership because they   basically just got blown the fuck out. Right? And I I just I I I see it almost as a as a company cannibalizing   their own shareholders   in order to pivot.  

And pivot, they must.   And that's probably why their shareholders got   BFTD.   Okay.   After reading that,   I'm feeling a little dirty.   You know what's coming, don't you? I'm feeling I'm feeling a little nasty.   Maybe I could get some soap from my buddy, SoapMiner,   And you could get a 10% discount   at SoapMiner off of everything off of all your purchases if you use Bitcoin and as the coupon code. Bitcoin and, all one word, is Bitcoin and. That's the coupon code. I just tagged somebody today on Noster who had made a post said that he was jumping on the bandwagon, the soap miner bandwagon, because everybody's talking about it and everybody is. And he bought, like, $38 worth of soap, and I just tagged him. I said, hey. Did you use the Bitcoin and code to get 10% off of your entire purchase? And he wrote back saying, did I just leave sats on the table? You bet you did.   You betcha.  

And it so happens that SoapMiner and you can find SoapMiner at SoapMiner.com.   That's SoapMiner.com.   Again, that is SoapMiner. He mines Soap.com.   He's got three new scents available. They just dropped yesterday. He's got a new scent called Fresh Breeze Tallow because these are still 100%   beef tallow made bars. He's got lemongrass   tallow,   and this one is really interesting.   Orange and clove   tallow bars.   Now these bars of soap are like $7,   7 dollars and 50 cents, and $8 bars of soap. And you may ask, why the hell would I want to do that? Well, because you're going to support the plebs and the circle p. The circle p is open for business. The circle p is where I bring plebs with goods and services   to plebs just like you that want to buy those goods and services. You may have never heard of SoapMiner before or any of the other vendors in the Circle p.  

Maybe you do want their goods and services. Maybe you do want to try their products. But you would never know about it if I didn't have an advertisement for them. And I do them live. This is I'm not even live reading. I'm just ranting right now as part of an advertisement   because SoapMiner kicks me back, Satoshis, for every sale I make. And I know that people, like, oh, no. You got an affiliate code. Do you know why that exists?   That's so that the vendor, in this case, SoapMiner,   can tell if I'm actually   effective   as, you know, making sales for them. And as long as I'm effective at making sales for SoapMiner, SoapMiner knows   to throw me some sats.  

How else would he be able to track   performance?   It's it's a KPI.   Right?   That's why we have affiliate codes so that the vendor knows   where the sale was made from.   And I don't know why people lose their ever loving minds over that kind of stuff. It's it's not an affiliate yes. It's an affiliate code because I'm hoping to get a little bit off the top of what SoapMiner does. But then again, SoapMiner's able to leverage my audience,   you know? And I'm not gonna bring you crap. I use this soap. It is the cleanest soap I've ever used, and I'm going to be ordering   fresh breeze tallow in a five ounce bar, lemongrass tallow in a five ounce bar, and orange clove tallow in a five and a half ounce bar. Why? Because I love the guy's products. So make sure you use Bitcoin and for two two 10% off. That's Bitcoin and   10% off at soapminer.com.  

Do it today.   Get away clean.   Trump has fought the bond market.   The bond market won according to Saifedean Ammis, Zoltan Vardai, Cointelegraph.   Analysts   are criticizing the financial implications   of US president Donald Trump's import tariffs, a development   that some say highlights   Bitcoin's unique economic properties   during times of global uncertainty.   Yeah. You spelled   landfill   fire wrong, brother. This is beyond a dumpster fire. This is a landfill fire. But Trump's ninety day pause on higher reciprocal tariffs, reverting them to a 10% baseline for most countries,   except China,   has exposed vulnerabilities in The United States bond market according to critics.  

Economist and author of The Bitcoin Standard, Saifedean Amas, said Trump's decision to reverse   the higher tariffs was likely a reaction   to rising bond yields   suggesting the administration's   hand was forced.   Quote,   Trump fought the bond market and the bond market won, Amas said in an April 23 Twitter post. Quote, this gambit   seemed to work for the first day, and the huge crash in the stock market was presented as a small price to pay for fiscal sustainability.   But   then   the bonds began to crash. And it became clear how disastrous the tariffs were and how wrong it was to expect that deliberately crashing the stock market would boost the bond market, he added.   And here is the entire   post from Saifedean Ammis, the art of the cave. Trump fought the bond market and the bond market won. Since getting into office, Trump and Basint have relentlessly   spoken about wanting to bring interest rates down and wanting to manage The US debt sustainably.  

Countless Trump aligned economist and influence   influencers explained   that the goal of the tariffs was to bring bond yields down even if it meant crashing the stock market.   The gambit seemed to work for the first day, and the huge crash in the stock market was presented as a small price to pay for fiscal sustainability.   But then the bonds began to crash, and it became clear how disastrous the tariffs were and how wrong it was to expect   that deliberately crashing the stock market would boost the bond market. It is a cargo cult   economic.  

People observe a reverse correlation between bonds and stocks, and so they assume   that anything that crashes stocks   must boost bonds.   And there's no reason to suppose that the normal gyrations of market participants   managing risk and allocations would hold when the government sabotages the financials of all the country's businesses with reckless tariffs.   Ultimately,   bond yields are a function of the ability of the government to pay its debts.   As its creditworthiness   declines, yields rise.   If taxpayers lose a lot of wealth, they pay less taxes, and the government's fiscal situation   deteriorates.  

Tariffs made American businesses start revising   profit estimates,   considering   downsizing   and reversing business plans and crashed their stocks.   And that's the end of his post.   Back to the   article in question, following Trump's tariff announcement, CNBC data shows that the ten year treasury yield surged   from under 4%   to 4.5%   amid a sell off driven by inflation   and recession concerns.   Quote,   the rise in yields was the exact   opposite of what the administration   wanted, and reversing course on the tariffs half a day after they go into effect was absolutely devastating for Trump's negotiating position,   Amas said.  

Some analysts, including global macro investor founder,   god, Raoul Pal, I hate that dude, have suggested the tariff maneuvering may only be posturing for The United States to read a reach a trade agreement with China,   pausing to say, I actually have to agree with Raoul Pal there. And He's a shit coiner extraordinaire, but   I'm actually aligned with that. I I think this is all about China.   And I think bond yields and crashing the stock market   were both on   the table for the Trump administration because he wants to figure out how to sit down with China.   I   I don't think it did him very well to reverse tariffs,   you know, a couple of days after he put these tariffs on on everybody.  

But it in my view, it was sending a signal to China saying, look, brother. This is not about them.   This is about me and you sitting down at the table. What what are we gonna do here?   Anyway, quote, all the talk about China buckling under the threat of Trump now sounds hilarious in retrospect when Trump could not keep his tariffs in place for two days, Amnis said, adding that China showed absolutely no inclination   to reach out and strike a deal.   Delays in reaching a trade agreement may limit the recovery of both equity and cryptocurrency markets,   which hinge on the outcomes of the trade negotiations according to Nansen Analytics.  

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is acting less like a tech stock and more like a hedge against economic uncertainty   after Trump signaled a substantial reduction in tariffs on Chinese goods,   Nexo dispatched analyst Ilya Kalachev   told CoinTelegraph.   The situation has revived long standing proposals to back the US dollar with Bitcoin.   Amis said The US should keep buying BTC until the government holds enough to fully back the dollar supply, ultimately switching to a Bitcoin standard, quote,   keep buying Bitcoin until the value of the Bitcoin held by the government is enough to back the entirety of the US dollar supply   and then go on a Bitcoin standard where dollars are redeemable for Bitcoin   and have the government never spend more than it earns, end quote. Good luck.  

Historically,   the dollar was backed by gold and redeemable for a fixed amount of the precious metal until 1933   when president Franklin d Roosevelt suspended gold convertibility in response to the great depression.   And in 1971,   Richard Nixon   halted the dollar's convertibility into gold aiming to protect US gold reserves and stabilize the economy,   marking the beginning of the fiat currency system that remains in place today.   Bitcoin's fixed supply, which is hard coded in its, oh god, tokenomics,   makes it a popular digital competitor to gold.   Joe Burnett, director of market research at Unchained,   predicted   that Bitcoin   may rival or surpass gold's market capitalization in the next decade,   projecting that Bitcoin's price will surpass   $1,800,000   by 2035.  

Okay.   There we go. There was one thing that that Amas said here that I wanna touch on a little bit.   He says,   The United States should keep buying BTC   until the government holds enough to fully back the dollar supply, ultimately switching to a Bitcoin standard.   I had a thought the other day as to how is it that Tether is going to ultimately   be backed by Bitcoin.   I think   the the following is not outside the realm of possibility.   Tether continues buying United States Treasury bonds as many as they want to print,   and they're going to monetize   all that debt into   the cryptocurrency   or the stablecoin or stable currency called Tether.  

And that's gonna be exported all over the globe, which means that The United States debt is going to immediately leave The United States and be exported all over the globe, and it's going to let the dollar just have a a nice new free pasture to roam around and graze in for quite a while.   How long? I don't know. But at one point or another,   it seems to me that the United States dollar   is just going to end. It's going or at least end as a world reserve currency.   Tether, at that point, will be in a position   to switch from backing   Tether by US dollars   to backing Tether by Bitcoin   and stop buying United States Treasury bonds. If that shit happens,   watch out   because I don't even know what the effects of just automatically turning off the switch because they're the seventh largest buyer right now.  

In ten years, they could literally be buying at at rates of the third largest buyer, second,   first only.   Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they started purchasing they're the only purchaser of US debt. And then one day said, you know what? We're not doing this anymore.   We're backing Tether. All the Tether that's in circulation today is going to be backed   by   the total circulating supply of Bitcoin at the time, and then we will release more Tether that's tied directly to the mining of Bitcoin until its end in 2135   or 2140,   I believe, is is when mining is actually going to or or the subsidy, the creation of new Bitcoin is actually going to stop.  

What I've just said is not outside the realm of possibility.   Chew on it, figure out where I'm wrong, and let me know. And it doesn't mean that I think I I think I'm right.   I do kinda think I'm right,   but I I I don't think that's the only answer. I think that there's probably very serious holes in that theory, and I want to know your thoughts as to where they are. And while you figure out where they are, let's run the numbers.   Futures and commodities,   cnbc.com.   I got oil. West Texas Intermediate   is not getting pounded today, but, you know,   point 71%   to the upside.  

$62.71   a barrel. Brent Norsey is up a half to $66.49.   Natural gas taking a beating three points to the downside to $2.93,   and that's because natural gas inventories   rose to a record   rate.   I I guess it's just too damn warm, and nobody's burning natural gas   to, you know, produce electricity with. Who knows? But gasoline   is up a   point to $2.10   a gallon.   Gold is up,   one and a half points to $33.43   and 80¢. Silver is down point one six. Platinum is up point one nine. Copper is up almost a half. Palladium is up just barely over three full points.   Mixed ag futures today. I got   looks like chocolate.  

No. Just got beat by coffee. 3.49%   for coffee puts it in the leader.   And we've got point seven one percent to the downside for rough rights. That is our loser for the day.   Live cattle is crawling sideways. Lean hogs down point 4%.   Feeder cattle   also crawling sideways.   The Dow, however, rallying today by 434   points after a 1.09%   gain. S and P is up 1.8%.   Nasdaq is up two and a half.   S and P is up 2.1%,   and all   of the United States treasury bonds   have gained in face value. What does that mean?   That means the yields have been suppressed as of today. The ten year   is down 1.55%,   yielding 4.31%.  

The thirty year is down just over one point, yielding 4.77%.   So yields are coming down because there is dovish talk out of the Trump administration   when it comes to these trade   tariffs and whatnot. So   I, you know, I don't know. I haven't really heard a whole lot, coming out of,   the news agencies about what the hell is going on. I mean, is is China even returning   our emails?   I I I literally don't know, and I   kinda don't give a shit.   $93,130   is the price of Bitcoin as of right now. And it looks like we're in a slight downturn. Yeah. We're losing some   some price here. Let me go back to trading view and see what's going on because we were at $93.06   about ten minutes ago, and we are, according to trading view, we are at   93,108.  

Yep. We're dropping. $93,012   just now.   Let's see what's let's see what they do. Yeah. Still dropping 93,001.   I have no idea what was going on because for about eight straight hours,   we were just doing nothing but on the rise. We are now below $92,000.   So I'm sure somebody somewhere   figured it out. Maybe it has something to do with the housing news.   Housing   purchases   are the lowest   since, like, 02/2009.   The housing data literally just came out   last hour. This may be a reaction to that. I don't know. But it is still a $1,850,000,000,000   market cap. We can get 27.8   ounces of shiny metal rocks with our one Bitcoin of which there are 19,855,382   of   oh my god. An average fees per block are sky high   at all at one full tenth of a Bitcoin. 1 tenth of a Bitcoin taken in fees on a per block basis. It looks to be about 18 blocks carrying 17,000   unconfirmed transactions   waiting to clear at high priority rates of two Satoshis per v byte. Low priority is gonna get you in at 2 Satoshis per v byte. And minor capitulation,   maybe.  

We are down to 815.8   hexahashes   per second.   We'll just have to see how that goes. But   the difficulty adjustment is coming   when   when is the   nine days.   And the difficulty adjustment is supposed to be downwards by eight and a quarter percent.   So we may be seeing just a little bit of capitulation   here from the mining set.   Again, we will have to wait and see.   And when it does happen, I'll probably   make an episode or it'll be on an episode, which I will then post to bitcoinandshow.com.   That's bitcoinandshow.com.   That's the website for the Bitcoin and podcast.   I post everything up there.  

Go and sign up. I will not   give your email to anyone. I will not sell your email   to anyone.   Your emails are mine, and I will keep them safe. Why? Because why would I give them out? That just doesn't make any sense. Again, bitcoinandshow,all1word,.com   and from   episode ten eighty of bitcoin and   entitled   resolution.   Sats venture gave me a thousand. Sats says daily bitcoin news and great interviews.   Definitely worth a listen. Show them some support on Fountain. Thank you, brother. Anonymous with a thousand says,   Bubba here, just in case Fountain decides I am a non for not doing what I'm told.  

Bubba, I love this guy. Anyways, I could have sworn legacy financial shit was old and the enemy. I guess this is what the fuck do I know. Good show as usual. God, I wish I could just be hip and shit.   Bubba is my my trucker friend   from long way back, back when I was on, you know, not booted off of Twitter.   Bubba, I appreciate it brother.   Good tidings to you and your wife. Happy trucking my brother. Psyduck with $5.89   says   Psyduck.   Yodel,   five hundred one, richest man in Babylon.   I've heard good things. It's it's worth the listen.   I don't know about reading it, but I it it's not that long. You can find it for free on YouTube.  

Go just type go to YouTube, type in Richest Man in Babylon,   and you will find the entire read. I think it's about four hours long. So it's, you know, it's not that much of an investment, and you can do it, you know, while you're walking around the block or something like that.   Richard Dick Whitman with two fifty says, you can be CEO of twenty one Whitman Capital.   Woo hoo.   Man, I got it made. I am c suite now. Baby Pies with 400. Last boost for a while. Thank you, sir. No. Thank you.   Hey. Pies,   you don't have you don't have to boost to stay within my orbit. Just throw, you know, throw me a couple of mentions or something like that.   Maybe throw me a four star or five four star. Five star review in Apple Podcasts, and that goes for everybody.  

It don't cost you nothing but time, brother. Justin with a hundred says, love the show.   I'm running low on sats now that it is getting warm outside.   So if you don't hear from me, please know I appreciate you. Thank you, Justin. I do appreciate you. God's death with two thirty seven. Thank you, sir. No thank you.   Mark says, will watch a film on Kinoster.com   later   at carnage at none you bidness.   Yeah. Kinoster, if you did missed yesterday's show, Kinoster.com,   k I n 0 s t r, Com. Kinoster   Com. That's where you go to watch movies.   Essentially, without I don't wanna drill down into it, but I'm just gonna say it's movies on Nostr.  

Yes. Using the Nostr protocol,   we can now watch whole movies.   Again, I'm not gonna get into the weeds on how that works. Psyduck with a hundred says, I think Lutie on Nostr accidentally zapped and replied to my boostagram on this episode thinking he was boosting you. I'm passing those sats along with an additional 79   of my own   due to fountain's minimum boost requirements.   Luty with 21 sats says, quote, you've become my favorite Bitcoin podcast.   Appreciate all you do. See, this is what I'm talking about.   Yeah. It's like, you know, Psyduck could have kept those sats. I wouldn't have   cared.  

It would have been Psyduck would have been fine, brother. But   somehow or another, Bitcoin   seems to just be realigning   why we do the things we do.   And I just love the people in this space because they do shit like say, oh, you know, this was a mistake. I'm just, you know, I'm gonna do a little bit of work and I'm gonna pass these sats on to you.   Man,   Psyduck,   your brother from another mother pies with a hunter says thank you sir, no thank you. And DeFi Yogi says tomorrow morning first movement,   listen bitcoin and the best in   town. Congrack   as always,   Dave. I think maybe it was congrats, but, you know, hey. That's the one important.  

Welcome to part two of the news that you can use.   Ruya, r u   y a, becomes the first Islamic   bank   to offer Bitcoin and virtual asset investments. This is written by Nick out of Bitcoin magazine.   In a landmark development for Islamic   finance in digital banking,   Ruya,   the UAE's   digital first Islamic bank, has become the first Islamic bank globally   to offer customers direct access to virtual asset investments, including Bitcoin, through its mobile app according to an announcement.   The new service is made possible through a strategic partnership with Fuse,   a licensed leader in virtual asset infrastructure.  

Together, Roya and Fuze   aim to provide a secure and ethical entry point into the digital economy with services that are fully Sharia compliant and aligned with the principles of Islamic finance. Quote, at Roya,   we are committed to transforming the financial landscape in The UAE by offering forward thinking services   while staying true to our mission of ethical Islamic banking, said Christopher Coster, CEO of Roya.   Quote, by integrating virtual assets into our investment platform,   we aim to empower our customers to participate in the digital economy, end quote.   The launch comes at a time of rapid growth in The UAE's   virtual asset sector. In the year ending June 2024,   the country received more than $30,000,000,000   in virtual assets,   marking a 42%   year on year increase   significantly   outpacing the regional average of 11.7.  

The move underscores The United Arab Emirates emergence as a major hub for digital finance in the   MENA   region. Quote, partnering with Roya is a big step toward making virtual assets   seamless, a seamless part   of everyday banking, said Mohammed Ali Yousef,   cofounder and CEO of Fuze. Together,   we're combining Fuze's cutting edge infrastructure with Roya's commitment to ethical Islamic banking.   Unlike other platforms that encourage speculative crypto trading,   Roya's offering   is embedded within a curated investment framework designed to support long term financial growth, the company stated in the announcement.   It will focus on transparency, fairness, and ethical investing,   core tenets of Islamic   finance.  

To ensure accessibility and informed decision making, Roya is also offering support through community centers and hybrid call centers where customers can receive expert guidance on virtual asset investing.   Alright. So what's so important about this?   When they say is ethical Islamic   financing,   there's a reason that's a thing.   And that goes back   to the Abrahamic   religions,   and there are two well,   there's   technically, there's two of them,   Islam   and Judaism.   They both look as at the father. Both of those religions look at Abraham   as the father of the religions because Abraham   was indeed the father   of a couple of kids.  

And one kid was through   his wife's   slave girl at the time,   and the other one was his own.   And that represents a rift   in the Abrahamic   religion sect.   And so Islam was born out of that, and then the Jews that were already the Jews, you know, went you know, they went the way that they were gonna go anyway. But both of these religions   have certain things that have to be kosher, like   what they eat,   but more importantly,   how they treat money   and how they treat each other   in   the aspects of money and finance.   Like, for instance,   usury.  

That term is like what and I   can't remember what the Old Testament actually says, what percentage   rate you can charge on a loan.   Or if you can charge any percentage rate, I I think it's possible that usury is like, you can't you can lend money, but you can't take any money back over of over the principle that you lent out.   That may be what it is.   Usury laws in The United States used to say, you cannot charge anybody more than 20%.   And that went for credit cards and loans and all kinds of shit.   Well,   yeah. You you know what I'm about to say. Credit cards basically blew past that. I I see 24%,   twenty five %. I've seen a 26%   financing rate on a credit card. Don't get that shit. Right? That's usury.  

That's against both of these religions.   Right? So the way that we do financing as a Christian country,   we are allowed to do all manner of shit that would not fly   in either Judaic   traditions or Islamic traditions because both of them   developed the way they thought about money   out of Abraham   and what came before. Right? So just that that's why it's important.   So now and it's been said   on several, you know, on several occasions that   Bitcoin itself is   Sharia compliant.   And I'm not an expert, and I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert, but it seems to me   that Kosher for Jews   and Sharia   for Islam   is not the same, but it's reaching for the same idealistic standards like a protocol.  

Right? Like, kosher, as far as I know, is more about food. I'm not sure about Sharia if it has anything to do with food or if it's just   the way to act.   But but   but, that said,   like, there are certain ways that you have to handle food if you are a,   quote, unquote, good Jew. There are protocols,   and you do not   do shit like store fish meat with the same place that you store your lamb meat. You don't do that. Right? That is a that is kosher.   Right? So   as far as I can tell,   Sharia   compliance   is sort of along the same lines,   maybe not about food. I'm not sure what they did. That halal maybe. Maybe maybe halal or the Islamic rules about food. If you if I got any Islamic listeners   a gram. Tell me how I'm screwing that up because I'm sure I'm getting it completely wrong. But I'm trying, guys. I'm trying. From the Electric Frontier Foundation,   Rendala   Alhajazi   is writing this one.  

Florida's   anti encryption   bill is a wrecking ball to privacy,   but there's still time to stop it.   I'm saddened   to have to read this to you, ladies and gentlemen, but   we've seen plenty of bad tech bills in recent years often cloaked in vague language   about online   safety. But Florida's s b eight six eight   does not even pretend to be subtle.   The state wants a backdoor into encrypted platforms if minors use them   and for law enforcement to have easy access to your messages.   Florida, you're going the wrong way.   You're just going the wrong way, but this bill   should set off serious alarm bells for anyone who cares about digital rights, secure communications,   or simply the ability to message somebody privately without the government listening.  

Florida alarm lawmakers aren't just chipping away at digital privacy. They're aiming a wrecking ball straight at it.   SB eight six eight is a blatant attack on encrypted communication. And since we last wrote about the bill, the situation has gotten worse.   The bill and its house companion have both sailed through their committees and are headed both to a full vote. That means that if passed,   SB eight six eight would, one,   force social media platforms to decrypt   teens'   private messages breaking into encryption.   Two,   ban disappearing messages,   a common privacy feature that helps users, especially teenagers, control their digital footprint.  

Three, allow unrestricted   parental access to private messages,   overriding Florida's own two party consent laws for surveillance.   And four,   likely pressure platforms to remove encryption for all minors,   which also puts everyone they talk to at risk. In short, if your kid   loses their right to encrypted communication,   so does everyone that they talk to, and there is no safe backdoor.   If this all sounds impossible to do safely, that's because it   is. There's no way   to create a just for law enforcement access point into encrypted messages.   Every backdoor becomes a vulnerability.  

It's only a matter of time before someone else,   hacker, abuser, foreign government,   finds it and uses it.   Massive breaches like Salt Typhoon have already proven that surveillance tools don't stay in the right hands for very long.   Encryption either protects everyone   or it protects no one.   We must protect it.   Encryption isn't optional in today's Internet. It's essential. It protects your banking info, your health data, your personal chats, and, yes, your kids' safety online.   And s b eight six eight pretends to protect children, but does the opposite.   Teens often need encrypted messaging to talk to trusted adults, friends, and family, and sometimes   in high stakes situations like abuse, mental health crises, or discrimination.  

Stripping away those safeguards   make them more vulnerable, not less vulnerable, and   studies show users   reporting is more effective at catching online abuse than mass surveillance. So why push a bill   that makes everyone less safe, weakens encryption, and invites lawsuits?   That's a question we all deserve an answer to.   Florida's s b eight six eight isn't just a bad bill. It's dangerous blueprint   for mass surveillance.   So tell Florida legislatures   s b eight six eight is unsafe, unworkable, and unacceptable.   If you live in Florida,   contact your lawmakers and demand that they reject this attack on encryption.  

If you are outside the state, you do not live in Florida, you can still speak out. Public pressure matters. And the more people who call out how egregious this bill is, the harder it becomes for lawmakers to quietly push it forward,   make sure that you follow us on social media, blah blah blah blah blah. I wish that they would have said, how can I take action if I live out of state? If I'm not a Floridian,   how the hell do I tell Florida to go pound sand?   Yeah. This is this is just bad and I expected more from the guys over at Florida.   You know, this is just   tar and feathering needs to make a comeback y'all.  

Meanwhile, sovereign wealth funds   bought Bitcoin as retail got scared,   according to a Coinbase executive,   Vismayevi,   writing for Decrypt.   Institutional interest   in Bitcoin   intensified last month even as retail investors reduced their exposure.   Lettuce hands, guys. They were selling. The the retail was selling to BlackRock.   That's the takeaway of John   d Agostino,   head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional, who told CNBC   Squawk Box that, quote,   pools of capital that have been buying during April included   sovereign wealth funds,   large institutional,   long term duration pools of capital,   while Bitcoin exchange traded funds saw net outflows.  

In April,   he said, quote, Bitcoin ETF flows were net negative to the tune of about 470,000,000.   Institutions,   sovereigns, patient pools of capital were piling in while retail via the ETF   were exiting,   end quote.   The Coinbase executive said that the price action reflects   Bitcoin's trading on its core characteristics,   including scarcity, immutability,   and portability,   traits he likened to gold.   Quote,   when you do the work, there's a very short list of assets that mirror mirrors the characteristics of gold.   Bitcoin is on that short list.   So retail got terrified,   and they started selling.  

And sovereign wealth funds and large institutions   were gobbling it up.   I'm just saying,   if you can hold,   hold.   Don't get scared right now, man.   Don't get scared. Okay. So   Russia's Finance Ministry and central bank is launching a crypto exchange for, get this,   super qualified   investors.   Qualified investor of The United States   generally means that you're not a moron and you've got, like, a million dollars in assets.   And you kinda talk to a broker and they kind of assess whether or not they wanna work with you. And if they give you their stamp of approval,   you're kind of a qualified investor. But that million dollars is sort of kinda   that's one of the gatekeeping mechanisms that they use   so that plebs like you and me on the street never get ahead.  

Well, looks like it's getting even worse in Russia according to Nick out of Bitcoin Magazine.   Russia's Ministry Of Finance and the Bank of Russia are set to jointly launch a cryptocurrency   exchange   designed exclusively   for super qualified investors as part of a broader effort to bring crypto operations into a formal regulatory   framework   according to r to an RBC   report.   Quote, together with the central bank, we will launch a crypto exchange for super qualified investors.   Fucking   ridiculous.   Crypto assets will be legalized,   and crypto operations will be brought out of the shadows.  

Naturally,   not within our country, but those operations   that have been carried out today within the framework of the experimental legal regime, said finance minister   Anton Sulyanov   during a recent ministry meeting.   The move follows a proposal by the central bank to introduce an experimental legal regime   for three years,   allowing a select group, I guess these are the super investors,   to legally trade cryptocurrencies.   The concept centers around   a new investor category,   super qualified investors   defined by strict wealth and income thresholds.   Previously,   the central bank suggested that this status be granted to individuals with at least   100,000,000   rubles,   I think, in securities or deposits   or an annual income exceeding   50,000,000 rubles.  

However, the finance ministry   has indicated that these requirements are not final. Quote, perhaps,   it will be in this format or these indicators will be somehow adjusted in one direction or another. This is possible. I think there will be a wide range of discussions,   says Osman Kebryov,   deputy director of the ministry's   financial policy department.   The initiative is already gaining traction amongst   financial institutions.   In March, Vladimir Krikotin,   managing director for sales and business development at the Moscow Exchange, confirmed read readiness to launch derivatives   trading linked to cryptocurrencies   saying   that the platform is at maximum   level of readiness.  

We are at maximum   level at of readiness. Oh my god. And could begin operations   this year.   The St. Peterberg   Stock Exchange,   has expressed similar ambitions.   Quote, SPB Exchange supports initiatives aimed at expanding the investment opportunities of investors and diversifying their strategies.   We plan to start trading products   tied to the value of cryptocurrencies,   while some firms   see this as a transformative shift.   Others remain skeptical.   Igor god, I love that name. Igor   Daniellenko,   head of asset management of Renaissance Capital, dismissed crypto   as a viable asset class. Quote,   there are many ways to protect yourself from inflation without resorting to tokens without any real collateral,   which depend on the influx of new buyers and are very similar to a pyramid scheme in essence. There's there's always gonna be one. What's surprising about this is this is Russia making an about face on its stance on cryptocurrencies.  

They're doing it in a way that they say face by basically telling   the plebs on the street that you're not worthy.   I mean, you know, Russia is authoritarian. Let's let's face it.   I don't I literally don't hate Russia. I   all these other people seem to just they just think Russia is evil. And I'm like, no. They're they're definitely authoritarian.   And that in itself is kinda evil, but the people of Russia are are generally not not evil. But they're not gonna be able to take part of it because 50,000,000 rubles is probably a lot for an annual income. I I don't know. I I don't know how much a ruble is worth, and, no, I'm not going to look. But   it's an about face by Russia that a couple of years ago made all this stuff. They said it. They with high fanfare,   we're making it all illegal.  

You can't trade it. And now Putin, about a couple of months ago, said, well, you can't stop Bitcoin and said something about United States sanctions.   And all of a sudden, here we are.   And I still don't have a best friend named Igor.   We all need a best friend named Igor. So I could say, Igor, come here.   Okay. Well,   just to end this off,   US court   has is going to sentence   former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky   on May   over fraud and manipulation   charges. This is out of the block.   The sentencing of former Celsius   CEO Alex Mashinsky   is scheduled for May eighth of this year following his guilty plea   on two criminal counts   late last year according to a New York district court filing on Wednesday.  

So, yeah, he pled guilty and they are going to sentence his ass. But in this story, which I will not read anymore of,   they don't say what he's facing.   I have I mean, we know that Sam Bankman Fried got twenty five years,   but we have no idea   what Alex Mashinsky   is going to get. And that dude,   I'm sorry.   If you weren't following what happened with Celsius, and this is all during FTX and BlockFi and Celsius and Alameda Research,   that whole thing. Celsius was was right alongside of it.   Everything crumbled,   and everybody was exposed for the frauds that they are. And Alex Mashinsky ended up being one of the   top fraudsters   that was out there. Now we already knew that   because he was pushing Celsius, which is a fraud shitcoin. It's just a shitcoin. It's designed to do nothing but steal your money.  

And it looks like he's gonna go to prison, but I don't know for how long.   Alright.   That's it.   That's the show.   Episode ten eighty one of Bitcoin and is in the bag, and I will see you   on the other side.   This has been Bitcoin and, and I'm your host, David Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and hope to see you again real soon.   Have a great day.