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Join me today for Episode 1107 of Bitcoin And . . .

Topics for today:

• Ulbricht's 300 BTC Dilemma
• Russia Launches Bitcoin Bonds
• Wynn Lost . . . Twice?
• Poland's New Pro-Bitcoin President

#Bitcoin #BitcoinAnd 

Circle P:

https://theleathermint.com/
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Coupon code is BitcoinAnd for 10% off.

Articles:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/silk-road-founder-300-bitcoin-unlikely-self-donation
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/06/02/russias-largest-bank-sberbank-launches-structured-bonds-tied-to-bitcoin
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/06/02/how-james-wynn-s-usd100m-implosion-is-a-leverage-tale-as-old-as-time
https://x.com/AltcoinGordon/status/1929470894516174947
https://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/poland-pro-crypto-president-karol-nawrocki/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/czech-justice-minister-resigns-bitcoin-donation-scandal

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

https://decrypt.co/323135/money-printing-lift-bitcoin-250k-this-year-arthur-hayes
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/strategy-buys-75-million-worth-of-bitcoin
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/06/02/metaplanet-acquires-1-088-bitcoin-to-bring-btc-stash-to-over-usd930m
https://bitcoinnews.com/markets/meta-shareholders-reject-bitcoin-treasury/
https://x.com/dotkrueger/status/1929174486571692129
https://cointelegraph.com/news/france-charges-25-over-crypto-kidnapping-spree-paris

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[00:00:02] David Bennett:

It is 11:34AM   Pacific Daylight Time. It is the June   2025   and this is episode eleven oh seven of Bitcoin and I am late. I apologize.   Things couldn't be helped.   But we've got to roll with the show because there is all kinds of stuff going on   from hundred million dollar liquidations   to 300   Bitcoin donations   to   I don't know. Who what?   Russia is in the news today.   Czechoslov or, well, Chechnya   is in the news today as well. We got Meta.   We've got strategy.   We've got   Money Printing. It's all coming down, and we're gonna start this one right now with what I think is some   pretty big news.  

And a lot of people are freaking out.   I am reserving all of my judgments on the following,   but you're you're gonna have to make your own decision as to whether or not you believe   whatever side of the fence you want to believe   about this   Silk Road founder's three hundred Bitcoin payday   unlikely   being a self donation.   This is Steven Kati   from CoinTelegraph.   If you are unfamiliar with what's going on, Ross Ulbricht,   it   I think it was yesterday   or or or late Saturday. I'm not certain, but it was definitely over this this last weekend.   Received   300   Bitcoin, which is roughly around $30,000,000.  

And he received that into a donation wallet that I guess had been set up for him or that that his mom had said. I don't know where it came from,   but there has been a Bitcoin donation,   wallet   hanging around for Ross Ulbricht for for quite a while. And like I said, this weekend, 300   Bitcoin got dropped into it,   and the conjecture   is running wild. But first, let's get into the particular piece of news that Ross Ulbricht's recent receipt of 300 Bitcoin is from   questionable sources.   But it's unlikely to be a case where he donated it to himself,   says blockchain researcher   Zach XBT.  

Olbricht, who founded Silk Road, received 300 Bitcoin   worth $31,400,000   to his wallet   that was soliciting donations,   blockchain analytics firm Look on Chain said in a June 1 post to x. So it apparently was yesterday.   The funds came from wallets using a centralized   mixing service called Jambler.   This is yet one more part of the   weirdness of this story.   And this has led some social media users to speculate without any evidence whatsoever that the funds   could be Old Brick's profits from the Silk Road, which he might have hidden away before he was nabbed by authorities and sent to prison. However,   Zach x b t said in a June 2 Twitter post that he was skeptical about this being the case because, quote,   few entities   regularly use Jamblr in size and he found a potential   demix,   and that is d e m I x, so demixing, I guess, for the donation.  

It is likely   or it likely doesn't appear to be a self donation as people were claiming, though it comes from a questionable source   due to the, quote, flagged address,   he said.   The latest Bitcoin donation came from wallets   using the Jambler mixing service, but normal privacy enthusiasts   use decentralized   mixers according to Zac   XBT.   He also said one of the addresses involved   has exchange activity dating back to late twenty fourteen   while another one of the wallets was active in 2019   and previously flagged in compliance tools, quote,   both were depositing in size to Jambler at similar times   as the 300 BTC Ross donor received from Jambler.  

Both had dormant Bitcoin from November 2019 until the mixer deposits   made from April to May of twenty twenty five, he said. He also added in response to a user's query that, quote, everyone was accusing Ross of a self donation. So if anything,   this proves it was a donation and not his secret stash because there was activity   when he was away imprisoned. End quote.   And then we talk a little bit about how he ran Silk Road and blah blah blah. But Coinbase director, Conor Grogan,   said in January,   he found $4.30   Bitcoin worth over $45,000,000   in wallets that he claimed were tied to Ross Ulbricht.  

Again, according to Grogan,   the wallets have been inactive for over thirteen years and were never seized by authorities.   Blockchain analytics firm, Arkham Intelligence, backed up Grogan's assessment,   tracing 14   Bitcoin addresses connected to Silk Road with one of them holding over $9,000,000   worth of Bitcoin.   Ulbricht recently held an auction   of personal belongings,   which brought in more than $1,800,000   worth of Bitcoin.   The collection included personal effects from before his 2013 arrest, such as a sleeping bag, a backpack,   a drum, and prison memorabilia with like a lock in a notebook and clothing and several paintings created   by Ross Ulbricht while he was incarcerated.  

So   the conjecture is is that he's   donated this 300 Bitcoin to himself. And by using the donation wallet that somehow or another that was gonna make everything okay.   I honestly here's what my gut feeling is.   When you're in prison and for ten years,   and most of that time is spent in solitary confinement,   the chances that right after you get out of prison, you've been out, like, maybe a couple of months, that you're going to do something that's going to land you back into a federal penitentiary   with   absolutely   no hope for yet another presidential pardon   is beyond ludicrous.  

I don't believe that Ross Ulbricht   in any way, shape, or form has actually done this. Now I do retain the right to be completely wrong, but I just don't see I don't see Ross as being   that   stupid. I just I just don't.   Nobody would wanna go back in there. And if it is found out that he indeed   unlocked one of those wallets   from Silk Road and deposited 300 Bitcoin to himself and he gets caught,   he is probably going to go back to prison. There will not be a second presidential pardon, and he will spend probably the rest of his life in prison, which is one of the reasons why I don't believe for an absolute second   that Ross Ulbricht sent this 300 Bitcoin to himself.  

But that's just that's just the way that I'm thinking about it.   So   however it is that you wanna think about it   is completely up to you.   But some of the hate that I've been seeing on both both Noster and,   Dead Birdsight,   against Ross Ulberg, every like, it's just pouring out. And mostly on Twitter, honestly. Noster is pretty innocuous when it comes to this Ross Olberich thing. But the Twitter hate   against Ross Olberich is pretty severe.   And I it's one of those things, leave Britney alone, you know,   You probably need to leave Ross alone.   Again,   if it's found out that he did do this,   he goes back to prison.  

Under what charges? I don't know.   But he would probably be going back to prison. And, no, there would not be a second presidential pardon.   It's just not in the cards.   The only thing that   I'm waiting for right now is that at one point or another, Ross is gonna have to make some kind of statement,   and he has been tight lipped. So   this   kind of for me is a little bit of gut feeling, a little bit of gut evidence that he did not do this because he's probably going,   everybody is going to think that I did this. I what am I going to do?   I did notice that those coins at 300 has left his donation address   and has gone it looks like it got split   into, like, a hundred and 9 Bitcoin, went somewhere, and then the rest went somewhere else. I'm not sure because I'm not one of these guys that sits on Arkham Intelligence all day and really knows what the hell they're doing, but that's what it looks like.  

So   I really hope that he comes out with a statement soon because what I don't want to see,   I just don't want to see Ross go back to prison.   Okay.   Let's get on to this one.   This is sort of an aside. This is gonna this is just gonna break us up a little bit,   for the show   for the first part of the show.   $698,000,000,000   worth of homes in The United States are for sale,   which is a new all time high. Now that came in from Nostra News Network.   Well, just a few days ago, actually, it was two days ago, I   caught a hold   of,   something from   Redfin, which keeps track of, you know, all kinds of housing metrics.  

But there was a graph that came out a couple of days ago that says that there are nearly 500 more home sellers on the market than there are home buyers,   which is the highest   differential   that we've seen or that Redfin has seen since it started tracking this material back from 2013.   So we've got   600 and almost $700,000,000,000   worth of homes. That's starting to approach $1,000,000,000,000.   That's trillion with a t. Alright. So let's just call it 700,000,000,000   on the market right now in The United States.   We've got way more sellers,   five hundred thousand more sellers than there are buyers.  

And I guess that that represents   $700,000,000,000   So 1,000,000   sellers   kind of represents $700,000,000,000   of assets.   So   this feels a lot like 02/2007.   Not saying it is. In fact,   what   will probably happen is that we'll forget all about this for yet another year.   And we'll just rock right along and everything will be fine and we'll tell ourselves for for weeks and months and possibly a couple of more years that everything's gonna be fine but   yeah this doesn't look good for the housing market so if for whatever reason   you were planning   on trying to pull out a huge home equity loan from your house because that's what people were doing,   you might wanna   reconsider   doing that. Just just saying. And if you are in the market to buy a house and you thought you were never going to afford one, I don't know, man. Keep your fingers crossed because you never know what could happen. Just just saying.  

Okay.   Changing gears again.   We gotta talk about Russia.   And   while I'm not going to talk about the fact that the Ukrainian   drone strike wiped out, like, 40 strategic bombers   from Russia sometime last night,   I am gonna talk about Russia's largest bank,   Seberbank, which I don't have no idea how to pronounce this bank, but it's their largest bank, s b e   r b a n k. So I'm gonna say Sberbank   or Sberbank.   Anyway, it doesn't matter.   Russia's largest bank launched structured bonds tied to Bitcoin. Remember the bit bonds?   It looks like Russia might have stepped up to the plate,   and   Francisco Rodriguez is gonna tell us about it from CoinDesk.  

Sberbank,   Russia's largest bank, has introduced a new structured bond   that tracks the price of Bitcoin. Okay. So not exactly   the Bitbond, but one step closer to it,   it's it tracks the price of Bitcoin and the dollar to ruble exchange rate.   Initially available over the counter to a limited pool of, of course, qualified investors,   the bonds   lit holders earn based on two variables.   The future performance of Bitcoin in US dollars   and any strengthening of the dollar relative to the ruble.   Investors can access these instruments without opening a crypto wallet or using foreign crypto exchanges with all transactions being processed in rubles within Russia's legal and infrastructure systems.   The bank plans to list similar structured products with cryptocurrency exposure to the Moscow exchange according to a recent announcement.  

SperBank,   per the announcement,   is also launching a Bitcoin futures product via its Spur Investments   platform on June,   aligning with the,   launch of the product   on the Moscow exchange. The announcement comes just after the Bank of Russia said financial institutions in the country   can offer cryptocurrency linked instruments to qualified investors.   So not   exactly the Bitcoin, but bonds tied to the performance of Bitcoin is nothing to sneeze at. The fact that it's Russia   is also nothing to sneeze at.   How how how are these, you know,   how are these products gonna be received in Russia is anybody's guess.  

I have no idea what kind of, you know, liquid wealth is going on inside of Russia, but   it'll be interesting to see how many people bite at this particular product.   Now   over the weekend, it became very evident that there was a degenerate gambler out there that basically   got liquidated for a hundred million dollars. His name   is James Wynne,   and I don't think he's done yet.   So let's talk about this. How James   Wynne's one hundred million dollar implosion is familiar   leverage tale,   Oliver Knight, also from CoinDesk,   derivatives trader James Wynne   emerged out of the woodwork a few weeks ago, just a few weeks ago,   flaunting   9 figure Bitcoin positions on Hyper Liquid   as he went on a seemingly   undefeatable   run that culminated in around a hundred million dollars worth of profit.  

But that run, as is often the case with highly leveraged crypto derivative trading, came to a shocking end   when liquidated   his entire account despite Bitcoin   only moving by a couple of percentage points.   Quote, I've decided to give perpetual trading a break, Wynne wrote on Twitter after the final blow up. Quote, it's been a fun ride,   approximately $4,000,000   into a hundred million and then back down to a total account loss of $17,500,000,   end quote.   Just pausing to just   digest that a little bit. I mean, you're talking about a guy that takes takes $4,000,000   turns it into a hundred and then loses 17,500,000.0   and he's talking about it like it's just,   I don't know, taking the wrapper off of a fucking lollipop. This is ridiculous. Anyway, Wynn's story is nothing new.  

In 2021,   for instance, the industry saw the public rise of Alex Weiss,   a poker player turned derivatives trader that also lost a hundred million dollars after making huge bets with leverage.   And even in 2017,   in the BitMex troll box days, pseudonymous figures like Steve S and the Boot used to boast about their tens of millions of dollars in profit and loss   before   forever fading into obscurity.   Cryptocurrency   derivatives can be an incredibly useful tool. If a trader holds 500 BTC   and believes the market will go down, they can hedge their position by going short, reducing exposure   without having to sell their spot assets,   which in itself could cause slippage or front running.  

An array of delta neutral strategies can also be employed like the classic   basis trade that became popular amongst institutional   traders on the Bitcoin   CME Futures market,   which involves simultaneously   going long   and short to harvest the funding rate as a yield.   But   issues   begin   to form when crypto traders, the majority of whom are inexperienced   retail traders, use platforms that offer up to 100   x leverage.   Imagine a newcomer   had $5,000   in trading capital. Sure,   they could make a few   intraday   trades and make $50 or a hundred bucks per trade.   But if they used a hundred x,   they could make   50,000   per 10% move.  

This is a slippery slope of gambling induced emotional trading   that many people fall into.   Data from new trading   shows that just 3% of day traders make a profit and 1% do so consistently.   And the game becomes even tougher when, in this case,   traders are opening positions worth hundreds   of millions   of dollars.   James   Wynne's downfall   came in part due to his inability   to deal with the emotional swings of trading, but also the sheer size of his positions.   Wynne would also post about getting partially liquidated   and then reopening the position at an even worse break even point.  

This is indicative of a trader out of his depth through over leverage.   As Wen used,   in some cases, 40 x leverage,   His liquidation point left no margin for error. This meant that astute traders or trading firms could hunt his liquidation point and force him into an impulsive trade.   Hyper liquid is a relatively liquid derivatives   derivatives venue. It's got millions   in market depth within 1% of an asset's price, but it does not have hundreds of millions,   which is required to absorb wind's leverage positions.   In reality, wind's trade thesis was based around the, God forbid,   Bitcoin Las Vegas event. They're talking about Bitcoin 20 20 5.  

And any potential announcements that could have been made that could have lifted Bitcoin above a new record high.   If this came into fruition,   Wynn would have had hundreds of millions in unrealized profit.   But, unfortunately,   in his case, Bitcoin began to slump during the conference as speeches from Michael Saylor and Ross Ulbricht   failed to spark any upside momentum. Oh, for god's sakes. The lack of volatility   and wins insatiable   appetite   to keep betting led to him getting chopped out of the market. His losses became so notable that one trader decided to counter trade every position by going short at the same time win went long.   This trader   made $17,000,000   according to Look on Chain Analytics.  

As the sun   finally set, upon Wynn's derivatives journey, he announced that he was going back to the trenches   to trade meme coins,   of course.   That's the end of the article.   Let's go back up here for a sec.   Where do you say?   Yes.   As when   used in some cases 40 x leverage, his liquidation point left absolutely no margin for error.   This meant that astute traders or trading firms,   entire firms,   could hunt   his liquidation point and force him into an impulsive trade.   This is I've told you about this particular story, and I've got a reason for going back over this again. It it would become quite evident here in a second. But I wanna say something about this because I was talking about this. You don't   and I like, I'm not a trader, and I'm never going to trade this stuff. It's never going to happen.  

I just keep reading these stories over and over and over and over again. It's all a warning for everybody that's within the sound of my voice.   Do not gamble   on this crap.   It is not worth it. It's not worth your sleep. It's not worth your   developing anxiety over. It's just not worth   becoming poor.   Right? And the whole fact of the matter is what I was saying was that this is there's James Wynn   is a guy who told the entire world his liquidation point,   how much he was in for.   He gave enough information   that these, quote, unquote, astute traders   and entire firms   could easily hunt him down and kill him. And that's exactly what happened, or at least that's what I think happened.  

I don't think   that we are seeing   actual organic price movement.   I think this was a let's go kill James Wynne moment in the market.   And if you think it's finished,   you'd be wrong.   Why do I say that?   Because as of this morning,   James Wynne has opened another   $100,000,000   Bitcoin long. And within seconds,   market makers started to dump   the price towards his liquidation   of 104,580.   And then this guy, this Gordon, Altcoin Gordon says, why are they so desperate to see him lose? I'm I'm reading from his tweet. This is the guy that that it one of the people that informed me,   you know, through Twitter that this guy has gone   a hundred million long again. And from a couple of different other tweets that I've seen,   this seems to be confirmed.  

Right?   So James Wynne apparently left the market   yesterday and has   seemingly decided to bet another hundred million.   You know, I I why don't you just go buy a house and with a lake on it and just be happy?   I I don't understand that. But this is the degenerate gambling mindset.   People get so addicted to gambling.   It's it's   you will say or many people will say there's no way you can get addicted to gambling because it's not a drug. It's not like cocaine. It's not like heroin. It's it's it's not it's it's not a physical substance. Yes. It is.   Through the act of gambling   and winning and losing,   Chemistries are released in the brain   that are the same kinds of chemistries that are released in the brain with a good hit of cocaine or a massive hit of heroin.  

It's that's where the addiction comes from. It's not what you shoot in your vein or snort up your nose or inhale if you smoke.   It's the chemistry in your brain   that reacts to this stuff that's coming into your body.   And gambling is no different. Having,   like, skydiving. Some people are addicted to the adrenaline rush of skydiving. It's the same shit. That's what that's what gambling does to people.   And now he is into yet another hundred million dollar trade.   But here's the fun part.   This morning   this morning,   after he went into this trade and these, quote, shady market maker started dumping the price to the his James wins new liquidation point of a hundred and 4,580,   all of a sudden,   James started asking for people to buy Bitcoin to help   stop the corruption because he was he was basically saying that he was people were out to get them. Well, if you telegraph your trade, yes, people are gonna get go out to get you because they're gonna want to make money on you because you were dumb enough to tell them what your position was.  

And they're doing it again. And now he's asking for not only for people to buy Bitcoin   at spot to help support   his trade.   He's actually   opened up a donation address for Bitcoin,   and rubes have   dumped $20,000   worth of Bitcoin into that donation address,   which   James Wynne was able I I get I think he actually put in a little bit more Bitcoin of his own because he was able to bring his liquidation price down to a hundred and 3,600   and something. I think it was 632.   And then after these   rubes   donated money to this idiot,   $20,000   worth of Bitcoin is what they've donated to this dude. He immediately   put that into his trade   to drop the liquidation point from a hundred and 3,632   to a hundred and $3,618.  

Move the needle by, like, $20.   Gambling is not a joke, ladies and gentlemen. Please   don't get into it. Okay. Circle p is open for business. Circle p is where I bring plebs   just like you with goods and services for sale to plebs just like you who might want to actually buy those goods and services and help create the Bitcoin circular economy. Because if you're not selling your goods and services for Bitcoin, you're not in the circle p. Today is the leathermint.com.   And you can get, by the way, 10% off   of anything that you order from Leathermint if you use the code Bitcoin and. Remember, that's Bitcoin and, all one word, get 10% off   of your purchase at the Leather Mint. What does he make? He makes wallets. He makes belts.  

This is all handcrafted leather stuff.   He uses high quality leather, but the my favorite part about this   is not only his color selection of different leathers and the fact that he sources   high quality leather, it's the stitching.   Because if you've got a wallet that had bad stitching, then that wallet probably fell apart on you.   It's always about the stitching. You can even get a wallet that's got really cheap leather, and that thing, if it's stitched together well, will probably hold up for years.   But leathermint.com,   the leathermint.com.  

At the leathermint.com,   you're going to be able to find some of the highest quality, not only leather materials,   but his stitching   is going to almost guarantee that that thing is   still together   well after you're dead. Hell, they'll prod your children will probably fight over your wallet, your Leather Mint wallet after you're dead.   So go over to the LeatherMint.com.   Use the coupon code Bitcoin and for 10% off. That way Leatherman knows if I make a sale for him, the only way he knows is if you use Bitcoin   the Bitcoin and   as the coupon code, then he knows I made a sale for him. And then he gives me Satoshi's   that he thinks that sale was worth to him.  

So when you support Leatherman, Leatherman supports me, and I can support y'all, and y'all can support the Leatherman. See how this works? It's truly   the beginnings of a circular economy.   On to Poland,   where they have elected   the first openly pro crypto   president,   Carol   Naraki, I think is how you pronounce it. Carol Naraki,   amid global crypto shift. I'm sorry that they keep using the word crypto. It actually is Bitcoin, but this is from ccn.com   and their crypto outfits. So, of course, they're gonna say crypto. But   in a closely contested race,   Poland has elected a new president   who is openly pro Bitcoin   and backed by the Trump administration.  

Karol Nawrocki,   a conservative historian and vocal Bitcoin supporter,   won the presidency   with a 50.9%   vote,   edging out Warsaw Mayor, Rafael   Tawaske. I can't pronounce his name.   Nawrocki's campaign mainly focused on economic freedom and innovation. Throughout his campaign, he repeatedly   emphasized individuals' right to invest freely   and criticized   what he called oppressive regulations on digital assets. Quote, more and more people and companies are investing in cryptocurrencies,   Nawrocki said earlier this year.   Poland must be a place where innovations are created,   not regulations.  

As president of The Republic Of Poland, I will ensure that oppressive regulations   limiting your freedoms do not come into force.   So   who's gonna be pissed off about this?   Two people.   The European Union   and the International Monetary Fund, but the European Union first. Because this guy,   he really is not the friend of the European Union.   He's always talk he'd been talking out against the European Union and some of the things that they've been doing and the regulations that they install and all the all the crap that the European Union caught. Not Europe. The European Union is a you'd think of it more like a company than a place. Right?   But this guy does not like the EU. He loves Bitcoin,   and that's what pisses off the second   group of people, the International Monetary Fund.  

I'll bet you my bottom dollar   that two things happen.   One, the IMF,   either either later today or sometime in the next couple of days, will put out a press release saying how they they really don't like this, this pro Bitcoin president.   And two, it will not surprise me if Poland recalls the election for, quote, unquote,   reasons   and has to do it all over again. We've seen this done before.   Will it happen in Poland?   I don't know, man. But I'll tell you this. It will not surprise   me one bit if it does. Now they have a neighbor.   Poland has a neighbor down to the Southwest   called Chechnya,   and the Czech   justice minister has resigned over a 45,000,000   Bitcoin gift from a convict.  

Amen. Hasquinas has it for Cointelegraph.   Czech justice minister Pavel Blasek   has stepped down following a scandal over his ministry's sale   of $45,000,000   worth of Bitcoin, which was donated by a convicted drug trafficker.   The controversy erupted on May   after the ministry posted on Twitter that it had raised   close to 1,000,000,000   Czech kuruna,   which was about $45,000,000   by auctioning off 500   Bitcoin.   I didn't even catch this on May.   I'm surprised that that I missed it. But the funds   were   earmarked for projects such as digitizing the justice system, combating drug use in prisons,   and improving housing for prison staff. Well, they are all about their prisons, man.  

However,   Czech news outlet Denikin   revealed that the cryptocurrency   came from Tomas   Jurjovsky,   which is not the way you pronounce it, but he was a convicted or is a convicted criminal   behind the sheep marketplace, which is a dark web platform notorious for selling   illegal goods.   In March,   Jurjovsky's   lawyer approached Blasek offering one third of the Bitcoin   as a donation to the justice ministry,   Blasek   accepted without probing the cryptocurrency's   origins.   Quote, I have no way to investigate the matter.   I wasn't interested so many years after the case, he said at a Thursday press conference suggesting that the donation   reflected   Jurakovsky's   desire to, quote, repent.  

However, public outcry grew over the transaction's   lack of due diligence.   Opposition leaders labeled it a scandal,   and police have now launched an investigation into the Bitcoin's origins.   Jurjovsky   was sentenced to in 2017   for embezzlement, drug trafficking, and weapons violations.   Since being released from prison in 2021, he's been seeking to reclaim 1,500   Bitcoin   seized at the time of his arrest. And during his trial,   Czech authorities suspected that the funds were linked to Nucleus,   another dark web marketplace   that was shuttered just after Jurjewski's   arrest.  

Despite this, he maintained that Bitcoin was acquired legally, which allowed him to retain,   after   or which allowed him to retain it after serving his sentence. This is almost like a really bad translation.   It doesn't matter.   You got it you got the Ministry of Justice accepting a bad donation, which means that this Ministry of Justice guy probably got something else under the table just for himself.   But I hope he can keep a hold of it because he doesn't have a job anymore.   Has resigned.   So lots of interesting things going up,   going on up there in in   in Eastern Europe and   not all of them not all of them good.  

Again, the Poland guy, the Poland President,   we'll have to see.   And we'll have to see. Maybe they'll run their numbers. Meanwhile,   I got my own numbers to run.   Futures and commodities. West Texas Intermediate Oil is spiking today three and a third points to the upside   to $62.84.   Britton or C is likewise up three and a half to $64.94.   Natural gas is swinging for the fences. Ladies and gentlemen,   seven and a third points to the upside,   $3.69   per thousand cubic feet. Meanwhile, gasoline is up two and a quarter   to $2.06   a gallon.  

Gold having a rock solid day,   two and three quarters point to the upside, $33.78   even.   Silver is up five and a third. Platinum is up point 84%.   Copper is up seven no. Sorry. Three   and three quarters of a point, and palladium is up 2.78.   Biggest winner in ag today is gonna be cotton, 1.7%   to the upside. Biggest loser is chocolate,   three points to the downside. Meanwhile,   live cattle is up point 73%,   lean hogs down a tenth, and feeder cattle are up almost a full point.   The Dow is crab walking sideways, up slightly.   I mean, like, point 07%.  

S and P is up almost a half, Nasdaq is up over a half, and the S and P Mini is down   one quarter of one point.   We are $104,440   in price.   I wonder   how James Wynne is is doing right now   because his liquidation price is somewhere around a hundred and 3,000   and, what, 600,   something like that. Yeah.   So I if I were him, I wouldn't be feeling very good about this.   $2,070,000,000,000   market cap. We can get 30.7   ounces of shiny metal rocks with our one Bitcoin of which there are 19,873,332.09   of. And   average fees per block are low, 0.04   BTC taking in fees on a per block basis.  

There are two, count them, all of two blocks   carrying 3,800   transactions waiting to confirm   at high priority rates of 3 Satoshis per v byte. Low priority is gonna get you in at one,   and there is no minor capitulation   at all. In fact, we are hash rate is increasing again   up to 920   exahashes per second   as of right now.   So, again, no no miner seems to be capitulating   at this point.   Reminder to go to bitcoinandshow.com.   That's bitcoinandshow,   all one word, bitcoinandshow.com.   Sign up with your email.   Yeah. Actually, all you're doing is is basically just saying, hey. If you if you publish anything to your website there, Dave, I want you to send me an email. That's the only thing I'm going to email, and I'm not gonna sell your email. I'm not gonna give your email away.   It's mine.  

It's just I don't why why would I give your email to somebody else? That doesn't make any sense.   Alright. Now, on to   where are we? Pure Degeneracy,   which was Friday's episode of Bitcoin, and   I got progressively   worse with 5,000   sat says digging the soil permaculture discussions.   Here's a little boosty boost for soil to soul, which was episode 627.   I'm going to be adding more microscopy videos to my profile. Feel free to check it out if you get some free time,   if that's even a thing these days. Much appreciated. Now progressively worse, I definitely wanna see   microscopy videos. I like, I'll say it again. I want to see microscopy videos.  

Wood Butcher with a thousand sats says, OPSEC, progressively worse with another thousand sats, thank you, says, thank you.   Psyduck with 709 says, 709   for my doxxing strategy.   Psyduck with 708   says,   catching up on episodes that I missed. 708   sats for down the drain.   Psyduck with yet another 707   sats says   Psyduck.   Nice. Let's see. What have we got here?   Turkey with 500 says nothing.   Perminer with $3.33 says give this man some sats before his kids go hungry.   Plus, they apparently need new shoes. Or buy some Oshi   huddle bars using the promo code bitcoin and that way you get a wonderful product and none of your business as kids get food.  

God's death with two thirty seven says, thank you, sir. You sold me on the soap. I'm not washing until   I get it.   Nice. Justin with a hundred says, you deserve so much more than these sacred   sats. I don't know. I I like the sats, dear. Justin Pies with a hundred says, thank you, sir. No thank you.   God. Let's see. Yep. That that's it. That's the weather report.   Welcome to part two of the news that you can use. Money printing will lift Bitcoin to $250,000   this year according to Arthur Hayes.   This is not me telling you to go out and buy Bitcoin because we're gonna see ultra high prices.   I hate the high prices talk, but I do like it when Arthur Hayes writes stuff and decrypts   Andrei Beganski is going to talk about something more   than just this high price.  

It's just sun.   It's also tiresome sometimes, but   Bitcoin's price will more than double within the next six months, swelling to a quarter million dollars according to Bitcoin billionaire and BitMex co founder, Arthur   Hayes, as US president   Donald Trump moves away from the market rattling impacts of tariffs   towards other fiscal policies.   Quote, midterm elections are coming up in The United States, Arthur Hayes told Decrypt.   While the Trump administration went hard on tariffs   and was taking this market pain for the last three months,   the narrative   has to shift.  

Instead of pursuing trade policies that could weigh on economic growth and potentially hurt Americans' ability to afford everyday goods,   Hayes   argued that the president will have to show that he bought goodies for the population   to help Republicans   at the ballot box come 2026.   Quote, they're going to accelerate the money printing.   This is   this is why I'm reading you this.   They're going to accelerate the money printing, Hayes said, referring to the Federal Reserve.   Among policies that United States Treasury secretary Scott Besson has teased as fiscal stimulus,   Hayes highlighted potential changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,   government backed mortgage giants that have been under government oversight since the 2,008.  

If the government sponsored enterprises   are allowed to go public and raise capital again,   that would inject   cheap liquidity into the housing market, Hayes said, allowing them to lever up their balance sheet,   and that would also make mortgages more affordable,   he said.   Among knock on effects, increased housing activity   could theoretically spur economic growth and support on or rather   risk on assets. And on top of that,   discussions surrounding a so called supplemental   leverage ratio or SLR   exemption for US treasuries are bullish, Hayes said.   In essence, the White House wants to ease leverage ratios for banks when it comes to their exposure to US debt. Quote, that allows   The US banking system to apply   infinite leverage.  

Did you catch that? Infinite leverage to buy treasury bonds. And that's obviously   very positive for global capital markets, he added. And finally,   Hayes sees the government shifting from tariffs to capital controls   to support American manufacturing   in a more politically palatable way.   Instead of taxing imports, The US could tax foreign government holdings of bonds,   equities, and land   that stems   from trade   from trading long running trade imbalances.   Oh, for god's sakes. It's a terrible sentence.   How that could drive governments towards gold and Bitcoin is a central theme of his latest essay,   which also predicts that Bitcoin will hit $1,000,000   before 2028.  

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Billionaire investor Tim Draper made similar calls this month highlighting regulatory tailwinds   for the asset under the Trump administration.   With Congress weighing legislative initiatives that could potentially establish rules for stable coins and create regulatory taxonomy   for many coins,   Hay is also told to crypt that, god forbid, Ethereum will   make its own comeback this year, rising as high as some number that I don't care to actually tell anybody about because that's a load of horseshit, and Arthur Hayes should know better.   He should know better than to shill   shit coins. I I don't know why he's doing that, but it is what it is. The real meat and potatoes here is this entire   narrative that Trump is shifting away from tariffs.  

Maybe.   But,   you   know, this weekend, he put a 50%,   raised the, 25%   tariff on steel to 50%.   So I don't think he's done with tariffs.   Because if he was done with tariffs,   he wouldn't be doing stuff with tariffs.   Yet Trump is still doing stuff with tariffs.   So I'm not sure he's completely out of that game yet.   But the capital controls on land and equities and and other market marketable securities   of foreign nationals.   Now that that one's important.   Because if that if that really is Trump signaling to foreign investors that we don't want your money,   they are going to go get something else. And, honestly,   outside of The United States stock market, there's not a whole lot of shit to bet on. People are still really wary of China. We're not sure what the hell is going on there. And it's not like they're gonna flock to Brazil or Iran   or Australia.  

Right? So what else is there left?   Gold and Bitcoin.   That's pretty much it. I   just say   it. Okay. Couple of short notes here.   Strategy has bought $75,000,000   worth of Bitcoin. So he   Michael Saylor   made his tweet   Sunday evening like he normally does, which always suggests that Monday morning,   he's going to say that he bought actual Bitcoin, and he did.   He, bought a hundred no. 705   Bitcoin   at a hundred and 6,495   each,   and it brings the total holdings of strategy to 580,955,   which is valued over $60,000,000,000   US.   But it's weird that Meta Planet basically blew them out of the water   because Meta Planet has acquired   1,088   Bitcoin   to bring its own Bitcoin stash to over $930,000,000.  

No. They're not blowing them out of the water with total Bitcoin hold held, but they did buy a lot more Bitcoin than Sailor did.   Japan's Meta Planet said on Monday that it had purchased   1,088   Bitcoin   to bring its total holdings to over 8,888   BTC,   which is worth 900,000,000   $930,000,000.   So there you go. But   we're not done with things   named Meta.   Because one of the biggest news pieces this morning was that the Meta shareholders'   decision on Bitcoin   has been telegraphed actually, not telegraphed. Just it was they they just made a statement that they weren't gonna buy it.   Nope. Nope. Meta shareholders   not only rejected   the Bitcoin treasury proposal,   they   strongly   rejected   the Bitcoin treasury proposal. It kinda makes you wonder who the hell is holding   shares of Meta.  

But Alex Larry tells us more out of Bitcoin news, Meta Platforms Incorporated,   the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram,   has voted down   a shareholder proposal to add Bitcoin to its treasury.   The vote took place at the company's annual shareholder meeting on May   2025.   The proposal, known as Proposal 13,   was submitted by investor Ethan Peck on behalf of the National Center for Public Policy Research.   It asked Meta to convert a portion of its $72,000,000,000   of cash,   cash equivalents, and marketable securities into Bitcoin.   The idea   was to hedge against inflation and low returns from traditional bond investments, but the company's shareholders said no.  

According to the official count,   more than 4,980,000,000.00   shares were voted against the proposal.   Why a while a modest 3,920,000.00   shares in comparison,   were all for it.   That is less than 0.1%   of the total votes.   8,860,000.00   shares were abstentions,   and over 204,000,000   were broker non   votes. So now   Meta   joins Microsoft   and Amazon in rejecting calls to add Bitcoin to their balance sheets.   Proponents of the proposal argued that Bitcoin would help protect Meta's reserve from inflation and weak bond returns.   Peck and others pointed to Bitcoin's strong performance in 2024.   The proposal said that Bitcoin's fixed supply and track record make it a long term store value.  

High profile supporters,   including Matt Cole, CEO of Strive Asset Management, bought the issue to the forefront.   And at the Bitcoin twenty twenty five conference in Vegas, Cole addressed   Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg directly, quote,   you   have already done step one.   You have named your goat Bitcoin.   My ask is that you take step two and adopt a bold corporate Bitcoin treasury strategy, end quote.   Others like Bloomberg   ETF analyst Eric Balchuna said that if Meta added Bitcoin to its balance sheet, it would be a big deal.   Yeah. It would be a big deal. Quote,   if Meta or Microsoft adds BTC to the balance sheet, it will be like when Tom Hanks got COVID.  

Suddenly, it feels real,   Balchunas said. That is a terrible way to put this.   The hell's Eric, what the hell's wrong with you?   Anyway,   despite all the hype   and arguments for Bitcoin, the tech giant's board of directors opposed the measure.   The board said the company already has a treasury management process in place that prioritizes   capital preservation and liquidity.   Quote, while we are not opining on the merits of cryptocurrency investments compared to other assets, we do believe   the requested assessment is unnecessary   given our existing process to manage our corporate treasury,   Meta's board noted.  

That is the exact same argument, by the way, that Microsoft shareholders   or the board of directors said   when the Microsoft shareholders voted down,   the their their proposed Bitcoin treasury.   It's the exact same argument. We already we already look at these things. We make our own decisions. We don't need anybody telling us what to do is essentially what they're saying. But   the board   also noted that it reviews many investment options and sees no need for a separate review process specific to Bitcoin.   The decision shows the broader hesitation of large cap companies to get into Bitcoin as part of their financial strategy. And   while companies like Saylor's Strategy are adding Bitcoin to their treasuries every chance they get,   Microsoft, Amazon, and now Meta   are taking a more cautious approach. I wouldn't call it cautious. I'd call it stupid.  

They don't have to go whole hog.   It kinda makes you wonder, why are they not even buying just a little bit?   I mean, you know, they'd sink a million you know, Meta sinks a million dollars into Bitcoin.   You know? What what what's stopping them? Nothing. A million dollars to Meta's fucking chicken   feed. It doesn't make any   difference to them.   So the question is, why are they not just kind of tapping it a little bit? See, you know, kicking the wheels a little bit.   I mean, there's, again, there's no reason to go whole hog, but there's also no reason not to dump a million dollars, especially when it means nothing to your your corporate balance sheet percentage wise.   So   what's going on? Because I don't think this is I don't think this has anything to do with   being cautious.  

I honestly think there's something else at play here. But according to recent reports,   Meta is exploring ways   to integrate stablecoins   into its platform to enable global payouts.   This would be a reentry   into the digital asset space after the company shelved its Diem project due to regulatory issues,   a step that Bitcoin advocates deem unnecessary,   insufficient,   and irrelevant   to protecting the company's finances. And they we'd be right too. It is unnecessary.   It is insufficient and irrelevant   if they're just looking at protecting the company's finances,   their their treasury or their, you know, their corporate treasury, their balance sheet.  

But it is going to be necessary for them to play   on the stablecoin   stage.   I know. I know.   The only reason I mentioned stablecoins on this show is because they're not going away.   I don't have to like them to understand that they're not going away. I don't   go out into a hailstorm.   I I mean, I I don't like hailstorms. They do a lot of damage,   but I'm not going to sit here and, like, watch you walk out the door into a hailstorm and and not go, hey.   Don't do that. There's a hailstorm outside.   Hailstorms and stablecoins are not going away.   Right? They're going to cause damage,   and   you need to know about them. Okay?  

Facebook is is I guarantee you they're going to be a major platform   for the use of stablecoins.   If not this year, then next year. And if not next year, the year after. And if they wait too damn long,   somebody else is gonna take their place   because stablecoins are not going away.   In fact,   this entire story,   when we talk about Amazon and Microsoft and now Meta, all saying the exact same thing and they're using the exact same argument,   it just tells me that at this point,   there is a chance for other people   to take down Microsoft. I'm talking about, like, come up with their own operating system that is better,   more functional,   better engineering,   a better well run company,   except   that they have Bitcoin on their balance sheet.  

Amazon?   I see somebody taking that shit away from from,   Bezos.   The the the world's shopping market   is Amazon.   And Amazon, in their poor ass   vision for the future, is basically begging somebody to come along and replace them.   And Meta, Facebook is a pile of garbage.   Nostr is every bit of the replacement for not only Facebook, not only Twitter, not only X, not only Blue Sky, not only the Fetti verse,   Instagram,   YouTube, you name it.   It's going to happen. And if you think that YouTube is gonna or not YouTube. If you think that Facebook is actually going to be around in ten years,   it'll be around.  

There's all kinds of social media platforms that were around that are still around   that nobody I mean, Myspace is actually still functional.   It's still there. Nobody uses it, but it's still there.   Facebook's gonna be in that in that garbage heap.   It this is the time for the people that say that they would never be able to build something like Microsoft. Not only are you wrong,   this is exactly the time that you get to flip that over.   Just saying.   Alright.   Australia.   Fred Krueger over on Twitter says that on July,   it looks very likely that Australia   will pass the first tax   on unrealized   capital gains for people with over $3,000,000   of Australian dollars   in assets, which is about $2,000,000   US.  

And this includes unrealized capital gains on Bitcoin.   So if you have Bitcoin   and it goes up between 2025   and 2026,   you owe the government   15%.   Yep. You owe the government 15%   on the gains.   The ability to carry forward losses   is not explicitly   defined. So if it goes up, you definitely owe 15%   if you're Australian.   If it goes down, you there there may not be a way for you to carry forward those losses like   like you can on losses and investments in The United States.   If you own shares in something like   MicroStrategy,   well, no.  

Not my strategy, MSTR.   Yeah. You're gonna get hit with that shit as well. You're gonna get hit with 15% capital unrealized capital gains.   These unrealized   means you don't even have to cash it in and realize gains in dollar format,   whether your own fiat bullshit currency or somebody else's fiat bullshit currency. No. No. No. No. You can just, like, have   a Bitcoin.   You bought a hundred thousand and $4 Bitcoin   January   1 20 20 5 or yeah. 2025.   And if you see any   any gains   this year in that Bitcoin,   you don't even have to sell it.   You'll have to declare it to the Australian tax authorities, and you'll have to give them 15%   of the value of the gain.  

Not not on whatever the whole thing is, just how much you you gained. You'll say, I bought it for, like, a hundred thousand. It went to, like, let's say, it goes to 200,000.   You will owe $15,000   because you'll owe 15% on a hundred thousand dollar gain.   Not you won't have to pay 15% on $200,000   just what you gained. So if it goes from a hundred thousand to 200,000, you'll owe 15%   on the differential, which is a hundred thousand. That's $15 that you'll have to come up with   to satisfy the thieves that are the tax authorities.   Be aware.  

But also be aware of this. See, this is what I love about these kinds of bullshit   laws that like like unrealized cap gains laws.   Well,   you know what happened to Britain when they did the exact same thing?   Because   make no mistake,   United Kingdom   has already had this.   It's new, but, it's it's, you know, not not as new as the Australian   play. But you know what happened after The United Kingdom installed the unrealized capital gain?   Well,   unrealized gains tax receipts   fall 10%   as wealthy people moved out of Britain.   That's right.  

So The UK did some stupid maneuvering just like this. And what happened?   They were gonna get all kinds of money. Right? No. Wrong.   They lost 10%   on a year over year basis   of what they took in in taxes.   Because   these people, the wealthy people said, fuck you.   We're done here.   We're done.   And they left.   They just left,   which is what I'm gonna do to you right now. It is now right at an hour of the show. We've gone through many, many stories. I hope that you are prepped and ready to go for your week in Bitcoin, and I will see you on the other side.   This has been Bitcoin and and I am your host, David Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and hope to see you again real soon.  

Have   a   great   day.