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Join me today for Episode 983 of Bitcoin And . . .
Topics for today: 

• Bhutan: In-Depth
• Bitcoin, Politics, And You by @arceris
• How BTC Works in Life Insurance
• The Haven Personal Relay For nostr
• Blackrock Dominates

#Bitcoin #BitcoinAnd

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Articles:

Bitcoin and Politics: https://stacker.news/items/746844

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bhutan-another-country-using-bitcoin-to-escape-poverty

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/10/30/bitcoin-profit-taking-continues-as-btc-price-nears-high-is-bhutan-next-to-sell/

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-life-insurance-is-offering-btc-hodlers-new-tax-advantages
 

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https://www.theblock.co/post/323656/blackrocks-ibit-dominates-as-spot-bitcoin-etfs-record-870-million-in-daily-inflows-largest-since-june

https://atlas21.com/florida-evaluates-including-bitcoin-in-pension-funds/

https://primal.net/e/note18azw29xyhxfhu02zcdghrnvrgvyfzfc46ad3f6s7752fvkp9gauq4qa7xg

https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/haven-relay-v1-0-0/

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[00:00:00] David Bennett:

Good morning. This is David Bennett, and this is Bitcoin and, a podcast where I try to find the edge effect between the worlds of Bitcoin, gaming, permaculture,   podcasting, and education to gain a better understanding of all. Edge effect is a concept from ecology describing a greater diversity of life where the edges of 2 systems overlap. While species from either system can be found at the edge, it is important to note there are species in the overlap that exist in neither system, and that is what I seek to uncover. So join me in discovering the variety of things being created as Bitcoin rubs up against other systems.   It is 10:11   AM Pacific Daylight Time. It's damn near again.  

The end of October. It's October 30, 2024.   And this is episode   983   of Bitcoin. And I got a lot to cover. Let's get right on into it. I want to start this show off with   Arceus   or Arceus. I think it's Arceus, but   he has written a couple of things for Bitcoin Magazine at various times and   he   wrote this on Stacker News and I think that this may be   something   we might want to consider. It's about politics,   Bitcoin,   and you.   He doesn't really have a title for it, but,   I think we should do this one. So let's start. I believe   that the idea that we can transcend politics to be naive,   if not outright deceptive.  

To say that we Bitcoiners   should keep our distance from politics   misunderstands   both the nature of Bitcoin   and the nature of politics itself.   Politics, in its essence, is not merely the province of governments and voting booths. It is the synthesis   of everything   uniquely human,   rationality,   aggression, diplomacy, calculation, violence, intelligence,   duplicity,   language,   and everything else that drives human interaction.   While many Bitcoiners   see politics through a lord slash surf   lens,   this is just one expression   of it. Admittedly,   one which has been dominant for most civilizations throughout history.  

Politics is not a machine that we can avoid.   It is the language we speak,   the strategy we wield,   and the consequences   we live. The concept of escaping it is a comforting myth   held by those who fail to recognize its perversive or, sorry, pervasive influence or, more troubling,   by those who hope to wield it uncontested   against those who claim exemption.   And furthermore, Bitcoin itself   is not just embedded within   the landscape of political expressions.   I believe it is a crystallization   of it.   Every feature of Bitcoin, its protocol,   its cryptographic   foundations, its consensus mechanisms   reflects a calculated assertion of power and autonomy.  

Bitcoin's cryptographic   robustness   is rationality made tangible.   Its proof of work is a bold display of aggression   against the unchecked   excesses   of the fiat empire.   Its consensus   protocol is diplomacy   enacted through decentralized   consensus.   Even the pseudonymity   of Satoshi Nakamoto is a political act. Harkening back to the Federalist Papers and revealing again how anonymity can protect revolutionary   ideas.   Each aspect of Bitcoin represents defiance   towards centralized systems,   a rallying cry for autonomy, and a meticulously   calculated plan for reshaping power.  

Yet,   Bitcoin's   political essence goes deeper   its very presence on the world stage is a strategic move to alter the rules of engagement forcing a recalibration   of political powers   on a global scale   Bitcoin challenges and refines political expression   by limiting certain forms of control   censorship,   seizure or inflation manipulation   while expanding others like financial self sovereignty,   borderless transactions, and uncensorable   asset ownership.   In this way,   Bitcoin isn't some outside force which tolerates or coexists   alongside the political sphere. It reshapes it from within.  

As long as humans desire autonomy, stability, and freedom, Bitcoin will remain relevant because it speaks to those desires through actions, not words.   Bitcoin isn't an escape from politics,   but a tool for reshaping it.   Every transaction is an assertion of self sovereignty   every mind block a testament to decentralization's   resilience   it reveals that political power does not always need a centralized authority   sometimes it resides within a protocol a network, a language, and a community willing to hold the line.   Bitcoin has built a political structure   of its own.  

One in which rules are enforced not by force, but by consensus.   Not by coercion, but by code.   Far from being passive bystanders bitcoin and bitcoiners   are active participants   in the political sphere and carry with them a message that is as bold and relentless   as its protocol   The future of power   belongs to those who claim it, secure it, and hold it in trust for the individuals   it empowers. And it is now our turn to take the lead.   Stephen LaVera references the statement,   quote, you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.   Clausewitz   famously commented that, quote, war is not merely a political act,   but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse,   a carrying out   of the same by other means, end quote.  

Bitcoiners like to point out that Bitcoin doesn't care what you think.   These statements all describe aspects   of a unitary   process which emerges from human nature.   Bitcoiners   must engage with the traditional political machine   both to protect and extend Bitcoin itself and to ensure the most positive synthesis   of the two systems.   Because Bitcoin is itself   just politics   by another means.   This is   a really powerful piece.   And you may not agree with it. You may wholeheartedly agree with it. You may not know what it is that I just talked about. It's okay.   It is okay.  

It is my humble opinion   that our source really did capture   a real fundamental truth.   Politics isn't something that we created   as humans. It's not a it's not a structure that we built because I don't know God told us to. It's that has nothing to do with that.   It was bound to happen.   It's part of the human nature.   Hell, there's even politics in wolf packs. There's the alpha male. There's beta.   You know, that's like it's   just the way it works. Politics are everywhere. There is it in the animal kingdom.   I could probably if I really dug deep into all the literature that I have about mycology   and soil,   there's a politic there.  

It just exists. It's part of the universe. It's not just human nature that politics is part of.   It's something that we can't put our finger on but it's present and it causes problems   our sources suggest here that Bitcoin reshapes   the way   politics   is   I   have a tendency to agree and you know me. I hate politics.   I don't want to be a politician. I don't want to take part in politics. I want to be left alone in my little cave in my hermitage out in the woods so that I can think and feel for free. But, you know, politics is still interested in me no matter where the fuck I am.   I think that if we think that if we just get rich enough,   if Bitcoin just gets   high enough it if it hits that that magical number in USD value for you   then you won't ever have to engage with politics ever again and arsaurus is telling you that that's wrong   It's wrong. It   I don't think he's saying that you have to take part in politics, although there is a suggestion here that we should.  

I think that what he's saying is that it really boils down to that you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you. And there is no escaping it no matter what the price of Bitcoin is.   And if   we realign   our thoughts and say, okay, maybe I shouldn't   absolutely   refuse to engage with any kind of political machine whatsoever under any circumstances. Instead of saying that, maybe we should start asking ourselves a question,   how can I use what I know   to reshape the political machine   in even the smallest way   into something that is not evil,   that is not oppressive,   that is not authoritarian, that's not totalitarian,   that's not communist, that's not Marxist, that's hell, if you want to say it, that's not capitalist?  

The human   spirit has been squelched   for decades.   Politics is one of those items that is used to squelch the human spirit.   It's only one of them.   There are others.   But it doesn't matter. I could name them, but it's not gonna matter because what we really need to look at is   where could we be as a species?   What could we have built already had it not been for x y and z?   We can ask ourselves that   but is it better to ask ourselves   I see the future for myself I have the idea in my head to do this other XY and Z and I think it would be good how can I affect that?   How do I begin that? And I have zero answer for you because I don't know you.  

I don't know what your history is.   I know what I can do for me and even then it's fucking hard   it's hard I've been doing this show for 6 years   and I keep thinking just one more show and something   something will magically unlock   and I'll see that light at the end of the tunnel but   that's that's not the way that I should be thinking.   It's how do I kick the wall down?   How do I punch through the blackness   to lit in the sunlight?   For me, we've allowed politics to become the black hole   and that we all feel that we're enveloped by it. How   do we punch through the black hole?  

Again, I can't answer that for you. And I can barely answer it for myself.   But I know it needs to be done.   Bhutan.   Let's do a little bit of an expose on Bhutan, shall we? I got a couple of things here and I got to make deadly sure that I keep this show,   to an hour because I got to go pick somebody up. But let's start here. Bhutan,   another country using Bitcoin to escape   poverty,   which is   political.   If you don't think that poverty is political, then you haven't been paying attention.   But Alex Frankenberg from Bitcoin Magazine   is gonna tell us all about it. Having invested in startups for over 20 years, I have a deep respect for entrepreneurs trying to build a company.  

It's so difficult.   And more often than not, it doesn't work out.   Developing a whole country, of course, is much more difficult.   Many leaders in developing countries don't even try.   They use their short time and power for their own benefit.   But some leaders give their best shot. Nayib Bukele made Bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador. Since then, the country has shown a remarkable development on many levels.   The Bitcoin engagement in Bhutan has been rumored for a while. A few weeks ago, we learned about mining operations in Bhutan   leading to a significant Bitcoin stack of around 13,000   Bitcoin and that's a lot Bhutan or Bhutan   is leading the world with a Bitcoin stack worth around 30% of its gross domestic product.  

Per capita, every Bhutanese indirectly holds almost   0.02 Bitcoin.   And at current prices,   8 times the average monthly   income.   All of the Bitcoin mining is done with 100% clean and renewable energy hydropower.   Bhutan is the only c o two negative country in the world and at the same time has the largest Bitcoin stack in relation to its size.   That gets Bhutan worldwide attention. And having traveled 6 days through this truly beautiful country,   then attending the Bhutan Innovation Forum and meeting so many great people, including his and her majesties,   I learned a lot about Bhutan, mindfulness,   their development strategy, and the role Bitcoin is playing. While traveling, I happened to see 2 Bitcoin mining sites, both were fairly large,   congratulating her majesty queen,   Achi   Shiring   Yangdon,   sorry if I butchered it, on their Bitcoin strategy, she smiles and offered to introduce me to his majesty,   Higigame.  

There's no way. I can't pronounce it. I am so sorry,   mister majesty, but he's the 5th king. We'll just say that. During a 15 minute conversation with him, he quickly stated, huddle, huddle, huddle.   He discovered Bitcoin around 2011.   And since 2019, Bhutan has been mining Bitcoin.   In 2008, when his majesty became the leader of Bhutan at the age of 28   and several times after, he clearly stated his mission.   Asking,   I have pledged my life and service for the well-being of our country and people, end quote. His majesty has been working hard for 16 years to honestly do that.   And it's quite a challenge.  

The economy is running a deficit. Dollars are scarce. Bhutan is highly independent on India, a neighbor, who in 1975 made Sikkim,   a neighboring kingdom, the 16th Indian state. But India is also helping, building roads, hydropower plants, and delivering   almost all of the Bhutanese imports.   The Indian rupee   and the Bhutanese   Ngultrum,   sorry. No way I could pronounce it, are linked to each other.   70% of the Bhutanese   economy   is based on agriculture.   Cost of living compared to average income is high. Many young people are immigrating to Australia or Canada for better income opportunities.   We have heard about domestic violence and alcohol issues contradicting the notion of the Bhutanese being the happiest people in the world.  

Like El Salvador,   Bitcoin is not the silver bullet. It's part of a bigger plan of innovation and modernization.   His majesty's biggest initiative is building a new center for entrepreneurs,   technology,   and mindfulness   called   the Gelafu Mindfulness   City, a multibillion   dollar project in southern Bhutan.   It involves attracting a lot of foreign investments and talent.   The other big initiative is Bitcoin.   Building on the most significant strength of Bhutan, cheap environmentally friendly hydropower. Also, its main export to India, the kingdom has stacked at least 13,000 bitcoin and maybe more.   Expecting a significant value appreciation,   they are, for the most part, simply holding.  

Only a little is sold. Bitcoin is about wealth creation.   With the Bitcoin bull run about to happen, in this cycle, Bhutan's Bitcoin stack could exceed its GDP and even foreign debt.   Bitcoin benefits   exceed pure value creation. They call bitcoin the energy battery.   In winter,   when there is a lot less rain and India uses less energy,   Bhutan   can use Bitcoin to import some electricity from India.   Bitcoin gives Bhutan access to hard currency like the US dollar or the euro.   Selling and importing more or less of everything to and from India, Bhutan is notoriously   short of foreign currencies.  

Bitcoin mining creates technical skills. The Bhutanese are capable of running and repairing the mining rigs themselves.   Bhutan easily can become a worldwide   competence center for clean Bitcoin mining.   The newly acquired skills can be expanded to other technical areas. For example,   Bhutan implemented a digital national ID card on the, god forbid, the Polygon blockchain. Oh, shit.   Using a wallet, the Bhutanese have access to many government services.   Around 20% of Bhutanese have signed up for it.   Know how around Bitcoin and general IT can be the basis for attracting foreign tech investors   and startups.  

Strategically, bitcoin creates some independence from its strong and still benevolent neighbor, India.   China is not much of an issue for Bhutan.   His majesty builds the bitcoin strategy   on the few but distant assets of Bhutan such as cheap energy,   very good English skills, a world leading image of mindfulness and harmony with nature, the capability of not only preserving its rich cultural traditions and history,   He aims to improve the happiness of his people including, but not only, its standard of living. Clearly, Bitcoin can be the key element and driver for Bhutan's future.   Talking about Bitcoin to government officials in Bhutan, we sensed some shyness, which makes a lot of sense. Bitcoiners don't brag about   it. Bhutan still needs a lot of help from developed countries and international organizations.  

At the conference, I overheard the sentence, quote, I tried to get him to sell, but he refused.   HODL, hodl, hodl is what his majesty told me.   For sure,   Bitcoin is creating significant benefits for the Bhutanese on top of value creation. And at age 44,   after 16 years in power, his majesty seems to have the long term vision to develop this beautiful country in the Himalayan mountains and plenty of time to implement it. As we can see around the world, it's a hell of a job.   Bitcoin clearly is significantly   improving the odds for Bhutan.  

Okay. That is, again, Alex Frankenberg who spent some time in Bhutan.   And this is, honestly, this is the first   piece that tells me more about Bhutan   than I have really ever known.   I don't I mean, I know more well, more about El Salvador. And, hell, I knew more about El Salvador than I did about Bhutan before Nayib Bukele came to power,   simply because it's on this side of the world. I didn't even realize Bhutan was a thing until I heard that well they had been doing bitcoin mining   and that's embarrassing that's not really being   culturally   literate   certainly doesn't you know doesn't   help me with my geography, which my geography skills along with most Americans   kinda sucks.  

But we've got one more thing about Bhutan.   Now, this   goes back to what I was talking about yesterday   with the movement of the Bhutanese   coins   over to Kraken   and Binance. So   this is at a CoinDesk   written by James von Straaten and Sharra Malwa. Bitcoin profit taking continues as BTC price nears high.   Is Bitcoin the next to sell? I don't know. Let's find out.   The Bhutan government,   which now holds over $900,000,000   worth of Bitcoin, moved a chunk of its holdings to exchanges on Tuesday, according to ARCEM Intelligence,   sparking speculation that they might sell.  

Bhutan moved $65,000,000   worth of Bitcoin to crypto exchange Binance late Tuesday, as the largest cryptocurrency neared a lifetime peak of above 73,500,   Arkham data shows.   Now BTC has dropped to around 72,400   as of midmorning   in London according to CoinDesk.   The tiny picturesque   Southeast Asian nation emerged as a BTC whale earlier this year   after Arkham identified wallets belonging to Bhutan for the first time, making it the 2nd nation after El Salvador to officially hold   Bitcoin.   The country's Bitcoin holdings represents nearly a third of its domestic gross product   or sorry, gross domestic product, and were gained through mining operations run by state owned Druck Holdings.  

Bhutan's investment in digital assets is part of a broader strategy by Druck   to diversify revenue streams with recent wallet activity showing both deposits and withdrawals, including   significant transactions with exchanges like Kraken, An email to the department on the bitcoin movements,   2 exchanges,   and any related plans did not receive a reply. Well, of course not. Meanwhile,   drug wallets tracked by arkham show brisk deposit and withdraw activity in the past few weeks. It has received up to 2 Bitcoin from Foundry, another miner,   and other unidentified   Bitcoin addresses several times over the past week.  

Well, is there profit taking? Well, I don't know. Bhutan's   BTC movements are part of a broader trend of profit taking among whale as the cryptocurrency   price approaches a record high set in March. And as more holders   move into profit and look to lock in gains, oh, for god's sakes, their market activity may slow the climb towards the record. CoinDesk Research noted earlier this month.   And since October 17th when the research was published,   profit taking has not abated.   But it still seems as though a new all time high is in the cards.   Even though realized profit in bitcoin peaked on October 8th and has started to slow down, which is a positive development,   we are still seeing higher profit taking than the yearly average. As of Tuesday,   99.7%   of the circulating supply of Bitcoin was in profit.  

With $1,500,000,000   of realized profit taken,   most of that has come from larger entities holding at least 100 BTC   according to Glassnode.   So there is some profit taking, but this has said nothing about whether or not Bhutan is actually profit taking. We did get a better sense of that in the story before where every once in a while they do sell a little bit of Bitcoin.   It makes complete sense.   But   what have I been saying?   Latin America,   Africa,   Balkans,   Baltics,   Far East Europe,   and Asia.   But not as much China. And there's a lot of small Asian countries, and we should probably be looking at them like we look at well, I I look at the small   Asian countries   like Thailand,   Vietnam,   Bhutan,   things like that,   In the same way that I that I look at Latin America. And I wish I could tell you why. It's just a gut feeling that I should probably,   for whatever reason, group those 2. And again, it's probably nothing but a gut feeling, but,   whatever.  

You want to talk about life insurance?   No. It's not an advertisement. Let's literally talk about life insurance.   Bitcoin life insurance is offering BTC   hodlers   new tax advantages.   Jonathan DeYoung writing for Cointelegraph.   As interest in cryptocurrency has grown over the years,   so too have the myriad applications for its use.   The OG cryptocurrency,   bitcoin,   is no exception as evidenced by 2024's   explosion of interest in exchange traded funds,   Bitcoin decentralized   finance,   and, God forbid,   ordinals.   God.   Stop it. Stop. Stop. Stop.   One such new use case for Bitcoin is its role in the life insurance industry   pioneered by meanwhile,   which describes itself as the 1st and only life insurance company denominated in Bitcoin.  

On episode 48 of The Agenda podcast,   host Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmon spoke with Danny Baer,   meanwhile's   director of wealth and asset management, to discover   how bitcoin denominated life insurance works and learn about the tax benefits it offers to BTC hodlers.   Quote,   rather than paying your premiums in dollars or having your life insurance policy grow in terms of dollars   or borrowing against your life insurance policy in dollars or when you die your life insurance policy paying out your beneficiaries   in dollars   All of that all of that happens   in Bitcoin, Bayer said.  

This means that if a customer has a, let's say,   10 Bitcoin policy,   its total value would be around $720,000   at today's prices. But its future value   in U. S. Dollar terms   could be astronomical   if bitcoin continues its climb upwards.   What we've tried to do is take an asset   that we view as very low time preference   in Bitcoin meaning that people should own it for a long time and marry that with one of the lowest time preference savings or investments or planning vehicles which is whole life insurance.   Baer explained   that a Bitcoin denominated life insurance policy has several tax advantages for long term holders.  

Quote,   oh, my cats are are starting to get into it, so there may be a cat fight behind me.   We'll have to deal with it. I'm sorry. I don't have an office. I have a house.   Quote, a primary driver of why people are buying our Bitcoin denominated whole life insurance policy is not even the insurance piece of passing on Bitcoin when you die. It's the key living benefit which is the tax free policy loan   yes you can borrow against the value of your policy   tax free   as Bitcoin   continues to increase in value alongside a policy, customers have an increasingly larger pool of funds to borrow against.   And because everything is denominated in Bitcoin, quote, you you borrow Bitcoin against it. And when you do that, it's like you get a new Bitcoin   with a new cost basis.  

It's an interesting idea, honestly.   Quote, let's just say you paid your premiums in at, $63,000   today and it's 10, 20, or 30 years from now and Bitcoin has gone to, let's say, 1,000,000 a coin.   You could borrow against the value of your policy, Bitcoin out, and its cost basis, which would be $1,000,000   So you could sell it immediately and have no capital gains tax on that transaction because you're selling it at cost.   End   quote. To hear more from Bayer's conversation with the agenda, including   how meanwhile manages   customers BTC and how payouts work and how the company is regulated, listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph's   podcast page.  

This is honestly an interesting idea.   I don't know if it's   I don't know enough about life insurance and whole life insurance   to, you know, recommend this.   But   one thing that I do know is that I think it's better to have   legacy financial instrumentation   converted into Bitcoin terms   than to come up with something new all the time. We're like, oh, well, we don't it's like, we've had life insurance forever. Clearly, it's wrong. We need to find something else. Well, maybe not. You know? Life insurance has been around for a long time for a reason.   I I it just has. I mean, it's it's like you you just you you kinda can't deny it. So maybe that means that life insurance itself as an idea is still a good idea.  

But as long as we keep denominating   it in failing currencies,   especially the fiat flavor,   well,   maybe we should do away with that shit. Right? Maybe we should.   Think about loans   in terms of Bitcoin.   I mean, you know me. I'm I'm not saying go take out the 3rd mortgage on your house to go all in Bitcoin.   I still think that that's a terrible idea   because at any given time, shit could go south. We don't know what the hell's on the if I were to look at it and say, if somebody were if God came down from the heavens and said, hey, Dave,   Look. I'm God. I guarantee you   the United States isn't going to make Bitcoin illegal.  

And, you know, honestly, no country is going to make Bitcoin illegal. And I can tell you for the next 5000   years,   electricity will always be flowing on the face of the planet and the Bitcoin's network will still be here.   Well, then, yeah, if I have no externalities   that could possibly   fuck up the psychology   of the hodlers and have them all sell because   the United States made Bitcoin illegal or something like that. If I had that assurance from God himself, then, yeah. Hell, yeah. I'd go take out a mortgage and a second mortgage and a third mortgage, and I borrow against my fucking car, and I'd go take payday loans, and I would max out credit cards   all the way to the top.  

Because I know that that's, generally speaking,   the only trajectory Bitcoin can have.   But it's for the time it's for the the elements and the externalities   that happen that we can't   know that I tell you, please, love of God, don't don't put a mortgage on your house that if shit goes south,   you're gonna lose your house. I don't think that that's good juju man, especially if you got a family.   But   life insurance?   This is an interesting concept of borrowing against a life insurance policy   with no capital gains tax.   It's a very interesting idea.  

I gotta look into this more because one of the things that that I have been thinking about, one of the ideas that   honestly just won't leave my head   is the thought of how do I build   a way to leave wealth   to all of the people in my family   as I die and as they die and as their children die.   But it's never an inheritance.   How do I build a structure that is more like a company   and that the my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren,   they don't ever take possession of the actual   wealth.   They just take possession of the control   and the directed   direction   of that wealth   as, like, literally directors of the company,   where they can say, we mandate that we're going to take, you know,   a distribution this month.  

Right? But it's not an inheritance wealth because, like, you know, past $45,000,000,   which is probably gonna be a less of a cap   if the Harris administration gets   in. Like, you could, like, be they could bring it all the way down to $1,000,000. If you if you've got, like,   $4,000,000   worth of assets and you leave it to your kids as a straight up inheritance   without any kind of other instrumentation to block that,   you're gonna pay half of that shit to to inheritance tax.   And people that have, like, large tracts like, today,   why that 45,000,000   mean what that means to farmers? Like, let's say, a poor ass farmer that's barely making it.  

Why does the $45,000,000   cap   mean something to that farmer when he's just barely making it?   Because the land that he sits on may be worth   $45,000,000 and if he leaves it to his children as an inheritance   and the Kamala Harris regime or the Marxist or socialist or the rest of the fucking communists have their goddamn way,   if he leaves that to his kids.   They don't have they don't have half of $45,000,000   to pay for that because they're going to look at the value of the land,   not what's in the bank account. They're gonna look at all the assets, not just cash.   Right? They're gonna look at jewelry. They're gonna look at, like, bars of gold. If they if you told somebody and prove that you have Bitcoin, they're gonna look at that. They're gonna look at land. Look at the value of everything. And if that shit hits 45,000,000 or 50,000,000 or whatever the cap is that we have in the United States right now, those kids are gonna have to sell half that land,   which means that the family farm now shrinks.  

That's why a poor broke ass farmer in the middle of fucking West Texas gives a shit about a $45,000,000   cap.   They don't have that in the bank,   but they may be sitting on that in the value of the land.   Especially in West Texas, where when you buy land, you buy the water rights and the mineral rights and the land. And if it's big enough, the air rights. You own the whole fucking thing from space to the core of the planet.   And if you're sitting on top of mineral rights, you could not have a 1,000 acres. You might only have 10 acres.   And somebody discovers that you own the mineral rights and that you're sitting on, like, 4, 5, 6 different reservoirs of oil and that shit could be made to look like $45,000,000   and you die and you pass that shit on as inheritance,   yeah, you're hosed, bro.  

You're hosed.   I'm just saying.   Man,   talking about numbers. Let's run some.   CNBC Futures and Commodities. Oil looking up today. 1.64   percent to the upside, back up to 68.31   a barrel. Brent, North Sea,   1.66   percent to the upside to 72.30   cents. Natural gas is down a half a point. Gasoline up above what's it? 1.5 percent   to just under $2 a barrel.   Gold is the only shiny metal rock doing well today. 0.69   percent to the upside.   Just peaked up above $28100.   That's an all time high for gold. Congratulations,   Peter Schiff. And I actually mean that from the bottom of my heart. You've been repressed for so freaking long. It's good to see a smile on your face. Silver is down 1.18%.   Platinum is down 3.49.  

Copper is down   sideways.   Play, palladium is down   5.85%.   Yay. And ag.   Ag is mostly in the green today. Biggest winner is gonna be   soybeans.   Oh, God forbid why. And the biggest loser today is cotton. It's down   a full percentage   point. Livestock. Live cattle is down 0.69%,   but lean hogs are up 2 points.   Feeder cattle are down almost a full point.   Oh, equity market's not looking all that great today. Dow is down   sideways essentially. It's, you know, point   1% to the downside.   S and P is down a 5th of a point. Nasdaq is down half a point. The S and P mini is the only thing in the green,   point   7   percent to the upside.  

Bitcoin,   people taking profit definitely today. We're back down to $71,750,   which is about where we were yesterday at this time.   That is a $1,420,000,000,000   market cap, and now we can only purchase 25.7   ounces of shiny metal rocks with our 1 Bitcoin, of which there are 19,775,174.24   of.   Yeah. Try that, Federal Reserve.   Average fees per block are low 0.05   BTC   taking in fees on average on a per block basis and there are exactly 100 blocks   carrying 200,000   unconfirmed transactions waiting to clear Oh, my God. At high priority rates of 3 satoshis per   v byte.  

Low priorities   also   3 satoshis per v byte. We have 752.4xahashes   of hash rate.   That is a 1 week rolling average. It looks like they've actually got this little   they've changed it. Over here on mempool.space,   it says hashrateparenthesesonewinparentheses.   Maybe I think that maybe that's new. Maybe it's not. I just noticed it today. So I'm going to assume   that a 1 week rolling average   of the hash rate now stands at 752.4   exahashes per second which is still   really high, man. I'm really high, brother.   God's death with 537   sats on my endowment is huge   says, thank you, sir. No, thank you.  

Pies a pleb, 420.   Thank you, sir.   No, thank you.   Wartime with 333 says, yes, this means cheers. And then he's got the little 2 clinky glasses together.   And then that's it. That's it. Not a lot of support today. If you wanna support the show, if you want me to go forward, if you want me to kick through the darkness and get that   sunlight,   so, you know,   sun sun   well, sun different parts of my anatomy, then please donate to the show, man. Show me your love. And if you can't donate to the show, then promote it.   Tell your friends about it. Put it on social media. Say, hey, man. This is a great show. You wanna find out what the hell happened to Bitcoin today and a couple of other things? Tune into the show.  

That's the weather report.   Welcome to part 2 of the news that you can use. BlackRock's   Ibit   dominates   as spot Bitcoin ETFs record   $870,000,000   in daily inflows, which is the largest since June. We just keep these   seeing these accelerations   in the ETFs.   There's reasons for that, but let's read this. This is from the block. It is written by,   Timmy Shen. Hey, Timmy.   The 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US reported total daily net inflows of $870,000,000.   And that's a Tuesday.   The largest since the 1st week of June. This was mainly driven by $642,870,000   in net inflows   into the Ibit ETF. That's   not grayscale.  

Yeah. Wait. Greg was grayscale. Yeah. It's grayscale. Right?   No.   BlackRock. Jesus Christ. BlackRock. It's BlackRock. BlackRock spot Bitcoin exchange traded fund recorded a $3,360,000,000   trading volume   daily.   A daily trading volume of $3,360,000,000   marking its highest volume since March 14th.   Fidelity's   FBTC   saw a $133,860,000   in net inflows, which is impressive.   While Bitwise's,   Bitwise logged inflows of 52 and a half million.   VanEck experienced,   16.52   in inflows and ARK and 21 shares,   12,390,000.   The 5 other spot Bitcoin ETF saw 0 flows.   There's not going to be   very much longer before we don't have 12   Bitcoin ETFs. Some of these are gonna drop out of the running. Okay? It's just going to happen.  

And people will go, see it. Bitcoin failed. The ETFs failed. No. It just means that   some people are better at marketing and have a much larger user base than others, and therefore, you had network effect, and therefore,   you got all the shit.   Oh, well. The total trading volume of the 12 ETFs surged to $4,750,000,000,   that's billion with a b, on Tuesday, which was up from $3,000,000,000   on Monday.   In a Twitter post, Bloomberg ETF senior analyst Eric Balchunas wrote that the largest trading volume for Ibit was a bit odd as bitcoin was up 4% at the time and typically   ETF volume spikes in a downturn or a crisis.  

Quote, occasionally, though,   volume can spike if there is a FOMO ing   frenzy,   said Balchunas.   Quote, given the surge in price over the past few days, my guess   is it's the latter, which means look for more big inflows this week.   We'll see though, end quote.   Bitcoin climbed 2.21%   over the past 24 hours to trade at 72   $1,471   after reaching a high of around   73,200.   Oh, look. And they go through they actually write a whole bunch of stuff on Ethereum ETFs.   I don't   care. Because Florida is evaluating   Bitcoin to include in their pension funds according to the newsroom from Atlas 21. Florida   is   evaluating,   not evacuating,   but evaluating   the possibility of including Bitcoin in state pension funds to diversify investments and protect against market volatility.  

The chief financial officer of Florida, which is the weirdest thing I've ever heard, it's like, is Florida a business or is it a state? Isn't that the comptroller?   Whatever.   The chief financial officer of Florida, Jimmy Petronas, has proposed   the idea of considering Bitcoin as a diversification   asset for public pension funds.   In a communication addressed to Chris Spencer, the executive director of the Florida State Board of Administration,   Petronas   suggested evaluating   the opportunity   to invest a portion of state pension funds into Bitcoin.   Petronas proposed   the introduction of a digital currency investment pilot program under the Florida Growth Fund.  

The program would allow investment of up to 1.5   percent of the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund.   Currently the SBA   manages over 30 funds including the FRS   the Florida Retirement System which held assets worth approximately $205,000,000,000   as of September 30   Petronas   Just I just sorry. I say that name and all I can think of is the Patronus   spell from Harry Potter. I know. I'm being a nerd. Patronus   emphasized that Bitcoin could serve as a protective hedge against volatility seen in other asset classes.   The proposal aligns with governor Ron DeSantis' efforts who has proposed the adoption of, God forbid, CBDCs.  

In the letter, Petronas urged the SBA   to prepare a comprehensive report on the feasibility,   risks and potential benefits of allocating a portion, a portion only,   of pension funds to digital assets.   The report must be completed by March 4th,   2025   ahead of the next state legislative session.   If Florida adopts the strategy, it would join other states like Wisconsin and Michigan, which have already introduced similar changes to their pension funds. Last May,   the state of Wisconsin investment board announced a 1 point no. Sorry.   $163,000,000   investment   in Bitcoin ETFs,   an allocation   of a mere   0.1   percent   of total managed assets in July.  

The Michigan State Retirement System revealed holdings of   110,000   shares in arc 21 shares ETF,   which is equivalent to 0.003   percent of total   managed assets.   Alright. So   if check this shit   out   if either one of those funds   if these measly pissant amounts   of money that they've stuck into these ETFs   What happens   if they actually become   substantial   percentage   whole percentage points   of the fund that they came from?   What happens?   You're going to get severe FOMO   by Wisconsin   and Michigan and the retirement system saying, look dude, we we put in like 0.1%   of this fund and we did it on this date.  

Now that value in fiat terms is actually   8%.   I could see that happening.   It's not impossible.   8%   of the fund from whence that money came to buy the bitcoin And all of a sudden you go, shit.   What would happen if we invested 1%? Then they start doing the math.   And then they start really,   really   getting FOMO.   I think it could happen. I really do. I'm honest to God. I think it might happen.   But then we have to ask ourselves a question, what happens in a bear downturn?   Because they always happen.   See, you can't   Let's see. How can you have your pudding if you can't eat your meat or if you don't eat your meat?   Sauce for the goose. In other words,   the odds are even.  

Alright. So, yes, we might see this huge climb. We might see pension funds just go freakishly   mad for this stuff. If if that 1.1%   of Wisconsin's fund ends up being 1% of the value of the fund from whence it came, you will see FOMO from Wisconsin's pension funds.   But then in the bear,   it goes back down to 0.1%   of the value   after   they've put even more money into it. Right?   It's all about balance.   It's all about trying to sort through the noise   and having the longer time preference. And that goes for everybody,   not just you and me, but for pension funds itself.  

Okay. On to zpayliveorzpay.live.   I can't pronounce his name. Ethan?   Iefan?   I e f a n.   On Noster says, zpay. Live is shifting its focus   to the value for value model.   Paywalls will remain an option, but we will prioritize   upcoming   value for value features. So here's what you can expect.   A crowd wall.   And that means that when a target is reached,   the content   unlocks   for everyone.   Right? So let's say I put up a, let's say I write a article about Forest Walker, which I'm actually working on. And if you haven't heard Forest Walker before, it's it's in the archive somewhere. You can, you know, just search.   If your, podcast app has a search function, type in Forest Walker for the Bitcoin and podcast. You'll probably find it, listen to it. But I've been working on an article for way longer than I should be, and I wanna release it, and I wanna put it on Bitcoin   Magazine or something like that or or someplace else. And I say, look, you can't read it unless,   you know, unless you pay me. Right? I put a paywall in front of it.  

But instead of doing that, let's say that I go, okay,   there's a paywall,   but that paywall   will open up for everybody   on the planet   if   I get, I don't know, a 150,000   satoshis.   So, let's say that a 10   people put in, you know,   would that be like 15,000   satoshis apiece or a 100 people put in like 1.5,   you know,   1500 satoshis.   All of a sudden, that that wall falls down not just for those people because they get to read it instantly once they pay that paywall,   but it the the   the addition keeps stacking onto each other until it hits a 150,000   total and then the paywall for everybody in the world just drops.  

I love the idea.   I think it's great. Another thing to expect from zpay. Live is value for value paywalls,   a flexible price.   Buyers   of an article, like let's say I put up the Force Walker,   those buyers of that article can choose their own price.   And creators can set limits if they want.   And that's shipping in a few days, whereas Crowdwall is, well, they just say it's in progress.   3rd,   Blossom built in storage and multiple files folder   upload option is also coming soon.   Do you have any further suggestions?   Well, if you do, direct that to   iefanat   [email protected].  

That's his, not that's a way to get to his nostril handle because I don't wanna read his in pub. It's just it's just whatever.   Z Pay is awesome. I've played with it a couple of times.   It's a great way to put it just a straight up paywall in front of your content if you wanna do that.   What's great about this is that even these guys are looking at Adam Curry's value for value model. This is the model that I have been using   ever since I started this podcast   and   actually got enough incoming,   liquidity on my lightning node to to make it work.   I don't take advertisements.  

And I think a lot of it is because I I just I don't put myself out there enough to try to get the advertisements.   Sometimes that I do every once in a while that I do, they don't wanna do it and I think it's because my show is just too small.   It's just not worth it to them. So I have to depend on people like you who say I want I want and enjoy what it is that you do. I like understanding what the hell happened to Bitcoin today. I like the way that you present it. I like the way all this blah blah blah blah blah blah. I like it. So you guys throw me donations.   You stream me satoshis.  

You you give me value,   your value,   for your perceived value to you of what this podcast is actually worth to you.   That's what that is. That's what value for value is. If you can't like I always say, hey, Ben, if you can't afford any satoshis or you don't have them or you don't want to give them away, then spread the show. Give me a 5 star rating on Apple Apple Podcasts.   Promote the show. Help me like, dude, like that. That's value to me. I I'm one dude. I don't have an office.   I don't have a back office. I don't have, like, 5 people working for me. I don't have any editors or writers or, you know, like the the guy that does the editing. You know who that is? Me. I'm the one that does the editing for the show.   It's me. It's all me, baby.  

And without value for value, I would literally get nothing for this show.   You guys have stepped up a lot.   You know, you guys really have. You stepped up a lot. Every show I release, I y'all stream me satoshis and y'all give me boostograms.   Sometimes they're larger, sometimes they're smaller,   It doesn't   matter. It's what what does this show   value for you?   Figure that out in your own mind. I don't have a minimum value. I don't say, hey, man. If you could just pop me a buck a day, every once in a while I'll say that, but I don't really think about it that way because it's kinda dumb. It's like, wow. You only value your own content at a buck a day? The hell's wrong with you? Why should I give you a buck? Hell, I'll give you 50¢ because, clearly, you think it's only worth a buck. See how this works?   That's why I ask you to donate to the show. But when you do   donate, donate what you think it's worth to you. That's how value for value works. That's what Adam Curry has been talking about for years.  

And it's amazing to see   all of these people on Nostr   start really looking at the value for value model, which means that the the entire   ecosystem   of podcasting 2.0,   which has always been value for value structured,   has not only fully collided with Noster,   but we're starting to we're starting to read each other's bodies.   You could say that, yeah, we're having sex.   Whatever perversion in your mind you've got to put up in front of yourself to understand what it is I'm trying to say,   fine. I'm just saying that we've got these two worlds. They have collided. And now we're actually starting to   release strands of DNA into the opposite bodies.  

And we don't know what the child of this is going to be, but I'll bet it's beautiful.   I'll bet it's beautiful.   I'll bet it's beautiful.   Haven   relay.   It's a haven relay. This is from no bullshit Bitcoin, by the way. Haven relay version 1.0.0   has been released.   Blossom Media and gift wrapped DM support.   Haven is a personal   Nostr protocol   relay   for storing and backing up sensitive notes such as e cash,   private chats, and drafts.   It offers features like web of trust,   inbox relay, cloud backups,   blaster,   old note import,   and an integrated Blossom media server.  

Nice. It's sort of like an army a Swiss army knife.   Quote,   we are YOLO ing into version 1.0.0   because this is now the ultimate personal relay. What else could you need? Announced UTXO.   So here are the features.   It's a private relay.   Only the owner can access this relay. It's used for drafts, e cash, and private notes protected by auth.   A u t h.   It's a chat relay. And this is used for DMs to the owner accessible only by trusted contacts   protected by auth and accepts only encrypted DMs   and group   chat kind of events   inbox relay you can send zaps reactions and replies here when tagging the owner It pulls notes from other relays, but but but only accepts notes   where the owner is tagged. Oh, that's interesting.  

Outbox Relay. The owner's public notes reside here.   All notes sent here are shared with other relays.   Only the owner can send, but anyone can read.   Then there's the Blossom media server.   This hosts images and videos. The owner can upload and get shareable links. Anyone can view the content.   Web of trust   protection from DM and inbox spam via web of trust filter   cloud backups   notes are backed up in the cloud and can be restored if the relay   is lost And then there's blaster.   Notes sent to the outbox are also blasted to other relays.   And then there's the import old notes. You can, in fact,   import your old notes and notes you're tagged in from other relays.  

And then there's some other kinds of stuff in here. But that that that does it for me, ladies and gentlemen.   I can't believe it. I had all that stuff to do. I've come in under the hour. I feel like a king of the world, man. King of the world.   Not really. It's just that if I don't get my ass up and out of this chair inside of 10 minutes with all the rest of the post processing that I gotta do for this show, I'm going to be in some serious trouble. So I'm going to say goodbye   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.