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Episode 1225 of Bitcoin And . . . is LIVE! 

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Today's Articles:

 
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/12/05/small-texas-lender-monet-joining-field-of-crypto-focused-banks

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/argentina-moves-to-let-banks-offer-bitcoin-and-crypto-services

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/uaes-hails-btc-as-a-key-future-finance

https://cointelegraph.com/news/strategy-bitcoin-treasury-buy-billion-stock-decline

https://bitcoinnews.com/p/french-bpce-bitcoin-trading

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[00:00:02] David Bennett:

It is 10:51AM   Pacific Standard Time. It is the December.   Wow. Cruising by fast. 2025.   This is episode twelve twenty five   of Bitcoin, and it's gonna be a short show today.   And it's not just because I I do have some stuff to do,   but honestly,   there's a couple of, you know, there's a couple of stories that are going on, but I just wanna hit the meat and potatoes and not give you any fluff this morning here on the Bitcoin ad podcast where it's all the news   you can use and more about Bitcoin and what's going on in the macro environment   around the world. And today, we're gonna start in Texas because over the weekend,   some news broke about a big old Texas billionaire,   and now he's a Bitcoiner.  

Let's find out exactly what the hell this means.   Small Texas lender, Monet,   joining field of crypto focused banks.   This one's written by Jesse Hamilton   and it's, for CoinDesk.   Mote Bank,   a small Texas community bank owned by a billionaire political supporter of president Donald Trump,   has stepped into the field of crypto lenders,   billing itself as an infrastructure   bank,   whatever the hell that means, with a focus on digital assets,   quote,   Monet is focused on being the premier   digital asset financial institution,   providing   innovative and forward facing solutions   for the digital economy. You better put a tie on that suit speak, according to its website, anyway.  

Though,   at less than $6,000,000,000   in assets and slightly more than $1,000,000,000   in capital according to Texas state records,   the institution would be considered   a very small   community bank.   The Texas lender opened in 1988   as Beal Savings Bank   and earlier this year changed its name to xD Bank   before changing again two months later to Monet.   The state chartered institution is regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation   and has six offices according to federal data.   Now here's here's the owner,   Andy Beal.   He founded   Beal Financial Corp   and is known as a high level poker player. Of course, let's bring in the d gens. And a major 2016   backer of Trump's successful presidential campaign.  

Having funded his own political action committee.   The information first reported on Monet Bank's shift   to focus on digital assets   earlier   Friday.   It joins a slowly growing field of banks   aiming to serve the crypto industry. In October, the office of the comptroller of the currency, the OCC,   granted   a conditional charter to Erebor Bank, which sounds something out of it like it's out of a Tolkien novel or something, A new tech focused firm backed by Founders Fund   or rather   Founders   Fund's   Peter Thiel, who has also invested in CoinDesk,   the parent bullish.  

And earlier this week, former Signature Bank executives launched   Next, which is spelled n three x t because, hey,   we're all elite speaking over here now. A narrow bank chartered as a Wyoming   special purpose depository   institution   that says it will settle payments instantaneously   through a private blockchain. Yeah. Nothing to fear here. The shift comes amid a broader change in how federal bank regulators are approaching crypto.   Since Trump took office,   his regulators have withdrawn existing guidance,   warning banks under their supervision to be careful handling crypto   and published fresh guidance aiming to let the crypto industry   have better access to banking services.  

The FDIC's   acting chair, Travis Hill, he told lawmakers that his agency also expected to propose rules for the crypto industry tied to the stablecoin focused Genius Act   during a hearing earlier this week.   Beal's company   did not immediately respond to a request for comment,   sent to the media line at its affiliate, Beal Bank. Okay. So the Beal's in Texas,   kind of a kind of a deal. In fact, I went to school with a couple of the Beal children   in Midland, Texas. Do I know if they're related?   I don't know. But they were   really rich.  

I mean, they were, like, in like, freaking insane   rich. So it's possible.   It is possible that, that those Beals in Midland were related to this Andy Beal guy. It doesn't really matter.   If you actually look at the background of Andy Beal, that dude is, like, loaded with cash.   And this bank, this Monet Bank, while it may be small,   it's it's Andy Beal's bank.   Right? So, sure, it's a community bank. Sure, it's small.   It's backed by a guy with, like, a $135,000,000,000   or something like that. You know, it's not Elon Musk rich, but   real a 135,000,000,000.  

I I consider that pretty wealthy. But here's the other aspect.   What was I saying last week?   Banks are gonna fall like freaking dominoes, and over the weekend,   we've got one of Texas'   richest men   and his bank   going full bore into Bitcoin and of course he's gonna do shitcoinery too but,   you can't win them all   And you can't win them all in Argentina either. Or can you?   Because Argentina,   if we go down south,   moves to let its banks   offer Bitcoin and crypto services another domino down.   Micah Zimmerman from Bitcoin Magazine tell me all about it, sir.   Argentina   is considering   considering   a major shift in its approach to Bitcoin.  

Argentina's   central bank, not not not a community bank, not a store corner store bank. No. No. No. No. No. Argentina's   central bank, the Banco Central de la Republica   Argentina, the BCRA,   is reportedly drafting rules that would allow commercial banks   to offer Bitcoin and crypto trading and custody   services   for customers.   If approved, the new regulations   could take effect as early as April 2026, and the potential change would reverse a plan or a ban put in place in May 2022.   Because at that time,   the BCRA   prohibited banks from carrying out or facilitating   operations   involving digital assets, citing concerns about, of course, financial stability and yeah. Let's go ahead and wrap it in money laundering. I'm surprised they didn't throw some children in there as well. But since then,   crypto activity in Argentina has largely taken place through informal channels   or offshore exchanges.  

Under this new proposed framework, banks in Argentina   could integrate crypto services directly into their apps and accounts,   allowing for the trading and custody of select cryptocurrencies, of course, including Bitcoin.   Well, these operations would be conducted through separate legal units   subject to higher capital security and liquidity requirements.   Additionally,   banks would be required to fully comply with know your customer   and anti money laundering standards in alignment with regulations set by Argentina's   National Securities Commission.  

So officials   have signaled that the move   is part of a broader effort to modernize financial services.   Argentina has experienced years of high inflation and strict currency controls,   pushing citizens to use cryptocurrencies   as a way to preserve savings. Gee.   Maybe stop messing with your money? Well, whatever. It's too late now.   It's over for fiat currencies. The damage is already done.   It's   been it's like the damage has been tattooed permanently onto all fiat money.   The you're not getting that shit off.   You're not cleaning that up. There is no tattoo   to tattoo removal service that has ever worked. You will always be scarred. It does not matter   how effective your laser technician is. You're not getting   the tattoo that says shitty money   off of the United States dollar and all the rest of the fiat currencies.  

That's just fact.   The damage is already done, so   they might as well here do do that here in Argentina. But according to Chainalysis,   Argentina   actually ranks fifteenth globally   for active crypto wallet users with around 10,000,000 accounts between July 2023 and '20 June 2024,   the country processed an estimated 91,000,000,000   on chain transactions,   more than 60% of which involve stablecoins.   Bitcoin friendly president   Javier   Millet has influenced the policy shift since taking office in December 2023 and advocated for broader financial freedom, including   access to alternative currencies.  

Under his administration, the BCRA   has signaled a willingness to at least rethink prior restrictions.   Local banks have shown interest in reentering the crypto market.   Some had already experimented with in app trading tools before the 2022 ban.   Now they are preparing systems that could support regulated crypto services once approval is granted.   The move mirrors regulatory trends in other regions like in The United States and the repeal of the Securities and Exchange Commission's SAB one two one in January   2025,   and that allowed major banks like Citi and State Street to plan crypto custody services.  

And then European banks   have also increasingly integrated crypto offerings for its own retail clients. Argentina's   draft framework is as yet, of course, not final.   Authorities are evaluating risk controls, reporting standards, and which assets banks could actually support. They have emphasized the need to balance innovation with consumer protection and market stability.   But if implemented, Argentina could become a model   for combining traditional banking   with digital assets in a high inflation economy.   Observers note that the country's experience could offer lessons   for other nations   where citizens rely on crypto to hedge against currency devaluation. The BCRA   has not confirmed a final timeline,   but internal sources suggest a decision   could come by April   2026   per report. So Argentina   as an entire country   is now looking at their banking system saying,   yeah, we need these dominoes to fall too. So it's not gonna be   it's not just in, you know,   singular banks that are falling like dominoes.  

It's banks inside of entire countries.   Banks inside of entire countries are just gonna say, fuck it. We gotta do this.   Otherwise, we're gonna be in a hog waller with a whole bunch of hogs that love to get dirty. And if you got dirty, go to my friend SoapMiner at soapminer.com   and get yourself clean.   You too can get away clean with SoapMiner at soapminer.com.   That's soapminer.com,   where you can pick up bars of handmade   tallow soap. Maybe he should call them blocks, bright blocks of handmade tallow soap.   He's got all kinds of handmade   tallow soap. This is this is not a big big, operation here. That's why he's in the circle p, which is where you are. It's where I bring plebs with goods and services just like you to plebs just like you who wanna buy those goods and services, but you're buying them in Bitcoin because if you ain't selling it in Bitcoin, you ain't in the circle p. Soap miner is in the circle p because he sells soap miner soaps for Bitcoin.  

Cedarwood tallow soap,   pine tar tallow soap, goat's milk tallow, lemongrass,   orange clove, lavender, tea tree,   peppermint,   Earl Grey.   He's got he's also got body bombs. He's got deodorants.   This is all 100%   grass fed beef tallow.   Tallow soap. There's no preservatives. There's no weird weird dyes.   If if the soap comes in color, it's probably because because it's got some kind of colored sand in it, like naturally occurring sand. Like, let's look at the cedarwood tallow soap that is a a very nice   dark chocolatey looking soap here. What's in it? Of course, grass fed beef tallow,   pine tar, cedarwood oil, lye, and distilled water. Oh, so the pine tar is what's giving it its color.  

Let's look at at orange clove tallow.   Moroccan orange clay.   It's not a dye, and this is a beautiful bar of, like, a deep rose   colored hand soap. And by the way, these hand soaps, they last freaking forever. I got a family of four. It took us two months to get through one of these things. I'm serious, man. It wasn't a you know, it wasn't for the bathtub. It was hand soap, but still, I got two kids, and there's two adults in this house. Are are you are you kidding me? This thing lasts two months.   And this one, this particular bar of soap is this lovely shade of, like, rose pink. Right?   So how does he get the color?  

He uses clay.   He doesn't use food dye. He uses clay. It's Moroccan orange clay,   orange essential oil,   clove bud essential oil, lied and distilled water along with, of course,   pure grass fed beef tallow. It's the best soap in the business. It's the best soap on the market. Use the code Bitcoin and to get 10% off your entire purchase at soapminer.com.   Go to soapminer.com.   Use Bitcoin and as a coupon code. Get away clean   with soap miner at soapminer.com.   Now The UAE,   United Arab Emirates security general hails Bitcoin   as a key pillar   in the future of finance at the Bitcoin   MENA conference. Micah Zimmerman is also writing this for Bitcoin Magazine.  

At the ongoing Bitcoin   MENA conference, that's E,   M E N A, MENA or MENA, whatever.   UAE officials highlighted the nation's strategic embrace of Bitcoin as a core component   of the future financial system.   In a speech at Bitcoin MENA, Mohammed Al Shamsi,   representing   UAE National Security   this isn't a banker.   It's a national security guy speaking at Bitcoin MENA. He framed the current era as a historical phase for the global economy noting   that rapid   changes   are reshaping   finance worldwide.   Bitcoin is no longer   merely a digital asset, Shamsi emphasized, but is now recognized as a key pillar,   a key pillar   in modern finance.  

Central to this evolution is the role of mining described as the, quote, beating heart that underpins   network strength, security, and continuity.   Mining operations today are far beyond twenty four hour device management.   They represent a fully integrated industry   built on energy efficiency, computational accuracy, and scalable infrastructure.   The UAE's focus on Bitcoin   reflects broader ambitions   to establish itself as a hub for digital finance.   Shamsi underscored the importance   of building a sustainable ecosystem that supports   large scale mining operations   while maintaining   environmental responsibility.  

Efficiency,   precision,   and the capacity for expansion were cited as essential for this next generation mining infrastructure.   Recently, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council increased its Bitcoin exposure in the third quarter of this year more than tripling   its stake in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust to nearly 8,000,000 shares valued at $518,000,000   US.   The move came just before Bitcoin hit a record high and then dropped below $92,000   reflecting ADIC's   long term view as of Bitcoin as a digital counterpart to gold   with its diversification   strategy.  

Part of Mubadala,   ADIC, operates with its own mandate   and recently strengthened leadership.   The purchases highlight Abu Dhabi's ambition   to position itself as a global crypto hub and treat Bitcoin as a strategic long term asset.   Industry leaders at the Bitcoin MENA twenty twenty five conference in Abu Dhabi highlighted   The UAE's potential,   excuse me, the potential   to become the Wall Street of cryptocurrencies   due to its business friendly regulations and   growing crypto ecosystems   executives noted that attracting top talent,   bitcoin whales,   and capital inflows would create a liquid and influential   market   On Tuesday, December 9, from eleven to 11:30AM   local time, a panel at the proof of work stage will explore Bitcoin mining as a grid stabilizer   in emerging markets.  

And let's see who's on that. Mohammed Aleshki, Daniel Batten is gonna be on there. Eric Hirschman or Hirschman   from Gridless, and Luca Enfield,   from Munich International   Mining. So if you happen to be over there, I guess, in Abu Dhabi at Bitcoin Mina,   stop   in and say hi.   Let's run the numbers.   CNBC   Futures and Commodities and Energy sector getting pummeled this morning.   2.13%   down for Brent North Sea, $62.39   a barrel. West Texas Intermediate also down 2.16%   back to $58.79.   You go.   Natural gas losing seven   full points.   Back down under 5 to $4.91.  

I guess we're getting a heat wave in The United States or something.   Gasoline is down 2% to a buck 79 a gallon. I haven't seen it down that low in a while.   And Mirbon crude is down two and a quarter   to $64.15.   Shiny metal rocks not doing well either this morning. Palladium   is the only thing in the green. It's up by two thirds of a point, but gold is down two thirds of a point.   $42.15   and 2 dimes for our favorite shiny metal rock. Platinum is down a fifth of a point.   Silver is down one and a quarter, and copper is down a half.   Ag is, mostly in the red today. There are some bright spots.  

Rough rights is up 2.15%.   It's our winner today, and our loser   is coffee, down almost two points.   And let's see here. Where else? Where oh, live cattle is down.   A short row of sticks point 11%   in the red. Lean hogs up point 12%.   Feeder cattle, damn near a point loss on that one. Not gonna make my rancher friends happy.   S and P futures down   two thirds. Nasdaq down two thirds. Dow is down two thirds, and the S and P Mini is down   two thirds.   Breaking news. Trump, New Jersey US attorney, Alina Haba, has stepped down.   Other than that, I have no idea why these markets are doing what they're doing other than,   probably   pre   FOMAC,   or or Fed meeting,   jitters is the only thing that I can I can figure? But on to Bitcoin,   which is, of course, lost its $91,000   handle, like, twice over the weekend.  

We're   still chilling out at 90,050.   That's a $1,800,000,000,000   market cap.   And we can get 21.5   ounces of shiny metal rocks with our one Bitcoin of which there are   19,959,238.66   of an average fees per block or low 0.02   BTC,   taking in fees on a per block basis.   There are,   I don't know, 21 blocks carrying 25,000   unconfirmed transactions   waiting to clear at one sat per v byte, low priority   point   one sats per v byte, and   still in Zeta Hash territory,   chilling out 1.03   Zeta Hash's per second. That's the power of the Bitcoin   hashing network right now.  

And then onto   Russian bear exports.   Holy shit.   Oh my god, dude, Jay.   Dude, 50,000   sats. Thank you, Jay.   I haven't been listening to any pods in the past month or so, but I know you've probably been killing it as usual.   Cheers and Merry Christmas.   Jay, you just made my day. Spitball marksman with $22.34.   Don't know shit's gotta be deep at that red herring feedlot. Uh-huh. Mhmm. I hear you pal.   And Paul Sernine with five hundred says, thanks for another great episode.   Love the way you present the news mixed with your own take on the subjects, and I appreciate the occasional rant as well. Keep up the good work and keep enjoying chocolate as do I. See you on the other side, mate.   I will, Paul. I hope to get to meet you in person one of these days.  

T k suit coin dot e x e.   I know who this dude is. He's changed his name. 10,000   sats, brother. Thank you. I appreciate that.   Do do do do do. That's getting back to electric money, I believe. That yeah. That's actually back to electric money.   Did I read this? Hold on.   Hold on. I I I believe okay. No. No. I haven't.   I believe   this was the episode where you ignorantly   oh, ignorantly spouted the idea that intellectual property is an idea worth keeping. But the entire notion that you can own an idea is farcical.   If I share an idea with you, and you with me, we both now have two ideas.  

The nature of information   is that it's easy replicable.   You can never own an idea. Proof of this is your Bitcoin private key.   The only reason you own the Bitcoin associated with this key is because you share it with no one.   As soon as you share it with another, it's no longer yours.   It's actually a good point. The notion that nobody would build anything if there wasn't a patent,   cartels inflicting violence   upon others is nonsense.   We made things for years and years before they were around. Patents stagnate   a market as those that come up with the idea no longer have to iterate upon said ideas and make them better can just sit on their ass and sue anyone who tries.  

And and they do. He's he's not lying here.   The more ideas we have and the more people attempting those ideas mean we have more things. More things is what makes us more wealthy. See, I disagree with that.   Things to me   I mean, unless it's, like, really fucking you useful,   it's just clutter.   Like, it's like I I have, like, I have a Lamborghini.   That's the thing.   Does that make me wealthy? Well, I would have had to come up with a shit ton of money to go buy that, but what does it do for me?   Nothing.   It's clutter.   I mean, unless I'm gonna go drag racing for money and get good at it and start winning, then the Lambo   doesn't do a fucking I can't even I can't even go to the grocery store   and get more than a couple of bags of groceries with a Lambo.  

It's it is a ridiculous   car, yet   yet people view it as wealth   or a symbol of wealth.   But it's a thing. I'm just saying, man. So things to me   is one of the reasons we've gotten ourselves into this issue in the first place, but I don't wanna I don't wanna   get too far into that because he's got some more here. I added my own podcast below with an episode that clearly makes the case against   intellectual property.   IP is a Marxist socialist hellhole   and an idea   and needs to be done away with. You're a smart man, Dee. With your two brain cells, rub them together and learn, my friend. See, I and I it's I'm not gonna dis I'm not gonna disagree with,   with this guy.  

And I I can't remember his his actual name here. He's going by t k suit coin dot e x e, but that's that's not who this is. I I know this dude because I can I'm looking at his avatar and I'm like, oh, I can't remember who this guy is.   He's   there is a huge deal about intellectual property, and   I get it.   It's an important conversation to have.   And   the people that that I've always listened to that say, it like like TK says, you know, there's   first of all, there's no such there shouldn't be any such thing as intellectual property in the first place because of his notion of of information exchange. I don't disagree   with that camp.  

But then I look at at, like, somebody who writes a book.   Okay? Some   I'm not talking about a patent.   Right? That's   that's part of this discussion clearly, but I I'm just thinking of of writing a book.   And, like, I I do a lot of work on this book,   and I release this book. And if there's no intellectual property rights,   then somebody else can just copy that book word for word   and   have a better marketing team.   I did all the work,   but they make all the money and I have zero recourse.   Why would I ever attempt to write another book?   I don't do this shit for free.  

Because do writing writing a book, doing the work to actually put a pen to paper or keys on a key fingers on a keyboard   doesn't put food in my stomach.   It doesn't put shoes on my kids' feet.   This is the other side of that argument.   And   I know that Alex Jones will say, oh, cognitive dissonance is when you can hold two opposing ideas in your head and it can causes confusion.   Bullshit.   It   It's like you're trying to think you're you're literally looking at an argument. Every argument you see has two sides to it. Otherwise, it's not an argument.   But in this particular case, it's an important argument. And it's also important to respect   the people that don't think intellectual property should exist.  

I also respect the people who thinks that it should.   I happen to align   with the people that think it should because nobody   has been able to tell me how I'm going to be able to protect my ability   to convert my time and energy   into something that puts food on my table   without it being absconded   by somebody   else. See, that that's my issue here. And it really does boil down to books. Right? I mean,   patents, I don't even wanna get into it. Let's just talk about books and podcasts and, like, content creation.   You know, like, if I do art, if I if I'm a great artist and I, like, do these really kick ass pencil drawings   and somebody just comes into my house and just, you know, at gunpoint takes them and sells them as their own. And they're so good, they get millions of dollars for it. I can prove   that I did those.  

But if there's no intellectual property rights, who the fuck cares?   You just walk in my house, take my shit that I made, and you can make money on it, and I get fucking nothing out of it. This is sort of where I center in on this particular   argument.   Now here's where I would change my mind.   Prove to me beyond any shadow of a doubt   that without   any intellectual property rights whatsoever,   nobody is going to   steal my shit and sell it as their own,   thereby forcing a situation where I never wanna make anything ever again.   You if you can make that argument,   I will 100%   agree that there should not be intellectual property rights.  

But if I am out to create something,   if I want to do that for a living   and somebody absconds with that living and I have no recourse,   then I'm never going to do that again. I'm never gonna be creative again. It's not worth it.   So that's sort of where I where I come from there.   Who else is here? Jason High with two fifty says resist tyranny,   maximize liberty, decentralize everything. Nick Dose with one sixteen says cheers.   Cheers, brother. Let's see if I can find my good friend.   Nope. Nope. Oh, man.   Oh, man. Pies isn't here. Pie wait. Is Pies here?   No pies? No. No pies.  

Well, that's the weather report.   Welcome to part two of the news that you can use.   Cointelegraph   is first up today.   Ezra Reguera is gonna tell us all about strategy's Bitcoin treasury   because they bought more Bitcoin.   Like I said, it's gonna be a short show today, people.   Michael Saylor's strategy has expanded its Bitcoin treasury yet again,   buying nearly $1,000,000,000   worth of Bitcoin even as digital asset treasury inflows cool,   and its own stock trades sharply lower on the year.   Michael Saylor announced on x that the company bought 10,624   Bitcoin   for 962,700,000.0   at an average price of $90,615.  

So he's underwater on that entire purchase as of right now,   per coin last week. The move brings strategies total holdings to 660,624   Bitcoin acquired for approximately $49,350,000,000   at an average price of 74,696   per coin. The move comes during a pretty rough stretch.   Yeah. They hit a rough patch there for strategy's equity.   According to Google Finance, strategy shares recently traded around a $170,   down 51%   over the past twelve months.   Yeah. But, you know,   six years ago, it was trading at, like, $8.   Only six years? I mean, come on. What kind of time horizons do we really need here? Oh, well, despite this, the company has billions   in unrealized   gains on its BTC holdings. And according to treasuries or bitcoin treasuries.net,   strategy's current BTC holdings are worth about 60,000,000,000,   more than 22%   above the firm's aggregate   cost basis.  

At the Bitcoin MENA event in Abu Dhabi, so I guess Sailor's there, Sailor said that he had been meeting with sovereign wealth funds and a diverse range of investors,   including people who run banks and family offices to discuss Bitcoin.   Quote, my message, by the way, is very straightforward.   My message is   we now have digital capital.   Bitcoin   is digital capital. It's digital gold. On top of digital capital,   we have a new asset class called digital credit.   Digital credit strips the volatility   from the capital   and provides   yield,   Saylor said.  

I don't know, man.   Strips the volatility from capital to provide   yield.   I don't like that one bit. But despite a downturn in strategy stock prices, the company's chairman consistently reaffirms their belief in the asset,   saying recently that they won't back down from their Bitcoin bet.   And then they talk about debt flows and a whole bunch of other stuff. And, honestly, it's it's   all the items that I covered last week and the week before, And there's no reason to rehash them here. So   let's go get a croissant   over in France   where the Frenchies and their banking system are doing stuff and reaching for things.  

Banking giant   BPCE   opens bitcoin trading for millions   millions of customers   and they're all French.   Maybe not. Who knows? But NEMA for   bitcoinnews.com   says   France has taken a big step into digital finance with group   BPCE,   the country's   second   largest   banking group, reportedly launching digital asset trading   for its customers.   This means its customers will be able to buy Bitcoin directly from their banking app, something that used to require a separate third party exchange.   The announcement came from the Big Whale, a local digital asset news outlet on Saturday.   Starting on Monday, that would be today,   users of two of the banking group's entities,   Bank Popular   and Casi de Espange,   have will have access to four major digital assets, Bitcoin   and three other three shit coins. Oh, no. 2 shit coins and a stable coin, but they're not using Tether. It's USDC.  

At first,   the feature will only be available to around 2,000,000,   consumers,   but   the bank plans to expand it to nearly 12,000,000 users by 2026.   GroupBank   Populaire and Group   whatever, became part of Group BPCE   in 2009   when the two mutual banking groups merged after the February   and problems   at their joint investment bank, Natixis.   Interesting name. Even though they now share the same   BPCE   parent,   both groups   keep their own brands,   their own regional banks, and their own cooperative   structures,   and continue to operate as separate retail networks within   the larger umbrella of BPC. E. The new option will appear inside the regular banking app, but traders will happen through a or trades for rather trading   will happen through a special digital asset account.  

This account will be run by Hexark,   BPCE's   digital asset subsidiary.   There is   a €2   what? 2   how do you say this?   It costs €3. It's €2.99.   I don't know what is there a like, is it €2 and cent 99¢?   Is it how do what what's a fraction of a euro?   Somebody tell me what a fraction of a euro is. Do do I have a name for that shit? Anyway, whatever. It's a monthly fee.   $3 a month so that you can have the option   to trade   Bitcoin   through the banking app.   I'll bet you they don't get a lot of takers for that one. It it each trade,   you're gonna incur a new cost, 1.5%   with a minimum of €1   per transaction. Nobody's gonna go for this. Why are you even do so this is a waste of fucking time.  

Four euros?   You do one trade in a month, it's gonna cost you €4.   I was like, what? $7?   $6?   Whatever?   Whatever.   BPCE   says that the slow rollout is intentional.   By introducing the service step by step, the bank can observe how people use it and fix problems early and make improvements before expanding it to everyone.   This move is a major connection between traditional finance and digital assets.   Other banks across Europe are beginning to offer digital asset services as well. BBVA   already lets users buy Bitcoin and Shitcoin number one. And Santander's open bank allows trading of several digital assets. BPCE's   joining shows that digital assets are becoming more accepted in mainstream banking.  

And then they talk about Micah and a few other things that just kinda gives you some background into what's going on in Europe. But we've we've covered all of that on this show and more.   That is the last article for the day. If you do wanna find out   about what the hell is going on with Bitcoin every single day, at least Monday through Friday, join me here,   Bitcoin and   podcast, and I will tell you about all the news that you can use. I'll 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.