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Episode 1198 of Bitcoin And . . . is LIVE!

Topics for today:

• BIP-444 Uses Fear to Persuade
• MtGOX Extends Payouts For Another Year
• High Court: Bitcoin Legal Property in India
• China Ranks 3rd in Bitcoin Mining Despite Ban

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Today's Articles:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/trump-picks-crypto-counsel-michael-selig


https://cointelegraph.com/news/mt-gox-pushes-repayments-to-2026-as-decade-long-saga-drags-on


https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/10/27/japan-s-new-yen-pegged-stablecoin-is-asia-s-only-truly-global-token


https://decrypt.co/346030/wazirx-barred-redistributing-xrp-indian-court-affirms-crypto-property

https://opensats.org/blog/advancements-in-bitcoin-and-lightning-wallets


https://atlas21.com/bip-444-the-temporary-soft-fork-dividing-developers-and-the-community/


https://www.theblock.co/post/376268/ledn-record-bitcoin-lending-volume-q3-originations


https://bitcoinnews.com/mining/china-3rd-bitcoin-hashrate/


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[00:00:02] David Bennett:

It is 09:30AM   Pacific Daylight Time.   It's the October   2025,   and this is episode eleven ninety eight   of Bitcoin and only two   episodes away from 1,200.   Wow. Kind of interesting when think about it that way. Alright. So what else is interesting today? Well, you're here for all the news that you can use and more about Bitcoin   and worldwide economics, and we've got some.   Trump,   hey. He's got an SEC   pick.   Well, he's got actually, he's got a CFTC pick coming out of the Securities and Exchange Commission.   Mt.   Gox.   You thought it was over.   Maybe not. Then we're gonna go over to the Far East   to our friends in Japan who have launched the JPYC.  

We'll we'll we'll talk about it. And then   India,   a court case   okay. I gotta warn you about this one. Okay? It's a court case in India.   I'm bringing it to you because it has   major ramifications   for, like, what,   a billion people or so? I can't remember what the population of India is, but it's   clearly substantial. And India's always been kinda waffling on what they think about crypto.   And that,   they're going to include Bitcoin in that even though we all know that Bitcoin is not crypto.   The problem that you need to watch out for is that this is not going to be a story about Bitcoin.   It in fact, the court case is   specifically   well, it's about Ripple   and XRP.  

And I know I I get it. But the import of this particular court case for the billion or so, you know, people in India,   it's important enough that I'm going to I have to relax my little rule about   not covering   shit coins. I'm gonna have to cover this one because   because of what it means.   Then, thankfully,   thank god,   we're gonna be able to get back to Bitcoin and Lightning Network with the advancements in Bitcoin and Lightning wallets. It's a report that's been put out by OpenSats.   They're the guys that fund a lot of open source development through grants,   and they have a report as to what things have changed in certain projects, like, you know, Bitcoin safe and   Blitz Wallet and clams and and a whole bunch of other stuff. So we'll get into that one. And then a BIP four four four   seems to be well, we'll talk about it. It's it's gonna be important.  

Leaden will be in the news,   and China   is actually in the news. Apparently, they're very good at mining Bitcoin.   I thought it was banned, but, oh, well. We'll we'll get to it at the end of the show. Trump   has picked   Securities and Exchange   Commission crypto counsel,   Michael Sellig,   to lead   the CFTC,   that's the Commodity Futures   Trading Commission.   President Trump has selected Selig, chief counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto task force,   to chair the CFTC.   The nomination first reported by Bloomberg   marks Trump's second attempt   to fill the CFTC's   top post   following the stalled nomination   of Brian   Quintenz   I can't pronounce it. A a 16   z crypto's,   global policy chief amid opposition from Gemini cofounder Tyler Winklevoss.  

Selig, who serves as an aide to   SEC chairman Paul Atkins,   has been instrumental   in coordinating   regulatory approaches between the c e or the c   SEC   and the CFTC   on financial and crypto market oversight.   The CFTC,   which regulates futures, swaps,   and prediction markets, is gaining greater prominence   as congress considers new crypto market structure   legislation.   Before joining the SEC, he was a partner at Wilkie Farr and Gallagher,   specializing in asset management.   And, of course, Selig's appointment will require   confirmation from the senate.   I'm sure everything will be fine.  

President Trump also recently granted a full pardon   to Binance founder, Changpeng Zhao, calling his prosecution part   of the prior administration's   war on cryptocurrency.   I have no idea   why they go into talking about   CZ in this   in this, news story. So   we've already covered it, and there's no reason to cover it again.   So we're gonna have a quote unquote crypto friendly   CFTC   chair if   the senate confirmation,   you know, goes in favor of getting this guy in.   What'll it do?   I don't know. I I honestly think   that the SEC and the CFTC   will have   a really good bridge between the two   the two institutions, for lack of a better term,   because of this guy.  

And he's I don't know. I mean, he's yeah. I know it's the word is crypto, but,   yeah, Trump's administration seems to be, you know,   okay with with the whole crypto thing, and it seems like it's just keeps on moving along. All I really want is for   The United States to actually buy Bitcoin in some kind of budget neutral way instead of taking it from people. That's the news I keep waiting for, and I keep waiting and waiting and waiting. But   be that as it may,   this could be good news. The if there's a solid bridge,   like a good communications   channel between the CFTC and the SEC   on Bitcoin,   then, well,   I it it like I said, it could be good.  

I I mean, I   obviously, anything could be bad, but I think it'll be good. I think it'll be okay. But we'll have to wait and see. And then, Mt. Gox,   oh, boy.   Joy of joys, Mt. Gox has pushed the repayments to 2026   as the decade long saga now   drags on   even longer.   Adrian Zmunksy   writing for Cointelegraph.   One of the world's first crypto exchanges, the now defunct Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, has, again,   postponed repayments to creditors,   this time for one year until October   2026.   According to a Monday announcement,   Mt. Gox postponed   the customer repayments   to that date. And the notice just came   four days   before its 10/31/2025   deadline. Because if you didn't listen to me talk about it, at least I was either last week or the week before   I brought this to you that we were finally going to put Mount Gox to bed.  

No. I spoke too soon.   I had no idea that this was even on the table,   but   here we are. We've got another   year of FUD   coming for us. Every single time these idiots move a coin, every single time somebody signs a message from these Mt. Gox wallets,   you're going to hear about it in all the major news outlets, and everybody's gonna run screaming, and it's gonna send prices crashing   every single time they do this shit. It's just I I honestly think they keep Mt. Gox in their back pocket   for a really good shakedown   of the Bitcoin markets when it gets too hot.  

I at this point, there's no reason that these creditors   can't be repaid in full. They don't need to push it back a year, but here we are. According to the announcement,   the trustee said that while most base   early lump sum   and intermediate repayments   have actually been completed for creditors who filled out the necessary paperwork,   many others have yet to receive funds, quote, as it is desirable to make the repayments to such rehabilitation creditors to the extent reasonably   practicable,   the rehabilitation   trustee, with the permission of the court, has changed the deadline according to the announcement.  

And then they go through the history of   Mt. Gox.   But then there's the question   later on in this story that says, will Mt. Gox cause a sell off?   And then it goes on to say, the large amount of Bitcoin to be redistributed   was long viewed with fear by market participants,   some of whom expected   it to lead to a significant sell off. Still, not everyone shared such a pessimistic view of the event.   According to Arkham Intelligence,   Mt. Gox still holds   about 35,000   Bitcoin worth about $4,000,000,000.   This represents a decrease of over 75%   from the 142,000   BTC it held mid twenty twenty four.  

So most of this stuff has already been paid.   And yet,   I guarantee it,   about six months into the new year, you're gonna start hearing   about, oh my god, Mt. Gox repayments are coming up. And then boom,   price fluctuations.   The traders live off of volatility. They're gonna get what they want. Shorts will be shorted. Longs will be longed. It's gonna be a mess. And it's all because these people absolutely refuse   to complete their fiduciary commitment   to the creditors of Mt. Gox.   At this point, it's actually, it's been ridiculous before. But at this point, we are   now 100%   into the realm of   malfeasance.  

It is the absolute   worst   type of feces.   There's misfeasance.   There's feasons. There's malfeasance. There's one other feces. But malfeasance is the absolute worst. It means to cause harm with intent.   And that's exactly what's going on here. There is no reason this should be dragged out   this long.   Let's stay in Japan   for   Japanese yen stablecoin,   which is Asia's   only truly global   fiat pegged token according to Sam Reynolds   out of   CoinDesk.   Japan has done what its Asian peers can't,   launch a stablecoin that could be circulated globally.   Japan's   JPYC   announced today the world's first yen pegged stablecoin,   a fully redeemable digital yen backed by domestic deposits and Japanese government bonds.  

The stablecoin issuer said that it won't charge a transaction fee and instead generate revenue   from interest   on the holdings of the Japanese   government   bonds.   Good luck.   Here here's what makes it stand out from regional peers.   Unlike the Korean won or the Taiwan dollar, which are both onshore currencies by local law,   Japan's yen is freely convertible and can be used offshore.   Following reforms in the nineteen eighties   that dismantled Japan's postwar capital controls,   the yen became fully usable outside of the country through the euro yen market where global banks and investors borrow, lend, and trade the currency with no restrictions.   Unlike   South Korea's won, which remains confined to onshore use only   under strict foreign exchange controls designed to limit offshore speculation   and preserve monetary stability.  

There's a reason why the yen is one of the world's most traded currencies.   Seoul's policy   for the won preserves monetary control but leaves little room for a global stablecoin to breathe.   A won back token would be limited to white listed Korean users and mostly   domestic settlements making it a niche   product in a market where instant   free interbank transfers already exist.   And Taiwan faces a similar bind.   Its dollar is technically convertible, but not used offshore.   Taipei's stablecoin framework introduced in June   mandates full onshore reserves and central bank reporting to prevent cross border leakage.  

An NTD stablecoin   could exist,   but only   on the island,   stripped of all global liquidity   that gives stablecoins   their purpose.   Hong Kong might be the exception.   The HKD is pegged to the US dollar within a band, and no restrictions exist on its use offshore.   Effectively, in itself, it is a stablecoin, so one might wonder   why you wouldn't just use a US dollar stablecoin instead.   The Bank of Japan's openness   to the global use of its currency is precisely   what gives a yen stablecoin   real world utility beyond Japan's domestic payments ecosystem.   With interest rates rising and Japanese government bonds yielding more than 3% on the long end,   the launch couldn't come at a better time. JPYC   doesn't need to charge fees   or chase speculative yields of its stablecoin as it can operate sustainably off the interest earned on its JGB reserves.  

Pausing to say that depends on whether or not these yields stay stable. And there's no guarantee   that we don't see some roiling in the markets later on,   but we gotta wait and see what the hell happens with the Fed meeting   later on. And that should happen anytime now, honestly. I think it's on the twenty ninth is their meeting when they're gonna figure out what they're gonna do with the interest rate. Oh, and by the way, 98%   people on   prediction markets are betting that we will get a point 25%,   decrease   in the federal funds rate. So just keep that in mind, and and it's coming. Which means that you'll probably see a drop in the Bitcoin price   the morning before or the day before   that Federal Reserve announcement comes out. That seems to just always be what happens, so watch for that coming up.  

Now the daily global FX trading volume averages around $7,000,000,000,000,   reaching a record high of $9,600,000,000,000   per day in April according to BIS.   As of April, the USD,   United States dollar, was involved in 89%   of all trades, while the Japanese yen featured in 16.85%,   making the USDJPY   pair one of the most actively traded currency pairs worldwide.   With both The US and Japan now regulating fiat pegged stablecoins,   there is strong potential   for a thriving on chain USD   JPY   market pairing dollar and yen pegged stablecoins.   Such a pool would bring one of the world's most traded currency pairs   onto decentralized   rails linking two   fully reserved   regulated   fiat tokens.  

If both sides gain liquidity and redemption depth,   it could form the backbone   of Asian   crypto settlement and mark the start of a true multicurrency   stablecoin economy.   All this considered,   one has to wonder if there's a demand for this.   Euro stablecoins have existed for some time.   The currency is designed to be supernational   and used beyond the borders, but the market cap for the largest is tiny.   The yen may have the legal clarity   and convertibility   that others lack, but whether global traders actually want another fiat backed token beyond the dollar is still an open question. I'm gonna answer it for you. It's going to it's going to be a wild success.   The USD   Japanese yen   trading pair   has been a massive thing   in worldwide   global trade.  

Worldwide global is sorry. I've said the same thing twice. In global trade, whether it's foreign exchange markets or if it's, like, the actual trade of physical goods, the USD Japanese yen pair   is an extraordinarily   important   currency pair and has been   for a very, very long time.   Probably since the late seventies is when it really,   really started to get some traction. But throughout the eighties, when when everybody thought that Japan was going to take over all electronics manufacturing in the world, and and   they they might have,   that's when that currency pair really took off.  

If   these people don't think that there's not going to be a market   for a Japanese yen   fiat pegged stablecoin,   whether or not I like it or not, and I I don't. I'm I'm I'm I act well, actually, it's not that I don't like it. I just don't care. I I don't need this crap.   But, apparently, other people do. We can tell that by Tether. We can tell that by a couple of other things. But   this is going to be   a wild success.   Does that and and some people will get very, very rich trading this thing, but some people are going to have all of their lunch money stolen from them by the bully on the playground after he beats their ass into the ground   and just takes their money from him because, hey,   you're trading you're trading.  

Whether you're trading crap or you're trading equities, which is also crap, or you're trading gold, which is trading shine a little rocks,   Some most people are going to have their lunch money taken from them.   My advice,   just buy Bitcoin   and hold Bitcoin.   And you might wanna hold a big old jar of great ghee.   That's right. Greatghee.com.   That's greatghee.com.   Greatghee.com,   and you're gonna get, well, you're gonna get some great ghee. What the hell is it? It's clarified butter,   and it's made by simmering butter for a long time to remove water,   milk solids, and other impurities,   leaving behind   100%   golden lactose free oil with a nutty flavor and high smoke point.  

Unlike regular butter,   ghee is shelf stable   and versatile for cooking, baking, and even skin care.   It's not only the flavor,   it's the shelf stability. What does it mean? It means you don't have to refrigerate it.   Ghee, if it's done right, can sit on the shelf at room temperature, be opened and closed several times, and be just fine. Doesn't go rancid.   It doesn't get mold. There's not enough water in it to get mold. See, that's why you make ghee.   Months and months and months. And if you never open the ghee, like, you can keep that shit for, like, years.   Once you open it, you're gonna wanna start, you know, using it, but it'll last for weeks on the shelf   after you open and close it. So this is one of the reasons why ghee is really it it it's an   it's a great human invention when it comes to food preservation. And if you like butter, you're gonna love ghee.  

Use the code Bitcoin and at greatghee.com.   That's greatghee.com.   That way, mister ghee,   first name great, will be able to understand that I made the sale for him here on the Circle p. It's where I bring plebs just like you with goods and services to plebs just like you that want to buy said goods and services. But you're gonna buy it in Bitcoin because if you're not selling   your goods and services in Bitcoin, you ain't in the Circle p. That's the way it works. That's the way we want it.   Was Wazir   WazirX?   WazirX?  

Is that how you pronounce it? WazirX   is barred from redistributing   XRP   as Indian court affirms crypto   as   property.   Okay? This is why I'm bringing you this. Vismaya v is going to describe exactly what the hell is going on here.   Forgive me for talking about XRP.   Yes. It's a shitcoin. Yes. The people behind it are complete scammers.   Yes. Nobody should have anything to do with this thing. But it just so happens that it was this pile of garbage   that caused the Indian court to set precedence   calling crypto   property.   Just keep that in mind, and please do me a favor and forgive me for getting into the depths of shit coinery that is XRP.  

The XRP holders scored a victory   in India after a court ruled that cryptocurrencies   qualify as property   under law,   marking one of the country's clearest legal acknowledgments of digital asset ownership.   The Madras   high court on Friday barred WazirX,   India's largest crypto exchange, from redistributing   a customer's   3,500   XRP holdings   to offset losses from a $234,000,000   hack that hit the platform   in July.   Justice   n Anand   Venkatesh   said the user's XRP tokens purchased in January   and unaffected by the incident could not be diluted   under the exchanges, quote, socialization   of losses plan.  

Quote, it is not a tangible property   nor is it a currency,   justice Venkatesh   wrote.   However,   it is a property   which is capable of being enjoyed   and possessed   in a beneficial   form.   The decision grants legal standing to crypto assets as property capable of ownership and protection under Indian law.   It also establishes that assets held in custody by exchanges   must be treated   as client property   held in trust. Quote, this clarity is very helpful.   It strengthens consumer protections for crypto holders, affirms their rights as asset owners, and paves the way for clear regulatory   and fiduciary   frameworks in the crypto ecosystem of India. Sudhir   Lakashmanajara,   I butchered it, I'm sorry, founder   of Digital South Trust told Decrypt.  

Justice Venkatesh   noted the applicant had used the Wazirix   platform   through her mobile phone   from her ordinary place of residence and was prevented from trading or liquidating her holdings   established   or establishing that crypto assets accessed within India fall under Indian court protections. Quote, together, these judgments   stand among the first major Indian court decisions on cryptocurrency issues. They are foundational   crypto jurisprudence.   Vikram   Subhashat   Subaraj,   CEO   of Indian crypto exchange Goitis,   told the crypt,   quote, for all participants,   exchanges,   users, regulators,   these are signals that the high-tech arena will be held to high standards of governments or governance   and protection, he said.  

The court rejected WazirX's   socialization of losses plan   that the judge compared to, quote, a group insurance of a self help group.   What? A group insurance   of a self   help group.   Wow. Quote, the basis of such a proposition   is not any term in the contractual framework between the parties   making it unenforceable   against Indian users justice Venkatesh ruled.   The judge also rejected Wazir X's argument that its Singapore court approved restructuring   automatically binds Indian users. Oh, I'll bet that pissed the court off.   Hey. We got a judgment in another country, so it's binding to you guys. Oh oh, really?  

Oh oh, really?   Yeah. That's that shit doesn't fly, dude. Anyway, the ruling adds to a growing body   of Indian crypto jurisprudence that defines user protections amid the government's slow regulatory process.   The case follows a Bombay high court decision rejecting similar loss sharing measures   by something called BitCypher   Labs.   It also arrived on the same day that WazirX   restarted operations   with 95.7%   creditor approval.   Users have so far reported receiving only 30% of expected funds of expected funds amid locked accounts and customer verification delays.   Crypto policy remains lopsided,   strict on revenue collection with 30% levy and 1% TDS, but silent   on investor rights   or asset ownership rules.  

Quote, ultimately,   courts have become the central stage where the future of digital value is debated, the judge wrote.   Through each ruling, they are shaped   a clear or shaping a clear picture of rights, responsibilities,   and trust in the age of decentralization,   where Zerex did not return decrypts request for comment. Yeah. I probably wouldn't either.   So even though it's about XRP, it's it's about more than XRP.   This precedent   is is just as important for Bitcoin as it is for anything.   Right?   Because Bitcoin will now be regarded as property in India   at the level of the high court.  

That is that's a first.   Right? We've India has been flip flopping around on Bitcoin   ever since I've been in this game. So what? 2015.   It's legal. It's not. You can have it. You can't. Blah blah blah. I mean, it was back and forth back and forth. And this seems to be the very first time   that the high court has actually said, you know what?   Bitcoin is your property.   Even though they're talking about XRP in this piece,   Bitcoin is now officially property   personal property   that is legal to be held by the citizenry   of India.  

That's about a billion people. Let's run the numbers.   CNBC   Futures and Commodities, they got Brent North Sea Oil up point 06%   to $65.98.   West Texas Intermediate is up a quarter to $61.66.   Natural gas is up 3.12%   to $3.40   a thousand, and gasoline is up a quarter to a buck 92 a gallon.   Murbaughn Crude is in the red. It's the only thing in energy in the red today. Point 94%   of the downside,   $68.26   a barrel.   Shiny metal rocks,   getting kicked in the rocks. Palladium down 3.12%.   Gold down 3.08.   Peter Schiff cries as gold goes below 4,000   only to pop back up like a bad habit,   $4,011   and a dime. Platinum is down one and a quarter. Silver is down 3.85.  

Still hanging in there at $46.70   an ounce.   Copper is the only thing in the green.   1% to the upside.   Okay. Now, I got, pretty much mixed results in ag.   Biggest loser today is, wow, sugar is down 3.14%.   Biggest winner is wheat,   3.22   to the upside.   And then we got live cattle. Oh, shit.   Dudes, live cattle is down four and a third.   Alright. Look.   I I give you guys the cattle prices all the time. And I I go through energy,   rocks,   you know, livestock,   indices.   I do this for a reason.   The cattle prices   live cattle or feeder feeder cattle, it it doesn't matter. Live cattle is what you take to go get slaughtered. Feeder cattle is what you buy in to feed them so you can turn them into live cattle so that you can sell them as live cattle so they get slaughtered, and that's the meat that we get. Anyway, aside from that,   cattle prices on both ends of that have been at all time highs. I mean, busting   the ceiling.  

And then Trump makes that statement last week that says,   we're gonna start buying a shitload more beef   from Argentina.   And that goes along with that, we're gonna bail them out for $40,000,000,000   or whatever it is.   We're gonna buy their crappy ass Argentinian   dollar or whatever the hell they call it because their   freaking economy is in free fall   again.   No matter what no matter who gets elected, no matter who's in charge, no matter what they do,   Argentina   is just   it is financial   I don't   it's a financial masquerade is what it is. In either event,   Ever since Trump said those words,   the all time high cattle prices   have been falling   like a SpaceX   rocket back to Earth.  

Lean hogs aren't escaping either point 43%   to the downside.   Feeder cattle are down four four four   full   percentage   points.   That is   that's   not going to make the cattle ranching   people very happy.   And you wanna bet   who a lot of the cattle ranchers elected when they went to go vote,   they wanted Donald j Trump to be president.   Not all of them, but a lot of them.   They're not happy   right now. And it doesn't matter if us as the consumer's happy or not. I'm just looking at it from midterm elections   standpoint.   They're gonna be so pit if if if these prices don't correct for these people,   they're gonna be angry.  

Whether or not it actually hurts them in the future is not something I I I even wanna discuss right now. That's not the point.   The point is whether or not   they get hurt in the future because of this, they all of a sudden have to sell their rent. I it doesn't matter. They're still gonna be pissed.   They're still gonna be pissed, and it's gonna show up   in midterm elections.   I'd I'm not sure what this administration is doing at this point. They're pissing off farmers. They're pissing off ranchers. They've already pissed off the Bitcoiners,   and it was all of us together who got that dude elected. I'm sorry, but this is the case.  

And that administration   is now pissing off   its voting base.   The midterm elections,   if they don't reverse course or do something fucking spectacular,   it's going to be a bloodbath.   So just y'all   y'all be   y'all be careful out there.   Alright.   So a $115,520   gives us a $2,300,000,000,000   market cap on orange coin, and we can only get 28.9   ounces of shiny metal rocks with our one Bitcoin of which there are 19,940,560   and 1 half of. Average fees per block remain low, 0.02.   BTC taking in fees on a per block basis, and there are 40 blocks with about a 111,000   unconfirmed transactions waiting to clear at high priority rates of two sats per b byte and low priorities get you in at one. And new all time high for hash rate, ladies and gentlemen.  

Introducing 1.13   zeta hashes per second. That's all the security on the Bitcoin   chain that you will ever need.   Now   from scary coin,   which was Friday's episode of bitcoin, and I got Psyduck with 757   sets says   Psyduck.   Jay with 1,300   says, thank you, sir. Saluting emoji. Thank you.   Thank you for understanding that my operating system is so old, I can't see the new emojis anymore.   Wow.   God, I need to get over to Linux. God's death with two thirty seven says, thank you, sir. No. Thank you.   Jason High with 500 says, there are a ton   of bells here in Florida.  

Maybe   the accepting Bitcoin can help orange pill my wife.   Not exactly sure what that means. It's probably just because it's going over my head, but we'll continue with Axelrod   with 5,000   says long nice long form podcast.   I would be into sewn flour from their store As I am a sourdough maker or baker, I'll be listing   for nursing family farms   in the circle P. And he spells it Kirkle,   c u r c k e. Kirk Kirkopy.   Kirkopy.   I love you guys. Bitcoin Sandy with 500.   Bitcoin for president with another 500 says, great show as always. Thank you for your podcast. I enjoy them and appreciate your diligence.   And let's see. Oh, and that's it. Yep. That's it for the weather report.  

Welcome to part two of the news that you can use.   Yeah. I just recorded   it recorded an entire   section   about the advancements in Bitcoin and lightning wallets because of OpenSats,   well, their grants and whatnot.   But that entire   section   got I don't know what happened to it. It just got destroyed.   So   I'm gonna have to move on because I got other stuff to do.   So   I'll bring, you know, I'll bring back that maybe tomorrow or something like that, but let's let's get on into the rest of the news for the day.   BIP four four four,   the temporary soft fork dividing developers   and the community.  

This is from Atlas twenty one.   The Bitcoin community finds itself at the center of a debate surrounding Bitcoin improvement proposal four forty four,   A proposal aiming to implement a temporary soft fork   to limit the amount of arbitrary data that can be included in time chain transactions. So   this this this whole knots versus core   versus filters versus   ordinals versus arbitrary versus economic data,   it's not gonna go away.   So here we are. The controversy emerged following the release of Bitcoin Core v 30 this month, which removed the maximum data size previously allowed via op return   in standard transactions.  

Despite the discussion that preceded the launch, adoption of the new software has been slow according to BitNodes data.   Currently, 6.5%   of reachable nodes are running version 30. Yeah. Good.   Good.   People don't   honestly, you should, like, let you should not upgrade   your node to the newest, latest, and greatest version of Bitcoin   ever. You should wait four months. Make sure that there's no bugs in it. You know? I mean, it's it's there's no reason whatsoever   to upgrade   no matter what. I'm still running 29.   Right? And before that, I was running 28.   And I had run 28 for a for a long time. 29 had been out for months and months and months before I finally upgraded to it. Don't   think that you have to upgrade immediately. That's not the way Bitcoin is required   to work.  

Anyway.   Anyway.   BIP four forty four, the proposal,   published on October 24, stems from concerns among some Bitcoin community members about potential legal risks   for node operators.   Oh, god. The main fear is that illegal materials such as child sexual abuse content   could be uploaded to the time chain creating legal liabilities for anyone running a full node.   Quote, if the blockchain contains content that is illegal to possess or distribute, node operators are forced to choose between violating the law   or their conscience   or shutting down their node, the proposal document states. Quote, this unacceptable   dilemma   directly undermines the incentive to validate,   leading to inevitable centralization   and posing an existential threat to Bitcoin's security model, it reads.  

On line two sixty one,   the document declares that, quote,   there is a moral   and legal impediment to any attempt to reject this soft fork.   Then   from line two seventy to two seventy two, the document continues, quote, rejecting this soft fork   may subject you   to legal   or moral consequences   or could result in you splitting off to a new altcoin like b cash.   However, strictly speaking,   you are free to choose, end quote.   I'm gonna pause right there again.   This   is bullshit language,   and whoever wrote it   should be ashamed of themselves.   Why?  

It doesn't matter if it's true or false. The language is specifically   selected.   If I'm looking at this from a rhetorical   standpoint,   it uses fear.   And anybody   that uses fear against another human being is the lowlife fucking scum of the earth.   This could be Luke Dash junior writing this. I don't know. I I literally don't know who's writing it. And I don't need to know. This could be Adam Back.   It could be anybody that we would regard as the centurions   of, you know, the the main guard of Bitcoin, and I still don't care. The use of fear   against your fellow man   results in you going to hell. You wanna talk about a moral or ethical dilemma?  

Try that one on for size. You piece of shit.   Okay. So technical details.   According to the terms of the proposal, the soft fork   would implement several technical restrictions.   One, op return outputs would be limited back to 83 bytes.   Most other script pub keys would be limited to 34 bytes.   A limit of two fifty six bytes would be imposed on individual data push sizes.   Unused or undefined script versions would be invalidated.   A maximum size would be introduced for Merkle trees embedded in Taproot outputs. And finally,   op underscore   if   would be banned within Tapscript,   effectively   removing the ordinals   inscription   method.  

I gotta pause again.   It may sound like a good idea to some people,   but the way this is being rolled out, the the   what's being it's almost as if, hey. Since we're here, let's go ahead and take care of all that that ordinals crap. We've we've had ordinals for two years.   Yeah. I don't like ordinals. I've never bought them. I'm never going to buy them. I think it's worthless. I think people that spend their money on are are just you might as well burn it. You might as well burn your money.   But we've had it for two years.   Is this is not that big of a deal.  

What's a bigger deal is making changes like this   in a haphazard way and then use the language of fear   to drive people to use it.   Everything about this is wrong. I'm sorry.   If it had just if they had just gone   another   rhetorical route   saying, we here's here's the specs.   We we ask that you look at it.   We ask that you look at this   because you may wanna run this software. Okay.   Okay.   I'm good with that. You can do whatever the hell you want. But telling me that if I don't run this, that I'm some kind of ethical or moral degenerate?   No.  

No.   From an ethical   and moral   obligation,   I will not ever run this soft fork   because the creators of this soft fork are relying   on fear.   One of the most negative,   the most base   human emotions.   Not gonna have it. Not gonna have it. These changes would result in a soft fork where transactions   previously considered valid would become invalid. However, the proposal specifies that this modification would only be temporary,   lasting approximately   one year. Oh, we're temporarily closing the gold window, taking a little   page from Nixon's book, are we?  

This period would allow developers to evaluate and implement alternative approaches for managing arbitrary data on the time chain.   The proposal was written by Darthon Ohm,   an account created on GitHub and x just a few days before publication with no apparent prior history   in Bitcoin development.   Luke Dasher, a well known Bitcoin developer and outspoken critic of Ordinals, expressed   support for the prod proposal   stating on x that it is, quote, already on track with no technical objections.   Dasher noted that, quote, it isn't intended to be an ideal solution,   only good enough   and super simple to buy time to design a long term solution, end quote. These people   are insane.  

I'm sorry. I   I used to I I really don't have that many problems with Luke Dash Junior.   I've had some some, you know, a couple of, you know, very short conversations with him on on Twitter, and he seems seems okay, but he's just gotten   over the past year, it's gotten   I don't know, man. Something weird's going on with that dude. And some of these other people are just   I don't know, man.   This whole this I'm staying with 29.   Version 29 is good for me, ladies and gentlemen. But anyway, critics of the proposal argue that arbitrary data has existed on Bitcoin since the Genesis   block. Yes.  

It has.   That whole in the Genesis block itself where homeboy   Satoshi put in the the headline of the newspaper, the London Times or whatever it was, chancellor on brink of second bailout,   arbitrary   data.   It's arbitrary data. He did it himself.   Right? It doesn't mean that you have to accept it, or you have to love it, or you have to hate it. It doesn't matter. You gotta make up your own mind on this stuff.   But I I I cannot believe that we have sunk   to using fear   and the threat   of legal   ramifications,   a moral burning in hell,   or some kind of ethical   delusion that people are under that would force them to somehow or another be responsible   for hurting children   because of Bitcoin.  

If I didn't know any better, I'd say somebody got to a whole bunch of people and are literally trying to rot the soul of Bitcoin from the inside out.   Am I gonna sell my coins? No, dude. I'm not that reactionary. That's exactly,   Even if I'm right. And believe me, that's a long shot, dude. I mean, that's tinfoil hat area right there. Even if I was right,   it's not gonna work. I'm just saying that the force there are forces out there that literally don't want this to work. They don't like Bitcoin at all.   And, apparently,   you know, all you really gotta do is just pay somebody a lot of money, and they'll start talking about Zcash on on Twitter. So god only knows what else is capable   what these people are capable of. Anyway,   sorry. I keep getting into these into these sidebars. But last September,   Leonidas, a prominent figure in the ordinals community,   stated that miners and mining pools representing over half of the network's hash rate had confirmed that they would accept any consensus valid transaction with appropriate fees, quote.  

There is no meaningful difference between normalizing the censorship of JPEG   or meme coin transactions   and normalizing the censorship of certain monetary transactions   by nation states,   Leonidas wrote, quote,   both   would set very dangerous   precedents.   Peter Todd, a Bitcoin developer, stated on x,   and he said and they they've got this quote here. And he says this,   BIP four four four   creates a c scam   attack   where you use censoring reorgs   to double spend.   He's replying to a BitMEX   research tweet that says,   the bit four four four proposal is incredibly bad.   A bad actor who wants to conduct a double spend attack   could put CSAM   on chain to cause a reorg and succeed with their attack.  

The proposal, therefore, provides an economic incentive   for on chain   CSAM,   which is,   I don't know, child sex abuse material, I think, is what it stands for.   Dude,   Jameson Lott, cofounder   and chief security officer at Casa raised several criticisms of the proposal.   Lop pointed out that the document does not define   what content   is legally   or morally objectionable   and highlighted that legal experts disagree on what liability node operators operators might face. Quote, by running a node, you consent to the consensus rules of the network.   If you don't consent,   you can simply   dot run   a node, Lop wrote in a comment.  

The proposal has not yet been submitted to the Bitcoin development rate mailing list, a required step for BIP drafts   to gather further feedback before pursuing any serious path towards consensus.   This needs to die right here, and it's not because I'm defending ordinals.   Everything about this raises the hackles on my neck.   All the way from the fact that they use fear   as a major component in the language as to why you need this,   all the way   to Peter Todd himself actually looking at this and saying and BitMEX research saying   it's it's a double it's a potential double spend attack.  

It this everything about four four four   needs to be forgotten.   Alright. So, I mean, it's like you do what whatever it is you wanna do.   You but you've heard what you need to hear.   I highly recommend that you go do some further research on 444.   I will as well.   But everything   that I've seen so far,   this this is   just gives me the willies, dude.   So let's get into something better. Ledn,   l e d n, Ledn post a record   q three lending volume as its Bitcoin backed loan originations   surpass   1,000,000,000.   That's billion with a b for the year of 2025,   and that's just so far, by the way. So let's let's get into this one.  

James Hunt is writing it for the block.   Centralized Bitcoin lender, Leden,   generated record lending volume during the third quarter, adding 392,000,000   worth of loans.   That nearly matches its total activity   of all   of the year 2024.   Kind of amazing, really.   As a result, the private firm has now surpassed $1,000,000,000   in Bitcoin backed loan originations year to date and exceeded a 100,000,000 in annual recurring revenue. Quote, this has been a breakout year for Lend,   cofounder and CEO Adam Reed said in a statement shared with the block. Crossing the $1,000,000,000   mark in loan originations   year to date underscores the growing demand   for responsible   Bitcoin secured credit and our commitment to transparency   and trust.  

Alongside the record quarter, Lenden also released its tenth   proof of reserves   attestation   completed by the network firm LLP.   The network firm, I guess, is the name of this   company.   The network firm LLP as as of September 30.   For the first time, the report disclosed the full size of its loan book,   $836,200,000   and an aggregate loan to value ratio of 42.68%,   offering greater visibility into the company's lending activity and collateralization   levels.   So they've got almost they've got a little bit more if I'm reading this right, they have a little bit more than   half or no. I'm sorry. A little bit more than twice the amount of Bitcoin   than the loan   is at than the loans are actually valued at. So they've got a lot of headroom   for Bitcoin's price to go down. In fact, they at this point, it can go down, like, 50%.  

And most of these loans will still be   collateralized.   Past that, you start getting past that, it gets a little little dicey. But, hey, I mean, if if if the Bitcoin price dropped to, what would it be, fifth $55.57,   let's go let's just call it $59,000,   nobody gets liquidated out of leaden.   Because they're going, dude, you you like, I'm gonna make you you got a 100,000 of Bitcoin, I'll give you a loan for 50 k.   That that's what this basically means. So these guys are so well over collateralized.   I they're probably sleeping very, very well at night. Just just saying.   Continuing since its inception in 2018,   Leden has now originated over 2.2   no. 2,800,000,000.0   in loans, providing services to clients in more than 100 countries   who use Bitcoin as collateral instead of selling it and incurring a taxable event.  

The crypto lending niche suffered significant setbacks   following a tumultuous   year for centralized services in 2022.   Might I say the names BlockFi,   Celsius,   Genesis, and, of course, Voyager Digital.   Following those events, which they all got they all went bankrupt,   just in case you did not know,   it remained unclear to what extent users would trust such services going forward. Lead and cofounder and CSO Mauricio   d Bartolomeo,   so I hope I didn't butcher that, previously told the block that the company survived the period because of its   sound risk management program   and prioritization   of the safety and security of client   assets.  

On Monday,   the firm said that the key to its staying power,   growing to become one of the largest retail backed Bitcoin lenders in the industry despite   volatile conditions comes down to its simple, transparent, and compliant approach.   Quote, we've built leaden to serve long term Bitcoin holders   who want to preserve and grow their wealth responsibly.   Our business is designed for transparency   and resilience,   not speculation.   Ludden   dropped ETH support in favor of becoming Bitcoin only in May,   also discontinuing   the lending of client assets to generate interest to eliminate third party credit risk as it moved to a fully custody,   custodied model.  

In August, Reeds told the block that his belief in Bitcoin as a reserve asset is rock solid,   but said it's unrealistic   for Bitcoin digital asset treasuries   to expect returns   comparable to   strategies, and he's talking about what was formerly MicroStrategy.   The guys at Leddon   have survived   everything since 2018.   Do you know   what it's like to survive in Bitcoin since 2018?   It's like it's like being in a minefield.   And here's the thing.   We're not at the other end of the minefield yet.   We got a long way   to go.   And it's probably gonna go through China at one point. And despite all the huffing and puffing that our Far East, you know, friends over there in China have done,   China remains the third largest   global   hash rate provider for the Bitcoin network   despite   100%   mining ban.  

If you did not know, it is illegal to mine Bitcoin in China,   yet they rank number three   in global Bitcoin   hash rate. Alex Larry,   bitcoinnews.com.   Take us out.   Four years after banning digital asset mining and transactions, China has quietly become   one of the world's biggest Bitcoin mining centers.   Despite the 2021   ban, new data from Luxor's global hash rate map shows China   accounting for 14%   of Bitcoin's total hash rate with a 145   exahashes   per second,   third in the world behind The United States   and Russia.   In 2021,   the Chinese government launched a broad crackdown on digital assets including Bitcoin.  

The PBOC or People's Bank of China outlined all digital asset transactions,   citing financial crime,   fraud, and the potential instability that digital assets could bring to the national economy. Mining operations were quickly targeted and then shut down,   but the miners never went away.   Now many moved their equipment to remote areas where enforcement was weaker. Xinjiang, with its cheap and stable energy, reportedly   became the prime location for these secret operations.   Well, if we know where you are,   not that good of a secret. Anyway, industry insiders now believe much of the country's   underground mining is still thriving in Xinjiang's remote areas.  

According   to a fourth quarter twenty twenty five global hash rate map,   the country's share of the world's Bitcoin mining power increased sig or slightly from 13.8   to where it stands at 14.05%   today.   Data from Hash Rate Index also shows   this trend.   The US still   leads with about 37.8%   of global mining.   Russia follows with 15.5,   but China is a strong third   even though they banned Bitcoin mining.   So experts say that it's impossible to fully suppress mining   as long as one has the electricity,   Internet connection, and the necessary hardware,   they can compete in the global Bitcoin mining race.  

Many believe enforcing the ban is difficult on the outskirts of big cities,   and that has contributed to why China's hash rate continues to exist.   Energy is still the biggest lure.   Xinjiang's grid and geography are perfect for secret mining.   Small operations often run quietly, sometimes using renewable   or surplus energy to fly under the radar.   Despite the risks of government penalties, many believe the rewards are worth it, especially with Bitcoin over a 110,000   a coin.   China may have banned domestic mining, but it still rules the global Bitcoin mining landscape.   Over 95%   of the world's Bitcoin mining machines   are made   by Chinese companies like Bitmain,   MicroBT,   and Canaan.  

This manufacturing dominance gives China indirect control   over most of the world's Bitcoin mining.   Most of the equipment, spare parts, and technical expertise can also be traced back to China, and this means   even miners overseas   are still heavily dependent   on Chinese gear.   This has raised national security concerns in The US.   Sanjay   Gupta, chief strategy officer at Auradigm,   said over a million Chinese made Bitcoin mining machines running on foreign firmware are connected to The US power grid.   He cautioned that this could pose a potential serious cyberattack   risk   if compromised systems were ever triggered   in a coordinated   attack.  

The US government has already taken notice. Tariffs on Chinese mining hardware have been introduced and may raise or rise to as high as a 155%   according to reports.   Officials argue that reducing reliance on Chinese made devices   is crucial for energy   and infrastructure security.   Still, some experts caution against overestimating   the threat.   Khan Farani,   a research associate at Luxor, explained that the global hash rate map   primarily aims to determine   how Bitcoin mining activity is distributed around the world   rather than track ownership or intent.  

He noted that Luxor is not aware of any security issues or threats related to China's mining operations.   Connected to the electrical grid is   okay. Look. No.   It doesn't really work that way.   Right? So they're connected to the Internet and   to a country's   power grid   or   a regional power grid. It it doesn't really matter.   There's the transformer or the power supply that you plug in, but then there's also the network connection that you also plug in.   Sending instructions   to Jack with the electrical grid   would really only ever come through the Internet. And honestly, that's a little bit more overblown than people think.   It's   not that it's completely impossible,   but   it's it's a very difficult prospect.  

What I don't want anybody to come away from, you know, from this thinking is that somehow or another because it's connected directly to the elect the electricity,   the   the electrical load   directly to transformers   and power generation   through the fact that it's, you know, like, it's copper is connected to the copper that's coming into your house that feeds all the energy in your house. And   that's not that   you're not gonna send instructions to destroy something   that   way. Alright. So it I just wanna be clear.   It doesn't work that way.  

Now is it is it bad enough that there could be compromised firmware   that is connected to The United States Internet?   Sure.   We've been through this before,   and we'll go through it again.   And right now, I'm speaking to you through the Internet, and everything is gonna be fine. So take a deep breath,   research BIP four four four,   and 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.