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Join me today for Episode 1120 of Bitcoin And . . . 

Topics for today:

• Texas Gov. Signs Texas' SBR Into Law!
• Pomp's New BTC Company One of the Largest
• 19 Year Old Steals $245 Million in Bitcoin
• Ashigaru Brings Back Whirlpool

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Articles:

https://bitcoinnews.com/adoption/texas-sb-21-bitcoin-reserve-bill-law/
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/thc-ban-texas-abbott-patrick-hemp-industry
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/genesis-digital-assets-limited-acquires-1000-air-cooled-miners-to-mine-bitcoin
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/06/23/anthony-pomplianos-procap-to-go-public-in-1b-bitcoin-treasury-spac-deal
https://decrypt.co/326424/bitcoin-rebounds-markets-price-short-lived-iran-conflict

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

https://decrypt.co/326468/teen-has-strong-incentives-to-flee-after-pleading-guilty-to-245m-bitcoin-heist-gov-says
https://atlas21.com/ashigaru-brings-back-whirlpool-on-chain-privacy-coinjoin-returns/
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/norways-green-minerals-announces-adoption-of-bitcoin-treasury-strategy
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/norway-plans-to-temporarily-ban-new-bitcoin-crypto-mining-centers-to-conserve-energy
https://cointelegraph.com/news/canaan-us-asic-production-ai-business-exit
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[00:00:02] David Bennett:

It is 08:51AM   Pacific Daylight Time. It is the June   2025.   This is episode   eleven   twenty   of Bitcoin,   and this is where you get the signal. You get to skip the news. I will read to you the Bitcoin news that actually matters. I do it every day. My name is David Bennett. I'm your host   of Bitcoin.   And we've got all kinds of stuff that's going on today. So   let's just get into it directly. Let's go right to Texas because on June,   Texas signs publicly funded Bitcoin Reserve Bill   into law.   It finally happened.   Texas   has a strategic Bitcoin Reserve   law. It's not fluff.  

It's not sitting in the house. It's not sitting on the senate floor.   It's out of all committees. It's out of the house. It's out of the senate. It went to Greg's desk. Greg, the governor of Texas, sat down and signed it.   Well, for those of you who who know Greg, he's permanently sat down. I probably shouldn't have said it that way, but it it's the truth. Anyway, let's just do this one.   On June   2025,   Texas governor Greg Abbott signed senate bill 21   into law creating the Texas   Strategic   Bitcoin   Reserve,   a state managed fund that will buy and hold Bitcoin as a long term investment.   Texas now joins Arizona as well as New Hampshire   in passing Bitcoin reserve legislation,   but is the first to actually commit public funds   and create a completely separate reserve   outside of the state treasury.  

Senator Charles Schwartner, the bill's author, said,   quote, we can buy land,   we can buy gold. I think the state of Texas should have the option of evaluating the best performing asset over the last ten years, end quote.   The new reserve is separate   from the state's general treasury,   so the state can manage the Bitcoin without mixing it with regular state budget funds.   It will be overseen by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts,   currently   Glenn   Heager.   And guided by a three person advisory committee on Bitcoin investment experts or rather of Bitcoin investment experts, the fund will be financed   through legislative   appropriations,   investment   gains,   fees,   and voluntary Bitcoin donations.  

I love Texas. It's my home state. I will always love Texas. You'll never be able to get the Texan out of me. But please for the love of God, do not donate your Bitcoin to Texas.   Keep it yourself.   Force Texas to actually go to the open market and buy the actual Bitcoin.   Please don't give the state any of your money.   Just I'm just saying. And this is coming from somebody who   desperately loves Texas. Okay? Now,   to ensure stability,   the law allows investment only in digital assets with a market capitalization   of over $500,000,000,000   that is a threshold that is currently only met by Bitcoin.  

SB 21 was reviewed   and updated before final passage, and the latest version has stronger risk controls, clearer investment rules, and limits on speculative spending.   Another bill named House Bill forty four eighty eight was signed earlier and works alongside   SB 21   to protect the Bitcoin Reserve from being redirected   into the General Revenue Fund.   Texas can manage its Bitcoin separate from budget politics thanks to its financial safeguards.   HB forty four eighty eight also ensures   the reserve will exist even if no Bitcoin is purchased immediately   so the state can develop a strategy.  

And supporters of the reserve say,   it's a hedge against inflation and a way to diversify the state's assets.   Lawmakers and Bitcoin advocates believe it will keep Texas   ahead in the digital finance game.   Governor Abbott has been vocal about his pro Bitcoin stance. Quote, Texas is already the home of crypto mining.   This session, Texas should become the crypto capital. I really wish you wouldn't use the word crypto, but Texas Blockchain Council president   Lee Bratcher said that the state   could invest tens of millions of dollars in Bitcoin, quote, it's still early, and the comptroller   is going to utilize proven investing standards to determine how much to buy and when to purchase, end quote.  

Texas is moving forward while others are pulling back. In May, Florida and Arizona   both killed or vetoed   Bitcoin reserve bills, and Arizona governor Katie Hobbs called digital assets   untested investments and killed the state's bill there.   But Texas stands alone in creating a fully funded Bitcoin reserve,   unlike Arizona's   unfunded version   or New Hampshire's plan to hold Bitcoin in the existing state treasury.   Beyond government, Bitcoin adoption is booming in business. According to Bitcoin treasuries, 223   public companies now hold Bitcoin. Yeah. Yeah. We get it, and then they talk about Michael Saylor strategy. I I don't I'm we know. We understand that.  

But   this was   I had been waiting for this one because it is my home state of Texas, and that bill, SB 21,   had been going back and forth and back and forth, and it was in committee and out of committee and on the floor and then on another floor. And it just   it it's like it just wouldn't end. And then when they finally got it out of the senate,   my first question, which I asked directly to governor Abbott on on on on the x, not that he's ever going to read it nor care if he did, but my first question and only question to governor Abbott was, are you actually gonna sign this thing? Or is this just gonna be some kind of weird crap and well he signed it.   So now in the state of Texas it's actually law   and it's a good fit because governor Abbott's not wrong it's Texas is kind of the, Bitcoin mining capital of the world right now,   and we're gonna talk a little bit more about that in the second half. But first,   keeping along   with this whole what's going on in Texas and the governor,   we've got another story that's kind of actually, it's completely unrelated,   but I find this interesting and I think it's going to end up being really important.  

Because Texas,   there's been a bill passing   back and forth, you know, in the legislature   about banning all THC   products. And if you don't know what THC is, it's the active compound in marijuana that gets you high. It's the psychoactive   component,   or the the majority of the psychoactive component of of marijuana.   Well, they wanted to ban it and they were gonna get they were getting close to banning it.   In fact, they got so close to banning it that they passed a bill to actually   ban all THC products in the entire state of Texas and that would have also killed a hemp industry   that could help cotton farmers because hemp grows in some really poor soils and the cotton farmers in the Panhandle Of Texas have pretty much destroyed all the soils up there, so they need something. Well, this would have banned hemp production too.  

But then here comes Abbott,   and he vetoes the damn bill.   I couldn't believe it. I figured   he was going to sign this bill.   But there's a catch here. Right? And this this is where I think it's important.   Let me get you this one from Fox seven out of Austin.   Abbott vetoes Texas THC ban,   and here's how lieutenant governor Dan Patrick   reacted.   Governor Greg Abbott's last minute decision to strike down   a sweeping prohibition on consumable t h c products has ignited strong   disapproval   from his lieutenant governor Dan Patrick   even as it drew praise from the state's hemp industry, the action   taken just moments before the veto deadline on Sunday,   ensures the continued operation of Texas'   rapidly expanding hemp market and sets the stage for a contentious upcoming special legislative   session.  

So here's what they're saying, and I there's a couple of people in here, but I'm only concerned with Dan Patrick, and I'll tell you why here in a second.   Patrick,   a vocal advocate for the ban who has publicly described THC infused items as a quote poison   in our communities   swiftly condemned   the governor's move. In comments made on social media late Sunday, he criticized Abbott for maintaining   total silence   on senate bill number three throughout the entirety of the legislative session.   Patrick suggested the veto would leave both enforcement officials and families impacted by high potency products feeling deserted.   Quote,   this late night veto,   despite overwhelming support from legislative republicans, law enforcement, and medical and educational   professionals,   as well as families who have witnessed the   devastation   caused by these potent substances   will leave many feeling abandoned.  

My deepest sympathies go out to those who testified and shared their painful experiences.   I plan to elaborate further   at a press conference tomorrow   in Austin.   Apparently, that's going to be sometime today. And I'm going to be very interested in what Dan Patrick has to say. But before I get into a little bit of commentary here, let's continue.   The veto directly   undermines one of Patrick's top legislative priorities during his nearly two decades   in the legislature.   He actively championed the band, visiting cannabis retailers, and producing investigative style content   to highlight what he characterized   as dangerous business practices.  

But then, conversely, we've got the hemp industry.   The Texas Hemp Business Council, which had vigorously lobbied the governor to reject the bill, celebrated the decision as a triumph   for both the industry and Texas consumers.   Quote, governor Greg Abbott's veto of SB three reaffirms Texas' standing as a leader in business innovation   and pragmatic   governance, the council posted online, quote, by opting   for a balanced approach   versus overreach,   Governor Abbott has safeguarded a flourishing federally recognized hemp industry   that provides   employment for 53,000   Texans   and contributes   $4,300,000,000   in annual sales, end quote.  

The council contended that an outright prohibition would have driven consumers towards unsafe alternatives   and jeopardized public health and choice.   They said existing regulations   established under house bill thirteen twenty five   already impose strict limits on THC content,   require comprehensive testing,   mandates licensing, and governs labeling.   The council also reiterated its support for sensible additions such as restricting sales to individuals 21 and older, mandating child resistant packaging,   and implementing   distance requirements from schools, provisions that they noted were rejected by those pushing for SB three.  

Consistent polling   indicates that Texans do not favor a ban on hemp derived products, the council said, condemning Abbott   or commending right. Not condemning. Commending Abbott for heeding the voices of over a 150,000   petition signers   and thousands more who shared their personal stories.   So why is this important?   Especially if you don't live in Texas,   you don't follow the saga that has been the relationship between Dan Patrick and governor Abbott.   For a very long time,   they have been in each other's pockets.   Now, yeah, they've had, like, a couple of little squabbles here and there.  

Whatever. Little tiny little disagreements in the grand scheme of things. But this one,   Dan Patrick   basically called Greg Abbott straight out   in public   on x. I've never seen Dan Patrick do this before, not to this degree.   This is different.   He's been doing this for twenty years.   He's been lieutenant governor for longer than I can even he's been lieutenant governor for longer than Greg Abbott,   has been governor of Texas, if I remember this correctly. In either event,   this marks a complete departure between these two people.   And as Lieutenant Governor,   Dan Patrick is basically kinda second in command, and if anything happens to Greg, he ends up being governor.  

It's odd   and it's gonna be interesting to see how this shit plays out in, you know, in Texas but   I've never seen this before and I think it's going to be very important moving forward considering   that it would have been stupid   to ban   something like the the hemp industry in Texas even though hemp   technically doesn't have any THC.   But I guess there were provisions in s b three that would have caused major problems and headaches to the point that people would just say, fuck it. I don't wanna mess with this hemp stuff anymore.   And $4,300,000,000   is nothing to turn your nose up at. And hemp is actually a really, really great product for farmers to be able to grow. It's it's really easy to grow.  

Almost   it has almost no diseases.   It's like it almost gets no pest pressure and it grows in some of the crappiest soil you can possibly imagine. I'm a soil nerd. I don't think it should be grown in those conditions. I think that they should, you know, be regenerative about their soil, but I ain't there and they ain't listening to me. So I just gotta move on with that one.   And also,   isn't it time we just give up on this whole,   Oh, it's too potent.   Dude, have you ever downed, like, you know, a bottle of Bacardi one fifty one? Have you ever drank that shit? A 151   proof rum and somebody's telling me that, oh, my God, my kid's gonna die because there's too much THC in this gummy. Oh, bullshit.  

Still though,   it's gonna be interesting to see how this relationship   between the lieutenant governor and the governor of Texas   shakes out because this is a complete departure from everything that I've seen. Now moving on   to Genesys Digital, and we are still in the great state of Texas.   Genesys Digital Assets Limited has acquired one thousand   air cooled miners   to mine Bitcoin. Good luck with that in Glascott County.   This is Oscar Perez writing for Bitcoin Magazine.   Genesis Digital Assets Limited, one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the world in terms of hash rate, has announced it has entered a purchase agreement with Aradyne,   a Silicon Valley based provider of blockchain and AI infrastructure solutions.  

In the agreement, GDA will receive 1,000   Teraflux AT twenty eight eighty two seventy seven air cooled miners,   one of the latest inventions from Auradyne.   The company plans to install   all of them in their 40 megawatt data center in Glasscock County, Texas.   Pausing to give you a little bit of reference,   Glasscock County is Extreme West Texas.   Okay?   Glasscock County is hot.   In the summertime,   it doesn't get any hotter. All of Texas is hot, but you wanna talk about some blazing ass heat, go to Glascott County in the middle of freaking July or the August 1. Holy crap. Quote,   GDA's strategic priority is to combine operational excellence with long term term sustainability, yada yada yada, more suits speak, more suits speak. The air cooled miner gets up to 260   terahashes per second   of hash rate energy efficiency as low as 16 joules per terahash,   delivering performance and sustainability, and the new machines will participate   in Texas'   ERCOT demand response program once they're up and running.  

Quote, we're proud to partner with GDA. Yeah. More suit speak. This deployment shows   GDA's   United States expansion strategy   positioning Texas as a cornerstone   of its operations due to its renewable energy assets, regulatory alignment with the industry,   and innovation friendly environments.   A month ago, Auradyne released their new mining products featuring high performance ASIC chips,   specialized cooling systems, and fully integrated modular containers engineered for scalable megawatt   class mining operations.   And then the CEO gives another suit speak statement, which I'm not gonna get into.  

It's just that be aware.   Texas is doubling down all over the place on Bitcoin, on mining.   It's gonna be hard it's gonna be really, really hard to beat.   And as we saw last week,   governor Hagerty   of Tennessee,   I think is is is it Hagerty or I think it's Hagerty.   He's been talking about,   Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority. There's there's a whole history   of high power solutions coming out of the state of Tennessee that reaches all the way back to the Manhattan Project.   And And I'm gonna probably write up an article about that sometime this week. I've I've given a a smaller one on Noster and and, posted it also to x. And some people have received it fairly well, but it was kind of like a one off quickie.   I really wanna dig into a little bit more of the history of Tennessee because   between the states of Tennessee and Texas, you're probably not going to find   more states that have more power   that they're willing to deliver to Bitcoin mining than both Texas and Tennessee, and it just so happens   that the two most well known   Bitcoin co working environments for lack of better term is Bitcoin Park in Tennessee   and the Bitcoin Commons   in Austin, Texas.  

Texas and Tennessee are going to lead The United States   in ways that I don't think anybody really understands just yet, but we gotta move on   because SoapMiner is gonna get you clean. If you gotta get away clean, go to soapminer.com   where he has   handmade   tallow soaps. There's all kinds of soaps, in fact. There's   Earl Grey tallow, there's goat's milk tallow, there's lemongrass, there's   orange   and clove, there's   oh oh he's got a new one redacted   tallow. I love okay okay this is this is one of my favorite products. I haven't used it yet because he just came out with his stuff, but here's here's the thing.   It just so happened that I asked soap miner,   does he have an activated   charcoal   tallow soap?  

And he wrote back like and I was like, oh, and, you know, I we could put that I've figured out a way to to source some some, you know, charcoal for you. It'd be great. And he's like, no. No need, dude. I'm already working on it. We're about to release it next week, and it's here.   He says that this is his version of a low grit mechanics   soap.   The ingredients are thus pure grass fed beef tallow,   activated   charcoal powder,   pumice powder,   distilled water, and lye. So not very many ingredients.   It's the activated   charcoal powder that I'm the most   most interested in.  

That,   honestly,   is some of the best soap you will ever use for as a deodorant soap. Not only does it get you clean, because it's gonna do all that, but is that activated charcoal.   Man, it   will literally   suck up any odors on your body   and you'll have to work a sweat up to get you to get stinky again because you gotta get clean. You gotta get clean with SoapMiner's redacted tallow soap. He's also got a regular rough cut tallow, tea tree, pine tar, cedarwood, pepper. He's got an entire line   ending with lavender   tallow and if you use the code Bitcoin and you get 10% off your entire purchase, the circle P is   proud   to represent soap miner in the circle P and this is where you support   people like Soap Miner who are bringing you goods and services   and they're and he's just like you. He's just a regular pleb and then Soap Miner, if you tell him using the Bitcoin and code, then he will know that I made a sale   and he will get me back on the backside with some sweet sweet Satoshis. So just be aware   that's soapminer.com,   soapminer.com,   and Anthony Pompliano is back in the news. He's been making waves lately, but apparently something has actually happened this time   because from CoinDesk and who's writing it, but none other than   Will Kenny,   which I don't think I've ever read before. But Anthony Pompliano is taking his Bitcoin native financial platform,   ProCap BTC   public   through a 1,000,000,000,   that's billion with a b,   $1,000,000,000   merger with Columbus Circle Capital Corporation.  

It's a special purpose acquisition company, otherwise known as a SPAC, sponsored by an affiliate of Cohen and Company. And the transaction,   announced today,   positions the new entity   named ProCap Financial Incorporated   as one of the largest   Bitcoin treasuries   ever   to hit public markets.   In what's being called the largest initial fundraise for a public Bitcoin treasury company ever or at least to date,   ProCap raised $550,000,000   in preferred equity and secured 225,000,000   in convertible notes, giving future shareholders immediate exposure   to Bitcoin through a structure designed to acquire Bitcoin   ahead of the deal's close.  

Led by Anthony Pompliano, a well known investor and vocal Bitcoin advocate, ProCap aims to operate at the intersection of digital assets and traditional finance.   The company plans to generate profit   not just by holding Bitcoin,   but by actively deploying its Bitcoin balance sheet across yield   generating strategies, oh god, that mitigate risk and capitalize on crypto financial infrastructure.   I don't like this. Quote, the legacy financial system is being disrupted by Bitcoin, and ProCap Financial represents our solution   to the increasing demand for Bitcoin native financial services,   at at least among sophisticated   investors of which plebs ain't sophisticated.  

Sophisticated investors essentially is sort of another word for   qualified investors, and I think it means you better have a million dollars.   The merger values the combined entity at up to $1,000,000,000   depending on the final Bitcoin purchase price at closing.   Pro caps BTC assets will be custodied until the transaction completes,   giving investors near instant BTC exposure without having to wait for the company to go public.   The transaction is expected to close before the end of this year pending SEC review   and shareholder approval.  

The Financial Times first reported that Pompliano was set to become the CEO of ProCap BTC   and that the company was planning to raise $750,000,000   to acquire Bitcoin.   So yet another one, and I really don't like this. How are you gonna generate your yield? I I I just don't like this one.   Let's see. Where where's this?   It was back up here somewhere.   Okay. I'm I'm trying to find this this part where, yeah, generate profit   not by hold just holding BTC, but actively   deploying   its Bitcoin balance sheet   across   yield generating strategies   that mitigate risk and capitalize on crypto financial infrastructure.  

Ladies and gentlemen, that's pure suit speak.   That tells you   nothing.   What   yield generating strategies?   How are you mitigating   risk?   In what way are you capitalizing   on what crypto financial infrastructure?   That is a pet peeve with me.   I just I can't stand suit speak. It's like mission statements that drone on about   leveraging their workforce to employ a a   rainbow filled room like environment. I'm like, I don't even know what the hell that shit means.   Please   stop doing that. Speak plainly and tell me exactly   how you're going to make money and exactly how much money   you think you're going to make. Otherwise, it's all bullshit.  

And you know what else is bullshit is, yes,   Iran.   Iran.   Bitcoin rebounds   as market price in short   lived   Iran   conflict according to Sebastian Sinclair   from Decrypt. Let's see what he's got to say about this whole   Middle East thing that we're in   again.   Bitcoin regained a footing late Sunday to trade above $101,000   recovering from earlier weekend losses as investors responded to The United States   joining Israel air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and the gains came alongside modest moves in gold.   And interestingly,   a muted reaction across oil   and equity futures, signaling traders expect a contained conflict rather than a sustained geopolitical shock.  

The US operation carried out in coordination with Israel targeted Fordow, Nadinats,   and   Isfahan   using more than a 125   aircraft and bunker busting munitions.   Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel cities and threatened to strike US military bases in The Gulf.   Iran's foreign minister also flew to Moscow on Sunday for emergency consultations   while president Trump signaled a pause in further US military action. A final decision on steps could come within   two weeks.   In the meantime,   European leaders have urged restraint and signaled openness to renewed diplomacy.   Despite the escalation,   markets stabilized quickly. Gold briefly hit $33.98   before easing back to $33.74,   while oil paired   an early surge to finish up just   one half of 1%.  

Quote, the market is still expecting   a short lived war.   I've gotta pause.   What short lived war has anybody seen lately?   I mean,   in all honesty,   this sounds like a new creature.   It sounds like   a a a new critter, the one that we've never seen before is a short lived conflict, especially anywhere close to The Middle East.   I don't know, man. But the Kovesi letter wrote on x,   noting that oil remains far below levels historically associated   with any disruptions in the Strait Of Hormuz.   Crypto market showed similar posture while Bitcoin initially sold off during the height of the weekend headlines.   Traders returned as risk appetite increased, and then they talk about shit coins.  

Yeah.   I don't know   what they think a short lived event   of this nature is actually going to be.   People have been itching to hit Iran since Hillary Clinton   was in the state department.   I I I don't know what these people are talking about.   So   either   either The United States and Israel   carpet bomb that entire country from end to end, north to south, east to west, and all points in between,   or we're gonna find ourselves in a very long conflict with Iran,   just like it was with Iraq. And it's I'm tired of it. I'm so sick of it.   I literally want to build a wall around the Middle East and just let them all fight each other. And whoever wins, we, I don't know, do a trade deal with. It's that bad. I've been dealing with this shit since the seventies.  

I mean, literally in the seventies, there was a problem with Iran.   It's all I mean, it ever   since.   Who was not crew? I have not cruise. Jeff, who am I thinking of? Is that dude that worked for,   for Kennedy,   that went over and made all the deals with with Saudi Arabia in The Middle East for for oil. It's how we ended up with the petrodollar   ever since that.   Ever since we did that,   it has been nothing but one fucking problem   after another after another, and it doesn't look like it's ending anytime soon. So when these people talk about short lived, I'm like, dude, we've been jacking with this country since 1973.   Short lived for who?  

For god's sakes. But   it is interesting   insofar that it's going to affect all the numbers which we are going to run right now.   Futures and commodities.   Oil is down a tenth of a percent to $73.76.   Ladies and gentlemen, it hit   almost $78   over the weekend.   Yeah. Exactly.   Brittnorsy   is down, two tenths of a point, $76.87.   Natural gas,   plumbing low, three and a quarter percent of the downside, $3.72   per gal or per thousand. And gasoline is up,   slightly 0.5   0.05%   to the upside, $2.33 a gallon.   Gold is up a half point to $34.00   4 and 2 dime. Silver is up point 63%. Platinum is up almost 2%, and palladium   top in the charts at three and a quarter percent to the upside.  

Meanwhile,   most of ag is in the red today.   Biggest loser looks to be   wheat   at two and a half percent to the downside. Biggest winner is chocolate, four and a half to the upside, so taking a little bit of a bounce on these   last few weeks of losses.   Live cattle is down almost a half point, lean hogs are up point one three, and feeder cattle are down   point 15%.   Meanwhile,   I guess everybody's holding their breath in the markets because the Dow is crab walking sideways and only slightly in the green.   S and P is up a quarter of a point. The Nasdaq is up point 4%,   and the S and P is down point 15%.  

So I think people are just holding their breath trying to figure out if this shit's gonna be short lived like they say or not.   And we've got a drop in the Bitcoin price to $100,600.   That is exactly a $2,000,000,000,000   market cap. We can only purchase 29.6   ounces of shiny metal rocks with our one Bitcoin of which there are 19,882,297.7   of, and average fees per block are really low, 0.03   BTC taken in fees on a per block basis.   There look to be about 13 no. 12 blocks carrying   24,000   unconfirmed transactions waiting to clear at high priority rates of 5 Satoshis per vByte.   Low priority is gonna get you in at four,   and we have lost yet more hash rate. We're down to 826.4   exahashes per second. Still pretty high.  

I I mean, honestly, that's still a lot of mining going on.   So who knows what the hell is going on? Anyway, from   from HODL with Lore, which was last week's or last Thursday's Bitcoin and podcast episode,   and I didn't do one on Friday simply because they're, honestly, I just didn't have it in me. I was really tired.   But I got progressively worse with 7,000 sats. Thank you, brother. He says,   I was driving from Nevada to Ontario.   Holy crap. That's a drive. Anyway, the last couple of days,   thank you for filling some of the mind numbing void that would have been there without your show. Here's a small token of gratitude from me to you. Much love. Thank you, progressively worse. And Jay with five fifty five says, I wonder how many of those men hiding crypto in their marriage divorce   actually just have gambling addictions   as opposed to trying to hide their fat stacks of Bitcoin.  

There's a lot of people that have gambling addictions.   They're all all coiners.   Yodel with, five eleven says, howdy ho. Have a good weekend. I did. Thank you. I appreciate that. Turkey with five hundred says nothing is normal.   Richard Whitman with three hundred says Coinbase blows. I know. It really does.   God's death with 237 says thank you, sir. No. Thank you. Perma nerd with 210 says if you want to listen to a man that admits when he is wrong,   none of your business is that man. He is even less afraid of of admitting when he is right. That is that's true, and that's the weather report.   Welcome to part two of the news you can use.  

Teenager   has strong incentives to flee.   After pleading guilty to a $245,000,000   Bitcoin heist,   governor says,   wow. Ryan s Gladwin decrypt.   Jesus.   This kid's, like, 19. He stole almost a quarter of a billion dollars in Bitcoin.   The   the f, man.   Oh, no.   I guess it's not the governor. The gov, the United States government   is opposing the release of a 19 year old   after he plead guilty in November   to a $245,000,000   Bitcoin heist.   No. I'm not replacing the word crypto with Bitcoin. He actually stole nothing but Bitcoin, I guess. Anyway, the government argued that the teenager's   coconspirators   may help him flee the country before his sentencing   so that he won't testify   against them.  

Recently unsealed court documents reveal that Veer Chatel   pleaded guilty in a Washington DC court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments   in connection with a Bitcoin scam   that took place   in 2024.   According to the plea agreement, he faces between twenty and twenty five years in prison,   a potential fine   of 50 to $500,000,   and has been forced to forfeit items that were bought with proceeds from the offenses.   The highest was carried out by socially engineering victims   into leaking their private keys via a screen sharing service   and sending their crypto funds from the Gemini exchange to a compromised wallet Onchain Detective involved in this in the case,   Zach xBT   explained.  

One victim   lost approximately   $245,000,000   in Bitcoin due to the sophisticated   social engineering attack,   court documents say. In a week after the theft,   Chatel's parents were assaulted   and kidnapped   in a failed ransom attempt. Oh, that's   that's an interesting twist.   According to court documents unsealed last week,   Chatel's role in the heist was to call potential victims pretending to be technical support from major companies,   assure them of his legitimacy,   and then convince the victim to click on the account access request   from a coconspirator.  

Chatel laundered his funds using trusted professional launderers, that's actually a quote,   according to the documents and alongside his conspirators.   These conspirators,   Chatel,   Malone Lamb,   and   Jindell   Serrano,   then lived a luxurious life with the stolen funds, court documents and Zach XBT alleged.   The teen used his funds to purchase watches,   designer clothes,   and multiple cars, probably Lambos if I had to guess. Anyway, in searching Chatel's house,   the FBI found $37,000,000   in stolen crypto connected   to the $245,000,000   heist. The document also claims he had defrauded approximately   50   other victims, netting $3,000,000   in personal proceeds.  

On Sunday, the government opposed Chatel's motion for release as he awaits his sentencing.   Quote,   considering the status of the case   and the impending substantial   prison sentence,   mister Chettle or Chital, however you pronounce it, has strong incentives to flee and little   motivation to stay. Yeah. No shit. Any of the unchained,   uncharged   co conspirators,   including those involved in the October 2024 theft could easily pay for mister Chatel to flee the country in an effort to avoid him testifying   against them.   That said, the government commands Chatel's   admission and apology for the crime.  

Last month,   12 individuals were charged in connection with the heist on top of Lam and Serrano who were also arrested and charged last year, and it appears that the government believes   there may be more con conspirators out there who have yet to be   charged.   So yeah.   19.   19 years old and is already gonna go to prison for anywhere between,   you know, fifteen and twenty five year or twenty and twenty five years is, you know, it's like don't do that shit.   Come on, man. I mean, honestly and   it what what's really   annoying about this is that it's it's like every other idiot that   that gambles with their life like this.  

Instead of immediately leaving the country   and but I don't know. Somehow or another setting up some kind of, like, you know,   company to buy   maybe a house somewhere in, I don't know, Central America or something like that. No. He spends it on watches.   You know? Some of these you know, I've seen million, million and a half dollar watches.   You can blow you can blow through a shit ton of money just buying watches by themselves.   Do you really?   In designer clothes.   Really.   Lamb Lambos. You know what I've said about Lambos. They're fucking awful cars.   They're air cooled for one. They're did you know that?  

Lamborghini for the most part, almost every Lamborghini I know of is an air cooled engine, which means what?   You need air flowing across the engine to actually cool it. Why is that important? Do you know how many Lamborghini pictures of Lamborghinis   I've seen   on fire   or   had clearly been on fire that's right next to a gas pump?   Why is that important? What's the tell?   Because they're just slowly cruising around town in their Lambo.   They don't realize that they need to actually have some kind of speed   to get air to flow across the engine so that it will cool the engine. So after heating and overheating the engine for God only knows how long, what do they do? They pull into a gas station to get more gas.   Now there's literally no airflow going on, and that's when the engine decides to, you know what?  

Screw a bunch of this. I'm going home and catches on fire. And then, you know,   your $240,000   supercar burns to a crisp   right next to a gas pump, like the safest place in the world to be. Right? This everything is stupid   and it's really annoying. It just is. But we've got good news.   Ashigaru   has brought back Whirlpool.   On chain privacy coin join   has returned.   This is out of Atlas 21, by the way. The development team behind the Ashigaru wallet has officially revived the Whirlpool coin join solution,   once again offering users the ability to improve the privacy of their Bitcoin transactions.   The release of Ashigaru   Whirlpool represents a fateful implementation of the original protocol developed by   SamuraI Wallet.  

The platform allows users to voluntarily   participate   in zero link coin joins ensuring full privacy for both past   and future transactions by breaking deterministic   links between inputs and outputs with 100%   entropy   according to the announcement.   All connections to the Whirlpool coordinator occur exclusively   via the Tor network.   The core architecture remains true to the original design   created by tdev d, Samurais   Zero Link, and LaurentMT   of o x t, while introducing updates developed by the open source Ashigaru   project over the past six months.  

One of the key innovations lies in the user interface.   The Whirlpool introduces   Ashigaru   terminal and terminal user interface application that marks a clear shift   from the previous graphic user interface model. The new system   uses an Electrum server as the back end   removing the dependency on Dojo   and making the solution compatible with platforms such as Start9,   Umbrel, and MyNode.   This architecture change   also ensures that the Ashigaru team has no access   to users, master, public keys, or xPubs.   Ashigaru terminal is available,   excuse me,   On all major desktop operating systems, Windows, Mac, Linux, to keep continuous reaffirming or remixing active,   users must keep their computers connected and online, properly configuring power settings to prevent automatic sleep modes   or wireless disconnections.  

The Ashi Garu Whirlpool code is publicly available   for community review and contributions,   and there are some fees involved.   I won't get into that.   If you want if you're if you're gonna be a Whirlpool user,   then you can damn well go find out the fees for yourself. You don't need me because I I would   bet my bottom dollar that   most of you guys out there aren't using Whirlpool. We probably all should.   I haven't really ever used Whirlpool,   but here's what I love about this.   You know, the samurai wall samurai wallet guys are are still in jail.   You know? They're they're we still have a problem with this.  

And here we have the Ashigaru   team saying, screw it. We're we're putting Whirlpool back up.   So my question becomes,   are the are the developers of the in the Ashigaru   team,   have they insulated   their identity   well enough that they cannot be known?   Therefore, they cannot be charged   because I guarantee you,   if they find out who these people are, they the the SEC or the FBI or department let's just say the Department of Justice.   We'll find them and we'll charge them, and we'll have the samurai wallet issue all over again. And I'm getting kind of sick of watching developers   try to do the right thing   for the rest of the world and then get hosed   by people who just absolutely demand nothing but 100%   fealty.  

You can't you can't use anybody else's money. You can't use anybody else's   privacy solutions. No. You've got a AML   KYC   though yourself   out the wazoo,   and the only thing that that actually helps are 19 year old kids who know what telephone number to call to try to get you to click   on something that's going to screw you over.   That that that's all KYC   AML actually does. It serves the purposes   of thievery.   That's all it's ever done. That's all it can do, and that's all it will ever do.   So I while I applaud the Ashigaru   team,   I am hoping beyond   all levels of hope   that they have done everything that they can do, that nobody knows who these people are,   that nobody will ever know who these people are.  

I don't know if that's true. I can only assume that if it's not true, then they are   have an ironclad   lock on their defense as to why it is they should not be charged with any crimes   by spinning Whirlpool back up.   We'll have to wait and see on that one. Meanwhile,   we've got a couple of news stories out of Norway.   First up,   Norway's Green Minerals   announces the adoption of their very own, you guessed it, Bitcoin Treasury strategy.   Bitcoin Magazine written by Oscar Perez,   Today, Greenmineral   AS,   a mineral miner in Norway, has announced the adoption of a Bitcoin treasury strategy,   marking a shift in its financial approach to protect against inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.  

The deep sea mining company aims to diversify its treasury by integrating Bitcoin into its balance sheet,   moving away from the reliance on traditional fiat currencies. Quote, in this era   of significant monetary expansion,   maintaining a strong balance sheet is more critical than ever,   said the executive chairman of Green Minerals, Stale Rodal.   Bitcoin's decentralized noninflationary   properties make it an attractive alternative   to traditional fiat. And by integrating a Bitcoin treasury strategy, we are not only mitigating fiat risks,   but also reaffirming our commitment to financial innovation and the sustainable creation of long term value, end quote.  

They aim to finance up to $1,200,000,000   in partnership with others   with Bitcoin exposure forming a key part of the capital structure.   The move supports the upcoming launch of the first high efficiency   deep sea mining program under its partnership for responsible production.   Quote, green minerals emphasizes that its core operational strategy remains steadfast.   The Bitcoin treasury program is implemented   to support the company's project plans.   Green Minerals also sees the blockchain technology,   as an important   role in playing   in mining to ensure supply chain transparency,   mineral origin certification,   and operational efficiency.  

Yeah. That's all bullshit.   You're you're not using blockchain   to ensure supply chain transparency   or mineral origin certification.   Maybe operational efficiency, but doubtful.   But you're definitely   not going to be able to use blockchain to certify   where a mineral came from.   Blockchains don't do that.   They all I mean, the only thing the blockchain for Bitcoin does is verify a transaction is valid and make sure that once it's mined, that it cannot be undone.   Right? So   how why does it not work here?   Because I would actually have to input,   like, as a human, I would say, yeah, this I don't know. This chunk of gold came from this latitude and longitude.  

I'm gonna stick it in the blockchain.   Okay.   That means that I have to trust your initial transaction of making sure that the information was not only correct but that you're not lying. Because what if somebody said, you know,   I'll pay you a $100,000   if you   instead of saying it came from these coordinates   that they really came from over here, which is not really where they came from for whatever purpose. I don't know. Maybe it's Lex Luthor and he's got some kind of nefarious   mustache twisting plan involving, I don't know, a maiden tied up and on train tracks. I don't know. I don't give a shit. All I do know is the guy that's actually gonna put this stuff into the blockchain   is probably gonna go a $100,000   sounds really good.  

Sure, boss.   See, that's why blockchains don't work. We always used to make fun of this thing called bananas on the blockchain   because there was literally companies out there saying, we're gonna be able to use the blockchain to verify the origin the country of origin of this coffee or these bananas or these, I don't know, mangoes and papayas. I don't give a shit. It was never gonna work. It's   still never been actually done.   So that part of that statement is complete and utter bullshit.   Anyway,   the company plans to introduce a new key performance indicator   called Bitcoin per share,   which will provide shareholders with a transparent reporting on its digital asset holdings.  

Green Minerals expects to acquire its first Bitcoin in the coming days. Quote, this approach   is particularly   well suited for a company with such a long project horizon   as Green Minerals, said Rodal.   Quote, with significant future capital expenditures planned for the production equipment and the program offering a robust hedge against currency debasement, end quote.   Green Minerals says it also sees long term potential in blockchain.   Beyond treasury use. It plans to apply blockchain technology throughout its operations to ensure   earlier what we said supply chain transparency,   improving efficiency, and certify   mineral origins. That's bullshit, but here's a quote.  

This strategic move reinforces Green Minerals' position not only as a leader in sustainable   mineral extraction,   but also as an innovator in financial and technological   practices.   The company invites all stakeholders to monitor the forthcoming updates   as it paves the way towards broader blockchain adoption.   So I definitely smell a bunch of horse pucky here.   We'll have to see, but it's gonna be interesting how they move forward   when the second part of the news out of Norway   isn't quite so   bright and fluffy.   Also from Oscar Perez and also out of Bitcoin Magazine,   Norway plans to temporarily   ban new Bitcoin and crypto mining centers to conserve energy. Sounds like   sounds like Norway might have a conflict of interest here.  

That today, the government of Norway announced its plans to introduce a temporary   ban   on establishing new Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining data centers.   The government concluded   that it was better to redirect electricity to other industries and economic sectors and that it would be better for the national interest, quote.   The Labour Party government   has a clear intention   to limit the mining of cryptocurrency in Norway as much as possible,   said the minister for digitalization   and public administration,   Carrie Anne Tongue.   The ruling labor party has attributed the upcoming ban to the   excessive   energy consumption   by power intensive Bitcoin and crypto mining operations, which it says offers   little benefits to the broader economy.  

Quote, crypto mining is very power intensive and generates little in the way of jobs   and income for the local community.   She added. A temporary ban could be introduced during the autumn of twenty twenty five according to the Norwegian government.   So Norway pulling out the Glock nine and pointing it to its head and blowing its own brains out. There you go.   Texas   still is a model of how this actually does work for   if it works for   a state the size of Texas,   it's gonna work for the   for a country the size of Norway. I'm I'm just saying.   Now last up for the day,   Bitcoin ASIC producer, Canaan,   pilots US production,   but   in a twist,   EXIT's artificial intelligence business, Adrian Zmunsky,   Cointelegraph,   Bitcoin mining application specific integrated circuit manufacturer,   Canaan,   has completed a pilot production run inside The United States and has fully abandoned   its artificial intelligence hardware manufacturing   efforts.  

In a statement sent to Cointelegraph on Monday,   Canaan   a Canaan representative said that it, quote,   has successfully completed a pilot production run-in The United States,   replicating its Malaysia based operations.   Canaan also announced the discontinuation   of its AI semiconductor   business in what it said is a strategic   realignment aimed at sharpening its focus. Quote,   I believe   that doubling down on our core strengths in crypto infrastructure and Bitcoin mining is the most   strategic   path forward for Canaan,   said   Nanking   Zhang,   chairman and CEO of Canaan.  

A Canaan representative acknowledged that production costs are higher in The US, but said that the company views this initiative   not just as a hedge against tariffs,   but as a potential strategic investment in long term resilience, end quote.   Producing   closer to the North American market, the company added, will help improve delivery cycles,   respond faster to local demand, and navigate future geopolitical or regulatory   shifts.   The statements follow recent reports that Bitmain,   Canaan, and MicroBT,   which collectively produce most of the world's Bitcoin mining ASICs, are bringing production to The US.   And I believe I brought you that story last week.  

This addition of the discontinuation   of its AI infrastructure plans   is what I think is the most interesting part about this story.   Let's continue. Canaan's representative   noted that producing Bitcoin mining ASICs in The US   is part of a long term effort and is more than just a response to tariffs. Quote, we're actively working to optimize   our United States cost structure with the goal of limiting production costs. Well, of course, you are. Why wouldn't you? The representative said,   the company's products manufactured in Malaysia   are currently subject to a 10% tariff.  

When it comes to imported components and raw materials,   the tariffs are less clear, which makes expense planning very difficult.   For this reason,   Canin's US expansion   will ultimately depend on achieving commercial viability through a combination of cost management,   customer demand, and clarity around the tariff environment, end quote.   The company addressed potential concerns over US national security standards highlighting   that its devices shipped into The US are produced in Malaysia and certified by local authorities,   the representative added, quote,   should we expand our US production further,   we intend to ensure   that our operations align with evolving US standards for technology   as well as security, end quote.  

The comments come after the US Customs and Border Protection Agency halted the delivery   delivery of thousands   of Bitmain ASICs in November of twenty twenty four   following an investigation by US authorities   into Chinese chip designer,   Ximen   Softco,   over an alleged business relationship with US sanctioned telecommunication   telecommunications firm, Huawei,   the devices were only recently released.   So the abandonment of the AI is really the centerpiece of this story here because   a lot of   a lot of the Bitcoin   mining infrastructure   is seeing shifts   towards AI. We've seen that over the, you know, over the past year, really.  

We've seen like, okay. Well, we're gonna devote some of our megawattage on this particular mining thing. We're gonna just, we're gonna we're gonna do AI stuff. We're gonna get some GPUs. We're we're gonna divert the the power to to power these other machines.   And then we started seeing some, you know, some of the Bitcoin miners start talking about maybe that you get into the AI chip manufacturing,   and it looks like Canaan tried   and just said, you know what? No. Let's just let's just mine Bitcoin.   Because   I use artificial intelligence. I use it every day.  

There are some things that it's really good at.   There are some things that it's very helpful with. Is it intelligence?   No.   It's definitely artificial, but it is not intelligent.   And anybody who tells you that this shit is going to be able to think anytime in   the foreseeable future   is fooling themselves and they're trying to fool you.   It's not going to happen,   but that doesn't make AI   useless.   It doesn't   make everything that comes out of AI that you use it for   useless.   It is a very, very   useful tool to have. And like I said, I use it every single day.   And I'm, you know, I'm learning more and more as I go along. How how does it work? How does it act? You know? What is his response in in these particular situations?  

And I I do I actually recommend for those people that are out there that are like   the truth is always in some kind of shade of gray.   There's two kinds of people in AI.   One, AI is gonna solve all of our problems and it's going to be more smart. It's gonna be smarter than any human   ever, and it's gonna be smarter than all humans ever   have been combined.   And then there's the people who are like, no, man. This shit is like completely it's completely bogus and it's going to do nothing but take jobs. It's like it's either one or the other with these people. The truth actually exists somewhere between those two extremes. Alright? That's not hard that's not hard to conceive of. But But there's a lot of people that are like, yeah, I just don't I I don't want to learn how to use this. You're gonna have to.   I I know.  

And and for the people that are leaning more towards   this thing will never amount to anything and it's a complete scam,   you're   gonna if you're not seeing what it can do,   it's not that it can do all the shit that the people on the other end of the spectrum say is gonna be smarter than humans. No. It's not gonna do that shit either,   but it's not useless.   There's a lot of stuff that it can do,   but I kind of recommend that for those people that think that it can't do anything and that it's just stupid and it's just a waste of time,   take it. Take a small class. There's probably a few free ones   because I think a lot of people, I think the the term chat g p t   really screwed up the   what the initial   part of what AI might be able to do for people. I think they screwed it up by naming the thing chat g p t. Even though there's way more stuff out there than just chat g p t, that was the first word that everybody heard of. That was the first word that was marketed or at least successfully.  

So most people think of it's a chatbot.   You chat with it.   No.   No. You you don't. In a way, you do, but I think a lot of people thought,   what should I you know, I don't know. Like,   hi. What's your name?   Oh, that's interesting.   My name's this. And I literally   these are some of the very first   the very first conversations   I saw happening with chat g p t when people were like, hey, man. This thing just came out. Check out what I did. And it's like nothing. It's like how like talking about your dog.   No. No. No. Why why don't you say, give me five,   here it's like ask me five questions   about who I am   and just ask them one at a time, let me answer, ask another one.  

Do that five times. Right? So, ask me five questions.   Do that exercise.   Right? And then ask it one thing after that.   If I wanted to start a business of my own, let's say you don't have one. If I wanted to start a business of my own, given what you know about me from those five questions,   give me 10 examples of what you think I might be able to do as a either a side hustle or starting my own   entrepreneurship   and watch what happens.   Does that mean that it's like, oh, well, I should do everything it says. No. That's not the point of the exercise.   The point of the exercise   is maybe it will fire up something that you weren't thinking of,   and that's where a lot of what I use AI for today really comes from.  

What have I not seen about this thing?   Read this web page.   Here's what I think is going on in this particular news story.   Am I missing anything?   Is there is there a nuance here that I'm not getting?   This   is one of the myriad ways that I'm using artificial intelligence at this point, and it's honestly   very, very good at these kinds of things. And it's also good at a lot of other things that I haven't really figured out yet. And there's a lot of things that I use it for that I don't have time to illustrate here. But I am saying,   if you think that this shit's just gonna go away,   you're putting yourself in a boatload of danger.  

Please   go find a free class   or something like that.   Right now, I'm taking a class from Jack Spierko who's host of the Survival Podcast.   Cost me a $100 to get in. I can't believe I actually got in because he was only taking a 100 people.   It's a very good class because he's approaching it from a here's how you use it for   generating content ideas because he's a podcaster.   Here's how you use it for generating ideas on on what business you might be able to run-in your future given what skill sets you have.   Is is there something I'm missing? Is there is there something that I mean, I think I know what I could do, but is is there something that that would be more interesting that I haven't seen yet?   He's   using it in a way for marketing.  

It to be a marketing manager and a marketing, you know, a person in marketing that comes up with ideas.   And it's not bad.   It's really not bad. It's not bad at all.   And I mean, sure, he was just gonna do that class again and it's probably gonna cost more than a $100 next time. But   the reason you want somebody else   to tell you how to use chat GPT or artificial intelligence   isn't because you're dumb and you don't know how to use it   It's that when you see how to how other people use the same tool whether it's AI or I don't know a socket wrench,   you might actually go oh shit I never thought of using it that way And then all of a sudden   you now you now you're armed with being able to do something else.  

So   it's it won't won't won't won't take you that much long or that you know much time to go find   potentially even a free class   and just give it a shot.   See if you can get it to do something that is of value to you   because   I guarantee you there are   millions of people   that are starting to use this every day   And if you're one of the ones that five years from now, you still haven't touched any one of these things to figure out how it can work for you,   then you may be working for one of these other people.   Just let that sink in, 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.