Onramp Bitcoin Media

Onramp Bitcoin

Onramp Bitcoin Media
Bitcoin, macro, and markets, discussed by the team building Onramp and the investors and founders we interview every week.

The Last Trade: our flagship show on markets, macro, and digital assets through a bitcoin lens, plus one-on-one interviews with investors, entrepreneurs, and analysts.

Final Settlement: our weekly show on how traditional capital is moving into bitcoin and digital assets, plus one-on-one interviews with the dealmakers and builders behind it.

First Principles: one-on-one conversations every other week on why bitcoin works and how to hold it for the lo

Play

Open in

51 episodes
Avg 56 min
English

Episodes 51

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

Thursday · 1 hr 18 min
JPMorgan Just Set Up Bitcoin's Real Bull Run
Through Dec 31: $100/month (or $1,000/year) for your first year of Multi-Institution Custody, normally $2,400. Open a vault, set up a recurring buy, and use code TLT at onrampbitcoin.com. Discounted pricing covers vaults holding up to 25 BTC. JPMorgan just put a number on Bitcoin for the first time: 10% a year for the next decade, the highest of any asset in its long-term outlook. Jackson, Michael and Brian explain why that number is too low and why Bitcoin's real bull run hasn't started yet, then cover Schwab's Bitcoin rollout and CoreWeave's bond slide. JOIN US IN MINNEAPOLIS Onramp After Hours: a happy hour with Cam Stromme at Pryes Brewing in Minneapolis on October 28. Save your spot: 📍 https://luma.com/7o9q1hta BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-tlt-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-tlt-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE JPMorgan's 31st Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions gives Bitcoin about 10% a year over the next decade, ahead of US large caps at 7.5% and gold at 5.5%. Brian shows why that is conservative: Bitcoin has beaten 10% in every 10-year window of its history, and he argues its volatility skews up, not down. Schwab has finished rolling out Bitcoin trading to its clients, Germany's Sparkassen are opening Bitcoin to savers, and Switzerland approved its first spot Bitcoin ETF for retail. The hosts cover a USAA outage, the OCC's final GENIUS Act rule, France's 31% tax on crypto-to-stablecoin swaps and an IMF paper on financial repression. They close on CoreWeave bonds below 80 cents, $3.1 trillion of off-balance-sheet AI debt, and why paper gains need a harder money. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Welcome and a new bull market 04:32 - JPMorgan's first Bitcoin forecast: 10% a year 06:16 - Every 10-year window beat 10% 10:15 - Why Wall Street changed its tune on Bitcoin 15:09 - Bitcoin's volatility is a feature, not a bug 18:07 - Schwab completes its Bitcoin rollout 21:17 - Every big firm wants a seat at the table 25:04 - Sparkassen and Switzerland's first retail Bitcoin ETF 26:31 - Single point of failure of the week: USAA goes dark 29:38 - Ledger fallout, the GENIUS Act rule and France's 31% swap tax 34:24 - Stablecoins near $1 trillion a quarter 38:00 - The IMF on financial repression and Trump accounts 42:11 - Importing Bitcoin, exporting dollars 51:50 - CoreWeave bonds and $3.1T of hidden AI debt 1:01:17 - What is breaking beneath the surface 1:10:33 - Why Bitcoin's real bull run hasn't started ABOUT THE SHOW The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, and finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, and Brian Cubellis. Join us for the biggest stories shaping bitcoin and digital asset adoption, and what they mean for investors protecting their wealth for the long term. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Final Settlement and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
Wednesday · 31 min
Why Elon Is Giving Every Kid a SpaceX Share
Elon Musk says he will give a SpaceX share to every kid in America next year, about $10B of stock, and the table splits on generosity versus strategy. Also on the clock: 5% Treasury yields and a $2 trillion deficit, CoreWeave default insurance spiking, JPMorgan ranking Bitcoin its top long-run asset, and Germany's Sparkassen opening Bitcoin trading. Where's the signal, and where's the noise? OPEN A FREE ONRAMP FINANCE ACCOUNT One free account to buy Bitcoin, use the Onramp Terminal, and access the rest of Onramp: Bitcoin IRA, Bitcoin-backed loans, and Multi-Institution Custody. Recurring buys carry no Onramp trading fee. Active clients are eligible for Onramp-funded rewards up to 5%. Cash back on the Onramp Card converts to Bitcoin in one click. Takes a few minutes to open. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/finance-svn-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-svn-pod CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:52 - Topic 1 - Musk Pledges a SpaceX Share to Every Kid in America 06:03 - Topic 2 - 5% Treasury Yields, a $2 Trillion Deficit, and Who Buys the Debt 11:52 - Topic 3 - CoreWeave Default Insurance Spikes as AI's Debt Bill Comes Due 20:20 - Topic 4 - JPMorgan's Long-Term Forecast Ranks Bitcoin First for the First Time 25:41 - Topic 5 - Germany's Sparkassen Open Bitcoin Trading to Millions of Customers 29:40 - Wrap-Up & Parting Thoughts ABOUT THE SHOW Signal vs Noise is a twice-weekly livestream and show unpacking the biggest stories across capital, markets, technology, and people, six minutes on the clock for each, with Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade, Final Settlement, and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
Tuesday · 58 min
Why AI Agents Will Settle on Bitcoin
AI agents won't barter, and Michael argues they will coalesce around Bitcoin faster than anyone expects. Plus Schwab turns on Bitcoin trading, Deutsche Bank and Stifel move in, and an OpenAI model spends testnet ETH it never owned. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE An internal OpenAI model, told to deploy contracts with no funded wallet, derived keys from public seed phrases and spent testnet ETH it did not own. Michael and Liam take that to its conclusion: agents will not barter, and they will settle on native internet money, with Bitcoin the asset they coalesce around. They cover OpenAI's talks to buy Trail of Bits, World ID's new suite for banks and AI agents, Anthropic's public benefit fund, and Meta's Muse Spark Open. Then the digital asset side: Chainalysis finds the US importing Bitcoin again as institutions replace retail as the marginal buyer, Schwab turns on Bitcoin and Ether trading, JPMorgan brings JPM Coin to Ethereum, Deutsche Bank readies custody, and Stifel takes a stake in Meow. Brian argues every incumbent move is now defensive, and Michael sketches a Bitcoin savings layer that agents can spend from. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Cold open: AI agents won't barter 01:41 - An OpenAI model spent testnet ETH it didn't own 03:12 - Why AI agents will coalesce around Bitcoin 05:24 - AI labs are becoming digital asset companies 07:39 - OpenAI in talks to buy Trail of Bits 10:16 - World ID for banks, deepfakes and AI agents 18:46 - Anthropic's public benefit fund and Elon's SpaceX pledge 24:52 - Meta's Muse Spark Open and AI capex concentration 28:53 - Ramp at $60B and the second-order AI winners 29:56 - Chainalysis: the US is importing Bitcoin again 31:55 - AI-to-AI commerce and agents with native wallets 37:41 - Schwab turns on Bitcoin, JPM Coin goes to Ethereum 43:06 - Deutsche Bank, Stifel and Meow: incumbents on defense 51:10 - Stripe, Privy and a Bitcoin savings layer for agents 54:36 - Ledger attack update and the chop in the 80s ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement is a weekly show on capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, Bitcoin applications, and protocol development, presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media with Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Michael: https://x.com/MTanguma · Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 · Brian: https://x.com/BackslashBTC MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
Monday · 35 min
Your VPN Knows Too Much | Carl Dong
A traditional VPN sends your entire internet history through one company that also has your name, address and payment details. Liam sits down with Carl Dong, founder of Obscura VPN and former Bitcoin Core developer, on why two hops beat one and why AI makes privacy urgent. Guest: Carl Dong, founder of Obscura VPN and former Bitcoin Core developer: X: https://x.com/obscuravpn Website: https://obscura.com/ BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Carl Dong grew up building ways around China's Great Firewall, then worked at Blockstream and Chaincode Labs on Bitcoin Core, where his focus was software supply chain security. He explains reproducible builds and fuzzing, and why AI's infinite patience turns theoretical attacks into real ones. He makes the case that a traditional VPN swaps your ISP for one unregulated company that sees all of your traffic, and walks through Obscura's two-party relay with Mullvad, where neither company knows both who you are and where you go. He covers disguising VPN traffic as HTTP/3 to get through firewalls in airports, hotels and China, and why privacy tools have to be as easy as the alternatives. Liam and Carl also discuss AI agents overtaking human web traffic, connected AI that may know you better than anyone, private and local models, and how recent hardware wallet supply chain attacks harden the industry. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Carl Dong: from the Great Firewall to Bitcoin Core 03:15 - The VPN trust problem and the two-party relay idea 06:29 - AI, infinite patience and software supply chain attacks 08:41 - Reproducible builds: verifying Bitcoin Core downloads 11:15 - How a traditional VPN works and what it can see 14:25 - VPNs as custodians: don't trust, verify 15:31 - Beating censorship by looking like normal traffic 18:38 - Mimicking HTTP/3 so VPNs don't get blocked 19:18 - Freedom tech has to be easy to use 22:07 - AI traffic passes human traffic: what changes online 24:59 - AI that knows everything about you, and private AI 29:58 - Local AI models on your phone 30:57 - What's next for Obscura: Linux and automatic protection 32:15 - Supply chain attacks and a hardened Bitcoin industry 34:24 - Where to find Carl and Obscura ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement Interview Series: a one on one interview series hosted by Liam Nelson, Partner at Early Riders. One guest, and a deep conversation on the deals, the capital and the technology moving through bitcoin, so you can hear how the people actually doing the work think about where the future is going. Presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 • Obscura: https://x.com/obscuravpn MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 15 · 1 hr 3 min
Gold Can’t Cover America’s Interest (Bitcoin Is Next)
Through Dec 31: $100/month (or $1,000/year) for your first year of Multi-Institution Custody, normally $2,400. Open a vault, set up a recurring buy, and use code TLT at onrampbitcoin.com. Discounted pricing covers vaults holding up to 25 BTC. Everyone wants Bitcoin to fix money, but nobody has shown how most people should actually hold it. Jackson, Michael and Brian dig into Ledger's roughly $90 million reseller attack, banks moving into custody, gold's interest-bill problem, a hot CPI print and the AI spending boom. JOIN US IN MINNEAPOLIS Onramp After Hours: a happy hour with Cam Stromme at Pryes Brewing in Minneapolis on October 28. Save your spot: 📍 https://luma.com/7o9q1hta BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-tlt-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-tlt-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE Ledger asked resellers in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong to pause sales after devices sold through distributor CryptoBilis were tied to roughly $90 million in drained wallets, and Trezor is pulling back from resellers too. In the same stretch, JPMorgan estimated $50 billion has flowed into crypto this year and Standard Chartered opened Bitcoin trading and custody to clients in the UAE. Michael argues that neither doing it all yourself nor trusting a single custodian can carry Bitcoin to global money, so a third way has to win. The hosts then weigh federal interest that now tops the value of US gold reserves, a 3.7% CPI print, gold revaluation versus a Bitcoin reserve, and why tokenization is bullish. They close on Alphabet's $205 billion AI spending plan and a market where ten stocks make up 39.5% of the S&P 500. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Welcome and the Minneapolis meetup 03:02 - JPMorgan's $50B estimate and Standard Chartered's UAE launch 04:20 - The Ledger reseller attack and Trezor's pullback 05:50 - Banks move in as self-custody takes hits 09:47 - Why Bitcoin needs a third way 13:18 - Self-custody tradeoffs: time, risk and inheritance 15:52 - Why the wealthy still see Bitcoin as risky 20:50 - Galaxy: over half of all Bitcoin has no known owner 25:40 - Federal interest now tops US gold reserves 27:14 - Long bonds, global yields and a 3.7% CPI print 29:50 - Gold revaluation vs a Bitcoin reserve 33:33 - Why tokenization is bullish for Bitcoin 37:54 - Qualified custody, ETFs and owning nothing 42:08 - France, Blackstone and the US printing press 49:41 - Alphabet's $205B AI spending plan 56:10 - Is inflation really AI driven? 59:14 - Ten stocks, 39.5% of the S&P 500 ABOUT THE SHOW The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, and finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, and Brian Cubellis. Join us for the biggest stories shaping bitcoin and digital asset adoption, and what they mean for investors protecting their wealth for the long term. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Final Settlement and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 14 · 45 min
What the Ledger Attack Means for Your Bitcoin
The Ledger reseller attack, where tampered hardware wallets reached unsuspecting buyers, has the industry rethinking how people hold Bitcoin, and the table makes the case for a third way. Also on the clock: record money into gold ETFs, home sales at a 2020 low, and Anthropic's warning that AI agents could copy themselves onto smart devices. Where's the signal, and where's the noise? OPEN A FREE ONRAMP FINANCE ACCOUNT One free account to buy Bitcoin, use the Onramp Terminal, and access the rest of Onramp: Bitcoin IRA, Bitcoin-backed loans, and Multi-Institution Custody. Recurring buys carry no Onramp trading fee. Active clients are eligible for Onramp-funded rewards up to 5%. Cash back on the Onramp Card converts to Bitcoin in one click. Takes a few minutes to open. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/finance-svn-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-svn-pod CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - Topic 1 - Gold ETFs Pull a Record $30.7 Billion in Q3 While the Price Sits Below Its High 08:45 - Topic 2 - US Pending Home Sales Fall to Their Lowest Level Since April 2020 18:40 - Topic 3 - The Ledger Reseller Attack and What Comes Next for Bitcoin Custody 36:02 - Topic 4 - Anthropic Warns AI Agents Could Self-Replicate Onto Smart Home Devices 44:10 - Wrap-Up & Parting Thoughts ABOUT THE SHOW Signal vs Noise is a twice-weekly livestream and show unpacking the biggest stories across capital, markets, technology, and people, six minutes on the clock for each, with Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade, Final Settlement, and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 13 · 1 hr 5 min
Tokenization Just Became Bitcoin's Biggest Tailwind
Stocks, bonds and cash are all moving onto digital rails, and Michael lays out why that faster money needs Bitcoin as its sponge. Plus the $86M Ledger reseller attack, and why one point of failure can knock you out of the game. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE A reseller in Southeast Asia sold tampered Ledger devices, and roughly $86 million, mostly Bitcoin, was drained before Ledger cut the reseller off. Michael, Liam and Brian on why that is a supply chain lesson rather than the death of self-custody, and why proof of reserves does not fix the real problem. From there: OpenAI's math results and Justin Drake's call for "bunker mode," with Coinbase's Yehuda Lindell on why ECDSA still holds; REA, the GitHub repo that reverse engineers any app; and Jev and the shrinking AI moat. Then the digital asset roundup. Citrini Research maps tokenization, AI agents and TradFi converging, and Michael takes it to Bitcoin: tokenizing everything speeds money up without fixing inflation, which leaves Bitcoin as the liquidity sponge. Plus China's national blockchain, Standard Chartered custody in Singapore, Samsung Wallet stablecoins, Meanwhile's $37.5 million raise, Spiko's $90 million, Breez's 14x jump in agent-driven inquiries, and Kyle Harrison on the death of venture capital. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Back after a week off: a world of single points of failure 03:37 - Why proof of reserves is not the fix 05:37 - Single point of failure of the week: Ledger's reseller attack 09:49 - Self-custody isn't dead, but it has to get easier 14:05 - The third way: no single point of failure 18:08 - Attackers inside custodians, and assuming everyone is fallible 23:19 - OpenAI's math leap and Justin Drake's "bunker mode" 29:12 - REA reverse engineers anything: is Airbnb next? 34:13 - Request for builders: make sending email cost Bitcoin 36:43 - Jev, TypeSafe and the vanishing AI moat 39:25 - Jevons paradox, the AI capability gap, models as insider risk 43:49 - Citrini on tokenization: why Bitcoin is the liquidity sponge 50:41 - China's blockchain, Standard Chartered, Samsung Wallet, Cash App 55:15 - Deals: Meanwhile, Spiko, and Breez on coding agents 59:47 - The death of venture capital, and Nous Research's $90M ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement is a weekly show on capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, Bitcoin applications, and protocol development, presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media with Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Michael: https://x.com/MTanguma · Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 · Brian: https://x.com/BackslashBTC MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 12 · 55 min
Oil Fields Are Printing Bitcoin | Steve Barbour
Where flaring is limited, an oil company can't produce oil unless it can sell the gas, and Steve Barbour built Upstream Data to turn that gas into Bitcoin. Liam sits down with him on why mining belongs at the power plant and what AI does to that endgame. Guest: Steve Barbour, founder of Upstream Data. https://x.com/upstreamdatainc BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Steve Barbour is a mechanical engineer who has worked in upstream oil and gas production since 2011, and he started Upstream Data in 2016 after seeing Bitcoin mining as an answer to associated gas that gets vented or flared. He explains why mining on the grid is a hard business of falling hashprice and fast-depreciating ASICs, why he sees Bitcoin compute as edge computing that belongs where power is made, and why AI demand is pushing mining toward that endgame. He walks through selling gas into Bitcoin load so operators can produce more oil, replacing wasted load banks with compute, why Upstream builds its own generators, buildings and control software, and why AI campuses that bring their own power could lower costs for ratepayers. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Steve Barbour, Upstream Data and Bitcoin mining on stranded gas 05:02 - Who buys it: oil and gas operators and the full-stack build 07:16 - Bitcoin mining economics: hashprice, ASIC depreciation, why the grid is hard 12:54 - AI demand and why Bitcoin compute lives at the edge 15:55 - Gas as a liability: how Bitcoin load keeps oil flowing 20:32 - Why oil operators won't hold Bitcoin: the virtual utility model 25:25 - Gas generators, microgrids and Bitcoin at the power plant 30:39 - Why Upstream built the whole stack itself 33:24 - Load banks vs Bitcoin compute: ending wasted generator power 42:02 - Patents, hardware and flare gas pioneers 45:20 - AI accelerates Bitcoin mining's endgame: the power plant 48:03 - AI campuses that bring their own power 51:15 - Permitting, communities and why America needs more power 54:02 - Where to find Steve Barbour ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement Interview Series: a one on one interview series hosted by Liam Nelson, Partner at Early Riders. One guest, and a deep conversation on the deals, the capital and the technology moving through bitcoin, so you can hear how the people actually doing the work think about where the future is going. Presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 • Steve Barbour: https://x.com/SGBarbour MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 10 · 1 hr 23 min
Why This CEO Stopped Calling It a Hardware Wallet
Zach Herbert has been building Bitcoin hardware since 2020, and Foundation no longer calls its device a hardware wallet. Cam Stromme sits down with the Foundation CEO on open source, why self-custody is still early, and why your most important keys belong off your phone in an age of AI agents. Guest: Zach Herbert, CEO and co-founder of Foundation, maker of Passport Prime. X: https://x.com/zherbert JOIN US IN MINNEAPOLIS Onramp After Hours: a happy hour with Cam Stromme at Pryes Brewing in Minneapolis on October 28. Save your spot: 📍 https://luma.com/7o9q1hta BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fp-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fp-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE Zach Herbert has been a Bitcoiner since 2013, from air-gapped laptops running Armory to selling hardware wallets on OpenBazaar, and he started Foundation on the first day of the 2020 lockdowns. He tells Cam why open source matters more for Bitcoin than for any other kind of money, why he sees it as free market capitalism rather than charity, and what the big custodians are actually running behind the curtain. Zach argues the industry has been judging self-custody devices on the wrong things, explains how the KeyOS microkernel gives every app its own sandbox and its own key, and walks through the design choices behind Passport Prime. He makes the case that self-custody has not even crossed the chasm yet, why Foundation now calls Passport Prime human authority hardware, and why everyone needs a root of trust outside the reach of their phone and their AI agents. They close on simple steps to lock down your email and accounts, documenting your setup, and planning for inheritance. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Foundation, Asimov and Zach Herbert 02:56 - Why Zach started Foundation in 2020 06:50 - Why Bitcoin demands open source 18:26 - What custodians run behind the curtain 25:01 - The state of self-custody 25:51 - Judging hardware on the wrong things 30:59 - Moving beyond a single block of code 35:23 - How a microkernel protects your keys 43:19 - Designing a device you want to pick up 49:36 - Why ease of use matters for security 52:17 - Dice rolls and complex setups 55:42 - Self-custody has not crossed the chasm 57:32 - Not a hardware wallet anymore 1:01:30 - A root of trust for your digital life 1:07:50 - When your AI agent sees your 2FA codes 1:09:54 - One step to improve your security 1:13:33 - Document your self-custody setup 1:19:00 - Why two hot keys is a dealbreaker ABOUT THE SHOW First Principles is Onramp Media's show on building and protecting Bitcoin wealth for the long term, hosted by Cam Stromme, Head of Private Wealth at Onramp. Join Cam's conversations with the people building Bitcoin's financial services on how they manage their own Bitcoin, how they weigh risk and tradeoffs, and what they see coming next. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and Final Settlement: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 8 · 1 hr 8 min
Trump Just Made Bitcoin's Bull Case
Trump told Time that certain levels of inflation will pay off the debt very rapidly. Jackson, Michael and Brian explain why that makes Bitcoin's bull case, then take on a lopsided S&P 500, the AI funding frenzy, FinCEN's retreat and BitGo's custody bet. JOIN US IN MINNEAPOLIS Onramp After Hours: a happy hour with Cam Stromme at Pryes Brewing in Minneapolis on October 28. Save your spot: 📍 https://luma.com/7o9q1hta BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-tlt-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-tlt-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE In an interview with Time, President Trump said certain levels of inflation will pay off the national debt very rapidly, a sharp break from the tough talk on inflation from the Fed and the Treasury. Brian argues there is no political room for spending cuts or higher taxes, which leaves debasement as the only way out and makes the case for hard assets like Bitcoin. Michael explains why most people still miss that the money is broken. The hosts then look at an S&P 500 where 52% of stocks sit at least 20% below their highs, AI capex draining hyperscaler free cash flow, the White House AI Accord, and OpenAI's reported $30 billion raise with UAE funds. They debate whether institutional smart money is really smart, answer an Ask Onramp question on multi-institution custody, unpack FinCEN withdrawing its unhosted wallet and mixer proposals, and close on BitGo's push into prime brokerage and why custody is not a race to zero. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Bee stings, rattlesnakes and the Minneapolis meetup 05:19 - Trump says inflation will pay off the debt 06:22 - Why debasement is the only way out 12:35 - Digital price tags and inflation amnesia 14:09 - Half the S&P 500 is in a bear market 17:40 - AI capex, Anthropic's S-1 and the burn rate 19:57 - The White House AI Accord 24:56 - OpenAI, DeepSeek and the AI funding frenzy 30:54 - Is smart money actually smart? 36:21 - Institutions are still underweight Bitcoin 37:06 - Gold, sovereigns and Bitcoin on the balance sheet 39:03 - Single point of failure of the week 42:10 - Ask Onramp: do I hold a key? 44:34 - FinCEN drops the unhosted wallet and mixer rules 50:54 - BitGo bets on prime brokerage 57:27 - Why custody is not a race to zero 1:00:08 - Custody that lets you hold more Bitcoin 1:04:38 - Robinhood's Bitcoin buy ABOUT THE SHOW The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, and finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, and Brian Cubellis. Join us for the biggest stories shaping bitcoin and digital asset adoption, and what they mean for investors protecting their wealth for the long term. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Final Settlement and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 7 · 36 min
Trump Just Handed Bitcoin Its Best Argument
Trump says inflation will pay off the debt "very rapidly" while his own economic advisor says no way, and he is promising $5,000 checks heading into the midterms. Also on the clock: France now paying more than Italy to borrow, McDonald's sued over AI menu pricing, and the New York Fed reviewing banks' private credit exposure. Where's the signal, and where's the noise? OPEN A FREE ONRAMP FINANCE ACCOUNT One free account to buy Bitcoin, use the Onramp Terminal, and access the rest of Onramp: Bitcoin IRA, Bitcoin-backed loans, and Multi-Institution Custody. Recurring buys carry no Onramp trading fee. Active clients are eligible for Onramp-funded rewards up to 5%. Cash back on the Onramp Card converts to Bitcoin in one click. Takes a few minutes to open. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/finance-svn-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-svn-pod CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - Topic 1 - Trump Says Inflation Can Pay Off the Debt While Promising $5,000 Checks 09:30 - Topic 2 - France Now Pays More Than Italy to Borrow as Its Debt Spiral Deepens 18:35 - Topic 3 - McDonald's Sued Over AI-Powered Menu Pricing 27:57 - Topic 4 - The New York Fed Reviews Big Banks' Private Credit Exposure 36:18 - Wrap-Up & Parting Thoughts ABOUT THE SHOW Signal vs Noise is a twice-weekly livestream and show unpacking the biggest stories across capital, markets, technology, and people, six minutes on the clock for each, with Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade, Final Settlement, and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 5 · 57 min
Bitcoin Is the Life Raft for the K-Shaped Economy | Peter St. Onge
Bitcoin is the life raft for a K-shaped economy that keeps rewarding the people already at the top, says Peter St. Onge. Jackson sits down with the Heritage Foundation economist on why AI is a bubble that's only at 1997, why the jobs panic is wrong, and who actually gets rich. Guest: Peter St. Onge, Senior Economist at The Heritage Foundation X: https://x.com/profstonge Newsletter / Website: https://peterstonge.com/ BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-tlt-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-tlt-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE Peter St. Onge went all in on Yahoo in 1996, retired at 25, and lost most of it when the dot-com crash took MicroStrategy, one of his biggest holdings, down more than 90%. His read on AI comes from that seat. Yes, it is a bubble, but demand for tokens looks close to unlimited, so he places AI around 1997, not 2000. He argues the AI doom narrative is astroturfed and that the jobs panic is 10,000 years old: productivity raises demand, and work shifts to trades, makers and services that pay more. The catch is the K-shaped economy. Money printing and a bloated administrative state lift the top and chain the bottom, so technology has to outrun the state. He closes on Bitcoin as the insurance and the life raft for when the system eventually breaks. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Why the System Favors the Top 00:39 - Peter St. Onge Joins Jackson 02:31 - Going All In on Yahoo in 1996 04:56 - The Dot-Com Crash and MicroStrategy's 92% Drop 06:15 - Flashpacking and the Early Bitcoiner Parallel 08:35 - Why AI Will Be Bigger Than the Internet 11:30 - What Happens When We Outsource Thinking to AI 15:50 - Is AI a Dot-Com Style Bubble? 22:09 - Why AI Is at 1997, Not 2000 24:27 - Who Is Behind the AI Doom Narrative 28:47 - Why AI Risk Is a Reason to Go Faster 32:39 - Which Jobs AI Is Actually Replacing 34:58 - Why Productivity Creates More Jobs 44:04 - Blue Collar, Makers and Services 48:54 - Why Dog Walking Will Pay Six Figures 51:51 - The K-Shaped Economy and the Administrative State 54:11 - Can Technology Outrun the Parasite? 55:39 - Bitcoin Is the Life Raft ABOUT THE SHOW The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, and finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, and Brian Cubellis. Join us for the biggest stories shaping bitcoin and digital asset adoption, and what they mean for investors protecting their wealth for the long term. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Final Settlement and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
October 1 · 1 hr 5 min
Bitcoin Just Did What It Did Before a 6X
Bitcoin just posted its highest weekly close since January, up 43% on the quarter and roughly 50% off the bottom. Jackson, Michael and Brian make the bull case, then take on Ari Paul's Coinbase allegations and what they mean for custody concentration. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-tlt-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-tlt-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE Bitcoin closed its best week since January near $84,400, capping a quarter up about 43% and a move of roughly 50% off the bottom near $58,000. Brian argues there is no fake out: the last time Bitcoin bounced 50% off a bottom, in 2022, it went on to rally about six times. Michael points to rising bond yields, AI capex, private credit and inflation as the backdrop that makes Bitcoin the obvious safe haven, and the hosts debut Ask Onramp with its first listener question. They then walk through BlockTower founder Ari Paul's allegations that Coinbase concealed repeated hacks, which remain unproven and tied up in legal proceedings, and why custody concentration matters when one firm custodies most of the ETF supply. The back half covers Citigroup and Coinbase on stablecoin payments, Morgan Stanley's digital asset lab, AI agents and bank runs, the Blockstream lawsuits, and the White House AI accord. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Welcome from Philly week 03:19 - Bitcoin's best weekly close since January, up 43% in Q3 04:30 - No fake out: 50% off the bottom and the 2022 6X 07:40 - October seasonality and rising bond yields 13:18 - The super bullish setup: bonds, capex, private credit 14:51 - Howard Marks, the rate hike and 21 million 16:23 - Sizing for your whole net worth 17:44 - Ask Onramp: can one company move my Bitcoin? 23:04 - Ari Paul's Coinbase hack allegations 27:58 - Why serious holders avoid single custodians 31:22 - Coinbase, the ETFs and custody concentration 34:50 - Too big to fail and a new way to custody Bitcoin 38:22 - Citigroup, Coinbase and Morgan Stanley's digital asset lab 44:39 - AI bank runs and this year's bank failures 48:04 - Adam Back, Blockstream and the Liquid fallout 52:12 - Muse, Apple layoffs and AI agents managing money 58:58 - The end of 60/40, the White House AI accord and open weights ABOUT THE SHOW The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, and finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, and Brian Cubellis. Join us for the biggest stories shaping bitcoin and digital asset adoption, and what they mean for investors protecting their wealth for the long term. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Final Settlement and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
September 30 · 35 min
The Gold Math That Puts Bitcoin at $1 Million
Gold and silver just shed over a trillion dollars in a day as the 10-year yield hit a 19-year high, and the math on gold's $18 trillion run says Bitcoin could move faster than anyone expects. Also on the clock: OpenAI shelving GPT-6.1 Astra, Apollo's warning about an agentic bank run, and Ari Paul's hack allegations against Coinbase. Where's the signal, and where's the noise? OPEN A FREE ONRAMP FINANCE ACCOUNT One free account to buy Bitcoin, use the Onramp Terminal, and access the rest of Onramp: Bitcoin IRA, Bitcoin-backed loans, and Multi-Institution Custody. Recurring buys carry no Onramp trading fee. Active clients are eligible for Onramp-funded rewards up to 5%. Cash back on the Onramp Card converts to Bitcoin in one click. Takes a few minutes to open. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/finance-svn-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-svn-pod CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - Topic 1 - OpenAI Shelves GPT-6.1 Astra as Anthropic Files for Its IPO 08:43 - Topic 2 - Gold and Silver Sell Off as the 10-Year Yield Hits a 19-Year High 16:28 - Topic 3 - Apollo's Torsten Slok Asks If AI Agents Could Trigger a Bank Run 23:27 - Topic 4 - BlockTower's Ari Paul Alleges Coinbase Hid Hack Losses 32:26 - Wrap-Up & Lightning Round: The Bitget Hack and Morgan Stanley's Digital Asset Lab ABOUT THE SHOW Signal vs Noise is a twice-weekly livestream and show unpacking the biggest stories across capital, markets, technology, and people, six minutes on the clock for each, with Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade, Final Settlement, and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
September 29 · 54 min
This Chart Exposed The AI Trade and Loves Bitcoin
One chart from Epoch AI shows the cost of AI falling about 47% a quarter since 2023, faster than any technology in history, and it exposes the math under the AI trade. Michael, Liam and Brian on why cheap intelligence competes away profit, and why Bitcoin is the scarce unit left. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Eight major AI models shipped in two weeks, open-weight models now carry most of the tokens on Vercel's AI Gateway, Oracle invoked force majeure on a Stargate site, and Epoch AI finds the cost of a given level of performance has fallen about 47% a quarter since 2023. Michael's read is that AI will compete away the profits it touches, which makes the scarce unit in an abundant world the question that matters. From there the three of them work through Amazon blocking Meta's Muse while Shopify opens its merchants to it, Block bringing Bitcoin Lightning payments to x402 for AI agents, the Open USD stablecoin consortium, the CFTC's call to prepare for mass tokenization, Citi and Coinbase, BlackRock's model portfolios on Ondo, Binance's $100 million stake in Circle, and Apollo's warning that agents could set off a bank run. The single point of failure of the week is the roughly $350 million Bitget hack, linked to North Korea. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Eight AI models in two weeks: what the singularity looks like 03:53 - Open-weight models, Oracle's Stargate notice, and Jevons paradox 07:15 - Frontier versus open models, and why the harness holds the value 10:46 - Amazon blocks Muse, Shopify opens the door 16:57 - Why blocking bots fails, and why agents may raise prices 23:13 - Block brings Bitcoin Lightning to x402 for AI agents 26:26 - What if the ads of the agent internet are just money? 29:07 - Open USD: Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and Shopify 30:56 - Mass tokenization, from the CFTC to the ECB's Pontes 33:51 - Citi and Coinbase, BlackRock on Ondo, Binance into Circle 36:50 - Stablecoins as the onramp, and the agentic bank run 41:02 - If intelligence is free, where does alpha come from? 44:09 - Single point of failure of the week: the Bitget hack 48:35 - Russia tells investors to eat stablecoin freeze losses 50:16 - The Epoch AI chart: cheaper faster than any tech in history ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement is a weekly show on capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, Bitcoin applications, and protocol development, presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media with Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Michael: https://x.com/MTanguma · Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 · Brian: https://x.com/BackslashBTC ▶️ Watch the video: [YouTube link for this episode] MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
September 28 · 1 hr 25 min
AI Just Bailed Out Bitcoin Mining | Bob Burnett
AI just bailed out Bitcoin's public miners, and Bob Burnett says that is the healthiest thing to happen to mining in years. Liam sits down with the Ocean executive chairman on falling hash rate, who builds Bitcoin's blocks, and what the BIP-110 fork proved. Guest: Bob Burnett, CEO of Barefoot Mining and executive chairman of Ocean. https://www.barefootmining.com/ BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Bob Burnett was CTO of Gateway before starting Barefoot Mining in 2017, and now chairs the Ocean mining pool. He sorts miners into rabbits, horses and elephants, and argues the elephants' rush into AI hosting is trimming fat that never belonged: public miners have fallen from roughly 38% to 28% of hash rate, and he expects global hash rate to stay flat to down for up to two years. He explains why mining is a commodity business that sells block space, why off grid power beats an on grid contract, and why five pools building 80% of block templates is the risk Ocean and DATUM were built to fix. It closes on Core and Knots, what the BIP-110 fork revealed about consensus, and why Wall Street and nation states will have a voice. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Bob Burnett: Barefoot Mining, Ocean and The Bitcoin Boomers 03:52 - Rabbits, horses and elephants: the three classes of miner 07:07 - Why the public miners pivoted to AI, and why that is healthy 10:40 - Worst hashprice ever, and what AI pays for power 18:07 - Hash rate is falling: is Bitcoin's security at risk 23:24 - Used rigs at dimes on the dollar, and the next mining chips 31:00 - Wild vs captured: why the future of mining is off grid 38:09 - All of Bitcoin mining is a $10 billion business 40:32 - Miners or hashers: five pools build 80% of blocks 46:03 - FPPS vs TIDES: the hidden cost of steady payouts 51:24 - Stratum V2 vs DATUM, and hundreds of templates on Ocean 56:12 - Bitcoin Core, Knots and why process matters 1:03:21 - What the BIP-110 fork taught Bitcoin about consensus 1:10:15 - The tenth man, and Ocean parting ways with Luke Dashjr 1:14:48 - The Bitcoin Boomers, and why boomers aren't the problem ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement Interview Series: a one on one interview series hosted by Liam Nelson, Partner at Early Riders. One guest, and a deep conversation on the deals, the capital and the technology moving through bitcoin, so you can hear how the people actually doing the work think about where the future is going. Presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 • Bob Burnett: https://x.com/boomer_btc MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
September 26 · 1 hr 41 min
Building Swan: What Bitcoin Needs to Scale 10x | Brandon Quittem
Brandon Quittem helped build Swan from a Bitcoin gifting app into a full service firm, and he thinks custody is the piece Bitcoin still needs before it grows 10x. Cam Stromme sits down with him on meetups, DCA, multisig and protecting your Bitcoin as if it were already worth ten times more. Guest: Brandon Quittem, VP of Client Experience at Swan Bitcoin and founder of the Minneapolis Bitcoin meetup. https://x.com/Bquittem BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fp-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fp-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE Brandon Quittem joined Swan as an advisor in 2019, came up through marketing and now runs client experience, so he has watched Bitcoin adoption from the first sales call to the recovery call. He tells Cam how Swan began as a gifting platform until users hacked it into a weekly DCA, why the company hired for content first, and why a steady buy is still the best guardrail against our own psychology. The second half turns to custody. Brandon makes the honest case against collaborative multisig before he makes the case for it, and explains why he sees it as the middle ground most holders will actually use. They cover the physical threat to holders, why withdrawal delays add real friction for criminals, Swan's RBX path out of GBTC, and why an inheritance plan needs legal title as well as access to the keys. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Building Swan with Brandon Quittem 02:18 - From altcoins to Bitcoin only 07:53 - Starting a Bitcoin meetup people come back to 17:34 - Swan started as a Bitcoin gifting app 20:56 - Why Swan led with education 31:09 - Why DCA became the core product 41:05 - Seven years across every team at Swan 51:40 - Should you work at a Bitcoin company? 57:42 - Swan's custody journey 1:01:58 - The honest case for and against multisig 1:07:16 - What custody has to look like to scale 1:09:25 - Protect your Bitcoin like it's already 10x 1:13:25 - The physical threat to Bitcoin holders 1:22:42 - The third way: no single point of failure 1:24:17 - Why withdrawal delays stop criminals 1:27:34 - RBX and why to hold real Bitcoin 1:33:36 - Advice for young people: get off zero 1:37:25 - Inheritance: access is not the same as title ABOUT THE SHOW First Principles is Onramp Media's show on building and protecting Bitcoin wealth for the long term, hosted by Cam Stromme, Head of Private Wealth at Onramp. Join Cam's conversations with the people building Bitcoin's financial services on how they manage their own Bitcoin, how they weigh risk and tradeoffs, and what they see coming next. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and Final Settlement: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
September 24 · 1 hr 25 min
BlackRock Just Made Bitcoin's Bull Case
AI's $3.1 trillion in off balance sheet commitments can end two ways, and both end with the printer running. Jackson, Michael and Brian make the case for Bitcoin, from the biggest ETF inflow day of 2026 to Howard Marks's new memo and BlackRock's AI research. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-tlt-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-tlt-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE Bitcoin ETFs just logged their biggest inflow day of 2026 at $999 million, and year-to-date flows turned positive as holders who sat through the bear market came back above their roughly $81,000 cost basis. The hosts debate whether retail is really back or a larger marginal buyer is behind the move, and whether Bitcoin ends up owned like gold. BlackRock's new paper, The Machine-Native Economy, casts stablecoins as the money AI agents spend and Bitcoin as the store of value, citing Bitcoin Policy Institute research. Howard Marks's latest Oaktree memo calls Treasury intervention in the bond market cosmetic and says dollar assets offer no escape. The back half covers tokenization and the CFTC after the Clarity Act stalled, the FBI data leak, $3.1 trillion in off balance sheet AI commitments, and why prices were nearly flat for 140 years before 1940. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Welcome and the Philly happy hour 03:00 - Bitcoin ETF flows turn positive for 2026 04:53 - Is retail back, or is there a bigger buyer? 10:34 - $999M: the biggest ETF inflow day of 2026 13:15 - Bitcoin vs gold: will retail ever FOMO in? 20:53 - BlackRock on AI agents, stablecoins and Bitcoin 30:03 - Saving a dollar two ways since 2020 33:23 - Howard Marks: Shall We Repeal the Laws of Economics? 39:14 - Bonds spike, gold slides, Bitcoin rises 45:49 - Is 60/40 becoming 80/15/5? 51:45 - Clarity stalls, the CFTC and tokenization 1:00:04 - Single point of failure of the week: the FBI data leak 1:06:31 - The AI documentary and pacing the frontier 1:15:20 - $3.1 trillion in off balance sheet AI commitments 1:17:44 - Either way, they have to print 1:19:30 - 140 years of flat prices, then 1940 ABOUT THE SHOW The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, and finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, and Brian Cubellis. Join us for the biggest stories shaping bitcoin and digital asset adoption, and what they mean for investors protecting their wealth for the long term. ▶️ Watch the video: [YouTube link for this episode] MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Final Settlement and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
September 23 · 31 min
$1B Poured Into Bitcoin in One Day (Why Now?)
The average Bitcoin ETF holder is back in profit for the first time since January, and the data says most of them held through the whole drawdown. Also on the clock: SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic out-valuing 45 years of US tech IPOs, Meta's Muse agent matching ChatGPT's launch, and wash trading allegations at Kalshi. Where's the signal, and where's the noise? OPEN A FREE ONRAMP FINANCE ACCOUNT One free account to buy Bitcoin, use the Onramp Terminal, and access the rest of Onramp: Bitcoin IRA, Bitcoin-backed loans, and Multi-Institution Custody. Recurring buys carry no Onramp trading fee. Active clients are eligible for Onramp-funded rewards up to 5%. Cash back on the Onramp Card converts to Bitcoin in one click. Takes a few minutes to open. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/finance-svn-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-svn-pod CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:56 - Topic 1 - Bitcoin ETF Holders Are Back Above Their Cost Basis 08:01 - Topic 2 - SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic vs 45 Years of US Tech IPOs 13:34 - Topic 3 - Meta's Muse AI Agent Rivals the ChatGPT Launch 22:15 - Topic 4 - Kalshi Faces Wash Trading Allegations 27:35 - Wrap-Up & Lightning Round: AI Token Data from Vercel and OpenRouter ABOUT THE SHOW Signal vs Noise is a twice-weekly livestream and show unpacking the biggest stories across capital, markets, technology, and people, six minutes on the clock for each, with Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade, Final Settlement, and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.
September 22 · 1 hr 1 min
Why Meta's Muse Forces Rapid Bitcoin Adoption
Meta shipped Muse to a user base measured in billions, and within days Amazon blocked it from shopping on Amazon.com. Michael, Liam and Brian on why autonomous agents will need a settlement unit, and why that is the clearest path yet to Bitcoin becoming ordinary money. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Meta's Muse personal agent is the story of the week, and Michael calls it the biggest thing that has happened in AI so far. It is already ordering groceries, booking services and canceling subscriptions for users, and Amazon has cut it off from shopping on Amazon.com. The argument the three of them build from there is that agents traversing the internet will eventually hit monetary friction, that something has to sit between an agent and the open web, and that Meta acquiring Lightspark is the obvious way it gets a payment layer. Earlier in the show they work through the SEC's five year innovation exemption, which opens tokenized equity trading without the Clarity Act, and what Goldman and Citizens analysts read into it for Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle. The back half covers TypeSafe's Jev model, Tether's $1.45 billion position at Gold.com, and stablecoin hiring at Apple and Google. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Bitcoin rips overnight, and the leverage that got washed out 05:29 - Bitcoin climbs after a rate hike, which is not how this usually goes 07:15 - The SEC's innovation exemption lands without the Clarity Act 09:26 - Why a securities rule matters for a commodity 13:33 - Goldman and Citizens: Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle win 15:48 - Circle's Arc, eleven validators, and what decentralized is not 18:25 - The banks sat this one out, and why that ages badly 23:13 - The tokens will flow: OpenRouter usage up 25,000% 27:14 - Jev, and the case against burning tokens to make a decision 33:29 - Meta ships Muse, the biggest AI moment yet 38:44 - Amazon cuts off Muse, and the agent knife fight begins 42:32 - Why Meta buying Lightspark is the obvious next move 46:45 - Instinct raises at $10 billion, and the paper gain problem 50:39 - Tether becomes a bullion bank, and Big Tech hires for stablecoins 58:40 - Single point of failure of the week: California's AI kill switch ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement is a weekly show on capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, Bitcoin applications, and protocol development, presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media with Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Michael: https://x.com/MTanguma · Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 · Brian: https://x.com/BackslashBTC ▶️ Watch the video: [YouTube link for this episode] MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.

Showing 1–20 of 51 episodes