July 18, 2025 • 31 mins
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Today's Articles:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/president-trump-plans-to-open-401ks-to-bitcoin-crypto-gold-and-private-equity-fthttps://cointelegraph.com/news/genius-act-heads-donald-trump-signing-what-will-change
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/us-house-passes-bitcoin-crypto-market-structure-bill-the-clarity-act
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/bitcoin-standard-treasury-to-go-public-with-30021-btc-in-spac-merger
https://decrypt.co/330683/e-bike-maker-shares-soar-135-percent-500-million-bitcoin-treasury-plan
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/russias-sberbank-plans-to-launch-bitcoin-and-crypto-custody-services
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Good morning. From high up in the Rocky Rocky Mountains, this is your host David Bennett with the Bitcoin and
news program.
It's a podcast where I give you all the Bitcoin news. It's all the news that you can use and a whole lot more.
We got Trump.
I I guess he's just gonna executive order the ability for four zero one k's to,
(00:34):
oh, I get into Bitcoin. And then where what else we got? We got we got
yeah. The genius act
passed.
The Genius Act passed along with, I might add, the Clarity Act and the anti
CBDC
bill passed. We're gonna talk all about that one.
(00:55):
And then and then
that Adam Back
led Bitcoin Treasury company, I got I've got a full blown story on that one. Yesterday, it was just
a kind of a rumor mill going on, but it's actually gonna happen.
Another company has got it gotten into the Bitcoin treasury plan business, and their stock just skyrocketed.
(01:20):
And then the largest Russian bank is going to launch,
Bitcoin and custody services. But first
first,
I wanna talk to you a little bit about where I am right now
because
and and I'm just gonna mention it because of what I saw yesterday.
I saw and have been seeing
(01:43):
more
dead
dead
wood, but completely
accessible
because people are taking down trees.
There's, like, you know, there's a lot of beetle strike up here in in the mountains, and so there's a lot of people that are having to to cut down some trees
in their yards. Not not I'm not even talking about going up into the forest like with Forest Walker. I'm talking about just
(02:07):
the sheer
amount
of wood that I saw hauled off yesterday.
I could have been making biochar,
like, for
three three straight weeks. I just at the feedstock is free.
My neighbor
is having to take an entire
truckload. And I when I mean truckload, I mean, like, a huge gooseneck
(02:31):
trailer load. Probably
it probably holds about a yard,
you know, three foot by three foot by three foot of of just straight up material.
That's a lot of material. It doesn't sound like a lot, but
it really is a lot of material.
Has to take it
and pay money as a tipping fee
(02:52):
to throw it in a hole
along with a whole bunch of other stuff where they will eventually
douse it in diesel,
light it on fire, and let it burn to ash. And it's just
stupid.
It's just the dumbest thing I've ever seen.
I could be making biochar out of that stuff. And I was talking to my neighbor about it, and he goes, well, what's stopping you? And I'm like, I don't know, man. There's something wrong with me, I guess.
(03:20):
But it can happen.
It can happen, man. I I I I could find myself up here
permanently one of these days just making biochar out of the crap people have to pay to throw in a hole and
light on fire.
Okay. So president Trump, as I've promised,
has
is planning to open four zero one k's
(03:41):
to Bitcoin, crypto, gold, and private equity. This is, I guess, according to the Financial Times, but
this report is written by Oscar
Ziranga
Perez
out of Bitcoin magazine.
So Financial Times reported today
that the orange man, president Trump,
(04:01):
is preparing to sign an executive order, an executive order no less,
that would allow four zero one k retirement plans to invest in alternative assets
such as gold,
private equity, and cryptocurrencies
like
Bitcoin.
Quote, Donald Trump is preparing to open the 9,000,000,000,000
(04:21):
now $9,000,000,000,000,
that's trillion with a t,
United States retirement market to cryptocurrency
investments, gold, and private equity in a move that would spur a radical shift in the way Americans' savings are managed reported the Financial Times.
And according to the Financial Times, the order is expected this week
(04:44):
this week
and will direct
federal regulators to remove all barriers preventing four zero one k plans from including these nontraditional investments in managed funds.
Now this this includes assets,
metals,
private loans,
infrastructure deals, corporate buyout funds, etcetera, etcetera. Quote, president Trump
(05:07):
is committed to restoring prosperity for everyday Americans and safeguarding their economic future, said the White House in a statement to the Financial Times,
further, quote,
no decisions
should be deemed official, however,
unless they come from president Trump himself,
end quote.
Trump's move builds on his administration's
(05:29):
earlier efforts to ease Bitcoin and crypto regulations in May.
The Department of Labor reversed a rule that discouraged Bitcoin and other crypto in retirement plans. Trump has also supported recent Bitcoin and other crypto related bills
passed by the house and credited the industry with helping him win the twenty twenty four election.
(05:50):
The executive order
could benefit major private investments firms such as Blackstone, Apollo, and BlackRock
according to the Financial Times, which have all pinned much of their future growth on investing money on behalf of retirement savers.
Quote,
Blackstone
has struck a partnership with Vanguard,
(06:11):
while Apollo and Partners Group
are among firms that will offer investments to empower
a large four zero one k plan sponsor.
Empower is actually the name of the sponsor company. Okay? So BlackRock, though, has already begun working with Great Gray Trust, a third party manager of retirement savings plans,
(06:32):
stated the Financial Times.
Okay. So this is actually
huge.
If if he does it, I mean, you know,
orange man says things,
and and every once in a while, he'll he'll execute on them, but I,
we'll we'll have to see. But if he does do it,
(06:54):
that's kinda that's kinda huge because
that in conjunction with what's coming up next, the genius act,
is extra huge.
Let's get through this.
Jesse Coughlin coined Telegraph,
Genius Act heads to Trump's desk and hears what will change.
(07:16):
President Donald Trump is one signature away
from enacting a bill to regulate stablecoins that will dictate how issuers of the tokens must be regulated to serve The US market.
The US House
passed three crypto bills on Thursday, including the Genius Act,
a
bachronym.
What the hell is a bachronym?
(07:38):
Okay. I guess they're saying an acronym,
including the Genius Act, an acronym for guiding and establishing national innovation for US Stablecoins Act. Now the bill originated from the senate,
so it only now needs Trump's signature to become law, which is expected to take place
at 02:30PM
today in Washington DC
(08:00):
during a signing ceremony according to reporter Eleanor Tarrant.
The law will come into effect eighteen months after oh, shit. Eighteen months after Trump signs it or one hundred and twenty days after the so called primary
federal payment stablecoin
regulators,
including the Treasury and Federal Reserve,
(08:21):
issue final regulations
implementing
the Genius Act.
Logan Payne, a crypto focused lawyer at Winston and Strachan, told Cointelegraph that the Genius Act creates an incentive for stablecoin issuers to seek a banking license.
He said a new stablecoin license under the Genius Act limits a company's activities to, quote, purely stablecoin
(08:43):
issuance,
but most stablecoin issuers do much more than that. Quote, pretty much every stablecoin issuer inside The United States issuing under US law right now
engages in activities outside of the scope of that license, Payne said.
Even if an issuer gets a Genius Act approved license,
(09:05):
Payne said that they still need state level money transmission licenses to operate nationally.
That creates an incentive for Stablecoin issuers to apply for a National Trust Bank charter with the office of the comptroller of the currency
like Circle and
Cripple have done. I god, I hate Cripple.
(09:26):
Quote,
which allows for them to engage in stablecoin issuance
plus a wider range of activities, but without having to get state to state licenses, he said.
A contentious part of the bill,
to some crypto users is a section that bans stablecoin issuers, both foreign and regulated under US laws,
(09:47):
from giving holders
and users any interest or yield.
Yield offerings are one of the biggest marketing devices for stablecoins to pull in users.
Some offer yields natively for holders, while others like Circle's USDC
reward those holding the stablecoin on exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken, quote,
(10:08):
I would be unsurprised
to see a lot of those arrangements
change or be modified moving forward, Payne said.
Payne also said that the Genius Act could inject uncertainty into decentralized finance over how platforms
are to handle stablecoins. Quote,
how the Genius Act will impact DeFi is intentionally
(10:30):
a bit unaddressed
at now well, for now at least, he said. Quote, there's still going to be a lot of uncertainty.
But in a general policy environment,
if it continues,
we'll start to have some of the answers being given over time.
Paine said, quote,
additional legislation
(10:51):
and then also regulation that fills in some of the gaps that will address DeFi will come over the next few years. One is the Clarity Act, a bill that classifies types of digital assets which authorities will regulate,
which the house passed on the senate
on Thursday. So like I said, the Clarity Act definitely got passed along with the Genius Act. But the Genius Act says,
(11:16):
permitted stablecoin issuers
have to back their tokens one to one
with reserves of US Dollars or other monetary products such as treasury bills. What have I been saying for weeks and months and months now?
Stablecoins
are going to export
United States debt issuance.
(11:38):
That's how
that's how it's going to work.
That wasn't I don't think that that was
planned when people like Tether's
ginned up their first stablecoin. I don't think that was in the cards.
But I guarantee you The United States is looking at stablecoins
as a vehicle to save the dollar.
(12:00):
And it's gonna work for a while,
maybe even for for the next ten years. Who knows? But,
well, let's move on.
Three years after this bill is signed,
it will outlaw any stablecoins that don't come come from an approved issuer from being offered in The United States.
It will also
(12:21):
be illegal for foreign issued stablecoins to be offered in The United States unless the issuer of that stablecoin can and will comply with the bill's legal requirements.
The bill gives a host of carve outs for foreign stablecoin users, including the treasury,
if the treasury determines that the country in which they're based has a comparable
(12:41):
regulatory regime.
If that's the case,
foreign issuers can serve The US market if they successfully
register with the OCC,
the office of the comptroller of the currency, which will answer within thirty days and hold sufficient reserves in a US financial institution to cover their United States customers.
(13:02):
The bill
also
allows for multiple types of regulated entities such as banks, credit unions, and non banks to issue stablecoins
and create a dual federal and state legal framework to police them.
These entities,
depending
on their type, will be regulated by either the National Credit Union Administration,
(13:23):
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
the Treasury,
or the federal reserve.
Notably,
entities can choose to be regulated at the state level
if they don't have over $10,000,000,000
in issued stablecoins,
but a state does not have to create a stablecoin
(13:46):
regulator.
So there you go.
That's what the Genius Act is gonna do.
And given that there's now clarity
with not only the Genius Act, but the the actual Clarity Act passing,
along with Trump
threatening to sign an executive order to allow
(14:06):
Bitcoin to be directly
purchased by four zero one k's,
I I I just
I I don't see how
we I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't I don't wanna jinx anything, but I'm
really bullish on this.
The declared in the Genius Act is now going to allow
(14:31):
all the people that have been waiting on the sidelines, and I mean, in institutions.
All the people in institutions have been waiting on the sidelines because they won't. They didn't wanna touch Bitcoin at all because there was just
regulatory
uncertainty.
There's so much regulatory certainty at this point.
I just
(14:52):
all these people are gonna they have no reason to sit on the sidelines anymore.
So
I don't know, man.
Be prepared.
And you can be prepared with Leathermint
wallets. Go get a wallet at the leathermint.com.
That's the leathermint,all1word,.com.
Use code Bitcoin and for a 10% off on all purchases at the leathermint.com.
(15:17):
The wallets are awesome. But you know what else he's got?
He made
a Bitcoin
standard. The the Bitcoin standard book. Right? The Bitcoin standard
written by was that Safe?
Yeah. Safe, Dean.
But he bound it in leather.
It's a it's a leather bound the Bitcoin standard book.
(15:41):
It's hand built.
So
go pick one up because you're gonna get a great book, and it's also gonna be like a collector's item. The Bitcoin standard
hand
hand built leather cover for this thing is just I mean, it just looks awesome. He did a great job on this. He also has some of the best wallets I've ever seen.
(16:04):
All of his goods, you can get 10% off if you use Bitcoin and as the coupon code at the leathermint.com.
Go to the leathermint.com.
Get yourself a belt, watch band,
wallet,
book. I mean, he's he's got it all. He's got it all. Now onto
the Clarity Act.
(16:26):
Now, again,
we're gonna talk about this we we got finished with the Genius Act. Let's talk about the Clarity Act
because the US House has passed Bitcoin crypto market structure bill, also known as the Clarity Act. This is from Oscar Perez at Bitcoin Magazine.
(16:46):
The United States House of Representatives
have officially passed the Clarity Act by a vote of 294
to 134,
a major step toward creating a clear regulatory framework for digital commodities like Bitcoin.
Quote,
the Clarity Act helps us get there by adding consumer protection
(17:10):
into law and setting clear guidelines for digital asset managers, stated congressman
John Rose. Quote, it also establishes
guardrails for federal agencies
who have too often stepped outside their statutory authority in recent years, especially with cryptocurrencies.
The the bill
offers modern solutions to a modern financial sector that grows in popularity
(17:33):
and relevance
by the hour,
end quote.
The legislation
aims to define and divide regulatory oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission,
establishing clear rules in a complex digital asset market.
With the final house vote now complete, the bill will advance to the senate. Okay. So it still has to go to the senate for further consideration. Quote,
(18:01):
this bill helps a strong
pro growth framework
that gives innovators certainty that will bring digital assets back to The United States, said congressman Addison McDowell, quote, a key step
to making
America the crypto capital of the world.
If it is passed by the senate,
the Clarity Act would mark a significant milestone in the federal government's approach to Bitcoin and crypto regulation, which aims to support innovation
(18:28):
while addressing regulatory uncertainty
that has long challenged the industry.
At present,
there is no established market structure to protect consumers or provide clear rules
of the road for businesses and innovators, stated congressman Don Davis. Quote, it's a wild, wild west.
Congress must deliver market structure legislation that brings clarity.
(18:52):
Millions of Americans are holding cryptocurrency,
using it in financial transactions,
or using other digital tokens as part of new innovative technologies and services.
There must be consumer protections,
and The United States must lead,
said congressman
Don Davis. So there you go. A little bit of suit speak there for you right before we run the numbers.
(19:16):
Futures and commodities from CNBC.
I got West Texas Intermediate crude up over a point to $68.32.
Britney is up just under one full point to $70 and 2 dimes.
Natural gas, it bucking the trend again today.
It looks like it's up 2.17%
(19:37):
to $3.61
per thousand cubic feet. Gasoline
is up a quarter of a point to $2.17
a gallon.
Shiny metal rocks are doing very well today. Gold is up point 6% to thirty three sixty six.
Silver is up point 84%.
Platinum is up 1.7.
Copper is up a half, and palladium is up 3.87%.
(20:01):
Most of ag,
is in the green today. Biggest winner is chocolate.
Let's see. Yeah. Chocolate, 4.79%.
The only one in the red today
is coffee. It's down half a point.
Meanwhile, live cattle is unchanged, lean hogs unchanged, and feeder cattle is unchanged.
I don't know. That seems like it's probably a glitch in the system.
(20:25):
The Dow is up a quarter of a point as is the S and P.
Nasdaq is up point 12%, and the S and P Mini is up just under one half of a point.
Bitcoin is at a $118,780.
That is a let's see. What's a
my screen on Clark Moody's dashboard has changed because I'm on a different computer, so I gotta look for it.
(20:49):
There is,
you can get 35.3
ounces of shiny metal rocks with your one Bitcoin of which there are 19,893,813
and 1 third of.
And let's see. Where is
where's my other stuff?
Good lord. I can't find it. Oh, well. We'll just move on to the mempool,
(21:14):
which looks like it has
about 10 blocks carrying 100 and or no. 14,000,
transactions waiting to clear at high priority rates of 1 satoshi per v byte. Low priority is gonna get
you in also at 1 satoshis per v byte.
Hash rate has fallen just a little bit. We are at 898.2
(21:35):
exahashes
per second.
Now
from
yesterday's
Bitcoin and episode, high country Bitcoin,
I got Psyduck with 734.
Sats says
Psyduck.
Progressively worse with a row of eights. 8,888
(21:56):
sat says, here's the missing sat that didn't go through with the boost. Okay. So that was from yesterday, I guess.
Let's see.
Yeah. I didn't I didn't get any boost from yesterday's show. It was probably because it just got up too late.
Who knows?
But listen. Hold on. I guess I wanna check something here.
(22:17):
Abilitic. We'll let it go. Okay. So
let's move on to part two of the news that you can use.
Bitcoin standard treasury
to go public with 30,021
BTC
in a SPAC merger. This is Jenna Montgomery from Bitcoin Magazine.
Bitcoin
Standard Treasury Company
(22:39):
has announced a definitive agreement to go public through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners,
a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald,
Upa,
u
u p o h.
I
maybe that mean oh, hold on. Yeah. Sorry. There there was a spot on my screen, and it covered up the fact that it's that word is upon.
(23:07):
Upon completion,
BSTR,
Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, will launch with 30,021
Bitcoin
on its balance sheet, positioning it as the fourth largest public Bitcoin treasury in the world. Wow. Starting out at number four,
the new equity will be led by doctor Adam Bak, CEO and founder cofounder of Blockstream, and Sean Bill, an institutional investor known for driving one of the first Bitcoin allocations by a United States public pension fund.
(23:36):
Quote, as a long time Bitcoin advocate,
Kantor
is incredibly
proud to partner with doctor Bak,
one of Bitcoin's leading luminaries
to launch BSTR, said Brandon Lutnick,
chairman and CEO of Kantor Equity Partners
Incorporated
and chairman of Kantor Fitzgerald Limited Partners.
(23:58):
This historic
transaction
marks yet another step towards the integration of the Bitcoin economy and traditional finance.
The deal includes up to 1,500,000,000.0
in pipe or private investment in public equity
financing,
the largest ever announced in conjunction with the Bitcoin Treasury special purpose acquisition company merger,
(24:21):
and it comprises $400,000,000
in common equity,
up to 750,000,000
in convertible notes, up to 350,000,000
in convertible
preferred stock,
5,021
Bitcoin from in kind to pipe contributions,
25,000
Bitcoin from founding shareholders advised by Blockstream Capital, and up to $200,000,000
(24:44):
from CEPO
subject to redemptions.
Quote, Bitcoin was created
as sound money, and BSTR is being created to bring that same integrity to modern capital markets, said doctor Back,
quote, by securing both fiat and Bitcoin funding on day one,
including the first convertible preferred round announced in conjunction with the Bitcoin Treasury SPAC merger, we are putting unprecedented
(25:11):
firepower
behind a single mission,
maximizing,
Bitcoin ownership per share while accelerating real world Bitcoin adoption. I'm grateful
for the trust of the Bitcoin OG community
and for the unwavering support of Cantor Fitzgerald.
This announcement lines up with the July 15 report stating that Cantor Fitzgerald
(25:35):
was nearing a $4,000,000,000
deal with Adam Back, and today's announcement
confirms those details with Bak contributing
up to 30,000 Bitcoin valued at over $3,000,000,000
in exchange for equity
in the newly renamed BSTR
Holdings.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
(26:00):
Proceeds will be used to acquire additional Bitcoin and build Bitcoin native capital markets and advisory
solutions.
So there you go.
There there there you go. Alright. So
let's move on
to Ebike makers
shares soar a 135%
on a $500,000,000
(26:22):
Bitcoin treasury plan, Liz Napolitano
writing for decrypt.co.
Shares of electric vehicle maker
Volcon
soared a 135%
on Thursday after the company announced that it would raise $500,000,000
to kick start a Bitcoin treasury,
(26:43):
joining a growing number of firms building BTC treasuries as a major component of their corporate strategy.
The firm has entered into an agreement to sell 50,142
well, hold. No. Wrong. I'm sorry. 50,142,851
shares of its common stock at $10 per share
(27:05):
through a private placement according to the statement, and the firm will use 95%
of the roughly $500,000,000,000
it raises to buy Bitcoin, quote,
in an era of accelerating monetary debasement,
holding Bitcoin on our balance sheet represents a strategic move to safeguard shareholder value and align with the digital future, Volcan
(27:27):
co CEO
John Kim said on Thursday.
The deal comes as a slew of public companies are adding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
to their balance sheets to improve their financials.
The company reported a net loss. I knew it was coming. The company reported a net loss of more than $45,000,000
in 2024.
(27:49):
Volcan share prices dropped more than 35%
this year.
Michael Saylor's software firm, Strategy, which began buying Bitcoin or rather buying billions of dollars in Bitcoin in 2020,
popularized the playbook.
And then they go on to talk about a couple of other companies.
So let's see here.
(28:10):
Volcan is a Texas based designer,
developer, and seller of electric
off road
power sport vehicles.
Its products
product line includes the Brat,
a motorcycle like vehicle for city folks and the Grunt ebike
for hunters
and nature dwellers.
So they've lost a shit ton of money.
(28:34):
They make electric vehicles.
I I don't know, man.
Again, it sounds like a hail Mary.
And there's
two kinds of companies. There's companies that have a revenue stream, and there's companies that don't. And those companies,
more often than not, are starting to get into Bitcoin as the only way that they're gonna be able to survive. It it makes me a little nervous, but
(29:00):
I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Because in Russia,
Sberbank
plans to launch Bitcoin and crypto custody services. Oscar Perez
from Bitcoin magazine,
Sberbank or Cyberbank. I don't know how to pronounce it, but s b e r bank. So
you pronounce it however the hell you want to. Russia's largest lender plans to offer custody services
(29:25):
for cryptocurrency
assets aiming to lead the country's digital asset infrastructure as demand for Bitcoin and crypto services grows.
The move comes
as Russia's central bank has softened its stance on digital assets
recently
supporting legislation that allows businesses to use Bitcoin
and crypto in international trade to bypass Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its conflict in
(29:50):
Ukraine. The executive director of Spur Bank, an an Anatoly
Pronin,
he he said the bank submitted proposals to the central bank regarding the regulation of Bitcoin and crypto assets.
He noted that more banks globally are starting to offer custody services,
and SperBank
wants to ensure Russia isn't left behind. Probably a good idea. Pronin explained that the bank's proposals would regulate Bitcoin and crypto assets similarly to traditional
(30:18):
bank
assets and would act as a custodian
guaranteeing the security of tokens and providing safeguards against hacking and unauthorized
access.
Assets
could also be frozen,
uh-huh, if law enforcement suspects
illegal activity.
So there you go.
Russia's largest lender, Bitcoin custody.
(30:41):
Domino's are just fallen all over the place. Again,
I'm incredibly bullish.
Anything can happen, but I'm just incredibly bullish in all this. So,
there's really not much else to say. That that is the last news story that I got for you today.
I do hope
that you guys are gonna have an excellent weekend,
(31:02):
and I will see you
on the other side.
Good morning. From high up in the Rocky Rocky Mountains, this is your host David Bennett with the Bitcoin and
news program.
It's a podcast where I give you all the Bitcoin news. It's all the news that you can use and a whole lot more.
We got Trump.
I I guess he's just gonna executive order the ability for four zero one k's to,
(00:34):
oh, I get into Bitcoin. And then where what else we got? We got we got
yeah. The genius act
passed.
The Genius Act passed along with, I might add, the Clarity Act and the anti
CBDC
bill passed. We're gonna talk all about that one.
(00:55):
And then and then
that Adam Back
led Bitcoin Treasury company, I got I've got a full blown story on that one. Yesterday, it was just
a kind of a rumor mill going on, but it's actually gonna happen.
Another company has got it gotten into the Bitcoin treasury plan business, and their stock just skyrocketed.
(01:20):
And then the largest Russian bank is going to launch,
Bitcoin and custody services. But first
first,
I wanna talk to you a little bit about where I am right now
because
and and I'm just gonna mention it because of what I saw yesterday.
I saw and have been seeing
(01:43):
more
dead
dead
wood, but completely
accessible
because people are taking down trees.
There's, like, you know, there's a lot of beetle strike up here in in the mountains, and so there's a lot of people that are having to to cut down some trees
in their yards. Not not I'm not even talking about going up into the forest like with Forest Walker. I'm talking about just
(02:07):
the sheer
amount
of wood that I saw hauled off yesterday.
I could have been making biochar,
like, for
three three straight weeks. I just at the feedstock is free.
My neighbor
is having to take an entire
truckload. And I when I mean truckload, I mean, like, a huge gooseneck
(02:31):
trailer load. Probably
it probably holds about a yard,
you know, three foot by three foot by three foot of of just straight up material.
That's a lot of material. It doesn't sound like a lot, but
it really is a lot of material.
Has to take it
and pay money as a tipping fee
(02:52):
to throw it in a hole
along with a whole bunch of other stuff where they will eventually
douse it in diesel,
light it on fire, and let it burn to ash. And it's just
stupid.
It's just the dumbest thing I've ever seen.
I could be making biochar out of that stuff. And I was talking to my neighbor about it, and he goes, well, what's stopping you? And I'm like, I don't know, man. There's something wrong with me, I guess.
(03:20):
But it can happen.
It can happen, man. I I I I could find myself up here
permanently one of these days just making biochar out of the crap people have to pay to throw in a hole and
light on fire.
Okay. So president Trump, as I've promised,
has
is planning to open four zero one k's
(03:41):
to Bitcoin, crypto, gold, and private equity. This is, I guess, according to the Financial Times, but
this report is written by Oscar
Ziranga
Perez
out of Bitcoin magazine.
So Financial Times reported today
that the orange man, president Trump,
(04:01):
is preparing to sign an executive order, an executive order no less,
that would allow four zero one k retirement plans to invest in alternative assets
such as gold,
private equity, and cryptocurrencies
like
Bitcoin.
Quote, Donald Trump is preparing to open the 9,000,000,000,000
(04:21):
now $9,000,000,000,000,
that's trillion with a t,
United States retirement market to cryptocurrency
investments, gold, and private equity in a move that would spur a radical shift in the way Americans' savings are managed reported the Financial Times.
And according to the Financial Times, the order is expected this week
(04:44):
this week
and will direct
federal regulators to remove all barriers preventing four zero one k plans from including these nontraditional investments in managed funds.
Now this this includes assets,
metals,
private loans,
infrastructure deals, corporate buyout funds, etcetera, etcetera. Quote, president Trump
(05:07):
is committed to restoring prosperity for everyday Americans and safeguarding their economic future, said the White House in a statement to the Financial Times,
further, quote,
no decisions
should be deemed official, however,
unless they come from president Trump himself,
end quote.
Trump's move builds on his administration's
(05:29):
earlier efforts to ease Bitcoin and crypto regulations in May.
The Department of Labor reversed a rule that discouraged Bitcoin and other crypto in retirement plans. Trump has also supported recent Bitcoin and other crypto related bills
passed by the house and credited the industry with helping him win the twenty twenty four election.
(05:50):
The executive order
could benefit major private investments firms such as Blackstone, Apollo, and BlackRock
according to the Financial Times, which have all pinned much of their future growth on investing money on behalf of retirement savers.
Quote,
Blackstone
has struck a partnership with Vanguard,
(06:11):
while Apollo and Partners Group
are among firms that will offer investments to empower
a large four zero one k plan sponsor.
Empower is actually the name of the sponsor company. Okay? So BlackRock, though, has already begun working with Great Gray Trust, a third party manager of retirement savings plans,
(06:32):
stated the Financial Times.
Okay. So this is actually
huge.
If if he does it, I mean, you know,
orange man says things,
and and every once in a while, he'll he'll execute on them, but I,
we'll we'll have to see. But if he does do it,
(06:54):
that's kinda that's kinda huge because
that in conjunction with what's coming up next, the genius act,
is extra huge.
Let's get through this.
Jesse Coughlin coined Telegraph,
Genius Act heads to Trump's desk and hears what will change.
(07:16):
President Donald Trump is one signature away
from enacting a bill to regulate stablecoins that will dictate how issuers of the tokens must be regulated to serve The US market.
The US House
passed three crypto bills on Thursday, including the Genius Act,
a
bachronym.
What the hell is a bachronym?
(07:38):
Okay. I guess they're saying an acronym,
including the Genius Act, an acronym for guiding and establishing national innovation for US Stablecoins Act. Now the bill originated from the senate,
so it only now needs Trump's signature to become law, which is expected to take place
at 02:30PM
today in Washington DC
(08:00):
during a signing ceremony according to reporter Eleanor Tarrant.
The law will come into effect eighteen months after oh, shit. Eighteen months after Trump signs it or one hundred and twenty days after the so called primary
federal payment stablecoin
regulators,
including the Treasury and Federal Reserve,
(08:21):
issue final regulations
implementing
the Genius Act.
Logan Payne, a crypto focused lawyer at Winston and Strachan, told Cointelegraph that the Genius Act creates an incentive for stablecoin issuers to seek a banking license.
He said a new stablecoin license under the Genius Act limits a company's activities to, quote, purely stablecoin
(08:43):
issuance,
but most stablecoin issuers do much more than that. Quote, pretty much every stablecoin issuer inside The United States issuing under US law right now
engages in activities outside of the scope of that license, Payne said.
Even if an issuer gets a Genius Act approved license,
(09:05):
Payne said that they still need state level money transmission licenses to operate nationally.
That creates an incentive for Stablecoin issuers to apply for a National Trust Bank charter with the office of the comptroller of the currency
like Circle and
Cripple have done. I god, I hate Cripple.
(09:26):
Quote,
which allows for them to engage in stablecoin issuance
plus a wider range of activities, but without having to get state to state licenses, he said.
A contentious part of the bill,
to some crypto users is a section that bans stablecoin issuers, both foreign and regulated under US laws,
(09:47):
from giving holders
and users any interest or yield.
Yield offerings are one of the biggest marketing devices for stablecoins to pull in users.
Some offer yields natively for holders, while others like Circle's USDC
reward those holding the stablecoin on exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken, quote,
(10:08):
I would be unsurprised
to see a lot of those arrangements
change or be modified moving forward, Payne said.
Payne also said that the Genius Act could inject uncertainty into decentralized finance over how platforms
are to handle stablecoins. Quote,
how the Genius Act will impact DeFi is intentionally
(10:30):
a bit unaddressed
at now well, for now at least, he said. Quote, there's still going to be a lot of uncertainty.
But in a general policy environment,
if it continues,
we'll start to have some of the answers being given over time.
Paine said, quote,
additional legislation
(10:51):
and then also regulation that fills in some of the gaps that will address DeFi will come over the next few years. One is the Clarity Act, a bill that classifies types of digital assets which authorities will regulate,
which the house passed on the senate
on Thursday. So like I said, the Clarity Act definitely got passed along with the Genius Act. But the Genius Act says,
(11:16):
permitted stablecoin issuers
have to back their tokens one to one
with reserves of US Dollars or other monetary products such as treasury bills. What have I been saying for weeks and months and months now?
Stablecoins
are going to export
United States debt issuance.
(11:38):
That's how
that's how it's going to work.
That wasn't I don't think that that was
planned when people like Tether's
ginned up their first stablecoin. I don't think that was in the cards.
But I guarantee you The United States is looking at stablecoins
as a vehicle to save the dollar.
(12:00):
And it's gonna work for a while,
maybe even for for the next ten years. Who knows? But,
well, let's move on.
Three years after this bill is signed,
it will outlaw any stablecoins that don't come come from an approved issuer from being offered in The United States.
It will also
(12:21):
be illegal for foreign issued stablecoins to be offered in The United States unless the issuer of that stablecoin can and will comply with the bill's legal requirements.
The bill gives a host of carve outs for foreign stablecoin users, including the treasury,
if the treasury determines that the country in which they're based has a comparable
(12:41):
regulatory regime.
If that's the case,
foreign issuers can serve The US market if they successfully
register with the OCC,
the office of the comptroller of the currency, which will answer within thirty days and hold sufficient reserves in a US financial institution to cover their United States customers.
(13:02):
The bill
also
allows for multiple types of regulated entities such as banks, credit unions, and non banks to issue stablecoins
and create a dual federal and state legal framework to police them.
These entities,
depending
on their type, will be regulated by either the National Credit Union Administration,
(13:23):
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
the Treasury,
or the federal reserve.
Notably,
entities can choose to be regulated at the state level
if they don't have over $10,000,000,000
in issued stablecoins,
but a state does not have to create a stablecoin
(13:46):
regulator.
So there you go.
That's what the Genius Act is gonna do.
And given that there's now clarity
with not only the Genius Act, but the the actual Clarity Act passing,
along with Trump
threatening to sign an executive order to allow
(14:06):
Bitcoin to be directly
purchased by four zero one k's,
I I I just
I I don't see how
we I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't I don't wanna jinx anything, but I'm
really bullish on this.
The declared in the Genius Act is now going to allow
(14:31):
all the people that have been waiting on the sidelines, and I mean, in institutions.
All the people in institutions have been waiting on the sidelines because they won't. They didn't wanna touch Bitcoin at all because there was just
regulatory
uncertainty.
There's so much regulatory certainty at this point.
I just
(14:52):
all these people are gonna they have no reason to sit on the sidelines anymore.
So
I don't know, man.
Be prepared.
And you can be prepared with Leathermint
wallets. Go get a wallet at the leathermint.com.
That's the leathermint,all1word,.com.
Use code Bitcoin and for a 10% off on all purchases at the leathermint.com.
(15:17):
The wallets are awesome. But you know what else he's got?
He made
a Bitcoin
standard. The the Bitcoin standard book. Right? The Bitcoin standard
written by was that Safe?
Yeah. Safe, Dean.
But he bound it in leather.
It's a it's a leather bound the Bitcoin standard book.
(15:41):
It's hand built.
So
go pick one up because you're gonna get a great book, and it's also gonna be like a collector's item. The Bitcoin standard
hand
hand built leather cover for this thing is just I mean, it just looks awesome. He did a great job on this. He also has some of the best wallets I've ever seen.
(16:04):
All of his goods, you can get 10% off if you use Bitcoin and as the coupon code at the leathermint.com.
Go to the leathermint.com.
Get yourself a belt, watch band,
wallet,
book. I mean, he's he's got it all. He's got it all. Now onto
the Clarity Act.
(16:26):
Now, again,
we're gonna talk about this we we got finished with the Genius Act. Let's talk about the Clarity Act
because the US House has passed Bitcoin crypto market structure bill, also known as the Clarity Act. This is from Oscar Perez at Bitcoin Magazine.
(16:46):
The United States House of Representatives
have officially passed the Clarity Act by a vote of 294
to 134,
a major step toward creating a clear regulatory framework for digital commodities like Bitcoin.
Quote,
the Clarity Act helps us get there by adding consumer protection
(17:10):
into law and setting clear guidelines for digital asset managers, stated congressman
John Rose. Quote, it also establishes
guardrails for federal agencies
who have too often stepped outside their statutory authority in recent years, especially with cryptocurrencies.
The the bill
offers modern solutions to a modern financial sector that grows in popularity
(17:33):
and relevance
by the hour,
end quote.
The legislation
aims to define and divide regulatory oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission,
establishing clear rules in a complex digital asset market.
With the final house vote now complete, the bill will advance to the senate. Okay. So it still has to go to the senate for further consideration. Quote,
(18:01):
this bill helps a strong
pro growth framework
that gives innovators certainty that will bring digital assets back to The United States, said congressman Addison McDowell, quote, a key step
to making
America the crypto capital of the world.
If it is passed by the senate,
the Clarity Act would mark a significant milestone in the federal government's approach to Bitcoin and crypto regulation, which aims to support innovation
(18:28):
while addressing regulatory uncertainty
that has long challenged the industry.
At present,
there is no established market structure to protect consumers or provide clear rules
of the road for businesses and innovators, stated congressman Don Davis. Quote, it's a wild, wild west.
Congress must deliver market structure legislation that brings clarity.
(18:52):
Millions of Americans are holding cryptocurrency,
using it in financial transactions,
or using other digital tokens as part of new innovative technologies and services.
There must be consumer protections,
and The United States must lead,
said congressman
Don Davis. So there you go. A little bit of suit speak there for you right before we run the numbers.
(19:16):
Futures and commodities from CNBC.
I got West Texas Intermediate crude up over a point to $68.32.
Britney is up just under one full point to $70 and 2 dimes.
Natural gas, it bucking the trend again today.
It looks like it's up 2.17%
(19:37):
to $3.61
per thousand cubic feet. Gasoline
is up a quarter of a point to $2.17
a gallon.
Shiny metal rocks are doing very well today. Gold is up point 6% to thirty three sixty six.
Silver is up point 84%.
Platinum is up 1.7.
Copper is up a half, and palladium is up 3.87%.
(20:01):
Most of ag,
is in the green today. Biggest winner is chocolate.
Let's see. Yeah. Chocolate, 4.79%.
The only one in the red today
is coffee. It's down half a point.
Meanwhile, live cattle is unchanged, lean hogs unchanged, and feeder cattle is unchanged.
I don't know. That seems like it's probably a glitch in the system.
(20:25):
The Dow is up a quarter of a point as is the S and P.
Nasdaq is up point 12%, and the S and P Mini is up just under one half of a point.
Bitcoin is at a $118,780.
That is a let's see. What's a
my screen on Clark Moody's dashboard has changed because I'm on a different computer, so I gotta look for it.
(20:49):
There is,
you can get 35.3
ounces of shiny metal rocks with your one Bitcoin of which there are 19,893,813
and 1 third of.
And let's see. Where is
where's my other stuff?
Good lord. I can't find it. Oh, well. We'll just move on to the mempool,
(21:14):
which looks like it has
about 10 blocks carrying 100 and or no. 14,000,
transactions waiting to clear at high priority rates of 1 satoshi per v byte. Low priority is gonna get
you in also at 1 satoshis per v byte.
Hash rate has fallen just a little bit. We are at 898.2
(21:35):
exahashes
per second.
Now
from
yesterday's
Bitcoin and episode, high country Bitcoin,
I got Psyduck with 734.
Sats says
Psyduck.
Progressively worse with a row of eights. 8,888
(21:56):
sat says, here's the missing sat that didn't go through with the boost. Okay. So that was from yesterday, I guess.
Let's see.
Yeah. I didn't I didn't get any boost from yesterday's show. It was probably because it just got up too late.
Who knows?
But listen. Hold on. I guess I wanna check something here.
(22:17):
Abilitic. We'll let it go. Okay. So
let's move on to part two of the news that you can use.
Bitcoin standard treasury
to go public with 30,021
BTC
in a SPAC merger. This is Jenna Montgomery from Bitcoin Magazine.
Bitcoin
Standard Treasury Company
(22:39):
has announced a definitive agreement to go public through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners,
a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald,
Upa,
u
u p o h.
I
maybe that mean oh, hold on. Yeah. Sorry. There there was a spot on my screen, and it covered up the fact that it's that word is upon.
(23:07):
Upon completion,
BSTR,
Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, will launch with 30,021
Bitcoin
on its balance sheet, positioning it as the fourth largest public Bitcoin treasury in the world. Wow. Starting out at number four,
the new equity will be led by doctor Adam Bak, CEO and founder cofounder of Blockstream, and Sean Bill, an institutional investor known for driving one of the first Bitcoin allocations by a United States public pension fund.
(23:36):
Quote, as a long time Bitcoin advocate,
Kantor
is incredibly
proud to partner with doctor Bak,
one of Bitcoin's leading luminaries
to launch BSTR, said Brandon Lutnick,
chairman and CEO of Kantor Equity Partners
Incorporated
and chairman of Kantor Fitzgerald Limited Partners.
(23:58):
This historic
transaction
marks yet another step towards the integration of the Bitcoin economy and traditional finance.
The deal includes up to 1,500,000,000.0
in pipe or private investment in public equity
financing,
the largest ever announced in conjunction with the Bitcoin Treasury special purpose acquisition company merger,
(24:21):
and it comprises $400,000,000
in common equity,
up to 750,000,000
in convertible notes, up to 350,000,000
in convertible
preferred stock,
5,021
Bitcoin from in kind to pipe contributions,
25,000
Bitcoin from founding shareholders advised by Blockstream Capital, and up to $200,000,000
(24:44):
from CEPO
subject to redemptions.
Quote, Bitcoin was created
as sound money, and BSTR is being created to bring that same integrity to modern capital markets, said doctor Back,
quote, by securing both fiat and Bitcoin funding on day one,
including the first convertible preferred round announced in conjunction with the Bitcoin Treasury SPAC merger, we are putting unprecedented
(25:11):
firepower
behind a single mission,
maximizing,
Bitcoin ownership per share while accelerating real world Bitcoin adoption. I'm grateful
for the trust of the Bitcoin OG community
and for the unwavering support of Cantor Fitzgerald.
This announcement lines up with the July 15 report stating that Cantor Fitzgerald
(25:35):
was nearing a $4,000,000,000
deal with Adam Back, and today's announcement
confirms those details with Bak contributing
up to 30,000 Bitcoin valued at over $3,000,000,000
in exchange for equity
in the newly renamed BSTR
Holdings.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
(26:00):
Proceeds will be used to acquire additional Bitcoin and build Bitcoin native capital markets and advisory
solutions.
So there you go.
There there there you go. Alright. So
let's move on
to Ebike makers
shares soar a 135%
on a $500,000,000
(26:22):
Bitcoin treasury plan, Liz Napolitano
writing for decrypt.co.
Shares of electric vehicle maker
Volcon
soared a 135%
on Thursday after the company announced that it would raise $500,000,000
to kick start a Bitcoin treasury,
(26:43):
joining a growing number of firms building BTC treasuries as a major component of their corporate strategy.
The firm has entered into an agreement to sell 50,142
well, hold. No. Wrong. I'm sorry. 50,142,851
shares of its common stock at $10 per share
(27:05):
through a private placement according to the statement, and the firm will use 95%
of the roughly $500,000,000,000
it raises to buy Bitcoin, quote,
in an era of accelerating monetary debasement,
holding Bitcoin on our balance sheet represents a strategic move to safeguard shareholder value and align with the digital future, Volcan
(27:27):
co CEO
John Kim said on Thursday.
The deal comes as a slew of public companies are adding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
to their balance sheets to improve their financials.
The company reported a net loss. I knew it was coming. The company reported a net loss of more than $45,000,000
in 2024.
(27:49):
Volcan share prices dropped more than 35%
this year.
Michael Saylor's software firm, Strategy, which began buying Bitcoin or rather buying billions of dollars in Bitcoin in 2020,
popularized the playbook.
And then they go on to talk about a couple of other companies.
So let's see here.
(28:10):
Volcan is a Texas based designer,
developer, and seller of electric
off road
power sport vehicles.
Its products
product line includes the Brat,
a motorcycle like vehicle for city folks and the Grunt ebike
for hunters
and nature dwellers.
So they've lost a shit ton of money.
(28:34):
They make electric vehicles.
I I don't know, man.
Again, it sounds like a hail Mary.
And there's
two kinds of companies. There's companies that have a revenue stream, and there's companies that don't. And those companies,
more often than not, are starting to get into Bitcoin as the only way that they're gonna be able to survive. It it makes me a little nervous, but
(29:00):
I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Because in Russia,
Sberbank
plans to launch Bitcoin and crypto custody services. Oscar Perez
from Bitcoin magazine,
Sberbank or Cyberbank. I don't know how to pronounce it, but s b e r bank. So
you pronounce it however the hell you want to. Russia's largest lender plans to offer custody services
(29:25):
for cryptocurrency
assets aiming to lead the country's digital asset infrastructure as demand for Bitcoin and crypto services grows.
The move comes
as Russia's central bank has softened its stance on digital assets
recently
supporting legislation that allows businesses to use Bitcoin
and crypto in international trade to bypass Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its conflict in
(29:50):
Ukraine. The executive director of Spur Bank, an an Anatoly
Pronin,
he he said the bank submitted proposals to the central bank regarding the regulation of Bitcoin and crypto assets.
He noted that more banks globally are starting to offer custody services,
and SperBank
wants to ensure Russia isn't left behind. Probably a good idea. Pronin explained that the bank's proposals would regulate Bitcoin and crypto assets similarly to traditional
(30:18):
bank
assets and would act as a custodian
guaranteeing the security of tokens and providing safeguards against hacking and unauthorized
access.
Assets
could also be frozen,
uh-huh, if law enforcement suspects
illegal activity.
So there you go.
Russia's largest lender, Bitcoin custody.
(30:41):
Domino's are just fallen all over the place. Again,
I'm incredibly bullish.
Anything can happen, but I'm just incredibly bullish in all this. So,
there's really not much else to say. That that is the last news story that I got for you today.
I do hope
that you guys are gonna have an excellent weekend,
(31:02):
and I will see you
on the other side.
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