The Best One Yet - 🪙 “The Bitcoin Pod” — On the day of the “Halving”, we unearthed our best 3 stories that tell the whole Bitcoin.

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

It’s finally here… Bitcoin’s biggest day in 4 years: “The Halvening.”So we whipped up a special episode to explain what the Halvening is: 3 stories from the past 4 years that illustrate the promise, potential, and pitfalls of Bitcoin. We look at1. Bitcoin as cash money2. Bitcoin as borderless international currency3. Bitcoin as investable assetBy the time you’re done with this pod, you’ll understanding what the heck is happening with this “Halvening” and the 3 key ways we can actually use a bitcoin.(Ben the Bitcoin approves all these stories)$BTCSubscribe to the best newsletter yet: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday, April 19th, and today's Bitcoin pod is the best one yet. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Today's pod isn't your typical pod. Today's pod is on the blockchain. Today's pod is a Bitcoin pod because it's the most important day for Bitcoin in four years. Today, tomorrow, like maybe right now.

Honestly, we don't know when it's happening, but Bitcoin will go through the having. The having. The happening. And we'll tell you what that is. Plus, we whipped up three stories from the past four years on the potential, the promise, and the pitfalls of Bitcoin. So if you have a buddy who wants to understand Bitcoin better, send them this episode. Besties, this is the BitPod.

And Jack, what's our first story? For our first story, we're going back to October 2022, when we looked at how Bitcoin can be used as cash money. This was Bitcoin's mainstream moment. Venmo let you send your buddy some Bitcoin. Our second story is from March of, 2022 when we looked at how Bitcoin can be used as a borderless international currency. This was Bitcoin's empathy moment. Ukraine used Bitcoin to defend itself from Russia.

And our third and final story is from February of this year, when we looked at Bitcoin as an asset to invest in. This was one of Bitcoin's many FOMO moments. And FOMO can quickly become no-mo. If that's the truth. But Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. mix of stories. Love the mix. We want to open with an announcement. Jack and I are Satoshi Nakamoto. We've been waiting to say it for years, haven't we, Jack? Actually, we're not. We could get sued for that, but we're not. Actually, I don't think we can get sued because no one knows who that person is. Let's just run with it then, Jack. Because back in 2008, an anonymous person named Satoshi

Nakamoto published a white paper on Bitcoin.org. And thus, in 2008, cryptocurrencies were born. The title of that white paper, Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Sounds like a gossling movie. Maybe a Tom Cruise movie. Well, 16 years later, one Bitcoin is worth $63,000. And in the history of this podcast, Jack and I have covered a lot of Bitcoin stories. We've covered Bitcoin's meme moment. Ah, the 2020 price pop. We've covered Bitcoin's crypto winter.

Oh, the 2022 price drop. And we've covered Bitcoin's BitMitsfa. Yeah, when the first Bitcoin ETF was approved by the United States just this year. But today is a special day because it only happens every four years. Today is the having. The happening. A scheduled event that actually goes back to that very white paper Jack mentioned like a minute ago. About every four years, the number of new Bitcoin that comes into circulation gets reduced by half.

That's the happening. And the happening lowers how many Bitcoin are awarded to the Bitcoin miners out there. So there's less Bitcoin new supply, but there's the same Bitcoin new demand. Yeah. Theoretically, the price could rise because of that. but honestly, with Bitcoin, like, anything could happen. But we think this Bitcoin happening is something different. Yeah.

It's a time to reflect. And that's exactly what Jack and I did to prepare for today's pod. We're looking back on four years, four years of covering Bitcoin, and we chose three particular Bitcoin stories. Three stories that highlight the promise, the potential, and the pitfalls of Bitcoin. At the end of the show, you'll basically be Ben the Bitcoin. You're going to be Ben the Bitcoin, if you know, you know. So this is the Bitcoin pop.

Jack, let's go mine our three stars. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip.

Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, let's go back to four years ago when Bitcoin was at $13,000. PayPal let people buy, sell, and pay people on Venmo with Bitcoin. Our first story shows use case number one for Bitcoin as cash money.

For our third and final story, PayPal is going to start letting users buy and sell and get this, pay in cryptocurrencies on Venmo. separate but definitely related story. Bitcoin's having its biggest week of 2020. Jack, brings us back to like a few years ago. Remember you'd be like walking around the office and getting completely unsolicited advice from everybody on buying Bitcoin? Late 2017, it was insane.

My brother's like, Jack, a guy at work made $10,000 on Bitcoin in a week. Should I buy Jack? And I'm like, you'd hear a noise on like 18th Street. It was someone who was like, I'm leaving, I'm quitting. I bought six of them. Now, Bitcoin was insane back then. And it feels kind of like 2017. Cryptoland all over again.

Yeah, first funny thing Jack and I noticed this week, the Bahamas just launched its first ever national digital currency. Good for them. It's actually been called the Bahamian Sand Dollar. Great name. Sounds like a good Halloween costume, by the way. But yesterday, the other big thing we noticed,

Bitcoin just passed $13,000 for the first time in three years. What's driving the news, we think is that PayPal will let users buy, sell, hold, and pay in cryptocurrency soon. Even though Bitcoin hasn't really done much in the last year, This is a mainstream moment we're thinking for Bitcoin because 350 million PayPal users worldwide are actively using PayPal. The population of the United States is soon going to have access to crypto super easy because of PayPal. So Snackers, here's how this goes down. You can go to like PayPal.com right now and join a wait list.

And pretty soon they said before the end of the year, you'll be able to access this service. Tacos at Tacombia and Olita pay with Bitcoin. You're doing a shop and binge over at Bloomingdale's. You could end up paying with Bitcoin. You're up in Seattle and it starts raining and got no raincoat. Pay for your raincoat at REI with Bitcoin. By next year, they're going to have 26 million stores you'll be able to pay for Bitcoin. So with any Bitcoin paying situation, you got to talk about the logistics.

I know what you're thinking, Jack, because it's never as pretty as it sounds. So if I got Bitcoin and I'm soaked and I need that raincoat, I can pay REI my Bitcoin, but REI is going to get dollars because PayPal is going to handle the conversion from Bitcoin to dollar. Jack, I think you're going to look fantastic in that raincoat. Code. Second of all, I want to point out, it's going to cost you a little bit more than just that final price. PayPal isn't UNICEF, so they're going to charge for this. In fact, for any transaction under $100 worth of Bitcoin, you'll pay a 2.3% fee. Just like with everything with Bitcoin, it's a little bit more complicated once you get into the actual Bitcoin. But the calendar day,

everyone's circle is when Bitcoin is coming to Venmo in early 2021. That's the real mainstream moment, because then you can have brunch with Becky, send her one, one thousand of Bitcoin. for that Shakuka, or as my friend, Jack likes to call it, Middle Eastern Waivos Rancheros. I'm a big fan. I'd never seen it until Nick ordered it in New York City that one day. It's a wonderful thing, although you burn yourself. Inevitably, you burn yourself. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at PayPal and Bitcoin?

Crypto needs a chaperum, a trustworthy person who can get everyone to chill out a little bit. Right now, Snackers, Bitcoin has basically just been a speculative investment. It is mostly bought by investment. investors hoping that it jumps in values so that they can sell it for a return. But it could also completely fall and a lot of people have been really badly burned on cryptocurrencies. Crypto is big on the crypto right now. Yes.

Not so much on the currency part of cryptocurrency. Perfectly put jack because Bitcoin hasn't become a true currency for paying for things. Basically because of three barriers. So three barriers are trust, acceptance, and volatility. But PayPal is the biggest name yet who could fix two, maybe even three of those key things. First, the trust factor, PayPal's a big company. It's legit. And Venmo is a trusted payment app.

And second, since PayPal handles crypto dollar conversions all the time, lots of retailers would be more comfortable accepting it. And third, maybe third, with wider adoption and use thanks to PayPal, maybe Bitcoin's price fluctuations will chill out a little bit. And that would mean PayPal has truly become Bitcoin chaperone. For a second story, let's go back to March of 2022. It was just one week after Putin's. sent Russian troops to invade Ukraine.

And one way that Ukraine defended itself, they raised money from international donors through Bitcoin. Our second story shows Bitcoin's use case number two. Bitcoin as a borderless international currency. Remember when Bitcoin fell as Russia invaded Ukraine? Yep. Well, Bitcoin's price just jumped 25% since then. Because crypto is having a global empathy moment.

Bitcoin is having an empathy moment. Jack, can you whip up the theme of the world? week for us over there besides like the absolute courageousness of Ukrainian resistance. Yes, it's sanctions from the United States and its allies, which have weaponized finance against Russia. Which leads to the question, Snackers, how is finance affecting Ukraine? Ukraine doesn't need financial weapons. No, they don't. They need to finance some weapons. Exactly. Ukraine doesn't need weaponized finance. They just need to finance their weapons. So Ukraine did what governments do in these moments. Exactly. They issued war bonds. The classic traditional way, a country

Reaches money during times of war. Ukraine's government sold IOUs to patriotic investors. Right. Just like we did, Jack, in World War II, the U.S. did the same thing. So Ukraine was able to get 270 million in new funding through the issuance of war bonds this week. Now, that was kind of expected. But then there was a surprise because Ukraine also tried one untraditional method of raising

money. Crypto. Exactly. Ukraine went for crypto. Jack, I don't remember the chapter on Ethereum in Sun Tzu's Art of War. That's why Ukraine's heroic defense against Russian invaders has led to Bitcoin's empathy moment. Now, Snackers, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The crypto community, they couldn't have scripted this any better. Bitcoin's empathy moment began with a tweet.

It began with a tweet. Only thing better would be if it began on Reddit. Ukraine's official verified Twitter account tweeted last week, the address to their crypto wallet and asked the world to send donations to help them resist Russia. This is like you basically putting out publicly your Venmo username and then saying, I'll accept cash from anyone. Except it wasn't me. It was Ukraine. Exactly.

Who like the whole world wants to help right now. And Ukraine's not just accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum. They're even accepting meme coins like Dogecoin to fund their troops. 35,000 individual contributors have donated over $35 million through this tweet. with crypto. We repeat, Ukraine's government raised $35 million worth of crypto in just a few days, unprecedented. And it's an empathy moment for Bitcoin because fast, easy support for Ukraine was made possible to anyone in the world thanks to blockchain.

Now, perhaps on this positive publicity, Bitcoin has jumped 25% since the invasion started. Now, context is key. Ukraine raised 270 million through the war bonds. That's several times more than they raised through crypto. But the power of decentralized finance is on display for the world to see and it's being used for good. The story doesn't end there. Ukraine didn't just ask for donations on Twitter. No, Ukraine went further. Ukraine asked eight crypto exchanges to ban Russians from doing transactions in cryptocurrencies. The crypto platforms declined that request with one of the platforms saying that would go against their libertarian values.

Which leads to our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all of our buddies donating crypto. This is Bitcoin's empathy moment, but Russia could undermine it. Snackers, thanks to those sanctions, Russia can't transact through conventional Western financial channels like it used to. And for that reason, the ruble is worth less than a penny rate. The ruble is actually worth less than a Roblox, Robux right now, which is literally video game money. Under those stressful financial conditions, where might Russians turn? Crypto. Now, major crypto platforms are saying they will comply with Western sanctions against Russia. But officials and experts are concerned that Russians can find a way to evade sanctions by going through cryptocurrencies.

Today, we're talking about crypto helping Ukraine. Tomorrow, we could be talking about it helping Putin. Ukraine is Bitcoin's empathy moment, but Russia could undermine it. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. For our third story, let's go back to just a couple months ago, when Bitcoin passed $60,000 for the first time in two and a half years. And why was Bitcoin going up? Well, the new Bitcoin ETF and a little bit of FOMO.

maybe a lot of FOMO. We actually called this the FOMO Rally, didn't we, Jack? Our third story shows Bitcoin's use case number three. Bitcoin as an investable asset. Bitcoin Mania has returned Bitcoin. Just past $60,000. It is within striking distance of its all-time high. We're not just in a Bitcoin rally. We're specifically in a FOMO stage of that rally. Now, Jack, you're staying in my apartment right now, but I gotta say, we got another guest with us. Welcome back to Ben the Bitcoin. Bitcoin rose for a fifth straight day yesterday. Bitcoin is now up 45% so far this year.

Yeah, these Bitcoin is up 45% this year. After jumping 150% last year. Now, they don't have their laser eyes on their Twitter accounts anymore. Good point, yeah. But the Bitcoin bulls are louder than ever right now. Bottle service is back in Miami, baby. Now, Nick and I want to sprinkle on some context of the rally that Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, is on right now.

Now, yet he's Bitcoin's market cap, which is the value of all. all the Bitcoin in the world. Is now worth $1.2 trillion, Jack, the context. That means Bitcoin is worth the same as meta, the publicly traded stock. Yetis, as of this recording right here, Bitcoin's price just hit $62,000. That is not far from the $69,000 record set in November of 2021. Now, yetis, we know what you're thinking because we were thinking it to. Why is Bitcoin out of nowhere suddenly surging this week?

There's two theories. Yeah, there are two theories why. The first theory is the Bitcoin ETF. In January, the SEC allowed Bitcoin to be packaged into an exchange traded fund, which makes it just as easy to buy and sell in the stock market as a stock. Jack and I covered it on this pod. We called it Bitcoin's Bitmitsfa. And now that it's easier to access Bitcoin investments for the masses, that could be why

Bitcoin is rally. But here's the thing, Vassies, we've known about this Bitcoin ETF for a while. It's been approved for a while. So, like, that's not a new reason Bitcoin should rally. Which brings us to the other theory for why Bitcoin is rallying. The havinging. The having of Bitcoin is an event that happens about every four years when the number of Bitcoin rewarded to Bitcoin miners is cut in half.

We don't totally understand it. No one really does. But everyone's known this was coming for years. So that doesn't explain why it's rallying right now even. Okay, so it's probably not the Bitcoin ATF. It's probably not the Bitcoin having. Which leads Jack and I to... Our theory.

Which is... FOMO. Yeah, the more Bitcoin rallies, the more... more people hear about Bitcoin Rally, the more people talk about Bitcoin Rally, and the more that they want to get in. It's FOMO. Your buddy is bragging in a text chain about how much money is made on Bitcoin in the past three months. Yeah. That makes everyone in the text chain want to buy Bitcoin. And they probably did this week. Harry's having a pastrami sandwich with Sally and saying, hey, I'll have what she's having. Everyone wants in on the Bitcoin billionaire. I heard Rachel just

bought it. True story. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Bitcoin? FOMO can quickly become no-mo. Yet he's, Jack and I have seen a lot of FOMO rallies before. Like, we've seen him going back to our Wall Street days a decade ago, and this tends to be the last stage of a rally. FOMO rallies are when there's no fundamental reason the thing is going up in price. It's just emotional buying and momentum. Well, Jack and I think what's driving Bitcoin right now

is the same force that drove up many stocks during the pandemic when you were stuck at home and had stimulus checks, money to spend. It's fear of missing out, fear of missing out on all the gains that your buddies have been bragging about. Besties, the frenzied rise of Bitcoin this week with no clear new reason, it feels to us like a FOMO rally. And here's the key. Those who get in at this phase in the rally, the FOMO phase, those are the ones who could lose the most money if the FOMO runs out. So, Yetis proceed cautiously because FOMO can quickly become no-mo. Jack, could you whip up the Bit takeaways for us over there?

Bitcoin use case number one. Bitcoin has cash money that you can buy and spend anywhere, just like dollars, even with your Venmo account. Most businesses, they don't accept Bitcoin, but someday they could. Bitcoin use case number two. Bitcoin as a borderless international currency. No central banks. No one to control Bitcoin.

Anyone can send Bitcoin anywhere. And our third and final use case of Bitcoin, Bitcoin as an investable asset. Honestly, this is like what's mainly happening now. With Bitcoin sitting today close to record highs, it's mainly being used as an investable asset. It's mainly something to put money into and hope that the price rises. But remember, FOMO can quickly become no-mo, faux show. True. You know.

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one's sent in by the Winklefoss brothers. It says, love the show, guys. Here's a fact. Yet here's the best fact yet about Bitcoin. Bitcoin is actually a scarce asset. The creator of Bitcoin built it so that only 21 million tokens could ever be mine. Which is different from other crypto like Dogecoin, which could be produced in just unlimited amounts.

Its scarcity is one reason that Bitcoin is perceived as more valuable than other crypto. But get this. An estimated 3.6 million Bitcoin are lost forever. That's right. Nearly 20% of the world's Bitcoin are considered lost because the owner lost their password. You spill some pizza grease on a thing and boom, you're never getting your Bitcoin. Back, man. Your Bitcoin sits in a crypto wallet and you want to hang on to that password. Jack, I wrote our wallet password in paper, hand in pen, and then I addressed it to bend the Bitcoin and it's sitting somewhere in our house.

You're going to want to get a one password account, maybe even a two-password account. Be careful with the pizza grease, Yetis. Yeties, you looked fantastic for our Bitcoin pod. Let us know what you think. We'd love to hear your thoughts on today's episode, the stories we whipped up, the takeaways over a T-Boy pod on Instagram. Also, what do you think of like these best of episodes where we go, deep on one theme by finding our best

three stories about that theme. Basically, Jack and I jump in T-boy style to the show from the last three years. We love doing it. We've a blast doing it. It's a time to reflect and remember, wow, all that stuff happens. Let us know what you think in the Q&A on Spotify. Or at T-Boy pod on Instagram. H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. And before we go, a congratulations.

T-Etties, Pat Kavino and Allison Lanshee from San Francisco, who just got engaged with a gorgeous setting over in Tahoe. Lake Tahoe, where Alex Snyder, Honeymoon. We saw the picks. They were incredible congratulations. Congratulations and happy anniversary to Julie and John Rich in Winterhaven, Florida. This is a reminder, not to forget.

Anisha and Harbor in Orlando, Florida just dropped a new dance song. Sounds fantastic. And happy birthday to Armand Arcoon in Huntington, New York. Oysters for your boister's. And Zachary Zuzuk is turning 30 years old. Happy birthday in Chesapeake, Virginia. Happy birthday to Shruti Carthick in Sandy, Utah. And happy birthday to Josh Simpson and Warner Robbins.

in Georgia celebrating with their puppy cheddar. And happy birthday to Juliana Paula in Plymouth, Minnesota, the superwoman, the super mother, and the super wife. And Ahil Baclani, happy birthday doing logistics over in Chicago, Illinois. Happy birthday to Ziggy Eamon, who's turning 33 in San Francisco. Get this. His mom is making the trip all the way from Cairo. Not too shabby.

And John Boudreau from Boston, Massachusetts to celebrate a birthday by going some candlepin bowling. Just that's that much. And Berica Perez in Harvey, Louisiana, has a secret milestone birthday. We won't ask, but we'll celebrate that win. We assume it's 100. And Blake Signard over in France has got big cat girl energy, just putting it out there. I was trying big cat girl energy. And happy birthday to Rachel Sylvan in Silver Spring, Maryland, who's celebrating with her multi-generation family of Yetis.

And a happy birthday to Satoshi, because honestly, it could be your birthday. We don't know. Unless it's us. And to anyone else who's celebrating today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own a Bitcoin. A Bitcoin named Ben.