What Bitcoin Did

Danny Knowles

What Bitcoin Did unpacks Bitcoin’s role in reshaping money, freedom, and the future of finance.

  1. 5 Years In Prison For Building A Bitcoin Wallet | Lauren Rodriguez

    8 HR AGO

    5 Years In Prison For Building A Bitcoin Wallet | Lauren Rodriguez

    At 5am, Lauren Rodriguez woke to laser sights, a drone flying through her house, and 40 armed federal agents raiding their cottage, all because her husband built a Bitcoin wallet. Keonne Rodriguez co-founded Samurai Wallet in 2015, a non-custodial Bitcoin wallet with privacy features including Whirlpool, their CoinJoin implementation. For nearly a decade, the wallet operated openly on the Google Play Store with no issues. Then on April 24th, 2024, the FBI and IRS launched coordinated raids on the Rodriguez home in Pennsylvania and co-founder Bill Hill's home in Portugal. The charges: conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money service business and conspiracy to money launder. The problem: FinCEN's own guidance stated that non-custodial wallets are not money transmitters. And six months before indictment, prosecutors asked FinCEN directly whether Samurai was a money service business, FinCEN said no. The prosecutors buried that answer, a Brady violation. Lauren walks through the full story; the raid, the discovery process involving 17 terabytes of evidence, the sudden judicial switch from a neutral judge to a former chief of the SDNY criminal division, the five-minute hearing where every defense motion was denied without explanation, and the impossible math of a plea deal versus a 25-year trial exposure with a hostile judge. Keonne is now serving a five-year federal prison sentence. Lauren is fighting for a presidential pardon for both Keonne and Bill. Sign the petition and support their case at BillandKeonne.org. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Lauren Rodriguez: https://x.com/leamuirleyn Sign the Petition & Donate: https://billandkeonne.org/

    1h 3m
  2. This Is The Macro Reset | Nik Bhatia

    2 DAYS AGO

    This Is The Macro Reset | Nik Bhatia

    "5 to 10% is going to cause immense damage. When cash flows stop at the margin, everything collapses because of leverage." Nik Bhatia returns to break down the macro landscape as war in Iran sends oil to $100, the dollar surges, and volatility clouds the outlook. Nik explains why he's wiped the slate clean on his macro thesis, why the US economy may still avoid recession despite the chaos, and how the Genius Act could reshape the global dollar system through stablecoins. We also get into AI job displacement, why treasuries are still the bedrock of global finance, Bitcoin's decoupling signal, and whether the four-year cycle is finally dead. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Nik Bhatia: https://x.com/timevalueofbtc

    1h 25m
  3. Bitcoin is Undervalued, But the Bottom Isn't In Yet | Rational Root

    5 DAYS AGO

    Bitcoin is Undervalued, But the Bottom Isn't In Yet | Rational Root

    Is Bitcoin's four-year cycle still intact, and what does that mean for the next six months? In this episode, I sit down with The Rational Root to break down where we are in Bitcoin's cycle, why on-chain data is flashing bear market signals despite Bitcoin holding up through the Iran war, and what the bottom formation could look like from here. We discuss the shift from retail hype to institutional adoption, why OTC buying from ETFs and treasury companies dampened this cycle's price action, how gold and AI stole Bitcoin's mindshare, and whether passive flows from the likes of Saylor could prevent another leg down. Root walks through his key on-chain charts and explains why he thinks there's still a probability of one more drop before Bitcoin starts its next move up. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny The Rational Root: https://x.com/therationalroot

    1h 11m
  4. Iran, Oil and the Next Financial Crisis | Luke Gromen

    10 MAR

    Iran, Oil and the Next Financial Crisis | Luke Gromen

    "Our entire financial system will blow up without their factories, without their oil. And they know that. So they can wait." Luke Gromen is a macroeconomic analyst, investor and founder of FFTT. In this episode, we get into whether the Iran war exposed a far bigger geopolitical shift than most people realise, why Luke thinks missiles and drones may have changed global power forever, and what all of this means for oil, markets, Bitcoin and the future of the dollar system. We also get into why Bitcoin held up better than expected during the conflict, why Luke still thinks risk assets face serious danger ahead, and how AI could trigger a major credit event faster than almost anyone expects. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Luke Gromen: https://x.com/LukeGromen

    1h 7m
  5. The Four Year Cycle Is Not Broken | Matthew Mezinskis

    5 MAR

    The Four Year Cycle Is Not Broken | Matthew Mezinskis

    "Statistically, right now, we are basically at the bottom. This is as cheap as Bitcoin gets." Matthew Mezinskis is a macroeconomic researcher, host of Crypto Voices and one of the leading voices on Bitcoin's power law and global money supply data. In this episode, we dig into why Bitcoin's quantile regression is showing we're scraping the absolute floor, why the four-year cycle is completely intact despite everyone calling it dead last year, and what the Fed's balance sheet actually tells us about where Bitcoin goes next. In this episode: • The Power Law: Why Bitcoin at $63k represents the cheapest level relative to trend in its entire history, and what the quantile regression is actually showing • The Four-Year Cycle: How the 2024-2025 price action perfectly follows prior cycles despite the "cycle is dead" narrative. • The 550k Projection: What the power law projects for Bitcoin by 2029-2030. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Matthew Mezinskis: https://x.com/1basemoney

    1h 16m
  6. Is This The Start Of A Financial Crisis? | Jeff Snider

    3 MAR

    Is This The Start Of A Financial Crisis? | Jeff Snider

    Is this the start of a financial crisis? Jeff Snider is the founder of Eurodollar University and the go-to voice on how the global financial system really works. In this episode, we discuss why the shadow banking and private credit bubble is bursting right now, the cockroaches emerging across the credit markets that reveal nobody did any due diligence during the bubble years, and Jeff's three-stage financial crisis framework for understanding how bad this could get. We also get into why the Fed is essentially a political lightning rod with no real control over the monetary system, why bond markets have been pricing in a crisis since 2021 regardless of what the Fed does, and how people should position themselves, including Jeff's take on $60k Bitcoin. In this episode, we cover: • The 3 Stages of Financial Crisis: From early outflows (Stage 1) to forced selling (Stage 2) to systemic panic and the domino effect (Stage 3) — and where we are right now • The Cockroach Problem: Why big banks failed to check if the collateral they were lending against even existed, and what that reveals about the scale of the bubble • Credit Crisis vs Liquidity Crisis: The critical distinction that determines whether this stays contained or spills into broader markets • The Fed's Illusion of Control: Why the bond market has been pricing in a crisis since 2021, regardless of what Jay Powell says or does • Bitcoin & Survival: How to position yourself for a Stage 3 collapse and why wealth preservation is no longer optional in a debasing fiat system THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Jeff Snider: https://x.com/JeffSnider_EDU

    1h 6m
  7. Was Bitcoin’s Price Suppressed? | Alex Thorn

    27 FEB

    Was Bitcoin’s Price Suppressed? | Alex Thorn

    Is Bitcoin's worst sentiment ever actually the biggest buying opportunity? Alex Thorn is Head of Firmwide Research at Galaxy Digital. In this episode, we discuss why Bitcoin has dropped nearly 50% from its all-time high, the reality behind the Jane Street manipulation allegations, why sentiment is among the worst it's ever been, and whether the four-year cycle played out after all. We also get into AI's potential to massively disrupt the job market, Alex's thesis on why you need to start building your "fleet of robots" now before it's too late, and why Bitcoin's fundamental value proposition matters more than ever despite the narrative damage. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Alex Thorn: https://x.com/intangiblecoins

    1h 8m
  8. Trump's Secret Plan for a US Economic Renaissance | Brent Johnson

    25 FEB

    Trump's Secret Plan for a US Economic Renaissance | Brent Johnson

    Is the US government preparing to weaponise the dollar like never before? In this episode, Brent Johnson, creator of the Dollar Milkshake Theory, returns to discuss his $5,000 gold call and why the traditional rules of global macro are currently being rewritten. We get into the Imperial Circle, the exact strategy Soros, Druckenmiller and Scott Besant used to break the Bank of England, and why that same playbook may now be driving US economic policy. Brent explains why gold and the dollar can be strong at the same time, why Bitcoin has underperformed gold this cycle and how stablecoins are reshaping global capital flows in ways most people aren't paying attention to. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CLUB ORANGE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Brent Johnson: https://x.com/SantiagoAuFund

    1h 15m
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Hosts & Guests

About

What Bitcoin Did unpacks Bitcoin’s role in reshaping money, freedom, and the future of finance.

Information

  • Creator
    Danny Knowles
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    153
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    What Bitcoin Did

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