Onramp Bitcoin Media

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402

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Oct 2026

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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

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October 26, 202655 min

Mexico Just Woke Up to Bitcoin | Gustavo Flores

Mexicans watched their banks get nationalized, their deposits frozen and the peso lose half its value overnight, so they keep their wealth in bricks. Liam sits down with Gustavo Flores Echaiz, co-founder and CEO of Aureo, on why the country's wealthy are now turning to Bitcoin. Guest: Gustavo Flores Echaiz, co-founder and CEO of Aureo and writer for Bitcoin Optech: X: https://x.com/gustavojfe Website: https://www.aureobitcoin.com/es 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 Gustavo Flores Echaiz explains why about 90% of Mexican household wealth sits in physical assets: bank nationalization in 1982, a 1,000 to 1 currency reset, and the 1994 peso collapse that froze deposits taught a generation to trust real estate over banks. He argues that a concentration of political power, including a judicial overhaul that put every judge up for election, is now pushing wealthier Mexicans toward an asset no government controls. He covers why Banxico bars banks from offering crypto, how stablecoins may force a change, and what Aureo has built since its March 2026 launch, from Bitcoin to bank transfers in seconds to business accounts with multi-user access. Liam and Gustavo also discuss why AI has Bitcoin developers fixing bugs instead of building features, and La Casa de Satoshi in Mexico City. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro: Gustavo Flores Echaiz returns 03:17 - Bitcoin Optech: security fixes replace new features 07:33 - Lightning bugs and the end of security by obscurity 11:34 - Gustavo's path: Montreal, Bull Bitcoin, Wasabi and Aureo 14:12 - Why 90% of Mexican household wealth sits in physical assets 16:59 - Bank nationalization, the 1994 peso crisis and a fintech boom 21:43 - Mexico's wealthy, concentrated power and Bitcoin as a hedge 25:22 - LatAm regulation: Brazil leads, Banxico blocks the banks 29:43 - Why stablecoins will force Mexico's hand 32:28 - Aureo one year on: buying, selling and OTC 36:21 - Direct to Bank: Bitcoin to any Mexican bank in seconds 39:28 - Mexican wealth, business accounts and multi-user access 46:06 - Education, banks and what Mexican investors ask now 48:51 - La Casa de Satoshi: Mexico City's Bitcoin hub 52:48 - Aureo research and tools 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 • Gustavo: https://x.com/gustavojfe • Aureo: https://x.com/AureoBitcoin 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 22, 20261 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.

October 21, 202631 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.

October 20, 202658 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.

October 19, 202635 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, 20261 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, 202645 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, 20261 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, 202655 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, 20261 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.

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