Alex Leishman, CEO, CTO, and co-founder of River, shares his background and journey in the Bitcoin space. He discusses his interest in technology and economics, which led him to discover Bitcoin. Alex explains his vision for River as the most trusted Bitcoin bank and the need for custodial services. He highlights the importance of providing excellent customer service and building a strong reputation in the industry.

River's focus is on being the best place to buy Bitcoin in the U.S. and expanding its role as a core financial institution as Bitcoin adoption grows. River CEO Alex Leishman shares lessons learned, including the value of keeping things simple, sticking to your core business, and investing in improving foundational systems and operations.

Follow River
https://x.com/Leishman
https://river.com/
Alex's recommended read: "Denationalisation of Money" by Hayek

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
04:17 Attracted to Bitcoin and Starting River
08:09 Choosing the Custodial Route and Providing Customer Service
13:40 River's Business Model and Future Plans
21:16 Institutional Adoption of Bitcoin
24:08 River's Client Base and Growth
25:53 Team Dynamics and Focus on People
27:44 The Dual Role of CEO and CTO: Simplicity and Focus
32:27 Lessons Learned: Keeping Things Simple and Sticking to Your Core
32:54 Funding Strategy: Raising from a Diverse Group of Investors
41:29 The Future of River: Bitcoin Custody and New App
49:19 Advice for Employees and Founders in the Bitcoin Space
52:04 Questioning the Existing Monetary System

https://x.com/BuildwBitcoin

Ego Death Capital is a Bitcoin-only venture capital fund that invests in seed-stage and Series-A companies building on top of Bitcoin. The fund was formed in 2022 by Nico Lechuga, Andi Pitt, and Jeff Booth. Ego Death Capital has a specific focus on funding companies that contribute to the advancement of humanity and have a long-term vision for creating real value. The role of venture capital and how it can be used strategically by early-stage Bitcoin companies is discussed in this episode, featuring managing partners Andi Pitt and Nico Lechuga.

Follow Ego Death
https://egodeath.capital/
https://x.com/nico_lechuga
https://x.com/1andipitt

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background of Ego Death Capital
08:12 Understanding Bitcoin and the Investment Process
14:08 Investment Focus and Deal Flow
18:25 The Risks of Tokenization in Early-Stage Companies
25:48 Traditional VCs and Institutional Investors
27:42 The Role of Family Offices
32:13 Regulatory Risks and Compliance Challenges
39:05 The Due Diligence Process
47:47 Ego Death Capital: Raising Funds and Open to Conversations

https://www.buildwithbitcoin.xyz/
https://x.com/BuildwBitcoin

In this episode, the hosts recap the last five episodes of the Build With Bitcoin podcast and highlight the key themes discussed. They cover three startups (Breez, Fedi, and Relai), a Bitcoin-focused fund (Early Riders), and the Pitch Day competition at the Bitcoin 2024 conference. They discuss the scaling of Bitcoin, the importance of open-source technology, the role of Bitcoin as a store of value, the growth of the mining industry, and the increasing mainstream acceptance of Bitcoin.

Build With Bitcoin
https://x.com/BuildwBitcoin
https://x.com/lynnerae
https://x.com/isra_munoz
https://www.buildwithbitcoin.xyz/

Chapters
00:00 Scaling Bitcoin: Startups Building Innovative Solutions
09:20 Financial Inclusion: Empowering the Unbanked with Bitcoin
14:49 Investing in Bitcoin: Early Riders Fund and Bitcoin as a Store of Value
19:49 Building the Future: Pitch Day and the Growth of the Bitcoin Ecosystem
26:25 Open Source and Mining: Driving Innovation in the Bitcoin Space

Please remember to follow, like, or share!

Julian Liniger, co-founder and CEO of Relai, shares his journey into the world of Bitcoin and how Relai has grown to become the largest Bitcoin-only on-ramp in Europe. The company started with a focus on making it easy for people to buy Bitcoin without KYC, and as regulatory requirements tightened, found the need to adapt and become a regulated broker.

They now have expanded to serve affluent individuals and business clients. Relai has a distributed team of around 30 employees, mostly in Europe, with headquarters in Switzerland. Julian discusses the challenges and decisions they faced in staying true to their core principles and values of being a Bitcoin-only company. He explains why they chose to focus solely on Bitcoin, their approach to fundraising, and their plans for expansion into the larger EU market.

Follow Julian and Relai:
https://x.com/Relai_app
https://x.com/julian_liniger
https://relai.app/

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:22 Discovering Bitcoin and Founding Relai
11:45 Building a Tech Company with a Non-Tech Founder
18:00 Growing a Distributed Team and Embracing Remote Work
23:37 Adapting to Regulatory Requirements and Expanding Services
35:27 Targeting the Millennial Market
40:41 The Importance of Staying Bitcoin-Only
46:54 Staying True to Core Principles and Values
56:21 Building a Talented Team
59:31 Openness to Strategic Investors

https://www.buildwithbitcoin.xyz/
https://x.com/BuildwBitcoin

Brian Cubellis and Brad Myers, partners at Early Riders explain why they chose to fund and deploy their new investment fund in Bitcoin. The fund aims to apply Bitcoin to the broader private investment landscape. The partners of Early Riders have complementary backgrounds in traditional finance, operations, strategy, and infrastructure. They believe now is the right time to launch this fund because of the maturity of custodial solutions and the growing interest in Bitcoin as an asset.

The fund is open to investing in both Bitcoin-only companies and companies that leverage Bitcoin as part of their business model. They are actively looking for entrepreneurs to partner with and build alongside. They have a network of advisors from various backgrounds who provide guidance and support and believe in the power of Bitcoin as a better form of money.

Follow Early Riders
https://www.earlyriders.com/
https://x.com/early_riders
https://x.com/OnrampBitcoin
https://x.com/BacklashBTC
https://x.com/JBradMyers

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Early Riders and the Fund Structure
10:24 Applying Bitcoin to the Private Investment Landscape
21:41 The Maturity of Custodial Solutions and Timing
30:27 Building Infrastructure and Acquiring Businesses
35:46 The Importance of Custody and Governance
49:42 Early Riders LPs and Value Accretion

https://x.com/BuildwBitcoin

Pitch Day at the Bitcoin 2024 conference showcases the next round of entrepreneurs 'Building with Bitcoin'. Martell Fox, founder of Layer4 Talent and Pitch Day Event Chair, joins us to give us a special preview:

The event will feature four tracks: Alpha (trading), Mining/Energy, Layer 2/Scaling, and Open Source. Each track will feature three contestants who will pitch their ideas and answer questions from a panel of judges. The event will also include trivia games, a lightning relay race, and other interactive activities. The winners of each track will receive Whale passes and trophies, along with other special recognitions.

The event -- taking place on Thursday, July 25 -- is open to Bitcoin 2024 Industry Pass holders. It's a great opportunity to network and learn about the latest innovators in the Bitcoin space.

Follow Martell:
https://x.com/Martellfox

More About Pitch Day
https://bitcoin2024.b.tc/2024/pitch-d....

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Pitch Day and Bitcoin 2024 conference
01:22 Exploring the Four Tracks: Alpha, Mining, Layer 2, and Open Source
03:01 Format and Schedule of Pitch Day
04:47 Who Should Attend and How to Participate
05:35 Number of Applications and Selection Process
08:13 Trends in Bitcoin Innovation and Building with Open Source
13:04 Size of the Event and Expectations
14:53 Connecting with Founders and Job Opportunities
16:13 Bitcoin as a Technology and the Vast Opportunities in the Space
19:32 Prizes, Judges, and Interactive Activities
24:15 Summary and Final Remarks

https://www.buildwithbitcoin.xyz/
https://x.com/BuildwBitcoin

Obi Nwosu, CEO and co-founder of Fedi, shares his journey as an entrepreneur and his work to scale Bitcoin. He discusses the creation of CoinFloor, a secure Bitcoin exchange, and his decision to sell the company to focus on empowering disempowered communities. He introduces Fedi as a community-centric platform that combines chat, value transfer, and app customization.

Obi emphasizes the importance of trust and community support in the adoption of Bitcoin and the usability of Fedi. The team is working on making the Fedi app accessible and user-friendly for non-technical users, while also providing tools and services for more sophisticated users. The goal is to roll out the product to millions, if not billions, of people globally.

https://www.fedi.xyz/
https://fedimint.org/
https://x.com/obi
https://x.com/fedibtc

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Obi Nwosu's Background
02:21 Launching CoinFloor
08:01 Federations: Trust and Decentralization in Fedi
17:11 Addressing Usability in Bitcoin Adoption
23:22 The Importance of Trust and Community Support in Bitcoin Adoption
43:45 Rolling Out to Millions, If Not Billions
49:42 The Vision and Core Beliefs of Fedi
57:34 Empowering Disempowered Communities

https://www.buildwithbitcoin.xyz/
https://x.com/Bu

Roy Sheinfeld, CEO of Breez, discusses the use of the Lightning Network to accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin as a currency. Breez is a self-custodial Lightning-as-a-Service solution that enables companies to integrate Lightning payments into their own offerings.

The goal is to make it easy for developers to add Lightning payments and for users to send and receive payments in a peer-to-peer manner. The conversation also touches on the importance of Bitcoin as a global currency and the potential for Bitcoin to revolutionize the transfer of value, similar to how the internet revolutionized the transfer of information. Breez aims to lower the barrier of entry for mainstream users to interact with Lightning.

Follow Breez:
https://breez.technology/
https://x.com/Breez_Tech
https://x.com/therealkingonly

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Roy Sheinfeld and Breez
03:07 Roy's Journey with Bitcoin and Lightning Network
08:34 Bitcoin as a Store of Value vs. Medium of Exchange
14:17 Understanding Lightning Network
22:26 Bitcoin as a Global Currency
30:58 Introduction to Breeze and Lightning as a Service
37:14 Breez: A Self-Custodial Lightning Service Provider
52:51 Interacting with the Broader Crypto Market
57:38 Competing in the Open Market with Good Technology
01:00:25 Advice for Developers and Builders in the Bitcoin Space

https://www.buildwithbitcoin.xyz/
https://x.com/BuildwBitcoin