Episodes

  • Using AI to Accelerate the Bitcoin Revolution with Marty Bent

    Using AI to Accelerate the Bitcoin Revolution with Marty Bent
    Oct 7 2025
    Marty Bent is a bitcoin investor, media founder, and host of TFTC — one of the longest-running bitcoin podcasts. He’s also a managing partner at Ten31, supporting companies building critical bitcoin infrastructure. Marty is uniquely positioned at the intersection of bitcoin, energy, and now artificial intelligence.In this episode, Marty joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share how AI is transforming the bitcoin ecosystem, how his team at TFTC is leveraging it to streamline media production, and how it’s fueling his latest creative projects. We dig into how he built Opportunity Cost, why AI drives decentralization in mining, and how bitcoiners can use these tools to stay ahead of the curve.SUPPORT THE PODCAST: → Subscribe → Leave a review → Share the show with your friends and family → Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com→ Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you... → Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...TIMESTAMPS:0:00 – Intro & why bitcoin and AI are converging faster than anyone expected2:00 – Marty’s projects: TFTC, Ten31, and bitcoin mining5:00 – The evolution of TFTC and what the rebrand to “Truth for the Commoner” means8:30 – How the team integrates AI tools across research, writing, and production12:00 – From Perplexity to Claude: learning to use AI as a research assistant15:00 – Automating TFTC’s backend workflows with AI and no-code tools18:00 – Clipping, editing, and distribution: using AI for speed and quality23:00 – Building Opportunity Cost: turning fiat prices into sats in your browser27:00 – Why open-source and privacy-preserving design still matter30:00 – The birth of AI-generated storytelling33:00 – Storyboarding, JSON prompts, and producing viral AI bitcoin videos38:00 – The Trojan horse approach: spreading bitcoin ideas through culture46:00 – Bitcoin and AI’s overlap: how energy demand is driving decentralization50:00 – Paying for compute with bitcoin and why eCash may win55:00 – AI, energy, and the physical limits of growth58:00 – How bitcoin founders are using AI to build faster and cheaper1:00:00 – Practical advice: using AI without compromising your craft or security1:01:30 – Where to follow Marty and watch his latest creationsWHERE TO FOLLOW US: → Unchained X: https://x.com/unchained → Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter → Marty Bent’s Twitter: https://x.com/MartyBent → Trey Seller’s Twitter: https://x.com/ts_hodl
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • The new psychology of a $2T bitcoin market with James Check

    The new psychology of a $2T bitcoin market with James Check
    Sep 23 2025
    James Check (aka Checkmate) is the co-founder of Checkonchain and one of the leading voices making onchain data accessible for everyday bitcoiners. Known for his ability to turn complex charts into compelling stories, James blends his engineering background with market analysis to help people see human behavior imprinted in bitcoin’s ledger. In this episode, James joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share why realized cap is one of the most powerful adoption metrics, how to interpret profit and loss across holders, and what onchain data is saying about the current cycle. We dig into the role of ETFs and treasury companies, the impact of derivatives on market structure, and why the future of onchain analytics remains deeply human.SUPPORT THE PODCAST: → Subscribe → Leave a review → Share the show with your friends and family → Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com→ Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you... → Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – Intro & why onchain data matters for bitcoin 1:30 – Buying the 2017 top, engineering background & finding bitcoin 4:50 – Realized cap, cost basis, and why it just crossed $1T 7:30 – From civil engineering to onchain analysis 10:00 – Orange pill moments, macro influences, and early metrics 12:40 – Human behavior, fear & greed mapped onchain 15:00 – Turning raw data into stories people understand 18:00 – State of the market in 2025: leverage, ETFs, and demand 22:00 – Cycles, late-stage dynamics & institutional flows 26:00 – Rethinking market cycles: the three-cycle structure 31:00 – Sell-side pressure, hodlers, and ETF dynamics 35:00 – Are ETFs and treasury companies changing onchain analysis? 40:00 – Profit, loss, and building decision frameworks for different price scenarios 46:00 – Key support zones: 110K, 90K, and Sailor’s liquidation line 49:00 – Derivatives, ETFs, and how flows shape volatility 54:00 – Risks of leverage, banks entering, and future fireworks 58:00 – Rapid fire: desert island metrics, entry point for retail, and data wish list 1:02:00 – The Australian bitcoin community & grassroots conferences 1:05:30 – The future of onchain analytics, AI, and Checkonchain’s next reportWHERE TO FOLLOW US: → Unchained X: https://x.com/unchained → Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter → James Check’s Twitter: https://x.com/_Checkmatey_ → Connor Dolan’s Twitter:
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • The incentives that make bitcoin unstoppable with Robert Warren

    The incentives that make bitcoin unstoppable with Robert Warren
    Sep 16 2025
    Rob Warren is Head of Research and Education at Bitcoin Park and the author of The Bitcoin Miners Almanac. He brings a unique ability to explain the economic incentives of bitcoin mining in a way that makes sense across industries and expertise. In this episode, Rob joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share how bitcoin’s incentive structure creates resilience, why mining is misunderstood but critical, and how energy markets and bitcoin naturally align. We dig into the history of mining and the difficulty adjustment, the realities of mining pools and decentralization, and the surprising ways bitcoin miners are accelerating global electrification.SUPPORT THE PODCAST: → Subscribe → Leave a review → Share the show with your friends and family → Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com→ Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you... → Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – Intro & Rob’s role at Bitcoin Park 2:30 – From home mining experiments to Riot Platforms and Bitcoin Park 5:00 – Why Rob wrote The Bitcoin Miners Almanac 8:10 – The three essentials of mining: energy, cooling, and connectivity 9:30 – The brilliance of the difficulty adjustment 13:00 – Satoshi’s hard cap and why it broke economic orthodoxy 20:30 – How incentives keep miners aligned, even without ideology 24:00 – The “security budget” debate and what it misses 29:00 – Mining economics: liabilities, waste energy, and heat as an asset 31:00 – Flare gas, hydro, and turning liabilities into profitable inputs 37:00 – Gridless and bitcoin’s role in electrifying rural Africa 43:00 – AI superclusters and their overlap with bitcoin mining 49:00 – The history of mining pools and how Slush solved variance 56:00 – Difficulty, shares, and how pools account for work 1:02:00 – Centralization risks, hidden white-labeling, and Ocean’s model 1:11:00 – Bitcoin’s anti-fragility and the long-tail theory 1:18:00 – Adoption as a 140-year game, not a 5-year scheme 1:21:40 – Where to find Rob and upcoming Bitcoin Park summitsWHERE TO FOLLOW US: → Unchained X: / unchained → Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter → Rob Warren’s Twitter: https://x.com/BikesandBitcoin → Timot Lamarre’s Twitter: https://x.com/TimotLamarre
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • How to position for the bitcoin boom with Tuur Demeester

    How to position for the bitcoin boom with Tuur Demeester
    Sep 9 2025
    In this episode, Tuur joins The Bitcoin Frontier to talk about his latest report, How to Position for the Bitcoin Boom (2025 Edition). He share why he believes the 2025 bitcoin cycle will be longer than past cycles, why confiscation risk should be taken seriously, and how bitcoin treasury companies could reshape global adoption. We dig into stagflation, institutional adoption, and how to approach investing not only in bitcoin but also in bitcoin-native companies.SUPPORT THE PODCAST:→ Subscribe→ Leave a review→ Share the show with your friends and family→ Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com→ Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you...→ Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...TIMESTAMPS:0:00 – Disclaimer & intro1:00 – Why Tuur released his latest report mid-cycle3:00 – Longer bitcoin cycles and why 2021 was an anomaly5:00 – The institutional cycle and bitcoin as an escape hatch6:30 – Long-term holders, conviction, and whale behavior8:00 – Risks to bitcoin: liquidations, hacks, confiscation, and more10:00 – Government stakes, Intel, and parallels to ETFs and MicroStrategy15:00 – Custody risk, avoiding low-hanging fruit, and the importance of self-custody18:00 – Politics, legitimacy, and bitcoin as a reserve asset19:30 – Macro outlook: dollar weakness, stagflation, and commodities23:00 – Why money printing is inevitable and lessons from Latin America29:00 – The “gradually, then suddenly” moment in markets31:00 – Bitcoin treasury companies, ETFs, and adoption dynamics35:00 – Consolidation, risks, and differences between ETFs and strategy companies40:00 – Investing in bitcoin companies vs bitcoin itself: diligence, timing, geography47:00 – Example: Anchorwatch and the importance of insurance for bitcoin custody49:00 – Philosophy: bitcoin as a side quest and avoiding idolatry53:00 – Swords into plowshares: virtue, stewardship, and technology for goodWHERE TO FOLLOW US:→ Unchained X: / unchained→ Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom→ Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter→ Tuur Demeester's Twitter: https://x.com/TuurDemeester→ Connor Dolan’s Twitter: https://x.com/conhodlan
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    56 mins
  • The dollar endgame with Peruvian Bull

    The dollar endgame with Peruvian Bull
    Aug 20 2025
    Roberto Rios, known online as Peruvian Bull, is a macro researcher and writer. He’s best known for his Dollar Endgame series, where he explores global debt dynamics, reserve currency shifts, and the future of money. In this episode, Roberto joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share his insights on inflation mechanics, the breakdown of the yen carry trade, and how bitcoin fits into the global monetary reset. We dig into debt spirals, Triffin’s dilemma, and why liquidity is the ultimate driver of financial markets.SUPPORT THE PODCAST:→ Subscribe→ Leave a review→ Share the show with your friends and family→ Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com→ Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you...→ Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...TIMESTAMPS:0:00 – How QE, deficits, and government spending really drive inflation4:00 – Roberto’s background, macro research journey, and Dollar Endgame series7:30 – Separating truth from propaganda in economics education12:00 – QE in 2010 vs. 2020: why one caused inflation and the other didn’t16:00 – The 2022 rate hike cycle, liquidity drains, and banking crises20:30 – Reverse repo, TGA, and creative liquidity injections25:00 – Why global liquidity is the best barometer for bitcoin’s price31:00 – Triffin’s dilemma and the birth of the dollar system37:00 – Foreigners owning US assets and the long-term risk to Americans43:00 – The simulacrum of markets: why asset prices detach from reality46:00 – The US debt spiral and foreign demand for Treasuries52:00 – Long-term debt risks, short-term bills, and emerging market dynamics57:00 – Breakdown of the yen carry trade and why it matters globally1:03:00 – Japan as a testing ground for future Federal Reserve policies1:06:00 – How bitcoin solves Triffin’s dilemma and fits into the new order1:09:00 – Where to follow Roberto and his Dollar Endgame researchWHERE TO FOLLOW US:→ Unchained X: https://x.com/unchained → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter→ Trey Sellers’ Twitter: https://x.com/ts_hodl
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Turning savings into local impact with Brian Harrington

    Turning savings into local impact with Brian Harrington
    Aug 12 2025

    Brian Harrington is a long-time bitcoiner, educator, and the gift card product lead at Fold. He’s spent years helping people integrate bitcoin into their personal finance habits, while building deep local roots in his community in Temecula, California. In this episode, Brian joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share why bitcoin is uniquely important for both the individual and society, how “compounding” your geography and network can expand your influence, and why purposeful consumption can be as strategic as stacking sats. We dig into his journey from politics to bitcoin startups, the 10,000 people who could tip U.S. adoption, and how everyday purchases send powerful market signals for bitcoin companies.

    SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
    → Subscribe
    → Leave a review
    → Share the show with your friends and family
    → Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com
    → Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you...
    → Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...

    TIMESTAMPS:
    0:00 – Intro & why bitcoin matters for both the individual and society
    3:00 – Compounding geography and network for long-term influence
    7:00 – Homeownership, perception, and credibility in your community
    12:30 – Growing up as bitcoiners and recognizing “the payoff”
    16:00 – Local politics, planning committees, and building influence
    24:00 – The 10,000 people who could tip U.S. bitcoin adoption
    29:00 – The best argument against bitcoin and why incentives matter
    33:00 – Balancing stacking sats with purposeful consumption
    40:00 – How Fold integrates bitcoin into everyday spending & market signals
    53:00 – Fold going public, future plans, and closing thoughts

    WHERE TO FOLLOW US:
    → Unchained X: / unchained
    → Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom
    → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter
    → Trey Sellers’ Twitter: https://x.com/ts_hodl
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    59 mins
  • Building bottom-up bitcoin economies with Isabella Santos

    Building bottom-up bitcoin economies with Isabella Santos
    Aug 6 2025

    Isabella Santos is a content creator, educator, and bitcoiner. She runs BTC Isla on Isla Mujeres, where she’s planting seeds of financial literacy, self-custody, and sovereign empowerment—starting with Bitcoin education for locals. In this episode, Isabella joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share how she’s turning a sleepy island into a vibrant circular economy, what she’s learned documenting bitcoin adoption across Latin America, and why saving in sats is changing lives in Mexico.

    SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
    → Subscribe
    → Leave a review
    → Share the show with your friends and family
    → Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com
    → Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=youtube
    → Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?utm_source=youtube

    TIMESTAMPS:
    0:00 – Intro
    1:18 – From journalism to bitcoin advocacy
    3:02 – Why she moved to Isla Mujeres
    4:38 – Building BTC Isla and teaching bitcoin to locals
    6:01 – Financial literacy, circular economies, and bottom-up adoption
    9:10 – Saving in sats vs. fiat: real stories from her students
    11:00 – Why Western bitcoin narratives don’t always resonate globally
    13:02 – Documenting bitcoin in Peru, El Salvador, and beyond
    15:03 – Adapting messaging to different cultures and education levels
    17:03 – Launching Get Based TV for sovereign storytelling
    20:41 – What “awakening the sovereign individual” really means
    25:33 – Cultural hurdles to long-term thinking—and how Bitcoin helps
    27:04 – Escaping abusive systems via bitcoin circular economies
    29:34 – Lightning vs. on-chain: what matters on the ground
    31:04 – How self-custody education meets infrastructure limits
    34:18 – BitFit Games: gamified bitcoin education + community fitness
    36:07 – Building her own bitcoin citadel, gym, and villas
    39:02 – Accepting bitcoin at the gym and beyond
    40:05 – What’s next: villas, education reform, and new docs
    42:13 – How to support BTC Isla

    WHERE TO FOLLOW US:
    → Unchained X: / unchained
    → Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom
    → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter
    → Trey Sellers’ Twitter: https://x.com/ts_hodl
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    44 mins
  • Everyone is living in Argentina with Jeff Booth

    Everyone is living in Argentina with Jeff Booth
    Jul 29 2025

    In this episode, we speak with Jeff Booth—entrepreneur, author of The Price of Tomorrow, and founding partner at Ego Death Capital—about what happens when deflation meets a free market for the first time. Jeff unpacks how AI and robotics are accelerating exponential productivity, and why only bitcoin can encode that abundance into the economy without extraction. We talk about what it means to denominate your life in bitcoin, why the future is being built by people who have already opted out of the legacy system, and how venture capital looks different when the benchmark is no longer 8%—but 45%. Jeff offers a deeply moral take on progress, pricing, and why building on bitcoin is no longer risky—it’s necessary.

    SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
    → Subscribe
    → Leave a review
    → Share the show with your friends and family
    → Send us an email podcast@unchained.com
    → Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you...
    → Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...

    TIMESTAMPS:
    0:00 – Intro
    1:10 – Why Jeff started Ego Death Capital
    5:22 – Bitcoin vs crypto: protocol vs casino
    8:35 – 45% risk-free rate: why Jeff invests in bitcoin companies
    13:40 – How deflation changes the game
    17:12 – The new benchmark: outcompete bitcoin
    20:44 – Why exponential tech and fiat money can’t coexist
    24:20 – How Jeff thinks about AI and marginal cost
    29:05 – Productivity, value creation, and economic first principles
    33:40 – The myth of capitalism under fiat
    36:59 – AI, robotics, and what the merge looks like
    41:10 – Bitcoin as mirror and map: get out of the dying system
    43:37 – Hope, energy, and building for others

    WHERE TO FOLLOW US:
    → Unchained X: /unchained
    → Unchained LinkedIn: /unchainedcom
    → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter
    → Connor Dolan's Twitter: /conhodlan
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    42 mins