AI, Digital Gold, Bitcoin, Crypto Regulation, & Elections

[Part 1 of 6] [00:00] and it was two and a half billion dollars. I couldn't have done any of it without AI. If if we had not had AI, we would be $8 billion less. We five IPOs, none of them would have happened because I used the AI to design the securities and solve all the tax problems and all the securities law issues. You know, so I look, I'm a big believer in using AI to design new things. And I look, I'm just I I focus upon digital credit and security, but there's someone there thinking about how to make the car drive and cure cancer and like like aren't there like a hundred million problems the human race has to solve that we that you're like, well, you're going to need a thousand people with PhDs to solve that. Well, guess what? Now every 16-year-old has a thousand PhDs at their fingertips and so I'm very bullish. The world's going to be a much better place and and we're going to see an age of empowerment and abundance because of digital technology. [01:04] People are greedy when they also try to acquire gold. Not really. I mean, people who buy gold are trying to preserve. centuries. We have centuries of people being greedy to go ahead and acquire gold. Well, no, well, you're talking about to acquire wealth. Yes, people are greedy in that they want they want more things and there's nothing wrong with that. But when they're converting what they've earned into gold, that's not the greedy part. That's the preservation part. I I I've earned all this money because I was greedy. Now I don't want to lose it. I want to store it so I can use it later. I don't want to blow it all right now. I want to hold on to it and you know, gold is a way to do that. You can't really do that in a fiat currency that's just being printed, you know, into oblivion. So, uh, but but but you know, the the greed is in the speculative frenzy that accompanies Bitcoin. [01:57] They tell me that I'm the reason they own Bitcoin because they listen to me years ago about economics, about sound money and and and the Fed and inflation, and I'm the one that got them. Plus there's a lot of unique technology in Midnight that's going to make the use of Cardano safer. Like Midnight passport will be the fastest, safest and easiest way to use Cardano. So, we gain all the usability enhancements and things. Plus I'd argue Midnight is an essential component for Bitcoin. The Bitcoin. When you look at that side of it, you're like, okay, Bitcoin users, they want privacy. So, Cardano could do a lot of the heavy lifting on the programming side, but what is the private coordination layer that's called that? So, we're actually working on this program, our Bitcoin DFI setup, where we call it the the circle. So, you start with Bitcoin and Taproot. I'm going to put 50 Bitcoin with my own money into this private Bitcoin. So, you start with Taproot and Bitcoin, you lend it to a stable coin. So, that'll occur on Cardano through a specialized transaction through the token bridge. And then that stable coin would then be deployed into yield bearing instruments. And then as you make yield, the yield is converted to Bitcoin, and then it's sent to your Taproot. And then Midnight coordinates all of it with privacy. So, you you have like all three networks working together, and you have this circle, and then from the Bitcoin user's perspective, you just give them a button, make money, click the button. And then it locks their Bitcoin, they just start generating a yield, the security actually enters the Taproot on the Bitcoin network. So, it meets my three rules that I have for Bitcoin DFI. One, there's only Bitcoin. No other tokens. [03:31] Bitcoin, Litecoin is better money than than fiat, obviously, also better money than gold. I think it's I believe it's the best form of money that um humans have ever come across. Right? Money being good, meaning that it's um it's inflation proof, right? No one, no single person, company or or government can print more money, right? Can print money and inflate away the money you're holding. Uh, you're storing, right? That's kind of one of the key things about money. If you work hard, you make money, you don't want that money to kind of disappear over time, not from your own doing. Right? So that's that's key and Bitcoin, Litecoin and uh most cryptocurrencies, um is able to do that. [04:17] I could have the argument that real estate's better than Bitcoin. For a number of reasons, by the way, depending on who you are. Um, your audience would probably disagree because they're probably a bunch of, you know, Bitcoin maximalist. That don't have as much Bitcoin as the real estate guy. By the way. No, I I'll tell you right now, hold on one second. See, that's the funny thing, dude, that me and my brother were talking about this yesterday. You know, the guys that know the most seem to have the least. [04:46] 100%. That that I can probably agree with you on. I think it should be a bigger issue within the crypto system and the ecosystem. What do you think? [04:55] I think it will be. I think privacy is going to be the the new if you want to in my view, and this is what I'm tasking the investment professionals at Mailstream to sort of figure out. I think that the stand out shitcoin or you know, few shitcoins of 2026 to 2028 will be related some way shape or form to privacy. We already saw the, you know, amazing move of Zcash over the last few months. Yes, it's down 50% from the 780 high, but I think again, my goal is, you know, my mental model is 10 to 20% the value of Bitcoin. That's what Zcash. Um, so much higher than where it is today. But, you know, taking away Zcash, what is the token project or protocol that's going to utilize some privacy technology, probably something related to ZK or knowledge proofs, to do something whether that's quantum resistant, you know, the overlord can't deanonymize your data or, you know, see what we're doing. Whatever it is, right? These are the things that we're latently afraid of of what bad things that could happen with this proliferation of big tech, big government and [06:05] Donald Trump getting elected, knowing that we share friends in the White House for all the populist parties of Europe who are under attack. Every single populist leader, if you look at the leaders, and my last documentary was called Silence. I got 18 months in prison for my last documentary. The reason I aired it was because the documentary was so bigger than me. It's exactly what they're doing. Lawfare has been waged against if you go through, I'll pick any of them. You've heard builders, the leader of the Dutch party. Hit Marine Le Pen. Any politician in Europe, yeah? Anyone, pick anyone who has stood up and tried to speak against immigration and you will see a history. Matteo Salvini, I was with him two days ago, the the Deputy Prime Minister of of Italy was prosecuted in 2020. They said he kidnapped because he stopped the boat. He was prosecuted in 2021. He was in charge of other crimes. The process is the punishment. Every political leader who's tried to stand up was charged. You saw what they done to Bannon. You saw what they done to Stone. You saw what they're trying to do to Trump. That's happening across the board. They've they've of their the authoritarian state. But I think it's probably because we're on I'm very often this matter of future more because we're not in traffic. We're similar to public already. Public away. [07:22] So the other thing about it is just a lot of power. You know, it's going to have a new attack in this 2020 election. It's certain races that were going to be lost are still in play because the money's coming in and it keeps things like the Cardano live, which has been changed a lot. We've had many conversations to try to get it into a better shape and hopefully September 15th will actually be able to get it up and live. We have a lot of from here for the acquisition. There's over 200 pages of adjustments and applications and other things. I don't think anybody realizes how much work's gone into it. I I talked to Senator Scott. I said, is there anything that's comparable? He said, you know, we've done this three times longer than Obama worked on this. And that we have a response to 2008 financial crisis. [08:07] This is politics and the need to get crypto and our industry out of these partisan debates, out of these partisan issues. It's really not healthy to treat any technology as some kind of political pawn. This isn't about Republicans, this isn't about Democrats. This is about freedom. This is about getting people access to their assets online and not allowing them to transact globally without an intermediary, without the economy of self-innovation. This is about future finance. This isn't about red versus blue. We need to get out of that. [08:41] They've been very negative on Bitcoin and crypto. They've given public statements calling it rat poison 2.0 or pet rocks or, you know, name your name your funny name. Now these same institutions have now understood that this is not a fad. This is here to stay and oh, we need to get a piece of the pie. Well, because that's if I had a genie and three wishes and I could make gold better, my first wish would be shrink the supply to 21 million coins and make it illegal to make any more. And my second wish is make it invisible and teleportable and indestructible. And let me carry as much gold, you know, in my pocket as I possibly can. And my third wish would be make it programmable so a billion AIs can teleport it and transform it a million times a minute. So that I can put it on a, you know, a billion computers and and have it have it get traded back and forth 37,000 times while I'm sleeping, right? And I would think digital gold as I just described, it's got to be better and more valuable than physical gold and especially in the 21st century when you're looking at 10 billion computers and 10 billion AIs and 10 billion mobile devices and, you know, you never teleporting an ounce of gold on an iPhone. So I just think it's digital gold. It's got to be 10x to 100x better than gold. [12:28] What first got you excited about blockchains? Think about it. Oh wait. I bet it wasn't multi-million dollar hacks, exposed data or finding somewhere safe to store your seed phrase. Was it? Maybe it was the idea of decentralizing a broken financial system. Maybe it was imagining a world where people own their own data and get to sharing the value it creates. Or maybe it was a promise of a fundamentally better way of connecting, communicating and transacting. The next phase of the internet that empowers us instead of exploiting us. So why hasn't it happened yet? We're we're still living with the same broken system that blockchains promised to fix. It's because blockchains can't keep a secret. Enabling open transparent systems was only the first half of the challenge. For blockchains to really change the world, they also have to be able to protect our sensitive data when it matters. And that's why we built Midnight to bring down the final barrier to mass adoption and unlock the full potential of the decentralized web. Let's build the internet we deserve. Together. [13:52] Ladies and gentlemen, we all know this in crypto, ownership matters. That's why Cake Wallet. Cake Wallet gives you full control of your digital assets all in one easy to use application. You can store Bitcoin, Litecoin, Zcash, Monero, and many more with just one secure backup. Swap between coins in seconds, no copying addresses, no complicated steps, and even includes Bitcoin Lightning for faster payments. And with Cake Wallet built in, you can use crypto in real life through debit cards or gift cards. Simple, secure, self-custody. Download Cake Wallet and take control of your crypto. [14:38] This is Houston. T-minus one minute until full data blackout. All eyes are on you. Breaking news. There's an astronaut conducting an emergency repair on a global communication satellite that could go dark at any moment. We have a second angle on this. Is that guy on FOMO? Yeah, let's get back to it everybody. Next just in. According to the astronaut's FOMO account, highest in the room, the satellite has been restored. Yes. For now, the crisis appears to be over. Satellite's up and running. Positions look good too. [16:29] There we go. United States of America representing. Socialism does not work. Digital assets. Is it better to move money at the speed of light through. People are greedy when they also try to acquire gold. I am here providing electricity. And that energy that is necessary. I am the modern day Tony Stark. There we go. United States of America representing. Socialism does not work. Digital assets. Is it better to move money at the speed of light through. People are greedy when they also try to acquire gold. I am here providing electricity. And that energy that is necessary. I am the modern day Tony Stark. Welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome. And it's Friday. In case you didn't get the memo, it is Friday. Welcome to the breakdown episode 820. 820, 100 uh, excuse me, 820 episodes of the breakdown. Midnight is the title sponsor of this show. Uh, we might even journey into Midnight City today. Hey, we might even go into Midnight City today and see what's up. Also, Polymarket is the official prediction market sponsor of the breakdown. Cake Wallet, one of the most secure wallets that you'll find in the crypto industry. You want to hold your Bitcoin, Litecoin, Zcash and Monero on a secure wallet, you go get Cake Wallet. You can get it at the App Store, Google Play, or go to cakewallet.com. Also, if you got a phone laying around that you're not using, factory reset it and download cupcake. Hey, download cupcake. FOMO. FOMO.family, go to FOMO.family. That's right, go to FOMO.family. And watch as some of the illustrators go ahead and write their thesis on why they're going to X, Y and Z. All right? FOMO.family. Social, one of the best social fi apps that we have out there. All right, let's go. We recap this entire week. I wore a black suit today. You know why I wore a black suit today? I'll tell you why. I wore a black suit today. Because the stock market lost three trillion dollars. Now some will say 2.3 trillion was wiped out, but it was almost $3 trillion that was wiped off because you guys wanted to vote in the Democrats because your feelings were hurt by Trump. This is what you get. Yo, you know what is insane, by the way? I am watching So like I I do still tweet on uh obviously or I do have conversations on Twitter. But I have now moved over to Threads as well. Uh obviously we are streaming on YouTube and TikTok when they release me, hopefully. It's uh by the way, I thought it was supposed to be early morning today. It's actually uh it's going to be around uh closer to midnight tonight. Okay? So I'm on all these platforms. But I'm on Threads and Threads is crazy. 95% of Threads is full-blown Democrats. It's full-blown Democrats. Bro. They came at me. They're not even by the way, they're not even nice. They're not even nice like like they want like you would think the Democrats won. Like your party won. You should be celebrating. No, they're angry. They're angry. They want revenge for what? I don't Anyway. $3 trillion up to $3 trillion was wiped out. Wiped out. Wiped out because as I said yesterday, you believe, you believe that ultimately by bringing in these Democrat socialists and the Democrats back into the picture that your gas prices will be lowered. They won't be. Democrats love one thing. Tax, tax, tax, tax everybody. And now for everybody in crypto, Senator Warren, Senator Warren might be leading and and it's close to be confirmed. She will be leading the Senate uh the the committee, the Senate committee when it comes to banking and crypto and all. Congratulations. Senate banking committee, right? Congratulations. I'm sure that's going to be helpful for crypto. You know, crypto is cool or or I should say all markets are are better when they're less regulated. Democrats just want absolute regulation. They they want to handcuff you so the retail the retail buyer can't do much. But the elites get to do whatever they want. And that's fucked. That is fucked. I'm just saying. It is. It absolutely is, man. It's crazy, man. It is crazy. Crazy work, man. Crazy work. You would think, I get it. I I told look, I I'm not I wasn't for the Iran war either, man, but if they do have weapons of mass destruction or the capability to create weapons of mass destruction. You don't want it in Iran's hands. You just don't. And then I get hit back, well, what about North Korea? Well, North Korea has a nuclear weapon. What are you going to do? Invade them? And North Korea is crazy. And by the way, that's Obama. Why didn't Obama stop them? Why didn't Clinton stop them? Like we we can have that conversation too. Can't blame that on Trump. You guys blame everything on Trump. Unreal. Unreal. Really is. It really is unreal. And you know, right now the stock market is fearful because the Democrats are coming in and they're obviously against, you know, data centers. So Thursday, yesterday, turned Wednesday's selection of AI split into a full wipeout and that's what it really was. It was a wipeout based on data centers. Nasdaq fell 5.5%, S&P about 4.3% to 4.4% and the Dow about 3.4%. Your 401k took a hit. But you know, it's almost like as long as we go after Trump, it's okay. It really is. It's like, as long as we go after Trump, I'm okay with being poor. That that's the mindset it feels like of the Democratic Party. As long as we go after Trump, I'm fine with my 401k being at zero. It's really crazy, man, to it's it's think about that. Think about what I'm saying right now. You guys rather have a 401k at zero than to let Trump run and let him run his course. It's like he's going he's leaving in in two years, man. He's out in two years. What the hell do you care? No, we got to get him. We got to get Trump. Got to go after Trump. We have to go after Trump, man. That is crazy, man. I I'm just sending back. I'm just I don't know. I'm I wanted to look at somebody's screaming at me saying go look at FOMO. Let me go look at FOMO. Oh shit. I'm looking at FOMO. Oh. Okay. All right. Great for 40. Okay. Let's go. Let's go. I I don't know what happened there. All of a sudden, I I'm actually blown away. I'm blown away.

[Part 2 of 6] [00:00] Uh, let's also look at, let's see. The Mag 7 lost more than $1 trillion. The Mag 7 lost almost $1 trillion. That's crazy. [00:14] $1 trillion, man. Uh, by the way, Bitcoin dumps from 80K to about 76K on tech spillover and $430 million in ETF outflows. [00:29] Bitcoin erased on Wednesday, uh, post-election rebound. [00:36] It's sitting at around what, 76? We're at 76, right? No, we're even lower. Not even at 76. We're at 7580. [00:49] 75,880, that's where we stand right now. Congratulations. I mean, look, I'll take cheaper Bitcoin. [00:59] I'll take cheaper Bitcoin. I have no problem with cheaper Bitcoin. [01:07] Give it to me all day. [01:13] Give me that all day long. [01:19] Love it. Let me look. What is this? [01:32] So we're 75,880 on Bitcoin. [01:40] Ethereum is like at trash. I mean, like, this is an opportunity, look, it's an opportunity. It's just, I don't know what to say, this is an opportunity. I I think get ready for the next few weeks to be really choppy. [01:57] Okay, like Bitcoin, it's what I said yesterday, Bitcoin followed the Nasdaq. That's it. Bitcoin followed Nasdaq, and that's where, that's why it's sitting here. I I can't believe some Democrats went and voted, I mean, some Republicans went and voted for the Democratic Party. Like, I get gas prices, I I understand the the cost of goods are a bit high, but inflation is still down, the economy is still thriving. Like, I just, but I also understand. [02:31] I also, I I get it at the same time. You know what it is? I I don't understand, but I get it. [02:38] I don't understand, but I get it. If that even makes any sense. If that even makes any sense to anybody right now. [02:48] Uh, crypto policy after the sweep, uh, you have the Clarity Act, which is sidelined, uh, Democrats float a SEC heavy rewrite. That's what the Democrats want, a heavy rewrite where the SEC has more power and the CFTC has less. Um, the Democrats sweep resets the crypto caucus, um, industry-friendly clarity is pushed back. Um, they're confident that it's going to get passed. [03:22] One person is, but the clarity will probably not advance in the next two years. [03:31] That's the crazy part. It probably will pass, redesigned in the Democrats' favor. But it won't be passed in the next two years because somebody got to sign off on it, and that's Trump. This is going to be the next two years is just going to be an absolute battle in in Washington. You'll have the Democrats that they might not even do anything, but if they do do things to show that they're trying to do something, like they need, like for, if you sit back and you think about it, the Democrats need to be showing a good face to the crypto industry because it's an it's a growing industry, a lot of PACs within crypto that mostly support Republicans. The Democrats want that support. So they're going to have to do something to showcase that, look, we are doing things for crypto to win over crypto. [04:33] Ah. [04:36] Clarity didn't lose on a coin flip, it lost the gavels, and Maxine Waters, who knows nothing about crypto, uh, writes market structure now. The industry is negotiating a friendlier bill, it's negotiating how much SEC DNA can live within that bill. I mean, look, right now we have a pro-SEC, but nobody knows what happens after Trump is gone. After Trump's administration leaves, we don't know if the like, I can't even give you, I was confident that the Republican Party will continue to control the White House, but I don't know if I can be confident in saying that. [05:18] Though it's more likely that I I don't know, is Rubio going to run now? Is it going to be Rubio and DeSantis? What about JD Vance? I I don't know what's going to happen here. I've been having these conversations and I I just keep on saying, I have no clue. I don't know, I have no clue what's going to happen here. JD Vance was a lock to win. JD Vance before, you know, the war uh took place in Iran, JD Vance was a lock to win. Was a lock, locked in. [05:49] Locked in to win. [05:55] Midterms day three, Democrats pad the wave. Alaska and Mississippi still uh decide the margin. And as of right now, it's the both of them are still undecided. [06:13] The Democrats really whipped the Republicans' asses, man. I got to just say, you know, you look at this entire thing, the Republican Party absolutely took the belt to ass, man. They really did take the belt to ass. This this was a, listen, Obama got it, Clinton had it. They got the belt to asses as well, and they and they had it even worse, but this was a belt to ass. This this was the the Senate flipped, the House flipped, governors flipped. I mean, like, state senators flipped. It is crazy how many things flipped. [06:53] I wrote this on Threads and I said, decades from now, Trump will be recognized as have pulled the correct move on Iran. Iran not having a nuclear weapon will will favor Trump decades from now. And America, and obviously society. But right now, it wasn't the popular decision. Trump put his legacy on the line to go to Iran. That is the craziest part because if Trump does not go to Iran, Trump is absolutely, the economy is even, the the economy is even, it's thriving harder than it is now. Inflation is down, gas prices are down, cost of goods are down, everything's down. And here, Trump took his legacy and went to he went to Iran because he felt, obviously with and I'm sure with the documents that were provided to him, with the intel, he went to Iran. [08:02] He put his legacy on the line. I I have to 100% respect Trump for that. He put his legacy on the line. He went went after Iran. I don't believe he was paid off by anybody or he was pushed or blackmailed. This is something Trump was talking about for 40 years. And he went and did it. [08:23] He went and did it. [08:27] Will the people of the United States of America and will the people of Iran be grateful for this? We shall see. Also, apparently, they're trying to negotiate a deal. Apparently, as of this morning, the Trump administration, along with the Iranian terroristic regime, are trying to negotiate a deal to end the war. [08:52] A little too late, obviously, for the Republicans, but again, they got two years. The Republican Party has two years to reset and come back strong. Get candidates like Brandon Gill. Brandon Gill is a is a Republican that the Republican Party should be looking at. These are the type of people you want being candidates out there in 2028. Brandon Gill is absolutely a star in the Republican Party, and that is what the Republican Party should be looking for. They should be trying to figure out how can we get a bunch of Brandon Gills to run for all these open positions in 2028. If you don't know who Brandon Gill is, go look him up. Go look up some videos. This this kid is fantastic when it comes to laying out laying out the facts and laying down the law, man. All right? I have to give him props. [10:09] Oil goes up and down, up and down, up and down. It's wild, man. It is wild. By the way, Elon Musk has announced that next year, uh, mid-year will be uh, the day or the time that they will shut down production of the Cybertruck. It's sad because I think the Cybertruck is an amazing. I don't know what I really, obviously, I won't question Elon. I think he Elon knows what the hell he's doing. Uh, Tesla, SpaceX, uh, Starlink, Neuralink, Boring Company, PayPal. We can keep on going. This man has done a fantastic job of uh, either taking over companies or creating companies that have done uh, amazing things. [10:57] I don't understand the Tesla thing. I get that Tesla is an energy company, and it's always been an energy company. I I get that. I get it. [11:10] But people are starting, Elon, people are starting to like Tesla. People are starting to get away from ICE vehicles. That's internal combustion engines. They're starting to get away from ICE vehicles and they're starting to give EVs a chance, and they want Tesla. So if it's only the Model Y and the 3, some people need, you know, a seven-seater, man. Some people need more space. Why not create two to three more vehicles to accommodate people that want to drive, that still want to drive? I get it, you want autonomous vehicles, you want no steering wheels, you want them to all drive themselves. I get that respect. I respect it. You can have that while you still have people who use FSD, which will bring in more money to Tesla and have vehicles that people will drive. They'll have the Tesla Tesla's name will get out there. Like, and I know, look, I'm just talking from an automotive perspective. Tesla is a phenomenal carmaker, man. The brand is phenomenal. Why not bring out two or three more cars? Like, bring out a like a big Tahoe, type of Tahoe type of vehicle. Have the truck, it's the best-selling truck in terms of EVs. Keep it limited production. But damn. [12:50] I mean, you built a great company. You built a great company. Like, Tesla is a phenomenal. Nobody can come close to FSD. Why not just create more vehicles? People would buy it. Nobody wants, respectfully, only a few people are going to take on the Roadster. A lot of people won't be able to afford a $250,000 vehicle. It's just it's it's it's going to be a really limited asset out there. [13:25] Man, I feel Elon, respectfully, I think you're dropping the ball on it. I think you're dropping the ball on getting rid of, and I get it, it might be expensive. Maybe maybe it's not profitable. Make it profitable. Make it I I guarantee you know what, just like with the Model S and the and the Model S and the X, people wanted it. They would have paid the premium. Make it limited, people will pay for the premium for it. I know it's not going to bring you a ton of money, but it'll bring you a ton of eyeballs. If people can't afford the Model S, they'll go to the 3. [14:04] Anyway, welcome to the breakdown. By the way, uh, Elon, speaking of Elon Musk, Tesla fell about 3.3% Wednesday, then about 10.7% Thursday. SpaceX about 3.8% and then 9%. Uh, and according to Bloomberg billionaires, that implies about what, 33.5 billion and then 79.7 billion of paper hit across two sessions. And about 113 billion combined. He lost $113 billion yesterday. He still has $785 billion, but he lost $113 billion. [14:55] So he's no longer a trillionaire, he's a billionaire. I'm I'm pretty sad about that. I'm pretty sure he is too. [15:03] Pretty sure Elon is absolutely devastated. Absolutely devastated. The markets absolutely, oh my God. The markets. I was watch I I just watched and I was just like, man. But for me, you know what? [15:23] When you when you've been in the markets for for a long time, you you you don't you don't panic. When you see red, it's an opportunity. It's the same thing that you say in crypto all the time. It's like, when Bitcoin pulls back, it's an opportunity if you believe in Bitcoin. Same thing with the rest of the majors in crypto. Like, if you believe in Solana, if you believe in Ethereum, if you believe in the privacy uh sector, and they pull back, then it if you believe in these things, you've done the research and you're confident that these things will do absolutely well in a bull run, that they'll get adoption, then and they'll be built on and people will use it, consumers will use it in terms of the product, then red days don't mean nothing to you except that it's an opportunity. That's it. [16:11] And that's how I look at it. I never I I wanted SpaceX to go back, by the way. I wanted SpaceX, Tesla, I wanted all these things to go back. I want SpaceX to go back. Like, I I wanted to have a pullback into the 80s, 90s. We've talked about this with Landy when he comes on the show all the time. It's like, I want that pullback. SpaceX is going to be a trillion-dollar company. Why would I not want the pullback? Why not? Guys get so scared. I see it on the timeline. Oh my God, it's over. Oh my God, it's over. Pack it up. Crypto's cooked. [16:50] Even with the look, even with because potentially the conversation is that Senator Warren will be leading the Banking Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, Mrs. Anti-Crypto, she still can't do nothing to crypto. None of them can do anything. See, that's the problem. Like, they they need to understand like other countries are moving forward. [17:21] I get it also when when I have conversations with people like, yeah, money's here. The United States of America has money. And if crypto's going to thrive, I guess we can have this debate, you need the United States of America. I get it. But like, right now you have two years. You have at least two years with the CFTC and the SEC, them putting out regulations, and the innovators have two years to go ahead and absolutely put out the best products out here. Because and like, do whatever they need to do because in they won't be able to go ahead and mess around with crypto if if things get done. They won't be able to go ahead and really handcuff crypto in two years. They'll be, ah, the the the midterms are still bothering me, man. The midterms are still bothering me. I'm trying. I'll I'll get over it. I will get over it, man. What an ass-whooping. What an I'm doing, you know what? It's it's crazy. If you guys tuned into election night 2026, whether it was on Twitch or Kick or on X, formerly known as Twitter, or on YouTube, I'm sure you saw my face. Y'all saw y'all saw my face. [18:43] I was I had three Democrats with me. So basically, it's me, who's obviously I'm a Republican, but I can lean independent. But then I have three Democrats with me and they're all everybody's partying, you know, partying it up on on the panel and I'm sitting here like Scott Jennings on CNN. I'm just like watching this belt to ass. That that's what it was. It was the Senate belt to ass. House belt to ass. Governors belt to ass. State Senate belt to it was like I've never seen something like this. [19:23] This was wild, man. This was wild. [19:28] I had one of those songs start playing in my head. By the way, uh, later today, oh well, in the later today, four minutes from now, we'll be joined by Miller White House, La. We'll talk about some of these subjects. [19:46] We'll talk about some of these things. [19:52] We will. Talk about Solana policy. A lot of things we could talk about. We have a we have a great lineup today. We always have a great lineup. [20:11] Man. [20:14] Man, man, man. [20:20] 401Ks, yesterday everybody's crying about don't don't cry now. I'm telling you, there there are a lot of I I really do believe there are a lot of there are a lot of people that hate Trump so bad that they are willing to sacrifice their 401Ks, their portfolios, everything in order to handcuff this man. We need, you know what, 2028, we need we need somebody, and I don't care what side it is. We need somebody that can come in and heal the United States of America, bottom line. Like, we need somebody it's impossible he's in an impossible position. Like, people just dislike Trump. It doesn't matter. He can come out with a cure for cancer, all that. He's done so much for crypto. And I know that people will joke about that, because he's the first pro-crypto president for sure. [21:26] But like, when I have conversations with people in crypto, they're like, he hasn't done that much for crypto. I'm like, man, like, just look at like some of the things that have been passed. We've gotten clarity from the SEC and the CFTC. I mean, like, things have happened. We're moving in the right direction. But look at his sons. Look at him. He's made like $2 billion off of fees. I'm like, I don't really, honestly, I personally don't care. I care that crypto continues to move. By the way, if you really want to talk about the subject, I grew up in an era, I came into crypto where we didn't want the banks a part of it, the institutions a part of it. Cypherpunks didn't want any part of whatever you see now. [22:11] But you can't stop I mean, decentralization, right? You can't stop that. Anyway, welcome to the breakdown. Episode 820. That's right. That's right. I'm just trying to find, there we go. Let's bring in let's bring Miller into the conversation. Let's let's let's have a conversation here. Miller, how's it going? Appreciate you coming on to the show today. [22:37] [Guest: Miller Whitehouse] David, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. [22:40] [David] I'm ranting, I'm ranting, I'm ranting, but I'm just, you know what, I had to sit on a panel with three people who don't agree with me and watch them celebrate as if they won, uh, I don't know, uh, a Super Bowl right in front of me. And and and I had to continue to analyze what happened, obviously, during the midterms. I thought there was going to be a red wave, but obviously there wasn't. There there absolutely, there was it was a red wedding and not a red wedding. Anybody who watches Game of Thrones, you know what I'm talking about. Uh, but definitely not a red uh wave. Um, okay, I want to ask you this. Three days after the midterms, Democrats have both chambers. Does crypto market structure get harder to pass now or does it change uh shape here? [23:30] [Guest: Miller Whitehouse] Uh, it's an excellent question. I think uh many of your many of your thoughts, you weren't ranting, I think many of them were were accurate. I think uh where the industry should be looking and continue to look is at the agencies. You're absolutely right that the CFTC, the SEC have proposed numerous rule makings that get at many of the core questions that market structure was trying to accomplish and uh they've been doing that since September when the bill didn't pass. So I think uh the industry and we should all be focused on that because the agencies are not going to slow down. They are going to keep implementing the agenda that they set out to implement and Congress can uh, you know, throw gum into the works but really can't do much to actually stop the agencies from proceeding with their agendas as they've laid it out. Uh, I think Congress is going to be a tough lift. I think uh to the extent that Democrats are even going to spend the time working on market structure legislation, which I don't think is super likely because of all the priorities they have. Uh, you know, I think a lot of their focus when it comes to crypto is going to be oversight and investigations, uh particularly into uh uh the president's involvement as as you mentioned. Um, so to the extent they even spend the time on crypto, which I'm not convinced they are going to, I don't think it's going to be uh legislation that the president supports and uh therefore, you know, he'll veto it if it even gets to that point. So I am not confident at all that uh Congress is where we should be looking for clarity, uh particularly in this in this Congress and in this environment and I think it's really up to the agencies to continue what they've already been doing. I also think uh, you know, to your point, I got into crypto in 2018 when it was a very different uh industry like this all trify integration is definitely a new uh aspect and pursuit of the industry, but that does help us in DC in terms of long-term durability of these policy wins because they are important constituents here. They are important constituents at the SEC and CFTC. And I think to a certain extent, it makes crypto more boring, like crypto policy issues more boring because it makes it more like traditional financial regulation uh issues, which I think is going to be a good thing for us. I think uh, you know, the midterms certainly are cause for reflection and I think to the extent um, you know, the industry can do what it can to um, fight the politicization of the issue, uh, it'll be in our long-term interests. Um, but I am hopeful, you know, I think one thing we should all remember is the environment we're about to be in is the environment we had been in prior to 2020.

[Part 3 of 6] [Guest: Name] [00:00] 25. And I don't mean a super hostile environment, I just mean structurally we were dealing with either divided government or in 2021 to 2023, uh the Dems controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency and we were fine. So, I think it's uh more of a return to the mean and I think uh, you know, a lot of the Doomsday uh uh predictions are totally inaccurate and everything will be fine. [David] [00:25] Yeah, I'm I'm I'm obviously I'm melted off because uh I I would have loved to see the the House and Senate or at least the Senate controlled by the Republican Party, but it didn't happen. It is what it is. I I honestly, I haven't seen this kind of, you know, I I've never seen this kind of loss in my life in terms of It's crazy. [Guest: Name] [00:44] It's crazy. And Kansas Democrats had it once at Senate seat in 100 years. Like it really is a historic election. [David] [00:51] The people the people spoke, but at the end of the day, you have to respect the fact that people went out there and they're upset about, you know, the war and price of goods and gas prices. And I and I always say that people regardless of party affiliation, they will vote based on how they feel at that current moment. So, you have to respect the decision. Uh and speaking about clarity real quick before we move on to a few other questions. [David] [01:15] I feel like clarity is not going to get done because from the Democrat side, they have to show good face to the crypto community. You you have a lot of money that's pouring in from from crypto into the Republican Party. The Democrats aren't getting that because they've been anti-crypto. You have Senator Warren who comes out there anti-crypto, anti-crypto, how bad is it? We need to regulate it, we need to completely. It's almost like we need to we need to make sure that retail can't participate kind of thing. Um, but now they have an opportunity to show good face, but then if they do kind of pass it, Trump can go ahead and beat to it. What do you think happens here in the next two years? [Guest: Name] [01:57] Yeah, I I I think that where we have a future with respect to uh, you know, our relationship with the Democratic Party is really going to be around the presidential in 2028. Uh David, if you think about it, like we've got really the anti-crypto army is going to be leading the relevant committees in Congress. We're going to have Elizabeth Warren, probably chairing Senate banking. We have Shared Brown, the industry spent 100 billion dollars trying to defeat him once successfully, obviously on Tuesday unsuccessfully, going to be chairing the Senate Agriculture Committee and Maxine Waters over in the house is likely to be uh uh House Financial Services chair. So, uh, you know, she's been a super ally ever in her tenure in Congress, uh which, you know, well preceeds even my birth. So, I uh, I think we've got to be looking at the future of the Democratic Party because uh, you know, everyone I just mentioned, I think is approaching 80 if not approaching 90. And I do think that there's a lot of um potential in uh Dem leaders like Senator Ossoff voted for the Genius Act and has been very open-minded. Uh even uh Senator elect Colin Allred voted for uh several pro-crypto bills down in Texas. Governor Bashir, Democratic governor of Kentucky. He actually signed self-custody protections into law and uh Bitcoin mining protections into law. So, I think that uh, you know, we've certainly tried with uh the with the more um senior leaders in Congress and I don't have much hope there, but I do have a lot of hope for the uh new face of Democratic leadership because I think that uh it's not just a generational shift, which is I think generally quite positive for crypto. You know, younger folks are much more open to it. Uh, but, you know, look at what they've done, not what they've said and a lot of uh potential Dem uh candidates for the presidential have been very open-minded to the industry. So, I think uh that's where we should be focusing our attention with respect to building relationships and bridges in the Democratic Party because you're absolutely right. Like I think it is hard to as an industry uh bet on electoral outcomes that we really don't have any control over and need to be uh more circumspect about um, you know, having relationships and good relationships with people across the spectrum. [David] [04:22] Agree with that. You told E Daily clarity was additional upside, not survival. Walk the audience through what you meant. [Guest: Name] [04:31] What I mean is, you know, I think a lot of the um to get legislation getting done is always takes a miracle. And part of trying to make a miracle happen is like everyone involved telling the world that the miracle is going to happen. Uh, you know, as soon as someone says, for example, any senator that wants the bill done that it, you know, is not likely to happen, then it is definitely not going to happen. So, I feel like certainly over the last 18 months, clarity, you know, was was being um talked about as an existential issue for the industry and I just don't think that was ever true. And uh, I think the agencies are are proving that point already. I also think, you know, folks who remember that uh it is, you know, quite ironic that uh, you know, crypto markets uh did much, much better under the Gary Gensler regime than under uh the last two years, which is crazy to say, but, you know, facts are facts. So, I think, you know, to the extent even in a worst case scenario where, you know, we have President Gary Gensler or something like that come 2029, uh, we learned a ton in 21 to 25 about how to uh not just, you know, survive but push back effectively against those kinds of efforts and I think uh, we'll be much more uh uh prepared this go around to the extent, you know, that happens. So, I think uh, I think um overall we're, you know, in a good spot. I think to your point, you know, there could have been much more done via Congress, um, but the uh, the political environment is what it is and we need to accept that and move forward. [David] [06:13] Listen, you know what? Uh it's crazy to think about how crypto thrived during his uh tenure as a SEC chair. But and I and I take this away also that the Republican Party did hold the the House and Senate and did absolutely nothing to pass things. You told uh uh you told uh SEC permissionless should mean who controls the network, not just who can use it. Why does that matter to a regular investor? [Guest: Name] [06:43] Why does that matter? Because if a network is solely controlled by an individual or um a small group of individual firms, it's not a credibly neutral network. You're just using a new kind of traditional financial institution that can, you know, potentially rope and pull you, can charge you extractive fees, can shut you down or, you know, stop you from engaging with that system. So, I just don't view permission systems as being anything related to crypto at all. And I think, you know, for all the reasons that crypto originally attracted me and continues to attract me, which is, you know, credibly neutral architecture that anyone can use regardless of who they are. It's agnostic to who you are as a person and empowers you on an individual basis to take agency over your financial life is only possible if the network is neutral. And how do you create a neutral network? You allow anyone to participate in running it, in validating it anywhere in the world. Um, so I think uh, you know, maintenance of the network is just as important, if not more important and is really the core innovation of crypto and uh, you know, centralized permission chains on the validator side or on the network maintenance side, eliminate all of those benefits and all of that potential. So, that's why I think uh, you know, open network participation is absolutely critical. Like if you and I ran the Bitcoin network uh with two nodes, we could just delete people's Bitcoin if you and I came to agreement on something. Like that is ridiculous and uh should not be what we're building toward. [David] [08:19] Tokenize US stocks trading on chain. What does a normal person actually get to use that? [Guest: Name] [08:25] Um, I think early next year, the SEC has now made that possible, uh on September 17th via the innovation exemption. It's already available overseas and uh, you know, those markets are thriving. And I think uh, you know, what I'm hopeful for is using this innovation exemption to really prove out some of the the uh theories and and hopes we've had about DFI for a long time, which is to the extent this new market structure allows for better execution quality for individuals, uh meaning less intermediaries taking fees in your securities transactions and, you know, I know Robin Hood offers zero trading fees, but, you know, it's what's the saying about if you're not paying for something, you are the product. Like you are the product when you're trading in traditional market structure. Uh, my hope is to, you know, turn that on its head and allow people to trade stocks for less than, you know, a fraction of a cent and not be front run by Citadel. So, I hope uh that the innovation exemption we can use to prove out that theory because I think uh having raw data that for example, execution quality on Solana via prop AMMs is better for individual consumers or even better for massive prop traders that are doing billions of dollars in flow a day. Again, doesn't matter who you are, this technology should benefit anyone. That'll really help us in our in our uh journey to, you know, take down or I don't want to say take down, but uh make the financial system more efficient by eliminating many of the intermediaries we rely upon today. So, that is my hope. I'm quite thankful to the SEC for opening the door. It really is a revolutionary proposal and uh hoping to see those come live. It it's uh it's a bit of a challenge because it's like a completely novel framework that no one has really a playbook to to to use yet. So, uh I know some folks in the ecosystem are quickly trying to figure out that playbook and and write it themselves. So, it will be an exciting few months. [David] [10:27] You opened um you opened Solana Summit with a with a CFTC advisor 10 days ago. What should our audience be watching from the SEC and the CFTC before the end of the year? [Guest: Name] [10:38] Before the end of the year is a good question. I think the uh uh CFTC is going to move forward on uh additional perps action, so on chain perps trading, which will be exciting. I hope that will happen before the end of the year. The clock is ticking. I think the SEC is going to continue finalizing many of the proposals that they've already put out and uh I'm I think that's what we should all be hoping for because those will be quite durable even beyond 2028 and uh I think that's what we want. Durable wins is the thing I I say to myself when I wake up and go to bed at night. Um, so I think that's what the agencies are focused on and all the power to them. [David] [11:19] Solana gets called too centralized by its critics. How do you answer that? [Guest: Name] [11:24] How do I answer that is, you know, you can go to Solana Beach and see that there are 800 validators around the world. Uh I think that's pretty decentralized, but it's uh decentralization is a spectrum. You can draw your line anywhere and that's uh I think that's an individual's decision. What I don't think is decentralized is like 13, you know, super validators, uh, you know, run by two companies, but we won't get into that. [David] [11:49] There you go. There you go. I like that you hold hey, uh listen, we we always have those kind of conversations here. Uh, what's the one thing that uh Washington still gets wrong about crypto in your personal opinion? [Guest: Name] [12:02] Um, what is the one thing? That we're all, you know, criminal anarchists trying to bring down the world, which which is not the case, but people still do believe it. So, I think uh, I think we'll be fighting that one forever, but, you know, it is what it is and uh we'll be okay. [David] [12:19] Do we need to just change I mean, I've gone from saying crypto to digital assets because I just feel like if I talk to somebody uh out in the street and I say digital asset, it comes off differently than when I say crypto because crypto gets the reaction of, oh my God, this is illegal, right? And it's like, what are you talking about? But again, that's I feel like that's what mainstream media did along with some of our, you know, people who have been elected into positions in the SEC and Congress to push this whole it's crypto, it's illegal, but I'm like, why would you do anything illegal on crypto? Like it makes absolutely no sense. Okay, there's more money laundering that's done with the US dollar that goes untap that what? 90 some I forgot the I think it was representative Rodriguez said 99.9% of all, you know, crimes that are used with the US dollar go, you know, unsolved. And it's just like crypto, you can't do it. You cannot mess with crypto. Like like if you do something on chain, you're an idiot. [Guest: Name] [13:22] Yeah, and I think, you know, hostile and, you know, bad faith um opponents take advantage of crypto's transparency because you can't freak out about money laundering you don't know about, which is exactly what happens with the dollar and through the traditional banking system. And because you can see it happening on crypto, you in my view, it's a good thing that you have a shot of stopping it and policing it. But on the other hand, uh because you can see it, you know, you can write letters about it and uh and whack us over it. So, it is interesting, you know, I think um, you know, traditional finance's obscurity and obviously cash's obscurity in a way helps them avoid the same uh reputational tinge. [David] [14:05] I have one last question for you before you go and I appreciate you coming on to the show. [David] [14:12] Would you pass if the Democrats come out with a clarity act? Okay, their version. Perrian Boring who has come on to the show, who's worked tirelessly out in DC to get, you know, she's worked in Congress and she's worked for crypto nonstop. She's said plenty of times that only 1% of all these bills ever get passed. [Guest: Name] [14:35] Yeah. [David] [14:36] So, just pass the bill and then you'll work on it. I I sit in a position of why are we going to pass a bad bill and then try to work on it, especially with the way that the Republicans and Democrats go about working with each other. We we couldn't even take the clarity act and pass it for discussion. I mean, people had their gripes about it. We could not pass it for discussion. Would you though want to see whatever the clarity act bill is be passed and then work on it? [Guest: Name] [15:08] Uh, absolutely not. I unfortunately have to disagree with Perrian on that one. I think uh a bill has to be better than the status quo for us to support it as an industry and I think we would be crazy to support a bill that is worse than the status quo. So, that is always my um test for legislation. Like obviously you hope it is a major improvement over the status quo and uh uh but at the very minimum, it can't be worse than existing law. And so I think uh any bill that doesn't meet that threshold should be opposed. [David] [15:42] I appreciate you coming on uh onto the show today and uh hopefully we can have you back in the next few months to see what happens. Who knows? Maybe you come back in the next few months and we have a clarity act bill that's about to be signed over by Donald Trump. I I don't know. [Guest: Name] [15:58] Who knows? You know, he's uh signaled that he's ready for deal making, so we'll see. [David] [16:04] He says that one minute and the next minute he's like veto with the hat. [Guest: Name] [16:08] It's never boring. It's never boring in Washington. That's for sure. [David] [16:13] Miller uh White House, appreciate you coming on. Founder and CEO of uh Solana Policy Institute. Appreciate you and go Solana, man. Hopefully Solana goes absolutely parabolic. [Guest: Name] [16:25] David, thank you for having me. Always a pleasure. [David] [16:27] Thank you, Miller. Miller that uh guys give him a follow. Uh I have all this I have all the information on the thread that we have on X, also on YouTube, also on Kick, Twitch, you know, you can find it, the show listings, the links. Miller's a great guy, man. He knows his stuff. Knows his stuff, man. Definitely knows his stuff. [David] [16:53] Man. You know, I I sit back here and it's just that I I came into crypto and and if you read the white paper, it was just like crypto's for mainstream. Bitcoin essentially mainstream, mainstream. It's not for it's not for anybody else but mainstream. And then you look at this some of the things that are happening now. And it's just like, man, and I and and decentralization. You know, I've spent hours on this topic with multiple guests. It's just like for me, it's just like, Oh, man, I got so much to say. I really do have so much to say on this topic. You guys are you you guys have hours of tapes of me talking about this very thing. It first hurts me because I I want I want mainstream to have every single opportunity to get into crypto. Crypto is great. It is a great ecosystem. I think we focus too much on the 5% that do just dirty shit in this industry. And we don't focus on the 95% here that are creating, going out to conferences, speaking about crypto, breaking down crypto, providing value, education on digital assets. That is my biggest beef. Is that we don't acknowledge those do that are doing the work. Digital Chamber, you had Miller on here. Like they're like you have a lot of people that are doing work for crypto. They really are. They're doing a lot of work for crypto. But again, we look at the 5%. It's always like, oh, this guy rugged. That guy rugged. Yeah, you know what? Senator Warren doesn't care about the good stuff you've done with blockchain and what blockchain can actually do outside of Web3, outside of the Web3 bubble. She don't care about none of that stuff. She's going to find the or her staff is going to find the topics of, oh, banana Inu, this thing rugged. Banana Inu, ladies and gentlemen, it rugged and and that's all they focus on. That's the focus. It's not the focus on, hey, man, maybe we can you we can use blockchain to make voting easier and more transparent. Right? Like we have in the United States of America, what? We have 330, 340 million people, right? Who sit every election and and say that I don't I don't believe I don't believe for instance, Biden got the votes that he got, right? Then you have people that say that, well, I don't believe that 77 million people voted for Trump. Blockchain will make that transparent. It's the truth. Blockchain will make that transparent. Welcome to the breakdown. [David] [19:53] Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the show. [David] [20:02] Market sell off yesterday. What comes next? [David] [20:06] Well, if you have liquid, if you have liquidity on the sidelines, what comes next is you can take an opportunity and get into something at at a cheap price or you could just sit on the sidelines and and be patient. That's what you could do. Anyway, we'll be back right after this commercial break, sponsored by Midnight. Midnight is the title sponsor. Also Polymarket, Cake Wallet and FOMO. Let's go. [David] [20:34] We've issued eight billion dollars. [Caller] [20:39] What first got you excited about blockchains? Think about it. Oh wait. I bet it wasn't multi-million dollar hacks, exposed data, or finding somewhere safe to store your seed phrase. Was it? Maybe it was the idea of decentralizing a broken financial system. Maybe it was imagining a world where people own their own data and get to sharing the value it creates. Or maybe it was the promise of a fundamentally better way of connecting, communicating, and transacting. The next phase of the internet that empowers us instead of exploiting us. So, why hasn't it happened yet? Why are we still living with the same broken system that blockchains promised to fix? It's because blockchains can't keep a secret. Enabling open transparent systems was only the first half of the challenge. For blockchains to really change the world, they also have to be able to protect our sensitive data when it matters. And that's why we built Midnight to bring down the final barrier to mass adoption and unlock the full potential of the decentralized web. Let's build the internet we deserve. Together. [David] [22:01] Ladies and gentlemen, we all know this in crypto, ownership matters. That's why Cake Wallet. Cake Wallet gives you full control of your digital assets, all in one easy to use application. You can store Bitcoin, Litecoin, Zcash, Monero, and many more with just one secure backup. Swap between coins in seconds, no copying addresses, no complicated steps, and even includes Bitcoin lightning for faster payments. And with Cake Wallet built in, you can use crypto in real life through debit cards or gift cards. Simple, secure, self-custody. Download Cake Wallet and take control of your crypto. [David] [22:47] This is Houston. T-minus one minute until full data blackout. All eyes are on you. [Caller] [23:03] Breaking news. There is an astronaut conducting an emergency repair on a global communication satellite that could go dark at any moment. We have a second angle on this. [David] [23:13] Is that guy on FOMO? [Caller] [23:14] Oh, it's like he's for a crazy trade. [David] [23:17] Yeah, let's get back to it, everybody. [Caller] [23:32] Breaking news. There is an astronaut conducting an emergency repair on a global communication satellite that could go dark at any moment. [David] [23:40] Opportunity cost is simply this. Every position you take is a position you choose over something else. [Caller] [23:54] This just in. According to the astronaut's FOMO account, highest in the room, the satellite has been restored. [David] [24:02] Yes. [Caller] [24:05] For now, the crisis appears to be over. [Caller] [24:19] Satellite's up and running. Positions look good too. [David] [24:38] There we go. United States of America representing. Social optimism does not work. Digital assets is a better to move money at the speed of light through other. People are greedy when they also try to acquire gold. I'm here providing electricity and that energy that is necessary. I am the modern day Tony Stark. [David] [25:07] You know, restream is really lagging here with me. Like it's it's really not trying to work here with me today. But welcome back to the breakdown. Episode 820. Episode 820. Um, Bitcoin right now it's it's hovering around uh 76,000 as of this morning after an AI led sell off. My next guest says 500k for Bitcoin by 2030. Rick Edelman, uh founded the Digital Assets Council of Finance Professionals, trains advisors on crypto and now runs a school of finance for financial planning. Uh, we're going to bring Rick right on. He's in the he's in the green room and again, another person, another guest that does not get any water, nothing, zero. They're just waiting. I'm firing everybody after today's show. We've gone on way too long without having our guests have something in the back. Let me where's the overlay? Where's the overlay? Where's the overlay?

[Part 4 of 6] [David] [00:00] I'm going to find it right now. Where is the overlay? There we go. Let's bring uh Rick right in here so we can go ahead and have the conversation. Rick, it's a pleasure to have you on. [Guest: Rick Edelman] [00:09] Good to be with you. Thanks for the opportunity. [David] [00:11] What do you think about the markets yesterday? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [00:13] I didn't notice. [David] [00:15] Love that. Love that. Didn't notice. [Guest: Rick Edelman] [00:18] It wasn't so much that the markets crashed yesterday. It was the fact that they rose so sharply the day before. Uh, that's what the bigger surprise was. Um, I I think it was a delayed reaction. I don't really quite get what happened on Wednesday. Thursday made more sense, at least understandable because uh, the Democrats now in control of the House and Senate are going to push through their policies. We have governors and uh, Democratic uh, party to a greater degree that we've had in in many, many, many years. And we're going to see state and local uh, rules and and laws and policies be enacted and many, I think, reasonably arguing these won't be terribly friendly to business. So, I'm not surprised of the knee-jerk reaction yesterday, and I'm not convinced it's over, um, because we're going to have to wait and see what they say they're going to want to do and what the impact that's going to have on everything from energy to crypto to transportation, uh, to commerce broadly. Taxation is going to be a big conversation in 2027. So, uh, it's going to be a long couple of years, I think. [David] [01:29] Were you surprised at what happened on election night? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [01:32] I was surprised at the extent. Uh, I think everybody was increasingly confident that the House would go Democratic. But the fact that this was such a broad swath, coast to coast, from the federal level to the local level, uh, sent a very clear message, uh, very, very clear. And it is undeniable. And I'm hopeful that both the Republicans and the Democrats will learn from this. I'm not convinced they will, but I would be hopeful that the Republicans would realize that the message of hate and exclusivity with a focus exclusively on profit and often self-serving profit, isn't something, uh, that Americans want to tolerate. And I'm also hopeful that the Democrats are going to realize that the fringe, uh, positions that many of them hold are equally, uh, unattractive to the American populace. So, I'm hopeful that a lot of lessons will be learned and by the time we get to the 2028 presidential election, we'll have an an array of candidates who are more measured, more reasonable, more centrist. I'm probably being unrealistic when I say that. [David] [02:40] Uh, you said 500K Bitcoin by 2030 of a 1% global uh, uh, allocation, excuse me. And maybe that's too low. With Bitcoin around 76 this morning, what do advisors know that retail doesn't? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [02:57] Well, I'm not sure advisors know it any more than retail. I we council, as you'd mentioned, uh, we do a lot of training in the field of crypto for the financial advisory community. We're the really only game in town that does this. Uh, I created DAC FP back in 2015. I've been in crypto since 2012. And I realized very early that the financial services industry does not understand what crypto is and Bitcoin, et cetera. And so I've been devoting my, uh, last decade largely to that issue and I've trained thousands, maybe tens of thousands of advisors, uh, over this past decade. They still, for the most part, don't get it. Uh, and it's because of the way they're trained. It's not a, you know, harsh criticism of them really. It's because of, you know, we are trained as financial advisors, uh, and I ran the largest advisory firm in the country with 350 billion in assets and I was named the number one advisor in the nation three times by Barrons. So I I speak, you know, of my own kind, uh, lovingly. Advisors are trained very carefully to watch out for fads and frauds. And we are skilled, uh, in identifying them and steering our clients away from them. And if you look at Bitcoin, certainly 10 years ago, 15 years ago, it sure looked like a fad or a fraud. If it wasn't a tulip bulb, it was a Beanie Baby. Uh, and it was it broke all the rules that advisors live by, which is why they said, stay away. Made sense 10 or 15 years ago. The problem is most advisors have stayed there. They haven't advanced their engagement, knowledge or participation. And they still have the same out-of-date thinking. It was it made sense in 2015. It made sense during Mount Gox. It doesn't make sense today. And they don't know that because they haven't paid any attention in the last decade. So their information is out of date. Uh, in many cases it was never valid. Uh, and they don't understand what's happening today. And I think that's true of retail investors equally so. And here's the the real issue that that people don't fully understand if it is that two-thirds of all the wealth in America is controlled by financial advisors. The overwhelming majority of investors are not DIY. They're not do-it-yourselfers. They aren't watching CNBC. They are not trading all day long in their brokerage accounts. They instead are responsible, mature adults who recognize they need to pay attention to their finances, but don't have the time, don't have the knowledge and frankly don't have the desire. They'd rather delegate to an advisor. So, the clients are relatively clueless about crypto, but so are their advisors. And so this is kind of where we're at for the most part. Less than 20% of advisors still are actively recommending crypto to clients. Uh, and so there's still, although we've made big inroads, we still have an awful long way to go. And that's why I remain very optimistic, very bullish that the future price of Bitcoin is going to be radically higher than the current price of Bitcoin. Because we are seeing that adoption increase and where the advisors are beginning to pay attention is the institutional knowledge. Um, the major brokerage firms, the major wirehouses on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and all the major asset managers, BlackRock, State Street, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, the companies that are managing trillions of dollars in assets are all heavily involved in crypto at this stage. They never were before. Under the Biden era and prior, they were not engaged, but under the Trump era, they are now realize it's safe to play. Uh, and they are. And so we are seeing them engage in a big way, which is therefore leading endowments and pension funds, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices to all engage. And this is recognizing, uh, being recognized by advisors who are are saying, oh, I guess I'd better pay attention. Uh, it's become a thing. Uh, and so whereas the question was, why are you allocating? The question now is, why aren't you allocating? And for these reasons, we believe that the engagement rate is going to skyrocket over the next four to five years. And I believe that we will see by 2030, routinely, low single digit allocations in the vast majority of investment portfolios, institutional as well as retail, with advisors actively engaged. And that's the simple arithmetic you cited in my prediction. If you just look at the value of all the assets in the world, add it all up. If those portfolios, the people who own all the stocks, bonds, gold, oil, real estate, commodities, you name it. If everybody who owns all that stuff, just allocates 1% to Bitcoin. That translates to a price of $500,000 per coin. It's as simple as that. It's just straight arithmetic. [David] [07:53] Mathematics. Uh, three days after uh, the midterms, Democrats have both chambers, obviously, we talked about that. Does that change anything for crypto regulation or do you tell clients to ignore the noise? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [08:03] Yeah, yes, ignore it ultimately, but don't be oblivious to it. I'm not sure if that those two sentences make any sense. Uh, the the fact is this election was generally bad news for crypto in one major way. Elizabeth Warren is going to be the new chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Very powerful position. She hates crypto. Um, much of her reasoning is more political than realistic, uh, and outdated. I I know some folks who have met with her staff who are more measured and I'm hopeful that Elizabeth will come around a little bit. Where Senator Warren is absolutely correct, there has been too much fraud and abuse and graft in crypto and we need to put a stop to that. Uh, and I believe she'll go far in in those efforts. Um, but we didn't get the Clarity Act. I don't know that we will in a Democratic controlled Congress. I don't know that we need it, uh, frankly, because the the uh CFTC and the SEC are doing their thing to do what the Clarity Act would have done. So, nobody really cares whether or not that bill gets passed. But the big issue is that of the, I think, 30 House races where crypto was an issue, meaning the candidates took a pro or con position. The pro crypto candidate won 28 out of 30. But they only won one out of four in the Senate. Sherrod Brown was reelected, uh, after getting kicked out in the 2024 race. He was strongly anti-crypto. And he was chair of the Senate Banking Committee. Um, and so the fact that he's now back, uh, in Congress is not really great news for crypto. Although I believe he has tempered his opposition. And here's the flip side of why you really don't have to care about any of this. So many Americans, 60 million, own Bitcoin right now. The ETFs that own Bitcoin are the biggest, fastest growing ETFs. Not just Bitcoin, but there are 200 crypto ETFs. When you've got BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, and JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs and the like, all heavily doing this. There is it is impossible for a future president or a future Congress to say, we're cutting it off or eliminating it. The economic devastation they would impose on the people who own this stuff, you would see a a revolution. People would be up in arms. So, I think crypto is now so well embedded, even at its current state, they can't put that back in, you know, they can't put that back in the box. [David] [10:39] JP Morgan has floated a much more timid long-term Bitcoin return case than yours. Too timid? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [10:46] No, for their positioning and their point of view, but also keep in mind, although they are predicting a much lower, uh, growth rate, they're still more than doubling. I mean, it's still going to be a 2X gain according to them. But it's also going to be, according to them, the best performing asset class of the next decade. It's going to Bitcoin will outperform stocks, bonds, real estate, gold and oil. So that is an extraordinarily bullish commentary from a company that five years ago threatened to fire anybody who bought it. So, um, we're seeing turnaround in attitude. Here's the thing you need to pay attention to. Here's the thing you need to watch. I've been I've been doing this since 2012. I have seen a huge array of TradFi, meaning people who come from traditional finance, come from Wall Street. I've seen a huge number of Wall Streeters move to crypto. I have never seen anyone in crypto move to Wall Street. Same thing with politicians. I've seen crypto haters become huge crypto proponents. Donald Trump's one of them. In 2017, he called crypto a fraud. Today he's one of the biggest proponents and personal owners of it, as we know. I've seen a lot of crypto haters become crypto proponents. I've never seen a crypto proponent become a crypto hater. [David] [12:06] It's true. It is absolutely true. Most advisors still don't allocate. What's the real holdout? Compliance, career risk or clients? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [12:15] Yes, yes, and yes. Uh, depending on the advisor, any one of those three answers may come about. Some are not allowed to do it. Their compliance firm, uh, clients departments don't let them. Their firms don't have it on the platform. That is shifting. Everybody's actively engaged in due diligence right now. And you will begin to see more and more approvals coming along over the next year or two, especially because the ETFs now exist. The ETFs make it incredibly simple, easy, cheap, transparent, familiar, easy to engage in this asset class and it was a huge watershed event in 2024 when they came on the market. So, compliance is a roadblock in some cases. In other cases, the client is the roadblock because the client knows nothing about this and simply doesn't understand it. And if the advisor doesn't understand it, they can't answer the basic question, what is Bitcoin? What is blockchain? What is Ethereum and how do they differ? So advisors need to up their game in their knowledge level. That'll take time. The third reason, the most important reason that I believe we're seeing a delay in adoption, and remember, I'm uh, I am an advisor. I'm of the ilk and I, um, say this lovingly. Advisors are incredibly lazy people. Uh, now, now, now think about this. You most advisors have been in this business for 30 plus years. We have more CFPs, certified financial planners, more over the age of 70 than under the age of 30. So most advisors have been doing this for decades and they're really good at it. They've built a successful business with lots of happy clients, making lots of money. The performance of those portfolios has been fabulous. Now they're in their 50s and and 60s in many cases and they're saying, I've got a lot of happy clients. I'm making a lot of money. I'm playing golf every week. Why would I want to risk anything and screw that up by introducing this new controversial thing that I don't understand. I'm not sure my clients understand that many in the government don't like. Why do I want to risk my client relationship to allocate one or two percent to this thing? And so their attitude is, why bother? It's just inertia. So part of the message we're conveying to advisors like that is, fine, don't become knowledgeable. Turn this over to a younger member of your team who is more interested in growth and development, who is more tech savvy, who does get it. And let them talk to your clients about this. This way everybody wins. And and so that a big part of it is simply inertia. Advisors are fat and happy and they don't see any reason to disrupt that. [David] [14:55] Own the market, don't hunt for the needle. Which index and how much of the uh, and how much of the portfolio? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [15:04] Well, I have, uh, I wrote a white paper last summer, um, that caught the crypto community off guard, uh, and everybody else really, where I broke ranks with everybody else who has been arguing for low single digit allocations and that is where pretty much everybody is, three to five percent. And I argued, you should be 10 to 40%. Which, you know, for someone like me, who's been managing a lot of money for a lot of people for a lot of years, that was kind of shocking. My rationale for this really has to do more with longevity than crypto. We're living longer than ever. We know this. And it means that you're going to live well into your 90s, quite likely into your hundreds. Which means you need to make sure you have enough money to last as long as you're going to. And you're not going to do that in a 60/40 traditional allocation. That 60/40 portfolio model was invented 50 years ago and it served everybody well, but it's now obsolete because of longevity. My argument is you shouldn't be 60/40 where you begin to reduce your 60 down when you're get into retirement, the so-called glide path. I argue that you should be 70/30 or 80/20 for much longer into your life, meaning in your 70s and 80s, you should still be 70 or 80% in equities. And if you're going to have 80% of your money in equities, it can be easily argued that 10 or 20 or 30% of that ought to be in crypto. Along with the rest of technology, robotics and AI and big data, 3D printing, nanotech, biotech, bioinformatics. Crypto is a big huge part of this. And for people to have a a zero or a one or a 2% allocation, I think it's just woefully underweighted. [David] [16:54] You just hosted an S&P on revenue shared uh, crypto uh, indexes. Does that just mean fewer meme coins or is it a real shift? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [17:03] Yeah, I think we're going as and you see this in any maturing industry. So we're going to see a dramatically smaller array of product offerings. And rightfully so. I mean, in 1920, there were 200 automobile manufacturers in the US. Today there's three and a half. Uh, you see consolidation as every industry matures. Look at the airline industry, the computer industry, the food and beverage industry, uh, the clothing industry, you name it, the hotel industry. You have a five or 10 players that have 90% of the market. You're going to see that in crypto too. We don't need this incredibly diverse array of coins and tokens and platforms and exchanges and custodians. You just don't need them. The bigger are going to get bigger, the smaller are going to get crushed and that's the way it always is. So, this is why you should probably diversify for now until we know for sure who the shakers are going to be, who's going to be the last man standing. I'm not yet convinced we know who all the survivors are going to be. We have some good ideas. I mean, clearly Bitcoin will be one of them and Ethereum will be one. Solana probably will be one. Coinbase likely will be one, Circle likely. But it's still early. And so don't be surprised. Uh, you know, back coming out of World War II, if you were a military pilot entering the private sector of this new aviation industry, you went to the two biggest airlines there were, Eastern and Pan Am. Well, you know, today the airline industry is bigger than ever, but neither of those are exist exist today. So, crypto will go through similar metamorphosis and evolution. [David] [18:50] Um, tokenization, revolutionary and unavoidable. What's the first thing in a normal person's portfolio that gets tokenized? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [19:00] Stocks. It's the low hanging fruit, uh, because we already have digital versions of corporate ownership. We call them shares. You buy them in a brokerage account, you hold them in street name, everything's digital. Well, a token is the is also digital. It simply rests on a better technological platform, a blockchain, which allows it to trade T+0, meaning instant settlement. Stocks require a day. They do it 24/7, not merely 9:30 to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. They do it with greater transparency, greater speed and and much lower cost with with higher cybersecurity to boot. So, blockchain platform is simply a better platform than the current Wall Street DSTT system. Um, and so you're going to see stocks shifting to tokens. Shares will become tokens. Not just of stocks, but all securities, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, all of these will shift. And in four or five years, there won't be a stock market anymore. It'll be a token market. Uh, it'll be tokens of stocks, tokens of bonds, of ETFs, of mutual funds for all the obvious reasons. Then, once we've gotten all that under our belt, you're going to see everybody go after the big stuff. And the biggest is real estate. The global real estate market is three times bigger than the stock market. That's where the real money is. The problem is right now, real estate is limited to the very wealthiest because real estate's expensive. It's illiquid. Um, but as soon as you tokenize, uh, a building, you take a billion dollar building, you tokenize it into tokens of $10 each, all of a sudden you've demonetized it and democratized it, made it available for every investor in the world on a liquid basis. Now we're off to the races. And you're going to see every asset tokenized. Comic books, rare coins and stamps, uh, exotic cars, um, I mean, every asset of value will be tokenized and it's going to be an explosion in wealth for the entire planet and it's coming with remarkable speed. Everybody on Wall Street is racing to get in on this because it's the next big thing. [David] [21:23] You say some of the advisors aren't well uh, versed in digital assets. Uh, can you say the same about some of these companies that are refusing to have their stocks tokenized for 24/7 trading? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [21:37] Yeah, advisors are unaware of any of, you know, securitizing bullish and, you know, on and on and on. They don't know anything about what's happening. I'm not sure they terribly need to know right now because none of this is available to them. And you're going to have the major asset managers who they do know and love, BlackRock, State Street, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, are going to be providing these tokenized versions. So I don't know that the advisors necessarily need to care about it very much. What the advisors need to do is get ready for the coming storm. They need to know this is on the horizon and be ready to capitalize on it so they're not caught flat-footed and on their heels. [David] [22:12] Last one, you said AI spend only matters if it creates more meetings and capacity. Where are advisors wasting money on AI right now? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [22:23] It's not that they're wasting money on AI, they're wasting the opportunity that AI spend is offering them. I'll give you the the simplest, easiest example. The low hanging fruit, uh, the easiest access point for advisors has been, um, meeting assistance. Advisors meet with a client, typically it takes two hours to do that client meeting. The advisor engages in a huge amount of work following the meeting. They have to make notes of what happened in the meeting. They've got to figure out the work that's got to get done. Um, the the research and analysis, uh, fulfill the promises they made in the meeting. Oh, I'm going to go figure out this issue you raised, kind of thing. They've got to document the meeting for their compliance purposes. They have to tell their assistant the work that's got to get done. They have to send an email to the client recapping the meeting, bullet listing the work that the advisor's going to do, but also the work often the client has to do. You promised you would send me your tax return or what have you. So there's this takes a good couple of hours per meeting, which is why advisors can only do generally two meetings a day. It just takes an awful lot of time. With AI, advisors are automating all of this. The AI records the meeting, summarizes it all, sends that info to compliance, populates the client relationship management software, the CRM software, produces the workload instruction to the assistant, sends the email to the client, and as a result, the advisor spends maybe five minutes after the meeting, freeing up almost two hours in their day. All of that is wonderful, but here's the problem. Guess what advisors are doing with the two hours. I had one advisor I was talking to about this, are you using it? Yes. You finding it valuable? Yes. Is it saving you a lot of time? Yes. How much time? Oh, two, three hours a day. What are you doing with it? I leave the office at two and I go play golf. [David] [24:18] Really? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [24:22] So they're not using it to build their business, improve their client service, find new clients, new assets. They're simply goofing off. Remember what I said earlier, lovingly about advisors. So firms aren't going to tolerate this much longer. They're not going to spend this kind of money providing this kind of tech and not get an ROI for it. Their plan wasn't, they didn't say to their board of directors, by the spending all this money on AI, our staff gets to take the day off. That is not the plan. The plan is generate more revenue, more profits, more EBITDA, improve the bottom line. And firms are struggling to convert the AI productivity tool into ROI EBITDA. They're going to figure it out and that advisor is either going to quit playing golf or he'll find himself playing golf full time. [David] [25:11] What did you think about uh, before you go, what did you think about uh, the $6.3 billion, biggest hack of all time that happened in crypto? Obviously Binance uh, uh, somebody went ahead and social engineered uh, an interview uh, and obviously uh, were able to go ahead and, you know, take $6.3 billion, uh, biggest of all time. What what were your thoughts there? [Guest: Rick Edelman] [25:35] In in less than a half hour to boot. Yeah. Um, uh, Willie Sutton could, you know, dream of such efficiency. Uh, it is scary because of the magnitude, the ease, the speed. Um, but this isn't a crypto conversation. This is a cybersecurity conversation. And as is always the case, talk to cybersecurity experts, they'll tell you that the weak link in cyber is the human. This whole hack occurred because a human allowed it to happen. He was dumb. He allowed malware to be installed, uh, on his laptop because he was motivated by personal gain and greed. He was

[Part 5 of 6] [00:00] And he was in a job search opportunity and he thought he was going to get a big promotion and a signing bonus. So he fell for the scam. Uh the systems were never hacked in this case. So it's scary for that reason. Um but it's scary for everything. And eventually, here's my view, eventually, the crooks are going to realize why are they wasting their time hacking Binance for 6 billion? When Bank of America has on deposit 7 trillion. They're going to they're going to do a Willie Sutton. They're going to go where the money is. Uh and they're going to eventually learn, they're wasting their time with a poultry 6 billion when there are trillions to be had at banks. Uh and so we have to tighten up our security systems across the board, not just financial, but defense, water, electrical grids, air traffic control systems, and not just the US, but everybody in the world because we're a connected uh society around the globe. So, it's sobering and I am hopeful that it causes people to pay attention to say, enough's enough, we're not going to tolerate this nonsense anymore. My biggest question to the FBI and our our nation's uh counter uh terrorism and and intelligence operatives, what's it going to take to shut North Korea down? I mean, come on already. Yeah. Um but we'll we'll get so we'll get there. But you got to be careful, you got to do everything you can and be diligent and remember when it comes to all this stuff, you are the weak link. [01:35] You know, uh you you hit it on the head with the human aspect because we had I had somebody on here who deals with security and he's like, it's you can't program against a human error. Like it's just it's impossible. [01:48] You can't fix you can't fix stupid. [01:50] Exactly. And like my biggest thing and and it comes from the audience and people that obviously, you know, love crypto, but they have questions. It's it's like the biggest question is, are these protocols doing enough to simulate a potential vulnerability that they might have in a protocol in their protocols and are they investing enough into security? Are they allocating 15 to 20% into their security? Cold card got drained for $200 million in Bitcoin. You had, you know, uh ledger situations and treasure, you know, uh, you know, data a third party, but data being leaked. You know, I I still believe crypto is set up to take on these type of hacks versus classical computers, right? You just mentioned that, right? You said that should be the worry right now. $7 trillion is there, you know, using AI, hackers using AI now, they're turning into super villains now. Like they have power that they've never had before. Um, but for me and for others, it comes down to, are you really doing everything to protect these protocols that we're investing into? Like we are holding bags of these things and have you done the due diligence to make sure that you don't have a place of vulnerability in your protocol? [03:08] Yeah, it raises a lot of very serious questions. We have a lot of serious people working on this and I am hopeful that it's going to uh be improved over time. And as we deploy, everybody's worried about AI and quantum computing, but I think we're going to deploy AI and quantum computing to be our safeguards, to be uh the defense. People say, well, gee, won't quantum break Bitcoin? Well, if it can break it, you can protect with it too. So, I'm hopeful. Uh but we do have to be diligent. It argues for diversification. You shouldn't have all of your money in a single platform, single coin, single brokerage account, single bank, you should diversify to help reduce the risk that if there is such a hack, it hasn't hacked your entire life savings. So, diversification can help to um improve uh a difficult situation. [04:01] You said something today and I and I've been saying this at conferences, real estate. Everybody's overlooking real estate. Uh real estate ultimately uh will benefit from all the NFT technology, all the protocols, uh fractionalizing it. I mean, there is so much potential it hasn't even been touched and I totally agree with you on that uh point. [04:24] We're starting to see it in the Far East and the Middle East. The US is lagging, but it's coming. Um no doubt about it. And this is what we we we do in our educational activities. You know, we created the the CBDA, the certified in blockchain and digital assets professional designation. It's an online self-study, self-paced course with a world-class faculty. We give advisors 18 CE credits, which they need every year. And it's thousands and thousands of advisors from 37 countries have gone through our program. Um because they need to to stay aware of this. The fact that tokenization is coming in a huge way and real estate will be one of the biggest engagers of it. And yet the average advisor is clueless about that. And it's coming, it's already here in in many countries and it's coming in a big way. How could you be clue I mean, I understand you're not paying a lot of attention, you're not investing, but to be unaware? That that strikes me as simply unprofessional behavior. [05:18] Rick Edelman comes on to the show, founder of Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals. I appreciate it. I hope I can bring you on in the next few months while hopefully we'll be in a bull run, uh and we can go ahead and talk about all the wonderful things that are happening in our ecosystem. [05:35] Love to come back. Happy to talk with you, David. [05:38] Thank you so much, Rick. Appreciate you. Have a great Friday. [05:40] You too. [05:42] Man, that is that is what I love. That is what I love. Broke down everything for you and especially when he said the real estate part out loud. When Rick said the real estate part out loud, which you guys know, you watch me at conference. Real estate is not even touched. Not touched. And then he talks about some of these advisors. How many how many people missed out on Bitcoin because their advisors just Don't know much about it, don't care about it. People could have bought Bitcoin at 3,000, 2,000, 1,000. I got to rewind. Honestly, I I I was sitting here listening, but I got to rewind uh today's show. I got to rewind the what? The last I think it was 40 minutes. That that is value. That is 100% value. I was actually going to ask Rick, I think I'm going to go instead of the mic and everything, I I'm going to go with the earpiece. I love that earpiece. At one point I was like, I need to get one. Real estate. Real estate, I'm telling you, and I kept on I've been harping on this for years. Real estate, real estate, real estate and diversify. He is absolutely right. 100 when you guys tell me, I'm a I'm diversified. 100% in crypto. No. Buy land because America's for sale. Get into your uh into your uh traditional markets. Okay? Get yourself space. What do I talk about? I'm SpaceX, Tesla, whatever is on discount. Go get yourself that. You got to diversify yourself. Passive income, right? You talk about passive income. Got to do that, man. Got to do that, man. Holy shit, I get excited. I get excited when people especially real estate. That's true a trillion dollar market. Trillions of dollars in real estate. We'll be right back after this commercial break. Sponsored by Midnight, Polymarket, Cake Wallet and Fomo. And we'll go to Fomo right now because somebody's talking about Groper is going through the roof. So we'll go ahead and look at that right after this. [08:14] What first got you excited about blockchains? Think about it. Oh, wait. I bet it wasn't multi-million dollar hacks, exposed data, or finding somewhere safe to store your seed phrase. Was it? Maybe it was the idea of decentralizing a broken financial system. Maybe it was imagining a world where people own their own data and get to sharing the value it creates. Or maybe it was the promise of a fundamentally better way of connecting, communicating and transacting. The next phase of the internet that empowers us instead of exploiting us. So, why hasn't it happened yet? Why are we still living with the same broken system that blockchains promised to fix? It's because blockchains can't keep a secret. Enabling open transparent systems was only the first half of the challenge. For blockchains to really change the world, they also have to be able to protect our sensitive data when it matters. And that's why we build Midnight to bring down the final barrier to mass adoption and unlock the full potential of the decentralized web. Let's build the internet we deserve. Together. [09:37] Ladies and gentlemen, we all know this in crypto. Ownership matters. That's why Cake Wallet. Cake Wallet gives you full control of your digital assets, all in one easy to use application. You can store Bitcoin, Litecoin, Zcash, Monero, and many more with just one secure backup. Swap between coins in seconds. No copying addresses, no complicated steps. And it even includes Bitcoin Lightning for faster payments. And with Cake Wallet built in, you can use crypto in real life through debit cards or gift cards. Simple, secure, self-custody. Download Cake Wallet and take control of your crypto. [10:23] This is Houston. T minus one minute until full data blackout. All eyes are on you. Breaking news. There is an astronaut conducting an emergency repair on a global communication satellite that could go dark at any moment. We have a second angle on this. Is that guy on Fomo? No, let me first. Yeah, let's get back to it everybody. Breaking news. There is an astronaut conducting an emergency repair on a global communication satellite that could go dark at any moment. Opportunity cost is simply this. Every decision you take is a decision you choose over something else. This just in. According to the astronaut's Fomo account, highest in the room, the satellite has been restored. This. For now, the crisis appears to be over. Satellite's up and running. Positions looking good too. [12:13] There we go. United States of America representing. Socialism, communism does not work. Digital assets. Is it better to move money at the speed of light? People are greedy when they also try to acquire goals. I'm here providing electricity. And that energy that is necessary. I'm the modern day Tony Stark. [12:43] There we go. United States of America representing. Socialism, communism does not work. Digital assets. Is it better to move money at the speed of light? People are greedy when they also try to acquire goals. I'm here providing electricity. And that energy that is necessary. I'm the modern day Tony Stark. [13:14] There we go. United States of America representing. Socialism, communism does not work. Digital assets. Is it better to move money at the speed of light? People are greedy when they also try to acquire goals. I'm here providing electricity. And that energy that is necessary. I'm the modern day Tony Stark. Welcome to the breakdown. We're back. Um, I got to look at this. I got to look at um, let's look at uh what oh, hi. Hi. My name is. Welcome back to the breakdown episode 820 sponsored by Midnight. Midnight is the title sponsor of this show, the breakdown. Okay, the breakdown. 820 episodes of the breakdown. Also, Polymarket is the official prediction market sponsor of the breakdown. Cake Wallet. Cake Wallet. The most secure wallet that you can find in this space. Bitcoin, Litecoin, Zcash, Monero. We'll have Vic on this month. We're going to talk about we're going to talk about Cake Wallet. We're going to talk about Radar chat. We're going to talk about a lot of things that Vic has been doing, producing along with his entire team. Talking about leveling up. I mean, Vic is already had a great product, but now I'm talking about the branding and everything. Level up. It's leveled up. 50X. Fomo.family. Shout out to Fomo.family. SocialFi is good when it comes to Fomo. They've worked really hard to get to the place that they're at. So, shout out to them. Which leads me to I need to look at I need to look at Fomo. What's happening here? What is happening? Let's see if I can log in. What is happening here today? Oh my God. Look what is happening. Oh my God. I can't believe this is happening. I'm telling everybody right now, I'm taking profits. I am taking profits. I am not round tripping anything. Okay? I am not round tripping anything. Don't tell me, oh my God. How could you? No, no, no, no, no. I am not round tripping shit. Okay? I am not round tripping anything. Don't tell me, oh my God. How could you? This Groper right now. Like where where's where's this coming from? Am I missing the plot here? Am I missing the plot here? Let let me know. By the way, this this should this should Let me put this in perspective for everybody right now. This right here. Groper was at like three $3 market cap. Now it's at almost 600K. I'm going to tell you this right now. This is what I mean about having patience. This is exactly what I mean about having patience and let something cook. If not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, a month from now. If not a month, six months. Eventually, if the market decides and if the people decide that it is good, then it'll go. Same thing could happen with Satoshi. That I have I'm talking about the things that I'm holding here right now. You see Groper going, same thing could happen to Satoshi, Auggie, All-Star name it all. Again, if the market decides one day, hey, this is it, it'll go. That's why I'm patient about this stuff. Everybody freaks out and shit. I'm I've been here, done that. I've seen things that were dead for a year and a half, pop off. What what happened here though? Can somebody explain to me? What happened that that it moved like this? Can can somebody let me know why? Can somebody let me know why Groper moved? This is crazy. This is this is crazy. This is nice. It's absolutely nice. It's you walk into this. Okay, great. Perfect. Nice. Okay, so a blue tsunami video with Groper went viral. Again, it's about going into something believing that eventually it'll pop off. That's it. It is 1:59 PM East Coast, 3 hours behind on the West. Welcome to the breakdown episode 820. We're looking at Fomo here. We're looking at my account here with Fomo. And I'm watching something that I've been holding. How long have I been holding this? Two, three months. Now it's moving. Will it pop off? Maybe. Maybe not. We shall see. We shall see. Wow. That's uh by the way, if you go to sign up to Polymarket, you go sign up to the app, use the code breakdown to sign up and get $25. I'm telling you, man. And and Groper has a community. Groper has a huge community. We shall see what happens. Welcome back to the breakdown. What a great week, by the way. What a great week. We had, you know, a lot of really good guests. And we're going to keep on growing. I got a bigger chip on my shoulder now. Bigger chip than ever before. Just because, you know, I've and I, you know how I I always do. I sit back and I talk to you guys. Try to be as transparent as I can. And sometimes I talk about maybe I talk about things I shouldn't even put out there because people will try to jinx it, but nobody can jinx it. I've had so many phone calls. So many people have called me to talk about how great this show is and how great I am. How much better I am. Well, because there are people there have been, you know, people have been following me for such a long time. They've seen me evolve. And they're like, yo, you're you're about to break through, man. You are going to break through. So many people that have touched base with me and and told me, D, DG, you're going to break through, man. Like you're you you are absolutely going to break through. You have that aura. You got that. You got that in you, man. And I and I appreciate it. You know, Gary V said it, right? Like Gary V said it took him 12 years to finally pop off. I'm lucky enough that like I've been on mainstream media in terms of interviews. Whether it's uh whether it's on TV, whether it's in the in the papers. My brand, I feel has done wonderful. I want to it's time or the time will come. It's like what Gary V said, after 12 years, he finally it popped. Where now you know Gary V as a household name. Now, this is not about ego. There's nothing to do with ego. I've always said that I will use this platform to provide value. People will see it as value, some won't. And that's fine. That's why everybody picks a station that they listen to. Some people like ABC, some people like Fox, CB uh CBS, whatever it is, great. To each his own. But I am absolutely going to do everything. I am so obsessed with winning. Sometimes you have to and and this is what I did about 19, 20 minutes ago, right? I I talk about this. I took a step back. I assessed my platform. I assessed who I am and what am I doing? What am I providing? Like that that's what I did. I I stepped back for for a few weeks and I asked myself, what am I providing? Yeah, cool. Back then, ain't nobody can go ahead and call with me. But it's what have you done for me lately? But what have I done to go ahead and provide value for the people that tune in? Am I really that good? Like I there there if you are anyone who is trying to do anything, you you have to do a self-assessment and say, what am I doing? What am I doing? Am I doing and if and everything that I'm doing, am I providing value? Am I absolutely providing value where people want to come back and listen to the things that you talk about? Listen, I told myself, man, I'm good, but I'm not as good or as great as I should be and then I went to work. I went to work. Bottom line. And even as of last night, I said, you know, I stood back. I said, no matter how great I think I am, I can be better. And going into 2027, I am absolutely going to fucking dominate. I am going on a generational run. I have stated that on Twitter and it wasn't for the people, it was for myself as a reminder, as a reference because I am going to go on a generational run. I know it. I'm already there. I know it's going to happen. And I want to thank I'm truly thank the people that have stood by me, who have showed up every single day to watch this show, that believe they get some value from this show, and have watched me talk to some of the most notable people within this space and outside of it. And I thank you. And I want to thank the future audience that comes here to watch this show. I am telling you, I I am absolutely in the mindset now of I'm going to go down as the greatest of all time. That that is that is how I'm thinking. Like my mindset right now, and wherever you are, whatever you do in life, whether you're a in my, you know,

[Part 6 of 6] [00:00] [David] I said I'm a media personality. [00:04] You might be a manager at at Chase. [00:08] You might be running a store somewhere. [00:11] Be the best that you can be. Bottom line. [00:16] Don't let anybody tell you who you are. [00:22] You want something badly, be obsessed about it. I'm obsessed with being great. [00:32] And I'm going to do everything possible to achieve everything that I have written down for myself. I ain't there. [00:41] People will tell me, David, you're great, you're doing great. You're right there. I'm not, I don't feel. [00:47] David, you've done great. What are you talking about? You're you're an all-star, you're you're you're goat. No, I'm not. [00:58] But I will get 2027, I go on my generational run. [01:05] And I can't wait. Like I just can't wait. [01:15] Sometimes you just have to figure out your direction though. Even plan, you know, I told you, plan B and C is for pussies. [01:23] Plan A and adjustments. That's it. [01:27] And you have to sit back and you have to look at tape. I look at my tape and I'm like, where did I go right? Where did I go wrong? [01:34] What do I have to improve on? I know what I have to improve on, trust me. Ain't nobody got to tell me. I know what I got to improve on. [01:41] 100%. [01:44] Sometimes I sit back and I'm like, you know what? You know what? My this is a fuck it. I'll I'll talk about it before we obviously go here. [01:54] I sat back and I'm like, you know, [01:58] I don't I don't just curse. Like some you hear me curse sometimes. [02:04] I I don't curse. [02:08] Just to go ahead and curse. It just comes out. I'm a New Yorker, okay? I'm a New Yorker. [02:14] And I'm obsessed with things and I and I get passionate about certain topics and and I'll I'll just let go, you know, I'll let off a an F bomb. [02:24] That's who I am. Like you've if you followed me, you know. And it's not I think it comes off I think it comes off well for me, you know, but it is what it is. Some people don't like that. [02:36] I've actually I've lost, I guess, I've lost deals because of it. [02:43] But I sit back and I'm like, okay, should I change that part? Should I not cuss as much? Should I not curse? [02:51] But then, [02:54] Like, okay, like you don't need to throw an F bomb into every convo. [03:00] And I don't think I I think I'm I'm way I think when I look at myself now, I if you look back at tapes, I'm so much calmer now. [03:12] Than I was back then. Like 2020 when I what was it? 2015, 16, when I started podcasting, [03:21] I was wild. I was a wild boy. [03:27] I'm a little bit more reserved now. You know, some people say, hey, Dave, if you if you stop cussing, man, [03:35] But it's like, then I take away my personality and and everybody who's here has showed up to see me. They didn't they're not here to see a a [03:50] a watered down version of DG. [03:56] They didn't come to see that. I know they didn't. [03:59] That doesn't mean that I got to go ahead and be crazy, but I'm just saying I I know they didn't come to see a watered down version of me. [04:07] So there has to be an in between. There has to be a hybrid somewhere. [04:13] And then I get this. Well, David, you're you're way too professional. [04:18] Cuz I wear a suit. And I don't wear a suit on like just because no, no, I love suits. So I wear suits. [04:26] And like, yeah, I run a real show. So I I'm absolutely going to look the part. I got I look at some of the crypto bros on here who run other channels, they're wearing suits now. They never wore suits, they wear suits now. [04:40] And whether or not they want to acknowledge that it is me who they saw rock a suit for so many years that they wear suits now. [04:48] I know I set the trend. It's just that I look better in suits than anybody else. It's and it's fine. But people and that was that was a Donald Trump right now, right? [04:57] But [05:03] I'm too professional. It's crazy. I'm too professional now. Because I I I wear a suit. Obviously the overlays. Look, look, look, the whole setup is professional. [05:16] It's a professional setup. [05:19] Professional conversations with some of the biggest names in our industry. [05:23] And I'm able to have that conversation with them. I'm able to have a conversation. Let's let's keep that again there. Conversation with people versus interviews. [05:35] Though I'm trying to throw in some more questions. [05:41] And I'm adjusting. Like if you I'm breaking it down to you guys right now. I'm being absolutely transparent with you guys right now. I'm doing things right now which I haven't done before in terms of like three or four questions that are being thrown. I'm trying to read it off. I'm trying to be comfortable doing that. I don't have a teleprompter here. [06:06] I kind of don't want to do it either though. Like cuz I can have I could just have a convo without [06:13] But when you bring on guests and the way that we're bringing on guests, [06:17] I want to ask, I want to make sure that I'm asking questions that people people want to ask these people that come onto the show. So, anyway, sorry for the tangent. Sorry for the rant. [06:35] Make sure you have good people around you. [06:39] They'll tell you the truth. [06:43] The motherfuckers that tell you that you're not that somebody's told me recently that I'm not good, but you'll have people that tell you you want to make sure you keep those closer to you that tell you like, man, like you can be better. [06:56] That don't just tell you, oh, no, no, you're fucking great. When you're not. [07:02] When you can be better, you can elevate your game. That's what I'm doing. [07:13] That's what I'm doing. [07:15] And to me, I'm very competitive. Like I see things. I see things. And I'm like, [07:25] They ain't going to leave me out of the they ain't going to leave me out of the conversation. [07:30] They're absolutely, ain't nobody going to leave me out of the goddamn conversation. When it comes to who is one of the greats on the microphone on on live shows and independent shows, they're going to say my fucking name. And if they aren't saying it right now, I am going to make them say my fucking name. Bottom line. I I am absolutely 100%, if not, [07:58] as talented, more talented than some of these motherfuckers out here. I just don't kiss ass. I am never going to kiss a VC's ass. I will never take VC money on. I don't care. I will be [08:12] going on a generational run in 2027 and there is nobody, and I mean nobody, that is going to fucking stop me. I know what I bring to the table. I've been through bulls and bears and bulls and bears. I've helped platform some of the people that you call greatness today. I will get my position back. [08:33] This is 18, 19 months of of a comeback. [08:40] That has yet [08:46] that has yet [08:50] to be fully fulfilled. [08:53] The comeback started 19 months ago. [09:01] Grinding away by myself. [09:12] Game of Thrones, [09:15] the old Targaryen tells Jon Snow, [09:19] kill the boy, Jon Snow, kill the boy. And that's what I did. [09:30] I killed the boy. Me, the former me. [09:36] The one that was naive and and I just like, way too nice. [09:45] That guy is dead. Me, that old DG is dead. [09:52] I'm coming for everything. I am absolutely coming for everything. If you don't see me answering back, I don't answer I don't my energy is no longer wasted on absolute bullshit or dog shit. I don't care. You can call me any name in the book. You can say whatever you want about me. My goal, [10:13] my number one goal is to win. And that's what I'm obsessed with. I don't got time to prove to you that I am not what you say I am. I don't have time like that. [10:25] Time is precious and I won't get it back. I am here to fucking change shit, whether it's from a crypto digital aspect, digital assets standpoint, whether it's politically, [10:39] from a traditional standpoint. I I am absolutely game. [10:47] And I'm not crying out here that shit ain't fair. [10:50] I am absolutely not crying that shit ain't fair. I like the game that I like the way that the game is set up right now. How about that? I like the fact that the VCs and these cabals are purposely leaving me out of the conversation when they know they see me. And and I know that for a fact because I got them screenshots that I will never put out because I'm a man and men don't go ahead and put screenshots out on social media. I think that is the [11:21] I think that is the in the world. [11:31] Like you're shocked when I get a notable person onto the program to talk to me. You shouldn't be shocked. The electricity that I [11:42] provide that oozes out of me. [11:47] The way I can hold a conversation, it's not shocking. [11:55] You just haven't seen DG on this type of [12:01] on this type of mindset in a long time. That's it. And that's why you might be shocked. Don't be. By the way, 3:00, 3:30 today, I will open up a space on Twitter. So you want join the space on Twitter. I'm going to recap the entire week. [12:19] Pull up one or two people only for an hour, no more than that, because I got stuff to do. [12:28] But again, I want to thank everybody who has supported me throughout my journey since I started. [12:36] Since I started doing this. I appreciate you guys. [12:40] I appreciate you watching me as I grow. Still till this day, I continue to grow. And I still continue to recognize where I can get better. And I still [12:53] know [12:56] And I I know I know like I know for a fact that I do provide value. [13:04] I provide value, but I got to get better. [13:08] I I got to really take over. In 2027, I mean it starts now, but 2027, I'm going on a generational run. Like that is what I'm doing. And there is not a single person, not a cabal, not a VC, not an influencer, not a K, not not not a single person that will stop me. I show up every single fucking day. [13:31] Whether I want to or not. I wake up with positive energy every single day. Sometimes, sometimes thoughts go through my head, but still, I wake up smiling. You have not seen and I have not seen [13:47] the next version of me. And the next version of me is taking a foot up to everybody's ass and I don't give a fuck if y'all like it or not. I don't care if you try to crucify me. I'm coming out here and I'm taking what's mine. Just know that. [14:05] And I want you to clip this up and you can go ahead and loop it up. Y'all can talk about it in back channels. Y'all can laugh about it. That just allows me and it gives me [14:20] the energy I need, the fuel that I need to go ahead and just absolutely dominate the game. I don't know how you can show up to work, whether it's this or I hop or Microsoft or Cisco systems. I don't know how you can show up to your job and just say, you know what, I'll be good. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to be great. [14:47] If I'm stepping onto that court, I am dunking on you. [14:52] I am absolutely dunking on you and I'm not apologizing for it because you've stepped onto that court, you want to play one-on-one, we can play. [15:03] That's what I'm doing. [15:06] And and a lot of this again, [15:11] this is this is growing up. This is looking at yourself. This is playing tapes of yourself. Oh, I did great here. I didn't do good here. Why didn't I do better here? Why didn't I ask the question? [15:24] What the fuck was that all about? Oh, that was great. These are things that I watch every single day. That's the time. When you guys ask me, where you at? [15:36] I'm busy studying myself. I'm busy building. [15:49] Here comes the cocky part. [15:52] I'm handsome as fuck. I still got my black hair. [15:57] I got sexy ass eyebrows that my eyebrows they they my eyebrows talk for me. Green eyes. Beard. [16:06] Still black. A little little gray. A little little mostly black. [16:14] Workout. [16:19] You know, every time I work out, I'll say before I go, every time I work out, and shout out to everybody who's listened to this rant. Uh, every time I work out, [16:29] it just makes me that more obsessed to dominate this game. And there's a lot of podcasters. There's a lot of people that are out here that have way more support. And that's fine with me. I like this game and I like the way the cards are being dealt. I like it because when I win, [16:50] and I already feel I won, but I'm you when I when I win though, nobody can say this shit was given to him. [16:58] They will say that motherfucker [17:01] hit bottom, [17:04] an unnecessary bottom and still came back [17:10] with no help. [17:15] And dominated. [17:17] And climbed that motherfucking mountain and won. [17:21] But the winning, the winning part, it's not about me being a household name. No, no, no, no. It's about [17:30] that I'm able to have a platform that I can onboard as many people as possible into the digital asset space and I can go ahead and have a platform where I can talk about real issues that we face in the world today. That's it. [17:44] That's all I want to do. [17:47] Do I need it? No. Do I want it? Yes. [17:55] And last, man, I'm going to make sure I make my father proud. [17:59] I'm going to make sure I make my dad proud. [18:03] Bottom line. I promised him that. I said I would dominate. I said I would dominate. I'm going to I'm obsessed with making sure I make him proud. Thank you so much for tuning in. Appreciate all you guys. I hope you guys have a wonderful fucking weekend. Uh, yeah. [18:24] And on that, I'm out.