What Bitcoin Did

“If your system can’t survive without inflation, the problem isn’t deflation.”

Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers return to the show to break down one of the most misunderstood ideas in economics: deflation.

Allen & Sacha are the authors of Bitcoin is Venice, in this episode they get into their latest essay, Number Go Down, where they challenge the core assumptions behind modern macroeconomics. They argue that the idea inflation is necessary for a healthy economy is not grounded in reality, but in flawed models, bad incentives, and a fundamental misunderstanding of how growth actually happens.

We get into why the 2% inflation target is arbitrary, how Keynesian economics confuses credit collapse with true deflation, and why falling prices driven by innovation might actually be the most important signal of a functioning economy. We also explore the paradox of thrift, malinvestment, and why distorted price signals lead to systemic fragility.

Allen and Sacha explain why saving is the foundation of real growth, how deflation can drive investment rather than kill it, and why trying to “manage” the economy through measurement and intervention is fundamentally misguided. We also get into debt, why inflation acts as a hidden bailout mechanism, and what a world built on sound money might actually look like.

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“Money on the internet is still broken.”

David Marcus returns to the show to break down why moving money globally is still slow, fragmented, and expensive and how Bitcoin could fix it.

David explains how the current system is built on disconnected networks that extract fees, delay payments, and capture data. His solution is a new kind of global account built on Bitcoin infrastructure that unifies dollars, Bitcoin, and stablecoins into a single system that works instantly across borders.

We get into why platforms like Uber and YouTube could become financial hubs, how stablecoins might accelerate Bitcoin adoption, and why open networks tend to beat closed systems.

Finally, we discuss the future of AI agents that can hold and move money on your behalf, and what that means for privacy, control, and Bitcoin as the underlying monetary layer.

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“There’s a reality here that you guys are all asleep to… we are the only alternative path.”

American HODL & Peter McCormack join the show to break down the growing divide across the West, the collapse of trust in institutions, and whether the current political system is already failing.

We’re moving from a high trust to a low trust society, where incentives are broken, democracy is increasingly unstable, and the middle ground between left and right is disappearing. As countries like the UK decline economically and culturally, the risk isn’t just stagnation, it’s escalation.

We get into whether this leads to conflict or some form of authoritarianism, why freedom is so difficult to sell politically, and whether Bitcoin can realistically act as an alternative system. We also discuss the collapse of the middle class, AI-driven disruption, the role of media in accelerating division, and whether Bitcoin arrives in time or simply becomes a hedge against what comes next.

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“Bitcoin has a chance of losing the energy conversation.”

Michael Dunworth joins the show to break down what happens when AI and Bitcoin collide over the world’s most important resource: energy.

Michael argues that as AI demand explodes, governments and corporations will prioritise data centres over Bitcoin mining, potentially rationing energy and pushing Bitcoin to the margins. At the same time, AI is set to drive massive job displacement, reshape global infrastructure, and concentrate power into a handful of dominant players.

We get into whether this is an existential threat to Bitcoin or a hidden tailwind for decentralisation, how AI could reshape energy markets, why Bitcoin mining might survive as a balancing layer for AI grids, and whether AI itself ultimately chooses Bitcoin as its native money. We also discuss nation state adoption, the risk of governments seizing Bitcoin, the centralisation of custody, and why Bitcoin’s biggest risk right now might be losing focus.

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“Bitcoin’s values are easy to defend until they become inconvenient.”

Rob Hamilton returns to the show to get into Bitcoin as a hero’s journey, and why its next great test may already be here.

Rob explains how Bitcoin evolved from a cypherpunk rebellion into an institutional asset, and why that shift is creating a new fault line inside the network. As more Bitcoin moves into ETFs and corporate treasuries, the question is no longer just whether Bitcoin succeeds, but who defines what it is.

We get into the debate around quantum computing, whether vulnerable coins should ever be frozen, and why that decision could trigger a chain split. Rob lays out the tension between protecting the network and preserving Bitcoin’s core principles, and why this may become the most important battle since the block size wars.

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Rob Hamilton: https://x.com/Rob1Ham