TFTC: A Bitcoin Podcast

Alex Leishman, CEO and CTO of River, a Bitcoin-focused financial leader driving custody and product innovation. He discusses adoption persisting in a bear market. They cover the Lightning Network’s momentum and measurement. Conversation explores institutional vs individual ownership shifts, AI’s effect on productivity, quantum risk timelines, and River’s dual-money banking roadmap.

Melody Wright, housing market analyst and investigative researcher, exposes cracks in U.S. housing and labor data. She discusses hidden home-sale declines, off-market deals and MLS blindspots. Conversations touch on rising delinquencies, private-credit risks, municipal strain, and why price correction and on-the-ground data matter.

John Arnold, Ten31 Timestamp contributor and macro/tech analyst. He breaks down a viral AI post and why institutions miss AI disruption. They discuss managerial inertia, CBO budget blind spots, private credit risks from software upheaval, and the rise of a machine‑payable web via Lightning—and why Bitcoin must compete for agent payments.

Jesse Shrader, co-founder and CEO of Amboss building Lightning tooling and multi-asset rails. He discusses Taproot Assets enabling stablecoins and provable token supplies on Bitcoin. He covers RailsX, a peer-to-peer DEX on Lightning, and Magma for automated agent liquidity. Conversation touches on Lightning scaling, FX settlement potential, and AI-driven channel automation.

Justin Moon, entrepreneur and developer focused on freedom tech and decentralized systems. He talks about returning to building, rapid AI advances like OpenClaw and Claude Code, native mobile apps and Marmot/White Noise integrations, and why shipping small, practical freedom-tech products and agent-driven tools matters for real-world adoption.

Gary Brode, investor and founder at Deep Knowledge Investing, offers macro market analysis and a long-term Bitcoin perspective. He discusses why inflation persists, the unsustainable economics of hyperscaler AI spending, risks from OpenAI’s trillion-dollar promises, and how AI implementation and agentic risks could cascade through markets. He also covers energy, reindustrialization, and Bitcoin’s role in authentication and long-term value.

Conversation about extreme fear-and-greed readings and why price swings can mask fundamentals. Exploration of AI agents using Lightning wallets and signing into websites as internet-native money. Discussion of $600B+ hyperscaler CapEx creating long-term Bitcoin demand. Examination of hash rate dips, difficulty adjustments, and why Bitcoin is not yet a reflexive hedge.

Marty sits down with ArbedOut to discuss the Epstein email leaks and their implications for Bitcoin, the current state of markets and Bitcoin treasury companies, the challenges of reaching consensus on Bitcoin's next soft fork, the promise of AI agents making Lightning payments, and ArbedOut's new project SigBash — a programmable signer that brings covenant-like functionality to Bitcoin without a protocol change. Sigbash: https://www.sigbash.com/ ArbedOut on Twitter: https://x.com/arbedout STACK SATS hat: https://tftcmerch.io/ Our newsletter: https://www.tftc.io/bitcoin-brief/ TFTC Elite (Ad-free & Discord): https://www.tftc.io/#/portal/signup/ Discord: https://discord.gg/VJ2dABShBz Opportunity Cost Extension: https://www.opportunitycost.app/ Shoutout to our sponsors: Bitkey https://bit.ly/4pOv2L4 Promo Code: TFTC99 Unchained https://unchained.com/tftc/ SLNT https://slnt.com/tftc Lygos: http://bit.ly/3ZtQLwp Salt of the Earth: https://drinksote.com/tftc Join the TFTC Movement: Main YT Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TFTC21/videos Clips YT Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUQcW3jxfQfEUS8kqR5pJtQ Website https://tftc.io/ Newsletter tftc.io/bitcoin-brief/ Twitter https://twitter.com/tftc21 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tftc.io/ Nostr https://primal.net/tftc Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Nostr https://primal.net/martybent Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://www.tftc.io/tag/podcasts/

James Check, a Bitcoin analyst known for on-chain data and mean-reversion models, joins to unpack the current bear market. He talks mean-reversion signals placing Bitcoin in the bottom fifth, who is selling and exchange flows, supply air pockets and key levels, quantum computing fears and BIP360, and why conviction through capitulation matters.

Vince Lanci, market analyst focused on precious metals and macro markets, walks through the chaotic selloffs in gold, silver and Bitcoin. He explains China’s flawed precious-metals structures, how long-only funds and deglobalization reshaped supply and demand, and why gold is being reimagined as collateral in shifting monetary networks.