Bitcoin for Millennials

Adam Swick is a veteran strategist at the intersection of energy and digital finance, most recently as the Chief Growth Officer at MARA. We discuss how interruptible Bitcoin mining stabilizes grid supply and demand, why miners monetize stranded energy as a buyer of last resort, and how AI data centers collide with Bitcoin on power, uptime, and infrastructure.
› https://x.com/swicktalk

PARTNERS
🌳 Gain peace of mind with Onramp’s Multi-Institution Custody solution. Sign up with code BRAM to receive $150 in Bitcoin after your first deposit: https://onrampbitcoin.com/bram
🟧 Buy Bitcoin in the EU 🇪🇺 via https://relai.me/bram - Sign up with code BRAM to get 10% off your fees

PRODUCTS I ENDORSE
› Get 10% off a Bitaxe open-source Bitcoin home miner using code BRAM at https://shop.powermining.io/?ref=BRAM
› Blockstream Jade Plus: The simplest and most secure hardware wallet on the planet - Get 10% off with code BRAM at https://store.blockstream.com
› Stamp Seed: The safest way to backup your hardware wallet - Get 15% off with code BRAM at https://stampseed.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFIED
› https://youtube.com/@bramk⁠⁠
› https://x.com/bramk

ℹ️ EPISODE SUMMARY
Bram Kanstein and Adam Swick discuss how Bitcoin turns raw energy into engineered truth. They cover Adam’s jump from high finance to Bitcoin mining. Swick reveals why proof of work and interruptible load rewires the power grid, not just finance. They break down Bitcoin mining as the buyer of last resort for stranded energy, like filling every empty airline seat. AI data centers enter as a rival with different rules: uptime, fiber, and capex.

RELAI DISCLAIMERRelai sponsors this show/podcast and is authorized to provide crypto-asset services in Switzerland and across the European Union under the MiCA regulatory framework with its license issued by the French regulator, AMF (License No: A2025-006). The company is actively expanding its services to EU member states following the completion of passporting notifications.

Eric Yakes runs Epoch Ventures and is the author of The 7th Property: Bitcoin and the Monetary Revolution.
› https://x.com/ericyakes

PARTNERS
🌳 Gain peace of mind with Onramp’s Multi-Institution Custody solution. Sign up with code BRAM to receive $150 in Bitcoin after your first deposit: https://onrampbitcoin.com/bram
🟧 Buy Bitcoin in the EU 🇪🇺 via https://relai.me/bram - Sign up with code BRAM to get 10% off your fees

PRODUCTS I ENDORSE
› Get 10% off a Bitaxe open-source Bitcoin home miner using code BRAM at https://shop.powermining.io/?ref=BRAM
› Blockstream Jade Plus: The simplest and most secure hardware wallet on the planet - Get 10% off with code BRAM at https://store.blockstream.com
› Stamp Seed: The safest way to backup your hardware wallet - Get 15% off with code BRAM at https://stampseed.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFIED
› https://youtube.com/@bramk⁠⁠
› https://x.com/bramk

🕑 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Immutability as a Core Property of Money
01:19 - The Evolution of Money: From Private to Centralized
03:20 - Coinage, Coin Clipping, and Roman Debasement
05:11 - Banking Origins: Receipts and Fractional Reserves
07:14 - Central Banks, Paper Money, and the Telegraph Era
09:38 - The Fiat Era: Debt Expansion and Moral Hazard
11:19 - How Bitcoin Removes Monetary Tradeoffs
13:14 - Trust, Human Fallibility, and Objective Verification
16:58 - A Distributed Future: Bitcoin Meets AI
20:37 - Agency, Incentives, and Escaping Fiat Life Scripts
23:42 - Why Monetary Technology Adopts Slowly
25:51 - Adoption S-Curves: Store of Value Comes First
31:44 - Volatility, Institutions, and Capital Depth
38:02 - Volatility vs. Risk: Narratives Drive Markets
43:46 - Why Bitcoin Is Hard to Understand
47:58 - Banks, Credit, and Fractional Reserve on Bitcoin
57:32 - Hot Takes: Nasdaq Correlations and Crashes
01:00:16 - Quantum Computing and Bitcoin as a Protocol
01:04:22 - Fears and Hopes: Freedom Money and Mining

ℹ️ EPISODE SUMMARY
Bram Kanstein and Eric Yakes discuss why Bitcoin adds immutability as a new property of money. They trace how trust slid from coinage to banks to fiat, and why moral hazard keeps showing up. Yakes frames Bitcoin self-custody as lowering the cost of sovereignty, like holding value on a USB instead of in a vault. They confront volatility, institutions, and why narrative moves markets before fundamentals. They close on credit, fractional reserve incentives, quantum computing, and Bitcoin’s long game.

RELAI DISCLAIMERRelai sponsors this show/podcast and is authorized to provide crypto-asset services in Switzerland and across the European Union under the MiCA regulatory framework with its license issued by the French regulator, AMF (License No: A2025-006). The company is actively expanding its services to EU member states following the completion of passporting notifications.

Niko Jilch is a renowned finance journalist, podcaster, and fierce advocate for Bitcoin and sound money principles.
› https://x.com/NikoJilch
› https://www.youtube.com/@WasBitcoinbringt

PARTNERS
🌳 Gain peace of mind with Onramp’s Multi-Institution Custody solution. Sign up with code BRAM to receive $150 in Bitcoin after your first deposit: https://onrampbitcoin.com/bram
🟧 Buy Bitcoin in the EU 🇪🇺 via https://relai.me/bram - Sign up with code BRAM to get 10% off your fees

PRODUCTS I ENDORSE
› Get 10% off a Bitaxe open-source Bitcoin home miner using code BRAM at https://shop.powermining.io/?ref=BRAM
› Blockstream Jade Plus: The simplest and most secure hardware wallet on the planet - Get 10% off with code BRAM at https://store.blockstream.com
› Stamp Seed: The safest way to backup your hardware wallet - Get 15% off with code BRAM at https://stampseed.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFIED
› https://youtube.com/@bramk⁠⁠
› https://x.com/bramk

🕑 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Europe Under Pressure: Gold vs. Bitcoin
05:07 - The Euro Explained: Gold Backing and Structure
07:24 - 13,000 Tonnes of Gold on European Balance Sheets
09:44 - Euro Credibility: Draghi, Lagarde, and Central Banking
12:22 - Europe Reacts to Trump: De-Dollarization Dynamics
16:42 - Trump as a Gorbachev Moment
20:04 - How the Dollar Timeline Was Extended
23:22 - Why Gold Is Outperforming Bitcoin (For Now)
28:31 - The Welfare State Is Bankrupt: Printing as Policy
31:00 - Gold as the Alarm, Bitcoin as the Confirmation
32:12 - Self-Custody as an Individual Survival Strategy
36:12 - The 2010 Crisis: Panic, Gold, and Hard Lessons
38:13 - Accepting Fiat Failure and Protecting Yourself
46:19 - Stablecoins, Eurodollars, and Treasury Demand
56:04 - CBDCs vs. Neutral Money: Why Bitcoin Matters
01:00:00 - If the US Embraces Bitcoin, Can Others Ignore It?

ℹ️ EPISODE SUMMARY
Bram Kanstein and Niko Jilch discuss why gold is ripping while Bitcoin looks stuck. Europe’s euro project, CBDCs, and political centralization get put under a harsh light. Niko reveals the euro’s hidden gold backing, 13,000 tonnes, and why that matters for monetary geopolitics. They confront stablecoins as a stealth extension of dollar power, and Europe’s fear of them. The thread that holds it together is sovereignty, self-custody, and conviction in a fiat system that keeps printing.

RELAI DISCLAIMERRelai sponsors this show/podcast and is authorized to provide crypto-asset services in Switzerland and across the European Union under the MiCA regulatory framework with its license issued by the French regulator, AMF (License No: A2025-006). The company is actively expanding its services to EU member states following the completion of passporting notifications.

Jeroen Blokland is a seasoned professional investor with over 20 years of experience, and the author of ‘The Great Rebalancing’.
› https://x.com/jsblokland
› https://greatrebalancing.com

PARTNERS
🌳 Gain peace of mind with Onramp’s Multi-Institution Custody solution. Sign up with code BRAM to receive $150 in Bitcoin after your first deposit: https://onrampbitcoin.com/bram
🟧 Buy Bitcoin in the EU 🇪🇺 via https://relai.me/bram - Sign up with code BRAM to get 10% off your fees

PRODUCTS I ENDORSE
› Get 10% off a Bitaxe open-source Bitcoin home miner using code BRAM at https://shop.powermining.io/?ref=BRAM› Heat your home and Earn Bitcoin with Heatbit - Get 5% off with code BRAM at ****https://heatbit.com/?ref=BRAM
› Blockstream Jade Plus: The simplest and most secure hardware wallet on the planet - Get 10% off with code BRAM at https://store.blockstream.com
› Stamp Seed: The safest way to backup your hardware wallet - Get 15% off with code BRAM at https://stampseed.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFIED
› https://youtube.com/@bramk⁠⁠
› https://x.com/bramk

🕑 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – The Debt System Is Breaking01:21 – The UK Crisis Was the Warning05:36 – Japan Proves This Isn’t a One-Off10:00 – Why Fiat Lies About Returns16:00 – Yield Curve Control & the Death of Markets18:13 – The End of the 60/40 Portfolio28:00 – Inflation, Repression, and Locked-In Spending38:00 – Fiscal Dominance Takes Over48:00 – Why Scarce Assets Win (Gold & Bitcoin)58:00 – The Great Rebalancing Has Begun01:13:00 – How the State Will Try to Trap Capital01:27:00 – What Insiders Actually Own

ℹ️ EPISODE SUMMARY
Bram Kanstein and Jeroen Blokland discuss why the UK bond blowup during Liz Truss’ short moment in power was a canary in the coal mine for the debt trapped world. They explain how negative real yields break the 60/40 portfolio, bonds stop protecting, they quietly drain purchasing power. They confront fiscal dominance, yield curve control, and financial repression that locks savers into refinancing the system. They make the case for scarce assets like gold and Bitcoin, plus Bitcoin’s trustless settlement as an exit valve. They close on The Great Rebalancing, why scarcity may rise exponentially, and why your investing mindset needs a reset.

RELAI DISCLAIMERRelai sponsors this show/podcast and is authorized to provide crypto-asset services in Switzerland and across the European Union under the MiCA regulatory framework with its license issued by the French regulator, AMF (License No: A2025-006). The company is actively expanding its services to EU member states following the completion of passporting notifications.

Jake Scanlan is an engineer and the founder of Hashpower Academy, where he demystifies Bitcoin and empowers a new generation by teaching its fundamentals, from the watts powering the network to the sats you stack as money.
› https://x.com/jakescanlan
› https://www.youtube.com/@HashpowerAcademy
PARTNERS
🌳 Gain peace of mind with Onramp’s Multi-Institution Custody solution. Sign up with code BRAM to receive $150 in Bitcoin after your first deposit: https://onrampbitcoin.com/bram
🟧 Buy Bitcoin in the EU 🇪🇺 via https://relai.me/bram - Sign up with code BRAM to get 10% off your fees

PRODUCTS I ENDORSE
› Get 10% off a Bitaxe open-source Bitcoin home miner using code BRAM at https://shop.powermining.io/?ref=BRAM› Heat your home and Earn Bitcoin with Heatbit - Get 5% off with code BRAM at https://heatbit.com/?ref=BRAM
› Blockstream Jade Plus: The simplest and most secure hardware wallet on the planet - Get 10% off with code BRAM at https://store.blockstream.com
› Stamp Seed: The safest way to backup your hardware wallet - Get 15% off with code BRAM at https://stampseed.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFIED
› YouTube: ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@bramk⁠⁠
› Follow Bram on ⁠⁠https://x.com/bramk

🕑 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Introduction to Bitcoin Mining and Education02:42 - The Energy-Finance Connection09:56 - Bitcoin as a Scientific Accounting System16:23 - Local Energy Production and Individual Opportunities23:58 - The Future of Bitcoin in Everyday Life32:16 - Teaching the Next Generation about Bitcoin34:14 - The Fascination of Energy Distribution35:27 - Innovations in Bitcoin and Energy40:13 - Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading43:10 - The Role of Bitcoin in Agriculture47:54 - Decentralizing Mining for Everyday Use52:45 - Cost Reduction through Bitcoin Mining52:59 - The Future of Money and Value

ℹ️ EPISODE SUMMARY
Bram Kanstein and Jake Scanlan discuss why Bitcoin mining is the missing bridge between energy and finance. They reframe proof of work as a scientific accounting system that turns wasted electricity into verifiable money. Jake breaks down Bitcoin per kilowatt hour as the real hurdle rate that can stabilize grids and reprice energy. They confront the fiat mismatch, numbers in a database buying real-world energy. The conversation ends in El Salvador, where mining becomes heat, cost reduction, and everyday Bitcoin adoption.

RELAI DISCLAIMERRelai sponsors this show/podcast and is authorized to provide crypto-asset services in Switzerland and across the European Union under the MiCA regulatory framework with its license issued by the French regulator, AMF (License No: A2025-006). The company is actively expanding its services to EU member states following the completion of passporting notifications.