The Bitcoin Standard Podcast

Saifedean is hosted by Bitcoin Magazine TV to discuss his recent work on Bitcoin mining and stablecoins, as well as the US fiscal outlook. 🔗👇🏼 Sponsors Swan - Your Partner for Generational Wealth - https://swan.com/saif The Saif House - High quality cloth hardcover bitcoin books by Saifedean & more delivered worldwide, with 10% off for paying in bitcoin - https://TheSaifHouse.com

Saifedean examines whether growing stablecoin demand can reduce price inflation & help US fiscal solvency. He focuses on often-overlooked trade-offs: lost seigniorage, displaced long-term Treasury demand & bank credit, & more fragile short-term funding & rollover risk. Marina Azzimonti and Vincenzo Quadrini — Digital Assets and the Exorbitant Dollar Privilege Marina Azzimonti and Vincenzo Quadrini — Digital Economy, Stablecoins, and the Global Financial System Stephen Miran — A Global Stablecoin Glut: Implications for Monetary Policy Rashad Ahmed and Iñaki Aldasoro — Stablecoins and Safe Asset Prices Congressional Budget Office — How Changes in Economic Conditions Might Affect the Federal Budget: 2026 to 2036 Saifedean Ammous — Bitcoin & Tether: Drinking the Dollar Milkshake — Bitcoin 2025 Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee — Report to the Secretary of the Treasury

Saifedean argues bitcoin mining electricity consumption and capital expenditure may have peaked, and presents the argument as a testable hypothesis, and discusses the long-term implications for bitcoin, mining, and AI. Full Article: https://saifedean.substack.com/p/bitcoin-electricity-consumption-may https://x.com/saifedean/status/2099782818138128866 Sponsors: Swan - Your Partner for Generational Wealth - https://swan.com/saif The Saif House - High quality cloth hardcover bitcoin books by Saifedean & more delivered worldwide, with 10% off for paying in bitcoin - https://TheSaifHouse.com

Saifedean hosts a debate between JW Weatherman and Giacomo Zucco on whether hardware wallets are a security liability. They discuss the Cold Card entropy backdoor, multi-vendor multisig, the code review process in Bitcoin Core, using generic laptops, and how to think about your threat model. Sponsors: Swan: Buy your bitcoin and get concierge service from https://bit.ly/3KeR1Li The Saif House: Get Saifedean's books and high quality bitcoin & economics books with bulk discounts on https://bit.ly/46zZ5fx Learn more: https://yeticold.com/ Follow Giacomo Zucco:https://x.com/giacomozucco Follow JW Weatherman: https://x.com/JWWeatherman_

Saifedean talks to Ben Westgate and @BtCPavao about how to store bitcoin safely with Bitcoin Core and an old laptop, generating and backing up keys, the problems with BIP39 seed phrases, when multisig makes sense, custodians, and why gambling and lending destroy stacks.

Saifedean joins Mark Moss to discuss how fiat money and central banking are destroying people's ability to build wealth, why Bitcoin beats gold as a store of value, the recent Cold Card hack, self-custody, and whether borrowing to buy Bitcoin is a smart strategy.

Bitcoiner HAC invites us to rethink Bitcoin hardware from scratch. What does a signing device actually do and can you do it yourself? He makes the case for why DIY Bitcoin with generic hardware is better than specialized Bitcoin hardware. Twitter: https://x.com/heavilyarmedc Yeticold: https://yeticold.com/ Mentioned GitHub: https://github.com/bowlarbear/yeti-2.0 WTF Happened in 1971: https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

Saifedean reads Chapter 9 of his latest book, The Gold Standard, in which the world gets a decentralized and censorship-resistant international gold clearance system that changes the course of history! You can buy the full audiobook on Audible or saifedean.com, and get your physical copies from Amazon or saifedean.com

Founder of the Seedsigner open source project joins us to discuss the Coldcard hack, how the Seedsigner works, and the advantages of open source solutions. Seedsigner website: https://seedsigner.com/ Twitter profile of Seed Signer: @seedsigner Twitter profile of Seed: @sesi_the_man Twitter profiles of other key contributors: @KeithMukai @newtonick @easyuxd

Important security update for anyone using a COLDCARD. There has been a serious vulnerability disclosed involving the randomness used by some COLDCARD devices when generating Bitcoin seeds. If you use a COLDCARD, I recommend moving your bitcoin to a completely new seed generated somewhere else. If you use another wallet today but you generated the seeds on a coldcard, you should also move your bitcoin. First, an important reassurance: if you followed best practices and generated your own seed using at least 50 fair, independent, private dice rolls, you are not considered at risk from this specific randomness vulnerability. Similarly, if you used a strong passphrase, that provides additional protection. And there are several COLDCARD devices and seeds that fall outside the specific affected firmware ranges. But my recommendation is simpler than trying to determine exactly which model you have, which firmware was installed years ago when you generated your seed, how many dice rolls you used, whether you remember every detail correctly, and whether further vulnerabilities may be discovered. With something as important as your bitcoin, I would rather eliminate the uncertainty than take a risk we don't need to take. If you rolled your own dice more than 50 times and have a strong passphrase, you probably have more time. If you relied on the device to produce the randomness, you need to act immediately. Either way, act decisively and with high focus. Take your time and use whichever migration option you are most comfortable and competent with. Rushing a Bitcoin transaction or improvising a security setup you don't understand can create its own risks. If you decide to migrate to another hardware wallet or an airgapped computer you understand well, here's the process: First, generate a completely new seed on an unaffected device you know is safe from bugs and is not connected to the internet. Second, carefully record and verify the new seed backup. Third, verify the wallet fingerprint and receiving address on the hardware wallet itself or the airgapped computer. Do not simply trust what your online computer or phone shows you. Fourth, send a small test transaction. Fifth, confirm that everything works and that you can access and spend from the new wallet before moving the remaining funds. And keep your old seed backup until you have fully verified that the migration is complete. If you're not comfortable setting up another self-custody wallet immediately, another option is to temporarily move the bitcoin to a reputable exchange or custodian that you already trust while you take the time to establish a new self-custody setup properly. Again, the point is not to rush. Choose the option you understand best. But do move. If you used a strong, unique BIP-39 passphrase, that provides an additional independent security barrier. If you used sufficient private dice entropy, that also protects you from this particular randomness problem. But personally, given what has been disclosed, I would still rather create a fresh seed somewhere else and remove the uncertainty entirely. One final warning: scammers will absolutely try to exploit this situation. Never give your seed words or passphrase to anyone. Never enter them into a website, chatbot, unsolicited recovery tool, or a link somebody sends you. Nobody helping you migrate needs your seed words. Don't panic. Don't ignore it either. Take your time, verify every step, and move your funds in whatever safe way you are most comfortable with. Be sure to hold on to all your devices and seeds, as they may be useful in demonstrating ownership of the coins if the hacker is caught. Also be sure to follow the latest disclosures from Coinkite to understand if your device is affected, and to follow all the latest updates on the issue. I recommend Twitter for staying up to date.

Description: Four talks from Rothbard's centenary celebration last month in Porto: Ammous: Rothbard on Palestine Hoppe: Hurdles, Obstacles, and Surprises on the Road to Rothbardianism Kinsella: Rothbard's Greatest Hits De Mombynes: Rothbard & Bitcoin The accompanying book, Rothbard at 100, is available from TheSaifHouse.com

Cory Klippsten, founder and CEO of Swan, joins us to discuss the accelerating surveillance state, why bitcoin is the alternative to the left and right, and why stablecoins, gold, and CBDCs don't threaten Bitcoin. Swan - Your Partner for Generational Wealth - https://swan.com/saif

The final lecture of Principles of Economics makes the case for civilization, how it emerges when reason restrains instinct & lowers time preference, enabling capital accumulation & division of labor, increasing peace & prosperity over generations, & how it can collapse. Get all course notes and slides on https://saifedean.com/poecourse

Saifedean joins Nick Carey to discuss money as a civilizational force: why mainstream economics has an inflation blind spot, how banks "mine" fiat through credit creation, why the rich hold negative fiat balances to acquire hard assets, and how inflation funds war, corrodes morality, and raises time preference.

Lecture 17 of Principles of Economics explores the economics of defense as a market good rather than a uniquely governmental function, how law and order emerge through voluntary provision, the failure modes inherent of the state's monopoly over defense & law, and what a free market in defense would look like. Get all course notes and slides on https://saifedean.com/poecourse

In this interview with Mario Nawfal, Saifedean presents the Misesian case against Israel, and argues the only way to understand the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is that it is the result of the denial of property rights for Palestinians based purely on their not belonging to the ruling ethnoreligious group. Join Crowdhealth: https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/

Hans-Hermann Hoppe and Stephan Kinsella read the preface, introduction, and first chapter of Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment, published by The Saif House, July 2026. Preorder your copy now, and join us for the Rothbard At 100 conference in Porto on June 27. Details are on rothbard100.pt

16th lecture of Principles of Economics explores the economics of violence in both its private and governmental forms, the non-aggression principle as the foundation of peaceful cooperation, how government coercion differs from market exchange, and the rationales offered to justify state violence. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse Crowdhealth: https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/

Saifedean presents the Misesian case against Israel, and argues the only way to understand the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is that it is the result of the denial of property rights for Palestinians based purely on their not belonging to the ruling ethnoreligious group. Full Article: https://saifedean.substack.com/p/property-rights-the-root-cause-of Article on X: https://x.com/saifedean/status/1987845360484520258

15th lecture of Principles of Economics explores monetary expansion as the issuance of credit unbacked by savings, how it distorts interest rates and misallocates capital, why this generates the business cycle, Mises' money typology & how central banks are central planners of capital markets. Get all course notes and slides on https://saifedean.com/poecourse

Saifedean reads the text of his new article on Argentina's Javier Milei experiment, and also reads the text of his tribute to Murray Rothbard, to be published in Rothbard At 100: A Tribute and Assessment, a collection of essays edited by Hans-Hermann Hoppe and Stephan Kinsella celebrating Rothbard's centenary, available for preorder now from The Saif House Rothbard at 100: Hardcover – Preorder: https://academy.saifedean.com/product/rothbard-at-100-hardcover/

Fourteenth lecture of Principles of Economics explores credit and banking as the institutions that channel savings into investment, how commodity credit emerges from real savings, while circulation credit comes from money creation, why interest rates reflect time preference, and whether interest can be eliminated with hard money. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Saifedean makes the case for bitcoin as apolar money, the only workable alternative to a government global reserve currency and a unipolar world order, and how geopolitical developments underscore this role.

Thirteenth lecture of Principles of Economics explores time preference as the rate at which individuals discount the future, how property rights and hard money reduce uncertainty and lower time preference, enabling saving and investment, and why the progressive lowering of time preference is the driving force behind capital accumulation and the process of civilization. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Twelfth lecture of Principles of Economics explores capitalism as the system of private ownership of capital goods, how free capital markets allocate resources to their most productive uses through profit and loss, why economic calculation requires private property, and why socialism fails without it. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse Sponsors: Crowdhealth - https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/ Daylight - The computer, de-invented - https://daylightcomputer.com/ CoinKite - Bitcoin Security and Fun Devices - https://coinkite.shop/bitcoinstandard TheBitcoinWay - TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE https://www.thebitcoinway.com/ The Saif House - High quality cloth hardcover bitcoin books by Saifedean & more delivered worldwide, with 10% off for paying in bitcoin - https://TheSaifHouse.com

Eleventh lecture of Principles of Economics explains how individual preferences coordinate production and consumption decisions through economic calculation based on property rights, and why consumer sovereignty drives entrepreneurial decisions in the market order. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Tenth lecture of Principles of Economics explores money as the most salable good, how it emerges from trade, solves the coincidence-of-wants problem, enables calculation and specialization, preserves value across time, and why hardness matters more than quantity. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Trump’s Three-Card-Monte Takes on the Chess Grandmasters This is a full reading of Saifedean's article analyzing one month of the Iran War and its likely political and economic consequences. https://x.com/saifedean/status/2038250120890769859 https://saifedean.substack.com/p/escalating-from-suez-to-waterloo

Ninth lecture of Principles of Economics explores trade as voluntary exchange that benefits all parties, explaining subjective valuation, absolute and comparative advantage, and how specialization and the division of labor raise productivity, cooperation, and civilization. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Eighth lecture of Principles of Economics examines energy and power as essential drivers of production, showing how abundant energy, especially hydrocarbons, raises productivity, expands trade and living standards, and helps explain prosperity, freedom, and the decline of slavery. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Seventh lecture of Principles of Economics explores technology as non-scarce knowledge that raises productivity and drives long-term growth, explaining why innovation creates new work instead of destroying it, and examining the economic arguments surrounding intellectual property. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Sixth lecture of Principles of Economics explores capital as saved resources that lengthen production to raise productivity, showing how time preference governs saving and interest, why capital is costly and fragile (depreciation, risk, destruction), and how capital accumulation drives higher living standards. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Fifth lecture of Principles of Economics explains property as the only workable solution to the problem of scarcity, how ownership prevents conflict, the logic of self-ownership, and how secure property rights enable saving, capital formation, peaceful cooperation & civilizational advance. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Fourth lecture of Principles of Economics explores labor as the sacrifice of leisure for future gain, explaining disutility, production and productivity, how wages reflect marginal output, why work never disappears, and how voluntary labor and capital raise the value of human time. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Third lecture of Principles of Economics examines time as the ultimate scarce resource, showing how all human action unfolds across time, why opportunity cost exists, how time preference shapes choices, and how economizing time drives production, saving, and civilization. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Saifedean debates Peter Schiff on gold, bitcoin, and the future of money, during the PlanB Conference in San Salvador!

Second lecture of Principles of Economics course explores value as a subjective judgment existing only in the consciousness of humans, how scarcity forces economizing, and how marginal utility determines choices and valuations of goods. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Starting this week, I'm releasing all the lectures of my Principles of Economics online course for free! This week's lecture explores economics as the study of human action and choice under scarcity, how humans act purposefully with deliberative reason, and why proper economic reasoning is based on understanding human action. Get all course notes and slides on saifedean.com/poecourse

Saifedean joins Danny Knowles on What Bitcoin Did to discuss The Gold Standard: how fiat funded war and made endless conflict possible, why hard money shapes time preference, and why gold failed where Bitcoin can win.

Tom Woods interviews Saifedean about his latest book, The Gold Standard. https://saifedean.com/tgs

Our friend Tony Yazbeck rejoins us to tell us about bitcoin best practices, self-custody, and privacy.

In this interview, Saifedean talks with economist Juan Ramón Rallo about his book Principles of Economics, as well as the future of fiat money in the face of the rise of gold and Bitcoin.

Tristan Scott, founder of Daylight Computer, joins us to explore the philosophy behind distraction-free technology, the limits of current devices, and how rethinking hardware can help restore focus and mental clarity.

We’re joined by Balaji Srinivasan, entrepreneur and investor, to explore his ideas from The Network State: how technology is reshaping companies, communities, and currencies—and how it could also enable new cities and even new countries.

The final lecture of this course examines how bitcoin's fixed supply & censorship resistance upends the entire fiat monetary order, & explores how the two systems will interact over time. You can buy the hardcover, ebook or audiobook in several languages on saifedean.com/TFS, where you can also find the full lecture notes available for free download. You can also take the rest of Saifedean's courses by signing up to a membership on saifedean.com/membership