The U.S. government's BTC stash grows from a 127k BTC seizure by the DOJ as “budget-neutral” acquisition plans stall. While Washington drags its feet, institutions keep stacking and the market shrugs off old coins moving. Josh Friedeman, Trey Sellers, and Jon Gordon break down Bitcoin’s so-called IPO moment, Square’s Lightning rollout, and Steak ’n Shake’s balance-sheet flex - signals of Bitcoin’s quiet advance from a seemingly "niche" interest to infrastructure.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• DOJ’s Bitcoin stash raises questions about USG's BTC approach: HODL or return?
• Old coins moving test market absorption - liquidity without collapse
• Square’s Lightning integration could orange-pill millions of merchants
• Steak ’n Shake’s reserve shows brand adoption turning real
• Fewer influencers, more builders - the network is maturing CONNECT WITH JON
• 𝕏: @thebitcoinyogi
• Instagram: @jongordon9
• LinkedIn: Jon Gordon
• Websites: Satoshi Health | Sound HSA

CONNECT WITH TREY

• 𝕏: @ts_hodl
• LinkedIn: Trey Sellers
• Website: treysellers.com
• Newsletter: firebtc.substack.com

CONNECT WITH JOSH

• 𝕏: @joshuafriedeman
• LinkedIn: Josh Friedeman

SHOW PARTNERS

Velas Commerce — Build with Bitcoin. Build with Lightning. Velas creates high-performance websites, apps, and POS integrations purpose-built for Bitcoin commerce. → https://velascommerce.com

Strong Wealth — Bitcoin-native wealth planning for business owners, HNWIs, and families transitioning generational assets. Smart estate strategy meets hard money principles. → https://strongwealth.net

Most Bitcoin losses aren’t hacks… they’re mistakes.

In this episode, Keith Gardner, Founder of Branta, introduces a breakthrough in Bitcoin payment security: pre-payment verification. Branta’s technology adds a simple but powerful verification step that ensures every Bitcoin or Lightning payment goes exactly where it should. No new protocol, no compromise on privacy, just a smarter way to send Bitcoin safely.

If you’ve ever sent Bitcoin to the wrong address or worried about Lightning payments going astray, this episode shows how Branta’s privacy-first verification layer quietly prevents fraud and human error without changing Bitcoin itself. 🔑 Bitcoin payment security, pre-payment verification, Lightning Network, Branta, Bitcoin UX, Keith Gardner, Bitcoin scams, Bitcoin business tools, crypto safety, Bitcoin innovation, Bitcoin usability.

⚡️ Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin’s biggest threat isn’t the network, it’s human error.

• Pre-payment verification adds confidence and protection to every Bitcoin or Lightning transaction.

• Branta’s approach: enhance security without touching Bitcoin’s core or sacrificing privacy. • Verification is becoming Bitcoin’s “fifth operation” - joining buy, sell, send, and receive.

• Keith Gardner’s vision: build guardrails that empower users, not control them.

🌐 CONNECT WITH KEITH

𝕏 https://x.com/unfakekeith

𝕏 https://x.com/BrantaOps

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/singularkeith/

🌍 https://branta.pro

🌐 CONNECT WITH JOSH

𝕏 https://x.com/joshuafriedeman

🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/joshuafriedeman

🤝 SHOW PARTNERS ⚙️

VELAS COMMERCE — Build with Bitcoin. Build with Lightning. Web, apps & POS integration → https://velascommerce.com

💪 STRONG WEALTH — Bitcoin-native wealth planning → https://strongwealth.net

Bitcoin is eating Wall Street while Ray Dalio warns of a looming U.S. debt crisis. In this roundup, we unpack gold’s new all-time high, corporate treasuries now holding 1.3M BTC, Square flipping Bitcoin payments on by default for four million businesses, and Eric Trump’s mining company going public on NASDAQ. From Dalio’s warnings to Bitcoin’s growing grip on institutions, this episode explores how money, markets, and politics are shifting toward a Bitcoin standard.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Gold ATH may signal Bitcoin’s next breakout
• Dalio: U.S. debt crisis likely within 3 years
• Corporate treasuries now hold 1.3M BTC
• Square enables Bitcoin payments by default
• Trump family deepens ties with Bitcoin via NASDAQ listing
• Bitcoin is overtaking Wall Street, not the other way around CONNECT WITH JON
• 𝕏: @thebitcoinyogi
• Instagram: @jongordon9
• LinkedIn: Jon Gordon
• Websites: Satoshi Health | Sound HSA

CONNECT WITH TREY

• 𝕏: @ts_hodl
• LinkedIn: Trey Sellers
• Website: treysellers.com
• Newsletter: firebtc.substack.com

CONNECT WITH JOSH

• 𝕏: @joshuafriedeman
• LinkedIn: Josh Friedeman

SHOW PARTNERS

Velas Commerce — Build with Bitcoin. Build with Lightning. Velas creates high-performance websites, apps, and POS integrations purpose-built for Bitcoin commerce. → https://velascommerce.com

Strong Wealth — Bitcoin-native wealth planning for business owners, HNWIs, and families transitioning generational assets. Smart estate strategy meets hard money principles. → https://strongwealth.net

Bitcoin tapped a new ATH, dipped, then snapped back. In this roundup, Josh Friedeman, Jon Gordon (Satoshi Health Advisors / NosFabrica), and Trey Sellers (Unchained) break down why the move wasn’t a real crash, what would actually create a deep washout, and why $100K now feels like the floor. We also hit the week’s biggest signals: Harvard’s $116M Bitcoin exposure and what it means for endowments, Scott Bessent’s walk-back on a U.S. “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” Block’s Proto modular mining rigs, and the Fed easing bespoke oversight on banks touching Bitcoin (“novel activities”)

CONNECT WITH JON

• 𝕏: @thebitcoinyogi
• Instagram: @jongordon9
• LinkedIn: Jon Gordon
• Websites: Satoshi Health | Sound HSA

CONNECT WITH TREY

• 𝕏: @ts_hodl
• LinkedIn: Trey Sellers
• Website: treysellers.com
• Newsletter: firebtc.substack.com

CONNECT WITH JOSH

• 𝕏: @joshuafriedeman
• LinkedIn: Josh Friedeman

SHOW PARTNERS

Velas Commerce — Build with Bitcoin. Build with Lightning. Velas creates high-performance websites, apps, and POS integrations purpose-built for Bitcoin commerce. → https://velascommerce.com

Strong Wealth — Bitcoin-native wealth planning for business owners, HNWIs, and families transitioning generational assets. Smart estate strategy meets hard money principles. → https://strongwealth.net

In this roundup episode, Josh Friedeman, Trey Sellers, and Jon Gordon unpack MicroStrategy’s eye‑popping earnings and why markets didn’t blink. They dig into Saylor’s MNAV guidance and what STRC is designed to do. Then they shift to the boardroom: how CFOs are really approaching Bitcoin, what a Deloitte CFO survey is signaling, and what proof‑of‑reserves could look like for corporates. We close with retirement planning: why hard‑asset exposure matters, how much belongs in the risk sleeve, and where today’s access (401(k)/IRA) is opening the door.

KEY TOPICS

• MicroStrategy's Earnings and Strategy
• Preferred Stock Offering (STRC)
• CFOs' Perspectives on Bitcoin
• Bitcoin Allocations for Retirement TAKEAWAYS
• A 32,000% earnings “beat” didn’t shock Wall Street—most of it was already priced into MSTR.
• MNAV target bands may dampen volatility while giving common shareholders clearer expectations.
• STRC: a preferred share built for steady income and a tight trading range; trade‑off is upside.
• At 600k+ BTC, sustaining high BTC “yield” gets mathematically harder. Scale cuts both ways.
• Proof‑of‑reserves would boost trust; companies must balance transparency with op‑sec.
• In the boardroom, CFOs weigh volatility, accounting treatment, and regulatory clarity before moving.
• Retirement angle: more investors are shifting part of the “risk sleeve” (15–40%) toward hard assets.
• If you’re at zero Bitcoin exposure, you may be under‑saving for retirement in a debt‑heavy world.

CONNECT WITH JON

• 𝕏: @thebitcoinyogi
• Instagram: @jongordon9
• LinkedIn: Jon Gordon
• Websites: Satoshi Health | Sound HSA

CONNECT WITH TREY

• 𝕏: @ts_hodl
• LinkedIn: Trey Sellers
• Website: treysellers.com
• Newsletter: firebtc.substack.com

CONNECT WITH JOSH

• 𝕏: @joshuafriedeman
• LinkedIn: Josh Friedeman

SHOW PARTNERS

Velas Commerce — Build with Bitcoin. Build with Lightning. Velas creates high-performance websites, apps, and POS integrations purpose-built for Bitcoin commerce. → https://velascommerce.com

Strong Wealth — Bitcoin-native wealth planning for business owners, HNWIs, and families transitioning generational assets. Smart estate strategy meets hard money principles. → https://strongwealth.net

Is the U.S. dollar going digital? In this Roundup episode, Josh Friedeman, Trey Sellers, and Jon Gordon break down how the GENIUS Act may be paving the way from the Petrodollar to a Crypto Dollar system.

They unpack why the GENIUS Act bans CBDCs while promoting stablecoins, how Tether and Circle are soaking up short-term U.S. Treasuries, and whether this shift actually solves the U.S. debt crisis—or just delays it.

You’ll also hear how Bitcoin’s censorship resistance compares to stablecoins, about the U.K. potentially dumping $7B in seized BTC, and what it all means for the future of money.

KEY TOPICS

• GENIUS Act and stablecoins
• US government debt and demand for treasuries
• Bitcoin in 401(k) plans
• UK selling Bitcoin reserves
• Trump Media's Bitcoin purchase
• Skepticism about a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) for the U.S. government

CONNECT WITH JON

• 𝕏: @thebitcoinyogi
• Instagram: @jongordon9
• LinkedIn: Jon Gordon
• Websites: Satoshi Health
• Website: Sound HSA

CONNECT WITH TREY

• 𝕏: @ts_hodl
• LinkedIn: Trey Sellers
• Website: treysellers.com
• Newsletter: firebtc.substack.com

CONNECT WITH JOSH

• 𝕏: @joshuafriedeman
• LinkedIn: Josh Friedeman

TAKEAWAYS

• Stablecoins increase demand for short-term U.S. Treasuries but not long-term debt.
• Tether and Circle are becoming massive players in the U.S. debt ecosystem.
• Bitcoin remains the only censorship-resistant, non-sovereign monetary alternative.
• The U.K. plans to sell $7B in seized Bitcoin, repeating a familiar mistake.
• Trump Media’s $2B valuation and 401(k) Bitcoin access raise political implications.

SHOW PARTNERS

Velas Commerce — Build with Bitcoin. Build with Lightning. Velas creates high-performance websites, apps, and POS integrations purpose-built for Bitcoin commerce. → velascommerce.com

Strong Wealth — Bitcoin-native wealth planning for business owners, HNWIs, and families transitioning generational assets. Smart estate strategy meets hard money principles. → strongwealth.net

This bonus episode of The Bitcoin Playbook explores Bitcoin-native DeFi: what it is, where it’s going, and whether it’s worth the attention of serious Bitcoiners. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to The Bitcoin Playbook on Fountain (https://fountain.fm).

Guest David Gamble shares how reading and curiosity help navigate emerging tech, before diving into DeFi use cases on Bitcoin - borrowing and lending BTC without giving up custody, the role of Bitcoin-backed stablecoins, and what institutions are watching.

We examine the risks, the protocols, and the tension between innovation and Bitcoin's core values.

Key Topics:

• What Bitcoin-native DeFi is and how it works
• Lending and borrowing Bitcoin without custodial risk
• Bitcoin-backed stablecoins and treasury use cases
• Risks, incentives, and protocol red flags

David Gamble, Head of Institutional Sales at Blockware, joins Josh Friedeman to explain how a recent change in U.S. tax law is opening the door for business owners to accumulate Bitcoin and reduce their tax bill. From "mining-as-a-service" to bonus depreciation and strategic exits, this episode breaks down how businesses and investors are leveraging Bitcoin mining to gain a long-term edge.

KEY TOPICS

• What is "mining as a service"?
• How 100% bonus depreciation works for Bitcoin miners
• Why small business owners are buying miners in 2025
• The “Big Beautiful Bill” and its impact on tax planning
• How mining fits into business diversification and exits
• Bitcoin as a balance sheet asset
• Institutional access to Bitcoin via infrastructure

CONNECT WITH DAVID

• 𝕏: @dgamble331
• LinkedIn: David Gamble
• Company: Blockware Solutions

CONNECT WITH JOSH

• 𝕏: @joshuafriedeman
• LinkedIn: Josh Friedeman

TAKEAWAYS

• Bitcoin mining can now be treated as a tax-deductible asset under U.S. law.
• “Mining-as-a-service” makes bitcoin mining accessible for small businesses.
• Bonus depreciation allows for 100% write-off in year one.
• Businesses can accumulate Bitcoin while reducing taxable income.
• Mining can increase a company’s exit multiple or sale value.

SHOW PARTNERS

Velas Commerce — Build with Bitcoin. Build with Lightning. Web, app, and POS integration for Bitcoin-native businesses. → velascommerce.com

Strong Wealth — Bitcoin-native wealth planning for business owners and families. Hard money meets smart estate strategy. → strongwealth.net