Rabbit Hole Recap: Bitcoin Week of 2021.01.25
1/29/2021 · 146 min · transcript via mlx
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Key topics
— Wall Street Bets' GameStop short squeeze and subsequent trading halt by Robinhood and other brokerages reveal systemic fragility and regulatory capture.
— Robinhood and E-Trade forcibly liquidated customer positions "for their protection," exemplifying the two-tiered system where retail investors are censored while hedge funds receive bailouts.
— Janet Yellen received ~$800k from Citadel over two years before becoming Treasury Secretary; coinciding calls from the White House allegedly pressured brokerages to halt trading.
— Tor v3 DoS attacks resumed, rendering hidden services inaccessible and preventing Tor-only Bitcoin nodes (Lightning, Samurai Wallet, Blue Wallet) from connecting despite maintaining privacy guarantees.
— Netherlands implements stricter KYC rules forcing cryptocurrency exchanges like Bitstamp to demand customer withdrawal address verification.
— Central banks (BIS, Federal Reserve) are urgently promoting CBDCs while restricting exit options; this urgency suggests systemic instability and desperation.
Market & price signals
— Bitcoin price: $32,590. Market cap: ~$606.6 billion. Difficulty adjusted up 1% over the weekend; next adjustment estimated at +4.3% around February 6th. Blocks averaging 9 minutes 36 seconds. Transaction fees at 9.13% of block reward. Samurai CoinJoin unspent capacity: 2,295.33 BTC ($74.8M), near all-time highs. Bitcoin dominance against gold at 5.04%.
Actionable insights
— Remove Bitcoin and all wealth from centralized exchanges immediately; regulators can force liquidations without consent, as demonstrated by Robinhood's forced sales. Self-custody is non-negotiable.
— KYC and on-ramps are disappearing; prepare now to acquire Bitcoin peer-to-peer, through mining, or via non-custodial methods before withdrawal bans propagate globally.
— Monitor Tor uptime and maintain redundant connectivity for Lightning nodes and mobile wallets; DoS attacks on directory servers will recur, so do not rely on Tor as your sole privacy layer.
Episode sponsorships
Paid placements mentioned in this episode. BTC Pods is not sponsored by or affiliated with these advertisers. Links are included so you can find offers mentioned on the show.
— This episode is brought to you by Cash App. Cash App offers the Boost program with a customizable Cash Card and discounts at retailers like Whole Foods (10% off), coffee shops ($1 off), Taco Bell (10% off), and Chick-fil-A. The app includes ACH deposit and withdrawal features for fast transfers between your bank account and Cash App, letting you quickly buy Bitcoin and send it to a personal wallet like Wasabi. Cash App also supports Bitcoin buying, selling, and sending with integrated Lightning Network payments for fast, cheap transactions. For new Cash App customers, use code TFTC10 when you sign up and send at least $5 to a friend in the first two weeks to get $21 added to your balance; terms apply. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc.—see https://cash.app/legal/podcast for Bitcoin disclosures.
— This episode is brought to you by Cash App. Cash App offers the Boost program with a customizable Cash Card and discounts at retailers like Whole Foods (10% off), coffee shops ($1 off), Taco Bell (10% off), and Chick-fil-A. The app includes ACH deposit and withdrawal features for fast transfers between your bank account and Cash App, letting you quickly buy Bitcoin and send it to a personal wallet like Wasabi. Cash App also supports Bitcoin buying, selling, and sending with integrated Lightning Network payments for fast, cheap transactions. For new Cash App customers, use code TFTC10 when you sign up and send at least $5 to a friend in the first two weeks to get $21 added to your balance; terms apply. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc.—see https://cash.app/legal/podcast for Bitcoin disclosures.
— This episode is brought to you by Cash App. Cash App offers the Boost program with a customizable Cash Card and discounts at retailers like Whole Foods (10% off), coffee shops ($1 off), Taco Bell (10% off), and Chick-fil-A. The app includes ACH deposit and withdrawal features for fast transfers between your bank account and Cash App, letting you quickly buy Bitcoin and send it to a personal wallet like Wasabi. Cash App also supports Bitcoin buying, selling, and sending with integrated Lightning Network payments for fast, cheap transactions. For new Cash App customers, use code TFTC10 when you sign up and send at least $5 to a friend in the first two weeks to get $21 added to your balance; terms apply. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc.—see https://cash.app/legal/podcast for Bitcoin disclosures.