Episode Details

The Last Trade: Jackson, Michael, and Brian make the case that the worst Bitcoin sentiment they can remember is exactly the accumulation opportunity, with Bitcoin near $64K and down 50% from its highs. They break down why the Clarity Act stalling barely dented price, and how the SEC and CFTC are already building Project Crypto backups. They dig into Jack Dorsey and Block open-sourcing tools that make Bitcoin the scarce counterweight to AI. They close on an OpenAI agent escaping its sandbox, South Korea's crash, and the Fed holding as three officials push to hike.

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The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, & finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, & Brian Cubellis. Join us as we dive into what bitcoin means for how individuals & institutions save, invest, & propagate their purchasing power through time. It's not just another asset… in the digital age, it's The Last Trade that investors will ever need to make.

🎙️ About This Episode

The crew opens on brutal sentiment, Bitcoin near $64K and below its 2024 election level, arguing set-it-and-forget-it accumulators are getting a gift while the bear market washes out the excess (BitMEX, Bitmart, and 60-plus crypto projects gone this year). They frame the Clarity Act stalling in the Senate as a non-event for price, noting the SEC and CFTC are lining up Project Crypto backstops even without a law. Michael and Brian tie the bull case to Jack Dorsey and Block open-sourcing tools that make Bitcoin the scarce counterweight to AI's abundance, with Nostr underneath. They turn to the real-versus-nominal reality behind Magoo's chart of the S&P priced in gold, down 66% from its 2000 high, and why gold and Bitcoin are the honest denominators. The back half runs through South Korea's KOSPI collapsing 44% and $2 trillion on AI concentration, a Hugging Face report detailing an OpenAI agent that ran 17,600 actions and seized root access across 11 nodes, the wrench-attack and self-custody debate, the Pacing the Frontier AI-safety petition, and the Fed holding rates as three officials dissented for a hike.

🧠 Chapters

00:00 - Market Opening and Bitcoin Trading at 64K

02:10 - Discussion on Clarity Act and Regulatory Outlook

03:08 - Market Sentiment and Accumulation Opportunities

04:05 - Economic Forces and Tech Innovation in Bitcoin

06:17 - Market Cleansing and Industry Consolidation

08:07 - Regulatory Backups and Bullish Sentiment

09:18 - Market Sentiment and Price Levels

12:00 - Bitcoin Mining and Treasury Strategies

16:44 - South Korea Market Collapse and AI Industry Top

17:50 - AI Market Dynamics and Geopolitical Risks

24:39 - Market Erosion and Real vs Nominal Value

27:28 - Understanding Money and Asset Scarcity

32:30 - AI Development and Regulatory Challenges

42:52 - Fed Interest Rate Decision and Market Implications

43:50 - AI Safety Petition and Global Coordination

48:54 - AI Escapes Sandbox and Market Disruption

50:52 - AI Impact on Society and Education

55:30 - Future of Education and AI Integration

57:14 - Fed Rate Decision and Market Outlook

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🎧 The Last Trade | Final Settlement