Episode Details

The Last Trade: Scott Bessent told yen traders "I am the house now," and one day later the Treasury lifted its buyback program to $6 billion a day while the ten year yield hit fresh highs anyway. Jackson, Michael, and Brian break down what it means when intervention stops moving the tape, why a yen carry trade unwind is the tail risk nobody is pricing, and how Norway's $2.3 trillion fund cutting government bonds fits the same story.

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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 show opens on the Treasury lifting its buyback program from a $2 billion daily maximum to $6 billion starting Thursday, and on the fact that ten year and thirty year yields blew out anyway, one day after Scott Bessent told markets he is the house now on the dollar yen. Jackson walks through the yen carry trade, estimated anywhere from $4 trillion to $20 trillion, and what a 2024 style unwind did to equities and Bitcoin in a single session. Brian argues the whole exercise is the case for owning a monetary unit no committee can steer, while Michael reads the announcement itself as the tell: you do not say you are in control if you are. From there the conversation follows the capital that is actually moving, with Norway's $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund trimming government bonds, the world's largest managers rebuilding gold positions, and the bank capital rules that price allocated gold at zero and paper gold at 85%. The back half runs through Iran using Bitcoin and stablecoins to move trade, the MetaPlanet compensation structure and what the treasury company unwind cost retail, Liquid losing 4,000 BTC to a known vulnerability, the Malone Lam $245 million case, and the Anthropic resignation thread that put a ten percent extinction estimate in front of 100 million people.

🧠 Chapters

00:00 - Housekeeping, Philly happy hour, and tokenizing iBit

05:00 - Treasury raises buybacks to $6 billion a day

07:25 - Brian: the bond market does not care about intervention

10:03 - Michael: reading what they are not saying

15:31 - Bessent is the house, and the yen carry trade

18:28 - You do not announce that you are in control

21:03 - Norway's $2.3 trillion fund cuts government bonds

23:44 - Why banks hold allocated gold but not paper gold

29:26 - Iran turns to Bitcoin and stablecoins to move trade

36:19 - The coming split between clean and dirty Bitcoin

40:06 - MetaPlanet, the comp package, and the DAT unwind

46:42 - Retail got fleeced, not institutions

49:35 - Physical attacks and the market structure gap

54:51 - The third path: distribute trust, not one key

57:23 - Liquid loses 4,000 BTC to a known vulnerability

1:03:29 - Malone Lam, $245 million, and fake Google calls

1:09:58 - Anthropic resignation and the 10% extinction claim

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