The Bitcoin Matrix

"Bitcoin is a rights-protection entity."

Tomer Strolight returns for his ninth visit — and reads four of his own essays start to finish, with conversation in between: Bitcoin Is More, Living With AI, AI Built to Survive, and This Is Not the End.

We discuss why Bitcoin isn't a price but a superstate no government on earth can reach — even as Iran floats a Bitcoin toll in the middle of a war — why self-custody is the whole point, and how inflation's slow squeeze is finally being felt by everyone.

Then it turns: three short stories about living with AI, and what we surrender when we let a machine do our thinking for us.

No host intro, no warm-up. We open cold, on Tomer's voice.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

🎙️ GUEST

Tomer Strolight — Bitcoin philosopher, author & essayist

Tomer on X → x.com/TomerStrolight

💰 SPONSORS & DISCOUNTS

🐟 Firefish — Don't sell your Bitcoin. Live off it. Non-custodial Bitcoin-backed loans. Your keys stay in 3-of-3 multisig. Rehypothecation is cryptographically impossible. $160M+ facilitated. 27,000+ users across 70 countries. firefish.io/?ref=MATRIX | code MATRIX

🔑 Stamp Seed — Between 3-6 million Bitcoin are lost forever. Most of it paper. Hammer your seed words into solid titanium — fire-resistant to 3,000°F. 15% OFF stampseed.com | code MATRIX

🟠 Club Orange — The location-based social network built for the Bitcoin community. Find Bitcoiners, meetups, and merchants near you. Download in the App Store or Google Play. cluborange.org/matrix-podcast

🔐 Unchained — 90,000+ BTC secured in collaborative multisig since 2016. Bitcoin-only. Never lent out a sat. IRAs, loans, inheritance planning. 10% OFF unchained.com/matrix | code MATRIX10

💎 River — Buy Bitcoin the right way. Up to $100 FREE Bitcoin. river.com/matrix

🏥 CrowdHealth — Ditch your fiat health insurance like my family did. Join us at CrowdHealth. joincrowdhealth.com | code MATRIX

🛡️ Meanwhile — The world's first Bitcoin life insurance policy. Premiums and payouts in Bitcoin. meanwhile.bm | code YTPFYD

🙏 SUPPORT THE SHOW

⚡ Strike → BitcoinMatrix@strike.me

💵 PayPal → paypal.biz/BitcoinMatrix

💚 Cash App → cash.app/$BitcoinMatrix

💜 Venmo → venmo.com/u/bitcoinmatrix

📬 PO Box → The Bitcoin Matrix, P.O. Box 18056, Sarasota, FL 34231

📱 FOLLOW

🌐 Website → TheBitcoinMatrix.com

🐦 Cedric on X → x.com/cedyoungelman

🐦 Show on X → x.com/_bitcoinmatrix

🟣 Nostr → npub12tq9jxmt707gd5vnce3tqllpm67ktr0mqskcvy58qqa4d074pz9s4ukdcs

⚠️ DISCLAIMER The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Nothing discussed constitutes financial, legal, or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always do your own research. The views expressed are the host's and guests' own opinions and do not constitute any offer, solicitation, or guarantee of any kind. The viewer assumes all responsibility for any actions taken based on this content.

"Bitcoin is not physical gold. You can kill Bitcoin."

Matthew Kratter — who runs Bitcoin University, did a PhD in literature under René Girard, and ran global macro at Peter Thiel's hedge fund — joins the show to explain why he now holds nearly everything he owns in Bitcoin, and why he's become one of the loudest voices warning that Bitcoin is under attack from the inside.

We trace the improbable path first: from Girard's seminar table to growing Thiel's $50M Roth into a $2 billion fund, and the 20 years trading that taught him to spot financial engineering "traps" — the same TradFi tricks he says are now being smuggled back into Bitcoin.

Then it turns to the civil war happening right now: how Bitcoin Core blew open OP_RETURN and "went rogue," why spam and CSAM are an existential risk to node runners, what BIP-110 actually does, and who really controls the network (hint: not the miners, devs, or exchanges). His thesis throughout — consensus flows from culture — and his answer to all of it: stop being a spectator, run a node, and mine from home.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

🎙️ GUEST

Matthew Kratter — founder, Bitcoin University

YouTube → Bitcoin University

Matthew on X → x.com/mattkratter

Mine from home (free tutorial) → bitcoinuniversity.com/mining

💰 SPONSORS & DISCOUNTS

🐟 Firefish — Don't sell your Bitcoin. Live off it. Non-custodial Bitcoin-backed loans. Your keys stay in 3-of-3 multisig. Rehypothecation is cryptographically impossible. $160M+ facilitated. 27,000+ users across 70 countries. firefish.io/?ref=MATRIX | code MATRIX

🔑 Stamp Seed — Between 3-6 million Bitcoin are lost forever. Most of it paper. Hammer your seed words into solid titanium — fire-resistant to 3,000°F. 15% OFF stampseed.com | code MATRIX

🟠 Club Orange — The location-based social network built for the Bitcoin community. Find Bitcoiners, meetups, and merchants near you. Download in the App Store or Google Play. cluborange.org/matrix-podcast

🔐 Unchained — 90,000+ BTC secured in collaborative multisig since 2016. Bitcoin-only. Never lent out a sat. IRAs, loans, inheritance planning. 10% OFF unchained.com/matrix | code MATRIX10

💎 River — Buy Bitcoin the right way. Up to $100 FREE Bitcoin. river.com/matrix

🏥 CrowdHealth — Ditch your fiat health insurance like my family did. Join us at CrowdHealth. joincrowdhealth.com | code MATRIX

🛡️ Meanwhile — The world's first Bitcoin life insurance policy. Premiums and payouts in Bitcoin. meanwhile.bm | code YTPFYD

🙏 SUPPORT THE SHOW

⚡ Strike → BitcoinMatrix@strike.me

💵 PayPal → paypal.biz/BitcoinMatrix

💚 Cash App → cash.app/$BitcoinMatrix

💜 Venmo → venmo.com/u/bitcoinmatrix

📬 PO Box → The Bitcoin Matrix, P.O. Box 18056, Sarasota, FL 34231

📱 FOLLOW

🌐 Website → TheBitcoinMatrix.com

🐦 Cedric on X → x.com/cedyoungelman

🐦 Show on X → x.com/_bitcoinmatrix

🟣 Nostr → npub12tq9jxmt707gd5vnce3tqllpm67ktr0mqskcvy58qqa4d074pz9s4ukdcs

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Nothing discussed constitutes financial, legal, or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always do your own research. The views expressed are the host's and guests' own opinions and do not constitute any offer, solicitation, or guarantee of any kind. The viewer assumes all responsibility for any actions taken based on this content.

"Rehypothecation is cryptographically impossible."

Martin Matejka joins the show to break down the rise of Bitcoin-native lending, Firefish's 3-of-3 multisig + DLC architecture, and why the February 6 stress test was the day Bitcoin-backed credit grew up.

We discuss why rehypothecation can be engineered out rather than promised away, how Firefish thinks about LTV, margin-call cadence, and the three warnings before liquidation, and why $160 million in non-custodial loans across 27,000 users in 70 countries is the proof a Bitcoin-native lender can scale.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

🎙️ GUEST

Martin Matejka, Co-founder & CEO of Firefish → firefish.io

Firefish on X → x.com/Firefish_io

💰 SPONSORS & DISCOUNTS

🐟 Firefish — Don't sell your Bitcoin. Live off it. Non-custodial Bitcoin-backed loans. Your keys stay in 3-of-3 multisig. Rehypothecation is cryptographically impossible. $160M+ facilitated. 27,000+ users across 70 countries. firefish.io/?ref=MATRIX | code MATRIX

🔑 Stamp Seed — Between 3-6 million Bitcoin are lost forever. Most of it paper. Hammer your seed words into solid titanium — fire-resistant to 3,000°F. 15% OFF stampseed.com | code MATRIX

🟠 Club Orange — The location-based social network built for the Bitcoin community. Find Bitcoiners, meetups, and merchants near you. Download in the App Store or Google Play. cluborange.org/matrix-podcast

🏕️ Camp Nakamoto — Bitcoin summer camp. Private island. Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. June 18-21. I'll be speaking there. 15% OFF campnakamoto.com | code MATRIX

🔐 Unchained — 90,000+ BTC secured in collaborative multisig since 2016. Bitcoin-only. Never lent out a sat. IRAs, loans, inheritance planning. 10% OFF unchained.com/matrix | code MATRIX10

💎 River — Buy Bitcoin the right way. Up to $100 FREE Bitcoin. river.com/matrix🏥 CrowdHealth — Ditch your fiat health insurance like my family did. Join us at CrowdHealth. joincrowdhealth.com | code MATRIX

🛡️ Meanwhile — The world's first Bitcoin life insurance policy. Premiums and payouts in Bitcoin. meanwhile.bm | code YTPFYD

🙏 SUPPORT THE SHOW

⚡ Strike → BitcoinMatrix@strike.me

💵 PayPal → paypal.biz/BitcoinMatrix

💚 Cash App → cash.app/$BitcoinMatrix

💜 Venmo → venmo.com/u/bitcoinmatrix

📬 PO Box → The Bitcoin Matrix, P.O. Box 18056, Sarasota, FL 34231

📱 FOLLOW

🌐 Website → TheBitcoinMatrix.com

🐦 Cedric on X → x.com/cedyoungelman

🐦 Show on X → x.com/_bitcoinmatrix

🟣 Nostr → npub12tq9jxmt707gd5vnce3tqllpm67ktr0mqskcvy58qqa4d074pz9s4ukdcs

⚠️ DISCLAIMER The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Nothing discussed constitutes financial, legal, or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always do your own research. The views expressed are the host's and guests' own opinions and do not constitute any offer, solicitation, or guarantee of any kind. The viewer assumes all responsibility for any actions taken based on this content.

Matt Cole spent fifteen years at CalPERS — the largest public pension fund in the U.S. — running more than $70 billion in global fixed income, where his portfolios reportedly never underperformed their benchmark in a single year. Today he's Chairman & CEO of Strive (Nasdaq: ASST), the first publicly traded asset-management Bitcoin treasury company — and the man who just made a security pay a dividend every single business day, the first time that's ever happened in U.S. market history.

This is the structured-finance mind behind "digital credit" — the idea that you can split a perpetual Bitcoin position into two instruments: a low-volatility, yield-bearing preferred (SATA, now paying daily) and the amplified Bitcoin common stock underneath it. Matt explains why he calls digital credit the biggest story in Bitcoin, how a zero-debt balance sheet survives Bitcoin going "to one penny tomorrow," and why he's laser-focused on a thirty-year digital gold rush. If you've ever wondered what happens when a Wall Street fixed-income operator goes all-in on Bitcoin — this is it.

We discuss:

The first security in U.S. market history to pay a dividend every business day — and why "the dividend event is no longer an event"

Digital credit as the biggest story in Bitcoin — attacking a $300 trillion TAM, where 1% is larger than Bitcoin's entire market cap today

Zero debt and 18 months of dividend reserves — why "Bitcoin could go to one penny tomorrow and we don't blow up"

Why Michael Saylor called Strive's SATA the most interesting story in Bitcoin right now

"Bitcoin is hope" — the line that closes the show
Subscribe so you never miss an episode.
🎙️ GUEST
Matt Cole @ColeMacro → x.com/ColeMacro
Strive (Nasdaq: ASST) → strive.com
💰 SPONSORS & DISCOUNTS
🐟 Firefish — Non-custodial Bitcoin-backed loans. Your keys stay in multisig. $100M+ in volume. 10,000+ users. Don't sell your Bitcoin. Live off it. firefish.io/?ref=MATRIX | code MATRIX
🔑 Stamp Seed — Between 3-6 million Bitcoin are lost forever. Most of it paper. Hammer your seed words into solid titanium — fire-resistant to 3,000°F. 15% OFF stampseed.com | code MATRIX
🟠 Club Orange — The location-based social network built for the Bitcoin community. Find Bitcoiners, meetups, and merchants near you. Download in the App Store or Google Play. cluborange.org/matrix-podcast
🏕️ Camp Nakamoto — Bitcoin summer camp. Private island. Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. June 18-21. I'll be speaking there. 15% OFF campnakamoto.com | code MATRIX
🔐 Unchained — 90,000+ BTC secured in collaborative multisig since 2016. Bitcoin-only. Never lent out a sat. IRAs, loans, inheritance planning. 10% OFF unchained.com/matrix | code MATRIX10
💎 River — Buy Bitcoin the right way. Up to $100 FREE Bitcoin. river.com/matrix
🏥 CrowdHealth — Ditch your fiat health insurance like my family did. Join us at CrowdHealth. joincrowdhealth.com | code MATRIX
🛡️ Meanwhile — The world's first Bitcoin life insurance policy. Premiums and payouts in Bitcoin. meanwhile.bm | code YTPFYD
🤝 Want to sponsor the show? thebitcoinmatrix.com/sponsors
🙏
SUPPORT THE SHOW
⚡ Strike → BitcoinMatrix@strike.me
💵 PayPal → paypal.biz/BitcoinMatrix
💚 Cash App → cash.app/$BitcoinMatrix
💜 Venmo → venmo.com/u/bitcoinmatrix

📬 PO Box → The Bitcoin Matrix, P.O. Box 18056, Sarasota, FL 34231

📱 FOLLOW

🌐 Website → TheBitcoinMatrix.com

🐦 Cedric on X → x.com/cedyoungelman

🐦 Show on X → x.com/_bitcoinmatrix

🟣 Nostr → npub12tq9jxmt707gd5vnce3tqllpm67ktr0mqskcvy58qqa4d074pz9s4ukdcs

⚠️ DISCLAIMER The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Nothing discussed constitutes financial, legal, or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always do your own research. The views expressed are the host's and guests' own opinions and do not constitute any offer, solicitation, or guarantee of any kind. The viewer assumes all responsibility for any actions taken based on this content.

Matt Hougan is the Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management — one of eleven spot Bitcoin ETF issuers, managing over $10 billion. When family offices, RIAs, and pension consultants size their Bitcoin allocation, his is the analysis they read.

This is the institutional case for Bitcoin in plain language: Bitcoin as two investments at once (digital gold plus a call option on becoming the world's apolitical currency), the math behind his $1.4 million by 2035 call, and why he thinks Bitcoin is about to repeat the supply shock that just took gold parabolic. If you've been trying to explain Bitcoin to the most sophisticated person in your life — send them this.

We discuss:

Bitcoin as two investments in one — store of value + call option on currency status

The kinetic vs. monetary chaos lenses, and why both push Bitcoin up

Why Harvard's endowment quietly went BTC + gold as their two largest 13F positions

The $36 billion first-year ETF launch — 6× the previous all-time record

Why Matt's personal price target is $1.4 million by 2035

The gold supply shock parallel — and why Matt thinks Bitcoin is next

Quantum computing — manageable upgrade problem or existential threat?

Three ways to pitch Bitcoin to three different kinds of institutional allocator

Why generational change is the biggest underrated catalyst in the space

Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

🎙️ GUEST

Matt Hougan @MattHougan → x.com/MattHougan

Bitwise Asset Management → bitwiseinvestments.com

Bitwise CIO Memo (weekly) → sign up at bitwiseinvestments.com💰

SPONSORS & DISCOUNTS

🔑 Stamp Seed — Between 3-6 million Bitcoin are lost forever. Most of it paper. Hammer your seed words into solid titanium — fire-resistant to 3,000°F. 15% OFF stampseed.com | code MATRIX

🐟 Firefish — Non-custodial Bitcoin-backed loans. Your keys stay in multisig. $100M+ in volume. 10,000+ users. Don't sell your Bitcoin. Live off it. firefish.io/?ref=MATRIX | code MATRIX

🟠 Club Orange — The location-based social network built for the Bitcoin community. Find Bitcoiners, meetups, and merchants near you. Download in the App Store or Google Play. cluborange.org/matrix-podcast

🏕️ Camp Nakamoto — Bitcoin summer camp. Private island. Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. June 18-21. I'll be speaking there. 15% OFF campnakamoto.com | code MATRIX

🔐 Unchained — 90,000+ BTC secured in collaborative multisig since 2016. Bitcoin-only. Never lent out a sat. IRAs, loans, inheritance planning. 10% OFF unchained.com/matrix | code MATRIX10

💎 River — Buy Bitcoin the right way. Up to $100 FREE Bitcoin. river.com/matrix

🏥 CrowdHealth — Ditch your fiat health insurance like my family did. Join us at CrowdHealth. joincrowdhealth.com | code MATRIX

🛡️ Meanwhile — The world's first Bitcoin life insurance policy. Premiums and payouts in Bitcoin. meanwhile.bm | code YTPFYD

🤝 Want to sponsor the show? thebitcoinmatrix.com/sponsors

🙏 SUPPORT THE SHOW

⚡ Strike → BitcoinMatrix@strike.me

💵 PayPal → paypal.biz/BitcoinMatrix

💚 Cash App → cash.app/$BitcoinMatrix

💜 Venmo → venmo.com/u/bitcoinmatrix

📬 PO Box → The Bitcoin Matrix, P.O. Box 18056, Sarasota, FL 34231

📱 FOLLOW

🌐 Website → TheBitcoinMatrix.com

🐦 Cedric on X → x.com/cedyoungelman

🐦 Show on X → x.com/_bitcoinmatrix

🟣 Nostr → npub12tq9jxmt707gd5vnce3tqllpm67ktr0mqskcvy58qqa4d074pz9s4ukdcs

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Nothing discussed constitutes financial, legal, or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always do your own research. The views expressed are the host's and guests' own opinions and do not constitute any offer, solicitation, or guarantee of any kind. The viewer assumes all responsibility for any actions taken based on this content.