Then came the election. Trump’s return to the White House brought with it a full-court press of pro-bitcoin policy moves. Within his first 100 days, he’d pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and three co-founders of the BitMEX crypto exchange, established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and appointed a "crypto czar" to oversee the federal government’s digital asset efforts. Even skeptics found themselves nodding.
"I was in Nashville when Trump spoke," Suman recalled of the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Tennessee, where Trump made his first major address to the crypto industry. "I wasn't planning on going. But you know, when someone like that is in town, you go see it."
Kevin Hurley, CTO at Lightspark, says Washington's stance toward crypto appears to be shifting, with regulators like the SEC taking a less combative approach — moving away from lawsuits and toward clearer capital markets rules. "Hopefully now we're actually going to have some clarity on what is and what isn't a security, what can actually be done," he said.
But even in a friendlier political climate, caution over government involvement remains a feature, not a bug, of the crypto community.
Joe Kelly, CEO of Unchained — a startup that helps clients store bitcoin securely by holding their own private keys — said it's smart to be careful what you wish for when it comes to the U.S. government owning a lot of bitcoin. "That can go other ways," he said.
To date, the government's so-called Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has underwhelmed some digital asset advocates, since it's limited to bitcoin previously seized in enforcement actions — not newly purchased assets or sovereign investment. Still, the administration has directed the Treasury and Commerce Departments to explore budget-neutral ways to acquire more bitcoin.
Kelly acknowledges a shift in the regulatory atmosphere, but he's also wary of premature celebration, even with big market wins like the launch of exchange-traded funds that allow investors widespread access to bitcoin.
"If something like the ETF had launched too soon, I think it could have distracted from the people building on the actual technology itself," Kelly said. "We've had the fortune that for most of Unchained's life there wasn't an ETF," he added of the firm's efforts to educate investors on how to store their crypto.
The shift has had ripple effects across the industry, including insurance.
Becca Rubenfeld, COO of Anchor Watch, says regulatory movement is opening the door for bitcoin to be treated like any other financial asset. Traditional insurers don't cover bitcoin directly — they insure the infrastructure around it. But if bitcoin becomes an admitted asset on insurance company balance sheets, that changes everything.
"Currently, the industry is extremely underserved," Rubenfeld told CNBC. "But what Anchor Watch is doing is specifically insuring the asset itself. So we built a proprietary custody solution. And when customers use us for custody services, Lloyd's of London backed insurance is included in those services."
The demand is growing. So is the pressure to build — and secure — the technical infrastructure that makes bitcoin work.
Mike Schmidt, executive director of Brink, which funds open-source bitcoin developers through a nonprofit structure, emphasized the importance of supporting the engineers maintaining bitcoin's underlying infrastructure. "Bitcoin needs engineers," he said.
"We have a $2 trillion asset. We have strategic reserves of bitcoin being held by countries, and there's just this small group of engineers that are keeping this thing together at the code base," Schmidt said. "There's only maybe 40 full-time engineers working on this. So we want to make sure that the engineering growth can keep pace with its broader adoption."
Lisa Neigut started as a back-end engineer at Cash App, where she worked on their internal bitcoin product, before moving to Blockstream and spending six years as an open-source developer on the Lightning Network. These days, she runs Bitcoin++, one of the largest technical conference series in the space, with six events planned across six countries this year.
"Bitcoin++ is focused on bringing together bitcoin developers and builders to talk about what they're working on — the frontier of bitcoin," Neigut said. "You can get an idea of what bitcoin is going to look like tomorrow."
That sense of momentum resonates with filmmaker Alana Mediavilla, who spent five years at Google working on films about big data and cloud infrastructure. She screened her new documentary, Dirty Coin, a feature-length project looking at bitcoin’s energy footprint and the people behind the infrastructure, at the Commons.
Power supply for Whinstone's bitcoin mine in Rockdale, Texas.
"I had put in my time in the cloud space," she says. "I understood what data centers were, I understood where it was going, and I also understood how much energy it takes to run these huge facilities that right now are running the backbone of our society."
Her goal wasn't to necessarily defend bitcoin mining but to broaden the conversation. "I just want to get everybody's data center literacy up to a certain point where we can continue to have conversations about it, because it's not going away."
She describes the crowd in Austin as a coming together of people "very committed to their craft" — and in her view, driven more by shared ideals than by profit-seeking.
"People think that it's like a get-rich-quick," she said. "Maybe those were the old days for bitcoin. Now, if you want 100x you should look at altcoins and meme coins and other stuff, but you're probably not going to get that with bitcoin."
"What brings them together is that they want to have better money, and they want to have a more fair world," she added. "So the principles are solid. How we implement those principles — that's where the variety and spice of life comes in."
"Serious people no longer question whether bitcoin will remain 15 or 20 years into the future," said Christopher Calicott, managing director at Trammell. "So the next question becomes: Is it possible to build what the founder is trying to achieve on bitcoin? Increasingly, the answer is yes."
PitchBook projects that crypto venture funding will surpass $18 billion in 2025 — nearly doubling the annual average from the previous two-year cycle. Much of that capital is flowing into bitcoin infrastructure and applications — payments, privacy tools, custody solutions — rather than the speculative trading platforms of previous cycles.
What Makes a Currency Valuable?
A currency’s value stems from a mix of economic, social, and institutional factors. Here’s what drives it:
Trust and Acceptance: A currency is valuable if people believe it is. Widespread acceptance for trade, debt repayment, and savings creates demand. This trust often comes from legal tender status and historical stability.
Economic Strength: A strong, diversified economy backs a currency’s value. High GDP, industrial output, and innovation signal the ability to generate wealth, supporting the currency’s purchasing power.
Government Stability: A reliable government with sound fiscal and monetary policies instills confidence. Political stability and rule of law ensure the currency won’t be arbitrarily devalued.
Monetary Policy: Central banks (e.g., Federal Reserve) manage money supply and interest rates to control inflation. Low, stable inflation preserves value; hyperinflation destroys it.
Demand and Utility: Currencies gain value when used widely in global trade, investments, or as a reserve asset. The more a currency is needed (e.g., for oil or debt issuance), the stronger its demand.
Scarcity Control: While fiat isn’t physically scarce, controlled issuance prevents over-dilution. Excessive money printing erodes value, as seen in cases like Zimbabwe or Venezuela.
Network Effects: A currency’s value grows with its user base. If businesses, banks, and nations prefer it, it becomes self-reinforcing, like a dominant language.
Why Is the US Dollar the Most Valuable Currency Today?
The US dollar (USD) is often considered the world’s most valuable currency—not necessarily in raw exchange rate (e.g., Kuwaiti dinar is higher per unit) but in global dominance, utility, and reserve status. Here’s why:
Global Reserve Currency:
Fact: About 58% of global foreign exchange reserves are held in USD (IMF, 2024 data), far above the euro (20%) or yuan (2%).
Why: Central banks trust the USD for stability and liquidity. It’s the primary currency for international debt issuance and global trade (e.g., 88% of SWIFT transactions involve USD).
Impact: Nations hold USD to stabilize their economies, creating constant demand.
Economic Powerhouse:
Fact: The US economy is $21 trillion in GDP (nominal, 2024 est.), roughly 24% of global GDP, larger than China ($17 trillion) or the EU.
Why: The US has a diverse, innovative economy (tech, finance, energy) with deep capital markets. This generates wealth and confidence in the dollar’s backing.
Impact: Investors and businesses globally see the USD as a safe bet for long-term value.
Petrodollar System:
Fact: Most oil trades are priced in USD, a legacy of 1970s OPEC agreements.
Why: This forces countries to hold USD for energy imports, reinforcing demand. Even non-oil commodities (e.g., gold, metals) are often USD-denominated.
Impact: Global trade reliance on USD keeps it central to commerce.
Military and Political Stability:
Fact: The US has unmatched military power and geopolitical influence, with a relatively stable democratic system.
Why: This reduces risk of sudden regime changes or currency collapse, unlike smaller or less stable nations. The US can project power to protect economic interests (e.g., trade routes).
Impact: Confidence in US governance bolsters trust in the dollar.
Federal Reserve Credibility:
Fact: The Fed targets ~2% inflation and has a track record of managing crises (e.g., 2008, 2020).
Why: Compared to central banks in emerging markets, the Fed’s independence and transparency inspire trust. Even during high inflation (e.g., 9% in 2022), the USD remained strong globally.
Impact: Predictable policy prevents wild swings in value.
Network Effects and Inertia:
Fact: The USD dominates global finance—Wall Street, US Treasury bonds (~$33 trillion market), and major institutions (IMF, World Bank) operate in dollars.
Why: Decades of dominance create a self-reinforcing cycle. Switching to another currency (e.g., yuan) faces massive coordination hurdles.
Impact: Even challengers like China can’t quickly displace USD’s entrenched role.
Safe-Haven Status:
Fact: During crises (e.g., COVID, Ukraine war), investors flock to USD assets (Treasuries, cash).
Why: The US is seen as a stable refuge compared to riskier markets. Deep, liquid US markets absorb global capital easily.
Impact: Demand spikes in uncertainty, keeping USD strong.
Challenges to USD Dominance:
Debt Concerns: US debt (~$34 trillion, 120% of GDP) raises long-term worries, but markets still trust US repayment ability.
Geopolitical Shifts: Some nations (e.g., China, Russia) push de-dollarization, but alternatives like the yuan lack convertibility or trust.
Crypto and Digital Currencies: These pose theoretical threats, but volatility and regulatory hurdles limit their challenge.
In Short:
A currency’s value hinges on trust, economic strength, and utility. The USD dominates today because of the US’s unmatched economy, military, and institutional credibility, plus the dollar’s entrenched role in trade and finance. No other currency matches its global reach or resilience, though it’s not without risks.
Turning ideals — and venture dollars — into reality still requires real-world infrastructure. And that's where entrepreneurs like Steve Barbour, the founder of Canadian firm Upstream Data, come in. He's spent years building off-grid mining containers for remote oilfields, but this spring, he's expanding operations into Wyoming, a bet he attributes directly to the Trump administration's rollback of energy regulations and renewed push for domestic production.
Wyoming — home to both sprawling coal operations and some of the country's most permissive crypto laws — has emerged as a hub for bitcoin miners and the lawmakers who support them.
!summarize #peterthiel #tariffs #trade
Then came the election. Trump’s return to the White House brought with it a full-court press of pro-bitcoin policy moves. Within his first 100 days, he’d pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and three co-founders of the BitMEX crypto exchange, established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and appointed a "crypto czar" to oversee the federal government’s digital asset efforts. Even skeptics found themselves nodding.
"I was in Nashville when Trump spoke," Suman recalled of the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Tennessee, where Trump made his first major address to the crypto industry. "I wasn't planning on going. But you know, when someone like that is in town, you go see it."
!summarize #nicoiameleava #college #sports #nil #tennessee
Kevin Hurley, CTO at Lightspark, says Washington's stance toward crypto appears to be shifting, with regulators like the SEC taking a less combative approach — moving away from lawsuits and toward clearer capital markets rules. "Hopefully now we're actually going to have some clarity on what is and what isn't a security, what can actually be done," he said.
But even in a friendlier political climate, caution over government involvement remains a feature, not a bug, of the crypto community.
Joe Kelly, CEO of Unchained — a startup that helps clients store bitcoin securely by holding their own private keys — said it's smart to be careful what you wish for when it comes to the U.S. government owning a lot of bitcoin. "That can go other ways," he said.
!summarize #themeparks #universal #epicstudios #disney #tariffs
To date, the government's so-called Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has underwhelmed some digital asset advocates, since it's limited to bitcoin previously seized in enforcement actions — not newly purchased assets or sovereign investment. Still, the administration has directed the Treasury and Commerce Departments to explore budget-neutral ways to acquire more bitcoin.
Kelly acknowledges a shift in the regulatory atmosphere, but he's also wary of premature celebration, even with big market wins like the launch of exchange-traded funds that allow investors widespread access to bitcoin.
!summarize #camskattebo #nygiants #nfl #draft
"If something like the ETF had launched too soon, I think it could have distracted from the people building on the actual technology itself," Kelly said. "We've had the fortune that for most of Unchained's life there wasn't an ETF," he added of the firm's efforts to educate investors on how to store their crypto.
The shift has had ripple effects across the industry, including insurance.
Becca Rubenfeld, COO of Anchor Watch, says regulatory movement is opening the door for bitcoin to be treated like any other financial asset. Traditional insurers don't cover bitcoin directly — they insure the infrastructure around it. But if bitcoin becomes an admitted asset on insurance company balance sheets, that changes everything.
"Currently, the industry is extremely underserved," Rubenfeld told CNBC. "But what Anchor Watch is doing is specifically insuring the asset itself. So we built a proprietary custody solution. And when customers use us for custody services, Lloyd's of London backed insurance is included in those services."
The demand is growing. So is the pressure to build — and secure — the technical infrastructure that makes bitcoin work.
Mike Schmidt, executive director of Brink, which funds open-source bitcoin developers through a nonprofit structure, emphasized the importance of supporting the engineers maintaining bitcoin's underlying infrastructure. "Bitcoin needs engineers," he said.
!summarize #nyjets #draft #nygiants #nfl
"We have a $2 trillion asset. We have strategic reserves of bitcoin being held by countries, and there's just this small group of engineers that are keeping this thing together at the code base," Schmidt said. "There's only maybe 40 full-time engineers working on this. So we want to make sure that the engineering growth can keep pace with its broader adoption."
Lisa Neigut started as a back-end engineer at Cash App, where she worked on their internal bitcoin product, before moving to Blockstream and spending six years as an open-source developer on the Lightning Network. These days, she runs Bitcoin++, one of the largest technical conference series in the space, with six events planned across six countries this year.
!summarize #rorymcilroy #masters #golf #sports
"Bitcoin++ is focused on bringing together bitcoin developers and builders to talk about what they're working on — the frontier of bitcoin," Neigut said. "You can get an idea of what bitcoin is going to look like tomorrow."
That sense of momentum resonates with filmmaker Alana Mediavilla, who spent five years at Google working on films about big data and cloud infrastructure. She screened her new documentary, Dirty Coin, a feature-length project looking at bitcoin’s energy footprint and the people behind the infrastructure, at the Commons.
!summarize #divorce #wife #marriage
Power supply for Whinstone's bitcoin mine in Rockdale, Texas.
"I had put in my time in the cloud space," she says. "I understood what data centers were, I understood where it was going, and I also understood how much energy it takes to run these huge facilities that right now are running the backbone of our society."
Her goal wasn't to necessarily defend bitcoin mining but to broaden the conversation. "I just want to get everybody's data center literacy up to a certain point where we can continue to have conversations about it, because it's not going away."
She describes the crowd in Austin as a coming together of people "very committed to their craft" — and in her view, driven more by shared ideals than by profit-seeking.
"People think that it's like a get-rich-quick," she said. "Maybe those were the old days for bitcoin. Now, if you want 100x you should look at altcoins and meme coins and other stuff, but you're probably not going to get that with bitcoin."
"What brings them together is that they want to have better money, and they want to have a more fair world," she added. "So the principles are solid. How we implement those principles — that's where the variety and spice of life comes in."
!summarize #kamalaharris #election #lindyli #politics
!summarize #meta #ftc #judge #trump #deregulation
!summarize #nasa #ai #team #revolution
"Serious people no longer question whether bitcoin will remain 15 or 20 years into the future," said Christopher Calicott, managing director at Trammell. "So the next question becomes: Is it possible to build what the founder is trying to achieve on bitcoin? Increasingly, the answer is yes."
PitchBook projects that crypto venture funding will surpass $18 billion in 2025 — nearly doubling the annual average from the previous two-year cycle. Much of that capital is flowing into bitcoin infrastructure and applications — payments, privacy tools, custody solutions — rather than the speculative trading platforms of previous cycles.
!summarize #microsoft #skype #messenging #technology
What Makes a Currency Valuable?
A currency’s value stems from a mix of economic, social, and institutional factors. Here’s what drives it:
Trust and Acceptance: A currency is valuable if people believe it is. Widespread acceptance for trade, debt repayment, and savings creates demand. This trust often comes from legal tender status and historical stability.
Economic Strength: A strong, diversified economy backs a currency’s value. High GDP, industrial output, and innovation signal the ability to generate wealth, supporting the currency’s purchasing power.
Government Stability: A reliable government with sound fiscal and monetary policies instills confidence. Political stability and rule of law ensure the currency won’t be arbitrarily devalued.
Monetary Policy: Central banks (e.g., Federal Reserve) manage money supply and interest rates to control inflation. Low, stable inflation preserves value; hyperinflation destroys it.
Demand and Utility: Currencies gain value when used widely in global trade, investments, or as a reserve asset. The more a currency is needed (e.g., for oil or debt issuance), the stronger its demand.
Scarcity Control: While fiat isn’t physically scarce, controlled issuance prevents over-dilution. Excessive money printing erodes value, as seen in cases like Zimbabwe or Venezuela.
Network Effects: A currency’s value grows with its user base. If businesses, banks, and nations prefer it, it becomes self-reinforcing, like a dominant language.
Why Is the US Dollar the Most Valuable Currency Today?
The US dollar (USD) is often considered the world’s most valuable currency—not necessarily in raw exchange rate (e.g., Kuwaiti dinar is higher per unit) but in global dominance, utility, and reserve status. Here’s why:
Global Reserve Currency:
Fact: About 58% of global foreign exchange reserves are held in USD (IMF, 2024 data), far above the euro (20%) or yuan (2%).
Why: Central banks trust the USD for stability and liquidity. It’s the primary currency for international debt issuance and global trade (e.g., 88% of SWIFT transactions involve USD).
Impact: Nations hold USD to stabilize their economies, creating constant demand.
Economic Powerhouse:
Fact: The US economy is $21 trillion in GDP (nominal, 2024 est.), roughly 24% of global GDP, larger than China ($17 trillion) or the EU.
Why: The US has a diverse, innovative economy (tech, finance, energy) with deep capital markets. This generates wealth and confidence in the dollar’s backing.
Impact: Investors and businesses globally see the USD as a safe bet for long-term value.
Petrodollar System:
Fact: Most oil trades are priced in USD, a legacy of 1970s OPEC agreements.
Why: This forces countries to hold USD for energy imports, reinforcing demand. Even non-oil commodities (e.g., gold, metals) are often USD-denominated.
Impact: Global trade reliance on USD keeps it central to commerce.
Military and Political Stability:
Fact: The US has unmatched military power and geopolitical influence, with a relatively stable democratic system.
Why: This reduces risk of sudden regime changes or currency collapse, unlike smaller or less stable nations. The US can project power to protect economic interests (e.g., trade routes).
Impact: Confidence in US governance bolsters trust in the dollar.
Federal Reserve Credibility:
Fact: The Fed targets ~2% inflation and has a track record of managing crises (e.g., 2008, 2020).
Why: Compared to central banks in emerging markets, the Fed’s independence and transparency inspire trust. Even during high inflation (e.g., 9% in 2022), the USD remained strong globally.
Impact: Predictable policy prevents wild swings in value.
Network Effects and Inertia:
Fact: The USD dominates global finance—Wall Street, US Treasury bonds (~$33 trillion market), and major institutions (IMF, World Bank) operate in dollars.
Why: Decades of dominance create a self-reinforcing cycle. Switching to another currency (e.g., yuan) faces massive coordination hurdles.
Impact: Even challengers like China can’t quickly displace USD’s entrenched role.
Safe-Haven Status:
Fact: During crises (e.g., COVID, Ukraine war), investors flock to USD assets (Treasuries, cash).
Why: The US is seen as a stable refuge compared to riskier markets. Deep, liquid US markets absorb global capital easily.
Impact: Demand spikes in uncertainty, keeping USD strong.
Challenges to USD Dominance:
Debt Concerns: US debt (~$34 trillion, 120% of GDP) raises long-term worries, but markets still trust US repayment ability.
Geopolitical Shifts: Some nations (e.g., China, Russia) push de-dollarization, but alternatives like the yuan lack convertibility or trust.
Crypto and Digital Currencies: These pose theoretical threats, but volatility and regulatory hurdles limit their challenge.
In Short:
A currency’s value hinges on trust, economic strength, and utility. The USD dominates today because of the US’s unmatched economy, military, and institutional credibility, plus the dollar’s entrenched role in trade and finance. No other currency matches its global reach or resilience, though it’s not without risks.
!summarize #patriots #newengland #saints #neworleans #draft #trade #nfl
!summarize #nicoiameleava #tennessee #college #football #ncaa
Turning ideals — and venture dollars — into reality still requires real-world infrastructure. And that's where entrepreneurs like Steve Barbour, the founder of Canadian firm Upstream Data, come in. He's spent years building off-grid mining containers for remote oilfields, but this spring, he's expanding operations into Wyoming, a bet he attributes directly to the Trump administration's rollback of energy regulations and renewed push for domestic production.
Wyoming — home to both sprawling coal operations and some of the country's most permissive crypto laws — has emerged as a hub for bitcoin miners and the lawmakers who support them.
!summarize #elonmusk #ai #investors #companies #xai #x #tesla
!summarize #kevinoleary #china #tariffs #economy #unitedstates