BTC248: Bitcoin’s Institutional Wave w/ Willy Woo, Max Kei, Efrat Fenigson, and Preston Pysh at Baltic Honeybadger (Bitcoin Podcast)

We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

Stig Brodersen

Education, Investing, Business

4.6 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A sharp panel debates Bitcoin’s “institutional phase”: BlackRock’s ETF as catalyst, SEC policy shifts on in-kind redemptions, and the boom in corporate treasury strategies. They probe Coinbase custody concentration, nationalization risks, Tether’s role, and why self-custody remains the antidote. AI’s influence on education and CBDCs vs private stablecoins round out a high-signal hour. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:11 - Why BlackRock’s spot ETF marked a cultural and capital tipping point. 05:31 - How SEC limits on in-kind redemptions and their reversal, shape market integrity. 08:56 - The difference between MicroStrategy’s preferred stock model vs convertible debt. 10:14 - Why concentrated Coinbase custody introduces fragility and what decentralizes it. 12:10 - The political “nationalization” risk and how institutions could be rugged. 17:45 - The case for denominating liabilities in fiat while stacking BTC. 19:50 - Pitfalls of copycat treasury companies timing the market (e.g., short-dated debt). 25:53 - How AI-driven discourse (e.g., Grok) accelerates Bitcoin education. 29:10 - Why private stablecoins (e.g., Tether) may outcompete CBDCs globally. 37:37 - The timeless lesson: make Bitcoin “un-ruggable” via self-custody. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES P2P Bitcoin Trading Platform: Hodl Hodl. Event details: Baltic Honeybadger Conference. Conference sponsor: Debifi. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium Feed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. NEW TO THE SHOW? Join the exclusive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIP Mastermind Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Follow our official social media accounts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bitcoin Fundamentals Starter Packs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIP Finance Tool⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Enjoy exclusive perks from our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠favorite Apps and Services⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Intrinsic Value Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠best business podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: SimpleMining HardBlock AnchorWatch Human Rights Foundation Cape Unchained Vanta Shopify Onramp Abundant Mines Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TIP.
0:02.7	Hey, everyone. Welcome to this Wednesday's release of the Bitcoin Fundamentals podcast.
0:07.1	So last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the Bitcoin Honey Badger conference
0:11.7	over in Riga, Latvia. And on one of the panels we were talking about whether the
0:16.2	institutional wave that's currently sweeping Bitcoin is a good thing, or if this is some type of Trojan
0:21.7	horse to capture the protocol. And this was a really fun conversation. We had Willie Wu,
0:27.0	we had Max Kai, we had Effort Fenningson, and everybody just brought some really unique
0:32.4	insights to the conversation. And I wanted to share the panel with the podcast. So I reached out to Max and Anna,
0:38.9	who run Debify and Hoddle Hoddle, which are the ones responsible for putting this whole
0:43.1	conference together. And they were kind enough to let me re-sindicate this onto the podcast.
0:48.3	And with that, I hope you guys enjoy the conversation. It was a fun one.
0:55.0	Celebrating 10 years. You are listening to Bitcoin Fundamentals by the Investors Podcast Network. Now for your host, Preston Pish.
1:04.0	Being your moderator today is the star and the host of the You're the Voice podcast.
1:19.8	Efrat Fannickson, I don't know if you guys have listened to her podcast.
1:23.4	If you haven't, you 100% should.
1:25.9	Frat, please come up onto the stage.
1:28.4	Thank you so much.
1:29.7	I have been a guest.
1:30.5	Yes, that's true.
1:32.5	Max Kai, you need no introduction.
1:33.1	He's back.
1:34.0	Max is back here.
	...

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