Musings from New York Penn Station

Marty's Bent

I'm currently writing to you from New York Penn Station. I took a train up to the Kingdom of Mamdani from Philadelphia earlier this afternoon to record with arbedout about his latest project and a bunch of other stuff going on in and around bitcoin.

Since recording, I've transitioned to the Amtrak lounge bar with my headphones in and the volume on full blast as I attempt to drown out the obnoxiously loud club music playing behind the bar while I wait to board a delayed train. A stark Sipping on a glass of Pinot Noir with another bottle in my brief case for my impending transition to the train that will take me home.

I don't get the fuss about Amtrak. Sure I'm delayed, but - believe it or not - I find the experience to be rather relaxing. Many people get caught up in the frustration of things not going exactly as planned, but I'm a big believer in the old adage, "You can't control everything. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow."

It's a trait that was passed down to me by my late father via three decades of osmosis I am extremely thankful for. The trait is succinctly distilled via a phrase he consistently drilled into my head, "You're in control of your own happiness."

You can get frustrated when your train gets delayed or you can embrace the reality of your lack of control over things and adapt. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Or something like that.

[Now playing: White Town's Your Woman] I find myself in a writing flow I haven't caught in awhile. You may have noticed the lack of flow from the lack of emails that have hit your inbox from this account in recent weeks.

It feels good to be in this state. And it's weird to admit that because the inspiration that led me to this flow state is pretty fucking dark. The bitcoin price is dumping. Many are surmising that we are at the beginning of a multi-year bear market. [Now playing: Mac Miller's The Spins] The Epstein files are everything I expected and more. And the files that were released were but the tip of the iceberg. There are a number of bitcoiners who have been caught in the inbox of the Rothschild's yeoman. Blockstream co-founders Adam Back and Austin Hill, the architect behind OP_CTV - Jeremy Rubin, Bryan Bishop, the MIT Media Labs (which is a weak bitcoin association if I'm being honest, they were always suspicious and this was identified by many bitcoiners soon after the Media Labs' founding), Pomp (?), the co-founders of Chaincode Labs, and others are all associated with the goyim disrespector, Jeffrey Epstein.

Whether it's warranted or not, these names are tainted by association. I'm not going to pretend to know the extent to which any individual was aware of the monster they were dealing with, but what is done is done. I certainly believe there's a spectrum of plausible deniability that exists among this group, but the only thing I know for certain is that Brandolini's law is in full effect.

And unfortunately for those of us who have dedicated our lives to bitcoin out of an earnest effort to bring about a better monetary protocol for the world, the stink has attached itself to us. Goygold and pedocoin are quickly becoming part of the popular deep internet lexicon. [Now playing: M83 My Tears Are Becoming A Sea - this isn't cope, it's a playlist]

Where do we go from here? How do we weather the perfect storm of structural weakness and memetic power that we find ourselves in the middle of?

You're in control of your own happiness.

You can get mad at the price dumping and the individuals within bitcoin who got wrapped up in Epstein's orbit, or you can acknowledge that some things are out of your control and move forward. Disassociate from those you don't believe to be earnest and move ahead with that information sitting in the back of your head.

I sent a message to an old and reliable friend in the industry earlier tonight in which I expressed that today I've been constantly asking myself, "Why am I here?" It's been easy to answer this question in the past, but with the deluge of news and price action this week, it's the first time in quite awhile that I've had to take the time to sit down and remind myself of why I do what I do.

The views?

The "clout"?

Being part of a niche in-group?

Have I lost my way?

After listing those things out it will be hard to come off as anything but disingenuous, but - fuck it - there isn't anything that I can think of that could be more high leverage than focusing on bitcoin's success. The world has been distorted to levels that humanity has never seen before due to a combination of monetary distortion, the Age of the Internet, and the flood of noise that reaches your sensory system on a day-to-day basis.

It's discombobulating, it's unnerving, and it makes it hard to make decisions with conviction. [The train just came to an abrupt stop between Trenton and Philadelphia, Empire of the Sun's We Are The People is playing and the smell of burning rubber has taken over the Cafe Cart]

Despite everything that has unfolded this week; the price dump, the Epstein files, and the people in our industry getting wrapped up in the Epstein files - I still find it hard to believe that bitcoin is something that should be discarded. Call me an idealist, call me naive, call me whatever you want - this is what I believe.

Nothing has changed. The fiat system is anemic. Yes, a handful of bitcoin contributors directly interacted with Epstein, but there are many more banking and political elite who collaborated with him. I see you, Larry Summers. The handful of bitcoin contributors who interacted with him pales in comparison to those who did not.

From what I've seen, it seems like the Rothschild's Yeoman viewed bitcoin as an advantageous mechanism to exploit in its infancy. And fortunately for us, MIT Media Labs was a bust that got laughed out of many deep bitcoin protocol discussions. Gavin Andersen wasn't taken seriously for long after Satoshi left. Apparently, the investment into Blockstream was withdrawn due to a conflict with a Stellar/Ripple investment soy boy Joi Itoi had made. If I have to throw a bone to those worried about bitcoin infiltration it's to those who are worried about Epstein's meetings with Chaincode Labs. Jeremy Rubin's eagerness to appease Epstein via bringing him investment opportunities after it was very public that he was a sex trafficker is nauseating, but if you're worried about that particularly you'll be happy to learn that the change to bitcoin he's been pushing for the better part of a decade has not been implemented. And this may seem blasphemous, but who am I to say that OP_CTV isn't a worthwhile change despite Jeremy's obvious character flaws?

On the flip side of this it's also important to recognize that Larry Fink's son's lover was more successful at corrupting the biggest institutions in the world. The White House, Mossad, JP Morgan, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Harvard, MIT, and the darling of the NBA's historical top brass - David Stern.

The beauty of bitcoin is that if you're skeptical of Epstein's influence, you can audit the code or have someone more capable than you audit the code. You can verify that it does what it's supposed to do. You can verify whether or not there are back doors. For everything else that he was involved in, you're dependent on Thomas Massie and others like him grandstanding (in a good way) and forcing the Wizard of Oz to give up the goods.

[Arctic Monkeys R U Mine?]

Bitcoin Is Historically Undervalued Relative to Precious Metals

Matthew Mežinskis presented compelling data showing Bitcoin trading at extraordinary discounts relative to traditional precious metals. The guest highlighted that Bitcoin currently trades at just 785 ounces of silver per Bitcoin, dramatically below the historical trend of 5,800 ounces. This represents the cheapest Bitcoin has ever been when measured against silver, creating what Mežinskis argues is an unprecedented arbitrage opportunity.

"Bitcoin is trading at the cheapest levels ever relative to silver and near decade lows relative to gold" - Matthew Mežinskis

The analysis extends beyond silver to gold ratios, where Bitcoin sits near decade lows in relative valuation. For precious metals holders who understand hard money principles, Mežinskis suggests this presents a unique window to transition into Bitcoin at historically favorable exchange rates. The data indicates that those comfortable with sound money concepts might find this an optimal time to consider rebalancing their hard asset portfolios toward the digital alternative.

Check out the full podcast here for more on market dynamics, portfolio strategy, and monetary theory.

Headlines of the Day

Trump Signs Bill Officially Ending US Government Shutdown

Ex-Congressman McHenry Says Banks Fear Crypto Technology

French Police Raid X's Paris Offices Amid Cybercrime Probe

Coinbase CLO Says White House Engaged on CLARITY Act

Bitcoin Falls Under $73,000 as $285M Gets Liquidated

Rep. Massie's CBDC Ban Amendment Blocked From Omnibus Bill

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Final thought...

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