The Bitcoin Way Podcast

Self-custody isn't complete without verification. If you're not running a Bitcoin node, you're still trusting someone else's computer to confirm your balance and transactions. Tony explains what a Bitcoin node actually does, why nodes (not miners) enforce Bitcoin's rules, and how thousands of node operators stopped the 2017 block size increase. Running your own Bitcoin node is the missing piece of true Bitcoin self-custody, and it's easier than you think. Learn how to get started with anything from a plug-and-play device to an old laptop, and take the final step toward real Bitcoin sovereignty.

=================

🔑 Ready to run your own node as part of your self-custody setup? Download our Self Custody Guide to discover how you can become your own bank:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/services/bitcoin-self-custody-training?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-bitcoin-node&utm_content=video-desc-guide

📞 Schedule a FREE 30 min call with our team to learn more about how we can help you in your journey to self-sovereignty:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/contact?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-bitcoin-node&utm_content=video-desc-call

📖 Join 14K other Bitcoiners who receive the most entertaining and informative newsletter in the Bitcoin space, straight to their inbox every week:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-bitcoin-node&utm_content=video-desc-newsletter

=================

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 – How to Verify Your Own Bitcoin Transactions

1:05 – Moving Off Exchanges to Bitcoin Self-Custody

2:24 – What Is a Bitcoin Node?

4:01 – Why Bitcoin Nodes Enforce Network Rules

4:50 – Lessons from the 2017 Bitcoin Block Size Debate

7:24 – Benefits of Running a Bitcoin Node for Privacy

8:24 – Completing Your Bitcoin Sovereignty with a Node

=================

Follow Tony on X: https://x.com/V4BTC

=================

🎧 LISTEN ON OTHER PLATFORMS:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBitcoinWay

Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/thebitcoinway

RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2334006.rss

=================

🔗CONNECT WITH US:

X: https://twitter.com/thebitcoinway\_

N: npub1lrj3lsskez59qu68v5fpnur7ythe7s5e4qcelclha6t6r9q5pqgsl2m

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebitcoinway/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thebitcoinway\_

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebitcoinway

Newsletter: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter

=================

❗DISCLAIMER:

This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial or legal decisions, consult a professional.

🔑 Learn how to take 100% self-custody of your Bitcoin:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/services/bitcoin-self-custody-training?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=podcast&utm_content=desc

📖 Subscribe to our newsletter:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=podcast&utm_content=desc

📞 Schedule a FREE call:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/contact?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=podcast&utm_content=desc

—------------------------

Matt Hill, CEO of Start9 Labs, joins Michael Jordan to explain why your Bitcoin node is far more than a technical tool; it is your ultimate tool for political power. They dive into the "node wars," exploring the migration from Bitcoin Core to Bitcoin Knots, and why entrepreneurs are treating hardware as a form of protest. Matt explains the difference between policy and consensus, why economic weight outmatches connectivity, and how Start9's data offers early insight into network dynamics. They discuss whether Bitcoin Core was captured, the controversy behind OP_RETURN changes, and Matt's take on Bitcoin's future and arranged marriages.

—------------------------

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 What is a Bitcoin node? Bitcoin = network of nodes

10:57 Policy vs. consensus power explained

22:19 Connectivity = policy power

23:20 Economic nodes: exchanges, merchants, wallets

28:37 Why wallet defaults = centralized node power

30:35 Mining centralization vs. node distribution

31:58 The node wars: Core vs. Knots explained

34:18 Node operators hold the "trump card"

35:16 Rate limiting vs. censorship ("civil power")

37:28 The migration as political protest

50:42 BIP-110 activation paths

1:11:56 Why changes were "rammed through" despite opposition

1:12:29 Core capture: Hodlonaut's journalism

1:14:09 Bitcoin's "grift" — stop trying to expand what it is

1:23:20 Unpopular opinion: arranged marriages

1:25:46 Start9 router announcement

—------------------------

Follow Start9 on X: https://x.com/start9labs

—------------------------

🔑 Want to self custody your Bitcoin but don’t know where to start? We can help:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/services/bitcoin-self-custody-training?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-btc-prague&utm_content=video-desc

📞 Schedule a FREE 30 min call with our team to learn more about how we can help you in your journey to self-sovereignty: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/contact?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-btc-prague&utm_content=video-desc

📖 Stay in the loop with the most entertaining and informative newsletter in the Bitcoin space: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-btc-prague&utm_content=video-desc

=================

In this BTC Prague 2026 talk, Michael Jordan from The Bitcoin Way exposes why most people, including Bitcoiners, remain trapped in a system of economic slavery. Drawing on Neil Flesher’s Modern Chains, he analyzes how inflation, surveillance, and geographic restrictions extract labor and privacy. True wealth isn’t measured in fiat, but in the freedom to opt out. Michael explores the three awakenings required to reclaim autonomy: achieving financial sovereignty through 100% self-custody, protecting privacy in a surveillance state, and securing the freedom to move. If you believe there’s no middle ground between full sovereignty and economic slavery, this is your call to action: take your Bitcoin into 100% self-custody, opt out of the surveillance state, and prepare to move. The real yield on Bitcoin was never measured in dollars — it’s freedom.

=================

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 The Reality of Economic Slavery

0:53 Why Bitcoiners Opt Out of the System

2:23 The Inflation Trap and Central Bank Dilution

6:19 Understanding Where Rights Actually Come From

10:38 Financial Sovereignty Through Self Custody

12:14 Reclaiming Privacy and Geographic Freedom

15:07 The Three Yields of Bitcoin

=================

⏯️ Watch Michael's 2025 BTC Prague speech: https://youtu.be/c42ANRwpLtc

➡️ Follow Michael on X: https://x.com/theothermjordan

=================

🎧 LISTEN ON OTHER PLATFORMS:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBitcoinWay

Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/thebitcoinway

RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2334006.rss

=================

🔗CONNECT WITH US:

X: https://twitter.com/thebitcoinway_

N: npub1lrj3lsskez59qu68v5fpnur7ythe7s5e4qcelclha6t6r9q5pqgsl2m

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebitcoinway/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thebitcoinway_

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebitcoinway

🗞️: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter

=================

❗DISCLAIMER:

This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial or legal decisions, consult a professional.

🔑 Learn how to take 100% self-custody of your Bitcoin: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/services/bitcoin-self-custody-training?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=bitcoin-banter&utm_content=desc

🛡️ Secure your digital life with personal cybersecurity: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/services/personal-cybersecurity?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=bitcoin-banter&utm_content=desc

📞 Schedule a FREE call: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/contact?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=bitcoin-banter&utm_content=desc

📖 Interested in a Plan B? Download our FREE Panama 🇵🇦 Residency Guide here: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/services/plan-b-residency-programs?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=bitcoin-banter&utm_content=video-desc

In this episode of Bitcoin Banter, Michael, Tony & Katie discuss how the European Union is pushing client-side scanning of private messages while actively censoring criticism of its surveillance agenda.

The team covers Chat Control 2.0, a proposal that would force devices to scan messages before encryption using AI. They expose how EU countries banned YouTube videos discussing this legislation, only to quietly reverse course after public backlash. The conversation shifts to Germany scrapping its Bitcoin-friendly tax policy, the UK government's failed attempt to restrict VPNs, and why official inflation numbers don't match what people experience at the grocery store.

Stick around for Donkey of the Week, where New South Wales introduces a bill that takes inflation to a whole new level.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - EU Chat Control & Censorship

08:10 - VPNs & Age Verification Bypass

10:10 - UK Government Backpedals on VPNs

14:27 - Germany Scraps Bitcoin Tax Exemption

19:21 - Inflation Reality vs Government Numbers

24:10 - Donkey of the Week

🎧 LISTEN TO OUR POD & OTHER EPISODES:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBitcoinWay

Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/thebitcoinway

RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2334006.rss

🎙 ABOUT OUR SHOW:

On Bitcoin Banter, Michael and members of The Bitcoin Way team discuss current events related to Bitcoin, macroeconomics, finance, politics, and more.

Follow Michael on: https://x.com/theothermjordan

Follow Tony on: https://x.com/V4BTC

Follow Katie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bitcoinkatie

🔗 CONNECT WITH US:

X: https://twitter.com/thebitcoinway_

N: npub1lrj3lsskez59qu68v5fpnur7ythe7s5e4qcelclha6t6r9q5pqgsl2m

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebitcoinway/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thebitcoinway_

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebitcoinway

🗞️: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter

❗ DISCLAIMER:

This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial or legal decisions, consult a professional.

🔑 Want to self custody your Bitcoin but don’t know where to start? We can help:

https://www.thebitcoinway.com/services/bitcoin-self-custody-training?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-btc-prague&utm_content=video-desc

📞 Schedule a FREE 30 min call with our team to learn more about how we can help you in your journey to self-sovereignty: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/contact?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-btc-prague&utm_content=video-desc

📖 Stay in the loop with the most entertaining and informative newsletter in the Bitcoin space: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter?utm_source=tbw&utm_medium=fountain&utm_campaign=0726-btc-prague&utm_content=video-desc

=================

In this BTC Prague 2026 talk, Michael Jordan from The Bitcoin Way exposes why most people, including Bitcoiners, remain trapped in a system of economic slavery. Drawing on Neil Flesher’s Modern Chains, he analyzes how inflation, surveillance, and geographic restrictions extract labor and privacy. True wealth isn’t measured in fiat, but in the freedom to opt out. Michael explores the three awakenings required to reclaim autonomy: achieving financial sovereignty through 100% self-custody, protecting privacy in a surveillance state, and securing the freedom to move. If you believe there’s no middle ground between full sovereignty and economic slavery, this is your call to action: take your Bitcoin into 100% self-custody, opt out of the surveillance state, and prepare to move. The real yield on Bitcoin was never measured in dollars — it’s freedom.

=================

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 The Reality of Economic Slavery

0:53 Why Bitcoiners Opt Out of the System

2:23 The Inflation Trap and Central Bank Dilution

6:19 Understanding Where Rights Actually Come From

10:38 Financial Sovereignty Through Self Custody

12:14 Reclaiming Privacy and Geographic Freedom

15:07 The Three Yields of Bitcoin

=================

⏯️ Watch Michael's 2025 BTC Prague speech: https://youtu.be/c42ANRwpLtc

➡️ Follow Michael on X: https://x.com/theothermjordan

=================

🎧 LISTEN ON OTHER PLATFORMS:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBitcoinWay

Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/thebitcoinway

RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2334006.rss

=================

🔗CONNECT WITH US:

X: https://twitter.com/thebitcoinway_

N: npub1lrj3lsskez59qu68v5fpnur7ythe7s5e4qcelclha6t6r9q5pqgsl2m

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebitcoinway/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thebitcoinway_

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebitcoinway

🗞️: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/resources/newsletter

=================

❗DISCLAIMER:

This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial or legal decisions, consult a professional.