• Contrast between today’s macro backdrop and the 2021 Bitcoin peak, with tighter liquidity, higher rates, and far stronger structural support for Bitcoin
• Cory’s base case: no classic 80% “crypto winter” drawdowns anymore and a strong chance of new all-time highs in 2026
• John’s “yearly lows” chart framing: rising annual Bitcoin floors as proof of real accumulation and diminishing panic selling
• Larry Fink, Harvard, sovereign wealth funds, and major banks (BofA, Vanguard, Schwab, Citi) as long-term Bitcoin buyers, not momentum tourists
• Discussion of CFTC-approved spot Bitcoin trading on designated contract markets as another on-ramp for pensions and endowments
• Big critique of prediction markets and “scambling” (scam + gambling) as an extractive, nihilistic, fiat-era attempt to financialize everything
• Cory and John argue that crypto casinos, meme coins, and prediction markets are a giant gambling funnel that ultimately pushes people toward Bitcoin’s seriousness
• Bitcoin and energy: riffing on Elon Musk and Jensen Huang’s comments about Bitcoin turning stranded or excess energy into a universal monetary battery
• MicroStrategy’s new USD reserve is framed as a cosmetics move to soothe institutions and make their Stretch preferreds more attractive, not a change in core strategy
• Cory pushes back on “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” de-banking narratives, distinguishing between true systemic exclusion and individual risky accounts being dropped

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