Satoshi's Plebs
Satoshi’s Plebs podcast explores the world of bitcoin empowerment and macro economics. Secessio Plebis - we do not need their systems. The world is changing and so must you. Come join us.
10
244 - Fees, Mempool, and UTXO Hygiene
<p>This week McIntosh and Kenshin tackle the part of Bitcoin everyone thinks they understand… right up until a transaction gets stuck: fees, mempool dynamics, and UTXO hygiene. They frame fees as a live market for scarce blockspace, explain what you’re actually paying for (sats/vbyte), and show how transaction “weight” changes based on inputs/outputs—why a “cheap” fee rate can still be expensive if your transaction is big. <br /><br />They also cover the two practical “escape hatches” when things go sideways—RBF (Replace-By-Fee) and CPFP (Child Pays For Parent)—plus why wallet fee estimators can be misleading and why mem...
243 - Multisig: Don’t Trust Yourself With One Key
<p>This week Macintosh and Kenshin break down Bitcoin multisig: what it is, why it exists, and how it reduces single points of failure in self-custody. They walk through common setups (1-of-2, 2-of-2, 2-of-3, 3-of-5), why complexity is both a feature and a risk, and best practices like geographic distribution, avoiding single-vendor signer risk, and testing recovery before you commit meaningful funds.<br /><br />The guys also touch on the rise of AI “agent” tooling (and why you should be careful with security/permissions), then close with market/news items including Helix mixer seizure headlines, state-level Bitcoin reserve chatter, current BTC...
242 - Bitcoin is for the Unbanked: When Banks Fail, Bitcoin Works
<p>In Episode 242 of Satoshi’s Plebs, McIntosh and Kenshin talk through how Bitcoin serves the unbanked—people with little or no access to traditional banking due to geography, documentation, KYC/AML barriers, profit-driven gatekeeping, political targeting, and capital controls. They frame Bitcoin’s core advantage as permissionless access: it doesn’t care who you are or where you live—only whether you control your keys.<br /><br />They keep it honest by covering the hurdles too: education, infrastructure, custody risks, and volatility. The episode closes with a dignity-focused point: giving someone in a remote village the ability to securely save and t...
241 - Do You Have a Long Term View?
<p>Episode 241 is a “look back to look forward” kind of conversation: Kenshin and McIntosh talk through a rough week, the grind of finishing projects, and the mental toll of doom-and-gloom news cycles—then deliberately pivot to a more optimistic, long-term lens. McIntosh also shares early progress on a new open-source side project: a Nostr-powered, end-to-end encrypted “email-like” messaging concept that adds tiny Satoshi payments to discourage spam and compensate the servers relaying/storing messages.<br /><br />From there, the episode zooms out into Bitcoin perspective. Using their own episode archive as a timeline, they revisit key moments from 2021–2022 to underline th...
240 - Still Running Bitcoin
<p>Episode 240 is a wide-ranging catch-up that turns into a love letter to “running Bitcoin.” McIntosh and Kenshin swap life updates (including Kenshin’s push to launch a new project and McIntosh’s experiments with ChatGPT/Codex), then McIntosh shares a big workflow win: an automated script that pulls episode data straight from the RSS feed to generate the show’s episode pages—turning a manual, repetitive task into a quick, repeatable process.<br /><br />From there, the conversation pivots into Bitcoin history and self-sovereignty, using Hal Finney’s famous “Running Bitcoin” post as the jumping-off point. They break down why nodes matter...
239 - 2026 Outlook: Bear Market or Bull Run?
<p>McIntosh and Kenshin return after a two-week holiday break to discuss their predictions for 2026. They commemorate the 17th anniversary of Bitcoin's Genesis block (January 3, 2009) and discuss the upcoming anniversary of the first Bitcoin transaction to Hal Finney. Kenshin surprises by flipping bullish for 2026 despite his previous bearish stance, while both hosts share personal goals including potential career changes. They cover Bitcoin Core bugs, Ledger security breaches, and debate whether the four-year cycle pattern will finally break.<br /><br />Bitcoin Price at Time of Recording<br /><br />Jan 6th, 2025: $91,180 USD | 78,000 Euro<br /><br />Block Height at Time of Recording<br /><...
238 - Were We Wrong About Bitcoin in 2025?
<p>In this year-end review episode, we take an honest look at our 2025 predictions and how they held up against reality. Bitcoin started the year around $94k with high expectations, hit $122k in October, but closed near $87k - not quite the moonshot we anticipated. The institutional adoption we were excited about brought mixed results, with Wall Street playing their own games rather than simply pumping the price.<br />We reflect on what went right and wrong this year - from the disappointing lack of meaningful progress on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to the continued regulatory challenges in Europe. Despite...
237 - From El Salvador to Africa: Fighting Monetary Control
<p>In this episode, Mcintosh and Kenshin discuss the IMF's influence over El Salvador's Bitcoin adoption, exploring how international financial institutions exert control over sovereign nations through monetary policy. The conversation expands to examine France's ongoing monetary colonialism in Africa through the CFA franc system, and how organizations like the IMF enable economic control over developing nations. The hosts also debate different forms of governance, from monarchies to democracies, and their long-term impacts on nations and families. Along the way, they cover personal updates including Kenshin's unexpected ban from Claude AI, mining developments in China, Japan's massive stimulus budget, and...
236 - The Fed’s Chairman Speaks - Does Bitcoin Care?
<p>In this episode, McIntosh and Kenshin react to the Federal Reserve's latest quarter-point rate cut and discuss its implications for Bitcoin. They explore the broader economic landscape, including concerns about AI's impact on employment and the economy, the potential for an AI bubble, and what various economic scenarios could mean for Bitcoin's future. The hosts also touch on the challenges of monetary policy, inflation targets, and housing markets in both the US and Sweden. They wrap up with updates on Bitcoin mining hardware, open-source development opportunities, and current market metrics.<br /><br />Bitcoin Price at Time of Recording<br /> <...
235 - Play Fiat Games and Win Fiat Prizes
<p>McIntosh and Kenshin explore the dangerous world of "fiat games" and their consequences across global markets. They discuss Cardano's spectacular collapse after an AI-assisted coding error split the blockchain, triggering FBI involvement, and celebrate Texas becoming the first US state to actually purchase Bitcoin with $5M in iBit ETF. The Federal Reserve's pivot back to quantitative easing with a liquidity injection draws parallels to COVID-era money printing that launched Bitcoin from $3,800 to $29,000. The Japan carry trade unwind takes center stage as rising interest rates force massive deleveraging, with Bitcoin serving as the "canary in coal mine" through overnight liquidations...
