The Bitcoin Layer
The Bitcoin Layer is a premium markets research provider, covering bitcoin through a global macro lens | Research, Analysis, & Education Featuring Nik Bhatia, author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Layered Money and USC Marshall School of Business professor. Subscribe to our research publication and YouTube channel to learn about global macroeconomics, bitcoin, Lightning Network, the monetary and financial system, the Federal Reserve, interest rates, and geopolitics. Most importantly, develop a framework for understanding global markets—connect the dots between economic and financial concepts to see the bigger picture. Look no further for your bitcoin and macro education!
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AI Is Breaking the Power Grid, and Bitcoin Is the Fix
In this episode, Nik welcomes back Daniel Batten, bitcoin researcher and longtime voice on bitcoin's role in energy, for a conversation on the collision between AI, the power grid, and bitcoin mining. The Bitcoin Layer and its guests do not provide investment advice.
The Bitcoin Power Law Points to $300,000 w/ Dr. Stephen Perrenod
In this episode, Nik welcomes back Dr. Stephen Perrenod, astrophysicist and member of the Scientific Bitcoin Institute, for a conversation on the mathematics behind bitcoin's price. The Bitcoin Layer and its guests do not provide investment advice.
AI May Be the Biggest Bull Case for Bitcoin | Joe Consorti
In this episode, Nik welcomes back Joe Consorti, a TBL veteran who helped build The Bitcoin Layer in its early days, for a conversation on bitcoin, AI, and the next phase of markets. Joe explains why bitcoin has lagged equities, why the four-year cycle may be breaking, and why AI could become one of the biggest long-term bull cases for bitcoin. He also breaks down the volatile macro setup ahead, from war-driven oil inflation and higher rates to the AI capex boom, asset price inflation, and why bitcoin may be uniquely positioned as an asset that cannot be disrupted in...
Global Macro Update: Is Japan Breaking the Bond Market?
In this Global Macro Update, Nik argues a global bond crisis is brewing and it starts outside the United States. Japanese yields are driving the worldwide sell-off, with German and UK bonds close behind, while inflation expectations roar back on the oil shock from the war in Iran. Nik walks through every major asset class, the bear flattener in US Treasuries, why credit spreads show no fear at home, and why the SOFR market signals a flight to safety rather than US bond stress. On the economy, he makes the case that the US labor market is strong, housing inflation...
BREAKING: CME Launches Compute Futures, The New Oil
The CME just launched compute futures, with CEO Terry Duffy calling compute "the new oil of the 21st century." In this video, Nik argues this is the dominant force in markets right now, and it's exactly what he laid out in yesterday's Substack post, The Token Layer. The Bitcoin Layer and its guests do not provide investment advice.
UAE QUITS OPEC: The Offshore Dollar Era Is Changing with Matt Dines
Nik welcomes Matt Dines, CIO of Build Asset Management, back to The Bitcoin Layer to unpack the UAE leaving OPEC and what it signals about a broader dollar system remake. Dines ties the UAE's pivot toward direct Fed swap lines to the Bank of Japan holding rates, the un-inversion of the 3-month / 6-month T-bill curve after 130 weeks, and the disaster unfolding in UK gilts. He closes with his thesis on the ninth inning of the credit cycle, the 1913 Anglo-American merger, and the Pax Silica vision tying together semiconductors, energy, critical minerals, stablecoins, and bitcoin as the glue of an emerging...
The Money Printer Is Back On with Lyn Alden
Nik welcomes back Lyn Alden for a wide-ranging conversation on AI's economic impact, the repricing of software stocks, and why the deficit only goes one direction. The Bitcoin Layer and its guests do not provide investment advice.
The Everything Bubble Is Over: Michael Howell’s Warning for 2026
Nik welcomes back Michael Howell of CrossBorder Capital for an urgent breakdown of the global liquidity cycle. Michael explains why the cyclical top is in, how oil, the MOVE index, and the dollar have dealt a 20% blow to global liquidity, and why the everything bubble is over. They cover the $45 trillion debt maturity wall, China's monetization driving gold, Treasury QE replacing Fed QE, bank deregulation as a 2027 catalyst, private credit's illiquidity risk, and why Michael says don't trade bitcoin or gold, own them. The Bitcoin Layer and its guests do not provide investment advice.
RISE of the American Empire with Brent Johnson
In this episode, Nik welcomes back Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital for a wide-ranging global macro conversation. Brent breaks down the dollar's behavior during geopolitical crises, the deglobalization thesis and fracturing supply chains, and his Rise of the American Empire framework drawing parallels to Rome's transition from republic to empire. They cover the Office of Strategic Capital's push to secure critical minerals and semiconductors, the US-China power competition over chips and rare earths, Persian Gulf risks including fertilizer disruptions and famine, and close with stablecoins, bitcoin as a pure play on global liquidity, and why digital assets are here to...
The AI-Pentagon War That Every Bitcoiner Needs to Understand
In this episode, Nik welcomes back Yaël Ossowski, Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, to break down the escalating standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon. They examine how Claude was reportedly used in the Venezuela raid, why Anthropic is drawing a hard line against warrantless surveillance and autonomous weapons, and the political fault lines forming between AI safety and permissionless innovation. Yaël unpacks the third party doctrine and its direct implications for Bitcoiners’ financial privacy, and they close with a look at how the massive AI capex buildout is reshaping the U.S. economy and what it means for...
