Early Riders Media

About Early Riders Media

A weekly podcast covering the underlying mechanics of the bitcoin protocol, its ongoing development, project funding, and real-world applications of the technology

Publisher

Early Riders

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Mar 2025

Latest episode

29 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

81 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Sept 2026

   This Chart Exposed The AI Trade and Loves Bitcoin

   One chart from Epoch AI shows the cost of AI falling about 47% a quarter since 2023, faster than any technology in history, and it exposes the math under the AI trade. Michael, Liam and Brian on why cheap intelligence competes away profit, and why Bitcoin is the scarce unit left. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Eight major AI models shipped in two weeks, open-weight models now carry most of the tokens on Vercel's AI Gateway, Oracle invoked force majeure on a Stargate site, and Epoch AI finds the cost of a given level of performance has fallen about 47% a quarter since 2023. Michael's read is that AI will compete away the profits it touches, which makes the scarce unit in an abundant world the question that matters. From there the three of them work through Amazon blocking Meta's Muse while Shopify opens its merchants to it, Block bringing Bitcoin Lightning payments to x402 for AI agents, the Open USD stablecoin consortium, the CFTC's call to prepare for mass tokenization, Citi and Coinbase, BlackRock's model portfolios on Ondo, Binance's $100 million stake in Circle, and Apollo's warning that agents could set off a bank run. The single point of failure of the week is the roughly $350 million Bitget hack, linked to North Korea. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Eight AI models in two weeks: what the singularity looks like 03:53 - Open-weight models, Oracle's Stargate notice, and Jevons paradox 07:15 - Frontier versus open models, and why the harness holds the value 10:46 - Amazon blocks Muse, Shopify opens the door 16:57 - Why blocking bots fails, and why agents may raise prices 23:13 - Block brings Bitcoin Lightning to x402 for AI agents 26:26 - What if the ads of the agent internet are just money? 29:07 - Open USD: Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and Shopify 30:56 - Mass tokenization, from the CFTC to the ECB's Pontes 33:51 - Citi and Coinbase, BlackRock on Ondo, Binance into Circle 36:50 - Stablecoins as the onramp, and the agentic bank run 41:02 - If intelligence is free, where does alpha come from? 44:09 - Single point of failure of the week: the Bitget hack 48:35 - Russia tells investors to eat stablecoin freeze losses 50:16 - The Epoch AI chart: cheaper faster than any tech in history ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement is a weekly show on capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, Bitcoin applications, and protocol development, presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media with Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Michael: https://x.com/MTanguma · Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 · Brian: https://x.com/BackslashBTC ▶️ Watch the video: [YouTube link for this episode] MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.

2. 

   28 Sept 2026

   AI Just Bailed Out Bitcoin Mining | Bob Burnett

   AI just bailed out Bitcoin's public miners, and Bob Burnett says that is the healthiest thing to happen to mining in years. Liam sits down with the Ocean executive chairman on falling hash rate, who builds Bitcoin's blocks, and what the BIP-110 fork proved. Guest: Bob Burnett, CEO of Barefoot Mining and executive chairman of Ocean. https://www.barefootmining.com/ BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Bob Burnett was CTO of Gateway before starting Barefoot Mining in 2017, and now chairs the Ocean mining pool. He sorts miners into rabbits, horses and elephants, and argues the elephants' rush into AI hosting is trimming fat that never belonged: public miners have fallen from roughly 38% to 28% of hash rate, and he expects global hash rate to stay flat to down for up to two years. He explains why mining is a commodity business that sells block space, why off grid power beats an on grid contract, and why five pools building 80% of block templates is the risk Ocean and DATUM were built to fix. It closes on Core and Knots, what the BIP-110 fork revealed about consensus, and why Wall Street and nation states will have a voice. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Bob Burnett: Barefoot Mining, Ocean and The Bitcoin Boomers 03:52 - Rabbits, horses and elephants: the three classes of miner 07:07 - Why the public miners pivoted to AI, and why that is healthy 10:40 - Worst hashprice ever, and what AI pays for power 18:07 - Hash rate is falling: is Bitcoin's security at risk 23:24 - Used rigs at dimes on the dollar, and the next mining chips 31:00 - Wild vs captured: why the future of mining is off grid 38:09 - All of Bitcoin mining is a $10 billion business 40:32 - Miners or hashers: five pools build 80% of blocks 46:03 - FPPS vs TIDES: the hidden cost of steady payouts 51:24 - Stratum V2 vs DATUM, and hundreds of templates on Ocean 56:12 - Bitcoin Core, Knots and why process matters 1:03:21 - What the BIP-110 fork taught Bitcoin about consensus 1:10:15 - The tenth man, and Ocean parting ways with Luke Dashjr 1:14:48 - The Bitcoin Boomers, and why boomers aren't the problem ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement Interview Series: a one on one interview series hosted by Liam Nelson, Partner at Early Riders. One guest, and a deep conversation on the deals, the capital and the technology moving through bitcoin, so you can hear how the people actually doing the work think about where the future is going. Presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 • Bob Burnett: https://x.com/boomer_btc MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.

3. 

   22 Sept 2026

   Why Meta's Muse Forces Rapid Bitcoin Adoption

   Meta shipped Muse to a user base measured in billions, and within days Amazon blocked it from shopping on Amazon.com. Michael, Liam and Brian on why autonomous agents will need a settlement unit, and why that is the clearest path yet to Bitcoin becoming ordinary money. BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fs-pod GET ON THE LIST • Onramp: our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fs-pod • Early Riders Insights: the best content in the ecosystem, weekly. https://www.earlyriders.com/research ABOUT THIS EPISODE Meta's Muse personal agent is the story of the week, and Michael calls it the biggest thing that has happened in AI so far. It is already ordering groceries, booking services and canceling subscriptions for users, and Amazon has cut it off from shopping on Amazon.com. The argument the three of them build from there is that agents traversing the internet will eventually hit monetary friction, that something has to sit between an agent and the open web, and that Meta acquiring Lightspark is the obvious way it gets a payment layer. Earlier in the show they work through the SEC's five year innovation exemption, which opens tokenized equity trading without the Clarity Act, and what Goldman and Citizens analysts read into it for Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle. The back half covers TypeSafe's Jev model, Tether's $1.45 billion position at Gold.com, and stablecoin hiring at Apple and Google. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Bitcoin rips overnight, and the leverage that got washed out 05:29 - Bitcoin climbs after a rate hike, which is not how this usually goes 07:15 - The SEC's innovation exemption lands without the Clarity Act 09:26 - Why a securities rule matters for a commodity 13:33 - Goldman and Citizens: Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle win 15:48 - Circle's Arc, eleven validators, and what decentralized is not 18:25 - The banks sat this one out, and why that ages badly 23:13 - The tokens will flow: OpenRouter usage up 25,000% 27:14 - Jev, and the case against burning tokens to make a decision 33:29 - Meta ships Muse, the biggest AI moment yet 38:44 - Amazon cuts off Muse, and the agent knife fight begins 42:32 - Why Meta buying Lightspark is the obvious next move 46:45 - Instinct raises at $10 billion, and the paper gain problem 50:39 - Tether becomes a bullion bank, and Big Tech hires for stablecoins 58:40 - Single point of failure of the week: California's AI kill switch ABOUT THE SHOW Final Settlement is a weekly show on capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, Bitcoin applications, and protocol development, presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media with Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis. • Connect with Early Riders: https://www.earlyriders.com/contact • Michael: https://x.com/MTanguma · Liam: https://x.com/Lnelson_21 · Brian: https://x.com/BackslashBTC ▶️ Watch the video: [YouTube link for this episode] MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and First Principles: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live twice a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.