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2343: $10M Bitcoin Bid War Begins - Iran's Chokepoint Changes Everything
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Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. You think a ticket for not wearing your seatbelt is the worst that could happen? A fine, an inconvenience, a little embarrassment. But then comes the crash. There are injuries, a stay in the hospital, the long road to recovery, the moments you'll miss. Suddenly a ticket doesn't seem so bad. That ticket, that was to remind you to buckle up before it's too late. Click it or ticket paid for by nhtsa. Bitcoin gets expensive when access gets restricted. Think about that. Oil has choke points. Trade has choke points. Now Bitcoin is entering that conversation. And when governments realize Bitcoin gives them something the legacy system cannot, they don't ask for permission. They bid against each other for the fixed supply. That's not a bull market. That's a supply war. Check this out. Bitcoin is on track for 10 million per coin. Faster than most people understand. Because Bitcoin has no freeze button. USDT does. Iran got 344 million in USDT frozen like Anna and Elsa. A stablecoin frozen by an issuer let that really sink in. Now look what's happening. Iran's IRGC is demanding Bitcoin for the straight of Hormu transit. Not for speculation, not for investment, but for passage through the single most important oil choke point on the planet. Roughly 20% of the global oil mo hor. Think about what that really means. This is no longer some abstract bitcoin thesis. This is strategic utility. Because once money becomes weaponized, people search for money that can't be weaponized. And that's Bitcoin. No central issuer, no CEO, no compliance department, no phone call, no permission, no freeze button. That distinction is everything. Because most investors still think bitcoin rises. And because people get excited because ETF buys or sailor buys, because influencers post charts. That matters. But that's really just surface level the bigger story. What happens when Bitcoin becomes necessary, not desirable, necessary. Because markets behave very differently when demand is optional versus when demand is strategic. And we're seeing signs of that shift everywhere. CNBC analysts are now openly saying Bitcoin's headed to a million and the banks cannot stop it. Vanx says digital credit markets could explode into the trillions as Bitcoin heads to a million dollars. Bank of America just increased exposure to strategy. Fidelity is openly talking about new bitcoin demand catalysts. Finland's pension fund is now buying bitcoin exposure. The smartest quant fund in history is loading up on Bitcoin. Billionaires are copying the sailor model. And now governments are discovering Bitcoin strategic utility. That changes everything. Because when institutions buy Bitcoin, that's bullish. But when pensions buy Bitcoin, that's validation. When the banks gain exposure, that's adoption. But when critical geopolitical choke points start demanding Bitcoin, that's a different category entirely. And that's where this gets dangerous. Because Iran isn't the story. The game theory is the story. If Bitcoin can be used as a straight of hormo, why not the Panama Canal? Why not the Suez Canal? Why not every strategic trade choke point on earth? Think about that. Global shipping runs through controlled gateways. Gateways controlled by governments. Governments that increasingly understand money itself is a geopolitical weapon. And once nations discover Bitcoin solves that problem, others copy. That's how game theory works. Not slowly, violently. Because no government wants strategic dependence on a rival's financial rails. That's when Bitcoin stops being a trade and becomes neutral. Settlement infrastructure and strategic demand doesn't care about your chart patterns. It doesn't care whether the RSI looks overheated. And it doesn't care if retail thinks price move too fast. Strategic buyers acquire because they need access. That's what creates violent repricing. Now layer in the supply. Only 21 million bitcoin, a massive portion already lost millions locked away by the long term holders. ETFs absorbing supply, corporate treasury is absorbing supply. Strategy absorbing supply. Nation state interests rising and suddenly the market structure changes. Because what exactly happens if multiple governments realize Bitcoin gives them something the legacy system cannot Neutral settlement, censorship, resistance, strategic mobility, financial sovereignty. That's when the bidding changes. Because Bitcoin doesn't need every government to buy. It only takes a few. A few aggressive governments, a few desperate nations. A few nations deciding they cannot afford to be late. That's when the bid war starts. And bid wars for scarce assets never end politely. That's why $10 million bitcoin isn't crazy. The extreme assumption is believing Bitcoin remains priced like a speculative toy after becoming strategic infrastructure. The question what happens to the bitcoin price when nations stop viewing it as an investment and start viewing it as a necessity? Here's the key. What I just described is already happening. So this is not theory, not someday, it's right now. Let me show you the receipts. As you can see, Iran wants Hormu insurance paid in Bitcoin. Now testing maritime insurance settled in Bitcoin. No issuer and no freeze button. That's the big takeaway here. Your favorite stablecoin can be frozen. In fact, as we demonstrated, they got 370 million of USDT already frozen. Bitcoin is money for enemies. This would be quite a validation of that thesis.
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We'll see how it develops. This is not even the first time we've kind of heard about something like this. We talked about it maybe a month ago, kind of a version of this, the ROGC taking tolls in Bitcoin and potentially a variety of other things like as you mentioned, stablecoins. So I feel like there's a lot more smoke here and I think there may well be kind of a fire. Particularly since as you said, it intuitively makes a ton of sense. It's what I think bitcoiners have long theorized would one path for bitcoin adoption has been adversarial sovereigns that don't necessarily need to or want to, or not able to trust each. But we've always said bitcoin is money for enemies. And this would be certainly quite a validation of, of that thesis.
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So there you go, Bitcoin. Only because your favorite stable coin, there's a freeze button. And here's the man who preached this all happening years or even over a decade ahead of his time, Max Kaiser says shouldn't the Panama Canal be accepting bitcoin? And I say that because he was the first one that brought up the idea of the bitcoin global hash war, which is game theory playing out amongst nation states. And that's what we're witnessing right now, Bitcoin being used as a utility because they can't sanction it very powerful. So shout out and salute to the high priest. Do you think the Panama Canal will eventually start accepting payments in Bitcoin? My belief absolute lutely. Why wouldn't they? I think all these strategic choke points will eventually start using Bitcoin because it's the only currency that cannot be seized or frozen. And that's just a fact. If you've been looking for an excuse to consolidate your assets. This is it until May 31st. Coinbase is given a straight 3% bitcoin boost on any crypto or cash deposits all month. Coinbase One is built to help you get more out of your money with zero trading fees on thousands of crypto assets. Around 3.5% APY on USDC, boosted stock staking and lending rewards and up to 4% bitcoin back with the Coinbase One card. Plus you can still claim 20% off your first year of Coinbase One annual plans and a 50 bitcoin bonus when you spend $100 on a new Coinbase One card in the first 30 days through May 31st. It's the perfect time to centralize your assets and maximize your earnings. Get your 3% boost at coinbase.com BTC NEWS that's coinbase.com BTC NEWS to claim your Bitcoin bonus. No purchase necessary. See rules and other ways to enter terms apply to other offers. Futures Slash swaps via Coinbase Financial markets risk of 100% loss payouts event based not investment advice not available in Nevada. Coinbase One card is offered through Coinbase Inc. And Cardless Inc. Cards issued by First Electronic Bank. Bitcoin back rates are based on cardholders assets on Coinbase.
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Welcome everyone to today's show. This is Pod Episode2343. Today is May 19th, 2026. Eric Trump says nations are now racing to acquire Bitcoin. The United States government has 300000 Bitcoin and will not sell. The Middle east is using energy from cities to mine bitcoin. Check this out. The United states government that holds 300000 bitcoin and will not sell it. You have the Middle east that is using energy from cities that they don't need to cool in the middle of winter, but they do obviously have to cool in the middle of summer because it's hot as hell. Guess what they're using all that extra capacity for to Mine point because bitcoin is the highest and best use case. And so now you have countries around the world all strategically mining bitcoin. You got governments stockpiling. This is the global hash war playing out in real time. This just in. $200 billion. Van X Matthew Siegel just said the digital credit market could scale to two and a half trillion dollars in the next decade. As bitcoin heads towards $1 million. MicroStrategy is currently like a 15% leverage, right. Debt to assets. So why don't we say that the credit market would be like 15% of the 15 trillion, right. So that's, call it two and a half trillion, something like that. I think that's, that's definitely within reach over the next decade. So there you go. You got some of the largest asset managers in the world all very confidently predicting bitcoin surpassing a million dollars as it continues to tap into trillions of dollars worth of capital pools such as digital credit, et cetera. I want you to check this out. The top 10 Bitcoin holders as of today. And yes, Strategy just surpassed the EPIC for 4% milestone of the Bitcoin supply. At pole position number one we got the infamous Satoshi Nakamoto which just shy of 1.1 million bitcoin which is 5.22% of the entire network. Then we have 980,000 bitcoin yet to be mined, is not going to be complete to the year 2140. And right now there's 450 bitcoin being mine per day. And in 2028 that gets chopped in half once again for the Next having Coinbase 9508000 Bitcoin which is 4 1/2% of the supply. And right under that you see sailor strategy with 843, 738 Bitcoin just above 4% of the supply. And then you got black rock right underneath that at 818,000 with 3.9% of the entire supply. So Larry Fink, if you're watching this, I want you to go home and get your shine box shoeshine, Larry. That's a message on behalf of the Fed chair. Nipinator Public company Strive just announced purchasing another 382 Bitcoin for 30 million. They now hold $1.18 billion worth of Bitcoin. Not too shabby as the race for bitcoin accumulation accelerates. This Justin as well. $70 billion Finland pension fund Varma just bought 7 and a half million worth of Bitcoin via MSTR, which is sailor strategy. Global pensions are stockpiling the BTC. Of course they are melting Ice cube theory. Where else are they going to store their wealth? Also $2 trillion bank of America, which is the second largest bank in the United States, right behind JP Morgan, just disclosed it bought 117,000 shares of MSTR and now holds a total of 3.96 million shares valued at $664 million. So the banks already have massive exposure, whether it's directly or indirectly through vehicles such as MSTR or black rocks. Ibid. Now $65 billion Renaissance Technologies just bought over $200 million more in Bitcoin via MSTR, the smartest quant fund in history. Loading up on the BTC. Also Justin $7 trillion Fidelity just called strc a major new demand catalyst for Bitcoin. For 40 million. Investors should be watching this closely. The cellular playbook is spreading.
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I'm Zach Wainwright, research analyst with Fidelity Digital Assets. Today we're going to be talking about the total Bitcoin accumulated via perpetual preferred stock. First, Perpetual preferred stock with a Bitcoin focus was launched in July 2025. These products aim to hold a par value of $100 while offering a variable rate yield that is paid out either bi weekly or monthly. To date, these products have led to the acquisition of nearly 100,000 bitcoin. And since March 2026, 70,000 bitcoin have been acquired via these vehicles. And More recently, in April 2026, we even saw 30,000 Bitcoin acquired in a single week. This is a major new demand catalyst
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for Bitcoin, powerful when you have the world's largest asset managers preaching about sailors new vehicles in which he is using to generate billions of dollars which is then flowing into Bitcoin. And he does that by offering the stretch 11 and a half percent annual dividend. And now it's on everyone's radar because it's raising capital faster than we have ever seen any other company do it. They raised eight and a half billion dollars in nine months. It's never been done before. So Sailor figured out how to tap into hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of pools of capital expanding past the store value market. Which gold is what? Maybe 34 trillion. So brilliant play by Saylor. And now the big money is following
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This Justin billionaire Grant Cardone just said he'll be the Michael Saylor of real estate and buy as much bitcoin as he can. He says every time I combine it with a bitcoin buy, I improve it. He's now holding over 200 million worth of BTC. Michael.
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I met with Michael two years ago before we built our first real estate bitcoin hybrid. Michael was very helped me a lot, kind of see where I could do this. Michael would tell me to just drop the real estate. He told me to do that. He's like, you don't even need.
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He told you that.
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He's like, just get the bitcoin dude. You don't even want the real estate. I am trying to take real estate and improve it and I believe I improve it every time I combine it with the bitcoin so that I have something very intangible and tangible.
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What's your guys thoughts on the real estate and bitcoin hybrid Grant Cardone is doing and do you agree with Sailor that he should focus solely on just on bitcoin and dump all of his real estate? Let me know your thoughts of course in the comments. And also Tristan Tate says crypto exchanges are becoming like banks. They can ask you questions on why you need to withdraw and use your crypto for your crypto is much safer in a cold wallet. Check it out.
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The difference between holding crypto on an exchange and in a cold wallet is very, very simple. I'm going to give you the example. Imagine gold, you could put gold in a bank. I'm not sure if anyone's aware of this. Every single bank in the world takes gold. And you could deposit gold in a bank just like you can cash, but who keeps you safe from the bank? Exchanges in the crypto world are very much like banks are in the traditional fiat currency world. Because if I have my gold in my cash, in my pocket, in bags, in my security van, flying around the world, I have access to it at all times and it is mine, just mine. No one can touch it. However, I have it in a bank and I want to send a million dollar transfer, my bank can ask me some fucked up question like, well, what do you need the money for? It's my money. How dare you ask what I need the money for? Crypto exchanges are now becoming like banks. You will have money on a crypto exchange and you'll say, you know, I want to withdraw $10,000. Well, here's a KYC form. We need to know our customer.
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Massive lesson for everyone here. Not familiar with cold storage or if you're currently using a crypto exchange as where you store your crypto. That's a massive mistake. It can be seized from you effortlessly. There's no one protecting you from the exchange itself. F their kyc. Keep your Bitcoin in a cold storage device such as the Tangent Wallet. In fact, in places like California, if you keep your crypto on the exchange for three years or longer and you never move it, they have the right to seize it from you. And they will. So you cannot trust the banks the same way you cannot trust your favorite crypto exchange. And I hope this message hits home. So what I just shared with you is a true strategic use case happening by governments around the world. Avoiding sanctions by tapping into bitcoin payments because there is no freeze button. And remember, your favorite stablecoin can be frozen. That's why you don't store your wealth in stable coins or on crypto exchanges. You store your wealth in bitcoin. The swift system sucks. Sending internationally has definitely been choked off one to two major ways, but sending cash overseas is difficult. Agreed. We should take Bitcoin at all major shipping choke points. It would make shipping faster rather than waiting for funds to clear and then allowing ships and trucks through. Cold wallets are the way to go. I bought another one last month. Amen to that. Can you do a piece on coal wallets? I don't know how they work. Can I receive payments directly to a coal wallet? Abso freaking lutely, yes. And yes. If Panama, Suez and other strategic choke points copy this bitcoin playbook, what happens to the price? And don't forget to check out bitcoinnewsalerts.net for the full premium experience with video and to participate in the live stream along with the Q A. And I look forward to seeing you on tomorrow's episode. Hoddle.
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