Signal vs. Noise - A Sneak Peak

Summary

Onramp Bitcoin Media — Signal vs. Noise: A Sneak Peak (July 10, 2026)
Hosts: Jackson Michalik, Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, Brian Cabellis
Podcast: Onramp Bitcoin Media
Listen/Info

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the debut of Signal vs. Noise, a new biweekly livestream aiming to cut through media "noise" in markets, tech, and culture, focusing on finding the true "signal" in today’s capital markets. The hosts—veterans across finance, tech, and digital assets—promise authentic discussions, delivered live, where they sift through the top five stories every week to uncover what truly matters for the modern investor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. About the Show and Hosts’ Credentials

[00:01–04:15]

• The hosts introduce the show’s format: every Tuesday and Thursday, they analyze five top stories spanning capital markets, tech, and people.

• Emphasis on "building in public": Jackson notes the show is partly about his own journey from the "permanent underclass," inviting listeners to join in self-improvement relating to finance and career.

• Distinct angle: Unlike many market podcasts, the hosts bring 5–10+ years of real, hands-on experience in finance, tech, investing, and markets—they’re practitioners, not pundits.

  “There's so much noise out there in the markets... what the market tells you is generally not what's happening, or they're missing a key component.”
  — Michael Tanguma [00:49]

  “You can treat this show as building in public. How do I build myself out of the permanent underclass?”
  — Jackson Michalik [02:15]

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2. Topic #1: Moving Back Home — Signal or Noise?

[04:15–11:19]

Article:

Wall Street Journal—"Moving back home used to be a sign of failure. Now it shows financial savvy."
Statistic: Nearly half of American adults under 30 live with a parent due to high housing costs.

Hosts’ Perspectives:

• Jackson:

  • Views Wall Street Journal's "financially savvy" spin as noise, arguing it's more about survival than strategy.

  • Argues the core issue is asset inflation since moving off the gold standard (1971), worsened post-2008 due to monetary intervention. Young people have seen prices rise faster than wages, making asset ownership key to escaping financial struggle.

    “This is perhaps the noisiest way you could spin this data... This is not a move of financial savvy. This is financial survival...”
    — Jackson [05:17]

• Michael:

  • Adopts a contrarian angle, noting living with family is normalized in other cultures, but in the U.S., it signals economic decline.

  • Discusses compounding effects: living at home hinders starting relationships, families, or moving up the financial ladder.

    “It’s a heavy signal of how this is the road to serfdom... How are you supposed to find a significant other if you live at home with your parents?”
    — Michael [06:48]

• Liam:

  • Argues the data point is "signal"—it reflects deteriorating generational prospects. Headlines calling it “savvy” are just noise that misdirects from structural issues.

  • References viral media misattributing young people's struggles to personal choices (e.g., spending on lunch), while ignoring systemic problems.

    “It’s a bit of a misdirection here in the headline... They’re not doing this out of their own volition... They have no other option.”
    — Liam [08:12]

• Brian:

  • Adds macro context: since 1971, home prices are up 17x, money supply up 36x, while wages haven’t kept up.

  • Notes knock-on effects: decline in bars, clubs, leisure, and changing social dynamics—all fallout from eroding affordability and opportunity.

    “People just don't have enough capital to get out and really enjoy real life with each other...prices of homes have gone up 17x while the money supplies increased 36x.”
    — Brian [08:52]

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3. Structural Shifts in Society & Macro Trends

[09:57–11:19]

• Post-1971, U.S. economics changed: more workers per family, less intergenerational living, and now a reversal fueled by economic precarity.

• Discussion of employment gimmicks: manipulating CPI, layoffs camouflaged as “AI-driven,” and the bleak outlook for young professionals.

• COVID era as parallel: forced proximity exposed social stressors, now economic struggle does the same.

  “You don't move back home unless you become unemployed...this is just a huge signal... It's pretty terrifying honestly to see this and then see it spun this way.”
  — Michael [09:57–11:19]

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4. Interactivity and Community Building

[11:19–13:38]

• The show welcomes audience topic suggestions and teases future integrations with prediction markets, Satoshi-based topic voting, and community curation.

• Openness to critical feedback, with ongoing tweaks (like adding a buzzer on time limits).

  “We’d love to get people involved in helping to curate topics. It'll be a more enjoyable experience for all of us.”
  — Jackson [12:07]

• Lighthearted banter about gambling on topics leading back to moving in with parents—highlighting the hosts’ irreverent camaraderie.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Jackson, on economic reality:

  “You hear this online all the time — you need to own assets or get left behind. And unfortunately, this is what’s happening... It’s playing out in real time.” [05:40]

• Liam, on media narratives:

  “It reminds me of that clip that went viral... ‘These kids are paying $20 for lunch. That’s why they don’t have any money.’ It’s so…it’s a bit of a misdirection...” [08:12]

• Brian, on macro effects:

  “Since 1971, the prices of homes have gone up 17x while the money supply has increased 36x... People just don’t have enough capital to get out and really enjoy real life with each other.” [08:52]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:01–04:15: Introduction to show, hosts’ backgrounds, and mission
• 04:15–11:19: Main topic—Young adults living with parents: signal or noise?
• 09:57–11:19: Macro trends, social and labor shifts post-1971
• 11:19–13:38: Show logistics, community building, closing banter

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Takeaways

• The hosts challenge prevailing media narratives, especially those that minimize structural economic headwinds for younger generations.
• Despite bitcoin and tech focus, the show aims to ask bigger questions about monetary policy, societal change, and personal agency in today’s world, always seeking the true “signal” in a noisy media landscape.
• Community interactivity and transparency are baked into the show’s DNA, inviting audience participation in shaping each episode.

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Next episode drops Tuesday, 12:30 Eastern—tune in live for real-time market and tech insights with Signal vs. Noise.

Transcript

[A]

We are live. Ladies and gentlemen, the first episode, the first live stream of signal versus noise. We are launching a new bi weekly show Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30 Eastern. And your hosts are going to be myself, Jackson Michalik, Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson and Brian Cabellis. Every week, Tuesdays, Thursdays, we are going to be unpacking the five biggest stories across capital markets, technology and people. And we're going to tell you what is actually happening behind the scenes. What is the most important information. Where's the signal? Where's the noise? Gentlemen, great to see you on the stream today. How's everyone doing?

[B]

Another, another show. You guys pulled us, you guys pulled us out. We weren't in retirement but you know, there's so much noise out there in the markets. This is coinciding with the whole media push you'll be learning about. And yeah, as Jackson said, there's just too much noise, lack of signal and what the market tells you is happening is generally not exactly what's happening or they're missing a key component. And so we're going to go through that and then ideally we disagree on a lot of things so that'll be fun as well.

[C]

Yeah, excited for this? I think. So we're going to go a little bit outside of our comfort zones on some of these topics. It's not going to be just a bitcoin digital asset focused show. We are going to basically source and scour the Internet and the universe for the top five topics every other day or so, Tuesdays and Thursdays and distill what matters and why and maybe what doesn't matter as well.

[B]

And we'll still dunk on Jackson because like in starting, you know, there's technology, markets. What is it? What am I forgetting?

[D]

One of them is capital and people.

[B]

Capital, human nature.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And the people one's all Jackson like I think he's just feeling a little in the dumps with the price and where things are going. So he wants to get into the cultural relevance. How do we escape, how does he escape the permanent underclass, et cetera, et cetera. So there'll definitely be a human component to all of those.

[A]

I think it's worth mentioning that this, you could treat this show as a building in public. How do I build myself out of the permanent underclass? And we're going to be covering the stories that. So you can join me on this journey. So you could actually move out of your parents house. That's the first topic we're going to be talking about today. But Liam, before we get there, any words of wisdom, any insights, any opening remarks on the first ever episode, the first ever stream of Signal versus Noise.

[D]

Super excited to be here. I think that as a few other folks said, there's just so much noise out there and the Internet is becoming so DDoS with AI slop that we actually have to come be in person. This will be live, so there's no faking this. And, you know, we're not turning into the AI anytime soon, so we'll be bringing you the. The noise twice a week or the. The signal, not the noise.

[C]

Oh, maybe. Maybe both. Yeah, we need a bit of both.

[B]

We may bring some noise. I do think it's worth calling out. I don't think this comes up a lot, but it is like depending on who's on this show, there's a minimum of 5 to 10 years of professional experience in different domains across technology, finance and markets and investing that we don't do podcasts full time. And I think that's a huge component of, forget about, like bitcoin and crypto. You see that in the regular markets, there's no shortage of pontificators that are looking and reading stuff and they talk about it, but they're not actually building, they're not actually practitioners. And I think I shared this for years. That was the idea behind Last Trade, looking at all in success. Because no matter what people say about those guys, they're out there in the quote unquote arena and they're losing money, making money, maybe grifting. But the point being is that's where these takes will come from. From like real world, you know, going outside the comfort zone. We're comfortable in doing that because that's what you have to do day to day when you have to manage your life. And so we're just going to be sharing how we look at it through the lens of obviously we have this huge focus on bitcoin and digital assets, but there's still a lot to be discussed that will eventually relate to all of that.

[A]

That is well said. I think we should get into the first topic. And Nick, as you're pulling that up and getting the timer ready to rock and roll here, I just want to remind everyone please to like and subscribe. The new feed on YouTube will be signal versus noise versus noise live. And so you can find us on YouTube. And let's take a look at this first topic here. Let's get the timer going. We're going to be under the constraint of five minutes per topic every single week. Every single topic. I'm going to read this one out from the Wall Street Journal. I opened my Twitter this morning and apparently everyone was talking about this. So this is from the Wall Street Journal. It is titled moving back home used to be a sign of failure. Now it shows financial savvy. Nearly half of American adults under 30 pinched by high housing costs are living with a parent. And it could be an adjustment for both. Well, I'm at least proud to say while I may be part of the permanent underclass, I was actually able to escape this statistic and I'm proud of that. I suppose it's, it's interesting that the spin here is from the financial or from the Wall Street Journal. Excuse me, the spin here is that this is a financially savvy move. I'm going to go first and say that that is perhaps the noisiest way you could spin this data. Because at the end of the day, whether you look at people living with their parents or people buying their first home, if you were to look at median home prices and when did people purchase their first home, what is the average age of the net buyer in the market? Currently, everything is trending up into the right. And the data point that I would always refer back to would be 1971, when the US finally de pegged and entered a fiat money economy. But even more pronounced since 2008, 2009, when the Federal Reserve, when the government started to intervene more and more in markets and the economy. And so you've seen this trend where unfortunately younger millennials, Gen Z and then eventually Gen Alpha as well as they get a little bit older. This is a trend that will be tough to break because you have so much asset concentration. You have equities, homes, you name it. Everything's at all time highs. And you have people's wages that have not kept up with inflation. And so really the challenge, you hear this online all the time is you need to own assets or get left behind. And unfortunately, this is, this is what's happening. This is playing out in real time. So this is not a move of financial savvy. This is, I think, financial survival and financial, many people, their only chance of being able to save enough to eventually live a life that they would consider, you know, make them happy and start a family.

[B]

Yeah, I think Jackson broke every rule to start for the signal versus noise. But we'll, we'll digress. So I'll, yeah, I'll go. I mean, if I want to take the complete contrarian, I could say there's a Lot of signal. And it's a good thing because people live with their family across the world longer and they're going to take care of their families. But it's obviously the other side of, is a heavy signal of how this is the road to serfdom. It's also why this whole thing exists. As Jackson pointed out, moving back to home used to be a sign of failure. Now it shows financial savvy. It's like the reality is individuals are getting laid off, their rent is increasing, their cost of living is increasing, they're moving back home, which is going to put them further behind because how are you supposed to find a significant other if you live at home with your parents? How are you supposed to have a child? All the things downstream of that and it's just the realization that cannot make it alone by themselves. And so they have to move back with their family.

[C]

Yeah, that's well said. I mean, I'm going to go ahead and also break some rules and kind of take both sides. I think the data point is signal in the sense that it illuminates everything that you described, Jackson, around the monetary fiscal situation and how people of younger generations are in a far worse position than just their parents were. Which historically, in sort of America's history, that hasn't been the case. Typically you're able to do better than your parents did and that's just not possible today. But the noise is this headline of, yeah, it shows financial savvy. It reminds me of that clip that went viral a few weeks ago of Kevin o', Leary, the Shark Tank guy, being like, you know, these kids are paying $20 for lunch. That's why they don't have any money. It's like, well, that's what lunch costs, dude. Like, it's so it's, you know, it's a bit of a misdirection here in the headline of, oh yeah, this is financial savvy. No, it's. This is like financial survival. Like they're not doing this out of their own volition or free will because they want to be savvy and save money. They're doing it because they have no other option.

[D]

Yeah, 100%. This is all noise. And on a bunch of related topics, there were data points that came out recently about bars and clubs. Per capita fallen 60% since 1971. Golf courses and marinas, live events are all declining. People are just don't have enough capital to get out and really enjoy real life with each other. Which is a lot of reasons why people are more comfortable to live with their parents. Since 1971 the prices of homes have gone up 17x while the money supplies increased 36x. So a lot it's getting out of reach for a lot of folks out there just given average wages obviously have an increase 36x or even 17 since 1971. And so you know there's. There's got to be a better solution otherwise you know we'll continue to see this political system move more and more away from capitalism towards what's coming out as the. The social communism class at the moment.

[B]

Yeah and you have to look at like there's been the past two years all these downstream things around manipulating CPI but also employment and you can this is the easiest contrast or like example of you don't move back home unless you become unemployed. Generally speaking like you if you can't afford it's one of the last reasons you would leave your dwelling and then go back with your parents. Especially when you think about relationships and how the economy post 71 is formed where you needed multiple parents to be out so you weren't didn't necessarily have the same relationship you had with your parents. Doesn't say it's good or bad but a lot of people just don't feel comfortable leaving. That's why they left in this in the United States and so now they have to move back with individuals. It's kind of a reminiscent of a little bit of COVID how there was a lot of people that broke up because people spent so much time away from each other that once they got back into having to live together it's just a fundamental like construction that we've lived on with a different society than our parents grew up in. And so this is just a huge signal from the aspect of it doesn't get. It's not getting any better. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. And these individuals don't have jobs. They're probably not going to be able to be hired. Given all the things that are happening from a macro perspective in AI and just the unit economics where companies are laying people off under the guise of AI that this is going to be. It's pretty terrifying honestly to see this and then see it spun this way.

[A]

Well how did we do? We allegedly it was my fault. I guess I had a little bit too long of a pre.

[C]

It took like two and a half minutes but we, we did okay.

[A]

Hey yeah we we're getting the training wheel set up here.

[B]

Where's the buzzer everybody?

[C]

Buzzer we do need a buzzer.

[B]

Anybody listening? Nick is our new producer, so if you have any comments for him, if you want him to talk or never talk, just leave them in the show. In the comments. Make sure to like and subscribe. But also if you want him to put any cool things, there's. There's gonna be a lot, a lot more being added as we grow this.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Please like and subscribe Signal vs Noise live on YouTube and join us every Tuesday, Thursday, 12:30 Eastern. If you want to join live. It'll also be published Wednesday, Friday mornings.

[C]

Also follow the new handle, where this will also be streamed live on X onramp Media.

[A]

And my final thing would be if people want to be involved in helping to curate the topics each week, we're going to have to figure out the best process for those to be submitted. So more to come there. But we'd love to get people involved in helping to curate topics. It'll be a more enjoyable experience for all of us. And I think, all things considered, we did all right. I'm gonna work on all weekend. I'm gonna work on getting my comments. Very sharp. 45 seconds.

[B]

Well, I'm also glad you brought that up, because if you guys are interested in the comments show, like, I think the way you.

[C]

You do this and it's.

[B]

It's actually perfect is whether it's in our media feed and then that gets mirrored. We try to do this. Brian, if you remember two years ago with Final Settlement, where you effectively just put satoshis, you bet with satoshi, not bet, but you like, not even stream, but you basically vote the topics before. And then we just have to pick the top five topics that are the most voted from the market. Maybe we don't even do SATs at first, but that's the easiest way to. To get individuals involved with. But I'm. I'm glad Jackson raised his hand and put his hat in the ring to figure all that out and get it in a good spot. So thanks, Jackson.

[A]

Perhaps we can get it on prediction markets as well. We want them to be gambling as much as possible, so they have to move back in with their parents.

[B]

Polymarket will probably want to sponsor this and just have it streaming across the bottom and we can. We can talk about it.

[A]

All right, gentlemen, it's a pleasure.

[C]

Good test, Good test run.

[A]

Good first week here. We'll see you back next week later, guys.

[D]

Thanks, guys.