The Commoner
The Banks Are Watching the Plumbing Break
Fourteen banks published 1,598 reports this week. Treasuries sold off during a war. Dubai RE cratered 32%. Bitcoin broke $73K. The safe haven playbook is broken.
7 min read
TFTC / Marty Bent
The Commoner
Truth for the Commoner, every weekday. Money, machines, and the people trying to control both.
Independent writing by Marty Bent at TFTC since 2017. Commentary on money, markets, AI, energy and privacy.
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1,477 posts
The Commoner
Coinbase Is Quietly Trying to Kill Bitcoin's De Minimis Tax Exemption
Coinbase is quietly lobbying Congress to limit the de minimis tax exemption to stablecoins only, cutting bitcoin out of the picture. Three independent sources on Capitol Hill confi…
8 min read
The Commoner
CPI 2.4%: Calm Before the Storm
Iran escalates to targeting Big Tech data centers. CPI looks calm while Treasury suppresses oil prices. The fertilizer supply chain is severed. Bitcoin's distributed design has nev…
6 min read
The Commoner
SDNY Seeks Retrial of Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm
The SDNY wants to retry Roman Storm after a hung jury. Treasury pushes Patriot Act framework for digital assets. Iran war breaks Asian supply chains. NRC approves first new nuclear…
8 min read
The Commoner
Iran War Hits Refineries in Six Countries as Oil Spikes 28%, G7 Scrambles for SPR Release
Refineries across six countries hit by strikes as Strait of Hormuz closes. WTI spikes 28% to $116. G7 considers 400M barrel SPR release that covers just 4-5 days of lost supply. Bi…
8 min read
The Commoner
The $3 Trillion Private Credit Crisis Nobody Is Talking About
Blackstone raided its own balance sheet to cover record $3.8B in redemptions. Blue Owl froze withdrawals. PE stocks down 25-61%. Steve Eisman and forensic accountant Tom Gober say…
8 min read
The Commoner
Declassified Docs Link U.S. Bioweapons to Lyme Disease, Strike BLOC Goes Live, Robert Maxwell Destroyed Science
Declassified documents link U.S. bioweapons programs to the Lyme disease epidemic. 282,800 radioactive ticks released across Virginia. Plum Island just 13 miles from Lyme, CT. Plus…
8 min read
The Commoner
We're at War, the Banks Are Glitching, and Bitcoin Has Never Made More Sense
Kraken becomes the first bitcoin firm to access the Fed's payment rails. The CFTC fast-tracks perpetual futures. The Fed's own payment system goes down during the Iran war. Hormuz…
8 min read
The Commoner
AI Models Choose Bitcoin as Their Preferred Money
When frontier AI models choose their own money, 79.1% pick Bitcoin for long-term storage. Plus: CFTC fast-tracks perpetual futures, Kraken secures first-ever crypto Fed master acco…
8 min read
The Commoner
Qatar Helium Crisis Threatens China's Chip Fabs
Qatar's LNG halt after Iranian drone strikes threatens 21% of global helium supply. China imports 95% of its helium, with 90% from Qatar. The US controls 51% of remaining reserves.…
7 min read
The Commoner
Operation Epic Fury Shakes Markets, Bitcoin Recovers in Hours
The US launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran. Oil spiked 10%, $358M in crypto was liquidated, and BTC posted its 5th red month. But Bitcoin recovered from the strike dump withi…
7 min read
The Commoner
Tough Prosecutors Save Lives, But Not How You Think
A Vanderbilt study finds tough prosecutors cut young male mortality by 6.6%. Plus: Bitcoin ETFs buy $506M in one day, Citi confirms Bitcoin integration, MSTR hits highest short int…
9 min read
The Commoner
Jack Dorsey Just Cut 40% of Block. This Is Just the Beginning.
Jack Dorsey cut 4,000 employees from Block in one move, citing AI tools as the catalyst. The stock surged 25%. Is this the first domino in a wave of AI-driven corporate restructuri…
8 min read
The Commoner
Jane Street Hit With Federal Lawsuit as Bitcoin Surges and "Buy Bitcoin" Searches Hit 5-Year High
A federal lawsuit alleges Jane Street suppressed Bitcoin prices through systematic 10 AM trades. Since the filing, BTC surged 10% and "How to Buy Bitcoin" searches hit a 5-year hig…
10 min read
The Commoner
Agents of Chaos: AI Agents Go Rogue, Fed Split on AI, Korea Takes the AI Trade
Researchers broke six AI agents in two weeks, exposing eleven critical vulnerabilities. The Fed is split on AI and jobs. Korea is quietly winning the AI trade. River drops staggeri…
8 min read
The Commoner
Is AI CAPEX the Next Electricity Grid or the Next Dark Fiber? BTC Drops Below $65K as Fear Hits Historic Lows
Tech giants are spending $610B on AI infrastructure. Bitcoin dropped below $65K with Fear and Greed at 5. Plus: a KYC company exposed 1 billion records, and Anthropic just cratered…
8 min read
The Commoner
Marco Rubio Just Admitted What Bitcoiners Have Been Saying for a Decade
Secretary of State Rubio admitted the dollar is losing reserve status for half the world. China is building a gold-based settlement network. Bessent is pushing stablecoins through…
9 min read
The Commoner
Supreme Court Kills IEEPA Tariffs, Bitcoin Drops Below $65K, and the 2028 Scenario Nobody Wants to Model
The Supreme Court struck down Trump's IEEPA tariffs 6-3. Bitcoin dropped below $65K with $230M in liquidations. Plus: a scenario where AI bullishness is actually bearish for the ec…
5 min read
The Commoner
From Toilets and MSG to Every GPU on Earth: The Hidden Supply Chain of AI
A Japanese toilet maker and an MSG company control the most critical chokepoints in AI infrastructure. Plus: stealth inflation in your wallet, boomers hoarding 73.7% of wealth, and…
8 min read
The Commoner
Something Is Breaking Behind the Scenes
The Bitcoin fear and greed index hit 9. Blue Owl Capital permanently froze investor redemptions. The Fed flagged private credit vulnerabilities. Something is breaking beneath the s…
8 min read
