The Last Trade: Davos signals a shift in the monetary order as sovereign debt cracks, gold leads, and bitcoin emerges as a neutral alternative.

🎙️ About This Episode

At the World Economic Forum, bitcoin, sovereign debt, and the durability of the fiat system were debated more directly than ever before.

We break down Brian Armstrong’s exchange with the Bank of France, Ken Griffin’s warning on fiscal fragility following Japan’s bond shock, and Ray Dalio’s blunt assessment that “the monetary order is breaking down.”

Rather than focusing on short-term price action, the conversation centers on order of operations: why gold absorbs the first wave of sovereign stress, why central banks are quietly repricing reserves, and why bitcoin increasingly earns the bid as a neutral, issuer-less alternative in a world of rising political and monetary risk.

We also explore Trump’s push for U.S. leadership in digital assets, the state of market structure legislation, and why regulatory clarity matters more for plumbing than price. From there, we connect the dots between stablecoin proliferation, reserve credibility, and why paper claims versus true ownership will matter more in the next phase of this cycle.

The episode closes on AI, fiscal “Hail Mary” thinking, and why technology-driven deflation colliding with policy-driven debasement only raises the premium on sound savings.

🧠 Chapters

00:32 — Bitcoin Price Noise vs Monetary Signal 02:17 — Gold’s Breakout & the Order of Operations 09:12 — Davos Confronts Issuer-Less Money 21:09 — Sovereign Debt & the AI Escape Fantasy 29:55 — Trust Erosion, Taxes, & Counterparty Risk 36:06 — Why This Isn’t a Reflexive Bitcoin Cycle 41:32 — Market Structure, Policy Signals, & Access 45:52 — Quantum Risk Narratives & Allocation Behavior 47:58 — Stablecoins as Rails, Bitcoin as Reserve 51:18 — Practical Frameworks & Closing Thoughts

The Last Trade: a weekly, bitcoin-native podcast covering the intersection of bitcoin, tech, & finance on a macro scale. Hosted by Jackson Mikalic, Michael Tanguma, & Brian Cubellis. Join us as we dive into what bitcoin means for how individuals & institutions save, invest, & propagate their purchasing power through time. It's not just another asset… in the digital age, it's The Last Trade that investors will ever need to make.