The Becoming Sovereign Podcast

In this 30-minute sprint from the Becoming Sovereign Conversation Series, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with John to discuss the breakneck speed of innovation across both the AI and Bitcoin landscapes.

When entire industries change week to week, relying on legacy knowledge is no longer an option. John breaks down why top performers treat online courses and continuous education like going to the gym—you have to put in the reps to upskill your career and stay competitive. From navigating recent Bitcoin volatility to leveraging AI tools and even mastering everyday life skills, this episode is a wa...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Sean Milmoe, CFO of 360 Energy. Sean shares his fascinating transition from traditional oil and gas investment banking at Credit Suisse and Blackstone to deploying fully off-grid Bitcoin mines in the harsh oil fields of West Texas.
The conversation breaks down the mechanics of 360 Energy's operations, where they utilize 1.5 megawatt natural gas generators to consume associated gas that would otherwise be flared, turning a stranded byproduct into monetized hashrate. Sean provides an insider's look at the steep physical learning curve of generating reliable power in...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Kent Halliburton, COO and late-stage co-founder of Sazmining. The conversation opens with an exploration of cultural shifts, examining the Portuguese concept of saudade, the lost American frontier spirit, and the modern discipline required to navigate an enshittified world.

Kent shares his transition from computer engineering and a decade leading rooftop solar rollouts to discovering Bitcoin while living abroad in Portugal and wandering the digital frontier. He details how Sazmining took a software-first approach to create an "Airbnb for Bitcoin mining," aligning incentives through...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Kevin Bell, CFA and Founder of Cadena Bitcoin. Kevin breaks down how Cadena is building an essential piece of the Bitcoin economy by offering non-custodial, peer-to-peer lending and borrowing directly on Bitcoin's base layer.They discuss the critical need for financial services that allow users to access liquidity or earn yield without surrendering their private keys or facing margin calls. Kevin explains how Cadena utilizes Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) to eliminate counterparty risk, creating a transparent, El Salvador-registered platform that empowers the global Bitcoin community...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Tony Beck and JP Bulow, co-founders of the Santa Fe-based regenerative meat purveyor Beck & Bulow. Tony and JP share their journey from slinging wild-harvested bison steaks out of a cooler at local farmers markets to operating a 120-acre guest ranch, serving hundreds of premier restaurants, and managing their corporate treasury and 401(k) allocations in Bitcoin.

The conversation pulls back the curtain on the consolidation of the global food system, exposing how the "Big Four" meatpackers control over 90% of the market and revealing the...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles is joined by Brendan O'Shaughnessy, founder of the Kansas City-based design and branding studio, Ocean & Sea. Brendan shares his lifelong entrepreneurial journey, detailing how he started his first company at 13 and eventually built his current studio, which has accepted Bitcoin for goods and services since 2017.

The conversation explores the practical realities of operating on a Bitcoin standard as a small business, transitioning from clunky early plugins to modern tools like Square POS and the locally built Manna app. Brendan also breaks down how the spatial awareness...

 This week on the Becoming Sovereign podcast, I was unable to record an episode. I am in the middle of the move and was out without internet for a portion of the week. So we decided to put together a clip show of some of our favorite highlights and moments from past episodes over the past year and a half.So please give this a listen. I hope you'll enjoy it, and if you just started listening or are new, maybe it's a good chance to hear some snippets of stuff you've never heard before. Additionally, in the coming we...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles is joined by Rod Palmer, credentialed journalist and co-host of Bugle News. Moving away from strictly evergreen topics, Brandon and Rod capture the cultural and economic zeitgeist of late summer 2026—breaking down the sudden market surge, the aftermath of recent hardware sponsor shocks, and the deepening cracks in global macro markets.

They explore the mechanics of sovereign debt, drawing parallels between the 2019 overnight repo spike and current efforts to manipulate the Treasury yield curve amidst escalating geopolitical tensions and severe global energy constraints. The conversation turns to...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Captain Remington, the founder of the SatoBoat Project. Captain Remington shares his remarkable journey from working in energy building efficiency in Brussels to quitting his career after a podcast recording, buying a boat, and setting off across the open ocean to spread the Bitcoin ethos.

They discuss the evolution of the SatoBoat Project into a multi-phase global venture—upgrading to a 45–55 foot catamaran equipped with an onboard Bitcoin node, Nostr relay, and decentralized library. Captain Remington breaks down the logistical realities of setting up i...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles is joined by Gwyn Lauber from Canaan Mining. They dive into the rapidly expanding world of home mining and heat reuse, exploring how individuals and businesses are offsetting their heating costs by stacking sats.
Gwyn shares stories from the HeatPunks conference and discusses how Canaan's consumer products—like the Avalon Nano 3S and Avalon Q—are transforming the way we think about energy waste. They also tackle the massive inefficiencies of modern HPC AI data centers, explaining why Bitcoin's flexible load makes it the ultimate tool for grid...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Tim Niemeyer and Jeff Hilsenbeck, co-founders of the Illinois Bitcoin Council (IBC). Tim and Jeff break down the core pillars of the 501(c)(6) non-profit organization—education, advocacy, and collaboration—and discuss their ongoing efforts to paint the state of Illinois orange despite heavy political friction.

They dive deep into the controversial 0.2% Illinois Digital Asset Tax passed during late-night budget sessions in June, detailing why the law is fundamentally unconstitutional and how the IBC is coordinating with coalition partners to fight it through legislation, educ...

In this unscripted solo episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles breaks from the usual format to share a raw, deeply personal reflection on the chaotic 72 hours surrounding the recent ColdCard hardware wallet vulnerability. What began as a peaceful family evening in Chicago quickly devolved into a high-stakes emergency after a 60-message alert dropped in a developer chat.

Brandon recounts the sheer panic of discovering the news, flying out of state at 7:00 AM to urgently migrate funds for friends, and the administrative nightmare of setting up new seed phrases and passphrases. He explores the heavy...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles is joined by Staci Castopoulos, host of The Bitcoin Nova podcast and member #1 at the Chicago Bitcoin Collective. Staci shares her experience running Angie's Hair Studio alongside her mom near O'Hare, where they accept Bitcoin directly at point-of-sale using Square terminals to eliminate oppressive 3% credit card processing fees.
Brandon and Staci explore the economic realities of small business ownership under inflation, the fast-paced buildout of Chicago’s Fork & Coin restaurant and co-working space, and the natural evolution of "orange-pilling". They break down the concept of Bitcoin Zen—movi...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with David Bennett, the host of the daily podcast Bitcoin& and an expert in molecular biology and permaculture. David maps out a profound, first-principles exploration of how a systematically corrupt currency functions exactly like a biological virus—infecting and devaluing everything from building architectures to core family dynamics.

They unpack the blueprints for David’s multi-decade "Cathedral Project," a vision for intergenerational, closed-loop land restoration. Additionally, they shatter modern myths surrounding the nuclear family structure and expose why chemical-dependent industrial farming acts as a ment...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles is joined by Eric FJ, the first returning guest and co-founder of Conduit Market. Eric shares a major look into the Open Markets Movement, detailing how a global collective of developer misfits completely threw out their old codebase to deliver an upgraded, NIP-99 compatible alpha ecosystem.

They challenge the modern e-commerce landscape by laying out a definitive roadmap to replace Shopify and Amazon with an unstoppable, peer-to-peer infinite bazaar built on localized trust networks, private NIP-17 messages, and zero-click cryptographic verification. They also dive into a...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Paul in the Jungle and Director Hodl Matthew, the creators behind the independent documentary Hummingbird, currently streaming on IndieHub. What originally began as a plan to film a quick five-minute hit piece on Costa Rica's local circular economy radically transformed after an offhand comment during an interview pointed them toward an ancient indigenous prophecy.

They dive deep into the mythology of the Eagle and the Condor, exploring how the collision of rigid engineering logic and spiritual intuition is forging a brand-new human archetype—th...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Zack, a veteran filmmaker and the founder of IndeeHub (indeehub.studio). Zack breaks down how his platform leverages cutting-edge Lightning Network infrastructure to build a direct, pay-per-second relationship between creators and audiences.

They dive into a deep economic critique of Hollywood's command-and-control structure, explaining how mindless legacy streaming pools destroyed creative incentives and left true independent talent stranded on the side of the road. Zack shares how IndeeHub allows viewers to seamlessly log in via Nostr or email, eliminate the financial risk of...

In this episode of the newly rebranded Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Steve Martin, the founder of Bitcoin Beans. Steve tracks his radical lifestyle transformation from working as a corporate accountant in London to living on a functioning permaculture farm in Colombia, exploring what it truly means to apply the principles of proof of work to the food we put into our bodies.

They dive into a fascinating first-principles discussion on how the departure from the gold standard directly triggered the "enshitification" of global agriculture, forcing industrial complexes to use toxic preservatives and...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles reconnects with Daniel Prince, host of the Once Bitten podcast and author of Choose Life. They take a deep dive into what it truly means to break away from state-mandated narratives—from abandoning an 18-year career in traditional financial services to separating your children's education from the state through worldschooling.

They also pull back the curtain on the corporate side of the ecosystem, launching into a highly critical, first-principles critique of the current digital asset treasury craze. Finally, they address the highly contentious debates surrounding Bitcoin Co...

In this episode of the Becoming Sovereign podcast, host Brandon Karpeles sits down with Adam O'Brien, the founder and CEO of Bitcoin Well. They unpack what it truly means to live with a sovereign mindset in 2026, stepping far beyond the transactional mechanics of business to look at the deeply philosophical and spiritual battles underpinning modern society.
Adam shares his recent experiences building superintelligent local AI models right from his desk to avoid centralized surveillance. They also dive into a candid, unfiltered discussion about their Christian faith, the structural lies of a godless fiat system, and why simplifying your...

In this episode of the newly rebranded Becoming Sovereign podcast, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Seth, an OG Nostr developer and the creator of Zap.Cooking. They discuss the origins of Zap.Cooking as a simple, ad-free alternative to bloated legacy recipe websites and how Nostr's decentralized protocol enables true value-for-value interactions.

They explore the profound importance of home cooking as an act of sovereignty, the stark contrast between freedom tech and surveillance tech, and why the Nostr community is unmatched when it comes to authentic engagement.

In this episode, we cover:

Welcome to the newly rebranded Becoming Sovereign podcast! In this episode, host Brandon Karpeles announces the show's name change to better reflect our mission of helping individuals take true control of their money and their lives.

Following the announcement, Brandon sits down with Keith Gardner, founder of Branta. After a career at Bloomberg, Keith realized that while Bitcoin is economically perfect money, it is running on highly imperfect, leaky consumer technology. They dive into the terrifying reality of Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks and why the current Bitcoin user experience needs a massive security upgrade.

In this...

In this episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Brian Hirschfield (also known as Fundamentals), founder of Magic Internet Math, for a deep dive into the philosophy, mathematics, and psychology of Bitcoin. Brian shares why his true mission is building people up rather than just trying to "End the Fed," and how leaving a 30-year career as an actuary taught him the value of trusting the process.

They discuss the fascinating parallels between the 2004 poker boom and early Bitcoin, exploring how bankroll management, risk tolerance, and unshakeable conviction are required to survive in both arenas.

In...

In this episode, Brandon Karpeles is joined by Foise, the chef behind Fork & Coin and a co-founder of the Chicago Bitcoin Collective. They discuss the journey of building a physical Bitcoin hub in Chicago, taking over a commercial space, and creating a restaurant that bridges the gap between "normie" foodies and hardcore Bitcoiners.

They dive into the challenges and triumphs of sourcing ingredients locally using Bitcoin, highlighting the importance of decentralized supply chains and building a true circular economy.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Cedric Youngelman, host of The Bitcoin Matrix podcast, to discuss the philosophical and economic realities of shifting to a Bitcoin standard. Cedric shares his journey from being a corporate accountant trying to outpace inflation to discovering Bitcoin as the ultimate savings technology that can drain the volatility out of your life.

They dive deep into the psychology of adopting Bitcoin, the struggle of passing down generational wealth, and why businesses must shift their focus from the income statement to the balance sheet.

In this episode, we cover:<...

In this episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Matt Hill, co-founder of Start9, to discuss the critical transition from centralized cloud computing to sovereign, self-hosted computing. Matt explains why relying on third-party software providers exposes businesses and individuals to privacy invasions, security breaches, and escalating costs.

They dive deep into the hardware Start9 is building to create the "sovereign smart home," including their personal servers, a groundbreaking open-source RISC-V router, and upcoming private security cameras.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon Karpeles is joined by Mathieu Agee, founder of o21 Solutions and an energy sector veteran with 20 years of experience at companies like ExxonMobil and AWS. They discuss how o21 Solutions provides "Bitcoin strategy as a service" to oil and gas companies, helping them solve immediate operational problems through mining and preparing their corporate treasuries to survive long-term fiat monetary debasement.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon Karpeles speaks with Mark Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon Country. After spending over a decade in corporate America navigating the political and business landscape for major brands, Mark stepped off the hamster wheel to build a regenerative farm powered by solar energy and secured by Bitcoin.

They discuss the broken incentives of industrial fiat agriculture and how combining agrivoltaics (dual-use solar and farming) with Bitcoin mining can allow small farms to become their own banks.

In this episode, we cover:• Escaping Corporate Life: Mark’s journey from international government affairs and...

In this episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Nostr legend and creative mind Avi Burra, host of Plug Chain Radio and creator of the Finding Home travel show. Avi shares his recent realization that creating artistic and philosophical content exclusively for the hardcore Bitcoin echo chamber might be a massive product-market fit error.

They dive deep into the creator economy, the pitfalls of Bitcoin-themed art, and why the "HODL at all costs" mentality has morphed from a helpful meme into a damaging dogma that holds back Bitcoin's path to becoming a true unit of account.

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In this episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Maxx, widely known on Nostr as Source Node, to discuss his journey from corporate automotive sales to becoming the newest member of the Sovreign team. This episode takes a highly esoteric turn, venturing beyond traditional Bitcoin topics into philosophy, spirituality, and alternative history.

Maxx shares why he walked away from the fiat corporate world in 2020 to focus on his health, and how taking responsibility for his own well-being fundamentally shifted his worldview.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Rev Hodl, a homesteader who left the Los Angeles post-production industry to build true sovereignty in southwest Michigan. They discuss how Rev integrates Bitcoin into his homesteading to align with the permaculture ethic of non-extraction, and how local communities are building resilient networks.

Rev breaks down the concept of the "Mesh Citadel"—a decentralized network of local economies cooperating together—and how anyone can start participating in the circular economy today.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Stu Lackey and Jon Gordon, founders of Sound HSA, to discuss the intersection of sound money and sound health. They explore how the traditional $5 trillion U.S. healthcare system is burdened by administrative bloat and misaligned incentives, and how Bitcoin offers a path forward. Stu and Jon break down the massive benefits of the Health Savings Account (HSA) and how their company is finally allowing individuals to save real Bitcoin in a triple-tax advantaged vehicle.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Halston Valencia, a marketer at Bitcoin Well, to discuss the growing crisis of financial nihilism among Gen Z and how Bitcoin offers a viable escape route from the fiat matrix.

Halston shares her journey of grinding through three jobs while studying at USC, the realization that traditional economics courses weren't teaching the truth about money, and how reading Lyn Alden's Broken Money completely changed the trajectory of her life and career.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, to explore the rapidly changing landscape of institutional Bitcoin adoption. Matt shares his frontline experience pitching Bitcoin to wealth advisors, family offices, and institutions, shedding light on why traditional finance has historically been so slow to adopt the asset.

In this episode, we cover:

In this mind-bending episode, Brandon is joined by Eric V Stacks (co-host of the What is Money show) to discuss the intersection of Bitcoin, quantum physics, and spiritual reality.

Eric shares his fascinating 17-year journey of growing cannabis in Humboldt County, California, navigating the brutal regulatory environment, and ultimately selling his farm when he realized Bitcoin was the ultimate cheat code to reality.

In this episode, we cover:

In this episode, Brandon sits down with Michael Diederich, the owner of Snorkel Hot Tubs, to discuss his transition from a corporate career at Microsoft to running a physical business rooted in craftsmanship and Bitcoin.

Michael shares the story of how he found Snorkel (a company founded in 1979), why he cashed out his retirement to buy it, and how he is slowly transforming a legacy brand into a Bitcoin-native business.

In this episode, we cover:

In this profound episode, Jeff Booth, author of The Price of Tomorrow and Founding Partner at Ego Death Capital, joins Brandon to discuss the psychological and economic shift required to live on a Bitcoin standard.

Jeff challenges the very foundation of our economic reality, explaining why deflation is the natural state of the free market and why the current inflationary system is a "matrix" designed to steal your time.

In this episode, we cover:

The world is waking up to the reality of broken money. In this episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Sam Callahan, Director of Strategy and Research at Orange BTC (OranjeBTC), to discuss how they are bringing a Bitcoin treasury strategy to Latin America.

Sam shares his unique journey from working in professional sports science (helping athletes like Derrick Rose avoid injury) to diagnosing the "injuries" in our monetary system. He breaks down:

We are living in a system that is rigged against the average person. In this episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Natalie Brunell, host of Coin Stories and author of the new book Bitcoin Is for Everyone.

Natalie shares her powerful personal story of emigrating from Poland, watching her family struggle in a new country, and realizing that the American Dream is slipping away due to a broken monetary system. She breaks down:

Real estate is the oldest asset class in the world. Bitcoin is the newest. What happens when you combine them?

In this explosive episode, Brandon Karpeles sits down with Grant Cardone, the 10X mogul, real estate tycoon, and sales expert, to discuss his groundbreaking strategy to merge physical property with digital scarcity.

Grant explains why the traditional banking system is broken and why he believes he has found a "super asset" strategy. He breaks down: