Joe Kelly is the co-founder and CEO of Unchained. In this latest episode, Joe shares his story and Alaskan roots that shaped a deep respect for self-sufficiency—an experience he now applies to the digital frontier. In this episode, Joe joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share why Unchained is launching a new miniseries, The Last Free Americans, how self-custody became his life’s work, and why the conservation movement offers a powerful analogy for protecting financial freedom. We dig into the frontier phases of new assets and ideas, the role of ETFs as a bridge (not the destination), and how policies like developer protections and “keep your coins” language can ring-fence essential rights.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
→ Subscribe
→ Leave a review
→ Share the show with your friends and family
→ Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com
→ Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast
→ Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro: The Last Free Americans and what’s at stake with self-custody
1:06 – Alaska, boats, and learning self-sufficiency
2:54 – Conservation mindset: preserving wilderness and preserving peer-to-peer money
4:03 – From accounts to keys: the “aha” of sending bitcoin yourself
5:39 – Seeing the water we swim in: intermediaries, fees, and privacy tradeoffs
8:03 – Frontiers and phases: from prospectors to politics—how new assets mature
10:57 – Gold rush parallels: excess, scams, and integration into the mainstream
12:55 – National parks as a model: ring-fencing what matters for future generations
15:00 – “The last free Americans”: a proud warning about peer-to-peer rights
17:02 – Building Unchained on bitcoin’s assumptions, not fiat rails
19:16 – ETFs as a useful bridge vs. living the peer-to-peer experience
21:03 – Who are today’s “John Muirs”? Gear, guidance, and making self-custody approachable
23:42 – Beyond one bill: culture, developer protections, and keep-your-coins language
26:34 – Free speech, code, and the very American fight for financial privacy
27:34 – Short memories: SVB, protests, and why self-custody matters before the next shock
29:16 – What to expect from the series and the intellectual adventure of bitcoin

WHERE TO FOLLOW US:
→ Unchained X: https://x.com/unchained
→ Unchained LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unchainedcom
→ Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter
→ Joe Kelly’s Twitter: https://x.com/josephkelly
→ Timot Lamarre’s Twitter: https://x.com/TimotLamarre

Pierre Rochard is one of the original bitcoin thinkers, builders, and educators — now serving as CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company. Known for popularizing the term “speculative attack” in the bitcoin space, Pierre has long explored how bitcoin can replace legacy finance from the inside out.
In this episode, Pierre joins The Bitcoin Frontier to discuss how banks adopting bitcoin could strengthen global stability, how fractional reserve banking might evolve on a bitcoin standard, and why he believes governments buying bitcoin is inevitable. We dig into the rise of bitcoin treasury companies, the idea behind bitcoin bonds, and whether bitcoin’s decentralization can withstand institutional adoption.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
→ Subscribe
→ Leave a review
→ Share the show with your friends and family
→ Send us an email: podcast@unchained.com
→ Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast
→ Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro & bitcoin’s ideological roots in libertarianism
3:00 – Why banks holding bitcoin could prevent future financial crises
7:20 – Can fractional reserve banking exist on a bitcoin standard?
10:50 – MicroStrategy and the rise of bitcoin treasury companies
12:40 – Why collapsing banks would be dangerous for society
16:00 – Financial intermediation, savings culture, and a soft landing to a bitcoin economy
18:00 – “Money for enemies”: Why state adoption isn’t betrayal
20:00 – Bitcoin in U.S. and state reserves: From Texas to Trump
23:00 – Can governments or corporations co-opt bitcoin?
25:00 – What bitcoin bonds are and how the Bitcoin Bond Company works
29:30 – Bringing bitcoin into institutional portfolios through structured credit
35:00 – Comparing bitcoin bonds to MicroStrategy’s convertibles
37:00 – Why treasury companies are undervalued and what investors are missing
40:00 – Hyperbitcoinization, speculative attacks, and soft landings
45:00 – How adoption is accelerating asymmetrically across nations
50:00 – The ETF era: Collaborative custody and the path from convenience to sovereignty
55:00 – Have we peaked in self-custody? UX, education, and generational change
58:00 – Is bitcoin’s freedom money inevitable — and what are the real threats ahead?
1:02:00 – Quantum computing, Satoshi’s coins, and the future of protocol resilience
1:03:00 – Where to find Pierre online and closing thoughts

WHERE TO FOLLOW US:
→ Unchained X: https://x.com/unchained
→ Unchained LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unchainedcom
→ Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter
→ Pierre Rochard’s Twitter: https://x.com/BitcoinPierre
→ Timot Lamarre’s Twitter: https://x.com/TimotLamarre