UNFTR Weekly Roundup

Follow us on Bluesky, and check out Max’s contributor videos on the MeidasTouch Network!

Watch the video version of this newsletter.

Max Notes

Crypto Winter

Jim Cramer is a moron, so take this with a grain of salt. On CNBC he blurted out that he “heard at 60 they’re going to fill the Bitcoin reserve, so you better cover.” The man who said three years ago that you’d have to be “an idiot” to own crypto before buying a ton of crypto and reporting on it ever since actually might have moved the market. After he spread this rumor Bitcoin rebounded 15% and hit $70,000.

There’s no evidence that we actively manage a “Bitcoin Reserve,” though the Treasury holds Bitcoin. There’s no evidence that there’s a stated or implied strike price that the administration will defend. Because there is literally zero strategic importance to Bitcoin as it relates to the monetary system. Like I said, Cramer is a moron. That being said, the price did rebound.

This opens up a can of worms.

Before we get there, however, we should talk about this idea of a “crypto winter.” Even at 70k, the vibe seems to be that this is the beginning of the end of Bitcoin and that the crypto jig is up. Paul Krugman made the rounds to declare the whole thing kaput. A relentless number of videos and articles claimed that Bitcoin could hit zero. People were dancing on Michael Saylor’s grave. Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of people claiming that it’s merely a Monty Python-esque flesh wound and even some that claim Bitcoin is on its way to $1million.

It’s this delta that tells you everything you need to know about what Bitcoin is. It’s a speculative investment asset. I feel like we need to get this out of the way if we’re to have a productive conversation about the future of crypto and why the sentiment is trending more toward a permanently bearish outlook. Moreover, it helps explain the difference between the Trump family’s interest in crypto and the administration’s stance.

I think there were two huge moments for crypto in 2025 that are weighing on the sector as a whole. The first was the passage of the Genius Act in the summer. The second was the formal launch of the BRICS “Unit.”

Here’s how I see it.

The whole conceit of Bitcoin (as a proxy for all of crypto) is that it was supposed to signify the liberation of money. Anonymized and decentralized. It was the ultimate libertarian monetary fantasy designed to break the stranglehold of the globalists over the monetary order. Since its inception in 2008 and its introduction as a form of currency in 2009, it has maintained a certain mystique; partly because of the unknown identity of its inventor and partly because it truly seemed to vex financial institutions. Is it money? Is it a commodity? Is it even real?

In its early days, Bitcoin maintained a level of intrigue while it slowly gained acceptance as something that perhaps checked every box. El Salvador made it an official currency. Hedge funds began to stockpile it. ETFs began to index it. Eventually, Bitcoin went mainstream and even the stodgiest financial journals opened up space to cover its movements. And given its volatility, there was a lot to cover.

The reason I say the Genius Act was an inflection point, and perhaps a negative one, is because it appeared to represent the mainstreaming of crypto. The world’s largest economy legitimized cryptocurrency by developing a framework for stablecoins, a digital currency backed by the U.S. Dollar. This was on the heels of President Trump declaring that the United States would be the crypto capital of the world and that we would even commit to building a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Crypto had gone mainstream.

While the Genius Act didn’t specifically regulate Bitcoin, it acknowledged the role of crypto in managing the affairs of the U.S. economy. Surely as the OG asset in the crypto world, Bitcoin would enjoy the benefits of such legitimacy. And so it soared. From the time of Trump’s re-election to the end of October, 2025, Bitcoin nearly doubled in price. Institutional money poured into the sector like never before.

Behind the scenes some of the original holders started making big moves around the passage of the Genius Act and continuing through early 2026. Long dormant wallets suddenly tracked new activity and consolidated holdings or began cashing out. It was a curious time considering the amplified positions of institutional investors. My take on this is that it was a response to exactly this. The Genius Act marked the official end of the wildcat libertarian era. The death of the crypto ideology.

Newer investors, including institutional ones, didn’t seem to care as they continued to pile money into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. After all, they were making a market and paying good lobbying money for it. The only fracture among the big players was whether the crypto companies themselves would be able to act like commercial banks by offering rewards (i.e. interest) to account holders. This was a bridge too far for the commercial banking giants, which is why the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate. (More to come on this Act and the Anti-CBDC Act.)

With the early adopters sensing the end of the decentralization and anonymous era, the ideological crew gave way to the speculators. The crypto bros who probably never bothered to even read the Bitcoin white paper that started everything. If institutional money was revving their engines, global central bank money was going to send them off to the races. So the upshot of the Genius Act was that it separated the ideological libertarian bros from the popped-collar-under-the-vest bros.

And then, on October 31, 2025 the BRICS alliance announced that the BRICS Unit was officially operational under a pilot program. The Unit is a stablecoin backed 40% by gold and 60% by a basket of BRICS nation currencies.

Wait. No Bitcoin?

Nope. And then this happened.

This is Bitcoin. The steepest decline over any comparable period. Absolute freefall. 

Gold on the other hand… 

Is experiencing the steepest incline in its history over the same period of time. 

We are headed for a crypto future but Bitcoin ain’t part of it. The global monetary order future is in stablecoins backed by physical commodities, not some anonymously designed libertarian fantasy coin. 

When it comes to money, always bet on the bankers.

Other things I’m obsessing over…

• I wonder how the state’s rights enthusiasts of the Republican Party are going to reconcile Trump’s statement that states are nothing more than “agents” of the federal government and therefore shouldn’t run elections.
  
  
• No one in Israel can accuse Chuck Schumer of having his priorities out of whack.
  
  
• Trump on re-posting the racist photo of the Obamas. “No, I didn’t make a mistake.” Roy Cohn is alive and well in this one.
  
  
• Prime Minister Takaichi called for snap elections in Japan and it worked out well for her. She can now pursue her aggressive military and domestic spending agenda. Just what we need, Japan’s awake and pissed. I’m sure that will work out just fine. Can someone please check on Germany?

-Max

Killer Left Take of the Week

KLTW goes to serial prankster Ben Palmer who continues to give the right wing a masterclass in trolling. The humorist turned agitator who famously conned a Republican Congressman into hiring him for social media, has turned his attention to running an ICE hotline. The results are what you would expect. Palmer’s laconic delivery somehow manages to throw his victims off guard while drawing them deeper into his simple trap.

Watch: Kindergarten teacher wants kindergartener deported

Chart of the Week

China’s economy has weakened considerably over the past decade. The real estate bubble persists and remains a drag on its commercial banking sector. Wages are increasing as it attempts to transition to more of a consumer economy, which means that margins are necessarily being suppressed. The COVID pandemic opened everyone’s eyes to the over-reliance on Chinese goods so there has been a concerted effort to diversify away from China, though it remains the dominant supplier of goods to the world.

The one area that hasn’t been impacted in the slightest? Its balance of trade. 

Sources: MacroMicro

One of the ways China has managed to insulate itself from wage-price pressure that haunts exporters of cheap goods is to move up the value chain. Electric vehicle production is one of the notable areas that it is separating itself from the pack, for example. So while it has domestic struggles in sectors like real estate and some of its lower end goods aren’t as competitive as they once were, it is still the leading manufacturer on the planet as evidenced by the balance of trade.

China remains a net exporting country. In other words, the one thing that Donald Trump was hoping to accomplish with his tariff regime has failed on both sides of it. It has neither spurred domestic production in the United States, nor has it slowed down our chief rival.

Slow clap.

Headlines

No Justice

If something can be stunning and yet unsurprising, the Trump administration has done it. In this week’s edition of “holy fuck, can they do that?” The New York Times revealed that Kash Patel among others in the administration have stopped investigations into the murder of Renee Good because even the idea of an investigation theoretically lends credence to the idea that her civil rights were violated.

From the article:

“But later that week, as F.B.I. agents equipped with a signed warrant prepared to document blood spatter and bullet holes in Ms. Good’s S.U.V., they received orders to stop, according to several people with knowledge of the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The orders, they said, came from senior officials, including Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, several of whom worried that pursuing a civil rights investigation — by using a warrant obtained on that basis — would contradict President Trump’s claim that Ms. Good ‘violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer’ who fired at her as she drove her vehicle.”

New York Times: Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

Let’s Be Real

This builds on our recent proclamation that the only thing that can stop Trump in his tracks is a general strike that creates a fissure between the administration and the corporate class that supports his every move. The Jacobin does the math on what it will take to rebuild the labor movement in this country.

From the article:

“So how are we currently measuring up? The best place to start is by looking at how we did in 2024, which was widely lauded as a breakthrough year for union organizing. That year saw a total of 1,637 union elections. This was a substantial increase of 24 percent from 2023, but still far short of the 2,500 annual elections common just two decades earlier. It is also not even close to the more than 7,000 annual elections that were standard throughout the 1970s.”

Jacobin: Unions Are Going to Die Unless Something Big Changes Soon

Told Ya

Ruthless. Cold. Capable. Efficient. Russell Vought is the modern human embodiment of the John Birch Society. I wish every American knew his name. I wish they understood his designs. Mostly, I just wish everyone took him and his manifesto (Project 2025) more seriously when it came out.

From the article:

“Although Musk’s wrecking crew officially disbanded last year, many of its operatives have ‘burrowed into’ federal agencies ‘like ticks,’ Wired has reported. Moreover, the reality is that DOGE’s reactionary mission was being carried out in parallel—and continues to be executed today—by Vought, a far quieter, but no less villainous, figure.”

American Prospect: DOGE Lives On Through Russell Vought

Resources

Pod Love

“Ralph welcomes Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson to discuss a wide range of topics, including NATO, Greenland, Gaza, and more. Then, Ralph speaks to Rabbi Alissa Wise (founding director of Rabbis for Ceasefire) about the ‘Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza’ campaign.”

Ralph Nader Radio Hour: Food Aid for Gaza

Book Love

“In Let’s Start the Revolution Nader asks: How did the Democrats, despite winning the 2020 election, find themselves teetering on the edge of defeat? The answers, he finds, lie in the Democratic Party’s gradual decline into decrepitude—a self-isolation from blue-collar America, an unhealthy fixation on corporate funding, and an alarming aversion to introspection. Nader argues that the Democrats’ abandonment of their base and failure to address critical issues allowed the Republicans to solidify their hold on key states. ”

Let’s Start the Revolution: Tools for Displacing the Corporate State and Building a Country that Works for the People by Ralph Nader

Unf*cker Comment of the Week

From @S-Monte:

“I’m one of those people you described: somebody whose journey left has been influenced by Noam Chomsky‘s writings and ideas. Now, those aren’t diminished, but because they were delivered by him, knowing what I know now makes me a little apprehensive. It reminds me of how I react whenever a Michael Jackson song comes on. I still find myself wanting to dance while also being disgusted at what he did.”

Progressive Corner

Progressive Organization of the Week: Whole Woman’s Health.

“Whole Woman’s Health is a privately-owned, feminist healthcare management company committed to providing holistic care for all. It manages health clinics providing comprehensive gynecology services, including abortion care. Its philosophy is that everyone must be at the center of their own healthcare decisions, and that treating people holistically—honoring head, heart, and body—will better serve and improve the health and happiness of all our communities.”

Check Out the UNFTR Directory of Progressive Resources for More

Current membership count: 715. Help us get to 800!

Unf*ckers are proving unstoppable! New, returning and upgraded members are continuing to come through for us.

Our newest members:

• Bigirish2
• G. O. Peach Tea
• Ricky
• Humanismus
• Becky
• Kerry
• Christopher Seven
• LPR
• Peekay
• Sue
• Eileen
• BarusuGT
• Fuzzman
• Denise
• Ronald
• Grumpathon
• Garp76
• Shaun
• Curly
• Nordstrom D
• JosieB
• Pasha
• n.X.o.k

Support The Show

UNFTR is supported and funded by Unf*ckers like you.

If you’d like to help the team, please consider doing one of the following:

• Leave us a review. It really helps people find the podcast! 
• Subscribe to the YouTube channel and share the videos when they’re released. 
• Consider becoming a UNFTR member.
• If you drink coffee, drink our coffee! 
• Purchase books from our bookshop.org store.