The Mining Disrupt News Surge episode for Labor Day, September 1, 2025 opened with a nod to the regular Joes and Janes who keep the whole machine running, and a question about what happened to the praise essential workers received about five years earlier. Then the host turned to Bitcoin, with the usual reminder that the show is for entertainment and education, not financial advice.
The Mining Disrupt Expo, the second edition, was a few short months away in Texas. The host pointed out that its central location should make airfare cheaper for everyone, especially for people coming from the West Coast like the host, and that the weather should be warm but pleasant, outside the peak of summer.
Still Over $100,000
Then the numbers. For once the host did not have to sound like a broken record: Bitcoin was under $110,000. That still meant it was over $100,000, which the host called monumental. Zoom out a few years, the host said, and Bitcoin is up more than 5x. Who would have thought it would sit over $100,000 as a regular course of things? When this episode was posted, Bitcoin traded at $108,805; on October 12, 2026 it was $83,316.
That is why the host found it surprising to see people online crying about the price being down, echoing a recent BritishHodl video that called them crybabies. Show me another asset, the host said, where it is baked in that it is going to go up.
Social Security and the Fourth Option
That led into a post warning that Social Security will be bankrupt in 7 years. At that point, the post said, the options are to cut grandma's check, hike everybody's taxes, or raise the retirement age to 75.
The host walked through each and asked which one people would line up in record numbers to vote for. Getting rid of grandma's check? Paying more taxes? Retiring at 75? None of them, the host said. As the saying goes, a politician can tell you how to fix a problem but not how to get reelected. That leaves a fourth option: borrow another trillion dollars a year. And that brings it back to Bitcoin, a finite thing, against an infinite supply of money.
Core, Knots and Doing Your Own Research
The week before, the host had covered the Core versus Knots debate, and said it matters if only because people are talking about the most important things in Bitcoin again. As things stand, the host will not tell anyone which version to run. That is up to each person.
What the host does say, time and again, is that it is absolutely worth the time to look into Bitcoin. There is an enormous amount of free information online, from hours of interviews and podcasts on YouTube. The hardest part is filtering the noise from the signal, but the good sources all end up saying much the same thing.
Bitcoin is finite. It is the best form of money that has ever existed.
The host · 4:50
As a lifelong fan of Metal Gear Solid, who pays attention to anything with Solid Snake, Raiden or Hideo Kojima's name on it, the host could not resist a post from the host's favorite artist in the Bitcoin space, which used the game's characters to argue that Bitcoin should be money and nothing else, and suggested anyone obsessed with data storage try Pirate Bay instead. The host agreed that Bitcoin is money, but added that people who want to use it differently should not be belittled for it. If it is not harming you, leave them alone.
Money for Everyone
NVK of Coinkite put it in a post that the host could not agree with more: spenders versus savers, filters versus JPEG makers, Core versus everyone, Bitcoin does not care. Use it however you want, but do not expect others to use it your way.
Bitcoin is money for your enemy, the host said. It is money for everyone, including people you are not a fan of and people doing things you do not like. Nobody is forcing anyone into any part of it. You can opt into whatever aspect you want and out of whatever you do not.
If you want to run a node with Core, have at it. If you want to run Knots, you can do that too. You could even run both at the same time. In fact, the host pointed out, you could have five nodes in your house.
The host's own node provider, MyNode, said it best in a post: running Knots is not just about features, but about supporting diversity, resilience and sovereignty in node implementations. The host's personal take is that people should run Knots right now because there is too much centralization around Core,
I think the diversity is a good thing and should be absolutely embraced.
The host · 7:33
Still, the host stressed, that is one person's view, and everyone should do their own research before choosing.
Your Turn
The host closed with two questions for viewers. Who would they like to see on a panel at the Mining Disrupt Expo? No promises, but the team could see who it can reach out to and get on stage. And if someone viewers want to hear does get lined up, they will want tickets to hear that person in person. And which node are they running, and why? If you are a Bitcoiner, the host said, you have got to be running a node.