Paying for Compute: Why eCash Could Win

Marty Bent is a bitcoin investor, media founder, and host of TFTC — one of the longest-running bitcoin podcasts. He’s also a managing partner at Ten31, supporting companies building critical bitcoin infrastructure. Marty is uniquely positioned at the intersection of bitcoin, energy, and now artificial intelligence.
In this episode, Marty joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share how AI is transforming the bitcoin ecosystem, how his team at TFTC is leveraging it to streamline media production, and how it’s fueling his latest creative projects. We dig into how he built Opportunity Cost, why AI drives decentralization in mining, and how bitcoiners can use these tools to stay ahead of the curve.

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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro & why bitcoin and AI are converging faster than anyone expected
2:00 – Marty’s projects: TFTC, Ten31, and bitcoin mining
5:00 – The evolution of TFTC and what the rebrand to “Truth for the Commoner” means
8:30 – How the team integrates AI tools across research, writing, and production
12:00 – From Perplexity to Claude: learning to use AI as a research assistant
15:00 – Automating TFTC’s backend workflows with AI and no-code tools
18:00 – Clipping, editing, and distribution: using AI for speed and quality
23:00 – Building Opportunity Cost: turning fiat prices into sats in your browser
27:00 – Why open-source and privacy-preserving design still matter
30:00 – The birth of AI-generated storytelling
33:00 – Storyboarding, JSON prompts, and producing viral AI bitcoin videos
38:00 – The Trojan horse approach: spreading bitcoin ideas through culture
46:00 – Bitcoin and AI’s overlap: how energy demand is driving decentralization
50:00 – Paying for compute with bitcoin and why eCash may win
55:00 – AI, energy, and the physical limits of growth
58:00 – How bitcoin founders are using AI to build faster and cheaper
1:00:00 – Practical advice: using AI without compromising your craft or security
1:01:30 – Where to follow Marty and watch his latest creations

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→ Trey Seller’s Twitter: https://x.com/ts_hodl