Simon Dixon Hard Talk Episode 117 - The Banking Ponzi Scheme, Bitcoin’s CIA Origins & The Trap of Debt (Part 1 of 4)
41 snips
Jan 29, 2026 
Simon Dixon, former banker turned Bitcoin entrepreneur and founder/CEO of Bnk To The Future, explains why banks run on IOUs and expanding debt. He contrasts self-custody Bitcoin with custodial risks and explores buying Bitcoin off exchanges. They debate possible intelligence links to Bitcoin’s origins and how tech born in government can be privatized for control.
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Self-Custody Is The Key Difference
- Bitcoin in self-custody lets you own, spend and hold fixed-supply money outside the banking system.
- Custodied Bitcoin reintroduces counterparty risk and central control that undermines those properties.
Father's Cash Hoard Lost Value
- Simon Dixon recounts his father storing cash and watching its value erode over time.
- He uses that family experience to illustrate cash's poor long-term store-of-value properties.
Bank Accounts Are Debt-Issued IOUs
- Bank deposits are largely IOUs created by lending and require ever-expanding debt to pay interest.
- Simon Dixon calls the modern bank-account system a Ponzi because interest requires new borrowing into existence.
