Mentor Sessions EP 105 | Max Hillebrand & Ben Perrin on GrapheneOS, White Noise, Local AI, KYC-Free Bitcoin and Privacy Guerrilla Warfare

If you click next, next, next on mainstream tech, your privacy is fucked. But Max Hillebrand (White Noise, Marmot protocol, author of The Praxeology of Privacy) and Ben Perrin (BTC Sessions, Sovereign Sessions) argue the tools to route around surveillance have never been better. With an old laptop, an AI agent, Nostr and Zapstore, you can now build and ship a freedom tech app without knowing how to code.

From there, they walk through a practical privacy stack: Pixel phones running GrapheneOS (8, 9 or 10, not the 11), Linux laptops, password managers, paying privately with gift cards and prepaid cards, Wasabi Wallet and peer-to-peer Bitcoin, Zapstore, Tor VPN, Amber and White Noise for encrypted messaging, local AI and trusted execution environments, self-hosting on an old laptop, quantum risk to encryption, and why privacy matters for honest price discovery.

Timestamps:

0:00 Cold Open

0:41 Privacy Guerrilla Warfare: Can We Route Around the Grid?

2:37 Build an Anonymous App Without Coding

6:19 Why Your Data Is So Valuable

7:38 Google Maps and Your Location Data

9:40 GrapheneOS, Organic Maps and Linux

10:53 Is the Privacy UX Gap Closing?

15:23 Moving the Cultural Needle on Privacy

20:12 Starting a Private Device Setup

24:46 OS-Level ID Verification

25:41 Best Pixels for GrapheneOS: 8, 9, 10, Not the 11

27:05 Linux Laptops and Operating Systems

28:54 Face Scan vs PIN

30:27 Passwords and Password Managers

32:19 Paying Privately With Gift Cards and Prepaid Cards

35:07 Spending Bitcoin Through Friends

37:13 Wasabi Wallet and On-Chain Privacy

38:21 Getting Bitcoin Without KYC

41:38 Zapstore, Tor VPN, Amber and White Noise

48:00 How the Marmot Protocol Works

55:52 How Disappearing Messages Work

57:57 Private AI and Running Local Models

1:01:29 Talking to Your AI Agents Through White Noise

1:07:37 Private Cloud AI With Maple and PPQ

1:08:43 Trusted Execution Environments: Cypherpunk Magic

1:14:35 Self-Host Your Data on an Old Laptop

1:17:14 Is Quantum a Threat to Encryption and Bitcoin?

1:25:09 The Economic Case for Privacy

1:29:00 Ben's Blond Streak Disguise

1:29:55 Where to Find Max, Ben and White Noise

Tools mentioned: GrapheneOS, Organic Maps, Debian, Qubes OS, Pop!_OS, Omarchy, Framework, Apple Lockdown Mode, KeePass, Silent.Link, Bitrefill, Coincards, Garmin Pay, Wasabi Wallet, Lightning, Hodl Hodl, Bisq, RoboSats, Zapstore, Tor VPN, Obscura VPN, Amber, White Noise, Marmot protocol, MLS, Nostr, Nostr VPN, FIPS, Routstr, Cashu, Fedimint, Bionic, Maple, PPQ.ai

Max Hillebrand (Nostr only): https://towardsliberty.com

White Noise: https://whitenoise.chat

Sovereign Sessions (tutorials): https://youtube.com/@SovereignSessions

⚡Previous Episode:

Jim Rickards & Simon Dixon: https://youtu.be/djc-F6TPfos

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Mentor Sessions EP 104 | Jim Rickards & Simon Dixon on the petrodollar, who runs the world, the AI bubble, dollar collapse, gold vs Bitcoin, stablecoin bank runs and frozen bank accounts.

Two wars, a quiet Russian diesel deal, and a $2 trillion AI build-out that one of these guests calls the greatest bubble in history. James Rickards and Simon Dixon sit down to map who is actually calling the shots in the Iran and Ukraine conflicts, and what it means for the dollar, gold, and your Bitcoin.

Rickards war gamed finance as a weapon for the Pentagon, advised the CIA on financial threats, and was general counsel at Long Term Capital Management when the Fed stepped in. In this conversation you'll learn why he argues the debasement trade is nonsense and the dollar is getting stronger, why China's yuan can't become a reserve currency, and why he believes an unregulated stablecoin bank run could trigger a panic in the Treasury market.

Simon Dixon pushes back with the view that war is the product, that the petrodollar is being quietly renegotiated as China becomes Saudi Arabia's main oil buyer, and that both gold and Bitcoin matter in the programmable control grid he sees coming. You'll also hear a sharp breakdown of the AI bubble, why superintelligence won't be achieved, and the latest supply-chain attacks on hardware wallets.

⏱️ Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

0:33 - Who Is Calling The Shots In These Wars

2:33 - Who Really Controls Ukraine's Leadership

3:38 - Why Iran Has No Exit Strategy

6:46 - US-Russia Deal That Could End Two Wars

9:25 - Why Only China Russia And US Matter

12:16 - Simon Dixon: War Serves The Power Structure

15:13 - Midterms Weapons Shortages And Trump Agenda

18:46 - Seventy Years Of Petrodollar Monetary History

23:47 - Bigger Picture Above Trump And World Orders

26:19 - Why The Debasement Trade Is Nonsense

29:05 - China's Gold Reserves And Yuan Limitations

32:08 - Using Inflation To Solve The Debt Problem

33:09 - Petrodollar Shift From Saudi Arabia To China

49:26 - Two Trillion Dollar AI Infrastructure Bubble

55:42 - Why Superintelligence Cannot Be Achieved

56:11 - Ice-Nine Freezing Accounts And Redemptions

1:00:06 - Rickards Bitcoin Casino Chip Metaphor Explained

1:01:08 - Stablecoin Bank Run Risks On The Horizon

1:03:55 - Simon Dixon Stablecoins Versus Bank Deposits

1:26:48 - Hardware Wallet Attacks Targeting Self Custody

1:31:49 - Simon Dixon New Book Game Of Money

🔗 Links & Resources:

James Rickards newsletter - https://rickardswarning.com

Simon Dixon on X - https://x.com/SimonDixonTwit

This one is for the people trying to make sense of the whole board at once, not just the headlines. If that's you, join us live for the next Mentor Session and drop your take on war-is-the-product vs the-dollar-is-fine in the comments. We read them.

⚡Previous Episode:

Michael Howell: https://youtu.be/Tzyifqs-Bg0

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Mentor Sessions EP 103: Michael Howell on Global Liquidity, the Everything Bubble & When Bitcoin Rallies

Global liquidity is still rising in absolute terms, but the momentum is cracking fast, and that shift is already bending bond markets, credit spreads, and Bitcoin. Michael Howell breaks down exactly what's moving underneath the surface.

In this episode you'll see why Howell calls Bitcoin a "liquidity sponge," how the debt maturity wall forces old debt back into the system, and why roughly 80% of all financial market transactions are really just debt refinancing. You'll learn how to read the four indicators Howell watches before every crisis, why the euro system has no safe asset, how Japan quietly devalued its debt through a weaker yen, and why China is "basically Japan ten years later" buying gold for 23 straight months. You'll also hear his specific call: Bitcoin may struggle for three months, then do quite well into 2027 as Treasury QE monetizes government spending.

⏱️ Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:06 - Is Global Liquidity Expanding Or Contracting?

2:33 - Momentum Indicator Signals Liquidity Rollover

3:25 - Why This Is a 5-6 Year Debt Refinancing Cycle

4:28 - The Debt Maturity Wall Explained

5:59 - Debt-To-Liquidity Ratio And Crisis Thresholds

7:20 - Where Liquidity Shifted: CapEx And AI Data Centers

8:54 - Treasury QE: The New Hidden Liquidity Conduit

12:54 - Fed September Hike And Liquidity Management

13:17 - Why 80% Of Lending Is Collateral Backed

14:12 - MOVE Index And Rising Bond Volatility Risk

15:42 - Bessent Buybacks Targeting Off-The-Run Treasuries

16:26 - Fed Managing Repo Spreads And Bank Reserves

17:30 - What The Repo Market Actually Is

20:05 - SOFR Spreads And The Danger Line

24:20 - What Really Drives The MOVE Index Higher

25:49 - Are We Heading Into A Financial Crisis?

26:53 - Two-Year Yields vs SOFR: Rates Rising

29:24 - Where Interest Rates Could Peak

33:25 - Bitcoin As A Liquidity Sponge: The Framework

34:17 - Howell's Medium-Term Bitcoin Bull Case

35:43 - Yield Curve Signals And Bitcoin Bull Market Timing

40:38 - The Eurodollar Market And Gilts

42:36 - France, Germany And The Oat-Bund Spread

43:29 - No Safe Asset In The Euro System

45:26 - Why The Eurozone May Not Hold Together

47:18 - Japan, The Yen Carry Trade And Weaker Yen

49:30 - How Japan Devalued Its Debt Successfully

51:39 - China Is Japan Ten Years Later

53:07 - China Printing Money And Buying Gold To Devalue

56:16 - Could The US Engineer A Domestic Devaluation?

58:25 - How Bitcoin Reacts To Chinese And Treasury Liquidity

1:02:04 - Final Thoughts On AI, Private Credit And Risk

Michael Howell runs Global Liquidity Indexes and publishes the Capital Wars Substack, where he tracks global liquidity data and the indicators referenced throughout this conversation.

🔗 Links & Resources:

→ Michael Howell on X: https://x.com/crossbordercap

→ Michael Howell on Substack: https://capitalwars.substack.com/

→ GL Indexes: https://www.glindexes.com/

⚡Previous Episode:Rational Root: https://youtu.be/ZkpoEFOQ_cM

🔔 Subscribe for weekly Bitcoin Podcasts

🐦 Follow on X: https://x.com/BTCSessions

🐦 Follow on X: https://x.com/theBTCmentor

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10% Off First Year Promo Code SESSIONS

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#Bitcoin #GlobalLiquidity #EverythingBubble #MichaelHowell #BTCSessions #MentorSessions #FinancialCrisis #BitcoinMacro #TreasuryQE #DebtCycle #CapitalWars #BondMarket #YieldCurve #LiquiditySponge #Liquidity