Where the panel landed
The panel strongly rejected the Forbes claim that Apple Pay and the strong dollar were killing Bitcoin, with Derek J calling the article detached from reality and Will Pangman saying it misunderstood Bitcoin as merely a payments innovation. On price predictions, Will was more open to the Winklevoss long-term trillion-dollar market-cap claim, while Derek objected to unfalsifiable price boosterism from large holders. On regulation, Derek and Will agreed that government clarity may affect business decisions, but both rejected the idea that regulation is what Bitcoin needs to survive.
What they were watching
The directional consensus was that Bitcoin's low price did not equal failure: the discussion placed the market around $230 to $250, while the Winklevoss twins floated a $1 trillion market cap and roughly $47,000 per coin. The panel also watched falling oil and energy prices, quantitative easing, Intel ASIC rumors, mining bankruptcies, and exchange hacks as forces shaping whether Bitcoin mining and custody would centralize or recover.
Forbes Declares Pressure
The episode opened with Forbes claiming that Apple Pay and a strong dollar were squeezing Bitcoin. Derek J rejected the argument as poorly grounded, noting that Bitcoin was a young currency and commodity still finding its market price. Will Pangman said the article's core flaw was treating Bitcoin as only a payments innovation.
Apple Pay Helps the Habit
The panel argued that Apple Pay did not necessarily hurt Bitcoin. Thomas said Apple Pay makes old card-swiping feel uncool and trains users to pay with phones. That habit change could help Bitcoin rather than kill it.
What Could Kill Bitcoin
The exit question gave the panel asteroid, EMP, or dinosaurs. Derek chose EMP but pointed to radio-based Bitcoin transmission and other resilience tools. Will chose the return of the dinosaurs, arguing that people would have larger problems than transaction speed if that happened.
Winklevoss Trillion-Dollar Call
The Winklevoss twins predicted Bitcoin could exceed a $1 trillion market cap, implying more than $47,000 per coin. Will said they might eventually be right, though the timing was obviously useful for their own Bitcoin-related ventures. Derek objected that a prediction without a deadline or falsifiable stake is mostly propaganda from large holders.
Regulation as False Rescue
The panel criticized the claim that Bitcoin libertarians now needed government regulation to save Bitcoin. Derek argued that regulation is not what made Bitcoin work and that the market, not government permission, created adoption. Will said regulatory clarity can help businesses decide what to do, but regulation itself only creates new Bitcoin use cases by trying to block old ones.
New Hampshire Versus New York
Derek highlighted New Hampshire's consideration of bills to exempt cryptocurrencies from money-transmitter regulation and study Bitcoin for taxes and fees. He contrasted that with California and New York, where regulators were more predatory. The panel treated jurisdictional competition as one of Bitcoin's best defenses.
CoinTerra and Mining Collapse
CoinTerra's bankruptcy led to a broader discussion of mining economics. Will compared the period to early internet companies failing as the market sorted winners from overextended firms. Derek emphasized that mining will not disappear because difficulty, price, and new entrants adjust when miners exit.
Custody Failures Continue
The bonus issue covered Chinese exchange 796 being hacked for 1,000 bitcoins. The panel again returned to the private-key lesson: third-party custody remains the recurring failure mode. Will argued that multisig and eventually decentralized exchanges would reduce the need to trust centralized exchanges.
Cold Storage and Real Options
The panel discussed practical storage: paper wallets, Armory, web wallets, phone wallets, Trezor, Ledger, and offline cold-storage machines. Thomas stressed that the worst choice is keeping everything in one place. Once coins are gone, there is no customer-service department to reverse the loss.
Privacy Returns as the Fight
Will's story of the week covered Americans abroad and the end of traditional financial privacy through FATCA-style rules. Derek's story highlighted New Hampshire's crypto bills as an alternative path. Thomas predicted that privacy and big data would rise to the forefront as people began to understand the blockchain's transparency and Satoshi's design.
No, Bitcoin is not being killed.— Derek J
Bitcoin is not being killed. Apple pay and dollars are both pretty good.— Derek J
Apple pay helps Bitcoin.— Thomas Hunt
regulations don't hurt Bitcoin.— Will Pangman
Only the price can save them— Thomas Hunt
The age of financial privacy is just getting started— Will Pangman
Story of the Week
Bitcoin Is Not Being Killed
The dominant story was the mainstream media's renewed attempt to explain Bitcoin's falling price as death. Forbes argued that Bitcoin was being squeezed by a strong dollar and Apple Pay, but Derek and Will treated the article as a misunderstanding of Bitcoin's function and market structure. The panel emphasized that Bitcoin is not just a payments system and that Apple Pay may actually make phone-based payments feel normal. The week became another case study in critics confusing a price decline with the death of a protocol.
No, Bitcoin is not being killed.— Derek J