Hey all,

I’m Rizzo, the Bitcoin Historian. For more than a decade I’ve been document Bitcoin’s evolution — the people, ideas, companies, and moments that shaped it.

I spend every day tracking what’s shaping Bitcoin. This newsletter connects the dots.

Each edition highlights the stories, signals, and historical context you need to understand what’s happening in Bitcoin right now. And where it may be headed next.

This week’s feature interview with Rizzo is a deep dive into the high-stakes political fight shaping Bitcoin's legislative future with Dennis Porter, the outspoken founder of the non-profit Satoshi Action Fund.

Porter takes a break from his social media silence this week to pull back the curtain on the stalled market structure bill, revealing how the battle between crypto firms and banking giants has created a standoff that could determine whether regulatory clarity arrives in 2026 — or gets pushed past the midterms into uncertainty.

The conversation maps the hidden dynamics behind the scenes: Trump’s strategic pivot on the Clarity Act, the (possible) death of Senator Lummis’s Bitcoin reserve bill, and why blue states like California and Massachusetts are quietly becoming the most important battlegrounds for Bitcoin adoption.

→ Subscribe to see Rizzo's latest interviews dropping weekly on YouTube.

JP MORGAN ADMITS CLARITY ACT COULD REIGNITE BULL MARKET

YouTube link: Jamie Dimon tries to stall the bill that could bring back the bull

JP Morgan's research team published a note this week stating that passage of market structure legislation "most likely by midyear could serve as a positive catalyst for crypto markets into the second half of the year."

The assessment comes as CEO Jamie Dimon and the banking lobby work to slow the same legislation in Washington, demanding strict limits on stablecoin rewards and warning of "deposit flight" from traditional banks to crypto firms.

What’s next for the Clarity Act? Find out on this video.

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BITCOIN NUMBER 20,000,000 GETS MINED

X link: The scarcest asset in history

The 20 millionth Bitcoin was mined this week, marking a milestone in the protocol's fixed supply schedule. Only 1 million BTC remain to be issued over the next 115 years.

Bitcoin's 21 million hard cap makes it the scarcest monetary asset in history, with issuance programmatically enforced by network consensus rather than central bank policy. The remaining supply will be distributed through block subsidies that halve approximately every four years, with the final sat expected to be mined in 2140.

OP_NET launches March 17th with a bold promise: bring the innovation that’s been happening on Ethereum and other chains — DeFi, stablecoins, decentralized exchanges — directly to Bitcoin, without requiring you to leave Bitcoin L1 or hold any new tokens.

For years, the narrative has been that Bitcoin is “digital gold” while Ethereum does smart contracts. OP_NET's founders believe that's a false choice, and their vision is simple yet powerful. Bring the $2 trillion crypto market back into Bitcoin by proving you don't need to diversify into other chains to access DeFi functionality.

OP_NET is now an official media sponsor of The Bitcoin Historian. Learn more at OP_NET: opnet.org

BARCLAYS IS QUIETLY DEBANKING BITCOIN BUSINESSES

YouTube link: Shocking revelations about the $2 trillion banking behemoth

UK banking giant Barclays sent termination notices to small businesses last week for purchasing Bitcoin through FCA-regulated exchange Kraken, despite announcing days earlier it was exploring blockchain settlement tools.

A video production studio shared an email demanding they "cease all crypto-related investments" and confirm compliance, highlighting the gap between banks' public statements on Bitcoin adoption and their actual treatment of crypto customers.

“THERE’S VALUE TO A NON-FIAT CURRENCY,” SAYS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

X link: WEF says the quiet part out loud

The World Economic Forum convened global finance leaders at Davos 2026 to discuss the future of money amid geopolitical fragmentation and digital transformation.

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters described the shift to tokenized currencies as a "re-plumbing of the financial system" enabling instant settlement, while Bridgewater's Ray Dalio noted surging demand for gold and Bitcoin as trust in government-backed money erodes.

When asked about cryptocurrencies despite predictions of declining value, Winters stated: "What I do think is clear is that there is now value attached to having a non-fiat currency."

2014 — DAVE RAMSEY CALLS BITCOIN BUYERS “STUPID” AT $500

Twelve years ago this week, investing guru Dave Ramsey told his millions of followers they were "stupid" for buying Bitcoin at $500, confidently dismissing it as speculation and insisting real adults buy mutual funds and pay off their house.

In a resurfaced clip from his radio show, Ramsey ridicules callers for even considering Bitcoin, frames it as a fad, and mocks the idea of holding it long-term. His message was for investors to stick with the traditional playbook or regret it.

His dismissal — calling Bitcoin a gamble while championing the very debt-based system it was designed to escape — anticipated the 136x price increase that followed, and the irony of a financial educator telling people to avoid the hardest money ever created while the dollar lost 40% of its purchasing power.

→ See Rizzo’s favorite moments in BTC history daily on r/cryptocurrency.

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