How Swift works is one of the most misunderstood topics in crypto payments. Tom Zschach spent six years as Chief Innovation Officer at Swift, and he has unique insights to share.

In this episode:

• Why stablecoins aren’t replacing Swift; they’re connecting to it

• Why Tom called Ripple a fax machine and stands by it

• Why a token isn’t money and what that means for settlement

• Why faster and cheaper isn’t the real prize- certainty is

• What it actually takes to move $50 million into Singapore when there’s no alternative

Adam Back invented the proof-of-work system that became Bitcoin's foundation. The New York Times says he's Satoshi Nakamoto. He says he isn't, but he was the first person Satoshi ever emailed.

Every major publication is asking whether quantum computing will break Bitcoin. The consensus is nervous. Adam Back, the man who built Bitcoin's cryptographic foundation, is not.

In this conversation, he explains why none of the quantum computers that exist today can perform a useful calculation, why you shouldn't expect a real threat before 2035 at the earliest, and why the institutions buying Bitcoin through BlackRock ETFs changed themselves. Not Bitcoin.

They also get into the real state of building on Bitcoin, why Lightning Network channel numbers are shrinking is actually fine, how $2 billion in Mexican promissory notes ended up on a Bitcoin layer 2, and what a lifelong cypherpunk actually thinks about AI.

Also in this episode

- Why Lightning Network channel numbers are shrinking (and why that's fine)

- How $2 billion in Mexican promissory notes ended up on a Bitcoin layer 2

- What a lifelong cypherpunk actually thinks about AI

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:30 Is Adam Back Satoshi?

1:37 Does the speculation bother him?

1:53 First contact: Satoshi reached out to Adam

2:53 Weirdest thing about being a Satoshi suspect

3:21 Hashcash and the CipherPunk mailing list

4:28 Why proof of work was the breakthrough

4:58 CipherPunk identity vs. BlackRock adoption

6:02 How he reconciles crypto anarchism with institutions

8:01 Are institutions changing Bitcoin or vice versa?

9:25 The case against institutional Bitcoin

10:19 Paper Bitcoin and synthetic derivatives

14:04 Why governments are buying gold, not Bitcoin

16:41 Has "build on Bitcoin" failed?

19:32 Lightning compression isn't a demand signal

19:57 Stablecoins and RWAs on Bitcoin layer 2

21:20 Why Mexican promissory notes ended up on Liquid

22:03 Adam's stance on quantum panic

23:33 The timeline skepticism

26:45 The danger of rushing a quantum solution

28:18 The security budget problem

31:13 What does a CipherPunk think of AI?

Stay Connected

Subscribe to Endgame: https://www.youtube.com/@endgamepodcast

Amanda on X: https://x.com/amandacassatt

Serotonin on X: https://x.com/serotonin_hq

Links to Follow:

Endgame on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/45B9szUxVXEwfCDA6uRxwq?si=HT9XXqF9Q2CcM9hfLbmkVg

Endgame on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/endgame-with-amanda-cassatt/id1801809440

Follow Adam Back

https://x.com/adam3us?lang=en

Cultural theorist and essayist Toby Shorin joins Amanda Cassatt to explore one of the most urgent questions of the AI era: What happens to the human body and human meaning when thinking itself becomes commodified?

Drawing on his essay “Body Futurism,” Toby argues that we’re witnessing a massive embodied turn in culture, from peptides and biohacking to looks-maxing and sports investment. But the real question isn’t just why people are obsessing over their bodies; it’s whether that obsession represents liberation or a new form of algorithmic hijacking.

In this episode, they discuss:

- Bryan Johnson’s “don’t die” philosophy and why it’s rooted in fear, not vision

- The difference between a protocol and a practice, and its political consequences

- Who actually benefits from the loneliness epidemic narrative

- What the “AI mind virus” looks like from inside the Bay Area

- Why poetry might be the only genuine escape from the optimization loop

If you’re interested in the intersection of AI, culture, embodiment, and meaning, this conversation is not to be missed.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

2:44 Why everyone is obsessed with their body right now

7:08 The philosophy behind biohacking and morphological freedom

10:42 Why "don't die" is actually a fear-based philosophy

13:27 What AI really threatens it's not your job

14:50 AI mastered chess. Chess adoption only grew.

18:05 Why PE firms are buying sports teams

20:41 Body as asset vs. body as practice

26:24 What is a narrative subsidy?

28:44 Who actually benefits from the loneliness epidemic

29:20 We forgot how to do the dance

31:52 Did Andrew Huberman invent seeing light in the morning?

32:44 How insurance culture took over everyday life

36:45 Two ways out of the optimization loop

38:00 The poetic way of seeing

40:29 Toby reads a poem he wrote this morning

42:09 The William Carlos Williams connection

Stay Connected

Subscribe to Endgame ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/@endgamepodcast

Amanda on X: https://x.com/amandacassatt

Serotonin on X: https://x.com/serotonin_hq

Links to Follow:

Endgame on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/45B9szUxVXEwfCDA6uRxwq?si=HT9XXqF9Q2CcM9hfLbmkVg

Endgame on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/endgame-with-amanda-cassatt/id1801809440

Follow Toby Shorin

https://www.instagram.com/tobyshorin/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobyshorin