Build With Bitcoin

London calling... Founders building a more hopeful future on Bitcoin have a new home, at Antidote

We sat down with Ben Cousens, co-founder of Antidote – London’s brand-new Bitcoin fintech accelerator. Here are the 5 moments that will make you hit play: 1/ “Too many Bitcoiners build churches, not companies.”   Ben doesn’t hold back: Antidote is fixing Bitcoin’s commercialization problem. They want founders solving real problems, generating dollar revenue, and scaling – not just preaching. 2/ “I met Bitcoin as money, not as a price chart – and that changed everything.”   Ben’s orange-pill story: a flatmate in London using BTC to send money to Argentina → he opens Coinbase that same night → sees a Bitcoin address → lightbulb moment: “That looks like encryption… wait, this is P2P internet money?!” 3/ Antidote is setting up Bitcoin founders with the easiest seed round possible:   → $30-70k upfront to dedicate your time to your startup   → 6-month program (3 months mentorship + 3 months building)   → Demo day to a curated investor committee   → “Leave with north of $750k raised and only 15-20% dilution” – YC-style SAFEs, founder-friendly terms. **Founders: First Antidote cohort starts March 2026 – deadline extended to year-end. Apply → antidotebtc.com/join   4/ UK regulation reality check: “The regulatory environment on Bitcoin is pretty atrocious… and the cultural resistance is real.”   Yet Ben explains why Antidote planted itself in Hatton Garden (Diamond District) – 20 mins from London’s fintech unicorns AND Mayfair capital – to pull traditional fintech talent into Bitcoin. 5/ “We’re hitting the tipping point of invisible Bitcoin.”   Ben (also CSO at ZBD) explains:  “You’ll send dollars from your Chase account… but behind the scenes everything settles on Lightning. The user won’t even know it’s Bitcoin.”   Gaming, music streaming, and real-time tipping are about to explode. #BuildWithBitcoin #Bitcoin #LondonBitcoin #AntidoteBTC

 "The State of Bitcoin Building" We just dropped our latest highlights episode covering 4 builders + 1 investor perspective. The common thread? Every single founder is thinking in decades, not quarters. Here's what's happening right now in Bitcoin infrastructure: #1 - Lightning Network is hitting escape velocity: • Amboss Technologies has 30-50% of global LN capacity on their waitlist for Rails • Block just opened LN payments to 4M merchants • The liquidity problem is being solved in real-time - the medium-of-exchange era is arriving faster than expected. #2 - Meanwhile, Bitcoin treasuries aren't just for MicroStrategy anymore. Startups are discovering that BTC on the balance sheet = extended runway + less dilution + better founder/investor alignment. Jose Flores from Arcadia₿ is even bringing this to Mexican pension funds (AFOREs). #3 - On the tech side, ARKLABS is building native programmability on Bitcoin—no bridges, no federations. The promise of FinTech was always just "new UI on old rails." This? This is entirely new rails. Built for neobanks, fintechs, and AI agents. #4 - And then there's Simple Proof, anchoring information integrity to Bitcoin's timechain. In an age of deepfakes and AI manipulation, immutable truth verification becomes critical infrastructure. Tiny blockchain footprint, massive potential impact. #5 - From Mexico to Italy, from Lightning to layer 2s, from payments to programmability—Bitcoin builders are patient, mission-driven, and playing a completely different game than typical startups.

"Bitcoin really changes your psyche as a person. It lowers your time preference, so you start thinking in decades, not months or years..." — Jose Flores, CEO of Arcadia₿. In this episode, Jose shares how Bitcoin transformed not just his company's balance sheet, but his entire approach to building a business. From bootstrapping through bear markets to pioneering the first Bitcoin treasury strategy on the Mexican Stock Exchange, Jose and co-hosts Lynne Bairstow and Israel Muñoz Pineda dive deep into: ✅ Why financial services around Bitcoin beat trading ✅ How Mexico's 10% vs 35% tax structure favors Bitcoin stocks ✅ The path to bringing Bitcoin to $350B in pension funds ✅ Building with conviction (and self-custody) in a skeptical market If you've ever wondered how holding Bitcoin changes the way founders think, build, and operate—this conversation is for you. #Bitcoin #BuildWithBitcoin #Mexico #BitcoinTreasury

🚨 In our latest episode, we sit down with Jose Flores, CEO of @ArcadiaB, Mexico’s longest-standing Bitcoin-only company, preparing to go public on the Mexican Stock Exchange. Here are the 5 🔥 takeaways: 1️⃣ As Mexico’s First Bitcoin Treasury Company: “We’re doing self-custody… we’d rather not do it if investors say ‘put it in Coinbase.’” – Jose Flores of Arcadia B is listing to orange-pill millions via peso-denominated Bitcoin instruments. 2️⃣ Pension Funds Could Unlock $350B for Bitcoin: “Afores… that’s the big pool of capital we’re going after.” – Jose Flores. 10% tax vs. 35% on spot BTC. Mexico’s retirement funds are next. 💰 3️⃣ Bitcoin Changed Everything—Even Our Company Culture: “Bitcoin lowers your time preference… you start eating better, valuing family.” – Jose Flores Bear markets? Survived. Culture? Transformed. 🧘♂️ 4️⃣ El Salvador Is the Model—Mexico Will Follow the U.S.: “Whatever happens in the U.S., we’ll follow… Bitcoin = independence.” – Jose Flores. Regulators are watching. Change is coming. 🇸🇻➡️🇲🇽 5️⃣ The Trojan Horse for Mass Adoption: “It’s a Trojan horse… from shares to hardware wallets.” – Jose Flores. Public stock → regulated debt → IPO: onboarding Mexico without forcing self-custody

We’re not just talking about Bitcoin — we’re building with it. Excited to share the refreshed look of Build With Bitcoin, a podcast for engineers, founders, and operators shipping products -- and the investors supporting them -- on the hardest money ever created. New intro. Same mission: cut the noise, ship the future. Tag someone building in the Bitcoin space. Lynne Bairstow & Israel Muñoz Pineda

Bitcoin's Computational Power vs. AI Infrastructure: Carlos T., CEO of Simple Proof, puts Bitcoin's security in perspective: "Bitcoin consumes still something like over three times as much as all of the AI data centers all over the planet. Bitcoin is more powerful than Google, than Amazon, than all of the AI companies in the world combined." This level of security is why Simple Proof chose Bitcoin over other blockchains for protecting public records.

The Coming Financial Crisis & Bitcoin's Role: David A. Foley of the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund, LP warns of a sovereign debt crisis that will cascade like 2008's bank failures: "It'll be Argentina, becomes France, becomes UK, and then eventually even the US gets questioned... There will be only two safe harbors that people will run to, and they will be gold and Bitcoin." He predicts we'll see Bitcoin reach price levels "seven years from now" much sooner than expected.

MicroStrategy: The JP Morgan of Bitcoin David A. Foley, Managing Partner of the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund, LP, explains why Strategy is his top conviction: "Strategy will be the JP Morgan of the Bitcoin Treasury space... I think it's one of the best stocks in the world right now. I think it'll be one of the best performing stocks over the next five years." David explains #MSTR trades at 1.35x book value vs. JP Morgan at 2.4x, with Bitcoin compounding at 30% annually as the underlying asset.

Strong Demand Signals for Lightning Network Yield: The waitlist for the Amboss Technologies Rails product has accumulated over 2,500 BTC seeking yield opportunities. For context, the Lightning network's total public capacity is currently around 4,000 BTC. CEO Jesse Shrader confirms: "We've got over 2,500 Bitcoin that is now looking for a home on the Lightning network..."