My guest today is Brandon Quittem, Head of User Acquisitions at Swan Bitcoin. Swan Bitcoin isn’t a crypto exchange. It’s a bitcoin-only accumulation platform, with options for both one-time purchases and recurring purchases (dollar-cost averaging plans). It works easily on both a desktop device or mobile device. In addition to their consumer-focused platform, they also have Swan Private for large buyers, family offices, and businesses. This has become an increasingly important part of their business. If you want to buy a large amount, want to add bitcoin to a company balance sheet, or want to consult with experts about custody, that’s your portal. And they’re in the process of launching Swan Advisor Services, which allows financial advisors to integrate bitcoin into client portfolios easily, including reporting and rebalancing. Swan is expanding its depth and quality of bitcoin-based services, rather than expanding its multi-coin approaches. Quality over quantity, in other words. Brandon graduated with a business degree from the University of Minnesota after changing his major away from Mechanical Engineering. He started his professional career in Enterprise Software for Oracle. Won the awards, made the money, got the promotions. His whole life was leading up to this moment. On the outside, it looked like everything was going great, yet on the inside, he was not happy. It was clear he wanted more from life. He began reading for pleasure, discovered the Four Hour Work Week, started experimenting with psychedelics, and went through yoga teacher training. He emerged out of this discovery period with clarity: it was time to abandon his constructed identity and pursue the life he wanted. Soon after, he left my job at Oracle. Him and and his girlfriend (now wife) decided to sell everything and spend 4 years traveling the world while building “passive income” businesses. They scoured the earth seeking novelty, strange food, personal development opportunities, clean surf, and cultural experiences. After 4 years of digital nomad life… they were ready to plant some roots. They moved back to Minneapolis and soon after fell down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. Bitcoin fed his interests as it’s a never-ending pursuit of knowledge and stokes the revolutionary fire deep inside him. Today, he spends his time building bitcoin companies and trying to publish his best thinking. In our conversation we discuss Swan Bitcoin, the Fourth Turning, Bitcoin as an Institution, how Bitcoin is Hope, and much more. We begin our conversation by discussing the Fourth Turning and the current societal unrest. Brandon does an excellent job at explaining how the current socioeconomic and political state has led to the rise of collectivism and nihilism. We discuss the impact of these negative externalities for the future of society and how Bitcoin could be the answer for rebuilding our crumbling institutions. Brandon illuminates this by explaining how Bitcoin is Hope and a new form of institution. Our conversation transitions to Swan Bitcoin and building a Bitcoin-only company. We discuss Swan’s various product offerings and some inside baseball about who’s buying Bitcoin. We also touch on why Bitcoin is unlike the other Cryptocurrencies and why Bitcoin is the perfect money. We finish our conversation by discussing the importance of mental health and positivity. This conversation is full of actionable advice about Bitcoin, society, and life. Please enjoy my conversation with Brandon Quittem. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out https://untoldstories.link/paraswap. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. -- This podcast is powered by Blockworks. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at https://blockworks.co