The Hurdle Rate Podcast

Episode 64: Building The Track Record In this week’s Hurdle Rate, the crew breaks down Strategy’s sale of Bitcoin to fund dividend payments and why the market’s reaction may signal growing confidence in Bitcoin as a liquid capital asset. We explore how Strategy and Strive are using balance sheet management, digital credit, and capital markets access to keep their models moving through volatility....

Episode 63: The Digital Credit Capital Framework In this week's Hurdle Rate, the crew opens with the latest on digital credit volatility and the broader market backdrop, before digging into Strategy's capital framework and how management is navigating stress in the system. The conversation turns to institutional behavior, the realities of managing a cash balance sheet, and the dynamics of leverage...

Episode 62: Digital Credit Weakness Full episodes: https://tnorth.com/hurdle-rate/ In this week's Hurdle Rate, the crew breaks down the mechanics of volatility and liquidation events, before turning to shifting investor behavior and how markets react to sudden liquidations. We dig into how digital credit stacks up against traditional financial instruments, the innovations shaping the future of the...

In this week's Hurdle Rate, the crew breaks down the latest corporate Bitcoin market activity and Strive's growing Bitcoin holdings, before turning to Strategy's Bitcoin sale and what the balance sheet math actually reveals about risk and permanent impairment. We dig into historical bear market scenarios, how to manage amplification ratios, and the product management and demand dynamics shaping th...

Episode 60: The Math of Amplification In this week's Hurdle Rate, the crew breaks down the latest corporate Bitcoin market activity and Strive's growing Bitcoin holdings, before turning to Strategy's Bitcoin sale and what the balance sheet math actually reveals about risk and permanent impairment. We dig into historical bear market scenarios, how to manage amplification ratios, and the product man...

Episode 59: Scale Like Crazy  0:00 - Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate 1:08 - Jeff’s Podcast Circuit & Strategy Retires Debt 21:27 - Strive’s Big Week 32:42 - Strategy’s Retail Q&A 41:29 - Kevin Warsh is The New Fed Chair

Episode 58: Exponential Innovation 0:00 - Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate 1:30 - Strive: The Daily Dividend Company 5:32 - Ringing The Opening Bell at Nasdaq 23:50 - How Strive Paid Off Its Debt 27:00 - How Big Is This Idea? 41:21 - The Infrastructure Behind The Scenes 47:00 - How Bitcoin Will Be Involved In Strive’s Future All episodes are posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR9Q6...

Episode 57: The Answer Is Trillions All episodes live here: https://tnorth.com/shows/hurdle-rate/   0:00 - Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate 3:02 - MSTR Earnings Call Reaction 25:22 - Is Digital Credit Too Good to Be True? 42:16 - FDIC & Monetary Risk  

Episode 56: The User Experience All episodes live here: https://tnorth.com/shows/hurdle-rate/ 0:00 - Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate 2:20 - Strategy Flips BlackRock 20:58 - Is The Tokenized Ecosystem Completely Useless? 30:13 - AI Tools & Revamping Portfolios 45:55 - Schwab Education

Episode 55: A Structural Shift [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:30] Digital Credit’s Big Month [00:18:05] Capital Flows [00:26:50] Rethinking Credit [00:42:37] The End of the 60/40 Portfolio

Episode 54: The Management of The Treasury [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:55] The Accumulation Phase [00:21:00] Digital Credit as The Hurdle Rate [00:40:45] Moderate Duration

Episode 53 - Bitcoin, AI and The New QE Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:45] US Debt Crisis [00:17:37] AI Disruption in The Startup Economy [00:30:58] Debasement & Portfolio Construction [00:44:34] Which Type of Non-Bitcoin Company Would Even Be Attractive Now?

Episode 52 - An Increasingly Digital World Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:10] The Latest News from Strategy [00:14:00] Private Credit Liquidity Issues [00:32:23] The Correlation Between Private Credit and Public Credit Markets

Episode 51 - A Digital Credit Treasury Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:00:36] Strive ASST & SATA Update [00:49:14] Strategy’s Latest Buy

Episode 50 - Some Pretty Good Money Printing Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:03:20] Strategy’s Latest [00:12:55] 20 Millionth Bitcoin is Mined [00:37:15] The Speed at Which AI is Advancing

Episode 49 - Digital Credit is for Corporations Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:02:00] Bitcoin as Digital Freedom Money Amid Global Uncertainty [00:20:30] Strategy World Recap [00:27:55] STRC as The Hurdle Rate? [00:39:20] Traditional Finance at Strategy World [00:50:40] The Liquidity Component [01:05:50] Closing Tho...

Episode 48 - Bullish Digital Credit Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:51] Reflections on Bitcoin Investor Week & Matt’s Cardone Debate [00:10:28] Amplification in a Bear Market [00:22:04] The True Risk Profile of Digital Credit Instruments [00:37:00] Private Credit, Compounding GDP, and Government Spending [00:4...

Episode 47 - A Time To Build Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:50] Bitcoin Investor Week in NYC [00:09:50] Bull vs Bear Markets [00:28:00] Is the Bottom In? [00:41:40] Strategy’s Earnings Call

Episode 46 -  Build The Structure Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:05] Kevin Warsh Named Fed Chair [00:24:38] Clawdbots & Moltbook [00:32:10] The Pref Only Model & Digital Risk [00:44:05] Bitcoin as a Term Asset & What a Supercycle Means

Episode 45 - Preferred Equity Demand Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:00:40] Does the Preferred Equity Present a Systemic Risk to Bitcoin? [00:21:42] Strive + Semler: The First M&A Transaction in Bitcoin Treasuries [00:33:30] IBIT Bitcoin Covered Call ETF [00:41:51] Gold & Silver Price Action [00:47:30] What i...

Episode 44 - Digital Credit Clarity Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:00:56] Strategy’s Latest [00:11:55] Credit Spreads Hit All Time Tights [00:30:06] Coinbase Pulls Out of Clarity Act [00:43:54] Matt Cole Corners the Bitcoin Treasury Podcast Industrial Complex

Episode 43 - The Best Message Is Digital Credit Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:02:55] Strategy’s $1.25 Billion Orange Buy [00:15:56] Michael Saylor on What Bitcoin Did [00:39:58] Jerome Powell in Hot Water and Disenchantment with the Fed [00:49:30] Trump Caps Credit Card Interest [00:56:03] Strive Semler Merger

Episode 42 - Pensions, Private Equity & Digital Credit Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com 0:00 - Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate 0:55 - Strategy Gears Up for Massive 2026 12:10 - Looking Back at 2025: Year Zero in Digital Credit 30:12 - Capital Allocation and Pension Funds 50:18 - 2026 Outlook

Episode 41 - Structurally Bullish Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:01:21] Reflections on 2025 [00:08:14] The Bitcoin Era [00:18:12] Amplification and the Power of Compounding [00:30:30] Do You Beat The Hurdle Rate of Bitcoin? [00:53:04] Tim’s Review of Bitcoin Treasuries Big Year

Episode 40 - Set Up For A Supercycle Thank you to our sponsor, Swan Bitcoin. We buy Bitcoin at Swan.com [00:00:00] Welcome Back to The Hurdle Rate [00:02:08] The Latest on Bitcoin [00:10:18] A Decade-Long Supercycle? [00:19:47] OCC Greenlights Crypto Bank Charters [00:26:14] Valuations [00:34:48] Quantum Risks? [00:40:15] MSTR Staying in Nasdaq 100 [00:43:57] Final Thoughts