What if the next billion users of Bitcoin aren't human?
In this episode, Beau Turner sits down with Shone Anstey, CEO of Liquid Technologies (LQWD) and a veteran builder from the earliest days of the internet, for a wide-ranging conversation about Bitcoin, the Lightning Network, and what happens when artificial intelligence needs money.
This isn't just a conversation about Lightning payments. It's a deep dive into why Bitcoin is the eighth layer of the internet, how AI agents are already driving a spike in Lightning transactions, and why the machines are getting orange-pilled before the people.
Shone brings a rare perspective: he was in the trenches during the internet's first wave in the mid-90s, and he sees Bitcoin's trajectory following the exact same arc. From building Canada's third fully licensed crypto exchange, to launching LQWD as a public Lightning Network infrastructure company, to now building AI wallets and autonomous agent networks, Shone has lived every phase of this revolution.
Together, Beau and Shone unpack how the Lightning Network scales Bitcoin the same way the internet scaled itself, why computers prefer mathematical money over fiat, and why the agentic economy is the catalyst that will bring the rest of the world into Bitcoin.
They also explore Treasury 2.0, the next evolution beyond simply holding Bitcoin, and what it means for business owners, public companies, and everyday people who want to get ahead of what's coming.
Key topics in this conversation:
• Why Bitcoin is the 8th layer of the OSI internet stack
• How the Lightning Network mirrors the architecture of the internet
• Why AI agents are driving a measurable spike in Lightning transactions
• Streaming money, paying only for what you use, in real time
• The "agentic soul", how a Lightning wallet becomes an agent's identity
• Treasury 2.0: putting Bitcoin to work, not just holding it
• Why machines will onboard people into Bitcoin, not the other way around
• The Nakamoto Effect: how Bitcoin's trust layer hyperaccelerates network value
• HTTP Error Code 402, the missing internet payment layer that Bitcoin finally fulfills
• Why business owners should hold Bitcoin quietly and strategically
