This week on Satoshi’s Plebs, McIntosh flies solo while Kenshin takes the week off, and uses the downtime to riff on a question that’s been nagging at him: how does AI actually “pay for things” once agents start doing real work in the world? He shares a bit of personal momentum—how fast modern AI tooling is letting him build software—and then pivots into why Bitcoin (especially Lightning, and possibly eCash backed by Bitcoin) feels like the most natural settlement layer for agent-to-agent commerce.

The big theme is that as agents become more autonomous—and as companies demand standards around security, skills, and guardrails—payments can’t stay “free” forever. McIntosh argues that Bitcoin’s divisibility and existing infrastructure make it a strong candidate for the default money of AI-to-AI microtransactions, and he leaves listeners with a question: are you ready for a “Jarvis” doing tasks for you… and do you think those agents will end up transacting in sats?

Bitcoin Price at Time of Recording

February 18, 2026: 66,484 USD | 56,392 Euro

Block Height

937,273

Music Credits

Abel James
Voodoo Queen

Website

https://satoshis-plebs.com

Podcasting 2.0 Apps available at http://podcastapps.com and Value4Value information page available here: https://value4value.info

McIntosh can be reached by email at mcintosh@satoshis-plebs.com and on Twitter at @McIntoshFinTech. His mastodon handle is @mcintosh@podcastindex.social and his Nostr. Kenshin can be reached on Twitter at @kenshin_ninja or on Nostr. Kenshin’s email is kenshin@satoshis-plebs.com. You can also follow the Satoshi’s Plebs podcast account on Nostr. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

This week McIntosh and Kenshin tackle the part of Bitcoin everyone thinks they understand… right up until a transaction gets stuck: fees, mempool dynamics, and UTXO hygiene. They frame fees as a live market for scarce blockspace, explain what you’re actually paying for (sats/vbyte), and show how transaction “weight” changes based on inputs/outputs—why a “cheap” fee rate can still be expensive if your transaction is big.

They also cover the two practical “escape hatches” when things go sideways—RBF (Replace-By-Fee) and CPFP (Child Pays For Parent)—plus why wallet fee estimators can be misleading and why mempool visibility matters. Finally, they get into UTXO management: why too many small UTXOs (“dust”) can become unspendable in high-fee environments, and why low-fee periods are the time to consolidate, not when you’re already in a firefight.

Bitcoin Price at Time of Recording

February 10, 2026: 68,907 USD | 57,884 Euro

Music Credits

Abel James
Voodoo Queen

Website

https://satoshis-plebs.com

Podcasting 2.0 Apps available at http://podcastapps.com and Value4Value information page available here: https://value4value.info

McIntosh can be reached by email at mcintosh@satoshis-plebs.com and on Twitter at @McIntoshFinTech. His mastodon handle is @mcintosh@podcastindex.social and his Nostr. Kenshin can be reached on Twitter at @kenshin_ninja or on Nostr. Kenshin’s email is kenshin@satoshis-plebs.com. You can also follow the Satoshi’s Plebs podcast account on Nostr. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

This week Macintosh and Kenshin break down Bitcoin multisig: what it is, why it exists, and how it reduces single points of failure in self-custody. They walk through common setups (1-of-2, 2-of-2, 2-of-3, 3-of-5), why complexity is both a feature and a risk, and best practices like geographic distribution, avoiding single-vendor signer risk, and testing recovery before you commit meaningful funds.

The guys also touch on the rise of AI “agent” tooling (and why you should be careful with security/permissions), then close with market/news items including Helix mixer seizure headlines, state-level Bitcoin reserve chatter, current BTC price levels, and mining stats (difficulty adjustment / blocks behind).

Bitcoin Price at Time of Recording

Feb 3rd, 2026: $74,790 USD | 63,500 Euro

Block Height at Time of Recording

934,890

News and Resources

Bitcoin Wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamir’s_secret_sharing

https://seedhammer.com

Music Credits

Joe Martin

Empty Passenger Seat

Website

https://satoshis-plebs.com

Podcasting 2.0 Apps available at http://podcastapps.com and Value4Value information page available here: https://value4value.info

McIntosh can be reached by email at mcintosh@satoshis-plebs.com and on Twitter at @McIntoshFinTech. His mastodon handle is @mcintosh@podcastindex.social and his Nostr. Kenshin can be reached on Twitter at @kenshin_ninja or on Nostr. Kenshin’s email is kenshin@satoshis-plebs.com. You can also follow the Satoshi’s Plebs podcast account on Nostr. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

We are looking forward to hearing from you!