# Wise Up: Why I’m Still Buying Bitcoin

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-flying-frisby-money-markets-and-more-161147/wise-up-why-i-m-still-buying-bitcoin
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-flying-frisby-money-markets-and-more-161147/wise-up-why-i-m-still-buying-bitcoin.md
Podcast: [The Flying Frisby - money, markets and more](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-flying-frisby-money-markets-and-more-161147)
Published: 2026-06-04T11:23:57+00:00
Episode link: https://www.theflyingfrisby.com/p/wise-up-why-im-still-buying-bitcoin
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/200359049/6c5d08655feb0e819305bbcfb9d7c332.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-flying-frisby-money-markets-and-more-161147/episodes/wise-up-why-i-m-still-buying-bitcoin
Duration seconds: 250

## Resource

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com I was going to write about money transfer company Wise (WISE.L/WSE.US) this week. The company recently listed on the Nasdaq, demoting its London listing to secondary, and the prospects looked rosy. UK-listed companies trade at lower valuations because they are listed in the UK. America not only has greater depths of capital, it values tech, growth and success. In the UK they get ignored, taxed or regulated - or all three. And there is another thing. Have you ever tried being an American and sending money abroad? Boy, is it tiresome. And slow, and bureaucratic, and expensive. Wise solves a genuine problem of cross-border payments and solves it well. Its user base was therefore growing. Meanwhile, its infrastructure is increasingly becoming embedded throughout the banking system itself, the plumbing behind international payments. But then on Monday Belgium announced it was investigating Wise, as it suspected the company is “used by criminals to launder the proceeds of fraud, corruption and drug trafficking”, and the stock promptly sank 15%. I have little doubt that Wise, like Revolut and every other payments platform, is used for money laundering, just as Facebook is used for hate speech, and WhatsApp to deal drugs. Money itself is used for money-laundering. Banks are used for money laundering. The stock market is used for money laundering. Cash is used for money laundering too. I guess, the question is whether the company is guilty of “non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation”. Maybe it turns out to be procedural and manageable - the rebound in the stock suggests that is the case. Maybe it becomes something more serious. We shall see - and I shall probably wait before comm…

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## Transcript

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