Michael · AI & technology
The practical technology translator: inputs, tools, permissions, reliability, and what software actually does.
Tuning in…
AI & crypto, explained.
Machine Money TV exists to help people understand the fast-moving worlds of AI and crypto: what is being built, who is building it, and where the money is flowing. We explain it in plain English, put real skin in the game with the Machine Money Thematic Portfolio, and hold open conversations with both humans and AI agents. Our goal is to bring as many people as possible along for the ride: a better working knowledge of this emerging world, and a better shot at financial independence, freedom and security.
Two specialists, one conversation
Every episode asks two questions: Can it work? and Who gets paid?
Michael asksCan it work?
Christina asksWho gets paid?
Christina · Crypto & finance
The financial-mechanism translator: ownership, custody, settlement, liquidity, incentives, and who captures value.
AI, explained
The five-layer cake
NVIDIA's Jensen Huang describes AI as a five-layer cake. Every AI company sits somewhere in it, and money flows through each layer. The Machine Money Thematic Portfolio labels every AI holding with its layer.
Layer 1 of 5
Energy
The electricity, fuel and power equipment that AI data centers can't run without.
What we hold in this layer, and how much, is on the members' desk.
Michael explains: Every chip turns electricity into answers, and heat. No power, no AI. This layer is the plug in the wall.
Layer 2 of 5
Chips
The chips that do AI's thinking, plus the machines and materials used to make them.
What we hold in this layer, and how much, is on the members' desk.
Michael explains: Chips do the actual math: billions of tiny multiplications for every word an AI writes.
Layer 3 of 5
Infrastructure
The data-center hardware around the chips: servers, memory, networking, fiber optics and cooling.
What we hold in this layer, and how much, is on the members' desk.
Michael explains: One chip can’t train a big model. Thousands have to talk to each other fast, and stay cool while they do it.
Layer 4 of 5
Models
The AI 'brains' themselves, like ChatGPT and Claude; the leading model makers are private companies, so we have no direct holding here yet.
What we hold in this layer, and how much, is on the members' desk.
Michael explains: The model is the recipe the chips run: patterns learned from mountains of text, code and pictures.
Layer 5 of 5
Applications
Software and services that put AI to work for businesses, governments and people.
What we hold in this layer, and how much, is on the members' desk.
Michael explains: This is the layer you actually touch: the chat box, the helper in your inbox, the tool at work.
Also on the table
Adopters
Companies outside the tech industry that use AI to reinvent their own business, such as drug discovery.
What we hold in this layer, and how much, is on the members' desk.
Michael explains: Not tech companies at all. They put AI to work on their own problems, like hunting for new medicines.
Crypto, explained
Three jobs crypto assets do
Crypto isn't one thing. We group it by the job each asset does: storing value, running applications, or building the rails around them.
Digital assets meant to hold value over time, like Bitcoin ('digital gold').
Christina asks: who gets paid?Miners earn new coins and fees for securing the network. Simply holding it pays no income, unlike a dividend or interest.
Blockchains that run apps, stablecoins and tokenized assets: the 'rails' AI agents may use to pay each other.
Christina asks: who gets paid?Every transaction pays a small fee to the network that runs it. Busier rails collect more fees.
Stock-market-listed companies that run crypto's plumbing, such as exchanges and brokerages that connect everyday investors to crypto.
Christina asks: who gets paid?These are ordinary companies with shares. They earn fees when people buy, sell and store crypto through them.
Reading the portfolio
Five simple moves
Every week, each holding gets one of these labels. That's the whole vocabulary.
The Machine Money Thematic Portfolio is the portfolio we actively manage. We show it as the growth of $10,000 since Jan 1, 2026, and explain every change. It isn't personal financial advice.
Try it with Christina
What it takes to recover
When a price falls, getting back to where it started takes a bigger percentage gain than the fall. Slide to see how much bigger.
ChristinaQuick puzzle: if a price falls 50%, what gain gets it back to even? Try the slider.
- Price drop
- −50%
- Gain needed to get back to even
- +100%
A 50% drop needs a 100% gain to get back to even.
| Price drop | $100 becomes | Gain to get back to even |
|---|---|---|
| −10% | $90 | +11.1% |
| −20% | $80 | +25% |
| −30% | $70 | +42.9% |
| −50% | $50 | +100% |
| −75% | $25 | +300% |
| −90% | $10 | +900% |
Why it matters: volatile assets, like many cryptocurrencies, can fall a long way, and the deeper the fall, the steeper the climb back.
This is arithmetic, not a forecast. It says nothing about whether or when any price recovers.
A few things you might be wondering
Do I need to own crypto to follow along?
No. You can explore the show, the learning guide and the portfolio’s performance without buying anything or connecting a wallet.
Is the portfolio real?
Yes. The Machine Money Thematic Portfolio mirrors the positions we actively manage: real skin in the game. We show it as the growth of $10,000 so it’s easy to compare, and explain every decision, including the risks. Performance is public; holdings and weekly trades are for members. It isn’t a recommendation for your own money.
Where should I ask a beginner question?
Visit the community for a public conversation, or send the team a question. You don’t need the vocabulary figured out first.
Understand the machines. Follow the money.
Pick a place to start.