Arthur Hayes: How the 2008 Bailout Gave Birth to Bitcoin

In an August 23, 2026 video interview with Altcoin Daily, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes recalled that in the 2008 crisis, Washington didn't bail out Bear Stearns directly — it had JP Morgan buy the bank for $2 backed by massive loans, a sweetheart deal for JP Morgan.

Lehman then failed, and regulators found they didn't really like free markets after all. Major bank CEOs trekked to Washington and walked away with roughly $700 billion in taxpayer money, while Goldman bankers kept their bonuses and ordinary people lost their homes. He argues the U.S. broke its promise of sound money in the bailout — and Bitcoin was born as a response to that broken trust.