live here with Ben and Sebastian, which is exciting.
So welcome, gentlemen.
How are we doing this morning?
Thank you, Benji.
Doing good.
Cool.
Now, it is an absolute treat to be here,
to have Ben with us right now.
And Ben, you are not in your normal house.
Where are you right now?
What's going on?
We're just at Novotel in Wellington.
My wife and I came down here two nights ago
just to be a part of the protest here at Wellington.
Yeah, it's my second time down here
in the last sort of, I don't know, several days.
And yeah, it's pretty amazing.
Yeah.
What's the vibe there?
What's going on?
What's New Zealand feeling like?
And what's, yeah, you're right in the heart of the action.
It's pretty interesting right now.
I would say the vibe is, you know,
a whole lot of people who are here
because they believe that the mandates are wrong
and that they need to end
and that this government's lost its mind a bit.
And they want to be heard and they don't feel heard.
And, you know, another part of it is,
I think, you know, there's a lot of love,
a lot of connection,
a lot of just incredible generosity down here.
Like people walking around with puppets of ice blocks
or, you know, muesli bars and drinks
and just keeping everybody fed, you know.
We had like two meals yesterday, incredibly.
Like curry and beautiful meals.
And they just have tents full of free food
that people can just go and hang out there, right?
Yeah, they've actually been asking people to stop donating
because they've had so much stuff
they can't like really give it away
or store it in the storehouse anymore.
So yeah, they've been getting like truckloads of avocados
from the Tauranga area and all sorts.
So it's quite incredible.
There's even like an op shop where everything's free
and they've just set up.
And yesterday Kezia came home with like a new swimsuit
and some new dandels, all brand new stuff.
And I know the kids are having a great time down there too.
I think it's interesting, like what we learned yesterday
was that the, what is it, the police commissioner,
Jacinda's cousin was saying, you know, like this is,
we have some tow trucks and we're gonna tow people.
Now he's saying, you know, it's really up to the government
to, you know, have conversation with these protesters.
And it's not really a police matter.
And so it's interesting seeing, you know,
a bit of family feud between Jacinda and her cousin
arise where, you know, the government's saying,
hey, it's the police job to get rid of these protesters
or, you know, tow vehicles
and free up some of these streets around the Beehive.
And then it's the police saying,
oh, actually no, it's the politicians.
And so, and then the, you know,
they've gone to the army and the army have said,
no, it's the politicians need to get down there
and listen to the people.
So it's like, you know, it's really funny.
Like I saw on a Twitter feed, I think,
you know, an international guy, I think his name's Benny.
He was saying, you know, he had posted something to like,
I know he's got like millions of followers,
a discussion between two people
on how embarrassing it is for our police commissioner
to not even be able to tow a few cars, you know?
And yeah, it's quite funny.
So people are in high spirits here.
Love towards the police officers who are here.
It's amazing.
You know, like yesterday we went down to the front lines
and our kids just waved to some of the police officers
and they, you know, gave some little head nods back.
And yeah, we just really want.
We want these police officers to know that we need them, we need police officers with
morals to stay in the force, not to just jump out because they're being asked to do things
that are, in many respects, immoral for politicians.
But yeah, it's an amazing place, definitely.
If you're able to come down, come down, yeah, need more reinforcements, but actually it's
like there's thousands of people here, and since I was last here, there's no place to
put a tent.
In fact, there's some grassy spots just up the road that have all been filled with tents
as well.
So it's just like tent city, there's even tents on some of the concrete pads around
the beehive as well.
Yeah, I saw them.
Was it the courthouse that people are putting their tents up in the courthouse, is that
right?
Oh, sorry, tent city, yeah.
So I mean, this is what's happening in New Zealand, but it's happening all over the world.
There's protests this week breaking out, and not just this week, but they're breaking out
all over the world.
And we're just seeing convoys, there was this week, I think a convoy of like 20,000 cars
in Israel of protesters, and it's just like everywhere you look, people are breaking out
and going, man, like, it's time for freedom.
Yeah, totally bro, yeah, it's amazing.
One of the funniest things I saw, right, because the police, this is just for anyone overseas
who didn't see this, or maybe you're in New Zealand, you didn't see this, but the police
asked the tow truck companies to tow all these cars, and the tow truck companies pretty much
all said, no, we don't want to do that.
There's been a couple that have since said, oh, maybe, but there was this one very funny
video on Twitter of there was some cops that were out ticketing people whose cars were
parked, and they'd been asking the tow truck drivers to tow these cars.
And then they came running back because the tow truck driver was towing the cop car off.
Yeah, I saw that last night.
That was quite funny, because the cop car had actually parked illegally.
Yeah, and because the cop car had parked illegally, the tow truck drivers took the cop car.
That's very funny.
So, Ben, we've got about another 20 minutes here with you, and we really want to get into
some of these like bigger issues around banking and governments and crazy government overreach
and things that are unfolding in the world right now.
But if you'd like to pray for us, that'd be great.
And then we're going to just jump straight into your mind and get some amazing perspectives
on what you see happening in governments and banks and crypto with our next 20 minutes.
Yeah, sure thing.
Oh, Lord, we just thank you for that you're here and that you've been leading us and that
you'll continue to lead us.
And Lord, we just ask for a spirit of wisdom and revelation to just be on this conversation
right now, that we may know your thoughts and know the future and be able to bring your
wisdom to your people.
Amen.
Beautiful.
We'll see if you've got some thoughts, so why don't you jump in there, man?
Yeah, Ben, it's been cool to watch your journey over the last couple of years and what you're
doing and what you're getting up to.
Just to kick it off, man, what do you see as kind of the most, your biggest concern
with what's going on with banks and government right now?
Obviously, there's a lot to unpack there, but if you could refine it down to what you
see as the biggest issues, what do you see from your perspective?
Yeah, I think the biggest concern for me right now is that a trap is being set right now
for people and they're unaware of it.
And it's been interesting, the Canadian protest, because Trudeau has kind of shown his hand
and in terms of like the trap, how it's being set.
And I don't know if you guys are aware, but they started freezing bank accounts of
dissenters.
So if you see this, it's like, well, OK, so if you don't like the opinion of some
of the people you're meant to be serving, you're going to lock down their ability
to pay for food, to pay for rent, to look after their families.
So, I mean, if that's not government overreach, I don't know what is.
But what it shows is that.
there is a system being created where people can be manipulated and controlled
by their, you know, Maslow's hierarchy. There's the base needs, which is like food and shelter
and these sort of things. And what the government's doing is that they are, you know,
through, like, you know, calling people who protest terrorists, right? They're able to now use
these legal mechanisms that have been put in place because of the terrorist acts that
happened in previous years to shut down terrorist bank accounts and to shut down
to now shut down people, you and I, who are expressing opinions like that lockdowns are harmful for
society or that, you know, jabs are more risky for children than the virus itself, you know?
These ideas are now becoming like terrorist ideas and we are on the edge of, you know, if they
get away with this, we're on the edge of becoming a, you know, communist, the communist west.
Yeah, so this is the tipping point, I believe, and I think that it's really interesting that
I think it's great that these protests are happening right now. I think it's
important that we get behind it because this is the moment where these things are being exposed.
I believe God is hardening the heart of Jacinda and Nala and all of these people
to force their hand so that these things can come into the light and that people could wake up.
Yeah, so that's the, to answer your question, that's the biggest risk that we have right now
is that if these, if not enough people get down to this protest, if, you know, Trudeau is successful
in, you know, getting rid of all of these truckers, then things won't change, or if they say,
you know, if they let the, if they roll back some of these mandates and lull people back into
a false sense of security again, all the while instituting central bank digital currencies
connected to, say, your vaccine pass and slowly phase out cash and, yeah, and just tighten the
noose on society. Yeah, I think that's the biggest risk. Yeah, I feel you. I was wondering, just on
the other side of that, what do you see as some of the potential solutions that we're looking at?
You know, obviously, we are looking, you know, we're praying, we're protesting here in the U.S.
too, we're building companies, we're stewarding assets to get as far as we can to support what
we're doing, what's happening across the world, but then what do you see as some of the solutions
we have even inside, you know, cryptocurrency, decentralization of finance, moving along
like those lines, how do you, how do you see those, do you see those as solutions? How do we,
how do we navigate that space in light of what's going on? And so, I mean, it's, that's such a
difficult question and I don't, I don't, don't know fully how to answer it, because for each
person it's a different, you know, thing, but if I, if we step back out to like the big picture,
I think, I mean, the things that we've been doing, we've been, you know, we had assets,
most of our assets are held outside traditional banking, so we don't have a lot of cash in the
banks, we, we keep, I prefer to keep crypto assets, and if you, you don't like the volatility of those
crypto assets, but you can hold, say, USDC, which is a US dollar, which is, you know,
tradable peer-to-peer, so as an example, if I wanted to...
something from Benji, I could buy it without the permission of a bank because it's an Ethereum-based
token. I can transact it from my Ethereum wallet to his Ethereum wallet without asking for
permission. So I can't be censored by the bank and Trudeau or Jacinda in the future
couldn't stop me from trading or paying for my rent if Benji was our landlord.
So that's one example. I think a good thing to do is to become familiar with cryptocurrency
and how to transact cryptocurrency even if you just buy $100 worth and just trade it with
your spouse or a friend and just get familiar with how to transact it.
That's a step in the right direction.
Because you don't want to be able to be cancelled.
And then I've been looking at the macro, what's happening in the markets and how to
protect your wealth. We have KiwiSaver. A lot of people don't have savings right now,
but you may have KiwiSaver. One way is to put your KiwiSaver into, say,
Craig's Investment Partners Fund because they have a fund which will allow you to allocate
your KiwiSaver. Right now, we're sitting in Gold Miners, which is an ETF which you can choose.
In the last few weeks, we've seen that depreciate by 10% because there's this cyclical shift
into commodities. Obviously, Gold Miners are mining gold and gold's a commodity.
That's one way that you can, I think that it's probably a good idea to do right now.
Just on that note, you guys have a pretty amazing story with investing into crypto
basically blowing up really well. I think you said a 20-fold return?
Yeah, at one stage. And then we didn't sell at that peak. But look, it was an amazing journey
with Bart and he led us in terms of dates and price points. And because we had all that as
a word of knowledge and it all worked out, we felt really confident in doing what we did.
So we had sold everything and we put it all into crypto. And now, at this point in time,
we have a bit of crypto, but we're mostly out of the market.
Yeah, because I mean, what sparked that is you've recently gone with friends and actually
bought a gold mine. Yeah, we're investors in a gold mine. Yeah. So tell us just a little bit
about your gold mine. It's in a pretty cool part of the South Island of New Zealand.
Yeah, you know, I think that what I can say is, you know, we're shareholders in a gold mine
and the Lord's definitely led us to be a part of this adventure. And, you know, we'll see what
the future holds for it. But yeah, I am really bullish on gold and
there's some interest, you know, it looks like gold is just about to break out.
I mean, the price of gold is going to go up a lot. And it's interesting, you know,
because we've seen a bit of sell off in the last few days and equities and yet gold is breaking up.
And so gold is typically viewed as an inflation hedge. And in the last two years, we haven't
really seen gold do anything. But now that inflation is here and inflation is like pregnancy,
you don't get half pregnant, you get full pregnant. And so inflation is, you know,
I think it's 7% right now in New Zealand. So yeah, and I could see that, you know,
going up a whole lot. And that is...
going to really hurt a lot of people.
And so, you know, gold is a place of protection
from that pain and we see, you know,
hedge funds and central banks
and yeah, all sorts of buyers of gold right now
because it's that protection,
that safe place from inflation.
Yeah.
Yeah. Fantastic, man.
So from your perspective,
because I mean, I've always just really appreciated your,
like you've got a genius way of researching trends
all around the world.
Like you're so good at that.
And I know actually so many of our friends,
we talk about you behind your back in a way of like,
man, Ben's just such a genius researcher.
Like you have these great ways of researching
and pulling everything together
and then actually being able to go,
wow, and speak real wisdom.
And I know that so many of us actually just like,
really love to hear your updates
and what you're seeing lately.
So if you would see trends of things that,
I mean, obviously there's gold one,
but places where you're like,
hey, I would avoid this and I'd align here.
I mean, I think that even just what you've given us already
is like a big mindset shift,
like stepping out of normal banking
and actually stepping into crypto,
but anything else you'd give people
that they're just kind of discovering,
hey, I don't think everything is as trustworthy
as I used to think.
Any thoughts for them on where they could align right now?
Yeah, definitely.
I just think you really need to be able to pray
and hear God and be willing to act out
on what he's saying to you.
Because for all of us, it's all different.
We're all in different situations.
And so I could give across the board,
like this is what you should do.
But if, I know for us, like we have for sure heard God
and he is so there, like wanting to speak and to finance.
And I think for a lot of people like finances,
they felt like, okay, well,
the love of money is the root of all evil.
And so God doesn't care about you
being wealthy.
He just cares about your heart.
And that's true.
But there's also this element of a righteous man
leaves an inheritance for his children's children.
And so like God will speak into your finances
and he will release like pills of wisdom
for you to follow the path
that you're to follow to being in a position
where you can leave a rich inheritance
for your children's children.
And so I just feel that if anything,
I just want to speak to people and say like,
just trust him with everything.
You know, it's not, I surrender 10%.
You know, that song is I surrender all.
And I think like, if you're willing to let go
of everything that you have in your hand,
you will hear him.
And when you hear him in that place of like surrender,
he will be able to entrust you with more,
but you'll also have to surrender that more.
And it's just a cycle, you know,
like he'll give you more.
You'll have to walk with open hands,
like willing to give it all to him or whatever he wants.
You to give it to, or like invest, you know,
and being able to keep giving you more and more
and more and more.
And yeah, that's what I would say.
Beautiful.
Yeah, that's a genius, a genius tip.
Hey, one other question,
and probably be close to our last question
before we wrap up.
Obviously we've seen that Trudeau is freezing bank accounts,
but he was also trying to freeze crypto wallets.
Now, how much control can governments ultimately bring
on the blockchain?
Or is that something that in some ways
they can't entirely control the blockchain?
Yeah, that's an interesting question.
So they, different exchanges will give them information
about the accounts which they are sending.
So as an example, so you sign up for an exchange,
say it's finance.
Now you have to go through anti-money laundering.
a process with verification with them exactly to get an account.
And so they collect all your information.
It might be a picture of your passport and all of that stuff.
Right.
Then they'll also ask you what's the source of its funds.
So it may be the sale of your house, like it was in our situation,
or it might be your income.
And so they're gathering all this information.
Now, they can turn around and get that to your local government or national
government.
And a part of the anti-money laundering act,
then they actually have a responsibility to.
Right.
And they do.
Now, the account which you send your crypto from,
so your finance account, so on this exchange where you buy cryptocurrency,
that account knows the address that you sent those crypto assets to.
So this is now your personal.
So when you have an account on an exchange,
it's controlled by that exchange.
When you have a personal cryptocurrency account,
so that might be a hardware wallet.
Getting into something like that.
There you go.
One of those.
Those are great.
I've got one of those.
So, yeah.
So you want to send it to your self custody wallet,
which is like what Benji just held up there.
Now, the government can't stop you at that point from doing anything.
Right.
The government could stop you while your cryptocurrency is sitting on an exchange
because they might have a conversation with the exchange and say,
hey, look, our country is freezing all crypto assets.
And we are setting up a banking system where you'll be able to send those crypto assets
to a registered bank like ASB.
So ASB may set up in the future because the government can control ASB.
And so Binance said, OK, cool.
Well, we'll only send those crypto assets to ASB in the future.
And for now, we'll just freeze them.
Right.
So you've got a window of opportunity now where this isn't happening.
And I know in the US, all of the banks in the US have been given the green light
to set up these like crypto accounts.
So banks in the US can custody crypto on behalf of users of their services.
And so I think that this is ultimately the way the world governments will go.
But right now, if you hold a ledger like Benji has, and I have one myself,
or even an app-based wallet like Trust Wallet, which you can download from the App Store.
So you don't even have to buy a physical device.
Those wallets are purely peer-to-peer and interact with the blockchain.
And the government would have to shut down the internet to stop it.
Yeah.
So it's like email, you know, an email.
I send an email to you.
I could be running my own email server.
You can be running your own email server.
Now, we don't typically do that.
We use like Gmail or like iCloud or something.
And so ultimately, those services are giving us permission.
But we could run our own email server on the internet.
And we could be doing truly peer-to-peer messages.
It's the same thing, except with value.
And yeah.
Yeah, so it's pretty exciting in the sense,
you know, like we're in this whole new era where parallel economies are emerging.
And there's more pressure on us than ever before to actually step into those.
And it's not something that we've orchestrated,
but just the hour of governments and control and banks where it's all going.
It's really in that space now where we have to kind of take responsibility,
create our own independent economy that actually transcends government and banking.
Yeah.
And I think that's effectively it.
It's about taking back your sovereignty from these companies.
And that's what crypto is about.
It's about taking your power back from the banking system,
which has, you know, for many years been hidden, the power that they have over.
your expression of value right because whenever you buy something you're expressing your values
as a person right but there is um you know there in our um short to mid-term future we're going to
have central central bank digital currency now the government and whoever's in power
will be able to stop you from expressing your values through their currency you know so they
may stop you from giving to churches they may stop you from being able to buy from a pro-choice
cafe you know um and i believe that that that is um the beginning that's going to be the beginning
like giving the government the ability to determine how you you spend and or you know
express your values as a person um it's very very dangerous and it's not going to end well
yeah so and i think we've got to wrap up now because you've got to go but i think
yeah where that kind of lead where it kind of leaves us right now is in a place where
it's not like a a nice kind of idea in the future like in the past you know a few years ago it was
kind of like a nice idea of this type of stuff now it's more like an urgent need that we have
to get really intentional about creating our own independent economies uh in order so that basically
so that we're not enslaved not controlled by government overreach by banking systems that
decide hey you have a different value system to us we're cancelling your life we're cancelling
your funds yeah yeah exactly well benji and said thank you so much for um this time this morning
um we're going to be traveling back up to um the mount um today so we're gonna i've got to do
but um bless you guys and thanks so much again later absolutely we're stoked thank you for your
time you have a wonderful trip and great stuff being down there at the protest bless you man