Transcript

What A Year...

From The Plain Bagel · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 19 min · 3,716 words · 27 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "What A Year...", an episode of The Plain Bagel published December 30, 2025 (19 min, about 3,716 words). It mentions 8 people, works and ideas, including Donald Trump, Richard Coffin, ChachiBT, Poly Market, Bank of Japan.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Donald Trump, Brilliant, Richard Coffin
  2. – 6:00: Donald Trump
  3. – 9:00: Donald Trump
  4. – 12:00: ChachiBT, Poly Market
  5. – 15:00: Brilliant, Bank of Japan

Notable quotes from "What A Year..."

  • I'm your host Richard Coffin. We have made it to the end of yet another eventful 12 months mostly in one piece.
    about Richard Coffin · at
  • January 17th, Donald Trump launches Salana based memecoin, Trumpcoin.
    about Donald Trump · at
  • Partnerships from unprofitable companies with OpenAI, the company behind Sora and ChachiBT itself entering deals to spend $1.4 trillion over the next 8 years despite earning…
    about ChachiBT · at
  • We see ICE Inc., the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, invest $2 billion in Poly Market, a crypto-based betting platform. The move reflects the growing integration of…
    about Poly Market · at
  • December 19th, the Bank of Japan hikes its central bank target rate to 75%, the highest level since 1995. A move that comes at a time where the country faces all-time high yields for its government.
    about Bank of Japan · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

Sponsors

  • Brilliant — Sponsor · 3 mentions · first at
    Take the opportunity to discuss the year we've had. A quick thank you to Brilliant for sponsoring this finance rewind. Stick to the end for an exclusive offer on their platform. And without further ado, let's hop into it.

Full transcript with timestamps

Hello everyone. Welcome to the annual finance rewind here on the plane bagel. I'm your host Richard Coffin. We have made it to the end of yet another eventful 12 months mostly in one piece. And as is tradition here on the plane bagel, we'll take the opportunity as we adorn our festive sweaters to reflect and take a walk down memory lane on the key happenings and events that help define 2025. I always quite enjoy doing these videos. to give me a good chance to reflect on everything and just remember the stuff that maybe we uh forgot really happened this year. As we summarize some of the key events of the year, we'll also take the opportunity to discuss key trends going into 2026. So, settle in, grab yourself a cozy drink and sweater like myself. Uh we are here to unwind after all with this rewind. I know that might be difficult given the past year we've had, but we'll do our best to keep things light-hearted as we

uh take the opportunity to discuss the year we've had. A quick thank you to Brilliant for sponsoring this finance rewind. Stick to the end for an exclusive offer on their platform. And without further ado, let's hop into it. January 17th, Donald Trump launches Salana based memecoin, Trumpcoin. All right, bad start. I agree. But but stick with me. We we can make it through this. The cryptocurrency, which comes just 3 days before Trump's inauguration as president of the United States, surges over a few days from just over a dollar to nearly $75 a coin before correcting downwards. The move foreshadows a year of crypto friendly policies from the White House and draws some criticism from those who believe that pumping a memecoin that you own 80% of presents a conflict of interest for the president of the United States.

Trump puts concerns to rest by offering an exclusive dinner to top holders of the memecoin. January 18th in briefly the most important news in the finance world. Tik Tok goes dark as a ban takes effect in the United States. The app, of course, comes back online the following day as the government gives Bite Dance, the Chinese parent company of Tik Tok, 75 days to find a US owner for its US operations. The ban goes on to be delayed a number of times throughout the year with the US government balancing the need to protect user data from Chinese snooping with American dependence on influencer advisers and poorly researched stock picks. In December, news comes out that the app has finally entered a deal with an investor group backed by the likes of Oracle and Abu Dhabi based MGX. January 20th, Donald Trump is inaugurated as the president of the United States and hits the ground running, issuing a record

number of executive orders on his first day in office, and keeping up the blistering pace throughout his first year. A number of the president's orders prove quite controversial, including an attempt to end birthright citizenship, the weakening of regulatory agencies like the SEC and FTC, the ending of DEI programs within the government, a move that's mirrored by many corporations in the country, the detention and deportation of immigrants, both illegal and legal, the gutting and shuttering of US institutions like US Aid and Department of Education, the sending of the National Guard to quell dangerous protesters in quote, "war ravaged Portland, and of course, making showers great again by ending the left's war on water pressure, one of the eight such wars the president would help end in his first year. January 20th is also the day Donald Trump establishes Doge or the Department of Government Efficiency to

cut back on government excess headed by penny pincher extraordinaire Elon Musk who promptly asks workers what they did last week. The initiative follows a pledge by Elon Musk to cut $2 trillion from government spending and comes with a website where the group transparently posts really big numbers that they've potentially saved. Shockingly, reports soon follow that hiring a group of inexperienced college students and recent grads to override billions of dollars of government contracts may not have been a good idea with analyses pointing to grossly exaggerated figures and government spending actually going on to increase slightly for the year.

The group dispands in November with 8 months left in its charter. February 1st, in the first of the many exhausting tariff updates to come in the year, Donald Trump signs an executive order slapping 10% tariffs on Chinese goods and 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods. Tariffs that, while initially delayed for the latter two countries, ultimately go into effect in March. The president cites fentanyl and illegal immigration as the main reasons behind these tariffs despite Canada in particular representing a small fraction of both issues. The levies are followed by additional sector specific tariffs targeting auto parts, steel and aluminum, copper parts, lumber and furniture, key industries for the three trade partners. Canada and China retaliate with tariffs of their own.

April 2nd, we of course have the very fateful liberation day where Donald Trump shows off some very fancy bristle board posters and liberates the world from free trade, introducing a 10% baseline tariff on all imports into the country and a slew of higher country specific tariffs calculated entirely off of each country's trade balance with the United States. Markets dropped 12% over just a week before the punitive tariffs are postponed to allow time for negotiation with the US ultimately entering arrangements with the UK, Japan, and the entirety of the EU among other countries throughout the year.

Higher tariffs come back into effect for most other nations. August 1st, April 4th, just 2 days after Liberation Day, China slaps a 34% tariff on US goods in response to the now 54% tariff faced by Chinese goods. With the country also introducing export restrictions on key rare earth metals required for the production of certain high-tech products. And like an UNO pickup 4chain gone terribly wrong, things escalate quickly. The US hikes its own tariffs by 50%. China calls and goes up 50% as well. The US jumps right to 145% at the same time it postpones liberation day tariffs for all other countries. China hikes its total to 125%. And then on May 12th, everything's walked back as both countries settle on a 10% baseline tariff. Tensions cool further on November 4th as the countries announce an agreement to ease trade restrictions further for a year. April 28th, we return to Canada where Mark Carney is

elected the next prime minister of the country in a surprising turn of fortune for the Liberal Party. The former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor goes on to take a fairly centrist position, opting to invest heavily in promoting so-called nation building projects while axing the country's consumer carbon tax, reducing the public employee headcount, and tightening immigration. While the PM loses contact with Trump over offensive claims made in an ad by Ronald Reagan that tariffs don't work, Canada strangely finds itself in an advantage position with its flat 35% tariff. With 85% of its goods sent to the US still being tariff-free due to an exemption for goods compliant with its free trade agreement that's still being honored by the US. With the agreement coming due for review in 2026, however, challenges remain for the Canadian PM. May 3rd, after over 60 years as CEO, Warren Buffett announces

his retirement at the annual Bergkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. I attend the meeting but missed the announcement by a couple minutes, waiting in line for some peanut brittle. Buffett helped grow Bergkshire Hathway from a failing textile manufacturer into one of the largest conglomerates in the world worth over $1 trillion, being viewed by many as one of the greatest investors of our time. While Bergkshire stock falls on the announcement over concerns of whether anyone can match Buffett's leadership, Warren hands the reigns over to someone he believes is able. Greg Ael, that is.

July 4th, Donald Trump signs the one big beautiful bill into law, initiating trillions of dollars in tax breaks and spending cuts, most notably to social aid programs like SNAP, food benefits, and Medicaid. Despite the government expected to save $1.1 trillion from direct spending cuts and GDP growth expected to be 2 percentage points higher thanks to the budget, the government deficit is ultimately expected to increase by 3 to4 trillion over the next decade due to the lower revenue and higher spending in certain categories with the bill sending funds to enhance ICE operations and to construct a Golden Dome missile defense system over the United States. The budget also includes a tax advantaged account for American children and initially included a so-called revenge tax imposing a levy on investment income earned by foreign investors, though that section was later removed. July 18th, during the so-called crypto week, we see

lawmakers pass the Genius Act, the first major national piece of legislation targeting cryptocurrencies in the United States. The law sets up a regulatory regime for stable coins or cryptocurrencies that peg their value to that of the US dollar, imposing disclosure, redemption, and registration requirements onto stable coin issuers, and moving oversight of the industry away from the SEC and CFTC, defining stable coins as neither a security nor a commodity. The other two pieces of cryptoeek legislation, the Clarity Act and AntiCBDC Act, failed to pass the finish line. August 22nd, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivers his Jackson Hole remarks at the Fed's annual symposium, where as part of a five-year review, he announces a return of the central bank to a flexible inflation targeting regime and a balanced approach regarding its dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices. The speech

follows months of criticism and even an attempted firing of Powell by the president over the bank's high interest rates, but signals the bank's willingness to loosen restrictive policy amid a weakening labor market. The central bank ultimately cuts rates three times after the speech and ends its quantitative tightening program December 1st. September 22nd, Nvidia announces that it will invest $100 billion into OpenAI to support its buildout of data centers in return for OpenAI filling those data centers with Nvidia chips, a deal that some come to label as circular. The move raises concerns over the propping up of the supposed AI bubble characterized by blistering infrastructure buildout, high stock valuations, and absurdly large partnerships from unprofitable companies with OpenAI, the company behind Sora and ChachiBT itself entering deals to spend $1.4 trillion over the next 8 years despite earning less than 2% of that as

revenue. While the technology continues to advance, offering exceedingly impressive output, concerns remain over whether enduser demand will justify the billions of dollars of investment and investor hype. With even the government getting in on the action with an investment in Intel, Nvidia, the chipmaker at the center of most of these incestuous AI partnerships, becomes the first company to reach a $5 trillion valuation in October. October 1st, we enter the longest government shutdown in US history as the Senate fails to pass appropriations legislation with Democratic lawmakers pushing to extend affordable care act subsidies left to expire under the one big beautiful bill.

The shutdown lasts 43 days, disrupting the collection of CPI and labor data for the month of October and ultimately ends November 12th when Republicans agree to put the matter to a vote in December. As of recording, the issue remains outstanding, but with no government shutdown to threaten, it appears that the subsidies will expire by year end. October 6th, Bitcoin reaches a new all-time high of over $126,000 per coin, up 30% for the year before correcting downwards and ultimately ending the year down in the mid-s singledigit range. While 2025 would be a year full of catalysts for the cryptocurrency, including political endorsements, the establishment of US Bitcoin strategic reserve in March, the pardoning of crypto Silk Road founder Ross Albrech, and the rise of Bitcoin Treasury companies who raise capital solely for the purpose of buying Bitcoin, and funding Michael Sailor's midjourney subscriptions. The correction

ultimately reflects lower liquidity in the financial system and heightened investor concerns over the asset, which has come to act more like a volatile tech stock than the promised safe haven that many purported to be. October 7th, we see ICE Inc., the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, invest $2 billion in Poly Market, a crypto-based betting platform. The move reflects the growing integration of so-called prediction markets like Poly Market and Kalshi where users bet on the outcome of literally anything into the financial system with apps like Robin Hood and Coinbase even announcing moves to integrate prediction markets right alongside investor portfolios, enabling users to lose their money gambling in addition to losing it on call options and crypto. Despite sports betting being banned in a number of states, the apps have so far managed to circumvent gambling laws by successfully arguing

that betting on the existence of aliens in 2025 is actually a prudent investment strategy, I guess, and should be regulated at the federal level. It remains to be seen whether the argument holds up to challenges and whether we in fact see aliens confirmed by year end. October 28th, Startup 1X launches pre-orders for its humanoid helper robot, Neo, the first consumerready robot in the race to build machines capable of replacing humans in the performance of broad menial tasks. While intended to eventually run autonomously, Neo robots will for now be controlled by a dedicated operator until they eventually figure out the whole AI part.

The development is a blow to Elon Musk, who's already duking things out with Sam Alman over Chachib being too woke and now has to deal with Optimus being dethroned as the leading autonomous human operated robot. But hey, at least he finally got his robo taxis this year. December 19th, the Bank of Japan hikes its central bank target rate to 75%, the highest level since 1995. A move that comes at a time where the country faces all-time high yields for its government bonds. The country, one of the only developed nations currently hiking interest rates, faces rising inflation and aggressive stimulus measures from its newly elected prime minister, Sai Dai, aimed at improving the country's lagging GDP growth. The higher rates come at the same time as jitters in the US bond market, which has likewise seen its bond yields rise on weak demand despite the country seeing falling interest rates, and has overall raised

concerns over another Japanese carry trade unwinding, an event that in 2024 led traders to sell off US assets to pay back borrowed yen. And then finally on December 21st, after previously reaching a new all-time high in October, gold hits another record price and continues pushing upward, reaching as of Friday a price of over $4,500 per troy ounce. With the precious metal jumping over 70% year-to date amid accumulation by central banks, institutions, and a mania of buying activity from retail investors in both physical and ETF markets. Silver likewise sees its own price reach a new all-time high, rising over 100% over the course of 2025. While some dubbed the rally as the great debasement trade, reflecting market concerns over the US dollar, other analysts instead described the move as investor FOMO, marking a strange change of characteristic for the asset, which historically has been treated more as a safe haven rather than

something investors plow into when markets themselves are at all-time highs. And that concludes our rewind of 2025. Before hopping into the trends of 2026, if you're one for New Year's resolutions and keen to learn something new or just interested in cementing your understanding of uh something that maybe just never clicked for you, then you should check out the sponsor of today's video, Brilliant, an offering that can help hone your math, problem solving, and other skills in the new year. Brilliant offers a learning platform for topics ranging from data and math to programming and AI using interactive exercises to let you play around with the concepts that you're learning, which is really what makes the offering unique. Brilliant focuses on a method called active learning, which has been shown by research to be a more effective way of learning than just listening to lectures or watching videos online. And

with practice that's being personalized to your level of understanding, it can really help you take your learning to that next level. Their exploring data visually is a really great one because it's where their interactive activities really shine. Offering a much more intuitive way of learning concepts that otherwise can be hard to visualize. So to learn more about Brilliant and try them for 30 days free, you can visit brilliant.org/theplaybagle /theplanebagel or scan the QR code on screen. Viewers will also get 20% off an annual premium subscription for unlimited daily access to everything on Brilliant. So, thank you Brilliant for sponsoring this Finance Rewind. And as we look into 2026 and the trends that we're experiencing moving into that year, much like how many people have described the economy as having this sort of K-shaped growth with the top percent experiencing a very different

set of outcomes from the bottom percent, we have a very bifurcated outlook. On the one hand, there is some optimism in the space. The US economy has continued to see strong growth in spite of tariffs. The stock market has had a stellar year thanks to big tech. And with AI developing at breakneck speed, some hold the view that the technology will revolutionize and improve everything we do from the emails we write, the programs we code, even the content we create. On the other hand, there's a whole lot of uncertainty.

There's the concern that the AI bubble is propping up the economy with 40% of GDP growth in the US coming from the tech buildout and 10 companies in the S&P 500 now making up roughly 40% of the index. There's a concern that inflation currently above target will continue to increase unabated with a new Trump appointed Federal Reserve chair set to take the position in 2026. There's the concern that the K-shaped economy is much weaker than the general print figures would lead you to believe with tariffs continuing to disrupt certain sectors, manufacturing contracting, and the labor market showing signs of weakness. And of course, there's a concern that heightened geopolitical tensions will continue to intensify with 2025 marking a stark increase in direct military interventions from the US in Yemen, Iran, and of course, Venezuela, where the US has been bombing civilian boats accused of smuggling drugs and

intercepting oil tankers in a major escalation for the country. And while we did see a ceasefire announced in Gaza and ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, there's little confidence we'll actually see peace hold out with strikes continuing in Gaza and Ukraine and Russia still far apart regarding ceasefire terms. In addition to the actual war, we'll of course continue to see the trade war develop in the new year as global economies continue to negotiate and adapt to US tariffs and legal challenges play out in the courts.

We can also expect further deregulation in 2026 under the Trump administration. And we'll have to see how prediction markets fare given the scrambling of companies to enter and build out the space and stakeholders preparing for the legal challenges to come. Of course, likely the biggest investment theme going into 2026 is none other than the AI bubble, which will likely continue to remain top of mind as the massive buildout continues. But with Trump's track record of giving markets whiplash with his unprecedented and questionable policies and lastminute changes to said policies, it's anyone's guess what themes will dominate the markets and how 2026 will ultimately shake out. Here's hoping it ends up being a bit more plain. But that is our finance rewind for 2025. There were of course many other notable events that happened throughout the year. the wildfires in LA, the new pope from Chicago, the

election to Mum Donnie in New York, the murder of Charlie Kirk, and the transparent release of some Epstein files by accident. But hopefully this video offered a helpful review and summary of the key headlines and events of 2025, and hopefully more engaging than if you had just asked Chad to do it for you. And one final point before I sign off for the rest of 2025, I want to once again thank you all for watching, subscribing, and overall supporting the plane bagel this past 12 months. Uh 2025 was the year that we passed 1 million subscribers here on the plane dagel. I got the shiny gold play button. So, thank you so much for for affording me that and the other opportunities that have come with this. I've gotten to launch a new podcast with my co-orker Derek Deadman, the dead on the money personal finance podcast. I've gotten to sit on panels and talk about topics I'm passionate about, to meet and

collaborate with other creators. I recently got to interview with YouTube OG Philip DeFranco. I even got impersonated by an AI scammer this year, which you know, I'm not thankful for that, but it does feel like a milestone. So, you know, still weirdly proud of it. But genuinely, it's been an incredible time in spite of the ridiculous nature of some of the stories we cover. And 2026 is shaping up to be another great year for the channel. So, thank you. I hope in these crazy times you find the time to relax, unwind, and look forward to the new year. I'll be here posting about the finance stuff in 2026, and I look forward to seeing you there. So, happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy new year.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "What A Year..."?

In order: 0:00 Donald Trump, Brilliant, Richard Coffin; 3:00 Donald Trump; 6:00 Donald Trump; 9:00 ChachiBT, Poly Market; 12:00 Brilliant, Bank of Japan.

What is mentioned in this The Plain Bagel episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, Richard Coffin, ChachiBT, Poly Market, Bank of Japan, Berkshire Hathaway. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "What A Year..."?

The episode runs 19 min; the transcript is about 3,716 words in 27 timestamped sections.

More from The Plain Bagel

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.