How do you think this is going to play out with the energy, the Iran, the economy, other things happening? What's your forecast for the midterms?

Well, I want to make sure that people get out and vote.

I've heard a lot of people or seen a lot of people post things like they're going to sit this one out because they're mad at the Republican Congress and mad at Trump for not doing the mass deportations and mad about this and mad about that.

But look how much better off we are right now than we were four years ago.

Just having the border shut is reason alone to get out and vote for every Republican you can find.

He's got to have more support in Congress.

I know supposedly we have a Republican Congress, but we don't really.

Amen.

Basically, this is sick, isn't it?

Yes.

Uh, I've been very concerned about Roger Stone's case from the get go.

I have not read the transcript and I'm not familiar with the particular facts and charges, but I do know that they rushed to indict him and the way they arrested him and, uh, everything was just an egregious abuse of prosecutorial power.

He would have reported voluntarily.

He was no risk of flight.

That was during the shutdown.

Now, what is the most egregious error they committed against General Flynn?

Speak to this issue.

Well, I think that happens more across the country than just Michigan.

I think that happened all across the country of people selling their votes or selling their ballots and people harvesting them and putting in what they wanted for them.

The thought of China manufacturing ballots is terrifying because the ballots can be manufactured in such a way with a barcode that caused them to vote for somebody the person didn't vote for.

That's a huge problem or not to read certain votes, depending on how the ballot is done.

None of that is acceptable.

But I think the most important point, and I didn't hear the president say this, we can have no computerized voting at all and have a free and fair election.

So it looks like the congressman may have been on to something, Sidney.

Speak to this issue.

Well, I think that happens more across the country than just Michigan.

I think that happened all across the country of people selling their votes or selling their ballots and people harvesting them and putting in what they wanted for them.

The thought of China manufacturing ballots is terrifying because the ballots can be manufactured in such a way with a barcode that caused them to vote for somebody the person didn't vote for.

That's a huge problem or not to read certain votes depending on how the ballot is done.

None of that is acceptable, but I think the most important point, and I didn't hear the president say this, we can have no computerized voting at all and have a free and fair election.

There is no computer that cannot be hacked or programmed in the first place to defraud the people of their votes.

So it looks like the congressman may have been on to something, Sidney.

And the RT Park, to me, is the perfect conduit.

Absolutely.

I've talked with Eric about this a couple of times.

One of my, you asked Eric, like, what's next? Like, you know, what's a dream for you for the RT Park? For me is to build our brand as a thought leader, not just for the territory, but for the region.

I think that we've in the last eight years or so or seven, eight years, have been able to gather enough data, especially around the model of business attraction and investment into the community.

I think that's very unique and you don't see that in a lot of other places.

I think that, you know, if we are partnering with our clients and connecting them with research commercialization opportunities, with faculty at the university, if we're doing that right, People should immediately see challenges happening, let's say, you know, in other island nations, let's say in the Philippines, right? There's something happening over there and there's a Virgin Islander reading that news and saying, oh, wow, like, I wonder how that would apply to here.

That no longer exists.

How is it now, and then how do you think that through, or what are you seeing?

Hmm.

It's a good question.

I mean, people often ask us what do we do when a big, a bag, a bank with a huge balance sheet comes in? How, how, how is little old Maple gonna compete with that bank? Uh, or, you know, or one of the big credit funds, whether it's an Apollo, an Ares, a Blues- Blue Owl, or a Blackstone.

And so how I think about it is probably the, the lens I tend to take is more of your kind of innovator's dilemma.

I think we're in what is perceived by them to be a really small and attractive market.

So we do Bitcoin-backed lending.

Um, I'd love to hear your views on this.

All, all of the corruption that we have known about for years seems more and more to be coming out.

Yes, I think, uh, the FBI and the administration are getting a lot more of the evidence out to the people.

What we really need to see is more indictments, and soon, because this has just taken way too long already.

I mean, if you go back and think about the Mueller special counsel operation, they had massive indictments done within three months of their being formed.

I mean, I'm glad to see things happening now, but I can't encourage them strongly enough to really get after it and prosecute all the crimes that really need to be prosecuted.

I mean, there was basically a seditious conspiracy, a real seditious conspiracy against President Trump from the time he rode the escalator down way back when through his, until his current administration, and probably still ongoing, and that needs to be addressed with law.

So what do you see happening right now, uh, that, that gives you hope for the nation?

Well, I'm interested in seeing what follows from the indictment of Mr. Comey.

Um, w- what, what do you, how do you s- how do you respond to that?

We had more evidence then and even now than most people who are convicted and a- and are in prison are there because of.

I mean, we had a massive amount of evidence, and only more has come in since 2020.

It, it just keeps coming.

Uh, there's a book out now called Stolen Elections by Gary Bernstein, and I can't remember the, his co-author's name.

But, uh, it's a detailed book about everything that went on back then and how they stole the election, and they do it in part through the voting machines.

They used every means of fraud anybody could imagine and some that we can't.

I don't know what happened, but it see- it appeared, um, and again, because I know you, I know what I think, but it, it appeared to some people like, well, you didn't really have the evidence because he was like, "Bring the evidence on the show." And so, uh, can you explain what happened in your view there because it was so frustrating?

Um, w- what, what do you, how do you s- how do you respond to that?

We had more evidence then and even now than most people who are convicted and are, and are in prison are there because of.

I mean, we had a massive amount of evidence, and only more has come in since 2020.

It, it just keeps coming.

Uh, there's a book out now called Stolen Elections by Gary Berntsen, and I can't remember the, his co-author's name, but, uh, it's a detailed book about everything that went on back then and how they stole the election.

And they do it in part through the voting machines.

They used every means of fraud anybody could imagine and some that we can't.

I don't know what happened, but it s- it appeared, um, and again, because I know you, I know what I think, but it, it appeared to some people like, well, you didn't really have the evidence because he was like, "Bring the evidence on the show." And so, uh, can you explain what happened in your view there because it was so frustrating?

Sydney, so what do you see happening right now that that gives you hope for the nation?

Well, I'm interested in seeing what follows from the indictment of Mr. Comey.

He was certainly involved in many things.

I don't think they've pressed the most serious charges against him yet.

I don't know whether they're going to or not, but he was involved in a lot of things that certainly warrant investigation, and if the evidence leads to it, then prosecution.

The 86-47, I think, is probably the least of them.

And I'd like to see the others dealt with.

What is defending the Republic? What is that?

I want the audience to understand the differentiation of how your products are coming together whilst doing something

different.

The differentiation of our products coming together.

Uh, it's a great question.

So, uh, in the past, I would have said, are they, uh, are they making more, were perhaps more right.

We're both trying to try to do lending.

Uh, and we didn't have a lot of crossover with each other.

Letting that play

And then the DTCC announces, here you go, 100 trillion, TradFi giant just gave crypto a huge boost, never seen anything move as quickly, that they're doing it with Canton.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard that.

Yeah, Canton's really, you know, make, make it play to kind of cement itself as the institutional chain.

I know that they do a lot of repo business, uh, there with players like Citadel, I think Citadel also invested in them this year.

So, uh, yeah, they're, they're definitely making, definitely making a play there.

Apparently, you know, apparently the, uh, the key differentiators is the privacy aspect that they think is going to be favored by institutional players.

You know, we've definitely heard that before with other chains that the key angle for getting TradFi on board in size is that you have to be able to offer them privacy.

And then also, which verticals are you most excited about since you make money in a number of ways? Which ones do you see growing the most for 2026?