Unchained

A new company called Twenty One is making waves—with a launch strategy that echoes Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), a cap table that includes Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald, and a plan to acquire more Bitcoin than anyone else.

They’re starting with 42,000 BTC, worth nearly $4 billion, and they’ve hinted they’ll use convertible debt, equity raises, and other market mechanics to buy more.

But is this just a smarter MicroStrategy? Or a recipe for financial reflexivity gone wrong?

In this episode, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, digs into:

• How the strategy works and why it could break
• What happens if the stock trades below NAV
• Why timing the market may be a feature, not a bug
• And whether this signals a new phase in corporate Bitcoin exposure

Sigel also shares a bold idea for “BIT Bonds” that could let the U.S. Treasury issue Bitcoin-linked government debt. Could it work?

Plus, Unchained regulatory reporter Veronica Irwin talks about her scoop that we might see a crypto market structure bill as early as this week. 

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• FalconX
• Mantle

• Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck

• Unchained: 
• Press Release: Tether, SoftBank Group, and Jack Mallers Launch Twenty One, a Bitcoin-native Company, Through a Business Combination With Cantor Equity Partners
• The Block: Strike founder Jack Mallers to lead Tether-backed multi-billion bitcoin buying venture, Twenty One Capital
• Ryan Watkins’ post on X
• Jeff Park’s post on X

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Introduction

🚀 4:59 How Twenty One plans to buy more bitcoin than anyone else

⚠️ 7:23 The key risks behind the reflexive BTC acquisition strategy

📈 12:38 Why more companies are copying the MicroStrategy playbook

👔 16:17 Jack Mallers’ role and why the CFO matters even more here

💥 17:55 Could one bad move blow these companies up?

💰 22:28 The types of investors this model attracts

⏳ 25:40 Did Twenty One launch at the worst possible time?

🤔 26:58 How to think about investing in BTC vs. these BTC-heavy stocks

🇺🇸  28:23 Unchained regulatory reporter Veronica Irwin on why a market structure bill might be on its way relatively soon

📰 35:31 Crypto News Recap

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the crew is joined by special guest Joe Weisenthal, co-host of Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast, for a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation. They dive into whether Bitcoin is becoming digital gold, why Ethereum’s value might be leaking away, and how stablecoins are quietly reshaping global finance. Joe challenges the panel on NFTs, DePIN, and whether any of crypto’s big promises have actually delivered. Plus, they debate the rise of MicroStrategy copycats, the failure of crypto social apps, and why Worldcoin’s orb-pilled vision might actually make sense.

Show highlights

🔹 Bitcoin = Safe Haven? – Why BTC is acting like gold in a crisis while ETH and altcoins are tanking

🔹 Ethereum’s Value Leak – Joe questions why ETH hasn’t captured any upside from stablecoins or NFTs

🔹 The MicroStrategy Clone Wars – Solana copycats are trying the Saylor playbook… but will it work?

🔹 Worldcoin’s Creepy Appeal – Joe is orb-pilled: privacy is dead, but proof-of-personhood might just work

🔹 The Freeport Theory of Bitcoin – Could BTC be the decentralized answer to offshore gold storage?

🔹 Are Stablecoins the Eurodollars of Crypto? – Haseeb lays out how stables quietly rewrote the financial system

🔹 Ethereum’s L2 Gamble – The panel debates if Ethereum’s scaling strategy caused value to bleed out

🔹 The DePIN Dilemma – Is decentralized infrastructure a dead-end or just early? Joe wants receipts

🔹 Crypto Social Media? – Joe’s skeptical: why decentralized comms hasn’t clicked yet

🔹 Utopia or Bust? – If crypto’s gonna be this expensive, Joe says it better deliver a better world

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Guest

⭐️ Joe Weisenthal, Editor at Bloomberg

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:57 Bitcoin's Market Behavior

06:53 Bitcoin as a Safe Haven

15:56 Economic Value in Crypto

19:51 Stablecoins, NFTs, and Worldcoin

36:00 Blockchain's Value in Social Networks

41:20 Reality of Crypto Utopias

49:19 The Future of Stablecoins and Regulation

54:54 MicroStrategy and Bitcoin Investments

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An independent Federal Reserve has long been the cornerstone of U.S. economic stability, but what happens when that foundation is shaken?

In this week’s episode of Bits + Bips, the panel digs into one of the most dramatic threats yet to financial markets: Donald Trump’s suggestion that he could fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. It’s not just political theater, it’s a potential major blow to the credibility of the U.S. dollar and the independence of the world’s most important central bank.

Joining the panel is Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale, who explores why a rotation away from U.S. dollar assets might already be happening and what that means for bitcoin.

Plus:

• Why the Fed’s independence is so crucial
• The telltale signs of a structural capital rotation out of the U.S.
• Whether bitcoin has officially decoupled from equities
• How young crypto HODLers will react to their first bear market
• And why this moment may look more like Argentina than America

Sponsors:

• Bitwise

• Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
• Steven Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Guest:

• Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale

Trump Threatening Powell

• New York Times: Risk of Financial Panic Tempers Trump on Firing Powell
• Barrons: Trump Calls Powell a ‘Major Loser.’ 3 Ways He Could Sideline the Fed Chair

Inconsistencies in Hard v. Soft Data

• Wall Street Journal: Trump Is Everywhere Except in the Economic Data
• Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia: Carefully Balancing Both Hard and Soft Data in Policy Discussions

Dropping Dollar

• CNBC: U.S. Dollar Falls to Three-Year Low as Trump’s Powell Threats Further Dent Investor Confidence
• New York Times: The Dollar Keeps Falling as Its ‘Safe Haven’ Status Is Questioned

Bitcoin Decoupling

• CNBC: Bitcoin Retakes $90,000 as Investors See It as Alternative to Diving Dollar and Turbulent Stocks
• Decrypt: Bitcoin Decoupling? BTC Rises as Equity Markets Swoon

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

👀 3:44 Could Trump really fire Powell? And what would that mean for the Fed’s credibility

👷13:01 Why the Fed is seeing conflicting signals from the economy

📈📉 20:07 If Trump keeps Powell for now, how will the market react?

🚪 24:49 Why capital is rotating out of the U.S. and how it is such a big moment for bitcoin. 

🤕 31:37 How much further the dollar could fall in this cycle?

🔗 42:43 Has bitcoin finally decoupled, and could it become a global reserve currency?

🧑‍💻 50:11 How the young age of crypto holders could reshape market dynamics

🧠 1:04:26 What specific things Ram, Alex, and Zach are watching now across macro and crypto

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The U.S. is rattled by tariffs, economic uncertainty, and political U-turns on crypto. But across Asia, the response has been … different.

In this episode of Unchained, we check in with two of the sharpest observers of Asia’s crypto landscape: Emily Parker, China and Japan advisor of the Global Blockchain Business Council, and Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands. They unpack how Asia views the Trump crypto pivot, what’s actually happening inside China, why Hong Kong may be the most important jurisdiction in crypto right now, and how Japan and Korea are quietly shaping the future of regulation, stablecoins, and DeFi.

Plus:

• Is crypto really banned in China?
• Why Korea is lifting its “shadow ban”
• Why crypto gaming is thriving in Asia
• And what the West can learn from it all

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitwise

• Emily Parker, China and Japan Advisor at the Global Blockchain Business Council
• Yat Siu, Chairman of Animoca Brands

• WSJ: Crypto Is Illegal in China. Binance Does $90 Billion of Business There Anyway.

Timestamps: 

🌏 0:00 Introduction

😌 5:43 Why Chinese sentiment around tariffs is calmer than in the U.S.

🗣️ 8:24 What crypto conversations are really about in China right now

🔁 11:28 How Asia reacted to the U.S. crypto U-turn under Trump

🏦 20:13 Are Asian nations quietly building up bitcoin reserves?

📜 23:19 How Asia has more regulatory clarity than the U.S.

📈 25:13 Why crypto adoption in Asia is outpacing that of other regions 

🇰🇷 30:22 Why DeFi hasn’t taken off yet in South Korea – Don’t miss this!

🌐 38:05 The potential rise of non-USD stablecoins in Asia

👀 43:52 Is crypto actually banned in China? 

💴 55:51 Whether the digital yuan is being adopted

🔓 1:00:28 Korea potentially lifting its “shadow ban” on institutional crypto investment?

📊 1:05:15 Why some Asian companies choose to IPO in the U.S. and whether more are coming

🎮 1:10:21 What’s really happening with Web3 gaming in Asia right now

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This week on Unchained: two big stories, one episode.

First, Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase’s L2 Base, joins to unpack the chaos behind the viral “Coined It” memecoin moment, a tweet-turned-token that hit $17M in an hour, crashed, then rebounded, igniting a firestorm on Crypto Twitter. Was it a media experiment or a botched launch? Was there insider trading? And why does Jesse think coins are the future of creator monetization?

Then, we dive into Converge, the recently announced chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to bridge TradFi and DeFi. Carlos Domingo and Guy Young explain what makes Converge technically novel, why they’re building on Arbitrum and Celestia, and how it could reshape the onchain landscape for institutions.

Also in this episode:

• Whether Jesse regrets greenlighting the Base post
• The future of creator coins and tokenized assets
• How Converge plans to prevent hacks and improve UX
• And why Converge isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”

• Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• FalconX
• Mantle

Jesse Pollak, Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet

On Wednesday, Coinbase’s layer 2 network Base posted a tweet that

read: “Base is for everyone,” followed by a tweet: “Coined it.” That

second tweet linked to a page where the post had already been turned

into a coin.

Within an hour, the coin hit a $17 million market cap, then dropped

to under $2 million, then went back up to over $13 million. Crypto

Twitter exploded. Some called it a rug. Others accused insiders of

sniping the launch. Coinbase later issued a statement saying that Zora

auto-tokenizes content, but Jesse Pollak, head of Base, tweeted that he

personally greenlit the post.

So what really happened?

In this episode, Jesse sits down with Laura to discuss:

• Whether this was a memecoin launch or a media experiment
• Why he thinks the crypto community overreacted
• Whether insider trading occurred
• And why he believes coins, not NFTs, are the future of creator monetization

Plus, he explains why he’s okay being the “punching bag.”

A month ago, Converge was announced as the new chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to become a home for tokenized assets and institutional capital.

On Thursday, the teams behind it released the full technical specs. From validator-triggered circuit breakers to 100ms block times and support for yield-generating private credit, Converge is pitching itself as the chain for both TradFi and DeFi.

In this episode, Securitize’s Carlos Domingo and Ethena’s Guy Young join Unchained to explain what’s actually novel in this architecture, why they chose Arbitrum and Celestia, and what it will take for institutions to get comfortable onchain.

Plus: 

• What Converge means for Ethereum and other L2s
• Whether gas tokens like USDe and USDtb solve real UX problems
• How they plan to prevent bridge-based hacks
• And why this isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”

• Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize
• Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs

• Previous coverage of Unchained on Ethena:
• After an Incredible 2024 for USDe, Ethena Plans to Supercharge Growth
• Ethena’s USDe Grew to $2 Billion in 7 Weeks. Is It Safe?
• How Ethena’s USDe Challenges Traditional Stablecoin Models
• Unchained: 
• Tokenized T-Bills Grow Despite Trump Tariffs Causing U.S. Treasuries Sell-off
• Tokenized Treasuries Grow 20X Faster Than Stablecoins as Crypto Market Languishes

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the crew dives into the drama surrounding the OM token crash, the murky world of fake market caps, and Binance’s role in fueling questionable projects. They unpack Trump’s tariff chaos and whether Bitcoin could emerge as the real winner in a broken economic order. Plus, Vitalik stirs the pot by calling out “bad apps” like Pump.fun—igniting a moral war over what crypto should be building.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights

🔹 OM Token Implodes – How a top-25 token collapsed 90% in 90 minutes and why it exposed deeper issues with fake float

🔹 Market Cap Manipulation – Haseeb breaks down how teams game CoinGecko, and why circulating supply might be mostly fiction

🔹 Binance Listings = Domain Squatting? – The crew explores how projects “reverse-merge” into dead tokens to skip the line

🔹 Coffeezilla Strikes Again – The panel reacts to OM founder’s bizarre interview and what it reveals about crypto’s accountability gap

🔹 Should Exchanges Demand Disclosures? – A fiery debate on whether market making agreements should be public

🔹 Tarun Goes Full Macro – Why Trump’s tariffs could actually boost Bitcoin—and what capital flight means for crypto

🔹 Vitalik’s App Morality Test – Did he go too far calling Pump.fun a “bad” app? The panel isn’t so sure

🔹 Ethereum’s Vibe Crisis – Solana and Base push back as Vitalik gets philosophical about the soul of crypto

🔹 Is Railgun the Real Hero? – Tarun questions Vitalik’s taste in apps and whether ideological projects matter if no one uses them

🔹 Regulation Without Regulators – Can the industry police itself, or is it time for a new kind of crypto SRO?

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Use Code CHOPINNOVATE, for tickets to the U.S. Innovation in Crypto conference at Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island (NYC): cbc25.eventbrite.com

Timestamps 

00:00 Intro

02:47 Trump's Tariff Turmoil

15:48 Mantra's OM Token Controversy

29:42 Crypto Disclosures & Market Making Agreements

31:49 Debate on Exchange Incentives & Market Maker Costs

33:57 The Role of Self-Regulation in Crypto Exchanges

44:15 Vitalik's Views on Blockchain Ethics

56:33 Upcoming Live Event Announcement

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Markets are nervous, liquidity is drying up, and political messaging is inconsistent at best.

In this week’s Bits + Bips, the crew unpacks the shifting mood across capital markets and what it will take to bring back the risk-on energy. From Trump’s high-stakes tariff strategy to whispers of deregulation, tax cuts, and even capital flooding, the stakes are rising.

Plus:

• What would trigger a “Trump put”
• Will crypto finally benefit from the global chaos?
• Whether the devaluation of the yuan could be a big moment
• And how animal spirits might return… if they’re properly incentivized

Sponsors:

• Bitwise
• 
  

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Joe McCann, Founder, CEO, and CIO of Asymmetric
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 

• Newsweek: Steve Bannon's 'Flood the Zone' Strategy Explained Amid Trump Policy Blitz
• Cointelegraph: Senator Tim Scott is confident market structure bill passed by August
• CoinDesk: Donald Trump's Memecoin Faces Massive $320M Token Unlock Amid Record Low Price
• Decrypt: Canada to Launch 'World First' Spot Solana ETFs With Staking This Week: Balchunas
• YouTube: The Great Tariff Debate with David Sacks, Larry Summers, and Ezra Klein
• Bloomberg: Investors Fear Another Big Blowup of Basis Trade as Treasuries Lose Haven Status
• Wall Street Journal: China’s March Lending Jumped on Government Stimulus Push
• CoinTelegraph: Bitcoin Shows Growing Strength During Market Downturn — Wintermute

 Timestamps:

👋0:00 Intro

🥊 1:54 Who won the All-In Sacks vs. Summers debate?

🌍 8:01 Why Trump’s 130-country strategy might reshape global trade

💧 18:32 Does the market have a creeping liquidity crisis?

📈 26:15 What might actually make Trump pivot before the midterms

📉 32:18 How hedge funds are quietly bracing for more chaos

🥇 36:52 Why gold and crypto are standing out in this macro mess

🎭 40:15 How Trump’s love of media attention impacts his strategy

🚀 48:02 What might finally reignite serious crypto interest

🧠 53:01 Can investor confidence return without real economic momentum?

💣 1:08:27 Why the yuan’s devaluation could be a major crypto inflection point

🐉 1:14:02 Ram’s strategy to disrupt China’s power plays

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The crypto markets are at a crossroads. While macro chaos — tariff whiplash, rising yields, and inflation fears — continues to dominate headlines, bitcoin has barely budged. And some say that’s exactly the signal.

In this episode, Matt Hougan of Bitwise and Matthew Sheffield of FalconX join Laura to unpack the tension between short-term volatility and long-term conviction. They explore why this cycle may look very different from previous ones, how institutional capital is navigating crypto, and whether we’re entering a new era defined by fundamentals, not just narratives.

Plus: Why bitcoin might hit $200K, what Ethereum needs to reclaim momentum, and the real potential of DeFi under this new administration.

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitwise
• Human Rights Foundation

• Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• How Small Bitcoin ETF Issuers Will Compete With the Likes of BlackRock
• Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10
• Matthew Sheffield, Senior Trader at FalconX

Subscribe to our new crypto + macro newsletter! https://bitsandbips.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Recent coverage of Unchained on the economy and tariffs: 

• Why CoinFund Believes There’s Still a Strong Bull Case for Bitcoin and Crypto
• Arthur Hayes on Why Tariffs Will Be Good for Bitcoin and Crypto
• Bits + Bips: Why a U.S. Recession May Be Coming — And Still Isn’t Priced In
• Bits + Bips: Trump’s Tariffs Are Causing Mayhem, But Will They Revive U.S. Manufacturing?
• Trump Tariffs Sink Crypto, BlackRock Pumps Bitcoin’s Bags
• Why Trump-Induced Stagflation Could Finally Make Bitcoin a Safe Haven
• In Market Crash, What Should You Buy? Crypto VCs Are Making These Bets
• Bitcoin Tops $83,000 as Tariff Pause Sends Markets Soaring
• Crypto Traders See Another $1B Liquidated Amid Tariff Turbulence 

Recession incoming?

• Ray Dalio’s remarks on Meet the Press

Timestamps:

📍 0:00 Introduction

🧠 3:48 “An extraordinary moment to live in,” says Matt

⚖️ 5:21 The growing disconnect between long-term belief and short-term pain

🔍 7:40 Why fundamentals are finally taking center stage in investor analysis

🐻 12:34 Solana’s memecoin reputation… can it shake the stigma?

🏛️ 14:29 How ETFs permanently changed crypto market dynamics

📉 15:27 What the 10-year treasury is telling us about bitcoin’s next move

📊 20:28 What crypto options are revealing about investor sentiment

📈 22:33 Whether Ray Dalio is right about where the U.S. economy is headed

💵 28:16 What a weaker dollar means for bitcoin’s value

🚀 31:17 Is $200K bitcoin coming? And who will drive it there?

🌊 38:55 What has to happen for alt season to actually return

🔄 44:40 What light ETF outflows since “Liberation Day” mean

📈 51:10 Why crypto IPO demand is heating up

⚖️ 54:37 DeFi’s big regulatory moment and why the market might be missing it

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Tariffs were back on the table, and then they weren’t. Last week, the Trump administration stunned markets with an announcement of sweeping new tariffs, including a 10% blanket rate and a 125% tariff on Chinese imports. But within days, most of those tariffs were put on a 90-day pause. 

The result? A rollercoaster in equities, credit, and crypto… and plenty of questions about what’s really next.

Seth Ginns, managing partner at CoinFund, is watching all of this closely. He says the data is flashing stress, but underneath, something else is building.

In this episode, Seth breaks down:

• Why tariffs hit crypto harder than most investors expected
• The metrics that could signal the next macro moves and their impact on digital assets
• Why he’s still cautiously bullish, even amid volatility
• Whether an altcoin season is coming
• Why Bitcoin’s safe haven narrative might finally be tested
• Why the Trump administration’s policies, despite the turbulence, boost crypto

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• BitKey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• FalconX 
• Mantle 

• Seth Ginns, Managing Partner at CoinFund

Subscribe to our new crypto + macro newsletter! https://bitsandbips.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Recent coverage of Unchained on the economy and tariffs: 

• Arthur Hayes on Why Tariffs Will Be Good for Bitcoin and Crypto
• Bits + Bips: Why a U.S. Recession May Be Coming — And Still Isn’t Priced In
• Bits + Bips: Trump’s Tariffs Are Causing Mayhem, But Will They Revive U.S. Manufacturing?
• Trump Tariffs Sink Crypto, BlackRock Pumps Bitcoin’s Bags
• Why Trump-Induced Stagflation Could Finally Make Bitcoin a Safe Haven
• In Market Crash, What Should You Buy? Crypto VCs Are Making These Bets

Bitcoin Tops $83,000 as Tariff Pause Sends Markets Soaring

Crypto Traders See Another $1B Liquidated Amid Tariff Turbulence 

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

🔁 3:23 Why Trump reversed course on the sweeping tariff announcement

📉 6:33 How tariffs ripple through crypto harder than most expect

🔍 8:38 What CoinFund is watching in macro — and where the silver linings might be

⚖️ 13:48 Why Seth urges short-term caution but sees long-term tailwinds

🚀 16:14 Could altcoins actually run? Here’s how Seth defines a real “alt season”

🏦 19:13 Is this the moment Bitcoin becomes a true safe haven asset?

💰 21:56 Will new stimulus hinge on tariffs — or something else entirely?

✅ 25:11 Why Seth is surprisingly optimistic about Trump’s crypto policy so far

📰 28:27 News Recap

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the crew is joined by Jeff Park, Alpha Liaison at Bitwise, for a deep dive into the chaos gripping global markets and what it all means for crypto. With tariffs ripping through equities and whispers of stagflation on the rise, Jeff breaks down why Bitcoin might still be headed for $200K – and why MicroStrategy might be the new altcoin. They also unpack Circle’s delayed IPO, Ripple’s $1.25B acquisition, and whether capital markets are finally warming up to crypto.

Show highlights

🔹 Bitcoin’s $200K Endgame? – Bitwise’s Jeff Park explains why BTC could thrive even in stagflation or full-on macro chaos

🔹 Tariffs, Stagflation & the Dollar – Why Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs might mark the end of U.S. stock market dominance

🔹 Bitcoin vs. Gold – Jeff breaks down how BTC is winning over the next-gen investor as the ultimate store of value

🔹 Altcoins Are Just Leverage – Why institutions may abandon alts for Bitcoin ETF options and MicroStrategy exposure

🔹 Circle’s IPO Delay – What Circle’s numbers really show, and why Coinbase is eating half their yield

🔹 Ripple Buys Hidden Road – The biggest crypto M&A ever? What it means for prime brokerage and TradFi on-chain

🔹 The Return of the Bitcoin Wolves – Jeff’s theory on “positive vs. negative rho” Bitcoin and how both narratives can win

🔹 The Impossible Trinity – Jeff connects the dots between FX regimes, U.S. dollar hegemony, and Bitcoin’s global role

🔹 Crypto’s Macro Decoupling – The panel debates whether Bitcoin is finally unhooking from traditional risk assets

🔹 The “Altcoin of TradFi” – MicroStrategy’s secret sauce, and why it’s become Wall Street’s favorite crypto casino

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Guest

⭐️ Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies & PM at Bitwise Asset Management

Circle S-1 Filing https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1876042/000119312525070481/d737521ds1.htm 

Ripple Acquires Prime Broker Hidden Road for $1.25B in One of the Largest Deals in the Digital Assets Space

https://ripple.com/ripple-press/ripple-acquires-prime-broker-hidden-road/ 

Timestamps - 

• 0:00 Intro
• 02:49 Impact of Tariffs on Crypto
• 03:27 Bitcoin's Role in Investment Portfolios
• 06:14 Retail vs. Institutional Investors
• 07:29 Bitcoin's Sensitivity to Interest Rates
• 12:31 Altcoins & Institutional Interest
• 15:02 MicroStrategy: The Altcoin of TradFi
• 23:25 Geopolitical Implications of Tariffs
• 36:55 Global Currency Models & Bitcoin's Role
• 38:20 Bitcoin's Performance in Different Economic Scenarios
• 45:12 Circle's IPO & Business Viability
• 57:31 Ripple Labs' Acquisition of Hidden Road

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The markets are rattled. Tariffs are rising. Investors are pulling back.

In this week’s Bits + Bips, the panel digs into what’s really driving the selloff, why the Fed may be stuck, and how Trump’s tariff logic could trigger deeper economic shocks than anyone expects.

Plus:

• Whether Bitcoin becomes a safe haven
• What makes this downturn different from 2022 and 2020
• Why a potential recession still isn’t priced in
• Whether Congress can take the tariff button away from Trump

And yes, Ram coins a new term: FAFO tariffs 😀

Sponsors:

• Bitwise
• 
  

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 

Tariffs:

• Recent coverage of Unchained on the economy and tariffs: 
• Arthur Hayes on Why Tariffs Will Be Good for Bitcoin and Crypto
• Bits + Bips: Trump’s Tariffs Are Causing Mayhem, But Will They Revive U.S. Manufacturing?
• Trump Tariffs Sink Crypto, BlackRock Pumps Bitcoin’s Bags
• Why Trump-Induced Stagflation Could Finally Make Bitcoin a Safe Haven
• In Market Crash, What Should You Buy? Crypto VCs Are Making These Bets

10-year yield and the Fed

• CNBC: 10-year Treasury yield rises back above 4% despite tariff threat to growth
• Reuters: No Fed 'put' when it's unclear which way the economy may pivot

2008 Market Crash

• Federal Reserve: The Great Recession and Its Aftermath
• CNN: Bailout Plan Rejected - Supporters Scramble

Can Congress Step In?

• Economist: How Donald Trump’s Tariffs Will Probably Fare in Court
• Politico: Trump Threatens Veto of Bill to Curb Tariff Power

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

📉 3:30 Why this selloff feels nothing like 2022 or 2020

🪞 8:41 Why buying signals could be a mirage

🤔 11:28 Is the bear market already priced in? What investors are missing.

🏚️ 14:35 Could this turn into a fall “2008 scenario”? And what real buyers are doing now

🧮 25:57 Why Trump’s tariff math is wrong, and how it will create problems for the administration

📈 36:15 Why Trump wants the 10-year yield down, and why he’s failing

🛟 39:59 What counts as a safe haven right now, and is bitcoin one of them?

🏦 52:42 Can the Fed stand up to Trump’s pressure to cut rates?

🚫 57:56 Trump thinks that the trade deficit is a profit/loss statement. Why that’s a problem. 

⚖️ 1:01:19 Can Congress pull Trump’s tariff authority?

💵 1:06:32 Can stablecoins save dollar demand?

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TradFi and DeFi markets are in motion, responding to Trump’s tariffs, but a giant injection of liquidity could be on the way.

Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes provides his expertise on economic policy, macro movements, and political implications, delving into a variety of topics, including:

• Trump’s rationale for tariffs
• The possibility of a “fiat liquidity bonanza” and what it means for crypto
• What the Hyperliquid brouhaha reveals about decentralization dreams
• How Ethena might be an attack on Ethereum
• The value prop of Circle’s IPO
• Future price expectations for BTC, ETH, and SOL

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitwise
• HRF

• Arthur Hayes, CIO of Maelstrom
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• How Arthur Hayes Has Prepared His Portfolio for the Elections

Previous coverage on Unchained:

• Trump Tariffs Sink Crypto, BlackRock Pumps Bitcoin’s Bags
• Why Trump-Induced Stagflation Could Finally Make Bitcoin a Safe Haven

Tariffs, Hyperliquid, and $1 million Bitcoin

• Arthur Hayes on X: Tariffs = money printer goes brrrr
• Arthur Hayes on X: Is Trump trying to trigger a mini financial crisis?
• Arthur Hayes on X: CZ and Star ‘gang up’ on HyperLiquid
• Kevin Zhou on X: Binance and OKX listing $JELLY sets a precedent
• DL News: Arthur Hayes on the one reason that tariffs can’t stop Bitcoin’s surge

Trump pardon:

• CFTC.gov: Federal Court Orders BitMEX’s Three Co-Founders to Pay a Total of $30 Million for Illegally Operating a Cryptocurrency Derivatives Trading Platform and Anti-Money Laundering Violations | CFTC (May 2022)
• Justice.gov: Southern District of New York | Global Cryptocurrency Exchange BitMEX Fined $100 Million For Violating Bank Secrecy Act | United States Department of Justice (Jan 2025) 
• CNBC: Politics Trump pardons three BitMEX crypto exchange co-founders, and ex-employee 

Timestamps:

👋0:00 Intro

😰 4:07 Does Trump’s tariff rationale make sense?

💲 10:49 The upcoming “fiat liquidity bonanza” and what it means for crypto

🫤 20:18 What’s wrong with a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve?

💥 24:20 The Hyperliquid brouhaha and the decentralization pipe dream

💪 32:04 Why Binance and OKX “fatal blow” on Hyperliquid didn’t work

⚖️ 37:57 Trump’s pardon of Hayes and his visit to Mar-a-Lago

👀 46:27 How Ethena’s Converge chain affects Ethereum

🤼‍♀️ 52:58 SOL vs ETH: Which is a better buy right now?

😬 57:12 Hayes’ opinion of USDC’s Circle filing for an IPO

🤔 1:00:18 How does Hayes suss out potential investments?

📈 1:03:11 Price predictions on BTC, ETH and SOL

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USDC stablecoin issuer Circle has filed for an initial public offering with the SEC, as Trump’s tariffs cause turmoil in the markets and stablecoin bills make their way through Congress, promising to upend competition. 

The information in its prospectus shows a company that has few aces up its sleeve, a lot of business deals to make and a perhaps lofty valuation.

Omar Kanji, Partner at Dragonfly, joined the show to explain:

• How Circle can get USDC into the hands of users
• Circle’s staggering regulatory compliance costs vs. the likes of Tether
• Circle’s S-1 valuation of $5 billion
• Forthcoming regulatory clarity and how it changes the stablecoin game
• The potential impact of tariffs on Circle’s success

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• BitKey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• FalconX
• Mantle

• Omar Kanji, Partner at Dragonfly

Previous coverage on Unchained: 

• Congress Bickers Over Whether to Bail Out Stablecoins

How a Radical Proposal in Trump’s World Could Hurt Stablecoins, but Boost Bitcoin

Coinbase Aims to Jointly Pass Market Structure and Stablecoin Legislation in Congress

Stablecoin Bills Could Squeeze Out $140 Billion Tether

Circle files an initial public offering

• SEC: Circle’s S-1 Filing
• Coindesk: Circle is going public
• Fortune: 5 key takeaways
• X @dom_kwok: Circle’s IPO is historic
• Bloomberg: Bitcoin Succumbs to Risk Asset Slump as Trump Sets Tariffs

Timestamps:

🤝 0:00 Introduction

🫰 4:04 Circle’s shockingly high distribution costs for USDC

💲 7:11 How much does Circle’s revenue depend on interest rates?

🤯 10:46 Circle’s staggering regulatory compliance costs vs. the likes of Tether

📈 16:02 How imminent regulatory clarity for stablecoins helps and hurts Circle

🫤 23:11 Is Circle’s $5 billion valuation realistic?

⚖️ 25:21 How stablecoin competition might look after stablecoin bills become law

😰 28:14 How will Trump’s tariffs affect Circle’s IPO?

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After President Donald Trump’s proud announcement of ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, markets worldwide took a tumble. 

Shortly after Trump’s Rose Garden announcement concluded, James Seyffart, Steven Ehrlich, Ram Ahluwalia, and guest Quinn Thompson discussed:

• How markets reacted
• Whether tariffs can bring middle-class jobs back to America
• Who will end up paying the most
• Future possibilities of war, recession and stagflation
• How it all affects crypto

Sponsors:

• Bitwise

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Guests:

• Steven Ehrlich, High Scribe of the Unchained Kingdom
• Quinn Thompson, Master of Macro at Lekker Capital

Trump Tariffs Shake Markets

• New York Times: A Stunned World Reckons With Economic Fallout From Trump’s Tariffs
• Wall Street Journal: U.S. Stock Futures, Dollar Tumble on Trump Tariff Plans
• New York Times: A Timeline of Trump’s On-Again, Off-Again Tariffs

US Tariff History

• CATO Institute: The Problem of the Tariff in American Economic History, 1787–1934
• Brookings: Did Trump’s tariffs benefit American workers and national security?

Impact on Bitcoin and Crypto

• Unchained: Why Trump-Induced Stagflation Could Finally Make Bitcoin a Safe Haven
• Unchained: How a Radical Proposal in Trump’s World Could Hurt Stablecoins, but Boost Bitcoin

The Concerned Consumer and CEO

CBS: Consumer confidence slumps to 12-year low as Americans fret over their financial prospects

NPR: Why CEOs are calm about tariffs in public — but 'very discouraged' in private

🤝 00:00 Introductions + Quinn’s background

📕 4:09 Trump’s take on U.S. tariff history

📉 6:11 The market’s tumultuous reaction

🏭 11:13 Will tariffs bring manufacturing back to America?

▶️◀️ 12:47 The contradictions in Trump’s policies and the threat of stagflation

⏳ 18:53 Why Trump doesn’t have as much time as he thinks

🥵 24:12 Will American consumers bear the burden?

💥 26:05 Taking a wrecking ball to market psychology

❓ 28:02 Whether Trump inherited a healthy or faltering economy

🫸 32:00 Why CEOs are hesitating and how to persuade them to invest in manufacturing

❌ 35:11 “This is not the way you go do it.”

🇹🇼 40:44 Another contradiction: Trump willing to defend Taiwan while being isolationist?

🪖 47:55 Why the current geopolitical climate is especially dangerous

😱 55:51 Is America heading for a recession?

🤔 01:02:00 How will this affect Bitcoin?

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the crew is joined by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce—aka “CryptoMom”—for a rare, candid conversation. They unpack the SEC’s vibe shift, why airdrops might be doomed, and whether memecoins are just collectibles or cleverly disguised securities. Plus, Hester dishes on Paul Atkins’ potential leadership, the SEC’s new crypto task force, and what real regulatory clarity might finally look like.

Show highlights

🔹 Hester Peirce Unfiltered – The SEC’s “CryptoMom” on vibes vs. law, the Gensler era, and why the U.S. needs a freedom-first approach

🔹 “Come In and Talk to Us” – Why the SEC wants founders to re-engage—but can trust be rebuilt after years of legal whiplash?

🔹 Memecoins ≠ Securities? – How the new SEC is redefining meme coin oversight and why “collectibles” might be the new loophole

🔹 Airdrops Are Kinda Pointless – Haseeb argues most airdrops fail to deliver value or decentralization; the panel debates

🔹 Self-Regulation in Crypto – Hester’s surprising praise for proof-of-reserves and why industry norms might beat new rules

🔹 The Howey Test Is Broken – How forcing orange grove law onto crypto led an entire industry to play armchair lawyer

🔹 Will the New SEC Last? – If the White House flips, could the next Chair bring back the enforcement hammer?

🔹 Tarun’s TradFi Feedback Loop – Why TradFi may start borrowing more from crypto playbooks than the other way around

🔹 Regulation by Meme – The SEC embraces facts and circumstances—but is “Ghibli meme policy” scalable?

🔹 What Should Founders Do Now? – The panel pushes Hester on timelines, clarity, and whether the U.S. is safe to build in again

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Guest

⭐️ Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner

Miles To Go: Remarks before The Digital Chamber's 8th Annual DC Blockchain Summit by Hester Peirce: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-remarks-dc-blockchain-summit-032625 

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

05:35 The Role of Regulation in Innovation

09:54 Crypto Task Force & Future Plans

18:47 Global Perspectives on Crypto Regulation

23:26 Self-Regulation in the Crypto Industry

27:27 SEC's Role & Potential Adjustments

35:04 Evaluating Memecoins & Their Regulatory Status

36:48 The Howey Test & Its Application to Crypto

43:55 Future of Crypto Regulation & SEC's Approach

47:10 Insights on SEC Leadership & Regulatory Philosophy

51:35 Advice for Aspiring Securities Lawyers

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As DeFi continues to evolve, the challenge of finding a balance between decentralization and protection from all manner of exploits persists.

The founder of Infinex, Kain Warwick, joined the show to talk about:

• How crypto market makers have at times veered into “all-out crime”
• What market making looks like today
• Playing chart games with token allocations
• What Kain looks at when evaluating tokens
• Why Binance kicked a MOVE market maker off its platform
• The $JELLY attack on Hyperliquid and the problem of centralization in DeFi
• What problems in crypto Kain is attempting to solve with Infinex

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitwise

• Kain Warwick, founder of Infinex App and Synthetix
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• 2025 Will Be a Year of Crypto Competition. Can Ethereum Make a Comeback?

Crypto Market Making

• Kain Warwick: Discussion about market makers
• Binance: What happened with MOVE on Binance
• Coindesk: Binance Offboards Market Maker That It Said Made $38M Profit on MOVE Listing
• Bloomberg: Citadel Securities Plots Jump Into Crypto Trading After Trump’s Embrace

Hyperliquid

• Unchained: Hyperliquid Saved Itself a $15 Million Loss, but Sparked Criticism

Infinex

• The Block: Synthetix founder Kain Warwick launches Infinex
• The Block: Peter Thiel's Founders Fund invests in Infinex's Patron NFT sale as total amount raised hits $67.7 million

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro 

💭 03:30 Thoughts on crypto market makers

🙊 05:54 ICO-era market makers engaging in ‘all-out crime’

🦹 09:33 Extracting value in an inefficient market

💸 11:28 How crypto market making has evolved in recent years

😨 16:53 The low float meta problem

📊 19:49 Why Kain evaluates tokens on FDV rather than market cap

⁉️ 25:06 What happened with MOVE on Binance

😱 31:14 Citadel as a market maker?

🥷 35:48 The $JELLY attack on Hyperliquid and the problem of centralization

🔧 44:59 The problems Kain is trying to solve with Infinex

🌎 54:13 Building a web vs. mobile app

👂 56:17 Echo group integration with Infinex

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the crew dives into the Hyperliquid controversy and what it reveals about decentralization theater in DeFi. Then, things get weirder: the Say Foundation wants to buy 23andMe and put your genetic data onchain. We break down the backlash and privacy concerns. Finally, we look at the new Stable Act making its way through Congress and whether stablecoin regulation is headed toward bank-only control.

Show highlights

🔹 Hyperliquid’s JELLYJELLY Debacle – How a DeFi darling nuked its credibility by bailing out its own vault at a fake oracle price

🔹 The Exchange Wars Heat Up – Why Binance and OKX listing JELLYJELLY perps looked like an assassination attempt on Hyperliquid

🔹 Are DEXes Just CEXes in Disguise? – What the Hyperliquid saga reveals about decentralization theater and validator capture

🔹 23andMe on the Blockchain – Say Foundation wants to token-gate your DNA; is this privacy-preserving or dystopian?

🔹 The Great DeSci Grift – Tarun revisits his war on DeSci and why putting genetics onchain is worse than memecoins

🔹 Stablecoin Regulation Showdown – The Stable Act vs. The Genius Act and who’s really winning in D.C.

🔹 Stablecoins as Narrow Banks – How crypto may finally force the Fed to accept a 20-year-old idea they’ve long resisted

🔹 Red Bull & Ratio Bets – The hosts make a real-money wager on whether HLP deposits will rise or fall after the meltdown

🔹 Memecoins and the Return of Olympus – Are the robbers now just quietly collecting rent from their broken treasuries?

🔹 Tarun’s Aesthetic Death Rankings – Why JELLYJELLY is a worse way to die than MobileCoin, but at least it’s on brand

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Kevin Zhou (Galois Capital) Tweet: https://x.com/Galois_Capital/status/1904942458666094932 

Steil and Hill Introduce STABLE Act Press Release: https://steil.house.gov/media/press-releases/steil-and-hill-introduce-stable-act 

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:29 Hyperliquid Drama Unfolds

10:49 Debating the Bailout Decision

18:28 OKX & Binance Join 

23:05 An FTX Moment?

31:45 Future of 23andMe & SEI

44:20 Stablecoin Legislation: Genius Act vs. Stable Act

51:45 Are Stablecoins the Trojan Horse?

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Perpetual swap DEX Hyperliquid suffered a whale attack and was on the brink of losing $15 million. It promptly responded in a way that generated a fair amount of controversy.

The founder and CEO of Ambient Finance Doug Colkitt joined the show to explain:

• How perp swaps work
• How a whale used the low-liquidity memecoin $JELLY to attack Hyperliquid’s vault
• How Hyperliquid’s response broke DeFi taboos around decentralization, oracles, etc.
• Criticisms of and justifications for the team’s decisions
• What can be done to prevent similar attacks in the future

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• BitKey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• FalconX
• Mantle

• Doug Colkitt, Founder and CEO of Ambient Finance

•  Accounts of the $JELLY whale attack on Hyperliquid and its response 
• X: The story
• X: Nuking the vault
• X: How Hyperliquid responded

• Arguments for and against Hyperliquid’s solution:
• ZachXBT: ZachXBT calls out alleged hypocrisy
• Jordi Alexander: Shorting on a perp is not robust
• Jose Maria Macedo: How do they override the oracle price? 
• Doug: Closing positions at an arbitrary price
• Gracy Chen: Casting doubts on integrity
• Steven.hl: In defense of HL
• Kam: Of course quorum was reached easily

• What precedent Hyperliquid’s actions set
• Kevin Zhou: Binance and OKX set a precedent

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

🤔 02:59 What is Hyperliquid?

🐳 05:16 How a whale used $JELLY to attack

⛔ 09:19 How Hyperliquid responded

📈 11:59 Why did Binance and OKX suddenly list the memecoin?

🤔 16:32 How did Hyperliquid ‘change the rules’ to protect themselves?

⚖️ 19:25 ‘Losses for thee, but not for me’: Hyperliquid’s hypocrisy?

💡 24:39 Doug’s ‘cleaner’ solution

👀 28:35 Will this have positive or negative knock-on effects?

🧹 31:20 Tidying up illiquid markets

📰 32:46 Crypto News Recap

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Investors are still licking their wounds from this month’s corrections. But just as Trump’s tariffs are about to move into full-force, our experts are seeing silver linings and causes for optimism.

With conflicting signals coming from all corners of the map, hosts Noelle Acheson, Ram Ahluwalia, Alex Kruger, and Felix Jauvin break down:

• What to expect from Trump on April 2nd
• Takeaways from last week’s FOMC meeting
• If the White House and Powell are actually on the same page 
• Why tech stocks are taking off again
• Why BlackRock is bullish on bitcoin during bear markets
• If ether is about to get its groove back

• Bitwise

• Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 
• Felix Jauvin, Director and Host - Forward Guidance

Incoming Trump Tariffs

• Bloomberg: Trump Plans His Tariff ‘Liberation Day’ With More Targeted Push
• WSJ: White House Narrows April 2 Tariffs

FOMC Meeting

• Unchained: Bitcoin Drops as Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged, as Expected
• NYTimes: Citing Tariffs and Uncertainty, Fed Sees Higher Inflation and Lower Growth

Animal Spirits Return

• Barron’s: Don’t Count Out the Mag 7. They Could Lead a U.S. Stock Comeback.
• CNBC: ‘Magnificent 7’ has a notable up day after struggling for 3 months

BlackRock

• Decrypt: BlackRock Digital Assets Head Criticizes Narrative of Bitcoin as a Risk-On Asset
• Bloomberg: BlackRock to List Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product in Europe

Fidelity Tokenization

• CoinDesk: Fidelity Files for Onchain U.S. Treasury Fund, Joining the Asset Tokenization Race

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

📉 2:16 Why investors are nervous about April 2nd

🌎 4:40 Two ways to think about tariffs

☯️ 6:56 The difference between retail and professional traders

🏦 8:44 Why the Fed is predicting a worst-case scenario

📈 12:08 Why the correction is largely done

💰 19:20 How the Mag7 got its groove back

🏛️ 20:42 Are Bessent and Powell more aligned than thought?

🚀 22:54 BlackRock says a recession is good for bitcoin?

🥇 24:54 Altcoin ETF race about to start?

🎌 28:41 Why Japan is irrelevant right now

🐂 30:42 Why animal spirits are back

⛓️ 35:03 The great financial unshackling

📈 38:02 Is ether ready for a comeback?

✅ 42:09 Why Fidelity is tokenizing on Ethereum

📈📉 44:32 Are pump and dumps over?

🇪🇺 49:32 Dumb money coming to Europe?

🐙 52:35 Why Kraken made a smart buy this week

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As Ethereum deploys Pectra, it faces stiff competition and community criticism. Ethereum Foundation Research co-leads Alex Stokes and Barnabe Monnot map out the chain’s direction.

Ethereum is well on its way to some major upgrades, with Pectra and Fusaka introducing a number of performance improvements in the near future. But will it be enough to stay ahead of the competition?

Ethereum Foundation Research co-leads Alex Stokes and Barnabe Monnot join the show to discuss:

• How Pectra and Fusaka will improve Ethereum’s performance
• What it means that its launch on two testnets failed
• Ethereum’s “north star” — decentralization
• Whether Ethereum can retain its top spot in the smart contract space
• As Ethereum adopts native rollups and data availability, does it create competition with existing L2s and DA providers?
• The new direction for the Ethereum Foundation leaders and whether Etherealize can bring Wall Street

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitwise

• Alex Stokes, Co-Lead, Ethereum Foundation Research

• Barnabe Monnot, Co-Lead, Ethereum Foundation Research
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• 5 Things to Know About Coinbase’s 2021

• Previous coverage on Unchained of:
• Etherealize advocates for Ethereum
• Why Ethereum’s New Marketing Arm Is Convinced Wall Street Will Adopt ETH
• Ethereum Foundation contemplates comeback
• Ethereum Is Lagging. Here’s How It Could Finally Shake Off Rival Solana
• 2025 Will Be a Year of Crypto Competition. Can Ethereum Make a Comeback?

• What Ethena means for Ethereum
• Ethena’s L1 Shows Fat Apps Are on the Rise. Can They Beat Fat Protocols?
• The Chopping Block w/ Guy Young: Lessons from USD0, Ethena’s Bold Vision, and DeFi’s Future

• The Pectra Upgrade
• Ethereum.org: Pectra Testnet Announcement | Ethereum Foundation Blog
• tim.mirror.xyz: AllCoreDevs Update 17
• Ethereum.org: EIP-7691: Blob throughput increase
• Ethereum.org: Holesky and Hoodi Testnet Updates | Ethereum Foundation Blog
• Coindesk: Hello, Hoodi: Ethereum Welcomes a New Testnet 
• Fusaka on the horizon
• Github: EIP-7805 proposed for Fusaka
• Native rollups versus non-native rollups
• Youtube: The Future of Ethereum Scaling: Native Rollups Explained
• Reddit: Native rollup debates
• L1 and L2 debates
• Vitalik.eth.limo: Reasons to have higher L1 gas limits even in an L2-heavy Ethereum
• Vitalik.eth.limo: Scaling Ethereum L1 and L2s in 2025 and beyond
• Ethereum Foundation Leadership changes
• X: Barnabe Monnot and Alex Stokes announcement
• X: New EF titles
• X: Fixing the Core Dev process
• Ethena’s Converge news 
• John Wang’s tweet
• Camila Russo’s comment

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

🪝 2:05 How Barnabe and Alex got hooked on Ethereum development

⚙️ 6:37 How Pectra will change Ethereum

🪴 10:35 How does increasing blobs boost Ethereum?

🪲 13:22 Pectra fork bugs on Holeski testnet

🔮 18:38 What’s in the upcoming Fusaka upgrade?

🤯 22:42 How decisions get made in Ethereum and which groups are involved

📈 30:34 Can Ethereum keep up with the competition?

🏁 39:16 Can Ethereum compete by scaling the L1?

🤓 44:02 What are native roll-ups and how do they help Ethereum compete?

🤺 49:26 Native rollups and expanded data availability on Ethereum vs. non-native options

⚰️ 52:22 Is Ethena building its own blockchain the “nail in the coffin” for Ethereum?

👬 1:00:05 Shaking up the EF’s leadership

🤔 1:06:14 Will Etherealize fix Ethereum’s problems?

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Blockchains were supposed to capture the majority of the value in crypto. But what if that’s wrong?

For years, the Fat Protocols Thesis argued that blockchains would be the biggest winners. But new data suggests that apps like Uniswap, Ethena, and others are now out-earning many networks.

Are we watching the rise of “Fat Apps” instead?

On this episode, Ryan Watkins, Co-founder at Syncracy Capital, talks about: 

• Why the biggest apps are generating more revenue than many layer 1s
• Why Ethena is launching its own blockchain
• What this means for Ethereum, Solana & other L1s
• How blockchains can compete on value capture

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• BitKey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• FalconX
• Mantle

• Ryan Watkins, Co-founder at Syncracy Capital

• Unchained: Ethena Labs and Securitize to Launch New EVM Blockchain for DeFi
• Syncracy Capital: Applications Capture Fees, Blockchains Store Value
• Hansolar’s tweet 
• Pump.fun launches its own DEX 

Timestamps:

• 👋0:00 Intro
• 💰 2:12 Why apps are out-earning the blockchains they run on
• 🔗 5:44 Ethena’s move: why it’s launching its own chain
• 📈 8:33 The rise of “Fat Apps” and what it means for crypto
• 🚀 12:50 How today’s crypto founders think differently from past builders
• 🏆 15:51 The blockchain architectures that will dominate
• ⚖️ 22:32 Whether L1s can compete in this new environment
• 📊 241:27 How blockchains accrue value and why MEV isn’t the best metric
• 📰 31:00 News Recap

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the crew unpacks Ethereum’s existential crisis and whether the rollup-centric roadmap is backfiring. Plus, AI is rapidly changing how crypto is built, traded, and secured—so what happens when blockchain and AI collide? We also dig into Solana’s controversial ad, Ethereum Foundation’s leadership shake-up, and why macro forces are still running the show.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights

🔹 AI’s Invasion of Software Engineering – Why AI is replacing developers & what it means for crypto startups

🔹 Ethereum’s Rollup Reckoning – The “rollup-centric roadmap” was supposed to save Ethereum, but is it actually weakening it?

🔹 The Solana Ad Disaster – How Solana’s political ad backfired & alienated both sides of the aisle

🔹 Is Ethereum Becoming IBM? – Why Ethereum risks getting stuck as the slow-moving corporate giant of crypto

🔹 The Great AI Pivot – Why top engineers are abandoning language models for robotics & what it means for the future

🔹 AI Trading Bots & Crypto Security Risks – How prompt injections could turn AI-powered wallets into honeypots

🔹 Ethereum’s New Leadership – Does the Ethereum Foundation finally have a plan to fix its credibility problem?

🔹 The XRP Bartender Index – The unexpected bar tab metric that tracks XRP market sentiment

🔹 Will AI Replace VCs? – The case for AI-led investment strategies & automated due diligence

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Solana Ad repost by @basedkarbon: https://x.com/basedkarbon/status/1901809992514052319 

Timestamps - 

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:48 Solana's Controversial Ad Campaign
• 08:14 Memorable Crypto Ads
• 11:27 AI's Impact on Research & Crypto
• 18:33 Future of AI in Crypto and Beyond
• 29:29 Security Concerns with AI
• 36:49 EF's Leadership Changes
• 40:20 The Future of Ethereum and Rollups

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The financial market is getting wrecked, inflation is still a problem, and bitcoin isn’t acting like the hedge that it’s supposed to be. Is this a real economic shift, or just noise?

With tariffs, stagflation fears, and fiscal dominance taking center stage, hosts James Seyffart, Joe McCann, Ram Ahluwalia and Noelle Acheson break down:

• Why markets are struggling—and whether a recession or stagflation is coming
• Whether the Fed has become irrelevant
• How the stablecoin bill could rescue sales of treasuries
• Why bitcoin isn’t following gold’s rally
• The factors that could kickstart the next crypto boom
• The latest on all the dozens of crypto ETFs in the works

Sponsors:

• Bitwise

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Joe McCann, Founder, CEO, and CIO of Asymmetric
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 

The stagflation trade

• Bloomberg: Stagflation Trade Emerges as Rare Winner in US Stock Market Rout
• Reuters: Fed's Powell gets chance to address trade war, stagflation fears
• Tweet by Noah Smith

Budget bill

• Wharton: The FY2025 House Budget reconciliation and Trump Administration Tax Proposals: Budgetary, Economic, and Distributional Effects

Stablecoin bill:

• Unchained: Stablecoin Bills Could Squeeze Out $140 Billion Tether
• CoinDesk: U.S. Senate Takes First Big Step to Advance Stablecoin Bill

Solana futures

• Cointelegraph: Solana futures finish first trading day on CME

Solana ad

Unchained: Solana Deletes ‘Cringe’ Ad After Crypto Community Backlash

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

📉 1:39 Stagflation fears and which tariffs actually matter for the economy

🌎 6:11 Why the outlook for commodities is so uncertain

📊 10:49 Is the Trump administration sabotaging itself?

🐶 16:57 Why DOGE’s role in the market is bigger than you think

📉 23:51 Why the 10-year yield isn’t dropping as expected

💰 28:04 Will shrinking liquidity grind the market to a halt?

🏛️ 32:37 Why the Fed has become irrelevant

🔄 36:53 Is quantitative tightening (QT) ending? Plus, one key thing crypto investors don’t get

⚠️ 41:13 Why a recession is not a foregone conclusion

🥇 48:25 Gold is hitting all-time highs—so why isn’t bitcoin following?

🏦 51:24 How the stablecoin bill could save US government finances

🚀 1:01:47 How bitcoin gets its next rally 

📉 1:07:16 The hidden benefit of CME SOL futures

✅ 1:12:15 The latest on pending crypto ETF approvals

📣 1:17:26 Reactions to the controversial Solana ad

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The memecoin trade might be over. And Joe McCann says that’s just the beginning.

The founder of Asymmetric has been at the intersection of crypto, macro, and tech for years. He called the $BONK trade early, made moves before most saw the opportunity, and now? He’s shifting his focus.

Meanwhile, the crypto markets are a bloodbath, with bitcoin, ether, and solana down 10%, 41%, and 35%, respectively, year-to-date.

In this episode, Joe joins Unchained to discuss:

• Why memecoins won’t work the way they used to
• How institutions are approaching crypto in this cycle
• Why prices are down so much
• Why Bitcoin might be so hard to outperform
• Whether Solana is still the fastest horse

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• FalconX
• Bitwise

• Joe McCann, founder of Asymmetric

Unchained: 

• Solana Rejected Inflation Reduction—Here’s Why
• Are Memecoins Collapsing? These 8 Charts May Be Signaling Yes
• Bitcoin Has Declined 20%. How Soon Could the BTC Price Revive?

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

🚀 2:19 How Joe’s background shaped his crypto investing approach

🐶 10:25 Spotting the $BONK opportunity before the crowd

📉 17:38 Why the memecoin trade might be over

💰 21:51 Why Joe believes Pump.fun is NOT extractive

📊 33:11 Why crypto prices have struggled despite a pro-crypto shift in Washington

🎯 42:34 The moment Joe “finally” gives credit to Arthur Hayes

⏳ 45:15 Could having no catalyst actually BE the catalyst?

🔥 49:22 Why Joe wasn’t convinced by the SOL inflation proposal

⚡ 56:45 Wait—no altcoin season?

⚙️ 1:01:34 What still excites Joe about Solana

🏦 1:04:57 Why Asymmetric is betting on Bitcoin DeFi

🤖 1:07:29 How AI is helping Joe’s team optimize its strategy

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The Solana ecosystem just completed a critical governance vote. SIMD-228, a proposal to tie Solana’s inflation rate to its staking participation rate, was put forward by Multicoin Capital and Anza, but despite a majority voting in favor, it failed to meet the required supermajority to pass.

Tushar Jain, co-founder and managing partner at Multicoin Capital, who co-authored the proposal, joins the show to discuss:

• Why he believes the proposal was necessary
• Whether inflation is too high for Solana’s long-term health
• If some validators voted against their own interests
• The silver lining of the governance process
• Why a smaller proposal focused on fee sharing did pass
• Whether Multicoin Capital will resubmit a revised proposal

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• BitKey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• Mantle

• Tushar Jain, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Multicoin Capital

• Unchained: Proposal to Cut SOL Inflation by 80% Fails After ‘Close Call’
• SIMD Vote Status
• Kayuza’s tweet 

Timestamps:

🤝 0:00 Intro

🗳️ 3:09 Why Solana’s inflation rate was initially an afterthought 

💰5:20 Why inflation became untenable

⚙️ 6:23 What does it take to right-size inflation for Solana

⚙️ 7:18 How SIMD-228 would have worked

🤯 11:00 Why Tushar “does not want to bet on people being dumb”

💰 15:48 How this could have strengthened DeFi on Solana

😕 17:49 Why Tushar was disappointed with the outcome but sees a silver lining

📚 19:49 Could the vote have been fairer?

⚖️ 22:06 Whether smaller validators would be unfairly hurt by SIMD-228

🔐 27:37 Does Solana pay too much for security?

📈 27:55 Would this have boosted the price of SOL?

✔️28:19 Whether validators should ask stakers how to vote

✅ 30:13 What the passing of SIMD-123 means for the network

🔄 32:40 Will Multicoin resubmit the proposal?

📰 34:50 News Recap

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week, we’re joined by special guest Quinn Thompson, Master of Macro at Lekker Capital, to dissect Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve. The US government is now officially hodling Bitcoin —Trump’s executive order creates a BTC reserve using seized funds. But markets didn’t buy the hype. Bitcoin tanked, and traders are still questioning what this means for crypto’s future. Meanwhile, the global macro picture is a disaster—stocks are down, trade wars are escalating, and recession fears are mounting.Is this controlled demolition of the economy, or just a side effect of Trump’s economic agenda? And most importantly, what does this mean for crypto? Let’s dive in.

Show highlights

🔹 Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve Announcement – The US government officially holds BTC, but it’s not buying more. No new demand—just a change in optics.

🔹 Digital Asset Stockpile – XRP, ADA, SOL? Treasury isn’t sure what it owns, and no guarantee these altcoins stay on the balance sheet.

🔹 Market Reactions – Bitcoin pumped, then crashed. No net buying pressure, just an end to government auctions of seized BTC.

🔹 Trade War Fallout – Tariffs hit Mexico, Canada, EU, and China—S&P 500 posts worst day since 2022, losing $1.4T in market cap.

🔹 Trump’s Endgame? – Is this a controlled demolition of asset prices, or just chaos in motion?

🔹 Crypto’s Liquidity Crunch – The Fed isn’t stepping in (yet), but the macro backdrop is grim. Rate cuts may be the only way out.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

Guest

⭐️Quinn Thompson, Founder & CIO at Lekker Capital

Timestamps 

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:36 Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve
• 05:17 Bitcoin Tanks
• 14:30 How This Affects Crypto & Traditional Finance
• 19:36 Trade Wars Escalate
• 31:30 Corn Twitter Is Mad
• 35:16 Why Stocks & Crypto Are Dumping in Sync
• 41:39 Trump's Historical Stance on Tariffs
• 54:57 Government Spending and Crypto Market

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The markets are a bloodbath.

If you’re feeling lost in the markets right now, you’re not alone. Stocks are getting crushed, bonds are sliding, and crypto isn’t escaping the carnage. The question is: why is everything selling off—and where does it go from here?

One thing is clear: the next market move is extremely hard to predict. Between Trump’s economic policies, inflation worries, and DOGE’s cuts, there’s a storm of conflicting signals.

So, is this pain temporary? Or are we looking at a long trend downward?

• Bitwise

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Guest:

• Travis Kling, CIO of Ikigai Asset Management

Recession? 

• Bloomberg: Trump Says US Economy Faces ‘Transition,’ Avoids Recession Call

Inflation

• Bloomberg: Inflation-Linked Bonds Rebound on Trump Tariffs: Credit Weekly

DXY

• FX Empire: US Dollar Forecast: DXY Sinks as Weak Jobs Data Fuels Rate Cut Bets, EUR/USD Surges

Powell’s comments:

• CNN: Fed Chair Powell says he’s not worried about the economy amid Trump’s tariff chaos 
• FT: Federal Reserve chief Jay Powell plays down growth worries after jobs report disappoints

Bonds:

• Bloomberg: The Bond Market’s Trump Trade Is Looking Like a Recession Trade
• CNBC: 10-year Treasury yield rises after weaker-than-expected jobs growth
• Bond yields in Europe and elsewhere are rising 

Tariffs:

• Bloomberg: Lutnick Says Trump Sticking to US Aluminum-Steel Tariff Timeline 

Japan and the carry trade:

• Japan's 20-Year Government Bond Yield rises to its highest level since 2008. 
• Jeff Park tweeted “Bitcoin is Japan’s game now whether you like it or not” - thoughts?
• FT: Japan seeks tariff reprieve after Donald Trump questions long-standing defence pact

China’s deflation: 

• Bloomberg: China’s Inflation Declines Below Zero for First Time in Year

Ukraine War talks: 

• FT: Ukraine seeks to persuade US to resume aid in high-stakes talks

Timestamps:

• 👋 0:00 Intro
• 📉 3:05 What’s behind this brutal market selloff
• 🤔 7:26 Why making a market prediction right now is nearly impossible
• 🇺🇸 13:41 How Trump’s economic moves drive uncertainty
• ⚠️ 19:37 Is the Trump administration intentionally triggering a recession?
• 💰 20:30 The real impact of “austerity” on the economy
• 📉 22:59 What must happen before the market bottoms out
• 🔥 26:52 Where inflation might head next
• 📊 36:21 What the VIX is saying about the market
• 📉 39:00 How markets will react to today’s CPI numbers
• 🚀 43:40 When might Trump push for tax cuts?
• 🏦 49:19 Will ETF buyers create a bitcoin floor?
• 💴 55:12 What a declining Japanese yen reveals about demand for risky assets
• ₿ 1:00:35 Why BTC is the furthest that it has ever been from altcoins
• 🛍️ 1:11:00 What new groups might step in and buy bitcoin?📉
• 🤦‍♂️ 1:20:25 Whether the Trump administration “fucked up” the economy

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The election of Donald Trump marked a sea change for U.S. crypto policy.

The symbolism of that transformation was on full display at the White House’s first-ever Crypto Summit, at which President Trump met with several crypto business leaders. But what was actually said behind closed doors? And does this mark the beginning of a truly pro-crypto shift—or just another short-lived political move?

In this episode, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe and former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo break down what really happened at the summit, whether the proposed Bitcoin reserve is a smart idea or a political gimmick, and why some believe the U.S. dollar could one day be backed by BTC.

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitwise

• Mike Belshe, CEO at BitGo
• Chris Giancarlo, Senior counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher and former CFTC chairman

• Recent coverage of Unchained on the Bitcoin Reserve and the White House Crypto Summit :
• Trump Says He Is Ending Operation Choke Point 2.0
• Trump Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
• Trump's Surprise Crypto Reserve Announcement Iced Out D.C. Insiders
• How Did Ripple Sell Trump on XRP in a Crypto Reserve? By Pushing for Solana
• Why Trump May Have Chosen This Week to Announce a Strategic Crypto Reserve
• Which Crypto Assets Belong in a Reserve? This VC Says Not XRP and ADA
• Chris’s article: Crypto neo-privateers could be the solution to hacks
• Nic Carter’s tweet on Trump’s crypto endeavours
• Omid Malekan’s analogy of the SBR with buying a shirt

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Trump’s latest crypto moves have sent the market on a rollercoaster.

First, he posted on Truth Social that a U.S. crypto reserve would include XRP, Solana, and Cardano. A couple hours later, he had to clarify that Bitcoin and Ethereum would also be included. The market jumped 12%—only to crash the next day.

Meanwhile, the White House crypto summit is happening Friday, and not everyone is happy with the guest list. Some say it’s a step toward real regulation, while others argue that without DeFi voices, it’s just a meeting of centralized players.

So what does it all mean? David Nage, VC at Arca, joins Unchained to talk about:

• 4:55 Why David is unfazed by crypto’s swings around Trump’s reserve posts
• 9:03 David’s take on Cardano and XRP being named for the crypto reserve list
• 18:11 Why he thinks Bitcoin is a strong candidate for a national reserve asset
• 22:52 Why David isn’t impressed with the guest list at the White House Crypto Summit
• 26:26 Why the markets have been struggling—and what could finally turn things around
• 28:52 News Recap

Will real crypto policy changes emerge from this? Or is this just another distraction in a year full of big promises?

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• BitKey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
• Mantle

• David Nage, VC Portfolio Manager at Arca

• Unchained: 
• Why Trump May Have Chosen This Week to Announce a Strategic Crypto Reserve
• Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Is Not Invited to White House Crypto Summit
• How Did Ripple Sell Trump on XRP in a Crypto Reserve? By Pushing for Solana
• Trump Is Having Second Thoughts About His Crypto Council
• David’s tweet on Cardano and Ripple
• Eleanor Terrett’s tweet with the Crypto Summit guest list 
• David Sacks’ tweet saying that the government lost almost $17 billion

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week, we’re joined by special guest Laura Shin to dissect Trump’s Strategic Crypto Reserve fiasco. Why did he name-drop XRP and Cardano first? Was this real policy or just a market pump? Meanwhile, Crypto Twitter is melting down over Trump’s crypto summit guest list—who made the cut, and who got snubbed? Plus, another SEC lawsuit bites the dust, and memecoins look deader than ever. Let’s get into it.

Show highlights

🔹 Trump’s Crypto Reserve Announcement – Trump proposes a U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve, initially boosting XRP, ADA, SOL, BTC, and ETH—only for markets to fully reverse in 48 hours.

🔹 Who Picked These Coins? – XRP & ADA make the list despite having lower adoption than SOL or ETH. Was this a serious policy move or just pay-to-play politics?

🔹 Trump’s 5D Chess or Just a Meme? – Did the Trump team just pick random coins off CoinMarketCap? Or was this an orchestrated move to pay back donors?

🔹 The Crypto Council Drama – Trump’s Crypto Council implodes before launch due to infighting over seats. First summit features Ripple’s Garlinghouse, Michael Saylor, Chainlink’s Nazarov, Brian Armstrong, and Jesse Powell—but no actual protocol founders.

🔹 Is Crypto Being Used for Politics? – Nic Carter calls the plan a grift, saying the U.S. government should not buy altcoins with taxpayer money. Even Bitcoin maxis are skeptical.

🔹 Trump’s Obsession With Bitcoin Prices – Reports claim Trump personally tracks Bitcoin price movements and wants BTC to hit $150K during his presidency—is he manipulating markets?

🔹 The SEC Softens on Crypto? – Enforcement pivots as the SEC drops cases against Cumberland and Kraken. Will the Coinbase lawsuit be next?

🔹 Market Exhaustion Sets In – Despite the noise, traders are tired. The market isn’t buying into Trump’s crypto plans—was this just another empty promise?

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Laura Shin, Journalist, Author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ Founder and CEO of Unchained

Timestamps

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:05 Market Reactions to Trump's Announcement
• 03:25 Skepticism of the Crypto Reserve
• 07:02 Strategic Value of Crypto Reserve
• 11:11 Political and Market Implications
• 18:52 Security Concerns & Future Speculations
• 31:30 Government Control of Crypto
• 39:50 Potential Forks & Government Influence
• 45:37 Crypto Summit & Council 

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A strategic crypto reserve for the U.S. economy? That’s Trump’s latest proposal (or directive?)—and the reaction from the industry has been… let’s just say, mixed. Would it even work? And does it create more problems than it solves?

Meanwhile, the White House is hosting a crypto roundtable—but not everyone is convinced it’s going to be productive. Who will be in the room, what will actually be discussed, and will it help or hurt the industry?

On this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart and Noelle Acheson together with guests Steve Hou and Steven Ehrlich break it all down. Will tariffs and macro factors keep weighing on crypto? What’s driving the explosion in new ETFs? And what happens if banks start issuing their own stablecoins?

Plus: What could be the real next catalyst for the crypto market.

• 6:13 - Whether a strategic crypto reserve makes sense for the U.S.
• 14:50 - How this reserve could actually give people outside of crypto second thoughts
• 24:37 - What the Crypto Roundtable will be about and whether it’s what the industry wanted
• 27:32 - Whether David Sacks is directing the reserve allocations so as to personally benefit
• 32:07 - Why Noelle was surprised after the SEC stated memecoins are not securities
• 42:22 - James’ insights into the avalanche of altcoin ETFs
• 47:10 - The significance of BlackRock adding IBIT to its model portfolio
• 54:02 - How macro news drove risk assets to such a selloff on Monday
• 58:12 - Why the 10YT is such a significant chart to watch
• 1:10:21 - Whether the war in Ukraine is coming to an end
• 1:16:20 - What the next catalyst for crypto is
• 1:19:07 - Whether stablecoins are a good business for banks

Thank you to our sponsors!

• RockWallet
• Bitwise

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 

• Steve Hou, Quantitative Researcher at Bloomberg LP 
• Steven Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Crypto reserve:

• Unchained: Why Trump May Have Chosen This Week to Announce a Strategic Crypto Reserve
• Bloomberg: Bitcoin Reserve Is Likely to Come First From States, Senator Lummis Says

Crypto roundtable: 

• CoinDesk: Trump to Host First Crypto Roundtable at White House Next Week
• Crypto Czar David Sacks says he sold crypto holdings before administration began

Memecoins:

• SEC: Staff Statement on Meme Coins

ETFs: 

• SOL: CME Group to launch Solana futures on March 17 as ETF momentum builds
• BlackRock Adds Its Bitcoin ETF to Model Portfolio for First Time 

Macro:

• Trump’s tariff post on Truth Social
• ​​Atlanta’s negative 2.8% GDP projection
• CNBC: 10-year Treasury yield falls to lowest since December on latest signs of slowing economy
• Reuters: 
• Inflation, growth may be in conflict but Fed seen restarting cuts in June
• US weekly jobless claims post largest gain in five months; weather blamed

Stablecoins:

• CoinDesk: Bank of America CEO Says Bank Will Likely Launch Its Own Stablecoin

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A new consensus model. A bear-themed brand. And one of the most debated token launches in recent memory.

Berachain is trying something radically different. Instead of just rewarding validators, it pays liquidity providers—turning the traditional blockchain incentive model on its head.

But not everyone is convinced. Some critics say too much of the token supply went to VCs. Others question whether “proof of liquidity” can actually work at scale.

In this episode, Smokey, Chief Smokey Officer at Berachain, joins Unchained to break it all down. Why did Berachain choose to make itself EVM-identical? What really happened with the token launch? And what’s next?

• 1:47 How Smokey got into crypto and how that led to the founding of Berachain
• 7:24 What proof of liquidity is and what problems it solves
• 12:06 Whether there’s an incentive problem in how BGT and BERA are designed
• 16:03 Why Smokey believes the EVM has the “largest capital base”
• 21:12 How Berachain leveraged culture to accrue network effects
• 26:23 How Berachain achieved so much TVL growth
• 30:01 What Smokey thinks about the big allocation of BERA to VCs
• 35:38 How the bear-themed NFTs were born
• 39:26 How the project was able to buy back a portion of the tokens sold to VCs
• 40:58 Whether Smokey should have done things differently when launching the token
• 43:21 Smokey’s response to the criticism of private participants staking BERA
• 46:57 Why Smokey believes that the inflation will be useful for ecosystem growth
• 52:23 What’s next in Berachain’s roadmap

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Bitwise

• Smokey the Bera, Chief Smokey Officer at Berachain

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: Recapping how Bybit lost $1.5B to North Korea’s Lazarus Group—how did it happen, and why did they use THORChain to launder the money? Meanwhile, Ethereum is facing an identity crisis at ETH Denver, with the Foundation’s bizarre “Silviculture Society” raising eyebrows across the ecosystem. And if that wasn’t enough, memecoins are in freefall, with Hayden Adams admitting the game was rigged all along. It’s a wild week—let’s break it all down.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights

🔹 Bybit’s $1.5B Hack – Largest crypto heist ever, pulled off by North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Attack exploited Gnosis Safe’s front end, not Bybit itself.

🔹 THORChain: The New Laundromat? – Lazarus Group uses THORChain to launder stolen funds, sparking backlash. Some THORChain members celebrated the volume spike.

🔹 Memecoins Declared ‘Collectibles’ – SEC says memecoins aren’t securities—right as the bubble bursts. New token launches are down 60%, and pump.fun is drying up.

🔹 InfoWars Bought With a Memecoin?! – Alex Jones supporters use Wars token to outbid The Onion for InfoWars.com in a bankruptcy auction.

🔹 Ethereum’s Cultural Crisis – EF’s ‘Silviculture Society’ announcement triggers community backlash. Hayden Adams calls it “peak Ethereum dysfunction.”

🔹 SEC’s Crypto Pivot – Enforcement shift: Uniswap, OpenSea, and Consensys investigations dropped. Is the SEC losing its war on crypto?

🔹 Richard Heart’s Case Dismissed – The SEC’s lawsuit against the HEX founder gets tossed on procedural grounds, but the agency has a chance to refile.

🔹 The Hyperliquid Question – Is Hyperliquid the next frontier for crypto liquidity, or a regulatory time bomb waiting to go off?

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Timestamps 

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:48 ETH Denver
• 06:16 Bybit Hack & Its Aftermath
• 14:52 Lazarus Group Has Skills
• 16:52 THORChain and Ethics of Decentralization
• 24:49 Role of KYT Services in Crypto Security
• 28:40 SEC's Stance on Memecoins
• 37:19 EF Silviculture Society
• 46:43 Ethereum Scaling Bet

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Crypto derivatives exchange Bybit just became the latest victim of North Korea’s elite hacking unit, the Lazarus Group. They didn’t brute-force their way in. They didn’t exploit some obscure vulnerability. Instead, they tricked a trusted developer, slipped in malicious code, and took off with a fortune.

How did this happen? Why was $1.5 billion sitting in a single wallet? What mistakes did Bybit and Safe make? And, more importantly, what needs to change to stop this from happening again?

This week, Mudit Gupta, chief information security officer at Polygon, joins Unchained to expose the security failures, the sophisticated tactics Lazarus used, and why crypto still hasn’t learned its lesson.

• 2:11 Mudit’s experience with North Korea’s Lazarus
• 3:24 How Lazarus perpetrated the $1.5 billion hack
• 5:55 Why Lazarus relies on social engineering over technical exploits
• 7:34 Why Bybit was so specifically targeted by the hackers
• 10:02 What Bybit should have done to prevent the exploit
• 13:12 Why Mudit believes there was “no reason” to hold so much ETH in one single wallet
• 15:57 Who should be a signer in multisigs
• 17:46 How to prevent using a malicious website
• 19:13 Why Safe should have done things differently, according to Mudit
• 19:55 How Bybit and Safe handled crisis communication
• 24:20 Mudit’s must-know security tips for protecting your crypto

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Mantle

• Mudit Gupta, Chief Information Security Officer at Polygon

• Recent coverage of Unchained on the Bybit hack:
• North Korean Hackers Are Winning. Is the Crypto Industry Ready to Stop Them?
• The Chopping Block: Crypto’s Worst Week? Bybit Hack, Libra Scandal, & The Memecoin Reckoning
• Bits + Bips: Markets Are Down Bad. When Will Crypto Recover?
• Unchained: Bybit Flows Return to ‘Normal’ After Biggest-Ever Crypto Hack
• Bybit Hack Forensics Report 
• "Safe{Wallet} Statement on Targeted Attack on Bybit "

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Crypto markets are down bad—but is this just a rough patch, or are we looking at something bigger?

After a brutal sell-off in Solana, the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, and macro uncertainty weighing on Bitcoin, investors are searching for answers. Some think the worst is over, while others believe more pain is coming before the market turns around.

In this episode of Bits + Bips, Noelle Acheson, Alex Kruger, and Ram Ahluwalia are joined by Eliézer Ndinga of 21Shares to break it all down. They discuss how institutions are approaching this downturn, why Solana has been hit harder than the rest, and what catalysts could bring crypto back to life.

Is this the start of a new accumulation phase, or are we in for another leg down?

• 2:36 How the ByBit team responded so well to the hack
• 17:43 Why the market selloff was not specific to crypto
• 29:09 How institutions have become more sophisticated about crypto
• 31:10 Why SOL has been down so much and whether it has bottomed
• 34:37 Whether tariffs keep having an effect on the markets
• 37:23 Why the state of the markets makes Eliézer think the crypto asset class has matured
• 41:27 Whether bitcoin can be a safe haven and the role of diversification
• 45:26 What the next catalysts for crypto are
• 49:33 Why Eliézer is so optimistic about the long-term outlook of crypto
• 53:33 Alex’s spicy opinion on DOGE and Elon Musk

• Somnia Network
• RockWallet
• Bitwise

• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 
• Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

• Eliézer Ndinga, Head of Strategy and Business Development at 21.co; the parent company of 21Shares

• Unchained: North Korean Hackers Are Winning. Is the Crypto Industry Ready to Stop Them?
• Reuters: Trump says Canada, Mexico tariffs on schedule despite border, fentanyl efforts

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$1.5 billion gone in an instant. And what’s worse, to fund a nuclear weapons program.

The largest crypto hack in history just hit Bybit, and the culprit is the infamous North Korean hacking group, Lazarus. Known for some of the most sophisticated cyber heists ever, they often use social engineering tactics and start by tricking low level employees. Although they can often wait to launder funds, in the case of Bybit they started right away.

How did this happen? Could it have been prevented? And what does this mean for the security of the entire crypto industry?

Taylor Monahan, security at MetaMask, and Jonty, a senior investigator at zeroShadow, talk all about it.

• 2:53 Taylor’s and Jonty’s backgrounds and why they are relevant to this discussion
• 6:06 What the mechanics of the hack were
• 13:03 How Lazarus usually operates and the tactic of blind signing
• 17:11 Jonty’s important tips for people handling large amounts of crypto
• 23:45 How Bybit was able to say almost immediately that their other assets were secure
• 29:02 How much exchanges typically hold in each cold wallet
• 32:00 Why the evidence of the hack points to North Korean group Lazarus
• 41:01 Why North Korean hackers don’t care if their attack is linked to them
• 49:30 How Lazarus typically social engineers its hacks
• 53:48 Why Jonty thinks the industry needs a serious upgrade in terms of security
• 58:08 How the funds get laundered in such cases and what the industry can do
• 1:09:54 The chances Lazarus actually makes money from the hack
• 1:15:34 How DeFi protocols should approach this problem

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Mantle
• Bitwise

• Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask
• Jonty, a senior investigator at zeroShadow

• Previous coverage on Unchained about North Korean hackers:
• How North Koreans Infiltrated the Crypto Industry to Fund the Regime
• Why North Korea Is Interested in Cryptocurrency
• Yeonmi Park on Why Doing Business With North Korea Is Like Buying a Ticket to a Concentration Camp
• GitHub - pcaversaccio/safe-tx-hashes-util: bash script that checks that the Safe transaction that you are signing is the one that you intend to sign
• Cointelegraph: Crypto exchange eXch denies laundering Bybit’s hacked funds

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: Bybit’s $1.5B hack, likely by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and the Libra scandal, where Hayden Davis exposes the memecoin playbook. Meanwhile, Dave Portnoy rugs Greed and Greed 2, Kanye’s YZY token leaks, and the LA Vape Cabal collapses. But crypto markets hold strong, and the SEC just dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase. Is this the end of the memecoin era? We break it all down.

Show highlights

🔹 Bybit’s $1.5B Hack – Largest crypto hack in history, linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. CEO Ben Zhou handled it masterfully, securing a bridge loan to cover outflows.

🔹 Hayden Davis & the Memecoin Playbook – Argentina’s Libra token scandal exposed the insider trading behind celeb-backed coins. Hayden Davis spills the playbook on Coffeezilla.

🔹 Portnoy’s Pump & Dump – Barstool’s Dave Portnoy rugs his own followers with Greed and Greed 2, then mocks them.

🔹 The Memecoin Bubble is Popping – Sentiment shift: retail realizes the game is rigged. Memecoins may finally be out of steam.

🔹 Kanye’s YZY Coin? – West’s team accidentally leaks a memecoin plan. Will it even launch, or is it DOA after the Libra scandal?

🔹 The LA Vape Cabal Collapses – Once a driving force in memecoins, this underground group falls apart after links to Kelsier Ventures are exposed.

🔹 Regulatory Winds Shift – SEC drops its lawsuit against Coinbase. Crypto enforcement pivots from good actors to actual fraud.

🔹 Crypto Holds Up – Despite chaos, the market remains resilient. Infrastructure tokens are seeing renewed interest.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Timestamps 

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:41 The Largest Crypto Hack in History
• 03:03 Bybit's Response and Industry Reactions
• 04:51 North Korea's Involvement and the Aftermath
• 18:06 Hayden Davis & LIBRA
• 30:50 Meteora & the Solana Universe
• 33:34 Downfall of Memecoins
• 39:58 Hypocrisy of Celeb Coins
• 47:00 Regulatory Changes and the Future of Crypto

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What started as another scammy memecoin launch has spiraled into one of Argentina’s biggest political scandals.

The $LIBRA token, promoted by President Javier Milei and tied to Hayden Davis of Kelsier Ventures, is now at the center of multiple investigations—with allegations of bribery, insider trading, and political corruption. Some are calling it “CryptoGate.”

Did Davis really have influence over Milei? Was the president’s sister involved in pay-to-play politics? Could Davis and Milei face legal action?

This week, Danny Nelson, managing editor for data & tokens at CoinDesk, joins to reveal what his reporting uncovered, from secret deals to political fallout—and why this scandal could change how people see memecoins forever.

Show highlights:

• 1:47 How Hayden Davis was bragging about his connection to the Argentine presidency
• 9:15 Why Karina Milei holds the keys to her brother
• 11:31 Whether Milei is trying to protect Davis
• 16:22 Whether Milei was an ignorant victim or a more knowledgeable participant in $LIBRA
• 18:46 What charges Davis could face in the U.S.
• 22:00 Why Danny thinks Jupiter is taking the right step
• 24:34 Whether a memecoin such as $LIBRA could be considered a security
• 29:32 What Davis should do with the $100 million in his possession
• 33:40 Whether memecoins are now dead
• 38:41 What the future of Pump.fun looks like

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Mantle

• Danny Nelson, Managing Editor for Data & Tokens at CoinDesk

• Previous coverage of Unchained on the LIBRA scandal:
• How the Libra Scandal Exposed Memecoin Insider Trading on the World Stage
• Bits + Bips: Could the LIBRA Scandal End the Memecoin Craze?
• Unchained: 
• LIBRA Insider and Argentinian President Holding Secret Calls
• Meteora Co-Founder Resigns Amid LIBRA Scandal
• Are Memecoins Collapsing? These 8 Charts May Be Signaling Yes
• CoinDesk: Libra Token's Hayden Davis Bragged of Influence Over Argentina's Milei
• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s post on memecoins

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The $LIBRA token launch was a disaster—insider trading, price manipulation, and yet another memecoin scandal. But does this mean the memecoin era is over?

This week, James Seyffart, Joe McCann, Ram Ahluwalia, and Noelle Acheson break down the fallout from the $LIBRA launch, what it means for Solana and the broader market, and whether the crypto community is finally waking up to the risks of insider-driven tokens.

They also dig into macro trends impacting crypto—including whether institutions are secretly loading up on bitcoin, the role of DOGE in the broader market, and why some traders are starting to position for a bounce.

Plus, what’s next for SOL after weeks of bleeding?

• 2:45 - How everyone was so surprised by the $LIBRA scandal
• 10:40 - Why the likes of Hayden Davis are admitting to fraud
• 12:47 - Why Joe thinks that Solana is not affected by these debacles
• 15:26 - What Davis should do with the $100M in his power
• 20:21 - Whether the memecoin cycle is over
• 25:48 - The irony of people who now want regulations
• 33:31 - How big institutions have been loading up on bitcoin ETFs
• 38:20 - Why the U.S. government should modernize its technology
• 44:39 - Whether DOGE will have a big impact on macro
• 51:24 - What the Fed will do in the near future
• 55:29 - Why ETH outperformed this week and why the broader market tanked
• 1:04:33 - Why Ram believes that Solana will have to get through the “psychological damage”

• Bitwise

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Joe McCann, Founder, CEO, and CIO of Asymmetric
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 

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Was Argentina’s president used to pump a memecoin? The launch of $LIBRA has turned into a political and financial scandal, with accusations of insider trading, bribes, price manipulation, and government ties to crypto influencers.

In this episode, Diogenes Casares, a crypto trader with deep connections in both memecoins and Argentina’s crypto scene, exposes what really happened behind the scenes. He details how a network of market makers, influencers, and political insiders orchestrated the launch, how the price was manipulated from the start, and why he believes the entire operation was illegal.

Casares also explains the potential legal consequences for those involved, the impact on President Javier Milei’s administration, and what all this means for the future of Solana memecoins.

• 3:06 How Dio heard about the launch of an Argentina-related memecoin two weeks in advance
• 8:09 Whether Argentines were the ones who actually lost money on the coin
• 40:50 How Kelsier Ventures’ Hayden Davis crashed the price of the token
• 14:51 How the story is being perceived in Argentina
• 16:38 Why Dio believes Argentine President Javier Milei was naive
• 22:38 Who the insiders were and what role they played
• 26:56 Why Dio says that insider trading is illegal even in crypto
• 30:31 How some of the insiders are “pathological liars,” according to Dio
• 34:57 Why Dio doesn’t believe Jupiter’s statement and is skeptical about the Meteora founder’s statement
• 40:50 Why Dio says Davis’ “strategy” was actually price manipulation
• 44:32 What should be done with the $100 million that Davis holds
• 45:24 How Milei could suffer politically because of the situation
• 51:48 What Dio thinks about Dave Portnoy’s refund
• 57:09 How it was disappointing that this scandal happened in a place with so much crypto adoption
• 1:00:53 What’s next for Milei and whether he’ll go through impeachment

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• RockWallet
• Mantle
• Bitwise

• Diogenes Casares, a crypto trader from Argentina

• Unchained: Crypto Community Incensed by Insider Activity on LIBRA Memecoin Promoted by Argentina’s President
• Coffeezilla interview: Argentina’s memecoin creator interview (LIBRA)
• Bribes, Insiders and a Manipulated President | What Really Happened with $LIBRA by Diogenes Casares
• Jupiter Exchange’s statement
• Meteora’s Ben Chow’s statement

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Crypto sentiment is extremely low, but is the market completely wrong? While X is flooded with doomsday takes, Jeff Dorman, CIO of Arca, argues that the real fundamentals of crypto are stronger than ever.

In this episode, Jeff breaks down why investors are overlooking key signals—like growing regulatory clarity, the tokenization of real-world assets, and institutional interest—and how memecoins have hijacked the broader market narrative. He pushes back on claims that there are no fresh narratives and explains why the current climate reminds him of previous market mispricings that turned into massive opportunities.

He also dives into the potential of tokenized assets, why crypto adoption is way ahead of where people think, and why he believes the industry keeps making the same mistakes when it comes to marketing its breakthroughs.

• 2:03 - How dishonest takes are flooding the crypto sentiment, according to Jeff
• 4:04 - Why he pushes back against the sentiment that there are no fresh narratives
• 6:13 - Whether memecoins are to blame for the poor market sentiment
• 13:17 - Why Jeff feels that the crypto investment thesis is still very strong
• 19:23 - Why Jeff says that the launch of $TRUMP and $MELANIA was a good thing for the industry
• 26:55 - Why layer 1s are very hard to invest in
• 30:57 - Laura and Jeff’s disagreement about what would it take for a blockchain to win

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Somnia Network

• Jeff Dorman, Chief Investment Officer and Co-Founder at Arca
• Previous appearance on Unchained: Crypto Prices Are Way Down. Is It Time to Buy the Dip?

• Unchained: 
• Arca: “That’s Our Two Satoshis” - I’m Fed Up with the Misinformation by Jeff Dorman, CFA

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, we’re joined by Laura Shin, host of the Unchained Podcast, for a no-holds-barred discussion on the current state of the crypto landscape. We dive into Berachain’s shaky launch, dissecting its tokenomics, insider allocations, and why the hype didn’t hold. Then we uncover the rise of celebrity memecoin scams—how influencers are cashing in while their followers get rugged. Finally, we tackle the Ethereum vs. Solana debate: is Ethereum losing its edge, or is Solana’s growth just a speculative bubble? It’s an episode full of bold takes and sharp insights you won’t want to miss.

Show highlights

🔹 Berachain’s Big Faceplant: Launched with $10B hype, now scraping $2.5B FDV. There are too many VCs and not enough vibes to keep it afloat.

🔹 Memecoin Madness: Celebs faking hacks to rug followers? The dark side of crypto grifts gets exposed.

🔹 Is Ethereum Lost? Once the king of culture, it is now weighed down by L2 sprawl and fading relevance. Has Solana stolen the spotlight?

🔹 Solana’s Winning the Youth Vote: Fast, fun, and flooded with memecoins—exactly what Gen Z craves.

🔹 Peak Memecoin Energy: When the scams get this blatant, are we hitting the top—or just getting started?

🔹 Cramer vs. Meme Lords: Who’s worse for your wallet—a clueless TV pundit or a shameless influencer?

🔹 Regulators, Where You At? Chasing good actors while real frauds run wild. Classic crypto chaos.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Laura Shin, Journalist, Author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ Founder and CEO of Unchained

Timestamps 

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:53 Berachain Launch and Community Sentiment
• 05:23 Market Sentiment and Crypto Cycles
• 18:03 Kanye West Leaks Scam Playbook
• 32:17 Cramer’s Curse vs. Portnoy’s Pump
• 39:23 Ethereum & Solana Drama
• 49:06 Ethereum's Existential Crisis (Again?)

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Crypto markets are at a crossroads. Is Ethereum primed for a short squeeze, or is its dominance fading? Are the SOL unlocks a real risk, or is the panic overblown? And did we already have an alt season without realizing it?

In this episode, hosts James Seyffart, Alex Kruger and Ram Ahluwalia sit down with Sal Ternullo, managing partner at A100x Ventures, to break down the biggest questions facing traders today. They discuss whether Trump’s tariffs are impacting ETH, why the market might be misreading SOL’s unlocks, and how traders keep falling into the same traps—losing money despite crypto’s explosive gains.

They also debate the real reason altcoins haven’t performed as expected, why memecoins might finally be dying off, and what the Growth Value Ratio reveals about the market’s future. Plus: the implications of Elon Musk’s bid for OpenAI, and whether Arweave’s AO can seriously challenge ICP.

•    3:33 - Why Ram likes what Trump is trying to accomplish with the tariffs
•    10:35 - Why ETH got hit so hard with the tariffs and whether there’s a squeeze coming
•    15:24 - Whether the market will see an alt season
•    21:47 - Why Sal believes that the SOL unlocks are not a big deal and why he’d like to see a shift away from memecoins
•    25:09 - Why Ram thinks that crypto markets don’t have a clear narrative in the near future
•    27:28 - Why Alex is concerned about the SOL unlocks
•    32:19 - What the growth value ratio is teaching us about the state of the markets
•    40:59 - How the potential Kanye West memecoins is another example of why Sal doesn’t like this space
•    46:39 - Whether Arweave’s new project AO can compete with ICP
•    48:04 - How Elon Musk is running so many projects, plus bidding for OpenAI
•    55:26 - James’ analysis on the likelihood of various crypto ETFs being approved
•    1:03:01 - Why Alex thinks this is the perfect time to “be patient” in the markets

Sponsor:

• Somnia Network
• Bitwise

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
• Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Guest:

• Sal Ternullo, Managing Partner at A100x Ventures

• Unchained: 
• Grayscale Files for Cardano ETF 
• Central African Republic launches memecoin
• Reuters: 
• Trump raises tariffs on aluminum, steel imports in latest trade war salvo
• Elon Musk-led group makes $97 billion bid for control of OpenAI
• The Block: 
• SEC delays decision on BlackRock's Ethereum ETF options trading until April 9 
• Kanye West, after disclosing he was offered $2 million to launch a token, asks to speak with Coinbase CEO 'concerning crypto'
• Kanye West quashes memecoin launch rumors, says coins 'prey on the fans'
• James’ and Eric Balchunas’ tweet on the odds of crypto ETFs

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Despite the ups and downs of the Ethereum ecosystem, two of its most influential builders—Aave’s Stani Kulechov and Sky’s Rune Christensen—remain bullish.

In this episode, they discuss whether we’re witnessing a DeFi renaissance, the challenges of building on Ethereum vs. Solana, and why DeFi adoption isn’t growing as fast as some expected. They debate stablecoins, whether Solana is truly innovating, and how AI could transform DeFi by automating governance and risk management.

They also respond to some hot takes—including whether Aave is falling behind Solana-based Kamino, and why Sky deployed its USDS stablecoin on Solana despite Rune’s long-standing Ethereum advocacy.

•  02:33 Whether Sky and Aave are experiencing a “DeFi renaissance”
• 11:49 How Stani and Rune are trying to appeal to a simpler audience
• 23:00 Whether developers overlook how easy it is to build DeFi on Ethereum
• 27:40 Why Stani believes there is not a lot of innovation in Solana
• 32:17 What would need to happen for Aave to be in Solana
• 33:27 Why Sky deployed USDS on Solana
• 40:30 Whether the Ethereum ecosystem should be worried about users going to other chains
• 49:19 Why Rune praises Solana’s culture
• 51:38 How USDS’s growth on Base happens organically, contrary to Solana
• 59:35 Why they believe that the combination of AI and DeFi will be so powerful

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Mantle
• RockWallet
• Kelp DAO 

• Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO of Aave
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Stani Kulechov on Why Aave Is So Successful - Unchained
• The Chopping Block w/ Stani Kulechov: Operation Chokepoint 2.0, Ethereum Innovation Push, & Polymarket Whales - Unchained
• 
  
• Rune Christensen, Co-founder of Sky
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Can Maker’s Rune Christensen Fix the Sad State of DAO Governance?
• Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 1: How to Keep a Crypto-Collateralized Stablecoin Afloat
• Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 2: How Dai Stayed at $1 While ETH Crashed From $1,400 to $85 
• The Chopping Block: How to Manage MakerDAO, With Hasu and Rune
• Rune Christensen of MakerDao on Its $15 Million From Andreessen Horowitz
• Why It’s so Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable

• Aave 2030 roadmap
• Alex Svanevik of Nansen tweeted: “When Aave on Solana?” 
• Qiao Wang of Alliance DAO commenting on why he recommends people build on Solana 
• The First Non-EVM Deployment of Aave Protocol: Aave V3 on Aptos - General - Aptos Forum

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Silvergate Bank was once crypto’s most important banking partner, handling billions in deposits from the biggest players in the industry. Then, FTX collapsed—and everything changed.

In this episode of Unchained, Mike Lempres, former chairman of Silvergate, talks about how Silvergate grew into a banking giant for crypto, why Washington suddenly turned against them—even after they survived the FTX crisis, and whether Operation Choke Point 2.0 was real.

Plus, did short sellers and politicians work together to tank Silvergate’s stock? And what does the future look like for banks that want to serve crypto?

This is part of the inside story of one of the biggest banking collapses in crypto history.

• 2:08 How Mike’s background in banking led him to work in crypto
• 4:10 Why banking has always been a challenge for crypto companies
• 5:14 How Silvergate Bank got involved so much with the industry and how it achieved “tremendous growth”
• 8:10 The “magic” of the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN)
• 14:19 Why Mike believes Silvergate’s problem was not banking regulators, but D.C. politics
• 17:49 How everything changed after the FTX collapse
• 24:45 Whether SEN is a valuable asset for a bank to have
• 28:39 Why Mike believes that Operation Choke Point 2.0 is real
• 30:48 Whether short sellers worked with politicians to tank Silvergate
• 34:21 How Mike thinks that banks could service the crypto industry

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• RockWallet
• Somnia Network
• Quai Network
• Mantle

• Mike Lempres, Former Chairman of Silvergate Bank

• Unchained: 
• Why the new FDIC Leadership Isn’t Convinced Operation Chokepoint 2.0 Exists
• Regulators Are Limiting Banks Serving Crypto Clients. Does That Violate the Law?
• Rep. French Hill Says He’d Investigate Operation Choke Point 2.0 as Financial Services Chair
• Are Regulatory Failures to Blame for Crypto Banking Issues?
• Caitlin Long on Why Operation Choke Point 2.0 Has Bankers Nervous
• Ahead of Debanking Hearings, Industry Is Divided on Political Strategy
• Caitlin Long on Why the Fed’s Rejections of Custodia Bank Seem Politically Motivated
• How Will the FTX Collapse Affect Silvergate? A Bear and a Bull Debate

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, we dissect the chaos triggered by Trump’s trade war, which sent Ethereum and alts into freefall while Bitcoin held strong. Why are alts struggling, and is this just a flight to quality—or something deeper? We also dive into the LA Vape Cabal phenomenon and its bizarre influence on memecoin culture, debate whether the SEC’s new leadership is truly a game-changer for crypto, and analyze Binance’s latest scandal. Plus, is the memecoin cycle really over, or is this just another phase in crypto’s endless casino?

Show highlights

🔹 Trump’s Trade War Wrecks Crypto – Ethereum and alts nosedive as Trump’s surprise tariffs shake markets. Is this just macro panic or a deeper shift in investor sentiment?

🔹 Biggest Liquidation Day Ever? – Crypto saw its largest mass liquidation in history, with Bybit’s CEO estimating real losses closer to $8-10 billion—more than the FTX collapse.

🔹 LA Vape Cabal & Memecoin Mania – A bizarre Twitch-fueled trading cult is shaping the memecoin meta. Is this the future of crypto speculation, or just another fleeting grift?

🔹 The Great Altcoin Capitulation – Alts are bleeding while Bitcoin holds strong. Has the market finally given up on everything that isn't BTC?

🔹 Hester Peirce’s Crypto Reset – The SEC’s new approach could rewrite the rules for token issuers. Will the industry finally get the regulatory clarity it’s been begging for?

🔹 Binance Under Fire (Again) – CZ’s former empire faces backlash over insider listings, alleged bribes, and a wave of vaporware projects that tanked after launch.

🔹 Pump.fun = The New NFT Casino? – Memecoin speculation is bigger than 2021’s NFT boom. But is it sustainable, or is the exit liquidity running dry?

🔹 The Memecoin Endgame? – Some claim the bubble has burst, but if history tells us anything, a new wave of degens will always find a way to keep the casino open.

🔹 Bitcoin’s Macro Dominance – BTC’s macro story is unstoppable, with talk of a U.S. sovereign wealth fund investing in Bitcoin. Will the market ever rotate back to alts?

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Hester Peirce’s Blog Post – “The Journey Begins”: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-journey-begins-020425 

David Sacks' Plan for Digital Assets Press Conference:

https://youtu.be/LqTsyTuLSSI 

Timestamps 

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:08 Market Turmoil and Trade Wars
• 07:10 Bitcoin's Dominance & Altcoin Struggles
• 10:33 Memecoins & Market Sentiment
• 25:05 Cultural Phenomena in Crypto
• 33:54 The L.A. Vape Cabal
• 40:45 Millennials and Memecoins
• 44:51 Binance & the Chinese Community
• 50:45 Regulatory Developments in Crypto

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Trump’s new wave of tariffs has reignited the debate: Are they good for the economy or a disaster waiting to happen? Some say tariffs will crush trade, boost inflation, and slow growth—but others argue they could weaken the dollar and send bitcoin soaring.

On this episode of Bits + Bips, Jeff Park of Bitwise, along with James Seyffart, Alex Kruger and Noelle Acheson, battle it out over the real impact of Trump’s tariffs, whether they could spark a new Plaza Accord 2.0, and why ETH took a harder hit than BTC in the latest selloff.

Plus, is Trump’s economic strategy really about making America great again—or just about keeping his own real estate empire afloat? Jeff makes a bold claim outlining Trump’s #1 goal—one that his personal wealth depends on.

• 2:38 - Why Jeff believes that people’s reaction to tariffs was bizarre
• 7:09 - Why Jeff is convinced that tariffs are good for bitcoin
• 10:18 - Why Alex is so against tariffs
• 21:37 - How tariffs actually affect consumers
• 27:36 - What’s Trump’s number one priority is, according to Jeff
• 36:26 - Whether inflation will eventually come back to previous levels
• 41:05 - Why ETH got hit the hardest on Sunday night
• 49:56 - Whether the ETH/BTC ratio has bottomed
• 51:03 - How Hyperliquid’s HYPE held up so strongly
• 53:02 - The significance of Tether adding USDT to the Lightning Network

• James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter 
• Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard

Guest: 

• Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies at Bitwise
• Previous appearance on Bits + Bips: The Real ‘Trump Trade’ & Why Trump's World Liberty Financial Was a Flop

• AP: Canada and Mexico agree with Trump to postpone tariffs by at least 30 days
• Eric Trump on X: "In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH."
• Unchained: 
• USDT Integrates With Bitcoin and Lightning Network
• ETH Crashes After Trump Imposes Tariffs 

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Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

The success of any blockchain isn’t just about scalability, security, or decentralization—it’s about attracting developers. The easier it is to build, the more innovation happens. Or at least, that’s the thesis of Movement Labs co-founder Rushi Manche and Olaf Carlson-Wee, CEO of Polychain Capital.

In this episode of Unchained, Rushi explains why Move, originally developed by Meta, is a fundamentally better programming language for crypto than the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). He breaks down how Move’s unique approach to security and asset management improves developer experience and why the Movement Network is bringing Move to Ethereum as a layer 2 solution.

Olaf shares his thoughts on how alternative programming environments like Move could challenge the dominance of the EVM, why Ethereum is at a critical moment, and how AI-powered financial agents could change how investments work.

• 2:32 What problems Move solves for crypto and how it got started
• 8:57 How the programming language is safer than others, specifically for crypto finance
• 21:00 What’s the thesis behind the Movement network
• 23:12 Why Movement chose to become an Ethereum L2
• 30:08 Where ETH is headed and what it needs to succeed
• 32:25 Why Rushi is so bearish on EVM layer 2s
• 34:59 Whether Ethereum is going through an existential crisis
• 37:47 Why Rushi believes that modularity will save Ethereum
• 39:28 How Movement differs from Aptos and Sui
• 41:36 The importance of developer experience in crypto’s growth
• 44:48 How tokens can signal the significance of content in social media
• 52:04 Why Olaf thinks we’ll soon see an explosive growth of financialized agents
• 57:19 Whether AI will replace VC investors and other jobs
• 1:01:38 What Rushi has to say about the Trump team buying MOVE
• 1:04:09 The significance of the U.S. making crypto a national priority

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Mantle

• Rushi Manche, Co-founder of Movement Labs
• Olaf Carlson-Wee, CEO of Polychain Capital
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• OG Olaf Carlson-Wee on Why His Crypto Thesis Is Stronger Than Ever
• Olaf Carlson-Wee: ‘If There Is a Money-Losing Exploit, the Money Is Gone’ 
• Why The First Employee Of Coinbase Launched A Hedge Fund
• To the Moon and Back With Polychain’s Olaf Carlson-Wee
• Special Episode with CNBC’s Crypto Trader: Olaf Carlson-Wee on Why This Crypto Winter Is Different From Previous Ones
• All Things Cryptoeconomics, Pt. 1, With Olaf Carlson-Wee and Ryan Zurrer of Polychain Capital

• Unchained: 
• Trump’s Crypto Project Bought MOVE Tokens as DOGE News Leaked
• How Solana Beat Out Ethereum to Nab New Crypto Developers in 2024
• Chris Dixon on Why We Will Finally See New App Innovation in Crypto
• 2025 Will Be a Year of Crypto Competition. Can Ethereum Make a Comeback?
• With AI Agents Now Trading Crypto, What Does Their Future Look Like?

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, we dive into Ethereum’s growing identity crisis as frustration mounts over the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership, vision, and sluggish innovation. Is Ethereum losing its edge while Solana, Base, and Tron take over? We also break down the Second Foundation drama, discuss Justin Sun’s wild L2 taxation proposal, and debate whether Ethereum needs a CTO-style overhaul to stay competitive. Plus, Vitalik Buterin’s unexpected embrace of the Milady NFT movement and what Gary Gensler’s exit from the SEC means for the future of crypto regulation.

Show highlights

🔹 Ethereum Civil War? The Ethereum Foundation (EF) faces internal and external backlash as Vitalik defends its “WEF soy boy” ethos. Critics call for leadership changes, faster innovation, and a more aggressive growth strategy.

🔹 Second Foundation Fakeout: Rumors spread that Lido’s founder was launching a rival EF, briefly pumping ETH before being debunked. The buzz reignites calls for governance changes.

🔹 L2 Taxation Debate: Justin Sun proposes a 5B ETH tariff on rollups to fund buybacks, sparking debates on Ethereum’s fragmented ecosystem and lack of value accrual.

🔹 Vitalik Goes Milady: Ethereum’s co-founder embraces the Milady NFT subculture, changes his profile pic, and adopts the meme’s signature sign-off, fueling speculation about crypto’s shifting cultural landscape.

🔹 Ethereum’s Identity Crisis: With Solana, Base, and Tron dominating user adoption, is Ethereum too slow and academic to compete? Calls for an Ethereum “CTO” or more centralized execution grow louder.

🔹 Gensler’s Next Move: Gary Gensler exits the SEC and returns to MIT to teach AI & finance. Crypto celebrates his departure, while an AI-generated rap video mocks his legacy.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Hayden Adam’s Tweet: 

https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/1884134669265891433

Justin Sun’s EF Plan Tweet:

https://x.com/justinsuntron/status/1881999625990836229 

Scaling Ethereum L1 and L2s in 2025 and Beyond by Vitalik Buterin:

https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/01/23/l1l2future.html 

Zen and the Art of Shifting Mindsets in Technology: Aya Miyaguchi interview in Wired Magazine:

https://wired.jp/article/the-next-innovators-4-aya-miyaguchi-en/ 

Timestamps 

00:00 Intro

01:47 Ethereum Foundation's Civil War

05:53 The Bronze Age Mentality

07:32 Community Criticism and Governance

10:03 Vitalik's New Persona: Embracing Milady

14:33 Future of Ethereum and L2s

37:39 L1 vs L2: Do People Really Care?

42:12 Ethereum's Strategy and Colonialism Analogy

46:10 The Role of the Ethereum Foundation

58:34 Gary Gensler's Move to MIT and His Legacy

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The kidnapping of Ledger co-founder David Balland in France sent shockwaves through the crypto community, raising urgent questions about security for high-profile crypto holders. How do you protect yourself when criminals are willing to go beyond digital attacks and resort to violence?

In this episode of Unchained, Jameson Lopp, co-founder and Chief Security Officer of Casa, speaks about the growing trend of “wrench attacks”—physical assaults aimed at forcing crypto holders to transfer their assets. Lopp explains how these attacks are evolving, what makes someone a target, and which geographies are seeing the most attacks.

Plus, he shares what behaviors put you most at risk, how criminals are getting more organized, and why relying on exchanges for security is not as safe as you think. 

If you hold significant crypto wealth, this is an episode you can’t afford to miss.

• 2:02 How a Ledger co-founder was kidnapped and how the situation was resolved
• 6:46 Who tends to be targeted and which geographies see the most physical attacks
• 14:15 The riskiest behaviors that are likely to lead to wrench attacks
• 16:01 How attackers decide who to target 
• 20:37 How the attacks have been accelerating lately 
• 22:16 How the Ledger team ensured the kidnappers couldn’t access the ransom money 
• 23:44 Jameson’s top tips on how crypto holders can stay safe
• 29:30 News Recap

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

• Mantle
• Polkadot
• Quai Network

•  Jameson Lopp, co-founder and Chief Security Officer of Casa

• Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto security:
• Here’s How to Protect Your Crypto and Seed Phrases From Natural Disasters
• Reuters: Kidnapped co-founder of French crypto firm Ledger had his hand mutilated

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