Stablecoins are no longer a niche crypto curiosity—they're a full-blown financial revolution. In this episode, Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly, joins us to unpack the emerging stablecoin tech stack and why cross-border payments, savings, and financial infrastructure are being rebuilt from the ground up. From Circle and Tether to next-gen orchestration layers and stablecoin-native blockchains, we explore why this $200 trillion global opportunity is only 5% unlocked—and who stands to win ...
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 5 min
This week, Haseeb Qureshi joins us to break down Trump’s explosive new tariffs that rocked global markets and triggered a full-blown trade war with China. Stocks whipsawed, recession odds spiked, and the world scrambled to the negotiation table — except China. Was it 3D chess or policy chaos? Plus, we explore the ripple effects on crypto markets, investor sentiment, and what this all means for the future of U.S. economic leadership. It's a jam-packed Weekly Rollup you don't want to miss. Follow ...
Apr 11, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Welcome to the AI Rollup, your weekly ride through the fast-paced world of artificial intelligence! This week, we’re joined by frontier tech enthusiast Josh Kale to unpack the drama around Meta’s controversial launch of Llama 4, scrutinized for potentially overstating its capabilities. We dive into “AI 2027,” a provocative roadmap predicting espionage, geopolitical turmoil, and runaway intelligence, and explore Shopify’s bold move making AI usage mandatory for employees. Plus, we cover Claude Ed...
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 13 min
We’ve got the team behind Etherealize on the show today—Vivek Raman and Danny Ryan—to discuss their mission to onboard institutions, governments, and capital markets to Ethereum. We explore how Ethereum is “open for business” with L2 scaling, modular architecture, and a maturing regulatory landscape. The Etherealize team breaks down their dual structure—a for-profit consulting and product arm alongside a nonprofit focused on R&D and policy—to drive institutional adoption. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PR...
Apr 07, 2025•59 min
This week, Alex Thorn joins us to unpack Trump's shocking tariff announcement that sent markets plunging and investors scrambling. Circle files for its IPO, revealing surprising financials, while the FDIC gives banks the crypto green light. CoreWeave debuts with a blockbuster IPO, and Eric Trump dives deeper into Bitcoin mining. We cover all this chaos and more in this week’s Weekly Rollup. Follow Alex on X & check out his Galaxy Brains podcast: https://x.com/intangiblecoins https://www.gala...
Apr 03, 2025•1 hr 6 min
AI heats up, markets shake, and the internet gets Ghbilified. OpenAI hits 1M users in 60 minutes, CoreWeave IPO rocks NASDAQ, and XAI acquires X. A new “world’s best” model quietly drops—did Google just take the lead? Cursor raises at a $9.6B valuation as “vibecoding” enters the mainstream. Welcome back to another week of the AI Rollup. ------ 📣CRYPTO TAX CALCULATOR | TAXES MADE EASY https://bankless.cc/Cryptotaxcalculator ------ 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP ...
Apr 03, 2025•1 hr 8 min
Felipe Montealegre, co-founder of Thea Capital, joins us to unpack a new vision for global finance—what he calls the Internet Financial System. Felipe makes the case that today's financial world still runs on siloed, permissioned databases—slow, expensive, and riddled with gatekeepers. But blockchains and smart contracts offer something radically different: a unified, open system where capital can move efficiently across borders and property rights are stronger than ever. This episod...
Apr 02, 2025
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev returns to Bankless for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of tokenization, crypto regulation, and Robinhood’s evolving product suite. Vlad lays out a bold vision for bringing tokenized assets like SpaceX and OpenAI equity to retail investors, discusses the role of prediction markets as "truth machines," and introduces Robinhood's latest products: Strategies, Cortex, and Banking. This one’s a big glimpse into where TradFi and DeFi collide. ------ 📣SPO...
Mar 31, 2025•57 min
This week, Mike Ippolito joins us to break down crypto’s big flip as institutions rush into stablecoins—triggering excitement and anxiety alike. Hyperliquid faces drama after a high-stakes market manipulation attack, BlackRock's tokenized treasuries surge to nearly $2 billion, and the U.S. Treasury finally removes Tornado Cash from its sanctions list. Meanwhile, Robinhood enters banking, raising questions about DeFi’s future. We dive into all of this and so much more. Follow Mike on X & Chec...
Mar 28, 2025
Alon, co-founder of Pump.Fun, joins us to discuss the meteoric rise of their token launchpad platform, the controversial yet impactful role of memecoins in crypto, and the vision behind their newest product, PumpSwap. We dive deep into the cultural influence, sustainability mechanisms, and future possibilities for the memecoin launchpad ecosystem. Alon on X: https://x.com/a1lon9 ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TO...
Mar 25, 2025
We’re joined by Tim Beiko, Ethereum Foundation coordinator, to break down Ethereum’s next major upgrades and the future of scaling. We explore the upcoming Petra hard fork, which introduces validator consolidation, increased blob space for rollups, and EIP-7702 for improved account abstraction. Tim also shares insights on Fusaka and Glacier Dam, Ethereum’s roadmap for scaling, and how Ethereum’s upgrade process is becoming more efficient. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 h...
Mar 24, 2025
This week, Anthony Sassano joins us to unpack Solana’s most controversial governance vote yet, Ethereum’s major leadership overhaul, and crypto markets wrestling with macro chaos despite promising policy shifts. Kraken makes waves with a massive $1.5B acquisition—but will it move the needle? We dive into all of this and so much more. Follow Anthony on X: https://x.com/sassal0x ------ 📣 RONIN WALLET | YOUR WEB3 GAMING ECOSYSTEM https://bankless.cc/Ronin_Wallet ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS...
Mar 21, 2025
This week on the AI Rollup, we’re diving into hyper-realistic AI-generated podcast hosts, showcasing Hedera Studio’s cutting-edge character tech. Google drops Gemini 2.0 Flash, making AI image generation even more powerful with improved consistency and text integration. Meanwhile, China is pushing hard—Baidu’s latest model beats GPT-4.5 at half the cost, challenging OpenAI’s dominance. Plus, Sesame open-sources its voice model, and the crypto AI market sees brutal drawdowns. Despite the turbulen...
Mar 20, 2025
Native Rollups are the next big step toward scaling Ethereum securely. In this episode, Uma Roy (CEO of Succinct) and Justin Drake (Ethereum Foundation researcher) break down what Native Rollups are, how they leverage Ethereum’s core infrastructure for execution and validation, and why they're crucial for stronger security, better composability, and sustainable Ethereum growth. Tune in to understand the evolution of Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap and how Native Rollups could become a foundati...
Mar 17, 2025
This week, the U.S. establishes its long-awaited Strategic Bitcoin Reserve yet the charts barely move and questions remain about altcoins like ADA, XRP, and SOL. A high-profile White House Digital Summit draws big names but yields few concrete regulatory wins. Meanwhile, HyperLiquid got exploited? Not quite but we'll get into that this week and so much more. Follow Jordi on X: https://x.com/gametheorizing ------ 📣 RONIN WALLET | YOUR WEB3 GAMING ECOSYSTEM https://bankless.cc/Ronin_Wallet ------...
Mar 14, 2025
In this episode, we break down China's latest AI breakthrough—the Manus agent—and how it's shaking up the AI race. We discuss Alibaba's powerful, compact new AI model, the rise of autonomous coding agents, and Microsoft's shifting relationship with OpenAI. Plus, we explore how AI agents like Grok are starting to impact crypto markets. ------ 📣RONIN WALLET | DOWNLOAD NOW https://bankless.cc/Ronin_Wallet ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISW...
Mar 13, 2025
AI isn't just growing—it's skyrocketing us into an unprecedented era of hyper-acceleration. Josh Kale joins us to explore how breakthroughs in intelligence, from protein sequencing and synthetic biology to autonomous transportation and energy abundance, are reshaping our world at dizzying speeds. Prepare for a future that's closer than you think, where the cost of intelligence approaches zero and possibilities become boundless. ------ 📣BECOME A BANKLESS CITIZEN https://bankless.cc/JoinToday ---...
Mar 10, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Joining the Weekly Rollup this week is Haseeb Qureshi, dissecting Trump's controversial Crypto Strategic Reserve announcement featuring Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and Ripple—causing an initial market surge and a swift reversal. They unpack Sam Bankman-Fried's candid prison interview with Tucker Carlson, revealing a stark divide between human empathy and detached pragmatism. Plus, Trump's erratic tariff policies are rattling macro markets; is it strategic or simply chaotic? Finally, they...
Mar 07, 2025•1 hr 17 min
In this episode, we kick off with jaw-dropping scenes of home robots that aren’t just putting groceries away, they’re taking the fight to you, echoing the dark vibes of i-Robot. Next, we unravel a crazy demo where encrypted agents develop their own language, and break down Google’s game-changing agent swarm that’s setting new research standards. We also explore Claude’s innovative new model and code that transforms complex problem-solving, plus Anthropic’s record-shattering $3.5B raise. And that...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Is Trump trying to wreck the economy, or is he just ripping off the Band-Aid? Macro expert Jim Bianco breaks down Trump's economic strategy—tariffs, tax cuts, and shifting focus from the stock market to the 10-year Treasury yield. We discuss the potential risks of short-term pain, the surprising Crypto Strategic Reserve, and whether this shift could lead to long-term economic stability. Is this the start of a recession or a necessary correction? Tune in for Jim’s expert take. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PR...
Mar 05, 2025•1 hr 5 min
The AI arms race is on, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Bankless podcast producer Josh Kale breaks down which players are poised to dominate this next industrial revolution. From the transformative power of AI across industries to the geopolitical and economic implications, we explore the critical dynamics shaping our technological future—and what this means for investors, builders, and society at large. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premi...
Mar 03, 2025•1 hr 24 min
Joining us this week is Alex Thorn to break down why crypto markets are taking a hit. Major hacks, bearish macro signals, and fresh tariffs from the U.S. all played a role. But it’s not all bad news: the SEC is backing off from lawsuits against Coinbase, OpenSea, and Uniswap, signaling a potential shift in regulatory pressure. Plus, Bybit suffered the biggest crypto hack ever, losing $1.5B—how did it happen, and who’s behind it? Follow Alex: https://x.com/intangiblecoins ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM...
Feb 28, 2025•1 hr 18 min
📣RESERVE | INVEST IN CRYPTO NARRATIVES https://bankless.cc/reserve ------ Tom Shaughnessy from Delphi joins us to break down the AI x crypto space—where the value is, how to spot winning models, and why Silicon Valley AI and crypto AI are taking very different approaches. We also get into agent-based research, the fracturing of frontier models, and… a birthday surprise at the end. ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN ...
Feb 27, 2025•55 min
Ben Cowen, founder of Into the Cryptoverse, breaks down why the current crypto cycle feels different from past ones. We explore the Advanced Decline Index and how it reveals why Bitcoin is thriving while most altcoins struggle. Ben also discusses the impact of quantitative tightening, the ETH/BTC ratio, and why meme coin speculation is distorting market dynamics. A must-listen for anyone navigating crypto’s shifting landscape and seeking deeper market insights! ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED ...
Feb 24, 2025•56 min
This week’s Weekly Rollup, David and Kain Warwick dive into Argentine President Milei’s LIBRA fiasco and Strategy’s bold $2B Bitcoin play, while we check out the new Kaito airdrop making waves. We also explore Ethereum’s biggest upgrade yet—Pectra—plus Monad’s high‐speed L1 testnet launch. Finally, we dig into the SEC’s fresh “CETU” cyber unit and what the brand‐new Infinex platform means for DeFi. Tune in for all the drama and alpha happening in the third week of February! ------ 📣RESERVE | IN...
Feb 21, 2025•1 hr 17 min
Ejaaz and David are back this week with a new frontier model to dissect. With the release of Grok 3, xAI is now a real competitor to companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. Joining this news cycle is Kaito, set to launch it's airdrop and it turns out Ejaaz is... a top yapper? Meanwhile, David tried to get a date with an AI agent and a Kardashian is quote tweeting Virtuals, it's been a weird week. ------ 📣 RESERVE | INVEST IN CRYPTO NARRATIVES https://bankless.cc/reserve ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOO...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 11 min
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce discusses her new role as head of the SEC Crypto Task Force and its impact on crypto regulation. We explore the repeal of SAB 121, how the task force aims to bring clarity to token issuances, and potential pathways for retroactive relief for crypto projects. Peirce also shares insights on SEC-CFTC collaboration, no-action letters, and her approach to prioritizing key industry issues. A must-listen for understanding the future of crypto regulation and policy shifts ...
Feb 17, 2025•51 min
This week’s Weekly Rollup covers Trump’s clash with the Fed over interest rates and the surprising crypto moves from Trump Media. Gauntlet’s Tarun Chitra joins us to unpack the latest developments—from OpenSea’s upcoming airdrop to Arbitrum’s permissionless fault proofs—while we debate whether airdrops are truly over. We also dig into Vitalik’s “communist” joke and Dave Portnoy’s memecoin mania. Tune in for all the drama and alpha happening in the second week of February! ------ 📣 MORPHO | GO-T...
Feb 14, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Ejaaz and David reunite to dissect the AI Crypto sector’s rebound from a 70% crash, fueled by Elon’s rumored $97B OpenAI bid and the relentless rise of open-source devs being heads down. They explore how tokens might be the most accessible path to AI exposure, why ARC’s curated launchpad could elevate agent quality, and what Virtuals’ move onto Solana means for cross-chain expansion. Meanwhile, X (Twitter) embraces a new wave of AI agents, and AI16z reorganizes to stay competitive. Is this the t...
Feb 13, 2025•1 hr 10 min
In this episode, we speak with Smokey the Bera, co-founder of Berachain, about the project’s newly launched mainnet and its innovative Proof of Liquidity model. The discussion unpacks Berachain’s unique three-way relationship between its app layer, validators, and a nontransferable governance token that reimagines traditional proof of stake systems. Smokey explores both the potential benefits and the challenges of this economic experiment as it seeks to reshape blockchain economics. We also spot...
Feb 12, 2025•56 min
