Crypto insiders debate the Ethereum Foundation’s new “CROPS” mandate: is the EF losing touch with builders, why does Solana keep pulling startups away, and what will it actually take for Ethereum to stay ahead? Expect a candid conversation on governance, comms, and crypto culture wars. 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. This week we’ve got plenty of firepower with special guest...
Mar 19, 2026•1 hr 11 min
Ram is bearish on equities, oil is keeping the Fed frozen, and Bitcoin is holding up anyway. The hosts debate whether crypto has bottomed or whether worse is still ahead. --- Thanks to our sponsor, Nexo! ---- Three weeks into the Iran conflict, oil is keeping inflation elevated, rate cuts are getting pushed out, and hedge funds are being forced to sell good names just to reduce exposure. So why is Bitcoin holding up? Ram sees a market on the right shoulder of a bubble, with industrials like Cate...
Mar 18, 2026•1 hr 2 min
For the first time in a geopolitical crisis, bitcoin held its ground while safe havens faltered. But can it keep holding if the VIX moves from yellow to red? --- Bits + Bips is spreading its wings Starting soon , new episodes will only be published on our brand‑new feeds. What you need to do: Click the links below. YouTube Apple Spotify X Smash Follow or Subscribe. 🎉 Done. --- The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Oil is past $100 a barrel. The traditional safe haven playbook, from treasuries...
Mar 16, 2026•49 min
Sid Powell and Paul Frambot on why Apollo, Cantor, and Coinbase are quietly building their financial products on DeFi rails, and what it means for lending. Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at nexo.com/unchained Onchain lending used to be a crypto-native curiosity. Now Cantor Fitzgerald is extending credit facilitie...
Mar 13, 2026•1 hr 13 min
The crew digs into Hyperliquid's phenomenal rise. How did the perp DEX become TradFi's 24/7 casino? Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Hyperliquid is having its mainstream moment like Polymarket in 2024 and OpenSea in 2021. Amid the U.S.’s war on Iran, the platform has become a popular venue for speculators to express their market opinions. Uneasy Mon...
Mar 12, 2026•1 hr
The crew discusses whether prediction markets enable “Bloomberg terminal espionage,,” wonder how to regulate markets that could be on anything, dive into why the OCC is saying no to stablecoin yield and more. The SEC has submitted guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto to the White House. DEX in the City hosts Jessi Brooks, Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos and TuongVy Le dig into what the proposal could mean for the crypto industry and whether it could be enough to provide developers regulator...
Mar 12, 2026•53 min
Crypto OG Erik Voorhees joins The Chopping Block crew to dissect the future of agentic payments, the eternal war for privacy, memecoin-fueled AI drama on Moltbook, and why your next DeFi user might just be your OpenClaw agent—plus, a candid look at crypto's core and how AI turns software engineering existential. 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. This week, we’re joined by none...
Mar 12, 2026•1 hr 1 min
A U.S. Army Major-General on what markets got wrong about Iran, whether the Strait was ever really at risk, and what the new U.S. strike doctrine signals to China. --- Bits + Bips is spreading its wings Starting soon , new episodes will only be published on our brand‑new feeds. Here’s what you need to do: Click the links below. YouTube Apple Spotify X Smash Follow or Subscribe. 🎉 Done. ---- Oil briefly traded above $119 a barrel. Iran threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, the...
Mar 11, 2026•55 min
Rob Hadick and Gracy Chen dig into Bitget's universal exchange shift as more crypto exchanges look to become an “everything app.” Plus, Gracy lets slip details of U.S. plans and how it ties to its transfer of BGB ownership. Bits + Bips is spreading its wings Starting soon , new episodes will only be published on our brand‑new feeds. What you need to do: Click the links below. YouTube Apple Spotify X Smash Follow or Subscribe. 🎉 Done. Bitget since September has said it is much more than ...
Mar 10, 2026•1 hr 7 min
Joseph Chalom and Danny Ryan discuss the institutional outlook on Ethereum and why it is “the only game in town.” Bits + Bips is spreading its wings Starting soon , new episodes will only be published on our brand‑new feeds. What you need to do: Click the links below. YouTube Apple Spotify X Smash Follow or Subscribe. 🎉 Done. The institutions are here and they may have already picked their preferred blockchain. Sharplink Gaming CEO Joseph Chalom and Etherealize co-founder Danny Ryan discuss the...
Mar 07, 2026•54 min
The Aave DAO collapsed — but might that be good for Aave? (But bad for the token?) Plus, how the feud between the U.S. government and Anthropic helped the AI company. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need The Aave civil war appears to be at an end with key members of the DAO rage quitting and leaving Aave Labs standing as the sole protocol contributor. Uneas...
Mar 06, 2026•1 hr 16 min
Analysts Will Clemente, Joe Vezzani and Marcus Wu share their Bitcoin outlook amidst war. Plus, Will shares his thesis on Gen Z’s future, and Marcus previews his Bitcoin game theory model. Thank you to our sponsors! Nexo Crypto Tax Girl Bitcoin's price has largely held steady despite President Donald Trump's escalation of hostilities with Iran. Is this the bottom signal the market has been waiting for? STIX investments chief Will Clemente, LunarCrush co-founder Joe Vezzani and Delphi Digital...
Mar 06, 2026•1 hr 8 min
The crew discusses whether prediction markets enable “Bloomberg terminal espionage,,” wonder how to regulate markets that could be on anything, dive into why the OCC is saying no to stablecoin yield and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network Prediction markets are in the spotlight again. On one hand adoption appears to be growing as the Nasdaq has announced plans of entering the space. On the other hand, they scrutinize markets that pose a national security risk. In this D...
Mar 05, 2026•54 min
Crypto’s vibe check time: Jez (izebel_eth) joins the crew to dissect whether idealism is RIP, if cypherpunks should abandon hope, how Memecoins and asset mayhem changed the game, why prediction markets are both truth engines and regulatory minefields, and where real permissionless finance is actually winning in the middle of global chaos. 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. This...
Mar 05, 2026•1 hr
A major war broke out in the Middle East, but Bitcoin didn’t break. One veteran investor says that price action reveals something important about where crypto stands today. --- Bits + Bips is spreading its wings Starting soon , new episodes will only be published on our brand‑new feeds. What you need to do: Click the links below. YouTube Apple Spotify X Smash Follow or Subscribe. 🎉 Done. --- The U.S. and Israel have struck Iran, killing Ayatollah Khamenei, and markets are still calibrating. Oil...
Mar 04, 2026•57 min
US and Israeli strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader and initially rattled markets. But does the subsequent market calm reflect genuine resilience or a dangerous underpricing of what comes next? --- Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at nexo.com/unchained Bits + Bips is spreading its wings Starting soon , new episodes...
Mar 04, 2026•59 min
A former Clinton and Biden foreign policy advisor saw it before it happened. Now the question is what investors do next. Hours after this episode was recorded, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated military campaign against Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in what analysts are calling the most significant U.S.-Iran escalation in decades. Charles Myers, Founder and CEO of Signum Global Advisors and a former senior foreign policy advisor to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, had just...
Mar 02, 2026•41 min
MegaETH's Namik Muduroglu joins the Uneasy Money crew to discuss how the industry can fix token incentives, the continued escalation of the Aave civil war and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Crypto Tax Girl An article from Boost CEO Brian Flynn sparks conversation about whether tokens are dead. The Aave civil war continues to escalate. China is tr...
Feb 28, 2026•1 hr 13 min
Tushar Jain and Mike Ippolito make the bull case for Solana as competition heats up. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors – The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Crypto Tax Girl – Save $100 on your crypto taxes. With Ethereum refocusing on L1 and Hyperliquid adoption growing, Solana is arguably facing stronger competition than ever. Can it thrive still? Multicoin co-founder Tushar Jain and Blockworks co-foun...
Feb 27, 2026•1 hr 24 min
Robinhood's Coy Garrison and Seong Seog Lee join the crew to unpack the Robinhood Chain launch strategy. Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors Robinhood's proposed chain for the trading of tokenized assets is live in testnet. In this DEX in the City episode, Coy Garrison, Robinhood's deputy general counsel on crypto, and Robinhood Crypto Head of Product Seong Seog Lee walk hosts Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos and Jessi Brooks through the thinking behind the blockchain's testnet launch and ...
Feb 27, 2026•58 min
Explore how AI could reshape crypto and finance, redefining traditional systems and introducing new threats. As AI-powered agents promise efficiency, Haseeb, Tom, Tarun, and guest Illia Polosukhin critique Citrini's controversial predictions on a global financial crisis and consider whether AI might just save or further complicate crypto's role in the economy. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the ...
Feb 27, 2026•1 hr 1 min
DATs may be collapsing, AI agents may be overhyped, but Omid Malekan thinks the strongest case for crypto has nothing to do with either. Thank you to our sponsors: Fuse: The Energy Network Bitcoin is below $63,000, digital asset treasuries are under pressure, and the debate over whether crypto markets are bottoming or breaking down is splitting the hosts. Ram is skeptical of institutional demand when he looks at the 13F data from institutions filing SEC reports. Chris is on the phone with in...
Feb 26, 2026•1 hr 8 min
Jansen Teng announces Virtuals’ new humanoid robotics accelerator. Is this the next frontier for the AI agent meta? Thank you to our sponsors! Figure Crypto Tax Girl Virtuals Protocol has announced the launch of Eastworld Labs, an AI accelerator to make it easier for builders to deploy humanoid robots. Virtuals Protocol co-founder Jansen Teng unpacks the idea behind the program, how it would work and what it hopes to achieve. He also addresses questions about how to prevent d...
Feb 23, 2026•1 hr 5 min
Matt Corallo says “the community that exists at the time” will make decisions on how Bitcoin deals with the threat of quantum computing. Thank you to our sponsors! Figure Crypto Tax Girl Fuse: The Energy Network When it comes to the quantum computing threat to crypto, the focus is often on Bitcoin and for good reason. The blockchain lacks a defined governance structure and the vulnerability around Satoshi's and other abandoned and lost coins is far greater than on any other chain. Fu...
Feb 22, 2026•1 hr 18 min
LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino joins to unpack Base's decision to leave the OP Stack, Zora's migration to Solana and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Coinbase's Base is making a shock move away from Optimism's OP Stack. In this Uneasy Money episode, LayerZero Labs CEO Bryan Pellegrino joins hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan to unpack whether this is the ...
Feb 20, 2026•1 hr 24 min
Stani Kulechov unpacks Aave Labs’ “Aave Will Win” proposal, explaining why the company wants the DAO to have power over its finances. Thank you to our sponsors! Adaptive Security Aave Labs has proposed a “Aave Will Win” framework that will direct all revenue to the DAO to bring the protocol under “a token-centric model.” In this episode, Aave founder Stani Kulechov explains why Aave Labs is putting its funding at the mercy of the DAO and how the framework could drive DeFi innovation. Plus wen Aa...
Feb 20, 2026•58 min
Dragonfly raises a $650M Fund IV amid crypto's institutional vs retail sentiment gap, the industry exodus including Kyle Samani's departure from Multicoin, OpenClaw's OpenAI acquisition and crypto Twitter harassment, X402 payment standards for AI agents, Polymarket's controversial 5-minute Bitcoin betting markets, and the brewing federal vs state regulation battle over prediction markets. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert ...
Feb 19, 2026•55 min
The crew tackles everything from the CFTC's controversial stance on prediction markets to the real-world impacts of rising crypto crime. Thank you to our sponsors! Figure is giving away $25,000 in USDC. Deposit into Democratized Prime, earn ~9% APY hourly—and every $1 you keep in for 25 days is 1 entry. Enter here Adaptive Security : As AI makes deception easier, security gets harder. Adaptive runs deepfake and phishing simulations so your team can train for real-world threats. Explore more The ...
Feb 19, 2026•53 min
The Mag 7 have committed over $700 billion to AI infrastructure, but the companies building the models may never capture the value. Thank you to our sponsors: Adaptive Security Fuse: The Energy Network The BLS just quietly revised away 862,000 jobs, and real-time inflation trackers now peg price growth below 1%, less than half of what official figures report. If the Fed is steering monetary policy with stale data, investors need to ask what else the models are getting wrong. At the same time, th...
Feb 18, 2026•1 hr 7 min
The crew unpacks BlackRock buying UNI, ARK, Citadel, DTCC, the Intercontinental Exchange and other TradFi players backing Zero, , Vitalik's thoughts on AI, and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network MultiChain Advisors Crypto Tax Girl AI safety chiefs are leaving, BlackRock's launching on Uniswap and buying UNI, LayerZero launches “the last blockchain” with institutional backing, Kaito is launching attention markets, Base is abandoning social and Vitalik has some thoughts on A...
Feb 16, 2026•1 hr 13 min
