
The Chopping Block
@_choppingblock • 7,497 subscribers
Exploring today's crypto topics through the perspective of industry insiders @hosseeb, @rleshner, @tarunchitra & @tomhschmidt! 🤝 Streaming via @Unchained_pod
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"Ethereum is for boomers, but boomers hold the bag." David Hoffman and max reznik confess why they left, who's really running the show at the EF, and if ETH's just Microsoft. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 03:12 Why David Sold ETH 05:26 ETH Momentum and Value Capture 07:38 Ethereum Foundation Shakeups 10:18 Max on Tech and Identity Crisis 15:57 Talent Drain and New Blood 19:29 Strong vs Weak Crypto Debate 25:28 Ethereum as Microsoft 30:02 Second Foundation Idea 35:43 Microsoft Era Ethereum 38:20 EF Money Runs Out 42:02 Utility Asset Narrative 46:07 Etherealize Enterprise Push 48:04 Bitcoin Has Saylor 53:32 Ethereum Narrative Whiplash 55:51 Solana As The Yang 58:15 Post Quantum Solana Roadmap 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block119,807 Aufrufe • vor 7 Tagen

The banks showed up late to the yield fight. CME is trying to box out Hyperliquid. Prediction markets might end up at the Supreme Court. And Tarun still doesn't care about regulation. The regulation bonanza episode with Rebecca Rettig ⤵️ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:10 The CLARITY Act: Banks vs Crypto 05:21 The "Do Stuff Yield" Compromise 07:18 The Compromise: Transaction-Based Rewards 10:22 Presidential Ethics: The Last Sticking Point 12:26 What Actually Changes If CLARITY Passes? 16:01 Token Founders: What Do You Have to Do? 18:41 Developer Protection & DeFi Activity 20:15 CME & ICE Lobbying Against Hyperliquid 26:05 On-Chain Finance vs DeFi 29:57 Who Wins US Regulated Perps? 34:39 ETF Options vs Crypto Perps 40:24 What Hyperliquid Means for Investment Banking 44:50 Retail IPO Participation & Dynamic Share Counts 49:25 Prediction Markets: Kalshi & Polymarket vs the States 51:40 Supreme Court Showdown: CFTC vs State Gaming Laws 58:30 Economic Impact Test 01:01:47 Tokenized Securities & the SEC Innovation Exemption 01:06:41 Do Issuers Actually Care About Tokenization? 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block82,297 Aufrufe • vor 14 Tagen

"Quantum is Justin Drake's last masterful gambit. He's sacking the queen." "It just doesn't make any sense what he's saying." "They've been working on it for five years and you look at the thing —" "Were you high when you came up with this?" – Max Resnick
The Chopping Block21,913 Aufrufe • vor 6 Tagen

Canton: enterprise blockchain or just TradFi LARPing? Meanwhile, open source drama keeps spiraling, AI is winning, humans are coping, and Ethereum is having their typical existential crisis. And yes, wishful_cynic is absolutely cheering Ethereum on. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:07 ZKsync vs. Canton: What Counts as a Real Blockchain? 04:44 Evgeny’s Canton Critique: DRW, Privacy, and ZK Skepticism 09:37 Gating, Auditability, and Whether Canton Is Just a Ledger 14:38 Openness, Verifiability, and the Return of Enterprise Blockchain 23:01 Ethereum’s Cypherpunk Crossroads 31:04 Stablecoins, Fork Governance, and the Linux Analogy 41:09 Drift Hack, AI Security, and the Future of Open Source 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block133,744 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten

We break down why everyone blames “Q Day” for unloading their bags, how Satoshi’s coins are the ultimate market panic button, and why the real stablecoin wars are happening while the WLFI drama makes us question our industry choices. Episode feat. Joshua Lim Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:23 Market Signals For Quantum Risk 09:31 Institutional Fears & Demand 14:02 Quantum As Performative Narrative 18:21 Orderly Post Quantum Migration 22:43 Why Hacking Satoshi Seems Unlikely 27:51 Drift Hack & Recovery Package 31:44 Circle Freeze Debate 35:17 Principles vs. Pragmatism On Freezes 46:06 World Liberty Financial Drama 58:11 Political Fallout Ahead 01:01:20 Is Crypto VC Dead 01:07:35 Utility Company Debate 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block56,516 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

DeFi drama in 3 acts: North Korea exploits a one-validation bridge, Aave gets stiffed on loan repayments, and Arbitrum "reverse-hacks" their own chain. The only constant? We all hate North Korea & everyone's blaming everyone else. Episode feat. monetsupply.eth Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:38 Kelp DAO Hack Explained 06:22 Bad Debt Blame Game 09:43 Arbitrum reverse-hack 11:20 Tom on Liability Norms 17:42 Monet on Who Pays 24:03 Tarun on L2 Waterfalls 33:00 Bridge Risks 36:32 Haircuts and Secondary Markets 39:03 Arbitrum ETH Recovery Debate 46:47 Different Rollups Different Values 53:00 Remediation Rate Limits 58:03 Peg Risk & Collateral Choice 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block49,755 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

Crypto was cypherpunk. Now we're stuck in a never-ending "financial nihilism" era. Is this our dystopia... or are we just coping? Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:07 jez (equity perps era) x Tarun Lore 03:24 Cynicism & Rug Culture 09:00 Back To Cypherpunk Roots? 14:37 Compromises & Reality 23:36 Intermediaries Coexist 25:23 Gates Closing Fears 28:10 Stablecoins & Policy 29:24 Agents As Middlemen 30:28 Microfinance to DeFi Agents 31:57 Open Source AI and Crypto Control 32:41 Iran War DeFi Price Discovery 33:57 Why Perps Beat TradFi 37:21 Kalshi vs Polymarket Dispute 44:31 Are Prediction Markets Just Toys? 50:50 Insider Trading Crackdown 54:15 Adverse Selection and Market Design 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block75,334 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

Jeff built an empire with no KPIs, no team page, no VC deck. This week, we pulled jeff.hl out of the shadows! Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:51 Hyperliquid's Market Dominance 05:14 The Philosophy Behind Hyperliquid's Success 07:44 Challenges with Decentralized Exchanges 09:34 Metrics and Success in Hyperliquid 12:59 Addressing Market Dynamics and User Types 22:50 Competitive Pressures and System Resilience 25:28 Exploring Hyperliquid's Future and HIP 3 36:08 Complexity in Zero-Day Options 38:40 Perps vs. Options 41:24 The Role of User Interfaces in Trading 45:08 Crypto SPACs and Market Trends 57:21 The Genius Act and Market Reactions 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block240,581 Aufrufe • vor 11 Monaten

Tom Lee = ETH’s CMO Plasma = Berachain-for-stablecoins Prediction markets = media now New episode from Token2049 feat. Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com & Arthur Hayes Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:15 Token 2049 Reflections 03:55 Tom Lee's Role in Ethereum 08:04 Challenges & Future of DATs 13:09 Plasma: Berachain-for-stablecoins 20:06 Perp DEX Wars & Hyperliquid 24:26 Fee Compression 29:59 Kalshi vs. Polymarket 39:52 Zcash & Privacy Coins 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block155,390 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

Ethereum Foundation dropped another vibes manifesto, so naturally the industry is beefing over whether EF is building a “sanctuary for rebels” or just LARPing as crypto monks. Spoiler: nobody changed anyone’s mind, but we did get some group therapy. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:51 EF Mandate Explained 03:23 Pragmatists vs. Cypherpunks 05:13 Tay 💖’s Middle Ground 08:54 David Hoffman Reads Between Lines 13:51 Tom & Tarun Push Back 18:20 EF Factions & Solana Shadow 24:13 Does Ethereum Want Growth 31:01 Virtue Signaling 35:35 Where to Build Now 39:16 Solana Support vs Ethereum Stability 42:12 EF Promotion & Builder Support 47:54 Goldilocks Time Horizons 51:10 Ethereum Soul and Body 56:03 Does EF Leadership Matter? 01:02:45 Stewardship and Market Failures 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block49,023 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten

privacy wars are here and apparently the robots are better at using crypto than most founders Erik Voorhees came on and basically said: > the state will always spy > AI labs are too comfy censoring you > agents may be crypto’s real users Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:16 Erik’s Origin & Venice AI’s Mission 03:51 Censorship Future 08:58 Proving Privacy With TEEs 11:44 Frontier Models Tradeoffs 15:02 Agents & Crypto Payments 18:22 OpenClaw Provider Drama 22:24 Moltbook Meta Acquisition 29:16 Exponential AI Moment 33:00 Alibaba Agent Breakout 37:06 Alignment Reality Check 39:22 Who Understands LLMs? 41:48 Engineers Facing Disruption 47:55 AI Psychosis Meetups 54:24 Pro Models & Pricing 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block49,276 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten

zcash up 5x and suddenly everyone’s a privacy expert. joins to discuss: 🤑 Tempo’s ~$5B val; Dankrad exit ⚖️ public-goods vs profit 🔌 AWS/Base outage Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:22 Mert: Madman of Solana & Now Zcash 05:20 Bitcoin vs. Zcash: A Philosophical Clash 14:35 Tempo Fundraise & Ethereum's Talent Exodus 33:05 Ethereum's Social Layer & Public Goods 34:45 Religious Priesthood in Crypto 41:01 USDmanlet Proposal & Stablecoin Coordination 49:32 AWS Outage & Its Impact on Crypto 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block112,753 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

Ethereum’s PE ratio? Joe Weisenthal asked. Catch an existential episode featuring Joe Weisenthal! 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 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block177,928 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

This Hyperliquid episode has it all: Haseeb’s public cope. Governance drama. Alleged bribes. G | Ethena. And Tarun not caring. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:27 Hyperliquid USDH Stablecoin Proposal 03:25 Native Markets vs. Paxos, Ethena, Frax 06:21 Early Signals, Rumors, and Bribery Allegations 13:33 Validator Decisions, Community Reactions & Outcomes 29:47 Liquidity, Bridge Yield, & Market Microstructures 31:46 Was this 4D Chess Hyperliquid 34:28 Governance Design 37:45 Stablecoin Ecosystem 39:25 Exchanges, Maker Behavior & Fee Dynamics 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block120,483 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

This week on TCB: we bring on Illia (root.near) (🇺🇦, ⋈), vibe-check the AI x Crypto hype, spill tea on OpenClaw’s wild security fails, and try to predict if the robot crustaceans will save us. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:06 AI Agents Meet Crypto 08:06 Dark Forest Threat Model 15:31 How Close Are We? 18:41 AI Coding Risks in Crypto 27:27 Citrini 2028 Crisis Explained 35:01 Demand Shock Missing Money 37:55 Automation Limits and Human Value 44:13 AI Zero Days and Botnets 51:40 Escrow Courts and Enforcement 56:05 Illia on Vibe Coding Future 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block50,990 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

Imagine spending months on research, just to have CT turn on you. Tarun explains the whiplash + we pulled up with Vladimir Novakovski Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:38 Tarun’s ADL Paper Sparks Backlash 05:24 Research vs Bag Defense 06:27 How ADLs Work 12:27 Fairness vs Predictability 24:14 Tarun’s Inspiration 28:17 Zero-Fee Perps Explained 34:12 Perp Wars Heat Up 38:15 RWAs Trade Onchain 41:49 Token Launch Reality 47:19 Tokens vs Equity Clash 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block74,830 Aufrufe • vor 5 Monaten

perps make noise. RWAs need structure. kaledora unpacks how a CFD-like model can make equity exposure usable on-chain. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:39 Kaledora’s Crypto Twitter Controversy 03:43 Perpetuals & Equities 07:20 Funding Rates & Market Dynamics 16:09 CFDs vs. Perpetuals 29:31 CZ's Pardon & Political Backlash 37:42 Trump's Pardon: Optics and Implications 39:06 Crypto's Midterm Impact 41:50 Echo x Coinbase 46:11 Crowdfunding Platforms & MegaETH 55:36 Luxury Goods & Token Sales Analogy 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block88,965 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

vibes: rekt. facts: $19B+ liquidated, OI sliced, depegs, ADL chaos. solutions: onchain clearing + real insurance funds (we explain) episode ft. Doug Colkitt Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:11 $19B+ Liquidated 04:35 Personal Experiences & Reactions 08:30 Understanding Auto De-leveraging (ADL) 14:37 Binance & USDe Incident 23:19 DeFi vs. CeFi Performance 26:05 Zero-Sum & Greedy Algorithms 34:26 Vaults & Trader Protection 39:43 Market Reactions & Trader Sentiments 44:33 Infrastructure Failures & OI Collapse 46:56 Insider Trading Allegations & Market Manipulation 52:14 Future of Perpetual DEXs 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block92,554 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

Peter Peter Van Valkenburgh is trying to stop devs from catching felonies and everyone in DC is like “ok but can my stablecoin farm yield???” Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:36 Clarity Act Panic 04:46 Peter's Expert Take: Why This Bill Matters 10:16 Developer Liability 19:36 Sanctions Compliance 27:03 Tokenized Equities Fight 35:42 Great Yield War: Banks vs. Stablecoins 45:11 Will Clarity Survive? 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block50,701 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten