The Chopping Block
@_choppingblock • 7,974 subscribers
Exploring today's crypto topics through the perspective of industry insiders @hosseeb, @rleshner, @tarunchitra & @tomhschmidt! 🤝 Streaming via @Unchained_pod
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Robinhood Chain is having its moment. The boys + Laura debate whether the new stock-token game is creative DeFi experimentation, destructive, entertainment, or something else. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:58 Robinhood Chain's big wave 04:00 Ohm forks & stock-backed memecoins 10:50 Financial Jackass & generational speculation 15:13 DeFi code gets a second life 19:10 Does memecoin trading entertain or destroy retail? 34:37 Dream stock-memecoin pairings 36:12 Is Robinhood Chain overshadowing Solana? 44:19 Building FOMO for Asian markets 50:35 Hyperliquid in talks with Kraken parent 52:59 What regulated HIP-3 markets would require 58:26 Why global onchain markets still face local law 🔥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 Block40,772 views • 4 days ago
Gen Z vs. the Uncs! threadguy schools the gang on the social trading war, why verifiable PnL is replacing soft influence, and how public trading makes overnight celebs. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:00 threadguy's New Purple Era 03:58 Could Crypto OGs Survive Today's Trenches? 16:05 FOMO vs The Social Trading War 24:37 Traders Become Crypto's New Celebrities 31:25 Why Memecoin Volume Is Rising Again 36:57 Is Robinhood Really Bringing New Money Onchain? 40:04 Can AI Agents Trade Memecoins? 43:23 AI Agents and Crypto's Next Capabilities Jump 54:15 Is Gen Z's Risk Appetite Permanent? 🔥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 Block72,849 views • 24 days ago
.Laura Shin revisits the rumor that Robinhood nearly built on Solana. "There were rumors that Robinhood Chain almost went with Solana and switched to Arbitrum at the last minute." Tarun Chitra: "Both the Arbitrum and Solana foundations were tweeting a lot. You could tell there was a kind of bake-off going on." Laura Shin: "I had A.J. on the show and asked how Arbitrum got this deal. He didn't confirm that Robinhood was about to go with Solana." "But he basically said that when you're your own L2, it flips the economics. You're not paying, you're making money." "That seems like a pretty obvious choice if they were considering starting on Solana." "It's so interesting that we're having this conversation, because what if things had actually gone the other way?" "Then Solana might be in a really good place. It's an interesting counterfactual to ponder."
The Chopping Block15,464 views • 4 days ago
Crypto’s finally cool again. Meanwhile, AI could learn from DeFi’s past. > Haseeb claims AI just removed bureaucratic speed bumps. > Robert sees a path for small token raises. > Tom thinks the SEC is addressing 2017 problems in 2026. > Tarun believes AI inference markets could be crypto's next cycle. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:22 Tom & Tarun meet the King of Bhutan 04:13 Bitcoin rebounds and crypto gets hot again 08:10 What a compliant U.S. Hyperliquid could look like 13:14 The SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets 23:53 Are the new token rules eight years too late? 28:23 AI removes the government's bureaucratic speed bumps 31:12 Why AI inference tokens could power the next cycle 34:13 Stripe buys OpenRouter and AI starts looking like DeFi 43:28 Router economics, data markets, and new security risks 51:01 Bull-market vibes from Bhutan and Asia 🔥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 Block27,177 views • 10 days ago
"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 views • 3 months ago
.Joseph Lubin told us not to call it the Second Foundation but also told us SharpLink, BitMine, and ConsenSys are becoming Ethereum's "decentralized commercialization engines" sooooo Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:06 Saylor Sells BTC & Market Panic 05:07 STRC Death Spiral & DAT Risks 07:07 Ethereum Foundation Exodus & CROPS 13:04 The "Not Second Foundation" Debate 17:58 Quantum Q-Day: 50% by 2032 23:47 Is All of DeFi Unsafe? 31:11 ZK Composability & Bridge-Free Architecture 34:19 Security Deployment Lag & AI Arms Race 40:18 Anti-Fragility & Formal Verification 47:36 Zama USDC Freeze & Privacy vs Courts 50:33 CFTC Perps Approval & Hyperliquid at $75 55:53 Hyperliquid's Distribution Flywheel 01:00:46 Joe Lubin's Ethereum Bull Case 🔥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 Block102,115 views • 3 months ago
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 views • 5 months ago
New episode: Vladimir Novakovski on the Robinhood deal, the eternal token vs. equity debate, a masterclass in how not to run a DAO, and the largest financial disclosure in presidential history. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 03:40 Tokens vs equity 06:12 Fiduciary obligations 08:00 What happens when buyback capital runs out 12:42 Why launch a token 19:18 Comparing VVV to BNB 25:28 Lighter's Robinhood Chain deal 37:02 BonkDAO governance exploit & the $20M vote 47:09 Trump's $2.4B disclosure 🔥Stay updated by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple: 🎙 Podcast Home:
The Chopping Block57,385 views • 2 months ago
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 Block86,023 views • 3 months ago
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 Block241,265 views • 1 year ago
Tarun called STRC "Luna for suits" and Tom said Strategy execs are cold-calling random crypto funds to sell them preferred shares. Meanwhile, the CME is suing the CFTC for the right to not compete. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:10 STRC & Strategy: Saylor "Luna for suits" 12:33 No death spiral — burn the boat 17:06 Strategy execs cold-calling crypto funds 20:06 EF shakeup & ETH Labs spin-out 27:33 ETH Labs is the ghost of Tomasz 35:20 CME sues CFTC to block domestic perps 44:44 100-year futures as a workaround 50:29 Meta's prediction market "Arena" 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to The Chopping Block and Unchained! 🎥 YouTube: 🎧 Spotify: 🍎 Apple:
The Chopping Block47,258 views • 2 months ago
this week: saylor sold 32 bitcoin and broke the market, an AI found a money printer inside zcash, defi got told it's terminal, and illia says robots will do your shopping. Ep. w/ Illia (root.near) (🇺🇦, ⋈) & mert Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:17 Weekend Crypto Meltdown & Bitcoin Crash 02:52 Saylor, STRC & the DAT Death Spiral Fears 11:51 "No Sell Button" — Saylor's Lesson Learned 13:14 Zcash Bug: 50% Crash Explained 20:30 The Fix: Ironwood Pool & Formal Verification 23:11 AI vs Crypto Security: The Attacker Advantage 27:21 What Is Formal Verification? 30:07 Spaceship-Grade Smart Contract Security 31:36 OPSEC, Oracles & Anomaly Detection 36:08 Cypherpunk Dilemma: Stop the Hack or Not? 38:37 Will DeFi Survive? Long Math 42:49 NEAR's AI Agents & Intents Vision 48:43 Is Agentic Commerce Real? Mert's Skepticism 🔥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 Block50,779 views • 2 months ago
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 views • 11 months ago
AI found a $100M ColdCard bug in 8 minutes. Who wins the security arms race now? Tarun calls maxi devs 'the RFK Jr. of security practices.' Haseeb says AI security scales with AUM. Robert calls it the 'death of apathy.' Tom claims 'either the code is 100% airtight or the leaks are gonna get found in the immediate future.' Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:03 ColdCard's $100M Exploit 05:46 AI, Audits & Bitcoin Maxi Security Failures 12:07 Open Source vs Closed Source in the AI Era 23:21 EIP-8361: Ethereum's Staking Yield Taper 30:34 Hard Money, Post-Quantum & Central Bank Chaos 35:54 Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness Blowup 44:41 Robinhood Prediction Markets Boom as Hyperliquid RWAs Flip Crypto 51:54 Korea's Bloodbath & the Death of Retail Volatility 55:17 CLARITY Act: Ethics Provisions Are the Linchpin 🔥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 Block19,036 views • 1 month ago
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 views • 6 months ago
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 Block112,968 views • 10 months ago
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 views • 4 months ago
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 Block50,120 views • 4 months ago