The Chopping Block
@_choppingblock • 7,992 subscribers
Exploring today's crypto topics through the perspective of industry insiders @hosseeb, @rleshner, @tarunchitra & @tomhschmidt! 🤝 Streaming via @Unchained_pod
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Tarun: "I'm sidelined. I didn't even download Fomo. I didn't try this." "I'm enjoying it more from the reading-the-smart-contract-code side, which means my capital is kept away from this. But it's interesting to look at." Laura: "It feels like some weird mashup of DeFi Summer with the GameStop mania." "It also reminds me of the LA vape cabal thing, where there's some element of, 'Look at how much money we can lose.'" Tarun: "There's entertainment value in losing money. That's what's happening for sure." Haseeb: "It's like financial Jackass. That's what this is."
The Chopping Block114,223 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
Live from TOKEN2049! Balaji says Kazakhstan is Singapore with space to build and claims they will put up a statue of Arthur Hayes. Plus, Justin Drake wants crypto in “bunker mode” after the OpenAI drop. Blast, Abstract, and the L2 shutdowns correlate with night clubs going from fully booked to zero bookings. Timestamps 00:00 Cold open 00:31 Live at TOKEN2049 with Balaji and Arthur Hayes 02:35 Why Network School moved to Kazakhstan 06:55 How to shop for a country 15:45 OpenAI's math drop and crypto bunker mode 21:47 What crypto does if the cryptography breaks 32:13 Blockchains that hack themselves + Arthur's Flop Network 34:28 Blast, Abstract, and the L2 shutdowns 🔥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 Block22,450 просмотров • 14 дней назад
Supply chain attacks are getting more sophisticated. Plus espionage at OpenAI, 1000x leverage on Papertrade, and the death of moats. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:37 TOKEN2049: zero Lambos + nightclub index 09:18 Ledger supply chain hack 21:46 OpenAI employee with a listening device 24:58 Choke points built for a high-trust society 29:03 Papertrade: 1000x leverage + tokens by losing 37:42 Are technical moats dead? 45:35 Which moats AI actually killed 51:37 The incumbents have AI too 54:56 Why AI can't write an investment memo 🔥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 Block13,669 просмотров • 8 дней назад
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 просмотров • 2 месяцев назад
"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 Block124,711 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад
North Korea stole $387M from Bitget and ran it through THORChain, again. Kalshi’s volume real or fake? Are agents going to create bank runs? Is staking still risk-free? Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:42 Bitget loses $387M to North Korea 07:08 Should chains freeze hacked funds? 15:35 Chains as laboratories of democracy 21:44 The hidden premium on janky chains 27:13 Consensys: is staking still risk-free? 30:53 Pricing and hedging validator risk 40:24 Kalshi's perps volume 44:17 How Kalshi's rebates went awry 53:07 Apollo's agentic bank runs 56:04 A banking system built on consumer laziness 1:02:46 SVB-style runs at agent speed 1:05:01 Homo economicus is back 🔥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 Block22,113 просмотров • 21 дней назад
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 Block42,222 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
.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 Block102,311 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад
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 просмотров • 6 месяцев назад
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 Block243,187 просмотров • 1 год назад
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 просмотров • 5 месяцев назад
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 Block57,636 просмотров • 3 месяцев назад
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 Block27,501 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
Last week the boys got dunked on, so this week they brought on the FOMO co-founder. Paul says a fully transparent social graph is why FOMO became Robinhood Chain's biggest app. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:06 Paul vs. the uncs 03:37 From dYdX to FOMO 05:14 Tarun's weekend in the trenches 08:40 Transparency vs. copy trading 12:27 FOMO's distribution power on Robinhood Chain 17:52 Where memecoin trading destroys value 21:10 Churn, theses, & traders as the next celebrities 27:08 Shaming, sidewallets, & clans 32:35 Hunter Biden's $LAPTOP token 37:15 Stock coins, bond ETF fees, & how long the meta lasts 42:52 AMC's CEO vs Robinhood's tokenized stock 47:51 One-to-one backed equity & earnings calls as TV shows 52:20 OpenAI, Anthropic, & the Navier-Stokes drama 58:49 Is math research over? 🔥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 Block21,084 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
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 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад
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 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад
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 просмотров • 1 год назад