Unchained

Latest Episodes:

Decentralization Used to Mean Something. Now It’s Just a Vibe. – The Chopping Block - Ep. 842 May 29, 2025

Show notes

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. In this episode, the gang reunites to confront a troubling pattern: we’re making the same mistakes all over again. From the $223 million Sui hack and validator-led censorship to Coinbase’s insider data breach and the Trump token dinner spectacle, this week feels like a remix of the industry’s most painful lessons. The crew reflects on how decentralization is being quietly redefined, why newer chains ignore crypto’s origin story, and what it means when memecoins are the new access pass to political influence. Also: James Wynn’s billion-dollar trades, fading cypherpunk values, and a creeping sense that the crypto future looks a lot like its past.

Show highlights

🔹 Sui’s Ethereum Classic Moment – Why freezing a hacker’s funds reopened an old decentralization wound

🔹 The Same Mistake Again – Tarun and Robert reflect on the crypto industry’s short memory and long consequences

🔹 Coinbase’s KYC Breach – How bribed support agents exposed a broken identity system

🔹 The Trump Token Dinner – Steak, disappointment, and the illusion of access in crypto’s weirdest political stunt

🔹 The Death of Cypherpunk Values – Haseeb asks: are decentralization and censorship-resistance just legacy slogans now?

🔹 Validator Power Creep – The panel debates whether emerging L1s are becoming de facto states

🔹 James Wynn’s Trading Circus – A $1.25B long, 40x leverage, and the thin line between marketing and madness

🔹 Hyperliquid Stress Test – Robert wonders: is Wynn just a trader, or a protocol’s canary in the coal mine?

🔹 The KYC Iceberg – Why crypto keeps leaking private data—and why nobody’s fixing it

🔹 Chopping Boomers Mode – When no one gets your Ethereum Classic jokes, maybe the revolution’s over

Hosts

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:15 Cetus x Sui Hack

07:56 Ethereum Classic & Crypto History

21:37 Trump Token Dinner Controversy

29:56 Coinbase Ransom Hack

33:49 KYC Data Vulnerabilities

43:02 James Wynn's High-Stakes Trading

Disclosures

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Does High REV Signal a Blockchain's Strength or Its User Exploitation? - Ep. 841 May 27, 2025

Show notes

A debate has been heating up on crypto Twitter about Real Economic Value (REV) — a metric meant to measure the value blockchains accrue from user activity. REV includes transaction fees and MEV tips, but excludes issuance — the inflationary rewards paid to validators. Some say it’s the clearest window into genuine usage. Others argue it’s a flawed and misleading proxy.

So we brought the argument to Unchained. Tom Dunleavy, Head of Venture at Varys Capital, says fees are headed to zero, and blockchains shouldn’t be valued like companies. Meanwhile, Austin Federa, Co-founder of DoubleZero, believes REV offers a real lens on activity, maturity, and demand.

The conversation covers:

Whether REV is a meaningful metric (and how to game it)
Whether L2 tokens are fundamentally broken
What happens to security when fees (and MEV) go to zero
If high REV signals product-market fit or just economic noise
How to value blockchains, if not with REV

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Thank you to our sponsors!

Bitwise

Guests:

Tom Dunleavy, Head of Venture at Varys Capital
Austin Federa, Co-founder of DoubleZero

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

📊 2:50 What REV actually measures and why it’s sparking so much debate

💸 4:33 Why fees that don’t go to the protocol are included in this metric

🪙 14:43 Whether L2 tokens are fundamentally worthless

🧮 15:53 How to factor Ethereum L2s into the REV equation

📉 18:15 Why Tom thinks all fees are going to zero and what that means for value accrual

📈 34:06 Austin defends REV and explains why it reflects real user demand

⚠️ 37:07 MEV debate: is it a feature or a flaw?

🔀 42:59 Why Solana might not follow Ethereum’s REV path

🛡️ 44:18 Who secures the network when MEV goes to zero

🤔 53:46 Whether high REV means success

🚫 59:46 Why Austin calls out Jesse Pollak’s “no sandwiching” claim on Base

🌄 1:02:30 Whether Solana’s Alpenglow proposal could reshape MEV

🔄 1:03:43 How REV might rise even as MEV declines

👑 1:07:11 Why Bitcoin lives in its own reality when it comes to metrics

🎮 1:09:57 How protocols can game the REV metric

📐 1:15:19 What other metrics matter when valuing blockchains

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Why a U.S. Ban on Yield-Bearing Stablecoins Would Help 'Too Big to Fail' Banks - Ep. 840 May 23, 2025

Show notes

Yield-bearing stablecoins have had decent growth, now topping $6 billion in supply and paying out nearly $600 million to users, according to data from Stablewatch. But just as these products go mainstream, the U.S. Senate is moving forward with a stablecoin bill that could ban them outright in America.

In this episode, NYU professor and Zero Knowledge Consulting founder Austin Campbell joins Laura to break down:

Why yield-bearing stablecoins are under fire in Washington
Why Dems are pushing for the ban and who stands to benefit
How this bill could give foreign issuers an edge over U.S. ones
Whether yield-bearing stablecoins are securities under U.S. law
And what the future holds for projects like Ethena, Sky, and others

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Thank you to our sponsors!

Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
Focal by FalconX

Austin Campbell, NYU Stern professor and founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting

Unchained:

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

💣 1:29 Why the new stablecoin bill takes direct aim at yield-bearing stablecoins

🗳️ 3:36 How Democrats are driving the push for a ban and what their motivations might be

🏦 6:28 Why calling stablecoins “banks” leads to major policy confusion

🌍 13:49 How the bill could hand an advantage to offshore stablecoin issuers

🎒 19:31 Whether Tether is warning about risk or just protecting its own interests

⚖️ 21:09 Are yield-bearing stablecoins actually securities under U.S. law?

💰 23:40 What real benefits yield-bearing stablecoins offer to users

🚫 29:54 Why Austin opposes the proposed 10% interest cap

📚 32:04 Why Ethena would likely be regulated under market structure rules instead

📰 35:04 Weekly News Recap

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Bits + Bips: Why Rate Cuts Are Less Likely This Year, but Crypto's Outlook Is Positive - Ep. 839 May 21, 2025

Show notes

U.S. credit got downgraded. Fed policy expectations are flipping. And Coinbase hit the S&P 500 (while also being extorted).

But what does all of this mean for crypto?

On this week’s Bits + Bips, James Seyffart, Alex Kruger, Ram Ahluwalia, and Noelle Acheson break down:

Why the Moody’s downgrade doesn’t mean much for markets
Whether Fed rate cuts are now further off than expected
Why Alex says Coinbase is a “horrible product” despite S&P inclusion
How stablecoins tie into U.S. geopolitical strategy
Whether Circle should sell to Coinbase
And what the altcoin ETF delay really tells us

Plus: unemployment, yield curve control, the “Consensus vibes,” and Ram’s wild anecdote about workers gaming unemployment benefits.

Bitwise

James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter

Macro

Coinbase

Stablecoin bill

Unchained: Stablecoin Bill Passes Key Hurdle: Dems Join GOP to Deliver a Crypto Win

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

💳 2:18 A big reason why the U.S. credit downgrade matters for investors

📉 7:49 Contrarian take: why souring U.S. debt could also hurt crypto

🛡️ 15:30 Do tariffs work against the U.S. military and national security?

🔁 20:14 Why the crew flipped on Fed rate cut expectations

📊 28:35 Is the U.S. about to introduce yield curve control?

🧾 35:04 Are the Mag7 stocks the new safe havens in a recession?

📈 38:54 What if the “Goldilocks” scenario is priced in, and it's wrong?

💼 44:26 Why hedge funds are secretly in a vulnerable position

🫱 49:15 What the “vibes” at Consensus 2025 revealed

💵🇨🇳 50:44 A secret threat that the stablecoin bill poses to China?

📈 57:43 What Coinbase’s S&P 500 inclusion means and why Robinhood is its biggest threat

🌀 1:07:17 Should Coinbase acquire Circle? Here’s what the panel thinks

⏳ 1:13:38 Why altcoin ETF approvals are delayed and wen staking in ETFs?

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Linda Xie on How Mini-Apps Are Helping Farcaster Take on Web2 Social Media - Ep. 838 May 20, 2025

Show notes

Legacy social media platforms lock you in, control your audience, and exploit your data.

Farcaster aims to fix those problems. But how can it attract developers and users in an already saturated media environment?

Developer Ecosystem Lead Linda Xie joined the show to explain:

How Farcaster addresses social media’s structural flaws
How Farcaster’s mini-app ecosystem is helping to grow the user base
The most popular apps taking off on the platform
How the whole crypto community could benefit from gathering on Farcaster
Why she believes crypto communities belong on open, portable networks
And why her family’s history helped her grasp the significance of Bitcoin in 2011

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Bitwise

Linda Xie, Developer Ecosystem Lead at Farcaster

Previous coverage of Unchained on Farcaster and social media:

Timestamps:

🤝 0:00 Introduction

🤯 3:55 How an unusual situation in her family got Linda crypto-pilled

⚖️ 7:57 How building legitimacy at Coinbase was crucial for the industry

🪜 10:20 Xie’s journey from VC to founder

🌐 13:04 How crypto’s adoption has evolved around the world

🔍 16:44 Why Linda decided to build and focus on Farcaster

🔧 23:31 How Farcaster addresses social media’s structural flaws

👀 31:14 How mini-apps build Farcaster’s user base

💲 37:32 Why Warpcast Wallet is a “game changer,” according to Linda

❓ 40:19 How Snapchain is used for storing data

👷 44:29 What types of developers the Farcaster ecosystem attracts

💡 45:20 How Linda aims to make Farcaster easy to understand

✨ 49:50 Linda’s favorite Farcaster mini-apps

😀 55:10 Attracting the whole crypto community to Farcaster

Thank you to our sponsors!Guest:
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How the Attack on Coinbase Shows the Dangers of Centralized Exchanges - Ep. 837 May 16, 2025

Show notes

Coinbase revealed on Thursday that cybercriminals bribed overseas customer support contractors to steal sensitive customer data as part of a $20 million extortion scheme. While no funds or private keys were compromised, customer names, addresses, and ID documents were exposed for nearly 1% of the company’s 8+ million “monthly transacting users,” according to a blog post.

The story raises tough questions for the entire industry. Is KYC making users more vulnerable? Can human error ever be fully eliminated? And is crypto’s real security problem… people?

Security experts Jameson Lopp, James Wester and Alexander Leishman delve into:

What went wrong at Coinbase
Why human vulnerabilities are still crypto’s biggest risk
Whether KYC makes the problem worse
What companies should do next to protect their users

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Thank you to our sponsors!

Focal by FalconX
Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
Mantle

Guests

Jameson Lopp, Co-founder and CTO at CASA
James Wester, Research Director at Javelin
Alexander Leishman, CEO and CTO at River

Links

Coinbase’s blog post: Protecting Our Customers - Standing Up to Extortionists
Coinbase’s SEC filing
Commentary:

Vance Spencer’s tweet
Armani Ferrante’s tweet

Timestamps:

🎙️ 0:00 Introduction and ads

🔓 2:30 How hackers tricked Coinbase’s offshore support and why humans remain security’s weakest link

🗂️ 6:49 What customer data was leaked and how hackers use it

🎯 13:14 How attackers prey on targets at weak moments

🌍 20:47 Should Coinbase move customer support back to the U.S.?

🛑 26:35 Why KYC protocols might be making users more vulnerable, not safer

🛡️ 28:48 The best defenses companies can implement to protect users

📰33:49 Weekly News Recap

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The Chopping Block: Rugs, Incentives & Float Lies, Mosi Breaks It All Down - Ep. 836 May 15, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week, we’re joined by one of the most iconic anons on Crypto Twitter: Mosi, aka @vanacharma. Known for calling out sketchy tokenomics and vaporware valuations, Mosi joins the crew for a ruthless teardown of market maker games, OTC dumps, and the “hallucination yield” driving this cycle’s worst bets. From the $60M Movement Labs fiasco to OTC pump schemes and the collapse of community trust, the gang goes deep on why crypto’s market structure is broken—and what it’ll take to fix it. If you’ve ever wondered how the sausage gets made in crypto token launches, this one’s for you.

Show highlights

🔹 $60M Movement Meltdown – How a token deal gone wrong became crypto’s latest fiasco and dragged down one of the cycle’s most hyped L1s.

🔹 Anon vs. Everyone – Iconic CT anon @vanacharma breaks down the float games, OTC dumps, and tokenomics illusions plaguing the industry.

🔹 Market Makers or Middlemen? – When is liquidity real, and when is it just backdoor exits? We unpack how MM incentives are getting abused.

🔹 Hallucination Yield & Vapor Valuations – Why funds chase tokens with the fakest traction — and what happens when reality hits.

🔹 Are VCs to Blame? – The crew debates whether investors are complicit in these token games or just bad at picking founders.

🔹 Pump, Dump, Repeat – How OTC discounts, fake float, and circular trading fuel a Ponzi-like system hiding in plain sight.

🔹 Why Retail Gets Burned – Most people never stood a chance. We walk through how asymmetric info and hidden unlocks wreck public buyers.

🔹 Can This Be Fixed? – Haseeb and Mosi clash on the path forward: enforceable disclosures, exchange oversight, or do-nothing chaos?

🔹 Self-Regulation Is the Only Way Out – Before the SEC nukes everything, the industry must grow up. Here’s where that starts.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly

Guest

⭐️ Mosi, Just a Kid from Africa

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:22 Mosi’s Crypto Philosophy

03:13 Market Structure Issues in Crypto

08:07 OTC Deals & Market Manipulation

15:36 Fixing the Market Structure

23:56 Self-Correcting Market Dynamics

29:19 VC Incentives and Market Impact

36:08 Retail vs. Institutional Investors

52:26 Superstate's Vision for Onchain Equities

Hosts
Disclosures

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Bits + Bips: Are the U.S. and China About to Reshape the Global Economy? - Ep. 835 May 14, 2025

Show notes

After the U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, signaling a massive de-escalation of the trade wars, markets rallied.

In this week’s Bits + Bips, the panel covers the biggest macro and crypto forces in motion right now:

Will US-China tariff reset reshape the global economy, or just kick the can down the road?
America’s ballooning deficit and why politicians are spending like it’s wartime.
Why some think ETH has a unique lane to outperform.
How policymakers ignore the power of the crypto community at their own risk.
Plus: Saylor copycats, Solana’s risk-reward balance, and whether stagflation or recession is still in the cards.

Sponsors:

Bitwise

Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
Steve Ehrlich, Executive editor at Unchained

Guests:

Peter Tchir, Head of Macro Strategy at Academy Securities
Zach Pandl, Head of research at Grayscale

Stablecoin bill drama

Unchained:

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

🇨🇳🇺🇲 3:27 The significance of the U.S.-China tariff pause

🌎 8:55 Is this a global economic reset or just kicking the can down the road?

🧑‍💼 20:23 Has Bessent beaten Navarro in the Trump trade tug of war?

💔 23:11 Whether the U.S.-China relationship is heading for a permanent split

🏦 30:22 Is the U.S. heading for a debt default in August?

🎭 38:37 Why more are copying Strategy’s bitcoin playbook

🚀 44:53 ETH’s explosive short squeeze caught traders off guard. Can it continue?

🏛️ 52:47 How stablecoin policy suddenly became major political battleground

⚠️ 1:00:20 Are there still stagflation and recession risks?

Hosts:Links

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Crypto Pump & Dumps Have Become the Ugly Norm. Can They Be Stopped? - Ep. 834 May 13, 2025

Show notes

The Movement Labs scandal exposed more than just one bad deal – it pulled back the curtain on a widespread problem in crypto: how some market makers, founders, and VCs play games to make money — whether the project succeeds or not.

In this episode, Laura speaks with José Macedo of Delphi Labs, Omar Shakeeb of SecondLane, and Taran Sabharwal of STIX to explain:

How market makers are supposed to work, and how they operate in crypto
Why insider selling is more common than you think
How projects like Movement, Mantra, and others exploit launch day hype
Whether VCs often enable this behavior with side deals that retail never hears about
And what the industry needs to do to fix this broken system

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Bitwise

José Macedo, founder at Delphi Labs
Omar Shakeeb, cofounder of SecondLane
Taran Sabharwal, founder and CEO of STIX.

Movement Labs:

Market making:

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro

🤝 1:51 What Omar’s and Taran’s companies do

🎭 3:40 How market making works and how crypto twists the model

⚠️ 9:35 Why crypto’s market maker incentives are broken by design

🛠️ 16:25 What it would take to fix shady market maker behavior

🚩 26:20 How some founders exploit launch day hype to dump on retail

🧠 38:11 Did Mantra’s JP pull off a “genius” move or manipulate the market?

🔍 42:22 Whether crypto traders do any research before apeing in

💸 52:48 How founders are incentivized to dump their own tokens

🏦 59:09 Why VCs may be fueling this problem with insider deals

📉 1:02:37 What crypto needs to learn from traditional finance

✅ 1:06:13 The biggest fixes the industry must prioritize to stop these scams

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The Chopping Block: Can Crypto Clean Itself Up? Market Structure, Trust, and Regulation - Ep. 833 May 10, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and special guest Evgeny Gaevoy of Wintermute break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: the $38M Move token dump exposes the shady side of market making, with shocking incentives that blurred the line between liquidity support and pure exit liquidity. We dig into what really happened, why major VCs looked the other way, and how the entire token launch playbook might be broken. Evgeny joins to give the market maker’s perspective — and to answer the question: how many more of these sh*t shows are still lurking beneath the surface?

Show highlights

🔹 $38M Token Dump Exposed – How Movement Labs’ shady deal with Web3Port revealed the dark side of crypto market making.

🔹 Market Makers or Exit Liquidity? – Inside the incentive structure that let a market maker dump tokens and split profits with the foundation.

🔹 VCs Looked the Other Way – Why top investors backed Movement Labs despite red flags — and what it says about crypto due diligence.

🔹 Rushi Gets Fired – The Movement Labs CEO is out after weeks of denial. But was the rest of the team complicit too?

🔹 Wintermute’s Evgeny Speaks Out – The biggest market maker in crypto weighs in on shady deals, dump mechanics, and transparency failures.

🔹 Airdrops, Float Games, and Retail Rugging – We dissect how token launches get manipulated behind the scenes — and who really pays.

🔹 The Case for Disclosure – Why Haseeb argues crypto needs mandatory public disclosures for market making agreements — before regulators step in.

🔹 Self-Regulation or SEC Crackdown? – Can the industry grow up on its own… or are we begging for another wave of securities enforcement?

🔹 Crypto’s Trust Crisis – Without transparency, the entire token model risks collapse. This episode lays out how to fix it.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly

Guest

⭐️ Evgeny Gaevoy, Founder and CEO at Wintermute

Inside Movement’s Token-Dump Scandal: Secret Contracts, Shadow Advisers and Hidden Middlemen by Sam Kessler

🔗https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/04/30/inside-movement-s-token-dump-scandal-secret-contracts-shadow-advisors-and-hidden-middlemen

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:19 Movement Labs Scandal: Inside the Market Maker Mess

06:26 How Crypto Market Making Really Works

10:54 Rigged from the Start?

17:25 Who Knew What? Movement Labs and the Industry Fallout

25:57 Why Crypto Needs a Market Maker Disclosure

34:45 Transparency vs. Manipulation

38:02 Do Market Makers Control Token Prices?

51:51 The Crypto Market Structure Bill: What’s at Stake

59:18 Can We Fix Crypto Before It Breaks?

Hosts
DisclosuresLinks

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