Bankless

How does a top 100 Hyperliquid trader find opportunities without blowing up? David Hoffman sits down with KoolKrypto to unpack his risk-first approach to perps, how he spots mispriced DeFi tokens, and why buybacks change the investment case. They debate the upside of Hyperliquid versus Lighter, the bull and bear cases for Zcash, and why crypto options could become the next major growth market. Plus, how a changing macro environment could set up crypto's next inflection point.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Trading Without Blowing Up
05:25 KoolKrypto and the Revenue Meta
10:53 The Bull and Bear Cases for Zcash
24:16 Options vs. Perps
30:08 Valuing Crypto Exchange Tokens
37:09 Hyperliquid vs. Lighter
47:17 The Crypto Options Wars
56:55 The Next Crypto Inflection Point

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RESOURCES

KoolKrypto
https://x.com/koolkrypto223

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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What if the next stablecoin boom isn't in dollars? Ripio co-founder and CEO Sebastian Serrano joins David Hoffman to unpack how Latin America is bringing six local currencies onchain, why self-custody wallet deposits are still so expensive, and how stablecoins could improve cross-border payments.

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS
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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Crypto adoption in Latin America
5:38 Local currencies, FX and the carry trade
8:19 Inside Ripio: crypto infrastructure for LatAm
16:29 Fixing on-ramps with local stablecoins
28:26 Wrapped fiat: business model and cross-border payments
35:29 Distribution and which blockchains
42:14 Regulators, banks and market growth

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RESOURCES

Sebastián Serrano
https://x.com/sserrano44

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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A blue wave and a black swan. Democrats sweep Congress, markets whipsaw into a $2 trillion selloff, and Bitcoin holds its 50-week moving average through the biggest heist in history: $6 billion stolen from Binance. Ryan and David break down how North Korea pulled it off, how a French bank got robbed with crypto as the getaway car, Ethereum's December 2028 quantum-proof deadline from DevCon, and Coinbase insiders' new sell plans.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:57 Blue Wave: Democrats Sweep Congress
https://x.com/DCinvestor/status/2117789052573544873

3:33 $2 Trillion Erased: AI Bubble Popping?
https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2118362154558779411
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HWX6J1hXwAAXczz?format=jpg&name=medium

7:41 Bitcoin Holds the 50-Week: Early Bull Intact?

10:59 NEAR AI Red
https://near.ai/blog/the-right-to-run

11:44 Will the Dems Come for Crypto?
https://x.com/0xGrimes/status/2111584181562290268
https://x.com/caprioleio/status/2118125380741795929
https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/2118006193276805427
https://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/2118041922011021418
https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2118080207664062720
https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2118043617650491467

21:11 Binance Hack: The $6B Heist, 7 Days Later
https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber/alerts/2026/north-korea-responsible-for-6-billion-binance-attack
https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2116030284261179538
https://www.binance.com/en/proof-of-reserves
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/11/03/binance-s-usd6-3-billion-hack-began-with-a-fake-job-interview-exchange-says
https://x.com/binance/status/2117626126214504729
https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2117650872603955542

27:26 THORChain & the Laundering Fight
https://x.com/FBICyberBranch/status/2116660730745299426
https://thedefiant.io/podcasts-and-videos/podcast/thorchain-refused-to-block-the-usd387m-bitget-hacker-here-s-why-or-chad-barraford

32:49 North Korea: Too Close to the Sun?
https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-11-02-kim-jong-un-sister-rejects-fbi-claims-linking-north-korea-binance-hack-432344

35:45 Polygon's Hard Fork & the Validator Bribe
https://forum.polygon.technology/t/pip-proposal-recovery-of-funds-held-in-blocked-addresses-following-the-polymarket-and-binance-incidents/22497

38:25 How to Rob a Bank: Crypto Was the Getaway Car
https://x.com/gregory_raymond/status/2117864901108432999
https://x.com/Jrag0x/status/2117878442309906695

48:37 DevCon 8: Ethereum Post-Quantum by 2028
https://x.com/EFDevcon/status/2117497506007576631
https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/2117717427920498698

51:17 The Ethereum Economic Zone
https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/ethereum-economic-zone-unveils-three-cross-chain-breakthroughs-at-devcon

52:57 L2Beat Becomes ETHBeat
https://x.com/ethbeat_org/status/2117913893796225035
https://ethbeat.org/crops

54:08 Vitalik's Keynote Controversy
https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/2117500382977102044
https://x.com/gakonst/status/2117668817082155157
https://x.com/uttam_singhk/status/2117673754574651760
https://x.com/fede_intern/status/2117993844159438993

58:58 Coinbase Earnings & Armstrong's Sell Plan
https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/10/30/coinbase-coin-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/
https://thedefiant.io/news/cefi/coinbase-ceo-armstrong-adopts-plan-to-sell-up-to-1-31-billion-in-shares

1:02:53 STRC Back at $100
https://x.com/Strategy/status/2118036238741688626

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Can Ethereum become private without giving anyone a master key? Aztec co-founder Zac Williamson joins David Hoffman to discuss the race to build private smart contracts, why transparent blockchains struggle with tokenized finance, and how ZK Passport could bring identity checks onchain without exposing personal data.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 The Race for Private Ethereum
07:21 Why Crypto Still Isn't Private
15:01 ZK Passport and Private Identity
21:29 AI-Powered Attacks and Trustless Infrastructure
29:44 Private DeFi and Institutional Adoption
35:42 Aztec Tokenomics, MEV, and Transaction Costs
40:52 Aztec Tierra and the 2027 Roadmap
43:43 Getting Started With Aztec

---
RESOURCES

Zac Williamson
https://x.com/Zac_Aztec

Aztec Network
https://aztec.network

ZK.money
https://zk.money

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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What would it take for private money to work at global scale? Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe and ZK researcher Dev join David Hoffman to unpack the next chapter of Zcash, from Tachyon's ambitious scaling roadmap to the challenge of building private wallets that actually work.

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS
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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Why Zcash Matters Now
07:53 AI Makes Privacy Urgent
11:20 The Zcash Development Roadmap
17:33 Privacy Without Compromises
25:26 Scaling Zcash With Tachyon
39:42 Private Wallets and Proof of Work
41:06 Zcash's Quantum Defense Roadmap
1:00:53 AI Threats and Formal Verification
1:12:53 Security Through Multiple Assumptions
1:19:37 Why Payments Come First
1:25:54 Funding Proof-of-Work Security
1:29:34 Governance and Coinholder Voting
1:34:53 ZEC Price and Protocol Threats

---
RESOURCES

Sean Bowe
https://x.com/ebfull

Dev Ojha
https://x.com/zkDragon

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Venice’s Head of Strategy, Jon joins David for the October $VVV community call to unpack Venice crossing 5M users and 1T daily tokens, $1M+ in monthly $VVV burns, the DeepSeek-powered growth surge, accelerating AI video demand, the new $VVV ETP, private AI in an era of rising data breaches, and what comes next.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
0:21 September AI Update
2:12 Token Growth Surge
8:36 Emissions and Diem Supply
16:10 Burn Mechanics Explained
23:40 OpenAI Privacy Controversy
32:00 Data Retention Warnings
35:52 Anthropic's Retention Shift
39:24 Privacy Boosts Venice
43:03 Minds and Model Combinations
52:48 Staking and Burn Questions
55:47 Data Center and Near
59:37 Lumara Film Festival

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Binance was hit by a $6 billion hack. What happens when the stolen crypto starts moving? TRM Labs' Ari Redbord joins David Hoffman to unpack the frantic first hours of the response, how stablecoin issuers froze billions, and the clues pointing investigators toward North Korea.

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 The $6B Binance Hack
01:38 Inside TRM's War Room
03:29 Freezing Billions and Tracking Funds
08:51 Law Enforcement and Attack Clues
13:50 Why North Korea Is Different
21:26 The Regulatory Fallout for Crypto
24:53 AI and the Next Cyber Threat
27:43 Securing Crypto After the Attack

---
RESOURCES

Ari Redbord
https://x.com/ARedbord

TRM Labs
https://www.trmlabs.com/

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Bitcoin to $57K or a new bull market? Ryan and David unpack the wildly conflicting price predictions, Hyperliquid’s Wall Street breakthrough, the fight over tokenized stocks, Robinhood Chain’s revenue collapse, and Zcash’s governance controversy.

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🌎RIPIO | LOCAL CURRENCIES, ONCHAIN

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

---

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

0:12 Bitcoin's $57K Warning & Macro Fears

https://x.com/Jason/status/2114956980674605075

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2115504620219007201

https://polymarket.com/event/fed-decision-in-december

10:17 Bitcoin Price Predictions: $200K to $1.6M

https://x.com/willywoo/status/2114852726337347670

https://x.com/intangiblecoins/status/2114730275242426648

https://x.com/Bitwise/status/2115494114980458741

https://x.com/coinbureau/status/2114690544588996809

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2115791352579391896

24:30 Hyperliquid's Wall Street Breakthrough

https://x.com/tradexyz/status/2115755854125478285

https://x.com/standuquesne/status/2115777839622689036

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2115823011399938182

https://x.com/NYSE/status/2115802359959790069

31:43 The War Over Tokenized Stocks

https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-10-05-okx-ice-joint-venture-tokenized-stock-trading-417613

https://x.com/mikemaccana/status/2114427237521117472

https://x.com/toly/status/2115483790109974844

https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2115648239525585168

44:45 Robinhood Chain's Revenue Collapse

https://x.com/ceterispar1bus/status/2115402880253300753

https://x.com/AltcoinDaily/status/2115205102533509141

https://x.com/econoar/status/2114838303266705789

52:58 Zcash's $125M Dev Fund Controversy

https://x.com/Bankless/status/2115433097822949732

https://x.com/ebfull/status/2114911107718742451

59:16 Venice's $1M Token Burn & Buyback Debate

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2115565172047675604

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2115132856934535434

https://x.com/tulipking/status/2115270309309829334

https://x.com/fejau_inc/status/2008302312402686110

1:04:30 Ethena's 12% Yield & Anthropic's $2T IPO

https://x.com/ethena/status/2115413879840989651

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2114710153417118191

https://x.com/socialcapital/status/2114740894914187557

---

Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Is crypto building a freer financial system, or giving Wall Street and Washington new ways to control it? Former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo returns to Bankless to unpack crypto's political battles, why he believes Wall Street will move onto digital rails by 2040, and what the 2008 financial crisis taught him about the limitations of traditional finance. Plus, the evolution of Bitcoin futures and perpetuals, the debate over stablecoins and CBDCs, and why financial privacy may matter more than the technology itself. His new book, The New Adventures of CryptoDad, brings these questions into focus.

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 CryptoDad's New Mission
04:36 How Crypto Became Political
12:16 Why the SEC Crackdown Failed
17:09 Bitcoin Futures, Perps, and Regulation
27:54 Passing the CFTC Baton
33:52 Who Controls Digital Finance?
39:40 The 2008 Banking Blind Spot
45:31 Wall Street Moves Onchain
50:52 Privacy and the Digital Dollar

---
RESOURCES

Christopher Giancarlo
https://x.com/giancarloMKTS

The New Adventures of CryptoDad
https://www.amazon.com/New-Adventures-CryptoDad-Digital-Century/dp/1394431228

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Could Bitcoin be signaling the next liquidity recovery before the rest of the market sees it? Global liquidity expert Michael Howell returns to Bankless to revisit his 2027 outlook, explain why Bitcoin's $70K level matters, and examine whether the next market rebound could arrive sooner than expected. Ryan and David dig into rising Treasury yields, the Fed and Treasury's evolving relationship, Michael's "Treasury QE" thesis, and the four phases of the liquidity cycle.

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Is Bitcoin Signaling an Early Liquidity Recovery?
07:35 The $70K Bitcoin Level That Could Change Everything
11:08 What's Really Driving Treasury Yields Higher?
19:55 Michael Howell vs. Ray Dalio on the Future of Bonds
28:48 Inflation, Economic Growth, and the Liquidity Squeeze
35:02 The Four Phases of the Liquidity Cycle and What to Own
41:07 Can the AI Boom Defy the Market Cycle?
51:08 Treasury QE and the Fed's New Liquidity Playbook
1:01:06 Why China's Liquidity Could Be Driving Gold
1:06:19 Bitcoin vs. Gold as Monetary Inflation Hedges
1:11:08 How Much Could Global Liquidity Grow?

---
RESOURCES

Michael Howell’s Substack
https://capitalwars.substack.com/

Global Liquidity Index
https://www.glindexes.com/

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures