Ryan and David break down a week where war hit markets, and the safe-haven playbook broke down. Oil spiked, gold failed, bonds sold off, the dollar caught the flight to safety, and crypto somehow bounced right through it. Then they unpack Trump’s public pressure campaign against banks over stablecoin yield, Kraken’s historic Fedwire breakthrough, and why crypto is starting to look less like an outsider and more like part of the financial core. Plus: Anthropic vs. the Pentagon, Erik Voorhees’ private AI push with Venice, fresh Aave governance drama, ZachXBT helping catch the $46M government crypto thief, and the New York Times calling crypto dead right on schedule.

---
📣FIGURE | CRYPTO-BACKED LOANS & ~9% RWA YIELD

https://bankless.cc/Figure

---

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🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN

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---

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

3:22 Chaotic Era: 3 Signals Driving Markets

https://imgur.com/UirRpZD

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HDEnyQQWwAAbwf1.jpg

https://x.com/TheSalonDon/status/2031478190741328334

https://polymarket.com/event/will-crude-oil-cl-hit-by-end-of-march/?via=bankless

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASREGW

https://imgur.com/a/I13P5gv

https://www.tradingview.com/chart/1CDu50yK/

https://www.tradingview.com/chart/1CDu50yK/

https://x.com/byheatherlong/status/2029914129654501425

https://x.com/TKL_Adam/status/2029655785282887772

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2031714633581469751

https://polymarket.com/event/us-recession-by-end-of-2026/?via=bankless

https://financialpost.com/fp-finance/jpmorgan-limits-private-credit-lending

https://x.com/adamscochran/status/2031718465044701376

https://www.reuters.com/business/blackrock-limits-withdrawals-private-credit-fund-redemptions-mount-2026-03-06

20:44 Kraken + Nasdaq: Tokenized Stocks

https://x.com/fintechfrank/status/2030979714001621138

https://x.com/krakenfx/status/2030964578117398617

https://x.com/xStocksFi/status/2030963704024740126

https://x.com/markchadwickx/status/2031068859101565118

https://x.com/EricBalchunas/status/2030988246864286036

25:33 DOJ Retries Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm & Treasury Report on Crypto Privacy & Mixers

https://x.com/amandatums/status/2031176790484374012

https://x.com/rstormsf/status/2031204201418883256

https://www.bankless.com/read/jay-claytons-crypto-war

https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/2030995739795472464

https://x.com/L0laL33tz/status/2031025281532645838

https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/246/GENIUS-Act-Illicit-Finance-Innovation-Congressional-Report-March-2026.pdf

https://x.com/theragetech/status/2031349077342859477

36:39 SEC + CFTC Coordination

https://x.com/SECGov/status/2031830716628029565

https://x.com/SECPaulSAtkins/status/2031834357082832949

39:05 BlackRock Launches Staked ETH ETF ($ETHB)

https://x.com/Bankless/status/2032108386938929322

https://www.ishares.com/us/products/348532/ishares-staked-ethereum-trust-etf

42:10 Across Protocol DAO → C-Corp Proposal

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/across-protocol

https://x.com/hal2001/status/2031737518505537907

https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2031831233722999111

https://x.com/defiignas/status/2031761413006626934

46:58 Polymarket + Palantir Partnership

https://x.com/shayne_coplan/status/2032108237932159113

49:31 AI Backlash & Data Center Moratorium

https://x.com/SenSanders/status/2031868041940660673 

https://x.com/nick_field90/status/2030700617295860074

https://fortune.com/2026/03/09/ai-opinion-poll-democrats-iran-war-president-donald-trump

https://x.com/brianstelter/status/2030635638823801333

https://x.com/kevinroose/status/2031397522590282212

55:52 Closing & Disclaimers

---

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Ethereum underperformed this cycle, and investors are asking the big question: did ETH just skip a cycle, or is something deeper going on? Michael Nadeau joins Ryan to break down where Ethereum sits in the market cycle today, why several of his key indicators suggest ETH is entering a fair value zone, and whether the true macro bottom could still lie ahead.

They also unpack why ETH struggled despite improving fundamentals. Mike explains how Ethereum’s L2 roadmap may have improved the network while weakening short-term value capture for the asset itself, and what signals he’s watching (MVRV, supply in profit, the 200-week moving average) as he looks for the next expansion phase.

Michael Nadeau & The DeFi Report:

https://x.com/JustDeauIt

https://thedefireport.io/

---
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https://bankless.cc/Galaxy

---

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🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT

https://bankless.cc/bitget

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

🌍 WORLD | FULLY ONCHAIN EXCHANGE

https://bankless.cc/world

---

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

3:50 The History of ETH Cycles

5:41 Analyzing Performance Trends

8:32 The Impact of L2 Roadmap

10:24 Roadmap Decisions & Market Perception

15:50 Valuation Metrics Explained

20:08 Disparities in Valuation Methods

23:22 Navigating Market Conditions

26:14 Nation-State Metaphor & Valuation

27:45 Revenue and Economic Impact

33:42 DEX Volumes & Their Implications

37:25 Stablecoin Supply on Ethereum

38:09 Cycle Metrics & Analysis

44:22 Fair Market Value Insights

50:40 Evaluating ETH for the Portfolio

---

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

A conversation with new CFTC Chairman Mike Selig on the policy shift behind America’s push to become the crypto capital of the world.

We cover the CFTC’s evolving role in crypto, prediction markets, and perpetuals, the end of regulation by enforcement, how the agency is thinking about DeFi and software developers, and why market structure legislation like the Clarity Act could reshape the future of U.S. crypto.

------

🎬 DEBRIEF | RYAN & DAVID UNPACKING THE EPISODE

https://www.bankless.com/podcast/debrief-making-america-the-crypto-capital-of-the-world

------

🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET

https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 

🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE

https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 

🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT

https://bankless.cc/bitget

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

🌍 WORLD | FULLY ONCHAIN EXCHANGE

https://bankless.cc/world

------

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
0:33 Mike’s Background
4:25 Commodity Markets Transformation
7:31 Commodity Definition
10:56 The Role of the CFTC
11:56 Prediction Markets
17:48 Navigating New Markets
20:34 Are Prediction Markets CFTC Territory?
24:45 Insider Trading vs Information Advantage
28:25 Trump’s Conflict of Interests
29:21 Clarity Act
36:58 Project Crypto
39:37 Defining Intermediary
43:32 Exchanges vs L2s
45:50 No More Wells Notices
50:17 The New CFTC & SEC
54:51 Making America the Crypto Capital of the World
57:08 Best of the Clarity Act
59:04 Closing & Disclaimers

------
RESOURCES

Mike Selig

https://x.com/ChairmanSelig 

CFTC

https://www.cftc.gov/ 

------

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠ 

Ryan and David break down a week where war hit markets, and the safe-haven playbook broke down. Oil spiked, gold failed, bonds sold off, the dollar caught the flight to safety, and crypto somehow bounced right through it. Then they unpack Trump’s public pressure campaign against banks over stablecoin yield, Kraken’s historic Fedwire breakthrough, and why crypto is starting to look less like an outsider and more like part of the financial core. Plus: Anthropic vs. the Pentagon, Erik Voorhees’ private AI push with Venice, fresh Aave governance drama, ZachXBT helping catch the $46M government crypto thief, and the New York Times calling crypto dead right on schedule.

---

📣FIGURE | CRYPTO-BACKED LOANS & ~9% RWA YIELD

https://bankless.cc/Figure

---

BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET

https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 

🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE

https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 

🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT

https://bankless.cc/bitget

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

🌍 WORLD | FULLY ONCHAIN EXCHANGE

https://bankless.cc/world

---

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

2:54 Wartime Markets: US / Israel vs Iran + Market Reaction

https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2028229365440344419

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2028426099474981156

https://x.com/BullTheoryio/status/2029251045885665465

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2029274787474743761

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ethereum

https://alternative.me/crypto/fear-and-greed-index

12:33 Polymarket Becomes the Biggest Winner

https://x.com/PolymarketStory/status/2028863241942671865

https://polymarket.com/event/will-the-iranian-regime-fall-by-march-31/?via=bankless?

https://polymarket.com/event/will-reza-pahlavi-lead-iran-in-2026/?via=bankless?

15:20 Pentagon vs Anthropic: AI is Military Tech

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2027958511334723716

https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/2027488317286351266

https://x.com/BullTheoryio/status/2027626521217929683

https://x.com/ns123abc/status/2028642962196811791

https://app.ventuals.com/trade/anthropic

23:57 Kraken Gets Fedwire Access (First Crypto Bank)

https://x.com/krakenfx/status/2029206389957009419

https://x.com/SenLummis/status/2029195363119173710 

https://x.com/dgt10011/status/2029241024069910558

https://bpi.com/bpi-statement-on-kraken-master-account

https://x.com/jespow/status/2029262374499434919

https://x.com/mikeippolito_/status/2029213224625963310

31:37 Trump vs Banks Over Stablecoin Yield

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2028955180650099117

https://x.com/EricTrump/status/2029309823423009211

https://x.com/coinbureau/status/2029067345055105162

https://polymarket.com/event/clarity-act-signed-into-law-in-2026/?via=bankless?

https://x.com/RonwHammond/status/2028960282450567547

https://x.com/intangiblecoins/status/2029554248883839324

40:03 Private AI + Crypto: Erik Voorhees’ Venice

https://x.com/ErikVoorhees/status/2029352394317029871

https://x.com/ErikVoorhees/status/2029387068384678014

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/venice-token

https://x.com/steipete/status/2028578713126707547

https://x.com/ErikVoorhees/status/2029399902011224272

47:30 Aave Governance Drama

https://governance.aave.com/t/aci-is-leaving-aave/24205

https://governance.aave.com/t/temp-check-aave-will-win-framework/24055/137

50:11 TradFi Moves Into Crypto (NYSE + OKX)

https://www.theblock.co/post/392397/nyse-parent-ice-invests-in-crypto-exchange-okx-at-25-billion-valuation-amid-tokenized-stocks-push-fortune

51:10 Million Bitcoin Milestone

https://x.com/JoeConsorti/status/2028931445125706171

52:09 X Money (Elon’s Payments Wallet) & SpaceX Bitcoin Treasury

https://x.com/abskoop/status/2029088219858346446

https://x.com/dagaadit/status/2029256180644659379

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/03/01/spacex-s-usd780-million-bitcoin-stack-now-down-to-about-usd545-million-ahead-of-ipo-filing

54:42 ZachXBT Catches $46M Crypto Thief

https://x.com/BecauseBitcoin/status/2029585484960145866

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2029577374057296175

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2014685299025060154

58:13 South Korean Police Leak Crypto Wallet Seed

https://gizmodo.com/south-korean-police-lose-seized-crypto-by-posting-password-online-2000728191

1:00:33 NYTimes Says “Crypto Is Dead” Again

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/opinion/crypto-trump-bitcoin-clarity-genius.html

https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2027392307050188828

1:02:10 Closing & Disclaimers

---

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

AI is getting dangerously good at smart contract security. Faster than crypto is ready for. Alpin Yukseloglu joins Bankless to break down EVMBench (built with OpenAI), a benchmark testing whether AI agents can detect, patch, and exploit real fund-draining bugs and why the jump from ~12–13% exploit-finding to 70%+ could rewrite today’s security assumptions. We unpack what that “70%” really means, why crypto’s verifiability is an ideal training ground, why AI labs haven’t prioritized crypto data yet, and what a 24/7 blackhat vs whitehat AI arms race means for DeFi.

---
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⚡ EUPHORIA | REAL-TIME ONE-TAP TRADING
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🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT
https://bankless.cc/bitget

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS
https://thedefireport.io/bankless

---
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 AI’s exploit leap: 12% → 70% and the “Superhuman auditors”
7:02: Staring at the singularity without losing your mind
10:31 Agency » doom: the Thiel framing
19:10 What’s most at risk (and what’s safer)
23:37 What EVMBench actually is (benchmark + harness)
27:03 Why exploiting is the key: killing false positives
29:24 AI gets “good at crypto” fast: verifiability
30:56 What “70% exploit rate” really means
33:32 Why AI labs avoided crypto (it’s not technical)
43:38 Blackhat vs whitehat: how the race plays out
47:21 Agents and “payments at the speed of light”
51:02 EVM vs Solana: network effects
56:18 AI formal verification as an endgame
58:06 EVMBench V2: expanding the frontier
59:54 Why Alpin stays in crypto

---
RESOURCES

Alpin Yukseloglu
https://x.com/0xalpo

EVMBench
https://paradigm.xyz/evmbench

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

Nat Eliason joins to show what it looks like to build a “zero human company” with OpenClaw agents. — led by Felix, an AI CEO that ships products, runs ops, and even manages other agents for support and sales. 

We unpack how Felix went from an overnight info product to a full marketplace for agent “skills” (Clawmart) and a bespoke service that deploys custom OpenClaw employees for real businesses, hitting nearly $80k in revenue since early February while operating on surprisingly low monthly costs.

------

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🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET

https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast

🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE

https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast

⚡ EUPHORIA | REAL-TIME ONE-TAP TRADING

https://bankless.cc/euphoria

🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD

https://bankless.cc/brix

🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT

https://bankless.cc/bitget

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

------

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

0.24 Nat’s Background

6:30 Felix

11:43 Real Businesses vs Memecoins

14:23 Felix’s Employees

18:06 Felix’s Business

31:26 How Customized is Felix?

38:17 Felix’s Business Risks

40:12 Can OpenClaw Replace Knowledge Workers?

43:38 Claw Mart

48:49 Felix’s Expenses

51:15 Nat’s Role

56:39 Felix’s Discord

1:03:19 Citrini Doomer Scenario

1:13:04 Hiring Your First Agent

1:16:19 General AI Assistants

1:19:50 AI Friends

1:22:39 The AI Agent Frontier

1:26:52 Crypto x AI

1:31:53 What’s Next

1:34:27 Closing & Disclaimers

------
RESOURCES

Nat Eliason

https://x.com/nateliason 

Felix Craft

https://x.com/FelixCraftAI 

Felix Dashboard

https://felixcraft.ai/dashboard 

Claw Mart

https://www.shopclawmart.com/ 

Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance

https://www.amazon.com/Crypto-Confidential-Winning-Millions-Frontier/dp/0593714040 

------

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠ 

Crypto still feels like a minefield for humans:

Haseeb Qureshi argues that’s a clue, not a bug: blockchains and smart contracts are machine-readable systems that AI agents can parse, simulate, and execute far more reliably than people, shifting crypto’s core user from humans clicking through wallets to agents acting on our behalf.

We also dig into the two-track future of agent commerce (safe, human-approved flows vs. the wild-west frontier), why major AI labs have avoided crypto training so far (liability), how agent-driven discovery could rewrite DeFi competition, and what this means for Dragonfly’s investing playbook.

------

🎬 DEBRIEF | RYAN & DAVID UNPACKING THE EPISODE

https://www.bankless.com/podcast/debrief-haseeb-quereshi-cryptos-not-made-for-humans-its-for-ai

------

🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET

https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast

🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE

https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast

⚡ EUPHORIA | REAL-TIME ONE-TAP TRADING

https://bankless.cc/euphoria

🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD

https://bankless.cc/brix

🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT

https://bankless.cc/bitget

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://bankless.cc/TDRpro

------

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

0:42 Why Crypto’s Not Made for Humans

17:49 How AI Agents Think

28:51 Why Crypto x AI is Unexplored

32:58 The Botconomy & OpenClaw

43:42 How Long Until the Frontier is Here?

50:07 How Crazy Does it Get?

1:06:00 AI Thinks Crypto’s Cringe

1:10:31 Dragonfly’s New 650M Fund

1:13:05 Closing & Disclaimers

------
RESOURCES

Haseeb Qureshi

https://x.com/hosseeb 

Dragonfly

https://www.dragonfly.xyz/ 

------

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

February ends with peak FUD. Ryan and David unpack why crypto is stuck in historic “Extreme Fear” even without a major blowup, and why markets feel like they’ve entered an uncertainty bubble. They break down the Supreme Court striking Trump’s tariffs, Trump immediately finding new legal doors to bring them back, and the looming $150B+ refund fight. Then the “Citrini Crash”: AI doomer scenarios going viral, spooking stocks, and leaving investors terrified that AI will be either not good enough or far too good. Plus: fresh allegations that Jane Street helped accelerate Terra’s collapse, Meta’s stablecoin reboot for its billions of users, ZachXBT’s Axiom insider trading exposé, Hyperliquid’s new DC policy push, Robinhood’s retail venture fund, Coinbase’s 24/5 stocks rollout, and the Pentagon’s ultimatum to Anthropic over AI guardrails.

---

📣FIGURE | CRYPTO-BACKED LOANS & ~9% RWA YIELD

https://bankless.cc/FigureCBL

---

BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET

https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 

🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE

https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 

⚡EUPHORIA | REAL-TIME ONE-TAP TRADING

https://bankless.cc/euphoria 

🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT

https://bankless.cc/bitget

🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD

https://bankless.cc/brix 

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://bankless.cc/TDRpro   

---

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

2:51 Extreme Fear & the “Uncertainty Bubble”

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ethereum

https://alternative.me/crypto/fear-and-greed-index

https://x.com/xeer/status/2025867669707043156

https://x.com/Evan_ss6/status/2026363413610238032

https://thedefireport.io/research/uncertainty-bubble

https://x.com/kobeissiletter/status/2024862913761001477

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2026067372604371286

https://www.citriniresearch.com/p/2028gic

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2026040229535047769

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2026028854461047220

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-citrini-post-is-just-a-scary

https://x.com/mattshumer_/status/2021256989876109403

https://x.com/intangiblecoins/status/2027011410627027024

26:24 Was Jane Street Behind the 2022 Crypto Winter?

https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/jane-street-accused-of-insider-trading-that-helped-collapse-terraform-659e6993

https://x.com/OGDfarmer/status/2026343910923006123

https://x.com/hasufl/status/2026246191550193756

https://x.com/davidzmorris/status/2026286018643603749

https://x.com/1914ad/status/2026757796390449382

35:29 Meta Revives Stablecoin Plans

https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/02/24/mark-zuckerberg-s-meta-is-planning-stablecoin-comeback-in-the-second-half-of-this-year

39:49 ZachXBT Exposes Insider Trading at Axiom

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2025917891678523644

https://polymarket.com/event/which-crypto-company-will-zachxbt-expose-for-insider-trading/?via=bankless?

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2027016064534757659

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2027016170126323925

50:40 Hyperliquid DC Policy Center, Robinhood VC, & Coinbase 24/5 stocks & ETFs trading

https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/2024116520427651480

https://x.com/vladtenev/status/2026028297822588941

https://x.com/coinbase/status/2026303315382870364

55:49 AI Watch: Pentagon vs Anthropic

https://x.com/DeItaone/status/2027028927756054670

https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2026382701562048545

https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2026329054887239697

1:02:33 Closing & Disclaimers

---

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Crypto’s newest threat isn’t a smart contract exploit, it’s a knock at your door. In this episode, Ryan sits down with Jameson Lopp (Casa) and Beau (former CIA, now safety at Pudgy Penguins) to map the real security landscape for crypto holders in 2026: the phishing traps you’ll see daily, the physical “wrench attacks” that terrify the community, and the practical systems that can make both dramatically less effective. If going bankless is about freedom, this is the playbook for keeping that freedom without turning into your own security team.

---
📣ROCKET POOL | PERMISSIONLESS STAKING
https://bankless.cc/Rocketpool

---
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS
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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
2:45 The 2026 threat landscape: third parties, privacy, then physical
8:07 Most likely vs most dangerous: phishing vs wrench attacks
17:23 Minimize attack surface + separate your money by risk
20:27 The “3-wallet” model: daily spend, risky ops, deep cold vault
25:08 Hot vs cold: the $1k rule + don’t sign when you’re not sharp
30:01 Social engineering defense: authenticate everything, trust nothing inbound
36:22 Password managers + the 2FA ladder (passkeys/YubiKeys win)
45:05 “Dedicated signing machine” and air-gapped thinking
47:30 Wrench attacks: how targets are found + what the attacks look like
52:50 Why France stands out (and what Dubai’s data shows)
57:37 “Zero Crypto at Home”: multisig + geography + time delays
1:12:27 Duress wallets: why they don’t reliably work
1:16:38 Home hardening checklist: cameras, lights, panic buttons, doors/windows
1:30:59 Onchain privacy reality + tax software pitfalls
1:37:40 Is this a setback for the Bankless vision?

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RESOURCES

Jameson Lopp
https://x.com/lopp
https://casa.io/

Beau
https://x.com/beausecurity
https://beausecurity.substack.com/

RSA’s Article - Zero Crypto at Home
https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2016572587363520933

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

Ethereum’s next big leap might not look like a single “flip the switch” moment—but it could change how the chain verifies everything. In this episode, Ansgar Dietrichs comes back to unpack the ZK EVM: why “re-executing every block” has been Ethereum’s hidden scaling tax, how real-time proofs finally make a different verification model viable, and what it would take to transition safely without sacrificing the verifiability that keeps Ethereum credibly neutral. They explore the three true bottlenecks of blockchain scaling (compute, IO, bandwidth), the roadmap from optional proofs to mandatory proofs, and why client diversity could look radically different in a ZK-native future.

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BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET
https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast

🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE
https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast

⚡ EUPHORIA | REAL-TIME ONE-TAP TRADING
https://bankless.cc/euphoria

🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD
https://bankless.cc/brix

🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT
https://bankless.cc/bitget

🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS
https://bankless.cc/TDRpro

---
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
0:43 Ethereum’s Biggest Upgrade
4:35 The Core Idea: Verify Blocks Without Re-Executing
10:40 From Bitcoin’s “Verify Cheaply” to Verifying Full Execution
16:22 Cryptography 2.0: Proving Arbitrary Computation
22:56 Scaling All 3 Constraints: Compute, IO, Bandwidth
32:33 Why Ethereum Has Been “Slow” by Design
38:29 3× Per Year: Scaling Now, Not Someday
41:28 ZK Isn’t About Faster Blocks (But Speed Still Improves)
46:33 Rollout Plan: Optional Proofs → Mandatory Proofs
49:59 Dependencies: Block-in-Blobs, Repricing, New State Trees
54:14 Security Reality Check: Performance → Security → Production
1:01:24 Client Diversity in a ZK World
1:10:51 Timeline: ZK Ethereum, Around 2030
1:16:31 Second-Order Wins: L2 Bridging and Beyond Crypto
1:20:49 Closing: Build the Boring Infrastructure, Enable the Apps

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RESOURCES

Ansgar Dietrichs
https://x.com/adietrichs

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