Bankless

Bitcoin just broke its bearish market structure, but surging bond yields could still test the rally. Ryan and David unpack Uptober, Robinhood’s trading push, the Bitget hack, and prediction markets’ path to the Supreme Court.

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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

0:09 Bitcoin Breaks Bearish Structure

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

https://x.com/hariskhantrader/status/2104621748591403035

6:35 Bond Yields, Liquidity & Macro Risk

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2105337195884052870

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-inflation-rises-less-than-expected-august-consumer-spending-surges-2026-09-30/

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2105355997892239838

https://x.com/EpsilonTheory/status/2105345560064745548

https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/TVC-MOVE/

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2105279482957369587

22:06 Robinhood Goes All-In

https://x.com/fintechfrank/status/2105082039733305734

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2105062331436966323

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2105063773165818119

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2105072369509257220

https://robinhood.com/us/en/agents/

33:19 BitGet Hack & NEAR Permissionless Debate

https://www.theblock.co/news/business/bitget-starts-phased-withdrawal-resumption

https://x.com/AlexAuroraDev/status/2104554958754357482

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2104955420401955273

https://x.com/kylekrason/status/2104562944457740481

https://x.com/near_intents/status/2105642219357241796

44:23 Prediction Markets Head to Court

https://www.legalreader.com/new-york-sues-polymarket-over-gambling-rules/

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-appeals-court-rules-against-kalshi-says-states-can-regulate-prediction-2026-09-25/

https://www.coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-receives-cftc-approval-for-coinbase-clearing-llc

48:29 Ethereum’s Cryptographic World Computer

https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2104160561374343176

https://x.com/cryptographicas/status/2104212366271390055

https://x.com/barnabemonnot/status/2104260847975707013

56:14 AI Agents & Bank Runs

https://x.com/JasonYanowitz/status/2104213040937812262

https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/

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

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What if the next major onchain trading platform looks less like a crypto exchange and more like Robinhood with institutional liquidity underneath? Variational co-founder Lucas Schumann and Head of Product Justin Bram join David to unpack the broker model behind Variational, why they believe swaps can improve on perps for real-world assets, and how TradFi liquidity can be brought onchain without rebuilding every market from scratch.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Broker, Not Exchange
5:07 Why Brokerage Wins for Retail
8:22 What Is a Swap?
9:58 The Real Cost of Trading
11:43 Bringing TradFi Liquidity Onchain
14:44 Building Variational
23:14 From Crypto Traders to Everyone
26:42 The Next User Base
30:35 What Actually Happens Onchain?
34:00 Inside OLP
37:03 Arbitrum and User Funds
39:44 The VAR Token and 32% Airdrop
42:34 Funding the Token Model
44:11 The 2027 Roadmap
47:44 Protocol or Platform?

---
RESOURCES

Lucas Schuermann
https://x.com/variational_lvs

Justin Bram
https://x.com/JustinCBram

Variational
https://www.variational.io/en

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Ben Cowen is back on Bankless after publicly admitting one of his key Bitcoin calls was wrong. What changed? Ben and David unpack the breakout that challenged his bear-market thesis, whether the four-year cycle is still intact, why Bitcoin is shrugging off a macro environment Ben expected to pressure it, and the crucial difference between easier monetary policy and genuinely abundant global liquidity.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Ben Cowen Admits What He Got Wrong
3:30 Did the Bear Market End Too Easily?
6:06 Why This Bear Market Looks Different From 2022
9:59 Is the Four-Year Cycle Still Alive?
12:27 What an Early Low Means for the Next Bull Market
14:02 Why Altcoins Are Already Moving
19:15 Monetary Policy vs. Global Liquidity
22:56 Does Altseason Need a Crisis?
28:13 Why Liquidity Could Stay Tight
31:56 Can Bitcoin Catch Up to Stocks?
34:41 Five Years of Restrictive Conditions
37:27 Is Retail Finally Coming Back?
45:46 Bitcoin Defies the Macro Setup
48:47 The Weekly Bitcoin Close That Matters
53:43 Building a Conference Around Disagreement

---
RESOURCES

Ben Cowen
https://x.com/benjamincowen

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

The bull market may be back, but Bitcoin might not be leading it. Ryan and David break down the early-bull signals, Zcash and NEAR’s surge, rising yields, Kalshi’s wash-trading controversy, and BlackRock’s expanding crypto push.

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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

0:28 Early Bull Confirmed

https://thedefireport.io/research/early-bull-confirmed

https://x.com/benjamincowen/status/2102007452057079986

https://x.com/benjamincowen/status/2102572123185107151

https://x.com/saylor/status/2102011709808353551

13:23 New Bull Market Leaders

https://www.bankless.com/read/this-is-not-bitcoin-s-cycle

https://x.com/Delphi_Digital/status/2064430003731804517

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

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

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2100789397960704285

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2102787878552015357

https://x.com/CosimoCapital/status/2102886894115696978

33:18 Rising Yields & the Debasement Trade

https://x.com/Geiger_Capital/status/2103118843061182872

https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/TVC-US10Y/

https://www.tradingview.com/chart/KZYJV3ef/

https://www.oaktreecapital.com/insights/memo/shall-we-repeal-the-laws-of-economics---part-iii

42:29 Kalshi Wash Trading Drama

https://x.com/icobeast/status/2101358009477632410

https://x.com/beniduboss/status/2101459048247808010

https://news.kalshi.com/p/the-facts-behind-kalshi-s-perpetuals-volume

https://cointelegraph.com/news/kalshi-says-cftc-hasnt-contacted-it-over-unusual-5b-trading-activity

47:57 Vitalik Backs Trueo

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

https://trueo.com/

https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2102143283493507554

https://x.com/Trueo_/article/2102123554162561272

54:37 New Tokens & Institutional Crypto Expansion

https://x.com/variational_io/status/2102929439063765192

https://x.com/Ondo/status/2103106602593087575

https://x.com/WSJmarkets/status/2103092730880569691

https://x.com/BlackRock/status/2102409739175141458

https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/literature/whitepaper/the-machine-native-economy.pdf

https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-09-22-binance-takes-100-million-circle-stake-alongside-five-year-usdc-deal-416042

https://www.blockhead.co/2026/09/22/coinbase-opens-ipo-share-allocations-to-us-retail-customers-starting-with-smart-ring-maker-oura/

---

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

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Meme coins are back, but this time the more interesting story may be what they're building around them. David sits down with Eric and Andy to unpack the latest meme-coin cycle, the rise of stock-paired memes on Robinhood Chain, and the strange possibility that speculative trading could actually bootstrap liquidity for tokenized equities.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Meme Coins Are Back
5:47 Can Meme Markets Mature?
7:48 AI as a Safety Layer
13:10 Stock-Paired Meme Coins
17:01 Building Stronger Schelling Points
21:00 Will Public Companies Care?
28:56 The Community Takeover Scenario
32:18 Meme Coins as a Liquidity Engine
36:16 How Andy and Eric Use FOMO
42:39 What Signals Actually Matter
47:54 When Do You Sell a Loser?
52:26 FOMO Rewards and Public Trading Data
55:36 The $20K ETH Jinx

---
RESOURCES

Andy 8052
https://x.com/andy8052

Eric Conner
https://x.com/econoar

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

Robinhood is trying to erase the line between crypto markets and traditional finance. David sits down with Johann from Robinhood to unpack the rise of tokenized stocks, why so much activity is already happening outside normal trading hours, and what changes when equities become programmable, composable and available across DeFi.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Bringing Tokenization to the U.S.
2:17 How Robinhood Stock Tokens Actually Work
5:19 TradFi Pushback and Demand for Tokenized Stocks
7:59 Voting Rights, Redemption and DeFi Utility
10:29 What Happens When Stocks Trade on Weekends
13:42 Will Blockchain Become the Primary Market?
18:46 Robinhood Chain’s Early Traction
21:22 Beyond Stocks: Real Estate, Gold and More
24:22 How Robinhood Chooses What to Build
26:36 What U.S. Users Still Can’t Access
29:49 Combining Tokenized Stocks With Perps
32:51 Why Robinhood Chose Ethereum
35:32 AI Agents and the Next Robinhood Products

---
RESOURCES

Johann Kerbrat
https://x.com/JohannKerbrat

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

Crypto just shrugged off a Fed hike and the death of the Clarity Act. Ryan and David break down the early-bull signal, the SEC’s tokenized-stock breakthrough, the coming options race, and Hyperliquid’s path into the U.S.

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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

0:26 Bull Market Signals: BTC, Zcash & Altcoins

https://x.com/econoar/status/2099874713539604734

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2100286172253815281

https://x.com/AviFelman/status/2100288435474825301

https://x.com/NEARProtocol/status/2099968050405495246

https://x.com/NEARProtocol/status/2099883498848784778

8:39 Macro: Tom Lee, Bonds & the Fed Hike

https://x.com/StockMKTNewz/status/2100267546683543913

https://x.com/geiger_capital/status/2099503989364609340

https://x.com/CNBC/status/2100284014221295770

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-09-16/fed-chairman-warsh-calls-rate-hike-a-sober-decision-video

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/16/trump-fed-interest-rate-warsh.html

23:43 Clarity Act Falls Apart

https://x.com/CoinDesk/status/2099429197034766830

https://x.com/tradfi/status/2099319531168731528

https://x.com/Polymarket/status/2099529644596731950

https://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/2100389230874689650

26:27 Regulators Fill the Gap: SEC & Tokenized Stocks

https://x.com/chairmanselig/status/2100232064259735589

https://x.com/SECPaulSAtkins/status/2100256253645668860

https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2100274788170162522

https://x.com/SECPaulSAtkins/status/2100572313334821271

https://x.com/Bankless/status/2100582318335275190

https://x.com/NateGeraci/status/2100581006004691453

42:31 The Crypto Options Race

https://thedefireport.io/research/the-watch-list-derive-drv

https://www.bankless.com/podcast/crypto-is-ready-for-onchain-options-nick-forster-ceo-of-derive

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2100297485147406766

45:46 Hyperliquid Comes Onshore

https://x.com/Payward/status/2100178016617869710

https://www.payward.com/press-release/payward-hyperliquid-onchain-perpetual-futures

48:38 Arc Chain Launches

https://x.com/arc/status/2100170550857404852

50:50 OpenZeppelin Joins S&P Global

https://x.com/OpenZeppelin/status/2100557026438848568

---

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Circle just launched Arc Mainnet, and its ambition is much bigger than putting USDC on another blockchain. Circle Chief Product and Technology Officer Nikhil Chandhok joins David on launch day to unpack the vision for an “economic OS” built around fast settlement, stablecoin gas, privacy, and institutional-grade financial infrastructure.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Arc Mainnet Is Live
2:57 The “Economic OS” Vision
5:29 Validators, Privacy and Post-Quantum Security
8:27 How Private Is Arc?
12:24 Immutability and the Lazarus Test
16:14 What Gets Built on Arc First?
19:19 AI Agents Become Economic Actors
26:45 Agentic Commerce Gets Real
33:17 Reputation, Nano-Payments and Agent Credit
36:37 Tokenized Stocks and 24/7 Markets
39:59 Solving the On-Ramp and FX Problem
47:39 What Happens After Launch Day?
49:16 Closing Thoughts

---
RESOURCES

Nikhil Chandhok
https://x.com/chandhok

Arc
https://www.arc.io/

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

Getting the direction of ETH right doesn’t guarantee you survive the trade. Derive co-founder Nick Forster joins David Hoffman to unpack why crypto’s options market has lagged behind perps, and why he believes that is changing. From the October 10 crash to a $300,000 Ethereum trade, they explore the different risks of leveraged bets, where options-based yield comes from, and why the deadline matters.

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---
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Why Options Lagged
5:56 The October 10 Shift
9:03 Options vs. Perps
21:37 Market Size & Economics
27:26 Derive’s HYPE Strategy
30:01 Why Onchain Matters
33:09 Inside the Risk Engine
35:51 What V3 Changes
38:02 Options in Everyday Apps
41:53 Does Volume Lift Prices?
44:08 Following Derive

---
RESOURCES

Nick Forster
https://x.com/nickforster

Derive
https://x.com/DeriveXYZ

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

Crypto speculation is back, but is this really a new bull phase? Ryan and David unpack the altcoin surge, Treasury’s escalating bond-market fight, Robinhood’s tokenized stock boom, and the OpenAI controversy raising new questions about AI, privacy, and ownership.

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---

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

2:03 Altcoin Season & Degen Debasement Trade

https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTC.D/

https://x.com/JustDeauIt/status/2095608847381733386

16:00 Treasury vs. The Bond Market

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2097708859531923682

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2097719382533177507

https://x.com/uncnooman/status/2097579298181853548

https://x.com/Hedgeye/status/2098029288092013024

https://x.com/Hedgeye/status/2098045985926914317

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2097746862463955076

http://pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-promises-5000-dividend-for-americans-if-gop-wins-midterms

27:31 Robinhood Chain & AMC’s Tokenized Stock War

https://x.com/0xcarlosg/status/2096919808235208766

https://x.com/uttam_singhk/status/2096903386168021033

https://x.com/Pumpfun/status/2097785975434846285

https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2095874039927509161

https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2095932954417451020

https://x.com/CEOAdam/status/2095622531524784212

https://x.com/vladtenev/status/2095711439810159027

https://x.com/CEOAdam/status/2095761359388520460

https://x.com/Ryan__Rigg/status/2097744223269188000

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2098063002205659638

40:12 OpenAI Math & Privacy Controversy

https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2097374640582668336

https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2097375276384567642

https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2097217378753106336

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2097396382982340783

52:30 Hunter Biden’s LAPTOP Memecoin

https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/2097696366596071825

https://x.com/HunterBiden/status/2097790749861638547

55:00 MetaMask Split & Ethereum’s Smart Wallet Future

https://x.com/MetaMask/status/2097689508187680794

https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-09-09-consensys-splits-metamask-institutional-ethereum-infrastructure-businesses-414022

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2097054140350554620

https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2096370186094076098

https://x.com/ethlabs_org/status/2097838222621446629

https://www.theblock.co/news/ecosystems/2026-09-08-ethereum-foundation-quantum-resistance-2029-413716

1:03:24 Clarity Act’s Do-or-Die Vote

https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-08-08-majority-leader-thune-files-cloture-on-clarity-act-setting-up-sept-15-senate-vote-411211

---

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures