Bankless

Can a country wage war without ever firing a bullet? In this episode of Bankless, we uncover the surprising truth: America’s most powerful weapon isn’t its military - it’s the dollar.
Joining us is Edward Fishman, a former State Department official and the author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. He explains how U.S. sanctions work, why they’re so effective, and what happens when countries try to escape them. From Iran and Russia to the rise of stablecoins and China’s digital yuan, we dive deep into the geopolitical power of financial infrastructure and crypto’s growing role in rewriting the rules.
If you want to understand the silent machinery behind global power, and why crypto might be the next battleground - don’t miss this one.

---

📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24
https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium
---
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
---
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
5:51 Sanctions 101
8:32 The History of Economic Warfare
17:03 When Sanctions Precede War
22:27 Life After Dollar Disconnection
31:28 Sanctioning Russia: Methods & Lessons
43:49 Measuring Sanctions’ Effectiveness
49:20 The Strategic Tradeoffs of Sanctions
57:28 The Rise of Dollar Dominance
1:04:05 Unseen Costs of Sanction Power
1:08:15 Shifting Global Economic Power
1:15:47 Risks to U.S. Economic Leadership
1:20:43 Stablecoins as U.S. Leverage
1:28:13 Crypto’s Role in Sanction Evasion
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RESOURCES
Edward Fishman
https://x.com/edwardfishman
Edward Fishman’s “Chokepoints”
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/726149/chokepoints-by-edward-fishman/
---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Is intelligence just compute plus data? And if so... what happens next?
In this episode, Dwarkesh Patel, host of one of the most respected AI podcasts and author of “The Scaling Era”, joins us to break down the exponential rise of artificial intelligence. We explore how scaling laws became the engine behind modern models, why AI still can’t learn on the job, and whether we’re truly on the brink of AGI.
From coding to consciousness, from geopolitics to governance, Dwarkesh shares a grounded but urgent perspective on what it means to live through the transition and how we might prepare for what’s coming.
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💫 LIMITLESS | SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW
https://limitless.bankless.com/
https://x.com/LimitlessFT
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
------
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
6:59 What Is the Scaling Era?
9:31 Compute + Data = Intelligence?
15:08 Are We Building God?
17:57 The Catalyst: Discovering the Scaling Laws
20:54 Model Capabilities
24:35 Why Coding Is the AI Frontier
31:43 What AIs Still Can’t Do
36:26 AI Isn’t Around the Corner
46:01 Is AI Really Smart?
50:54 Inside the Black Box
54:46 AI Safety and Alignment
1:03:49 Who Controls the Models?
1:08:16 Swiss Cheese Safety & Liberal AI
1:19:30 Scaling Inputs: Energy, Compute, Data
1:26:40 Jobs, Growth & the Intelligence Curse
1:32:07 Why 60% AGI by 2040?
1:36:14 Dwarkesh’s Personal View
------
RESOURCES
Dwarkesh Patel
https://x.com/dwarkesh_sp
Dwarkesh’s Book
https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-Era-Oral-History-2019-2025/dp/1953953557
Dwarkesh’s Podcast
https://www.dwarkesh.com/
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Is intelligence just compute plus data? And if so... what happens next?
In this episode, Dwarkesh Patel, host of one of the most respected AI podcasts and author of “The Scaling Era”, joins us to break down the exponential rise of artificial intelligence. We explore how scaling laws became the engine behind modern models, why AI still can’t learn on the job, and whether we’re truly on the brink of AGI.
From coding to consciousness, from geopolitics to governance, Dwarkesh shares a grounded but urgent perspective on what it means to live through the transition and how we might prepare for what’s coming.
------
💫 LIMITLESS | SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW
https://limitless.bankless.com/
https://x.com/LimitlessFT
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
------
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
6:59 What Is the Scaling Era?
9:31 Compute + Data = Intelligence?
15:08 Are We Building God?
17:57 The Catalyst: Discovering the Scaling Laws
20:54 Model Capabilities
24:35 Why Coding Is the AI Frontier
31:43 What AIs Still Can’t Do
36:26 AI Isn’t Around the Corner
46:01 Is AI Really Smart?
50:54 Inside the Black Box
54:46 AI Safety and Alignment
1:03:49 Who Controls the Models?
1:08:16 Swiss Cheese Safety & Liberal AI
1:19:30 Scaling Inputs: Energy, Compute, Data
1:26:40 Jobs, Growth & the Intelligence Curse
1:32:07 Why 60% AGI by 2040?
1:36:14 Dwarkesh’s Personal View
------
RESOURCES
Dwarkesh Patel
https://x.com/dwarkesh_sp
Dwarkesh’s Book
https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-Era-Oral-History-2019-2025/dp/1953953557
Dwarkesh’s Podcast
https://www.dwarkesh.com/
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Is intelligence just compute plus data? And if so... what happens next?
In this episode, Dwarkesh Patel, host of one of the most respected AI podcasts and author of “The Scaling Era”, joins us to break down the exponential rise of artificial intelligence. We explore how scaling laws became the engine behind modern models, why AI still can’t learn on the job, and whether we’re truly on the brink of AGI.
From coding to consciousness, from geopolitics to governance, Dwarkesh shares a grounded but urgent perspective on what it means to live through the transition and how we might prepare for what’s coming.
------
💫 LIMITLESS | SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW
https://limitless.bankless.com/
https://x.com/LimitlessFT
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
------
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
6:59 What Is the Scaling Era?
9:31 Compute + Data = Intelligence?
15:08 Are We Building God?
17:57 The Catalyst: Discovering the Scaling Laws
20:54 Model Capabilities
24:35 Why Coding Is the AI Frontier
31:43 What AIs Still Can’t Do
36:26 AI Isn’t Around the Corner
46:01 Is AI Really Smart?
50:54 Inside the Black Box
54:46 AI Safety and Alignment
1:03:49 Who Controls the Models?
1:08:16 Swiss Cheese Safety & Liberal AI
1:19:30 Scaling Inputs: Energy, Compute, Data
1:26:40 Jobs, Growth & the Intelligence Curse
1:32:07 Why 60% AGI by 2040?
1:36:14 Dwarkesh’s Personal View
------
RESOURCES
Dwarkesh Patel
https://x.com/dwarkesh_sp
Dwarkesh’s Book
https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-Era-Oral-History-2019-2025/dp/1953953557
Dwarkesh’s Podcast
https://www.dwarkesh.com/
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Andrew Keys and David Merin join us to unveil the Ether Machine—a bold new strategy to make ETH the internet’s reserve currency. 

We unpack their ambitious plan to acquire and actively manage hundreds of thousands of ETH, why they believe ETH is more than just a treasury asset, and how institutional capital can finally understand and tap into Ethereum’s full potential. From staking and restaking to DeFi yield generation and Wall Street education, this episode explores why Ether is not just digital oil—it’s the engine of the next internet.

------
📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 

https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium

------

BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi

https://bankless.cc/Frax 

🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN

https://bankless.cc/unichain 

🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK

https://bankless.cc/Mantle 

🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE

https://bankless.cc/binance

🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA

https://bankless.cc/coingecko

------

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:32 How Much Ether?

4:57 Other ETH Treasuries

9:41 Ether Machine

12:46 ETH vs BTC

17:27 Ether Machine DeFi Strategy

21:14 Explaining ETH to Wall Street

26:01 How Big is ETH?

28:14 ETH ETFs vs Ether Machine

37:13 Andrew’s Journey

40:54 Gensler’s SEC Era

43:30 Michael Saylor of ETH?

49:29 Decentralization Worries

52:09 ETH’s Narrative Problem

56:47 The Institutional Cycle

1:00:41 Closing

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RESOURCES

The Ether Machine

https://x.com/TheEtherMachine 

https://ethermachine.com/ 

Andrew Keys

https://x.com/ak_ethermachine 

David Merin

https://x.com/dfmerin 

------

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠ 

Andrew Keys and David Merin join us to unveil the Ether Machine—a bold new strategy to make ETH the internet’s reserve currency. 

We unpack their ambitious plan to acquire and actively manage hundreds of thousands of ETH, why they believe ETH is more than just a treasury asset, and how institutional capital can finally understand and tap into Ethereum’s full potential. From staking and restaking to DeFi yield generation and Wall Street education, this episode explores why Ether is not just digital oil—it’s the engine of the next internet.

------
📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 

https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium

------

BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi

https://bankless.cc/Frax 

🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN

https://bankless.cc/unichain 

🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK

https://bankless.cc/Mantle 

🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE

https://bankless.cc/binance

🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA

https://bankless.cc/coingecko

------

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:32 How Much Ether?

4:57 Other ETH Treasuries

9:41 Ether Machine

12:46 ETH vs BTC

17:27 Ether Machine DeFi Strategy

21:14 Explaining ETH to Wall Street

26:01 How Big is ETH?

28:14 ETH ETFs vs Ether Machine

37:13 Andrew’s Journey

40:54 Gensler’s SEC Era

43:30 Michael Saylor of ETH?

49:29 Decentralization Worries

52:09 ETH’s Narrative Problem

56:47 The Institutional Cycle

1:00:41 Closing

------
RESOURCES

The Ether Machine

https://x.com/TheEtherMachine 

https://ethermachine.com/ 

Andrew Keys

https://x.com/ak_ethermachine 

David Merin

https://x.com/dfmerin 

------

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠ 

Andrew Keys and David Merin join us to unveil the Ether Machine—a bold new strategy to make ETH the internet’s reserve currency. 

We unpack their ambitious plan to acquire and actively manage hundreds of thousands of ETH, why they believe ETH is more than just a treasury asset, and how institutional capital can finally understand and tap into Ethereum’s full potential. From staking and restaking to DeFi yield generation and Wall Street education, this episode explores why Ether is not just digital oil—it’s the engine of the next internet.

------
📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 

https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium

------

BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi

https://bankless.cc/Frax 

🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN

https://bankless.cc/unichain 

🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK

https://bankless.cc/Mantle 

🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE

https://bankless.cc/binance

🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA

https://bankless.cc/coingecko

------

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:32 How Much Ether?

4:57 Other ETH Treasuries

9:41 Ether Machine

12:46 ETH vs BTC

17:27 Ether Machine DeFi Strategy

21:14 Explaining ETH to Wall Street

26:01 How Big is ETH?

28:14 ETH ETFs vs Ether Machine

37:13 Andrew’s Journey

40:54 Gensler’s SEC Era

43:30 Michael Saylor of ETH?

49:29 Decentralization Worries

52:09 ETH’s Narrative Problem

56:47 The Institutional Cycle

1:00:41 Closing

------
RESOURCES

The Ether Machine

https://x.com/TheEtherMachine 

https://ethermachine.com/ 

Andrew Keys

https://x.com/ak_ethermachine 

David Merin

https://x.com/dfmerin 

------

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠ 

The internet is broken for creators, and Base thinks it has the fix.
Jesse Pollak joins Bankless to unveil the Base app, a crypto-powered everything app where posts earn, creators own, and mini apps go viral. From meme coins to market-based social media, this might be the start of a new onchain economy.
—-
📣BANKLESS TV | BASE DAY
https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1948769160932327886
—-
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🌐BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎 COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
—-
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:04 The Vision of BASE
3:11 The Everything App
6:10 The Future for Creators
10:13 Earning Through Engagement
14:29 Crafting the Perfect Content
20:54 The Rise of Mini Apps
23:59 Monetization and the Free Market
25:52 Addressing Creator Concerns
29:23 Closing Thoughts on BASE
—-
RESOURCES
Jesse
https://x.com/jessepollak
Base
https://x.com/base
—-
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

The internet is broken for creators, and Base thinks it has the fix.
Jesse Pollak joins Bankless to unveil the Base app, a crypto-powered everything app where posts earn, creators own, and mini apps go viral. From meme coins to market-based social media, this might be the start of a new onchain economy.
—-
📣BANKLESS TV | BASE DAY
https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1948769160932327886
—-
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🌐BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎 COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
—-
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:04 The Vision of BASE
3:11 The Everything App
6:10 The Future for Creators
10:13 Earning Through Engagement
14:29 Crafting the Perfect Content
20:54 The Rise of Mini Apps
23:59 Monetization and the Free Market
25:52 Addressing Creator Concerns
29:23 Closing Thoughts on BASE
—-
RESOURCES
Jesse
https://x.com/jessepollak
Base
https://x.com/base
—-
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

The internet is broken for creators, and Base thinks it has the fix.
Jesse Pollak joins Bankless to unveil the Base app, a crypto-powered everything app where posts earn, creators own, and mini apps go viral. From meme coins to market-based social media, this might be the start of a new onchain economy.
—-
📣BANKLESS TV | BASE DAY
https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1948769160932327886
—-
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🌐BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎 COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
—-
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:04 The Vision of BASE
3:11 The Everything App
6:10 The Future for Creators
10:13 Earning Through Engagement
14:29 Crafting the Perfect Content
20:54 The Rise of Mini Apps
23:59 Monetization and the Free Market
25:52 Addressing Creator Concerns
29:23 Closing Thoughts on BASE
—-
RESOURCES
Jesse
https://x.com/jessepollak
Base
https://x.com/base
—-
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures