Bankless

Is Trump trying to wreck the economy, or is he just ripping off the Band-Aid? 

Macro expert Jim Bianco breaks down Trump's economic strategy—tariffs, tax cuts, and shifting focus from the stock market to the 10-year Treasury yield. 

We discuss the potential risks of short-term pain, the surprising Crypto Strategic Reserve, and whether this shift could lead to long-term economic stability. Is this the start of a recession or a necessary correction? 

Tune in for Jim’s expert take.

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------ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro 5:53 What is Trump Doing? 12:07 Economic Rebalancing 17:37 Crypto Strategic Reserve 28:52 Tariffs 33:39 Trade Imbalances 38:45 Tariffs & 10 Year Yield 48:28 Recession in 2025? 55:04 Optimistic Future 1:01:22 Risk-On Sector 1:05:07 Closing & Disclaimers

------ RESOURCES

Jim Bianco https://x.com/biancoresearch  

Bianco Research https://www.biancoresearch.com/visitor-home/  

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

The AI arms race is on, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Bankless podcast producer Josh Kale breaks down which players are poised to dominate this next industrial revolution. From the transformative power of AI across industries to the geopolitical and economic implications, we explore the critical dynamics shaping our technological future—and what this means for investors, builders, and society at large.

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------ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro 0:25 A New Life Form?  4:23 The AI Rabbithole 11:49 xAI & Grok 3 26:51 Deepseek Breakthrough 28:47 English as a Programming Language 30:19 Open Sourcing LLMs 34:13 Other Models 39:29 Meta AI 44:04 AI Bets 46:27 Elon Musk vs Sam Altman 51:59 Worldcoin 55:48 From OpenAI to AGI 1:03:01 AI Doomerism 1:10:06 Neuralink 1:15:20 AI vs Humans 1:22:08 Frontier Tech 1:24:43 Crypto’s Role 1:28:00 Closing & Disclaimers

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

Joining us this week is Alex Thorn to break down why crypto markets are taking a hit. Major hacks, bearish macro signals, and fresh tariffs from the U.S. all played a role. But it’s not all bad news: the SEC is backing off from lawsuits against Coinbase, OpenSea, and Uniswap, signaling a potential shift in regulatory pressure. Plus, Bybit suffered the biggest crypto hack ever, losing $1.5B—how did it happen, and who’s behind it?

Follow Alex: https://x.com/intangiblecoins

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------

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES   00:00:00 Intro To Alex

00:01:21 Market Breakdown https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/25/how-trumps-tariffs-on-mexico-and-canada-will-sweep-across-us-states.html 

00:09:43 Treasuries vs Equities

00:22:12 The Largest Hack In History https://x.com/Bybit_Official/status/1892965292931702929  https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1893007399687958586/photo/1  https://x.com/benbybit/status/1892969284587966869  https://x.com/benbybit/status/1893102137711960486  https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/bybit-exchange-hack-february-2025-crypto-security-dprk/  https://x.com/StefanDGeorge/status/1894781521803858353  https://x.com/hasufl/status/1894772256179405158  https://x.com/arkham/status/1893033424224411885?s=46&t=v4MeJk18PFydz-g2BpdAVg  https://x.com/Jesseeckel/status/1893047605133037905  https://x.com/mudit__gupta/status/1893290720603050121  https://x.com/Bybit_Official/status/1893687749229563958  https://x.com/benbybit/status/1893865556840775758  https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1893840256342040727  https://x.com/TimBeiko/status/1893412457567383559  https://x.com/ethena_labs/status/1892971552565805309 

00:34:12 Ethereum Hard Fork Backlash

00:43:03 SEC Drops Lawsuits https://x.com/coinbase/status/1892923603814936896  https://x.com/dfinzer/status/1893086281300582772  https://x.com/Uniswap/status/1894452298698358989  https://x.com/econoar/status/1894501626209271973 

00:48:32 Hester Peirce Update

00:54:46 Bullish Or Bearish?

01:04:48 A16Z’s Newest Hire https://x.com/patrickmchenry/status/1894735546213171378 

01:06:30 Stablecoin Issues

01:12:31 US Treasury Updates https://x.com/Bitcoin_Laws/status/1893399549454229690  https://bitcoinlaws.io/ 

01:15:58 Find Alex on Twitter https://x.com/intangiblecoins 

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

📣RESERVE | INVEST IN CRYPTO NARRATIVES  https://bankless.cc/reserve   ------

Tom Shaughnessy from Delphi joins us to break down the AI x crypto space—where the value is, how to spot winning models, and why Silicon Valley AI and crypto AI are taking very different approaches. We also get into agent-based research, the fracturing of frontier models, and… a birthday surprise at the end.

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------ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Start 04:42 Delphi's Interest In The Space 08:20 Initial AI Crypto Use Cases 09:18 The Era's Of AI 13:41 Where Does Value Accrual Come From 20:38 How Do You Choose The Winning Model? 27:08 Silicon Valley AI Vs Crypto AI 37:12 Fracturing Of Frontier Models 41:43 What's Exciting? 46:27 Due Diligence Via Agent 49:02 When To Use What Agent 53:10 A Birthday Surprise

------ RESOURCES

Tom Shaughnessy https://x.com/Shaughnessy119 

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

Ben Cowen, founder of Into the Cryptoverse, breaks down why the current crypto cycle feels different from past ones. 

We explore the Advanced Decline Index and how it reveals why Bitcoin is thriving while most altcoins struggle. Ben also discusses the impact of quantitative tightening, the ETH/BTC ratio, and why meme coin speculation is distorting market dynamics. 

A must-listen for anyone navigating crypto’s shifting landscape and seeking deeper market insights!

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------ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro 04:37 Advance Decline Index (ADI) 08:45 Crypto Vibes & Economy 10:26 ETH & BTC Dollar Relation 15:04 Has ETH Gone Home? 20:38 FED & Memecoins 23:58 Take on SOL/BTC Ratio 28:51 Rise of Meme & Alt Coins 31:45 Where the Value Lies in the Market? 39:11 Trump’s Plans with Tenures & Dollar 44:00 Crypto's Bullish Setup vs. Market Vibes 47:35 Meme Coins vs. VC Giants 53:36 Did We Just Skip a Cycle? 59:08 Closing & Disclaimers

------ RESOURCES

Ben Cowen https://x.com/intocryptoverse 

Into the Cryptoverse https://intothecryptoverse.com/ 

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

This week’s Weekly Rollup, David and Kain Warwick dive into Argentine President Milei’s LIBRA fiasco and Strategy’s bold $2B Bitcoin play, while we check out the new Kaito airdrop making waves. We also explore Ethereum’s biggest upgrade yet—Pectra—plus Monad’s high‐speed L1 testnet launch. Finally, we dig into the SEC’s fresh “CETU” cyber unit and what the brand‐new Infinex platform means for DeFi. Tune in for all the drama and alpha happening in the third week of February! ------ 📣RESERVE | INVEST IN CRYPTO NARRATIVES  https://bankless.cc/reserve ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

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------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro, Libra, Memecoins, & ICOs https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1890611964994363769  https://dexscreener.com/solana/bzzmnvfm7t6zsgfelxzermrxfkanldo4fszvsisxcszz  https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/1890531084221182326  https://x.com/JMilei/status/1890606683291779195  https://x.com/KelsierVentures/status/1890914579493863532  https://x.com/MemeCoin_Track/status/1892324967196569675  https://x.com/JupiterExchange/status/1891181433588470052  https://x.com/hellochow/status/1891341548115149190  https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1891285564713836830  https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1890611982320971992  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-18/argentina-scandal-fuels-selloff-on-favorite-memecoin-platform  https://x.com/RunnerXBT/status/1891400277535703389  https://polymarket.com/event/milei-out-as-president-of-argentina-in-2025?tid=1740070784399 

29:59 Markets https://www.strategy.com/press/strategy-announces-proposed-private-offering-of-2b-of-convertible-senior-notes_02-18-2025 

38:51 Kaito Airdrop https://yaps.kaito.ai/  https://x.com/KaitoAI/status/1890379872280682548  https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/kaito  https://x.com/divine_economy/status/1892597817434145113  https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1892585101873033380 

53:16 Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade https://x.com/sassal0x/status/1890534315148132521 

1:00:21 Monad launched a public testnet https://x.com/monad_xyz/status/1892227817149997212 

1:00:47 SEC Launches New Cyber Unit ‘CETU’ Aims to Protect From Bad Actors https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-42 

1:06:52 Infinex https://x.com/infinex_app/status/1887028112099283198 

1:11:29 Closing & Disclaimers

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

Ejaaz and David are back this week with a new frontier model to dissect. With the release of Grok 3, xAI is now a real competitor to companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. Joining this news cycle is Kaito, set to launch it's airdrop and it turns out Ejaaz is... a top yapper?  Meanwhile, David tried to get a date with an AI agent and a Kardashian is quote tweeting Virtuals, it's been a weird week. 

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------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

00:00 Intro & Temp Check

04:10 Grok 3 Release https://x.ai/blog/grok-3 

12:25 Nous Research https://x.com/NousResearch/status/1890148000204485088 

20:17 Date Abby http://dateabby.com 

23:22 Replit and Agent On Agent Coding

27:59 Kaito Explained https://x.com/0x_ultra/status/1891353010934358456?s=46 

36:47 Kaito Airdrop 

41:18 Tracy And Sports Betting AI https://x.com/HeyTracyAI  https://x.com/khloekardashian/status/1891552900070908130 

45:13 BillyBets https://docs.billybets.ai/  https://x.com/VaderResearch/status/1891699035742011673 

50:48 BIttensor Upgrade https://x.com/Old_Samster/status/1890071216645603802 

56:03 AI16Z https://x.com/ai16zdao/status/1890473840314315158 

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

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce discusses her new role as head of the SEC Crypto Task Force and its impact on crypto regulation. We explore the repeal of SAB 121, how the task force aims to bring clarity to token issuances, and potential pathways for retroactive relief for crypto projects. Peirce also shares insights on SEC-CFTC collaboration, no-action letters, and her approach to prioritizing key industry issues. A must-listen for understanding the future of crypto regulation and policy shifts at the SEC!

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🦋MORPHO | CRYPTO-BACKED LOANS  https://bankless.cc/Morpho  

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------ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro 04:21 Post-Election Thoughts 05:09 Crypto Task Force & SAB 121 11:00 Hester's Statement on SEC Site 12:41 Issuing Tokens & SEC 14:58 No-Action Letters 18:30 Communication with SEC 22:00 Task Force & Companies 23:55 SEC & CFTC Relations 26:42 Token as a Security? 32:00 KYC, Securities & Open Networks 36:23 Investment Barriers & Accreditation 38:32 Paul Akin’s Retirement Effects 40:30 Matt Levine’s "Dumb Investment" 42:52 SEC & Memecoins 45:03 Airdropped Coins 47:33 Miscellaneous Issues 48:46 SEC & ETFs 49:23 Prioritizing Work 50:17 Future SEC Plans 53:15 Closing & Disclaimers

------ RESOURCES

Hester Peirce https://www.sec.gov/about/sec-commissioners/hester-m-peirce  https://x.com/HesterPeirce  

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

This week’s Weekly Rollup covers Trump’s clash with the Fed over interest rates and the surprising crypto moves from Trump Media. Gauntlet’s Tarun Chitra joins us to unpack the latest developments—from OpenSea’s upcoming airdrop to Arbitrum’s permissionless fault proofs—while we debate whether airdrops are truly over. We also dig into Vitalik’s “communist” joke and Dave Portnoy’s memecoin mania. Tune in for all the drama and alpha happening in the second week of February!

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🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin

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------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES  

00:00:00 Start

00:03:33 Trump vs The Fed

http://cnbc.com/2025/02/12/hopes-for-more-fed-rate-cuts-dim-as-powell-notes-hot-cpi-means-were-not-quite-there-yet.html 

http://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1889681567779283447 

00:06:25 Tarun Market Takes

00:10:18 ETH Staking ETF

http://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1889803399320969603 

http://x.com/RasterlyRock/status/1889856397032235226 

00:15:26 Robinhood Enters The Chat

http://x.com/Tyler_Did_It/status/1889833087258992937 

http://x.com/bridge__harris/status/1889904770485461389 

http://x.com/0xjaypeg/status/1889805008318906689 

00:27:13 Brian Quintenz Nominated to Lead CFTC

http://warpcast.com/brianquintenz/0xbd4cc8ef 

http://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1889736851474333932 

00:30:08 Is The Airdrop Meta Over?

http://x.com/ffvv1211/status/1889333575348355152?s=46 

00:34:21 MegaETH Exploring Alternatives

http://x.com/megaeth_labs/status/1889733671420330150 

http://x.com/barnaclebarny/status/1889936153509503193 

00:40:38 OpenSea SEA Airdrop

http://x.com/openseafdn/status/1890041091577057522 

http://x.com/dfinzer/status/1890039791808376874 

00:46:17 Ethereum Shenanigans

http://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1889771554512200166 

http://x.com/ameensol/status/1889774627796427235 

http://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1889900532770414985 

http://x.com/laurashin/status/1890044244750135695 

http://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/1889978208986280031 

00:52:51 Arbitrum Launched BOLD

http://x.com/ArbitrumDevs/status/1889709836226416805 

http://l2beat.com/scaling/projects/arbitrum 

00:55:19 JailStool

http://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1887963615161905566 

http://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1887936281058947391 

http://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1887960660820042168 

http://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1889032422768918834 

http://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1888332104016015781 

http://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1888337834605420917 

http://x.com/trustyournuts/status/1888336912844255436 

http://x.com/CryptoKaleo/status/1888420272182604043 

http://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1888598919354941897 

http://dexscreener.com/solana/etcwbb9ft7yyagpkvz6ag1qzwpjxs79tg2r7tszyup72 

01:04:01 Where To Find Tarun

https://x.com/tarunchitra 

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

Ejaaz and David reunite to dissect the AI Crypto sector’s rebound from a 70% crash, fueled by Elon’s rumored $97B OpenAI bid and the relentless rise of open-source devs being heads down. They explore how tokens might be the most accessible path to AI exposure, why ARC’s curated launchpad could elevate agent quality, and what Virtuals’ move onto Solana means for cross-chain expansion. Meanwhile, X (Twitter) embraces a new wave of AI agents, and AI16z reorganizes to stay competitive. Is this the turning point for AI and crypto—or just another plateau? Tune in to find out, anon.

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🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 

🏦ONDO | INSTITUTIONAL GRADE FINANCE https://bankless.cc/Ondo  

------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/34 

------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

1:17 Crypto x AI Exposure Strategy 

10:56 Elon’s $97B OpenAI Bid

13:14 Crypto x AI Mindshare & Markets https://www.cookie.fun/   https://x.com/S4mmyEth/status/1889675738099376149   https://x.com/dv_memetics/status/1888956005515477372  https://x.com/0xelonmoney/status/1889743777088360909  

22:48 Andrej Karpathy https://x.com/karpathy   https://x.com/hyperbolic_labs/status/1887229114769359013 

22:58 Replit comes out with a mobile app https://x.com/Replit/status/1887159041455169683  https://x.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383 

33:12 X (Twitter) is getting involved in agents https://x.com/ethermage/status/1887526320487473326 

37:24 ARC reveals their new launchpad & agent launch https://x.com/cryptopunk7213/status/1889768219873099902  https://x.com/askjimmy_ai/status/1889736290696045017  https://x.com/0thTachi/status/1887620290727059731  

51:17 Virtuals are live on Solana! https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1889365020393496910  https://x.com/gkisokay/status/1889721779146596503  https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1887508625268367843   https://x.com/gkisokay/status/1889331963917729993 

59:03 AIXBT holders can now connect X account = richer agent interactions https://x.com/aixbt_terminal/status/1887355817957204434 

1:02:46 Ai16z (ElizaOS): a brutally raw take https://x.com/CryptoStreamHub/status/1887435927309721992 

1:07:57 What Ejaaz focused on this upcoming week

1:08:59 Closing & Disclaimers 

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