Bankless

Equities are rallying, but Bitcoin is breaking down. David and Tom unpack Saylor’s STRC stress, Warsh’s first FOMC, SpaceX’s mega-IPO, Jito’s breakout, Coinbase’s Everything Exchange, and why perps may be crypto’s next real growth engine.

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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 

0:00 Intro

3:07 Equities Up, Crypto Down: STRC Stress

https://x.com/PeterSchiff/status/2067629492214829114

https://x.com/zackvoell/status/2067628541257429213

https://x.com/R89Capital/status/2067608064627491009

https://x.com/jdorman81/status/2067616073479078386

11:21 First FOMC with Kevin Warsh

https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-warsh-first-fomc-fed-meeting-interest-rates-2026-6

16:35 SpaceX Becomes One of the World’s Most Valuable Companies

25:43 Mover of the Month: JTO

31:01 Coinbase System Update

https://www.coinbase.com/blog/system-update-take-control-of-your-money-with-coinbase

https://x.com/oost_marcel/status/2067268725883981841

https://x.com/coinbase/status/2066890566667796530

https://www.theblock.co/post/405012/coinbase-unveils-system-update-unlocking-an-ai-advisor-global-unified-liquidity-options-trading-and-more

37:42 Anchorage Brings Hyperliquid to Institutions

https://x.com/nathanmccauley/status/2066906951464947966

46:23 Blockworks Acquires Messari

https://x.com/blockworks/status/2065468327120576863

50:40 UK Moves to Ban Social Media for Children

https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/2066458640010158571

57:50 Polymarket World Cup Trade

https://polymarket.com/sports/world-cup/bracket

https://polymarket.com/event/world-cup-winner

59:50 Closing & Disclaimers

---

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Re is bringing the $1T reinsurance market onchain. Founder Karn Saroya and Electric Capital’s Avichal Garg join David to unpack how stablecoins can become a new capital source for insurance, why real-world reinsurance may offer crypto’s missing “real yield,” and how Re is using Ethereum, smart contracts, and AI to compete with legacy giants like Lloyd’s of London, Munich Re, and Swiss Re. They also discuss the RE token, the future of onchain capital markets, and why stablecoins could become the backbone of a new financial system.

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TIMESTAMPS 

0:00 Intro

2:13 Blockchain Reinsurance Edge

4:12 Stablecoin Capital Markets

9:17 Efficiency Beats Incumbents

13:02 Rewiring Insurance Plumbing

16:24 Durable Startup Advantage

23:26 Reinsurance Market Size

30:09 How Reinsurance Pays

32:42 Capital Stack Mechanics

35:52 Leverage and Yield

40:02 What $RE Tracks

41:34 Tranche Yields

42:36 Productive Capital Returns

44:47 Looping the Receipts

48:01 $RE Token Governance

51:26 Roadmap to a Billion

52:13 Onchain Adoption Ahead

56:02 The DeFi Mullet Future

---

RESOURCES 

Re

https://re.xyz/home

Karn Saroya

https://x.com/karnsaroya

Avichal Garg

https://x.com/avichal

---

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Pokemon cards are suddenly one of the hottest markets in collectibles. But why now, and what does it have to do with crypto? Andy8052 joins David to break down the rise of digital pack-opening platforms, the nostalgia-driven bull case for Pokémon, why grading companies have a stranglehold on the market, and how millions of dollars of real-world cards are slowly moving onchain. Are tokenized collectibles the next NFT comeback story, or just another frothy mania?

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TIMESTAMPS 

0:00 NFTs to Pokémon Cards

2:59 Why Pokémon Is Hot

8:13 Nostalgia Meets Disposable Income

11:56 Brands, Influencers, and Hype

15:06 Pricing the Cards

16:21 Grading and Market Bottlenecks

22:16 Why Cards Still Aren't On-Chain

30:06 Inside Monster Strategy

34:40 Market Consolidation Ahead

35:42 Vaults, Shipping, and Logistics

38:13 Kids, Parents, and Collecting

40:45 Nostalgia Is the Real Bull Case

43:45 Where to Find Andy

44:35 Tokenized Cards and Stablecoins

---

RESOURCES 

Andy8052

https://x.com/andy8052

---

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

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Perps are coming onshore. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig joins David to unpack the first U.S.-regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures contract, the end of regulation by enforcement, and what comes next for Coinbase, Kalshi, Kraken, Gemini, Hyperliquid, Lighter, and the broader U.S. perp market. They also discuss which assets could list next, how U.S. leverage will differ from offshore exchanges, and why equity perps, RWAs, and 24/7 trading may be the next frontier of American finance.

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

---

TIMESTAMPS 

0:00 Intro

3:32 Self-Certified Crypto Contracts

7:08 Chasing the U.S. Perps Market

9:00 Bringing Liquidity Onshore

10:18 U.S. Market Guardrails

12:44 Blockchain Transparency Advantage

19:17 Hyperliquid and Onchain Perps

23:09 Real-World Asset Perps

24:38 Equity Perps & SEC

26:35 Incumbents Versus Disruptors

31:28 Derivatives Dominating Crypto

33:16 Perps Are Just Beginning

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RESOURCES 

CFTC Chair Mike Selig

https://x.com/ChairmanSelig

---

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

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Bitcoin is back at Biden-era prices, ETFs are bleeding, and Saylor just did the thing he said never to do: sell. Ryan and David unpack whether crypto has one more drop left, what trillion-dollar IPOs reveal about broken capital markets, and why their ETH debate may be the real fight for Ethereum’s future.

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🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

---

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

3:07 Markets

https://x.com/aggrnews/status/2063954465678410121

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/06/01/analysts-agree-strategy-s-bitcoin-sale-was-immaterial-differ-on-future-signals

https://imgur.com/SDyYiQS

https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/2063964293478101014 

https://x.com/zoomerfied/status/2062288919853490553

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitmine-immersion-technologies-announces-pricing-of-upsized-series-a-perpetual-preferred-stock-offering-302792359.html

https://thedefiant.io/news/tradfi-and-fintech/bitmine-files-300m-preferred-stock-offering-9-5-yield-eth-treasury

https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/06/03/tom-lee-s-bitmine-to-offer-preferred-stock-with-9-5-dividend-seeking-to-raise-usd300-million

https://imgur.com/tvIDofV

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2065049515384582205

https://polymarket.com/event/fed-rate-hike-in-2026

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/11/ecb-eurozone-interest-rates-iran-war-inflation

30:11 IPO Season

https://app.lighter.xyz/trade/SPACEX

https://app.lighter.xyz/trade/ANTHROPIC

https://app.lighter.xyz/trade/OPENAI

36:29 Bankless Guys Are Fighting

https://x.com/steweycrypto/status/2062796930326094216

https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2062598415482245528

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2062599824491372906

https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2062612677466202281

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2062644365533622705

https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2062669134614466707

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2062674368195686809

https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2062745848673427471

https://x.com/Tommyb631/status/2062613008304451756

55:39 Morpho Flips Aave

https://morpho.org/blog/morpho-association-raises-175m-to-build-the-open-credit-network-for-the-world/

https://x.com/0xLouisT/status/2063963380000407881

58:04 ZEC Vulnerability & Jason Calacanis’ Crypto-to-AI Tweet

https://x.com/Jason/status/2064083020257055193

coindesk.com/.../zcash-plummets-30-as-developer-reveals-a-major-bug

forum.zcashcommunity.com/.../orchard-counterfeiting-vulnerability

1:02:55 Hester Peirce Almost Out

https://x.com/hesterpeirce/status/2064768651488608612

https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-remarks-chamber-commerce-capital-markets-summit-060926

1:06:03 World Cup Starts

https://polymarket.com/event/world-cup-winner

1:07:26 Closing & Disclaimers

---

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Hyperliquid has become the breakout perp exchange of crypto. But is the market missing its biggest competitor? Delphi’s Flip and DeFi investor Will Price join David to make the case for Lighter, a ZK-powered Ethereum L2 with zero-fee retail trading, white-glove distribution, real-world asset perps, and a token buying back revenue at a surprising rate. Is LIT just a Hyperliquid beta trade, or is it one of the most underpriced bets in onchain finance?

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

3:05 Why Lighter Is Different

5:32 ZK Rollup Advantages

6:46 Charging Traders, Not Retail

12:07 Fairness Without MEV

14:50 Why Hyperliquid Can’t Copy

18:03 Distribution Beyond Crypto

22:08 Latency & Flow Quality

26:50 Technical Edge Across the Stack

30:31 RWAs & Pre-IPO Markets

34:07 U.S. Perps Market Play

36:05 Back-End For Big Brokers

38:28 Bootstrapping Liquidity

41:54 Lighter As A Platform

46:34 Token Value & Buybacks

50:11 Market Cap Versus FDV

53:02 Valuing LIT Properly

57:51 Cracked Team & Better Comms

58:13 Joining The Lighter Community

58:51 What Comes Next

---

RESOURCES

Will Price

https://x.com/will__price

Trevor Flipper

https://x.com/trevor_flipper

---

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

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AI is quickly becoming the interface through which people think, work, and make decisions—but most users have no idea how much personal data they're handing over in the process. Jon and Jesse from Venice join David to make the case for privacy-first AI, explain why Venice is aiming to become a mainstream consumer AI brand, and explore how $VVV and DIEM transform inference into a crypto-economic primitive.

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS
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---
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
1:12 Why Private AI Matters
3:01 The AI Data Honeypot
6:07 Venice’s Consumer AI Ambition
8:01 Beating the Big AI Labs
10:19 Model Aggregation and Agentic Chat
12:29 Open Source, Closed Source, and Private Grok
17:14 Who Actually Needs Private AI?
21:58 Venice’s User Base
23:53 What Drove Venice’s Recent Growth
27:21 $VVV, DIEM, and Tokenized Inference
29:00 Where Venice Gets Its Compute
32:17 Bonding Curves and DIEM Monetary Policy
39:14 Real Tokenomics, Not Just a Pie Chart
45:46 AI Agents Need Inference to Exist
52:54 ShapeShift DNA Inside Venice
55:53 Regulation, AI, and Individual Rights

---
RESOURCES

Jon ShapeShift
https://x.com/JonShapeShift

Jesse Proudman
https://x.com/jesseproudman

---
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Bitcoin is bleeding, STRC is off peg, and Saylor’s “never sell” machine is facing its first real confidence test. David and Haseeb unpack whether Strategy can survive without selling BTC, why Bitmine’s ETH play may be stronger but riskier, and what select token strength, U.S. perps, and Coinbase’s Ethena deal reveal about crypto’s next phase.

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🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS

https://thedefireport.io/bankless

---

TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

1:37 Saylor & Strategy Confidence Test

https://x.com/zerohedge/status/2061418482344849785 

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2062475802252365980

https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2062518531128746000

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2062499179239215390

13:26 DATs Underwater & Bitmine Preferred Offering

https://x.com/lookonchain/status/2062011412965405059

https://x.com/zoomerfied/status/2062288919853490553

34:19 Major Weakness & Select Token Strength

40:45 U.S. Perps Get Greenlit

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/05/28/u-s-cftc-opens-crypto-perp-door-with-approval-of-first-regulated-firm

53:41 Coinbase Invests in Ethena

https://www.theblock.co/post/403403/coinbase-invests-ethena-open-market-purchase-ena-flags-new-partnership

57:13 Closing & Disclaimers

---

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

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Crypto policy in Washington has gone from punchline to power center. David sits down with Ron Hammond, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Wintermute, for a rare inside look at how crypto actually moves through DC: the SBF era, Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto army, Gary Gensler’s SEC, bank lobby pressure, Trump’s crypto conflicts, the Clarity Act fight, and why privacy and self-custody may be the next major battleground.

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🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS
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---
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Becoming “Captain Crypto” in DC
4:03 From Joke to Serious Political Force
6:19 Why Crypto Punches Above Its Weight
10:28 How SBF Captured Washington
13:26 The FTX Fallout in Capitol Hill
16:25 Elizabeth Warren and Crypto’s Proxy Wars
19:04 How DC Letters Actually Get Written
25:33 How Powerful Is the Crypto Lobby?
27:28 Who Is Playing on Crypto’s Side?
31:01 Democrats, Gensler, and the 2024 Lesson
35:07 The Gensler Era and Prometheum
41:21 Will Warren Ever Pivot?
43:20 Trump, the Crypto Ball, and World Liberty
49:30 Will the Clarity Act Pass?
53:30 Privacy, Self-Custody, and the Next Front
56:23 The Social Side of Crypto in DC

---
RESOURCES

Ron Hammond
https://x.com/RonwHammond

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

What happens when every payment, wallet, and onchain interaction becomes searchable by governments, companies, adversaries, and AI? Josh Swihart, founder and CEO of Zcash Open Development Lab, joins David to explain why Zcash is having a major privacy comeback, how ZODL and the Zashi wallet helped unlock real shielded adoption, why the shielded pool may be the most important ZEC metric, and what it will take for private money to become too big to kill.

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---
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
4:17 Privacy in the AI Era
6:19 Crypto’s Missing Privacy Layer
9:49 The Political Fight for Privacy
14:42 Can Crypto Retain Privacy?
16:47 From Zashi to ZODL
19:48 The Zcash Reawakening
21:41 Balaji, Funding, and the Mission
24:49 Product Market Fit for Shielded ZEC
27:51 ZODL's Role in the Zcash Stack
29:36 The Zcash Roadmap
32:56 What Is ZEC and is it Undervalued?
36:56 The Shielded Pool Explained
45:12 The $25M ZODL Raise
47:16 Compliance and Shielded ZEC
51:25 Institutions vs Cypherpunk Values
53:58 Personal Privacy in an AI World

---
RESOURCES

Josh Swihart
https://x.com/jswihart

ZODL
https://x.com/zodl_app

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