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Has the Fed entered a new era?

In this episode of Unchained, macro strategist Jim Bianco of Bianco Research lays out why the current economic cycle is fundamentally different from what came before. He explains the implications of sticky inflation, why 0% interest rates and money printing may be relics of the past, and how the COVID-era economy created lasting structural shifts.

Bianco also gives his candid take on how retail investors have changed markets, why the payments system is still stuck in the 1950s, and how stablecoins and tokenized assets could fix that—if regulators allow it. He breaks down the threats facing major players like Coinbase and Robinhood, and shares a bold theory on what really happened during the GameStop short squeeze.

Bianco also assesses what could happen if the Fed is politicized — and whether Chair Powell is likely to be replaced.

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Guest:

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 Intro

📉 3:36 Why Jim called the latest economic revisions “extraordinary”

🔥11:56 Whether we’ve entered a post-COVID “new normal” of sticky inflation

👔 18:14 Could Trump really fire Powell — and what would that mean for the Fed?

📉 23:36 What happens to markets if Trump pushes through aggressive rate cuts

🛍️ 29:45 How retail investors flipped the power dynamic on Wall Street

💳 26:04 Why Jim says outdated payment rails are holding back stablecoins

🧩 46:17 Jim’s bold theory on how the GameStop halt was really about saving Schwab

🚫 50:12 Why he’s skeptical of the SEC’s “Project Crypto”

⚔️ 57:17 Why Coinbase and Robinhood are bracing for a new wave of challengers

⚠️ 59:28 What could happen to crypto treasury companies in a bear market

🏛️1:01:43 What’s still broken in tokenized stocks — and how to fix it

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