Udi Wertheimer, Founder of Taproot Wizards joins us to talk about the shifting narratives of Bitcoin, the structural flaws of layer-2 scaling solutions, and how stablecoins enable Hyperliquid and Polymarket. He critiques Michael Saylor’s aggressive financial engineering tactics, explaining why MicroStrategy stopping its Bitcoin buying spree is a far greater systemic risk to the market than Saylor actually selling his bags.

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexander Leishman, CEO and Founder of River, joins us to talk about his vision for building a Bitcoin bank. We dive deep into why Coinbase pursued a local maximum with altcoin trading, the stickiness of traditional banking despite 0.01% yields, and why stablecoins lack product-market fit for Americans. Alex also shares his perspective on the limits of Lightning Network for global commerce, the necessity of proof of reserves after the FTX collapse, and why Bitcoin's terminal state is to become a boring treasury asset.
Subscribe to the newsletter! [https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com](https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com)
Notes:
* River started in 2019 as a Bitcoin bank.
* Coinbase charged retail 2% for altcoin trades.
* Major banks pay 0.01% interest on savings.
* Proof of reserves adopted after FTX collapse.
* Zombie nodes have near-zero running costs.
Timestamps:
00:00 Start
00:34 Starting River
01:51 Before River
02:59 From altcoins to Bitcoin
05:15 Save in BTC
08:17 Coinbase trajectory
10:13 Stablecoins
14:10 Yield, and other fun distractions
17:45 Lightning
24:24 Proof of reserves
26:39 Paper BTC
28:08 10/10/25 fallout?
33:19 Current cycle vibes
36:10 Portfolio allocation
39:47 Self custody
42:06 Self custody unlocks
45:07 Hyperliquid & others
50:44 Admitting you were wrong
56:05 Quantum

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rahul Jain, Head of Trading at Ellipsis Labs, joins us to talk about the reality of market making on Solana. Rahul breaks down why spot order books fail against toxic makers, how transactional introspection protects liquidity, and the economics of running modern prop execution systems. He dives into the mechanics of Phoenix's new perps platform, managing oracle attacks on illiquid tokens, the structural advantages of owning user flow on-chain, and whether decentralized perps are a winner-take-most game.

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarun Chitra, Co-Founder & CEO of Gauntlet, joins us to talk about

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital describes the current state of crypto legislation. He explains the Clarity Act, the role of stablecoins in the global economy, and the impact of the Trump administration on digital asset rules. Alex provides an institutional perspective on Bitcoin's recent all-time high, the reality of market deleveraging events, and why permissionless finance remains the ultimate goal.
Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com
Notes:
• 70 Democrats voted for bill 

• Prediction odds at ~40% 

• SEC has 3 GOP commissioners 

• Deleverage on October 10th 

Timestamps:
00:00 Start
00:54 Alex's Galaxy role
02:43 Recent topic focus
05:06 regulation
07:08 CLARITY act
14:00 Politics and token creation
19:51 Trump remorse?
22:39 Current market vibes
35:49 "Crypto" lagging Bitcoin
43:28 "Just use AAVE"
52:04 Are you ENTERTAINED!


The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform.

Ellipsis Labs is hiring New York-based engineers. If you're an engineer looking to work with a proven team in making DeFi better, go to ellipsislabs dot xyz slash careers

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Drake joins us to talk about the reality of cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CROC). We dive into his recent work with Google scientists on Shor’s algorithm optimizations and why neutral atoms have become the "dark horse" in the race to break Bitcoin’s 256-bit encryption. Justin shares his updated timeline for "Q-Day," the role of US government censorship in quantum research, and why the crypto industry must act now to remain secure.

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform.

Ellipsis Labs is hiring New York-based engineers. If you're an engineer looking to work with a proven team in making DeFi better, go to ellipsislabs dot xyz slash careers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Threadguy joins us to talk about his evolution from dropping out of college to write NFT threads to leading the new generation of crypto media. We explore the "Believe" fiasco, the reflexivity of meme coin cycles, and his transition into high-conviction macro trading like his recent oil plays. Threadguy shares insights on the societal trend of taking risks online and whether the explosive manias of the past can ever truly be replicated in a maturing market.

Notes:

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Chervinsky, CEO of the Hyperliquid Policy Center, joins us to talk about the critical mission of advocating for American access to decentralized markets. We dive deep into the limitations of the Commodity Exchange Act, the challenges of KYC in a permissionless world, and the evolving relationship between the SEC and CFTC. Jake explains why the current regulatory framework fails DeFi and how a new approach to licensing or exemptions could finally allow US traders to access products like Hyperliquid perps legally.

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform.

Ellipsis Labs is hiring New York-based engineers. If you're an engineer looking to work with a proven team in making DeFi better, go to ellipsislabs dot xyz slash careers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Bae Founder of Enhanced Digital Group, and Rory Murray, Director of Digital Asset Management at CleanSpark, join us to talk about the professionalization of the Bitcoin mining industry. From managing $40 billion at UBS to overseeing 13,300 BTC at CleanSpark, Rory & Chris break down the three regimes of mining evolution: Wildcat, Market Share, and the current Margin era. We explore why the "Texas Hedge" is failing, how miners use options to manage risk, and why the next frontier for hashrate is AI data centers.

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform.

Ellipsis Labs is hiring New York-based engineers. If you're an engineer looking to work with a proven team in making DeFi better, go to ellipsislabs dot xyz slash careers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Forster, CEO of Derive joins us to talk about his journey from trading equity options at SIG to building the leading decentralized options platform. Nick talks the shift from AMMs to app chains and why institutional liquidity is moving on-chain. Nick explains Derive's strategy of 'exporting' complex derivatives to 7+ chains and why on-chain transparency is the only fix for centralized OTC risks.

The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform.

Ellipsis Labs is hiring New York-based engineers. If you're an engineer looking to work with a proven team in making DeFi better, go to ellipsislabs dot xyz slash careers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices