Insider trading has become a hot topic in crypto in recent months from questionable digital asset treasury stock trades to suspiciously timed asset trades amid news-led market volatility. But do people really know what it means?

In this episode of DEX in the City, hosts Jessi Brooks of Ribbit Capital, Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos of StarkWare and Vy Le of Veda explore the complexities of insider trading law and how blockchain technology can make it easier to detect.

They also delve into how AI agents impact market dynamics, the problem with regulators not being able to hold crypto and how insider trading law would differ from centralized to decentralized platforms. Plus Katherine talks about the future of front running and Vy explains how DATs should approach insider trading policy.
Hosts:

Jessi Brooks, General Counsel at Ribbit Capital

Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, General Counsel at StarkWare

TuongVy Le, General Counsel at Veda

Unchained:

Why the Black Friday Whale’s $192 Million Crypto Trade Was Legal

Insider Trading? Yep, But the Real Story Is Securities

The Department of Justice Goes After Its First NFT Insider Trading Case

SEC and FINRA Scrutinize 200 Crypto-Treasury Firms: Report

How the x402 Standard Is Enabling AI Agents to Pay Each Other

Timestamps:

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

🌫 01:25 Why insider trading is not as clear cut as many think

⚡️18:21 How blockchain has made insider trading detection easier 

💡 20:15 Why Katherine sees the crypto front-running landscape changing as tokenization takes off

🤔 23:35 Do AI agents unfairly affect market balance?

🧱 25:38 The problem with regulators not being able to hold crypto

⚠️ 30:20 How DATs are in a tricky spot as regards insider trading

💡 33:25 Vy explains how DATs should approach insider trading policy 

🚨 36:08 How insider trading controls work in TradFi

💥 42:06 How insider trading policy would differ from CeFi to DeFi

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Crypto funding rounds often look glamorous from the outside: big name investors, big valuations, big narratives. But behind the scenes, the terms can look very different — and sometimes, radically so.

In this episode of Bits + Bips, host Steve Ehrlich sits down with reporter Jack Kubinec, who broke the story about Berachain’s Series B and one of the most unusual terms we’ve seen in a major token deal: a lead investor receiving the right to ask for its entire $25 million investment back, for up to a year after Berachain’s token launched.

Jack walks through what the documents show, why lawyers say the clause is extremely rare, and how a refund right like this could impact other investors, and even trigger MFN clauses. They also unpack Berachain’s market struggles since TGE, the state of the Nova Digital fund inside Brevan Howard, and the transparency questions this episode raises across crypto venture investing.

Read the full story here on Unchained

Thank you to our sponsor Uniswap! 

Host:

Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Guest:

Jack Kubinec, Crypto Journalist and Podcast Host

Timestamps:

0:00 — Start

0:25 — Steve introduces Jack

2:24 — What the documents reveal

5:17 — Why Brevan Howard’s refund is a big problem

9:21 — How refund clauses really work

14:09 — Jack’s interactions with the Bera team and how Smokey responded to the story

19:29 — Why the MFN clause is key

26:19 — How Breva Howard Digital didn’t actually invest in Bera

30:18 — What investors should learn from a deal like this

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In this week’s Bits + Bips, Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins dig into a macro environment that’s suddenly turning more supportive: QT ending, institutions stepping in, improving liquidity signals, and major catalysts across global markets. But while the setup may be bullish, one corner of crypto isn’t participating at all: DATs, which Ram calls “a death spiral.”

The hosts debate whether altcoins can recover, whether Strategy pushed its structure too far, if banks’ unrealized losses still matter, and why the return of ICO-style launches may say more about regulation than mania.

Show highlights:

0:00 Intro

3:16 Why Ram says we are still in goldilocks economy

5:07 What is missing in the markets according to Chris and how retail is so hurt

11:07 Why the dollar has been on an uptrend, contrary to what people think

13:17 The importance of banks sitting on so much unrealized losses

18:24 Nvidia’s earnings and whether we are in a buying opportunity

22:21 Whether banks will be negatively affected by stablecoins growth or they are fine

25:05 What Austin and Ram disagree on whether the 50-year mortgage is good

28:25 Whether MSTR should be excluded from the MSCI index

32:56 Why Ram is “very bearish on DATs” and the importance of their operating businesses

45:19 Why Chris finds it fascinating the revival of the ICOs

51:19 Whether there’s a new operations choke point going on in crypto

Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Austin Campbell, NYU Stern professor and founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting

Christopher Perkins, Managing Partner and President of CoinFund

Unchained: MON Rallies 40% After Mainnet Launch

Fortune: Suddenly, the Fed interest rate cut in December looks like it is very much back on the table

Nvidia didn’t save the market. What’s next for the AI trade?

The Index Exclusion That Ends an Era: How MicroStrategy’s Exile Redefines Corporate Finance

Saylor fights back

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The Ethereum Foundation last month said it was taking its privacy efforts a step further. It announced the Privacy Cluster, a group of 47 coordinators, cryptographers, engineers and researchers with one mission: to make privacy “a first-class property of the Ethereum Ecosystem.”

At Ethereum DevConnect, the EF's Andy Guzman and Oskar Thorén join Unchained to discuss the formation of the group in the context of Zcash's recent resurgence, why privacy is important for crypto and the motivations behind Ethereum's recent push.

They also delve into the difference between the current privacy push and past efforts, as well as how it could unlock new use cases and the reaction of institutions. Additionally, they talk about competition with Zcash, reveal implementation timelines and delve into the impact on crypto data analysis.

Thank you to our sponsor ⁠Uniswap⁠!

Guests:

Andy Guzman, PSE Lead at Ethereum Foundation

Oskar Thorén, Technical Lead of IPTF (Institutional Privacy Task Force) at Ethereum Foundation

Unchained:

Ethereum Foundation Launches ‘Privacy Cluster’

Vitalik Unveils New Ethereum Privacy Toolkit ‘Kohaku’

Why the Privacy Coins Mania Is Much More Than Price Action

With Aztec’s Ignition Chain Launched, Will Ethereum Have Decentralized Privacy?

Timestamps:

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

🥷1:33 What is the Ethereum Foundation Privacy Cluster?

🤔 3:49 Did Zcash's resurgence inspire the launch of the Privacy Cluster?

📽 6:29 How the Privacy Stewards of Ethereum has grown over the years

🔗 8:39 How the Institutional Privacy Task Force's got started

💡 10:10 Why privacy is important in crypto

🔮 13:54 What is driving Ethereum's recent privacy push

📝 15:21 Andy and Oskar discuss their backgrounds

🤔 16:48 The difference between Ethereum's current privacy efforts and past efforts like Tornado Cash

🤞18:43 How Ethereum's privacy push could unlock new use cases

🛣 25:09 Andy and Oskar outline different approaches to privacy

🤔 29:52 What are private reads and writes?

👀 35:16 Why Andy says adopting onchain privacy is a question of risk for institutions

🫆 36:39 Why private identities are important

🤔 40:13 What happens if identity proofs are stolen 

📺 43:27 How the Ethereum Foundation wants to improve privacy experience 

🧏 45:44 How the IPTF’s role is unique 

⁉️ 47:51 What is Kohaku?

👀 51:02 Is Ethereum competing with Zcash?

💡 1:01:29 The Ethereum Foundation's thoughts on private viewing keys 

🗓 1:03:44 Implementation timeline

🔮 1:05:50 How the crypto privacy push could impact blockchain data analysis 

💥 1:08:46 Final thoughts

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Fresh off the launch of Ignition Chain, Aztec’s co-founders Zac Williamson and Joe Andrews discuss why they’re rolling out a privacy-preserving L2 now, how they’re approaching decentralization from the start, and why they chose a token sale instead of the airdrop model.

They also explain why they believe most L2s have evolved into “parasitic” ecosystems, how Aztec plans to avoid those incentives, what the AZTEC token is meant to do, and what’s changed in the broader privacy renaissance across crypto.

Guests:

Zac Williamson, Cofounder of Aztec Network

Joe Andrews, Co-founder and President of Aztec Network

Unchained: 

Vitalik Unveils New Ethereum Privacy Toolkit 'Kohaku'

ETH's HTTP Moment? How Ethereum Interop Layer Hopes to Fix L2 Fragmentation

Zcash Developer Reveals Q4 Roadmap

What’s the Best Way for Ethereum to Grow? Justin Drake and Martin Köppelmann Debate

Why the Privacy Coins Mania Is Much More Than Price Action

CoinDesk: Privacy-Focused Aztec Network's Ignition Chain Lights Up 

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Walrus

President Donald Trump's pick for chair, Mike Selig, has cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee just as lawmakers look set to hand over crypto oversight to the agency.

In this episode, former CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo joins Unchained Executive Editor Steven Ehrlich to unpack Selig's Senate hearing. Chris shares his experience working with Mike, why the CFTC should get more resources to handle crypto and crypto's unique commodity trading structure.

He also touches on the challenges the agency could face regulating crypto, whether exchanges should be allowed to continue performing several functions under one umbrella, the timeline for CLARITY and the regulatory path ahead for prediction markets.

Host:

Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

J. Christopher Giancarlo, Former Commissioner of the CTFC

Unchained:

Prospective CFTC Chair Says It’s ‘Vitally Important to Have a Cop On The Beat’ in Crypto

Senate Committee Shares Bipartisan Draft on Crypto Market Structure Bill

The Chopping Block: When Wall Street Meets DeFi — How Equity Perps and RWAs Redefine Leverage On-Chain

DEX in the City: Are Prediction Markets Gambling, and Who Should Regulate Them?

Polymarket Quietly Relaunches in U.S. in Beta Mode: Report

Timestamps:

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

⚡️1:41 Chris details his experience working with Mike Selig

🤔 6:34 Does the CFTC have enough resources to handle crypto?

📽 10:34 Crypto’s unique commodity trading structure

🧱 13:37 The challenges the CFTC could face with crypto's unique trading structure

🤔 15:15 Should crypto exchanges remain vertically integrated?

💡17:25 How DeFi should be regulated

🧏 20:46 Why Chris says crypto perps do not need new laws

🔮 24:49 Mike's confirmation timeline

💥 25:46 Why prediction markets are important

👀 27:57 Why Chris compares the regulatory trajectory of prediction markets to Uber

💡 28:57 What regulations could look like for prediction markets

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Bitcoin keeps drifting lower — and traders are asking the same question: where’s the floor?

Host Steve Ehrlich brings on Markus Thielen, CEO of 10x Research, to walk through Bitcoin’s technical setup, ETF flows, institutional positioning, and why the recent selloff looks different from past dips.

Markus lays out the metrics he’s watching, the levels that matter, and why the path downward may still be the path of least resistance. He also shares his views on Ethereum, altcoins, digital asset treasuries, and why some investors are stepping away from risk entirely.

Host:

Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Markus Thielen, CEO of 10x Research

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 Introduction

📉 1:39 Why Markus is not optimistic about the current market

🐻 3:23 How he defines a bear market — and why we may already be in one

📊 8:02 The key metric institutions are watching and Bitcoin’s next support level

🔁 13:14 How to spot when a real rebound might be forming

🪙 17:29 Markus’ views on ETH and what catalysts could matter

⚠️ 19:57 Why Markus warns that “you don’t want to be exposed to anything”

🏦 22:10 Digital asset treasuries and what ETF flows are signaling

🧱 28:54How staking inside ETFs threatens DATs

🔮 34:35 What Markus expects to happen by year-end

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The Chopping Block unpacks crypto’s DATpocalypse — NAVs collapsing, volumes drying up, and consolidation on the horizon. Plus: Vitalik sparks a wave of quantum panic, what Q-Day really means for Bitcoin and smart-contract chains, and why “qubits per share” might become the next great crypto meme.

Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This episode opens with the DATpocalypse: almost every DAT is now below NAV, volumes have collapsed outside Bitmine and MicroStrategy, and the market is finally confronting what happens when issuances outrun demand. We get into consolidation talk, preferred-share experiments, capital-structure pivots, and whether any DAT should actually be selling crypto to buy back shares at a discount.

Then we shift into quantum mania. Vitalik’s “2028” comment lit up Q-Day fears, and we separate genuine hardware progress from pure panic. We discuss why post-quantum upgrades are simple for Bitcoin but brutal for stateful chains, and how hype alone could trigger a wave of “quantum-resistant” speculation. And yes — the running gag: DATs using quantum machines to steal Satoshi’s coins.

Tough markets, weird narratives, and institutions quietly holding the line. Let’s get into it.

Show highlights

🔹 DATpocalypse — Most DATs now trade below NAV; Bitmine and MicroStrategy dominate the only real volume.

🔹 Supply & Demand — Issuances outpaced buyers; M/NAV compresses toward 1 across the entire class.

🔹 Consolidation watch — Sub-scale DATs may merge to form multi-billion-dollar vehicles that can compete.

🔹 New financing era — Preferreds, debt, and MicroStrategy-style capital engineering become the next playbook.

🔹 Buyback dilemma — Trading at 0.5× NAV suggests selling crypto to buy shares—if liquidity exists.

🔹 Retail gone, institutions steady — Tokens follow the 4-year retail cycle; equity deals reflect institutional conviction.

🔹 Token vs equity split — Depressed token markets contrast with mega equity raises like Kraken’s $20B round.

🔹 AI distraction — Retail rotates into Nvidia/AI stocks, starving page-2 tokens of attention.

🔹 Quantum mania — Vitalik’s “2028” comment triggers Q-Day fears, despite quantum still being far from breaking ECC.

🔹 Post-quantum headaches — Bitcoin is easy to migrate; Ethereum/Solana transitions will be complex and messy.

🔹 Q-Day = Y2K energy — Expect years of hype and “quantum-resistant” pumps before reality catches up.

🔹 Qubits-per-share meme — DATs running quantum computers to steal Satoshi coins becomes the episode’s running gag.

Hosts:

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

⁠Disclosures

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 

01:14 BTC Breaks Down

02:52 DATpocalypse Begins

05:01 DAT Playbooks & Buybacks

20:48 Equity Boom, Token Bust

28:00 Retail vs. Institutions

34:01 Quantum Panic Hits Crypto

41:45 Post-Quantum Problems

46:32 Road to Q-Day & Y2K Vibes

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In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monohan explore how the recent ICO boom compares with the 2017 era. 

They share stories of some of the big names from the past, including Kain's struggles after raising 30,000 ETH at the cycle top. Plus Luca shares what it takes for founders to thrive in crypto.

They also unpack the “FUD” surrounding Hyperliquid following the infamous Oct. 10 crypto crash. Moreover, they discussed what Multicoin's investment in Ethena revealed about Kyle Samani, and potential black swan risks facing the project.

Hosts:

Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins

Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix

Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask

Unchained:

Monad ICO on Coinbase Fizzles 12 Hours After Launch

Uneasy Money: ICOs Are Back and Why Airdrops Are Instantly Dumped

The Chopping Block: Tokenomics Reset — ICOs Rise, UNI Turns On Fees, MEV Goes to Court

Hyperliquid Founder Denies Claims That DEX Prioritizes Revenue Over Traders

The Chopping Block: Inside the $19B+ Perp Crash, ADL Explained, Binance’s USDe/Staked-Token Depeg, and the Hyperliquid Whale Debate

Ethena Labs Expands to Support Two New Products

Timestamps:

🚀00:00 Introduction 

🎞 1:12 How the new ICO meta compares to the old days

❕️13:48 Why Luca would still airdrop PENGU despite the ICO craze

📽 16:19 New v. Old ICO meta cont'd

😬 26:00 Kain talks about raising 30,000 ETH at the 2017 top

💡27:49 Luca explains what it takes for founders to thrive in crypto

🤕 31:01 Hyperliquid “FUD” and why some of its celebrity whale traders are leaving

➰️45:18 The tension that Hyperliquid faces: protecting the protocol over users

🤔 47:32 Will a new perp DEX champion emerge?

📈 54:03 Multicoin goes long Ethena

🥊54:27 Kain's beef with Multicoin 

🎞 59:52 Luca's history with Multicoin 

⚠️ 1:01:43 The real black swan scenario for Ethena

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The rise of Ethereum layer 2s has created a need for interoperability. While several solutions have emerged over the years, Ethereum Interop Layer promises to be trustless.

At Ethereum Devconnect, the EF’s  developers Yoav Weiss and Marissa Posner join Unchained to explain why trustlessness is necessary for interoperability.

They also delve into how EIL differs from NEAR Intents and how it could unlock new use cases and spark an explosion of activity on Ethereum.

Guests:

Marissa Posner, Product on the Account and Chain Abstraction Team at the Ethereum Foundation

Yoav Weiss, Research on the Account and Chain Abstraction Team at the Ethereum Foundation

Unchained:

Zcash Developer Reveals Q4 Roadmap

What’s the Best Way for Ethereum to Grow? Justin Drake and Martin Köppelmann Debate

Why the Privacy Coins Mania Is Much More Than Price Action

Timestamps:

🚀00:00 Introduction

🤔4:11 What is Ethereum Interop Layer?

🤷‍♂️5:20 What Ethereum Interop Layer is trying to solve

📍7:08 Marissa explains why trustlessness is necessary for interoperability

⛓️8:21 Yoav describes the current state of L2 fragmentation

🔮9:17 How Yoav and Marissa came to work on EIL

⚙️11:53 How EIL works

🔬18:10 How EIL compares to NEAR Intents

🤔22:19 Does EIL bring new security risks?

🚀23:12 Can EIL unlock Ethereum’s HTTP moment?

📌28:26 What EIL wouldn’t make sense for

💭30:09 How EIL can supercharge wallets

📆34:18 EIL’s mainnet timeline

💥35:51 Whether EIL could lead to an explosion of Ethereum activity

⛓️39:06 Why chain security matters

🤔41:17 Does EIL increase attack vectors?

🔮43:20 The future of bridges

📜45:31 The trustless manifesto

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