Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and special guest Laura Shin explore the latest trends in the crypto world. In this episode, we touch on how Donald Trump's pro-crypto statements influence voter behavior in the upcoming U.S. elections. We ask ourselves, is voting based solely on crypto policy a legitimate strategy? What are the implications of the Biden administration's stance on crypto regulations for future electoral outcomes? Following the political discussion, we unpack the recent GameStop and AMC pump and dissect the viability of their business models. We bring to light the broader implications for memestocks and whether the increased capital really saves these companies. Tune in for a detailed exploration of these critical questions affecting the interplay of politics, finance, and cryptocurrency.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights

🔹 Crypto's Role in U.S. Politics: Trump's pro-crypto stance at a recent gala and its potential implications for voter behavior are examined.

🔹 Single Issue Voting on Crypto: The legitimacy of voting based solely on crypto policy is debated, with insights into how this could impact the political landscape.

🔹 Opinions on Financial Regulations: The various aspects of financial regulation, including the Biden's administration's stance on crypto, and predictions on how this might influence future electoral outcomes.

🔹 Roaring Kitty’s resurgence and its impact on GameStop's stock prices are discussed, analyzing the ongoing influence of meme stocks in the market.

🔹 Retail's Impact on Financial Markets and the broader implications of retail investment behaviors.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Laura Shin, journalist, author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ founder and CEO of Unchained

Blockworks article: https://blockworks.co/news/only-a-fool-would-vote-on-crypto-alone 

Trump’s 2019 Tweet: https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192 

SAB121: https://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409250 

Roaring Kitty Tweet: https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1789807772542067105 

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Erik Voorhees, a crypto OG, has launched Venice, a private, uncensorable, open-source competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, powered by a decentralized crypto network. 

In the episode, Erik and Venice’s COO Teana Baker-Taylor delve into the problems with censorship and data in current AI agents, including how they create honeypots of information about users’ search history for hackers, or that they can be absurdly politically correct, such as refusing to create images of Caucasian people. As they point out, there’s also the risk that the companies managing them could be censoring the models to please the Chinese government, in order to access the market in that country. They talk about their plan for Venice to gain market share, considering that DuckDuckGo, a privacy-preserving competitor to Google, has a much smaller market share. And they explain why they intend for Venice to eventually use the compute of Morpheus, or other decentralized crypto-powered compute networks. 

They also critique the SEC’s current regulatory approach to crypto, calling it “a joke.” Additionally, they explore the concept of AI agents using cryptocurrencies as their primary currency.

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

First Bits + Bips episode: Bits + Bips: Does Macroeconomics Point to a Potential Crypto Supercycle?

Previous coverage on Unchained of crypto/AI:

Venice AI:

Architecture:

LLMs:

Recent cases on privacy:

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and special guest Avichal Garg from Electric Capital dissect the latest trends in the crypto world. This episode dives deep into the buzz around EigenLayer’s airdrop: What sparked the controversy and how did EigenLayer respond to community backlash? We then explore LayerZero’s unique self-reporting strategy to combat Sybil farmers and analyze Friend.Tech’s bold, no-VC token launch. The discussion heats up with a look at ConsenSys’ proactive lawsuit against the SEC, setting the stage for a showdown over regulatory clarity. We also delve into Robinhood’s decision to challenge the SEC’s Wells Notice amidst soaring earnings, and tackle the ongoing debate between VC-backed tokens and memecoins: Which is captivating the market? Finally, we predict the future of SocialFi and its potential to revolutionize the crypto landscape. Join us for an insightful exploration of these pivotal topics shaping the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Show highlights

🔹 Breaking down the EigenLayer airdrop controversy and its impact on the community.

🔹 Exploring LayerZero's self-reporting mechanism to combat Sybil attacks.

🔹 Assessing Fantasy Top's growth and its significance in the NFT trading landscape.

🔹 Predicting the trajectory of SocialFi and its potential to reshape the crypto landscape.

🔹 Detailing Consensys’ proactive lawsuit against the SEC over regulatory clarity.

🔹 Robinhood's SEC Challenge and analyzing Robinhood's decision to fight the SEC’s Wells Notice amid record earnings.

🔹 VC Coins vs. Memecoins: Exploring the ongoing debate about the dominance and appeal of VC-backed tokens versus memecoins.

🔹 The Future of SocialFi: Predicting the trajectory of SocialFi and its potential to reshape the crypto landscape.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

Guest

⭐️ Avichal Garg, Co-Founder and General Partner at Electric Capital.

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Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Thomas Braziel, managing partner at 117 Partners, dives into the draft FTX bankruptcy plan, which was praised for paying out at more than 100% in dollar terms, but has a number of intricacies that are drawing criticisms from creditors—including a group that is urging creditors to vote not. 

The episode delves into the nuances of the proposed payout, explaining how the estate was able to pay back more than 100% than the dollar value of the claims, why some creditors are being pitted against each other, and why it might get approved even “over the kicking and screaming” of some creditors. 

Braziel gives his insights into the the rapid formation of this plan, the controversial role of Sullivan and Cromwell, and the logistical challenges posed by what may end up being paper check payouts. 

Show highlights:

Creditors plan:

Dollarization: 

• Unchained: Is it Fair That Crypto Bankruptcies Are Denominated in Dollars? Here’s a Solution to Dollarization

Criticism of the plan:

Taxes:

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In this first episode of Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart, Alex Kruger, and Joe McCann explain why the macroeconomics could point to the markets actually being in a crypto supercycle.

They discuss the recent Federal Reserve meeting and its impact on the markets, as well as the irony that leveraged Ethereum futures ETFs will likely be approved while spot Ethereum ETFs will likely not. James also reveals his pet theory on where the SEC is going with its investigation into ETH. They cover why the bottoming of emerging market currencies in Asia is good for Bitcoin, dismiss the recent Wells notice issued to Robinhood, and speculate that Tether may be the most profitable company per employee in the world. 

Agreeing that the current market cycle is different, Seyffart and McCann suggest that there is still a long way to go, and assert that the market may be underweighting the possibility that crypto goes to a $10 trillion market cap in the next few years. 

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In this episode of Unchained, memecoin traders Ansem and Kelxyz unpack everything about memecoins, discussing what makes them valuable and how they evaluate their investment potential. They also address the criticisms and controversies surrounding them, including racism and sexism. (They have a surprising reaction to the latter.) Ansem and Kel argue that memecoins have substance and value, largely due to their popularity and the attention they receive on the internet. 

They also discuss the importance of distribution and virality in the success of a memecoin, how the chain any coin is on affects its value, and give their opinions on Runes vs. BRC-20s vs. Solana and Ethereum. 

Plus, they talk about their wildest memecoin stories (think: Dogwifhat) and provide their insights on what they think memecoins will become in the future.

Culture:

Investment:

Safer memecoins

Racist memecoins

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Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

EigenLayer has been in the news this week after it announced its ‘stakedrop,’ where it will distribute EIGEN tokens to early users of the restaking platform. 

Sreeram Kannan, founder and CEO of EigenLayer, and Robert Drost, CEO and executive director of the Eigen Foundation, discuss the launch of the token, a “universal intersubjective work token” and how it allows for slashing, or penalizing, for externally observable faults, such as data unavailability. The Eigen Foundation, a non-profit entity based in the Cayman Islands, was also recently established to grow the protocol and assist in creating a decentralized community. 

They also address criticisms of the token's launch, including geoblocking and the initial non-transferability of stakedrops for the community and explain why they decided to allocate an additional 100 EIGEN tokens for all participants in the stakedrop. Plus, they reveal a target date by when a decision about the token unlock date should be made.

Show highlights:

Airdrop:

Reaction

Learn more: 

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In this episode, we dive deep into the controversy surrounding the EigenLayer airdrop, discussing the community’s backlash and its broader implications for token distributions in crypto. We also explore the ongoing debate over the efficacy and future of cryptocurrency points programs. The episode also delves into Martin Shkreli’s impactful campaign against Io.Net, highlighting how his public criticisms shed light on project valuations and investor trust. Additionally, we discuss CZ’s recent four-month sentencing, reflecting on the crypto community’s supportive response and considering the Department of Justice's approach to crypto leadership. Tune in to gain expert perspectives on the complex interplay between market movements, regulatory actions, and community reactions in the evolving world of crypto!

Show Highlights

🔹 EigenLayer Airdrop Controversy: Delve into the community's disappointment over the EigenLayer airdrop and explore its implications for future token distributions.

🔹 Debate on Crypto Points Programs: Analyze the effectiveness and future prospects of cryptocurrency points programs.

🔹 Impact of VCs on Market Dynamics: Consider the role of venture capitalists and how investor sentiment is shaped by their actions in the market.

🔹 Martin Shkreli's Campaign Against Io.Net: Discuss how Martin Shkreli significantly impacted Io.Net by publicly criticizing the project's overvaluation.

🔹 CZ's Four-Month Sentencing: Reflect on the crypto community's support for CZ following his four-month sentencing.

🔹 DOJ Sentencing and Prospects for Crypto Leaders: Examine the Department of Justice's approach to sentencing and what it means for future leadership in the cryptocurrency sector.

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Robert Leshner, Founder of Compound

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Giga-Brain & Grand Poobah at Gauntlet

AI x Web3: Pioneering Decentralized Intelligence - TOKEN2049 Dubai 2024

https://youtu.be/zt_uEHcFiA4 

EigenLayer Whitepapter https://github.com/Layr-Labs/whitepaper/blob/master/EIGEN_Token_Whitepaper.pdf 

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In this episode of Unchained, host Laura interviews Alexei Zamyatin, co-founder of Build on Bitcoin, Willem Schroé, founder of Botanix Labs, and Orkun Kılıç, co-founder of Chainway Labs. They discuss their respective projects, all of which are focused on developing Layer 2 solutions for Bitcoin. 

Zamyatin's Build on Bitcoin is a hybrid Layer 2 that connects to both Bitcoin and Ethereum, aiming to bring innovation back to the Bitcoin ecosystem. Schroé's Botanix Labs is developing a decentralized Layer 2 solution using the ‘Spiderchain,’ which uses a series of multi-signature wallets to secure the chain. Kılıç's Chainway Labs is building Citrea, a zk-rollup on Bitcoin that aims to create a Bitcoin-backed economy. 

All three projects are in various stages of development and testing, with BOB’s mainnet launch expected shortly.

• Polkadot

Build on Bitcoin

Citrea

Botanix

Learn More: 

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On Thursday, Consensys sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Texas federal court, seeking to prevent an impending SEC action against its MetaMask wallet and to clarify that ether is not a security.

The complaint calls out the agency for what Consensys describes as “regulatory overreach,” challenges its notion that ETH is a security, and says the SEC has violated the Constitutional requirement of fair notice under the due process clause. It notes that for years, the SEC and its sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, took the position that ETH is not a security.  

The lawsuit also challenges the SEC’s recent focus on Ethereum's switch to proof of stake in 2022 as a basis for increased scrutiny, a stance Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin deemed "preposterous."

Laura Brookover, Senior Counsel & Head of Litigation and Investigations at ConsenSys, joined Unchained to unpack the lawsuit and what it means for the future of Ethereum and overall crypto in the US.

The lawsuit: 

Hinman speech

• CryptoLaw: The Hinman Speech Documents

Major questions doctrine

Other SEC cases:

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