Unchained

By Laura Shin

Crypto assets and blockchain technology are about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity to the Internet of Things. In this podcast, host Laura Sh... more

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How many episodes does Unchained have?

The podcast currently has 871 episodes available.

Unchained episodes:

July 30, 2024Why Gary Gensler Will Likely Be Out as SEC Chair No Matter Who Wins the Election - Ep. 680
As the 2024 elections approach, crypto voters are a real bloc that could be a deciding factor in what looks to be a tight race.
In this episode, Sheila Warren of the Crypto Council for Innovation and Justin Slaughter from Paradigm discuss the significance of Trump appearing at Bitcoin 2024, promising the crypto community pretty much everything on its bucket list, the Democrats’ seeming pro-crypto shift behind the scenes, and the game theory around Gary Gensler’s future (likely not at the SEC).
Plus, they cover the significance (and likelihood of passing) of the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Bill proposed and to be introduced by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, what would it take for Kamala Harris to show that she truly is a crypto-friendly candidate, and what the Democrats would have to do to undo the damage done by Gensler and win some of the crypto vote.
Lastly, they explore the potential impact on the SEC of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron doctrine.
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
02:08 The significance of a US Presidential candidate, Trump, embracing Bitcoin
04:59 What Justin’s and Sheila’s takes are on the Democrats' sudden shift towards embracing a pro-crypto agenda and whether they can catch up
15:03 The key factor in Trump's shift from giving crypto platitudes to making substantive promises that top the crypto community’s wish list
20:21 How significant crypto could be in influencing the election, particularly in swing states
23:52 Whether Trump would even be able to fire Gary Gensler as SEC Chair, as he has promised
33:23 How the dynamics between Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris differ from the relationship Warren has with Biden
42:48 What could happen with the SEC Commissioner if Harris wins the presidency
50:34 The meaning of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the US
57:55 How JD Vance's status as a Bitcoin owner could influence crypto voters and whether Harris could pick a pro-crypto VP
1:05:43 The chances the Democratic Party adopts a crypto plank, and what it might include
1:09:9 Whether there’s a chance a crypto bill could be passed this year
1:14:49 How the Supreme Court's recent decision to limit agency power by overturning the Chevron doctrine could impact the SEC's approach to crypto regulation
1:20:45 How Harris can establish a new stance on crypto while distancing herself from Biden's administration, without appearing disloyal
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
Polkadot
Guests:
Sheila Warren, CEO of Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI)
Justin Slaughter, Policy Director at Paradigm

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1h 33min
July 26, 2024Why Congressman Ro Khanna Is Hopeful the Democratic Party Will Embrace Crypto - Ep. 679
The Democratic Party has faced criticism from the crypto industry for its stance on the sector, but House Representative Ro Khanna is determined to change that narrative.
In this episode, he talks about his efforts to shift the party’s approach, his thoughts on the current regulatory environment, and his vision for a crypto-friendly future. He gives his insights on the implications of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine, the potential for a crypto bill this year, and his upcoming remarks at the Nashville Bitcoin conference.
Plus, if you are a single-issue voter, he’s got something to say to you.
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
01:36 How Rep. Khanna is working to change the Democrat approach to crypto policy in the U.S.
04:54 What Rep. Khanna's response is to formerly Democratic crypto voters, such as Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who have decided to vote for Trump this election
07:12 What Rep. Khanna would like to see in a potential crypto plank of the Democratic Party platform
07:58 Who Rep. Khanna believes should be the next SEC chair under a potential Harris administration
08:41 His thoughts on Christy Goldsmith Romero's nomination as chair of the FDIC
09:37 Rep. Khanna's perspective on how to convince Democratic Party members about the benefits of crypto
11:21 How Rep. Khanna views the Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine and its implications for crypto
13:29 What key points Rep. Khanna will address in his upcoming remarks at the Bitcoin conference
14:16 What broader implications Rep. Khanna sees in the vote and its potential impact on the crypto industry
15:43 Whether a crypto bill could pass this year in Congress
18:11 Crypto Recap
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
iTrustCapital
Polkadot
PlayFi Labs
Guest
Ro Khanna, U.S. representative from California
Previous appearance on Unchained: Congressman Ro Khanna: How to Get More Democrats into Web3
Links
Recent coverage of Unchained on politics and the elections:
Congressman French Hill on Crypto and His Top Pick for the Next SEC Chair
Anthony Scaramucci on Why He Supports Biden and Thinks He, Not Trump, Is Best for Crypto
Why Many Democrats, Including the White House, Have Come Around on Crypto
Senator Cynthia Lummis on Why Crypto Now Has Bipartisan Support in Congress

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30min
July 23, 2024Apps on the TON Blockchain Have Become Extremely Popular. Is It Sustainable? - Ep. 678
The Open Network, aka TON, has been on a tear since late February. TVL has skyrocketed 34x since the beginning of the year, reaching over $750 million as of the time of recording. The price of TON has more than tripled from about $2 to $7, and daily active addresses recently exceeded those of Ethereum in May and June. Games with fun names like Hamster Kombat and Catizen are gaining traction, and Pantera Capital, an OG crypto investor, is making its largest investments yet in TON.
In this episode, Alena Shmalko and Jack Booth from the TON Foundation discuss how TON has managed to garner this traction, especially after a rocky start when the SEC went after the original founder, Telegram.
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
02:13 Alena’s and Jack’s backgrounds and how they ended up at TON
05:35 How TON evolved from its origins with Telegram to its current status and how it began getting traction this year, according to Jack
11:21 How The Open League helped TON grow its TVL and other important metrics
15:40 How Telegram's collaboration with TON has evolved through time and how much they work together
24:47 Whether there are plans for TON to integrate with apps beyond Telegram
30:15 What in TON’s architecture allows it to be extremely scalable
33:20 The mechanics of Notcoin and why it has been so successful
36:49 Whether the rise of games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat can be sustainable
46:05 The importance of USDT in Ton
51:53 When might a Bitcoin trustless bridge be deployed and why it could be significant
54:43 Whether TON is being used by criminals and what could be done to combat it
58:59 What strategies will lead TON to have $1 billion in TVL by the end of the year
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
Polkadot
Guests:
Alena Shmalko, Ecosystem Lead at the TON Foundation
Jack Booth, Director of Marketing at the TON Foundation
Links
Previous coverage on Unchained of TON:
Could Telegram-Associated TON Blockchain Be the 'Next Solana' and Challenge Ethereum?
Layer 2 Networks Are Arriving on the Telegram-Associated TON Blockchain
TON Blockchain's Stablecoin Transfer Volume Reaches Record $299 Million on US Independence Day
What Is Telegram's Ads Network on TON And How Will It Impact Advertisers & Creators?
History & Structure
TON roadmap
CoinDesk:
Telegram Abandons TON Blockchain Project After Court Fight With SEC
Telegram Agrees to Pay $18.5M Penalty in SEC Settlement Over Failed TON Offering
Messaging App Telegram Gives Endorsement to TON Project; Token Surges
Cointelegraph: Telegram ad platform to launch via TON blockchain
Notcoin:
Decrypt: What's Next for Notcoin? Becoming the 'Netflix of Social, Viral Games'
Notcoin, a Free Telegram Game Based on the TON Blockchain, Surges in Popularity
Hamster Kombat
Cointelegraph: Hamster Kombat destined for Guinness World Record?

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1h 10min
July 19, 2024Congressman French Hill on Crypto and His Top Pick for the Next SEC Chair- Ep. 677
In this episode of Unchained, Congressman French Hill provides an insider's perspective on the present and future of crypto regulation.
Hill delves into the ongoing legislation and the implications of the FIT21 Bill, shares his views on who should succeed Gary Gensler as SEC chair if Trump is re-elected, and discusses the controversial role of the CFTC in regulating the crypto industry. He also touches on the potential impacts of the Chevron doctrine being overturned by the Supreme Court, Trump’s evolving stance on crypto, and the latest developments in the Binance executive detention case in Nigeria.
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
01:26 How Rep. Hill's long-time passion for technological advancement led to his involvement in crypto and blockchain
04:00 The current state of ongoing legislation and why Rep. Hill is proud of the FIT21 bill
08:49 Who would be his top pick to chair the SEC if Trump is re-elected as president
11:42 Why he supports having the CFTC regulate the spot crypto markets
12:40 How he thinks teams should launch tokens in the US
15:02 How he thinks the overturning of the Chevron doctrine will impact crypto
20:02 Why Trump changed his mind on crypto, according to Rep. Hill
23:14 Why Congressman Hill is running for chair of the House Financial Services Committee
25:14 The update on Tigran Gambaryan, the Binance executive detained in Nigeria, whom Rep. Hill visited recently
28:13 Crypto News Recap
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
iTrustCapital
Polkadot
PlayFi Labs
Guest
Congressman French Hill
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40min
July 18, 2024The Chopping Block: Trump's VP Pick, SEC's Future, and Congress' Crypto Legislation - Ep 676
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra explore the latest trends in the crypto world. In this episode, we invite Laura Shin and special guest Kristin Smith of the Blockchain Association to discuss the latest in crypto politics. We dive deep into JD Vance's VP candidacy alongside Donald Trump and its implications for the crypto industry. We also explore the impact of recent political events on the crypto markets, the potential outcomes of key legislative efforts, and the future of the SEC post-2024 elections. Don't miss this insightful conversation on how the shifting political landscape might shape the future of crypto in the U.S.
Show highlights
🔹The attempted assassination of Donald Trump and its effects on the crypto market, including his announcement of JD Vance as his running mate.
🔹Analysis of Trump's changing stance on crypto, and his increasing willingness to engage with the industry and its leaders.
🔹Explanation of the Vice President's role in setting financial services and innovation policy, especially in a potential Trump administration.
🔹 Speculation on whether Gary Gensler will step down if Trump wins and what this could mean for crypto regulation.
🔹 Overview of recent meetings between crypto executives and White House officials, signaling a shift in the Biden administration's approach to the industry.
🔹 Examination of the significant fundraising by crypto PACs like the Fair Shake PAC and their impact on political and regulatory decisions.
🔹Discussion on the Digital Commodities Act, market structure bills, and the challenges of passing crypto legislation in the current congressional session.
🔹 The evolving bipartisan support for crypto legislation and the importance of maintaining this support for future regulatory clarity.
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Laura Shin, Journalist, Author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ founder and CEO of Unchained
Guests
⭐️Kristin Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association
Disclosures
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:15 Trump & JD Vance
10:27 Politicians Stance on Crypto Policy
27:41 Crypto's Lobbying Efforts
34:56 Crypto's Political Influence
36:58 SEC Enforcement and Legal Battles
39:19 Speculations on Biden Administration's Crypto Stance
49:48 Legislative Pipeline and Market Structure Bills
01:01:36 Future of Crypto Regulation

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1h 8min
July 17, 2024Bits + Bips: How to Play the ‘Trump Trade’ in Crypto After the Assassination Attempt - Ep. 675
In this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart, Alex Kruger, and Joe McCann, joined by guest Jack Platts, dive into the market's reaction to the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, looking at how this event will influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election—and the crypto markets.
They also cover potential rate cuts: Could there be a cut this July? How big might the rate cut be in September? Could the decision ever be influenced by the upcoming election?
They also give their predictions for what percentage of the BTC ETF inflows the ETH ETFs will reach, and James talks about what he’s expecting for Grayscale’s ETHE (hint: his view would be positive for ETH).
Finally, they delve into what’s next for Bitcoin as the German government runs out of BTC and Mt. Gox distributions begin. Is it up only now?
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
01:18 Whether the Trump shooting has settled the election and whether the event caused a “flight to safety”
11:23 How election markets are becoming a place to watch election odds and whether crypto “leans right”
20:16 Whether rate cuts are coming in July or September and how much they’ll cut: 25bps or 50bps
29:06 How Joe views the relationship between global liquidity cycles, rate cuts, and Bitcoin's potential rise
34:41 What new updates there are about the Ethereum ETFs and their expected launch
42:08 Why Solana hasn't outperformed significantly since the Trump news
43:25 What market breadth indicates about the current market rally and the impact of rates in small caps
49:01 Everyone’s predictions of ETH ETF inflows and how much outflows we’ll see on Grayscale’s ETHE
53:04 What’s next for BTC after the German government is out of bitcoin, and with Mt. Gox distributions starting this week
Hosts:
James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
Joe McCann, Founder, CEO, and CIO of Asymmetric
Guest:
Jack Platts, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Hypersphere Ventures

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1h 5min
July 16, 2024Iggy Azalea on Memes, OnlyFans, and Her Plans to Make MOTHER a Success - Ep. 674
Iggy Azalea joins Unchained to share the story of how the $MOTHER token got started (spoiler: there was a brush with a potential scammer), her stresses during the launch, and what she plans to do about the price slumping over 60% since the all-time high. A master of memes and OnlyFans, she talks about how she is using her experience in both realms to make MOTHER a success, even though she has yet to make any money from the token.
She also discusses her beef with Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, the allegations that there was insider trading of MOTHER, and how she plans to avoid regulatory action.
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
01:27 How Iggy got “onchain” and interested in crypto
03:01 How Iggy's understanding of memes and the attention economy influenced her approach to music and now MOTHER
08:09 How a brush with “scammer” Sahil Arora sparked the MOTHER launch
11:56 How Iggy plans to integrate her token into her business ventures and what strategies she's using to achieve this
16:33 Why she chose two market makers – DWF Labs and Wintermute – and why she decided to name the coin "Mother"
23:53 The lessons she learned from her OnlyFans that she is applying to MOTHER
33:54 Iggy’s response to Vitalik Buterin's criticisms of her coin
41:31 What strategies Iggy believes will bring $MOTHER out of its current slump
47:33 How Iggy responds to allegations of insider activity and dumping $2 million worth of her token
55:15 Whether she is concerned about regulators coming after her and what she's doing to prevent that
1:02:55 What Iggy thinks about the criticism regarding celebrities launching memecoins
1:08:49 Whether Iggy has a preference between Solana and Ethereum
1:11:36 How she’s trying to onboard other celebs into crypto, and her plans for integrating $MOTHER into mainstream culture and fan interactions
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
Polkadot
Guest:
Iggy Azalea, rapper, creator of $MOTHER
Links
Previous coverage of Unchained on Iggy and MOTHER:
Solana Attracts Attention From Mainstream Celebrities Caitlyn Jenner, Davido, Iggy Azalea, Rich The Kid, and Trippie Redd
MOTHER Sheds Half Its Value Since All-Time High Despite Iggy Azalea's Mastery of Crypto Memes
Traders Coping As Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER Token Surpasses $100 Million Market Cap
Bits + Bips: Iggy Azalea, $MOTHER, and Celeb Coins: Is This the Top of the Crypto Cycle?
The Chopping Block: Iggy Azalea, Hamster Kombat, & Airdrop Insights
DWF labs
CoinDesk: Iggy Azalea's MOTHER Token Jumps Over 50% After Partnering With DWF Labs
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1h 24min
July 12, 2024The Chopping Block: The Role of Media in Crypto, Blockworks Op-Ed, and Apps vs. Infrastructure - Ep. 673
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra explore the latest trends in the crypto world. In this episode, Jason Yanowitz from Blockworks joins the squad to explore the media's significant role in the crypto industry. They discuss challenges faced by the media in meeting client demands and industry expectations, and highlight financial sustainability and biases. The hosts compare crypto media to mainstream journalism, examining the balance between journalistic integrity and revenue. They critique broader media trends, discussing monopolistic narratives and public dissatisfaction, with a specific look at political coverage. The episode concludes with reflections on the media's evolving role in truth dissemination amidst industry fragmentation.
Show highlights
🔹 The Airdrop Era: Examination of the potential end of the airdrop/token narrative.
🔹 Investing in Apps vs Infrastructure: Debate on funding apps versus infrastructure projects.
🔹 Crypto Media Trends: Analysis of shifts in crypto media, major acquisitions, and industry stance.
🔹 Challenges in Crypto Media: Ethical questions and investor pressures media firms face.
🔹 Future of Media: Trends in media companies, prediction markets, and trust dynamics.
🔹 Media Integrity: Exploration of media's perception, skepticism around its business motives, and flawed business models.

Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate
⭐️Jason Yanowitz, Founder of Blockworks

Disclosures
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:30 Airdrops and Token Valuations
04:04 Apps vs. Infrastructure
14:26 Venture's Not a Charity
22:41 Crypto Media Landscape
32:31 Revenue in Media
34:26 Trust as the Cornerstone of Media
35:27 The Blockworks Op-Ed Controversy
38:55 Navigating Media Bias and Trust
44:18 Balaji's Anti-Media Sentiment
49:57 The Future of Media and Truth

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1h 5min
July 12, 2024How Satoshi Nakamoto and Vitalik Buterin Inspired Key Parts of Celestia - Ep. 672
Mustafa Al-Bassam was a teenage hacktivist who outsmarted a US government contractor, shamed the Westboro Baptist Church, hacked Sony a record number of times, and eventually got arrested—though his 80 transgressions got halved for a funny reason.
At the Modular Summit in Brussels, Laura had a fireside chat with Mustafa to discuss how he went from his teenage years as the head of LulzSec and member of Anonymous to founding Celestia, a project aiming to solve key issues in blockchain scalability by going with a modular approach.
He also discussed data availability sampling, why he believes Celestia has achieved significant product-market fit since its launch, and the three key components of Celestia’s road map.
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
01:47 Mustafa’s origin story and how he became a developer who ended up hacking FBI affiliates and Fox News
05:32 How he hacked a military contractor to the US Department of Defense and Sony
09:16 Why Mustafa was arrested at the age of 16
11:14 What about Bitcoin attracted his attention and got him interested in the industry
15:22 Why he founded Celestia, after doing a PhD in scaling blockchains and understanding the problems of sharding
21:16 What data availability sampling is and why it is important
23:52 Why Mustafa believes that Celestia has had “extreme product market fit” since the launch
26:16 What’s next for Celestia and why Mustafa is so excited about the possibilities that increased block size can enable
29:36 How Celestia is working with zero knowledge accounts for defragmenting liquidity in rollups and access liquidity even within the Cosmos ecosystem
30:57 What the endgame for Celestia and the overall industry looks like, according to Mustafa
37:36 Q&A with the audience
44:44 Crypto News Recap
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
iTrustCapital
Polkadot
PlayFi Labs
Guest
Mustafa Al-Bassam, co-founder of Celestia Labs.
Previous appearance on Unchained: Why the Celestia Team Sees a Future With 10,000 Roll-Ups
Links
Previous coverage of Unchained on modular blockchains:
Three Crypto Pioneers on Crypto’s Monolithic vs. Modular Debate
What Are Modular Blockchains? A Beginner's Guide

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1h 2min
July 09, 2024Why the SEC Lawsuit Against Consensys May Hold Little Ground - Ep. 671
In this episode, crypto lawyers Kayvan Sadeghi and Sam Enzer delve into the SEC's lawsuit against Consensys, which focuses on MetaMask's swaps and staking services, and explore the implications of the SEC's stance on MetaMask acting as a broker-dealer, and the classification of its staking product as a security.
They discuss how recent rulings on Coinbase and Binance challenge the SEC's claims, and whether differing judicial opinions could lead to the Supreme Court.
Also, they talk about the potential impact of the Supreme Court striking down Chevron deference for crypto regulation.
Show highlights:
00:00 Intro
01:22 The key claims in the SEC's lawsuit against Consensys and how they relate to MetaMask's swaps and staking services
03:42 How recent Coinbase and Binance rulings challenge the SEC's claims against Consensys
09:29 Whether differing judicial opinions on whether wallets with private keys act as brokers could end up being decided by the Supreme Court
12:55 How the SEC will substantiate its claims that MetaMask acts as a broker-dealer and that its staking product is a security in Texas legal briefings
17:42 Why a token itself is not considered a security, according to Sam, and how this distinction affects secondary market transactions in the SEC's case against MetaMask
22:14 What Lido and Rocket Pool can do in response to the SEC tangentially naming their liquid staking tokens as securities
31:27 How the SEC and Consensys lawsuits will proceed, and whether conflicting rulings could arise from their parallel tracks
36:35 The key distinctions in the Binance case compared to those of Coinbase and Kraken, and how the Binance ruling might impact future crypto cases
50:08 What Chevron deference means and how its removal impacts crypto
56:49 How the elimination of Chevron deference affects current crypto cases and legislative gridlock
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
Polkadot
Guests:
Kayvan Sadeghi, partner at Jenner & Block
Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Previous episode of Unchained with Sam and Kayvan: SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case

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1h 11min

FAQs about Unchained:

How many episodes does Unchained have?

The podcast currently has 871 episodes available.