Unchained

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

Security remains work in progress for crypto — and that may be putting it mildly. This year Bybit was hacked for $1.5 billion, the largest exploit ever, crypto or otherwise. 

In this Unchained episode, Security Alliance members explain how crypto exploits have evolved, why smart contracts are no longer the primary vulnerability and why a security plan alone may not be enough.

They take us inside how North Koreans are getting jobs at crypto and tech companies and how they operate. 

Plus, best practices for individuals that intend to hold their assets for the long-term. Test transactions and 2FA based on authenticator apps may not be ideal.

Thank you to our sponsors, ⁠Uniswap⁠ and ⁠Mantle⁠!

Guests:

Pablo Sabbatella, Member of SEAL (Security Alliance) and Founder of Opsek

Isaac Patka, Wargames Initiative Lead at SEAL, and Founder of Shield3

Unchained:

How the $1.5 Billion Bybit Hack Could Have Been Prevented

The Chopping Block: Code, Chaos & Consequences — What the Balancer Hack and Rollback Debates Mean for Crypto’s Future

How AI Agents Hacked Smart Contracts for $1 Apiece – DEX in the City

DEX in the City: How Privacy in Crypto Makes Everyone’s Finances More Secure

Chainalysis crypto crime report

SEAL 911 bot

SEAL website with profiles of confirmed DPRK IT workers

Timestamps:

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

⚠️ 1:27 How social engineering has become the primary driver of crypto exploits

🤔 8:28 What does SEAL do?

💡 12:08 Why safe harbor for white hats matters

👀 14:41 Why North Koreans are infiltrating U.S. companies?

🫠 18:03 How the North Korean IT jobs scheme has evolved with “laptop farms”

😬 22:05 How North Korean IT workers steal crypto from companies and how to avoid hiring them

⚠️ 32:20 Isaac explains how companies can minimize losses even with North Korean hackers on staff

🤯 35:52 Why Isaac doesn't do test transactions

❕️ 38:19 How Bybit was targeted

⁉️ 49:41 The primary ways individuals get hacked

🚨 54:28 How individuals can avoid getting rekt

💡 1:08:42 What privacy means for crypto security

🤧 1:12:38 What to do if your assets are stolen

💫 1:15:41 Useful security resources for individuals and companies

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Thank you to our sponsor, Mantle. Sign up for their hackathon here!
After a “weird” year in the markets, hosts Ram Ahluwalia and Christopher Perkins are joined by Ava Labs’ President John Wu for a candid debate about where crypto really is in the cycle—and what needs to happen next.

The panel wrestles with a question many investors are quietly asking: has the market washed out enough to set up the next move, or is something still missing? They explore why momentum has faded, what signs would suggest it’s coming back, and why 2026 keeps coming up in long-term conversations—even as near-term enthusiasm remains divided.

Plus, why TGEs are “dying” and, with the rise of super apps, does Coinbase has an edge on Web2 players like Robinhood? 

Hosts:

Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Christopher Perkins, Managing Partner and President of CoinFund

Guest:

John Wu, President of Ava Labs

Links:

Unchained: 

Circle Acquires Interop Labs Team, Excludes Axelar Foundation and Token 

Aave’s Rushed Governance Vote Draws Backlash

UNI Token Rallies as Voting Begins on UNIfication Proposal

Bitcoin’s Demand Boom is Fading: CryptoQuant

Alex Thorn predicts BTC will reach $250K by end of 2027 

Memento’s research on TGEs 

Jeff Dorman on X: “I don’t know a single liquid fund that has bought a new token on TGE in over 2 years.”

CoinDesk: Coinbase rolls out stock trading, prediction markets and more in bid to become the 'Everything Exchange'

The Block: 

Coinbase to acquire prediction markets startup The Clearing Company

AAVE token holder proposes 'poison pill' for DAO to absorb Aave Labs amid contentious revenue debate

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 Intro

📉 1:55 What made this a truly “weird year” for markets

🗓️ 7:09 Why 2026 may be a breakout year and why not all tokens may survive

🌊 8:41 Whether a big washout is ahead and what actually brings momentum back

🔁 13:40 How the four-year cycle, midterms, and new cohorts keep reshaping crypto demand

🏦 20:30 The fight over institutional settlement layers and Canton’s rise

🧩 24:34 Why tokens exist at all and where real value capture is getting lost

⚖️ 30:19 How investors should think about the constant tug-of-war between equity and tokens

📊 41:07 Why Chris feels constructive on markets while Ram sees something missing

💵 43:52 Why stablecoins are quietly becoming the “new net interest income”

📱 44:51 How super apps are changing the game and why Coinbase may have an edge over Robinhood

🧟 53:16 Why token generation events are fading

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In this double-header episode of Bits + Bips, Steven Ehrlich first speaks with Figure CEO Mike Cagney about why most tokenization projects fail, how Figure built an onchain mortgage replacement, and why he believes big banks may now be leading blockchain innovation.

Then, Jason Brett joins the show to explain how an upcoming crypto market structure bill could expose President Trump’s World Liberty Financial as centralized, and why that matters for DeFi, regulation, and the industry’s credibility.

Sponsors:

Uniswap

Mantle

Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Mike Cagney, Co-founder and CEO of  Figure Technology Solutions

Jason Brett, Former Banking Regulator With FDIC

Unchained:

Inside Robinhood’s Big Super App Plan: ‘There’s Still a Lot of Work to Be Done’

Coinbase Launches Stock Trading and Prediction Markets

How the GENIUS Act Creates a Built-In Advantage for Banks and Deposit Tokens

Timestamps: 

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

🧠 1:48 What is a HELOC?

💡 4:48 How Figure is turning HELOCs into a mortgage replacement

⚡️ 7:58 How Figure issues loans from origination to disbursement

📍 11:28 Why Figure uses a blockchain 

⚠️ 12:15 Cagney explains how liquidity poses a challenge for many tokenization projects

🧏‍♂️ 13:10 Why the real value proposition is in DeFi and how Figure is bring $1 billion on-chain

📃 14:14 Cagney reveals Figure's preferred DeFi platforms 

💥 16:09 How the GENIUS Act could drive assets onchain 

⚡️ 17:46 How Figure is working towards stablecoin settlement of loans

👀 23:40 Why Cagney says the big banks are doing more disruptive work than the likes of Coinbase

⚖️ 27:53 What Cagney is advocating for around DeFi in DC and his litmus test for decentralization 

❕️ 31:30 Why Cagney believes anonymity is not necessary for decentralization CLIP

💡 33:32 How Cagney deals with the pressures of going public

🧠 34:32 Why Cagney has taken a different philosophical approach to Robinhood and Coinbase 

💥 37:05 Cagney explains what it takes for tokenization projects to succeed

41:55 Intro

45:51 If crypto finally gets rules, what then?

49:39 Frozen wallets: the DeFi dealbreaker

55:51 Has the White House picked a DeFi side?

56:36 Why this goes beyond “ethics”

58:49 If Trump’s DeFi fails the test… then what?

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In this combined episode of Unchained, Steven Ehrlich first breaks down why crypto treasury stocks (DATs) have swung from massive premiums to deep discounts, why comparisons to GBTC can be misleading, and why buying these stocks isn’t a clean arbitrage trade but a long-term, high-conviction bet.

You can read Steve’s full report here and you can subscribe for 95% OFF before the end of year! 😱

Then, Figment Capital’s Dougie DeLuca zooms out to the broader shift underway. As fintechs and institutions embrace blockchain infrastructure, he argues that “crypto as we know it” may be fading—and that crypto natives risk being left behind unless they adapt to real users, sustainable products, and mainstream distribution.

Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Take out a Figure Crypto-Backed Loan, allowing you to borrow against your BTC, ETH, or SOL with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. 

Thank you to our sponsor, Figure!

Unlock your crypto’s potential today at Figure! 

Guests:

Dougie DeLuca, Investor and Researcher at Figment Capital

Steven Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Unchained:

Coinbase Launches Stock Trading and Prediction Markets

Inside Robinhood’s Big Super App Plan: ‘There’s Still a Lot of Work to Be Done’

Dougie's “Crypto is Dead” article

Timestamps:

👏 0:00 Intro

📘 1:16 What a DAT actually is and why mNAV matters more than most people think

📉 5:16 How deep the discounts really are and why some of them are optical illusions

⚖️ 7:12 Whether mNAVs should trade back to 1 and when that assumption breaks

🔁 8:59 How this compares to the GBTC discount and why the analogy can be dangerous

🧱 13:44 Why many DATs are stuck below mNAV and what’s structurally holding them down

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Thank you to our sponsor, Multichain Advisors!What rights do token holders have? Is everyone getting rugged?

In this episode of Uneasy Money, Ethena founder Guy Young joins hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan to interrogate the lack of clarity around token expectations and rights as Aave DAO goes against Aave Labs and Circle acquires the Axelar team.

Do centralized exchanges hold the solution?

Plus, does MOVE's Rushi Manche deserve a second chance? And how can you stay safe from the fake Zoom scam?

Hosts:

Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins

Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix

Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask

Guy Young, CEO & Founder of Ethena Labs

Unchained:

AAVE Holders Question if DAO Quietly Redirected Revenue Away From Treasury

SEC Ends Four-Year Probe Into Aave

‘Poison Pill’ Proposal Calls for Aave DAO to Take Over Aave Labs

Jump Crypto’s Firedancer Goes Live on Solana Mainnet

How to Trade Prediction Markets Without an Opinion on the Event

MetaMask Adds Native Bitcoin Support

Timestamps:

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

👀 01:39 Who owns Aave?

🤔 5:42 Is the DAO and Foundation model faulty?

⚡️ 11:29 Why tokens need clarity

⁉️ 16:23 Is the SEC to blame for the lack of token clarity?

💡 20:03 How lack of regulatory clarity arounds tokens boosts scams

⚔️ 22:00 The Solana client diversity debate

📍 25:48 How Circle's Axelar acquisition highlights the lack of token rights

💥30:20 How centralized exchanges can help secure rights for token holders

🧠 33:25 Luca explains why some tokens should not confer rights

⁉️ 39:48 Should Rushi Manche get a second chance?

🫨  47:01 Taylor unpacks messy details of Movement Labs’ MOVE token deals

💫 50:28 How the debate between Tarun Chitra and Dan Robinson provides a base for unraveling 10/10

⚠️ 53:10 How Guy believes the crypto industry can prevent another 10/10

🚨 1:00:20 Why new fake Zoom scams are particularly dangerous 

📽 1:04:04 Kain reveals how his domain registrar was socially engineered 

🧏‍♀️ 1:08:20 What to do if you are a victim of the fake Zoom scam

👀 1:09:41 Is adding leverage to Polymarket “pure insanity?”

⚡️ 1:11:47 What to know about MetaMask's Bitcoin support

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

Thank you to our sponsors!

Figure

Uniswap

Robinhood is moving toward offering a full suite of crypto services and overhauling the infrastructure underpinning its stock trading services with blockchain technology. 

In this episode of Unchained, Robinhood Crypto Senior Vice President and General Manager Johann Kerbrat discusses the company's “super app ambitions” and potential competition with Coinbase. 

He also discusses the platform's entry into prediction markets and resistance from state regulators. Could state opposition to prediction markets drive businesses offshore?

Plus, will tokenized stocks make IPOs redundant? And where are we in the crypto market?

Guest:

Johann Kerbrat, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Robinhood Crypto

Previous appearances on Unchained:

Why Robinhood, a TradFi Hub, Is Growing Its Crypto Business Globally

Unchained:

Robinhood Is Building Its Own Layer 2 Blockchain

Perps Are Coming to America. Will Coinbase and Robinhood Win the Race?

OpenAI Says Robinhood’s Stock Tokens Are Not Equity

Coinbase Expands Into Tokenized Stocks and Prediction Markets

Coinbase Launches Digital Token Sales Platform

Coinbase Buys Cobie’s ‘Up Only’ NFT and Echo in $375 Million Deal

Timestamps:

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

🤔 1:33 What drove Robinhood's 3x year-on-year crypto revenue growth in Q3?

💡 5:34 Why Johann says we are still far from a bear market

💥 7:49 How the crypto users on Robinhood have evolved overtime

⚔️ 11:08 How Robinhood views competition from Coinbase

🧏 14:30 What Robinhood's Susquehanna deal for prediction markets brings to the table

👀 18:48 Could state opposition to prediction markets drive businesses offshore?

💡 20:34 Why Robinhood chose Ethereum over Solana

🤔 25:19 When will Robinhood bring perps to other jurisdictions?

📍 27:00 Why Robinhood chose to invest in Lighter over the competition

⚠️ 29:17 Why Johann says the crypto industry needs to build resilience after 10/10

📈 33:50 How Robinhood's tokenized stock offering might come to the US

💥 39:16 Why Johann says private companies would eventually seek retail participation

💡 43:26 What tokenization of physical assets would look like

💫 47:12 How tokenization could impact the financial lives of users

🚨 49:18 Why Johann thinks crypto founders should talk less about the protocol

🧏‍♂️ 51:19 How Robinhood is looking to combine with DeFi 

🤔 53:03 Will Robinhood follow Coinbase to launch an ICO platform?

⚡️ 54:22 Why Robinhood is expanding to Indonesia

🗣 56:28 What being a “super app” means for Robinhood 

🔮 58:11 Johann reveals his crypto predictions for 2026

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The SEC this week held a roundtable on financial surveillance and privacy in another sign of the major shift in the regulator's approach to crypto.

In this DEX in the City episode, Espresso co-founder Jill Gunter joins hosts Jessi Brooks and Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos to unpack the major talking points and takeaways from the roundtable. And more importantly, what it signals about the SEC’s approach to crypto and privacy.

With legacy financial institutions coming onchain, like JPMorgan and DTTC, they discuss how crypto can actually help prevent data breaches and have a better product for users and companies alike. 

Interestingly, Jill recounts how she lost $30,000 in an exploit involving crypto mixer Railgun and why she didn’t even try to hide it from regulators at the roundtable. 

Plus, was Do Kwon's sentence excessive? Well, according to Jessi, it’s a complicated question, but she unpacks what people misunderstood about the judge’s decision.

Hosts:

Jessi Brooks, General Counsel at Ribbit Capital

Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, General Counsel at StarkWare

Jill Gunter, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Espresso Systems

Unchained:

Why the Privacy Coins Mania Is Much More Than Price Action

Do Kwon Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

Jessi's and Katherine's paper on programmable risk management

Timestamps:

🚀 00:00 Introduction 

⚡️ 3:23 How SEC privacy roundtable marks a sea change in the regulatory approach to crypto 

💡 12:39 Why privacy is also important for legacy institutions moving onchain 

📍 17:31 How projects and institutions can be compliant while collecting less data

🤧 24:57 Jill recounts being the victim of a hack and seeing the hackers use a privacy protocol

❕️ 30:36 Why Jill says the hack did not change her perspective on crypto privacy

😎 33:30 How far the crypto industry has come since Tornado Cash

⚔️ 35:54 The debate over proof of innocence 

⚖️ 42:09 What everyone misunderstood about Do Kwon's sentence

💫 52:24 Shoutout to Save the Children for their innovative Bitcoin initiative

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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 features special guest Vladimir Novakovski, Founder of Lighter, joining the crew to unpack the fallout from October 10’s historic perpetuals liquidation event and the ADL research that sparked a public clash with Hyperliquid. The panel digs into how auto-deleveraging really works, why these failures were long hidden inside centralized exchanges, and what decentralized perps must fix to truly outperform TradFi.

The conversation then turns to the intensifying perp wars. With Lighter’s zero-fee trading model, premium tiers for pros, and a looming token launch, the hosts debate whether crypto is headed for a Robinhood-style fee reset, why TVL may matter more than volume, and how RWAs, FX perps, and cross-margining are reshaping market structure. Finally, they tackle the growing divide between tokens and equity as devcos get acquired and tokenholders are left behind.

Perps are evolving, incentives are breaking — let’s get into it.

Show Highlights

🔹 ADL research ignites a firestorm — Tarun’s paper on auto-deleveraging sparks a public clash with Hyperliquid and Paradigm, exposing how opaque ADL systems really are.

🔹 October 10 liquidation shock — Repeated ADLs during crypto’s largest liquidation day reveal structural fragility long hidden inside both CEXs and DEXs.

🔹 Fairness vs predictability in perps — Why traders care less about perfect algorithms and more about knowing when and how ADLs will hit.

🔹 Lighter’s design tradeoffs — Vladimir Novakovski explains Lighter’s less-aggressive ADL approach, insurance fund buffers, and trader-friendly risk parameters.

🔹 Zero-fee perps debate — Lighter’s free retail tier + paid pro tier raises the question: is crypto headed for a Robinhood-style fee reset?

🔹 TVL beats volume — The panel argues TVL is the most honest signal of trust in perp exchanges, especially during market stress.

🔹 RWAs and FX perps surprise — Euro and index perps outperform expectations, challenging assumptions about which real-world assets actually trade onchain.

🔹 Tokens vs equity explode — Devco acquihires (Axelar, Tensor) leave tokenholders behind, reigniting debates over incentive alignment and crypto M&A.

Hosts:

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

Guest

⭐️Vladimir Novakovski, Founder & CEO. Lighter.

Links:

Tarun Chitra’s Autodeleveraging: $653 million lost to a greedy heuristic?

🔗 https://x.com/kenchangh/status/1994854381267947640 

⁠Disclosures⁠

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:38 Tarun’s ADL Paper Sparks Backlash

05:24 Research vs Bag Defense

06:27 How ADLs Actually Work

12:27 Fairness vs Predictability

24:14 Tarun’s Inspiration 

28:17 Zero-Fee Perps Explained

34:12 Perp Wars Heat Up

38:15 RWAs Trade Onchain

41:49 Token Launch Reality

47:19 Tokens vs Equity Clash

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Thank you to our sponsors, Mantle!
On this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts Ram Ahluwalia, Austin Campbell, and Chris Perkins are joined by Elisabeth Kirby, Head of Market Structure at Tradeweb, for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of crypto markets — and who will control them.

They unpack why US market structure legislation stalled, how the SEC’s enforcement-first approach shaped the last cycle, and what it signals that JPMorgan, BlackRock, and others are moving forward with tokenization. 

The group debates whether Ethereum’s institutional edge is durable, whether Canton can scale beyond early adopters, and why Solana’s “decentralized Nasdaq” vision still faces hard questions.

The episode closes with a sober look at macro conditions, risk appetite, and why crypto may be stuck waiting, even as the long-term institutional thesis quietly strengthens.

Hosts:

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

Links:

The S.E.C. Was Tough on Crypto. It Pulled Back After Trump Returned to Office.

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 Intro

🗳️ 1:56 Impact of crypto market structure legislation getting pushed into 2026

📰 12:55 Howthe New York Times articleof the SEC’s regulation of crypto missed crucial context 

🏦 22:12 How JPMorgan’s tokenized money market fund on Ethereum changes the tone for TradFi onchain

🏛️ 32:18 Whether Canton can become the real institutional chain and what could derail it

🧑‍💻 45:10 What Solana’s “decentralized Nasdaq” pitch gets right and where it still looks shaky

🌍 49:58 How macro, Fed expectations, and a rotation into “boring” assets are squeezing crypto risk-taking

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On this bundled episode of Bits + Bips, Unchained executive editor Steve Ehrlich digs into the less obvious risks shaping crypto returns, from DeFi yield to tax reporting.

First, Sebastien Derivaux, co-founder of Steakhouse Financial, explains why chasing high yield can be dangerous, how institutional risk curation works onchain, and why the future of stablecoins won’t be limited to the US dollar.

Then, Shehan Chandrasekera, CPA and Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker, breaks down what crypto investors need to know heading into 2026, including tax loss harvesting, the wash sale gray zone, hidden tax obligations in crypto ETFs, and why the new 1099-DA form won’t tell the full story.

Host:

Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Guests:

Shehan Chandrasekera, CPA, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker

Sebastien Derivaux, Co-Founder & Partner at Steakhouse Financial

Timestamps:

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