Unchained

The markets are a bloodbath.

If you’re feeling lost in the markets right now, you’re not alone. Stocks are getting crushed, bonds are sliding, and crypto isn’t escaping the carnage. The question is: why is everything selling off—and where does it go from here?

One thing is clear: the next market move is extremely hard to predict. Between Trump’s economic policies, inflation worries, and DOGE’s cuts, there’s a storm of conflicting signals.

So, is this pain temporary? Or are we looking at a long trend downward?

• Bitwise

Guest:

Recession? 

• Bloomberg: Trump Says US Economy Faces ‘Transition,’ Avoids Recession Call

Inflation

• Bloomberg: Inflation-Linked Bonds Rebound on Trump Tariffs: Credit Weekly

DXY

• FX Empire: US Dollar Forecast: DXY Sinks as Weak Jobs Data Fuels Rate Cut Bets, EUR/USD Surges

Powell’s comments:

Bonds:

Tariffs:

• Bloomberg: Lutnick Says Trump Sticking to US Aluminum-Steel Tariff Timeline 

Japan and the carry trade:

China’s deflation: 

• Bloomberg: China’s Inflation Declines Below Zero for First Time in Year

Ukraine War talks: 

• FT: Ukraine seeks to persuade US to resume aid in high-stakes talks

Timestamps:

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The election of Donald Trump marked a sea change for U.S. crypto policy.

The symbolism of that transformation was on full display at the White House’s first-ever Crypto Summit, at which President Trump met with several crypto business leaders. But what was actually said behind closed doors? And does this mark the beginning of a truly pro-crypto shift—or just another short-lived political move?

In this episode, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe and former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo break down what really happened at the summit, whether the proposed Bitcoin reserve is a smart idea or a political gimmick, and why some believe the U.S. dollar could one day be backed by BTC.

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

• Bitwise

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Trump’s latest crypto moves have sent the market on a rollercoaster.

First, he posted on Truth Social that a U.S. crypto reserve would include XRP, Solana, and Cardano. A couple hours later, he had to clarify that Bitcoin and Ethereum would also be included. The market jumped 12%—only to crash the next day.

Meanwhile, the White House crypto summit is happening Friday, and not everyone is happy with the guest list. Some say it’s a step toward real regulation, while others argue that without DeFi voices, it’s just a meeting of centralized players.

So what does it all mean? David Nage, VC at Arca, joins Unchained to talk about:

Will real crypto policy changes emerge from this? Or is this just another distraction in a year full of big promises?

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

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week, we’re joined by special guest Laura Shin to dissect Trump’s Strategic Crypto Reserve fiasco. Why did he name-drop XRP and Cardano first? Was this real policy or just a market pump? Meanwhile, Crypto Twitter is melting down over Trump’s crypto summit guest list—who made the cut, and who got snubbed? Plus, another SEC lawsuit bites the dust, and memecoins look deader than ever. Let’s get into it.

Show highlights

🔹 Trump’s Crypto Reserve Announcement – Trump proposes a U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve, initially boosting XRP, ADA, SOL, BTC, and ETH—only for markets to fully reverse in 48 hours.

🔹 Who Picked These Coins? – XRP & ADA make the list despite having lower adoption than SOL or ETH. Was this a serious policy move or just pay-to-play politics?

🔹 Trump’s 5D Chess or Just a Meme? – Did the Trump team just pick random coins off CoinMarketCap? Or was this an orchestrated move to pay back donors?

🔹 The Crypto Council Drama – Trump’s Crypto Council implodes before launch due to infighting over seats. First summit features Ripple’s Garlinghouse, Michael Saylor, Chainlink’s Nazarov, Brian Armstrong, and Jesse Powell—but no actual protocol founders.

🔹 Is Crypto Being Used for Politics? – Nic Carter calls the plan a grift, saying the U.S. government should not buy altcoins with taxpayer money. Even Bitcoin maxis are skeptical.

🔹 Trump’s Obsession With Bitcoin Prices – Reports claim Trump personally tracks Bitcoin price movements and wants BTC to hit $150K during his presidency—is he manipulating markets?

🔹 The SEC Softens on Crypto? – Enforcement pivots as the SEC drops cases against Cumberland and Kraken. Will the Coinbase lawsuit be next?

🔹 Market Exhaustion Sets In – Despite the noise, traders are tired. The market isn’t buying into Trump’s crypto plans—was this just another empty promise?

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

⭐️Laura Shin, Journalist, Author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ Founder and CEO of Unchained

Timestamps

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A strategic crypto reserve for the U.S. economy? That’s Trump’s latest proposal (or directive?)—and the reaction from the industry has been… let’s just say, mixed. Would it even work? And does it create more problems than it solves?

Meanwhile, the White House is hosting a crypto roundtable—but not everyone is convinced it’s going to be productive. Who will be in the room, what will actually be discussed, and will it help or hurt the industry?

On this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart and Noelle Acheson together with guests Steve Hou and Steven Ehrlich break it all down. Will tariffs and macro factors keep weighing on crypto? What’s driving the explosion in new ETFs? And what happens if banks start issuing their own stablecoins?

Plus: What could be the real next catalyst for the crypto market.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto reserve:

Crypto roundtable: 

Memecoins:

• SEC: Staff Statement on Meme Coins

ETFs: 

Macro:

Stablecoins:

• CoinDesk: Bank of America CEO Says Bank Will Likely Launch Its Own Stablecoin

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A new consensus model. A bear-themed brand. And one of the most debated token launches in recent memory.

Berachain is trying something radically different. Instead of just rewarding validators, it pays liquidity providers—turning the traditional blockchain incentive model on its head.

But not everyone is convinced. Some critics say too much of the token supply went to VCs. Others question whether “proof of liquidity” can actually work at scale.

In this episode, Smokey, Chief Smokey Officer at Berachain, joins Unchained to break it all down. Why did Berachain choose to make itself EVM-identical? What really happened with the token launch? And what’s next?

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

• Bitwise

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Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: Recapping how Bybit lost $1.5B to North Korea’s Lazarus Group—how did it happen, and why did they use THORChain to launder the money? Meanwhile, Ethereum is facing an identity crisis at ETH Denver, with the Foundation’s bizarre “Silviculture Society” raising eyebrows across the ecosystem. And if that wasn’t enough, memecoins are in freefall, with Hayden Adams admitting the game was rigged all along. It’s a wild week—let’s break it all down.

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

Show highlights

🔹 Bybit’s $1.5B Hack – Largest crypto heist ever, pulled off by North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Attack exploited Gnosis Safe’s front end, not Bybit itself.

🔹 THORChain: The New Laundromat? – Lazarus Group uses THORChain to launder stolen funds, sparking backlash. Some THORChain members celebrated the volume spike.

🔹 Memecoins Declared ‘Collectibles’ – SEC says memecoins aren’t securities—right as the bubble bursts. New token launches are down 60%, and pump.fun is drying up.

🔹 InfoWars Bought With a Memecoin?! – Alex Jones supporters use Wars token to outbid The Onion for InfoWars.com in a bankruptcy auction.

🔹 Ethereum’s Cultural Crisis – EF’s ‘Silviculture Society’ announcement triggers community backlash. Hayden Adams calls it “peak Ethereum dysfunction.”

🔹 SEC’s Crypto Pivot – Enforcement shift: Uniswap, OpenSea, and Consensys investigations dropped. Is the SEC losing its war on crypto?

🔹 Richard Heart’s Case Dismissed – The SEC’s lawsuit against the HEX founder gets tossed on procedural grounds, but the agency has a chance to refile.

🔹 The Hyperliquid Question – Is Hyperliquid the next frontier for crypto liquidity, or a regulatory time bomb waiting to go off?

⭐️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 

Timestamps 

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Crypto derivatives exchange Bybit just became the latest victim of North Korea’s elite hacking unit, the Lazarus Group. They didn’t brute-force their way in. They didn’t exploit some obscure vulnerability. Instead, they tricked a trusted developer, slipped in malicious code, and took off with a fortune.

How did this happen? Why was $1.5 billion sitting in a single wallet? What mistakes did Bybit and Safe make? And, more importantly, what needs to change to stop this from happening again?

This week, Mudit Gupta, chief information security officer at Polygon, joins Unchained to expose the security failures, the sophisticated tactics Lazarus used, and why crypto still hasn’t learned its lesson.

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

• Mantle

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Crypto markets are down bad—but is this just a rough patch, or are we looking at something bigger?

After a brutal sell-off in Solana, the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, and macro uncertainty weighing on Bitcoin, investors are searching for answers. Some think the worst is over, while others believe more pain is coming before the market turns around.

In this episode of Bits + Bips, Noelle Acheson, Alex Kruger, and Ram Ahluwalia are joined by Eliézer Ndinga of 21Shares to break it all down. They discuss how institutions are approaching this downturn, why Solana has been hit harder than the rest, and what catalysts could bring crypto back to life.

Is this the start of a new accumulation phase, or are we in for another leg down?

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$1.5 billion gone in an instant. And what’s worse, to fund a nuclear weapons program.

The largest crypto hack in history just hit Bybit, and the culprit is the infamous North Korean hacking group, Lazarus. Known for some of the most sophisticated cyber heists ever, they often use social engineering tactics and start by tricking low level employees. Although they can often wait to launder funds, in the case of Bybit they started right away.

How did this happen? Could it have been prevented? And what does this mean for the security of the entire crypto industry?

Taylor Monahan, security at MetaMask, and Jonty, a senior investigator at zeroShadow, talk all about it.

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

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