Episodes
In this episode, we discuss escalating global tensions and their impact on crypto markets, questioning whether Bitcoin is a risk-on or risk-off asset in times of instability. We cover legal developments around Tornado Cash, the potential for an XRP ETF amid SEC scrutiny, and Visa’s new fiat tokenization platform on Ethereum. Plus, don’t miss details on the upcoming Kain vs. David fight at Permissionless! ------ 📣 0x v2 | NEXT GEN PRICING ENGINE https://bankless.cc/0x   ------ BANKLESS...
Published 10/04/24
In this episode, we speak with CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger about the rapidly changing world of cryptocurrency regulation. Commissioner Mersinger provides a detailed look at the differences between the CFTC and SEC, their roles in overseeing digital assets, and how the regulatory landscape is evolving with DeFi and crypto markets. She discusses the CFTC’s recent dissent in the Uniswap case, the challenges of classifying assets as commodities or securities, and the implications of U.S....
Published 10/03/24
The exploration of the Ethereum Roadmap continues. Today on the show we’re bringing back Mike Neuder who was just on the show to give his defense of the Ethereum Roadmap and we’re also joined by Blockworks Mike Ippolito who brings a wealth of knowledge from around the crypto industry to add his thoughts to the conversation. We cover the essence of Ethereum, the current state of rollups, value accrual and much more. We end the podcast with just overall bullish vibes and reflecting on what...
Published 10/01/24
Do you remember the 2008 crisis? It left a mark on many of us, fueling a distrust of bankers and politicians, and leading us to crypto as an alternative to the broken system. Today’s guest, Austin Campbell, a professor and former Chief Risk Officer at Paxos, explains how crypto, especially stablecoins, can protect everyday Americans from the risks of traditional banks. He’s here to show why the middle class should care about the future of finance. ------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | Ryan & David...
Published 09/30/24
This week we break down China’s massive new economic stimulus package, its biggest move since the pandemic and what it could mean for the global markets.  Gary Gensler faced intense bipartisan grilling in Congress, and Nic Carter dropped shocking new insights on ChokePoint 2.0’s legal implications. Plus, Eigenlayer’s token unlock is finally here after months of non-transferability. We’ll also dive into the key moments from Solana’s Breakpoint Conference. Buckle up. ------ 📈 INDEX COOP |...
Published 09/27/24
Representative Ro Khanna, a Congressman from California and a key advocate for crypto within the Democratic party joins us on today’s episode. We discuss his efforts to bring crypto into the mainstream, including recent meetings he's helped broker between the White House, the Kamala Harris campaign, and key figures from the crypto industry. We explore the challenges and opportunities for the Democrats to embrace pro-crypto policies, the potential future of crypto regulation, and how this...
Published 09/25/24
Is the Ethereum’s Rollup centric roadmap a Queen Sacrifice blunder? That’s the core question the industry is asking and Bankless has aired some of these dissents. Today’s episode voices a counter to the doubters. Mike Neuder is an Ethereum developer and previous Bankless guest. He thinks the Ethereum roadmap is pretty great as is, it’s right on track, in fact, his message is to stay the course, play the long game, and watch ETH grow in value as a monetary asset as the Ethereum economy grows...
Published 09/23/24
The Fed just cut rates by 50 basis points for the first time since the pandemic, how is the market reacting, should we be excited?  Trump revealed new details about World Liberty Financial. We’ll break down why they’re building it, who’s involved, and what’s going on with the token.  We also have a Tale of Two Chains: Bitcoiners watching Trump buy a burger with Bitcoin in NYC, while Ethereans premiere an Ethereum documentary down the street.  ------ 📈 INDEX COOP | LEVERAGE TOKENS  ...
Published 09/20/24
Jerome Powell and the Federal Reset is about to cut rates, but the question on everyone’s mind is… What happens next? Alfonso Peccatiello, known as "Macro Alf," is a macroeconomic analyst and investment strategist and he’s joining the pod to help us figure this out. - Are these rate cuts just in time or too little too late? - Is the Fed cutting by 25bps or 50bps? - Will we get a recession or the soft landing the FED is hoping for? - What will happen to crypto assets? We discuss all this...
Published 09/18/24
Steven Goldfeder is back on the podcast today to discuss Arbitrum’s and all Ethereum L2 FUD.  Is a win for Arbitrum also a win for Ethereum, or is Arbitrum competing for users and liquidity? Steven addresses governance concerns and discusses the decentralization of Arbitrum’s Sequencer. In the second half of the show, we get into the latest developments in the Arbitrum ecosystem, including Stylus, Bold, Orbit, and Timeboost. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24  ...
Published 09/17/24
That’s right, Bankless Nation, BlackRock on the podcast today. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, a company that manages over $10 trillion dollars in assets around the world, to put it in perspective, that’s 5 times the crypto market cap. Let’s just say what they do has ripple effects in global markets. But here at Bankless we wanted to figure out what they’re doing in crypto. That’s why we brought Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets. We explore Crypto...
Published 09/16/24
This week in crypto, the Trump vs. Harris debate sparked chatter, but did the markets react? DeFi had its first U.S. congressional hearing—how’d it go? Friend.tech burned its keys—abandoning? ENS integrated with PayPal and Venmo, while Coinbase launched their cbBTC, and Sony might release a stablecoin. Plus, did we see “war mode” Vitalik this week? ------ 🔥The Bankless Summit | 70% of for Citizens | 20% code WRU20 https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1832085867483083211  ...
Published 09/13/24
Today on a special in-person recording of Bankless we welcome special guest and best selling author, Yuval Noah Harari. Yuval is best known for his book Sapiens, and today, he is introducing ideas from his next book Nexus.  We go deep down the history rabbit hole and explore the question, if human beings are so wise, why are we so self destructive? ------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | Ryan & David Unpacking the Episode: https://www.bankless.com/debrief-the-yuval-noah-harari-interview  ------ 📣SPOTIFY...
Published 09/12/24
When is this all going to reverse?  That’s the question we asked Benjamin Cowen, YouTuber, Founder of Into The CryptoVerse and famous chart maximalist who does some fantastic technical analysis. The main goal of this pod is to understand if we're currently going through Ethereum’s bottom but we also cover: - Are crypto 4 year cycles dead? - What’s next for ETH/BTC? - How’s Ben positioning his portfolio for what’s coming? Except to learn that and much more. ------ 🌊 KELP | DEPOSIT ETH...
Published 09/10/24
Why does Bitcoin sucks and is inferior to Gold? Peter Schiff is a financial commentator and economist that is relentlessly bullish on gold and a famous skeptic of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He covers a ton of ground in this podcast, from what money really is, why gold can't be disrupted as the ultimate store of value, why we should abolish the Federal Reserve and principles to grow your wealth. ------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | Ryan & David Unpacking the Episode: ...
Published 09/09/24
This week in crypto, Trump’s new DeFi project sparked debate—is it legit or a grift? After the SEC, the CFTC targeted Uniswap—what’s going on with regulators? Brazil’s Twitter ban also made waves—what does it mean for free speech and crypto’s role in resisting censorship? Markets are asking if the 4-year cycle is dead, and Ryan has three takes on the lackluster crypto prices and what it could mean moving forward. On the bright side, Polymarket is now on the Bloomberg terminal, and Coinbase...
Published 09/06/24
Is the Ethereum roadmap… off track? Have we lost the plot? Are L2s running interference, intercepting all the users, transactions, and value from reaching the L1? And if all of this is real, and not just FUD, what should we do about it? We have Max Resnick on the show today, he's an Ethereum researcher working at Special Mechanism Group and he’s got some opinions that are contrary to what is typically found out of the Ethereum Rollup Centric Roadmap.  Max explains why Ethereum is breaking...
Published 09/04/24
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis is a leading Bitcoin advocate in Congress who recently introduced her proposal, "the Bitcoin Act," which seeks to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the United States of America. In today's episode, we explore how the bill could address the $35 trillion debt, the conversion of gold certificates to Bitcoin, and its economic implications. ------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | Ryan & David unpacking the episode: ...
Published 09/02/24
In this special early access episode we're joined by Paradigm's Georgios Konstantopoulos and Charlie Noyes, along with Max Resnick from Special Mechanisms Group to discuss a possible change in direction for one part of the Ethereum Roadmap. This is a deeply technical episode that covers the history of MEV and new innovations that plan to change it all from the comfort of David's apartment studio, enjoy. ------ 📣 BECOME A CITIZEN | GET 10% OFF WITH CODE: SPOTIFY10 ...
Published 09/01/24
Welcome back to the Bankless Friday Weekly Rollup. First up, why Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France and what it means for the future of privacy. Then, drama at the Ethereum Foundation as they sell $100M worth of ETH. And finally, the latest Wells Notice from the SEC, which company got it? ------ 🌊 KELP | Deposit ETH with Gain today https://kelpdao.xyz/gain/?utm_source=Bankless  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE ...
Published 08/30/24
Today we're diving into the vibrant crypto ecosystem of Argentina as experienced at Aleph, a unique crypto pop-up city in Buenos Aires. You’ll hear from three influential guests - Marcelo Cavazzoli of Lemon Cash, Federico Ogue of Buenbit, and Manuel Beaudroit of Belo - who are leading the charge in Argentina’s crypto revolution.  The episode provides deep insights into why Argentina is becoming a global hub for crypto adoption, driven by grassroots enthusiasm and supported by the pro-crypto...
Published 08/29/24
It’s been a while since former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was in the public spotlight, but in this episode, we discover his surprising stance: he’s bullish on crypto! In fact, he believes that crypto could be crucial in staving off a U.S. debt crisis. We dive deep into his core argument and explore a range of related topics, such as:  - America’s debt crisis - The potential loss of the U.S. reserve currency status - How crypto could help the U.S. stay ahead of China - Why the left is...
Published 08/28/24
SOL/ETH is up 300% YoY and ETH/BTC is down 50% over the last 2 years. Why is that? Why is ETH underperforming so bad? Kyle Samani is the Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Multicoin Capital. Kyle and Multicoin have been one of the largest investors and proponents of Solana. They have been spearheading the ‘integrated blockchain’ investment theses even before the success of Solana redefined that corner of crypto. This episode is not intended to be a debate like the Anatoly vs Justin Drake...
Published 08/26/24
Tron has been on a tear ranking second in stablecoin supply, highest number of token holders at 143.5 million, and has the second highest TVL among layer 1's at over $8 billion dollars.  What's causing this big spike and... why? ------ 📣 GET 10% OFF PERMISSIONLESS TICKETS | USE CODE: BANKLESS10  https://bankless.cc/PermissionlessDiscount  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://k.xyz/bankless-pod-q2    ⁠ 🦄UNISWAP | BROWSER EXTENSION ...
Published 08/23/24
Today we're talking EVM, specifically how Mega ETH and Monad are planning to make Ethereum SUPER fast. We answer: 1 - Which is faster, more decentralized, and more censorship-resistant? 2 - How did Monad and MegaETH build large communities before even launching a testnet, let alone a mainnet? 3 - What are their thoughts on criticism that building with the EVM is like building on quicksand? Could this eat at Solana's value proposition? ------ 🌊 KELP | Deposit ETH with Gain today ...
Published 08/21/24