$ANSEM, Robinhood Chain, & Why SOL Still Beats ETH in 2026 | Mike Dudas
Memecoins were supposed to be a dead end, but Mike Dudas believes their deeper idea is only beginning to spread. The 6MV investor joins David to unpack Bonk’s role in reviving Solana, Ansem’s latest experiment, Robinhood’s push into the trenches, and how games, collectibles, prediction markets, and compute could power consumer crypto’s next chapter. Mike also answers the $1 million ETH versus SOL question, lays out Ethereum’s best strategic response, and explains why crypto’s slower progress may be setting up a more durable cycle. Subscribe for more conversations from the frontier of crypto.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Bonk at Solana’s Bottom
7:07 What Gives Memecoins Value?
13:45 The Ansem Experiment
20:53 Are Memecoins Built to Die?
26:19 Culture Goes Onchain
29:45 Robinhood, Base, and the Trenches
32:59 Better Assets, Better Cycles
36:20 What 6MV Is Betting On
38:21 The Consumer Crypto Comeback
43:37 Compute Becomes a Market
47:57 Crypto’s AI Diaspora
50:53 SOL Versus ETH
57:02 Cycles, Equity, and Tokens
1:01:34 Why Crypto Takes Longer
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RESOURCES
Mike Dudas
https://x.com/mdudas
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Why Mike Dudas Has Zero Exposure to ETH, but Is Bullish on Hyperliquid
Mike Dudas holds zero ETH and sees Hyperliquid as crypto's Tether moment. He also has a clear framework for what makes a token worth buying.
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Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin, worth just $2.5 million, and the market didn't miss it. For Mike Dudas, Managing Partner at 6th Man Ventures, the sale broke the "never sell" promise that sustained the company's premium. He doesn't see how the narrative gets rebuilt.
Dudas applies the same unsentimental read to the rest of the L1 landscape. His firm holds zero ETH — five years of contradictory narratives have left the market unable to value it. In his view, Solana's decline is simpler: memecoin activity peaked and hasn't recovered. Hyperliquid, in his view, is closer to Tether than a competing L1: the no-KYC international market is enormous, and asset quality is the moat.
His framework for tokens worth owning: programmatic buybacks and consistent communication from leadership. On AI, he argues agentic trading will far outpace agentic payments — Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are moving too fast for new entrants to displace them.
Host:
Laura Shin, Host / Unchained
Guests:
Mike Dudas - Managing Partner of 6th Man Ventures -
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Mike Dudas on Uptober and the Continued Bull Market
This week Mike Dudas joins the show to discuss why he thinks this cycle is still just getting started. We deep dive into Mike's thesis when it comes to investing in crypto, his biggest winners this cycle, Flying Tulip's new model for raising capital, stablecoins, NFTs & more. Enjoy!
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Crypto’s premiere institutional conference returns to London in October 2025. Use code EMPIRE200 for £200 off at checkout: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2025-london
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peaq is home to 60+ apps across 20+ industries and millions of devices, machines, and onchain robots.
It powers the world’s first tokenized robo-farm, launching soon in Hong Kong, and has launched the Machine Economy Free Zone in Dubai as a Web3 x Robotics x AI innovation hub.
For more about peaq, check out www.peaq.xyz
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(03:39) 6MV's Investment Thesis
(07:15) Pump Fun
(15:18) Finding Big Winners This Cycle
(23:27) Ads (Blockdaemon, Peaq)
(24:36) Why We Haven’t Topped
(29:03) How Will Crypto Returns Look Over The Next 5 Years?
(36:02) Prediction Markets
(39:23) What Did Solana Get Wrong?
(45:50) Ads (Blockdaemon, Peaq)
(46:58) Are Crypto TGEs Broken?
(50:30) Flying Tulip Raises $200m: A New Vehicle For Fundraising?
(57:46) Does Every Project Need A Token?
(01:00:05) Why Mike Is Still Bullish NFTs
(01:02:47) Stablecoins
(01:06:23) Content Of The Week
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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Series Finale: Mike Dudas on how stablecoins are eating Wall Street
Mike Dudas is the Managing Partner of 6MV and former CEO of The Block.
The Scoop's host, Frank Chaparro, was joined live by Mike Dudas for Frank's final episode of the program. Frank and Mike discuss The Block's history, the evolution of the crypto space over the years, and how payments and stablecoins have emerged as one of crypto's killer use cases.
OUTLINE
00:00 - Introduction
02:11 – Early Days of The Block
03:24 – The Tether Revelation
05:24 – Stablecoin Success
07:44 – Adoption Curve in Payments
11:33 – Global Stablecoin Impact
14:47 – Investment Opportunities
19:48 – Crypto vs. Fintech
25:27 – Meme Coins Debate
31:52 – Bonk and Pump Strategies
35:27 – Breaking Into the Mainstream
40:54 – Conviction in Solana
44:18 – Crypto Culture and Sentiment
47:51 – Conclusion
GUEST LINKS
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Investing in Crypto's Next App Wave with 6th Man Ventures | Mike Dudas & Carl Vogel
In today's episode Mike Dudas and Carl Vogel of 6th Man Ventures join Jason to unpack their fund's strategy heading into 2025. They dive deep into their investment thesis across various sectors including DePin, AI, and consumer applications. The discussion explores the evolving landscape of token economies, the future of crypto venture capital, and their controversial takes on industry giants like Coinbase. They close out by highlighting the growing intersection of social media with financial applications. Thanks for tuning in!
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Explore the SKALE Ecosystem at skale.space/ecosystem and stay up to date with the gas-free blockchain on X at @skalenetwork
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Magic Eden is getting into token trading and their vision is to become onchain Binance and then much more as the entire world ends up moving on chain
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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:37 Are VCs Founders
06:37 Evolution of Fund Raising
12:07 Origins of 6th Man Ventures
18:24 Finding Top Founders & Companies
23:18 2025 Investing Landscape
38:03 Skale Ad
38:42 Magic Eden Ad
39:26 DePin Opportunity
50:44 Crypto & AI Venture
54:22 Explosion of Tokens
58:25 L1s vs L2s
01:02:55 Coinbase Hot Takes
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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Is There a Better Way to Launch Tokens in Crypto? - Ep. 730
Crypto networks are meant to be decentralized, community owned systems. But they’re turned out to be dominated by whales and to have more mercenaries who are just interested in getting free tokens to dump them, rather than having long-term believers who want to build the ecosystem. How can tokens be launched in a way that gets token holders aligned with long-term success?
Today’s guests, Mike Dudas, founding partner of 6th Man Ventures, and Matt O’Connor, co-founder of Legion, believe there’s room for improvement. In this episode, they share how Legion aims to reshape the process, focusing on fair distribution, incentivizing organic user growth, and building loyal communities. They explore Legion’s approach to token sales, its compatibility with regulatory frameworks, and why it might be the key to bringing new people into crypto.
Show highlights:
How Legion was born and what its main goal is
The problems with how token launches currently work
Why projects don’t want to return to the ICO model
Whether the criteria to earn a better reputation on Legion is gameable
How Legion actually works and what the role of KYC is
What type of regulatory framework Legion is leveraging
How MiCA’s rules for token offerings allowed for this type of project to emerge
Whether the U.S. should follow Europe in establishing a crypto framework like MiCA
What the business model of Legion is
What the difference is between Legion and other similar platforms such as Cobie’s Echo
Whether token sales is a better distribution mechanism than airdrops
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
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Guests:
Mike Dudas, Founding partner of 6th Man Ventures
Matt O’Connor, Co-Founder of Legion
Matt’s open source publication: Tokenomics for Builders
Links
Unchained: Legion Launches New Tool to Identify Best Contributors in Crypto Fundraises
Legion Whitepaper
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:49 How Legion was born and its main goal
05:33 What’s wrong with current token launches?
11:13 Why projects avoid the ICO model
13:37 Can Legion’s reputation system be gamed?
26:18 How Legion works and the role of KYC
35:23 The regulatory framework behind Legion
39:06 How MiCA enabled this type of project
44:09 Should the U.S. adopt a framework like MiCA?
46:32 What is Legion’s business model?
50:28 How Legion differs from Cobie’s Echo
53:18 Are token sales better than airdrops for distribution?
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The crypto venture market is painfully slow
Mike Dudas has over a decade of experience investing in the crypto industry and is the managing partner at the VC firm 6th Man Ventures.
In this episode, Dudas examines the state of the crypto venture market, which he claims is currently stuck in "the slowest pace of dealmaking" he has ever seen.
According to Dudas, two of the main contributors to slowing crypto VC activity are the dwindling number of real users for blockchain based products, plus founder expectations that are still anchored to unrealistic bull market valuations from days past.
However, despite slowing user growth and lackluster price action, Dudas points to the uptick in developer activity as a beacon of hope that promises better experiences and products to the next wave of new crypto users.
EP 20: Interview with Ramp’s Eric Glyman (+ explaining Cartoon Avatars’ origins) and a Crypto Debate with Mike Dudas and Zach Weinberg
(01:14) Introducing Zach Weinberg and Mike Dudas
(06:06) Mike’s background
(19:02) Exciting about crypto
(24:18) Zach vs crypto
(32:04) Inflation hedge
(38:25) Does Zach own Crypto
(41:00) Banking in foreign countries
(53:59) Stablecoin vs wire transfer
(59:00) KYC
(1:03:57) Crypto insurance
(1:09:24) Eric Glyman: Welcome
(1:11:32) Eric Glyman: Background
(1:16:57) Eric Glyman: Mandarin Debate video
(1:20:28) Eric Glyman: Starting Paribus
(1:24:51) Eric Glyman: Selling to Capital One
(1:28:57) Eric Glyman: Fintech’s success
(1:33:49) Eric Glyman: What is Ramp?
(1:43:10) Eric Glyman: Learnings as a 2-time founder
(1:48:13) Eric Glyman: Being purposeful
(1:52:55) Eric Glyman: Delegating as a CEO
(1:58:53) Eric Glyman: Building the inevitability of success
(2:02:43) Eric Glyman: Thinking through your investor base
(2:08:29) Eric Glyman: How do you determine your valuation?
(2:13:15) Eric Glyman: Advice for executives
(2:18:03) Eric Glyman: Craziest investor stories
(2:20:40) Eric Glyman: The origin of Cartoon Avatars
(2:21:54) Eric Glyman: Relationship between companies and media
(2:28:58) Outro
Links:
Eric Glyman debate video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxB5bb8xEDg
Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky
Produced: Andrew Nadeau and Rashad Assir
Executive Producer: Josh Machiz
Music: Griff Lawson
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About the Show
A Saturday morning podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett (Partner and Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures) covering the tech news with his friends and other people with industry expertise.
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
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About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
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Mike Dudas explains why most DAOs are neither decentralized nor autonomous
LinksDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization aspiring to reimagine the idea of the golf country club through global membership, illustrates the complexity that can underpin the red-hot acronym.
While holding a LinksDAO NFT gives users membership rights, there has been some confusion amongst holders as to the extent of what those rights entail. Mike Dudas, co-founder of LinksDAO and 6th Man Ventures, recently discussed the current landscape in an interview on The Scoop.
As Dudas explained during the interview:
“Today we're in this in-between world where many things that call themselves DAOs are really corporations but have a participatory governance mechanism. So it looks different than a corporation, but it's not truly decentralized and autonomous in the spirit of what I believe these organizations can become over the coming decade.”
In the case of LinksDAO, a corporation named LinksDAO Inc. is responsible for fundraising and business development.
While owners of LinksDAO NFTs are given membership rights to LinksDAO, they do not receive ownership rights to LinksDAO Inc.
“The community is more of an advisory board, so we wouldn't be definitionally a DAO. We would be like a group of members who act as an advisory board to a C-corp.” This division is a necessary reality because, as Dudas puts it, “in America in 2022 you can't sell an NFT to the public using Ethereum self-custody wallets without KYC that gives somebody ownership of an asset.”
Still, regardless of the structure of a DAO, projects are cropping up to serve them with tools, Dudas noted.
“Right now there are a number of what are called ‘point solutions.’ Early on in the evolution of any ecosystem, what happens is you have solutions that service the most important and critical functions for a DAO.”
Funds like Bain Capital Crypto are eyeing this opportunity, with DAO service providers being one of the focus points of their recently announced $560 million fund.
This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Fireblocks, Coinbase Prime & Chainalysis
Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Fireblocks enables exchanges, lending desks, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds to securely scale digital asset operations through the Fireblocks Network and MPC-based Wallet Infrastructure. Fireblocks serves over 725 financial institutions, has secured the transfer of over $1.5 trillion in digital assets, and has a unique insurance policy that covers assets in storage & transit. For more information, please visit www.fireblocks.com.
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Coinbase Prime is an integrated solution that provides institutional investors with an advanced trading platform, secure custody, and prime services to manage all their crypto assets in one place. Coinbase Prime fully integrates crypto trading and custody on a single platform, and gives clients the best all-in pricing in their network using their proprietary Smart Order Router and algorithmic execution. For more information, visit www.coinbase.com/prime.
About Chainalysis
Chainalysis is the blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies in over 60 countries. Our data powers investigation, compliance, and market intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases and grow consumer access to cryptocurrency safely. Backed by Accel, Addition, Benchmark, Coatue, Paradigm, Ribbit, and other leading firms in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains to promote more financial freedom with less risk. For more information, visit www.chainalysis.com.