The Chopping Block: Wind Downs, YC's Nemil Dalal, & Will Every Failed Crypto Idea Eventually Work?
YC's Nemil Dalal joins to explain why he's never been more bullish as BitMEX winds down after 11 years, whether every failed crypto idea (TCRs, DAOs, creator coins) eventually works, why crypto is really about money, Base's consumer mea culpa, on-chain reputation and credit, and who pays in the x402 AI-agent era.
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 week they're joined by Nemil Dalal, Visiting Partner at Y Combinator and ex-Coinbase, where he led USDC and the Coinbase Developer Platform. He's here to explain why, with exchanges winding down left and right, he's somehow never been more bullish.
The crew digs into the great contrast of the moment: BitMEX shutting down after 11 years (plus BitMart, Movement Labs, Balancer Labs) while the plumbing quietly prints, and whether Imran's viral 'everything that failed will eventually work' thesis is genius or toxic positivity. From there it's the question of whether crypto is really only about money (Jesse's Base mea culpa included), a war-memories tour through TCRs, on-chain reputation and why pure on-chain credit keeps faceplanting, and finally who actually pays in the x402 AI-agent era, and whether decentralization even survives contact with Google-shaped gravity.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Show highlights
🔹 BitMEX, the exchange that invented the perp swap, winds down September 23rd after 11 years, alongside BitMart, Movement Labs, and Balancer Labs.
🔹 Nemil Dalal explains why he's never been more bullish: rivals adopted BitMEX's innovations, regulatory clarity is arriving, and crypto is becoming invisible infrastructure.
🔹 Nemil rented the Chase Center for a 7,000-builder YC event with Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, and Patrick Collison, yet almost nobody's launching a token early.
🔹 Imran's viral thesis that every failed crypto idea eventually works sparks Haseeb's 'toxic positivity' pushback and a war-memories tour through TCRs and DAOs.
🔹 Instacart's Apoorva vs Webvan and Reddit vs Digg: why timing, path dependency, and the YC 'why now' question decide which failed ideas return.
🔹 Jesse's Base mea culpa: the consumer-social bet on Zora and Farcaster was wrong for now, so he handed the Base app to Kobe.
🔹 Haseeb says crypto has always been about money; Nemil counters 'money is everything,' calling the blockchain the greatest capital innovation machine in the world.
🔹 Why pure on-chain credit keeps faceplanting: address repudiation, no recourse, no wage garnishment, and old memories of Debt DAO's revenue ratchet.
🔹 The x402 AI-agent era: Cloudflare pay-per-call gating, Kimi's inference license, and whether decentralization survives Google-shaped gravity as agents become the new wallet.
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures
Guest
⭐️Nemil Dalal, Visiting Partner at Y Combinator
Disclosures
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How Jesse Pollak Is Mapping Out Base's Next Chapter After the App Pivot
Jesse Pollak owns the Base App's social miss, unpacks Robinhood Chain's rise, and explains Brian Armstrong's memecoin moment.
========================================================
Thank you to our sponsor!
Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED).
========================================================
Jesse Pollak spent the week owning a very public miss. In a lengthy post, the Base creator admitted the Base App's social bet had not worked, leaving Base behind in perps, prediction markets and tokenization, and handed the app's reins to Jordan Fish, better known as Cobie.
Pollak joins Laura Shin to unpack why the pivot happened now, what he makes of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's memecoin controversy over a token called $BRIAN, and how Base plans to compete as Robinhood Chain outpaces it on daily active users, according to Artemis data.
They cover Base's move off Optimism's stack onto its own Azul, Beryl and Cobalt upgrades, a roadmap toward 20,000 transactions per second under the new B20 stablecoin standard, and the x402 agentic payments protocol already handling roughly 90% of Base's transaction volume.
Pollak argues less than 1% of the world uses crypto, and that Base's bet is on whoever builds the trusted rails first.
Host:
Laura Shin, Host / Unchained
Guests:
Jesse Pollak - Creator of Base
Timestamps
🗞️ 01:48 Why Jesse Pollak feels 'fired up' despite Base App's social miss
🧭 03:58 Pollak on why the timing was wrong for Base App's social bet
💳 05:42 Cape: Get 33% off six months of privacy-first mobile service at https://cape.co/unchained
🖼️ 06:39 Pollak on Brian Armstrong's Coinbaseman meme coin controversy
🏎️ 10:43 How Pollak plans to compete as Robinhood Chain overtakes Base in DAUs
🤝 12:53 Why Coinbase's distribution edge matters for onboarding new users
🔀 15:37 Why Pollak handed the Base App to Cobie to focus on the chain
🌉 18:20 Why Base App is expanding beyond Base to Solana and Bitcoin
⚙️ 21:05 Base's Azul, Beryl and Cobalt upgrades and its new B20 standard
🔐 24:27 Base Ledgers, agentic payments and privacy in Pollak's roadmap
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Balaji and Steven Glinert on Network States, Supply Chains, and Allied Coalition Strategy
Theo Jaffee and Sophia Puccini speak with Balaji Srinivasan and Steven Glinert about the shifting balance of power between nations, networks, and technology.
The conversation covers China’s industrial rise, America’s manufacturing challenges, the role of alliances in a multipolar world, and whether the internet is becoming a political force independent of traditional nation states. They discuss supply chains, technological sovereignty, decentralization, and competing visions for the future global order.
Along the way, Balaji outlines ideas from the Network State and Network School, while both guests debate how technology, economics, and political power may evolve over the coming decades.
Resources:
Follow Balaji Srinivasan on X: https://x.com/balajis
Follow Steven Glinert on X: https://x.com/stevenglinert
Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffee
Follow Sophia Puccini on X:https://x.com/schisofrenia
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
DeFi Hacks Happening Every Day; Institutions Are Still Coming
April saw some of the worst DeFi losses in recent memory, and even OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Aráoz warned people to get out. But while CT feels gloomy, institutions are not stepping back - they're leaning in with more diligence, stronger infrastructure requirements, and growing demand for onchain yield.In this livestream, Camila Russo is joined by John Zettler of Kraken, Sunand Raghupathi of Veda, and Anthony DeMartino of Sentora to break down what the latest hacks actually revealed: why many recent attacks look more like supply-chain and key-management failures than pure smart-contract exploits, why DeFi's next big challenge is operational security, and why that does not automatically kill the institutional DeFi thesis.They also unpack Kraken's new Bitcoin Vault, the rise of risk-curated vaults, why enterprises still see onchain finance as inevitable, and why fundamentals may be diverging sharply from price action. If you want the clearest view yet on whether DeFi is actually ready for institutions, this is the debate to watch.
React Native at Scale
React Native is an open source framework developed by Meta that allows engineers to build mobile applications for both iOS and Android using a single JavaScript codebase. The framework bridges the gap between web development and native mobile, which lets teams ship to both platforms simultaneously without sacrificing the look and feel of a truly native app.
Manjiri Moghe is a Staff Software Engineer at Coinbase, where she has spent five years building and scaling one of the world’s most demanding React Native applications. Her work spans performance optimization, reliability engineering, and the developer tooling that keeps large engineering teams moving quickly without sacrificing quality.
In this episode, Manjiri joins Josh Goldberg to discuss why React Native has become the framework of choice for high-velocity mobile teams, how Coinbase measures app health, how to handle data fetching and loading in production, how AI coding agents are changing the day-to-day workflow for mobile engineers, and more.
Josh Goldberg is an independent full time open source developer in the TypeScript ecosystem. He works on projects that help developers write better TypeScript more easily, most notably on typescript-eslint: the tooling that enables ESLint and Prettier to run on TypeScript code. Josh regularly contributes to open source projects in the ecosystem such as ESLint and TypeScript. Josh is a Microsoft MVP for developer technologies and the author of the acclaimed Learning TypeScript (O’Reilly), a cherished resource for any developer seeking to learn TypeScript without any prior experience outside of JavaScript. Josh regularly presents talks and workshops at bootcamps, conferences, and meetups to share knowledge on TypeScript, static analysis, open source, and general frontend and web development.
Please click here to see the transcript of this episode.
Sponsorship inquiries: sponsor@softwareengineeringdaily.com
The post React Native at Scale appeared first on Software Engineering Daily.
Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer on Why He Believes the Clarity Act Will Pass
Coinbase's chief policy officer explains why the bank lobby failed to kill stablecoin rewards — and what 'workable compromise' actually means for crypto users.
========================================================
Thank you to our sponsors!
Adaptive Security: Test and strengthen your company’s defenses against AI deepfakes and synthetic identities at adaptivesecurity.com.
Coinbase One: Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual plan at coinbase.com/unchained.
========================================================
The Genius Act established that stablecoin issuers could pay rewards to users. The banks said no. For months, the American Bankers Association used the Clarity Act as a pressure point to reverse that decision — tying up a bill that was supposed to govern an entirely different corner of crypto. Now there's compromise language. Coinbase's chief policy officer, Faryar Shirzad, says it's workable. The banks say it doesn't go far enough.
Meanwhile, the Clarity Act itself is racing toward a July 4th deadline, with a Senate Banking Committee markup expected the week of May 14. Ethics provisions around government officials holding crypto assets remain the hardest open question — and, as Shirzad puts it, one entirely above his pay grade.
This is where the biggest crypto legislation in US history actually stands.
Host:
Laura Shin, Host / Unchained
Guests:
Faryar Shirzad (@faryarshirzad) — Chief Policy Officer, Coinbase
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Balaji and Taylor Lorenz on AI and Media
Theo Jaffee speaks with Balaji Srinivasan and Taylor Lorenz about how AI is reshaping media, trust, and online communication. Building on prior public disagreements between the two, the conversation revisits core tensions around media, technology, and power in a rapidly changing information environment.
They discuss the breakdown of traditional information systems, the rise of AI-generated content, and why new models for verifying identity and truth may be necessary. The conversation lays out competing visions for the future of media, from decentralized “webs of trust” and cryptographic verification to the role of journalism, privacy, and public accountability.
Resources:
Follow Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis
Follow Taylor Lorenz on X: https://x.com/TaylorLorenz
Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffee
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
A Quantum Fork is Coming to Bitcoin | Alex Pruden & Philip Martin
This week, Alex Pruden & Philip Martin join the show to discuss Bitcoin's rising quantum threat. We deep dive into what is the risk from quantum, what to do with Satoshi's coins, will we see a Bitcoin fork, how does DeFi mitigate hacks, how to protect your privacy and more. Enjoy!
--
Follow Alex: https://x.com/apruden08
Follow Philip: https://x.com/SecurityGuyPhil
Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel
Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod
--
This episode is brought to you by Fidelity Crypto. Learn more at https://Fidelity.com/crypto
Fidelity Crypto was built in-house with over a dozen years of crypto experience. So you can trade crypto and stocks in one place at Fidelity, backed by industry-leading security. Fidelity Crypto. We're here to help you feel good about investing in crypto.
Crypto is offered by Fidelity Digital Assets, NA, is not insured by FDIC or SIPC and includes risk of complete loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC.
--
ZKsync is the Bank Stack of Ethereum. It is a network of chains secured by cryptography, not validators. Its cutting-edge ZK innovation enables the privacy, performance and connectivity that businesses need to thrive in the digital assets economy.
To find out more visit: https://www.zksync.io/
--
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:02) The Quantum Computing Risk
(08:50) Bitcoin’s Quantum Risk
(12:20) Fidelity Crypto Ad
(12:55) What To Do With Satoshi’s Coins?
(35:12) Fidelity Crypto Ad
(35:52) The Biggest Threat to Bitcoin
(38:35) How Does DeFi Mitigate Hacks?
(46:27) Are Stablecoins At Risk To Quantum?
(50:15) ZKsync Ad
(50:49) How To Secure Your Privacy
(54:57) What's The Timeline For Quantum?
--
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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Balaji Srinivasan: Prove Correct, Not Just Go Direct
Erik Torenberg and Theo Jaffee speak with Balaji Srinivasan, angel investor, entrepreneur, and author of The Network State, about how AI is transforming media, eroding trust, and reshaping how information is created and verified. They discuss why systems like hiring, journalism, and online communication are breaking under synthetic content, and what replaces them. The conversation also examines the role of cryptography, on-chain data, and new models of proof in rebuilding trust online.
Resources:
Follow Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis
Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffee
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Balaji on Why AI Raises the Cost of Verification
a16z general partner Erik Torenberg speaks with Balaji Srinivasan, angel investor and entrepreneur, about why AI simultaneously reduces the cost of creation and increases the cost of verification, and what that tension means for the shape of the AI economy. They discuss why AI drives companies toward the "trusted tribe" model of the Chinese internet, why physical world tasks are easier to automate than digital ones, why shortcuts only work for experts, and why AI makes everyone a CEO rather than making CEOs obsolete.
Resources:
Follow Balaji Srinivasan on X: https://twitter.com/balajis
Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Crypto’s Point of No Return: Institutions are Finally Here, with Brett Tejpaul
2025 marked a turning point for crypto.In this episode, Brett Tejpaul, head of Coinbase Institutional, sits down with Camila Russo to explain why institutional adoption accelerated last year. From ETFs and stablecoin regulation to banks using public blockchains in production, crypto crossed a line it can’t uncross.We explore how Coinbase evolved from a retail exchange into a global financial infrastructure layer, why tokenization is finally happening for real, and what regulation unlocked that years of innovation couldn’t.This is about the moment crypto became part of the financial system.
Why Kraken Is Betting Big on Onchain Vaults | John Zettler & Sun Raghupathi
This week, we’re joined by John Zettler, Director of Product at Kraken and Sun Raghupathi, Co-founder of Veda, to discuss their collaboration to bring onchain vaults to Kraken! We explore the growth of onchain vaults, how vaults package DeFi lending and yield strategies, vault mechanics, risk management, business models, comparisons to past yield products, and implications for DeFi adoption and future TVL growth. Enjoy!
Resources
2026 Predictions Episode: https://youtu.be/yagd3CT2VQk?si=G1cFXBpODiWZ-pQR
–
Follow John: https://x.com/JohnZettler
Follow Sun: https://x.com/sunandr_
Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod
–
Timestamps:
(02:45) What is a vault
(09:26) The Evolution of Vaults
(14:31) Vault Key Parties
(21:49) Vault Business Models
(29:14) Building Vaults with Coinbase and Morpho
(33:29) Vaults Today vs BlockFi & Celsius
(37:42) Bringing Vaults to Kraken
(39:55) Determining Yield & Adding More Vaults
(41:51) What made Yano Bullish on Vaults
(45:52) Behind the Scenes
(50:24) Vault Risks
(56:37) Morpho's Model vs Veda's Model
(57:59) Closing Comments on Vaults and DeFi TVL
—
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.
Coinbase CEO's Top 3 Crypto Trends for 2026 + More from Davos!
(0:00) Intro
(0:37) Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong on Crypto Adoption
(38:51) Cerebras CEO, Andrew Feldman on Compute Power
(1:18:50) Gecko Robotics CEO, Jake Loosararian on AI and Physical Robots
This episode is sponsored by the New York Stock Exchange - a modern marketplace and exchange for building the future. It all happens at the NYSE.
https://www.nyse.com/
Featuring Brian Armstrong (CEO, Coinbase), Andrew Feldman (CEO, Cerebras), and Jake Loosararian (CEO, Gecko), this conversation explores how AI is changing work, infrastructure, and productivity in real time- from the builders shaping what comes next.
Follow Brian:
https://x.com/brian_armstrong
Follow Andrew:
https://x.com/andrewdfeldman
Follow Jake:
https://x.com/jakeloosy
Follow the besties:
https://x.com/chamath
https://x.com/Jason
https://x.com/DavidSacks
https://x.com/friedberg
Follow on X:
https://x.com/theallinpod
Follow on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod
Follow on TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod
Follow on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod
Intro Music Credit:
https://rb.gy/tppkzl
https://x.com/yung_spielburg
Intro Video Credit:
https://x.com/TheZachEffect
Why Bitcoin Isn't Acting as Digital Gold & International Stocks Are Winning - Bits + Bips
This episode is brought to you by Uniswap!
Are you a builder who needs to add on-chain trading to your product?
The Uniswap Trading API from Uniswap Labs offers plug-and-play access to some of the deepest liquidity in crypto
It’s on-chain execution at an enterprise level. More liquidity. Less complexity.
Visit hub.uniswap.org to learn more.
Is Bitcoin losing its “digital gold” narrative just as geopolitics heat up? The Bits + Bips crew debates what markets still aren’t pricing in.
In this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins are joined by David Duong, Global Head of Research at Coinbase, to unpack a volatile mix of crypto regulation, geopolitics, and shifting market structure.
The group digs into why the latest market structure bill is starting to crack, why investors may be underpricing regulatory clarity, and what it means that Bitcoin is failing to behave like digital gold just as global risk rises.
They also explore whether the U.S. and Europe are still true allies, why Wall Street’s move toward 24/7 onchain markets matters more than most realize, and how internet capital markets could reshape who gets access to capital in the next decade.
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
Guests:
David Duong, Global Head of Research at Coinbase
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How the x402 Standard Is Enabling AI Agents to Pay Each Other - Ep. 948
Thank you to our sponsors!
Uniswap
Mantle
For decades, the internet has worked without a native way to pay for things. Credit cards were bolted on, platforms built their own integrations, and developers had to stitch together complex payment flows to charge even a few cents for anything.
But with AI agents now making requests, triggering actions, and needing to pay for data or services instantly, that old patchwork is starting to break.
In this episode, Laura Shin speaks with Erik Reppel, Head of Engineering for Coinbase’s Developer Platform, and Sam Ragsdale, founder of Merit Systems, about x402, a new open standard for internet-native payments designed for the AI era.
They discuss why AI has revived a decades-old idea, how x402 works under the hood, why devs say the experience is simpler than traditional payments, and how stablecoins make microtransactions economically viable. They also dive into the big debates: no chargebacks, chain-agnostic design, the shift to a foundation, and how this standard could eventually work with fiat as well.
Guests:
Sam Ragsdale, Founder and CEO of Merit Systems
Erik Reppel, Head of Engineering at Coinbase Developer Platform
Links:
X402
x402scan
ERC-8004: Trustless Agents
Payments MCP: Bringing Wallets, Onramps, and Payments to Every Agent
Google Agentic Payments Protocol + x402: Agents Can Now Actually Pay Each Other
Timestamps:
🎙️ 0:00 Introduction
🌐 1:53 What x402 is—and the problem it finally solves for the internet
💳 7:06 How today’s payment rails work vs. how x402 reimagines them
🛠️ 9:06 Why Sam says the developer experience is “fundamentally better”
🔗 10:54 How x402 stays chain-agnostic
🧪 15:25 How Sam got into x402 and what x402scan enables
🚀 19:22 Some of the most interesting early use cases
🪄 23:05 How x402 works on the backend and why users shouldn’t see any of it
🏛️ 26:21 Why x402 is becoming a Foundation + the Cloudflare partnership
🔮 28:10 What the future of payments could look like in an AI-native world
💱 33:05 How x402 could also work with fiat, not just stablecoins
🆓 34:31 How the team is able to charge zero transaction fees
❓ 37:48 Whether x402 can fix the chargeback problem
🔌 42:57 Integrations: Payments MCP and Google A2A
🐶 45:28 How x402 is being used to buy memecoins, and other early apps Sam & Erik love
🤝 50:37 The challenge of reputation and trustless AI agents
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The future of crypto, with Coinbase’s Emilie Choi
When Emilie Choi first left Linkedin to go work at a crypto company called Coinbase, her old colleagues thought she made a big mistake. But after surviving a crypto winter, she’s become a key figure in the rise of the company – and the industry. Now Coinbase President and COO, Choi talked with host Reid Hoffman about the operating lessons that enable hyper-scaling and the future of money. This conversation was recorded live on stage at the Presidio Theatre as part of the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit.
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Why Pro Athletes Are Betting on Bitcoin, Crypto & Prediction Markets | Tristan Thompson & Paul Grewal
NBA Star Tristan Thompson and Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal break down why pro athletes are moving into Bitcoin, crypto, and onchain prediction markets.
We cover stablecoin rewards after the Genius Act, Coinbase’s fight to preserve consumer yield and staking, the CFTC vs. state path for prediction markets, and Tristan’s new onchain app, basketball.fun.
------
📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24
https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN
https://bankless.cc/fraxnet
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO
https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast
💠BIT DIGITAL ($BTBT) | ETH TREASURY
https://bankless.cc/bit-digital
We’re being compensated by Bit Digital (NASDAQ BTBT) for this segment promoting their company and BTBT. The compensation is paid in cash as a one time payment. You can find additional information about Bit Digital and BTBT on their Investor page at https://bit-digital.com/investors
------
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:54 An Athlete & a Lawyer?
2:47 Athletes Love Crypto
8:19 Bitcoin & Trust
15:16 Stablecoin Yields
18:41 Crypto vs Banks
21:34 Tristan’s Crypto Interests
26:58 Crypto’s UX
35:48 Prediction Markets
43:58 Prediction Market Regulation
48:41 Anti-Crypto Democrats
51:00 Basketball.fun
56:00 Gary Gensler’s Deleted Texts
1:00:25 Closing & Disclaimers
------
RESOURCES
Tristan Paul
https://x.com/RealTristan13
Paul Grewal
https://x.com/iampaulgrewal
Basketball.fun
https://www.basketball.fun/
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Inside Coinbase’s $375m Acquisition of Echo | Shan Aggarwal
This week, we’re joined by Coinbase’s Chief Business Officer, Shan Aggarwal, to discuss their acquisition of Echo. We dive into Coinbase’s strategy to bring capital markets onchain, Echo’s role in compliant onchain fundraising, integration of acquired teams, tokenized equities, prediction markets, and Coinbase’s broader goal of becoming an all-encompassing financial platform. Enjoy!
–
Follow Shan: https://x.com/ShanAggarwal
Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod
--
Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh
Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from David Canellis.
Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts
--
Crypto-native institutions and developers demand institutional-grade infrastructure with regulatory clarity and full asset control. Blockdaemon's Earn Stack is a non-custodial platform combining high-performance staking rewards and seamless DeFi integration with no intermediate smart contract or vaults.
Programmatically access leading Ethereum & Solana staking rewards, plus DeFi opportunities across lending protocols, DEXs, and AMMs. Book a Demo!
--
peaq, the Machine Economy Computer, proudly sponsors the Empire podcast.
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
--
Katana is a DeFi-first chain built for deep liquidity and high yield. No empty emissions, just real yield and sequencer fees routed back to DeFi users.
Pre-deposit now: Earn high APRs with Turtle Club [https://app.turtle.club/campaigns/katana] or spin the wheel with Katana Krates [https://app.katana.network/krates]
--
Mantle is pioneering ""Blockchain for Banking"" as a revolutionary new category that sits at the intersection of TradFi and web3.
Key elements for Mantle as the ""Blockchain for Banking"":
- Transactions posted to the blockchain
- Compatibility with TradFi rails
- Integrated DeFi features
Mantle Network, the access layer — transforms Mantle Network into a purpose-built vertical platform — the blockchain for banking — that enables financial services on-chain. Mantle leads the establishment of Blockchain for Banking as the next frontier.
Follow Mantle on X (@Mantle_Official) for the latest updates on Mantle as the 'Blockchain for Banking'.
--
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:18) Shan's Background
(05:42) Acquiring Echo
(15:49) Ads (Blockdaemon, Peaq)
(17:01) Coinbase's End Goal
(21:19) Coinbase Listings
(25:02) Coinbase Ventures
(29:30) Ads (Blockdaemon, Peaq)
(30:42) Advice for Founders
(33:08) The Acquisition Process
(41:27) Ads (Katana, Mantle)
(43:04) Thoughts on Predictions Markets
(57:56) Do Cycles Still Exist?
--
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.
944: Is Coinbase Really Writing Half Their Code With AI?
Wes and Scott talk with Kyle Cesmat about how Coinbase is writing nearly half its code with AI—while keeping quality and security front and center. They dig into tools like Cursor and Claude Code, agent-driven workflows, code review challenges, and how AI is reshaping developer productivity without replacing developers.
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
03:29 Defining and measuring “quality” at a large company
05:05 How AI-generated code is reviewed and shipped at Coinbase
07:35 A developer’s workflow using AI—from ticket to production
10:30 Standard vs. team-specific tools for AI development
12:55 Using MCP servers to power internal AI workflows
14:42 MCP vs. custom agent integrations
17:16 What kinds of code AI is writing at Coinbase
19:48 Which languages and tasks does AI handle best?
21:21 Getting AI to follow existing code conventions
greptile
24:36 Brought to you by Sentry.io
25:01 How AI affects hiring, velocity, and developer focus
28:16 AI’s role in speeding up code reviews
31:28 The most valuable AI tool in Coinbase’s stack
33:48 Managing AI costs and model choices
35:10 Security considerations for using external AI models
37:04 How often Coinbase tunes and adjusts its AI systems
39:26 Using AI to write code vs. embedding AI in customer-facing features
42:29 Kyle’s big-picture take on AI as a tool—not a magic bullet
Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity
44:33 The future of hiring engineers with their own “backpack” of agents
45:53 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs
Sick Picks
Kyle: UltraShelf
Hit us up on Socials!
Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads
Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads
Steven Sinofsky & Balaji Srinivasan on the Future of AI, Tech, & the Global World Order
There’s been a wave of M&A deals lately - Meta and Scale, Windsurf and Google - and a lot of it points to something bigger: how regulation, capital, and innovation are colliding in 2025.
In this episode Erik Torenberg brings together Steven Sinofsky, former Microsoft Executive and Balaji Srinivasan, founder of the Network School, and author of the Network State to break it all down.
From acquihires to “acquifires,” from FTC crackdowns to the deeper battle between the state and the network, this is a sharp conversation on the future of tech and power.
Resources
Find Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis
Find Steven on X: https://x.com/stevesi
Learn more about The Network State: https://thenetworkstate.com
Learn more about The Network School: https://ns.com
Stay Updated:
Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z
Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/
Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Balaji on How Tech Truly Wins Media
What really caused the breakdown between tech and media—and what comes next?
Erik Torenberg sits down with Balaji Srinivasan (entrepreneur, investor, and author of The Network State) to explore the long-building conflict between Silicon Valley and legacy journalism. Balaji explains how the collapse of traditional media business models gave rise to political capture, clickbait, and adversarial coverage of the tech industry.
They discuss why “going direct” is no longer optional, how tech became the villain in establishment narratives, and what it would take to build a new truth infrastructure - from decentralized content creation to cryptographic verification.
This episode covers power, distribution, and the future of media, with a signature mix of historical insight, social analysis, and Balaji’s forward-looking frameworks.
Timecodes:
0:00 Introduction
1:26 The Media vs. Tech Conflict
2:11 The Collapse of Journalism Revenue
2:39 Rise of Wokeness and Political Realignment
6:50 State vs. Network: A New Framework
9:00 The Power Structure of Media Institutions
19:25 The Role of Distribution and the Internet
29:20 The Social War: Red vs. Blue America
30:05 X Day and the Shift in Social Media Power
42:56 Strategies for Technologists: Go Direct
48:36 The Importance of Individual Creators
1:10:00 Decentralized Truth and the Ledger of Record
1:36:00 The Future of Media, Democracy, and Equality
1:37:08 Conclusion & Final Thoughts
Resources
Find Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis
Stay Updated:
Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z
Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/
Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Balaji Srinivasan: How AI Will Change Politics, War, and Money
a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg and Martin Casado sit down with technologist and investor Balaji Srinivasan to explore how the metaphors we use to describe AI—whether as god, swarm, tool, or oracle—reveal as much about us as they do about the technology itself.
Balaji, best known for his work in crypto and network states, also brings a deep background in machine learning. Together, the trio unpacks the evolution of AI discourse, from monotheistic visions of a singular AGI to polytheistic interpretations shaped by culture and context. They debate the practical and philosophical: the current limits of AI, why prompts function like high-dimensional programs, and what it really takes to “close the loop” in AI reasoning.
This is a systems-level conversation on belief, control, infrastructure, and the architectures that might govern future societies.
Timecodes:
0:00 Introduction: The Polytheistic AGI Framework
1:46 Personal Journeys in AI and Crypto
3:18 Monotheistic vs. Polytheistic AGI: Competing Paradigms
8:20 The Limits of AI: Chaos, Turbulence, and Predictability
9:29 Platonic Ideals and Real-World Systems
14:10 Decentralized AI and the End of Fast Takeoff
14:34 Surprises in AI Progress: Language, Locomotion, and Double Descent
25:45 Prompting, Verification, and the Age of the Phrase
29:44 AI, Crypto, and the Grounding Problem
34:26 Visual vs. Verbal: Where AI Excels and Struggles
37:19 The Challenge of Markets, Politics, and Adversarial Systems
40:11 Amplified Intelligence: AI as a Force Multiplier
43:37 The Polytheistic Counterargument: Convergence and Specialization
48:17 AI’s Impact on Jobs: Specialists, Generalists, and the Future of Work
57:36 Security, Drones, and Digital Borders
1:03:41 AI, Power, and the Balance of Control
1:06:33 The Coming Anti-AI Backlash
1:09:10 Global Implications: Labor, Politics, and the Future
Resources:
Find Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis
Find Martin on X: https://x.com/martin_casado
Stay Updated:
Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z
Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/
Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Crypto's Everything App | Base's Creator, Jesse Pollak
The internet is broken for creators, and Base thinks it has the fix.
Jesse Pollak joins Bankless to unveil the Base app, a crypto-powered everything app where posts earn, creators own, and mini apps go viral. From meme coins to market-based social media, this might be the start of a new onchain economy.
—-
📣BANKLESS TV | BASE DAY
https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1948769160932327886
—-
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
https://bankless.cc/unichain
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🌐BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://bankless.cc/binance
🦎 COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA
https://bankless.cc/coingecko
—-
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:04 The Vision of BASE
3:11 The Everything App
6:10 The Future for Creators
10:13 Earning Through Engagement
14:29 Crafting the Perfect Content
20:54 The Rise of Mini Apps
23:59 Monetization and the Free Market
25:52 Addressing Creator Concerns
29:23 Closing Thoughts on BASE
—-
RESOURCES
Jesse
https://x.com/jessepollak
Base
https://x.com/base
—-
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
The Chopping Block: Paul Grewal on Regulation, Tokenization, and Crypto’s Next Legal Frontier – Ep 867
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. In this episode, the gang is joined by Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, for a wide-ranging conversation on crypto’s next big frontier: tokenized stocks. From Robinhood’s controversial attempt to tokenize SpaceX and OpenAI shares to the legal and structural hurdles around pre-IPO derivatives, the crew dives deep into what it really takes to bring Wall Street on-chain. They also unpack the regulatory momentum behind the Genius and Clarity Acts, the return of ICO mania with Pump.fun’s $1B token raise, and the absurdly viral drama of Suitgate on Polymarket. Is this a new era of regulated innovation—or are we just recreating old problems on new rails? Tune in for sharp takes, legal insight, and a few laughs along the way.
Show highlights
🔹 Tokenized Stocks Take Center Stage – Robinhood, SoFi, and Republic dive into pre-IPO trading; is this a financial revolution or regulatory chaos?
🔹 Coinbase’s Legal Strategy – Paul Grewal reflects on Coinbase’s battles with the SEC and what it took to survive crypto’s darkest legal hour
🔹 Pre-IPO Derivatives vs. Real Ownership – The crew debates whether retail is getting access or getting played
🔹 Robinhood vs. OpenAI – The tokenized equity stunt that triggered a corporate backlash and raised eyebrows across the industry
🔹 24/7 Markets, Finally? – Why crypto-native trading hours could break traditional finance
🔹 Pump.fun’s $1B ICO – The return of ICO mania? The team dissects crypto’s most profitable meme machine
🔹 Are Tokenized Stocks Useful Yet? – Tarun challenges the hype: where’s the real utility?
🔹 The Clarity & Genius Acts – Crypto legislation heats up in Washington—can the industry lock in meaningful reform?
🔹 Suitgate Explained – Zelensky’s outfit spawns a scandal on Polymarket: was it a suit or not?
🔹 Market Manipulation, Oracles & Meme Justice – Prediction markets meet internet chaos in the wildest crypto dispute of the week
⭐️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
Special Guest
⭐️Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase
Timestamps
00:00 Intro feat. Paul Grewal
01:23 How Coinbase Beat the SEC
04:49 Robinhood, OpenAI & the Pre-IPO Stock Craze
19:38 Crypto Regulation in 2025: Clarity & Genius Act
24:39 Why the Clarity Act Could Define Crypto’s Next Decade
27:10 Pump.fun’s ICO: Memecoin Mania or Market Maturity?
32:25 Suitgate on Polymarket: A Wild Crypto Scandal
39:19 The Future of Prediction Markets
Disclosures
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Rebuilding Civilization from First Principles: Inside Balaji’s Network State Vision | E2145
Today’s show: Jason sits down with Balaji Srinivasan in Singapore to explore how he's turning years of theory into reality with Network School—the first node of a broader vision for internet-native, decentralized societies. Balaji explains how these “sharp societies” combine education, co-living, and startup culture to create physical communities aligned by values, not geography. From digital nomads to aspiring founders, people are opting into these new systems as an alternative to broken traditional governance. They discuss everything from Starbase and sovereignty to the future of democracy, Bitcoin, and America’s place in a multipolar world.
Timestamps:
(0:00) Introduction of Balaji Srinivasan and the impact of Bitcoin(1:39) The concept of Network School and Network State, including startup societies(4:05) Benefits and historical context of network effects in communities(7:08) Economic and social benefits of Network School(9:35) Global appeal and diverse motivations of Network School participants
(10:22) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(12:30) Media perspectives on new societies and the challenge of self-determination
(19:35) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist(24:00) Personal experiences with US state migration and critique of California politics(27:11) The right to exit, thousand city system, and the two-party system
(29:44) Vouched - Trust for agents that’s built for builders like you. Check it out at http://vouched.id/twist(31:09) Choosing a country like choosing a college and impressions of new cities(34:03) America's global reputation, politics, and the decline of empires(39:25) Dollar devaluation, Bitcoin's future, and global currency dynamics(41:26) Global power struggles: China versus the Internet and US demographics(44:01) Trump's tariffs, MAGA, and international trade realities(48:12) China's manufacturing dominance and US diplomatic legacy(54:39) The Internet's counterbalance to China and Bitcoin's future risks(1:00:31) Role of cryptocurrencies, quantum computing, and Bitcoin security(1:02:12) Cryptocurrency challenges and the resilience of Bitcoin(1:03:27) Network school state community and opportunities for investors(1:04:01) Closing remarks and final pitch for Network School
Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com
Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com
Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
Follow Lon:
X: https://x.com/lons
Follow Alex:
X: https://x.com/alex
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm
Follow Jason:
X: https://twitter.com/Jason
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
Thank you to our partners:
(10:22) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(19:35) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist
(29:44) Vouched - Trust for agents that’s built for builders like you. Check it out at http://vouched.id/twist(0:00)
Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
Follow TWiST:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916
402 Payment Required: a New Way for AI Agents to Pay, with Nemil Dalal, Dev Platform Lead @ Coinbase
Nemil Dalal from Coinbase discusses the x402 protocol, a new open standard that enables AI agents to make cryptocurrency payments for online resources using the long-dormant HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status code. The conversation covers stablecoin fundamentals, including how they work and who maintains their stability, before exploring how crypto wallets with multi-signature capabilities could protect AI agents from adversarial attacks while keeping humans in control. They examine forward-looking questions about whether this technology could finally create a viable alternative to advertising models, what happens when millions of AI agents have wallets, and the need for reputation systems in an agent economy. The discussion highlights how cryptocurrency, originally designed to be beyond nation-state control, might become the perfect enabling technology for AI economic participation.
Sponsors:
Google Gemini 2.5 Flash: Build faster, smarter apps with customizable reasoning controls that let you optimize for speed and cost. Start building at https://aistudio.google.com
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is the next-generation cloud that delivers better performance, faster speeds, and significantly lower costs, including up to 50% less for compute, 70% for storage, and 80% for networking. Run any workload, from infrastructure to AI, in a high-availability environment and try OCI for free with zero commitment at https://oracle.com/cognitive
The AGNTCY: The AGNTCY is an open-source collective dedicated to building the Internet of Agents, enabling AI agents to communicate and collaborate seamlessly across frameworks. Join a community of engineers focused on high-quality multi-agent software and support the initiative at https://agntcy.org
NetSuite by Oracle: NetSuite by Oracle is the AI-powered business management suite trusted by over 42,000 businesses, offering a unified platform for accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR. Gain total visibility and control to make quick decisions and automate everyday tasks—download the free ebook, Navigating Global Trade: Three Insights for Leaders, at https://netsuite.com/cognitive
PRODUCED BY:
https://aipodcast.ing
SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai
Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast
Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk
Why JPMorgan and Shopify Are Rolling Out New Products on Ethereum Layer 2 Base - Ep. 855
On Tuesday, JPMorgan announced that its blockchain unit is launching JPMD, a USD deposit token for institutional clients, on Base. That’s right: the world’s biggest bank by assets and the 12th largest company by market cap is putting real dollars onchain.
JPMD isn’t quite a stablecoin, but it’s close. It represents actual dollar deposits at JPMorgan and will be used by institutional clients for blockchain-based transactions. The bank plans to run a pilot over the coming months and eventually expand it to other user groups and currencies, pending regulatory approval.
To understand what this means for the broader crypto ecosystem (and why JPMorgan chose Base), we brought on Jesse Pollak, head of Base and Coinbase Wallet. In this episode, Jesse explains:
Why JPMorgan (and Shopify) chose Base
What deposit tokens are, and how they differ from stablecoins
Why infrastructure is finally “ready” for institutions
How Base scaled from 2.5 million to 35 million gas/sec
What’s next for Coinbase users who’ll have one-tap access to onchain assets
And Jesse’s response to the critics who said that Coinbase doesn’t give enough credit to Ethereum
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Ledn
FalconX
Jesse Pollak, Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet
Unchained:
JPMorgan to Pilot ‘JPMD’ Token on Base
Coinbase and Amex Team Up on Bitcoin Card as Exchange Reveals Broad Expansion Plans
Comments on Bloomberg by Naveen Mallela, global co-head of the bank's blockchain division Kinexys by JPMorgan
Timestamps:
🎬 0:00 Intro
🏦 1:49 What JPMD actually is
🔧 4:26 Why Jesse believes infrastructure is finally ready for institutional adoption
📊 7:03 Whether Base can handle global scale
💵 9:24 How JPMorgan plans to use deposit tokens in real-world blockchain transactions
⚖️ 11:22 Whether deposit tokens are a better model than stablecoins
🛠️ 16:59 Why JPMorgan chose to launch on Base instead of other chains
📉 19:00 How recent events served as a wake-up call for fintech and commerce
📲 22:22 Why Jesse is hyped about seamless access to onchain assets inside Coinbase
📈 25:47 How Coinbase plans to manage the chaos of token pumps and dumps
🌐 27:54 Jesse’s take on the criticism that Coinbase doesn’t show Ethereum enough love
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jesse Pollak on ‘Base Is for Everyone’ + Guy Young and Carlos Domingo on Converge - Ep. 820
This week on Unchained: two big stories, one episode.
First, Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase’s L2 Base, joins to unpack the chaos behind the viral “Coined It” memecoin moment, a tweet-turned-token that hit $17M in an hour, crashed, then rebounded, igniting a firestorm on Crypto Twitter. Was it a media experiment or a botched launch? Was there insider trading? And why does Jesse think coins are the future of creator monetization?
Then, we dive into Converge, the recently announced chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to bridge TradFi and DeFi. Carlos Domingo and Guy Young explain what makes Converge technically novel, why they’re building on Arbitrum and Celestia, and how it could reshape the onchain landscape for institutions.
Also in this episode:
Whether Jesse regrets greenlighting the Base post
The future of creator coins and tokenized assets
How Converge plans to prevent hacks and improve UX
And why Converge isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”
Thank you to our sponsors!
Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
FalconX
Mantle
Part 1
Jesse Pollak, Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet
On Wednesday, Coinbase’s layer 2 network Base posted a tweet that
read: “Base is for everyone,” followed by a tweet: “Coined it.” That
second tweet linked to a page where the post had already been turned
into a coin.
Within an hour, the coin hit a $17 million market cap, then dropped
to under $2 million, then went back up to over $13 million. Crypto
Twitter exploded. Some called it a rug. Others accused insiders of
sniping the launch. Coinbase later issued a statement saying that Zora
auto-tokenizes content, but Jesse Pollak, head of Base, tweeted that he
personally greenlit the post.
So what really happened?
In this episode, Jesse sits down with Laura to discuss:
Whether this was a memecoin launch or a media experiment
Why he thinks the crypto community overreacted
Whether insider trading occurred
And why he believes coins, not NFTs, are the future of creator monetization
Plus, he explains why he’s okay being the “punching bag.”
Part 2
A month ago, Converge was announced as the new chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to become a home for tokenized assets and institutional capital.
On Thursday, the teams behind it released the full technical specs. From validator-triggered circuit breakers to 100ms block times and support for yield-generating private credit, Converge is pitching itself as the chain for both TradFi and DeFi.
In this episode, Securitize’s Carlos Domingo and Ethena’s Guy Young join Unchained to explain what’s actually novel in this architecture, why they chose Arbitrum and Celestia, and what it will take for institutions to get comfortable onchain.
Plus:
What Converge means for Ethereum and other L2s
Whether gas tokens like USDe and USDtb solve real UX problems
How they plan to prevent bridge-based hacks
And why this isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”
Guest
Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize
Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs
Links
Previous coverage of Unchained on Ethena:
After an Incredible 2024 for USDe, Ethena Plans to Supercharge Growth
Ethena’s USDe Grew to $2 Billion in 7 Weeks. Is It Safe?
How Ethena’s USDe Challenges Traditional Stablecoin Models
Unchained:
Tokenized T-Bills Grow Despite Trump Tariffs Causing U.S. Treasuries Sell-off
Tokenized Treasuries Grow 20X Faster Than Stablecoins as Crypto Market Languishes
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
DeFi should feel 'magical' for average consumers, says Coinbase product director behind new bitcoin-backed loans
Michael Rihani is the director of products at Coinbase and one of the chief architects behind Coinbase's new bitcoin-backed loan product for everyday consumers.
In this episode, Rihani explains how Coinbase's new loan product is designed to make DeFi feel 'magical,' and how this fits into Coinbase's broader strategy of bringing the power of blockchain technology to a global audience.
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
00:57 Sponsor Shoutouts
03:11 Coinbase's New Loan Product
07:50 The "DeFi Mullet"
09:21 Morpho Integration
11:52 CeFi+DeFi Synergy
17:00 Coinbase's Product Roadmap
21:00 Making DeFi "Magical"
23:12 DeFi Adoption Roadblocks
25:54 The Future of DeFi Lending
GUEST LINKS
Michael Rihani on X: https://www.x.com/MichaelRihani
Coinbase's crypto-backed loans: https://www.coinbase.com/loans
Are you hiring in crypto?
Use Campus to quickly find your best candidates with our challenging Crypto Assessment Test.
Faster hiring, stronger teams.
Sign up for a trial today: theblock.co/campus
This episode is brought to your by our sponsors:
Fidelity
Explore Fidelity crypto careers today. Go to crypto.FidelityCareers.com to learn more.
Uranium.io
Investing in uranium is now widely accessible. Visit uranium.io to learn more.
How Coinbase is Bridging Bitcoin to DeFi with New OnChain Lending | Will Robinson, VP of Engineering
Will Robinson, VP of Engineering at Coinbase, explores the company’s expanding role in decentralized finance (DeFi), highlighting the launch of Bitcoin-backed USDC loans through Morpho and Coinbase’s broader efforts to integrate DeFi solutions. He explains how Coinbase is working to connect centralized finance (CeFi) with DeFi by incorporating decentralized protocols while prioritizing security and regulatory compliance. Robinson also discusses the introduction of cbBTC as an alternative to WBTC, the company’s approach to multi-chain development, and its plans for further DeFi integrations. Additionally, he addresses ongoing debates about Ethereum Layer 2 networks and their impact on the main chain, emphasizing the importance of improved cross-chain interoperability. He also provides insights into Coinbase’s asset listing process, the role of meme coins in the crypto ecosystem, and the company’s broader mission to support a more open and accessible financial system.
Chapters
00:00 - Intro: Will Robinson, VP of Engineering at Coinbase
00:45 - Coinbase’s expanding role in DeFi
01:16 - Bitcoin-backed USDC loans powered by Morpho
02:34 - How Coinbase enables BTC holders to access liquidity
05:15 - Risks involved in Bitcoin-backed loans
08:58 - Liquidation risks and loan-to-value ratios
11:13 - Early demand and adoption of the product
13:15 - cbBTC vs. WBTC: Why Coinbase launched its own Bitcoin wrapper
18:47 - How cbBTC is issued and traded
21:36 - Coinbase’s approach to self-custody and wallets
24:07 - The role of Coinbase Wallet in bridging CeFi and DeFi
27:31 - Coinbase’s long-term DeFi strategy and future integrations
29:50 - Will DeFi become a mainstream part of traditional finance?
33:51 - Coinbase’s evolution from exchange to financial institution
34:34 - The rise of Base: How Coinbase grew its Layer 2
38:28 - Are Layer 2s parasitic to Ethereum?
49:08 - The role of meme coins in crypto and Coinbase’s listing process
54:20 - The future of on-chain finance and economic freedom
✨ Check out our new website ✨
https://thedefiant.io/
🚀 Sign up to our newsletter 🚀
https://thedefiant.io/go-premium#pricing?utm_source=YT&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=signup
🤑 Find DeFi investment opportunities & educational primers here
https://thedefiant.io/promo?utm_source=YT&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=alpha
✊ Follow The Defiant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/defiantnews
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/3SdRdEs5ag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedefiant.io/
Telegram: https://t.me/DefiantNews
📬 Contact our Newsroom
editorial@thedefiant.io
🤝 Sponsorships & Partnerships
sponsors@thedefiant.io
#TheDefiant #DeFi #Decentralized #Finance #Blockchain #Web3
.png?width=400){kind=small}
