Dragonfly Capital

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce forced Anthropic to shut down Fable V for the entire world. One government, one decision, zero global access. Is this the definitive case for decentralized AI? Jake Brukhman (Coin Fund), Jesus Rodriguez (Sentora), and Haseeb Qureshi (Dragonfly) debate the hottest topic at the intersection of crypto and AI: whether frontier AI can and should be decentralized — or whether we're repeating the same mistakes as decentralized storage.What you'll hear: why the government hand-picked who gets access to Mythos (and it wasn't Anthropic's call), whether consumer GPU swarms can realistically compete with data centers, what's really happening with on-chain hacks in 2026, and Haseeb's most controversial take: the world's most powerful AI should be treated like a nuclear weapon, not a public good.No easy answers. No consensus. Just the most important debate of 2026.

Jake Brukhman

Founder

CoinFund

Jesus Rodriguez

CEO

Sentora

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Crypto still feels like a minefield for humans: Haseeb Qureshi argues that’s a clue, not a bug: blockchains and smart contracts are machine-readable systems that AI agents can parse, simulate, and execute far more reliably than people, shifting crypto’s core user from humans clicking through wallets to agents acting on our behalf. We also dig into the two-track future of agent commerce (safe, human-approved flows vs. the wild-west frontier), why major AI labs have avoided crypto training so far (liability), how agent-driven discovery could rewrite DeFi competition, and what this means for Dragonfly’s investing playbook. ------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | RYAN & DAVID UNPACKING THE EPISODE https://www.bankless.com/podcast/debrief-haseeb-quereshi-cryptos-not-made-for-humans-its-for-ai ------ 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast ⚡ EUPHORIA | REAL-TIME ONE-TAP TRADING https://bankless.cc/euphoria 🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD https://bankless.cc/brix 🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://bankless.cc/TDRpro ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:42 Why Crypto’s Not Made for Humans 17:49 How AI Agents Think 28:51 Why Crypto x AI is Unexplored 32:58 The Botconomy & OpenClaw 43:42 How Long Until the Frontier is Here? 50:07 How Crazy Does it Get? 1:06:00 AI Thinks Crypto’s Cringe 1:10:31 Dragonfly’s New 650M Fund 1:13:05 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Haseeb Qureshi https://x.com/hosseeb Dragonfly https://www.dragonfly.xyz/ ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

On this week’s Weekly Rollup, Ryan and Haseeb debate if ETH’s new all-time high signals the top or just the start, with whales rotating from BTC into ETH and alt season heating up. Powell hints at rate cuts, ETFs keep pulling billions, and Tom Lee’s billion-dollar ETH bet takes center stage while treasury premiums sink. Meanwhile, Google teases an L1, Hyperliquid outpaces Robinhood, and Europe floats a digital euro, setting up another pivotal week in crypto. --- 📣RONIN “ONCHAIN NINTENDO” | DOWNLOAD THE RONIN WALLET https://bankless.cc/RoninWallet --- 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 --- TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 0:38 Big Sean Crypto https://x.com/altcoindaily/status/1960753873376961031 3:20 Powell’s speech last week https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/powell-opens-door-potential-rate-cut-speech-jack https://x.com/FinanceLancelot/status/1958934829082583312 https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1958907551442993491: https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1958910251819786478 https://x.com/AnnaEconomist/status/1958923556680536487 9:10 Markets https://x.com/JSeyff/status/1959982000804442559 https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1958941150041317514 https://x.com/speculatorart/status/1960322107864141966 https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/08/25/bitcoin-flash-crash-triggers-usd550m-in-sunday-l https://x.com/JacobKinge/status/1959724849598718428 https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1958767845934080277 https://x.com/woonomic/status/1960442328604200987 24:53 HYPE Crushing it - competitive with major exchanges https://x.com/cointelegraph/status/1960379396927213990 https://blockworks-research.beehiiv.com/p/is-hype-still-cheap-8541fea8eaae3e65 https://x.com/infinitybanyan/status/1960373080389304611 34:55 SOL DATs are coming - 3 of em! https://x.com/matthew_sigel/status/1959942140500365564 https://x.com/SolanaFloor/status/1959948823280619558 https://decrypt.co/336832/pantera-capital-eyes-1-25b-raise-solana-treasury-firm https://panteracapital.com/blockchain-letter/dat-value-creation/ https://mcga.com/news/trump-media-group-cro-strategy-to-acquire-cro-digital-asset-treasury https://blockworks.co/analytics/treasury-companies/market-data 42:01 Google is building its L1 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rich-widmann-a816a54b_all-this-talk-of-layer-1-blockchains-has-activity-7366124738848415744-7idA/ 49:35 US GOV - will publish GDP figures onchain! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbEPqUdelFo https://blog.chain.link/united-states-department-of-commerce-macroeconomic-data/ https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1961067983800881224 https://x.com/krakenfx/status/1961081675175149795 https://etherscan.io/address/0x36ccdf11044f60f196e981970d592a7de567ed7b#code https://docs.chain.link/data-feeds/us-government-macroeconomic/addresses?page=1&testnetPage=1 51:41 The EU may release a Stablecoin on a public chain - Ethereum or Solana https://x.com/DefiIgnas/status/1958754787345727712 https://app.rwa.xyz/stablecoins https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/china-considering-yuan-backed-stablecoins-boost-global-currency-usage-sources-2025-08-21/ 56:45 Kanye West released $YZY https://x.com/kanyewest/status/1958346810801697237 https://x.com/CryptoHayes/status/1958356982991401006 https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1958355708010975580 https://x.com/JamesWynnReal/status/1958383968945831940 59:43 DOJ announced that it won’t bring charges against non-custodial developers https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1958645825732501566 1:04:51 Closing & Disclaimers --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

We’re joined by Haseeb Qureshi from Dragonfly Capital to discusses the SEC's Project Crypto and its impact on the crypto landscape. We celebrate Ethereum's 10th birthday, reflect on its growth, and analyze the ongoing trial of Roman Storm linked to Tornado Cash. The episode also covers the launch of Ethereum treasury company ETH Zilla and advancements in crypto ETF regulations. Haseeb: https://x.com/hosseeb —- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- 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 —- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Ethereum's 10th Birthday https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/30/at-10-years-old-ethereums-future-is-brighter-than-ever-despite-recent-setbacks.html?taid=688a2118974852000113ad9a https://x.com/TimBeiko/status/1950578090108993904 https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/1950179673872510997 7:47 Analyzing SEC's Project Crypto https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-101-sec-permits-kind-creations-redemptions-crypto-etps https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/atkins-digital-finance-revolution-073125 26:56 Exploring Token Launchpad Wars https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1949657674003431788 https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1949790587877515697 https://x.com/0xMert_/status/1950324576204050752 48:41 The Roman Storm Verdict Discussion https://x.com/innercitypress/status/1950586483955626129 1:03:39 Closing Thoughts and Reflections --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

The weeks leading up to Pump.fun’s ICO were contentious: accusations that it was extractive, debates over decentralization, and outrage over allocations.  In the end, the company pulled off the third-largest ICO in crypto history, raising $600 million in 12 minutes. The day of, Solana barely flinched under the load, and onchain platforms like Hyperliquid and Raydium left CEXes looking outdated. In this episode of Unchained, Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly and Joe McCann of Asymmetric join Laura to break down: Whether this marks the return of ICOs The objections to the small ($10 million) airdrop to creators How Pump.fun’s ambitions could reshape memecoins, and maybe Solana itself And why TikTok might not need to worry just yet Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Xapo Bank Ledn Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner of Dragonfly Joe McCann, Founder, CEO & CIO of Asymmetric Previous coverage on the ICO: Pump.fun’s $1 Billion ICO Has Caused Controversy. Can It Succeed? Unchained: Pump.fun Becomes Third Largest ICO, Raises $600M in 12 Minutes  PUMP Traders Make Big Options Bets on the Token Surging Past Its ICO Price Pump.fun Draws Backlash After Confirming PUMP ICO SolanaFloor’s tweet on LetsBonk’s stats The Block: Pump.fun makes first acquisition, purchases Solana-based copy-trading wallet tracker Kolscan Dune Analytics Twitter thread on the PUMP ICO stats Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro 🚀 3:43 Why Joe says Pump.fun is one of the best crypto businesses he’s seen 📈 6:04 Whether this heralds the return of ICO mania 😤 7:11 Why the raise triggered backlash from parts of the crypto community 💸 8:32 Whether PUMP’s valuation can really be justified ⚙️ 12:10 How the exchange-first design created issues—and why others may copy it 📊 16:15 Whether PUMP’s distribution model helped or hurt its credibility ⏳ 21:43 Why the decision to have no token lockups sparked debate 👾 24:40 What kind of traders actually bought into the ICO ⚡ 32:56 Whether Solana’s performance makes it the new home for ICOs 🏦 37:50 Why Coinbase sat this one out 🔮 44:07 Where PUMP’s price might be headed in the medium term 📉 48:37 How Pump.fun lost some momentum—and what that says about the space 🧠 55:14 How Pump.fun plans to spend its $600 million war chest 📵 57:21 Whether Pump.fun can really take on Facebook 🔥 1:01:46 Why Joe still believes memecoins are just getting started Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Joe McCann

Founder and CEO

AsymmetricNodeSource

This week, David and guest co-host Tom Schmidt (Dragonfly) unpack a deceptively quiet crypto market with Bitcoin dominance hitting 66% and altcoins eerily still. What meta could flip the trend? They dive into Circle’s explosive 10x IPO, Robinhood’s surprise crypto surge, and why Coinbase is finally catching up. Plus: the Kalshi vs. Polymarket drama, ICOs creeping back, and how meme coins might soon help you get a mortgage. Also: Vitalik’s Layer 1 pivot, prediction markets heating up, and signs of a new retail cycle forming. Tom Schmidt & Chopping Block https://x.com/tomhschmidt https://x.com/_choppingblock https://x.com/dragonfly_xyz ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ 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 🌐SELF | PROVE YOUR SELF https://bankless.cc/Self 🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://bankless.cc/binance ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 0:46 Tom’s crypto vibe check 1:50 Markets 26:53 Kalshi Series C https://x.com/tomhschmidt/status/1937957381197185165 https://www.wsj.com/finance/prediction-market-kalshi-hits-2-billion-valuation-in-new-funding-round-2d0c8b4c https://x.com/tomhschmidt/status/1937957381197185165 https://x.com/hosseeb/status/1938065110351716707 36:50 US regulator orders Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to consider crypto for mortgages https://x.com/pulte/status/1937944964656152800 https://x.com/crypto_bobby/status/1937951968619639046 43:44 Ethereum https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1936037598805590364 49:04 What Tom’s excited about 53:01 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Tom Schmidt

Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

This week, Haseeb Qureshi joins us to break down Trump’s explosive new tariffs that rocked global markets and triggered a full-blown trade war with China. Stocks whipsawed, recession odds spiked, and the world scrambled to the negotiation table — except China. Was it 3D chess or policy chaos? Plus, we explore the ripple effects on crypto markets, investor sentiment, and what this all means for the future of U.S. economic leadership. It's a jam-packed Weekly Rollup you don't want to miss. Follow Haseeb on X: https://x.com/hosseeb ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ 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 🌐SELF | PROVE YOUR SELF https://bankless.cc/Self 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 0:44 What has happened since Liberation Day? https://x.com/tier10k/status/1910020421870637132 https://x.com/Birdyword/status/1910364014825070652 https://polymarket.com/event/us-recession-in-2025 31:17 Inflation https://x.com/intocryptoverse/status/1910311058222227586 41:49 Paul Atkins confirmed as the new SEC chair https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1910117967230300613 45:43 ETH/BTC Ratio & Crypto VC Funding https://x.com/pet3rpan_/status/1910345673288958052 58:36 MegaETH released its testnet https://x.com/megaeth_labs/status/1903099481874153880 https://x.com/0xBreadguy/status/1909619744455741709 1:03:05 Closing & Disclosures ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Joining the Weekly Rollup this week is Haseeb Qureshi, dissecting Trump's controversial Crypto Strategic Reserve announcement featuring Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and Ripple—causing an initial market surge and a swift reversal. They unpack Sam Bankman-Fried's candid prison interview with Tucker Carlson, revealing a stark divide between human empathy and detached pragmatism. Plus, Trump's erratic tariff policies are rattling macro markets; is it strategic or simply chaotic? Finally, they delve into Ethereum's leadership shuffle, Base's new speed upgrade challenging Solana, and AI's profound reshaping of crypto startups and blockchain usability. Follow Haseeb: https://x.com/hosseeb ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24  https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax  🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain  ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle  🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo  ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0x4c0edef22bb1eff56610d9ea21f346dfe1fd41c0  ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES   0:00 Intro 0:26 Tucker Carlson Interviews SBF https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1897709140535132442  5:10 Trump announced strategic crypto reserves  https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114093946326587357  https://x.com/cz_binance/status/1896246000161001877  https://x.com/nic__carter/status/1896588091235656190  https://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/1896966911721607536  https://imgur.com/a/Q3tPnYI  https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1896240960788627681  https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1896305838144548884  https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1896958095424729133  https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1896949387856933048  https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1896951231266140234  25:14 Tariffs & Macro Markets 41:20 Ethereum Foundation has new leadership!  https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/1895851576251826227  https://x.com/tkstanczak/status/1895862549578469523  https://x.com/tkstanczak/status/1896246373919453285  https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/1895442343689363652  https://x.com/TimBeiko/status/1892593175845368316  https://x.com/dannyryan/status/1895851747865944114  https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1895863075527700959  52:23 Base is getting faster and faster!  https://x.com/buildonbase/status/1895223243713458184?s=46  https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1895283716597166514  https://base.mirror.xyz/HwG1GQ5hoxz0OTOF_nQhNcVTk4Ae9cRIrcqVQ14N4-c  55:41 Devconnect https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1897321244158255567  1:00:14 AI Developments & Kaito https://x.com/Punk9277/status/1897684877098770736  1:16:12 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Joining us this week is Haseeb Qureshi who is here to help walk us through this week’s Weekly Rollup. We cover the major shift in the U.S. government’s stance on crypto, as Trump signs an executive order that establishes a national digital asset stockpile working group and bans CBDCs. The SEC also revokes SAB121, clearing the way for banks to custody crypto. Meanwhile, Venice AI’s token launch made waves, and Abstract Chain went live with a focus on creators and streamers. In markets, Nvidia’s $600B plunge rattled investors, and the Czech National Bank considers adding Bitcoin to its reserves. Plus, Gary Gensler lands a new job—back at MIT. ------ 💸 CRYPTO TAX CALCULATOR | CODE: BANKLESS15 https://bankless.cc/CryptoTaxCalculator ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax  🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty  ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle  🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo  🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/26?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E  ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 00:00:00 Start 00:02:10 NVDA and Deepseek Selloff https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/27/nvidia-sheds-almost-600-billion-in-market-cap-biggest-drop-ever.html  00:08:26 Why It Sold Off https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1883935713877782884  00:10:56 Markets 00:12:28 Why is The Vibe So Off? https://x.com/intocryptoverse/status/1884408180014186958?s=46  00:16:53 Bitwise Files For Doge ETF https://x.com/EricBalchunas/status/1884349554256142735  00:21:01 Powell On Cutting Rates https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/29/fed-meeting-live-updates-traders-await-fed-chair-powells-comments.html  https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1884699251860553789  00:24:30 US Strategic Crypto Reserve? https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/strengthening-american-leadership-in-digital-financial-technology/  https://x.com/Geiger_Capital/status/1882534611693211932  00:29:21 Czech And Norway Invest In BTC  https://x.com/DavidFBailey/status/1884491705841508708  https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1884901420677386243  00:33:28 SAB121 Repeal https://x.com/hesterpeirce/status/1882562977985114185?s=46  https://x.com/saylor/status/1882565582870270241?s=46  00:37:02 New Treasury Secretary https://x.com/USTreasury/status/1884377788263633262  00:38:48 Gary Returns To MIT https://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/former-sec-chair-gary-gensler-named-professor-practice-mit-sloan-school-management  00:44:01 Venice AI Token Launch https://x.com/AskVenice/status/1883925135825990091  https://x.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1883992467151663415  https://x.com/CoinbaseAssets/status/1884041161708356000  https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1884320943008538781  00:49:08 Abstract Chain Mainnet Launch https://x.com/AbstractChain/status/1883939915169423777  https://x.com/pudgypenguins/status/1884708668366545143  00:50:33 Symbiotic https://x.com/symbioticfi/status/1884266642416492713  00:52:48 TRUMP Token, Good And Bad https://x.com/hosseeb/status/1883466906080088478?s=46  https://x.com/Jesseeckel/status/1884615422521020626  00:58:02 TRUMP Is A Celeb Coin https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/trump-s-memecoin-can-now-be-used-to-buy-watches-and-sneakers  01:03:45 Haseeb’s Podcast And Parting Advice   ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

The Scoop's host Frank Chaparro was joined by Dragonfly Partner Tom Schmidt. In this episode, Chaparro and Schmidt discussed the cryptocurrency market acting as an institutional asset class moving into 2025, and how this cycle has been different for venture captial operating within the space. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01:39 Crypto as an institutional asset 11:47 Crypto market idiosyncrasies 18:20 Opportunities in 2025 22:28 Application in 2025 25:59 Anti-VC backlash 30:37 Customer acquisition 35:36 Closing thoughts GUEST LINKS Tom Schmidt - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhschmidt/ Tom Schmidt on X - https://x.com/tomhschmidt Dragonfly - https://www.dragonfly.xyz/ Dragonfly on X - https://x.com/dragonfly_xyz

Tom Schmidt

Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

In today's episode Haseeb and Avichal return to Empire for a deep dive into the current state of the crypto market cycle. They debate whether we're heading toward a massive bubble or a more mature market phase. They also discuss the growing competition from Solana in the L1 sector. Then Haseeb and Avichal also dissect the impact of memecoins on crypto adoption, debate the real value of network effects, and analyze how Trump's potential election could reshape crypto's regulatory landscape. The episode concludes with a fascinating comparison between Ethereum and Intel, examining the risks of market dominance and innovation stagnation. - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Haseeb: https://x.com/hosseeb Follow Avichal: https://x.com/avichal Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7ww Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Explore the SKALE Ecosystem at skale.space/ecosystem and stay up to date with the gas-free blockchain on X at @skalenetwork - - It's time for an on chain Binance to emerge. Magic Eden is getting into token trading and their vision is to become on chain Binance and then much more as the entire world ends up moving on chain - - The self-custody wallet that's built for swapping. Created for a multi-chain world by the most trusted team in DeFi. Available on Chrome, iOS, and Android. https://blckwrks.co/UniswapWallet - - $cmETH, a Mantle native liquid restaking token, will launch together with Season 2: Methamorphosis, allowing users to easily participate in restaking, and earn $COOK rewards in addition to other yields. $COOK, the governance token of mETH Protocol, will allow holders to play a pivotal role in directing the strategic future of mETH Protocol. Learn more: https://x.com/mETHProtocol - - Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at Ledger.com - - Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:44 Is this Crypto's Boom & Bust Cycle? 14:03 Does the Market Understand Crypto? 18:20 Super Cycle (Real) 28:14 Return Dispersion 36:00 Why People are Buying Memecoins 48:02 Skale Ad 48:41 Magic Eden Ad 49:25 Uniswap Ad 49:57 Mantle Ad 50:51 Ledger Ad 51:36 Impact of Memecoins on VCs 58:46 Ethereum's Position 01:21:46 Impact of New US Admin - - 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.

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Avichal Garg

Co-Founder and Partner

Electric Capital

Erik Torenburg and Haseeb Quereshi join us for today's debate. Should we accelerate or decelerate our tech progress? How about when it comes to something as powerful as AI? This is not just a debate in tech circles - this is a political debate that poised to define the next decade.  We’ve had leaders from both sides of the debate on the podcast - episodes with Elizer Yudkowski and Beff Jezos. You’ve heard what they think. Today’s episode is a discussion and at times a debate on these opinions to help you think through where you stand on this issue - Haseeb Quereshi tends toward the EA side which favors more caution and regulatory intervention around AI while Erik Torenburg tends toward the e/acc side of the issue which favors faster progress and lighter touch. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24  https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium  ------ 🔐 SAFE | USE SAFE, GET REWARDED. CHECK OUT SAFE PASS https://bankless.cc/SafePass_NL  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://k.xyz/bankless-pod-q2  ⁠   🔗CELO | CEL2 COMING SOON https://bankless.cc/Celo  🔐 SAFE | USE SAFE, GET REWARDED https://bankless.cc/SafePass_NL  ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum   🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle   🗣️TOKU | CRYPTO EMPLOYMENT SOLUTION https://bankless.cc/toku   🏙️ CONSENSUS | SAVE 20% WITH CODE BANKLESS https://bankless.cc/4aykesD  ------ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Start 00:03:51 Intro To Haseeb and Erik 00:05:58 Definind EA 00:11:30 Reflecting on EA 00:19:23 Erik's Case For E/Acc 00:23:05 Defining E/Acc 00:27:18 The Problem with E/Acc & Humanism 00:34:20 How Big is This Debate Really? 00:46:31 AI Safety & Regulatory Capture 00:56:39 EA's Political Affiliation 00:59:43 Extinction Risk 01:11:04 Politicizing the Debate 01:19:56 The Pro Tech Case 01:24:08 Productive Tension 01:28:33 AI Ethics vs Safety 01:32:53 Pick a Side ------ RESOURCES Haseeb Qureshi https://twitter.com/hosseeb  Erik Torenberg https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Erik Torenberg

Team Member

Product HuntAndreessen HorowitzTurpentineVillage GlobalRapt.fm

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Haseeb Qureshi is a managing partner at the crypto VC firm Dragonfly. In this episode of The Scoop, Qureshi explains how the crypto VC landscape has changed during his five years at Dragonfly and why he believes 'points' are a more useful mechanism than airdrops for incentivizing user behavior. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 05:41 Dragonfly Early Days 09:45 Early Crypto VC 13:14 Competing in Layer-1s 26:11 Old Blockchains 29:26 Points 31:47 Airdrop Mechanism Design 37:38 Closing Thoughts

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. In this episode of Unchained, Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC discusses the firm's recent $150 million fundraise, the challenges of raising capital in a bear market, and the firm's focus on early-stage Web3 infrastructure. He also shares his thoughts on the intersection of crypto and AI, the future of DeFi, and the importance of security in the crypto space. Pack believes that the current infrastructure of crypto is still in its early stages and needs significant improvement before it can reach mainstream adoption. He also sees potential in the development of more secure smart contracts and the integration of AI into decentralized applications. Show highlights: How Hack VC was able to raise $150 million in a bear market, especially after the blowups of FTX, 3AC, and Terra Alex's interaction with SBF, whom he calls a "sociopath," and why he didn't invest in FTX Hack VC's philosophy to "back hackers" in crypto The goals behind Zuzalu, the new community that resembles Balaji Srinivasan's idea of a network state What the main focus of Hack VC's investments are, including scalability, AI, and DeFi Why Alex believes that "we are still so early" How Alex believes crypto and artificial intelligence will intersect  The role of AI agents and how to use them in decentralized applications Why he thinks that EigenLayer is a great solution for middleware applications Alex's opinion on the modular vs. monolithic approach for scaling blockchains How DeFi survived the last bear market, contrasted with the collapses of CeFi companies like Celsius, BlockFi and FTX Whether algorithmic stablecoins can ever work and what Alex thinks of Ethena's USDe How to improve security in crypto, according to Alex Why the outcome of the Bitcoin ETFs exceeded Alex's expectations What he believes the catalysts are for the next bull market Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot Guest: Alex Pack, Managing partner at Hack VC Previous appearances on Unchained: Dragonfly Capital on Why Ethereum Is So Far in the Lead ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Links New fund Bloomberg: Hack VC Raises $150 Million for Bets on Battered Crypto Industry  Hack VC Closes $150M Venture Fund I, Bringing AUM to $425M Stablecoins: Unchained: What Is Ethena’s USDe Synethic Dollar? A Beginner’s Guide What Is Terra and Why Did It Fail? Why It's so Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable  What Is Depegging in Crypto and Why Does It Occur? What Is Real-World Asset (RWA) Tokenization? A Beginner's Guide EigenLayer ecosystem Unchained: What Is EigenLayer? A Guide to the Decentralized ETH Restaking Protocol The Block: AltLayer closes $14.4 million strategic round co-led by Polychain and Hack VC Modular vs. monolithic approach Unchained:  What Are Modular Blockchains? A Beginner's Guide Three Crypto Pioneers on Crypto’s Monolithic vs. Modular Debate Crypto x AI crossover io.net and Ritual Collaborate to Boost Global AI Compute Landscape  Ritual x EigenLayer: Restaking for AI Unchained: 5 Use Cases of AI in Blockchain Zuzalu Decrypt: I Spent a Month Inside Vitalik Buterin’s Social Experiment—Here’s What It Was Really Like Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Pack

Managing Partner

Hack VCDragonfly Capital

On today's episode of Empire Haseeb and Avichal return to Empire to discuss crypto in 2024. They debate whether we're entering a bull market and analyze key indicators like retail engagement, institutional flows, and blockchain development activity. The majority of the conversation focuses on a debate of the EVM versus alternative chains like Solana, Monad, or other virtual machines. They also touch on the sustainability of meme coins, and whether major consumer apps will emerge this cycle. They close out by discussing crypto's scalability trilemma, the prospect of regional fragmentation, and whether financialization detracts from user experience in areas like gaming. Stay tuned for all of this and much more! - - Follow Haseeb: https://twitter.com/hosseeb Follow Avichal: https://twitter.com/avichal Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - Harpie is the most advanced on-chain security solution for monitoring and protecting your crypto wallet from theft in real time. Harpie detects, blocks, and recovers compromised assets from malicious transactions before they execute, and is the only security tool to also protect users from off-chain signature attacks like the recent Ledger Connect Kit exploit. Secure your wallet for free at harpie.io. - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Timestamps: (01:48) Where are we in the cycle (07:28) Allocation Decisions and Mindset (11:30) Sentiment Outstripping Fundamentals (20:23) Developer Report & Performant Chains Exposure (29:49) Market Structure of Virtual Machine Adoption (42:21) EVM Landscape Prediction (56:26) Arbitrum Ad (57:13) Harpie Ad (58:28) Can Solana Overtake Ethereum? (01:09:00) The Big Consumer App (01:25:28) Speculation vs Social Experiences (01:31:15) Meme Coin Perspective - - 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.

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Avichal Garg

Co-Founder and Partner

Electric Capital

Today we are joined by Avichal Garg and Haseeb Qureshi to explain their investment frameworks and why their crypto thesis hasn't changed. We talk about the US crypto exodus, mental models for investing, why TAM (total addressable market) is useless, investing in private vs public markets, what crypto got wrong and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) The SEC, Binance and Coinbase: We Ripped the Bandaid Off (09:38) How Does This Affect Your Investment Decisions? (17:00) Mental Models for Investing (20:44) Value Creation vs Value Capture (23:33) Why TAM is Meaningless (28:19) Crypto’s Most Important Applications (31:06) How to Evaluate a Projects Potential (35:15) Bullish Decentralized vs Centralized Projects? (43:48) Thales ad (44:44) Carbon Ad (46:26) The Investment Environment, Layoffs and Shrinking Runways (01:06:01) Startups vs Liquid Tokens (01:11:38) What Crypto Got Wrong (01:16:53) Value Accrual: Should Protocols Flip the Fee Switch? - - Follow Avichal: https://twitter.com/avichal Follow Haseeb: https://twitter.com/hosseeb Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - This episode is brought to you by Carbon. Carbon is a new DEX on Ethereum that makes concentrated liquidity easy. LPs can automate their liquidity strategy with custom on-chain limit and range orders: all from a beautiful UI.  Don't miss out on Carbon's "ROI Trading Competition" that's live until July 11! Here’s how to play: Click this Carbon link: https://bit.ly/43Vo2AB Create a new Carbon strategy  Boom. You're eligible to win USDC rewards based on the performance of your strategy - - This episode is brought to you by Thales.  Thales is an innovative digital options platform on Arbitrum and Optimism that gets you exposure to crypto assets in the simplest way possible. As simple as choosing UP or DOWN! Experience the simplicity and power of Thales by visiting https://thalesmarket.io/?mtm_campaign=blockworks today! - - Resources Electric Capital https://www.electriccapital.com/ https://twitter.com/ElectricCapital Dragonfly https://www.dragonfly.xyz/ https://twitter.com/dragonfly_xyz - -  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.

Avichal Garg

Co-Founder and Partner

Electric Capital

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Jessica Furr and Bryan Edelman are legal counsels for crypto-focused VC firm Dragonfly Capital. In this episode, Furr and Edelman break down several crypto court cases that are set to answer critical legal questions for the first time and explain why 2023 is becoming a turning point for crypto regulation and legislation in America. During this episode, Chaparro, Edelman, and Furr also discuss: The SEC's "cherrypicking" approach to regulation Updates on crypto bankruptcy cases How IP rights relate to NFTs This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle, Railgun, Flare Network About Circle Circle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit Circle.com to learn more. About Railgun Railgun is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let Railgun’s zero-knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with Railgun SDK, and be sure to check out Railgun with partner project Railway Wallet, also available on iOS and Android. Visit Railgun.org to find out more. About Flare Flare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at Flare.Network.

Jessica Furr

Legal Counsel

Dragonfly Capital

Bryan Edelman

Legal Counsel

Dragonfly Capital

Michael Jordan, founder at DBA and former co-head of investments at Galaxy Digital, and Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC, talk about the potential insolvency of Genesis and DCG, the cycle of credit expansion, and the importance of DeFi to prevent these situations.    Show highlights: what will happen with Genesis and its parent company DCG where the insolvency of Genesis might have come from how the expansion of crypto lending in 2021 is impacting the markets and the role the Fed played in this expansion how the Terra collapse kickstarted a ton of contagion effects in crypto companies Alex's story of why he did not invest in Alameda in 2018 whether it is possible to prevent the "FTXs of the future" the importance of assessing the quality of collateral assets the story of when SBF called DeFi a "Ponzi black box" the mystery of where FTX Ventures got the $2 billion it planned to invest    Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima   Michael: Twitter Previous Unchained episodes: Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Alex: Twitter     Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis and FTX:   Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC   Genesis: Unchained:  Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger'   FTX Collapse: First declaration document Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Bloomberg: Transcript: Sam Bankman-Fried and Matt Levine on How to Make Money in Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Jordan

Distinguished Professor

UC BerkeleyDBA

Alex Pack

Managing Partner

Hack VCDragonfly Capital

In this episode of Empire, Avichal Garg Founder of Electric Capital and Haseeb Qureshi Managing Partner at Dragonfly Capital join the show to discuss the fallout of FTX. Avichal and Haseeb discuss the structure between FTX and Alameda Research, looking behind the curtain into how intertwined the two entities were. We then go on to discuss the potential contagion between large CeFi companies in crypto who could have exposure to FTX and Alemeda. To hear all this and more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow Avichal https://twitter.com/avichal Follow Haseeb: https://twitter.com/hosseeb Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - 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. Disclaimer: Scammers are impersonating Blockworks and replying to comments on some of our videos. Please be advised that we will NEVER reply to your comment asking you to contact us on whatsapp, telegram, provide investment advice, or solicit money from you. These are scam impersonator accounts and you should not respond to them.

Avichal Garg

Co-Founder and Partner

Electric Capital

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt from Dragonfly Capital. Haseeb and Tom are top venture capitalists with unique insights into crypto's current trends, new innovations and market sentiment. If you want expert advice on the market, these are two people you ask. We discuss: - the venture capital landscape - power is shifting to investors - being long crypto while fighting the Fed - supercharged crowdfunding - convertible bonds & debt financing - the changing meta - how projects choose where to build - the end of airdrops - market outlook - - Follow Haseeb: https://twitter.com/hosseeb Follow Tom: https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: Dragonfly's letter to founders https://tinyurl.com/493vrmpp Tom's tweet on Porter Finance https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt/status/1533779269851176960 - - ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices and lowest slippage. - - (00:00) Introduction (01:33) Today's Narrative (05:25) A venture capitalist perspective (08:17) Rising interest rates and available capital (16:15) The big outstanding problems (21:29) Utilizing debt financing (27:35) The changing meta (31:49) Paraswap Ad (32:58) The layer one wars (36:00) How projects "shop around" protocols (39:10) Where should new projects build? (42:22) The end of airdrops (47:28) How founders should approach growth (51:25) Advice on down rounds (59:32) Public vs Private markets (1:02:47) How long will the bear market last? -- 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.

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Tom Schmidt

Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

First, Haseeb Qureshi was a Texas Hold’em poker player. Then Haseeb learned how to code and worked as a software engineer for Airbnb. He went down the crypto rabbithole and is now the managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, as well as an accomplished writer and coder. When Haseeb has come on the podcast previously, we covered theses and mental models. Today on Layer Zero, we explore the dynamics of being a venture capitalist in Web3. How does one find a path to becoming a VC? We dive into what to look for in an internal team and external portfolio companies, as well as proper form for selling investments in a credible and honorable way. Haseeb’s long term approach to Web3 is salient as always, and this episode is must-listen if you are interested in becoming a crypto VC. ------ 📣 ZERION | Trade Across 7 Networks and 500+ protocols https://bankless.cc/Zerion  ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER:          https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST:                 http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:  👀 POLYGON | LAYER  2 DEFI https://bankless.cc/Polygon  ❎ ACROSS | BRIDGE TO LAYER 2 https://bankless.cc/Across  🦊 METAMASK | THE CRYPTO WALLET https://bankless.cc/metamask  💳 LEDGER | THE CRYPTO LIFE CARD https://bankless.cc/Ledger  🧙‍♂️ ALCHEMIX | SELF REPAYING LOANS https://bankless.cc/Alchemix  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants  ------ Topics Covered: 0:00 Intro 4:30 Extremely Bullish and Bearish 9:04 Play-to-Earn Gaming 14:00 Poker & Venture Capital 17:15 Positive Sum Games 20:20 How to Add Value 26:22 How to be a Good Investor 32:09 Haseeb’s Pitch to Founders 34:22 How to Sell Tokens 39:45 Fad or Generational Wealth? 45:08 Near Protocols and Alt-L1s 50:00 VCs vs Retail 57:30 How to Take Responsibility 1:02:44 Airdrops 1:09:04 Fulfilling Web3’s Promises ------ Resources: Haseeb on Twitter https://twitter.com/hosseeb?s=20  Dragonfly Capital https://www.dcp.capital/  Bankless Podcast 103 with Haseeb https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/-103-blockchains-are-cities-haseeb  “Blockchains are Cities” https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/blockchains-are-cities-564327013f86  “Why Decentralization Isn’t As Important As You Think” https://haseebq.com/why-decentralization-isnt-as-important-as-you-think/  “I’m Worried No One Will Care About Rollups”  https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/im-worried-nobody-will-care-about-rollups-554bc743d4f1  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

On today's episode of Empire Jason Yanowitz is joined by Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly Cap and Avichal Garg of Electric Capital. Both are strong voices in the space when it comes to tokenization, metaverse, and multichain futures. With their unique perspectives, Haseeb and Avichal debate the merits of the crypto as cities philosophy, the future of Crypto, what a multichain world will look like & more. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Avichal Garg

Co-Founder and Partner

Electric Capital

On today's episode of Empire, Jason sits with Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly Cap and Tarun Chitra of Gauntlet for a DeFi deep dive. They cover a range of topics, from DAOs and governance, to the digitization of corporations in our increasingly technology-based world. Revisiting familiar subjects like tokenization and Web 2.0 creators coming to Web 3.0. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. -- 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. -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M

Tom Schmidt

Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Tarun Chitra

CEO

GauntletRobot VenturesGauntlet Network

First, Haseeb Qureshi was a Texas Hold’em poker player. Then Haseeb learned how to code and worked as a software engineer for Airbnb. He went down the crypto rabbithole and is now the managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, as well as an accomplished writer and coder. He recently published an article titled Blockchains are Cities, expanding on a mental model for understanding the crypto landscape from a high level perspective. We brought Haseeb back onto the Bankless Podcast to dive into this metaphor, which explains how cities (and blockchains) scale. We also explore the question of the decade: Will we live in a multi-chain world, or will there be “one chain to rule them all”? ------ ✨ DEBRIEF ✨ | Ryan & David's Unfiltered Thoughts on the Episode https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/debrief-haseeb-cities  ------ 📣 ALTO IRA | THE CRYPTO RETIREMENT ACCOUNT https://bankless.cc/AltoIRA  ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER:          https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST:                 http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:  👀 POLYGON | LAYER 2 DEFI https://bankless.cc/Polygon  ❎ ACROSS | BRIDGE TO LAYER 2 https://bankless.cc/Across  🦊 METAMASK | THE CRYPTO WALLET https://bankless.cc/metamask  💳 LEDGER | THE CRYPTO LIFE CARD https://bankless.cc/Ledger  🧙‍♂️ ALCHEMIX | SELF REPAYING LOANS https://bankless.cc/Alchemix  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants  ------ Topics Covered: 0:00 Intro 6:00 Haseeb and Context 11:35 Why Cities? 17:15 Limitations & Trust 23:27 Scaling Like Cities 31:15 Who’s Building Vertically? 36:27 Application Specific Chains 45:14 Building More Cities 54:23 Goals, Tradeoffs, and Winners 1:01:20 Cross-Chain Bridges 1:05:59 Cities or Nation States? 1:12:36 Security and Military 1:23:20 Individuals vs Chains 1:30:36 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Resources: Haseeb on Twitter https://twitter.com/hosseeb?s=20  Dragonfly Capital https://www.dcp.capital/  Blockchains are Cities https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/blockchains-are-cities-564327013f86  Why Decentralization Isn’t As Important As You Think https://haseebq.com/why-decentralization-isnt-as-important-as-you-think/  I’m Worried No One Will Care About Rollups https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/im-worried-nobody-will-care-about-rollups-554bc743d4f1  The ETH2 Metropolis https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/defi-in-the-eth2-metropolis-haseeb  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Some of the biggest names in the crypto industry discuss their personal giving philosophies, how blockchain technology could change the dynamics of giving to charity, and which crypto projects are making a lasting real-world impact. Guests include Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital; Caroline Ellison, co-CEO of Alameda Research; and Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos. Show topics: the definition of effective altruism  why Haseeb thinks crypto is the best industry for effective altruism how Haseeb and Arthur differ in their philosophy of doing good why blockchain technology is less important than liquidity when donating money across borders whether Axie Infinity is making a real-world impact why Arthur thinks Axie’s impact will be short-term and not sustainable whether people should donate now versus later Haseeb’s and Arthur’s thoughts on how giving changes people what people working in crypto can do to give back Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ     Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained    Episode Links   GiveDirectly https://www.givedirectly.org/unchained — all donations made here will be matched! There are $50,000 in matching funds available!    https://www.givedirectly.org/crypto-for-good-2021/   Guests Caroline Ellison https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-ellison-309216a7 Haseeb Qureshi https://twitter.com/hosseeb  Arthur Breitman https://twitter.com/ArthurB    Miscellaneous Effective Altruism https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/introduction-to-effective-altruism/ Code to Inspire https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-actually-fixes-this-how-code-to-inspire-uses-crypto-in-afghanistan/  Pineapple Fund https://pineapplefund.org/ BitGive https://www.bitgivefoundation.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Caroline Ellison

Co-CEO

Alameda Research

Arthur Breitman

Co-founder

Tezos

By now you've no doubt heard about DeFi: the hot vision of crypto that aims to disrupt traditional lending and fundraising. But the space remains really difficult to grasp. There's all kinds of jargon — Automated Market Makers, Impermanent Loss, etc. — and the markets don't quite operate like traditional markets do. So how does it all really work? Where's it going? And what will it all be used for beyond speculation? On this episode, we speak with Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly Capital to break it all down. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Schmidt

Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Crypto sits at the intersection of two male-dominated industries: tech and finance. I was asked to moderate a panel for the Amber Group with four leading women in crypto to discuss the role of gender in the crypto industry and what can be done to bring more women into the space. Panelists include Mia Deng, partner at Dragonfly Capital; Amy Zhang, vice president of sales at Fireblocks; Alexis Gauba, cofounder at Opyn; and Annabelle Huang, partner at Amber Group. Show highlights: how each panelist got into crypto, what it is they do, and which company they work for why women have been somewhat reluctant to speak on crypto gender disparity in public what the main obstacles to bringing about better gender diversity in crypto whether the crypto space is harder to break into than traditional finance for women how gender issues in the U.S. are different than in Asia why more women have begun trading cryptocurrencies and how to increase that interest which crypto explanations are most effective for female friends why there are so few female crypto co-founders good hiring practices for bringing more women into the space advice for women trying to break into crypto    Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange    Episode Links   Panelists Mia Deng Crypto career cofounder at TR Lab ---- NFT Platform (2021) partner at Dragonfly Capital - https://medium.com/dragonfly-research  Head of biz Development + Venture partner @ Amber Group - https://www.ambergroup.io/about  Social link https://twitter.com/miagegedeng?lang=en   Amy Zhang Crypto career vice president of sales at Fireblocks - https://www.fireblocks.com/  head of sales/investor relations at Diginex - https://www.diginex.com/  Social link https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyzwzhang/?originalSubdomain=hk    Alexis Gauba Crypto career cofounder at Opyn - https://www.opyn.co/#/  cofounder at she256 - https://she256.org/  Social link https://twitter.com/AlexisGauba   Annabelle Huang Crypto career partner at Amber Group  - https://www.ambergroup.io/about  founding member at KeeperDAO - https://twitter.com/Keeper_DAO  risk lead at AirSwap - https://www.airswap.io/  Social Link https://twitter.com/_annabellehuang?lang=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mia Deng

Partner

Dragonfly Capital

Amy Zhang

Vice President of Sales

Fireblocks

Alexis Gauba

Co-Founder

Opyn

Annabelle Huang

Partner

Amber Group

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, and Dan Robinson, research partner at Paradigm, discuss the explosion in decentralized exchange activity on automated market makers from $1 billion earlier this year to more than $10 billion in August.  Why trading in automated market makers has 8xed in a few months how automated market makers work, and how specific dexes can specialize for the assets being traded on them why traders would prefer to trade on a dex vs. a centralized exchange how incentivized pools have drawn traders and liquidity  why trading on a dex seems can be more appealing than on a centralized exchange why trading on dexes now mirrors trading on Binance in 2017 how "DeFi is the hottest coolest place where people are making a lot of money" the difference between the metrics of liquidity, trading volume and total value locked for a dex why AMMs are capital inefficient what it means that fees paid on Uniswap are about half of those paid on Bitcoin  what the purpose of liquidity mining is why Haseeb doesn't think that dexes have network effects and that once professional market makers come in the space, Uniswap will lose market share whether users will use DeFi directly through the dexes or through another interface why Dan thinks that DeFi is now comparable to financial investment in the 1970s  whether or not yield aggregators like yEarn make it harder for AMMs to compete what happened with the CRV token launch initial dex offerings or initial DeFi offerings, like the UMA token launch whether, because of the high fees on Ethereum and the how long its transition to Ethereum 2.0 will take, DeFi activity could move to another blockchain such as Solana where DeFi will go over the next few years   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com   Episode links:  Haseeb Qureshi: https://twitter.com/hosseeb Dan Robinson: https://twitter.com/danrobinson   Haseeb’s post on the rise of AMMs: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/what-explains-the-rise-of-amms-7d008af1c399   Haseeb's post on how Uniswap could be un-bundled: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/unbundling-uniswap-the-future-of-on-chain-market-making-1c7d6948d570   Dex volume: https://defiprime.com/dex-volume   Trading volume on centralized exchanges: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/74539/july-by-the-numbers-a-look-at-crypto-exchange-volumes-open-interest-and-miner-revenue   Incentivized pools: https://pools.fyi/#/?tag=incentivized   Top dexes by trading volume: https://www.coingecko.com/en/dex   Ethereum transaction fees: https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/ethereum-transactionfees.html    Uniswap website visits 15x in July: https://messari.io/article/uniswap-total-website-visits-grew-15x-in-july   Website traffic to DeFi platforms explodes in July: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/74231/defi-platforms-web-traffic-july   Fees paid to various crypto projects: https://cryptofees.info   Curve reaches $1 billion in TVL: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/75014/curve-becomes-third-defi-protocol-to-hit-1-billion-in-total-value-locked   The Block on dex aggregators: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/69468/dex-aggregators-user-experience   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

Dan Robinson

Former CTO

HeapParadigm

Episode: #27 August 24, 2020 ----- Tools from our sponsors to go bankless: Loopring - trade & pay on Ethereum w/ near-0 gas fees! (use "Bankless" for VIP4 status & trades at 6bps!) Monolith - holy grail of bankless Visa cards Aave - money lego for lending & borrowing Rocket Dollar - tax shelter your crypto ($50 w/ "BANKLESS") (Read this on IRAs and 401ks) ---- Haseeb Qureshi likes the question: what did I miss? That's how he improves his mental model for investing in crypto. That's how he sharpens his mind.  That's how this former Airbnb developer and professional poker play became a notable investor at DragonFly Capital. And that's where we start the conversation. It leads us into a discussion on Uniswap and automated market makers, and why he thinks Uniswap will be unbundled. Which leads into Ethereum scaling, DeFi in Eth2, and an articulation of the clearest analogy for DeFi scalability in Etheruem that we've ever heard. Use this episode to sharpen your crypto investing mind. We cover: The big thing Haseeb missed Explain Uniswap like I'm 5 Why AMMs are eating orderbook exchanges The Unbundling of Uniswap Smart Automated Market Makers (SAMMs!) DeFi in Eth2: Cities, suburbs, and farms Economic load balancing across shards Layer 2 as the shopping malls The Shard for crypto banks What about the ETH killers? Sorry boys...ETH ain't money Haseeb's High conviction Bets Join us next Monday for a fresh episode! ----- Resources discussed: What explains the rise of AMMs? - Article by Haseeb Unbundling Uniswap - New Article by Haseeb DeFi in Eth2: Cities, suburbs, farms - Article by Haseeb ETH must be money episode with Charlie Noyes More on Automated Market Makers: Rise of the Liquidity Robots - Bankless Article Going Bankless with Uniswap - Podcast Epsiode Uniswap is Infrastructure - Bankless Article When DeFi meets Rollup - Bankless Article on Rollups ----- Episode Actions: Read DeFi in Eth2: Cities, suburbs, farms Read What explains the rise of AMMs? Read Unbundling Uniswap Give Bankless a 5 star review on iTunes! ----- Subscribe to podcast on iTunes | Spotify | YouTube | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the episode with someone you know! ----- Don't stop at the podcast! Subscribe to the Bankless newsletter program Watch Bankless shows and tutorials on YouTube Visit official Bankless website for resources Follow Bankless on Twitter Follow Ryan on Twitter Follow David on Twitter ----- Not financial or tax advice. This podcast is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions.  Do your own research.

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital

In this essay, Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly Capital explains why he thinks the focus on decentralization can be overhyped. He looks at why decentralization can be important but then makes it clear, by dissecting when it is important and when it’s not, and to whom it does and doesn’t matter, that it isn’t the be-all end-all goal for every endeavor. He talks about which questions we should be asking beyond just, “is it decentralized,” and also explains why that question doesn’t even make sense.  Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haseeb Qureshi

Managing Partner

DragonflyDragonfly Capital