What's Next for Vaults? | Steakhouse Co-Founder, Adrian Cachinero
Vaults could become the financial rails that bring trillions onchain, but only if they solve risk, regulation and investor protection. Steakhouse co-founder Adrian Cachinero joins David to explain how vaults work, why repo markets matter and where this new asset-management layer goes next.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:13 Vaults Explained
2:27 Morpho and Vault Origins
6:46 Vault Infrastructure Layers
8:53 Curators and Control
18:25 Risk Frameworks
24:48 Risk Creep and Incentives
32:51 Principal-Agent Tensions
39:33 Safe Vaults Scale
41:50 SEC and Regulation
46:58 Two Vault Futures
53:54 Distributors vs Curators
59:21 AI Meets Vaults
1:01:23 Growth and Challenges
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RESOURCES
Adrian Cachinero
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriancachinero
Steakhouse Financial
https://www.linkedin.com/company/steakhouse-financial/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
How To Make DeFi Great Again | Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic & Luca Prosperi
This week, Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic & Luca Prosperi join the show to discuss what's next for DeFi in 2026. We deep dive into why are rates so low in DeFi today, how to mitigate risk, the growth of stablecoins, the fallout from Drift's exploit, the opportunity for prediction markets and more. Enjoy!
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Follow Adrian: https://x.com/adcv_
Follow Luca: https://x.com/LucaProsperi
Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod
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Referenced in the show:
https://kitchen.steakhouse.financial/
# 68 | The Physics of On-Chain Lending (I): https://dirtroads.substack.com/p/68-the-physics-of-on-chain-lending?triedRedirect=true
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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/
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(03:42) Why Are Rates in DeFi So Low?
(16:32) The Physics of Onchain Lending
(24:33) ZKsync Ad
(25:16) The Biggest Risk In DeFi Today
(52:58) What’s Next For DeFi In 2026 & Beyond?
(01:02:18) How To Mitigate Risk In DeFi
(01:09:43) Fallout From Drift’s $280M Exploit
(01:15:15) Prediction Markets
(01:19:52) What's Exciting In Crypto Today?
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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Bits + Bips: Crypto Investing Is About Managing Risk, Not Chasing Upside - Ep. 978
Subscribe to Bits + Bips: https://bitsandbips.beehiiv.com/subscribe
On this bundled episode of Bits + Bips, Unchained executive editor Steve Ehrlich digs into the less obvious risks shaping crypto returns, from DeFi yield to tax reporting.
First, Sebastien Derivaux, co-founder of Steakhouse Financial, explains why chasing high yield can be dangerous, how institutional risk curation works onchain, and why the future of stablecoins won’t be limited to the US dollar.
Then, Shehan Chandrasekera, CPA and Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker, breaks down what crypto investors need to know heading into 2026, including tax loss harvesting, the wash sale gray zone, hidden tax obligations in crypto ETFs, and why the new 1099-DA form won’t tell the full story.
Host:
Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained
Guests:
Shehan Chandrasekera, CPA, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker
Sebastien Derivaux, Co-Founder & Partner at Steakhouse Financial
Timestamps:
🎬 0:00 Intro
🧾 1:10 How crypto fits into existing tax law
📅 2:14 What investors should be thinking about before year-end—and how tax loss harvesting works
🔁 4:54 The wash sale rule: Is it safe to use in crypto?
⚖️ 9:27 How upcoming legislation could change crypto taxes
💵 11:22 Stablecoins and taxes: Are there any special rules?
📊 13:47 The hidden tax complexity of trading crypto ETPs and ETFs
📄 16:39 What the new 1099-DA form is—and what it will (and won’t) tell the IRS
👀 22:31 The key things Shehan says crypto investors should watch closely
22:32 Intro
22:59 Understanding Steakhouse Financial and its growth rate
24:59 What “risk curation” actually means and why Steakhouse focuses on institutions
27:52 How Steakhouse vaults generate stablecoin yields
30:39 What risk curators can—and can’t—control in a decentralized environment
35:28 What recent volatility revealed about DeFi vaults and the collapse of Stream Finance
39:33 Whether “safe” high yield is even possible
41:33 The liquidity problem with tokenized credit funds onchain
49:48 How Steakhouse is positioning for the stablecoin boom
51:24 How stablechains like Tempo and Plasma could change the game
52:47 Why Steakhouse plans to integrate tokenized deposits
54:55 Steakhouse’s 2026 bet on non-USD stablecoins
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Crypto’s Agentic Future: AI, ZK & Money Networks | Lincoln, Shea, Michael, & Luca
At our Bankless Summit in Buenos Aires, four standout talks captured the frontier of crypto’s next chapter. Lincoln Murr lays out why x402 is emerging as the missing payment layer for the agentic internet. Shay Ketsdever explains how bots already run modern markets, and how programmable auctions and privacy can turn the bot economy into something that benefits people instead of exploits them. Michael Dong shows how real-time ZK proving unlocks a hundred-fold expansion of Ethereum’s computational power. And Luca Prosperi reframes money as a network, warning that today’s stablecoin architecture is a single point of failure and arguing for a more resilient, distributed monetary system.
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
4:26 x402 & The Agentic Internet | Lincoln Murr
22:58 The Bot Economy: When AI & MEV Collide | Shea Ketsdever
47:16 1000x the L1: The Path To Infinite Compute | Michael Dong
1:09:25 A Network Theory of Money | Luca Prosperi
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures