The Chopping Block: Ethereum's Inflection Point w/ Joe Lubin on DATs, CROPS, AI-Driven Exploits, Quantum Threats, and CFTC's Perps
Joe Lubin makes the bull case for Ethereum amid a sea of bearishness. The panel dissects Saylor selling Bitcoin for the first time in four years, the meaning behind 9 senior EF departures, Justin Drake's Q-Day call (50% by 2032), Manuel Araoz declaring all of DeFi unsafe, the ThorChain hack fallout, the Zama/Overnight Finance USDC freeze saga, and the CFTC greenlighting the first US perpetual futures product.
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 Joe Lubin is stepping in to make the bull case for ETH on what he admits is a tough day to be bullish.
We open on Strategy's first Bitcoin sale in four years and whether the STRC preferred stock structure is "an algorithmic stablecoin with too many steps," as Tarun puts it. Joe pivots to pitching Ether DATs, then we get into the Ethereum Foundation's brain drain -- nine researchers gone, CROPS as the new mandate, and a mysterious new developer organization taking shape behind the scenes. The episode's meatiest block covers DeFi security: Justin Drake warns Q-Day is 50% likely by 2032, Manuel Araoz says all of DeFi is unsafe, ThorChain's been offline for two weeks post-hack, and the panel debates whether we're entering a rough 12-24 months where attackers outrun defenders. We close on Hyperliquid's all-time highs and the CFTC opening the door to US perps.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Show highlights
🔹 Strategy sold 32 BTC for the first time in four years as STRC falls below $100 par – Tarun calls it "an algorithmic stablecoin with too many steps"
🔹 Joe Lubin pitches Ether DATs as a safer model than Strategy – ~3% staking yield, no leverage, and "permanent capital" for the ecosystem
🔹 Nine senior Ethereum Foundation members departed in 2026 including Tim Beiko and Barnabe Monnot as Vitalik reframes EF around CROPS mandate
🔹 Joe reveals SharpLink, BitMine, and ConsenSys in talks to become Ethereum's "decentralized commercialization engines" – "there's only one foundation" but new nodes are forming
🔹 Justin Drake puts Q-Day at 50% by 2032 and calls NIST's 2035 timeline "a joke" after Google's quantum circuit breakthrough
🔹 Crowdsourced reverse engineering of Google's withheld quantum circuit improved results 12-13% using LLMs as a grinding tool
🔹 OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Araoz declares all of DeFi unsafe and advises friends and family to exit Aave, MakerDAO, and Compound
🔹 ThorChain remains offline two weeks after $10.8M hack – claims they disclosed the same vulnerability 17 days before the exploit
🔹 Zama's cUSDC contract frozen by Circle via court order in Overnight Finance dispute, highlighting privacy protocol limitations on freezable stablecoins
🔹 Hyperliquid hits $75 and flips Solana in FDV as CFTC approves Kalshi's BTCPERP – the first regulated US perpetual futures product
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
Guest
⭐️Joe Lubin, Co-Founder of Ethereum, Founder & CEO of ConsenSys
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:06 Saylor Sells BTC & Market Panic
05:07 STRC Death Spiral & DAT Risks
07:07 Ethereum Foundation Exodus & CROPS
13:04 The "Not Second Foundation" Debate
17:58 Quantum Q-Day: 50% by 2032
23:47 Is All of DeFi Unsafe?
31:11 ZK Composability & Bridge-Free Architecture
34:19 Security Deployment Lag & AI Arms Race
40:18 Anti-Fragility & Formal Verification
47:36 Zama USDC Freeze & Privacy vs Courts
50:33 CFTC Perps Approval & Hyperliquid at $75
55:53 Hyperliquid's Distribution Flywheel
01:00:46 Joe Lubin's Ethereum Bull Case
Disclosures
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Ethereum Turns 10: Joe Lubin on Revolutionizing the Global Economy
On the 10th anniversary of Ethereum's genesis block, we sit down with Joe Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and CEO of ConsenSys, for an exclusive deep dive into the past, present, and future of the Ethereum ecosystem. From the concept of 'digital oil' to Ethereum's role as the foundation of a decentralized global economy, Joe shares his vision for the next decade of blockchain innovation. Tune in to hear his thoughts on staking strategies, the rise of DeFi, and why Ethereum is poised to become the substrate for the world's financial system.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction – Setting the stage for Ethereum’s 10th anniversary.
01:00 Joe Lubin’s Vision – Ethereum as civilization-scale infrastructure.
02:19 Staking Strategies – Insights into ConsenSys’ ETH accumulation and staking.
05:08 Overcoming Challenges – Scalability, usability, and regulatory hurdles.
10:08 Decentralized Stablecoins – The need for ETH and BTC to support DeFi growth.
15:11 DeFi and TradFi Convergence – How Ethereum is reshaping finance.
22:08 Ethereum’s Role in the Global Economy – Becoming the substrate for trust.
30:00 Multi-Chain Future – Why Ethereum will remain foundational.
40:00 The Next Decade – Joe’s predictions for Ethereum’s growth and impact.
45:00 Closing Thoughts – Celebrating Ethereum’s 10th birthday.
Ethereum's Strategy to Win Over Wall Street | Joe Lubin & Danny Ryan
Recorded live at the Permissionless IV conference, this conversation dives into Ethereum’s strategy to win over Wall Street.
Danny Ryan discusses how Etherealize is advising financial institutions to leverage Ethereum’s decentralization, resilience, and credible neutrality, while Joe Lubin explains why ConsenSys is taking a direct approach by accumulating ETH on Sharplink Gaming’s balance sheet, similar to MicroStrategy with Bitcoin.
Together, they unpack Ethereum’s strengths, institutional adoption strategies, and what it will take for Ethereum to become the foundation of the next-generation financial system.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
3:11 Ethereum's Evolution & Challenges
7:54 Regulatory Tensions & SEC Scrutiny
11:02 Ethereum's Resilience Against Regulation
14:47 Bridging TradFi & Decentralization
16:06 Institutional Adoption of Ethereum
17:19 Ethereum's Path Forward
21:51 Building for the Future
23:40 The Call for Problem Solving
24:41 Ethereum's Leadership Dynamics
33:25 Taking Ethereum to Wall Street
35:17 The Future of SBET & Ether
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RESOURCES
Joe Lubin
https://x.com/ethereumjoseph
Danny Ryan
https://x.com/dannyryan
Permissionless IV
https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Is Joe Lubin the Michael Saylor of Ethereum? | The $SBET Opportunity
Joe Lubin returns to Bankless to break down his latest bold move—launching SBET, a publicly traded vehicle designed to accumulate and deploy Ether as a strategic treasury asset.
We unpack whether Lubin is stepping into the Michael Saylor role for Ethereum, how SBET might outperform Bitcoin-backed models, and why ETH is poised for a monetary renaissance. From regulatory wins to Ethereum’s evolving narrative on Wall Street, this episode explores how ETH can become a multi-trillion-dollar asset and a dominant store of value in the next economic supercycle.
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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
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🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:38 Getting Sued by The SEC
7:55 $SBET
16:32 The Michael Saylor of ETH
23:25 $SBET (ETH) vs $MSTR (BTC)
27:16 Valuing ETH
28:30 Wall Street Narratives
30:52 ETH’s Performance
36:53 ETH as Collateral
40:07 Onboarding Others
46:52 ETH as SoV
49:18 What ETH Needs
50:52 Joining Forces
53:08 ETH’s Sentiment Shift
56:53 Genius Act
58:44 Closing & Disclaimers
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RESOURCES
Joe Lubin
https://x.com/ethereumJoseph
SharpLink Gaming ($SBET)
https://www.sharplink.com/
Consensys
https://consensys.io/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Building the Future of Ethereum: Joe Lubin on Consensys, Layer 2 Scaling, and Regulatory Challenges
Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and Consensys, explores the evolution of blockchain technology and the expanding role of the Ethereum ecosystem in this episode. He discusses Consensys' pivotal work in building foundational infrastructure, such as MetaMask and Infura, while outlining the strategic direction for future applications and decentralized technologies. Joe delves into Layer 2 solutions, regulatory challenges with the SEC, and the broader implications for the industry. He offers a forward-looking perspective on the maturation of Ethereum, emphasizing scalability, decentralization, and the development of Web3.
0:00 - Evolution of Consensys
3:00 - Growth of Ethereum Infrastructure
6:30 - Scaling Ethereum & Layer 2 Solutions
9:00 - Joe Lubin's Beliefs
11:00 - Regulatory Challenges & SEC Lawsuit
14:30 - Future of Ethereum & Regulation
18:00 - Decentralizing Consensys and Network States
21:30 - Ethereum's Layer 1 & Layer 2 Architecture
28:00 - Impact of Layer 2 on Ethereum Mainnet
36:00 - Transitioning Products to On-chain Governance
39:00 - Network States and Decentralization
43:00 - Preparing for the Next Wave of Applications
This episode was sponsored by:
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Joe Lubin, Ethereum Co-Founder, on why assets are moving from Wall Street to Crypto
My guest today is Joe Lubin, Co-Founder of Ethereum and CEO and Founder of ConsenSys.
On this episode of Empire, we discuss where Bitcoin falls short, Joe leaving Wall Street for Crypto, founding Ethereum and ConsenSys, why forks can be good for progress, and Joe's real motivators.
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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 Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts.
Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!