Zcash, Ethereum, Aztec, Canton and More: Which Chain Will Win the Privacy Race?
Privacy is having a moment in crypto. As competition heats up, the pitfalls of the technology around the quantum threat, regulatory risk and more make the trajectory hard to predict.
A counterfeit bug sat undetected in Zcash's Orchard privacy pool for four years, capable of minting an unlimited supply of untraceable coins, illustrating the risks of one of the hottest crazes in crypto.
Joe Andrews, CEO of Aztec Labs, Jarrad Hope, founder of Logos, and Mert Mumtaz, cofounder and CEO of Helius, join Laura Shin to argue the bug is less alarming than what it reveals: cryptographic privacy is difficult to get right, and the industry is racing to get it right anyway, because institutions will not come onchain without it.
They cover Zcash's quantum-recoverable Ironwood upgrade and the turnstile proving the counterfeit coins never moved, Ethereum's sprawling privacy roadmap and the risk it arrives too late, Logos' mixnet built to protect validators from block relays now censoring transactions, and why all three see Canton's private stablecoins as little more than a bank with extra steps.
The fight over what actually counts as privacy on a blockchain is only getting started.
Host
Laura Shin - Founder, CEO and Host of Unchained
Guest
Joe Andrews - CEO of Aztec Labs
Jarrad Hope - Founder of Logos
Mert Mumtaz - Cofounder and CEO of Helius
Sponsor
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Timestamps:
🔐 01:52 Why Joe, Jarrad, and Mert think privacy's crypto moment is now
💙 18:18 Cape: Get 33% off your first six months with code unchained at https://cape.co/unchained
⚖️ 19:14 Why Jarrad says the weak need privacy and the powerful need transparency
🔬 24:49 How zero knowledge proofs actually update encrypted state onchain
🕸️ 33:07 Why 43.7% of block relays now censor, and how Logos fixes it
🐛 36:32 The undetected Zcash bug that could have minted infinite fake coins
🔒 46:32 Mert explains how Zcash's Ironwood upgrade closes the counterfeit hole
🛤️ 51:44 Why Joe worries Ethereum's privacy roadmap might arrive too late
🏦 57:39 Why Mert calls Canton no more private than trusting JPMorgan
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The Chopping Block: Zcash Infinite Mint Bug + AI Hackers vs Formal Verification + NEAR's Agent Vision
Mert and Illia autopsy a brutal weekend in crypto: Saylor's $3M test sale that taught him there's no sell button, the Zcash bug Claude found that could've minted unlimited counterfeit ZEC, formal verification as the bulwark against AI attackers, and whether NEAR's agentic commerce vision is real.
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 we've got two heavy hitters: NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin and Helius founder Mert Mumtaz.
We kick things off with the weekend market meltdown -- Saylor sold 32 BTC for the first time in four years, STRC is trading below par, and Mert argues the real damage is that Saylor sucks all the air out of the room for actual crypto innovation. Then we get into the biggest story of the week: a critical bug discovered in Zcash's Orchard ZK circuit using Claude Opus 4.8 that could have allowed infinite counterfeit minting inside the shielded pool. Mert walks us through the emergency soft fork, the Ironwood migration, and why formal verification is about to become table stakes. Illia makes the case that AI-powered attackers have a permanent asymmetric advantage and that we need real-time on-chain detection systems to survive. Tom coins the analogy of the episode: we're moving from building boats to building spaceships. We close with Illia's pitch for NEAR's agent commerce vision – $240M in single-day volume, private intents, and the claim that agent-to-agent trustless commerce is already live – while Mert remains a friendly skeptic. Let's get into it.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
Guest
⭐️ Mert, Co-founder & CEO at Helius
⭐️ Illia Polosukhin, Co-founder of NEAR Protocol
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:17 Weekend Crypto Meltdown & Bitcoin Crash
02:52 Saylor, STRC & the DAT Death Spiral Fears
11:51 "No Sell Button" — Saylor's Lesson Learned
13:14 Zcash Bug: 50% Crash Explained
20:30 The Fix: Ironwood Pool & Formal Verification
23:11 AI vs Crypto Security: The Attacker Advantage
27:21 What Is Formal Verification?
30:07 Spaceship-Grade Smart Contract Security
31:36 OPSEC, Oracles & Anomaly Detection
36:08 Cypherpunk Dilemma: Stop the Hack or Not?
38:37 Will DeFi Survive? Long Math
42:49 NEAR's AI Agents & Intents Vision
48:43 Is Agentic Commerce Real? Mert's Skepticism
Disclosures
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"Crypto Without Privacy Isn't Crypto" - The Zcash Bull Case | Tushar Jain & Mert Mumtaz
Zcash is having its first real narrative moment in years. David sits down with Multicoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain and Mert Mumtaz to unpack why privacy may be crypto’s missing store-of-value primitive, why Zcash is being framed as “private Bitcoin,” how institutional adoption could normalize shielded money, what AI and onchain surveillance change about the privacy debate, and why quantum risk could become a real catalyst.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Why Multicoin Got Interested in Zcash
5:22 Mert’s Path from Solana to Zcash
9:57 Why Zcash, Why Now?
17:01 The Institutional Path for Private Money
22:03 Zcash as a Private Store of Value
25:27 Fungibility, Tainted Coins, and Financial History
27:26 The Bear Case: Does Anyone Really Care About Privacy?
34:43 Onchain Surveillance and Government Power
39:13 Zcash Tokenomics and the Forgotten Coin Thesis
44:58 The Last PVE in Crypto
50:17 Zcash and the Quantum Threat
59:14 Shielded Pool Growth and Upcoming Catalysts
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RESOURCES
Tushar Jain
https://x.com/tushar_jain
Mert Mumtaz
https://x.com/mert
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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The Chopping Block: Zcash +400%, Tempo’s $500M Shock, EF Pay Firestorm & AWS/Base Meltdown feat. Mert - Ep. 929
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, Helius’s Mert returns to defend Zcash’s ~400% run and the “encrypted Bitcoin” framing, digging into anonymity sets, privacy UX, and why Bitcoiners are so riled up. We then tackle the Tempo bombshell — a ~$500M raise at a ~$5B pre, Stripe/Paradigm ties, Dankrad’s move from the EF — alongside Péter Szilágyi’s letter on EF culture and compensation: public goods priesthood vs. market incentives. Next up: Mert’s “USD Manlet” rethink (why coordinating Solana around one stable is hard, and why pushing USDT to compete with USDC may be the sharper play) plus a gripe-fueled tour of today’s DeFi trading UX. Finally, an AWS-outage autopsy: Coinbase downtime, Base sequencer hiccups, Infura/MetaMask ripple effects, and the case for multi-region/multi-cloud redundancy when real money — and sometimes safety — are on the line. And no, despite the memes, Mert is not launching a DEX.
For more links and Show Hilights - https://unchainedcrypto.com/podcast-chopping-block/the-chopping-block-zcash-400-tempos-500m-shock-ef-pay-firestorm-aws-base-meltdown-feat-mert/
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
Guest
⭐️ Mert, Co-founder & CEO at Helius
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
Guest
⭐️ Mert, Co-founder & CEO at Helius
“One Long Memo” [A Letter To The EF] by Péter Szilágyi
https://gist.github.com/karalabe/a2bc53436f29e0711fe680d59e180f6c
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:22 Mert a Madman of Solana and now Zcash
05:20 Bitcoin vs. Zcash: A Philosophical Clash
14:35 Tempo Fundraise and Ethereum's Talent Exodus
33:05 Ethereum's Social Layer & Public Goods
34:45 The Importance of Religious Priesthood in Crypto
41:01 The USD Manlet Proposal & Stablecoin Coordination
49:32 AWS Outage & Its Impact on Crypto
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The Stablecoin Competition Is On. Who Will Be the Winners and Losers? - Ep. 920
The stablecoin race is heating up. With the passage of the U.S. stablecoin law the floodgates have opened. Tether still dominates globally, but Circle, Stripe, and a wave of new “stablechains” are making their move.
In this episode, Dragonfly partner Rob Hadick and Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz join Laura Shin to map out how this battle could reshape crypto and payments.
Will ecosystem apps like Phantom and Jupiter keep their own stablecoins? Can Circle’s new Layer 1, Arc, compete with Tether’s network effect?
Don’t miss it!
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Guests:
Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius
Timestamps:
🎬 0:00 Intro
🔥 2:50 What Rob and Mert expect from the coming flood of stablecoins and stablechains
🌐 12:06 How network effects could decide the winners in the stablecoin wars
💵 14:09 Whether Tether’s dominance is here to stay
💱 22:45 Why Forex matters—and why everyone still wants dollars
😎 27:15 Whether Tether even cares about its new competitors
⚠️ 33:18 What Rob calls the biggest existential threat to Tether
🏦 36:00 Can Circle’s new payments chain, Arc, really compete in this environment
🧩 40:42 Why Mert says Circle is in a difficult strategic position
🤝 45:17 How new Layer 1s risk pleasing no one by trying to please everyone
💣 52:55 Whether banks are doomed—and why employees might want to start exiting now
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2024 Was Solana's Best Year Yet. Can It Sustain the Momentum in 2025? - Ep. 755
2024 has been a transformative year for Solana. With a surge in developer activity, bold innovations in DePIN, and its ambitions to become a “decentralized Nasdaq,” the ecosystem is making waves. But are these changes enough to differentiate it from competitors like Ethereum and L2 solutions such as Base?
In this episode, Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, and Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius, join Unchained to discuss how Solana is carving out its niche. They debate whether Base is a serious contender, why they’re not concerned about the 2025 token unlocks, and how Solana’s unique approach to MEV could shape its future. Plus, they tackle the ecosystem’s broader challenges and why they believe Solana’s vision will endure.
Show highlights:
Why Mert feels paranoid but also vindicated
Why Lily started working on Solana after being known as a hardcore bitcoiner
How Mert’s background in Coinbase led him to found Helius and become the voice of Solana online
Whether Solana can become a place where unique innovations are built, rather than copying Ethereum
Whether Solana can achieve its vision of a “decentralized Nasdaq”
Why the ecosystem has attracted so many developers in 2024
Why Lily believes that Base is no competitor to Solana
What network extensions actually mean, according to Mert
How Mert responds to the criticisms around Solana’s MEV
Why Mert and Lily are not worried about the token unlocks of 2025
How the Solana mobile phone will compete with the giants
Why DePIN showcases the real value of blockchain technology
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Thank you to our sponsors!
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Guests:
Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius
Links
Unchained:
Pudgy Penguins See NFT Floor Price Drop Almost 50% After PENGU Launch -
Pump.fun Becomes First Solana DApp to Top $100M in Monthly Revenue
How Solana Beat Out Ethereum to Nab New Crypto Developers in 2024
Are Solana's 'Network Extensions' Just Like Ethereum's Layer 2s But by a Different Name?
What Are DePINs in Crypto? A Beginner’s Guide
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:34 Mert’s mix of paranoia and vindication about Solana
07:08 Why Lily shifted from Bitcoin to working on Solana
09:43 Mert’s journey from Coinbase to becoming Solana’s online advocate
14:47 Can Solana foster unique innovations rather than mimic Ethereum?
19:47 Solana’s vision of a “decentralized Nasdaq” vs. center of memecoin mania
27:54 What’s driving Solana’s surge in developer activity
30:26 Why Lily sees Base as no real competitor
33:04 The meaning and implications of network extensions
37:07 Mert’s take on criticisms of Solana’s MEV approach
42:11 Why they aren’t worried about the 2025 token unlocks
44:26 Competing with tech giants through the Solana mobile phone
50:48 How DePIN highlights blockchain’s true potential
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The Chopping Block: SVM vs. EVM, VC Investment in Solana and Memecoins’ Future - Ep. 706
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, the squad is joined by special guest Mert Mumtaz, co-founder of Helius. In this episode, the crew dives into the growing rivalry between SVM and EVM, the surge of VC investments in the Solana ecosystem, and the fierce debate over rollups. They also explore the rise and fall of memecoins, Solana’s infrastructure evolution, and the future for high-performance blockchains. Tune in for a high-energy discussion on the cutting edge of crypto!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Show highlights
🔹 SVM vs. EVM Showdown: The team breaks down the growing battle between Solana's SVM and Ethereum's EVM, examining what’s at stake for both ecosystems.
🔹 VC Investments in Solana: As VC interest in Solana surges, the crew discusses how this new wave of funding could reshape the future of blockchain development.
🔹 Memecoin Chaos: The rapid rise and fall of memecoins comes under fire, with a debate on whether they are a net positive or simply speculative noise in the market.
🔹 Solana’s Infrastructure Evolution: Solana's ongoing efforts to improve scalability and performance are highlighted, especially with innovations like Fire Dancer and ZK compression.
🔹 Network Extensions Controversy: A heated discussion on Solana’s push to rebrand rollups as “network extensions,” sparking backlash from Ethereum proponents.
🔹 VC vs. Market Sentiment: The role of venture capital in the crypto space is examined, with insights into whether VCs are driving innovation or creating unsustainable hype.
🔹 Solana Breakpoint Preview: Excitement builds around Solana’s flagship event, with predictions on what key announcements could impact the blockchain’s future.
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures
Guest
⭐️ Mert, Co-founder & CEO at Helius
Disclosures
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
02:02 Impressions of Singapore
07:55 Mert's Journey & Solana Advocacy
15:41 Challenges & Growth in Solana Ecosystem
21:01 EBOLA [EVM Bags Over Logic Affliction]
31:13 Solana's Resilience
34:38 The Rise of SVM and Developer Perspectives
41:41 Network Extensions vs. Rollups
51:08 Future of High-Performance Blockchains
59:47 AI's Impact on Developer Ecosystems
01:06:19 Memecoins and Market Dynamics
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