Bits + Bips: Are Crypto Markets Bottoming, or Is There More Pain Ahead?
DATs may be collapsing, AI agents may be overhyped, but Omid Malekan thinks the strongest case for crypto has nothing to do with either.
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Bitcoin is below $63,000, digital asset treasuries are under pressure, and the debate over whether crypto markets are bottoming or breaking down is splitting the hosts.
Ram is skeptical of institutional demand when he looks at the 13F data from institutions filing SEC reports. Chris is on the phone with institutions all day and is bullish.
Omid Malekan, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, comes in with a longer lens: he admits he contributed to the DAT hype cycle, has doubts about agentic commerce that remind him of the metaverse in 2021, and thinks the strongest argument for crypto is not a product or a token but a fact about how nation-states treat their own citizens.
The conversation also covers tokenized bank deposits, the SEC's updated broker-dealer guidance on stablecoins, and what it means that the Supreme Court just struck down Trump's tariffs.
Hosts:
Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
Austin Campbell, NYU Stern professor and founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting
Christopher Perkins, Managing Partner and President of CoinFund
Guest:
Omid Malekan, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School
Links:
Unchained:
Bitcoin Slips Below $63,000 as Fear Deepens
Bitcoin Dips Below $65,000 as Tariff Uncertainty Weighs on Risk
White House Talks Make Progress on Stablecoin Yields but No Deal Yet
SEC Quietly Eases Capital Rules for Stablecoins
SCOTUS: Supreme Court strikes down tariffs
Citrini: THE 2028 GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE CRISIS
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Debate: Is Ethereum Ready for Real World Assets? | Omid Malekan vs Austin Campbell (Crypto Professors)
Austin Campbell (NYU) and Omid Malekan (Columbia) debate a simple question: is Ethereum ready to host real-world assets?
They walk through stress tests—what if an exchange is hacked, a stablecoin breaks, or a court order targets the chain—and whether the network should ever step in.
You’ll hear where they agree and disagree, what protections are realistic today, and what still needs to be built before RWAs can scale.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
6:13 Twitter Debate Genesis
8:58 Bybit Hack
17:56 Crypto vs RWA Immutability
29:29 Ethereum Validator Intervention
33:11 Dealing with Multiple Jurisdictions
52:23 Credible Neutrality for a Multipolar World
1:00:32 Blockchain Use Cases
1:13:40 Consortium Chains
1:24:57 Closing Arguments
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RESOURCES
Omid Malekan
https://x.com/malekanoms
https://www.omidmalekan.com/
Austin Campbell
https://x.com/campbelljaustin
https://zero-in.beehiiv.com/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
ETH vs. SOL: A Professor's Take | Omid Malekan
Omid Malekan, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and author of multiple books on crypto joins us. Omid shares his insights on the evolution of blockchain, the concept of digital scarcity, and the future of decentralized finance. Drawing from his experiences in both traditional finance, his teachings, and the crypto industry. Omid also discusses how blockchain offers a fundamentally new way to build trust and redefine property rights in the digital world and his best arguments for why ETH is better than SOL.
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------ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro 5:52 Omid Malekan’s Crypto Background 9:31 Transitioning from TradFi to Crypto 14:51 Explaining Blockchain to Crypto Newcomers 21:10 The Fear in Crypto Transactions 24:53 Blockchain as a New Financial Architecture 28:07 What New Crypto Users Get Wrong 32:06 Not All Blockchains Are Equal 39:25 Qualitative & Quantitative Block Space 41:49 Lessons from Traditional Finance 46:36 Modular Design in Blockchain Systems 1:01:30 Envisioning Crypto's Endgame 1:09:25 Ether's Value Proposition and Role 1:20:28 Opportunities for High-Quality Liquid Assets 1:23:38 Ether as the Money of the Internet 1:36:55 Settlement Assurances and the Future of Ether 1:44:07 Crypto Cycles and Future Gains 1:45:29 Own Podcast? 1:46:22 Closing & Disclaimers
------ RESOURCES
Omid Malekan https://x.com/malekanoms
Omid's Books https://www.amazon.com/Re-Architecting-Trust-History-Markets-Platforms/dp/1732027331 https://www.amazon.com/Story-Blockchain-Beginners-Technology-Understands/dp/1732027307
------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures