Why Pandl Calls Gold and Bitcoin Buys Here
Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale Investments, argues that speculative retail flows, not geopolitical fundamentals, drove the recent gold and Bitcoin selloffs. His read: momentum chasing built gold from $4,000 to well above $5,000, then rotated out to chips and pre-IPO trades. The underlying deficit-and-debt case for both assets hasn't changed, and he's calling the dip a buy for longer-horizon investors.
He closes with Grayscale's H2 DeFi revenue thesis. Hyperliquid is the clearest proof of concept: a protocol with a clear use case, real revenue, and value returned to token holders. Grayscale applied a discounted cash flow model to Aave and published a price target on the token.
Host:
Steven Ehrlich, Host of Bits + Bips: The Interview and Head of Research at Sharplink - https://x.com/Steven_Ehrlich
Guest:
Zach Pandl - Head of Research at Grayscale Investments - https://x.com/LowBeta
This clip is from a longer conversation on the Fed's hawkish pivot, the SpaceX IPO, crypto winter, and Strategy's preferred equity. Full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/WIlLtRQidQg?si=ONIIkcPElZFgpa8l
We go live every Thursday at 12:00pm ET - subscribe to catch it live.
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Chapters
🔍 00:00 Steve on gold and Bitcoin's worst quarter - what happened during the Iran war
📊 00:57 Why Pandl argues speculation, not fundamentals, drove both the run-up and the selloff
🥇 02:42 The buy case - Pandl on what to do when speculative excess washes out
💡 03:25 Steve asks about second-half assets and Standard Chartered's Uniswap call
💰 03:50 Why Hyperliquid and Aave anchor Grayscale's H2 DeFi revenue thesis
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Bits + Bips: Why Grayscale Sees ATHs Before Q3, With ETH Outperforming
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Geopolitical tensions are rising. Crypto legislation is stalled. And pressure on the Federal Reserve is intensifying.
So why are Bitcoin and the broader crypto market holding strong?
In this episode of Bits + Bips: The Interview, Steve Ehrlich sits down with Zach Pandl, Director of Research at Grayscale Investments, to unpack what’s been driving markets since 2026 began, from Washington’s regulatory battles to global instability and the Fed’s fight to maintain independence.
They break down where U.S. crypto policy stands, why Wall Street isn’t waiting for Congress, and how macro forces like inflation, debt, and geopolitics are shaping crypto’s next move.
Hosts:
Steven Ehrlich
Guests:
Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale
Links:
Robinhood CEO warns Congress delay is hurting Americans - TheStreet Crypto: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency news, advice, analysis and more
Senate Banking Committee postpones vote on crypto market structure legislation amid industry pushback
Crypto bill delay 'may ultimately be constructive' for final product, Benchmark says
Trump attacks on Jerome Powell testing Fed’s independence
Why the Federal Reserve has historically been independent of the White House
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Bits + Bips: Why a Trump vs. Fed Showdown Would Crush the U.S. Dollar - Ep. 822
An independent Federal Reserve has long been the cornerstone of U.S. economic stability, but what happens when that foundation is shaken?
In this week’s episode of Bits + Bips, the panel digs into one of the most dramatic threats yet to financial markets: Donald Trump’s suggestion that he could fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. It’s not just political theater, it’s a potential major blow to the credibility of the U.S. dollar and the independence of the world’s most important central bank.
Joining the panel is Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale, who explores why a rotation away from U.S. dollar assets might already be happening and what that means for bitcoin.
Plus:
Why the Fed’s independence is so crucial
The telltale signs of a structural capital rotation out of the U.S.
Whether bitcoin has officially decoupled from equities
How young crypto HODLers will react to their first bear market
And why this moment may look more like Argentina than America
Show highlights:
Sponsors:
Bitwise
Hosts:
Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
Steven Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained
Guest:
Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale
Links
Trump Threatening Powell
New York Times: Risk of Financial Panic Tempers Trump on Firing Powell
Barrons: Trump Calls Powell a ‘Major Loser.’ 3 Ways He Could Sideline the Fed Chair
Inconsistencies in Hard v. Soft Data
Wall Street Journal: Trump Is Everywhere Except in the Economic Data
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia: Carefully Balancing Both Hard and Soft Data in Policy Discussions
Dropping Dollar
CNBC: U.S. Dollar Falls to Three-Year Low as Trump’s Powell Threats Further Dent Investor Confidence
New York Times: The Dollar Keeps Falling as Its ‘Safe Haven’ Status Is Questioned
Bitcoin Decoupling
CNBC: Bitcoin Retakes $90,000 as Investors See It as Alternative to Diving Dollar and Turbulent Stocks
Decrypt: Bitcoin Decoupling? BTC Rises as Equity Markets Swoon
Timestamps:
👋 0:00 Intro
👀 3:44 Could Trump really fire Powell? And what would that mean for the Fed’s credibility
👷13:01 Why the Fed is seeing conflicting signals from the economy
📈📉 20:07 If Trump keeps Powell for now, how will the market react?
🚪 24:49 Why capital is rotating out of the U.S. and how it is such a big moment for bitcoin.
🤕 31:37 How much further the dollar could fall in this cycle?
🔗 42:43 Has bitcoin finally decoupled, and could it become a global reserve currency?
🧑💻 50:11 How the young age of crypto holders could reshape market dynamics
🧠 1:04:26 What specific things Ram, Alex, and Zach are watching now across macro and crypto
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