ICOs: Why People Are Investing In This $380 Million Phenomenon

In this episode of Bits + Bips, we examine how rising global trade tensions could impact macro conditions, the Fed’s next move, and market stability. We also explore how investors should position themselves with inflation cooling and an uncertain policy path at the Fed. We then look at what’s happening on the crypto side: volume shifting to tokenized public equities, the growing number of corporate stablecoin plans, and whether the promise of tokenization is matched by meaningful traction. Joining hosts Joe McCann, Ram Ahluwalia, and Steve Ehrlich is Rob Hadick of Dragonfly, who shares his perspective on product-market fit in crypto, shifting market structure, and where real adoption may emerge. Sponsor: Bitwise Joe McCann, Founder, CEO, and CIO of Asymmetric Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly LINKS: WSJ: Trump Faces Crucial Week for Reaching Trade Deals EU Still Hopes for Initial U.S. Trade Deal Before Deadline Reuters: Japan, South Korea face 25% tariffs as Trump ramps up trade war in letters to 14 nations CNN: Trump announces new tariffs of up to 40% on a growing number of countries University of Washington: OBBB Signed Into Law Unchained:  OpenAI Says Robinhood’s Stock Tokens Are Not Equity Tron Is Now More Expensive Than Ethereum. Will That Hurt Justin Sun’s New Company? AI Crypto Tokens Swoon as Nvidia Reaches a New All-Time High CoinDesk: CoreWeave to Acquire Core Scientific in $9B All-Stock Deal The Block: Bit Digital swaps entire treasury into Ethereum, says it's now a top public ETH holder after a $173 million splurge Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro 🎭 2:05 Why Ram sees the tariff drama as more theater than substance 🎌 7:09 Whether Trump is leveraging tariffs ahead of Japan’s elections 📉 8:17 How low inflation is pressuring Jerome Powell and the Fed’s next move ⚠️ 12:06 Why Rob says the market feels “fragile” right now 🪙 14:52 Whether bitcoin has truly matured into a macro asset 🛡️ 22:16 How to hedge in an uncertain landscape, and what to make of Elon’s political pivot 💵 30:05 Whether Elon Musk is preparing to launch a stablecoin on X 📊 32:26 Why digital asset treasury companies are so volatile, and how these deals really work 🧱 39:44 How the tokenization race is unfolding, and whether innovation is keeping up 🧠 47:47 How to think about investing in the tokenized assets and stablecoin narrative 🕳️ 1:01:47 Whether tokenized equities have any real killer use ⛏️ 1:03:54 What the CoreWeave-Core Scientific deal signals for bitcoin mining 📈 1:13:08 Whether we’re still in a bull market, and if now’s the time to take advantage of dip opportunities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Juli 1h 20min

The race to bring users onchain is heating up, but the competitors couldn’t be more different. Coinbase, a crypto-native giant with deep infrastructure and institutional partnerships, is going head-to-head with Robinhood, a retail-focused fintech now making aggressive moves into tokenized assets and blockchain rails. Their visions overlap (tokenized stocks, perpetuals, custom chains) but the strategies, philosophies, and user bases differ sharply. In this episode, Laura speaks with Diogenes Casares (Klyra Protocol) and Ryan Yi (ex-Coinbase Ventures, CoinFund) to unpack: How these two companies will compete What levers they have to increase their profits How Base became a liquidity black hole for Ethereum Why Coinbase may have already won the “flows” game And how stablecoins, social, and tokenization could decide the winner Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Bitwise Ledn Diogenes Casares, founder of Klyra Protocol and advisor at Patagon Management Ryan Yi, ex Coinbase, Coinbase Ventures, and CoinFund Unchained: Hyperliquid Reignited Interest in Crypto Perps. Can Coinbase and Robinhood Capitalize? Robinhood Is Building Its Own Layer 2 Blockchain Why the Arbitrum Stack Won in the Race to Support Robinhood Chain Why Perps Will 'Eat the World' + Tokenized Stocks - Bits + Bips Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro 🏦 4:17 What really separates Coinbase and Robinhood’s strategies 🛠️ 6:43 How Robinhood’s new chain should try to compete with Base 🔥 14:49 Why the competition between Robinhood and Coinbase is heating up fast in the U.S. 🤔 16:44 Whether Robinhood can catch up to Base’s head start and network effects 🧱 23:48 Why both companies chose to build on Ethereum—and what that signals 📉 36:04 How launching perps in the U.S. could reshape the landscape for both companies 🎮 44:43 How social features and gamification could give one app an edge 🎯 51:31 Why Robinhood is already working with prediction markets and Coinbase isn’t 💰 55:40 How their product differences impact profits and positioning 🤝 1:05:11 Why Ryan believes Coinbase should’ve acquired Circle 🔌 1:10:48 Why Stripe might be eyeing a crypto integration 📊 1:13:57 How Base benefits with small-cap tokens 🚀 1:18:46 Why Ryan says we’re at a real inflection point for crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Juli 1h 25min

Today, we’ve got two very different stories in one episode. First, Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, joins Unchained to explain why Robinhood is rebuilding its product on the Arbitrum tech stack, what it says about crypto’s evolution, and how this could finally bridge Web2 and Web3. Then, Calvin Hamilton breaks down the bizarre $59 million bet on whether President Zelensky wore a suit — and why vague rules, a fateful tweet, and one protocol’s vote could damage Polymarket’s reputation. Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Focal by FalconX Ledn Steven Goldfeder, co-founder and CEO of Offchain Labs Calvin Hamilton, Polymarket bettor on the ‘yes’ of the Zelensky dispute. Unchained: Robinhood Is Building Its Own Layer 2 Blockchain Robinhood’s presentation at ETHcc: To Catch A Token Rob Hadick’s tweet on tokenized stocks  Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro 🚀 1:44 Why Robinhood chose Arbitrum and how much control they really have 🧑‍💻 6:38 How Arbitrum Stylus could power better UX for Robinhood and beyond 🌊 10:26 Why liquidity fragmentation is still a major unsolved problem 🧲 11:41 What makes MEV capture so attractive to big players like Robinhood 🏆 13:48 Why tokenized stocks might be the “big prize” on Arbitrum 🌐 16:12 What it means to be part of the Arbitrum ecosystem 📊 18:02 How tokenized equities could change investing and what the risks are 🏛️ 21:11 Why the Arbitrum DAO stands to gain from this partnership 🔧 22:17 How Steven thinks fragmentation can be fixed more easily than most believe 🌉 25:52 Where the crypto-TradFi convergence is headed next 💬 29:40 Why Steven defends Ethereum and calls out the critics of L2s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Juli 1h 14min

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’re joined by Jon Charbonneau and Ryan Watkins to unpack the bombshell news of Robinhood Chain—an Arbitrum-based network debuting tokenized U.S. stocks, 3× crypto perps, and that head-scratching $500 K liquidity cap. From riffing on whether proof-of-stake yields are just “money in a box,” to debating Solana’s first U.S. staked ETF, to sizing up the looming perp wars between Robinhood and Coinbase, the crew maps a common thread: corporate chains and regulatory work-arounds are colliding with crypto’s decentralization ideals, forcing builders, traders, and even ETF hawks to rethink where real security, fairness, and opportunity will live next. Show highlights 🔹 Robinhood Chain Revealed – Why the trading-app giant paid up to launch an Arbitrum-based “Robinhood Chain,” starting with 24/5 perpetuals and tokenized U.S. stocks, plus a rumored $500 K–liquidity cap that has Crypto Twitter howling. 🔹 Tokenized-Stock Gold Rush – From Tesla and SpaceX pre-IPO shares to on-chain S&P stalwarts: does 24/7 trading finally make equity tokens stick, or is it just another CFD in disguise? 🔹 Perps Arms Race – Coinbase’s 5-year “quasi-perp” futures vs. Robinhood’s 3×-leverage launch vs. Hyperliquid’s 20× turbo deck—who wins the battle for retail flow? 🔹 Solana ETF First-Mover – RexShares files a staked-SOL C-Corp ETF, beating BlackRock to the punch and testing Wall Street’s appetite after ETH’s lukewarm debut. 🔹 Proof-of-Stake Reality Check – The crew dismantles the “economic security” myth, asks whether validator cartels make inflation rewards pointless, and floats proof-of-governance as the next model. 🔹 Hyperliquid vs. The World – Why a single Tokyo data center is eating CLOB volume, what zk-rollup challengers are planning, and how latency games redefine “decentralized exchange.” 🔹 $2 B Prediction-Market Beef – Paradigm-backed Kalshi clashes with PolyMarket after a viral “little rats” tweet; inside the influencer war and the CFTC license flex. 🔹 Conference FOMO No More – New-York-privileged hosts roast ETH CC in Cannes and declare the age of fly-to-France crypto tourism officially over. 🔹 Reg-Tech vs. Fin-Tech – From transfer agents to T+1 settlement: why outdated TradFi plumbing, not blockchains, still blocks global access to U.S. securities. 🔹 Super-App Skepticism – The panel pokes holes in “super-app” buzzwords and explains why sequencing—product-first, chain-later—matters more than catchy slogans. ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Guests ⭐️ Ryan Watkins, Co-Founder of Syncracy Capital ⭐️ Jon Charbonneau, Co-founder & General Partner at DBA Timestamps 0:00 Intro 02:59 Robinhood Chain 15:05 Debate on Tokenized Stocks 27:18 Perpetuals (Perps) in the Crypto Market 37:15 Robinhood's New Crypto Traders 39:26 The Solana ETF Approval 41:17 Understanding Staking and ETFs 43:36 The Future of Proof of Stake 46:20 Governance in Ethereum and Other Chains 56:26 Corporate Chains and Validator Selection 01:04:31 Polymarket vs. Kalshi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Juli 1h 12min

Crypto is bleeding into traditional finance faster than anyone expected. In this episode of Bits + Bips, the hosts dig into Robinhood’s move into tokenized stocks and perps, what’s actually holding back tokenized equities, and why perps might “eat the world.”  Plus, they talk crypto ETFs, altcoin summer, and whether staking in ETFs is the next big unlock. Sponsors: Bitwise Hosts: James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter  Guest: Thomas Uhm, Chief Commercial Officer at the Jito Foundation Timestamps 🎬 0:00 Intro 👔 2:25 Tom’s path from Jane Street to crypto  💸 5:50 Why Jito’s yield model works + the importance of market makers 📊 12:47 Whether tokenized U.S. stocks actually solve anything for investors 🌍 31:47 Why Tom says “perps are going to eat the world” 🏦 39:25 How perps could sneak their way into traditional finance 📉 41:43 Whether perps are a better instrument than futures 🧠 50:51 Why James thinks we’re heading into an altcoin ETF summer 📥 56:01 How liquid staking is critical in the context of ETFs with staking 📈 1:05:06 Why the S&P 500 keeps hitting all-time highs ⚠️ 1:07:43 Ram lays out the risks of 1% interest rates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Juli 1h 16min

Fill out our short Unchained survey and earn a chance to win a FREE one-year subscription to Bits + Bips Premium 😏 ------------------------------------------------- Lido just rolled out one of the most ambitious governance overhauls in DeFi: a dual governance system designed to give power back to stakers—and make it harder for malicious proposals to pass. But what does it actually do? And could it make Lido the safest place to stake ETH? Hasu, a strategic advisor at Lido, and Lido co-founder Vasiliy Shapovalov join Unchained to break it all down. How the dual governance model works Whether this dilutes LDO token value What this means for DeFi, and if others will follow Whether this might get institutions off the sidelines Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Bitwise Guests: Hasu, Strategic advisor to Lido and Strategy lead at Flashbots. Vasiliy Shapovalov, Co-founder of Lido Unchained: Lido DAO Enables Dual Governance, stETH Holders Can Trigger ‘Rage-Quit’ Mode Learn more about the topics discussed: How Liquid Staking Works What Are Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) in Ethereum? What Is Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and How Does It Work on Blockchains? What Is Distributed Validator Technology? Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro 🧩 2:07 What problem Lido’s new governance model is actually solving ⚙️ 7:33 How dual governance works—and why it’s such a big shift 🚀 15:32 Why Hasu says this changes everything for Lido 🧠 22:20 What the team had to weigh when designing the system 🛡️ 30:26 How Lido built in resistance to attacks 📉 32:02 Whether this system weakens the value of the LDO token 🗳️ 38:58 How they’re thinking about fixing DeFi’s voter apathy problem 🏦 45:29 Whether institutions will see this as a positive sign and embrace stETH 🌐 48:01 How this compares to Sky’s “emergency shutdown”—and whether DeFi will follow suit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Juli 57min

Win a free one-year subscription to Bits + Bips Premium by completing our survey!  The state of Texas just passed a law that creates a $10 million strategic Bitcoin reserve. Laura talks to Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, who helped drive this new law. He explains how bipartisan support made it possible, why this might be the start of a broader trend, and what’s next for public Bitcoin ownership in the U.S. We get into: The logic behind the $10 million number Why custody and compliance are key Whether California or Illinois could ever do something similar And how other states are reacting Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! FalconX Ledn Guest: Lee Bratcher, President and Founder of the Texas Blockchain Council Links: Texas Blockchain Council Bloomberg: Texas Gov. Abbott Signs Bill to Create State Bitcoin Reserve Unchained: Senator Cynthia Lummis on Why Crypto Now Has Bipartisan Support Timestamps: 🎬0:00 Intro 🏛️ 2:12 How the idea for a $10M strategic Bitcoin reserve became law in Texas 💰 5:42 Why lawmakers settled on $10 million—and what that number really means 🔐 8:59 How Texas plans to custody its bitcoin, and why it matters 📉 10:59 Why the bill includes language about using derivatives for BTC 🏦 12:12 What exchange the state might use to actually buy the bitcoin 🗳️ 14:59 Who owns crypto in Texas—and whether politics play a role 🤝 18:05 Why Bitcoin isn’t such a partisan issue in the Lone Star State 🧡 22:20 How Lee Bratcher got orange-pilled into Bitcoin 📜 24:38 Why Lee thinks the Lummis-Gillibrand bill could pass, and the future of bitcoin bonds 🌎 27:45 Which state might be next to adopt a Bitcoin reserve law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Juni 55min

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’re joined by Vlad, the leverage legend behind Lighter, a zk-powered DEX taking aim at Hyperliquid in the rising CLOB wars. We unpack the new Token Transparency Framework from Blockworks and whether self-regulation can fix crypto’s disclosure problem. Should VC wallets be public? Are market-making deals legally risky? And why do most projects still say nothing? Plus: Vlad explains how Lighter uses zero-knowledge proofs to enforce fairness and fight toxic flow—without harming retail. And Circle’s stock goes full meme mode, TikTok retail piles in, and Robert reveals he’s short. Is crypto finally growing up—or just evolving its chaos? Show highlights 🔹 Token Transparency Framework Debated – Blockworks’ 40-point voluntary disclosure system sparks industry-wide discussion on what teams and investors should reveal 🔹 Disclosures vs. Reality – Most projects don’t lie—they just don’t publish. The real problem isn’t fraud, it’s silence 🔹 VC Wallets Stay Dark – Debate over whether investor wallet addresses and cost bases should be disclosed; consensus: team vesting should be public, investor holdings still a gray area 🔹 Exchange Listings & Disclosures – Exchanges are considering using the transparency framework to prioritize listings, creating pressure for teams to comply 🔹 CLOB Wars Continue – Lighter joins the battle against Hyperliquid with zk-proven verifiability and zero-fee trading for retail 🔹 Lighter’s Architecture Edge – Built as a ZK L2 on Ethereum, Lighter pitches composability + security vs. Hyperliquid’s standalone stack 🔹 Fighting Toxic Flow – Instead of cancel-order tricks, Lighter adds subtle latency and fee mechanics to penalize HFT bots without harming retail 🔹 Dark Pools for DeFi? – Vlad teases ZK-based private order flow as a future feature, merging institutional behavior with onchain guarantees 🔹 DEX Future = Specialization – Vlad predicts no single winner: future DEXs will specialize in niches—memecoins, structured products, prediction markets 🔹 Circle Becomes a Meme Stock – Robert discloses his short position as retail pumps Circle to an $80B FDV off TikTok hype and the Genius Act tailwinds ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Guest ⭐️ Vladimir Novakovski, CEO & Founder of Lighter Token Transparency by Blockworks: https://blockworks.co/token-transparency  Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:49 Token Transparency Report by Blockworks 04:17 Token Disclosures 08:52 Challenges and Future of Token Transparency 23:22 Circle Mania Continues 25:06 Circle Valuation and Market Reactions 30:15 CLOB Wars 36:52 Technical Architecture and Verifiability 47:04 Market Structure and Future of DeFi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26 Juni 51min