Unchained23 Feb 2025

The Chopping Block: Crypto’s Worst Week? Bybit Hack, Libra Scandal, & The Memecoin Reckoning - Ep. 788

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: Bybit’s $1.5B hack, likely by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and the Libra scandal, where Hayden Davis exposes the memecoin playbook. Meanwhile, Dave Portnoy rugs Greed and Greed 2, Kanye’s YZY token leaks, and the LA Vape Cabal collapses. But crypto markets hold strong, and the SEC just dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase. Is this the end of the memecoin era? We break it all down. Show highlights 🔹 Bybit’s $1.5B Hack – Largest crypto hack in history, linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. CEO Ben Zhou handled it masterfully, securing a bridge loan to cover outflows. 🔹 Hayden Davis & the Memecoin Playbook – Argentina’s Libra token scandal exposed the insider trading behind celeb-backed coins. Hayden Davis spills the playbook on Coffeezilla. 🔹 Portnoy’s Pump & Dump – Barstool’s Dave Portnoy rugs his own followers with Greed and Greed 2, then mocks them. 🔹 The Memecoin Bubble is Popping – Sentiment shift: retail realizes the game is rigged. Memecoins may finally be out of steam. 🔹 Kanye’s YZY Coin? – West’s team accidentally leaks a memecoin plan. Will it even launch, or is it DOA after the Libra scandal? 🔹 The LA Vape Cabal Collapses – Once a driving force in memecoins, this underground group falls apart after links to Kelsier Ventures are exposed. 🔹 Regulatory Winds Shift – SEC drops its lawsuit against Coinbase. Crypto enforcement pivots from good actors to actual fraud. 🔹 Crypto Holds Up – Despite chaos, the market remains resilient. Infrastructure tokens are seeing renewed interest. Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly Disclosures Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:41 The Largest Crypto Hack in History 03:03 Bybit's Response and Industry Reactions 04:51 North Korea's Involvement and the Aftermath 18:06 Hayden Davis & LIBRA 30:50 Meteora & the Solana Universe 33:34 Downfall of Memecoins 39:58 Hypocrisy of Celeb Coins 47:00 Regulatory Changes and the Future of Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(1147)

Uneasy Money: Who Owns Stolen Crypto? The $71M Fight Testing DeFi Limits

A legal battle over frozen KelpDAO hack funds is forcing DeFi to answer questions it has long avoided. Thank you to our sponsors!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Coinbase One: Get 20% off the first year of your ...

9 Maj 1h 14min

Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer on Why He Believes the Clarity Act Will Pass

Coinbase's chief policy officer explains why the bank lobby failed to kill stablecoin rewards — and what 'workable compromise' actually means for crypto users. =======================================...

8 Maj 34min

DEX in the City: With the Stablecoin Yield Compromise, Can the Clarity Act Get Passed?

Seven lawsuits blame OpenAI for enabling a mass shooting. Could the same legal theory come for DeFi? Thanks to our sponsor! Coinbase One Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual pla...

8 Maj 39min

A16z Crypto Raised $2.2 Billion for Fund 5. Here's How They Plan to Deploy It

From AI agents as economic actors to quantum threats and prediction market regulation, Ali Yahya of a16z lays out the investment thesis behind a16z crypto's fifth fund. ==============================...

7 Maj 55min

Why Wrapped Energy or Compute Will Be the New Store of Value: Bits + Bips

Missiles in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent jumps 5%. Bitcoin breaks through $80. The Bits + Bips crew reads the geopolitical tape — and explains why crypto is shrugging it off. --- Thank you to our spo...

7 Maj 1h

Ben Fielding: Gensyn, Decentralized AI, and the Prediction Market That Settles Itself: Bits + Bips

A prediction market trades on outcomes. An information market trades on knowledge. Fielding makes the case for the latter. --- Heads up! If you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe to Bits + Bips, sin...

3 Maj 50min

After April's $606 Million in DeFi Hacks, What's the Fair Value Yield Rate?

$606 million in DeFi exploits in one month. Two of the space's sharpest risk thinkers debate whether lenders are being paid anywhere close to enough. =================================================...

3 Maj 1h 6min

Pump.fun’s $370M Burn Was a Mistake, Says Luca Netz: Uneasy Money

Pump.fun set fire to $370 million in tokens. Luca lays out the airdrop math that says they should have done the opposite. Thank you to our sponsors!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ MultiChain Advisors is an emerging...

1 Maj 1h 14min