The Chopping Block: Tom Lee the New Saylor? DAT Consolidation, Token Wrappers Under Fire - Ep. 893

The Movement Labs scandal exposed more than just one bad deal –  it pulled back the curtain on a widespread problem in crypto: how some market makers, founders, and VCs play games to make money — whether the project succeeds or not. In this episode, Laura speaks with José Macedo of Delphi Labs, Omar Shakeeb of SecondLane, and Taran Sabharwal of STIX to explain: How market makers are supposed to work, and how they operate in crypto Why insider selling is more common than you think How projects like Movement, Mantra, and others exploit launch day hype Whether VCs often enable this behavior with side deals that retail never hears about And what the industry needs to do to fix this broken system Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Bitwise José Macedo, founder at Delphi Labs Omar Shakeeb, cofounder of SecondLane Taran Sabharwal, founder and CEO of STIX. Movement Labs: Unchained: How MOVE’s Contracts Put a Pump and Dump Into a Legal Agreement CoinDesk: Inside Movement’s Token-Dump Scandal: Secret Contracts, Shadow Advisers and Hidden Middlemen Market making: The Chopping Block: Can Crypto Clean Itself Up? Market Structure, Trust, and Regulation  Mantra Founder Is Burning 150 Million Tokens. Would He Try to Get Them Returned? ZachXBT Ties REEF Founders to OM Token Crash Timestamps: 👋 0:00 Intro 🤝 1:51 What Omar’s and Taran’s companies do 🎭 3:40 How market making works and how crypto twists the model ⚠️ 9:35 Why crypto’s market maker incentives are broken by design 🛠️ 16:25 What it would take to fix shady market maker behavior 🚩 26:20 How some founders exploit launch day hype to dump on retail 🧠 38:11 Did Mantra’s JP pull off a “genius” move or manipulate the market? 🔍 42:22 Whether crypto traders do any research before apeing in 💸 52:48 How founders are incentivized to dump their own tokens 🏦 59:09 Why VCs may be fueling this problem with insider deals 📉 1:02:37 What crypto needs to learn from traditional finance ✅ 1:06:13 The biggest fixes the industry must prioritize to stop these scams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Maj 1h 17min

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and special guest Evgeny Gaevoy of Wintermute break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: the $38M Move token dump exposes the shady side of market making, with shocking incentives that blurred the line between liquidity support and pure exit liquidity. We dig into what really happened, why major VCs looked the other way, and how the entire token launch playbook might be broken. Evgeny joins to give the market maker’s perspective — and to answer the question: how many more of these sh*t shows are still lurking beneath the surface? Show highlights 🔹 $38M Token Dump Exposed – How Movement Labs’ shady deal with Web3Port revealed the dark side of crypto market making. 🔹 Market Makers or Exit Liquidity? – Inside the incentive structure that let a market maker dump tokens and split profits with the foundation. 🔹 VCs Looked the Other Way – Why top investors backed Movement Labs despite red flags — and what it says about crypto due diligence. 🔹 Rushi Gets Fired – The Movement Labs CEO is out after weeks of denial. But was the rest of the team complicit too? 🔹 Wintermute’s Evgeny Speaks Out – The biggest market maker in crypto weighs in on shady deals, dump mechanics, and transparency failures. 🔹 Airdrops, Float Games, and Retail Rugging – We dissect how token launches get manipulated behind the scenes — and who really pays. 🔹 The Case for Disclosure – Why Haseeb argues crypto needs mandatory public disclosures for market making agreements — before regulators step in. 🔹 Self-Regulation or SEC Crackdown? – Can the industry grow up on its own… or are we begging for another wave of securities enforcement? 🔹 Crypto’s Trust Crisis – Without transparency, the entire token model risks collapse. This episode lays out how to fix it. ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Guest ⭐️ Evgeny Gaevoy, Founder and CEO at Wintermute Inside Movement’s Token-Dump Scandal: Secret Contracts, Shadow Advisers and Hidden Middlemen by Sam Kessler  🔗https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/04/30/inside-movement-s-token-dump-scandal-secret-contracts-shadow-advisors-and-hidden-middlemen  Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:19 Movement Labs Scandal: Inside the Market Maker Mess 06:26 How Crypto Market Making Really Works 10:54 Rigged from the Start? 17:25 Who Knew What? Movement Labs and the Industry Fallout 25:57 Why Crypto Needs a Market Maker Disclosure 34:45 Transparency vs. Manipulation 38:02 Do Market Makers Control Token Prices? 51:51 The Crypto Market Structure Bill: What’s at Stake 59:18 Can We Fix Crypto Before It Breaks? HostsDisclosuresLinks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Maj 1h 4min

The crypto industry is fixated on the U.S. Senate. On Thursday, lawmakers failed to advance the GENIUS Act, the most significant federal stablecoin bill to date. But the story isn’t over.  Behind the process is a drama about potential presidential conflicts, shifting political alliances, and unresolved policy questions. In this episode, Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association and Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and CLO of the DeFi Education Fund, break down: Why the bill stalled but isn’t dead yet The role Trump’s crypto ties are playing Whether Democrats who once backed crypto are turning away Why advocates are still pushing for a deal this year Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com FalconX Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off Mantle Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and CLO of the DeFi Education Fund Timestamps: 👋 0:00 Intro 📉 2:01 Why the Senate blocked the vote but the bill isn’t dead yet 🔄 5:17 Why some pro-crypto Democrats suddenly flipped ⚖️ 8:08 Key differences between the two competing GENIUS Act proposals 🔄 14:18 Whether lawmakers are starting to shift their crypto stances 🤝 16:05 Can the Senate overcome divisions and get this across the finish line? 🏛️ 18:14 How Trump’s crypto ties are shaping the legislative battle ⏳ 20:46 Is the August deadline already slipping out of reach 📝 22:39 Combining stablecoin and market structure bills  🎉 25:59 Why Kristin says it’s a relief not to have to deal with Gensler anymore Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Maj 28min

On Thursday, Coinbase announced its acquisition of Deribit in a $2.9 billion deal, the largest merger in the crypto industry to date. In this episode, Owen Lau, executive director and senior analyst at Oppenheimer, delves into why Deribit was such a coveted prize, what this deal means for the global derivatives landscape, and how Coinbase is using its position as a public company to cement its dominance. Plus: The importance of Coinbase paying mostly in stock and barely touching its cash How the derivatives market dwarfs spot trading, and is only getting bigger What this means for CME and smaller crypto exchanges And how Base, Coinbase’s L2, fits into the long game 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 Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off Mantle Guest Owen Lau, Executive Director and Senior Analyst at Oppenheimer Timestamps: 👋 0:00 Intro 📢 2:26 What this record-breaking $2.9B deal really means for crypto 🔥 4:39 Why Deribit was the most sought - after acquisition target in the space 📊 5:59 How the derivatives market became bigger than spot — and what’s next ⚔️ 10:16 What this move signals for CME and how the competitive landscape shifts 🛡️ 12:08 Will this deal make crypto safer for everyone? 💸 16:28 Why Coinbase used mostly stock and why that matters 📈 18:59 How the deal changes Coinbase’s revenue outlook going forward 🚀 22:15 Whether Coinbase is building the “WeChat of the U.S.” financial system 🔗 24:32 The role of Base in Coinbase’s future  🤝 25:48 Why M&A is heating up across crypto right now ⚖️ 27:35 How ongoing regulatory uncertainty still casts a shadow 🧠 28:12 What investors should keep in mind when evaluating the risks and rewards 📰 30:40  Crypto News Recap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Maj 42min

Crypto doesn’t reward fundamentals. It rewards attention. So what does that say about how investors, like Warren Buffett, would fare today? In this week’s Bits + Bips, the crew dissects what’s really behind this rally, why Ethereum’s sentiment problem may run deeper than roadmap delays, and how the stablecoin bill turned into a political tug of war. Plus: Apple and NFTs: why this matters more than people think Whether tariffs are about politics or actual policy Why Bessent is “the best” in the Trump administration And why Buffett’s era may be ending, with Portnoy rising in his place 😬 Sponsor: Bitwise James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida Katalin Tischhauser, Head of Research at Sygnum Bank Macro  Bloomberg: Trump Suggests Some Trade Deals May Come as Soon as This Week -  Asymmetric Market Update™️ #29 May 2025 Newsletter: A Trade Breakdown - Lyn Alden Stagflation bears are wrong? Reuters: Dollar slips as Taiwan dollar surge sparks revaluation talk WSJ:  Tariffs Threaten Semiconductor Supply Chains, Chip-Equipment Maker Warns Bessent’s oped: Trump’s Three Steps to Economic Growth Buffett on Tariffs Buffet: The Natural Course of Government is to make Currency worth less overtime ETH pivot Unchained:  Ethereum Gave Away Too Much for Too Long. Will Its Pivot Be Enough? Ethereum Ecosystem Shifts Toward User Focus Ethereum Developers Vote EOF Out of Fusaka Hard Fork Vitalik Buterin Proposes Replacing Ethereum Virtual Machine The Block:  Vitalik and new Ethereum Foundation co-executive directors outline updated board structure, mission Vitalik Buterin- and StarkWare-backed Kakarot reveals alternative Ethereum ZK stack, targeting real-time STARK proofs on Layer 1 by end of 2025 CoinDesk: Ethereum Could Supercharge Transaction Speed to 2,000 TPS Thanks to Bold New Proposal Simplifying the L1 by Vitalik Buterin Stablecoin bill: POLITICO: Why the Senate crypto bill is in turmoil Latest on the Senate's "GENIUS Act" by Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy  Timestamps: 🚪 0:00 Intro 👋 1:01 Katalin’s background 📦 3:40 The real motive behind tariffs, according to Katalin 😬 11:43 What the market is forgetting to price in 🇪🇺  18:57 How Europe views Trump’s trade moves 🤝 21:33 Trump thinking that U.S. companies are cutting bad deals with China 🧠 26:04 Why Bessent’s op-ed made waves, and why Alex calls him the smartest in Trump’s crew 📉 29:13 The collapse in U.S. manufacturing employment, despite a surge in production 🧓 33:12 Buffett’s exit and his old-school take on tariffs in a new-school market 🌀 39:46 Will Ethereum’s pivot actually improve the price? ⚖️ 51:28 The impact of the political mess around the stablecoin bill 💸 53:53 Ripple’s attempted Circle acquisition and why Ram wouldn’t touch XRP 🍎 1:00:43 Importance of Apple quietly opening the door to NFTs and crypto sales 💱 1:03:34 What’s up with the Taiwanese dollar 💻 1:06:05 Why adding tariffs to chips could backfire big time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Maj 1h 8min

After years of underperformance, Ethereum is trying to change course, from scaling the layer 1 to potentially dumping the EVM. In this episode, Tarun Chitra and Max Resnick break down each of these new changes, analyzing the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Is this a reset that can save Ethereum’s market position and price? Or has the protocol given away too much for too long? They dive into: Whether the gas limit increase changes everything What went wrong with Ethereum’s economics and solo staking politics Max’s view on “the single most important” change Ethereum needs to make How ETH could claw back value from layer 2s What Max would do if he ran Ethereum Whether this pivot is too little, too late Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Bitwise https://bitwiseinvestments.com/ciomemo Tarun Chitra, CEO and Co-Founder of Gauntlet Max Resnick, Lead economist at Anza Unchained:  Ethereum Ecosystem Shifts Toward User Focus Ethereum Developers Vote EOF Out of Fusaka Hard Fork Vitalik Buterin Proposes Replacing Ethereum Virtual Machine The Block:  Vitalik and new Ethereum Foundation co-executive directors outline updated board structure, mission Vitalik Buterin- and StarkWare-backed Kakarot reveals alternative Ethereum ZK stack, targeting real-time STARK proofs on Layer 1 by end of 2025 CoinDesk: Ethereum Could Supercharge Transaction Speed to 2,000 TPS Thanks to Bold New Proposal Simplifying the L1 by Vitalik Buterin Timestamps: 👋 0:00 Introduction 🛠️ 2:05 Why Ethereum had to pivot and what triggered the urgency 📈 7:16 Why raising the gas limit could actually be a big deal 💻 9:12 Whether Ethereum devs are too idealistic ⚡ 19:02 How Solana managed to outperform Ethereum at the base layer 👨‍🏫 24:09 Why Max feels Vitalik’s proposals focus on outdated technology  🔧 27:57 The growing gap between Ethereum research and its execution clients 👍 35:02 The ONE thing Max thinks Ethereum is doing well ⚖️ 40:38 Did “credible neutrality” push Ethereum down the wrong path? 🌀 48:23 Will the new Ethereum R1 rollup succeed?  🔀 52:53 What the new updates mean for layer 2s and their value proposition 📉 1:02:58 Whether ETH is finally due for a price reversal 🎯 1:09:12 Why Ethereum should take a page from Trump’s strategy playbook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Maj 1h 28min

The MOVE token collapse sparked one of the most damning investigations in the industry this year. In this episode of Unchained, investigative journalist Sam Kessler joins Laura Shin to walk through the contracts, questionable market-making deals, and finger pointing inside Movement Labs. From Binance’s ban to a Trump-affiliated crypto deal, this story unearths how the MOVE token collapse was the product of what looks like a pump-and-dump plan written out in legal contracts. Plus: How insiders structured deals to profit from artificial price spikes How this could have happened with a project backed by some of crypto’s most reputable VCs What this saga says about token launches, regulation, and market integrity And whether Movement Labs can (or should) be trusted to investigate itself Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com FalconX Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off Mantle Sam Kessler, Deputy Managing Editor for Tech and Protocols at CoinDesk CoinDesk: Inside Movement’s Token-Dump Scandal: Secret Contracts, Shadow Advisers and Hidden Middlemen Trading for MOVE will be suspended on Coinbase Timestamps: 👋 0:00 Introduction 🕵️‍♀️ 1:52 Initial details of the scandal ⚖️ 6:20 Conflicts of interest at Movement Labs and who knew what 💥 8:42 Why 5% of tokens = 50% of supply and why that’s wild 🧾 13:14 How a lawyer called the deal “the worst agreement I’ve ever seen” 🚫 18:41 Why Binance banned Web3Port after suspicious trading 🧩 20:38 The web of key players: founders, shadow advisors, and middlemen 🧠 25:51 A theory on treasury selling and token price manipulation 🔍 27:49 Can Movement Labs investigate itself, and will anyone trust the outcome? 📉 29:39 Why Coinbase is suspending MOVE and what that signals 🇺🇸 30:47 How Trump’s crypto arm is tangled up in the MOVE ecosystem 📰34:15 News Recap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Maj 45min

While it’s been a calmer week in the markets (thank God!), there’s a lot to talk about! This week on Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart, Ram Ahluwalia, and Steven Ehrlich, along with guest Charles Edwards of Capriole Investments, dive into: Whether it’s time to be bullish on all crypto assets Whether a Trump put actually exists The risks behind bitcoin treasury companies like the new Twenty One Capital Why Solana ETFs might not be the smash success people expect The controversial invite to the White House for $TRUMP holders Why there’s a big disconnect in the markets Bitwise James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida Steven Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained Guest: Charles Edwards, Founder of Capriole Investments Twenty One: Recent coverage of Unchained on Twenty One:  Why Twenty One Capital Is More About Volatility Than Bitcoin Twenty One Aims to Buy as Much Bitcoin as Possible. Can It Succeed? Press Release: Tether, SoftBank Group, and Jack Mallers Launch Twenty One, a Bitcoin-native Company, Through a Business Combination With Cantor Equity Partners Does The Market Still Control Trump? Donald Trump’s chaos has left investors with frayed nerves 4 of the Mag7 Reporting This Week Big Tech’s Earnings Problem Is Estimates May Be Way Too High $TRUMP Trump's Meme Coin Dinner Contest Earns Insiders $900,000 in Two Days Other:  ​​Apollo slides Timestamps: 👋 0:00 Introductions 🧠 3:22 Is the market controlling Trump or is Trump controlling the market? 📈 8:51 Can investors trust it if there’s a positive earnings season? 🚚 14:13 How tariffs are hitting supply chains and consumer goods 🏛️ 19:25 Is Twenty One Capital a threat to MicroStrategy? ⛏️ 31:19 What is the future of bitcoin miners? ⚡ 34:42 Will the Bitcoin corporate flywheel eventually break? 🔥 43:31 Can Solana holding companies follow MSTR?  🇨🇦 48:19 Wen Solana ETFs? \Poor early trading trends in Canada 🤔 53:50 Is there a silver lining to $TRUMP? 📊 1:06:30 Bitcoin strength: time to be bullish? 🌍 1:14:24 Macro wrap-up with tariffs, rate cuts, and global market risks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 Apr 1h 26min