Bankless

Ejaaz is back with David to unpack the whirlwind effects of President Trump’s $70B memecoin launch, which slammed 400K fresh users onto Solana and shattered revenue records in under 30 hours. Meanwhile, a $500B federal boost to AI—backed by OpenAI and SoftBank—has everyone on edge about how crypto’s AI agent economy might ride this newfound momentum. On the protocol front, Arc’s Rake framework and AI16z’s curated Eliza ecosystem are both stepping up, incubating projects like SoulGraph and Listen that promise a more user-friendly DeFAI future. Virtuals keeps shipping at breakneck speed too, testing new multi-chain waters, instituting a bold buyback, and hinting at metaverse collabs that could reshape gaming for good. From automated DeFi positions and trading dashboards to fully autonomous NPCs that commentate (and maybe soon play) your favorite games, the lines between AI and crypto are getting blurrier—and more exciting—by the day. Buckle up as the AI agent revolution continues to redefine what “on-chain” can really mean. Ready for the ride? ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax  🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty  ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle  🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo  🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin  ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/20  ----- TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 0:50 Trump’s Memecoin & $MELANIA https://x.com/cryptopunk7213/status/1880974772990832780   https://x.com/DiamondHandsDig/status/1880979832445780107   13:52 The Stargate Project…$500B AI U.S. Investment & OpenAI Agents https://x.com/OpenAI/status/1881830103858172059 https://www.axios.com/2025/01/21/openai-davos-kevin-weil-ai-agents  23:09 Virtuals goes multi-framework https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1881340149503857151  https://x.com/NickDGarcia/status/1880275667809374597   30:54 Indie.fun  https://x.com/indiedotfun/status/1879518209293918434  36:16 First AI Agent DOTA2 Stream https://x.com/ethermage/status/1879900384019517522  38:39 Agent tank demo of agent performing TA on a chart https://x.com/AgentTankLive/status/1881786054593925159   42:22 Ai16z demo day  https://x.com/0xwitchy/status/1880244340561441238  46:44 ARC announces initial agent projects launching on its framework RIG, soulgraph  https://x.com/LiquidLizard_/status/1880068692261675228  1:00:20 AI Agent Playground Grows https://x.com/nifty_island/status/1880258049149128749  1:03:19 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures 

Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital, joins us to unpack all the craziness that's gone down this week around the inauguration. Alex had the opportunity to attend the Crypto Ball and spend the weekend in DC so he gives us the inside scoop among all the other exciting developments. Alex on X - https://x.com/intangiblecoins   ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙 FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax  🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty  ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle  🌐 CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo  🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin  ----- TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Inaugration Recap 04:23 Ross Ulbricht Is Free 20:42 TRUMP Token Launch 37:27 The Crypto Ball 44:00 Pro Crypto SEC 50:05 Tornado Cash Updates ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠ 

In this episode of Bankless, Samara Cohen, BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of ETFs and Index Investments, discusses how ETFs and blockchain are revolutionizing finance. We explore Bitcoin and Ether ETFs as bridges between crypto and TradFi, blockchain's role in market modernization, and how ETFs enhance transparency and diversification. Cohen also shares insights on upcoming regulations and the importance of education in driving crypto adoption. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24  https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙 FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax  🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty  ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum    🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle  🌐 CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo  🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin  ------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/18?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E  ------ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Intro 00:06:59 Role of Market Modernizer 00:09:12 Blockchains and ETFs Future 00:12:54 "Blackrock" Blockchain? 00:16:09 ETF Progress Check 00:19:22 Bitcoin & Ether ETFs Updates 00:24:08 Blackrock on Cryptos/ETPs 00:27:47 Blackrock's Research Audience 00:29:26 2025 ETF Predictions 00:33:21 Blackrock's Effect on Options 00:36:06 Options Unlock Opportunities 00:40:28 "Price is Best Marketing" 00:42:42 Upgrading ETF Protocols 00:44:49 Blackrock’s Other ETFs Plan 00:54:11 New Administration Impact 00:58:11 Blackrock's 2025 Outlook 01:00:30 Digital Assets & ETF Teams 01:03:33 Samara's Next Guest 01:05:55 Samara on 2025 Excitement 01:09:02 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Samara Cohen https://www.linkedin.com/in/samara-epstein-cohen-9a661b76/  Black Rock Research Paper https://www.blackrock.com/institutions/en-us/strategies/diversified-strategies   ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures ⁠ 

This week’s episode dives into the evolving landscape of crypto as we approach a new administration. We discuss Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency and what it could mean for markets, analyze the recent market turmoil despite positive economic indicators, and break down the SEC’s case against Elon Musk. We also explore Sony’s controversial L2 launch and Tether’s move to El Salvador. Finally, some an exciting new privacy tool teams up with Coinbase.  ------ 📣 0x | Start building with 0x v2 https://bankless.cc/0x  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax  🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty  ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle  🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo  🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin  ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/17?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 00:00:00 Start 00:02:34 Markets https://macromostly.substack.com/p/bls-jobs-report-recap-december-95c  https://business.bofa.com/en-us/content/market-strategies-insights/weekly-market-recap-report.html  https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/15/cpi-inflation-december-2024-.html  00:11:45 Strong Jobs Report https://imgur.com/MxHgOOe 00:18:28 SEC Sues Elon Musk https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1879305674594865284  https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1879322286291054653  https://x.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1879319142303498579  https://decrypt.co/301226/sec-appeals-ripple-ruling-seeks-reversal-on-xrp-classification  00:29:26 3 Days Until Trump Takes Office https://x.com/Polymarket/status/1879957585748734158  https://blockworks.co/news/trump-assembles-2025-cabinet  https://x.com/QuintenFrancois/status/1879093846493012042  00:36:24 What If Kamala Won? https://x.com/BillHughesDC/status/1877740571831193697  https://x.com/katiebiber/status/1877783826442723365  00:41:59 Sony Launches ETH L2 https://soneium.org/en/blog/soneium-mainnet-is-live   https://x.com/a1lon9/status/1879038646231429332  https://x.com/0xKawz/status/1879032105767928026  https://x.com/donnoh_eth/status/1879210463952818472? t=jlmQ8W1KoPgZSEzfP9oq4g&s=19  https://x.com/0xbreadguy/status/1879176334372401191?s=43&t=2ZINVXJQKx6xO_6Wiiu_2g  https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1879560670150017068  00:51:30 Coinbase uses Morpho for Bitcoin Loans https://x.com/coinbase/status/1879902780564951530  https://www.coinbase.com/blog/now-get-a-USDC-loan-without-selling-your-bitcoin  00:53:58 Aevo Moves To EigenDA https://x.com/aevoxyz/status/1879728286093479947  00:56:22 Veil.Cash Uses Coinbase https://x.com/Veildotcash/status/1877827571926053220  01:03:05 An Update From RSA https://blockworks.co/news/berachain-pre-launch-liquidity  https://tether.io/news/tether-licensed-in-el-salvador-strengthening-focus-on-emerging-markets-and-innovation/  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠