Unchained

Gold is hitting new highs. Bitcoin is struggling to keep up. And once again, the “digital gold” narrative is being put to the test.On today’s episode of Bits + Bips: The Interview, host Steve Ehrlich sits down with Steve Sosnick, Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers, to break down why bitcoin still trades like a risk asset, why gold keeps winning in moments of market stress, and what crypto must prove to close the credibility gap.

From rising bond yields to geopolitics and Fed independence, this conversation cuts through the noise to explain what’s really driving markets right now.

Hosts:


Steven Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Guests:


Steve Sosnick, Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers

Links:

Should You Buy Gold or Bitcoin? Here’s How to Think About It

Bitcoin Rebounds After Trump’s Truth Social Post Eases Tariff Fears

Crypto Slides on Tariff Fears as Gold Breaks Above $4,850

Why Gold Rose and Bitcoin Tumbled on Japan Bond Turmoil

Supreme Court casts doubt on Trump’s power to fire Fed official without proper review

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Fuse: The Energy Network

MultiChain Advisors

Trove Markets crashed at launch after a hyped ICO. X has pulled the plug on the InfoFi meta. Farcaster has been absorbed.

In this packed Uneasy Money episode, hosts Luca Netz, Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan delve into how Trove's crash suggests that crypto's ICO struggles persist. Kain suggests X's move to block out InfoFi applications is “bullish” for the platform and the crew explores what's next for decentralized social media along with the takeaways from Farcaster's run.

They also discuss the pervasiveness of wallet poisoning scams, why Cosmos is struggling despite its good tech and why Paradex's rollback suggests that crypto's “code is law” ethos may be dying out.

Don't miss out on how Luca nearly got wrapped up in the Trove drama and Tay's tips to spot suspicious projects. Plus, why Kain thinks two people building with AI could succeed where Farcaster failed.

Hosts:


Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins


Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix


Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask

Links:

Uneasy Money: ICOs Are Back and Why Airdrops Are Instantly Dumped

X Bans Incentivized Posting Apps, Prompting Shakeup in Crypto Engagement Platforms

Linda Xie on How Mini-Apps Are Helping Farcaster Take on Web2 Social Media

Ethereum Sets New Activity Record as Network Upgrades Pay Off

Paradex Rollback Raises Hard Questions After Pricing Glitch Triggers Liquidations

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This week the boys break down the Crypto Clarity Act's dramatic Senate markup with Coin Center's Peter Van Valkenburgh, covering developer liability concerns, tokenized securities language controversy, the banking industry's war against stablecoin yield.

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. Tarun's out this episode, but we're joined by Peter Van Valkenburgh, Principal of Policy at Coin Center and one of the sharpest legal minds in crypto.

This week, we're diving deep into the Crypto Clarity Act drama that has DC in chaos mode. What started as crypto's best shot at comprehensive regulation just hit a major roadblock when Coinbase pulled their support hours before the Senate markup. We'll break down the developer liability questions around "control" definitions, the tokenized securities language that has Brian Armstrong fired up, and the stablecoin yield restrictions that have banks and crypto companies at each other's throats.

Peter gives us the inside scoop on what's really in this 200-page bill, why Polymarket odds crashed from 80% to 40%, and whether this legislative train wreck can still get back on track. Let's get into it.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights

🔹 Coinbase pulls support for Crypto Clarity Act hours before Senate markup, citing "defacto ban" on tokenized equities

🔹 Peter Van Valkenburgh explains developer liability concerns and how "control" definitions could impact DeFi protocols  

🔹 Debate over whether the bill actually kills tokenized securities innovation or just restates existing law

🔹 Banking industry fights to restrict stablecoin yield payments, fearing deposit flight and profit compression

🔹 Tom breaks down multiple loopholes in yield restrictions that could easily be exploited through rewards programs

🔹 Robert argues banks are protecting oligopoly profits while stifling consumer choice and competition

🔹 Peter warns that fighting over yield could jeopardize crucial developer protections like the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act

🔹 Polymarket odds for bill passage crash from 80% to 40% as political tensions escalate

🔹 Discussion of sanctions obligations for DeFi frontend operators and application layer providers

Hosts

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Guest

⭐️Peter Van Valkenburgh, Executive Director of Coin Center

Disclosures

Links

Senate Banking Nears Vote on Digital Asset Market Structure by Peter Van Valkenburgh & Jason Somensatto & Lizandro (Laz) Pieper

https://www.coincenter.org/senate-banking-nears-vote-on-digital-asset-market-structure/ 

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:36 Clarity Act Panic

04:46 Peter's Expert Take: Why This Bill Matters

10:16 Developer Liability

19:36 Sanctions Compliance

27:03 Tokenized Equities Fight

35:42 Great Yield War: Banks vs. Stablecoins

45:11 Will Clarity Survive?

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Thanks to Mantle for supporting the pod—and launching the Global Hackathon 2025 with $150k in prizes, VC mentorship, and access to 7M+ Bybit users.

Your next big idea could go live here

The New York Stock Exchange just announced that it has developed a platform for the trading of tokenized equities with plans to unlock 24/7 trading for users.

In this DEX in the City episode hosts Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos and Vy Le are joined by Superstate General Counsel Alex Zozos to unpack the implications of NYSE's move and how tokenization could reshape markets.

Are traditional financial grants facing an Existential crisis? And will tokenization make most regulatory regimes redundant?

Plus, Zozos explains why all tokenized equities are not the same.

Hosts:

Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos

TuongVy Le

Guests:


Alex Zozos, General Counsel at Superstate

Links:

NYSE’s Tokenized Trading Push Marks a Quiet Win for Crypto

Inside Robinhood’s Big Super App Plan: ‘There’s Still a Lot of Work to Be Done’

JPMorgan Launches Tokenized Money Market Fund on Ethereum

Vy's paper on the evolution of capital markets

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Thank you to our sponsor, Walrus!

Crypto intelligence platform Nansen has rolled out an AI trading agent, aiming to let users complete the full trading lifecycle—from discovery to execution—within a single platform. But the move also heralds a new horizon for trading and investment, one potentially filled with interesting possibilities.

In this episode of Unchained Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik unpacks what the AI agent does, the end game, the opportunities and the hurdles.

Can Nansen AI do for trading what Anthropic's Claude is doing for coding? And will humans soon be able to work without being glued to a screen?

Listen to find out!

Guests:


Alex Svanevik, Co-founder and CEO at Nansen

Links:

How the x402 Standard Is Enabling AI Agents to Pay Each Other

GOAT: How AI Agents Talking Turned Into a $268 Million Memecoin ‘Religion’

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