Podcast
Bankless
Hosted by Bankless · EN
The Ultimate Guide to Crypto Finance. DeFi, NFTs, and cryptocurrencies. Level up. Go bankless.
255episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
EtherFi’s Next Act: Stocks, Loans, and Global Banking | Mike Silagadze
2d ago00:42:34Summary readyEtherFi is expanding from a crypto-native neobank into a broader financial account built around DeFi. Mike Silagadze joins David to break down the next version of the product, including tokenized stocks and metals, Aave V4-powered credit, yield-bearing balances, global fiat rails, and a much more normie-friendly experience.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartnerhttps://bankless.cc/bitkey✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOINhttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless---TIMESTAMPS0:00 EtherFi’s Next Act4:20 Stocks, Yield, and Credit9:48 Building Beyond the Crypto Casino16:05 Tokenized Assets and Aave V422:03 How EtherFi’s Lending Market Works26:32 EtherFi Summer and What Comes Next30:05 From Fiat Rails to Crypto Payments37:05 ETHFI Buybacks, Privacy, and the Endgame---RESOURCESMike Silagadzehttps://x.com/MikeSilagadze---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
ROLLUP: Bitcoin’s Fork Died in 2 Blocks | Saylor Sells Again | Robinhood Chain | Fidelity Staking
3d ago00:55:20Summary readyBitcoin’s latest fork died after just two blocks. Ryan and David unpack what the failure says about Bitcoin maximalism, why Saylor keeps selling BTC, Robinhood Chain’s breakout, and Fidelity’s push to bring staking yield to Wall Street.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartnerhttps://bankless.cc/bitkey✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOINhttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless---TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro3:21 Bitcoin Markets: Inflation, Gold, Saylor & the Bottomhttps://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2087525891911893362https://capitalwars.substack.com/p/china-restarts-her-great-debasementhttps://thedefireport.io/research/did-the-u-s-treasury-just-implement-a-qe-lite-policyhttps://x.com/saylor/status/208678555235586089522:12 Bitcoin’s Failed Forkhttps://x.com/ercwl/status/2086079471853985980https://x.com/lopp/status/2086512275012075811https://x.com/nic_carter/status/208610892168968221332:43 Robinhood Chain Takes #1https://x.com/AvgJoesCrypto/status/2086889992035717166https://dune.com/entropy_advisors/robinhood-chain-network-overviewhttps://x.com/vladtenev/status/208740774302835533640:46 FOMO vs Pumphttps://x.com/stacy_muur/status/2087206916447670564https://x.com/seyong/status/2087210357370577394https://www.bankless.com/read/the-pump-vs-fomo-rivalryhttps://fomo.family/45:39 Clarity Act Faces Troublehttps://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/2085543590583836678https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-08-11-whats-next-for-clarity-act-september-brings-tough-road-ahead-411465https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-08-11-sec-crypto-rules-token-safe-harbor-td-cowen-411455https://polymarket.com/event/clarity-act-signed-into-law-in-202647:55 Fidelity Bets on Staked ETHhttps://x.com/CoinDesk/status/208747556131662274553:00 Venice Revenue Keeps Climbinghttps://x.com/AustinBarack/status/2087336389654270398---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
NEAR’s New Token Utility and AI Economy | Illia Polosukhin
5d ago00:52:36Summary readyWhat if staking a token could keep an AI agent thinking? NEAR cofounder Illia Polosukhin joins David to explain NEAR’s new staking-powered inference model, where yield funds access to confidential and verifiable AI. They unpack how NEAR AI Cloud, IronClaw, Intents, and the NEAR token fit into one integrated economy for autonomous agents, why AI outputs may need cryptographic proof when money is at stake, and how GPU compute could become a liquid global market.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartnerhttps://bankless.cc/bitkey✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOINhttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless---TIMESTAMPS0:00 Private, Verifiable AI4:57 Why AI Outputs Need Proof9:13 From Staking Yield to Inference16:16 NEAR’s Integrated AI Stack20:01 NEAR as AI Money24:27 Autonomous Businesses28:51 Partners and Real-World Uses33:26 What NEAR Ships Next38:01 Where AI Value Accrues40:56 The AI Operating System48:07 Turning Compute Into a Market51:48 Closing Thoughts---RESOURCESIllia Polosukhinhttps://x.com/j0hnwangNear revenuehttps://revenue.near.org/---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
The EIP That Destroys DeFi | Stani Kulechov & Mike Silagadze
6d ago00:54:27Summary readyEthereum’s latest staking proposal is sparking backlash across DeFi. Aave founder Stani Kulechov and EtherFi CEO Mike Silagadze join David to break down why stake tapering could push ETH yield toward zero, weaken solo staking, drive capital out of DeFi, and make ETH less attractive to institutions. They debate Ethereum’s monetary policy, whether the network is overpaying for security, and why trying to make ETH more like Bitcoin could undermine what makes Ethereum valuable in the first place. Subscribe for more conversations from the frontier of crypto.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartnerhttps://bankless.cc/bitkey✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOINhttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless---TIMESTAMPSIntro 0:00 0:09 Ethereum’s Staking Debate2:41 Stani’s First Reaction7:48 Mike’s Centralization Concerns14:37 DeFi Under Pressure17:15 Stani on Yield and Cash Flow24:54 The Case for Vanilla Ether27:20 Mike Pushes Back34:27 Issuance and Monetary Policy35:16 Minimum Viable Issuance40:47 Institutions Need Predictability46:10 Conservative Yield, Not Zero47:46 Legitimacy and Process52:54 Final Verdict on the EIP---RESOURCESStani Kulechovhttps://x.com/StaniKulechovMike Silagadzehttps://x.com/MikeSilagadze---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
ROLLUP: The ETH Issuance War | $130M Coldcard Exploit | Saylor Sells Again | Uniswap Launchpad
1w ago01:06:57Summary readyEthereum’s monetary policy is suddenly up for debate. Ryan and David unpack the issuance fight dividing researchers and DeFi builders, the Coldcard exploit that hit users who “did everything right,” Saylor’s latest Bitcoin sale, and markets ripping back to all-time highs.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartnerhttps://bankless.cc/bitkey✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOINhttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless---TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro0:25 Markets, AI, and Bitcoinhttps://x.com/bulltheoryio/status/2084634593836372202https://www.vanityfair.com/story/anthropic-situational-awareness-wedding6:31 Saylor’s Bitcoin Selloffhttps://x.com/hedgeye/status/2084278278794117372https://x.com/zerohedge/status/2084247862833971631https://x.com/saylor/status/208431563771576357918:00 Ethereum Issuance Fighthttps://x.com/zoomerfied/status/2084641592615256254https://x.com/jdetychey/status/2084638778677751889https://issuance.wtf/https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2084685295484633349https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/2084925768711213105https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/2084667208668467574https://x.com/DCinvestor/status/2084971858311438688https://x.com/MikeSilagadze/status/208470307890990700039:59 Coldcard Wallet Drainhttps://x.com/itscoachgoodman/status/2083527082223563157https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/04/hackers-steal-over-130-million-by-exploiting-bug-in-offline-hardware-wallets/https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/05/coldcard-exploit-could-boost-demand-for-regulated-bitcoin-exposure-analysts-sayhttps://thedefiant.io/news/hacks/i-did-everything-right-coldcard-victims-recount-losing-life-savingshttps://x.com/EpsilonTheory/status/2083642741075124680https://x.com/lopp/status/2083575437599371321https://x.com/AriDavidPaul/status/2083591462726361235https://x.com/PeterMcCormack/status/208363173105229026152:00 Uniswap, Clarity, and Crypto Updateshttps://x.com/Uniswap/status/2084678603812274275https://polymarket.com/event/clarity-act-signed-into-law-in-2026/clarity-act-signed-into-law-in-2026https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/07/27/u-s-senate-puts-off-crypto-clarity-act-for-now-as-it-focuses-limited-bandwidth-elsewherehttps://x.com/Cloudflare/status/2084648084131242402https://x.com/NEARProtocol/status/2082879865385062520https://x.com/zerohedge/status/2084614210118426971https://x.com/arc/status/2084993791413678099---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
$ANSEM, Robinhood Chain, & Why SOL Still Beats ETH in 2026 | Mike Dudas
2w ago01:05:11Summary readyMemecoins were supposed to be a dead end, but Mike Dudas believes their deeper idea is only beginning to spread. The 6MV investor joins David to unpack Bonk’s role in reviving Solana, Ansem’s latest experiment, Robinhood’s push into the trenches, and how games, collectibles, prediction markets, and compute could power consumer crypto’s next chapter. Mike also answers the $1 million ETH versus SOL question, lays out Ethereum’s best strategic response, and explains why crypto’s slower progress may be setting up a more durable cycle. Subscribe for more conversations from the frontier of crypto.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartnerhttps://bankless.cc/bitkey✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOINhttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless---TIMESTAMPS0:00 Bonk at Solana’s Bottom7:07 What Gives Memecoins Value?13:45 The Ansem Experiment20:53 Are Memecoins Built to Die?26:19 Culture Goes Onchain29:45 Robinhood, Base, and the Trenches32:59 Better Assets, Better Cycles36:20 What 6MV Is Betting On38:21 The Consumer Crypto Comeback43:37 Compute Becomes a Market47:57 Crypto’s AI Diaspora50:53 SOL Versus ETH57:02 Cycles, Equity, and Tokens1:01:34 Why Crypto Takes Longer---RESOURCESMike Dudashttps://x.com/mdudas---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
The Next Bull Market is Here, and Obvious | Spencer and Aleks, Blockchain Capital
2w ago01:11:33Summary readyCrypto prices are weak, OG sentiment is exhausted, and institutions are leaning in. Blockchain Capital GPs Aleks Larsen and Spencer Bogart join David Hoffman to explain why this disconnect may be the opportunity. They unpack crypto’s shift toward application-layer value, stablecoins as onchain working capital, tokenized equities, Aave V4, public blockchains, and BCAP. Is the cypherpunk dream fading, or becoming the foundation of global finance?---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartnerhttps://bankless.cc/bitkey✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOINhttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless---TIMESTAMPS0:00 Buybacks, Burns and Tokenholder Trust5:47 Why Blockchain Capital Is Doubling Down14:38 Institutions Arrive as Crypto OGs Lose Faith21:03 From Infrastructure Scarcity to Abundant Blockspace30:24 What AI Can Learn From Crypto38:43 Stablecoins Become Onchain Working Capital44:41 The Stablecoin Revenue Multiplier47:40 Aave and Open Financial Infrastructure55:08 The Roadmap for Tokenized Equities59:41 Public Chains, Ownership and Compliance1:04:24 Blockchain Capital’s Tokenized Fund1:09:03 Bringing BCAP Fully Onchain---RESOURCESSpencer Bogarthttps://x.com/CremeDeLaCryptoAleks Larsenhttps://x.com/alekslarsen---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
ROLLUP: Korea Gets Liquidated | The AI Trade Unwinds | Crypto Holds Firm | Warsh Holds Rates
2w ago00:54:09Summary readyKorea’s leveraged stock boom imploded and the AI trade found a forced seller, but crypto held firm. Ryan and David unpack whether the winds are shifting toward BTC and ETH, Warsh’s hawkish Fed debut, and Ethereum’s 11th birthday.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless👑BANKLESS PREMIUM | AD-FREE & BONUS EPISODEShttps://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro0:17 Korea & AI Liquidationhttps://x.com/kobeissiletter/status/2082463897387257895https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2082792020993536283https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-did-south-korean-stocks-justhttps://www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-ai-bust-scenario-that-no-onehttps://x.com/tbpn/status/2082849965102219677https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/30/leopold-aschenbrenners-hedge-fund-is-facing-steep-ai-losses.htmlhttps://x.com/amitisinvesting/status/208286078424204940714:39 Crypto Holds Firmhttps://x.com/micro2macr0/status/2081868142230286664https://x.com/cryptunez/status/2081893515223535625https://x.com/blknoiz06/status/208256047595125178920:27 Warsh, Rates & Global Liquidityhttps://x.com/YahooFinance/status/2082538170533519741https://www.theblock.co/post/410092/fed-holds-rates-steady-three-officials-push-hike-crypto-market-stays-flathttps://thedefireport.io/research/can-the-economy-handle-rate-hikeshttps://x.com/AlexCorrino/status/2082667540090859698https://x.com/Barchart/status/2082683129681092931https://x.com/wallstengine/status/2082551083583541287https://capitalwars.substack.com/p/global-liquidity-and-cryptocurrencies36:47 Clarity Act Stallshttps://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/2082127523249262881https://polymarket.com/event/clarity-act-signed-into-law-in-2026/clarity-act-signed-into-law-in-2026https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/208219085733620548638:25 Ethereum Turns Elevenhttps://x.com/LefterisJP/status/2082771162942075080https://www.theblock.co/post/410083/ethereum-cypherpunk-manifesto-author-ethereum-foundation-fourth-board-memberhttps://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/2082437165233951223https://x.com/AyaMiyagotchi/status/208243787949448856644:35 Robinhood’s Mixed Quarterhttps://dune.com/entropy_advisors/robinhood-chain-network-overviewhttps://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/robinhood-chain-tops-solana-in-tokenized-stock-volume-via-memecoin-pairs47:52 New York’s Doxxing Scandalhttps://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2081740559694074248https://nypost.com/2026/07/27/us-news/mamdani-names-all-nyc-property-owners-who-could-be-hit-with-new-pied-a-terre-tax53:26 July Wrap-Up---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
What's Next for Vaults? | Steakhouse Co-Founder, Adrian Cachinero
2w ago01:04:48Summary readyVaults could become the financial rails that bring trillions onchain, but only if they solve risk, regulation and investor protection. Steakhouse co-founder Adrian Cachinero joins David to explain how vaults work, why repo markets matter and where this new asset-management layer goes next.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless👑BANKLESS PREMIUM | AD-FREE & BONUS EPISODEShttps://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro0:13 Vaults Explained2:27 Morpho and Vault Origins6:46 Vault Infrastructure Layers8:53 Curators and Control18:25 Risk Frameworks24:48 Risk Creep and Incentives32:51 Principal-Agent Tensions39:33 Safe Vaults Scale41:50 SEC and Regulation46:58 Two Vault Futures53:54 Distributors vs Curators59:21 AI Meets Vaults1:01:23 Growth and Challenges---RESOURCESAdrian Cachinerohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adriancachineroSteakhouse Financialhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/steakhouse-financial/---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary
Morpho Midnight: The Future of Fixed-Rate Lending | Paul Frambot
3w ago01:02:46Summary readyEvery lending protocol in DeFi quietly decides your interest rate for you. Paul Frambot thinks that was always a workaround and Morpho Midnight is his argument for what replaces it. Fixed-rate lending as the only true primitive, pricing trust on-chain, and the one switch Morpho won't flip yet.---📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACKhttps://bankless.cc/near-pod📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTShttps://thedefireport.io/bankless👑BANKLESS PREMIUM | AD-FREE & BONUS EPISODEShttps://bankless.cc/spotify-premium---TIMESTAMPS0:00 What Is Morpho Midnight?1:59 DeFi's Wrong First Shape7:18 The Only Real Primitive14:47 Inside a Midnight Market20:49 Openness Is the Advantage22:52 Order Books and New Curves30:01 Pricing Trust35:40 Stablecoins and What's Next37:13 Who Comes On-Chain Next42:18 Collapsing the Margin44:50 The Bankless Connection47:57 How Big by 2027?51:59 Hester Peirce on Vaults55:49 Who Takes the Liability?---RESOURCESPaul Frambothttps://x.com/PaulFrambot---Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Summary