Bankless Weekly Rollup: Market Uncertainty, Trump’s “Bullish” Plan, ICOs Return, Uniswap Fee Switch, JPM Coin, and Crypto Privacy Season

Podcast: Bankless
Host: Ryan Sean Adams (RSA)
Guest: Tom Schmidt (TS) – Partner at Dragonfly VC
Date: November 14, 2025

Episode Overview

This “Weekly Rollup” covers a jam-packed week in crypto: market uncertainty, Donald Trump’s proposals to “bullish” the U.S. economy, Coinbase’s new ICO platform, Uniswap’s historic fee switch, JP Morgan debuting a deposit token on Base, and a wild “privacy season” as Zcash surges and a privacy wallet dev gets sentenced to prison. Host Ryan Sean Adams and guest Tom Schmidt dig into macro perspectives, policy, and tech developments, blending humor, industry insight, and skepticism.

1. Market Uncertainty & Sentiment Check

Summary:
With the U.S. government shutdown over, markets remain choppy. Crypto hasn’t had its typical “euphoria” bull run, leaving veterans questioning the cycle’s fate.

Key Points

• Macro overhang: The U.S. government borrowed $619 billion during a 43-day shutdown, re-igniting deficit spending fears.
  [03:09] RSA: “The only thing that never stops the US government, and that’s deficit spending.”

• Current prices:

  • Bitcoin: $1,900, down 1%
  • ETH: $3,312, down almost 0.1%
    [04:26]

• Technical analysis note:

  • If BTC closes below its 50-week MA twice, the “bull market is over” (per analyst Ben Cowen). It’s teetering on this level.
    [05:40] RSA: “If we close below that number, Ben says the bull market’s over. Do you believe in this stuff?”

• Sentiment divided:

  • “Brain says we go up… but the gut says it’s over because crypto is a self-fulfilling asset class.” [06:11]
  • TS: “There’s this strong sort of trend-following component in crypto… I encourage people to zoom out a little bit. On a multi-year time horizon, it’s hard to deny the trend.”
  • Neither host nor guest feel the “drunken euphoria” indicating cycle tops.
    [09:20-09:47] RSA: “These markets don’t end… until there’s drunken euphoria. And I never felt the drunken euphoria. Did you feel it?”

2. Trump’s “Bullish” Economic Ideas: 50-Year Mortgages & Tariff Dividends

50-Year Mortgages

• Proposal: Trump suggests 50-year mortgages (up from 30) to lower monthly payments for new homebuyers.
  [11:06] RSA: “He tweeted this on Nov 8th… Lower monthly payments for all the millennials, all the Gen Zs who can’t afford a mortgage.”

• Reactions:

  • Skeptics: “More money to bankers.”
  • Others: “It’s optional—could be used for greater investment returns elsewhere.”

Quotes

[12:17] TS:

“I don’t really love the idea of the government being prescriptive about what financial services or products should be offered... Ultimately this doesn't really solve the kind of issue with housing in the U.S., which is like you didn't build enough.”

[13:19] RSA:

“Right now, the median age of a first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is 40 years old. You slap a 50-year mortgage on that, you’re 90!”

$2,000 “Tariff Dividend” Stimmy Checks

• Proposal: Trump floated a $2k per citizen check funded by tariff revenues, recalling COVID-era stimulus.
  [15:25] RSA: “Like, stimulus check—rather than off the deficit, we’re just going to issue stimmy checks and juice the economy that way.”

Quotes

[16:15] TS:

“Credit to the man. You learn something works, and you’re probably going to keep running it back until it stops working. People love free money, and they don’t ask questions about where it came from.”

3. Privacy Season: Zcash’s 4,000% Rally & Privacy Developer Prosecution

Zcash’s Sudden Pump

• Insane rally: Zcash erased 8 years of downside, surging from $50 to $750 in weeks.
  [20:08] RSA: “Zcash is on a run. Some people have called this privacy season in crypto.”

• Speculation: Potential “cabal” (Arthur Hayes, Balaji, Barry Silbert, Tyler Winklevoss) hyping privacy. New tech (intents, wallets) increase DeFi liquidity for Zcash.
  [21:13-22:26]

Quotes

[21:13] TS:

“When people talk about the most hated rally, this is exactly the kind of chart I imagine where everyone is totally caught offsides… That’s how you get these kind of spikes.”

• Winklevoss launching “Cypherpunk” Zcash DeFi debt:
  [23:04] RSA: “We got a debt, another debt, it’s a Zcash debt… The narrative around this is basically Zcash is encrypted bitcoin.”

• Zcash now dominates private TVL metrics—market shifting away from Ethereum’s privacy pools.
  [25:12] RSA: “Zcash has about 60% of the total value locked inside of shielded transactions.”

Privacy Tech & Regulatory Chilling Effect

• Ethereum’s counterplay: Multiple privacy R&D initiatives (“Kohaku” wallet, EF roadmaps).
  [26:12]
  [27:47] TS on censorship-resistance: “Unless you really embed something at the kind of core layer… that’s always going to be the way the industry leans.”

• DEXs and CEXs blacklisting Zcash from shielded pools (e.g., Binance ban)

Samurai Wallet Case: Privacy Dev Sentenced to Prison

• Context: Keone Rodriguez, Samurai Wallet dev, gets 5 years for “unlicensed money transmitting.”

• Industry chilling message: Even building “non-custodial” tools can lead to prosecution; legal guidance is ambiguous and fragile.
  [31:51+] [33:41] RSA: “It still seems like it’s whatever the DOJ wants to prosecute, and right now… they’re backing off a little bit, giving these projects breathing room. But… if they change their mind, I don’t know that anyone’s safe.”

• TS on lessons: Developers need clarity or risk “ruined lives… people want very clear rules. It just gets more and more important.”

4. Uniswap Turns On the Fee Switch

What Happened?

• Historic proposal: Hayden Adams proposes turning on protocol fees—collected fees will now burn UNI tokens, finally creating a meaningful revenue link for token holders.
  [34:59+] RSA: “This is the when fee switch. This is what we’ve been asking for… all fee switch. Complete alignment, complete direction in the form of revenue and fee burns to the UNI token.”

  • Includes retrospective burn of 100 million UNI tokens.

Market Impact

• Sentiment shift: Renewed faith in DeFi token economics and teams keeping long-term promises. [41:11] RSA: “Restores a little bit of belief… We’ve been drifting into nihilism around DeFi tokens. This was fantastic news.”

Quotes

[37:21] TS:

“Huge respect for Hayden. This is like an extreme Chad move that, honestly, I was very pleasantly surprised by… I’m hoping a lot more teams follow their footsteps.”

• DAO Structure Debate:

  • Critics: “Re-centralizing” under Labs, undermining DAO ethos.
    [43:32] RSA: “Mark Zeller from Aave… said I’m not so hyped by Uniswap dropping the governance theater to recentralize things under Labs.”
  • Hayden: Only “minimum viable governance” left; day-to-day management shouldn’t be on chain.
    • [45:44] Hayden’s fiery response to former SEC staffer Amanda Fisher:

      “F you for thousands of wasted hours of my life.”

• TS on governance:

  “Narrow DAO is the right model. You want a little bit of a loop where the team operates, and token holders weigh in on big decisions.” [43:32]

• Revenue model:

  • Uniswap will use burns, not staking or VE-tokenomics, keeping it “left curve, right curve,” simple and robust.
    [39:58] TS: “Burn is kind of time-tested… The VE model becomes a distraction, people just build wrappers on top… Uniswap shipped the best AMM possible by keeping it simple.”

5. ICOs Return: Coinbase Launches Token Sale Platform

• Coinbase launches “ICO” (token sale) platform (first up: Monad L1, $2.5B FDV). First time since 2018 U.S. retail can widely participate. [49:59+] RSA: “They’re launching a token sales platform… For the first time since 2018, retail users in the United States can widely participate… They must see that it’s open season.”

• Tom Schmidt explains:

  • It’s an Echo (ex-Kobi’s “crowdsale” protocol) acquisition.
  • “Airdrop farming is toxic—this is better for getting ownership to individuals who add value.” [52:00-53:13]

• Regulatory implication:

  • If Coinbase is doing this, the “storm clouds” from SEC scrutiny are clearing.
  • Speculation: Could Coinbase launch its own “Base” token on this platform? Will Circle, now a public company, follow?
    [54:05-55:03]

6. JP Morgan Coin and Bank Crypto Adoption

• JPM Coin launches on Base:

  • Not a “stablecoin”—it’s a bank deposit token, fractionally backed, available only to institutions, not DeFi accessible. [57:36+]
    RSA: “JP Morgan is the biggest bank in the U.S., and they’re doing this on a public, open blockchain.”

  • TS skeptical:

    “In DeFi, what’s worked is either true stablecoins or tokenized real assets. This feels like the worst of both—fractional reserve but no DeFi integration.” [57:36]

• SoFi Bank to offer retail crypto trading (BTC, ETH, SOL), first national bank post-OCC greenlight.
  [59:23] SoFi CEO: “This morning we’re launching… the opportunity to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.”

• TS perspective:

  • Most TradFi firms fail at real crypto, but Robinhood and CashApp are examples of “meaningful revenue” models.

7. Crypto Geopolitics: National Stablecoins, State Hacking & Bitcoin Stockpiles

Kyrgyzstan’s Gold-Backed Stablecoin

• Kyrgyzstan launches a gold-backed, USD-pegged stablecoin (collateralized by gold reserves, not treasuries).
  [61:29+]

• RSA speculation:

  • Will the U.S. tolerate these? What if Russia or China makes similar moves to circumvent SWIFT?

• TS doubts real traction:

  • Not as useful as open stablecoins—liquidity, mint-redeem, and trust lacking.
    [63:21] “Doesn’t really feel like it has any of those features…”

• Broader theme: More countries may start stablecoin projects as USD dominance is envied globally.
  [64:40]

Nation State Crypto Hacking?

[65:06+]

• RSA “tinfoil” scenario:

  • China accuses U.S. of seizing $13B in Bitcoin (from pig butchering scam), possibly with hacking.
  • Suggests the possibility of states racing to “hack and hoard as much crypto as possible” as strategic reserves.

• TS skeptical, but raises wrench attack/social engineering as likely culprit over sophisticated hacks.

8. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On euphoria and the state of the cycle:
  [09:20] RSA: “These markets don’t end… until there’s drunken euphoria. And I never felt the drunken euphoria.”

• On Uniswap’s Fee Switch:
  [37:21] TS: “Huge respect for Hayden. This is like an extreme Chad move that, honestly, I was very pleasantly surprised by.”

• On DAO governance:
  [43:32] TS: “You want a little bit of a loop where the team operates, and for big decisions, token holders can make those decisions collectively.”

• On U.S. legal climate:
  [45:44] Hayden Adams (via RSA): “F you for thousands of wasted hours of my life.”

• On government charges impacting devs:
  [34:18] TS: “The DOJ bringing charges, even if you’re innocent, can still cost millions and ruin your life.”

• On strategic state-level Bitcoin hacking:
  [66:58] TS: “I’m a little bit skeptical of this story… Occam’s razor: there’s always a simpler answer.”

9. Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00–04:26] – Brief intros, macro market recap, shutdown
• [04:26–09:47] – Weekly prices, technicals, cycle theories
• [09:47–16:15] – Trump’s 50-year mortgage & tariff dividend
• [20:08–27:47] – Privacy season, Zcash surge, privacy wallet devs
• [29:13–34:59] – Legal crackdown & chilling effect on privacy tech
• [34:59–43:32] – Uniswap’s fee switch & tokenomics implications
• [43:32–46:49] – DAO governance, regulatory debate
• [49:59–55:03] – Coinbase ICO platform, Base token speculation
• [57:36–61:29] – JP Morgan Coin on Base, SoFi bank integration
• [61:29–67:35] – Crypto geopolitics, sovereign stablecoins, state hacking
• [67:35–end] – Wrap up and closing remarks

10. Tone & Takeaway

The conversation is direct but optimistic, laced with dry humor and skepticism of hype and shallow solutions—rooted in a deep understanding of cycles and policy. Both hosts stress the need to “zoom out” and stay focused, even as the market’s direction feels uneasy. Big moves (Coinbase ICOs, Uniswap fees, TradFi banks launching coins) might mark a regime change for crypto, but regulatory and geopolitical risk remain potent. The push-pull between central entities (banks, states, CEXs) and crypto’s cypherpunk roots is more vivid than ever.

End of Summary – For those who missed the episode, this recap catches you up on all the crucial discussion points, controversies, and power plays shaping a pivotal week in crypto.