Unchained: 2025 Crypto Year in Review, Part 1: Shit Talking Edition (Ep. 990)

Date: December 26, 2025
Host: Laura Shin
Guests: GWRT ("Gort", host of The Gort Show) & Doug Kolkatt (Co-founder of Fogo & Ambient Finance)

Overview

This episode is pure entertainment: Laura Shin gathers Gort and Doug to irreverently recap the wildest crypto stories of 2025. No deep technical dives—just sharp wit, candid takes, and plenty of "shit talking" about meme coins, hacks, scandals, and the latest trends in the cryptosphere. Listeners get a whirlwind tour of the year’s absurdities, cultural shifts, and the personalities that drove headlines—peppered with inside jokes from the crypto Twitter trenches.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump & Melania Meme Coins: The Absurd New Era

[02:06]

• The year kicked off with the shockwaves from Trump and Melania releasing their own coins right before inauguration, raising eyebrows even within crypto’s meme-obsessed corners.
• Doug: “I wasn’t convinced by the Trump coin, but the Melania coin came out. I was all in!” [02:56]
• Gort: “It was elucidating… crypto needed to align itself. I think it was sort of make or break.” [03:16]
• Serious undertone: Their full-throttle entry signaled a new political alignment and arguably foreshadowed muddying regulatory waters, but the event itself was pure spectacle.
• Memorable moment: Solana’s infrastructure survived the frenzy, proving its robustness.
  Laura: “Amazingly Sol did not go down… it was a gift to the industry.” [05:35]

2. Hayden Davis and the Libra Coin Fiasco

[05:55]

• Hayden Davis’ notorious role in launching the ill-fated Libra coin with Argentina’s president became legendary for its legal gray area and media circus.
• Memorable: Davis, despite being advised by “every single lawyer in the world” to stay silent, went on a rambling PR blitz in infamous sweaters. [06:35]
• Unclear legality: “It does seem like he pulled off this massive heist of sorts, and... It doesn’t seem like he necessarily did anything illegal.” —Gort [08:04]
• International intrigue: An Argentine attorney requested an Interpol red notice, but with Davis casually “walking around the Amman in Tokyo,” consequences seemed remote. [07:44]
• Laura: “He and SBF must have the same lawyer... but SBF is in jail and it doesn’t seem like this kid’s in jail, right?” [07:02]

3. The Bybit Hack & DPRK Devs: Record-Breaking Breach

[09:47]

• The largest hack in history—$2B+ stolen, North Korean devs implicated, shocking both for scale and brazenness (no test transactions, just full YOLO).
• Doug: “The level of paranoia is, like, crazy... at some point, you’re like, am I being too paranoid?” [10:43]
• Gort: “The CEO was on a livestream, like, maybe six hours afterwards... I was quite impressed with Bybit being able to cover this.” [13:04]
• Laura (re: North Korea): “Maybe the next few generations of these developers will be sitting pretty… getting palm fronds, fanning their faces.” [11:15]

4. Trump’s XRP/Cardano Reserve Tweet: Mainstream Misstep or Genius Pandering?

[14:24]

• Trump’s notorious tweet naming XRP, Solana, Cardano—but not Bitcoin or Ethereum—sparked derision and questions about influence peddling and Ripple’s lobbying.
• Gort: “It was another thing where we all get behind Trump... and then this is what ends up happening. Kind of like, oof.” [15:08]
• Inside baseball: Ripple lobbyists orchestrated the inclusion; Solana was added just to legitimize the list.
  Laura: “Ripple apparently wanted Solana to be in the tweet to make it look more legit.” [17:41]

5. Lighthouse Crypto Summit & FIFA Coin Sideshow

[18:58]

• Coverage of the Lighthouse Summit derails as speakers focus on wild side projects (FIFA Coin pitches, gold trophy reveals), muddling crypto’s “legit” aspirations. [19:32]
• Gort: “We were all trying to watch this livestream and... the whole first 30 minutes was about the FIFA thing.” [19:35]

6. HyperLiquid’s Meteoric Rise—and Mild “Scandals”

[21:15]

• HyperLiquid led the “revenue meta” with buybacks and serious fee generation, defying cynicism and spawning a new category of DeFi competitors.
• Doug: “It was a very cynical year… HyperLiquid is the one coin where people weren’t cynical about.” [22:39]
• Gort: “Buybacks and the way HyperLiquid generates fees and turns around and creates value… There was somewhat of a paradigm shift.” [23:21]
• Jeff (HyperLiquid founder) becomes meme fodder: “He does look like a trustworthy guy.” —Doug [26:54]
• Noted for limited comms and a “less is more” style, boosting user trust. [27:01]

7. James Wynn & the Cult of the CT Hero

[27:26]

• James Wynn, enigmatic trader-turned-meme, rises and disastrously falls after leading a wild meme coin, accepting donations, and self-destructing on Twitter Spaces.
• Memorable: “It just seems like a recurring thing… CT picks a hero, thinks he’s amazing, and then… ends up your hero’s passed out on the lawn with his pants over his head.” —Doug [28:29]
• Gort: “At one point… he was up over $100 million… that’s an amount of money where you really can just move to an island forever. It just all went down to zero.” [30:45]

8. Ethereum Foundation (“EF”) Turnaround—Or Just Market Cycles?

[32:36]

• Discussion over whether leadership changes led to Ethereum’s resurgence; debate over the real drivers (ETF, Tom Lee, institutional buying) rather than internal reform.
• Gort: “I don't think that the price action or reemergence of Ethereum has anything to do with the turnaround at the EF… It’s just a function of market oscillations.” [32:47]
• Doug: “I don't know how many ETH holders could actually name an executive director of the EF.” [34:31]

9. Circle IPO: Stablecoin Mania Meets TradFi Rollercoaster

[37:29]

• Despite Arthur Hayes’ warnings, Circle’s IPO initially soared, riding the stablecoin craze—but settled near IPO price after unlocks.
• Gort: “Circle was the first to really market itself and also have momentum in equities markets... but it's also dumped a lot.” [38:32]
• Laura: “The day of the IPO... 82. ...reached a high of about 263. ...as of this moment, it's at 84.” [39:54]

10. Robinhood Chain Launch: Flash, Controversy, & L2 Wars

[40:28]

• Robinhood’s slick Ethereum L2 debut (not Solana as many expected), triggered speculation over technical merit vs. “pay-to-play” incentives.
• Gort: “We overthink the tech they choose... Robinhood will go wherever they can make the most money.” [43:11]
• Laura: “They can make money being the sequencer for the L2 and they can’t do that on Solana.” [44:09]
• Memorable event: Vlad Tenev driving in a sports car for the event’s intro. [40:28]

11. BASE and Creator Coins: The Web2 Monetization Debate

[45:37] to [56:29]

• Coinbase’s “creator coin” push (on BASE) sparks dialogue about the real utility and ethics of monetizing influence.
• Gort: “We can all see the vast majority of this is just so clearly fabricated… There’s not like anything. The actual fans aren't showing up and buying creator coins.” [50:39]
• Laura: “I actually have no doubt that there will be something like this that becomes a thing… but I just think it’s a little bit early now.” [56:29]
• Doug, on Trump Coin: “He’s only getting paid 400k a year to be president. He’s got to monetize somehow.” [52:09]

12. DAT Mania & MicroStrategy’s Playbook

[57:53]

• “Wrapped” DeFi Asset Tokens (DATs) became mania—most now underwater. Only MicroStrategy’s approach has even a thin plausible long-term narrative.
• Gort: “What Saylor did is somewhat unique to what Saylor can do… not necessarily extendable to… altcoin DATs.” [58:51]
• Doug: “Normally I’m the guy who’s really optimistic… You can see from a security perspective, I’m just like—why would they risk putting their bitcoin in a place where they could lose a bunch?” [61:47]

Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

• Melania Coin “sold it” for true believers: Doug [02:56]
• “It nuked all liquidity out of everything.” —Gort on meme coin mania fallout [03:16]
• “Every lawyer would have told him not to say a word. And he went on and said very many words.” —Gort, on Hayden Davis’ media spree [06:35]
• “The CEO was on a livestream… six hours afterwards… I was quite impressed.” —Gort on Bybit hack [13:04]
• On XRP tweet: “Trump literally just tweeted it… out of the blue… didn’t mention Bitcoin or ether.” —Laura [15:43]
• “Buybacks… paradigm shift… revenue meta, which is hilarious… but for crypto, it's the first widespread example.” —Gort, on HyperLiquid [23:21]
• “The reason that Solana was included was to make it seem more legitimate to crypto people.” —Laura [17:41]
• James Wynn saga: “CT picks a hero, thinks he’s amazing, and… ends up your hero’s passed out on the front lawn with his pants over his head.” —Doug [28:29]
• “Solidity lessons for orphans in Namibia.” —Doug, mocking some EF initiatives [34:26]
• “Creator coins quickly devolved into meme coins, right?...” —Gort [47:49]
• On Dats: “I’m not sure if any of these DATs are real or… should be dignified.” —Doug [57:53]
• On Saylor strategy: “He hopes to become Goldman Sachs, but denominated in bitcoin.” —Gort [60:47]

Episode Structure & Segments

• [00:01] Show open, disclaimers, and first silly banter
• [02:06] Meme Coins – The Trump & Melania era
• [05:55] Hayden Davis & legal antics
• [09:47] Bybit hack – What really happened?
• [14:24] Trump’s XRP/Cardano surreal tweet
• [18:58] Lighthouse Summit & FIFA Coin sideshow
• [21:15] HyperLiquid and the “revenue meta” boom
• [27:26] James Wynn, meme heroes, and CT idol collapse
• [32:36] EF/Ethereum turnaround—real or market noise?
• [37:29] Circle IPO – Stablecoin TradFi dreams
• [40:28] Robinhood Chain event – Flash and controversy
• [45:37] BASE, creator coins, and monetization debates
• [56:29] Mania in DATs, MicroStrategy, long-term narratives

Tone and Style

• The conversation flows candidly, channeling crypto Twitter’s irreverent, meme-laden, and mildly cynical energy.
• No one is spared: industry icons, political figures, and protocol founders all get roasted equally.
• Occasional moments highlight real trends, but the vibe is overwhelmingly “don’t take ourselves too seriously.”

Summary Takeaway

If you missed the memes, Twitter sagas, and scandalous FOMO loops of 2025, this episode delivers them all—uncensored and unvarnished. It’s a jokey, sometimes biting audit of where crypto culture is: obsessed with coins, hacks, and personalities—and still wondering what of it all actually matters.