Unchained Podcast: Bits + Bips – Could Blackrock Someday Feel Compelled to 'Fire' Bitcoin Core Devs?

Host: Austin Kim Campbell
Guests/Co-hosts: Nick Carter, Rahm Aliwalia, Chris Perkins
Date: February 11, 2026

Episode Overview

This lively episode of Bits + Bips (formerly on the Unchained feed), hosted by Austin Kim Campbell with co-hosts Rahm Aliwalia and Chris Perkins, features special guest Nick Carter. The crew explores the fallout from the recent market crash, Bitcoin’s increasingly institutional future, the looming specter of quantum computing, AI’s intersection with crypto, and the narrative (and practical) shifts around development and governance in the Bitcoin ecosystem. A recurring question: As institutional capital grows dominant, could players like BlackRock ultimately force changes in Bitcoin by sidelining core devs who fail to address existential threats?

Major Themes & Key Discussion Points

1. Market Crash and Macro Risk Sentiment

• Market Recap: The group begins with a breakdown of the recent Feb. 5th market crash affecting bitcoin, stocks (the “Mag 7”), metals, and more.
  [Timestamps: 03:46–13:47]

  • Bitcoin briefly broke toward $60k—one of the worst cross-asset drawdowns in years.
  • Theories include de-risking spillover from a crowded “debasement” trade and forced liquidations among hedge funds, particularly via IBIT ETF options.
  • No single “smoking gun” catalyst emerges (e.g., a specific fund blowing up), echoing past market “credit crunch” cycles.

• Nick Carter:

  “It’s hard to say whether we see this feeling of pessimism throughout the industry now, whether that’s persuading the bitcoin holders to sell or not. Certainly bitcoin has become this kind of institutional asset—a careful what you wish for thing, where it’s much more exposed to global macro trends.”
  [11:17]

• Rahm Aliwalia:

  “This is a highly crowded market that’s been unwinding… When [’Mag 7’ has] so much market cap, when it leaks capital, we’re talking trillions and trillions of dollars relative to any other asset class.”
  [15:52]

2. Market Structure Shifts: From OGs to Institutions

[Timestamps: 10:50–16:56]

• Crypto cycles involve older holders timing tops and distributing to newer entrants.

• Institutional trading, exemplified by ETF flows and derivatives, now dominates crypto price action.

• Pro-cyclicality is intensified by both leveraged retail and institutionals; as intermediaries mature, volatility may persist but could structurally dampen over time.

• Chris Perkins:

  “It feels like a time of violence... In time, as institutions come in and intermediaries provide those buffers, we’re bound for a number of different violent moves.”
  [08:25]

3. Quantum Computing: Existential Risk and Bitcoin Governance

[Timestamps: 18:26–36:27]

• Risk Perception: Even if actual quantum risk is debated, the perception among institutional allocators is slowing new allocations.

  • Institutions “need to see” a plan; it’s no longer about pure ideology.

• Development Bottleneck: Bitcoin upgrades are rare and slow; institutional capital may not tolerate dev inertia forever.

• Nick Carter:

  “Navigating quantum transition [for] Bitcoin will take the better part of a decade. What it’s mostly about is starting early so that you can transition before the threat becomes material... you could address the root issue… or at least the perception.”
  [18:26, 28:21]

  “If you’re BlackRock and you have billions of dollars... and the problem’s not being addressed, what choice do you have?... This, if unaddressed, would lead to a corporate takeover, a successful one.”
  [34:13, 33:49]

• Chris Perkins:

  “The question comes up on every single IC now... I’m going to invest in Bitcoin—Whoa, whoa, whoa. Do we know what’s going on with quantum?”
  [22:28]

• Rahm Aliwalia: (on the timing skepticism)

  “Early is wrong. ...We’re too early on quantum driving real impact in the next couple of years... I’m more on the kind of skeptic camp on quantum from a timing perspective.”
  [26:02]

4. Bitcoin Governance: Institutions vs. “Monastic” Devs

[Timestamps: 28:21–36:27]

• Core devs historically resisted outside pressure—now, facing existential risks, the “monastery” model could break.

• Carter predicts if devs continue to ignore major threats (quantum, for instance), institutions could “fire” them by directing capital elsewhere and bootstrapping new development teams, essentially a “corporate takeover.”

• Nick Carter:

  “There’s a huge gulf between capital and core devs, which there’s always been... In the modern era of bitcoin there has never needed to be a critical change, but now there might be.”
  [28:21]

• Host (Austin):

  “If you’re like a proponent of Bitcoin and want mass adoption, I don’t think your personal opinion on quantum matters—I think enough asset allocators are telling you it matters that you address it or you slow it down.”
  [27:10]

5. Crypto Token/VC Model: The End of an Era

[Timestamps: 43:22–54:10]

• Solana/Hyperliquid Market Drama: Kyle Samani’s public criticism of both Solana DEXs and Hyperliquid marks an inflection point in how “VC-backed L1 token” speculation is viewed.

• Discussion around the Multicoin shakeup shows “liquid token” strategies are losing their novelty and attractiveness. The “boring,” cash-flowing crypto businesses—like infra and fintech—are now where the VC action is.

• Nick Carter:

  “The token side of the industry is basically over in its current form... The VC-backed, flashy L1 token side is done. And what’s left is the boring stuff—boring stuff that creates value.”
  [44:45, 49:19, 51:37]

• Chris Perkins:

  “You can take that wrapper and you can wrap a security, a bond, tech and call it crypto native... The more centralized you are, the better you can deal with [existential] problems.”
  [31:26, 32:44]

6. AI, Quantum, and the “Physical Atoms” Thesis

[Timestamps: 55:52–66:01]

• Macro Focus: Elections in Japan, sector rotations away from US “Mag 7” stocks, and new capital flows into emerging/index value.

• AI’s Acceleration: All agree the AI transformation is real, with Campbell and Carter waxing on the “super-exponential” improvement in model capabilities.

  • Carter is “bullish” data centers, less so model companies per se.
  • Content market: Top creators will survive; mediocrity will drown in AI-generated “slop.”

• Nick Carter:

  “Most of my net worth is in AI... It’s bigger than the Industrial Revolution at this point... I’m not worried in the slightest.”
  [58:15, 59:40]

  “The top 1% of content creators are going to ascend to a different dimension of being incredible and the mediocre ones will be drowned in slop, but the good ones will do great.”
  [62:00]

• Rahm Aliwalia:

  “Age of abundance, productivity growth, never been a better time to be alive.”
  [59:40]

Noteworthy & Memorable Quotes

• Nick Carter:

  “If you’re BlackRock and you have billions of dollars of client assets in this thing and the problem’s not being addressed, what choice do you have?... They will get fed up and they will fire the devs and put in new devs.”
  [00:00 / 33:49]

• Chris Perkins:

  “Guess who else is going to show up? The agents. Right? That’s a brand new environment and they're coming.”
  [20:47]

• Austin Kim Campbell (Host):

  “If you’re like a Bitcoin core dev... I don’t think your personal opinion on quantum matters... enough asset allocators are telling you it matters that you address it or you slow it down.”
  [27:10]

Key Segment Timestamps

• 03:46 — Market Crash, ETF flows, risk-off context
• 08:06 — Perpetual derivatives and market structure changes
• 13:47 — Crowded 'debasement' trades and cross-asset contagion
• 18:26 — Quantum computing, timeline debates, Bitcoin upgrade challenges
• 28:21 — Perception vs. actual risk; need for a “roadmap”
• 33:49 — “Corporate takeover” scenario for Bitcoin core devs
• 43:22 — Hype, Solana, Hyperliquid, and end of VC-driven layer 1 speculation
• 55:52 — Macro: Japan elections, emerging market rally
• 59:40 — AI bubble, data centers, content creation/future of work

Final Thoughts & Emerging Insights

• Bitcoin at a Crossroads: The arrival of major institutional capital is clashing with the slow, insular governance model of core devs. If real or perceived existential risks (like quantum) aren’t addressed, Carter foresees institutional actors seizing more control.
• Venture Shift: Flashy token launches and crypto VCs are retreating; sustainable, utility-driven projects and tokenized real assets may dominate the next cycle.
• AI, Quantum, Macro: The fusion of AI, quantum, and crypto is accelerating technological change, shifting the axis of value toward physical and infrastructure plays (“atoms over bits”).
• Future of Crypto Market: More professionalized, more boring (in a good way), and likely to increasingly resemble traditional finance—unless a black swan event emerges.