Unchained Podcast Ep. 991: Landmark Regulation, ICOs, Downtober & Privacy — 2025 Crypto Year in Review (Part 2)

Host: Laura Shin
Guests: Doug Kolkat (Co-founder, Foco & Ambient Finance), Gort (Host, The Gort Show)
Date: December 30, 2025

Overview

In the concluding part of her annual review, Laura Shin is joined by industry insiders Doug Kolkat and Gort to dissect the second half of 2025, a year brimming with regulatory milestones, landmark ICOs, “Downtober” market crashes, privacy coin resurgences, and dramatic industry sagas. With candid anecdotes, sharp macro commentary, and memorable industry gossip, the guests break down what mattered, what surprised, and what they see coming for crypto. The episode balances sharp skepticism with industry-insider humor and a healthy dose of irreverence.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Genius Act: First US Crypto Law and Stablecoin Regulation

[02:19–05:52]

• Background: The Genius Act became the US’s first comprehensive crypto law, mainly affecting stablecoin issuers – notably prohibiting them from directly passing interest income to users.
• Doug’s Take: Sparked a “stablecoin season” that benefited overall adoption, but “there really wasn’t much besides Circle equity” for traders/speculators. XPL briefly filled this narrative, but it was largely a dull year for tokens.
  “Bad year for tokens.” – Doug Kolkat [04:04]
• Gort's Perspective: Aware of workarounds for the law (rewards via different contracts, etc.), but notes the obvious influence of traditional banking interests behind the scenes. Calls the interest retention provision anti-innovative:
  “It doesn't seem intuitive why we shouldn’t be able to just be directed yield... that is part of the appeal of stablecoins.” – Gort [04:23]

Memorable Moment:
“Employment act for lawyers. Like, they're always the people who make out the most in crypto.” – Doug Kolkat [05:32]

2. ICOs, Launchpads, and Pump/Bonk Drama

[05:52–12:29]

• Pump ICO & Let's Bonk: The highly anticipated Pump ICO was accompanied by a media campaign and competing launches (Let’s Bonk), but ultimately resulted in disappointment after a quick pump and persistent downward drift in token prices.
• Market Mechanics Discussion:
  • Novelty: Pump’s launch was unusually transparent and featured buybacks, but guests poked fun at the “circular” nature of fundraising and buy, reminiscent of traditional share repurchases but less substantive.
    “It’s a little bit of this circular thing... in the real world, when there’s equity ... there’s revenue, then net income, and then maybe share repurchases.” – Gort [10:04]
  • Crypto’s Bear Market: Secondary market activity and appetite for risk collapsed, with “down only” launches becoming the new normal.
• Elan on Thread Guy: The intersection of celebrity, meme culture, and token launches exemplified by high-profile endorsements and interviews with personalities like Thread Guy and Elan.

Timestamped Quote:
“The whole bonk thing seemed, like, quite fabricated. Although I am friends with quite a lot of those early bonk investors... I think they definitely put on, like, kind of a PR campaign.” – Gort [06:52]

3. Stripe Launches Tempo (Its Own L1)

[12:29–15:46]

• Stripe’s Blockchain Move: Stripe spun up its own chain (Tempo), allegedly backed heavily by Paradigm but with uncertain levels of real engagement from Stripe itself.
• Consortium Angle: Comparisons to Facebook’s Libra/DM; questions around whether Stripe is positioning as the ecosystem’s backbone or another player.
• Notable Discussion:
  “It’s not clear to me how much Stripe is all in on Tempo or if this is just one of many, many bets Stripe is taking.” – Doug Kolkat [13:02]

4. “The USDH Competition” — Governance Theater & DAO Politics

[15:54–20:54]

• The Drama: A much-hyped competition to select a native stablecoin was, according to all guests, a “preordained” affair with the winner decided by those with the most voting power.
• Decentralization Critique: The hosts call out “decentralization theater” in DeFi governance, comparing it to American democracy’s own imperfections. Ultimately, it’s capitalism/cronyism, not true competition, that prevails.
• Standout Laugh:
  “It’s, you know, what color Ferrari does the founder get? ... vote red and then the founder says, ‘no, yellow’ and then everyone votes yellow.” – Doug Kolkat [16:33]

5. Major Corporate Moves: Coinbase Acquires Echo & Up Only

[20:54–28:33]

• Coinbase’s Acquisition Strategy: $400 million for Echo, $25 million for a season of Up Only, plus “aqua-hiring” Kobe (who now helps with customer service).
  “You acquire somebody for $400 million so that they can do customer support for you? Clearly the best aquihire of the year.” – Laura Shin [21:49]
• Echo’s Vision: Kobe’s commitment to retail early investment access, though debate ensues on whether “early users should be investors.”
• Coinbase Customer Support Rant: Gort tells a story about lost USDT, demonstrating the persistent UX failings even at major exchanges.
• Memorable:
  “What does it say about Coinbase that...it’s taken one guy...to fix the problems we’ve screeched about for years?” – Gort [25:24]

6. Bitcoin’s All-Time High & the “1010 Liquidations” Market Meltdown

[28:34–43:01]

• BTC ATH ($126,000): Far below cycle expectations, but a historic milestone nonetheless.
  • “Down-only” returns after an optimistic "Udi 400k by EOY!" narrative.
• 1010 Liquidations Event:
  • A flash crash and mass liquidations across perps and derivatives that hit even the macro/old-school crowd.
  • Suspected market manipulation, regulatory/posture speculation, and Binance’s technical failings mixed in.
  • Doug: “I don’t think we’ll ever know exactly what happened on 1010.”
• Adoption Delayed: Gort laments volatility's dampening effect:
  “This is not ideal... We’re sitting here telling people, like, this is a store of value, and it goes down 15% in 30 minutes.” [36:02]
• Circuit Breakers in Crypto: Guests discuss if TradFi-style “timeouts” would help, but are uncertain how they’d work with cross-exchange hedging.

Memorable:
“Thanksgiving is always a bad time for crypto people.” – Doug Kolkat [40:28]

7. Privacy Coins Resurge — Zcash Narrative

[44:01–49:54]

• Unanticipated Surge: Zcash and other privacy coins post massive runs after years of neglect. Laura speculates about “Thread Guy’s tax panic” triggering the move; guests say it’s more generic narrative rotation and improved political tolerance.
• Gort: “Every few months, we cycle through a new one [narrative]...and one we had not cycled through in quite some time was this idea around privacy.” [45:08]
• Doug on Liquidity: “Z Liquidity is very, very thin. On Zcash, it doesn’t take much to run.” [47:34]

8. AI Agents & the X402 Standard — Real Tech or Hype?

[49:54–52:36]

• Discussion: General skepticism about the gravity and substance of the “AI agent” trend in crypto. Comparison to algorithmic trading, dismissal of “agent economy” as hype for token sales.
• Gort:
  “It’s a deep misunderstanding as to what AI is... All of this has been intentionally anthropomorphized...it’s somewhat of a charade.” [51:35]
• Doug:
  “It’s very, very easy...to slap AI on anything in crypto and have the valuation run up.” [50:37]

9. Kalshi vs. Polymarket — Prediction Markets at War

[52:36–58:49]

• Major Rivalry: Two prediction market platforms, both at $10B+ paper valuations, engaged in heated competition and social media sniping. Allegations of legal dirty tricks and lobbying abound.
• Legal Uncertainty: Real questions about long-term viability due to US gambling laws and entrenched casino interests.
• Memorable/Spicy:
  “If you call the FBI on somebody, that’s hard to...” – Doug Kolkat [54:09]

10. Miscellaneous 2025 Dramas & Debates

Mega ETH & Mr. Beast Allocation Revoked

[58:49–62:49]

• Mr. Beast lost a large allocation for hedging — guests agree it’s flat rule enforcement, not an outrage.

Choose Rich Nick’s Viral Rise

[63:29–65:58]

• Nick’s “performance art” as a cringefactor on crypto Twitter crosses over into mainstream memedom.
• Laura: “He was so thoughtful and it was really a, actually, yeah, it was a really, really interesting interview.” [64:32]

Do Kwon Gets 15 Years

[65:58–71:10]

• Gort: “Collapse of Luna...was very obvious...it was going to be a fallout and yeah, it’s been pretty extreme.”
• Sympathy is minimal; justice deemed proper, though some differences from FTX are noted.

Quantum Threat to Crypto — Real or Meme?

[71:10–76:09]

• Guests are unconcerned about immediate impact; more pressing concerns exist.
• Narrative might contribute to bearish price action, but it’s likely just “one of many” possible stories.

11. Predictions for 2026

[76:09–End]

• Bullish Tone:
  “2026 will be better, but only because it feels like up only from here. I do personally feel like we’ve likely bottomed.” – Gort [76:22] “When people are kind of this max cynicism...that’s actually when crypto tends to run.” – Doug Kolkat [77:05]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Lawyers are going to be decimated by AI... they’re just trying to make as much money as they can before AI comes and wipes them out.” – Laura Shin [05:39]
• “The trenches have completely died... if a token hits a million or five million market cap now, that’s the runner of the day.” – Gort [11:34]
• “All of this stuff is theory — American democracy. Are you saying some of that’s preordained before?” – Doug Kolkat [19:57]
• “Thanksgiving is always a bad time for crypto people.” – Doug Kolkat [40:28]
• “We try to ascribe...current reason for the market being down...reality: people just sell stuff.” – Gort [74:20]

Segment Highlights with Timestamps

• [02:19] Genius Act & Stablecoin Law
• [05:52] Pump ICO & Alt Market Collapse
• [12:29] Stripe/Tempo Chain Launch
• [15:54] USDH Competition — Governance Theater
• [20:54] Coinbase Acquires Echo, Kobe → Customer Support
• [28:34] Bitcoin ATH & 1010 Meltdown
• [44:01] Zcash & the Privacy Surge
• [49:54] AI Agents & X402 Standard
• [52:36] Kalshi vs. Polymarket, Industry Infighting
• [58:49] Mega ETH, Mr. Beast Hedging Scandal
• [63:29] Choose Rich Nick’s Memetic Breakout
• [65:58] Do Kwon, Accountability for Luna Crash
• [71:10] Quantum Computing FUD
• [76:09] 2026 Predictions

Tone & Language

The episode is steeped in insider banter, irreverent asides, and no-nonsense reality checks about the crypto industry’s cyclical hype and systemic flaws. Both guests combine technical depth with humor and skepticism, trading jabs about “decentralization theater” and the unkillable optimism of the space. Laura Shin deftly steers the conversation while landing witty digs of her own.

Summary prepared for listeners who want the full scope and flavor of this year’s biggest events without the hype.