Felipe Montealegre, co-founder of Thea Capital, joins us to unpack a new vision for global finance—what he calls the Internet Financial System. Felipe makes the case that today's financial world still runs on siloed, permissioned databases—slow, expensive, and riddled with gatekeepers. But blockchains and smart contracts offer something radically different: a unified, open system where capital can move efficiently across borders and property rights are stronger than ever. This episode is a must-listen for anyone wondering how crypto is building the financial infrastructure of the 21st century. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐SELF | PROVE YOUR SELF https://bankless.cc/Self 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 5:29 Internet Financial Systems 12:03 Frictions in Financial Systems 20:33 Innovations in Internet Financial Systems 28:42 Server with Laws 40:02 Incompatibilities within Systems 50:17 Absence of Financial Laws 57:34 Potential of Finance in Crypto 1:09:59 Server Compatibility with Governments 1:16:18 Different Laws for Investing in Crypto 1:26:26 Building Protocols 1:29:52 Closing Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Felipe Montealegre https://x.com/TheiaResearch Internet Finance https://x.com/TheiaResearch/status/1876618725547233417 ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
2 abr 2025 - 01 hr 32 min
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev returns to Bankless for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of tokenization, crypto regulation, and Robinhood’s evolving product suite. Vlad lays out a bold vision for bringing tokenized assets like SpaceX and OpenAI equity to retail investors, discusses the role of prediction markets as "truth machines," and introduces Robinhood's latest products: Strategies, Cortex, and Banking. This one’s a big glimpse into where TradFi and DeFi collide. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0xa77995768d39c157180262d352f86f39ac1b3fbd?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 5:54 New Administration 12:19 Tokenization 16:18 Tokenized SpaceX 18:12 An IPO Alternative 23:39 Prediction Markets 25:40 Kalshi 29:58 Future of Prediction Markets 35:58 Robinhood Banking 38:27 Robinhood Cortex 44:08 Robinhood Strategies 49:04 Cash Delivery 52:10 Crypto Listings 54:37 Why Distinct Apps? 56:32 How Bankless is Robinhood? 1:00:42 Closing Thoughts ------ RESOURCES Vlad Tenev https://x.com/vladtenev Robinhood https://robinhood.com/ Washington Post Op-ed https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/28/investing-crypto-tech-robinhood-stock-market/ ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
31 mar 2025 - 57 min 09 seg
This week, Mike Ippolito joins us to break down crypto’s big flip as institutions rush into stablecoins—triggering excitement and anxiety alike. Hyperliquid faces drama after a high-stakes market manipulation attack, BlackRock's tokenized treasuries surge to nearly $2 billion, and the U.S. Treasury finally removes Tornado Cash from its sanctions list. Meanwhile, Robinhood enters banking, raising questions about DeFi’s future. We dive into all of this and so much more. Follow Mike on X Checkout Bell Curve: https://x.com/MikeIppolito_ https://www.youtube.com/@bellcurvepodcast/videos ------ 📣CRYPTO TAX CALCULATOR | TAXES MADE EASY https://bankless.cc/Cryptotaxcalculator ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0xe36312b13decbe5af463aaf188a510b69f28ce7e ------ TIMESTAMPS RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 0:56 Blockworks DAS Week Recap 6:45 Saylor’s Strategy bought more Bitcoin https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1904155021781901741 https://x.com/SaylorBuysBTC/status/1904631210887836142 12:33 Stablecoin Gold Rush https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1905219932612178237 https://x.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1904886554708898112 https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1904521913528975550 25:32 Blackrock’s BUIDL fund is expanding to Solana https://x.com/solana/status/1904520943667716531 https://x.com/carlosdomingo/status/1904516023623028894 44:59 Hyperliquid https://x.com/MacroCRG/status/1904895153384357990 https://x.com/HyperliquidX/status/1904923137684496784 https://x.com/toghrulmaharram/status/1904935313081856406 https://x.com/Dogetoshi/status/1904919007930577175 1:03:10 US lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash https://x.com/matthuang/status/1904192079691170137 https://wewantjusticedao.org/ 1:05:55 Robinhood Banking https://x.com/RobinhoodApp/status/1905127283532484696 1:09:38 Closing Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
28 mar 2025 - 01 hr 10 min 12 seg
Alon, co-founder of Pump.Fun, joins us to discuss the meteoric rise of their token launchpad platform, the controversial yet impactful role of memecoins in crypto, and the vision behind their newest product, PumpSwap. We dive deep into the cultural influence, sustainability mechanisms, and future possibilities for the memecoin launchpad ecosystem. Alon on X: https://x.com/a1lon9 ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0x593367264faf6cdc105addb55036733e4e63fdf9?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 7:09 Pump.Fun Inception 13:46 Post-Launch Pump.Fun 19:09 Pump.Fun’s Impact on Memecoins 23:25 Making Memecoins Less Extractive 28:32 Pump.Fun 4Chan Aesthetic 36:57 Pump.Fun Moderation 47:37 Pump.Fun’s Success 50:52 PumpSwap 59:12 Creator Revenue Sharing 1:02:09 Pump.Fun vs Radium 1:05:41 Pump.Fun’s Social Elements 1:08:19 Content, Attention & Markets 1:10:56 Future of Memecoins 1:13:11 Are Memecoins Evil? 1:17:44 Pump.Fun’s Mission 1:20:17 Why Pump.Fun x Bankless 1:22:06 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
25 mar 2025 - 01 hr 20 min 55 seg
We’re joined by Tim Beiko, Ethereum Foundation coordinator, to break down Ethereum’s next major upgrades and the future of scaling. We explore the upcoming Petra hard fork, which introduces validator consolidation, increased blob space for rollups, and EIP-7702 for improved account abstraction. Tim also shares insights on Fusaka and Glacier Dam, Ethereum’s roadmap for scaling, and how Ethereum’s upgrade process is becoming more efficient. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0x0d142a1a30adcbc06c3c2a537d2cd1a9b7901c35?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 5:43 Current State of EIPs ETH Hard Forks 8:01 Why Security Is So Important 12:43 Naming Conventions of ETH Hard Forks 13:55 Pectra Upgrade Its Effects 16:15 Maxeb Upgrade Its Effects 24:29 Hard Forks, Bandwidth Scaling 28:51 Other Updates Regarding Pectra 31:40 EOAs Smart Contract Wallets 36:17 Smart Contract Wallets' Effect on Layer 2 43:15 Timeline of Fusaka Glamsterdam 48:09 Vitalik's Tweet on Fusaka 51:15 Alcore Devs' Plans 54:25 What's EOF 59:18 Other Updates Regarding Fusaka 1:00:41 Uncertainty Regarding Glamsterdam 1:02:18 ETH's Slowness Developers 1:05:19 Misconceptions Around ETH 1:07:32 Scaling the Layer 1 1:14:52 Summer of Protocols 1:18:13 Closing Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Tim Beiko https://x.com/TimBeiko Ethereum Roadmap Hard Forks https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/ EIP-7702 (Account Abstraction) https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7702 Ethereum Object Format (EOF) https://ethresear.ch/t/ethereum-object-format-eof/ ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
24 mar 2025 - 01 hr 14 min 18 seg
This week, Anthony Sassano joins us to unpack Solana’s most controversial governance vote yet, Ethereum’s major leadership overhaul, and crypto markets wrestling with macro chaos despite promising policy shifts. Kraken makes waves with a massive $1.5B acquisition—but will it move the needle? We dive into all of this and so much more. Follow Anthony on X: https://x.com/sassal0x ------ 📣 RONIN WALLET | YOUR WEB3 GAMING ECOSYSTEM https://bankless.cc/Ronin_Wallet ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0xab88c7d76226cf4251bae07e74aa0d8877b6136a ------ TIMESTAMPS RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 1:39 Anthony’s Crypto Vibe Check 5:56 Markets https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/19/fed-meeting-live-updates.html 12:27 Ethena and Securitize launched a new chain https://x.com/ethena_labs/status/1901672646015856749 https://x.com/coinbase/status/1902031828912844992 28:13 Robinhood launched their prediction market with Kalshi https://x.com/Kalshi/status/1901634303768883377 https://x.com/vladtenev/status/1901703746033426919 34:52 Solana proposal to cut inflation failed to pass https://simd-votes.stakingfacilities.com/ https://www.helius.dev/blog/simd-228 47:07 SOL Futures on CME https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1901566174598398261 https://x.com/solana/status/1901279678620749997 51:25 Eth/acc Ethereum Leadership Change https://x.com/matthuang/status/1902562363532046674 https://x.com/KyleSamani/status/1901769358273040806 https://x.com/ethismoneyHQ/status/1901734022646317213 https://x.com/adietrichs/status/1899607524581740576 https://x.com/megapot_io/status/1902419979196338386 1:06:07 Kraken Acquires NinjaTrader $1.5B https://www.reuters.com/technology/kraken-acquire-ninjatrader-15-billion-deal-2025-03-20/ 1:07:08 Closing Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
21 mar 2025 - 01 hr 08 min 28 seg
This week on the AI Rollup, we’re diving into hyper-realistic AI-generated podcast hosts, showcasing Hedera Studio’s cutting-edge character tech. Google drops Gemini 2.0 Flash, making AI image generation even more powerful with improved consistency and text integration. Meanwhile, China is pushing hard—Baidu’s latest model beats GPT-4.5 at half the cost, challenging OpenAI’s dominance. Plus, Sesame open-sources its voice model, and the crypto AI market sees brutal drawdowns. Despite the turbulence, teams like Virtuals and Bittensor keep building, while Pluralis raises $7.6M to decentralize AI model training. Where does AI Crypto go from here? Let’s find out. ------ 📣 RONIN WALLET | YOUR WEB3 GAMING ECOSYSTEM https://bankless.cc/Ronin_Wallet ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0x9db2d5eb0c4af553fddda5da10777c1bcd82e3b6?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS RESOURCES 00:00 Sentiment Check and Recap 05:25 AI Podcast Hosts? https://x.com/hedra_labs/status/1897699010632466469 08:50 Google Gemini 2.0 https://x.com/robertriachi/status/1899854394751070573 https://x.com/goodside/status/1900349595718148455?s=46 https://x.com/ilumine_ai/status/1900017235898622025 https://x.com/halimalrasihi/status/1900667639086673962?s=46 https://x.com/thatarrowsmith/status/1901203776746201556?s=46 17:55 China's New Frontier Model https://x.com/scobleizer/status/1901089727568281975?s=46 27:21 AI Market Prices https://www.cookie.fun/ https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ethereum 32:55 Market Manipulation? https://x.com/solgojo/status/1901002388007514381 https://x.com/0thTachi/status/1902090675111207380 38:11 Pockets Of Outperformers https://x.com/S4mmyEth/status/1902348046479786315 43:09 Virtuals Update https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1899181446126076283?s=46 https://x.com/ethermage/status/1899494870152282511 https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1900185918147064015 49:48 AIXBT Hacked https://x.com/S4mmyEth/status/1902021914517758277 52:44 New AI Trading Subnet https://x.com/thebittensorhub/status/1899810734374047799?s=46 58:54 Pluralis Announcement https://x.com/PluralisHQ/status/1902367132597252177 ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
20 mar 2025 - 01 hr 04 min 43 seg
Native Rollups are the next big step toward scaling Ethereum securely. In this episode, Uma Roy (CEO of Succinct) and Justin Drake (Ethereum Foundation researcher) break down what Native Rollups are, how they leverage Ethereum’s core infrastructure for execution and validation, and why they're crucial for stronger security, better composability, and sustainable Ethereum growth. Tune in to understand the evolution of Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap and how Native Rollups could become a foundational upgrade for Ethereum's future. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦INFINEX | THE CRYPTO-EVERYTHING APP https://bankless.cc/Infinex ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0x9ad876e913102d5097df82db0617816a17b07414?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 6:41 Why Native Rollups? 16:32 Security Composability Benefits 38:13 ZKProofs 42:52 Making L2s Native 50:48 Network Effects 52:35 Customizability Trade-Offs 58:59 Timelines 1:02:39 ETH Economic Impacts 1:05:46 Other Advantages 1:08:17 Succinct 1:08:59 ETHProofs.org 1:11:32 Real-Time Proving 1:12:33 Ethereum’s Bottleneck 1:15:43 Closing Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Uma Roy https://x.com/pumatheuma Justin Drake https://x.com/drakefjustin Native Rollups https://ethresear.ch/t/native-rollups-superpowers-from-l1-execution/21517 Succinct https://www.succinct.xyz/ L2Beat https://l2beat.com/scaling/summary ETHProofs https://ethproofs.org/ ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
17 mar 2025 - 01 hr 11 min 32 seg
ROLLUP: Strategic Bitcoin Reserve | White House Digital Summit | Saylor's $21B BTC Bid | HyperLiquid
14 mar 2025 - 01 hr 02 min 10 seg
In this episode, we break down China's latest AI breakthrough—the Manus agent—and how it's shaking up the AI race. We discuss Alibaba's powerful, compact new AI model, the rise of autonomous coding agents, and Microsoft's shifting relationship with OpenAI. Plus, we explore how AI agents like Grok are starting to impact crypto markets. ------ 📣RONIN WALLET | DOWNLOAD NOW https://bankless.cc/Ronin_Wallet ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/coin/base:0x8c25fca60a7f589a4552ae5edf3978c7885354f5 ------ TIMESTAMPS RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 1:33 China drops Manus AI https://x.com/thinking_panda/status/1897951585990590469 https://x.com/rowancheung/status/1898093008601395380 https://x.com/_philschmid/status/1899046957860979178 14:27 OpenAI Agent SDK https://x.com/cryptopunk7213/status/1897406075072377093 https://x.com/AtomSilverman/status/1899511053601698073 21:05 Ex-Deepmind engineers creating autonomous coding agents https://x.com/mishalaskin/status/1898048925157728601 https://x.com/kimmonismus/status/1899444649317527927 22:57 Build a game from scratch with AI https://x.com/minchoi/status/1898469519565492490 https://x.com/Ror_Fly/status/1899473065328656485 https://x.com/ror_fly/status/1899803648781119765 25:55 Alibaba drops QWEN 32B https://x.com/hosseeb/status/1897377619240468513 https://x.com/sundarpichai/status/1899779090472644881 https://x.com/hyperbolic_labs/status/1897437370552570047 30:44 Chinese company HunYuan released a new image to video https://x.com/EHuanglu/status/1897628929768505611 32:31 The model competition is really heating up Microsoft x OpenAI https://x.com/cneuralnetwork/status/1898450452540465538 https://gizmodo.com/microsofts-relationship-with-openai-is-not-looking-good-2000573293 36:57 Grok earned over $100K this past week https://x.com/mleejr/status/1898465691096727866 https://x.com/bankrbot https://x.com/bankrbot/status/1897950192613441617 https://x.com/grok/status/1898884871742758966 https://x.com/grok/status/1898957064006774855 https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1899565420966801647 https://dexscreener.com/base/0x5116773e18a9c7bb03ebb961b38678e45e238923 https://x.com/MLeeJr/status/1899647338978889743 https://x.com/grok/status/1899582316747391127 https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1899585667899822520 https://x.com/bankrbot/status/1899589807350972768 https://x.com/grok/status/1898884871742758966 https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1899566730059653431 https://x.com/rhynotic/status/1899190256727122331 56:26 Agents over the last 30 days https://x.com/defi0xjeff/status/1898025840514101654 https://x.com/gkisokay/status/1899422660339393007 https://x.com/696_eth/status/1897446933406605599 56:58 Model Context Protocol https://x.com/mattpocockuk/status/1897742389592440970 https://x.com/sendaifun/status/1892310991737598229 https://x.com/crossmint/status/1899492589763469802 1:05:30 Closing Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
13 mar 2025 - 01 hr 06 min 17 seg