Bankless

Bankless

The Ultimate Guide to Crypto Finance. DeFi, NFTs, and cryptocurrencies. Level up. Go bankless.

  1. The Economics of AGI: Why Verification Is the New Scarcity w/ Christian Catalini

    12 MIN AGO

    The Economics of AGI: Why Verification Is the New Scarcity w/ Christian Catalini

    MIT economist Christian Catalini joins Ryan and David to unpack his new paper, "Some Simple Economics of AGI," which argues that the scarce resource in the AI economy is no longer intelligence but verification: the human capacity to check, judge, and certify that AI output is correct. Christian walks through the two cost curves reshaping every industry (cost to automate vs. cost to verify), explains why entry-level jobs are collapsing first through what he calls the "missing junior loop," why even top experts are unknowingly training their replacements (the "codifier's curse"), and maps out the three roles that survive the transition: Directors, Meaning Makers, and Liability Underwriters. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 3:42 The Low-Grade Panic 6:43 Who Gets Hit First, and Hardest? 13:06 Coding as Canary, or Exception? 16:21 Human Cognition Was the Binding Constraint 19:59 What Is Verification, Exactly? 29:10 The Codifier's Curse 31:21 The Expanding Iceberg: Non-Measurable Work 38:32 The Two Racing Cost Curves 41:59 Trojan Horse Externality 48:46 The Four Quadrants: Where Do You Want to Be? 54:12 Liability Underwriters and the Venture Capital Parallel 55:41 Directors: Navigating Unknown Unknowns 59:49 60-80% of Your Job Can Be Displaced 1:06:24 Button Pushers vs. Founders: The Great Resorting 1:12:08 The Luddite Risk: Political Backlash Against AI 1:17:30 What Companies and Investors Should Do 1:22:56 The Crypto Connection 1:25:11 Don't Panic: A Closing Playbook --- RESOURCES Christian Catalini https://x.com/ccatalini Some Simple Economics of AGI https://arxiv.org/html/2602.20946v2 Christian’s thread on his paper https://x.com/ccatalini/status/2026311784421036223 --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

    1hr 26min
  2. Illia Polosukhin: Why AI Agents Are Still Useless (And What Fixes Them) | NEAR Founder on IronClaw

    2 DAYS AGO

    Illia Polosukhin: Why AI Agents Are Still Useless (And What Fixes Them) | NEAR Founder on IronClaw

    NEAR founder and Transformer co-author Illia Polosukhin joins us to break down why today’s AI agents still fall short, what’s missing to make them actually useful, and how IronClaw could unlock secure, private, autonomous AI. We also explore Illia’s bigger thesis: AI becomes the interface, blockchains become the backend, and both reshape how humans, agents, and digital markets interact. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast  🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast  🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:43 Illia’s AI Journey 8:19 AI x Blockchain Operating Systems 14:40 Will Humans & AIs Use the Same Systems? 18:20 Why Are AI Agents Still Useless? 28:54 AI Agent Privacy Concerns 35:30 IronClaw Privacy 39:21 AI Agent Limitations 47:00 Context Constraints 53:42 Will Small Teams Win? 57:16 Autonomous Agents & Businesses 1:01:00 Digital Life Forms? 1:02:42 e/acc Vs d/acc 1:09:44 Why isn’t AI Crypto-Pilled 1:14:31 Advice for Builders 1:18:30 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Illia https://x.com/ilblackdragon  IronClaw https://agent.near.ai/ NEAR https://www.near.org/ Attention is All You Need https://arxiv.org/html/1706.03762v7  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

    1hr 18min
  3. Ethereum’s Quantum Strategy with Justin Drake

    3 DAYS AGO

    Ethereum’s Quantum Strategy with Justin Drake

    Quantum used to be crypto’s distant sci-fi problem. Justin Drake says it now has a clock. In this episode, we unpack what “Q-Day” actually means, why Justin thinks 2032 is the date the entire industry should be planning around, and why Ethereum is targeting 2029 to get post-quantum ready. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 When is Q-Day? 5:35 The moment quantum becomes crypto-relevant 10:11 How many qubits does it take to break crypto? 16:22 What a real Bitcoin quantum attack would look like 20:19 How much Bitcoin is actually vulnerable? 26:26 Burn, freeze, or salvage? Bitcoin’s impossible choice 35:06 Proof of seed phrase and Bitcoin’s post-quantum bottleneck 41:02 Ethereum’s exposure: smaller, but not zero 45:43 Ethereum’s tougher roadmap: three layers, three upgrades 50:29 The execution-layer plan: replace ECDSA without killing throughput 57:56 Post-quantum, post-AI cryptography 1:03:36 BLS, KZG, LeanVM, and the rest of the stack 1:06:42 Is this bigger than the Merge? 1:17:21 If Bitcoin stumbles, does all crypto stumble too? 1:19:35 “Quantum is not a challenge—it’s an opportunity” 1:21:27 AI, quantum, crypto and the 2032 convergence 1:28:04 Harvest now, decrypt later 1:30:09 Defensive accelerationism and Ethereum’s role 1:39:10 Stoicism, P-doom, and why he keeps building --- RESOURCES Justin Drake https://x.com/drakefjustin/ Bitcoin Quantum Risk List https://www.projecteleven.com/bitcoin-risq-list Nic Carter Blog Posts https://murmurationstwo.substack.com/p/bitcoin-developers-are-sleepwalking https://murmurationstwo.substack.com/p/trillion-dollar-salvage https://murmurationstwo.substack.com/p/bitcoin-developers-are-mostly-not The Strawmap https://strawmap.org/ --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

    1hr 40min
  4. ROLLUP: Crypto Momentum | Regime Shift? | Payments War | Prediction Boom | SBF on Netflix

    6 DAYS AGO

    ROLLUP: Crypto Momentum | Regime Shift? | Payments War | Prediction Boom | SBF on Netflix

    Ryan and David break down a historic week for crypto as the SEC and CFTC finally deliver long-awaited clarity, classifying major tokens and reshaping the market. At the same time, Bitcoin is outperforming stocks and gold amid global tensions, raising the key question: is this a real regime shift or just a relief rally? They also cover the rise of prediction markets, the emerging battle for agentic payments (Tempo vs. Stripe/Coinbase), and crypto’s cultural moment with Vanity Fair and the upcoming SBF Netflix series. --- 📣FIGURE | CRYPTO-BACKED LOANS & ~9% RWA YIELD https://bankless.cc/Figure --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast  🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast  🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth --- TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 3:47 Macro & Markets (Oil, War, Fed) https://apnews.com/article/iran-gas-field-south-pars-attack-5ad45090d3b66444467cc255ee966a37 https://energynow.com/2025/06/what-is-the-strait-of-hormuz-and-why-is-it-so-important-for-oil https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116253388303392718 https://polymarket.com/event/how-many-fed-rate-cuts-in-2026/?via=bankless? https://x.com/QuintenFrancois/status/2033469474511429805 https://x.com/zerohedge/status/2033322952238723486 https://x.com/zerohedge/status/2032571409273167950 https://x.com/timevalueofbtc/status/2034612806386086296 https://x.com/fintechfrank/status/2033520517009846618 https://farside.co.uk/btc/ https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2034403519609057593 https://x.com/intocryptoverse/status/2033954843048485174 https://thedefireport.io/research/saylor-is-back-in-the-market 22:35 SEC + CFTC Regulatory Clarity https://x.com/SECGov/status/2033996940363317379 https://x.com/SECPaulSAtkins/status/2034012012460556526  https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/interp/2026/33-11412.pdf https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/atkins-remarks-regulation-crypto-assets-031726 https://x.com/Dogetoshi/status/2034011111008178657 https://x.com/BChillman/status/2033913119756714298 https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/2034003107391172946 https://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/2034450575773884694 https://x.com/tradexyz/status/2034260987197444255 https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/2034269594282500329 44:44 Prediction Markets Expansion + Risks https://dune.com/hildobby/polymarket https://x.com/Polymarket/status/2034272538465841410 https://x.com/manniefabian/status/2033505062031344004 https://x.com/clashreport/status/2033513701735551202 https://polymarket.com/event/iran-military-action-against-israel-on/?via=bankless? https://x.com/Polymarket/status/2033635318662860916 https://x.com/ChairmanSelig/status/2034625252831998397 52:16 Agentic Payments & Tempo (Standards War) https://x.com/Quicknode/status/2034261280354394610 https://x.com/tempo/status/2034253707303338264 https://x.com/clairekart/status/2034279348480737719 https://visacli.sh/ https://x.com/worldnetwork/status/2033923684768092436 https://x.com/CoinDesk/status/2033883474755551595 58:39 Onchain Banking & Ethereum Upgrades https://x.com/zksync/status/2033864749016809582 https://fastconfirm.it/ https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2033661196792967254 https://x.com/_julianma/status/2033851796574154808 https://x.com/adietrichs/status/2033863884067475634 1:02:38 Crypto Culture (Vanity Fair + SBF Netflix) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/cryptos-true-believers https://x.com/CamiRusso/status/2033946061685850353 https://x.com/DennisonBertram/status/2034013980771877353 https://x.com/netflix/status/2033981949740568829 1:08:31 Closing & Disclaimers --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

    1hr 9min
  5. Tempo Mainnet: The Race to Agentic Commerce

    19 MAR

    Tempo Mainnet: The Race to Agentic Commerce

    Tempo Mainnet is live, but this episode isn’t really about just another chain launch. It’s about a bigger claim: that AI agents are about to need native money, and that the internet may need a new payment layer to support them. Georgios Konstantopoulos and Brendan Ryan join Bankless to unpack why Tempo launched with agentic payments front and center, what MPP actually is, how it compares to x402, and why they think machine-to-machine commerce could reshape everything from paid APIs to the business model of the web itself. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Tempo Mainnet goes live 1:18 Why the launch is focused on agents 3:58 What MPP actually is 6:30 MPP vs x402 15:28 Why agentic commerce matters 20:08 The “original sin” of the internet 26:04 MCP, NLWeb, and the emerging agent stack 34:07 The onboarding flow: wallets for agents 37:11 How Tempo’s wallet security works 40:11 Tempo chain design and specs 51:13 Why build an L1 instead of an Ethereum L2? 56:10 The Ethereum tension 1:05:01 Agent identity, reputation, and ERC-8004 1:06:53 TIP20, stablecoins, and what can be built on Tempo 1:12:36 Builder opportunity in the agentic web --- RESOURCES Georgios Konstantopoulos https://x.com/gakonst Brendan Ryan https://brendanjryan.com --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

    1hr 20min
  6. Trump's Grand Strategy: Iran, China & The New World Order | Kamran Bokhari

    18 MAR

    Trump's Grand Strategy: Iran, China & The New World Order | Kamran Bokhari

    A deep dive into Trump’s emerging grand strategy and the geopolitical logic behind the Iran conflict.  Kamran Bokhari joins Bankless to unpack how the U.S. is trying to reshape the Middle East, manage tensions with China and Russia, and transition from direct intervention toward a new model of burden-sharing, regional power balancing, and global restraint. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast  🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast  🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:56 Iran War Unstated Motives 10:03 Trump’s Goals 18:43 China’s Role 26:43 Venezuela & Cuba 28:22 US China Relationship 34:27 Optimizing Global Relationships 39:56 Iran War Best Approach 47:12 Does Iran Want to Negotiate? 51:30 Iran Regime Change 56:51 Israel Interests 1:00:36 Marco Rubio 1:05:24 Signal in the Noise 1:07:25 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Kamran Bokhari on X https://x.com/KamranBokhari  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamranbokhari/  New Lines Institute https://newlinesinstitute.org/people/kamran-bokhari/  Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/kamranbokhari/  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

    1hr 8min
  7. Ethereum Foundation's New Mandate Has The Community Divided | Bankless Takes

    17 MAR

    Ethereum Foundation's New Mandate Has The Community Divided | Bankless Takes

    The Ethereum Foundation’s new mandate has reignited one of Ethereum’s oldest debates: Should it stay laser-focused on cypherpunk values, or lean harder into adoption, product, and market share? Ryan and David debate CROPS, self-sovereignty, ETH as money, and whether the EF is protecting Ethereum’s soul or holding it back. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast  🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast  🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 2:39 The EF Manifesto https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/2032460726728573298  https://blog.ethereum.org/2026/03/13/ef-mandate  https://ethereum.foundation/ef-mandate.pdf  10:18 Bullish Takes https://x.com/lay2000lbs/status/2033326038122438677  https://x.com/EvgenyGaevoy/status/2033160316079534510  https://x.com/malekanoms/status/2032599584640315706  https://x.com/lex_node/status/2033189653587677343  https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/2032462574571204924  15:15 Bearish Takes https://x.com/dankrad/status/2032532067527856216  https://x.com/tayvano_/status/2032549549550743925  https://x.com/masonnystrom/status/2032558469786775993  https://x.com/yugacohler/status/2033225486847885758  https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2033603057347616869  https://x.com/divine_economy/status/2033547178803708371  27:43 Bullish Response to Bears https://x.com/divine_economy/status/2033547178803708371  https://x.com/dimabuterin/status/2033548385974735174  35:44 David’s Takes https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2032832671206748551  47:29 Ryan’s Takes https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2032512531856503181  56:32 We Can do Both https://x.com/vibhu/status/2032574444724449605  https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2033545623345967572  59:51 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

    1 hr
  8. Robinhood CEO: "Gen Z Is the Most Retirement-Savvy Generation Ever" | Vlad Tenev

    16 MAR

    Robinhood CEO: "Gen Z Is the Most Retirement-Savvy Generation Ever" | Vlad Tenev

    The next great battle in finance may not be over stocks, crypto, or even payments. It may be over where the $90 trillion great wealth transfer actually lands. In this episode, Robinhood founder and CEO Vlad Tenev returns to Bankless for a fast-moving conversation on how Robinhood wants to position itself for that generational handoff, why he believes 24/7 markets and tokenization are inevitable, and why the popular narrative around Gen Z as financially reckless misses what he’s seeing on-platform. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The $70–90T Wealth Transfer and Robinhood's Strategy 4:01 Finance in 2040: 24/7 Markets Everywhere 6:06 Tokenized Stocks, Robinhood Chain, and the U.S. Rollout Question 11:22 Robinhood's Full-Stack DeFi Vision 14:31 Prediction Markets as “Truth Machines” 17:06 Robinhood Social, Sherwood Media, and the Content Layer 21:44 Why “Entertainment Finance” Might Be Overstated 25:03 Gen Z Is More Retirement-Savvy Than You Think 30:54 Trump Accounts and Investing From Birth 36:21 The Financial Super App Race 39:30 Why Robinhood Is Not Prioritizing Peer-to-Peer Payments 42:22 Stablecoins, Bank Charters, and Consumer Reality 49:30 The Clarity Act, Stablecoin Yield, and Tokenized Assets 55:16 Perps Could Come Onshore Fast 57:12 Retail Access to Private Markets 1:00:52 Robinhood's Third Act: Social, AI, and Agentic Finance --- RESOURCES Vlad Tenev https://x.com/vladtenev --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

    1hr 2min
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About

The Ultimate Guide to Crypto Finance. DeFi, NFTs, and cryptocurrencies. Level up. Go bankless.

Information

  • Creator
    Bankless
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.2k
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Bankless

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