Unchained

Laura Shin

Crypto assets and blockchain technology are about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity to the Internet of Things. In this podcast, host Laura Shin, an independent journalist covering all things crypto, talks with industry pioneers about how crypto assets and blockchains will change the way we earn, spend and invest our money. Tune in to find out how Web 3.0, the decentralized web, will revolutionize our world. Disclosure: I'm a nocoiner.

  1. 16H AGO

    The Chopping Block: Venezuela Sanctions Drama + Polymarket Insider Trading + Zcash Foundation Exodus

    The Chopping Block breaks down the Kontigo Venezuela sanctions scandal, poly market insider trading drama around Maduro's capture, and the explosive Zcash governance crisis that has the entire Electric Coin Company team quitting to launch CashZ amid foundation versus for-profit wallet debate. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, the crew dives deep into Venezuela's unexpected crypto connections following Maduro's capture, unpacking how the YC-backed fintech Kontigo allegedly used stablecoins to arbitrage sanctions and capital controls. They debate the moral complexities of banking the unbanked versus violating US sanctions, and whether stablecoins are fulfilling their promise of financial freedom or enabling bad actors. The conversation then shifts to prediction markets drama, as a mysterious trader made $400k betting on Maduro's downfall just hours before it happened — sparking calls for insider trading laws in political betting markets. Finally, they tackle the governance chaos in Zcash land, where the entire Electric Coin Company team quit en masse over disagreements with the nonprofit board, launching a new for-profit venture called CashZ. The hosts debate whether this signals the end of the foundation era in crypto, or just growing pains for protocols trying to build killer products. Hosts: Haseeb Qureshi Robert Leshner Tarun Chitra Tom Schmidt Links: FinTech Business Weekly - Kontigo: Y Combinator's Venezuelan Sanctions Evasion Startup Wall Street Journal - A Mystery Trader Made $400,000 Betting on Maduro’s Downfall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    50 min
  2. 6D AGO

    The Chopping Block: 2025 Winners & Losers + 2026 Predictions

    Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. It's a new year, and that means the crew is back with their annual year-end awards and predictions episode. First up: the 2025 winners and losers. From Trump's meme-coin windfall to Gary Gensler's legacy getting torched, from prediction markets going mainstream to Web3 getting its official eulogy — no one is safe. The team debates the biggest surprises (Circle's shocking IPO run, Ethereum's pivot under new leadership, Zcash's unlikely comeback), the best new mechanisms (ICO 2.0, DATs, federal preemption), and the year's best memes (including the Chopping Block's own tariff factory video). Then comes the flops and comebacks: AI agents that overpromised, Berachain's fall from grace, and Tether somehow winning again. Finally, the crew reviews how badly their 2025 predictions aged — spoiler: not great — and lays out fresh calls for 2026 including AI-powered hacks, stable-coin-funded AI capex, and equity perps taking over DeFi. New year, fresh takes, brutal honesty — let's get into it. Show highlights 🔹 Biggest winner debate — Trump's meme-coin empire, prediction markets going mainstream, and M&A consolidation reshaping the industry. 🔹 Gary Gensler's legacy destroyed — Haseeb declares his SEC tenure the biggest loser as every initiative got reversed. 🔹 Web3 pronounced dead — Tarun writes the epitaph on the "ownership economy" thesis as NFT sentiment hits rock bottom. 🔹 Bitcoin as biggest loser? — Robert's controversial pick: BTC underperformed in a year that should have been its best. 🔹 Circle IPO shocks — From skeptics to $70B market cap, the stablecoin thesis briefly took over Wall Street. 🔹 Ethereum pivot surprise — Vitalik's leadership shake-up and new EF direction restored optimism no one expected. 🔹 DATs dominate mechanism talk — Robert calls them highest "absolute value of impact" — amplifying volatility both ways. 🔹 AI agents flopped hard — From mania to annoyance, the speculative thesis collapsed and sentiment turned hostile. 🔹 2025 predictions reviewed — The team confesses their misses (150K BTC, 5x AI agent caps) with Tom winning at 2/3. 🔹 2026 predictions dropped — AI-generated $100M+ hacks, stable-coin-funded AI capex, and equity perps hitting 20% of DeFi volume. Hosts: ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:26 Crypto Industry Overview 02:39 Biggest Winners of 2025 07:32 Biggest Losers of 2025 13:29 Biggest Surprises of 2025 22:24 Best New Mechanisms of 2025 28:49 Best Memes of 2025 33:24 Best and Worst Pivots of 2025 39:15 Biggest Flops of 2025 41:31 Biggest Flop of 2025 42:58 Bitcoin's Disappointing Year 45:30 Biggest Comeback Stories of 2025 49:12 Favorite Guests of 2025 52:40 Reflecting on 2025 Predictions 56:33 Predictions for 2026 Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 8m

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About

Crypto assets and blockchain technology are about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity to the Internet of Things. In this podcast, host Laura Shin, an independent journalist covering all things crypto, talks with industry pioneers about how crypto assets and blockchains will change the way we earn, spend and invest our money. Tune in to find out how Web 3.0, the decentralized web, will revolutionize our world. Disclosure: I'm a nocoiner.

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