🤖 An AI Model Hacked Its Own Test—and Base Is Changing Course
Cobie takes over Base’s app after Jesse Pollak admits its social strategy fell short. Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan also unpacks North Korean IT workers still infiltrating crypto, Brian Armstrong’s memecoin controversy, and the AI model that exploited two zero-day bugs to cheat its own benchmark.

⚖️ Prediction Markets Win a Major Battle
The CFTC used emergency powers to rescue Kalshi as legal fights over prediction markets intensified. The DEX in the City panel also explores Japan’s sweeping crypto tax cuts, DTCC’s tokenized settlement milestone, and why the CLARITY Act is running out of time.

🏛️ The White House Gives a Live Update on Crypto’s Biggest Bill
White House digital assets adviser Patrick Witt joins the Chopping Block show to discuss the latest on the CLARITY Act, while the crew also covers Gauntlet’s $125 million raise, Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School drama, and crypto’s legislative endgame before Congress heads to recess.

🍊 Lyn Alden’s Bitcoin Bet Isn’t What You’d Expect
Instead of copying Strategy, Lyn Alden is building a Bitcoin-backed holding company modeled after Berkshire Hathaway. On Unchained, she explains why cash-flowing businesses beat pure treasury plays, critiques Strategy’s approach, and weighs in on Bitcoin’s quantum future.

💳 Who Will Win the Stablecoin Payments Race?
Stripe’s $53 billion bid for PayPal has reignited the battle for digital payments. The Bits + Bips panel breaks down why PayPal stumbled, how Stripe, Circle, Robinhood, and banks are fighting for stablecoin dominance, and why the CLARITY Act could determine who comes out on top.