Good Sunday!
A co-founder of OpenZeppelin sparked one of the biggest debates on Crypto Twitter this week when he declared that all of DeFi is unsafe.
Is he right?
Laura sits down with Certifications Lead at Security Alliance, Isaac Patka, and Ether.Fi CEO Mike Silagadze to separate fear from reality, explain why most hacks are still surprisingly preventable, and answer the question every crypto user should be asking before putting assets onchain.
Meanwhile, one of the co-authors of the paper that made modern AI possible says the missing ingredient for crypto adoption isn't better UX. It's privacy.
On Uneasy Money, Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR and co-author of Attention Is All You Need, explains why confidential transactions could unlock real onchain commerce and what happens when AI handles execution while blockchains handle coordination.
Here’s more on what we unpacked this week on Unchained:
🏦 Why Fintechs May Finally Beat Banks at Their Own Game
A new White House executive order could give fintechs and crypto firms direct access to the Fed’s payment rails, threatening two of banks’ biggest advantages: custody and payments. KK, Jessi and Vy Le also breaks down the SEC’s delayed innovation exemption, the latest AI policy battles in Washington, and why crypto’s transparency model may be exactly what AI governance needs.⚔️ Ethereum’s Boomer Era? Solana Fires Back
Ethereum’s identity crisis takes center stage as David Hoffman and Max Resnick debate talent flight, EF drama, developer mindshare, and whether ETH is becoming crypto’s version of Microsoft. They also tackle Solana’s challenge, post-quantum roadmaps, and the controversy surrounding DeFi United’s response to the KelpDAO hack.🔥 Is the Ethereum Foundation Too Out of Touch to Save ETH?
Vitalik says ETH the asset matters. Zak Cole’s reaction say the realization came years too late. Zak and Greg Markou debate Ethereum’s leadership turmoil, broken cryptoeconomics, talent departures, and whether the Foundation still understands what the ecosystem actually needs to remain competitive.📈 Why the SEC Hit Pause on Tokenized Equities
Kraken’s Arjun Sethi lays out his vision for a 24/7 global capital market powered by crypto infrastructure. The Bits + Bips panel explores why Citadel and SIFMA pushed back against tokenized equity rules, whether crypto rails can eventually replace Wall Street’s IPO machine, and how AI, finance, and even the Vatican are entering the conversation around the future of markets.
All these episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
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