This Week on Unchained: Plasma, Valuation Metrics, DATs, and More

Good Saturday! Here’s what we unpacked this week on Unchained:

• ❄️ Bits + Bips – Could Wall Street profit big if the next crypto winter turns “nuclear”?

• ✂️ Hyperliquid’s Tokenomics – Why Jon Charbonneau wants supply slashed by nearly half.

• 📊 Crypto Metrics That Matter – Solana Foundation’s Lily Liu says revenue beats TVL.

• 💵 Plasma’s Big Launch – CoinFund’s Seth Ginns explains the bull case for the new stablecoin chain.

• 🎥 Pump.fun and Streaming – Figment’s James Parillo on why memecoins could disrupt Twitch and Kick.

Bits + Bips: How Wall Street Could Make a Killing off the Next Crypto Winter

Could the next crypto winter be a “nuclear” winter? Plus: if MSTR is over-levered and DATs start trading at discounts, who gets wiped?

Markets had a flood of liquidations on Monday, and traders lost over $1.5 billion in positions. So, why are liquidations spiking? Is this a warning or a blip?

Also, could a flood of DAT issuance be setting the stage for not just a crypto winter, but a crypto “nuclear” winter? If so, hedge funds and market structure could accelerate the pain.

This week on Bits + Bips, Steven Ehrlich, Ram Ahluwalia, Austin Campbell, and Vinny Lingham talk about why mNAVs could compress and whether even MicroStrategy’s stack is more fragile than it looks.

They debate the bull case for gold (yes, even at these ATHs), how tokenized stocks and changing reporting cadences could open new insider edges, and what the U.S. macro picture looks like.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Why Hyperliquid Should Cut Its Total Token Supply Nearly in Half

Jon Charbonneau thinks Hyperliquid’s supply should shrink by 45% and that fully diluted valuation, FDV, needs a serious revamp as a metric.

Crypto investors love to throw around “FDV” as if it’s the ultimate measure of value. But what if that number is more misleading than helpful?

In this episode, DBA’s Jon Charbonneau explains his proposal to cut Hyperliquid’s supply by nearly half, why he believes FDV overstates real valuations, and how outdated tokenomics are holding projects back.

We also cover whether the Hyperliquid team should take smaller allocations if they cut the token supply and what Jon thinks of Arthur Hayes’ HYPE sale just weeks after saying the token would 10x.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Revenue: The Best Way to Evaluate a Crypto Protocol?

The president of the Solana Foundation makes the case for revenue as crypto’s most telling metric, and says TVL is easily gamed.

Crypto is full of noisy metrics, but which ones actually matter?

Solana Foundation President Lily Liu argues that revenue, not Total Value Locked (TVL), is the most important metric for evaluating blockchain protocols. In this episode of Unchained, she explains:

• How real revenue reflects usage and utility

• Why TVL is often gamed and misleading

• Whether revenue-driven thinking can stifle early-stage innovation

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Bitfinex-Backed Stablecoin Chain Plasma Just Launched. Here’s the Bull Case

CoinFund’s Seth Ginns breaks down how the Bitfinex-backed stablechain Plasma was set up for a successful launch.

Plasma and its native token XPL launched Thursday, becoming the first of several new stablecoin-focused blockchains to go live.

Laura spoke with Seth Ginns, managing partner at CoinFund, about why the firm is bullish on Plasma, how it bootstrapped over $1 billion in deposits, and what makes this new L1 different.

We also cover:

• Its close (but not exclusive) relationship with Tether

• How the neobank Plasma One could bring high-yield savings to developing markets

• Why the U.S. market remains a greenfield for stablecoin innovation

• And more!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

How Pump.Fun Could Displace Streaming Giants Such as Twitch and Kick

Figment’s James Parillo argues that Pump.fun is pioneering a new internet economy where creators, audiences, and capital are fully intertwined

As we at Unchained begin streaming on Pump.fun, Laura sits down with James Parillo, GP at Figment Capital, to discuss his provocative thesis on how creator monetization is being reimagined.

James argues that Pump is more than a memecoin platform, it’s laying the groundwork for a new kind of live streaming where audiences aren’t just viewers, but stakeholders. He breaks down:

• The limitations of Twitch and Kick

• How creator coins reshape incentives

• Whether a token collapse is a feature, not a bug

And why speculation may become the primary medium of online culture

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

In Case You Missed It 👀

Ethereum Staking Queue to Receive a Recycled $6.68 Billion Worth of ETH

The staking provider quickly moved to unstake its 1.60 million ETH after a security vulnerability was discovered. The company plans to enable new validators next week.

Crypto Industry Frets That Delay in Quintenz Vote May Imperil the Clarity Act

A leadership vacuum at the CFTC threatens to stall the Clarity Act, with Trump’s hold on Quintenz’s nomination drawing industry anxiety.

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