This Week on Unchained: Solana’s New Phone, Roman Storm Verdict, ETHZilla, and the End of Easy Money

FalconX is giving Unchained subs a 🔥 deal

4 free weeks of access to Focal—double the usual trial—just for filling out our survey.

Bonus: enter to win our upcoming newsletter too.

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

• 💡 Jim Bianco on the New Normal – Why 0% rates and money printing may never return.

• 📱 Solana’s Seeker Phone Ships – Can Solana Mobile crack the mainstream with its crypto-first smartphone?

• ⚖️ Roman Storm Verdict – Why a partial conviction could be a win for crypto devs.

• 📊 Bits + Bips: Jobs Data Hype – Are traders watching the wrong macro signals?

• 🦾 The Chopping Block: ETHZilla and Tornado Cash – Wall Street moves in as Ethereum faces a high-stakes trial.

Catch up on anything you missed 👇

Jim Bianco on Why 0% Interest Rates and Money Printing Are Gone for Good

Jim Bianco says there’s a new normal in the economy.

Has the Fed entered a new era?

In this episode of Unchained, macro strategist Jim Bianco of Bianco Research lays out why the current economic cycle is fundamentally different from what came before. He explains the implications of sticky inflation, why 0% interest rates and money printing may be relics of the past, and how the COVID-era economy created lasting structural shifts.

Bianco also gives his candid take on how retail investors have changed markets, why the payments system is still stuck in the 1950s, and how stablecoins and tokenized assets could fix that—if regulators allow it. He breaks down the threats facing major players like Coinbase and Robinhood, and shares a bold theory on what really happened during the GameStop short squeeze.

Bianco also assesses what could happen if the Fed is politicized — and whether Chair Powell is likely to be replaced.

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

Can the New Solana Phone Go Mainstream? And What the Roman Storm Verdict Means

This episode features two big stories.

📱 First, Solana Mobile has begun shipping the Seeker, its second-generation crypto smartphone. Emmett Hollyer, GM of Solana Mobile, joins to explain:

• What’s new in the Seeker and how it compares to the Saga

• Why he says it’s the most secure phone for crypto

• How Seed Vault, Seeker ID, and the SKR token could reshape crypto identity, incentives, and adoption

⚖️ Then, we unpack the Roman Storm verdict. The Tornado Cash co-founder was found guilty on just one of three charges. Former prosecutor Sam Enzer explains:

• Why the outcome is seen as a partial win for crypto

• Why Storm has strong grounds to fight the verdict

• What this means for developers building privacy tools and open-source software

• And whether the remaining conviction might be overturned

You can listen to the episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Bits + Bips: Why Investors Are Looking at the Jobs Data All Wrong

If crypto traders don’t really care about jobs data, then what numbers do they watch?

Last week’s macroeconomic data came with a twist: a massive job downward revision from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But is it a recession signal, or just statistical noise?

In this episode of Bits + Bips, Ben Werkman, chief investment officer at Swan Bitcoin, joins hosts Ram Ahluwalia, Noelle Acheson, and Steve Ehrlich to examine why markets shrugged off the data, and what it means for crypto. The panel also discusses:

• Whether markets are mispricing macro risk

• How Strategy’s latest capital raise may reflect rising treasury company risk

• The future of tokenized equity and how Coinbase could unlock private market value

• New regulatory signals suggesting the U.S. may allow banks to hold crypto

• The rise of “super apps” blending payments, trading, and custody

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

Subscribe to the new Bits + Bips channels!

🐦 X / Twitter, where the Bits + Bips intern is on fire!

📺 YouTube 

🎧 Podcast → Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Fountain

The Chopping Block: The New Ethereum Era: High-Stakes Trial, Wall Street Deals, and ETHZilla

Ethereum’s Pivotal Moment: Tornado Cash Verdict, Wall Street’s ETHZilla Play, and What’s Next? – The Chopping Block

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. With special guests: Avichal Garg, Managing Partner at Electric Capital, and Tomasz K. Stańczak, Co-Executive Director at the Ethereum Foundation. This week we get into one of the most pivotal moments in Ethereum’s history — from the Tornado Cash verdict and its chilling implications for developers, to Wall Street’s growing embrace of ETH through the launch of ETHZilla. The crew unpacks how this trial could redefine developer liability, why Ethereum’s narrative is shifting toward institutional adoption, and what the next decade could look like for the world’s most versatile blockchain. Whether you’re here for the legal drama, the market moves, or the inside scoop from Ethereum’s top builders and investors, this episode delivers the sharp analysis, big-picture context, and unfiltered hot takes you’ve come to expect from The Chopping Block.

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

Show highlights

🔹 Tornado Cash Verdict Breakdown – Haseeb explains the mixed outcome: a conviction on one count, hung jury on the most serious charges, and what it means for Roman Storm’s future.

🔹 Developer Liability in the Spotlight – Why the case sends a chilling signal to open-source and privacy protocol builders across the U.S.

🔹 Inside the Appeal Strategy – How contradictions between DOJ arguments and FinCEN guidance could shape Roman’s path forward.

🔹 Avichal’s Optimistic Take – Why he believes the American legal and political system will ultimately land on the right side of crypto innovation.

🔹 Historical Parallels – Comparing today’s battles over smart contracts and AI to the legal fights over corporations and cryptography in centuries past.

🔹 ETHZilla Unveiled – Avichal introduces Electric Capital’s new Ethereum treasury vehicle, how it’s designed to work, and its potential impact on DeFi.

🔹 Wall Street Meets Ethereum – The crew explores how institutional capital could become a massive “supply sink” for ETH.

🔹 Potential Shakeouts Ahead – Why some public ETH vehicles may face activist investor pressure, M&A, or liquidation if they stay subscale.

🔹 Ethereum Foundation’s Vibe Shift – Tomasz shares how the EF is engaging more openly with the community, leaning into finance, and guiding ecosystem coordination.

🔹 Ethereum’s Resurgence – From legal fights to market dominance, why ETH feels unstoppable heading into its next decade.

In Case You Missed It 👀

Custodia Has a Patent for Bank Stablecoins: Can It Box Out Big Banks?

Custodia patented tokenized bank deposits back in 2022 when there was little interest from the big banks. Now that the likes of JPMorgan and Citi are getting involved, will the patent hold? 

New Battle Pits Crypto Against Banks in Battle for Customer Data. But Can Everyone Win?

Banks now want to charge fees for crypto exchanges and fintechs to access user data. Here’s how this fight might get resolved.

If You Like Unchained:

🎧 Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!