This Week on Unchained: Stripe, Stocks vs Gold, Perps Wars, and More!

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

• 💵 Every Company Will Have a Stablecoin – Can Stripe’s new platform break the stablecoin duopoly and change how money moves?

• 🧩 Manta’s L2 Rethink: Kenny Li says the scaling wars are crowded and the real upside sits at the application layer.

• 🪙 Stocks or Gold? – Two investors face off in a bet on which asset will win in the next 9 months.

• ⚔️ The Perp Wars Heat Up – Are Hyperliquid and Aster just pawns in DeFi’s bigger battle against Binance?

• 🌐 Building a Faster Internet for Crypto – How DoubleZero’s new network could power the next wave of DePIN and onchain apps.

• 📊 Bits + Bips: DeFi vs CeFi – SWIFT, Binance, and the rise of “perpification” in crypto’s new bull market.

Why Every Company Will Have a Stablecoin — and Why One L2 Isn’t Enough

A Stripe-owned startup takes on the stablecoin duopoly. Then, Manta co-founder explains why he thinks apps (not infra) will win.

First, Zach Abrams, CEO of Bridge (acquired by Stripe), unveils Open Issuance, a platform designed to let any company launch its own stablecoin. He explains why the stablecoin duopoly is ending, why fragmentation won’t slow adoption, and how stablecoins could pair with AI to reshape global money movement.

Then, Kenny Li, co-founder of Manta Network, joins to reveal why Manta is pivoting away from being just another L2. He argues that the scaling wars are oversaturated, that mercenary users make infra battles a fight for crumbs, and that the real prize is at the application layer.

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

What’s the Better Bet? Stocks or Gold?

Two investors debate the best asset to hold right now — and make a $10,000 bet on who’s right.

Is gold the ultimate hedge against inflation and sovereign risk? Or are stocks the better long-term wealth builder thanks to innovation and earnings growth?

In this heated and highly entertaining episode, Ram Ahluwalia (Lumida Wealth) and Vinny Lingham (Praxos Capital) dive deep into the macro landscape to debate the relative merits of gold vs. the S&P 500. Along the way, they explore:

Gold’s decentralization vs. Bitcoin Why share buybacks might be distorting wealth creation The role of inflation, AI, fiscal dominance, and central banks The logic behind each of their portfolios And to make things more interesting? They make a $10,000 bet on whether gold or the S&P 500 will perform better over the 9 months.

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

How Hyperliquid Came to ‘Threaten the Very Existence’ of CEXs Like Binance

While everyone talks about Aster vs. Hyperliquid, these two VCs think people are looking at it all wrong.

Perp DEXs are on fire, with volumes topping $1 trillion a month for the first time.

Aster, backed by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), has suddenly vaulted to the top of volume charts, but is its rise organic, or manufactured?

But while everyone frames the battle as Aster vs. Hyperliquid, Syncracy’s Ryan Watkins and Sunny Shi argue the real fight is much bigger: decentralized exchanges versus centralized giants like Binance.

Plus: what role Solana will play in the next chapter in the perps DEX wars? And won’t Ethereum even compete?

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

How DoubleZero Built a Faster Internet for Crypto and Helped All DePIN

Austin Federa joins on launch day to reveal how the project built a new high-performance network for blockchains, plus why the SEC’s no-action letter could be a turning point for DePIN.

DoubleZero just launched its mainnet-beta, offering a new type of high-performance fiber network for blockchains, live across 5 continents and already adopted by 20%+ of Solana stake.

Co-founder Austin Federa joins Unchained to walk through:

• How DoubleZero creates a dedicated internet for crypto

• Who contributes fiber and why they earn the 2Z token

• What the SEC’s no-action letter means for crypto and DePIN specifically

• And what this could unlock for L2s, onchain trading, and more

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

Bits + Bips: Where Is the Most Wealth to Be Made in Crypto: DeFi or CeFi?

From SWIFT’s big crypto play to Binance’s eye-watering valuation, DAT grifts to DeFi billionaires, and perps v. spot trading, B+B debates the big issues driving crypto’s bull run.

Crypto’s bull run may be far from over, but the battleground is shifting.

On this week’s Bits + Bips, Bill Barhydt of Abra and Robert Leshner of Superstate join Ram Ahluwalia and Steven Ehrlich to debate:

• The current state of the markets with a looming government shutdown

• SWIFT’s move to build on Linea, an Ethereum layer 2

• Hyperliquid vs Aster

• The future of perps vs. spot

• Why some DATs are starting to look like grifts

• Whether DeFi billionaires will ultimately eclipse their CeFi predecessors

Plus: Binance’s and Tether’s valuation, CZ as the entrepreneur of the decade, and why the industry may be entering an era of “perpification.”

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 👀

The Onchain 5: How Telegram and Binance Turn Going Onchain Into Fun and Games

The two companies leverage in-house multibillion-dollar tokens to promote worldwide usage.

This DAT Claims It Raised $401 Million. But the Fresh Capital Is Only $13.7M

A digital asset treasury touting a $401 million raise for AI blockchain Zero Gravity actually brought in far less — a red flag for investors.

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