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

• 📈 HYPE’s Bull Case and How Stocks May Decouple From Bitcoin
  Why crypto equities might finally break free from BTC’s grip — and why TradFi investors are suddenly obsessed with Hyperliquid’s HYPE DAT.

• 📉 Bits + Bips on Bitcoin’s Wild Macro Week
  Why a brutal cross-asset selloff hit everything at once, how institutions kept buying, and what Vanguard’s crypto U-turn signals for the market.

• ⚙️ Inside Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade
  How Fusaka makes transactions cheaper, impacts L2s, and why developers rushed to ship a second major upgrade in under six months.

• ⚖️ DEX in the City on Class Actions & Crypto Law
  Why class action lawsuits may be a bigger threat to crypto companies than regulators—and how China’s renewed crackdown and the CME outage fit into the picture.

• 🔥 The Chopping Block on Token Launch Chaos & L1 Wars
  Monad’s explosive debut, tokenomics backlash, AI exploit bots, and why prediction markets are suddenly going mainstream.

• 💥 Uneasy Money on Solana vs. Ethereum DeFi Turmoil
  The Kamino–Jupiter drama, Infinex’s token sale, Hyperliquid’s equities perps, and what Fusaka means for the future of DeFi infrastructure.

• 🏢 Is Strategy’s Model Unraveling?
  What’s behind the mNAV collapse, why preferreds are causing panic, and how MSCI exclusion could reshape the future of Bitcoin-backed treasuries.

Bits + Bips: How Stocks May Decouple From Bitcoin—and Why TradFi Should Love a HYPE DAT

In this special double-feature episode of Bits + Bips, Unchained executive editor Steve Ehrlich brings listeners two of the clearest investor perspectives on where the crypto markets may be headed next.

First, Owen Lau, Managing Director at Clear Street, breaks down why crypto equities remain so tightly correlated to Bitcoin—and what might finally cause that link to break. He unpacks the growing role of stablecoin revenue, Coinbase and Circle’s evolving business models, and why a market structure bill in 2026 could reshape the sector.

Then, in the second half, Bob Diamond and David Schamis of Hyperliquid Strategies explain why they believe Hyperliquid and its HYPE token represent one of the most compelling opportunities in digital assets. They walk through the rationale for their DAT, Hyperliquid’s performance during extreme market volatility, and the broader ecosystem being built through HIP-3 and beyond.

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

Bits + Bips: Vanguard’s Crypto U-Turn, Tether/MSTR FUD & Picking Future Winners

A brutal selloff and a rotation into value. But then Vanguard comes in to send bitcoin soaring.

Monday’s selloff rattled the entire market—Bitcoin, equities, commodities, you name it.

But beneath the volatility, something more structural may be happening.

In this week’s Bits + Bips, Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, Chris Perkins, and B+B OG previous host Alex Kruger break down one of the most confusing macro weeks of the year. They debate why high-beta assets snapped, whether a rotation into quality is underway, why institutions seem unfazed even as retail stays skittish, and share initial thoughts on Vanguard finally allowing clients to buy crypto.

The crew also unpacks Strategy’s chaotic comments about selling BTC, the Clarity Act’s political hurdles, the CME outage that exposed systemic fragility, and the never-ending debate over Tether—profitability, reserves, and what institutions actually want from a stablecoin issuer.

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

Cheaper Fees and No More Free Lunch for Layer 2s? Inside Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade

Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade is here. Core developer Preston Van Loon explains what it means for users and projects.

Ethereum for the first time ever has rolled out a second major upgrade within a year. Fusaka has gone live less than six months after Pectra.

In this Unchained podcast episode, Ethereum Core Developer Preston Van Loon joins Protocol Watch founder Christine D. Kim to unpack how Fusaka would make transactions cheaper, improve the UX for users and impact layer 2 chain operators.

They also discuss the relatively short time to deployment and how this is impacting client and layer 2 teams.

Preston also explains why he is less nervous about Fusaka than he was about Pectra and the indicators of success. Plus what comes next after the hard fork.

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

DEX in the City: Class Actions in Crypto Are on the Rise. Are They More Dangerous Than SEC Enforcement?

The DEX in the City crew explores the rise of class action lawsuits against crypto companies, the crypto crackdown in China and the CME outage.

Class action lawsuits targeting crypto firms are on the rise. While observers often brush off the cases as opportunistic, they may be more of an existential threat than many think.

In this episode of DEX in the City, hosts Jessi Brooks of Ribbit Capital, Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos of StarkWare, and Vy Le of Veda unpack what class action suits are and why they may be more of a threat to crypto than enforcement actions.

Katherine breaks down the derivative case against Coinbase while Jessi explains why Binance has “bad facts” in the Hamas case. Meanwhile, Vy explains why the tussle over prediction markets like Kalshi by state gambling regulators could make it to the Supreme Court.

Plus, China’s crypto crackdown and the CME’s outage.

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

The Chopping Block: Token Launch Hype, L1 Wars & Prediction Market Breakouts

This week: Monad vs Crypto Twitter, AI exploit bots, tokenomics chaos, and the rise of prediction markets.

Welcome to The Chopping Block — where Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner cover crypto’s biggest moments. This week we’re joined by Kevin from the Monad Foundation as we dig into the most chaotic token launch of the year. Monad goes live, CT explodes, and the tokenomics wars come roaring back — vesting, float, FDV, and why everything “just keeps going down.”

We break down whether the world actually needs another L1, how hype creates impossible expectations, and how Kevin and the Monad team are handling the spotlight — and the hate. Then we shift to security chaos: Yearn’s underflow hack, Anthropic’s AI discovering real smart contract vulnerabilities, and “post-quantum” panic sweeping Crypto Twitter. Plus: BTC volatility, MicroStrategy drama, and prediction markets suddenly going mainstream.

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

Uneasy Money: Did Solana Dapp Kamino Break the Golden Rule of DeFi?

The crew digs into Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade, the controversy surrounding Kamino’s decision to blacklist Jupiter, Hyperliquid’s buzzing equities perp futures market and more.

Ethereum Fusaka is live, Infinex has embarked on its token sale, Hyperliquid is bolstering its HIP-3 markets and there is drama in Solana’s DeFi land.

In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan delve into the significance and implications of the Fusaka upgrade and the controversy surrounding Infinex’s token sale.

They also take a look at the promise and risks of Hyperliquid’s buzzing perp futures markets on tokenized equities and Kamino’s controversial response to competition from Jupiter.

In addition, they touch on Anthropic’s smart contract study and the recent Yearn Finance exploit.

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

Is Strategy’s Model Unraveling? What is Driving the Recent Rout and Where It Can Go From Here

Is the Strategy flywheel stalling? Two market experts debate the company’s outlook as its valuation tanks.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy has not had the year it hoped for. Amid an explosion of copycats and Bitcoin price weakness, the company has seen its valuation and so-called mNAV crash.

In this special episode of Unchained, Praxos co-founder Vinny Lingham and The Benchmark Company Analyst Mark Palmer join Unchained Executive Editor Steve Ehrlich to debate Strategy’s outlook.

They discuss the impact of new preferred stocks on common shareholders, the company’s new cash reserve and the potential impacts of MSCI exclusion.

They also delve into what the Bitcoin digital asset treasury ecosystem could look like in the future and whether Strategy could have employed a better acquisition model.

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 👀

Bitcoin Resets Above $90,000, but Can Bulls Keep the Momentum?

Bitcoin recovered after recently falling to $80,000. But now that things have stabilized, bullish traders are betting that it will retake the $100,000 mark.

Why Wall Street Banks Need to Launch Their Own Stablecoins

Stablecoins are the lifeblood of the entire crypto industry. If banks become spectators, they risk repeating a big mistake from decades ago.

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