Who Will Win Crypto’s Mass Adoption Race

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Author

Juan Aranovich
August 23, 2025

Good Saturday! Before we begin, let me tell you something:

🚀 Bits + Bips is spinning off! 

In September, our macro‑meets‑crypto show is getting its own podcast + YouTube feed. Follow & subscribe so volatility never catches you sleeping →

Now, here’s what we unpacked on the pod this week:

  • ⚔️ LayerZero vs Wormhole – Inside crypto’s first onchain bidding war.

  • 🌍 Who Brings Crypto to the Masses – Wallets, dapps, or TradFi giants?

  • 🥊 The Chopping Block with Vlad Tenev – Robinhood’s CEO fires back on tokenized stocks, memecoins, and what comes next.

The LayerZero/Wormhole Bidding War Shows How to Value a Crypto Business

LayerZero had bid to acquire cross-chain Stargate, when Wormhole threw a wrench into the situation by saying it would counter. Here’s how the first onchain bidding war could go down.

The drama is heating up in crypto M&A. LayerZero, the omnichain interoperability protocol, shocked the market with a $110 million bid to acquire Stargate DAO — the very bridge it originally launched. Then Wormhole jumped in, asking the DAO to pause the vote so it could make a counter-offer.

This episode unpacks the first-ever so-called onchain bidding war: how to value DAOs like real businesses, why LayerZero and Wormhole are fighting over Stargate, and whether this deal marks the beginning of a consolidation wave across crypto.

Guests David Nage of Arca and M&A advisor Lawson Bae of Relayzero break down the numbers, the strategy, and what this turning point means for the industry.

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

Companies Are Competing to Bring Crypto to the Masses. Who Is Best Positioned?

Is the next wave of crypto adoption coming from dapps and wallets, or financial incumbents like Stripe and Robinhood?

Crypto is moving past speculation — and into the battle for mass adoption.

In this episode, Phantom CEO Brandon Millman and Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz join Unchained to debate who will own the next hundred million users. Will it be product-led startups, Web2 giants like X and Meta, or crypto-native apps like Phantom? From payments to trading wars to the “everything app” dream, they unpack where the real value will accrue — and why the easy money era for entrepreneurs is over.

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

Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev Claps Back: From Memecoins to Real Assets – The Chopping Block

Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev on Tokenized Privates, 24/7 Stocks & AI-Verified Code – 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.

This week, Robinhood co‑founder/CEO Vlad Tenev joins to explain Robinhood Chain, why they chose a layer 2 over a layer 1, and the plan to bring tokenized stocks — including private shares — onchain.

We get into the OpenAI/SpaceX kerfuffle, accreditation rules, and whether permissionless tokenization erodes the public/private boundary. Then we zoom out to 24/7 trading, Digital Asset Treasuries, and how formal verification (Lean proofs) could make smart contracts safer.

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 👀

by Juan Aranovich

A softer jobs market opened the path for rate cuts, which could draw investors seeking yield into DeFi.

by Kate Drew

As Stripe gets deeper into crypto, and Coinbase wades into commerce, it may be only a matter of time before the two compete head to head.

Weekly Recap: Kanye West’s YZY Token Turmoil, China’s Stablecoin Pivot

This week in crypto: Gemini heads to Wall Street, Bullish redefines IPOs with stablecoins, and Wyoming launches the first state-issued token.

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