This week on Unchained: two big stories, one episode.

First, Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase’s L2 Base, joins to unpack the chaos behind the viral “Coined It” memecoin moment, a tweet-turned-token that hit $17M in an hour, crashed, then rebounded, igniting a firestorm on Crypto Twitter. Was it a media experiment or a botched launch? Was there insider trading? And why does Jesse think coins are the future of creator monetization?

Then, we dive into Converge, the recently announced chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to bridge TradFi and DeFi. Carlos Domingo and Guy Young explain what makes Converge technically novel, why they’re building on Arbitrum and Celestia, and how it could reshape the onchain landscape for institutions.

Also in this episode:

Whether Jesse regrets greenlighting the Base post
The future of creator coins and tokenized assets
How Converge plans to prevent hacks and improve UX
And why Converge isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”

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Part 1

Jesse Pollak, Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet

On Wednesday, Coinbase’s layer 2 network Base posted a tweet that

read: “Base is for everyone,” followed by a tweet: “Coined it.” That

second tweet linked to a page where the post had already been turned

into a coin.

Within an hour, the coin hit a $17 million market cap, then dropped

to under $2 million, then went back up to over $13 million. Crypto

Twitter exploded. Some called it a rug. Others accused insiders of

sniping the launch. Coinbase later issued a statement saying that Zora

auto-tokenizes content, but Jesse Pollak, head of Base, tweeted that he

personally greenlit the post.

So what really happened?

In this episode, Jesse sits down with Laura to discuss:

Whether this was a memecoin launch or a media experiment
Why he thinks the crypto community overreacted
Whether insider trading occurred
And why he believes coins, not NFTs, are the future of creator monetization

Plus, he explains why he’s okay being the “punching bag.”

Part 2

A month ago, Converge was announced as the new chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to become a home for tokenized assets and institutional capital.

On Thursday, the teams behind it released the full technical specs. From validator-triggered circuit breakers to 100ms block times and support for yield-generating private credit, Converge is pitching itself as the chain for both TradFi and DeFi.

In this episode, Securitize’s Carlos Domingo and Ethena’s Guy Young join Unchained to explain what’s actually novel in this architecture, why they chose Arbitrum and Celestia, and what it will take for institutions to get comfortable onchain.

Plus:

What Converge means for Ethereum and other L2s
Whether gas tokens like USDe and USDtb solve real UX problems
How they plan to prevent bridge-based hacks
And why this isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”

Guest

Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on Ethena:
After an Incredible 2024 for USDe, Ethena Plans to Supercharge Growth
Ethena’s USDe Grew to $2 Billion in 7 Weeks. Is It Safe?
How Ethena’s USDe Challenges Traditional Stablecoin Models
Unchained:
Tokenized T-Bills Grow Despite Trump Tariffs Causing U.S. Treasuries Sell-off
Tokenized Treasuries Grow 20X Faster Than Stablecoins as Crypto Market Languishes

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