Exchanges must diversify to retain traders

The crew breaks down Superstate's massive $82M Series B for tokenization, the explosive rise of TradeXYZ's commodities trading hitting $1B+ volume, different tokenization models from "bootleg" to "back office," the ClawdBot AI phenomenon taking over coding, and how agent-based development is revolutionizing crypto software engineering.

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, Robert drops news about Superstate's massive $82 million Series B raise led by Bain Capital to bring Wall Street on-chain through tokenization. The crew dives deep into the explosive growth of Hip3 markets, particularly TradeXYZ's commodities trading that's hitting over $1 billion in daily volume as precious metals rip to all-time highs. They break down the different tokenization models emerging - from "bootleg" third-party approaches to "back office" settlement tools to issuer-led official tokenization.

Then the conversation shifts to the ClawdBot phenomenon taking the internet by storm, exploring how AI agents are revolutionizing coding and what this means for the future of software engineering in crypto. From vibe coding to the complete transformation of how startups will be built, the hosts examine whether we're witnessing a fundamental shift in how technical work gets done.

Show highlights

🔹 Superstate raises $82M Series B led by Bain Capital for official securities tokenization

🔹 TradeXYZ hits $1B+ daily volume trading commodities on HyperLiquid's Hip3 markets  

🔹 Gold and silver surge drives massive crypto-native precious metals trading boom

🔹 Three tokenization models emerge: "bootleg" third-party, "back office" settlement, issuer-led official

🔹 ClawdBot/Molt Bot AI phenomenon explodes with agent-based life automation tools

🔹 Security concerns arise as thousands of unsecured ClawdBot gateways discovered online

🔹 Agent coding revolution transforms software engineering from hand-coding to management

🔹 Anthropic employees fully transition to Claude Code, abandoning traditional IDEs entirely

🔹 Crypto exchanges expand beyond crypto to capture trading cohorts aging into new assets

🔹 AI meme coin cycles continue as crypto financializes every new tech breakthrough

Hosts

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:05 Superstate's $82M Series B Raise

05:16 Tokenization Models: Bootleg vs Back Office vs Issuer-Led

10:03 Trade XYZ HIP-3 Markets Commodities Surge

17:06 Why Crypto Traders Are Flocking to Precious Metals

20:45 The Evolution of Crypto Trading Cohorts

28:14 ClawdBot AI Phenomenon 

32:02 Security Concerns with AI Life Automation

35:43 Agent Coding Revolution

41:30 How AI is Transforming Crypto Startups

46:22 Anthropic Teams Fully Adopt Claude Code

51:06 Future of Software Engineering and Hiring

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