Crypto in 2026 is consolidating into a handful of high-stakes rivalries:

Ethereum vs. Solana for the center of gravity, Coinbase vs. Robinhood for the finance super-app, and Polymarket vs. Kalshi for prediction markets.

Arnav Pagidyala (Bankless Ventures) joins David and Ryan to map the investment implications, why incentives-driven L1s keep leaking liquidity, what makes Morpho’s institutional playbook work, and whether Hyperliquid, wallets, and onchain rails start eating the exchange business.

We also dig into the comeback of ICOs, what it would take for tokens to become truly investable, and why proof-of-personhood and privacy-preserving KYC may become unavoidable infrastructure.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:12 Ethereum & Solana

7:33 Why Solana is Winning

9:27 L1 Valuations

13:13 Coinbase & Robinhood

17:16 Base Contentcoins

20:32 Kalshi & Polymarket

23:19 Prediction Market Tokens

24:45 Store of Value Duopoly

27:21 Tokens in 2026

29:41 Tokens & Equity Alignment

31:01 MetaDAO

32:42 ICOs

34:44 Morpho

39:17 Morpho & Aave

40:41 Perp Exchanges

44:28 Proof of Personhood

48:42 Fat Wallet Thesis

51:45 X & Crypto

53:27 AI & Vibecoding

55:28 Is Crypto Dead?

57:18 Capital Stack Moving Onchain

59:10 What About TradFi?

1:02:15 Closing & Disclaimers

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RESOURCES

Arnav Pagidyala

https://x.com/0xArnav

Bankless Ventures

https://x.com/banklessvc

Investing Trends for 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Poes3EpAR5c

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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

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