The Rise of Public Crypto, ICOs Make a Comeback, and Coinbase Wins Again – The Chopping Block - Ep. 850

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, we’re joined by a special guest: Laura Shin, host of Unchained! The crew unpacks Circle’s explosive IPO, Tether’s threat to exit the U.S., and the meme-stock logic powering the rise of “crypto treasury companies.” From Coinbase’s grip on USDC to Wall Street’s sudden enthusiasm for stablecoins, we explore how public markets are reshaping crypto’s power centers. Is Circle overvalued—or the last compliant winner left? And are ICOs really back? We debate whether crypto’s just maturing—or if it’s being hijacked by the suits.

Show highlights

🔹 Circle’s IPO Shocks Wall Street – One of the biggest two-day pops in IPO history: Did bankers misprice, or did crypto just break TradFi?

🔹 Stablecoin Season or Meme Stock Mania? – Circle hits 160x earnings, 15x revenue—Tarun calls it “CoreWeave for finance”

🔹 Tether Threatens U.S. Exit – New regulation looms: Will Circle rule America while Tether dominates abroad?

🔹 The Coinbase Cut – Why Coinbase might be the real winner behind USDC—and the hidden economics of stablecoin margins

🔹 Banking Consortium Incoming? – JPMorgan and Wells reportedly plotting their own stablecoin play. Is Circle racing against the banks?

🔹 The Rise of Treasury Tokens – From MicroStrategy to Solana clones: Are “crypto holding companies” the new ETF?

🔹 Copycats or Cult Leaders? – Why everyone wants to be Saylor—and why most won’t survive

🔹 Are These Companies Just Meme Stocks? – Laura and Tarun debate whether tradable crypto firms have real value—or just vibes

🔹 The Return of the ICO – Plasma raises $500M on Sonar, sparking a new wave of pre-token speculation

🔹 Is This Financial Innovation or Regulatory Theater? – Haseeb asks: Are we maturing—or just dressing TradFi in crypto clothes?

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Laura Shin, Journalist, Author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ Founder and CEO of Unchained

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:25 Circle's IPO: A Historic Event

03:16 Market Reactions & Implications

06:49 Stablecoin Legislation & Tether's Response

08:56 Circle's Market Position & Future

23:12 Crypto Treasury Companies: The New Trend

32:09 Understanding Convertible Arbitrage in Crypto

37:02 Potential Risks and Market Dynamics

41:36 The Influence of Michael Saylor

43:57 The Need for Charismatic Leaders in Crypto

50:07 The Rise of ICOs and Market Trends

55:04 Concluding Thoughts on ICOs

HostsDisclosures

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