On The Brink with Castle Island Weekly Roundup 08/08/25 (Debanking EO, Storm Verdict, RMB stables) (EP.653)
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Aug 8, 2025 Dive into the chaos of NYC's sanitation struggles and China's relentless Bitcoin bans. Discover if China is truly launching an RMB stablecoin and ponder the implications of Trump’s debanking executive order. Explore OpenAI's release of GPT-5 and debate the future of AGI. Unpack SEC updates on liquid staking tokens and the need for financial privacy amid growing surveillance. Plus, consider the potential of stablecoins to revolutionize banking and whether AI could finally unmask Satoshi Nakamoto.
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New York's Sanitation Problem
- Matt Walsh observes more human feces on New York sidewalks each time he visits the city.
- Nic Carter highlights pervasive trash bags and mountains of refuse that seem perennial in New York.
China's RMB Stablecoin Skepticism
- Nic Carter and Matt Walsh doubt FT reports that China will issue an RMB stablecoin from Hong Kong.
- They cite capital controls and embedded surveillance as barriers to a Western-style stablecoin.
AGI Claim: We're There
- Nic Carter declares current models meet his AGI definition: human-equivalent performance on knowledge tasks.
- He expects models to become more agentic and act like employees performing sustained work.