Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they’re joined by Unchained’s Laura Shin to debate FTX revival rumors, what the U.S. Treasury got wrong about DeFi, and whether VCs are antithetical to crypto’s core principles.Show highlights:  how much ETH is getting unstaked and deposited after Shapella the market reaction following the successful implementation of the upgrade whether FTX could reopen after its massive collapse why Robert thinks rebooting the exchange is a “terrible” idea whether FTX could do the same thing as Bitfinex and issue a debt token for creditors how the U.S. government misunderstands decentralized finance, in stark contrast with regulators from other parts of the world whether DeFi front-ends should be subject to the Bank Secrecy Act whether VCs go against the principles of crypto the difference between democratizing finance and democratizing fundraising Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Guest Laura Shin, author, and CEO of UnchainedDisclosuresLinksShapella: Previous coverage of Unchained on the upgrade: Shapella in the Rearview: After Major Upgrade, What’s Next for Ethereum? Ethereum's Shapella Upgrade - What to Expect? How Will ETH React to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade? Unchained:  Staked Ethereum Withdrawals Enabled As Shanghai Upgrade Goes Live Ethereum Surges Past $2,000 Post-Shanghai, $2 Billion Staked Withdrawals Pending Nansen: The Shanghai Upgrade Dashboard CoinDesk: What’s Next After the Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Known as Shapella FTX: Unchained: FTX Could Reopen Crypto Exchange, Recovers $7.3 Billion in Assets Treasury Report: Unchained: Poor DeFi Cybersecurity Presents Risks for National Security, Says U.S. Treasury Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Shin, the host of Unchained, joins crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra to discuss Vitalik Buterin's call for a return to cypherpunk ideals in the crypto industry. They debate whether Vitalik is the 'Pope of crypto' and explore contrasting perspectives on decentralization and quick riches. The episode also touches on topics such as the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., the Orbit Bridge hack, and the implications of in kind versus cash creation in grayscale and GPTC.

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news.Show topics: the details of the SEC and CFTC complaints how crypto traders have always speculated about Alameda's preferential treatment whether many people knew about the mismanagement of funds and alleged fraud why Haseeb thinks SBF was a "f*cking psycho" how helpful Tarun believes a testimony from Sam Trabucco, former co-CEO of Alameda, would be why Alameda and FTX lost billions of dollars, and the poor diligence of SBF's venture investments Sam's "ineffective altruism"  why a bull market wouldn't have solved the insolvency problems of FTX whether SBF will fight extradition and how long it would take how Sam's consistent use of Facebook and his anti-Maker stand shows he was not a crypto-native why Laura thinks that The Block CEO's undisclosed loans represent a "total betrayal" Robert's take on the ineffectiveness of the government's control of information why Binance is under scrutiny and whether it's the "next FTX" Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Guest: Laura Shin, author, host of UnchainedEpisode LinksFTX: Unchained:CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX SBF Denied Bail in The Bahamas, Will Remain in Fox Hill Prison Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bahamas Asked SBF to Mint Hundreds of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of New Tokens After Collapse, Say FTX Liquidators SBF Directed $8B Alameda Liabilities to an FTX Account He Called ‘Weird Korean,’ Says CFTC Forbes: Despite Boasting Of Big Profits, FTX And Alameda Lost $3.7 Billion Before 2022 Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Binance: Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony The BlockUnchained: The Block CEO Steps Down After Revealing He Was Secretly Funded By SBF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crypto insider Laura Shin joins the podcast to discuss Trump's pro-crypto stance and its impact on voter behavior. The episode explores single-issue voting on crypto policy, Biden administration's views on crypto regulations, GameStop and AMC pump, meme stocks' viability, and the interplay of politics, finance, and cryptocurrency.

Laura Shin and Kristin Smith from the Blockchain Association discuss the impact of Trump's VP pick JD Vance on the crypto industry, SEC changes post-2024 elections, fundraising by crypto PACs, and White House meetings with crypto executives. They explore political events influencing crypto markets, potential shifts at the SEC, lobbying efforts in Washington DC, and speculations on factors influencing SEC's approval of Ether ETFs.