Bits + Bips: Why Warren Buffett's Strategy Would Lose Big Time in Crypto - Ep. 830
Crypto doesn’t reward fundamentals. It rewards attention. So what does that say about how investors, like Warren Buffett, would fare today?
In this week’s Bits + Bips, the crew dissects what’s really behind this rally, why Ethereum’s sentiment problem may run deeper than roadmap delays, and how the stablecoin bill turned into a political tug of war.
Plus:
Apple and NFTs: why this matters more than people think
Whether tariffs are about politics or actual policy
Why Bessent is “the best” in the Trump administration
And why Buffett’s era may be ending, with Portnoy rising in his place 😬
Sponsor:
Bitwise
James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard
Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
Katalin Tischhauser, Head of Research at Sygnum Bank
Macro
Bloomberg: Trump Suggests Some Trade Deals May Come as Soon as This Week -
Asymmetric Market Update™️ #29
May 2025 Newsletter: A Trade Breakdown - Lyn Alden
Stagflation bears are wrong?
Reuters: Dollar slips as Taiwan dollar surge sparks revaluation talk
WSJ:
Tariffs Threaten Semiconductor Supply Chains, Chip-Equipment Maker Warns
Bessent’s oped: Trump’s Three Steps to Economic Growth
Buffett on Tariffs
Buffet: The Natural Course of Government is to make Currency worth less overtime
ETH pivot
Unchained:
Ethereum Gave Away Too Much for Too Long. Will Its Pivot Be Enough?
Ethereum Ecosystem Shifts Toward User Focus
Ethereum Developers Vote EOF Out of Fusaka Hard Fork
Vitalik Buterin Proposes Replacing Ethereum Virtual Machine
The Block:
Vitalik and new Ethereum Foundation co-executive directors outline updated board structure, mission
Vitalik Buterin- and StarkWare-backed Kakarot reveals alternative Ethereum ZK stack, targeting real-time STARK proofs on Layer 1 by end of 2025
CoinDesk: Ethereum Could Supercharge Transaction Speed to 2,000 TPS Thanks to Bold New Proposal
Simplifying the L1 by Vitalik Buterin
Stablecoin bill:
POLITICO: Why the Senate crypto bill is in turmoil
Latest on the Senate's "GENIUS Act" by Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy
Timestamps:
🚪 0:00 Intro
👋 1:01 Katalin’s background
📦 3:40 The real motive behind tariffs, according to Katalin
😬 11:43 What the market is forgetting to price in
🇪🇺 18:57 How Europe views Trump’s trade moves
🤝 21:33 Trump thinking that U.S. companies are cutting bad deals with China
🧠 26:04 Why Bessent’s op-ed made waves, and why Alex calls him the smartest in Trump’s crew
📉 29:13 The collapse in U.S. manufacturing employment, despite a surge in production
🧓 33:12 Buffett’s exit and his old-school take on tariffs in a new-school market
🌀 39:46 Will Ethereum’s pivot actually improve the price?
⚖️ 51:28 The impact of the political mess around the stablecoin bill
💸 53:53 Ripple’s attempted Circle acquisition and why Ram wouldn’t touch XRP
🍎 1:00:43 Importance of Apple quietly opening the door to NFTs and crypto sales
💱 1:03:34 What’s up with the Taiwanese dollar
💻 1:06:05 Why adding tariffs to chips could backfire big time
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1:08:07
Ethereum Gave Away Too Much for Too Long. Will Its Pivot Be Enough? - Ep. 829
After years of underperformance, Ethereum is trying to change course, from scaling the layer 1 to potentially dumping the EVM. In this episode, Tarun Chitra and Max Resnick break down each of these new changes, analyzing the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Is this a reset that can save Ethereum’s market position and price? Or has the protocol given away too much for too long?
They dive into:
Whether the gas limit increase changes everything
What went wrong with Ethereum’s economics and solo staking politics
Max’s view on “the single most important” change Ethereum needs to make
How ETH could claw back value from layer 2s
What Max would do if he ran Ethereum
Whether this pivot is too little, too late
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Bitwise https://bitwiseinvestments.com/ciomemo
Tarun Chitra, CEO and Co-Founder of Gauntlet
Max Resnick, Lead economist at Anza
Unchained:
Ethereum Ecosystem Shifts Toward User Focus
Ethereum Developers Vote EOF Out of Fusaka Hard Fork
Vitalik Buterin Proposes Replacing Ethereum Virtual Machine
The Block:
Vitalik and new Ethereum Foundation co-executive directors outline updated board structure, mission
Vitalik Buterin- and StarkWare-backed Kakarot reveals alternative Ethereum ZK stack, targeting real-time STARK proofs on Layer 1 by end of 2025
CoinDesk: Ethereum Could Supercharge Transaction Speed to 2,000 TPS Thanks to Bold New Proposal
Simplifying the L1 by Vitalik Buterin
Timestamps:
👋 0:00 Introduction
🛠️ 2:05 Why Ethereum had to pivot and what triggered the urgency
📈 7:16 Why raising the gas limit could actually be a big deal
💻 9:12 Whether Ethereum devs are too idealistic
⚡ 19:02 How Solana managed to outperform Ethereum at the base layer
👨🏫 24:09 Why Max feels Vitalik’s proposals focus on outdated technology
🔧 27:57 The growing gap between Ethereum research and its execution clients
👍 35:02 The ONE thing Max thinks Ethereum is doing well
⚖️ 40:38 Did “credible neutrality” push Ethereum down the wrong path?
🌀 48:23 Will the new Ethereum R1 rollup succeed?
🔀 52:53 What the new updates mean for layer 2s and their value proposition
📉 1:02:58 Whether ETH is finally due for a price reversal
🎯 1:09:12 Why Ethereum should take a page from Trump’s strategy playbook
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1:28:27
How MOVE’s Contracts Put a Pump and Dump Into a Legal Agreement - Ep. 828
The MOVE token collapse sparked one of the most damning investigations in the industry this year.
In this episode of Unchained, investigative journalist Sam Kessler joins Laura Shin to walk through the contracts, questionable market-making deals, and finger pointing inside Movement Labs. From Binance’s ban to a Trump-affiliated crypto deal, this story unearths how the MOVE token collapse was the product of what looks like a pump-and-dump plan written out in legal contracts.
Plus:
How insiders structured deals to profit from artificial price spikes
How this could have happened with a project backed by some of crypto’s most reputable VCs
What this saga says about token launches, regulation, and market integrity
And whether Movement Labs can (or should) be trusted to investigate itself
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
FalconX
Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off
Mantle
Sam Kessler, Deputy Managing Editor for Tech and Protocols at CoinDesk
CoinDesk: Inside Movement’s Token-Dump Scandal: Secret Contracts, Shadow Advisers and Hidden Middlemen
Trading for MOVE will be suspended on Coinbase
Timestamps:
👋 0:00 Introduction
🕵️♀️ 1:52 Initial details of the scandal
⚖️ 6:20 Conflicts of interest at Movement Labs and who knew what
💥 8:42 Why 5% of tokens = 50% of supply and why that’s wild
🧾 13:14 How a lawyer called the deal “the worst agreement I’ve ever seen”
🚫 18:41 Why Binance banned Web3Port after suspicious trading
🧩 20:38 The web of key players: founders, shadow advisors, and middlemen
🧠 25:51 A theory on treasury selling and token price manipulation
🔍 27:49 Can Movement Labs investigate itself, and will anyone trust the outcome?
📉 29:39 Why Coinbase is suspending MOVE and what that signals
🇺🇸 30:47 How Trump’s crypto arm is tangled up in the MOVE ecosystem
📰34:15 News Recap
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45:20
Bits + Bips: Why It’s Time to Be More Bullish on Bitcoin - Ep. 827
While it’s been a calmer week in the markets (thank God!), there’s a lot to talk about!
This week on Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart, Ram Ahluwalia, and Steven Ehrlich, along with guest Charles Edwards of Capriole Investments, dive into:
Whether it’s time to be bullish on all crypto assets
Whether a Trump put actually exists
The risks behind bitcoin treasury companies like the new Twenty One Capital
Why Solana ETFs might not be the smash success people expect
The controversial invite to the White House for $TRUMP holders
Why there’s a big disconnect in the markets
Bitwise
James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida
Steven Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained
Guest:
Charles Edwards, Founder of Capriole Investments
Twenty One:
Recent coverage of Unchained on Twenty One:
Why Twenty One Capital Is More About Volatility Than Bitcoin
Twenty One Aims to Buy as Much Bitcoin as Possible. Can It Succeed?
Press Release: Tether, SoftBank Group, and Jack Mallers Launch Twenty One, a Bitcoin-native Company, Through a Business Combination With Cantor Equity Partners
Does The Market Still Control Trump?
Donald Trump’s chaos has left investors with frayed nerves
4 of the Mag7 Reporting This Week
Big Tech’s Earnings Problem Is Estimates May Be Way Too High
$TRUMP
Trump's Meme Coin Dinner Contest Earns Insiders $900,000 in Two Days
Other:
Apollo slides
Timestamps:
👋 0:00 Introductions
🧠 3:22 Is the market controlling Trump or is Trump controlling the market?
📈 8:51 Can investors trust it if there’s a positive earnings season?
🚚 14:13 How tariffs are hitting supply chains and consumer goods
🏛️ 19:25 Is Twenty One Capital a threat to MicroStrategy?
⛏️ 31:19 What is the future of bitcoin miners?
⚡ 34:42 Will the Bitcoin corporate flywheel eventually break?
🔥 43:31 Can Solana holding companies follow MSTR?
🇨🇦 48:19 Wen Solana ETFs? \Poor early trading trends in Canada
🤔 53:50 Is there a silver lining to $TRUMP?
📊 1:06:30 Bitcoin strength: time to be bullish?
🌍 1:14:24 Macro wrap-up with tariffs, rate cuts, and global market risks
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1:26:45
Why Twenty One Capital Is More About Volatility Than Bitcoin - Ep. 826
The race for Bitcoin supremacy just got more complicated.
Twenty One Capital, backed by Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald, plans to stack as much BTC as it possibly can.
But is this new venture really about Bitcoin … or about creating a hyper-volatile stock to play market cycles?
This week on Unchained, Jeff Park of Bitwise and Mark Palmer of Benchmark join to discuss:
Why SoftBank and Tether are a “perfect match”—and why they turned to Bitcoin
How volatility, not bitcoin itself, might be the real asset investors are buying
What Cantor’s involvement says about Wall Street’s readiness for crypto
Why the launch timing matters
Whether Twenty One could repeat MicroStrategy’s mistakes
Whether these new Bitcoin vehicles are better bets than spot bitcoin or ETFs
Plus, is SoftBank getting into crypto a top signal? 👀
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Bitwise
Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies at Bitwise
Mark Palmer, Senior Analyst at Benchmark
Recent coverage of Unchained on Twenty One: Twenty One Aims to Buy as Much Bitcoin as Possible. Can It Succeed?
Press Release: Tether, SoftBank Group, and Jack Mallers Launch Twenty One, a Bitcoin-native Company, Through a Business Combination With Cantor Equity Partners
Jeff Park’s post on X
Timestamps:
📰 0:00 Introduction
🚀 2:07 Why Jeff sees the Twenty One Capital launch as a huge development
🧠 6:09 How Twenty One might learn from MicroStrategy’s playbook
🏦 11:59 Risks of turning into the next Celsius, Voyager or Genesis
💸 18:52 Why Bitcoin needs income-generating activities to evolve
📊 21:17 How metrics like bitcoin per share bridge crypto and TradFi
🤝 30:16 Whether Tether’s participation makes sense
💍 34:18 Why Jeff thinks SoftBank and Tether are “a perfect match”
🚩 42:29 Is SoftBank entering crypto a top signal?
🏛️ 46:32 Why Cantor’s involvement shows Wall Street is serious
📈 50:24 Why bitcoin vehicle stocks trade at a premium
🗓️ 55:48 Why timing matters compared to MicroStrategy’s 2020 debut
🧮 1:00:06 How to decide between investing in vehicles, spot bitcoin, or ETFs
🌊 1:08:52 Whether SOL investment vehicles will have the same success as bitcoin ones
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Crypto assets and blockchain technology are about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity to the Internet of Things. In this podcast, host Laura Shin, an independent journalist covering all things crypto, talks with industry pioneers about how crypto assets and blockchains will change the way we earn, spend and invest our money. Tune in to find out how Web 3.0, the decentralized web, will revolutionize our world. Disclosure: I'm a nocoiner.