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Unchained

Bits + Bips: $285M Hack, Iran's Crypto War Machine & the Token Fundamentals Crisis

Unchained

Laura Shin

Business News, News, Tech News

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A nation state hacked a startup and won. The hosts debate who's liable, what's fixable, and what isn't. --- Thank you to our sponsors: Bitcoin’s application layer, Citrea, launched its mainnet, expanding Bitcoin’s utility to privacy, lending, BTC yields, and more. Citrea enables: cBTC: The first trust-minimized Bitcoin on a fully programmable platform. ctUSD: A native stablecoin for Bitcoin, allowing for unified liquidity. Bitcoin Capital Markets bringing demand, and utility to the Bitcoin Network. Explore the Citrea Ecosystem. Ether.fi is giving Unchained listeners 15% cashback on food and ride apps — and that's on top of the 3% you get on everything else.  Your bank is charging you to use your own money. Laura switched and loves her card!Go to ether.fi/unchained to claim your offer. ---- North Korea just pulled off the largest DeFi hack of 2026, draining $285 million from Drift protocol in 12 minutes through a six-month social engineering campaign that included face-to-face meetings at industry conferences. Circle had a six-hour window to freeze $232 million in USDC moving through its own bridge and didn't act.  Meanwhile, Iran's IRGC is reportedly collecting crypto tolls at the Strait of Hormuz in USDT via Tron, and the token market is cracking under the weight of 750,000 issuances since 2020 with the median token down 80% from peak.  Ram, Austin, and Chris confront the liability question for stablecoin issuers, whether DeFi's security model can survive nation-state attackers, why Chris is calling for licensed "neoprivateers" to recover stolen funds, and what Franklin Templeton's acquisition of 250 Digital signals about where institutional capital is headed. Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Austin Campbell⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host of Bits + Bips, Zero Knowledge Consulting ⁠⁠⁠⁠Ram Ahluwalia⁠⁠⁠⁠, Co-Host, CEO of Lumida ⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Perkins⁠⁠⁠⁠, Co-Host, President of CoinFund Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

All right, everybody. Hello and welcome to bits and bips, where we explore how crypto and macro collide one basis point at a time.

0:08.4

We're here to discuss the latest stories of the worlds of crypto and macro.

0:12.7

Just remember, nothing we say here is investment advice.

0:16.2

Check unchainedcrypto.com slash bits and bips for more disclosures.

0:21.5

And before we begin, a quick word from our sponsors.

0:25.1

Bitcoin changed how money works.

0:27.0

Citrae changes how Bitcoin scales.

0:29.1

With a trust minimized BTC and a native stable coin, CTUSD,

0:33.4

Citraea enables Bitcoin capital markets with lending, privacy, Bitcoin yield, and more.

0:38.9

Get started at Citraea.xyZ slash unchained.

0:43.0

EtherFi is giving Unchained listeners 15% cash back on food and ride apps, and that's on top

0:48.7

of the 3% you get on everything else.

0:50.6

Your bank is charging you to use your own money.

0:52.9

I switched.

0:53.9

Go to ether.fi slash Un charging you to use your own money. I switched. Go to ether.fI

0:55.3

slash unchained to claim your discount. Quick note before we get into today's episode. Bits

1:00.4

and Bips now has its dedicated feed. We're spinning off from the Unchained feed and moving to a new

1:04.8

podcast and YouTube channel. So if you want to keep up with our weekly live streams and macro

1:08.8

meets crypto breakdowns, make sure to subscribe to Bits and Bips directly.

1:12.7

We won't publish there until March, but subscribe today so you can be ready for launch.

1:16.6

Be sure to subscribe to the new feeds at Unchained Crypto.com slash Bips and Bips.

1:25.9

All right, welcome back.

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