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Unchained

Bits + Bips: Are Crypto Markets Bottoming, or Is There More Pain Ahead?

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Business News, Tech News

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

DATs may be collapsing, AI agents may be overhyped, but Omid Malekan thinks the strongest case for crypto has nothing to do with either. Thank you to our sponsors: ⁠⁠Fuse: The Energy Network⁠ Bitcoin is below $63,000, digital asset treasuries are under pressure, and the debate over whether crypto markets are bottoming or breaking down is splitting the hosts.  Ram is skeptical of institutional demand when he looks at the 13F data from institutions filing SEC reports. Chris is on the phone with institutions all day and is bullish.  Omid Malekan, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, comes in with a longer lens: he admits he contributed to the DAT hype cycle, has doubts about agentic commerce that remind him of the metaverse in 2021, and thinks the strongest argument for crypto is not a product or a token but a fact about how nation-states treat their own citizens.  The conversation also covers tokenized bank deposits, the SEC's updated broker-dealer guidance on stablecoins, and what it means that the Supreme Court just struck down Trump's tariffs. Hosts: ⁠⁠Ram Ahluwalia⁠⁠, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida ⁠⁠Austin Campbell⁠⁠, NYU Stern professor and founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting ⁠⁠Christopher Perkins⁠⁠, Managing Partner and President of CoinFund Guest: ⁠Omid Malekan, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School Links: Unchained: Bitcoin Slips Below $63,000 as Fear Deepens Bitcoin Dips Below $65,000 as Tariff Uncertainty Weighs on Risk White House Talks Make Progress on Stablecoin Yields but No Deal Yet SEC Quietly Eases Capital Rules for Stablecoins SCOTUS: Supreme Court strikes down tariffs Citrini: ⁠THE 2028 GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE CRISIS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The world moves fast. Your workday? Even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports,

0:07.0

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0:14.0

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0:22.2

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0:26.1

Learn more at Microsoft.com slash M365 copilot.

0:30.1

The regime falls, the banking system surely falls.

0:33.6

This ultimately shows why the world needs a independent digital financial system that's not affiliated with any government.

0:41.6

The dads are in a death spiral.

0:43.8

They're still in a death spiral.

0:45.9

There's still a death spiral.

0:46.9

No view change.

0:48.2

The thing with the dads to this day, I think, is the most outrageous because it both damned the dat and whatever coin it was involved in

0:56.6

was when they started buying locked tokens from foundations and labs and whatnot.

1:10.6

Hey everyone. Welcome to bits and dips where we explore how crypto and macro collide one basis point at a time.

1:17.5

I'm your host, Austin Campbell, high scholar of zero knowledge group, here with my co-hosts, Ram Alawalia,

1:23.5

maister of wealth, leader of Lumida, Chris Perkins, the golden hand of, we're just going to go with coin fund until you come up with a name, Chris.

1:30.9

And today in particular, I'm incredibly excited. We're joined by Omead Malikon, who is a professor and grandmaister at Columbia Business School. More importantly, long-term crypto-explainer and decentralization maxi. So I think Omead and I have

1:48.7

had a debate or two before. Hopefully we can bring that energy with all of us today. I'm really looking

1:53.3

forward to this one. However, before we get started, just remember that nothing we say here is

1:58.7

investment advice. Check unchained crypto.com slash bits and bibs for more disclosures.

2:04.5

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

2:08.6

Quick note before we get into today's episode.

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