The Chopping Block: The New Ethereum Era: High-Stakes Trial, Wall Street Deals, and ETHZilla - Ep. 884

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. With special guests: Avichal Garg, Managing Partner at Electric Capital, and Tomasz K. Stańczak, Co-Executive Director at the Ethereum Foundation. This week we get into one of the most pivotal moments in Ethereum’s history — from the Tornado Cash verdict and its chilling implications for developers, to Wall Street’s growing embrace of ETH through the launch of ETHZilla. The crew unpacks how this trial could redefine developer liability, why Ethereum’s narrative is shifting toward institutional adoption, and what the next decade could look like for the world’s most versatile blockchain. Whether you’re here for the legal drama, the market moves, or the inside scoop from Ethereum’s top builders and investors, this episode delivers the sharp analysis, big-picture context, and unfiltered hot takes you’ve come to expect from The Chopping Block. Show highlights 🔹 Tornado Cash Verdict Breakdown – Haseeb explains the mixed outcome: a conviction on one count, hung jury on the most serious charges, and what it means for Roman Storm’s future. 🔹 Developer Liability in the Spotlight – Why the case sends a chilling signal to open-source and privacy protocol builders across the U.S. 🔹 Inside the Appeal Strategy – How contradictions between DOJ arguments and FinCEN guidance could shape Roman’s path forward. 🔹 Avichal’s Optimistic Take – Why he believes the American legal and political system will ultimately land on the right side of crypto innovation. 🔹 Historical Parallels – Comparing today’s battles over smart contracts and AI to the legal fights over corporations and cryptography in centuries past. 🔹 ETHZilla Unveiled – Avichal introduces Electric Capital’s new Ethereum treasury vehicle, how it’s designed to work, and its potential impact on DeFi. 🔹 Wall Street Meets Ethereum – The crew explores how institutional capital could become a massive “supply sink” for ETH. 🔹 Potential Shakeouts Ahead – Why some public ETH vehicles may face activist investor pressure, M&A, or liquidation if they stay subscale. 🔹 Ethereum Foundation’s Vibe Shift – Tomasz shares how the EF is engaging more openly with the community, leaning into finance, and guiding ecosystem coordination. 🔹 Ethereum’s Resurgence – From legal fights to market dominance, why ETH feels unstoppable heading into its next decade. Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly Guests ⭐️ Avichal Garg, Managing Partner at Electric Capital ⭐️ Tomasz K. Stańczak, Co-Executive Director at the Ethereum Foundation ⁠Disclosures⁠ Links Beyond Stablecoins: The Case for Ethereum by Maria Shen and Sanjay Shah (Electric Capital) https://electriccapital.substack.com/p/beyond-stablecoins-the-case-for-ethereum Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:36 Tornado Cash Trial Verdict 06:16 Legal and Industry Reactions 09:25 Future of Crypto Legislation 21:13 Smart Contracts & AI Legislation 27:58 Introduction to ETHZilla 31:47 Community-Oriented Ethereum Initiatives 32:38 Wall Street Money in DeFi 35:08 Activist Investors & Market Dynamics 39:25 TradFi vs. DeFi 44:12 Ethereum Foundation's Cultural Shift 54:13 The Role of Ethereum Foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	my perception with old ef was like not naming the fact that like the killer app is finance right
0:06.3	i think it was always dancing around what like what is the world computer for it's for finance and
0:10.9	finance can take many different forms it can be prediction markets it can be stable coins be dexes
0:15.0	whatever but like that is ultimately i think the killer app and now it feels like we're naming it we're
0:19.9	putting our finger on it and like leaning into all those like great components. It's a great use case. And it's a killer app. Not a dividend. It's a tale of two pawn. Now your losses are on someone else's balance. Generally speaking, air drops are kind of pointless anyways. I'm in the trading firms who are very involved. I like that eight of the ultimate the ultimate topic. DFI protocols are the antidote to this problem. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the chopping block. Every couple weeks, before we get together and give the industry insider perspective on the critical topics of the day. So quick intro, this is Tristan. Tom, the Defy Maven and Master of Mewis. Hello, everyone. Joining us today, we've got special guests.
0:55.1	First, we have returning guests, Evichel, managing partner and discount Turun.
0:59.9	I was wondering if you'd bring that up again.
1:01.9	Good memory.
1:02.9	Welcome back.
1:04.0	And joining us today, first time we have Tamash, Tomash, Tomash.
1:07.3	Tomash, Stanchuk, executive director and turnaround artist at the Theorem Foundation.
1:14.0	Thank you. Thank you for having me.
1:15.5	Thanks for being here. And I've received that hype man to Dragonfly. We are early stage investors in crypto, but I want to caveat that nothing we say here is investment advice, legal advice, or even life advice.
1:24.2	Please see Chopin Block that X, Y, for more disclosures. So we are assembled here at SBC in Berkeley.
1:29.5	SBC is a science of blockchain conference, which is a kind of rotating conference that goes
1:32.8	around the way.
1:33.5	So we were lucky enough to catch the two of you here at the same time.
1:37.0	But we convene today at a pretty dark moment, I think, in the history of crypto and certainly
1:43.6	of Ethereum, which is we just got the verdict for the Tornado Cash trial.
1:48.0	So to give a little bit of background for those who are just tuning in, Tornado Cash was a privacy-preserving anonymity protocol of Ethereum.
1:54.0	This case is probably one of the highest profile cases in recent memory in crypto,
2:00.0	because it's considered to be one of these milestone
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