The Rise of Public Crypto, ICOs Make a Comeback, and Coinbase Wins Again – The Chopping Block - Ep. 850

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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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. This week, we’re joined by a special guest: Laura Shin, host of Unchained! The crew unpacks Circle’s explosive IPO, Tether’s threat to exit the U.S., and the meme-stock logic powering the rise of “crypto treasury companies.” From Coinbase’s grip on USDC to Wall Street’s sudden enthusiasm for stablecoins, we explore how public markets are reshaping crypto’s power centers. Is Circle overvalued—or the last compliant winner left? And are ICOs really back? We debate whether crypto’s just maturing—or if it’s being hijacked by the suits. Show highlights 🔹 Circle’s IPO Shocks Wall Street – One of the biggest two-day pops in IPO history: Did bankers misprice, or did crypto just break TradFi? 🔹 Stablecoin Season or Meme Stock Mania? – Circle hits 160x earnings, 15x revenue—Tarun calls it “CoreWeave for finance” 🔹 Tether Threatens U.S. Exit – New regulation looms: Will Circle rule America while Tether dominates abroad? 🔹 The Coinbase Cut – Why Coinbase might be the real winner behind USDC—and the hidden economics of stablecoin margins 🔹 Banking Consortium Incoming? – JPMorgan and Wells reportedly plotting their own stablecoin play. Is Circle racing against the banks? 🔹 The Rise of Treasury Tokens – From MicroStrategy to Solana clones: Are “crypto holding companies” the new ETF? 🔹 Copycats or Cult Leaders? – Why everyone wants to be Saylor—and why most won’t survive 🔹 Are These Companies Just Meme Stocks? – Laura and Tarun debate whether tradable crypto firms have real value—or just vibes 🔹 The Return of the ICO – Plasma raises $500M on Sonar, sparking a new wave of pre-token speculation 🔹 Is This Financial Innovation or Regulatory Theater? – Haseeb asks: Are we maturing—or just dressing TradFi in crypto clothes? ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures ⭐️Laura Shin, Journalist, Author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ Founder and CEO of Unchained Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:25 Circle's IPO: A Historic Event 03:16 Market Reactions & Implications 06:49 Stablecoin Legislation & Tether's Response 08:56 Circle's Market Position & Future 23:12 Crypto Treasury Companies: The New Trend 32:09 Understanding Convertible Arbitrage in Crypto 37:02 Potential Risks and Market Dynamics 41:36 The Influence of Michael Saylor 43:57 The Need for Charismatic Leaders in Crypto 50:07 The Rise of ICOs and Market Trends 55:04 Concluding Thoughts on ICOs HostsDisclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I actually feel like everyone keeps making this comparison to fintech, but it's actually more like, and not even banks, just like non-bank financial lending people were, and mass of this thing.
0:12.0	Like, like every major private credit fund CEO is at this.
0:16.9	And so I kind of feel like Circle has a very different audience than Tether, and that audience
0:24.5	this net worth is like almost disjoint.
0:27.8	And the set of people who will use both is almost like basically the only time that's
0:32.3	going to overlap is in the curve pool to trade USC for USATI.
0:36.1	Not a dividend.
0:37.4	It's a tale of two pawn. Now, your losses are on someone else's balance. Generally. curve pool to trade USC for USD. Not a dividend.
0:38.4	It's a tale of two pawn.
0:40.9	Now, your losses are on someone else's balance.
0:43.5	Generally speaking, air drops are kind of pointless anyways.
0:46.6	I'm named to trading firms who are very involved.
0:48.7	olic.eat is the ultimate policy.
0:51.6	D5 protocols are the antidote to this problem.
0:54.5	Hello, everybody. Welcome to the chopping block.
0:57.6	Every couple weeks, the four of us get together and give the industry insider's perspective on the crypto topics of the day.
0:59.7	So quick and control us.
1:00.3	First, you got Robert, the Crypto Connoisseur and Tsar of Superstate.
1:03.3	Good morning, everybody.
1:05.3	Next, we've got Tarun, the Gigabrain, and Grand Puba at Gauntlet.
1:08.8	Yo. Joining us today, we've got Laura, CEO of the show.
1:12.9	Hey, everyone.
	...

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