The Top Things Investors Need to Know Before Buying Crypto Tokens

Unchained

Laura Shin

Tech News, Business News, News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Across Protocol wants to retire its token in exchange for equity. Is the DAO model structurally broken? Thank you to our sponsor! Adaptive Security With Across Protocol proposing to retire its ACX token in favor of equity, a long-simmering question in crypto governance is finally breaking into the open: do token holders actually have meaningful ownership, or just the illusion of it? As the regulatory environment under the new U.S. administration shifts dramatically from the Gensler era, the structures that crypto teams were forced to build may now be working against the very communities they were meant to serve. Ryan Yi, founder of Onchain Group, and Felipe Montealegre, co-founder and CIO of Theia, have studied these incentive structures closely, and what they have found is uncomfortable. From PumpFun's suppressed valuation to the perverse incentives baked into token buyouts, this conversation examines whether the DAO model was ever built to last, and what governance actually needs to look like if crypto is going to compete with global finance. Guests: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Ryan Yi, Founder of Onchain Group ⁠⁠⁠⁠Felipe Montealegre, Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer at Theia Links: Read our Aave deep dive here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	When the tax year ends on the 5th of April, valuable tax allowances may be lost simply because people left things too late.
0:08.0	Thankfully, Vanguard is here to help you make well-consider decisions, not rushed ones.
0:14.0	Their tax year-end hub is full of clear guidance, helpful tools and timely reminders to help you understand your allowances and give your investments the best chance to grow.
0:24.0	Search Vanguard Investor to learn more. When investing, your capital is at risk. Tax rules apply.
0:30.7	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained. You're an O'Hae resource for all things crypto. I'm your host, Laura Shin.
0:36.3	Thanks for joining this live stream.
0:38.3	Before we get started, a quick reminder. Nothing you hear in Unchained as investment advice.
0:42.0	This show is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and my guest and I may hold
0:45.7	assets discussed on the show. For more disclosures, visit Unchained Crypto.com.
0:51.8	This episode is brought to you by Adaptive Security, the first cybersecurity company backed by OpenAI.
0:59.4	As AI makes deep fakes and synthetic identities easier than ever, adaptive helps companies test and strengthen their defenses.
1:07.5	Learn more at Adaptivesecurity.com.
1:10.8	Quick note before we get into today's episode. Bits and Bips now has its dedicated feed. We're spinning off from the Unchained Feed and moving to a new podcast and YouTube channel. So if you want to keep up with our weekly live streams and macro meets, crypto breakdowns, make sure to subscribe to Bits and Bips directly. We won't publish there until March, but subscribe today
1:27.7	so you can be ready for launch. Be sure to subscribe to the new feeds at unchaincrypto.com
1:32.4	slash bits and bits. Today's topic is tokens versus equity in Dow's. Here to discuss are Ryan Yee, founder
1:42.6	at OnChane Group and Fipe, Felipe Montelegray, co-founder and chief investment officer at Thea. Welcome, Ryan and Felipe.
1:52.0	Thank you for all right.
1:54.0	So we're going to be discussing a topic that just keeps coming up again and again in crypto nowadays, and that's this tension
2:01.4	between tokens and equity. But before we dive into the details around the across token protocol,
2:08.2	which is, or the across token, which is the most recent news that concerns this topic,
2:13.0	we're just going to have each of you describe your background and how you came to spend a lot
2:16.6	of time thinking about this issue.
	...

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