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Bankless

Bankless

By: Bankless
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 The Ultimate Guide to Crypto Finance. DeFi, NFTs, and cryptocurrencies. Level up. Go bankless. Politics & Government
Episodes
  • ROLLUP: Clarity Bill Stalls | Powell vs. Trump | NYC Meme Rug | Silver Explodes | X Adds Crypto

    ROLLUP: Clarity Bill Stalls | Powell vs. Trump | NYC Meme Rug | Silver Explodes | X Adds Crypto
    Jan 16 2026
    Washington takes center stage this week as crypto collides with power, policy, and markets. Ryan and David break down the CLARITY Act fight in the Senate, why banks want to kill stablecoin yield, and why Coinbase says the bill may be worse than no bill at all. They also unpack Trump’s DOJ targeting Jerome Powell and what it means for Fed independence, silver’s explosive move as markets search for safety, X’s push toward becoming a crypto super app, and the NYC mayor’s meme coin disaster. Plus: Tom Lee’s surprising MrBeast investment and what it signals about capital, culture, and crypto’s next phase. --- 📣ZAMA | $ZAMA PUBLIC AUCTION https://bankless.cc/zama-auction --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 👑BANKLESS PREMIUM | AD-FREE & BONUS EPISODES https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://bankless.cc/TDR-pro 💰ICO WATCH | UPCOMING PUBLIC TOKEN SALES https://bankless.cc/ico-watch --- TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 2:25 DOJ opened an investigation into Jerome Powell https://x.com/federalreserve/status/2010510130970849338 https://x.com/federalreserve/status/2010510130970849338 https://x.com/LynAldenContact/status/2010526966953202125 https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/powell-probe-highlights-trump-doj-role-white-house-enforcer-2026-01-14/ https://polymarket.com/event/jerome-powell-out-as-fed-chair-by 10:44 Markets https://x.com/JesseCohenInv/status/2011311082896572766 https://www.coinnews.net/2025/01/09/american-silver-eagle-series-welcomes-2025-w-proof-edition/ https://www.google.com/finance/beta/quote/GLD:NYSEARCA https://x.com/echodatruth/status/2010568502474571870 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/13/cpi-inflation-report-december-2026.html https://polymarket.com/dashboards/fed-rates 20:52 Most important Legislation for crypto…ever? https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/2010709769187676430 https://x.com/DavidMMcintosh/status/2010389058271289845 https://www.aba.com/-/media/documents/letters-to-congress-and-regulators/ltrsenatestablecoin20260105.pdf https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/11/jpmorgan-downplays-stablecoin-threat-as-local-bankers-warn-of-usd6-6t-risk https://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/2009795675635306737 https://x.com/USTransparent https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2009809558605299914 https://x.com/SenLummis/status/2010939496830030038 https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/2011464338528166081 https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/2011464341556428936 https://x.com/davidsacks47/status/2011650262361129193 https://polymarket.com/event/clarity-act-signed-into-law-in-2026 https://x.com/Matt_Hougan/status/2010841027800895514 42:09 NYC Mayor Eric Adams issued a memecoin https://x.com/runecrypto_/status/2010847811781230781 https://x.com/ericadamsfornyc/status/2010849167258566727 https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/2010890093431832789 https://x.com/ericadamsfornyc/status/2011541285354815932 https://x.com/buynyctoken/status/2011501230288257452 https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2010945632505127317 46:41 TOM LEE - BITMINE….invests $200m in MR BEAST MEDIA https://x.com/DegenerateNews/status/2011774463818518813 https://x.com/DegenerateNews/status/2011810278980120830 49:53 World Liberty Financial launched a lending platform https://worldlibertyfinancial.com/markets https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/13/senate-s-warren-wlfi-tied-bank-application-should-be-halted-until-trump-divests https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dolomite 51:45 Polygon….ALL IN on STABLECOIN STACK with two major acquisitions https://x.com/0xPolygon/status/2011076681302446556 https://x.com/HadickM/status/2011099510957580437 https://x.com/sandeepnailwal/status/2009763000895344766 https://x.com/obchakevich_/status/2008876239285637419 54:21 X is rolling out Smart Cashtags & Killing InfoFi https://x.com/nikitabier/status/2010277345651990564 https://x.com/jessepollak/status/2010404608263520356 https://www.theblock.co/post/385805/kaito-token-plummets-x-revises-api-policies-ban-infofi-crypto-projects https://x.com/nikitabier/status/2011825522817270230 https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/kaito 58:33 BitGo IPO - $2 billion! ($100 billion in custody) https://x.com/AccessIPOs/status/2010727529238417549 59:16 The Golden Globes integrated Polymarket into their broadcast https://x.com/shayne_coplan/status/2010862175607488709 1:00:38 David’s Market of the Week https://polymarket.com/event/khamenei-out-as-supreme-leader-of-iran-by-january-31 https://x.com/polymarket/status/2009382529384497184 1:05:00 Closing & Disclaimers --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Playing the Right Games: Why Scores Quietly Replace Meaning | C. Thi Nguyen

    Playing the Right Games: Why Scores Quietly Replace Meaning | C. Thi Nguyen
    Jan 13 2026
    What if the biggest threat to your freedom isn’t a bad decision - but a scoreboard you never agreed to? Philosopher C. Thi Nguyen joins Bankless to unpack how modern life quietly turns values into points: likes, GPAs, net worth, rankings, and performance metrics that feel objective - but often flatten what matters most. We explore what games really are, why “gamified” platforms like social media can be uniquely corrosive, and how “value capture” pulls you from meaning into measurable proxies. Then we get practical: playfulness, reflective control, and “value federalism” as ways to use metrics without letting them use you. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 👑BANKLESS PREMIUM | AD-FREE & BONUS EPISODES https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://bankless.cc/the-defi-report 💰ICO WATCH | UPCOMING PUBLIC TOKEN SALES https://bankless.cc/ico-watch --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:58 “Is this the game you really want to be playing?” 5:45 What counts as a game (Bernard Suits’ definition) 11:38 Bankless “serious games” and the cheating test 16:29 Social media as “game-ish,” not truly a game 21:28 The magic circle and why points get dangerous 24:08 Rotten Tomatoes vs. forming your own taste 33:27 Portability: why metrics flatten nuance 38:15 Value capture: when your values get outsourced 45:52 Plato’s cave: “metrics are the new shadows” 54:12 The outsourcing dilemma: we can’t know everything 1:01:47 Playfulness as an antidote to metric hypnosis 1:12:55 Switching rule-sets: D&D, indie games, and redesigning incentives 1:16:22 Reflective control: using metrics without being used 1:20:21 Two endings: cynicism, hope, and the tradeoff of scale 1:23:38 Value federalism + why "Civilization" makes Thi miserable --- RESOURCES C. Thi Nguyen https://x.com/add_hawk C. Thi Nguyen’s “The Score” Book https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457380/the-score-by-nguyen-c-thi/9780241653975 --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • Is Canton a Real Blockchain? | Canton Founder Yuval Rooz

    Is Canton a Real Blockchain? | Canton Founder Yuval Rooz
    Jan 12 2026
    Is Canton a real blockchain or a new kind of capital-markets operating system? Digital Asset co-founder Yuval Rooz explains why Canton prioritizes privacy as “need-to-know” information sharing and a federated “cantons” design that still allows atomic cross-canton transactions without bridges. We unpack the two-tier architecture (edge validators + super validators that stitch cantons together and validate the public Canton Coin) and what that means for governance in regulated finance. Plus: DTCC’s tokenization pilot starting with U.S. Treasuries, and why CC fees are USD-denominated with a burn/mint mechanism designed to track real network utility. ------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | RYAN & DAVID UNPACKING THE EPISODE https://www.bankless.com/podcast/debrief-is-canton-even-a-real-blockchain ------ 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 👑BANKLESS PREMIUM | AD-FREE & BONUS EPISODES https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://bankless.cc/the-defi-report 💰ICO WATCH | UPCOMING PUBLIC TOKEN SALES https://bankless.cc/ico-watch ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:57 Canton Origin 8:02 Vitalik’s Post 14:15 Canton Philosophy 24:19 Canton Architecture vs Competitors 34:27 RWA Property Rights Debate 38:17 Canto Super-Validators 50:39 Canton Critiques 56:56 Decentralized vs Open Finance 1:02:16 Are Decentralized RWAs Possible? 1:07:04 Is Canton a Real Blockchain? 1:14:20 Canton Metrics 1:22:17 DTCC Relationship 1:25:27 Canton Token 1:30:43 Ethereum vs Canton in 2030 1:31:55 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Yuval Rooz https://x.com/YuvalRooz Canton https://www.canton.network/ Omid Malekan vs Austin Campbell Professor Debate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-h-PeUOvDw RWA Analytics https://app.rwa.xyz/ ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠
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    1 hr and 31 mins
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