Unchained

Stani Kulechov unpacks Aave Labs’ “Aave Will Win” proposal, explaining why the company wants the DAO to have power over its finances.

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Adaptive Security

Aave Labs has proposed a “Aave Will Win” framework that will direct all revenue to the DAO to bring the protocol under “a token-centric model.”

In this episode, Aave founder Stani Kulechov explains why Aave Labs is putting its funding at the mercy of the DAO and how the framework could drive DeFi innovation.

Plus wen Aave v4? And is Aave Labs’ requested budget too much?

Guest:


Stani Kulechov, Founder of Aave Labs




Previous appearances on Unchained:


Why Aave's Founder Is 'More Bullish on Ethereum Than Anything Else’


Why the Founders of Aave and Sky Are Still Bullish on Ethereum DeFi


Satoshi, Shorter Blocks, & Secret Plot - The Chopping Block


Stani Kulechov on Why Aave Is So Successful - Ep.212

Links:


Unchained:


Aave Revenue Overhaul Sparks Governance Clash


Aave Labs Proposes Off-Protocol Revenue Sharing With Token Holders


The Chopping Block: Aave Civil War + Flow Hack + Coinbase Super-App


Aave’s Rushed Governance Vote Draws Backlash


How Aave Labs and the DAO Should Split Ownership of the Brand – Uneasy Money


Uneasy Money: Why Token Holders Have No Rights & Why Every DAO ‘Has Failed’


‘Poison Pill’ Proposal Calls for Aave DAO to Take Over Aave Labs


AAVE Holders Question if DAO Quietly Redirected Revenue Away From Treasury

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The Mag 7 have committed over $700 billion to AI infrastructure, but the companies building the models may never capture the value.

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Adaptive Security


Fuse: The Energy Network

The BLS just quietly revised away 862,000 jobs, and real-time inflation trackers now peg price growth below 1%, less than half of what official figures report. 

If the Fed is steering monetary policy with stale data, investors need to ask what else the models are getting wrong. 

At the same time, the Mag 7 have committed more than $700 billion to AI infrastructure, with Anthropic alone projecting $1 trillion in revenue within five years. Is that conviction or the early stages of a debt cycle nobody is pricing? 

And then there is the institutional side of crypto: BlackRock's BUIDL fund just landed on Uniswap with $2.4 billion in assets, Apollo acquired $90 million in Morpho tokens, and AI agents are already settling micropayments in stablecoins. 

Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Christopher Perkins sit down with Truflation’s CEO Stefan Rust to ask whether the numbers we trust are telling us the truth.

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:


Stefan Rust, Founder and CEO of Truflation

Links:


Unchained: 


BlackRock Just Chose Uniswap. The Market Didn’t Care. Here’s Why.


Apollo Moves Into DeFi Lending With Morpho Token Deal


UNI Spikes on BlackRock DeFi Move, Then Gives It All Back

Macro:


NBC: U.S. had almost no job growth in 2025


PBS: Inflation measure falls to nearly five-year low as gas prices fall and housing costs cool


Crowdfund Insider: Secretary Of The Treasury Scott Bessent Calls Out Truflation's Inflation Numbers At Senate Banking Hearing

AI CapEx:


Amazon, Google And Others Are Pouring $700 Billion Into AI CapEx, Top Analyst Explains Why This Makes It 'Hard' To Bet Against Nvidia


CIO: Data center capex to hit $1.7 trillion by 2030 due to AI boom

Reuters: OpenClaw founder Steinberger joins OpenAI, open-source bot becomes foundation

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As miners approach historical stress zones, Bitcoin’s correlation with tech stocks is hitting at the worst possible moment. Enter AI.

Thank you to our sponsor Crypto Tax Girl!

Public mining companies are once again approaching breakeven territory, a zone that in prior cycles preceded forced selling and capitulation. But unlike past downturns, balance sheets today are cleaner, leverage is lower, and many operators are pivoting toward AI data center hosting as a structural offramp.

At the same time, Bitcoin has been trading alongside frontier technology stocks. That correlation is resurfacing at precisely the wrong moment, as growth equities face renewed pressure. If growth portfolios were the marginal buyers during the rally, they may now be the marginal sellers.

In this episode, Steven Ehrlich speaks first with John Todaro about miner economics, hash rate dynamics, and whether another round of selling could emerge if Bitcoin remains near breakeven levels. Then Zach Pandl joins to examine Bitcoin’s correlation with tech stocks, the mechanics behind recent gold volatility, and why the next phase for crypto may be driven by differentiation rather than broad beta.

Hosts:


Steven Ehrlich, Host of Bits + Bips: The Interview

Guests:


Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale


John Todaro, Managing Director, Crypto & HPC/AI Equity Research at Needham & Company

Links:

Bitcoin Miner Danger Zone


Major Bitcoin Miners Face Shutdown Risk If BTC Falls Below $70,000

Miner Pivot to AI


America’s Biggest Bitcoin Miners Are Pivoting to AI

The Tech Selloff


Wall Street’s Anything-But-Tech Trade Shakes Up US Stock Market

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The crew unpacks BlackRock buying UNI, ARK, Citadel, DTCC, the Intercontinental Exchange and other TradFi players backing Zero, , Vitalik's thoughts on AI, and more. 

Thank you to our sponsors!


Fuse: The Energy Network


MultiChain Advisors


Crypto Tax Girl

AI safety chiefs are leaving, BlackRock's launching on Uniswap and buying UNI, LayerZero launches “the last blockchain” with institutional backing, Kaito is launching attention markets, Base is abandoning social and Vitalik has some thoughts on AI.

Hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan unpack these and more in yet another packed episode of Uneasy Money.

Find out why Kain thinks the Uniswap and LayerZero news point to a new meta reminiscent of DeFi Summer. Plus, is Coinbase's Base playing it too safe? And is Vitalik fighting a losing battle?

Hosts:


Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins


Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix


Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask

Links:


Unchained:


⁠LayerZero Launches ‘Zero’ Layer 1 as Citadel, ARK Buy ZRO⁠


⁠How Zero Blockchain Cracked 2 Million TPS and Is Still Decentralized⁠


⁠Vitalik Buterin Pushes Back on the ‘Race to AGI,’ Outlines Ethereum-Led AI Path⁠


⁠When AI Agents Take Over, What Does a Post-Human Economy Look Like?⁠


⁠Uneasy Money: How the Increasingly Better AI Agents Are Being Used Onchain⁠


⁠Uneasy Money: Why Crypto Still Can’t Overcome Its ICO Struggles

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The market structure bill introduces a "control" test for DeFi protocols. The problem: nobody agrees on what control means.

Figure is giving away $25,000 in USDC. Deposit into Democratized Prime, earn ~9% APY hourly—and every $1 you keep in for 25 days is 1 entry.

Enter here

Peter Van Valkenburgh of Coin Center sits down with Jessi Brooks and Vy Le to confront a question that will determine which DeFi projects can operate in the United States and which ones can't. 

The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act creates a carve-out for non-custodial developers, codifying the principle that if you never hold customer funds, you shouldn't need a money transmitter license. Simple enough on paper. 

But Vy presses on the hard cases: what about an admin key, an upgradeable vault, or a pause function built for security? Where exactly does "non-custodial" end and "control" begin? 

Meanwhile, Jessi raises the tension the industry rarely wants to discuss. The DOJ just charged cartel brokers moving money through crypto, yet simultaneously dismantled its own enforcement teams. 

If Congress clears developers, who pursues the actual criminals? The answer matters for every builder, investor, and victim watching this play out.

Hosts:


Jessi Brooks, General Counsel at Ribbit Capital


TuongVy Le, General Counsel at Veda

Guest:


⁠Peter Van Valkenburgh, Executive Director of Coin Center

Links:

⁠​​Crypto Market Structure Bill Clears Senate Committee — But the Hard Part Is Still Ahead⁠

⁠Senators Move to Curb Passive Stablecoin Yields in Market Structure Push⁠

⁠Mastercard in Talks to Buy Zerohash for $2 Billion: Report⁠

⁠How the GENIUS Act Creates a Built-In Advantage for Banks and Deposit Tokens⁠

⁠How Nansen’s New Trading Agent Makes It Easier to Follow the Smart Money Onchain⁠

⁠How the x402 Standard Is Enabling AI Agents to Pay Each Other⁠

⁠Reading is Fundamental⁠

⁠Stablecoin for Babies

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