The Crypto Beat – Details, episodes & analysis

The Block's Head of Growth, Tim Copeland, was joined by Upexi CEO Allan Marshall and CEO Brian Rudick. In this episode, Marshall and Rudick explain why their company is going all-in on Solana as the core of a digital asset treasury strategy. They discuss the upside potential of Solana, staking yields, and how disciplined leverage and capital markets dynamics could mirror or improve on MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin playbook. OUTLINE 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Why Upexi chose Solana over Bitcoin 02:45 - Staking Solana and revenue benefits 04:41 - Regulatory clarity and the bull case 07:23 - Wen Solana ETF 10:39 - Explaining the premium 15:12 - Risk management  19:18 - Locked SOL supply and market impact 21:39 - GameStop & SharpLink 23:53 - Concerns about treasury strategies 26:32 - Navigating downturns in crypto 31:45 - Looking ahead 33:24 - Conclusion The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblock.co/newsletters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Guest links: Allan Marhsall -⁠ ⁠⁠https://x.com/marshall_a22015 Brian Rudick - https://x.com/thetinyant Upexi - https://www.upexi.com/ Are you hiring in crypto? Use Campus to quickly find your best candidates with our challenging Crypto Assessment Test. Faster hiring, stronger teams. Sign up for a trial today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblock.co/campus

The Block's Head of Growth, Tim Copeland, was joined by Across Protocol Co-Founder Hart Lambur. In this episode, Copeland and Lambur discuss how Across Protocol is looking to revolutionize cross-chain interoperability by using an intent-based system that enables near-instant, secure asset transfers between blockchains. They also touched on Lambur's history as a bond trader at Goldman Sachs, chain abstraction, and crypto treasury companies. OUTLINE 00:00 – Intro 
 00:33 – What is Across Protocol?
 03:42 – How Intent-Based Bridging Works
 05:05 – Solver Mechanics Explained
 06:34 – Fee Structure & Value Prop
 09:07 – Lambur’s history with Goldman Sachs
 11:13 – Across and Intents
 14:57 – The Future of Seamless UX
 19:06 – Onboarding new users
 22:14 – Other Projects Lambur Likes
 26:55 – Market Outlook & Bitcoin Macro
 28:15 – MicroStrategy Copycats Risk?
 31:18 – Closing Remarks The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblock.co/newsletters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Guest links: Hart Lambur - ⁠⁠https://x.com/hal2001 Across Protocol - ⁠https://x.com/AcrossProtocol⁠ Are you hiring in crypto? Use Campus to quickly find your best candidates with our challenging Crypto Assessment Test. Faster hiring, stronger teams. Sign up for a trial today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblock.co/campus

The Block's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Copeland, was joined by Offchain Labs Co-Founder & CEO Steven Goldfeder. In this episode, Copeland and Goldfeder discussed Arbitrum’s latest developments, including the BoLD protocol, which enhances security and decentralization for optimistic rollups. They discuss the broader Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem and challenges in governance. The conversation also touches on Ethereum’s long-term strategy, competition with Solana, and what a U.S. strategic crypto reserve should consist of. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:48 Arbitrum’s BoLD move 05:43 How decentralized is Arbitrum today? 11:07 DAO ETH deployment debate 15:25 Layer 2s and Ethereum’s value proposition 18:55 Activity shifting to Solana and Hyperliquid 23:33 Are Layer 2s ready for Appchains? 26:26 The Layer 2 business development battle 29:12 Will Arbitrum share sequencer revenue? 33:23 Lobbying and bribing in Arbitrum governance 37:31 Crypto politics & the U.S. reserve The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Guest links: Steven Goldfeder - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sgoldfed/ Steven Goldfeder on X - https://x.com/sgoldfed Offchain Labs - https://www.offchainlabs.com/ Offchain Labs on X - https://x.com/OffchainLabs

The Block's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Copeland, was joined by Ethos CEO Trevor Thompson. In this episode, Copeland and Thompson discuss reputation scores in crypto and how Ethos aims to bring accountability through on-chain trust mechanisms. The discussion also covers the potential impact of reputation markets, comparisons to Friend Tech, and how transparency influences trust in the crypto space. OUTLINE 00:00 - Introduction 01:17 - Ethos explained 03:44 - Ethos’s vouching system 06:15 - Reputation growth 07:50 - Points and potential token launch 11:28 - Lessons from Friend.tech 13:58 - Transparency and accountability 18:37 - Building a strong community 23:53 - Preventing scams with reputation scores 29:33 - Weighing reputation scores 33:32 - Ethos markets 40:29 - Potential long cons 42:24 - KOL tokenization and reputation 45:27 - The future of Ethos 48:45 - Closing thoughts The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Guest links: Trevor Thompson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-thompson-atx/ Trevor Thompson on X - https://x.com/0x5f_eth Ethos - https://www.ethos.network/ Ethos on X - https://x.com/ethos_network

The Block's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Copeland, was joined by Taiko COO Joaquin Mendes Izard and Commit-Boost/Fabric Shepherd Drew Van Der Werff. In this episode, Copeland, Mendes Izard and Van Der Werff explored based rollups on Ethereum, discussing their benefits, challenges, and how they differ from other Layer 2 solutions. They also address challenges like speed and cost inefficiencies, the potential for pre-confirmations to improve user experience, and the broader implications for Ethereum’s scaling roadmap. OUTLINE 00:00 Intro 00:28 Sponsor break 01:18 What is a based rollup? 02:22 The benefits of based rollups 04:16 How based rollups work 05:42 Do validators opt into this system? 13:05 Revenue streams 17:43 Support for based rollups 25:04 Main challenges for based rollups 29:59 Native rollups 31:07 Layer 2s and interoperability 36:41 Ethereum value capture 41:57 Conclusion The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Guest links: Drew Van Der Werff - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-van-der-werff-cfa-58422348/ Drew Van Der Werff on X - https://x.com/DrewVdW Joaquin Mendes Izard - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaquin-mendes-izard/ Joaquin Mendes Izard on X - https://x.com/Joaquin_Mendes1 Taiko - https://taiko.xyz/ Commit-Boost - https://x.com/Commit_Boost Fabric - https://x.com/Fabric_ethereum

The Block's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Copeland, was joined by Bio Protocol Co-Founder and CEO Paul Kohlhaas. In this episode, Copeland and Kohlhaas discussed the concept of decentralized science (DeSci) and how Bio Protocol is using blockchain technology to decentralize scientific research and funding. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction and understanding DeSci 05:39 The typical DeSci participant 10:42 Regulatory concerns 13:29 How Bio works 18:22 Value accrual for Bio 24:25 The role of tokens 32:13 DeSci as the next meta? 43:15 Binance and CZ 47:01 Responsibility in DeSci 50:26 Paul’s entry into the space 56:04 Conclusion The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Guest links: Paul Kohlhaas - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kohlhaas/ Paul Kohlhaas on X - https://x.com/paulkhls/ Bio Protocol - https://www.bio.xyz/ Bio Protocol on X - https://x.com/bioprotocol

The Block's Editor-in-Chief Tim Copeland was joined by Matter Labs Co-Founder and CEO Alex Gluchowski to discuss the growth of Layer 2 networks and the increasing institutional adoption of blockchain technology. Gluchowski explains how Ethereum is becoming the platform of choice for enterprises and institutions due to its credible neutrality, security, and ability to support private and public chains through technologies like zk-rollups. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 03:07 Ethereum's transformation and growth 06:06 Institutional adoption of blockchain 09:10 Ethereum vs. competing platforms 13:40 Interoperability  17:07 Applications 24:43 Value accrual in the ethereum ecosystem 28:17 Native L2 networks 32:50 Application-specific rollups  35:01 Governance tokens  37:48 Future of crypto and regulation 43:11 Decentralization  46:29 Growth and privacy  48:12 Conclusion  The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Guest links: Alex Gluchowski - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gluchowski/ Alex Gluchowski on X - https://x.com/gluk64 Matter Labs - https://matter-labs.io/ Matter Labs on X - https://x.com/the_matter_labs

The Block's Editor-in-Chief Tim Copeland was joined by Reveel CEO Adrien Stern to discuss ongoing UX issues facing the crypto space and how to find comprehensive solutions. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction and Trump memecoin 02:44 Crypto payment problems 05:48 Diving deeper into Reveel 13:09 Crypto x AI 16:27 Working towards decentralization 21:36 Ethereum Foundation 28:03 Crypto’s dream UX environment 31:24 Are all stablecoins created equal? 35:04 Shifting regulatory landscape 37:04 Conclusion The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Guest links: Adrien Stern - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrienstern Adrien Stern on X - https://x.com/AdrienStern Reveel - https://r3vl.xyz/ Reveel on X - https://x.com/r3vl_xyz

The Block's Editor-in-Chief Tim Copeland was joined by The Block's Policy Reporter Sarah Wynn and Mysten Labs President Kevin Boon to discuss the evolving U.S. regulatory landscape for the crypto industry, particularly following U.S. President Donald Trump's electoral victory. Note: Kevin Boon was Chief Legal Officer at Mysten Labs at time of recording. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 03:24 Policy Changes Post-Trump Election 12:30 Regulation by Enforcement and SEC's Culture Shift 18:45 Gary Gensler's Legacy and Industry Impact 24:10 Crypto Regulation 30:04 Wells Notices and SEC Enforcement Actions 34:51 Ripple's Win Over the SEC 39:00 EU's MiCA Regulation and Global Crypto Adoption 42:51 Future of U.S. Crypto Legislation 44:06 Closing Remarks The Block Community The Block is launching a new community experience for fans of The Scoop! Follow us on Lens to stay in the loop: hey.xyz/u/theblockcommunity The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Kevin Boon and Mysten Labs can be found at the following links: Kevin Boon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinboon/ Kevin Boon on X - https://x.com/kevinboon_ml Mysten Labs - https://www.mystenlabs.com/ Mysten Labs on X - https://x.com/Mysten_Labs  

The Block's Editor-in-Chief Tim Copeland was joined by Bitstamp CEO Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux to discuss Robinhood's move to acquire Bitstamp, the recent market surge and the current crypto regulatory landscape. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:44 Robinhood acquisition 04:15 Robinhood embraces crypto 06:15 European crypto regulations 10:15 Euro vs Dollar stablecoins 13:41 Institutional expansion 15:46 Mt. Gox distributions 17:13 ETFs 21:24 Microstrategy 23:09 US election’s impact 27:23 Strategic Bitcoin reserve 28:33 Closing thoughts The Block Community The Block is launching a new community experience for fans of The Scoop! Follow us on Lens to stay in the loop: hey.xyz/u/theblockcommunity The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux and Bitstamp can be found at the following links: Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux on X - https://x.com/jb_bitstamp Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jb0001/ Bitstamp on X - https://x.com/bitstamp Bitstamp Website - https://www.bitstamp.net/   This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, Bitkey. Get the bitcoin wallet that works like the money apps you already use. Because simplicity is the best security. For a limited time, $99. Buy Bitkey