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Crypto feels cooked in 2026, and the Super Bowl proves it. Ryan and David unpack Coinbase’s Backstreet Boys rug pull ad and what it reveals about crypto’s collapsed public narrative. Then they dig into the brutal selloff, why IBIT’s record volume hints at forced TradFi liquidation, and what Polymarket is pricing for Bitcoin under $50K. From Robinhood’s prediction markets exploding into a real revenue engine to the political fight over who regulates “gambling vs markets,” the thesis is clear: finance is the only use case still scaling. Plus: LayerZero’s new “world computer” L1, MegaETH and Aztec’s bear market launch playbook, Vitalik finally calling ETH a store of value, ENS staying on L1, BlackRock bringing BUIDL to Uniswap, and the weirdest loose end of all, SBF’s missing tungsten cube.

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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 Intro

0:32 Super Bowl Coinbase Commercial 

https://x.com/julia_fiedler5/status/2020672759508967576

10:02 Markets

https://x.com/cryptorand/status/2021894696268660736

https://x.com/TheDemocrats/status/2019492504614150375

https://polymarket.com/event/what-price-will-bitcoin-hit-before-2027/?via=bankles

https://x.com/intocryptoverse/status/2019835733503255006

https://x.com/DegenerateNews/status/2020846896084852796

https://x.com/blckchaindaily/status/2021967204653445163 

https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/2020860553732768085

https://www.strategicethreserve.xyz

https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/2021325189674357204

25:46 Prediction Markets Growth has been explosive

https://x.com/theoneandomsy/status/2021399052366250280

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2021603112541102400 

https://x.com/movietimedev/status/2021278393136808099

https://x.com/mattplatkin/status/2021335653091508323

https://x.com/GovChristie/status/2019515642836054038

https://x.com/michaelselig/status/2019533204068393280

34:51 A tail of Three Chains - LayerZero, Robinhood, MegaETH

https://x.com/LayerZero_Core/status/2021338847972663394

https://x.com/a16zcrypto/status/2021348447656476841

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/layerzero

https://x.com/LayerZero_Core/status/2021343796236321036

https://x.com/RobinhoodApp/status/2021585052417630465

https://youtu.be/KcpMRlmrkEw

https://x.com/megaeth/status/2020876108342927670

https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2021265395307495795

https://x.com/Zac_Aztec/status/2021707048497602777

https://x.com/sjdedic/status/2021960471704707177

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/zama

https://app.hyperliquid.xyz/trade/MEGA

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/layerzero

44:04 Are non-financial crypto dead?

https://x.com/matthuang/status/2020858831065043159

https://x.com/jessepollak/status/2020962065100538091

https://x.com/cdixon/status/2019837259575607401

https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2020451853633511696

50:04 ETH & BlackRock

https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2019814868140933287

https://x.com/ensdomains/status/2019789111557808146

https://x.com/BrantlyMillegan/status/2019791852531069313

https://x.com/vitalikbuterin/status/2019818956530274327

https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2021587358999630034

https://x.com/KalshiTrade/status/2021586037034651819

https://fortune.com/2026/02/11/blackrock-uniswap

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uniswap-token-jumps-following-blackrock-165720913.html

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/uniswap

57:13 MrBeast acquired a Gen Z‑focused banking app

https://x.com/MrBeast/status/2020910218360782929

https://x.com/BuckOnTwidder/status/2021005048654987354

59:17 You can now give your agent a self-custodial wallet! 

https://x.com/programmer/status/2021649037074870627
https://docs.cdp.coinbase.com/agentic-wallet/quickstart.

https://x.com/base/status/2021413560740721048

1:01:10 Safemoon founder sentenced to 100 months in prison

https://x.com/IRS_CI/status/2021340944143196568?

1:02:19 SBF suck up…full on propaganda - pardon by summer?

https://x.com/SBF_FTX/status/2021932965047988515

https://themissingbillions.com/

1:05:42 Closing & Disclaimers

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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Last week felt like four different crashes happening at the same time: AI software stocks melting down, crypto capitulating, gold and silver whipping around, and markets suddenly panicking about AI CapEx. Jim Bianco returns to Bankless to explain what actually changed: why AI is collapsing the cost of building software (and threatening SaaS pricing models), how “synthetic Bitcoin” in TradFi can amplify volatility even when nothing breaks onchain, and why the next crypto cycle can’t be powered by “permission” narratives, it has to be powered by replacement and building.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
0:44 Super Bowl ads as a market metaphor
2:30 WTF was last week? Four selloffs collide
8:38 Why crypto traded like “software” in the selloff
13:52 AI CapEx fears: are we overbuilding the infrastructure?
17:00 The 1999 playbook: infra boom → crash → app-layer winners
28:53 Where the value accrues: users, not the hyperscalers
35:36 Gold & silver: why silver behaves like an “altcoin”
39:09 Why Jim is bearish on China
44:21 Trump, Europe, defense spending, and the “go to 11” problem
49:09 Synthetic Bitcoin: the offchain float problem
56:52 Crypto’s next narrative: replacement, not permission
1:01:57 Kevin Warsh, Fed independence, and a new Fed–Treasury accord
1:09:40 Portfolio wrap: puke signals, building signals, and 4–5–6 returns

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RESOURCES

James Bianco
https://x.com/biancoresearch

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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Robinhood isn’t just adding another crypto feature—it’s assembling a new exchange stack: stock tokens, an Ethereum L2 built for real-world assets, and a wallet that can plug into DeFi. Johann Kerbrat (GM of Crypto at Robinhood) joins Bankless to unpack what “24/7 markets” actually requires, why liquidity and routing are the hidden battleground for tokenized equities, and how “Certified by Robinhood” could become a distribution moat for onchain apps. Along the way, they compare Robinhood’s approach to tokenization with the NYSE’s 24/7 tokenized platform plans and Nasdaq’s tokenized securities proposal, and dig into what U.S. regulatory clarity would need to unlock stock tokens stateside. Subscribe for more on the new financial rails being built in real time.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
3:43 Is Robinhood Building a New Exchange?
4:45 Robinhood Chain testnet: what it enables for builders
9:17 What’s actually unique about this L2
10:44 “Certified by Robinhood” explained
12:52 Mainnet timing & NYSE/Nasdaq vs Robinhood tokenization approaches
16:34 Stock tokens today: EU access, U.S. questions
18:16 The liquidity problem (and how routing fixes it)
21:28 What tokenized equities unlock beyond trading
23:23 Robinhood Wallet’s role in the stack
24:57 The CLARITY Act: what matters to Robinhood
30:49 Strategic bets: Talos, Bitstamp, and going institutional
38:51 Lighter + perps: DeFi vs CeFi (and the U.S. CFTC wall)
43:21 What’s next: “one ecosystem” + prediction markets
45:13 Builder call-to-action

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RESOURCES

Johann Kerbrat
https://x.com/JohannKerbrat

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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

MegaETH mainnet is live, kicking off a new frontier for Ethereum scaling: ultra-low latency, massive throughput, and an execution environment built to unlock apps that can’t exist on L1.

Lei Yang & Namik break down why Vitalik’s latest L2 framing validates “barbell” scaling, what users actually inherit from Ethereum (censorship resistance, exit guarantees, and fraud-proof security assumptions), and why stages + governance are harder than they look. 

Plus: the mainnet stress test (11.4B tx in 7 days, 55k peak TPS), the economics shift toward stablecoin yield with USDM, proximity markets for MEV, and MegaETH’s aggressive app-incubation strategy.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

0:41 Vitalik’s L2 Pivot Tweet

14:05 Property Rights on MegaETH

21:10 Stage 2 & Rollup Design

30:34 MegaETH’s Stress Test Numbers

40:42 MegaETH’s Throughput

47:02 Business Model

52:15 MEV

1:00:18 Other MegaETH Products

1:02:19 App Strategy

1:07:04 Mega Mafia

1:10:48 MegaETH x AI Agents

1:15:53 Mega Token

1:20:17 Mainnet Release

1:21:11 Closing & Disclaimers

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RESOURCES

Lei Yang

https://x.com/yangl1996

Namik

https://x.com/NamikMuduroglu 

MegaETH

https://www.megaeth.com/ 

MegaETH Stress Test

https://stress.megaeth.com/ 

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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:

https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

A single Vitalik tweet just snapped Ethereum’s scaling narrative into focus: the rollup-centric roadmap is over, and a new path is here. Ryan and David break down what Vitalik actually said (and what he didn’t), why stage 2 plus rollup interop proved far slower than anyone hoped, and why L1 scaling, powered by ZK, may be Ethereum’s real reset button in 2026. Along the way, they unpack the quiet death of the “L2s are Ethereum” meme, the community’s whiplash reaction, and what differentiated “gen 2” L2s must do to earn their place in the alliance.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 The Rollup-Centric Roadmap: 2020 → 2026
1:26 What Vitalik Actually Said
3:15 The Understated Bombshell: L1 Scaling + ZKVM
6:28 “Branded Shards” Are Over
8:12 “L2s Are Ethereum” Is Dead (But Not the Alliance)
12:29 Vitalik’s Follow-Up: Differentiation Wins
15:51 The Reaction: Praise, “I Told You So,” and Anger
18:23 The NATO Analogy for L2s
20:51 The Messaging Risk: Does Ethereum Push Rollups Away?
23:25 Why Did It Take So Long to Say This Out Loud?
30:09 Was Modular Wrong? What We Thought vs What We Got
33:20 Ryan’s Retrospective: Wins + Three Missteps
38:01 David’s Take: ZKVM Precompile = “Manhattan Project”
39:57 The Cost: Wasted Time, Misallocated Capital, Leadership Tension
45:39 What Happens Next: Base Leaving, New North Star, Anyone’s Game
51:04 Signs the Pivot Is Working

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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures