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15 episodes with taylor monahan
5 episodes with taylor monahan
2 episodes with taylor monahan
2 episodes with taylor monahan
3 episodes with taylor monahan
2 episodes with taylor monahan
3 episodes with taylor monahan
2 episodes with taylor monahan
2 episodes with taylor monahan
An anti-MEV activist spent weeks building 66 fake contracts to trap the sandwich bot jaredfromsubway.eth. Then jared's operators did the one thing nobody expected. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsors! Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at https://cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). ======================================================== A new R&D lab called Ethlabs has split from the Ethereum Foundation, backed by Bitmine and Joe Lubin. Its first stated goal is solving a '15 minute finality problem' that none of the hosts can quite explain the point of. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz ask whether a breakaway staffed largely by ex-EF people can really escape the EF's habits, or just rebuild a smaller version of them. Then the conversation turns to fomo's $75M raise from non-crypto VCs, and why a trading app that never calls itself a wallet may have cracked the onboarding flow the rest of crypto keeps getting wrong. The hosts also trace a CryptoPunks judge ordering a self-represented plaintiff to handwrite filings to stop the AI slop, the anti-MEV activist who trapped sandwich bot jaredfromsubway.eth with 66 fake contracts, and the WSJ's claim that Polymarket paid creators to stage fake winning bets. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Timestamps
Claude Fable 5 refuses security work, Kain Warwick pulls $5,000 of compute from a $200 plan, and Humanity Protocol loses its bridge, token, and treasury to one infected device. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsors! Multichain Advisors: Get help navigating TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more at https://multichainadv.com. ======================================================== Anthropic promised Mythos and shipped Claude Fable 5 instead. The model found a four-year-old bug in Zcash's shielded pool that survived multiple expert audits. But when Anthropic shipped the model days later, it was no longer willing to audit smart contracts, bailing the moment a prompt smells like security work.Jailbreakers are already turning a jailbroken Opus 4.8 against it, while white hats sit locked out. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz weigh the defender's dilemma: builders cannot point the model at their own code, but nobody can prove black hats have not jailbroken their way in — and, the hosts warn,North Korean threat actors have spent more than six months harvesting AI API keys. Then Kain runs the numbers on the subsidy: roughly 200 million tokens in four hours on a $200 plan, about $5,000 at API rates, and on the 22nd Fable goes API only as the first unsubsidized frontier model. Plus Pump.fun's bounty marketplace and the Humanity Protocol hack, which left the hosts asking why a 3-of-6 multisig existed at all. When the subsidies stop, who still gets the frontier? Host: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Timestamps
Claude Fable 5 refuses security work, Kain Warwick pulls $5,000 of compute from a $200 plan, and Humanity Protocol loses its bridge, token, and treasury to one infected device. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsors! Multichain Advisors: Get help navigating TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more at https://multichainadv.com. ======================================================== Anthropic promised Mythos and shipped Claude Fable 5 instead. The model found a four-year-old bug in Zcash's shielded pool that survived multiple expert audits. But when Anthropic shipped the model days later, it was no longer willing to audit smart contracts, bailing the moment a prompt smells like security work.Jailbreakers are already turning a jailbroken Opus 4.8 against it, while white hats sit locked out. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz weigh the defender's dilemma: builders cannot point the model at their own code, but nobody can prove black hats have not jailbroken their way in — and, the hosts warn,North Korean threat actors have spent more than six months harvesting AI API keys. Then Kain runs the numbers on the subsidy: roughly 200 million tokens in four hours on a $200 plan, about $5,000 at API rates, and on the 22nd Fable goes API only as the first unsubsidized frontier model. Plus Pump.fun's bounty marketplace and the Humanity Protocol hack, which left the hosts asking why a 3-of-6 multisig existed at all. When the subsidies stop, who still gets the frontier? Host: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Timestamps
Circle froze $12M in a DeFi pool on a Friday court order, trapping users who had nothing to do with the dispute. . Polymarket couldn't resolve a Strategy market. And MegaETH's apps are defecting. Nothing is simple. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsors! Multichain Advisors: Get help navigating TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more at https://multichainadv.com. ======================================================== Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin before the May 31 deadline. It just didn't disclose it until June 1 — and that one-day gap is why a $50M Polymarket market resolved "no," even though Strategy's own 8-K shows the sale happened inside the window.Kain Warwick, Luca Netz, and Taylor Monahan trace why Polymarket keeps writing resolution criteria that break under edge cases, and why handing oracle duties to UMA is a liability for a $20 billion platform. They also get into the third proposal to cut Solana's staking inflation, and what it would take to spark an "ultrasound money" moment for SOL. The most consequential story is Circle. A Friday-afternoon ex-parte court order froze a $12M commingled USDC pool all weekend, trapping innocent users' funds inside the Zama privacy protocol. Taylor's warning: Circle's policy of complying with any court order without retaining a final say creates a replicable attack template for any pool with USDC exposure. The episode closes on MegaETH and Monad: Kain on whether the "Mega Mafia" approach was adverse selection from the start, and Luca on what chains actually owe their builders. Host: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Circle froze $12M in a DeFi pool on a Friday court order, trapping users who had nothing to do with the dispute. . Polymarket couldn't resolve a Strategy market. And MegaETH's apps are defecting. Nothing is simple. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsors! Multichain Advisors: Get help navigating TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more at https://multichainadv.com. ======================================================== Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin before the May 31 deadline. It just didn't disclose it until June 1 — and that one-day gap is why a $50M Polymarket market resolved "no," even though Strategy's own 8-K shows the sale happened inside the window.Kain Warwick, Luca Netz, and Taylor Monahan trace why Polymarket keeps writing resolution criteria that break under edge cases, and why handing oracle duties to UMA is a liability for a $20 billion platform. They also get into the third proposal to cut Solana's staking inflation, and what it would take to spark an "ultrasound money" moment for SOL. The most consequential story is Circle. A Friday-afternoon ex-parte court order froze a $12M commingled USDC pool all weekend, trapping innocent users' funds inside the Zama privacy protocol. Taylor's warning: Circle's policy of complying with any court order without retaining a final say creates a replicable attack template for any pool with USDC exposure. The episode closes on MegaETH and Monad: Kain on whether the "Mega Mafia" approach was adverse selection from the start, and Luca on what chains actually owe their builders. Host: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Timestamps
A legal battle over frozen KelpDAO hack funds is forcing DeFi to answer questions it has long avoided. Thank you to our sponsors! Coinbase One: Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual plan at coinbase.com/unchained. Multichain Advisors: Get help navigating TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more at multichainadv.com. When the Arbitrum Security Council froze $71 million in funds tied to the KelpDAO hack, it was hailed as vigilante justice. Now lawyers representing families of North Korea's victims are claiming that same money in a New York federal courtroom, as if theft transfers title. Meanwhile, an AI agent running on Base got robbed via a prompt injection hidden in Morse code, and Coinbase cited artificial intelligence when announcing 14% layoffs. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, Luca Netz, and Kelsie Nabben, author of Decentralised Digital Security, work through what DeFi's security layer actually is, who gets to decide when to act, and whether any of it survives the arrival of autonomous agents. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Guest: Kelsie Nabben, Research Fellow at RMIT University — Author of 'Decentralized Digital Security: Code, Community, Crisis' (2025) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A legal battle over frozen KelpDAO hack funds is forcing DeFi to answer questions it has long avoided. Thank you to our sponsors! Coinbase One: Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual plan at coinbase.com/unchained. Multichain Advisors: Get help navigating TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more at multichainadv.com. When the Arbitrum Security Council froze $71 million in funds tied to the KelpDAO hack, it was hailed as vigilante justice. Now lawyers representing families of North Korea's victims are claiming that same money in a New York federal courtroom, as if theft transfers title. Meanwhile, an AI agent running on Base got robbed via a prompt injection hidden in Morse code, and Coinbase cited artificial intelligence when announcing 14% layoffs. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, Luca Netz, and Kelsie Nabben, author of Decentralised Digital Security, work through what DeFi's security layer actually is, who gets to decide when to act, and whether any of it survives the arrival of autonomous agents. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Guest: Kelsie Nabben, Research Fellow at RMIT University — Author of 'Decentralized Digital Security: Code, Community, Crisis' (2025) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Pump.fun set fire to $370 million in tokens. Luca lays out the airdrop math that says they should have done the opposite. Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create $50B+ in enterprise value for 80+ clients over the past 4 years. They're the partner to help navigate markets. Build real traction today at multichainadv.com Pump.fun had a choice with $370 million worth of its own tokens. It burned them. On this week's Uneasy Money, Luca Netz argues that was the worst option on the table. He lays out the “people's champ” math that, in his view, could have turned Pump.fun into a $5 billion-a-year business if Alon Cohen had launched the biggest airdrop crypto has ever seen—and bought the tokens back at the bottom. Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan also dig into the 137,000 ETH community effort to plug the KelpDAO hole, why Tay thinks Aave—not Layer Zero or KelpDAO—is the key player in DeFi's latest blowup, and Luca's blunt new take on whether DeFi yield is even worth the risk right now. Plus: Meta paying creators in USDC, the ghost of Libra, and OpenAI's leaked AI-native phone. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Pump.fun set fire to $370 million in tokens. Luca lays out the airdrop math that says they should have done the opposite. Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create $50B+ in enterprise value for 80+ clients over the past 4 years. They're the partner to help navigate markets. Build real traction today at multichainadv.com Pump.fun had a choice with $370 million worth of its own tokens. It burned them. On this week's Uneasy Money, Luca Netz argues that was the worst option on the table. He lays out the “people's champ” math that, in his view, could have turned Pump.fun into a $5 billion-a-year business if Alon Cohen had launched the biggest airdrop crypto has ever seen—and bought the tokens back at the bottom. Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan also dig into the 137,000 ETH community effort to plug the KelpDAO hole, why Tay thinks Aave—not Layer Zero or KelpDAO—is the key player in DeFi's latest blowup, and Luca's blunt new take on whether DeFi yield is even worth the risk right now. Plus: Meta paying creators in USDC, the ghost of Libra, and OpenAI's leaked AI-native phone. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tether's $344M freeze, the truth behind quantum computing threats to Bitcoin, and Donald Trump's latest Mar-a-Lago meme coin gala. Plus, insider trading on Polymarket and the current state of Bitcoin mining economics. Stay informed on the latest in crypto. Michael Tangen, CEO of OnRamp Finance, and Taylor Monahan join us to talk about Bitcoin-native financial services and the cascading fallout of the Kelp DAO attack. The team breaks down the massive $344 million Tether freeze on Tron, the controversial 15-bit quantum key breakthrough, and the wild story of an Army Green Beret caught insider trading on Polymarket. From hash rate updates and Bitcoin mining economics to Donald Trump's latest Mar-a-Lago meme coin gala, we cover the biggest stories moving the needle in the crypto industry today.
The $300M KelpDAO exploit became a watershed moment for DeFi, and the Arbitrum Security Council voted froze $70M worth of stolen funds. Is this a slippery slope or learning from history? Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create $50B+ in enterprise value for 80+ clients over the past 4 years. They're the partner to help navigate markets. Build real traction today at multichainadv.com The largest DeFi hack of 2026 starts with an RPC node. Not a smart contract bug. Not a stolen key. A spoofed node and a forged transaction. And North Korea drained $300 million from Kelp DAO through LayerZero's bridge in a single block. Then the attacker went to Aave, borrowed against assets that didn't exist, and created a bad debt crisis that locked Kain out of his own position. That was Friday. By Sunday, North Korea had started laundering. By Tuesday, Arbitrum's security council had done something no L2 has ever done: frozen $70 million of funds had stolen by upgrading a bridge contract mid-hack. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz, with guest Odysseas Lamtzidis, take apart every layer: the DVN architecture flaw, the Aave contagion, the circuit breaker debate, and why the ‘code is law' era may have just quietly ended. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Guest: Odysseas Lamtzidis, Founder & CEO of Phylax Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The $300M KelpDAO exploit became a watershed moment for DeFi, and the Arbitrum Security Council voted froze $70M worth of stolen funds. Is this a slippery slope or learning from history? Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create $50B+ in enterprise value for 80+ clients over the past 4 years. They're the partner to help navigate markets. Build real traction today at multichainadv.com The largest DeFi hack of 2026 starts with an RPC node. Not a smart contract bug. Not a stolen key. A spoofed node and a forged transaction. And North Korea drained $300 million from Kelp DAO through LayerZero's bridge in a single block. Then the attacker went to Aave, borrowed against assets that didn't exist, and created a bad debt crisis that locked Kain out of his own position. That was Friday. By Sunday, North Korea had started laundering. By Tuesday, Arbitrum's security council had done something no L2 has ever done: frozen $70 million of funds had stolen by upgrading a bridge contract mid-hack. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz, with guest Odysseas Lamtzidis, take apart every layer: the DVN architecture flaw, the Aave contagion, the circuit breaker debate, and why the ‘code is law' era may have just quietly ended. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Guest: Odysseas Lamtzidis, Founder & CEO of Phylax Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Bitcoin developer just proposed freezing wallets that don't upgrade for quantum resistance. Including Satoshi's. Thank you to our sponsors! Nexo Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/unchained Multichain Advisors MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create $50B+ in enterprise value for 80+ clients over the past 4 years. They're the partner to help navigate markets. Build real traction today at multichainadv.com Citrea Bitcoin's application layer, Citrea, launched its mainnet, expanding Bitcoin's utility to privacy, lending, BTC yields, and more. Citrea enables: cBTC: The first trust-minimized Bitcoin on a fully programmable platform. ctUSD: A native stablecoin for Bitcoin, allowing for unified liquidity. Bitcoin Capital Markets bringing demand, and utility to the Bitcoin Network. Explore the Citrea Ecosystem. A Bitcoin developer just proposed the unthinkable: freeze every wallet that does not upgrade for quantum resistance, including Satoshi's. Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan are here to reckon with BIP-361, the quantum threat to early Bitcoin addresses, and what it means that this proposal exists at all. They also work through who actually wrote Bitcoin — Hal Finney, Adam Back, and Dave Kleiman — and a trail that runs through the Epstein files. Plus: Justin Sun's frozen World Liberty Financial tokens expose why token holders have no legal rights, EtherFi's exit from Scroll turns into a live platform risk case study, and Circle's decision not to freeze known stolen USDC raises the question of what stablecoin issuers owe to the ecosystem. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Bitcoin developer just proposed freezing wallets that don't upgrade for quantum resistance. Including Satoshi's. Thank you to our sponsors! Nexo Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/unchained Multichain Advisors MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create $50B+ in enterprise value for 80+ clients over the past 4 years. They're the partner to help navigate markets. Build real traction today at multichainadv.com Citrea Bitcoin's application layer, Citrea, launched its mainnet, expanding Bitcoin's utility to privacy, lending, BTC yields, and more. Citrea enables: cBTC: The first trust-minimized Bitcoin on a fully programmable platform. ctUSD: A native stablecoin for Bitcoin, allowing for unified liquidity. Bitcoin Capital Markets bringing demand, and utility to the Bitcoin Network. Explore the Citrea Ecosystem. A Bitcoin developer just proposed the unthinkable: freeze every wallet that does not upgrade for quantum resistance, including Satoshi's. Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan are here to reckon with BIP-361, the quantum threat to early Bitcoin addresses, and what it means that this proposal exists at all. They also work through who actually wrote Bitcoin — Hal Finney, Adam Back, and Dave Kleiman — and a trail that runs through the Epstein files. Plus: Justin Sun's frozen World Liberty Financial tokens expose why token holders have no legal rights, EtherFi's exit from Scroll turns into a live platform risk case study, and Circle's decision not to freeze known stolen USDC raises the question of what stablecoin issuers owe to the ecosystem. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthropic's new model is too dangerous to release publicly. It's already found 20 zero-days. Kain, Taylor, and Austin want to know when it finds the first one in a smart contract. Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create over $50 billion in enterprise value for more than 80 clients, like Pyth, Moonpay Commerce, and Wormhole. They're the partner you want when you're navigating markets and trying to break out from the noise. They help navigate TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more, driving execution from launch to scale. Visit multichainadv.com. Bitcoin's application layer, Citrea, launched its mainnet, expanding Bitcoin's utility to privacy, lending, BTC yields, and more. Citrea enables: cBTC: The first trust-minimized Bitcoin on a fully programmable platform. ctUSD: A native stablecoin for Bitcoin, allowing for unified liquidity. Bitcoin Capital Markets bringing demand, and utility to the Bitcoin Network. Explore the Citrea Ecosystem. Ether.fi is giving Unchained listeners 15% cashback on food and ride apps — and that's on top of the 3% you get on everything else. Your bank is charging you to use your own money. Laura switched and loves her card! Go to ether.fi/unchained to claim your offer. Anthropic's Mythos model is so capable that the company restricted access to 12 partners and a $100 million compute budget rather than releasing it publicly. It has already identified 20 zero-day vulnerabilities in decades-old software. Now the question over DeFi: if Mythos turns its attention to smart contracts, what survives? The Balancer V2 hack rattled assumptions about immutability as a security guarantee. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Austin Griffith of the Ethereum Foundation work through what autonomous AI hacking means for protocols built to be unhackable, why skill files are the sleeper development in the agent stack, how a degen farming bot locked funds in an Aerodrome gauge through a single wrong NFT transfer, and what Anthropic's 89% uptime tells you about the infrastructure running the most powerful AI on earth. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Guest: Austin Griffith, Ethereum Foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthropic's new model is too dangerous to release publicly. It's already found 20 zero-days. Kain, Taylor, and Austin want to know when it finds the first one in a smart contract. Thank you to our sponsors! MultiChain Advisors is an emerging technology growth firm that has helped create over $50 billion in enterprise value for more than 80 clients, like Pyth, Moonpay Commerce, and Wormhole. They're the partner you want when you're navigating markets and trying to break out from the noise. They help navigate TGEs, go‑to‑market, BD and partnerships, capital markets advisory, PR, media placements, KOL activations and more, driving execution from launch to scale. Visit multichainadv.com. Bitcoin's application layer, Citrea, launched its mainnet, expanding Bitcoin's utility to privacy, lending, BTC yields, and more. Citrea enables: cBTC: The first trust-minimized Bitcoin on a fully programmable platform. ctUSD: A native stablecoin for Bitcoin, allowing for unified liquidity. Bitcoin Capital Markets bringing demand, and utility to the Bitcoin Network. Explore the Citrea Ecosystem. Ether.fi is giving Unchained listeners 15% cashback on food and ride apps — and that's on top of the 3% you get on everything else. Your bank is charging you to use your own money. Laura switched and loves her card! Go to ether.fi/unchained to claim your offer. Anthropic's Mythos model is so capable that the company restricted access to 12 partners and a $100 million compute budget rather than releasing it publicly. It has already identified 20 zero-day vulnerabilities in decades-old software. Now the question over DeFi: if Mythos turns its attention to smart contracts, what survives? The Balancer V2 hack rattled assumptions about immutability as a security guarantee. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Austin Griffith of the Ethereum Foundation work through what autonomous AI hacking means for protocols built to be unhackable, why skill files are the sleeper development in the agent stack, how a degen farming bot locked funds in an Aerodrome gauge through a single wrong NFT transfer, and what Anthropic's 89% uptime tells you about the infrastructure running the most powerful AI on earth. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Guest: Austin Griffith, Ethereum Foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Drift Protocol is down $285 million and Circle has the power to freeze the funds — but won't. Kain, Taylor, and Luca explain why. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need The Drift Protocol hack was still unfolding when Kain, Taylor, and Luca went live. Within hours of a suspected admin key compromise, over $285 million had been drained across Solana, with Circle sitting on the ability to freeze the stolen USDC — and choosing not to. Taylor Monahan, who was already in an active incident response room, walked through exactly how DPRK malware operates silently on devices for months before striking, why standard antivirus software won't catch it, and what the Axios supply chain attack revealed about the vulnerability of open source infrastructure. Then the conversation shifted to the Claude Code source leak — what it actually reveals about how the most sophisticated agentic coding harness in the world was built, and why Kain thinks a new Anthropic model may be days away. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links Unchained: Drift Protocol Coverage — Search unchainedcrypto.com for current coverage Related: SEAL 911 — Volunteer crypto incident response group Drift Protocol Axios npm package — Supply chain attack vector discussed CrowdStrike EDR — Recommended endpoint detection tool Claude Code — Subject of source leak discussion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Drift Protocol is down $285 million and Circle has the power to freeze the funds — but won't. Kain, Taylor, and Luca explain why. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need The Drift Protocol hack was still unfolding when Kain, Taylor, and Luca went live. Within hours of a suspected admin key compromise, over $285 million had been drained across Solana, with Circle sitting on the ability to freeze the stolen USDC — and choosing not to. Taylor Monahan, who was already in an active incident response room, walked through exactly how DPRK malware operates silently on devices for months before striking, why standard antivirus software won't catch it, and what the Axios supply chain attack revealed about the vulnerability of open source infrastructure. Then the conversation shifted to the Claude Code source leak — what it actually reveals about how the most sophisticated agentic coding harness in the world was built, and why Kain thinks a new Anthropic model may be days away. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links Unchained: Drift Protocol Coverage — Search unchainedcrypto.com for current coverage Related: SEAL 911 — Volunteer crypto incident response group Drift Protocol Axios npm package — Supply chain attack vector discussed CrowdStrike EDR — Recommended endpoint detection tool Claude Code — Subject of source leak discussion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chaos Labs' Omer Goldberg joins the crew to dig into the Resolv Labs exploit. Why was the USR minting function controlled by a single key? And how did audits miss it? Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Crypto Tax Girl $25 million extracted and millions more in bad debt across lending protocols. Chaos Labs founder Omer Goldberg joins Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan to unpack the Resolv exploit. They dive into how the exploit reveals DeFi's basic OpSec and risk judgement failings. Omer highlights the various ways it could have been prevented as Tay says protocol audits have become “security theater.” Kain questions Morpho's curator model after its pools were hit hard as the contagion spread. He also highlights markers that suggest the exploit may have been executed in panic. Beyond the Resolv exploit, the crew highlights that Aave v4 has made it out of governance, discussing the motivations behind the upgrade and whether the hub and spoke model will impact listing standards. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Guest: Omer Goldberg, Founder and CEO of Chaos Labs Links: Unchained: Aave V4 Clears First Governance Vote with 100% Support After Months of Internal Conflict Stani Kulechov on Why Aave Labs Is Putting Itself at the Mercy of the DAO How Aave Labs and the DAO Should Split Ownership of the Brand – Uneasy Money Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chaos Labs' Omer Goldberg joins the crew to dig into the Resolv Labs exploit. Why was the USR minting function controlled by a single key? And how did audits miss it? Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Crypto Tax Girl $25 million extracted and millions more in bad debt across lending protocols. Chaos Labs founder Omer Goldberg joins Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan to unpack the Resolv exploit. They dive into how the exploit reveals DeFi's basic OpSec and risk judgement failings. Omer highlights the various ways it could have been prevented as Tay says protocol audits have become “security theater.” Kain questions Morpho's curator model after its pools were hit hard as the contagion spread. He also highlights markers that suggest the exploit may have been executed in panic. Beyond the Resolv exploit, the crew highlights that Aave v4 has made it out of governance, discussing the motivations behind the upgrade and whether the hub and spoke model will impact listing standards. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Guest: Omer Goldberg, Founder and CEO of Chaos Labs Links: Unchained: Aave V4 Clears First Governance Vote with 100% Support After Months of Internal Conflict Stani Kulechov on Why Aave Labs Is Putting Itself at the Mercy of the DAO How Aave Labs and the DAO Should Split Ownership of the Brand – Uneasy Money Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The crew unpacks the significance of the Trade[XYZ] S&P 500 license, why Vanity Fair's recent crypto piece is so controversial and whether the EF is returning to “communism.” Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Trade[XYZ] has obtained a license from the S&P Dow Jones Indices to offer S&P 500 perps on Hyperliquid. A crypto trader lost $50 million in a single Aave swap. A Vanity Fair crypto shoot and article is sparking backlash. And the Ethereum Foundation has unveiled a “new” mandate. Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan dig into what the S&P license means for crypto with Kain saying it is not priced in yet. They also debate whether DeFi frontends should block high slippage swaps after the recent Aave swap gone wrong. Plus, did Vanity Fair intend to mock crypto? Luca shares how he dodged the bullet. Tay explains why OpenSea founder Devin Finzer and his wife got the most heat. Kain lets slip how he found himself on the New York Times for buying Trump's memecoin. And why Kain does not think the Ethereum Foundation's new mandate matters in the long-run. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links: Unchained: S&P 500 Gets First Officially Licensed Onchain Perpetual, Landing on Hyperliquid Dueling Post-Mortems Reveal How a $50 Million DeFi Swap Went From Bad to Catastrophic Ethereum Foundation Codifies Its Own Obsolescence in New Mandate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The crew unpacks the significance of the Trade[XYZ] S&P 500 license, why Vanity Fair's recent crypto piece is so controversial and whether the EF is returning to “communism.” Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Trade[XYZ] has obtained a license from the S&P Dow Jones Indices to offer S&P 500 perps on Hyperliquid. A crypto trader lost $50 million in a single Aave swap. A Vanity Fair crypto shoot and article is sparking backlash. And the Ethereum Foundation has unveiled a “new” mandate. Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan dig into what the S&P license means for crypto with Kain saying it is not priced in yet. They also debate whether DeFi frontends should block high slippage swaps after the recent Aave swap gone wrong. Plus, did Vanity Fair intend to mock crypto? Luca shares how he dodged the bullet. Tay explains why OpenSea founder Devin Finzer and his wife got the most heat. Kain lets slip how he found himself on the New York Times for buying Trump's memecoin. And why Kain does not think the Ethereum Foundation's new mandate matters in the long-run. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links: Unchained: S&P 500 Gets First Officially Licensed Onchain Perpetual, Landing on Hyperliquid Dueling Post-Mortems Reveal How a $50 Million DeFi Swap Went From Bad to Catastrophic Ethereum Foundation Codifies Its Own Obsolescence in New Mandate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Crypto insiders debate the Ethereum Foundation's new “CROPS” mandate: is the EF losing touch with builders, why does Solana keep pulling startups away, and what will it actually take for Ethereum to stay ahead? Expect a candid conversation on governance, comms, and crypto culture wars. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week we've got plenty of firepower with special guests Taylor Monahan (formerly of MetaMask, now a security sensei) and Bankless impresario David Hoffman. The crew digs into the Ethereum Foundation's freshly dropped “CROPS” manifesto — a 38-page PDF full of cypherpunk values, new acronyms, and debate fuel. What does it really say about where Ethereum is headed? Is EF finally embracing “sanctuary tech,” or just giving startups another reason to choose Solana? Who deserves credit for Ethereum's growth: the Foundation, the community, or the market? Expect sharp takes on EF's endless comms problems, why L2s aren't a cure-all, and whether crypto culture matters as much as the tech. It's a spicy, insider-heavy episode — so grab your popcorn and dive in. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights
Crypto insiders debate the Ethereum Foundation's new “CROPS” mandate: is the EF losing touch with builders, why does Solana keep pulling startups away, and what will it actually take for Ethereum to stay ahead? Expect a candid conversation on governance, comms, and crypto culture wars. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week we've got plenty of firepower with special guests Taylor Monahan (formerly of MetaMask, now a security sensei) and Bankless impresario David Hoffman. The crew digs into the Ethereum Foundation's freshly dropped “CROPS” manifesto — a 38-page PDF full of cypherpunk values, new acronyms, and debate fuel. What does it really say about where Ethereum is headed? Is EF finally embracing “sanctuary tech,” or just giving startups another reason to choose Solana? Who deserves credit for Ethereum's growth: the Foundation, the community, or the market? Expect sharp takes on EF's endless comms problems, why L2s aren't a cure-all, and whether crypto culture matters as much as the tech. It's a spicy, insider-heavy episode — so grab your popcorn and dive in. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights
The crew digs into Hyperliquid's phenomenal rise. How did the perp DEX become TradFi's 24/7 casino? Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Hyperliquid is having its mainstream moment like Polymarket in 2024 and OpenSea in 2021. Amid the U.S.'s war on Iran, the platform has become a popular venue for speculators to express their market opinions. Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan dig into choices that have allowed Hyperliquid to succeed where many others before it have failed. In a single sentence: not putting ideology over the product's goals. Kain says the protocol may become unassailable in the future even as Luca says HYPE is bound to be a top five crypto by market cap. The crew also discusses Pudgy Penguin's new open world game Pudgy World. Luca says “crypto rails have to be a tech stack not a hook” explaining why the game relegated crypto to the background. Plus, how Across Protocol's move to pivot to only equity highlights the broken nature of tokens. Has Luca cracked the problem? Listen to find out! Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links: Unchained: Oil Becomes the Hottest Trade on Hyperliquid Hyperliquid Launches $29 Million Policy Push in Washington Uneasy Money: Hyperliquid's Dilemma After 10/10: Protect Itself or Its Users? The Aave DAO Is Collapsing. Is the Token Still a Good Investment? Uneasy Money: Why the AI Singularity May Already Be Out of Our Hands Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The crew digs into Hyperliquid's phenomenal rise. How did the perp DEX become TradFi's 24/7 casino? Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Hyperliquid is having its mainstream moment like Polymarket in 2024 and OpenSea in 2021. Amid the U.S.'s war on Iran, the platform has become a popular venue for speculators to express their market opinions. Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan dig into choices that have allowed Hyperliquid to succeed where many others before it have failed. In a single sentence: not putting ideology over the product's goals. Kain says the protocol may become unassailable in the future even as Luca says HYPE is bound to be a top five crypto by market cap. The crew also discusses Pudgy Penguin's new open world game Pudgy World. Luca says “crypto rails have to be a tech stack not a hook” explaining why the game relegated crypto to the background. Plus, how Across Protocol's move to pivot to only equity highlights the broken nature of tokens. Has Luca cracked the problem? Listen to find out! Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links: Unchained: Oil Becomes the Hottest Trade on Hyperliquid Hyperliquid Launches $29 Million Policy Push in Washington Uneasy Money: Hyperliquid's Dilemma After 10/10: Protect Itself or Its Users? The Aave DAO Is Collapsing. Is the Token Still a Good Investment? Uneasy Money: Why the AI Singularity May Already Be Out of Our Hands Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Aave DAO collapsed — but might that be good for Aave? (But bad for the token?) Plus, how the feud between the U.S. government and Anthropic helped the AI company. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need The Aave civil war appears to be at an end with key members of the DAO rage quitting and leaving Aave Labs standing as the sole protocol contributor. Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz, and Taylor Monahan explain why the Aave DAO's messy collapse is a death knell for the DAO system. Ironically, they wonder — could this be good for Aave, but bad for the token? The crew also wades into ZachXBT's recent Axiom investigation and how the on-chain detective has become “a vigilante for hire.” They also cover all the insider trading claims and fights around prediction markets involving the Iran War and Mr. Beast, and “Kalshi jail.” Kain suspects another reason for the U.S. government's rift with Anthropic. Luca, an Anthropic investor, says he wished Dario had taken the government's deal, but that Sam Altman needs to “take the Zuck playbook.” Meanwhile, is Anthropic nerfing OpenClaw? Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links: Unchained: Aave Governance Fight Escalates Ahead of $51 Million Funding Vote Uneasy Money: Why the AI Singularity May Already Be Out of Our Hands How Aave Labs and the DAO Should Split Ownership of the Brand – Uneasy Money ZachXBT Alleges Axiom Employee Misused Internal Data Uneasy Money: Why Peter Steinberger and Non-Crypto People Hate the Crypto Mob Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Aave DAO collapsed — but might that be good for Aave? (But bad for the token?) Plus, how the feud between the U.S. government and Anthropic helped the AI company. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need The Aave civil war appears to be at an end with key members of the DAO rage quitting and leaving Aave Labs standing as the sole protocol contributor. Uneasy Money hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz, and Taylor Monahan explain why the Aave DAO's messy collapse is a death knell for the DAO system. Ironically, they wonder — could this be good for Aave, but bad for the token? The crew also wades into ZachXBT's recent Axiom investigation and how the on-chain detective has become “a vigilante for hire.” They also cover all the insider trading claims and fights around prediction markets involving the Iran War and Mr. Beast, and “Kalshi jail.” Kain suspects another reason for the U.S. government's rift with Anthropic. Luca, an Anthropic investor, says he wished Dario had taken the government's deal, but that Sam Altman needs to “take the Zuck playbook.” Meanwhile, is Anthropic nerfing OpenClaw? Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Links: Unchained: Aave Governance Fight Escalates Ahead of $51 Million Funding Vote Uneasy Money: Why the AI Singularity May Already Be Out of Our Hands How Aave Labs and the DAO Should Split Ownership of the Brand – Uneasy Money ZachXBT Alleges Axiom Employee Misused Internal Data Uneasy Money: Why Peter Steinberger and Non-Crypto People Hate the Crypto Mob Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
MegaETH's Namik Muduroglu joins the Uneasy Money crew to discuss how the industry can fix token incentives, the continued escalation of the Aave civil war and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Crypto Tax Girl An article from Boost CEO Brian Flynn sparks conversation about whether tokens are dead. The Aave civil war continues to escalate. China is trying to reverse engineer Claude even as Anthropic faces off against the U.S. government. In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan are joined by MegaETH founding team member Namik Muduroglu to discuss how to fix token incentives, whether there is a happy ending in sight for Aave. They also discuss the geopolitical risks that come with AI and the technology's rapid rate of advancement. Is the Singularity already out of our hands? Plus, ZachXBT's teased announcement and Ethereum's “strawmap.” Don't miss Kain's plan to fuse Claude with his Unitree dog and why Namik is a closet AI doomer. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Guest: Namik Muduroglu, CSO & Founding Team at MegaETH Links: Unchained: Uneasy Money: Why Token Holders Have No Rights & Why Every DAO ‘Has Failed' Why MegaETH Is Delaying Its Token and Rejecting Credible Neutrality Aave Governance Fight Escalates Ahead of $51 Million Funding Vote How Aave Labs and the DAO Should Split Ownership of the Brand – Uneasy Money Uneasy Money: Why Peter Steinberger and Non-Crypto People Hate the Crypto Mob Ethereum Researchers Outline Seven Forks Through 2029 in New “Strawmap” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
MegaETH's Namik Muduroglu joins the Uneasy Money crew to discuss how the industry can fix token incentives, the continued escalation of the Aave civil war and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Crypto Tax Girl An article from Boost CEO Brian Flynn sparks conversation about whether tokens are dead. The Aave civil war continues to escalate. China is trying to reverse engineer Claude even as Anthropic faces off against the U.S. government. In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan are joined by MegaETH founding team member Namik Muduroglu to discuss how to fix token incentives, whether there is a happy ending in sight for Aave. They also discuss the geopolitical risks that come with AI and the technology's rapid rate of advancement. Is the Singularity already out of our hands? Plus, ZachXBT's teased announcement and Ethereum's “strawmap.” Don't miss Kain's plan to fuse Claude with his Unitree dog and why Namik is a closet AI doomer. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Guest: Namik Muduroglu, CSO & Founding Team at MegaETH Links: Unchained: Uneasy Money: Why Token Holders Have No Rights & Why Every DAO ‘Has Failed' Why MegaETH Is Delaying Its Token and Rejecting Credible Neutrality Aave Governance Fight Escalates Ahead of $51 Million Funding Vote How Aave Labs and the DAO Should Split Ownership of the Brand – Uneasy Money Uneasy Money: Why Peter Steinberger and Non-Crypto People Hate the Crypto Mob Ethereum Researchers Outline Seven Forks Through 2029 in New “Strawmap” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
LayerZero's Bryan Pellegrino joins to unpack Base's decision to leave the OP Stack, Zora's migration to Solana and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Coinbase's Base is making a shock move away from Optimism's OP Stack. In this Uneasy Money episode, LayerZero Labs CEO Bryan Pellegrino joins hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan to unpack whether this is the right move for Base and what it could mean for Optimism. Beyond Base's big move, the trio also discuss Zora's Solana migration, whether Coinbase was wrong to initially pursue a super app strategy with Base App, Peter Steinberger joining OpenAI, the launch of Zero blockchain and OpenAI's EVMbench. Will OpenAI's acqui-hiring of Peter prove to be a “generational fumble” for Anthropic? And can crypto fix its brand problem? Also, learn why the rise of AI agents have Kain and Tay confident that open source will win in the end. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Guest: Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs Links: Unchained: Zora Shocks Base Community With Solana Pivot BlackRock Just Chose Uniswap. The Market Didn't Care. Here's Why. LayerZero Launches ‘Zero' Layer 1 as Citadel, ARK Buy ZRO How Zero Blockchain Cracked 2 Million TPS and Is Still Decentralized Uneasy Money: Are Institutions Creating a New Crypto Meta? Uneasy Money: How the Increasingly Better AI Agents Are Being Used OnchainVitalik Rethinks Ethereum's L2 Playbook, Calls for Shift Toward Native Rollups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
LayerZero's Bryan Pellegrino joins to unpack Base's decision to leave the OP Stack, Zora's migration to Solana and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network – Shift your energy use and earn rewards. MultiChain Advisors - The Growth & Capital Markets Partner You Need Coinbase's Base is making a shock move away from Optimism's OP Stack. In this Uneasy Money episode, LayerZero Labs CEO Bryan Pellegrino joins hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan to unpack whether this is the right move for Base and what it could mean for Optimism. Beyond Base's big move, the trio also discuss Zora's Solana migration, whether Coinbase was wrong to initially pursue a super app strategy with Base App, Peter Steinberger joining OpenAI, the launch of Zero blockchain and OpenAI's EVMbench. Will OpenAI's acqui-hiring of Peter prove to be a “generational fumble” for Anthropic? And can crypto fix its brand problem? Also, learn why the rise of AI agents have Kain and Tay confident that open source will win in the end. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Guest: Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs Links: Unchained: Zora Shocks Base Community With Solana Pivot BlackRock Just Chose Uniswap. The Market Didn't Care. Here's Why. LayerZero Launches ‘Zero' Layer 1 as Citadel, ARK Buy ZRO How Zero Blockchain Cracked 2 Million TPS and Is Still Decentralized Uneasy Money: Are Institutions Creating a New Crypto Meta? Uneasy Money: How the Increasingly Better AI Agents Are Being Used OnchainVitalik Rethinks Ethereum's L2 Playbook, Calls for Shift Toward Native Rollups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network MultiChain Advisors Vitalik Buterin just dropped a bombshell: the L2 vision no longer makes sense. Meanwhile, AI coding agents are going parabolic. In this monster episode of Uneasy Money, Ethereum Foundation Head of Developer Growth Austin Griffith and Optimism co-founder Karl Floersch join hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan to unpack the reasoning behind Vitalik's remarks and debate whether Ethereum needs L2s to pull institutions. They also take a deep dive into the OpenClaw and Moltbook craze and Austin shares how he has different agents running on different machines, including one that texts his wife good morning everyday. Is “AI the new UI?” Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert, Metamask Guests: Austin Griffith, AI Lead at Ethereum Foundation Karl Floersh, CTO of OP Labs Links: Vitalik Rethinks Ethereum's L2 Playbook, Calls for Shift Toward Native Rollups How the x402 Standard Is Enabling AI Agents to Pay Each Other Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network MultiChain Advisors Vitalik Buterin just dropped a bombshell: the L2 vision no longer makes sense. Meanwhile, AI coding agents are going parabolic. In this monster episode of Uneasy Money, Ethereum Foundation Head of Developer Growth Austin Griffith and Optimism co-founder Karl Floersch join hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan to unpack the reasoning behind Vitalik's remarks and debate whether Ethereum needs L2s to pull institutions. They also take a deep dive into the OpenClaw and Moltbook craze and Austin shares how he has different agents running on different machines, including one that texts his wife good morning everyday. Is “AI the new UI?” Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert, Metamask Guests: Austin Griffith, AI Lead at Ethereum Foundation Karl Floersh, CTO of OP Labs Links: Vitalik Rethinks Ethereum's L2 Playbook, Calls for Shift Toward Native Rollups How the x402 Standard Is Enabling AI Agents to Pay Each Other Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
North Korean hackers with the Lazarus Group have stolen over $300 million with this Telegram phishing scam. Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Taylor Monahan, a security lead at MetaMask, joins us to talk about a highly sophisticated $300M phishing attack linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group. Taylor shares how the Lazarus Group hijacks Telegram accounts to lure victims into fake Zoom meetings and download a Trojan horse malware program. We break down the hackers' strategy, how the malware works, which wallet types are most vulnerable to theft, and what users can do to protect themselves if they have fallen prey to the scam or not. Tune in to learn how to identify these red flags and implement better digital hygiene for your crypto assets. Check out this article for a deep dive into how the malware works; plus, follow Taylor for updates on X and keep track of Laars Group's history of hacks via her Github. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: * Lazarus Group stole over $300M in the last year. * Attackers hijack Telegram accounts. * Scammers use fake Zoom links to deploy malware. * Malware often bypasses paid antivirus software. * Sandbox architecture on iOS offers more safety. * Software wallets and browser wallets are most vulnerable. * 2FA remains critical for sensitive account access. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 03:51 Telegram attack 11:30 2 Factor Authenticators 13:48 Losses 16:38 Calculating losses 19:08 North Korea 21:52 Malware 24:17 Malware detection 25:16 EDR 27:12 Wallets 34:21 Is verifying addresses enough? 39:28 Wallet malware design 44:11 What do they want? 54:16 Taylor stealing payloads 1:01:49 Steps to protect
Thank you to our sponsors, Fuse: The Energy Network and MultiChain Advisors! What is the Moltbot buzz about? In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan delve into why Moltbot, the new AI agent hogging the internet spotlight, is so exciting as well as the memecoin drama that has followed. They also discuss how the son of a U.S. government contractor was allegedly caught flexing stolen Bitcoin in an online contest, analyzing how scammers can be so dumb. Plus, why Ethereum's quantum computing initiative is so bullish in contrast to Bitcoin's nonchalance. Also, are memecoins back? Don't miss out on what Kain says is the real AI agent opportunity and Luca's tales of flipping Instagram handles for millions of dollars. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Links: 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 Ilya Lichtenstein Pleads Guilty to 2016 Bitfinex Hack of Billions in Bitcoin Ethereum and Optimism Lay the Groundwork for a Post-Quantum Future Q-Day Is Imminent. Can Bitcoin Survive the Quantum Threat? PUMP Drops Below ICO Price as Private Sale Investors Send $160 Million to Exchanges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thank you to our sponsors! Fuse: The Energy Network MultiChain Advisors Trove Markets crashed at launch after a hyped ICO. X has pulled the plug on the InfoFi meta. Farcaster has been absorbed. In this packed Uneasy Money episode, hosts Luca Netz, Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan delve into how Trove's crash suggests that crypto's ICO struggles persist. Kain suggests X's move to block out InfoFi applications is “bullish” for the platform and the crew explores what's next for decentralized social media along with the takeaways from Farcaster's run. They also discuss the pervasiveness of wallet poisoning scams, why Cosmos is struggling despite its good tech and why Paradex's rollback suggests that crypto's “code is law” ethos may be dying out. Don't miss out on how Luca nearly got wrapped up in the Trove drama and Tay's tips to spot suspicious projects. Plus, why Kain thinks two people building with AI could succeed where Farcaster failed. Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Links: Uneasy Money: ICOs Are Back and Why Airdrops Are Instantly Dumped X Bans Incentivized Posting Apps, Prompting Shakeup in Crypto Engagement Platforms Linda Xie on How Mini-Apps Are Helping Farcaster Take on Web2 Social Media Ethereum Sets New Activity Record as Network Upgrades Pay Off Paradex Rollback Raises Hard Questions After Pricing Glitch Triggers Liquidations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thank you to our sponsor, MultiChain Advisors! Privacy is back on the radar as Monero gets compared to silver. Meanwhile, Vitalik wants Ethereum to ossify, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams' NYC token rugs and X's algorithm has crypto Twitter up in arms. In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan unpack: Monero's sudden surge, Vitalik's “walkaway test,” why blatant scams like Adams' NYC token continue to succeed and whether X has been suppressing crypto content. Don't miss Kain's story on how he lost nearly $250K in a wild vibe coding experiment. Plus, Is Vitalik's “walkaway test” too “aspirational?” And could X cashtags usher in the next altseason? Hosts: Luca Netz Kain Warwick Taylor Monahan Links: Why the Privacy Coins Mania Is Much More Than Price Action Eric Adams' NYC Token Crashes Amid Liquidity Concerns Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin Says Blockchain Trilemma ‘Has Been Solved' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thank you to our sponsors, Multichain Advisors and Mantle! Aave DAO on Christmas Day lost the vote to take control of Aave brand assets, but the fight is likely not over. In this Uneasy Money episode Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) founder Marc Zeller takes hosts Kain Warwick and Taylor Monahan inside the fight over one of DeFi's biggest names, teasing a “phase two” of the fight. Plus, why is Infinex's ICO getting so much flak and are claims of insider trading on Polymarket misguided? Hosts: Kain Warwick Taylor Monahan Guests: Marc Zeller, Founder of the Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) Links: Uneasy Money: Why Token Holders Have No Rights & Why Every DAO ‘Has Failed' Aave Labs Proposes Off-Protocol Revenue Sharing With Token Holders Aave's Rushed Governance Vote Draws Backlash Infinex Changes INX Token Sale Terms After Low Demand MegaETH Just Had Its Public Sale. Can It Succeed in Building a Web2-Like Experience? Polymarket Introduces Taker Fees in 15-Minute Markets Polymarket Resolves Issues After Polygon Network Disruption How to Trade Prediction Markets Without an Opinion on the Event Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin Says Blockchain Trilemma ‘Has Been Solved' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thank you to our sponsor, Multichain Advisors!What rights do token holders have? Is everyone getting rugged? In this episode of Uneasy Money, Ethena founder Guy Young joins hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan to interrogate the lack of clarity around token expectations and rights as Aave DAO goes against Aave Labs and Circle acquires the Axelar team. Do centralized exchanges hold the solution? Plus, does MOVE's Rushi Manche deserve a second chance? And how can you stay safe from the fake Zoom scam? Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Guest: Guy Young, CEO & Founder of Ethena Labs Links: Unchained: AAVE Holders Question if DAO Quietly Redirected Revenue Away From Treasury SEC Ends Four-Year Probe Into Aave ‘Poison Pill' Proposal Calls for Aave DAO to Take Over Aave Labs Jump Crypto's Firedancer Goes Live on Solana Mainnet How to Trade Prediction Markets Without an Opinion on the Event MetaMask Adds Native Bitcoin Support Timestamps:
Thank you to our sponsor, MultiChain Advisors!The beef between Solana dapps Jupiter and Kamino has taken a new dimension as Kamino has accused Jupiter of lying about contagion risks. In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan dive into whether Jupiter misled users and raise questions about Kamino's response. Plus, after Tarun Chitra's paper on Hyperliquid's ADL, they dig deep into the exchange's design: did they cause unnecessary liquidations on Oct. 10? At the same time, they break down Lighter's 0% fees model. Does it resemble Robinhood? And how smart is it actually? Plus, what Farcaster's big pivot means for the future of Web3 social, and what Taylor says it would take to crack it. Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Links: Unchained: Jupiter COO Says Vault's ‘Zero Contagion' Claim Was Not Fully Accurate Uneasy Money: Did Solana Dapp Kamino Break the Golden Rule of DeFi? Uneasy Money: Hyperliquid's Dilemma After 10/10: Protect Itself or Its Users? Linda Xie on How Mini-Apps Are Helping Farcaster Take on Web2 Social Media Timestamps:
Thank you to our Sponsor, Uniswap! Ethereum Fusaka is live, Infinex has embarked on its token sale, Hyperliquid is bolstering its HIP-3 markets and there is drama in Solana's DeFi land. In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan delve into the significance and implications of the Fusaka upgrade and the controversy surrounding Infinex's token sale. They also take a look at the promise and risks of Hyperliquid's buzzing perp futures markets on tokenized equities and Kamino's controversial response to competition from Jupiter. In addition, they touch on Anthropic's smart contract study and the recent Yearn Finance exploit. Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Links: Unchained: Cheaper Fees and No More Free Lunch for Layer 2s? Inside Ethereum's Fusaka Upgrade Ethereum's Layer 1 Lacks a Perp DEX. Synthetix Intends to Change That HIP-3 Records $500 Million in Daily Volume Uneasy Money: Hyperliquid's Dilemma After 10/10: Protect Itself or Its Users? Uneasy Money: ICOs Are Back and Why Airdrops Are Instantly Dumped Timestamps:
Thank you to our sponsor Uniswap! In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan discuss Monad's mainnet launch performance and how its ICO strategy may have proven solid in the end. They also delve into MegaETH's botched TVL campaign with Kain explaining why scrambling is bad for projects. In addition, they dissect Polymarket's CFTC greenlight, Klarna's stablecoin launch, Cardano's chain split and Berachain's secret Brevan Howard deal. Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Links: Unchained: Monad Co-Founder Defends Token Sale After Slow Uptake MegaETH Aborts $1B Cap Raise After Multisig Error Triggers Chaos Polymarket Gets CFTC Green Light to Operate in the US Klarna Launches Stablecoin Built on Stripe's Tempo Chain Cardano Founder Contacts FBI After Dev's ‘Careless' Test Splits Chain Uneasy Money: ICOs Are Back and Why Airdrops Are Instantly Dumped Timestamps:
In this first episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Luca Netz, Kain Warwick, and Taylor Monahan dig into the Balancer hack, Berachain's centralized response, the sudden return of ICO-style distribution, and why some new drops give away so little. Luca explains why he thinks generous airdrops are essential for building a real “army,” Taylor breaks down MetaMask's own thinking on token incentives, and Kain questions whether any of these models still make sense in a sentiment-driven market. Plus, Uniswap's fee switch proposal and the tea on Velodrome and Aerodrome. Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Timestamps:
$1.5 billion gone in an instant. And what's worse, to fund a nuclear weapons program. The largest crypto hack in history just hit Bybit, and the culprit is the infamous North Korean hacking group, Lazarus. Known for some of the most sophisticated cyber heists ever, they often use social engineering tactics and start by tricking low level employees. Although they can often wait to launder funds, in the case of Bybit they started right away. How did this happen? Could it have been prevented? And what does this mean for the security of the entire crypto industry? Taylor Monahan, security at MetaMask, and Jonty, a senior investigator at zeroShadow, talk all about it. Show highlights: 2:53 Taylor's and Jonty's backgrounds and why they are relevant to this discussion 6:06 What the mechanics of the hack were 13:03 How Lazarus usually operates and the tactic of blind signing 17:11 Jonty's important tips for people handling large amounts of crypto 23:45 How Bybit was able to say almost immediately that their other assets were secure 29:02 How much exchanges typically hold in each cold wallet 32:00 Why the evidence of the hack points to North Korean group Lazarus 41:01 Why North Korean hackers don't care if their attack is linked to them 49:30 How Lazarus typically social engineers its hacks 53:48 Why Jonty thinks the industry needs a serious upgrade in terms of security 58:08 How the funds get laundered in such cases and what the industry can do 1:09:54 The chances Lazarus actually makes money from the hack 1:15:34 How DeFi protocols should approach this problem Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Mantle Bitwise Guests: Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Jonty, a senior investigator at zeroShadow Links Previous coverage on Unchained about North Korean hackers: How North Koreans Infiltrated the Crypto Industry to Fund the Regime Why North Korea Is Interested in Cryptocurrency Yeonmi Park on Why Doing Business With North Korea Is Like Buying a Ticket to a Concentration Camp GitHub - pcaversaccio/safe-tx-hashes-util: bash script that checks that the Safe transaction that you are signing is the one that you intend to sign Cointelegraph: Crypto exchange eXch denies laundering Bybit's hacked funds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2024 was nothing short of transformative for the crypto world. From bitcoin's relentless climb amidst macroeconomic shifts to Solana's continued rise amidst meme coin mania, this year saw narratives unfold that no one could have predicted. In this special episode that has become a tradition at Unchained, Laura revisits the biggest moments of the year, featuring insightful clips from the standout guests who joined Unchained and Bits + Bips in 2024. Whether it was further institutional adoption, debates over decentralization, the victory over Gary Genser's regulation by enforcement strategy, or the taking off of AI agents, this year marked a turning point for crypto. Tune in for a reflective journey through the year that was—and a glimpse of what lies ahead in 2025. Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot Robinhood & Arbitrum Highlights and Timestamps: 03:15 | Matt Hougan on the significance of spot bitcoin ETFs 04:31 | Jesse Pollak explains the impact of Ethereum's Dencun upgrade 05:43 | Eric Balchunas on the rapid adoption of bitcoin ETFs 07:53 | Kyle Davies reflects on 3AC's collapse 10:11 | Carlos Domingo discusses BlackRock's BUIDL fund 11:13 | Sam Enzer on the reasoning behind SBF's sentencing 13:04 | Arthur Hayes debates the potential of a bitcoin supercycle 15:44 | Ansem breaks down the memecoin craze 16:42 | Eric Balchunas and Matt Hougan on ether ETF approval 18:18 | James Seyffart on SEC politics and ETF decisions 19:51 | Laura Brookover on the end of the Ethereum 2.0 probe 21:08 | Bryan Pellegrino on tackling Sybil attacks with LayerZero 23:42 | Iggy Azalea on her fascination with memecoins 24:31 | Joe McCann on how the assassination attempt influenced Trump's win 25:47 | Ro Khanna on the democratic party's stance on crypto 26:44 | George Selgin critiques a U.S. bitcoin reserve proposal 28:35 | Nick Tomaino on the truth-finding power of prediction markets 29:50 | Jack Booth on TON's viral growth strategies 31:58 | Jeff Dorman on why the ETH sell-off was a buying opportunity 32:29 | Caitlin Long and Michelle Kallen on their lawsuit against the Fed 33:52 | Justin Bons on why layer 2s might be parasitic to Ethereum 35:13 | Taylor Monahan on how North Koreans infiltrated crypto companies 36:42 | Taylor Monahan recounts a failed North Korean job interview 39:13 | Teng Yan on how truth terminal redefined AI and crypto 40:36 | Ryan Salame on DOJ dealings and his guilty plea 42:40 | Alex Kruger on Trump's election and its crypto impact 43:44 | Jeff Park on Uniswap and Solana's post-election gains 44:57 | Faryar Shirzad on the success of the FairShake PAC 46:15 | Eric Balchunas on the importance of bitcoin ETF options 47:26 | Cody Carbone on Paul Atkins' nomination as SEC chair 48:19 | Mike Selig on David Sacks as crypto and AI czar 49:27 | French Hill on token standards under FIT21 50:33 | Maria Shen on Solana's rise in new developer activity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sam Kessler and Taylor Monahan explain how North Korea is getting its coders hired at crypto companies to steal funds for the regime's nuclear program.The crypto community is facing a new kind of threat—North Korean devs are infiltrating crypto companies to steal millions and funnel funds back to the regime in order to bypass sanctions. In this episode, Sam Kessler, CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols, and Taylor Monahan, security at MetaMask, explain how North Korea has embedded its operatives into the crypto space, the red flags companies should watch for, and what these hackers are doing once inside crypto firms.Plus, they share their most interesting stories about how these hackers have gotten hired at crypto companies and the red flags the industry should know about. Show highlights:What Sam found in his investigation about North Koreans infiltrating the industryHow Taylor has found that this is a recurring issue Why Sam and Taylor refer to these infiltrated workers as ‘IT' workersThe most interesting stories that Sam and Taylor have discoveredThe trends in the hiring process that lead to North Koreans being hired and also what the big red flags areHow “easy it is to de-anonymize” addresses and transactions in blockchainsWhat assets and networks these workers often use to get paidHow, after infiltrating a company, those projects get hackedHow to deal with a situation in which you've already hired North KoreansHow to protect a protocol from another type of North Korean hack: by hacking groups Whether the industry is getting better at securityVisit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.comThank you to our sponsors!PolkadotMantleGuests:Sam Kessler, CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocolsCoinDesk: How North Korea Infiltrated the Crypto IndustryTaylor Monahan, security at MetaMaskPrevious appearances on Unchained:The QuadrigaCX Case: Taylor Monahan on What We Know From the BlockchainMyCrypto's Taylor Monahan on Why She's Not a Fan of ICOsLinksPrevious coverage of Unchained on North Korea:Why North Korea Is Interested in CryptocurrencyYeonmi Park on Why Doing Business With North Korea Is Like Buying a Ticket to a Concentration CampUnchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC. Distributed by CoinDesk.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The crypto community is facing a new kind of threat—North Korean devs are infiltrating crypto companies to steal millions and funnel funds back to the regime in order to bypass sanctions. In this episode, Sam Kessler, CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols, and Taylor Monahan, security at MetaMask, explain how North Korea has embedded its operatives into the crypto space, the red flags companies should watch for, and what these hackers are doing once inside crypto firms. Plus, they share their most interesting stories about how these hackers have gotten hired at crypto companies and the red flags the industry should know about. Show highlights: What Sam found in his investigation about North Koreans infiltrating the industry How Taylor has found that this is a recurring issue Why Sam and Taylor refer to these infiltrated workers as ‘IT' workers The most interesting stories that Sam and Taylor have discovered The trends in the hiring process that lead to North Koreans being hired and also what the big red flags are How “easy it is to de-anonymize” addresses and transactions in blockchains What assets and networks these workers often use to get paid How, after infiltrating a company, those projects get hacked How to deal with a situation in which you've already hired North Koreans How to protect a protocol from another type of North Korean hack: by hacking groups Whether the industry is getting better at security Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot Mantle Guests: Sam Kessler, CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols CoinDesk: How North Korea Infiltrated the Crypto Industry Taylor Monahan, Co-Founder of MyEtherWallet Previous appearances on Unchained: The QuadrigaCX Case: Taylor Monahan on What We Know From the Blockchain MyCrypto's Taylor Monahan on Why She's Not a Fan of ICOs Links Previous coverage of Unchained on North Korea: Why North Korea Is Interested in Cryptocurrency Yeonmi Park on Why Doing Business With North Korea Is Like Buying a Ticket to a Concentration Camp Others: DL News: North Korean hackers are infiltrating crypto job boards in a ‘quiet war' that rakes in $600m FBI PSA: North Korea Aggressively Targeting Crypto Industry with Well-Disguised Social Engineering Attacks Chainalysis: 2024 Crypto Crime Mid-year Update Part 1: Cybercrime Climbs as Exchange Thieves and Ransomware Attackers Grow Bolder Funds Stolen from Crypto Platforms Fall More Than 50% in 2023, but Hacking Remains a Significant Threat as Number of Incidents Rises Russian and North Korean Cyberattack Infrastructure Converge: New Hacking Data Raises National Security Concerns ZachXBT: How Lazarus Group laundered $200M from 25+ crypto hacks to fiat from 2020–2023 Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:59 Sam's findings on North Korean workers infiltrating crypto projects 04:04 Taylor on the recurring nature of the issue 09:05 Why they're referred to as ‘IT' workers 16:17 Most interesting infiltration stories 34:16 Hiring trends and red flags for North Korean operatives 44:02 How easy it is to de-anonymize blockchain transactions 51:05 Assets and networks used for payment 54:06 How infiltrated companies end up getting hacked 58:36 What to do if you've already hired North Korean operatives 1:00:21 How to protect a protocol from being hacked 1:06:22 Is the industry improving in security? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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