In this episode of Bankless, Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, explores how meme coins are evolving beyond speculation. We discuss Pengu’s launch on Solana, Pudgy Penguins’ expansion into retail and gaming, and how GIFs with 300M+ daily views are driving mass adoption. Luca also shares why meme coins can be real brands and what’s next for Pudgy’s growing ecosystem. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙 FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐 CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🏦ONDO | INSTITUTIONAL GRADE FINANCE https://bankless.cc/Ondo ------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/24?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:53 Opinion on Pengu token and its competitor 00:08:03 Reformatting the idea of a memecoin 00:12:32 Pudgy Penguins aren't just memes 00:16:09 Solana competitor vs Pengu 00:20:03 Impact of 30 Billion views on the GIFs on the brand 00:22:56 How does the GIFs system work? 00:25:27 GIFs working principle 00:27:13 Big brands doing SEO on GIFs 00:28:38 Non-crypto people using Pudgy GIFs 00:31:59 Physical Products of Pudgy Penguins 00:36:50 Other components of expanding the brand 00:38:56 How big is the conglomerate? 00:39:26 Choosing Solana L1 over L2 00:45:27 Where does Base stand in the algorithm? 00:51:26 Some thoughts on Ethereum's current state 00:55:32 Abstract Chains 01:02:58 Pudgy Penguins' relation with Abstract Chains 01:04:18 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Luca Netz https://x.com/LucaNetz Pudgy Penguins https://pudgypenguins.com/ ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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1:02:04
ROLLUP: Bitcoin on the US Balance Sheet? | Trump's US Crypto Stockpile | Banks Can Now Custody Crypto | Venice AI's Massive Airdrop
Joining us this week is Haseeb Qureshi who is here to help walk us through this week’s Weekly Rollup. We cover the major shift in the U.S. government’s stance on crypto, as Trump signs an executive order that establishes a national digital asset stockpile working group and bans CBDCs. The SEC also revokes SAB121, clearing the way for banks to custody crypto. Meanwhile, Venice AI’s token launch made waves, and Abstract Chain went live with a focus on creators and streamers. In markets, Nvidia’s $600B plunge rattled investors, and the Czech National Bank considers adding Bitcoin to its reserves. Plus, Gary Gensler lands a new job—back at MIT. ------ 💸 CRYPTO TAX CALCULATOR | CODE: BANKLESS15 https://bankless.cc/CryptoTaxCalculator ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/26?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 00:00:00 Start 00:02:10 NVDA and Deepseek Selloff https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/27/nvidia-sheds-almost-600-billion-in-market-cap-biggest-drop-ever.html 00:08:26 Why It Sold Off https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1883935713877782884 00:10:56 Markets 00:12:28 Why is The Vibe So Off? https://x.com/intocryptoverse/status/1884408180014186958?s=46 00:16:53 Bitwise Files For Doge ETF https://x.com/EricBalchunas/status/1884349554256142735 00:21:01 Powell On Cutting Rates https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/29/fed-meeting-live-updates-traders-await-fed-chair-powells-comments.html https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1884699251860553789 00:24:30 US Strategic Crypto Reserve? https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/strengthening-american-leadership-in-digital-financial-technology/ https://x.com/Geiger_Capital/status/1882534611693211932 00:29:21 Czech And Norway Invest In BTC https://x.com/DavidFBailey/status/1884491705841508708 https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1884901420677386243 00:33:28 SAB121 Repeal https://x.com/hesterpeirce/status/1882562977985114185?s=46 https://x.com/saylor/status/1882565582870270241?s=46 00:37:02 New Treasury Secretary https://x.com/USTreasury/status/1884377788263633262 00:38:48 Gary Returns To MIT https://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/former-sec-chair-gary-gensler-named-professor-practice-mit-sloan-school-management 00:44:01 Venice AI Token Launch https://x.com/AskVenice/status/1883925135825990091 https://x.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1883992467151663415 https://x.com/CoinbaseAssets/status/1884041161708356000 https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1884320943008538781 00:49:08 Abstract Chain Mainnet Launch https://x.com/AbstractChain/status/1883939915169423777 https://x.com/pudgypenguins/status/1884708668366545143 00:50:33 Symbiotic https://x.com/symbioticfi/status/1884266642416492713 00:52:48 TRUMP Token, Good And Bad https://x.com/hosseeb/status/1883466906080088478?s=46 https://x.com/Jesseeckel/status/1884615422521020626 00:58:02 TRUMP Is A Celeb Coin https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/trump-s-memecoin-can-now-be-used-to-buy-watches-and-sneakers 01:03:45 Haseeb’s Podcast And Parting Advice ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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1:07:03
AI ROLLUP #9: $6M DeepSeek Shocker | $500B AI Push | Venice’s Billion-Dollar Airdrop | Solana DEX Record
Ejaaz and David reunite to unpack the DeepSeek shockwave: how a mere $6M open-source AI model rattled OpenAI’s dominance, nudged Nvidia’s stock, and sparked a fresh “arms race” in crypto AI. Meanwhile, Trump’s massive AI funding pledge and Solana’s record DEX volumes signal that the space might be heading for its biggest bull run yet. On the builder side, ARC’s rust-based agents partner with the Solana Foundation, AI16Z launches a $10M fund, and Virtuals teases multi-chain expansions that could redefine how agent tokens earn revenue. Between China’s fast breakthroughs and America’s big AI bets, the race to integrate AI and crypto has never been hotter. Buckle up, anon. ------ 💸 CRYPTO TAX CALCULATOR | BANKLESS15 https://bankless.cc/CryptoTaxCalculator ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/25 ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 China & DeepSeek 12:43 Why Markets Rattled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox 24:32 OpenAI & Perplexity Agent Products https://x.com/OpenAI/status/1882509286439637448 https://x.com/perplexity_ai/status/1882466239123255686 https://x.com/sama/status/1884066337103962416 34:12 AI Agent Chain Wars 39:42 Virtuals is expanding to SOLANA! https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1883107553183162507 https://x.com/state_of_mika/status/1883107601183048078 https://x.com/vaderresearch/status/1883597990830731678 https://www.lookonchain.com/articles/1035 53:01 AIXBT is becoming a product https://x.com/aixbt_terminal/status/1882755705586982969 56:01 VeniceAI launches a token that pays for your agent’s expenses https://x.com/askvenice/status/1883925135825990091 https://x.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1884051994324947001 1:03:13 Griffain now has a Shopify integration for their agents https://x.com/griffaindotcom/status/1883230795764322328 1:05:22 ARC partnered with Solana https://x.com/arcdotfun/status/1884325639047819476 1:06:36 Ai16z $10M x Jupiter Fund & Rebrand? https://x.com/shawmakesmagic/status/1883124194013319340 https://x.com/shawmakesmagic/status/1884376511391674742 1:08:45 What is Ejaaz paying attention to? 1:10:02 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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1:10:37
DeepSeek R1 & The Short Case For Nvidia Stock | Jeffrey Emanuel
China’s new DeepSeek AI model, which reportedly matches GPT-4’s performance at 1/45th the cost, has rattled the AI hardware market and contributed to a 20% dip in Nvidia’s stock price. Investor-technologist Jeffrey Emanuel argues that DeepSeek’s efficiency gains aren’t the only story, as his viral 12,000-word article “The Short Case for Nvidia Stock” also catalyzed the market’s panic. In this episode, we explore how these converging factors could unbundle Nvidia’s once-unassailable lead and drastically reshape AI compute economics. Jeff's Article: https://youtubetranscriptoptimizer.com/blog/05_the_short_case_for_nvda Jeff on X: https://x.com/doodlestein ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin ----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/23?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Start 05:20 Intro To Jeff 07:27 The Issue With DeepSeek 16:00 Inference Compute Explained 24:51 Nvidia's Competition 29:14 DeepSeek's Impact On Valuations 36:46 Criticism Around Jeff's Thesis 44:17 DeepSeek's 45x Upgrade 51:30 The Transformer Explained 01:03:15 Why Is Everyone Shocked? 01:12:07 Synthetic Data 01:21:30 Why Jeff's Article Went Viral ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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1:29:08
Superagency: The Bull Case for AI | Reid Hoffman
In this episode of Bankless, Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and author of Super Agency, explores how AI is set to transform humanity and amplify individual potential. We dive into Hoffman’s vision of “super agency,” We examine AI's potential to democratize technology and reshape society, along with an analysis of four distinct perspectives on its impact: pessimistic, cautious, ambitious, and balanced. Hoffman shares lessons from past tech revolutions, the risks of AI misuse, and how innovation can unlock a more optimistic future. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙 FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌐 CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER https://bankless.cc/Celo 🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING https://bankless.cc/Ronin ------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/22?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E ------ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Intro 00:09:10 Is superagency a superpower? 00:11:09 How to identify a humanoid AI agent? 00:13:28 Which people will get this AI superpower? 00:17:22 Propagation of AI 00:18:47 AI religions 00:24:31 Zoomers are e/acc? 00:25:56 Thoughts on Gloomers 00:29:09 Mainframe computers' relation with today's AI 00:37:03 Negative and positive impacts of AI 00:50:28 Benefits of AI to the average citizen 00:52:58 What if AI misuses/sells our data? 00:59:31 How AI will deliver value worth millions 01:02:17 Why innovation is safety 01:05:59 AI choices shaping our freedom? 01:10:07 America’s approach towards AI 01:12:27 Is AI overhyped? 01:14:05 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Reid Hoffman https://x.com/reidhoffman Blitzscaling https://www.blitzscaling.com/ Super Agency https://www.superagency.ai/ ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Ireland