What if everything you thought about the dollar was wrong?
Monetary historian Jeff Snider joins Bankless to deliver a radical thesis: the Federal Reserve doesn't control the U.S. dollar; a sprawling offshore system of interbank ledger money does. This hidden network, known as the Eurodollar system, is the real engine of global finance, and it’s been breaking down for over 15 years.
In this episode, we unpack how Eurodollars work, why the Fed lost control, the eerie similarities between stablecoins and shadow banking, and why Jeff sees a “Silent Depression,” masked by asset booms but driven by deflationary forces.
If you’ve been bullish on crypto because of debasement fears, Jeff’s counter-narrative might challenge everything you believe.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
5:30 Who’s Actually in Charge of the Dollar?
12:55 Stablecoins vs. Eurodollars
21:19 Did the Fed Ever Have Control?
30:02 Eurodollar Demand & Market Forces
38:24 What Backs a Eurodollar?
46:38 The Silent Depression Since 2008
52:58 From Fed Power to $6 Trillion Lost
58:45 Jeff’s Portfolio Thesis
1:05:24 “There’s No Debasement”
1:14:19 The Jeff Snider Portfolio
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RESOURCES
Jeff Snider
https://x.com/JeffSnider_EDU
Eurodollar University
https://www.eurodollar.university/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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LIMITLESS: Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity CEO’s All-In Gamble to Take Down Google
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas joins the show to explore how AI agents, personalization, and new browsing models could transform the internet experience.
From replacing mundane workflows with proactive assistance to envisioning a fully AI-native operating system, Aravind shares his long-term vision, the thinking behind Perplexity’s new Comet browser, and why curiosity will remain humanity’s most valuable skill in the AI era.
We also dive into competing with Big Tech, protecting users from AI-generated “slop,” and the architectural choices that make AI-assisted browsing faster, more reliable, and more personal.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
9:58 Curiosity as the Key Human Advantage
15:26 From Keywords to Questions
21:35 Personalization and Agency in Browsing
27:13 Keeping Humans in the Loop
32:30 Why People Love Perplexity
38:35 Comet - The AI Browser
47:24 The Browser vs. Agent Debate
57:16 Competing with Big Tech
1:01:26 The OS Endgame
1:08:48 Closing Thoughts
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RESOURCES
Aravind Srinivas
https://x.com/AravSrinivas
Perplexity
https://www.perplexity.ai/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Why Passive Investors Lose | Contrarian Investor Michael Green
Contrarian strategist Michael Green lays out why “passive” isn’t passive at all—it’s a flow-driven algorithm, turbocharged by policy, that funnels capital into mega-caps, starves small caps, and raises the odds of market non-clearing shocks.
We unpack Sharpe’s arithmetic vs. rebalancing reality, lessons from Volmageddon, the aging of investor cohorts, why stress may be deflationary before inflationary, and how to “doom-proof” a portfolio with assets that throw off cash (including overlooked duration/TIPS and munis).
Michael also separates crypto’s burn-it-down narrative from its true promise: tokenized, programmable securities that fix TradFi’s paper plumbing.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
4:52 Finance Twitter vs Crypto Twitter
6:42 Fundamentals vs Narrative
9:53 Passive Index Investing
22:12 Message for Passive Investors
28:43 Market Cap vs FDV
30:23 Large Cap Dominance
40:45 Other Distortions
43:40 Volmageddon
50:14 Demographics
55:17 Passive Doom-Proof Portfolio
1:04:15 Currency Collapse
1:09:51 Gold & Precious Metals
1:15:58 Bitcoin vs Gold
1:18:29 Ray Dalio Debt Cycles
1:22:43 Stablecoins & Tokenization
1:28:53 Message to the Listeners
1:34:32 Action Items
1:35:28 Closing & Disclaimers
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RESOURCES
Michael Green
https://x.com/profplum99
Michael’s Substack
https://www.yesigiveafig.com/subscribe?coupon=879f4ac8
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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ROLLUP: BTC ATH & ETH Near ATH | Stripe & Circle L1s | Monero 51% Attack
On this week’s Weekly Rollup, ETH flirts with ATH while BTC tags a new one, PPI spooks then fades? Ryan and david dig into a $1B ETH ETF day, Tom Lee’s 1M ETH treasury, and the ETH/BTC setup. Also, Stripe and Circle launch L1s, Coinbase routes Aerodrome in-app, Uniswap’s Wyoming DUNA and fee switch path, Monero’s 51% attack, plus quick hits on Do Kwon and bank pushback on the Genius Act.
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
4:01 PPI Volatility & Markets
https://x.com/fundstrat/status/1955995766742192612
https://x.com/fundstrat/status/1955992342453772783
https://polymarket.com/event/fed-decision-in-september?tid=1755177801833
https://x.com/DegenerateNews/status/1955763404733603857
https://companiesmarketcap.com/assets-by-market-cap/
https://x.com/CoinMarketCap/status/1955457154686849099
https://x.com/nilesh_rohilla/status/1954190478712164631
https://www.theblock.co/post/366734/standard-chartered-analysts-raise-ethereum-year-end-price-target
https://farside.co.uk/eth/
https://x.com/NateGeraci/status/1955100618088972649
https://decrypt.co/334366/harvard-116-million-blackrock-bitcoin-etf
https://x.com/BitcoinPierre/status/1955433791805329825
https://x.com/BitcoinPierre/status/1955493635119780321
https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1955980017315295514
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/13/crypto-exchange-bullish-more-than-doubles-in-nyse-debut-after-pricing-ipo-above-expected-range.html
https://x.com/hosseeb/status/1955815228245205461
https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1954876419261010119
https://x.com/tedpillows/status/1955283896049807480?
https://www.strategicethreserve.xyz/
https://x.com/CryptoGucci/status/1955339759917646012
https://www.bankless.com/read/ethzilla-shares-surge-after-peter-thiel-takes-7-5-stake
https://x.com/MikeIppolito_/status/1955606885442179298
https://x.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1956001519095947593
https://x.com/StoryProtocol/status/1954885593286238460
https://x.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1954890658155545074
https://x.com/EricTrump/status/1955653873730720202
https://x.com/EricTrump/status/1955324074684518557
37:07 Stablecoin big boys launching their own L1s
https://x.com/circle/status/1955246636223135976
https://x.com/adamscochran/status/1955257074318823568
https://x.com/jgarzik/status/1955270849595937091
https://x.com/jgarzik/status/1955270849595937091
https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1955011330777497987:
https://x.com/chuk_xyz/status/1955064401490280721
https://x.com/100y_eth/status/1955081750683766805
https://x.com/CampbellJAustin/status/1955240962038349995
https://x.com/cherdougie/status/1955383195609993270
47:36 Banks demand the exclusion for yield-bearing stablecoins in the GENIUS
https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/1955763041594958175
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/08/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-guarantees-fair-banking-for-all-americans/
52:22 Scott Bessent - Strategic Bitcoin Reserve update…it’s not great
https://x.com/watcherguru/status/1955987518509154717
54:01 ETH, Coinbase, & Uniswap
https://x.com/AerodromeFi/status/1953853358575587631
https://x.com/wagmiAlexander/status/1955101747082309745
https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1955268909294068192
https://www.theblock.co/data/crypto-markets/public-companies/coinbase-total-volume
https://www.theblock.co/post/366257/uniswap-foundation-eyes-protocol-fee-switch-with-propose
https://gov.uniswap.org/t/foundation-feedback-group-ffg-thread/25549/10
https://x.com/SenLummis/status/1954950030306968055
https://x.com/unichain/status/1955978120269312280
58:54 Do Kwon pleaded guilty
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/do-kwon-pleads-guilty-us-fraud-charges-40-billion-crypto-collapse-2025-08-12/
1:00:48 Monero getting 51% attacked - now controls over 51% of Monero hashrate
https://x.com/caffeinateduser/status/1954999609039917448
https://x.com/PixOnChain/status/1955738903895531893
1:05:30 Closing & Disclaimers
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
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Roman Storm Verdict: A Turning Point for DeFi | Jake Chervinsky & Amanda Tuminelli
Jake Chervinsky and Amanda Tuminelli join us to unpack the Roman Storm verdict—what it means for DeFi, why Section 1960 is a looming threat to open-source developers, and the strong grounds for appeal.
We discuss the legal, political, and legislative paths forward, the role of Congress in protecting developers, and how the crypto industry can mobilize to prevent future prosecutions.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:24 Verdict First Impressions
4:22 Was it Successful?
6:26 Second Trial?
9:47 Money Transmitter Debate
15:20 Optimistic Setup?
19:56 Levels of Precedent
26:04 What’s Next?
30:26 Crypto Industry Agency
34:01 Regulatory Acts
37:33 Two Paths
44:35 Trump Administration
49:02 Upcoming Administrations
53:45 Call to Action
56:55 Closing & Disclaimers
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RESOURCES
Jake Chervinsky
https://x.com/jchervinsky
Amanda Tuminelli
https://x.com/amandatums
DeFi Education Fund
https://www.defieducationfund.org/
Fund Roman Storm
https://freeromanstorm.com/
Fund Alex Pertsev
https://juicebox.money/v2/p/713
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Ireland