Unchained

The Drift hack wasn't a one-off exploit. It was a patient operation spanning months, with nation-state actors working the conference circuit. Then Circle let the hackers take the money.

Bitcoin’s application layer, Citrea, launched its mainnet, expanding Bitcoin’s utility to privacy, lending, BTC yields, and more.

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The Drift hack looked like a typical smart contract exploit until the postmortem revealed something far more elaborate: a six-month DPRK intelligence operation involving in-person social engineering at crypto conferences, fully constructed professional identities, and a $1 million deposit to build trust.

Then, after $232 million in USDC was stolen, Circle declined to freeze the funds while attackers bridged them across chains for six hours during business hours.

Michael Lewellen from Turnkey and Amanda Wick from VerifyVASP tackle what the Drift compromise teaches about operational security in crypto, why Circle's decision raises hard questions about stablecoin issuer responsibility, and whether the legal framework is forcing companies to choose between compliance and doing what's right.

Host:


Laura Shin, Host / Unchained

Guests:


⁠⁠⁠⁠Amanda Wick, Head of Americas at VerifyVASP


⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael Lewellen, Head of Solutions Engineering at Turnkey

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A nation state hacked a startup and won. The hosts debate who's liable, what's fixable, and what isn't.

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Thank you to our sponsors:

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.

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North Korea just pulled off the largest DeFi hack of 2026, draining $285 million from Drift protocol in 12 minutes through a six-month social engineering campaign that included face-to-face meetings at industry conferences. Circle had a six-hour window to freeze $232 million in USDC moving through its own bridge and didn't act. 

Meanwhile, Iran's IRGC is reportedly collecting crypto tolls at the Strait of Hormuz in USDT via Tron, and the token market is cracking under the weight of 750,000 issuances since 2020 with the median token down 80% from peak. 

Ram, Austin, and Chris confront the liability question for stablecoin issuers, whether DeFi's security model can survive nation-state attackers, why Chris is calling for licensed "neoprivateers" to recover stolen funds, and what Franklin Templeton's acquisition of 250 Digital signals about where institutional capital is headed.

Hosts:


⁠⁠⁠⁠Austin Campbell⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host of Bits + Bips, Zero Knowledge Consulting


⁠⁠⁠⁠Ram Ahluwalia⁠⁠⁠⁠, Co-Host, CEO of Lumida


⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Perkins⁠⁠⁠⁠, Co-Host, President of CoinFund

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Charles Schwab’s chief crypto strategist breaks down why traditional finance valuation frameworks, not narratives, are finally taking hold in digital assets.

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Charles Schwab recently hired Jim Ferraioli to build a dedicated crypto research team, a signal that institutions are moving beyond narrative-driven investing and are taking this asset class seriously. 

In this episode, Steven Ehrlich sits down with Jim to explore how traditional finance valuation frameworks apply to crypto. They discuss Bitcoin’s role as a hedge against monetary debasement (not a safe haven), Jim’s cost-of-production model for valuing Bitcoin, and why Ethereum’s dominance in tokenization matters far more than short-term price action. 

Most compellingly, Jim argues that today’s Bitcoin prices sit at historical support levels used by the most efficient miners, and that Ethereum’s position as the tokenization standard is nearly unshakeable. If you’ve been waiting for crypto analysis grounded in fundamentals rather than hype, this is the conversation to hear.

Host:


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Steven Ehrlich⁠⁠⁠, Head of Research, SharpLink

Guest:


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jim Ferraioli⁠⁠, Director of Digital Currencies Research and Strategy at Charles Schwab

Links:

Charles Schwab & Institutional Crypto Research


⁠⁠Jim Ferraioli | Charles Schwab⁠⁠


CoinDesk: 


⁠⁠Liquidity Lifts Bitcoin, but 'Halving Cycle' Fears Could Limit Rally, Says Schwab⁠⁠


Nasdaq: 


⁠⁠Top 4 Reasons More Americans Are Investing in Crypto, According to Schwab⁠⁠

Ethereum Tokenization & Real-World Assets


Coindesk: 


⁠⁠The Tokenization Boom: Why Ethereum Remains the Rails for RWA Tokenization⁠⁠

Quantum Computing Risk


CoinDesk: 


⁠⁠Bitcoin Isn't Under Quantum Threat Yet, but Upgrading Could Take 5-10 Years⁠⁠


⁠⁠How Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana Are Preparing for the Quantum Threat

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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!


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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

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The Chopping Block crew and Wintermute’s Evgeny Gaevoy debate whether Canton is truly permissionless, if Ethereum Foundation should double down on cypherpunk ideals or embrace institutions, and how AI-driven attacks are forcing everyone in crypto and open source to rethink security models.

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 Evgeny Gaevoy, Founder of Wintermute, known for sharp takes and sharper trades.

First up, the group unpacks the Twitter war over enterprise chain Canton—does it deserve to be called “permissionless”, or is it just TradFi with extra steps? Cue the Solana–Ethereum truce, and a rare moment where every old-school degenerate finds a common enemy. Evgeny makes a strong case for why, despite years of jokes at the Ethereum Foundation’s expense, he thinks they’re finally ahead of the curve by doubling down on cypherpunk roots—even if it makes ETH a little more Linux and a little less Nasdaq.

But does decentralization matter if stablecoins and institutions now control the fork-choice? Haseeb and Evgeny spar over whether Ethereum’s “world computer” vision means inviting in the corporate crowd or keeping the punk sanctuary alive.

The mood shifts as the hosts dig into crypto’s unfolding security meltdown: AI-written hacks, NPM supply chain fiascos, and what that means for the future of open source in crypto. Plus, a fresh new hack (RIP Drift), and predictions on how defensive tech (or lack thereof) will shape the next cycle. Barstool banter, spicy takes, and zero investment advice as always—let’s get into it.

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 Chopping Block crew and Evgeny Gaevoy debate whether Canton is a permissionless blockchain or just TradFi LARPing as crypto  

🔹 Does Ethereum need to double down on cypherpunk “sanctuary” values—or let BlackRock and Circle join the party?  

🔹 Haseeb dismantles the idea that all “tokenized RWAs” on “permissioned” blockchains are equivalent to Ethereum  

🔹 Solana and Ethereum align—briefly!—with both camps skeptical of enterprise “default no” blockchains  

🔹 Circle and Tether’s growing influence: can fork-choice governance still exist if stables dictate the canonical chain?  

🔹 Linux, the open internet, and how crypto’s utopian dreams get co-opted by institutions  

🔹 Drift’s $270M hack highlights the AI-enabled acceleration of exploits and the mounting risks for open-source software  

🔹 AI in security: From North Korean supply chain attacks to open source’s existential crisis  

🔹 Is the future of crypto code closed or open? Zero knowledge proofs vs. code visibility in the LLM era  

🔹 Are we headed for a world where only org-backed, audit-heavy open source survives?

Hosts

⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures

⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly 

Guest

⭐️ Evgeny Gaevoy, Founder and CEO at Wintermute

Disclosures
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