The Chopping Block w/ Stani Kulechov: Operation Chokepoint 2.0, Ethereum Innovation Push, & Polymarket Whales - Ep. 717

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and special guest Stani Kulechov chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, the crew dives into the latest speculation about Satoshi Nakamoto, spurred by the just-released HBO documentary. They also discuss Ethereum’s big debate over block times and blob storage expansion, exploring whether these changes can keep Ethereum competitive. The conversation gets heated with talk of a Trump whale on PolyMarket, Operation Chokepoint 2.0, and TikTok’s role in onboarding memecoin buyers. Don’t miss this episode packed with crypto conspiracies, performance debates, and insider gossip!

Show highlights
🔹 Who is Satoshi? Speculation about the HBO documentary “Money Electric” possibly revealing Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity.
🔹 Trump Betting Whale on PolyMarket: Discussion about a large whale accumulating Trump shares in Polymarket and addresses conspiracy theories.
🔹 MEV Reduction Through Shorter Block Times: Reducing Ethereum’s block times from 12 seconds to 8 seconds could decrease MEV by making arbitrage harder, with potential UX and cost improvements for Ethereum.
🔹 Blob Space Expansion: Increasing Ethereum’s blob storage for rollups might prevent alternative data availability layers like Celestia from gaining ground, raising whether more blob space is necessary.
🔹 Operation Chokepoint 2.0: New revelations suggest that regulators, possibly spurred by Elizabeth Warren, pressured banks to unbank crypto firms without formal rulemaking, with Tom calling it “shocking” how accurate initial speculations were.
🔹 Ethereum’s Future Performance Debate: Stani suggests Ethereum should continue to innovate and improve Layer 1 performance, advocating for faster block times and more radical changes to maintain its competitive edge.
🔹 DeFi Market Dynamics: The panel dives into how competitive decentralized finance platforms like Aave and Compound maintain resilience in an ever-evolving landscape, with Stani commending Robert’s contributions to the space.
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures
Guest:
⭐️ Stani Kulechov, Founder & CEO Avara
Disclosures
Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:09 Mainnet Conference Recap

05:39 HBO & Satoshi Nakamoto

12:55 Election Betting

21:24 World Liberty Financial

31:54 Operation Chokepoint 2.0 Exposed

39:44 Challenges in Crypto Disclosures

50:18 Ethereum's Potential Upgrades

1:03:59 Future of Avara

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