The Chopping Block: Crypto’s Worst Week? Bybit Hack, Libra Scandal, & The Memecoin Reckoning - Ep. 788

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: Bybit’s $1.5B hack, likely by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and the Libra scandal, where Hayden Davis exposes the memecoin playbook. Meanwhile, Dave Portnoy rugs Greed and Greed 2, Kanye’s YZY token leaks, and the LA Vape Cabal collapses. But crypto markets hold strong, and the SEC just dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase. Is this the end of the memecoin era? We break it all down.
Show highlights
🔹 Bybit’s $1.5B Hack – Largest crypto hack in history, linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. CEO Ben Zhou handled it masterfully, securing a bridge loan to cover outflows.
🔹 Hayden Davis & the Memecoin Playbook – Argentina’s Libra token scandal exposed the insider trading behind celeb-backed coins. Hayden Davis spills the playbook on Coffeezilla.
🔹 Portnoy’s Pump & Dump – Barstool’s Dave Portnoy rugs his own followers with Greed and Greed 2, then mocks them.
🔹 The Memecoin Bubble is Popping – Sentiment shift: retail realizes the game is rigged. Memecoins may finally be out of steam.
🔹 Kanye’s YZY Coin? – West’s team accidentally leaks a memecoin plan. Will it even launch, or is it DOA after the Libra scandal?
🔹 The LA Vape Cabal Collapses – Once a driving force in memecoins, this underground group falls apart after links to Kelsier Ventures are exposed.
🔹 Regulatory Winds Shift – SEC drops its lawsuit against Coinbase. Crypto enforcement pivots from good actors to actual fraud.
🔹 Crypto Holds Up – Despite chaos, the market remains resilient. Infrastructure tokens are seeing renewed interest.

Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate
⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
Disclosures

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:41 The Largest Crypto Hack in History

03:03 Bybit's Response and Industry Reactions

04:51 North Korea's Involvement and the Aftermath

18:06 Hayden Davis & LIBRA

30:50 Meteora & the Solana Universe

33:34 Downfall of Memecoins

39:58 Hypocrisy of Celeb Coins

47:00 Regulatory Changes and the Future of Crypto

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