Bankless

• Is Privacy A Winnable Battle? | Andy Yen, Founder of Proton

  AI is becoming the most powerful surveillance machine ever built and most people are feeding it their deepest secrets without realizing who can read them. Proton founder Andy Yen joins Bankless to explain how Big Tech captures your identity, why AI chat logs are a privacy disaster waiting to happen, and what a self-sovereign, user-aligned future could look like. We explore how AI models profile you, why subscription business models don’t guarantee privacy, how Proton built Lumo without retaining user data, and why encrypted email remains the cornerstone of your digital identity. Andy also breaks down EU “chat control,” Apple’s privacy-washing, the crisis of trust in crypto, and the practical steps anyone can take today to reclaim their digital freedom. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs 🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025 https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon 💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 2:18 Why Privacy Matters More Than Ever 3:24 How Screwed Are We? Andy’s 1–10 Privacy Score 5:43 Who Can Read Your AI Chats? 12:22 Worst-Case Scenarios: AI Breaches & Behavioral Profiles 15:08 AI Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself 16:55 Privacy as a Digital Civil Liberty 20:26 Can Big Tech Ever Offer Real Privacy? 26:28 Why Lumo AI Can Be Private (and Big Tech Won’t Copy It) 31:08 What Lumo Runs On & How It Competes With Frontier Models 35:45 The Case for a Self-Sovereign AI 38:46 How Proton’s Foundation Model Really Works 45:47 Can Private AI Be Sustainable? 49:47 The Full Proton Privacy Stack 54:59 The Messy State of Encrypted Chat Apps 58:49 Browsers, Search, and the Dark Patterns of AI Integration 1:02:53 Are iPhones Actually Private? 1:12:42 The Fight Over Encryption: EU Chat Control & Beyond 1:26:08 “A Backdoor for the Good Guys” — Why It Can’t Work 1:29:42 Financial Privacy = Freedom 1:32:58 Crypto’s Reputation Problem 1:39:24 Practical Privacy: The One High-Leverage Step 1:45:15 Two Futures: One Dark, One Bright --- RESOURCES Andy Yen https://x.com/andyyen --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

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• ROLLUP: Rate Cuts! | ZK Breakthroughs | Farcaster’s Pivot | SEC Onchain | NYT’s Stablecoin FUD

  The final Fed meeting of 2025 delivered a surprise rate cut, but the real story is how the market is reacting. In this week’s Weekly Rollup, Ryan and David unpack what the new policy shift means for crypto liquidity, why regulators across the SEC, CFTC, and OCC are suddenly embracing onchain markets, and how Tom Lee’s massive ETH accumulation is reshaping sentiment. We also get into Ethereum’s growing momentum from ZK advancements and blob upgrades, the ZKsync Atlas rollout, Base’s bridge drama with Solana, and Farcaster’s pivot away from social. Plus, the rise of tokenization, new prediction market rails, and whether this week marks the first real cycle turn for Ethereum. ------ 📣REYA | ETHEREUM FOR TRADERS https://bankless.cc/reya    ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN  https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs 🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025 https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon 💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 5:01 Markets https://x.com/EricBalchunas/status/1998424357232922883 https://www.theblock.co/post/381737/bitmine-13-2-billion-holdings-eth-treasury-expands-november-slowdown https://x.com/RyanWatkins_/status/1998529576331522334 https://x.com/MikeIppolito_/status/1998495400869900626 https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/10/fed-interest-rate-decision-december-2025-.html https://x.com/jameslavish/status/1998835306800505140 https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1998407015756964343 https://x.com/JustDeauIt/status/1998905919577452765 24:52 Farcaster is pivoting to a wallet https://farcaster.xyz/dwr/0xd29fe760 https://x.com/DefiIgnas/status/1997915182073626802 https://x.com/eth_call/status/1998406182092906534 http://x.com/nic_carter/status/1998813611997745386 https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/1999134280757235767 37:11 ZK … early stage of unleashing Ethereum’s vision https://x.com/zksync/status/1996678308214264145 https://x.com/zksync/status/1996678311997853752 https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/1996990055043223659 https://x.com/zksync/status/1998405700637356056 https://x.com/Celo/status/1998780366988128562 47:06 Did Base launch a vampire attack on Solana’s liquidity? https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1996750308933091359 https://x.com/vibhu/status/1996698682545107247 https://x.com/0xyoussea/status/1997763313909092415 https://x.com/solana/status/1999035191323759024 52:30 Ethereum's first Blob Parameter Only (BPO) fork is now live on the network https://x.com/i/status/1998936032314523977 https://dune.com/hildobby/blobs 56:17 Regulators are doing a complete 180 https://x.com/OndoFinance/status/1998015670278148283 https://x.com/coinbureau/status/1997128653650657338 https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/12/08/cftc-launches-digital-assets-pilot-allowing-bitcoin-ether-usdc-as-collateral https://x.com/joechalom/status/1998421401049710686 https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1998379541132402987 https://www.fdic.gov/news/inactive-financial-institution-letters/2023/fil23001.html https://x.com/USComptroller/status/1998793576663187561 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/guaranteeing-fair-banking-for-all-americans/ https://occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2025/nr-occ-2025-123a.pdf https://www.bankless.com/read/news/occ-calls-out-americas-largest-banks-for-politicized-and-unlawful-debanking-behaviors https://www.theblock.co/post/381815/sen-moreno-calls-crypto-bill-talks-decently-frustrating-as-senate-races-toward-year-end-goal-posts  1:05:03 The New York Times put out an anti-stablecoin explainer piece https://x.com/0xDeployer/status/1997754736158900440 https://x.com/nic_carter/status/1997866686439928004 1:06:50 Gemini can now offer prediction markets in the US - Stock Surges Nearly 14% https://x.com/gemini/status/1998880024401973615 https://x.com/gondorfi/status/1998754620416344483 https://gondor.fi/ 1:07:49 Meme of the Week https://x.com/Bankless/status/1998064876892442788 1:09:36 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

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• The Return of the ICO | Ryan & David

  ICOs are suddenly back, but this time the projects are real, the mechanisms are better, and retail isn’t shut out. Ryan and David break down why MegaEth, Monad, Aztec, Zama, and Infinex are launching public sales all at once, how onchain auctions are fixing 2017’s mistakes, and what regulatory clarity means for U.S. participation. They also dive into the rise of internet native capital markets on Ethereum, the shift away from airdrop farming, and why fair price discovery could be a defining theme of 2026. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24  https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN  https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs 🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025 https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon 💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:13 Are ICOs Back? 2:54 The Rise of Capital Formation 5:04 Learning from 2017 ICO Mania 7:19 Regulatory Challenges & Arbitrage 10:56 Recent ICOs Overview 17:01 Exploring the MegaEth Sale 26:21 Monad's Unique Approach 30:40 The Innovative Aztec ICO 45:19 Upcoming Auctions: Zama & Infinex 1:04:41 The Future of Capital Formation 1:07:46 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

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• Inside Gary Gensler’s SEC: A Conversation with Former Crypto Policy Advisor Corey Frayer

  What was really happening inside the SEC during the Gensler years? Today, we sat down with Corey Frayer, former senior crypto policy advisor to SEC Chair Gary Gensler and now Director of Investor Protection at the Consumer Federation of America. We dig into how the agency thought about securities law, DeFi, Uniswap, stablecoins, SAB 121, and why platforms like Coinbase and Kraken ended up in the crosshairs. Corey defends the Gensler playbook while responding to the industry’s harshest criticisms, from “regulation by enforcement” to claims of a political war on crypto.  Corey Frayer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-frayer-990a6b2  ------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | RYAN & DAVID UNPACKING THE EPISODE https://www.bankless.com/podcast/debrief-inside-gary-genslers-sec  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs 🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025 https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon 💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 4:58 Crypto Industry Misconceptions 7:59 Corey’s Role & Background 14:20 How it All Started 24:16 No Path to Register? 31:26 Technology vs Economic Activity 38:22 Protecting Investors 41:07 DeFi Regulation 44:53 Uniswap’s Wells Notice 57:00 Fake DeFi vs True DeFi 1:03:41 Google Analogy 1:08:35 The Howey Test 1:16:53 SEC: Good or Evil? 1:26:52 GENIUS Bill 1:29:10 SAB 121 1:33:01 Crypto & SEC Political Impact 1:36:02 Paul Atkin’s SEC 1:38:15 What Would Corey Change? 1:41:23 Gary’s Text Messages 1:43:10 Is ETH a Security? 1:44:39 Gary Gensler’s Radio Silence 1:47:37 Gary’s Twitter April Fools PFP 1:50:44 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

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• Crypto’s Agentic Future: AI, ZK & Money Networks | Lincoln, Shea, Michael, & Luca

  At our Bankless Summit in Buenos Aires, four standout talks captured the frontier of crypto’s next chapter. Lincoln Murr lays out why x402 is emerging as the missing payment layer for the agentic internet. Shay Ketsdever explains how bots already run modern markets, and how programmable auctions and privacy can turn the bot economy into something that benefits people instead of exploits them. Michael Dong shows how real-time ZK proving unlocks a hundred-fold expansion of Ethereum’s computational power. And Luca Prosperi reframes money as a network, warning that today’s stablecoin architecture is a single point of failure and arguing for a more resilient, distributed monetary system. ------ 📣BANKLESS SUMMIT 2025 | SPONSORED BY M0 https://bankless.cc/m0 ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔵COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANS https://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN  https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP LABS | SWAP NOW https://bankless.cc/uniswap-labs 🛞MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025 https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon 💤EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP https://bankless.cc/eight-sleep ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 4:26 x402 & The Agentic Internet | Lincoln Murr 22:58 The Bot Economy: When AI & MEV Collide | Shea Ketsdever 47:16 1000x the L1: The Path To Infinite Compute | Michael Dong 1:09:25 A Network Theory of Money | Luca Prosperi ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

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