Episode Details

Stocks, bonds and cash are all moving onto digital rails, and Michael lays out why that faster money needs Bitcoin as its sponge. Plus the $86M Ledger reseller attack, and why one point of failure can knock you out of the game.

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE

A reseller in Southeast Asia sold tampered Ledger devices, and roughly $86 million, mostly Bitcoin, was drained before Ledger cut the reseller off. Michael, Liam and Brian on why that is a supply chain lesson rather than the death of self-custody, and why proof of reserves does not fix the real problem. From there: OpenAI's math results and Justin Drake's call for "bunker mode," with Coinbase's Yehuda Lindell on why ECDSA still holds; REA, the GitHub repo that reverse engineers any app; and Jev and the shrinking AI moat. Then the digital asset roundup. Citrini Research maps tokenization, AI agents and TradFi converging, and Michael takes it to Bitcoin: tokenizing everything speeds money up without fixing inflation, which leaves Bitcoin as the liquidity sponge. Plus China's national blockchain, Standard Chartered custody in Singapore, Samsung Wallet stablecoins, Meanwhile's $37.5 million raise, Spiko's $90 million, Breez's 14x jump in agent-driven inquiries, and Kyle Harrison on the death of venture capital.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Back after a week off: a world of single points of failure

03:37 - Why proof of reserves is not the fix

05:37 - Single point of failure of the week: Ledger's reseller attack

09:49 - Self-custody isn't dead, but it has to get easier

14:05 - The third way: no single point of failure

18:08 - Attackers inside custodians, and assuming everyone is fallible

23:19 - OpenAI's math leap and Justin Drake's "bunker mode"

29:12 - REA reverse engineers anything: is Airbnb next?

34:13 - Request for builders: make sending email cost Bitcoin

36:43 - Jev, TypeSafe and the vanishing AI moat

39:25 - Jevons paradox, the AI capability gap, models as insider risk

43:49 - Citrini on tokenization: why Bitcoin is the liquidity sponge

50:41 - China's blockchain, Standard Chartered, Samsung Wallet, Cash App

55:15 - Deals: Meanwhile, Spiko, and Breez on coding agents

59:47 - The death of venture capital, and Nous Research's $90M

ABOUT THE SHOW

Final Settlement is a weekly show on capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, Bitcoin applications, and protocol development, presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media with Michael Tanguma, Liam Nelson, and Brian Cubellis.

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Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment