Are Prediction Markets Killing Altcoins? | Scott Melker on Markets Outlook

Why open systems matter with Anatoly Yakovenko. At CoinDesk's Consensus, Solana co-founder and Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko shared his vision for crypto's next era, from institutional adoption and permissionless systems to AI agents, scalability, privacy, and startup conviction. Yakovenko explains why he believes crypto wasn't wrong, just early, and why open, trustless infrastructure matters more than ever as the industry matures. He also breaks down Solana's technical roadmap, the future of blockchain throughput, and the hard truths founders need to hear. - Timecodes: 00:00 - Anatoly Yakovenko at Consensus Miami 2026 01:00 - Why Now Is the Time for Crypto to Break Out 02:15 - Decentralization/Institutional Tension 04:02 - Solana Technical Roadmap Update 07:55 - A World Where the Majority of Transactions Are Driven by Agents 11:10 - Advice for Founders

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse speaks at Consensus. At CoinDesk's Consensus, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse joins the stage for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of crypto, regulation, and global payments. He breaks down why he believes stablecoins could reach a $3 trillion market cap by 2031 and what's driving that long-term growth. Garlinghouse also discusses the importance of regulatory clarity in the U.S., including the potential impact of the CLARITY Act on the digital asset industry. - Timecodes: 00:00 - Brad Garlinghouse at Consensus Miami 2026 04:21 - Will the CLARITY Act Pass This Year? 06:04 - Why It Matters (and XRP's Existing Legal Clarity) 10:00 - Ripple's M&A Strategy 11:48 - G Treasury: $13T in Payments, Opportunity to Move On-Chain 14:53 - IPO Plans 17:44 - Stablecoins: $3T by 2031 19:01 - XRP News and Highlights

Taiwanese officials have apprehended three individuals accused of smuggling Nvidia chips to China, and we debunk the fears over AI’s water use. Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today for our lead story, we cover the latest Nvidia chip smuggling crackdowns in Taiwan, and then we hop into an interview with Udi Wertheimer of Taproot Wizards to discuss the current state of Ethereum, and why one of its chief proponents sold his entire bag of ETH. Then, Haley Thompson, Director of Energy at Luxor, joins us to talk about how the Iran War is impacting energy markets in the U.S.. Plus, we analyze Google's 200MW solar PPA in Oklahoma, concerns with Strategy’s STRC, and debunk the viral criticisms surrounding AI data center water usage. Check out our latest report, “What’s a Megawatt Worth?” where we quantify the trillion dollar opportunity for bitcoin miners venturing into the AI sector. Download here: https://megawattreport.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates for all of our shows and content: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com 👉CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. 👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool. Start hashing today with Luxor! 👉Lygos Finance, Borrow against your Bitcoin, without compromising on custody.

ICE CEO says Hyperliquid is "bigger than NASDAQ" by daily volume. ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said Hyperliquid is "bigger than NASDAQ" by daily volume, and disclosed his team has met its founders multiple times. The DeFi platform controls over 70% of the decentralized perp market and has been trading oil futures on weekends when traditional exchanges are closed. CoinDesk's Sam Ewen hosts "CoinDesk Daily." - This episode was hosted by Sam Ewen. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

CoinDesk's The Policy Protocol hosts Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti dig into the New York Times investigation of the CFTC and Kalshi's latest lawsuit against Minnesota before sitting down with Aaron Klein, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Klein argues that independent financial regulators have been turned into "subsidiaries of the White House," warns that the CFTC is not structurally up to the jurisdiction CLARITY would hand it, and makes the case that the SEC and CFTC should be merged. He also unpacks lessons from Dodd-Frank and the savings-and-loan crisis. Plus, Rebecca and Renato debrief on the CFTC staffing debate and name House Agriculture Chairman GT Thompson and Ranking Member Angie Craig as their People of the Week for their bipartisan push to fill out the CFTC commission. - Timecodes: 00:00 Welcome to The Policy Protocol 00:43 All Roads Lead to the CFTC 01:22 Unpacking the NYT's CFTC Investigation 02:41 Pendulum Swing: Reading the NYT in Context 05:11 Why the CFTC Needs Funding and Personnel 06:52 Aaron Klein Joins the Show 07:30 The History of the CFTC and the Great Salad Oil Swindle 08:10 Independent Regulators as White House Subsidiaries 09:39 Dodd-Frank Lessons for the CLARITY Era 11:47 The Case for Merging the SEC and CFTC 13:21 PolyMarket, Soft on Financial Crime, and CZ/Binance 15:06 SEC-CFTC Office Sharing and the Value of MOUs 18:16 Renato and Rebecca Debrief on the CFTC's Future 21:45 Trump on Prediction Markets and Expanded Jurisdiction 22:30 People of the Week: GT Thompson and Angie Craig 24:26 Tribute to Ondo CEO Nathan Allman 25:01 Closing Thoughts and Sign-Off

Altcoins have lost the plot with Scott Melker. In today's Markets Outlook, Scott Melker, Host of Wolf of All Streets, tells CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie why altcoins have lost the plot, what's really driving the weird market we're all feeling, and why Bitcoin is still the only bet he's making long-term. Plus: are prediction markets, tokenized equities, and "private Bitcoin" just hype? - Timecodes: 00:00 - Scott Melker Joins Markets Outlook 01:38 - Why Bitcoin Is Underrated 03:59 - Is Crypto Recreating the System It Was Built to Fight?  06:08 - Scott’s Bitcoin Origin Story 08:04 - Why This Market Feels Impossible to Read 10:07 - How Prediction Markets Killed the Altcoin Casino  13:33 - Teaching His Kids About Bitcoin and AI in a Complicated World 16:22 - AI Tokens and Zcash Outlook 18:33 - Zcash as Privacy Bitcoin: “It Makes Me Want to Puke” 19:46 - Scott's Bitcoin Price Outlook for the Rest of the Year - This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie.

A Google engineer arrested for allegedly insider trading on Polymarket. A Google security engineer was arrested for allegedly using the company's internal search data to place winning bets on Polymarket prediction markets. Michele Spagnuolo transferred $3.8 million in USDC and personally cleared about $1.2 million before attempting to conceal the funds through a privacy mixer. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily." - This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

Robinhood now allows AI to trade for you, and IREN just purchased $1.6 billion worth of GPUs for AI workloads. Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8 joins us to talk about the company’s $9.8 billion deal for its Beacon Point AI data center in Texas. For news, we cover Robinhood launching access for AI trading agents, IREN’s $1.6B Dell Blackwell purchase, hardware rollout, Core 42’s $500M financing, and Mara’s rising executive security expenses. Check out our latest report, “What’s a Megawatt Worth?” where we quantify the trillion dollar opportunity for bitcoin miners venturing into the AI sector. Download here: https://megawattreport.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates for all of our shows and content: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com 👉CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. 👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool. Start hashing today with Luxor! 👉Lygos Finance, Borrow against your Bitcoin, without compromising on custody.

President Trump defends the CFTC's authority over prediction markets. President Trump defended the CFTC's exclusive authority over prediction markets in a Truth Social post, calling state officials trying to regulate them "scum." His attack targeted Chris Christie, Letitia James, Tim Walz, and JB Pritzker — all of whom have moved against prediction market platforms in their states. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily." - This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

Pope Leo has likened AI to the Tower of Babel, and the Chinese government is funding the push against AI data centers in the US. Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! For our top story today, Pope Leo’s latest encyclical – in which Leo likens AI to a modern, cyber Tower of Babel – gives us the Catholic Church’s official stance on AI. For interviews, Lygos Finance CEO Jay Patel touches on Strategy’s latest balance sheet clean up, and Sam Lyman of the Bitcoin Policy Institute joins us to talk about BPI’s new research on how China and other foreign actors are leveraging the media and dark money networks to astroturf opposition against AI data centers in the US. For other news, we break down TeraWulf’s plans for a 1 GW AI data center in Kentucky and Strategy’s repurchase of $1.5 billion in convertible notes and its latest BTC purchase. Check out our latest report, “What’s a Megawatt Worth?” where we quantify the trillion dollar opportunity for bitcoin miners venturing into the AI sector. Download here: https://megawattreport.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates for all of our shows and content: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com 👉CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. 👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool. Start hashing today with Luxor! 👉Lygos Finance, Borrow against your Bitcoin, without compromising on custody.