Why China Builds Faster Than America & The Rest of the World | Dan Wang

Why does China build so much faster—and what does that reveal about two very different ways of running a society? Ryan and David sit down with Dan Wang, author of Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, to unpack China’s “engineers-in-charge” model versus America’s “lawyerly” governance. We cover how this shapes daily life and growth (from subways and high-speed rail to batteries, EVs, and drones), common western misconceptions about China (surveillance, social credit, “imminent collapse”), why U.S. capital markets soar while Chinese manufacturing dominates, what an American “abundance agenda” could look like, and Dan’s closing prescription: the U.S. needs ~20% more engineering; China needs ~50% more rights-protecting legalism.  ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24  https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN  https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO  https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🐂BULLISH | TRADING COMPETITION https://bankless.cc/trading-competition 💠BIT DIGITAL ($BTBT) | ETH TREASURY  https://bankless.cc/bit-digital We’re being compensated by Bit Digital (NASDAQ BTBT) for this segment promoting their company and BTBT. The compensation is paid in cash as a one time payment. You can find additional information about Bit Digital and BTBT on their Investor page at https://bit-digital.com/investors ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:45 US Lawyers vs China Builders 8:50 Becoming Elite in China vs US 14:55 Motivating Forces 18:26 China’s Misconceptions 24:38 Protests in China 26:00 US vs China Innovation 27:59 Digital Authoritarianism 34:49 Social Credit System? 36:51 Will China Collapse? 42:53 China & Crypto 47:59 China’s Capital Markets 49:46 Path to Wealth 54:29 Property Rights 58:49 Stock Price vs Productivity 1:02:35 The 1960s 1:04:56 Abundance Agenda 1:06:51 US Weakness Relative to China 1:10:53 The Best of Both Worlds 1:13:43 Is China a Security Threat? 1:14:52 US Manufacturing Comeback? 1:20:20 US Global Talent Hub 1:25:07 China’s US Misconceptions 1:27:03 US Success Scenario 1:29:39 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Dan Wang https://x.com/danwwang  Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future https://www.amazon.com/Breakneck-Chinas-Quest-Engineer-Future/dp/1324106034  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

OpenAI’s personalization leads, Christina Kaplan and Samir Ahmed map the shift from an “assistant with a notebook” to Pulse—the part of ChatGPT that quietly preps your day while you sleep. We unpack how short- and long-term memory work across sessions and why April’s subtle update changed the experience, show how daytime chats stay aligned with overnight prep, and close on the big questions: privacy, consent, and why this is an assistant/representative—not a digital clone. ------ 💫 LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE https://pod.link/1813210890 https://youtube.com/watch?v=cDrllt2zn5M ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:03 Why Memory Mattered 6:00 User Reception 9:45 Under the Hood: Short vs Long Term 12:20 Behavior Shift & Data Strategy 20:26 What is Pulse? ------ RESOURCES Christina Kaplan https://x.com/ChristinaHartW Samir Ahmed https://x.com/PageOfSamir ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

How do you spend money in ways that actually make life better? Morgan Housel, author of the new book The Art of Spending Money, explores status vs. satisfaction, the hedonic treadmill, and why money’s best use is buying independence. We also cover quiet compounding, a practical 15-stage path to financial freedom, when to spend vs. save, helping kids without spoiling them, and small experiments that raise the utility of every dollar. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24  https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN  https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO  https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🐂BULLISH | U.S. EXCHANGE LAUNCH  https://bankless.cc/bullish 💠BIT DIGITAL ($BTBT) | ETH TREASURY  https://bankless.cc/bit-digital We’re being compensated by Bit Digital (NASDAQ BTBT) for this segment promoting their company and BTBT. The compensation is paid in cash as a one time payment. You can find additional information about Bit Digital and BTBT on their Investor page at https://bit-digital.com/investors ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 2:29 Who’s The Book For? 5:49 There’s No Universal Formula 12:59 What People Want 19:36 Money as a Curse 22:03 Taking a Step Off 26:59 Holding vs Spending 30:26 Identity Traps 33:50 Secret to Contentment 37:32 External vs Internal Benchmarks 40:41 Making an Impact 42:37 Social Debt 50:51 Quiet Compounding 55:10 Financial Freedom 1:02:20 Money & Parenting 1:09:48 Balancing Saving & Spending 1:14:44 Small Purchases 1:16:59 Trying New Things 1:19:29 Morgan’s Financial Decisions 1:21:37 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES Morgan Housel https://x.com/morganhousel?lang=en  The Art of Spending Money https://www.amazon.com/Art-Spending-Money-Simple-Choices/dp/0593716620  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

In this week’s Weekly Rollup, Uptober kicks off with Bitcoin and Ethereum surging toward all-time highs as Tom Lee drops another $1B into ETH and Vanguard finally opens its doors to crypto ETFs. We cover Stripe’s push to break the Tether–Circle duopoly with its new stablecoin platform, Cloudflare’s surprising entry into onchain payments, and Swift teaming up with Consensys on blockchain rails. Plus, Zcash rockets 200%, Ethereum’s Lighter perps exchange goes live, and Circle sparks debate with plans for reversible USDC. --- 📣0G | CRYPTO X AI https://bankless.cc/OGAI --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🐂BULLISH | U.S. EXCHANGE LAUNCH https://bankless.cc/bullish 💠BIT DIGITAL ($BTBT) | ETH TREASURY https://bankless.cc/bit-digital *We’re being compensated by Bit Digital (NASDAQ BTBT) for this segment promoting their company and BTBT. The compensation is paid in cash as a one time payment. You can find additional information about Bit Digital and BTBT on their Investor page at https://bit-digital.com/investors*  --- TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 3:38 U.S. Government Shutdown https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrj1znp0pyo 7:13 Markets https://x.com/pumatheuma/status/1973717212025553313 - ZK Szn?? https://x.com/CoinDesk/status/1971565473218113771 https://www.strategicethreserve.xyz/ https://www.bankless.com/read/news/another-week-another-buy-bitmine-stacks-234k-eth https://x.com/Jrag0x/status/1972643353918677497 https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1971585912602796266 https://x.com/fundstrat/status/1972948825578131523 https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-regulators-probe-stock-moves-before-companies-made-crypto-treasury-2025-09-26/ 24:57 Plasma nailed its go-to-market https://x.com/Plasma/status/1972660468561965173 https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/plasma https://defillama.com/chains https://blockworks-research.beehiiv.com/p/plasma-s-defi-shockwave https://x.com/lemiscate/status/1972337762205339788 https://x.com/ajwarner90/status/1972823448897634648 https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1973436365225468336 32:35 Everyone gets a Stablecoin! The duopoloy is dead! Phantom announced Cash stablecoin https://x.com/phantom/status/1973035201950617617 https://x.com/useCash/status/1973035307139477561 https://stripe.com/blog/introducing-open-issuance-from-bridge https://x.com/zcabrams/status/1973052207911129557 https://x.com/nic__carter/status/1973399535092171216 38:43 Cloudflare launched their own stablecoin on Base  https://x.com/CoinbaseDev/status/1970477072792592484 https://x.com/eastdakota/status/1971226533831582073 https://x.com/Kira_sama/status/1971237126378504230 https://x.com/Rewkang/status/1970782770805813392 https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1973753405894992073 44:18 Lighter - Ethereum Zk Perps https://x.com/Lighter_xyz/status/1973508660061180363 https://defillama.com/protocol/lighter 50:06 More crypto TradFi mainstream! https://x.com/MorphoLabs/status/1972913932802421202 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/swift-teams-ethereum-software-giant-190506673.html https://www.theblock.co/post/372706/swift-blockchain-ledger-consensys https://x.com/Louis_Tellier/status/1973692818452337125 https://cointelegraph.com/news/circle-examines-reversible-stablecoin-transactions 57:36 With new Sora, the need for zk proving reality 100x-ed https://youtu.be/qeORiYlsEH4?t=374 https://x.com/pumatheuma/status/1973258262939312433 1:01:52 CEO of Polymarket gets flipped off https://x.com/shayne_coplan/status/1972675295564931242 https://x.com/nickpreszler/status/1972748902240780589 1:04:44 Closing, Disclaimers, & Moment of Zen https://x.com/coinbase/status/1972731382830072129  --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Authoritarian regimes are upgrading their playbook — from surveillance cameras and spyware to algorithmic censorship and AI-driven policing. Steven Feldstein, senior fellow at Carnegie and author of The Rise of Digital Repression, joins Bankless to map the expanding world of repression technology. We cover everything from Nepal’s protest movement to China’s sophisticated censorship stack, the global spyware industry, and the unsettling rise of predictive policing and AI in warfare. Along the way, Feldstein explains how financial repression and social credit systems extend state power into the economic sphere — and where crypto fits into the story of resistance. 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🐂BULLISH | U.S. EXCHANGE LAUNCH https://bankless.cc/bullish 💠BIT DIGITAL ($BTBT) | ETH TREASURY https://bankless.cc/bit-digital We’re being compensated by Bit Digital (NASDAQ BTBT) for this segment promoting their company and BTBT. The compensation is paid in cash as a one time payment. You can find additional information about Bit Digital and BTBT on their Investor page at https://bit-digital.com/investors --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:54 The Toolkit of Digital Repression 4:22 Nepal Protests & Freedom Tech 13:32 China’s Integrated Control Playbook 19:48 Who Builds And Sells Repression 28:51 Vendors, Dual-Use, Governance Risks 36:04 Democracies Use These Tools Too 45:00 AI Supercharges Repression 51:57 Crushing Mobilization & 3.5% Rule 58:55 Blunt Backfires, Iran Copies China 1:07:43 How Repression Tech Spreads 1:13:29 Financial Repression, Crypto Workarounds 1:18:48 How To Resist, Practically 1:23:44 Closing Thoughts --- RESOURCES Steven Feldstein https://x.com/stevejfeldstein The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance https://stevejfeldstein.com/ --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Authoritarian regimes are upgrading their playbook — from surveillance cameras and spyware to algorithmic censorship and AI-driven policing. Steven Feldstein, senior fellow at Carnegie and author of The Rise of Digital Repression, joins Bankless to map the expanding world of repression technology. We cover everything from Nepal’s protest movement to China’s sophisticated censorship stack, the global spyware industry, and the unsettling rise of predictive policing and AI in warfare. Along the way, Feldstein explains how financial repression and social credit systems extend state power into the economic sphere — and where crypto fits into the story of resistance. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN https://bankless.cc/fraxnet 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🐂BULLISH | U.S. EXCHANGE LAUNCH https://bankless.cc/bullish 💠BIT DIGITAL ($BTBT) | ETH TREASURY https://bankless.cc/bit-digital We’re being compensated by Bit Digital (NASDAQ BTBT) for this segment promoting their company and BTBT. The compensation is paid in cash as a one time payment. You can find additional information about Bit Digital and BTBT on their Investor page at https://bit-digital.com/investors --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:54 The Toolkit of Digital Repression 4:22 Nepal Protests & Freedom Tech 13:32 China’s Integrated Control Playbook 19:48 Who Builds And Sells Repression 28:51 Vendors, Dual-Use, Governance Risks 36:04 Democracies Use These Tools Too 45:00 AI Supercharges Repression 51:57 Crushing Mobilization & 3.5% Rule 58:55 Blunt Backfires, Iran Copies China 1:07:43 How Repression Tech Spreads 1:13:29 Financial Repression, Crypto Workarounds 1:18:48 How To Resist, Practically 1:23:44 Closing Thoughts --- RESOURCES Steven Feldstein https://x.com/stevejfeldstein The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance https://stevejfeldstein.com/ --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Is this really the cycle top, or just a reset before Q4 fireworks? Michael Nadeau from The DeFi Report joins Ryan to decode the latest onchain and macro data. We dig into Bitcoin’s key levels, ETH’s $4K line, and why September’s liquidation event might have cleared the path for new highs in Q4. Michael explains what a “mini alt season” tells us about dominance, where fresh capital could come from, and how to think about positioning ahead of year-end. Michael Nadeau & The DeFi Report: https://x.com/JustDeauIt https://thedefireport.io/research/is-the-top-in —————— 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium —————— BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🎩DEGEN | JOIN THE COMMUNITY https://bankless.cc/degen 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🏄SURF | UPGRADE YOUR CRYPTO RESEARCH https://bankless.cc/surf —————— TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction to Crypto Fundamentals 1:43 Recapping the Summer Market 2:11 Analyzing the Mini Altcoin Season 6:54 Examining Long-Term Holder Behavior 7:35 Bitcoin vs. Altcoins: Market Dynamics 12:38 The Next Phase of the Cycle 14:41 Bitcoin's Critical Price Levels 17:12 Moving Averages: Key Indicators 20:40 Current State of the Altcoin Market 26:34 Insights on Ethereum’s Future 27:44 Liquidation Events and Market Sentiment 31:22 Understanding Global Liquidity 34:42 Macro Economic Outlook 38:41 Impact of Rate Cuts on Crypto 47:41 Future Capital Inflows into Crypto 49:37 Monitoring Market Cycles & Conditions 50:49 Closing & Disclaimers —————— Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Crypto vs. Banks — the proxy war for the future of money is heating up. Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association and former CFTC Commissioner, joins Bankless to unpack the battle over the GENIUS Act, why banks are fighting to roll it back, and how stablecoins have become the frontline. From Elizabeth Warren’s fading influence to the $700M bank lobbying machine, we explore what’s really happening on Capitol Hill, the global stakes for stablecoins, and how upcoming U.S. policy could reshape innovation, regulation, and consumer freedom. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🎩DEGEN | JOIN THE COMMUNITY https://bankless.cc/degen 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🏄 SURF | UPGRADE YOUR CRYPTO RESEARCH https://bankless.cc/surf --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:12 The GENIUS Act Victory 8:49 How Laws Really Get Made 16:17 The Bank Lobby vs. The Crypto Lobby 20:29 The Shifting Politics of Crypto 27:29 Will Banks Go Crypto? 33:10 International Dimension 37:14 CFTC, SEC, and Market Structure 52:26 DC Drama & Leadership Vacancies 55:42 Prediction Markets & Policy Battles 1:00:07 Looking Ahead to 2026 1:02:15 Closing Thoughts --- RESOURCES Summer Mersinger https://x.com/SKMersinger Blockchain Association https://x.com/BlockchainAssn --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

In this week’s Weekly Rollup, we break down “Downtemper” market moves as Bitcoin and Ethereum slide, and examine why Vitalik Buterin is calling low-risk DeFi Ethereum’s true backbone. We highlight Tether’s ambitious $500B raise, Polymarket’s mainstream moment on South Park, and Gary Gensler’s testy CNBC appearance. We also cover Paul Atkins’ push for pro-crypto regulation, the heated debate over whether Base should be regulated like Nasdaq, and the surprising deletion of 86 million bank accounts in Vietnam as digital ID mandates expand. ------ 📣0G | CRYPTO X AI https://bankless.cc/OGAI ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🎩DEGEN | JOIN THE COMMUNITY https://bankless.cc/degen 🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO https://bankless.cc/KGEN-podcast 🏄SURF | UPGRADE YOUR CRYPTO RESEARCH https://bankless.cc/surf ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 4:16 Markets https://x.com/PeterSchiff/status/1971193227807162797 https://x.com/tomleeupdates/status/197097365172296 1041 https://x.com/TheOneandOmsy/status/1969076691478696325 7:38 BitGo IPO https://x.com/jseyff/status/1969143764535972186 9:51 Tether $500B Raise https://www.reuters.com/business/crypto-firm-tether-eyes-500-billion-valuation-major-raise-round-bloomberg-news-2025-09-23 17:06 Polymarket / South Park https://x.com/Polymarket/status/1970829572842065995 https://x.com/aleximm/status/1971063404308918630 https://x.com/Polymarket/status/1971137036863275056 https://x.com/martypartymusic/status/1970125767460950181 23:43 Gary Gensler / Paul Atkins / CFTC / Clarity Act https://x.com/altcoindaily/status/1968814029943480623 https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6379979495112 https://x.com/vronirwin/status/1969775136959270993 https://x.com/amandalfischer/status/1970254506374938992 https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/09/10/trump-s-cftc-hopeful-quintenz-takes-his-dispute-with-tyler-winklevoss-very-public https://x.com/BrianQuintenz/status/1965855208195412356 https://www.theblock.co/post/371778/white-house-patrick-witt-market-structure-bill 39:25 Vitalik / DeFi / Coinbase https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/09/21/low_risk_defi.html https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1969794415595077997 https://youtu.be/ADiEX92S58E https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1968708504547364921 43:53 Synthetix Perp Dex https://x.com/synthetix_io/status/1970237341760655656 https://www.bankless.com/podcast/how-synthetix-brings-perps-back-to-the-ethereum-l1-kain-warwick?ref=bankless.ghost.io 48:12 Base / Nasdaq Debate https://thedefiant.io/newsletter/defi-daily/should-base-be-regulated-as-an-exchange https://x.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1970206735206900038 https://x.com/MaxResnick1/status/1970250612399825075 https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1970258498996048247 https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/1970571188993958214 https://x.com/danrobinson/status/1970557854190051463 57:53 Coinbase + Cloudflare x402 https://x.com/CoinbaseDev/status/1970477072792592484 https://x.com/balajis/status/1952582943689556453 59:19 Vietnam Bank Account Purge https://x.com/alanvibe/status/1967643742653042698 https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1969390296812196325 1:03:47 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

James Seyffart from Bloomberg Intelligence joins to break down the state of crypto ETFs and their explosive growth.  We cover the rise of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, the debate between ETFs and DATs, and the institutional inflows reshaping the market. James explains how advisors, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds are participating, the regulatory hurdles around staking ETFs, and why basket products may be the next big wave.  We also explore the implications of tokenized ETFs, the S&P 500’s gatekeeping of crypto companies, and what to watch for in the coming months as approvals and new products hit the market. ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:18 DATs vs ETFs 6:18 DATs Final Equilibrium  9:21 ETFs 1-Year Check-in 23:42 Crypto Indexes 30:41 ETF Approval Process 41:03 Solana ETF 44:17 BTC & ETH ETFs 56:11 What’s Driving the Price? 59:39 Crypto Companies in the S&P 1:07:17 Blackrock Tokenized ETFs? 1:13:59 Key Outcomes 1:19:14 Closing & Disclaimers ------ RESOURCES James Seyffart https://x.com/JSeyff  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesseyffart  Bloomberg Intelligence https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/products/bloomberg-terminal/research/bloomberg-intelligence/  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠