Uneasy Money: Why Ethereum's 'Ultrasound Money' Meme Finally Ran Out of Road
Unchained | Nov 12 2026 | 01:15:51
Vitalik is moving on from ultrasound money. Ex-core dev Greg Markou joins Kain and Austin to ask who should make the case for ETH instead.
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Vitalik Buterin is moving on from "ultrasound money," and Kain Warwick reads it as a concession that EIP-1559's fee burn was a meme rather than a reason for ETH to be valuable.
Greg Markou, co-founder and CEO of Sprinter and a former Ethereum core dev, joins Kain and Austin Griffith to ask who should make the case for ETH the asset now, and why Greg thinks it shouldn't be Vitalik. Greg also defends core devs facing an AI-fueled flood of EIPs while app developers push back on gas repricing.
The panel weighs the Ethereum Foundation's seppuku-clause lawsuit, picks apart the telemetry Greg says Ledger's signing SDK sends after a transaction is signed, and unpacks MegaETH's pivot to a marketplace for AI inference. Kain's bet: a multitrillion-dollar gap between AI subscriptions and API pricing is an arbitrage no terms of service can contain.
Hosts:
Kain Warwick - Host of Uneasy Money and Founder of Infinex and Synthetix
Austin Griffith - Co-host of Uneasy Money and Builder Enablement at Ethereum Foundation
Guest:
Greg Markou - Co-founder and CEO of Sprinter
Timestamps
🎬 00:00 Intro
🎙️ 00:40 Bits + Bips: search Bits + Bips and subscribe to the weekly crypto and macro show at https://www.youtube.com/@Bitsandbips
⚔️ 01:15 Why Kain calls the seppuku clause in the EF lawsuit a 'red herring'
💙 12:38 Nexo: Generate daily interest on your crypto or borrow funds against your assets at https://unchainedcrypto.com/go/nexo-podcast-yt
🦇 13:27 How EIP-1559's burn turned into 'ultrasound money' and why Vitalik moved on
🍳 22:48 Why Greg says Vitalik should 'just cook' and leave the ETH pitch to others
⛽ 24:14 Why app developers are pushing back on Ethereum's gas repricing
📬 27:52 Greg defends core devs as AI pushes EIP submissions to multiple a day
🤖 34:57 Kain's AGI test: can a model reconstruct his 2020 onchain P&L?
🔐 38:27 What Ledger's signing SDK sends after you sign, and why Greg objects
📱 52:23 Austin's vision for crypto apps: passkeys, multisigs and spending limits
🧮 58:23 MegaETH's pivot to a blockchain marketplace for AI inference
💸 01:07:14 Why Kain says the gap between AI subscriptions and API prices can't last
🧨 01:13:35 The 1inch gas token, gas repricing and the Osaka bug that went undisclosed
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
========================================================
Thank you to our sponsor!
Put your crypto to work with Nexo: earn daily interest or borrow funds against your assets on one platform trusted by more than 10 million clients.
Find out more at Nexo.
Geo-restrictions, eligibility and terms apply.
========================================================
Vitalik Buterin is moving on from "ultrasound money," and Kain Warwick reads it as a concession that EIP-1559's fee burn was a meme rather than a reason for ETH to be valuable.
Greg Markou, co-founder and CEO of Sprinter and a former Ethereum core dev, joins Kain and Austin Griffith to ask who should make the case for ETH the asset now, and why Greg thinks it shouldn't be Vitalik. Greg also defends core devs facing an AI-fueled flood of EIPs while app developers push back on gas repricing.
The panel weighs the Ethereum Foundation's seppuku-clause lawsuit, picks apart the telemetry Greg says Ledger's signing SDK sends after a transaction is signed, and unpacks MegaETH's pivot to a marketplace for AI inference. Kain's bet: a multitrillion-dollar gap between AI subscriptions and API pricing is an arbitrage no terms of service can contain.
Hosts:
Kain Warwick - Host of Uneasy Money and Founder of Infinex and Synthetix
Austin Griffith - Co-host of Uneasy Money and Builder Enablement at Ethereum Foundation
Guest:
Greg Markou - Co-founder and CEO of Sprinter
Timestamps
🎬 00:00 Intro
🎙️ 00:40 Bits + Bips: search Bits + Bips and subscribe to the weekly crypto and macro show at https://www.youtube.com/@Bitsandbips
⚔️ 01:15 Why Kain calls the seppuku clause in the EF lawsuit a 'red herring'
💙 12:38 Nexo: Generate daily interest on your crypto or borrow funds against your assets at https://unchainedcrypto.com/go/nexo-podcast-yt
🦇 13:27 How EIP-1559's burn turned into 'ultrasound money' and why Vitalik moved on
🍳 22:48 Why Greg says Vitalik should 'just cook' and leave the ETH pitch to others
⛽ 24:14 Why app developers are pushing back on Ethereum's gas repricing
📬 27:52 Greg defends core devs as AI pushes EIP submissions to multiple a day
🤖 34:57 Kain's AGI test: can a model reconstruct his 2020 onchain P&L?
🔐 38:27 What Ledger's signing SDK sends after you sign, and why Greg objects
📱 52:23 Austin's vision for crypto apps: passkeys, multisigs and spending limits
🧮 58:23 MegaETH's pivot to a blockchain marketplace for AI inference
💸 01:07:14 Why Kain says the gap between AI subscriptions and API prices can't last
🧨 01:13:35 The 1inch gas token, gas repricing and the Osaka bug that went undisclosed
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices