Jesse Pollak on ‘Base Is for Everyone’ + Guy Young and Carlos Domingo on Converge - Ep. 820

This week on Unchained: two big stories, one episode.
First, Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase’s L2 Base, joins to unpack the chaos behind the viral “Coined It” memecoin moment, a tweet-turned-token that hit $17M in an hour, crashed, then rebounded, igniting a firestorm on Crypto Twitter. Was it a media experiment or a botched launch? Was there insider trading? And why does Jesse think coins are the future of creator monetization?
Then, we dive into Converge, the recently announced chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to bridge TradFi and DeFi. Carlos Domingo and Guy Young explain what makes Converge technically novel, why they’re building on Arbitrum and Celestia, and how it could reshape the onchain landscape for institutions.
Also in this episode:

Whether Jesse regrets greenlighting the Base post

The future of creator coins and tokenized assets

How Converge plans to prevent hacks and improve UX

And why Converge isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”

Thank you to our sponsors!

Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off

FalconX

Mantle

Part 1
Jesse Pollak, Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet

On Wednesday, Coinbase’s layer 2 network Base posted a tweet that
read: “Base is for everyone,” followed by a tweet: “Coined it.” That
second tweet linked to a page where the post had already been turned
into a coin.
Within an hour, the coin hit a $17 million market cap, then dropped
to under $2 million, then went back up to over $13 million. Crypto
Twitter exploded. Some called it a rug. Others accused insiders of
sniping the launch. Coinbase later issued a statement saying that Zora
auto-tokenizes content, but Jesse Pollak, head of Base, tweeted that he
personally greenlit the post.
So what really happened?
In this episode, Jesse sits down with Laura to discuss:

Whether this was a memecoin launch or a media experiment

Why he thinks the crypto community overreacted

Whether insider trading occurred

And why he believes coins, not NFTs, are the future of creator monetization

Plus, he explains why he’s okay being the “punching bag.”

Part 2
A month ago, Converge was announced as the new chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to become a home for tokenized assets and institutional capital.
On Thursday, the teams behind it released the full technical specs. From validator-triggered circuit breakers to 100ms block times and support for yield-generating private credit, Converge is pitching itself as the chain for both TradFi and DeFi.
In this episode, Securitize’s Carlos Domingo and Ethena’s Guy Young join Unchained to explain what’s actually novel in this architecture, why they chose Arbitrum and Celestia, and what it will take for institutions to get comfortable onchain.
Plus:

What Converge means for Ethereum and other L2s

Whether gas tokens like USDe and USDtb solve real UX problems

How they plan to prevent bridge-based hacks

And why this isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie”

Guest

Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize

Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs

Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on Ethena:

After an Incredible 2024 for USDe, Ethena Plans to Supercharge Growth

Ethena’s USDe Grew to $2 Billion in 7 Weeks. Is It Safe?

How Ethena’s USDe Challenges Traditional Stablecoin Models

Unchained:

Tokenized T-Bills Grow Despite Trump Tariffs Causing U.S. Treasuries Sell-off

Tokenized Treasuries Grow 20X Faster Than Stablecoins as Crypto Market Languishes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices