Bits + Bips: Why Warren Buffett's Strategy Would Lose Big Time in Crypto - Ep. 830

Crypto doesn’t reward fundamentals. It rewards attention. So what does that say about how investors, like Warren Buffett, would fare today?

In this week’s Bits + Bips, the crew dissects what’s really behind this rally, why Ethereum’s sentiment problem may run deeper than roadmap delays, and how the stablecoin bill turned into a political tug of war.

Plus:

Apple and NFTs: why this matters more than people think

Whether tariffs are about politics or actual policy

Why Bessent is “the best” in the Trump administration

And why Buffett’s era may be ending, with Portnoy rising in his place 😬

Sponsor:

Bitwise

James Seyffart, Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence

Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard

Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Katalin Tischhauser, Head of Research at Sygnum Bank

Macro

Bloomberg: Trump Suggests Some Trade Deals May Come as Soon as This Week -

Asymmetric Market Update™️ #29

May 2025 Newsletter: A Trade Breakdown - Lyn Alden

Stagflation bears are wrong?

Reuters: Dollar slips as Taiwan dollar surge sparks revaluation talk

WSJ:

Tariffs Threaten Semiconductor Supply Chains, Chip-Equipment Maker Warns

Bessent’s oped: Trump’s Three Steps to Economic Growth

Buffett on Tariffs

Buffet: The Natural Course of Government is to make Currency worth less overtime

ETH pivot

Unchained:

Ethereum Gave Away Too Much for Too Long. Will Its Pivot Be Enough?

Ethereum Ecosystem Shifts Toward User Focus

Ethereum Developers Vote EOF Out of Fusaka Hard Fork

Vitalik Buterin Proposes Replacing Ethereum Virtual Machine

The Block:

Vitalik and new Ethereum Foundation co-executive directors outline updated board structure, mission

Vitalik Buterin- and StarkWare-backed Kakarot reveals alternative Ethereum ZK stack, targeting real-time STARK proofs on Layer 1 by end of 2025

CoinDesk: Ethereum Could Supercharge Transaction Speed to 2,000 TPS Thanks to Bold New Proposal

Simplifying the L1 by Vitalik Buterin

Stablecoin bill:

POLITICO: Why the Senate crypto bill is in turmoil

Latest on the Senate's "GENIUS Act" by Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy

Timestamps:

🚪 0:00 Intro

👋 1:01 Katalin’s background

📦 3:40 The real motive behind tariffs, according to Katalin

😬 11:43 What the market is forgetting to price in

🇪🇺  18:57 How Europe views Trump’s trade moves

🤝 21:33 Trump thinking that U.S. companies are cutting bad deals with China

🧠 26:04 Why Bessent’s op-ed made waves, and why Alex calls him the smartest in Trump’s crew

📉 29:13 The collapse in U.S. manufacturing employment, despite a surge in production

🧓 33:12 Buffett’s exit and his old-school take on tariffs in a new-school market

🌀 39:46 Will Ethereum’s pivot actually improve the price?

⚖️ 51:28 The impact of the political mess around the stablecoin bill

💸 53:53 Ripple’s attempted Circle acquisition and why Ram wouldn’t touch XRP

🍎 1:00:43 Importance of Apple quietly opening the door to NFTs and crypto sales

💱 1:03:34 What’s up with the Taiwanese dollar

💻 1:06:05 Why adding tariffs to chips could backfire big time
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