Hyperliquid, Sky Protocol, BNB — Will's A-Tier Crypto Picks | Ep 83🍻🌗

Good now revolutionaries—Will and Alex break down the post-NYC week from home, and the After Dark conversation lands on the question every active investor should be asking right now: where do you actually want to be when liquidity gets sucked out of everything by the SpaceX IPO? Alex's framework: stay focused on ecosystems where real businesses are still being launched (Solana + Ethereum), and use a tier system that rewards revenue + buyback policy over hype.Will's A-tier list with reasons: Hyperliquid (revenue + buyback + brand), Sky Protocol (the rebrand of MakerDAO — they made DAI), and BNB (the discount-at-the-exchange moat). B-tier: Maple Finance / Syrup (quarterly buyback, strong TVL), Solana, Ethereum. And then a 14-minute teardown of BitTensor / TAO: $3M-$15M in annual revenue against a ridiculous valuation, no buyback policy, plus Covenant AI's April 9 departure and scorched-earth criticism of the team. Will worked in AI/ML for the first six years of his career — the technical critique lands hard.The DeFi Llama AI comparison is the segment Matthew will want to bookmark: side-by-side Solana vs Ethereum revenue chart from 2022 through 2026. Solana's on-chain app revenue ($3.9B trailing 365) is now neck-and-neck with Ethereum's ($3.83B). Ethereum's chain fees down 54% on the 30-day post-Dencun; Solana's chain revenue trending up. But the punchline lands: Ethereum had the burn mechanic + revenue tailwind for years and its token still underperformed — Solana's lacking the burn AND a revenue buyback means brand has to do all the lifting.Plus: a defense of Aave the protocol vs Aave the governance token, an honest take on the KelpDAO exploit and what Aave could have done differently, the BASE-is-the-only-non-doomed-L2 take, Chainlink as "great at what they do but tokenomics flat," the CPI inflation report (4.2% — double the Fed target), and Will's BTC dead-cat-bounce read. Bitcoin moon-trading running on autopilot would have outperformed most active traders this year.EXCLUSIVE: Use code RISEUP20 for 20% off your entire order at riposacoffee.com — code applied once per customer.Powered by Arculus Wallet — getarculus.com, promo code ARCURUMS10.Powered by Jito — stake your SOL at https://www.jito.network/staking/.RUMS Purple WalletWant the safest way to store your crypto? The Arculus cold storage wallet keeps your assets completely offline, away from exchanges, away from hackers, and fully in your control. Get your exclusive RUMS x Arculus cold storage wallet today!Crypto Payment · Card PaymentSupport the show— Want to hang out with us after the show, get live answers to your questions, or join future giveaways? Join our free community where the show lives 24/7: community.rumshq.com—☕ THE RISE UP MORNING SHOW☀️LIVE Monday - Thursday @ 7a centralHelpful web3 news, commentary, & answers to your crypto questions.🍻RISE UP AFTER DARK🌗 LIVE Wednesdays @ 7p centralDYOR and BYOB for casual Q&A, fun with expert guests, and altcoin research.📈RISE UP MARKET WATCH🤑LIVE Mondays @ 7p centralTechnical analysis, real macro insight, and practical takeaways to help you invest smarter in every market.⚖️ TRUST ISSUES 🧐 LIVE Tuesdays @ 6:30p centralBreaking down U.S. crypto policy, regulation, and legislation—what they mean for the industry and what comes next.—WANT MORE?👉Connect w/us on your favorite social: https://rumshq.com👉Become a guest or sponsor: [email protected]👉Join our free community: https://community.rumshq.comFOLLOW OUR HOSTS:☮️ Evan Mann: https://beacons.ai/conversationswithevan🤬 Alex Popovic: https://alexpopovic.info🐬 Will Watson: https://c...