The Chopping Block: Is Strategy the Luna for Suits?, ETH Labs Shakeup & CME vs Perps

The crew debates whether Saylor's STRC preferred shares are "Luna for suits," unpacks the ETH Labs spin-out and Ethereum Foundation layoffs, breaks down the CME's lawsuit against the CFTC to kill domestic perps, and weighs whether Meta's leaked prediction market Arena is a real threat to Polymarket. Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, Saylor's STRC preferred shares, which have broken below their $100 target. Laura argues it's a confidence crisis, Tarun calls it "Luna for suits," and Haseeb pushes back — there's no death spiral, Saylor can just defer dividends and "burn the boat." Then the Ethereum Foundation shakeup: ETH Labs spinning out with seven senior EF members while the EF lays off 20% of its headcount. The back half covers the CME suing the CFTC to block domestic perps — which Haseeb frames as "suing for the right to not compete" — and Meta's leaked prediction market Arena, where Tom reveals this is Meta's third or fourth attempt at prediction markets. Let's get into it. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights 🔹 Saylor's STRC preferred shares break below $100 target — Tarun calls it "Luna for suits" 🔹 Haseeb pushes back: no death spiral, no margin calls — Saylor can defer dividends and "burn the boat" 🔹 Tom reveals Strategy execs are cold-calling crypto funds to sell them STRC — "very Luna" 🔹 ETH Labs spins out with 7 senior EF members as the Foundation lays off ~20% of headcount 🔹 CME sues CFTC to block domestic perps — Haseeb: "suing for the right to not compete" 🔹 Haseeb proposes 100-year futures as a workaround to route around the lawsuit 🔹 Meta leaks prediction market Arena — Tom reveals this is Meta's third or fourth attempt at prediction markets 🔹 Tarun argues prediction markets will be viewed as information social networks within five years Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly  ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures Guest ⭐️Laura Shin, Journalist, Author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ Founder and CEO of Unchained Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:10 STRC & Strategy: Saylor "Luna for suits" 12:33 No death spiral — burn the boat 17:06 Strategy execs cold-calling crypto funds 20:06 Ethereum Foundation shakeup & ETH Labs spin-out 27:33 ETH Labs is the ghost of Tomasz 35:20 CME sues CFTC to block domestic perps 44:44 100-year futures as a workaround 50:29 Meta's prediction market "Arena" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices