EPISODE · Jun 26, 2026 · 1H 11M
Ex-Ethereum Foundation Researchers Launched Their Own Lab: Uneasy Money
from Unchained · host Laura Shin
An anti-MEV activist spent weeks building 66 fake contracts to trap the sandwich bot jaredfromsubway.eth. Then jared's operators did the one thing nobody expected. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsors! Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at https://cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). ======================================================== A new R&D lab called Ethlabs has split from the Ethereum Foundation, backed by Bitmine and Joe Lubin. Its first stated goal is solving a '15 minute finality problem' that none of the hosts can quite explain the point of. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz ask whether a breakaway staffed largely by ex-EF people can really escape the EF's habits, or just rebuild a smaller version of them. Then the conversation turns to fomo's $75M raise from non-crypto VCs, and why a trading app that never calls itself a wallet may have cracked the onboarding flow the rest of crypto keeps getting wrong. The hosts also trace a CryptoPunks judge ordering a self-represented plaintiff to handwrite filings to stop the AI slop, the anti-MEV activist who trapped sandwich bot jaredfromsubway.eth with 66 fake contracts, and the WSJ's claim that Polymarket paid creators to stage fake winning bets. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Timestamps 🧪 02:06 Ethlabs breaks from the EF: what the new R&D lab is actually for 🤔 03:57 Why the 'fifteen minute finality' framing baffles the hosts 📈 15:40 fomo's $75M raise and why a no-token trading app pulled it off 🧱 21:45 The wallet lesson: why building for trading beats building for custody 💙 30:48 Cape: Get 33% off your first six months at https://cape.co/unchained ⚖️ 31:44 The CryptoPunks lawsuit where a judge ordered AI-slop filings handwritten 🥪 41:04 What a sandwich bot is and why jaredfromsubway.eth became infamous 🪤 45:34 How an anti-MEV activist trapped Jared with 66 fake token contracts 🏛️ 50:46 Why Jared running to the courts under the CFAA makes no sense 😤 56:36 Kain on the exploiter who cries foul when someone finally steals from him 📺 59:20 The WSJ claim that Polymarket paid creators to stage fake winning bets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What this episode covers
An anti-MEV activist spent weeks building 66 fake contracts to trap the sandwich bot jaredfromsubway.eth. Then jared's operators did the one thing nobody expected. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsors! Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at https://cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). ======================================================== A new R&D lab called Ethlabs has split from the Ethereum Foundation, backed by Bitmine and Joe Lubin. Its first stated goal is solving a '15 minute finality problem' that none of the hosts can quite explain the point of. Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan, and Luca Netz ask whether a breakaway staffed largely by ex-EF people can really escape the EF's habits, or just rebuild a smaller version of them. Then the conversation turns to fomo's $75M raise from non-crypto VCs, and why a trading app that never calls itself a wallet may have cracked the onboarding flow the rest of crypto keeps getting wrong. The hosts also trace a CryptoPunks judge ordering a self-represented plaintiff to handwrite filings to stop the AI slop, the anti-MEV activist who trapped sandwich bot jaredfromsubway.eth with 66 fake contracts, and the WSJ's claim that Polymarket paid creators to stage fake winning bets. Hosts: Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security Expert Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Timestamps 🧪 02:06 Ethlabs breaks from the EF: what the new R&D lab is actually for 🤔 03:57 Why the 'fifteen minute finality' framing baffles the hosts 📈 15:40 fomo's $75M raise and why a no-token trading app pulled it off 🧱 21:45 The wallet lesson: why building for trading beats building for custody 💙 30:48 Cape: Get 33% off your first six months at https://cape.co/unchained ⚖️ 31:44 The CryptoPunks lawsuit where a judge ordered AI-slop filings handwritten 🥪 41:04 What a sandwich bot is and why jaredfromsubway.eth became infamous 🪤 45:34 How an anti-MEV activist trapped Jared with 66 fake token contracts 🏛️ 50:46 Why Jared running to the courts under the CFAA makes no sense 😤 56:36 Kain on the exploiter who cries foul when someone finally steals from him 📺 59:20 The WSJ claim that Polymarket paid creators to stage fake winning bets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Ex-Ethereum Foundation Researchers Launched Their Own Lab: Uneasy Money
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