Where the panel landed
The panel agreed that Coinbase’s rebrand to GDAX and Ethereum listing was less a philosophical shift than a search for trading fees and relevance. Tone Vays was sharply critical of both Coinbase and the DAO, treating the latter as a likely replay of Bitcoin’s earlier scam cycle, while Theo Goodman saw the same DAO loop as a pump-and-dump feedback machine that could still produce at least one functional project. On Thunder, Theo welcomed competition with Lightning, while Tone was skeptical because of his past experience with Blockchain.info’s wallet reliability.
What they were watching
The panel watched capital and attention move into Ethereum rather than Bitcoin price itself: Coinbase added Ethereum, the DAO raised more than $100 million, and Blockchain.info announced Thunder. Organic money levels included the DAO’s $100 million raise, LinkedIn credentials selling for five Bitcoin or about $2,250, and the fantasy-sports and sportsbook discussion as another example of Bitcoin’s practical payment demand.
Coinbase Becomes GDAX
Coinbase Exchange rebranded as GDAX and added Ethereum trading, positioning itself as a global digital asset exchange. Theo framed the move as Coinbase becoming an altcoin exchange without using the word altcoin, while Tone argued Coinbase was searching for revenue after merchant processing and wallet use failed to meet expectations.
Coinbase, Compliance, And Users
Tone compared Coinbase’s compliance-heavy path to PayPal’s old transition from rebel payments company to strict gatekeeper. Thomas said Coinbase could still be useful as an introduction for new Bitcoiners, but Theo noted that beginners often discover Bitcoin’s restricted legal version first and get punished for using it in the ways they actually wanted.
The DAO Crowd Sale
The DAO’s $100 million Ethereum raise dominated the episode’s risk discussion. Tone called it a compressed replay of Bitcoin’s earlier failures, while Theo saw a parlay-like loop where Ethereum winners double down into DAO tokens and then into projects selected by the same ecosystem.
Token Governance And Venture Capital
The panel questioned whether token holders could responsibly allocate capital better than venture capitalists. Thomas raised the possibility that the DAO might fund one successful project, while Tone argued that most venture projects fail even when professionals choose them, and Reddit-style governance would not improve the odds.
Blockchain.info Thunder
Blockchain.info launched Thunder as an early open-source payment-channel implementation similar to Lightning. Theo liked seeing competition with Lightning, while Tone was cautious because he did not trust Blockchain.info’s engineering based on past wallet failures.
Lightning, Thunder, And Tornado
The scaling discussion turned into a comparison between Lightning, Thunder, and Theo’s joking proposal for Tornado, a coin-mixing payment network. Thomas noted that multiple implementations could emerge, including work from Blockstream, Blockchain.info, and the original Lightning authors.
LinkedIn Password Hack
The LinkedIn breach returned as a security warning after 117 million passwords and 167 million records appeared for sale. Tone argued that companies must encrypt data better and that the only password that truly matters after Bitcoin is the one controlling your private keys.
Password Managers And Bitcoin Discipline
Thomas pushed users toward password managers and two-factor authentication, arguing that ordinary passwords were no longer enough. The panel treated the LinkedIn sale for Bitcoin as another example of Bitcoin functioning like online cash, for both legitimate and criminal markets.
Coinbase is now altcoin exchange.— Theo Goodman
They're basically no different than PayPal at all.— Tone Vays
this is like butterfly labs and pay coin and neon B and triple lamp all rolled up into one.— Tone Vays
It's just that from my point of view, it's kind of like in sports betting or in any kind of betting, doubling down.— Theo Goodman
I think it's good that there is a competing system to the Lightning Network— Theo Goodman
The only password that matters is your Bitcoin password because you're not going to get it back.— Tone Vays
Story of the Week
The DAO Becomes Ethereum’s Mt. Gox Moment
The dominant story was the DAO because it compressed the episode’s largest concerns into one object: Ethereum hype, anonymous capital, tokenized governance, and inexperienced investors acting like a venture fund. Tone compared it to Butterfly Labs, Paycoin, Neo & Bee, Bitcoin Savings and Trust, and Mt. Gox as part of the same education-by-loss cycle. Theo described it as a feedback loop where Ethereum gains fund DAO tokens, which fund projects, which may then reinforce the same speculative ecosystem. The episode’s dry lesson was that crypto had invented a new form of finance before inventing a new form of judgment.
this is like butterfly labs and pay coin and neon B and triple lamp all rolled up into one.— Tone Vays