Ejaaz and David reunite to unpack the DeepSeek shockwave: how a mere $6M open-source AI model rattled OpenAI’s dominance, nudged Nvidia’s stock, and sparked a fresh “arms race” in crypto AI. Meanwhile, Trump’s massive AI funding pledge and Solana’s record DEX volumes signal that the space might be heading for its biggest bull run yet.
On the builder side, ARC’s rust-based agents partner with the Solana Foundation, AI16Z launches a $10M fund, and Virtuals teases multi-chain expansions that could redefine how agent tokens earn revenue. Between China’s fast breakthroughs and America’s big AI bets, the race to integrate AI and crypto has never been hotter. Buckle up, anon.
------
💸 CRYPTO TAX CALCULATOR | BANKLESS15
https://bankless.cc/CryptoTaxCalculator
------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi
https://bankless.cc/Frax
🦄UNISWAP | BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM
https://bankless.cc/Uniswap-Bug-Bounty
⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM
https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle
🌐CELO | BUILD TOGETHER AND PROSPER
https://bankless.cc/Celo
🎮RONIN | THE FUTURE OF WEB3 GAMING
https://bankless.cc/Ronin
-----
✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨
https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/25
------
TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 China & DeepSeek
12:43 Why Markets Rattled
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox
24:32 OpenAI & Perplexity Agent Products
https://x.com/OpenAI/status/1882509286439637448
https://x.com/perplexity_ai/status/1882466239123255686
https://x.com/sama/status/1884066337103962416
34:12 AI Agent Chain Wars
39:42 Virtuals is expanding to SOLANA!
https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1883107553183162507
https://x.com/state_of_mika/status/1883107601183048078
https://x.com/vaderresearch/status/1883597990830731678
https://www.lookonchain.com/articles/1035
53:01 AIXBT is becoming a product
https://x.com/aixbt_terminal/status/1882755705586982969
56:01 VeniceAI launches a token that pays for your agent’s expenses
https://x.com/askvenice/status/1883925135825990091
https://x.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1884051994324947001
1:03:13 Griffain now has a Shopify integration for their agents
https://x.com/griffaindotcom/status/1883230795764322328
1:05:22 ARC partnered with Solana
https://x.com/arcdotfun/status/1884325639047819476
1:06:36 Ai16z $10M x Jupiter Fund & Rebrand?
https://x.com/shawmakesmagic/status/1883124194013319340
https://x.com/shawmakesmagic/status/1884376511391674742
1:08:45 What is Ejaaz paying attention to?
1:10:02 Closing & Disclaimers
------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures