Joseph Shalom

Buy ETH as Vitalik's published AI-Ethereum vision and emerging ERC-8004 agent standards position Ethereum as the neutral settlement layer for autonomous AI agents, implying a step-function increase in on-chain transaction volume and TVL.

Buy SBET as the most efficient vehicle for leveraged exposure to Ethereum's institutional adoption thesis, offering edge over holding ETH directly amid Asia regulatory momentum and growing institutional deployment.

The "Clarity Act" is held up by a battle between "large banks and Brian Armstrong [Coinbase]" regarding stablecoin yield. Coinbase is effectively the gatekeeper and primary lobbyist for the crypto industry's most lucrative revenue stream (stablecoin interest income). If a compromise is reached, or if the status quo remains where non-banks can issue yield-bearing stablecoins, Coinbase protects its highest-margin business. Long COIN as the primary beneficiary of US regulatory clarity or the preservation of the stablecoin status quo. Banks winning the lobby war and monopolizing stablecoin issuance.

Joseph references his former boss, Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock), citing a slide from Davos that explicitly called Ethereum the "toll road to tokenization." BlackRock is actively leading the tokenization of assets (money market funds, etc.). By betting on Ethereum as the settlement layer, BlackRock is positioning itself to be the dominant issuer of tokenized traditional finance assets. Their success is linked to the adoption of the standard they are championing. Long BLK as the institutional architect bridging TradFi to Ethereum. Regulatory hurdles for tokenized securities or a shift in institutional preference to a private/permissioned ledger (though Joseph notes institutions have largely "given up" on private blockchains).

Joseph observes, "If you look at where the largest financial institutions... are building their money market funds, their trading applications, Robinhood, Coinbase, it's on Ethereum." These companies are not just exchanges; they are the primary interface layers building L2s (Base for Coinbase) and on-chain infrastructure. As the "Agentic Economy" emerges (AI agents trading autonomously), these regulated, high-liquidity platforms built on Ethereum will capture the transaction flow and user custody. Long COIN and HOOD as the infrastructure proxies for institutional and retail adoption of the Ethereum ecosystem. Regulatory crackdowns on L2s or DeFi interfaces; competition from fully decentralized exchanges if UX improves significantly.