Taiki: The Trading Chad

Watch on YouTube ↗ | September 10, 2026 at 23:30 | 58:58 | Steady Lads Podcast

Speakers

Taiki Maeda — Founder, HFA Research

Dim Selk — Co-host, Steady Lads

Jordi Alexander — Founder & CEO, Selini Capital

Justin Bram — Reporter, The Block

Summary

The episode celebrates Taiki Maeda's long-standing Zcash call after ZEC reached decade highs and entered the top ten, with the hosts debating whether to take profits and where the next upside targets are. The conversation then shifts to macro, where dollar debasement and a possible rate hike frame a relatively constructive Bitcoin view, and to altcoins including Worldcoin, Lighter, Binance/BNB, and Hyperliquid. Memecoin trenches, Robinhood's tokenized-stock experiments, and a token-launch post-mortem fill out the episode.

Zcash (ZEC) is the central topic, with Taiki Maeda remaining max long and targeting the ZEC/BTC ratio moving from about 1.5% to 3-4%.
Jordi and Dim discuss Zcash upside, holder psychology, on-chain shielded supply, and a possible 5% of Bitcoin market cap target.
Macro discussion focuses on dollar debasement, hot CPI, likely rate hikes, and Bitcoin catching a macro bid.
Altcoin ideas include Worldcoin on OpenAI association, Lighter versus Hyperliquid, and Binance/BNB on RWA and US-return optionality.
Hyperliquid is framed as stalled and expensive in the 80s, while Lighter is seen as having better monetization.
The hosts also cover memecoin trenches, Robinhood tokenized-stock experiments, and the botched Hunter Biden laptop token launch.
The episode ends with light banter and a reminder about Token2049.

Speakers

Taiki Maeda — Founder, HFA Research

Dim Selk — Co-host, Steady Lads

Jordi Alexander — Founder & CEO, Selini Capital

Justin Bram — Reporter, The Block

Summary

Taiki Maeda remains concentrated in Zcash, while Jordi Alexander is taking some profits and waiting for another entry; these are different speakers, not a contradictory position by Taiki. Taiki discusses starting exits at 3-4% of Bitcoin market capitalization, shielded supply and personal euphoria, and admits a history of overambitious targets and roundtripping gains. Dim presents 5% as speculative moon math. On Bitcoin, Justin Bram is 50/50 on renewed lows or a return to the high $50Ks; Jordi argues for a macro bid from dollar debasement while remaining less bullish on most altcoins. The Lighter/HYPE debate includes criticism of HYPE valuation, staking emissions versus buybacks, Multicoin selling and low promotional RWA fees. Jordi explicitly discloses being an angel investor in Lighter and helping provide liquidity. The BNB debate pairs Binance RWA and US-expansion optionality with an explicit risk that business success will not accrue to the token. All market numbers and secondary-market anecdotes are statements from the recording, not independently verified current conditions.

Taiki: ZEC around 1.5% of BTC capitalization at recording; start taking profits around 3-4%, alongside shielded supply and personal euphoria. Prior June sale around $300 and subsequent re-entry are disclosed.
Jordi: ZEC profit-taking and a rough $14B unrealized-gain overhang argument. Dim: 5% of BTC capitalization is moon math, not a firm valuation target.
Justin: BTC 50/50 on new lows/high-$50Ks; the saved source analysis attributes the $83K alert to Justin. Jordi: dollar-debasement macro bid, with less enthusiasm for most alts.
Lighter/HYPE: keep the valuation and emissions arguments together with Jordi's angel-investor and liquidity-provider disclosure at about 40:47.
BNB: RWA/US-entry narrative versus token value-capture risk and the panel's distinction between reserve burns and market buybacks; chart discussion around $600/$700/$900 and roughly $100B FDV is recording-time context.
AI secondary-market anecdote: participants report scarcer OpenAI blocks and sellers of Anthropic blocks, attributing the shift to Astra usage. This is an unverified market anecdote linked to the Worldcoin narrative.
Laptop launch post-mortem: an embedded Hunter Biden clip alleges only $5K initial liquidity and a $316 print/$316B headline capitalization; the panel discusses a roughly 99.9% decline, recipients exiting and snipers losing. Those launch allegations are not independently established here.
Variational: a participant describes a new swap product and claims about tenfold better execution versus competing perps. This is a promotional claim by an affiliated participant, not an independent execution benchmark.

Ideas

Taiki Maeda Founder, HFA Research 2:53

Max long Zcash; $1,000 just beginning.

Max long Zcash; breaking $1,000 is just the beginning and ZEC can make moves people are not ready for. He sees the ZEC/Bitcoin market-cap ratio moving from ~1.5% to 3% as fairly easy, with 3-4% the area to start taking chips off. On-chain shielded supply rising indicates usage despite the 'no one uses Zcash' meme, and he will mix personal euphoria with ZEC/BTC ratio targets and fundamentals for exits. He compares his conviction with his previous Fartcoin trade and admits that his targets can be too high, with prices peaking about 50% below them and half the gains roundtripping. He says he sold ZEC around $300 in June and re-entered after his honeymoon; this is not a never-sold claim.

Jordi Alexander Founder & CEO, Selini Capital 4:49

Zcash pure psychology; taking chips, waiting re-entry.

Got pilled on Zcash in May by Naval, who called it the only crypto asset he cared about. Conviction comes from a holder base unlikely to paperhand, Zcash's proactive quantum/privacy upgrade over Bitcoin, and the fact it is a pure psychology/game-theory trading asset that overshoots both ways. It will keep having deep dips and volatility; current UPNL makes it a little tired, so he is taking chips off and waiting for an entry, but is not pessimistic on a next leg. At the recording, the panel describes ZEC as a roughly $20B top-ten asset that has overtaken Hyperliquid; Jordi estimates about $14B of unrealized gains after a tripling. This is his rough overhang argument, not a measured on-chain profit total.

Dim Selk Co-host, Steady Lads 8:00

Zcash moon target: 5% of Bitcoin.

Has a moon-math target of 5% of Bitcoin's market cap for Zcash, calling that a nice number for this cycle. He was initially deterred by a bogus OTC discussion but no longer thinks that is the issue.

Jordi Alexander Founder & CEO, Selini Capital 19:44

Owns Prenetics; token could lift stock.

He owns a decent amount of Prenetics, the company behind IM8, an all-in-one supplement promoted by David Beckham and celebrities. He is considering launching a pre-rich token paired with the stock, and if he does, the stock could go up a bit; he also thinks the supplement is good.

Justin Bram Reporter, The Block 29:08

Bitcoin 50/50 for new lows.

Bitcoin is at an important moment; he has an alert above $83K. He does not think it is clear the bear market is fully over because BTC is only down about 35% from its all-time high and there has not been enough pain/washout. He is 50/50 on new lows or a retest of the high $50Ks.

Jordi Alexander Founder & CEO, Selini Capital 30:54

Bitcoin macro long on dollar debasement.

Even with a hot CPI and likely rate hike, the market is sniffing out that the dollar will be sacrificed because Bessent will keep printing money to buy the long end. A weaker dollar is good for assets and especially Bitcoin as a narrative dollar alternative; Bitcoin should catch a hard macro bid. He is more bullish Bitcoin as a macro asset than most alts.

Dim Selk Co-host, Steady Lads 35:18

Worldcoin benefits from OpenAI, Q4 presentation.

Constructive on Worldcoin: OpenAI is winning hard, the Astra model is heavily used, and Anthropic is falling behind. Worldcoin is associated with OpenAI/Sam Altman, has a hinted Q4 presentation, is well-capitalized, and the team cares about the token. A good OpenAI-IPO narrative should make Worldcoin trade well.

Dim Selk Co-host, Steady Lads 37:30

Lighter better monetization; worth 10% of HYPE.

Lighter was undervalued, has a good regulatory lane because Vlad is deep in Washington discussions and connections. It differs from Hyperliquid because unlocks are months away, but it has a better monetization strategy; he thinks Lighter should be worth at least 10% of HYPE. Hyperliquid fees are high and its RWA growth vector is in a low-fee promotion, so Lighter's outperformance is unsurprising; it still needs to show more revenue. Conflict context: separately, Jordi Alexander discloses at about 40:47 that he is an angel investor in Lighter and will help generate revenue by providing liquidity across its markets. That disclosure belongs to Jordi and must not be attributed to Dim. The panel also includes participants with long positions, so the bullish discussion is not independent corroboration.

Justin Bram Reporter, The Block 38:15

Hyperliquid stalled; not buyer in 80s.

Hyperliquid has stalled in the 80s and he does not know who is buying. Multicoin dumped its bag; if they are exiting, that is a warning. Staking-yield inflation is higher than buybacks while revenue is under $1B, so even a 2% yield is a lot at this valuation. He liked HYPE at 55 but is not a buyer in the 80s unless revenue materially improves.

Justin Bram Reporter, The Block 41:11

BNB undervalued on RWA, US-return optionality.

BNB is undervalued and has not moved much. Binance has nailed RWA listings with surprisingly good liquidity and high volumes across many assets. Its on-chain wallet growth looks strong, and there is optionality from a US return/IPO after the CZ pardon. If Binance enters the US with no-fee spot trading, it could crush competitors; the chart has a ~600 floor and offers good risk-reward toward 900. Even just the buzz/narrative can move price. The discussion explicitly questions value capture by BNB: participants describe the announced burns as coming from an existing reserve rather than open-market purchases, and concede that Binance business growth may leave the token behind. These are statements made in the episode, not an independent audit of Binance tokenomics.

Dim Selk Co-host, Steady Lads 42:23

BNB is US dollar-export strategic asset.

The BNB thesis is part of a grand vision: tokenized US stocks are infrastructure for the US to export dollars, giving global savers USD-denominated claims without local banks or brokers. After stablecoins, dollar assets are the second layer. The US wins because China has closed capital markets. Binance is the main category leader becoming a US strategic asset; it may return to the US after CZ's pardon, IPO, do more in the US, and revamp the chain. The discussion explicitly questions value capture by BNB: participants describe the announced burns as coming from an existing reserve rather than open-market purchases, and concede that Binance business growth may leave the token behind. These are statements made in the episode, not an independent audit of Binance tokenomics.

Justin Bram Reporter, The Block 46:32

Binance US entry could destroy Coinbase.

If Binance returns to the US and offers no-fee spot trading for stocks, crypto, and other assets, it could destroy Coinbase and other exchanges because Binance makes so much money offshore. This is a conditional competitive threat, but it is part of why the Binance/BNB thesis is strong.

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This Steady Lads Podcast video, published September 10, 2026, features Taiki Maeda, Jordi Alexander, Dim Selk, Justin Bram discussing ZEC, PRE, BTC, WLD, LIT, HYPE, BNB, COIN. 12 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Taiki Maeda, Jordi Alexander, Dim Selk, Justin Bram · Tickers: ZEC, PRE, BTC, WLD, LIT, HYPE, BNB, COIN