Ideas
Rotate to space and defense stocks.
Chris sees the bull market's high-beta leadership rotating away from the old guard, including crypto, Robinhood, Palantir, and SoFi, toward a new guard that includes space stocks and defense stocks. He says that is where the money and relative strength are, and a market-structure bill does not suddenly change that.
Austin Campbell
Founder, Zero Knowledge Group; Co-host Bits+Bips (Unchained); Adj. Prof. NYU Stern
21:32
Most crypto tokens go to zero.
Austin expects regulatory clarity to be a dividing function for crypto tokens. Under the Gensler regime everything was hypothetical; once clear rules arrive, most tokens will go to zero because they cannot actually deliver, while the winners will be very big. He compares it to tech in the 1990s, where many companies failed but the survivors became huge.
International stocks continue outperforming US markets.
Ram expects international stocks and emerging markets to continue outperforming the United States. He points to the S&P 500 being one of the worst major stock markets over the last 12 months, MAG7 stocks in correction, fully invested positioning, geopolitical and tariff pressure on US assets, and money managers rotating out of the US. He says these trends tend to persist once emerging markets lead US stocks for a year, similar to the post-dotcom period.
International stocks continue outperforming US markets.
Ram expects international stocks and emerging markets to continue outperforming the United States. He points to the S&P 500 being one of the worst major stock markets over the last 12 months, MAG7 stocks in correction, fully invested positioning, geopolitical and tariff pressure on US assets, and money managers rotating out of the US. He says these trends tend to persist once emerging markets lead US stocks for a year, similar to the post-dotcom period.
MAG7 lagging amid US rotation.
Ram says MAG7 stocks are in correction and have been lagging, partly because of populist pressure on those names including from the president, and partly because money managers are rotating out of the US. He treats this as a sign that US mega-cap tech leadership is fading relative to international markets.
Bitcoin through worst, recovery unconvincing.
David says Bitcoin's digital-gold narrative failed in 2025 and Bitcoin has not caught up with gold during the latest geopolitical stress. A weaker dollar should theoretically help Bitcoin, but the break came around the 10/10 event that damaged crypto market structure and liquidity. He thinks most forced selling is over, making a return to the 80s unlikely, but he does not expect a convincing recovery like past cycles.
Stablecoin dollarization adoption continues accelerating.
David says geopolitical tensions and questions about US alliances will not stop dollarization; if anything they accelerate stablecoin adoption. He views dollarization as a decades-long trend and says short-term blips should not deter people from adopting dollars and stablecoins.
Still buying US equities.
David acknowledges the international-outperformance case and US sentiment headwinds, but says he is still buying American and still buying US equities. He argues US equities should still do fine and delivered double-digit returns last year, even if they lagged emerging markets.
Legacy incumbents co-opt blockchain; avoid digital assets.
Ram is negative on the way legacy incumbents such as NYSE/ICE are adopting blockchain while crypto-native firms lose the lead. He wanted digital-asset brands like Superstate, Coinbase, and Jito to capture the tokenization opportunity, but instead incumbents with customer relationships and distribution are taking it, which he sees as not good for digital assets.
NYSE tokenization validates onchain finance.
David views NYSE/ICE's tokenized trading push as a watershed legitimizing moment for crypto and blockchain. It validates the view that future finance will be onchain and that blockchain is infrastructure for all assets, even if traditional finance must adapt to 24/7 markets and onchain settlement.
Institutions rotate into non-US debt.
Ram points to PIMCO buying non-US debt and BlackRock and other large institutions rotating away from US assets. He expects this rotation to continue or accelerate after the last two weeks of policy and geopolitical developments.
Institutions rotate into non-US debt.
Ram points to PIMCO buying non-US debt and BlackRock and other large institutions rotating away from US assets. He expects this rotation to continue or accelerate after the last two weeks of policy and geopolitical developments.
This Unchained (Chopping Block) video, published January 21, 2026,
features Chris Perkins, Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, David Duong
discussing SPACE, ITA, Crypto tokens, International stocks, EEM, SPY, MAG7, BTC, STABLECOINS, BITO, Onchain finance, BNDX, TLT.
12 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Chris Perkins,
Austin Campbell,
Ram Ahluwalia,
David Duong
· Tickers:
SPACE,
ITA,
Crypto tokens,
International stocks,
EEM,
SPY,
MAG7,
BTC,
STABLECOINS,
BITO,
Onchain finance,
BNDX,
TLT
