TSB: Ethereum Merge Cut Electricity Use by 99% - Cambridge Report

Summary

The episode covers news on Coinbase's CLO departure, Polymarket's leverage push, Mara Holdings' AI pivot, and a CFTC standoff, followed by an interview with Coinbase UK's Keith Gross about their new derivatives and equities license, and a discussion with Cambridge research lead Alexander Neumüller on a report showing Ethereum's 99.98% electricity consumption drop post-Merge, node centralization risks, and security differences between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake.

• Coinbase's chief legal officer Paul Grewal is stepping down after six years, having led battles with the SEC.
• Polymarket is seeking FCM registration to offer leveraged prediction markets, signaling institutionalization.
• Mara Holdings shares surged 14% after plans for a 1,200-acre Texas campus with up to 2 GW capacity targeting AI and Bitcoin mining.
• The CFTC commission standoff is complicating progress on crypto market structure bills.
• Gauntlet raised $125 million from SBI Holdings to expand stablecoin coverage and onchain offerings.
• Revolut X connects to AI assistants for natural-language trading, reflecting the rapid AI-agent trend in exchanges.
• Coinbase UK obtained a MiFID license to offer derivatives and equities, aiming to become an 'everything exchange' and competing fee-free.
• Cambridge research confirms Ethereum's Merge cut electricity use by 99.98%, with sustainable power rising above 56%, while node concentration in US/EU and cloud providers poses monitored centralization risks.