Why It's Not So Easy to Ban 'Insider Trading' on a Prediction Market: DEX in the City

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 10, 2026 at 01:23  |  44:00  |  Unchained (Chopping Block)
Speakers
TuongVy Le — General Counsel, Veda Tech Labs / ex-SEC / Co-Host, DEX in the City
Jessi Brooks — General Counsel, Ribbit Capital / Co-Host, DEX in the City

Summary

The DEX in the City hosts discuss Canton's Nasdaq super-validator deal, the Google DeepMind paper on agentic economies, and the legal status of insider trading on prediction markets. They debate whether Canton's deal signals institutional adoption of permissioned blockchains, how AI agents may require blockchain-based payments and stablecoins, and why prediction markets remain largely outside insider-trading law. The episode also covers a draft bill to ban federal officials from trading prediction markets on MNPI and a crypto charity for animals.

  • Canton made Nasdaq a super validator, and its token rose 18%.
  • Hosts debate whether the deal signals institutional appetite for permissioned chains over public blockchains.
  • Vy argues transaction ordering and Nasdaq's role could build institutional trust.
  • Jessi explains DeepMind's paper that AI agent economies need programmable money and blockchain-style verification.
  • Stablecoins are highlighted as a key enabler of micropayments for AI agents.
  • Prediction markets have grown quickly but face thin liquidity, insider-trading concerns, and calls for regulation.
  • A draft bill would restrict federal officials from trading prediction markets on MNPI.
  • Crypto charity Pathereum is featured as a positive crypto use case.
Ideas
Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos Host 3:14
Nasdaq super-validator could boost Canton tokenization.
Canton's decision to add Nasdaq as a super validator implicitly signals Nasdaq may be more inclined to use Canton for tokenized equities long term, and Canton's price rose 18% on the news. However, terms are unclear and adoption is not guaranteed, with critics arguing Canton is giving away economics without assured usage, making it a controversial setup to monitor.
CANTON MED
Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos Host 5:12
Tokenized equities set to keep growing.
Tokenized equity is exploding and likely to continue growing. The key open question is whether TradFi and permissioned chains or public-chain retail adoption from Asia, Africa, and South America will dominate over the next decade, with KYC as the major constraint.
Tokenized Equities MED
TuongVy Le General Counsel, Veda Tech Labs / ex-SEC / Co-Host, DEX in the City 7:34
Transaction ordering makes Nasdaq-Canton meaningful.
Nasdaq joining Canton as a super validator is significant because it puts Nasdaq directly into transaction sequencing, ordering, and inclusion. Institutions placing large orders care about ordering because it determines price, priority, and liability, so Nasdaq's involvement likely inspires more institutional trust and signals discomfort with current public-blockchain ordering.
CANTON MED
Jessi Brooks General Counsel, Ribbit Capital / Co-Host, DEX in the City 16:50
AI agents need blockchain and stablecoins.
Google DeepMind argues the agent economy is coming and traditional financial infrastructure is not designed for continuous machine-to-machine transactions. It requires machine-readable money, programmable payments, and verifiable non-human identities, making blockchain-style systems structurally necessary. Stablecoins are currently the best way to enable micropayments, and X402 is a live example of blockchain infrastructure for agentic economies.
STABLECOINS BLOCKCHAIN HIGH
TuongVy Le General Counsel, Veda Tech Labs / ex-SEC / Co-Host, DEX in the City 33:34
Prediction markets growing but need regulation.
Prediction markets have taken off and will continue to get bigger, becoming more liquid and impactful. However, they need regulation to preserve market integrity because thin liquidity makes manipulation easy and insider trading can undermine trust, so growth is likely but regulatory risk is material.
PREDICTION MARKETS MED
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This Unchained (Chopping Block) video, published January 10, 2026, features Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, TuongVy Le, Jessi Brooks discussing CANTON, Tokenized Equities, STABLECOINS, BLOCKCHAIN, PREDICTION MARKETS. 5 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, TuongVy Le, Jessi Brooks  · Tickers: CANTON, Tokenized Equities, STABLECOINS, BLOCKCHAIN, PREDICTION MARKETS