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January 27, 2026

Summary

This episode of the Blockrunner Podcast breaks down one of the most revealing weeks we’ve seen at the intersection of crypto, AI, and creator monetization.

What began as a promising experiment in creator capital markets quickly turned into a live stress test for liquidity, incentives, and trust. We walk through the rise and collapse of the Ralph token, why it initially made sense, how it gained traction, and why it unraveled the moment the creator sold. The fallout wasn’t just about price action. It exposed deeper structural problems that most internet capital markets haven’t solved yet.

From there, the conversation expands into the accelerating timeline toward AGI, why looping AI systems and agent swarms change the nature of work, and what happens to human purpose when intelligence becomes abundant. We react to Davos conversations, including moments where Bitcoin is openly laughed at by legacy financial institutions, and explain why those reactions reveal more ignorance than confidence.

We then tackle the uncomfortable question most Bitcoin holders avoid: how the network remains secure long-term. Transaction fees alone are not a viable answer. We explore why Bitcoin’s security budget faces a real challenge over the next decade and why a second subsidy may be the only credible path forward without changing Bitcoin’s core protocol.

This episode ties everything together into a single thesis. Internet capital markets are early, powerful, and inevitable, but without proper incentive design and liquidity structure, they will continue to fail in dramatic fashion.

If you’re thinking seriously about AI, crypto, creator monetization, and Bitcoin’s future, this episode will challenge your assumptions.

Learn more about the second subsidy thesis at natgmi.com.

132

Summary

We break down the biggest crypto scandal to hit the market since Mt.Gox was hacked back in 2014. Last week FTX which is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world was found to run in to liquidity problems which meant customers would not be able to withdraw the funds they deposited. This was due to mismanagement of the customer funds to prop up their investment arm in Alameda Research which took a huge hit. Now FTX has completely collapsed which positions Binance and Coinbase in a league of their own as far as crypto exchanges go. How will this impact the crypto market and it’s potential to recover.

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131

Summary

The crypto markets are starting to show some signs of positive momentum, what can be causing this shift in sentiment? When comparing this stage of the bear market to the 2018 cycle, there are some clear distinguishable differences, mainly in the amount of construction present in the market. Now there are multiple Layer 1, Layer2, and even Layer 3 blockchains on the way. NFTs can potentially blow up again with Reddit NFTs that just launched. All of this together paints a much more bullish picture than before. When shifting to the metaverse, we are witnessing the start of the content censorship debate that we predicted would happen several years ago. Now that Decentraland has a community governing the DAO, what will the they decide is the best route to regulate content that is too sexualized and potentially damaging.

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130

Summary

On episode 130 we do a deep dive on what it takes to build the infrastructure that will enable the multi-trillion dollar metaverse. We determine whether the frontier of a 3D internet will onboard billions of people who don’t have economic opportunities locally. What are the technologies needed to bring the potential of the metaverse into fruition? Other elements of crypto such as DeFil need to also to mature so other sectors in crypto can leverage and sustain a userbase of a mass population. We go through some examples of major web2 companies getting into the metaverse and what form they will take.

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129

Summary

Everyone asks what is the metaverse and especially after Facebook’s Meta unveiled tons of technology for the metaverses future, people need to know what it is. We break down what we think the true definition and expectations of the metaverse should be. What needs to happen for this vision of the metaverse to become reality. Are the existing open web3 metaverses building their virtual worlds the right way? Or is there a fundamental misunderstanding of how to create the value mechanics that will lead to a multi-trillion dollar metaverse economy. To end it off, we introduced Hyperfy as the spotlight Verse of the week. The team building Hyperfy are implementing a lot of useful features like “apps” that allow asset creators to incorporate customizable code for the owners to manipulate. How big can Hyperfy get? We discuss this and more…

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128

Summary

According to all the traditional Bitcoin models we have shown in the past, Bitcoin is as low as it gets within the accumulation zone. Can the price still go lower despite this fact given the macroeconomic situation showing all signals of more downside for the stock market? Also, there are several new layer 1 blockchains emerging looking to challenge Ethereum as the go-to development platform to build web3 apps. The biggest most recent one is Aptos which is made up of ex-meta employees who were working together on the Libra project. Is this silicon Valley big entrance to the web3 space and what will the impact of this new chain have on the entire web3 ecosystem? What are the most important factors to consider for producing good blockchain-based services and products for the masses to consume?

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