
newsAug 21, 202653:40pending
Arthur Hayes on Why AI Agents Will Want to Transact in Units of Compute
About this episode
Arthur Hayes unveils Flop, a new protocol for AI compute, and makes the case for why Bitcoin is entering a fresh liquidity-driven leg up.
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Bitcoin has been pumping in its sharpest move since March, after the US Treasury said it would double its long-end bond buybacks, and traders liquidated $1.44 billion in short positions within hours.
Arthur Hayes, CEO of Flop Labs and CIO of Maelstrom, joins Laura Shin to argue the rally is proof the Treasury and the Fed are already running what he calls soft yield curve control, defending the 10-year near 5% by funding long-end purchases with short-term bill issuance instead of admitting real yields cannot rise.
Hayes reiterates his year-end $5,000 target for ETH, traces how Japan's yen crisis could force the Fed's hand, and argues the AI CapEx boom is a real estate bet on depreciating chips that ends like subprime did.
He also unveils Flop, his currency for AI agents, and why he is taking on a new CEO role after an already successful career. He also weighs in on Saylor's $218 million Bitcoin sale and reflects on his and his cofounders’ decision to shut BitMEX down.
Host:
Laura Shin, Host / Unchained
Guest:
Arthur Hayes - CEO of Flop Labs and CIO of Maelstrom
Timestamps
🏛️ 00:47 Why Arthur says the Treasury's buyback move is 'soft yield curve control'
📈 04:14 Why ETH is Maelstrom's largest position outside Bitcoin
🇯🇵 07:02 The yen quake: how Japan's repatriation could force the Fed's hand
📣 13:41 Visit 1inch to swap tokenized securities, crypto and more at http://1inch.com/
🤖 13:58 Why Arthur calls the AI boom 'just another boring real estate play'
💽 22:29 Inside Flop: Arthur's new currency for paying AI agents to compute
⚙️ 29:34 How Flop's miners and validators actually work
🪙 41:16 Flop's halving schedule and why Floplabs only takes a cut for two years
📉 45:45 Why Arthur says don't buy MicroStrategy anymore
🔌 48:37 Why Arthur shut down BitMEX on his own terms
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