Industry Leaders Discuss Crypto's Role in AI, Finance, and Regulation at Permissionless Day 3

Permissionless Day 3 concluded with a series of insightful discussions and quotes from industry leaders. Haseeb of Dragonfly Capital humorously addressed the role of crypto in working AI products, suggesting that crypto could potentially fill roles traditionally held by engineers, accountants, lawyers, and even personal assistants. Casey Caruso of Topology took a more technical approach, predicting that within the next decade, brain models could be developed with the help of crypto's ability to incentivize data aggregation. This, he believes, could lead to advancements such as mind-reading technology.

Thomas Lee, CIO of FundStrat Capital, expressed optimism about the Bitcoin-treasury strategy in traditional finance. He drew parallels between oil companies, which have historically been valued on their proven reserves, and the potential for Bitcoin reserves to drive stock valuations. Lee suggested that this strategy could become the largest stock in the US, valued purely on its price to Bitcoin reserves.

Joe Lubin of Consensys discussed the motivations behind their lawsuit against the SEC. Lubin revealed that the SEC had secretly decided to reclassify ether as a security and attempted to pin this on individuals responsible for the Merge, including Consensys and Danny Ryan. The decision to sue the SEC was prompted by the issuance of subpoenas to researchers.

Felix Jauvin highlighted the macro factors driving stablecoin hype, noting the increasing fiscal deficits and the need for entities to buy debt. He suggested that the push for the GENIUS Act is a logical response to the need for US T-bills, indicating a significant unlock for the stablecoin market.

Joe Cutler, Partner at Perkins Cole, expressed concerns about the entry of institutions into crypto. He lamented that the original vision of crypto—democratizing access to control over value—has not been realized in the institutional rebuild. Cutler also noted that the value propositions of wealth, money, power, and control have not been remade into a more balanced system, as initially envisioned. He urged the industry to remember its original goals and not lose sight of the bigger picture.

Suresh Shetty, CTO of Kinexys by JPMorgan, clarified the nature of JPMD, describing it as a deposit token designed to connect to public chains. Its primary use cases include cross-border payments and the settlement of securities, highlighting its role in bridging traditional finance with the permissionless network of crypto.