The Not A Cartel crew dives deep into one of the busiest weeks in crypto—from fundraises and governance drama to creator coins and the eternal ETH debate.

Coop shares insights from his $4.5M seed round, Lucas revisits the early music NFT days, and Adam sparks laughs with his takes on Clanker’s acquisition saga. The group also debates what gives ETH its “swag” (or lack thereof) and how YC’s focus on onchain startups could shape the next wave of builders.

Key Topics & Timestamps

(01:15) Coop’s $4.5M fundraise
(05:26) Success of Coop Records 2.0 and merging NFTs with tokens
(06:50) Reflecting on Sound.xyz mints and patronage vs speculation
(10:32) Throwback to the hype era of buying music NFTs
(11:20) Clanker x Rainbow acquisition drama
(18:21) Jesse Pollak teases creator coins on Base
(21:29) Copy-trading, Clicker app, and why Coop’s trades still move markets
(22:38) Lessons learned from early days: “Should’ve just copy-traded Coop”
(24:12) Punk Strategy Coin and the case for NFT-backed tokens
(26:22) Balancing being a founder vs. staying on top of market trends
(29:01) YC’s call for onchain startups—opportunity or overhyped?
(34:09) Rage-bait of the week: Andrew Kang Thinks Tom Lee is Retarded
(37:20) What narrative gets ETH to $10k? Institutions vs. retail “swag factor”