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Coinbase CEO's Top 3 Crypto Trends for 2026 + More from Davos!


Episode Details
Channel

All-In Podcast

Published

1/23/2026

Episode Summary

In a series of interviews from the World Economic Forum in Davos, host Jason Calacanis speaks with leaders shaping the future of technology and industry. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, outlines the maturation of the Crypto industry, highlighting a stark contrast between the hostile approach of the Biden Administration and the supportive regulatory environment under the Donald J. Trump administration, which passed the Genius Act to provide clarity for Stablecoins. He notes growing institutional adoption through partnerships with firms like BlackRock and JP Morgan and identifies Cross-border payments, Prediction Markets, and Tokenization as key growth trends, while navigating relationships with different stablecoin issuers like Circle and Tether. Following him, Andrew Feldman, CEO of Cerebras Systems, discusses the exponential demand for AI Compute Power and the critical importance of low-latency AI Inference. He positions his company's Wafer Scale Engine (WSE) as a powerful alternative to Nvidia's GPUs, revealing a major new purchase order from OpenAI. Feldman frames the buildout of Data Centers and energy infrastructure as a central part of the geopolitical US vs China in AI race, praising the Trump Administration's pro-business AI policies. Finally, Jake Loosararian, CEO of Gecko Robotics, explains the crucial role of AI and Physical Robots in the industrial world. He argues that his Pittsburgh-based company is building the foundational Data Infrastructure for AI by inspecting critical assets in sectors like energy and Defense, working with companies like Palmer Luckey's Anduril. He sees a future where his company will be a major purchaser of Humanoid Robots like Tesla's Optimus (robot) for high-ROI industrial tasks. The conversations also touch on broader themes, including a palpable shift at Davos away from DEI towards business, concerns over the Rise of Socialism in the US in places like California, and optimistic yet realistic views on long-term AI Job Displacement.

Investment Ideas
Key Topics & People
Microsoft
Microsoft
Organization

A major technology company that acquired Skype from an investor group after eBay sold its majority stake.

SEC
PoliticalEntity

The federal regulatory agency where investors must file disclosure forms like the 13D or 13G.

OpenAI
OpenAI
Organization

Leading AI company mentioned in contrast to Anthropic's political alignments.

Host of the All-In Podcast, referred to as Bestie or JCal, who moderates the discussion.

Stock exchange that hosted a dinner at the Liquidity conference.

China
China
PoliticalEntity

Country producing competitive open source AI models.

The system of using crypto tokens to economically incentivize the building of physical decentralized networks.

Crypto
Technology

The digital asset and blockchain space forming the foundation of GEODNET's economic model.

Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Location

A major industrial and urban center in Pennsylvania, home to substantial working-class and technology sectors.

Massive compute facilities critical to AI, which are being built aggressively in Pennsylvania, bringing thousands of jobs.

AI
Technology

Artificial intelligence, viewed as a foundational technology driving major economic growth and geopolitical competition.

US
Location

The United States, noted for extreme regulatory friction in life sciences.

Tesla
Organization

Electric vehicle and clean energy company led by Elon Musk.

Coinbase
Coinbase
Organization

A cryptocurrency exchange platform funded by Section 32.

Co-founder of Coinbase and co-founder of New Limit.

California
California
Location

A US state used as an example of grid fragility, particularly concerning electric vehicle charging demands and historical fires.

JP Morgan
Organization

A major financial institution that relies heavily on physical hardware infrastructure to ensure low latency.

Anduril
Anduril
Organization

A defense technology company operating and trading heavily in the private secondary markets.

Former US President mentioned in relation to an interview at Davos.

Davos
Event

The World Economic Forum annual meeting location, mentioned as a high-profile networking environment.

Nvidia
Nvidia
Organization

Dominant AI chipmaker known for its GPUs, which Cerebras competes against.

Founder and CEO of Cerebras Systems, an AI silicon company.

The processing capacity required to train and run large AI models, currently considered a severe bottleneck.

Cerebras Systems
Organization

A successful semiconductor startup that survived a long grind to eventually hit a massive IPO.

Optimus (robot)
Technology

Humanoid robot developed by Tesla, cited as an example of AI disrupting blue-collar warehousing jobs.

The debate over whether AI will cause widespread unemployment or simply shift labor patterns.

AI Inference
Technology

The monetization of AI investment via processing inputs and running models.

Exchange-traded markets allowing users to bet on the outcome of future events.

Biden Administration
PoliticalEntity

The current executive branch of the US government under Joe Biden, criticized for targeting political opponents and weaponizing the DOJ.

Tech entrepreneur and founder in the defense space, highly praised for building innovative weapons systems to keep the US competitive.

BlackRock
BlackRock
Organization

Global investment management corporation, used as a comparison for how elite universities currently operate.

AI Agents
Technology

Autonomous AI systems that can perform complex, multi-step tasks across various applications. They represent a new, potentially dominant layer in the software stack that could capture value from traditional SaaS products.

An annual meeting in Davos, which was discussed as having a more business-centric and Trump-focused atmosphere this year, featuring notable speeches and events.

A political trend discussed with Jeremy Allaire, who connects it to the potential for massive economic disruption and wealth inequality caused by AI.

Tether
Organization

The issuer of the largest stablecoin by market capitalization and a major competitor to Circle's USDC. It is described as an offshore platform with less regulatory oversight.

A piece of legislation that provides regulatory clarity for stablecoins in the United States, defining them as a payment instrument and setting rules for issuers like Circle.

A type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another asset class, like a fiat currency or gold, to maintain a stable price. Discussed as a key infrastructure layer for money on the internet.

Circle
Circle
Organization

A global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains. It is the issuer of USDC, a major stablecoin.

A historical period of major industrialization that Jake Loosararian uses as an analogy for the current era, where robotics and data collection are the foundational 'steel' for the AI revolution.

Defense
Topic

A significant market for Gecko Robotics, which comprises about 30% of its business. The company's technology is used to speed up the manufacturing and maintenance of military assets like submarines and destroyers.

The foundational data sets required to train and deploy effective AI models, especially in industrial contexts where such data does not exist online and must be collected by physical means, such as robots.

The integration of artificial intelligence with robotics to perform tasks in the physical world, particularly in industrial settings for inspection, maintenance, and manufacturing.

The geopolitical and industrial competition between the United States and China for dominance in artificial intelligence technology, including chip manufacturing, model development, and energy infrastructure.

A category of extremely large AI chips developed by Cerebras Systems, containing trillions of transistors, designed to process information much faster than traditional GPUs for AI tasks.

DEI
Topic

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. The focus on DEI at Davos has reportedly diminished in favor of business and deal-making.

Humanoid Robots
Technology

General-purpose robots with a human-like form, such as Tesla's Optimus. Gecko Robotics' CEO sees his company as a future major purchaser of these robots for high-ROI industrial tasks.

Gecko Robotics
Organization

A company specializing in AI-powered robots that inspect physical infrastructure like ships and power plants, creating essential data sets for industrial AI models.

CEO and co-founder of Gecko Robotics, a company building purpose-built robots for inspecting and maintaining critical infrastructure in industries like energy and defense.

Trump Administration
PoliticalEntity

The administration of the 47th US President, which Andrew Feldman praised for its AI policy, particularly in empowering allies and streamlining regulations.

International B2B payments, which have been the biggest growth area for stablecoins over the last year due to reduced friction and lower fees compared to traditional banking.