Crypto Gloss

Bankless

Bankless is one of the most influential Ethereum and DeFi media brands, co-founded by Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman in 2019. The Bankless newsletter and podcast ecosystem is explicitly pro-Ethereum and pro-crypto, framing financial self-sovereignty (“going bankless”) as the thesis around which all content orbits. Bankless is a premium subscription media business generating revenue from subscribers, sponsorships, and a native token airdrop — and was among the first crypto media companies to model itself as a Web3-native media DAO.

Background

Ryan Sean Adams started the Bankless Newsletter as a personal Substack in 2019, articulating a simple premise: a how-to guide for living your financial life outside the traditional banking system using DeFi, self-custody, and Ethereum. David Hoffman, who had been publishing his own DeFi analysis (including the famous “Ether: The Triple Point Asset” thesis), joined as co-host. Together they built the Bankless Podcast into one of the most-downloaded crypto shows while growing newsletter subscribers into the hundreds of thousands.

Media Products

Product Description
Bankless Newsletter Premium subscription newsletter on Ethereum, DeFi, and Web3 strategy
Bankless Podcast Flagship weekly show covering Ethereum development, DeFi protocols, and macro crypto
Bankless Daily Gwei Shorter daily news update podcast
Bankless YouTube Long-form video interviews and market breakdowns
Bankless DAO Decentralized community extension that received an airdrop of $BANK tokens

Editorial Stance

Bankless is explicitly and unapologetically pro-Ethereum. The outlet:

  • Uses Ethereum as the primary lens through which all crypto developments are analyzed
  • Often takes positions on crypto debates (L2s vs. alt-L1s, ETH vs. SOL)
  • Has been criticized by Bitcoin maxis for dismissing Bitcoin and by alt-L1 communities for bias
  • Responds that honest editorial stance is preferable to false neutrality

Bankless DAO and $BANK

In 2021, Bankless airdropped $BANK tokens to premium subscribers and launched BanklessDAO — a community-governed media and education DAO. The DAO operates semi-independently, producing community publications, educational content, and localized translations. The $BANK token experiment attracted attention as an early model for tokenized media communities.

Related Terms

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