First episode of 2026 and we’re setting the frame for what matters this year: AI is hitting escape velocity, “creation” is getting commoditized, and that changes everything from business models to the metaverse thesis.

We talk through the cultural shift (the 2025 existential turn), why low-sentiment periods are when you should be paying the most attention, and how social media incentives reward overreaction. Then we zoom out to the macro: metals ripping, Bitcoin lag dynamics, and what a “real” 2026 setup could look like.

On the crypto side, we dig into the creator coin debate and why the fan-to-investor switch breaks expectations, using the Nick Shirley Zora post as a live case study. Finally, we share our north star: a world where CoinGecko has an “NAT” tab, non-arbitrary tokens become a real market category, and miners distributing NAT becomes the moment the market can’t ignore.

Key topics:

AI → new creator economy + new niches
Metaverse iteration gets cheaper and faster
The problem with “only up” expectations for creator
Macro signals: metals, lag theory, and Bitcoin’s next leg
Zora case study: viral content vs market participation
NAT vision: miners, distribution dashboards, and the path to scale

If you made it through 2025, welcome to 2026. We’re back on the grind. Like, subscribe, and drop a comment with what you think the “mukbang of AI” will be.

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296. TBR - Manifesting A 1 Trillion Dollar Non-Arbitrary Token Market | Crypto Emotional Overload 🤪

The Block Runner Podcast