Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news and with special guest Aevo's Co-Founder - Julian Koh. This episode zeroes in on the latest buzz around the Jupiter ($JUP) airdrop: What's the real story behind Jupiter’s valuation and controversy? We peel back the layers of Jupiter's token strategy and its impact on market dynamics. The dialogue then shifts to the innovative approaches of Aevo (formerly Ribbon Finance) in pre-launch derivatives and the burgeoning trend of airdrop farming: How are Airdrop strategies altering the landscape of token valuation and investor behavior? The debate intensifies as we tackle the contentious battle between points systems and traditional airdrops: Are points a revolutionary engagement tool or a complex web of incentives? With the resurgence of ICOs and the strategic pivot of Ribbon Finance, we explore the implications of rebrands on the crypto ecosystem. Join us for an in-depth exploration of these critical topics and their profound impact on the world of cryptocurrency. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show Highlights 🔹 Jupiter Airdrop Deep Dive: Unraveling the complexities and controversies behind the Jupiter ($JUP) airdrop. 🔹 Valuation Variance: Examining the fluctuations in Jupiter token valuation and their market repercussions. 🔹 Community Engagement: Evaluating the effectiveness of @weremeow's live streams in shaping community perceptions. 🔹 Airdrop Discontent: Analyzing the liquidity dynamics and user dissatisfaction stemming from airdrop strategies. 🔹 Innovations in Derivatives: Exploring Aevo's unique approach to pre-launch derivatives in the DeFi space. 🔹 The Airdrop Farmer's Dilemma: Discussing the strategies used by airdrop farmers to hedge against price volatility. 🔹 Points vs. Airdrops Debate: Delving into the pros and cons of points systems compared to traditional airdrop mechanisms. 🔹 Rebranding Strategies: Assessing the impact of token rebrands, with a focus on Ribbon Finance's evolution. 🔹 Pre-IPO Markets and Crypto: Drawing parallels between traditional pre-IPO conversion markets and crypto points systems. 🔹 The Uncertainty Factor: Considering how the allure of uncertainty influences engagement and investment in crypto. 🔹 Protocol Dynamics: Investigating the effects of airdrop farmers on the health and engagement of blockchain protocols. 🔹 ICO Resurgence: Discussing the potential comeback of Initial Coin Offerings and their role in the crypto funding landscape. 🔹 Stress Testing with Points: Highlighting innovative uses of points for protocol stress testing like Eigenlayer. 🔹 Referral Systems in Crypto: Analyzing the impact of referral-based points systems on protocol engagement and growth. Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing partner at Dragonfly  ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures Guest ⭐️ Julian Koh, Aevo's Co-Founder Disclosures Links Jupiter LFG Launchpad Blog Article - https://station.jup.ag/blog/jupiter-lfg-launchpad  Blockworks: “Jupiter airdrop draws criticism, but support remains strong” - https://blockworks.co/news/jupiter-airdrop-draws-criticism  Proposal: “Merge Ribbon Finance into Aevo” - https://gov.ribbon.finance/t/rgp-33-merge-ribbon-finance-into-aevo/709  Weremeow’s Twitch Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/weremeow  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Solana DeFi protocol Jupiter staged what was by most measures a very successful airdrop launch on Wednesday, achieving a market cap of close to $800 million, the company’s critics pointed out numerous ways the company seemed to unfairly enrich itself in the process. While Jupiter’s founder, who goes by the pseudonym Meow, acknowledges he might have done some things differently, he finds the criticisms of the launch mostly based on “bad faith” and misinformation.   Meow joined Unchained to discuss the thinking behind the launch mechanics of JUP, how the prior launch of memecoin WEN served as a dry run for JUP, whether the aggressive pricing strategy of JUP was a mistake, and what he hopes to achieve with Jupiter next, including the possibility of enabling companies of all kinds to list themselves publicly on chain.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What Jupiter is and how it extends its functionality beyond mere token swapping What users are primarily utilizing the dollar-cost-average feature of Jupiter for Meow’s background in crypto and how he ended up in the Solana ecosystem Why a launchpad seemed the ideal choice for Jupiter's token launch What prompted the decision to release WEN, a memecoin, before launching JUP Meow's response to criticisms regarding the launchpad's mechanics Whether the aggressive pricing strategy for Jupiter was a misstep How Meow feels about being targeted for criticism What's on the horizon for Jupiter as a platform following the airdrop Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guest: Meow, cofounder of Jupiter Links Unchained:  Jupiter Traders Claim Whopping 545 Million JUP Tokens in First 8 Hours of Airdrop Jupiter’s Airdropped Token JUP Debuts at a $878 Million Market Cap Pro-Ethereum Crowd Slams Solana-based Jupiter Airdrop as ‘Absolute Trash’ Breakpoint 2023 Meow conference The Block: Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter confirms token release date Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sign up for our free newsletter here! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, believes the Internet’s early ideals of democratization and community ownership have been subverted by the consolidation of power into just a few small companies like Facebook and Google. He’s written a new book called Read Write Own in which he writes about this phenomenon, and argues that blockchain technology can help reverse the trend by providing an environment in which developers and entrepreneurs can once again build direct relationships with their audiences.  Dixon joins Unchained to discuss criticisms of crypto VC firms, how he feels now about a16z’s previous investment in Facebook, how crypto has become overly politicized in the U.S., why Facebook’s Libra project was ultimately shut down, the significant promise of restaking and EigenLayer in particular, and why he believes that creator royalties are essential for the NFT market.   Show highlights: what inspired Chris to write his new book and why he thinks the crypto industry is misunderstood what the current problems of the Internet are and how just a few companies control most of the revenue how Chris explains the concept of blockchains to the layman the importance of property rights in the real world and how blockchains make this better how Chris responds to the criticism that venture capital firms “dump on retail” and what a proper allocation of tokens to VCs is what the best designs are to achieve good governance in decentralized networks how the crypto industry has become politicized in the U.S.  what Chris thinks about a16z’s investment in Facebook why Facebook’s Libra project was shut down and his takeaways from the venture what lessons Chris learned from the 2022 crypto debacle, with the collapse of FTX, Terra, Celsius, 3AC, etc. where Chris sits in the debate about modular vs. monolithic networks how restaking and EigenLayer could “unlock a bunch of new design possibilities,” according to Chris the role of open source software in driving a better environment and better projects how decentralized social networks could attract new levels of adoption  whether creator royalties are necessary and why Chris believes that they are “non-negotiable” Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network Guest: Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, author of Read Write Own Previous appearance on Unchained: Chris Dixon on How Trust Is the Best Lego Links Tokenomics Unchained: What Is Tokenomics? A Beginner's Guide Venture Capital Unchained: Does Venture Capital Investment Violate the Ethos of Crypto? Sequoia Says No Modular vs. monolithic Unchained:  Three Crypto Pioneers on Crypto’s Monolithic vs. Modular Debate What Are Modular Blockchains? A Beginner's Guide Restaking Unchained:  Do You Need to Think Twice Before Restaking Your Assets?  What Is Ethereum Restaking? A Beginner's Guide Royalties Unchained: Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! The 2022 debacle Unchained: Collapses, Bankruptcies, and Fraud: How 2022 Became the Year of Crypto Carnage SocialFi Unchained: What Is SocialFi? A Beginner’s Guide Crypto & AI Unchained: When AI and Blockchain Meet, How Can Each Technology Benefit? The Chopping Block: Why AI Will Change the Course of History in Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sign up for our free newsletter here! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. This week a major potential risk to Ethereum was highlighted by a bug that surfaced in Nethermind, a minority execution client. While the bug was fixed quickly, it raised the question of what would happen to the blockchain if Geth, which is used by more than two-thirds of validators and so is considered a “supermajority client,” had a bug. The situation could potentially result in a catastrophic fork of Ethereum.  Ethereum developer Lefteris Karapetsas joined Unchained to discuss the different scenarios of what could happen, the potential impact of a supermajority client issue on staking services such as Lido, why he feels the incentive system is poorly designed, and what other solutions are out there to address the lack of client diversity.  Show highlights: What a consensus issue is in Ethereum and what happened with Nethermind last weekend Why it would be a big problem if a supermajority client had a bug The potential impact on staking services such as Lido Why Lefteris feels like he is reliving the historic Ethereum DAO hack all over again Whether the largest entities running nodes will start pursuing client diversity How the data on the prevalence of specific Ethereum execution clients is not verifiable or programmatic, making it less transparent and difficult to analyze Why Lefteris believes that the incentive system is not designed to achieve client diversity Whether there are developments in the works to try to solve the lack of client diversity  Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guest  Lefteris Karapetsas, Founder of Rotkiapp Previous appearance on Unchained: Is Code Law? Should the Hacker Be Punished? The DAO Creators Disagree Links Unchained:  Most Ethereum Staking Pools Are Using Just One Execution Client, Potentially Increasing Risks to the Network The Chopping Block: Data Availability & Why It’s Important CoinDesk: Bug That Took Down 8% of Ethereum's Validators Sparks Worries About Even Bigger Outage The Defiant: Ethereum Software Client Centralization Sparks Concern Crypto.news: Nethermind rolls out urgent fix for block processing bug in Ethereum client Lukasz Rosmej’s tweet that minority client Nethermind had a consensus issue Lefteris’ tweet on a supermajority Ethereum client bug  Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's tweet on what he’d do in a censorship resistance request scenario Run the majority client at your own peril! by Dankrad Feist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week kicks off with a crucial question: Are the latest trends in crypto ETFs signaling a major shift in the investment landscape? We delve into the market's nuanced response to these ETFs and what it means for investors. How important is client diversity for Ethereum's stability and future growth? The squad engages in a lively debate on this topic. With the advent of Proto-Danksharding, how might Ethereum's scalability be impacted, and what are the implications for the blockchain ecosystem? We further examine the user experience across blockchain platforms, particularly comparing Solana and Ethereum in terms of their user interfaces and transaction dynamics. Looking to the future, what breakthroughs and challenges can we anticipate in blockchain technology? Join us for an in-depth exploration of these key questions and their profound impact on the world of cryptocurrency. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.   Show highlights:  🔹 ETF Market Analysis: Dissecting the impact of GBTC and other ETFs on the crypto market. 🔹 Client Diversity in Ethereum: Debating the pros and cons of multiple clients for network resilience. 🔹 Proto-Danksharding Effects: Assessing its potential to lower rollup costs and enhance scalability. 🔹 User Experience in Crypto: Exploring how fees and speeds affect user interactions on various platforms. 🔹 Solana vs. Ethereum UX: Comparing their user interfaces, focusing on transaction costs and latency. 🔹 Blockchain's Future Trends: Delving into predictions and emerging innovations in the blockchain world. 🔹 Ethereum's Protocol Evolution: Discussing the roadmap and future developments in Ethereum. 🔹 Scalability Solutions: Evaluating different approaches to scaling blockchains effectively. 🔹 Layer 2 Dynamics: Analyzing the growth and challenges of Layer 2 solutions on Ethereum.   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures   Disclosures Links Vitalik's post about Cypherpunk values: https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2023/12/28/cypherpunk.html  PolyMarket for gas price per blob after EIP 4844: https://polymarket.com/event/gas-price-per-blob-1-month-after-eip-4844?tid=1706149992794  Tweet thread from DC investor: https://twitter.com/iamDCinvestor/status/1749410364666606075  Ethereum's Proto-Danksharding and EIP-4844: https://www.eip4844.com/  Ethereum 2.0 Clients Dashboard: https://clientdiversity.org/#distribution  Solana's Firedancer: https://github.com/firedancer-io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Polychain Capital founder and CIO Olaf Carlson-Wee has been through every single bubble in crypto history, from Bitcoin’s rise past the single digits in 2012 to the ICO craze of 2017 to 2021’s NFT mania, and he says his main thesis about crypto has remained consistent since the beginning. That is, that crypto constitutes an “incentive vortex” that will replace the world’s preoccupation with country-backed currencies.  Carlson-Wee, who was the first employee at Coinbase, joins Unchained to discuss the significance of the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs, how he successfully navigated all the industry blow-ups in 2022, the challenges of balancing incentives for early adopters versus new users, why EigenLayer is so significant, why Worldcoin’s distribution strategy is a “disaster,” and the strange places that the intersection between crypto and AI could take us.  Show highlights: Why Olaf sees the current market as the cusp of another bull run and how his thesis has remained consistent since 2011​​ How the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs marks a significant milestone  Why criticisms of the crypto space are really criticisms of money in general  The fundamental differences between Web3 applications and the Web2 ecosystem and why they matter The importance of fair token distribution in enhancing the value of Web3 projects When Olaf expects Bitcoin to replace legacy financial systems The areas and technologies Olaf and his fund are keen to invest in Why Olaf thinks a modular blockchain architecture is superior to a monolithic one in the long term How EigenLayer is innovating to enable new types of applications and whether it competes with Celestia How Polychain managed to avoid being hurt by the major market blowups of 2022, including Terra and FTX The evolution of the space from an ideologically driven to a more pragmatic approach The significance of incentive design in crypto ecosystems and the trade-offs involved in system design Olaf’s perspective on the recent rise of points systems The growth of privacy-focused crypto projects and the potential for private blockchains to become the norm Why he thinks Worldcoin’s distribution strategy is a “disaster” Olaf’s interest in the intersection of AI and crypto and potential developments in this area His bullish outlook on SocialFi and Web3 gaming Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network Guest: Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder and CIO of Polychain Capital Previous appearances on Unchained: Olaf Carlson-Wee: 'If There Is a Money-Losing Exploit, the Money Is Gone'  Why The First Employee Of Coinbase Launched A Hedge Fund To the Moon and Back With Polychain's Olaf Carlson-Wee Special Episode with CNBC's Crypto Trader: Olaf Carlson-Wee on Why This Crypto Winter Is Different From Previous Ones All Things Cryptoeconomics, Pt. 1, With Olaf Carlson-Wee and Ryan Zurrer of Polychain Capital Links Olaf Carlson-Wee Forbes:  This Man Has Been Living On Bitcoin For 3 Years Why This Hedge Fund CEO Once 'Put Most Of My Meager Life Savings Into Bitcoin' TechCrunch: The future is a decentralized internet Blockworks: Why Polychain Capital Founder Never Sells His Crypto  CoinDesk: Olaf Carlson-Wee: Crypto Is the Great Wealth-Redistribution Machine Restaking/EigenLayer Unchained:  DeFi Protocol EigenLayer Reaches Restaking Capacity, Pushing TVL Past $1.4 Billion Do You Need to Think Twice Before Restaking Your Assets?  Olaf’s tweet on EigenLayer Crypto + AI Olaf’s tweet: “in crypto nearly 100% of value accrues to start-ups and outsiders, not existing establishment interests” Visit Unchained for more links and details Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, a federal court in New York heard oral arguments in Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s case against it for, among other things, allegedly acting as an unregulated securities exchange. Notably, Judge Katherine Polk Failla pressed the SEC to explain how it has jurisdiction over Coinbase in the case by defining what it considers a security.  Sam Enzer, a partner at Cahill Gorden & Reindel who represents Coinbase but not in this matter, joined Unchained to discuss why this case is so significant for the crypto industry, how he believes the government contradicted itself on the crucial definition of what constitutes a security, why he thinks the judge will not dismiss the case at this early stage, how the Ripple and Terraform Labs cases could be used by each side, and why he thinks Judge Failla is such a perfect choice to rule in this case.   Show highlights: Why SEC v Coinbase holds important implications for the U.S. crypto ecosystem What the SEC alleges against Coinbase, focusing on its trading platform, wallet, and staking services How Coinbase forcefully counters the SEC's claims as it strives to get the case dismissed What the “major questions doctrine” entails and its critical role in this dispute Why Sam perceives the judge as “extremely skeptical” of the SEC's stance Whether inconsistencies surfaced in the SEC lawyers' arguments What “strict liability” means and its frequent mention in this legal battle What takeaways from the Ripple and Terraform Labs cases offer about secondary market sales Why Sam believes Judge Katherine Polk Failla is exceptionally well-suited for this case Whether Judge Failla might reject the motion to dismiss, and when  Thank you to our sponsors! Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guest Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel Previous appearances on Unchained:  Why SBF's Testimony So Far Has Likely Already Doomed Him Another Bad Week for Sam Bankman-Fried in His Criminal Trial Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge How Might That Impact the Trial? Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the Coinbase case and the topic of securities: SEC Sues Binance, Coinbase: ‘This Is Not the End of Crypto in the United States’  These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler Coinbase’s Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold  ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Gary Gensler vs. Crypto: What Will the SEC Attack Next? Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Coinbase vs. SEC Unchained:  Federal Judge Presses SEC Over Jurisdiction in Case Against Coinbase SEC Sues Coinbase for Breaking Securities Laws SEC Files Motion to Freeze Binance’s Assets, Asks for ‘Sworn Accounting’ SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Including the Mishandling of Funds, Sale of Unregistered Securities SEC Calls Solana, Polygon, Algorand and Other Tokens Securities but Misses Ether in Binance Lawsuit Cointelegraph: Senator Lummis files amicus brief supporting Coinbase’s dismissal motion against SEC. Other cases Kraken CNBC: Crypto exchange Kraken settles with SEC for $30 million, will close US staking operation XRP Unchained: SEC vs Ripple: Judge Rules XRP Sold on Exchanges Is Not a Security Terraform Labs Reuters: Judge sides with US SEC, says Terraform Labs crypto founder Do Kwon violated law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block, where crypto experts Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner bring you inside perspectives on critical topics in the crypto world. This episode delves into the complexities and market impact of crypto ETFs: Are they a game-changer for investors? The team also examines the controversies surrounding Tether, exploring its stability and the implications of recent scandals. They then shift focus to the burgeoning world of asset-backed securities and crypto casinos: What potential and challenges do they present? NFTs and their evolving role beyond digital art are scrutinized, along with the integration of crypto technology in devices like the Solana phone. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on these critical developments shaping the future of cryptocurrency. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  🔹 ETF Performance Analysis: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Competitors. 🔹 Circle IPO: Impact on Stablecoin Market and Financial Ecosystem. 🔹 Tether Controversy: Financial Backing and Southeast Asian Scams. 🔹 Vivek Ramaswamy's Political Future: Influence on Crypto Policy. 🔹 Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) in Crypto: Opportunities for Investors. 🔹 Crypto Casinos: Rise in Popularity and Move Toward Transparency. 🔹 NFTs in Mainstream Culture: Adoption and New Use Cases. 🔹 Crypto and Traditional Finance: Stablecoins like USDC and Tether. 🔹 Crypto Integration in Devices: Solana Phone and Market Adoption. Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Blockworks: Tether says UN needs more blockchain education in response to USDT report by Casey Wagner  UNODC: Casinos, Money Laundering, Underground Banking, and Transnational Organized Crime in East and Southeast Asia: A Hidden and Accelerating Threat CNBC: Costco sold more than $100 million in gold bars last quarter by Spencer Kimball Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise And Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux CNBC: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: Bitcoin ETF approvals are ‘stepping stones’ towards tokenization Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thursday was a momentous day in crypto as the first SEC-approved spot Bitcoin ETFs finally began trading after more than a decade of waiting, and by almost all accounts, it was a huge success, with more than $625 million in inflows on the first day of trading.  Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan and VanEck head of digital assets research Matthew Sigel joined Unchained to discuss their approaches towards selling their products in the market, the challenges of competing with larger firms like BlackRock and Fidelity, the fee wars and where those are headed, the importance of specialist expertise in the crypto investment space, and how Bitcoin prices might react to all the new supply in the market.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Why Matt Hougan regards the first week as a massive success for Bitcoin How Matthew Sigel emphasizes the costs and benefits ETFs offer to retail investors The strategic marketing approaches of VanEck and Bitwise aligning with Bitcoin community values The reasons for Bitwise's standout performance in the first days of trading, according to Matt Whether the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs will reshape the broader ETF landscape Matt's perspective on why some financial institutions resist Bitcoin, and their eventual openness to crypto Whether the established players in finance feel threatened by the rise of open source technologies Whether Gary Gensler’s statement after the approval is “totally crazy” Why data for the various ETFs in the market should be analyzed on a weekly or monthly basis The ongoing fee competition and how smaller entities can compete against giants like BlackRock and Fidelity Grayscale's strategies to remain competitive with higher fees and the possibility of launching a new, low-fee ETF How investment advisors might adapt to these new crypto products and the potential for mainstream adoption Matthew’s predictions for when BTC investors, both short-term and long-term, will take profits Why they are both closely monitoring Ethereum's performance and the prospects for a spot ether ETF in the market Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Guests: Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management Previous appearances on Unchained: Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck. Links Previous coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs: Why Some Brokerage Firms Are Blocking Access to Spot Bitcoin ETFs Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Likely to Finally Start Trading on Thursday  Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Will a Spot Bitcoin ETF Finally Get Approved? The 4 Factors That Will Determine Which Spot Bitcoin ETFs Win Market Share How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Approval: Unchained:  Spot Bitcoin ETFs Finally Receive SEC Seal of Approval What Officials, ETF Issuers, and Others Are Saying About the SEC's Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals Laura Shin’s op-ed on Unchained: Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are (But Mostly Aren't) a Big Deal for Crypto David Z. Morris’ op-ed on Unchained: The SEC’s Bumbling Bitcoin ETF Rollout Was Perfectly On-Brand First days of trading Unchained:  Spot Bitcoin ETFs Record $4.6 Billion First Day Trading Volume Spot Bitcoin ETF Inflows Topped $625 Million on First Day in ‘Phenomenal’ Debut, Led by Bitwise Vanguard Isn’t Allowing Customers to Buy Spot Bitcoin ETFs Visit Unchained for more links and details Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably heard that spot Bitcoin ETFs were finally approved by the SEC this week. That set the stage for 11 such offerings from the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, and ARK 21Shares to begin trading on Thursday. On this episode of Unchained, Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store; Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence; and James Seyffart, research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence discussed the initial record trading volumes, the mechanics of how the funds work, the botched roll-out process, the pointed commentary from SEC commissioners, the potential for future Ethereum spot ETFs and predictions for total inflows. Plus, they explain why brokerage firms like Vanguard, Merrill and others were blocking customer access to the ETFs. Show highlights: The initial impact and trading volumes on the launch day of the ETFs How BlackRock’s ETF, IBIT, had a lot of volume in pre-market and what that means Why Eric was surprised that BlackRock proceeded with a waiver for its ETF, but realized that it was “genius marketing” Whether there’s a problem that ETFs don’t trade 24/7, unlike BTC itself Why James says the spot ETFs are not going to have significant premiums or discounts to NAV  What the percentage premium is and how it will play out with spot Bitcoin ETFs Whether the SEC will ever allow in-kind creation and redemption Why Nate and Eric believe that the SEC’s denials of spot Bitcoin ETFs for a decade was “completely suboptimal” for retail investors How the SEC commissioners pointedly disagreed with each other in their comments and dissents The politics of the approval process Whether Ethereum spot ETFs will be approved next Why some big platforms and brokerages are not offering the spot Bitcoin ETFs How RIAs will respond to the ETF and whether there’s going to be mainstream adoption by advisors Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guests James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Previous appearances on Unchained: Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Likely to Finally Start Trading on Thursday Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Previous appearances on Unchained: Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Likely to Finally Start Trading on Thursday Will a Spot Bitcoin ETF Finally Get Approved? Nate Geraci, President of The ETF Store Links Previous coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs: The 4 Factors That Will Determine Which Spot Bitcoin ETFs Win Market Share How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval: Unchained:  Spot Bitcoin ETFs Finally Receive SEC Seal of Approval What Officials, ETF Issuers, and Others Are Saying About the SEC's Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals Laura Shin’s op-ed on Unchained: Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are (But Mostly Aren't) a Big Deal for Crypto David Z. Morris’ op-ed on Unchained: The SEC’s Bumbling Bitcoin ETF Rollout Was Perfectly On-Brand Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Welcome to The Chopping Block, where crypto experts Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner bring you inside perspectives on critical topics in the crypto world. In this episode, they're joined by Gwart, the caustic comedian of Crypto Twitter, as they explore questions like: What is Gwart's stance on the overhyped nature of DAOs and governance in crypto? How does Gwart view the potential and risks of NFTs, particularly Bitcoin-based Ordinals? The team also dives into the recent SEC Twitter hack - what does this incident reveal about market manipulation and the importance of cybersecurity? They then explore the competitive landscape of Bitcoin ETFs, discussing the implications of their fee structures. Finally, they consider the significance of developing crypto infrastructure that resonates with the average user, not just the niche crypto enthusiast. Tune in for an engaging exploration of these pivotal questions shaping the future of cryptocurrency. Show highlights:  🔹The concept of Ethereum alignment and its origins 🔹The SEC's Twitter account being hacked and a fake BTC ETF approval tweet 🔹Fees for different ETF issuers and Grayscale's fee reduction for GBTC 🔹The SEC's Twitter account being hacked and the fake BTC ETF approval tweet 🔹The potential use case of prediction markets in Taiwanese elections 🔹Imprisonment of individuals in Taiwan for betting on the election through PolyMarket 🔹Discussion on the concept of futarchy and its potential implementation 🔹The prevalence of centralized exchanges and their impact on user adoption 🔹Gwart's role as an observer and heckler in the crypto space 🔹Building infrastructure for onboarding users in crypto 🔹The dichotomy between the ideal of decentralization and the reality of user adoption 🔹Criticism of DAO governance and lack of significant innovation Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, Founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures Guest Gwart, Crypto Twitter Icon Disclosures Links Justin Drake on Bankless’ “57 - Ultra Sound Money | Justin Drake”: https://youtu.be/bWqhn1hXvVc  Justin Drake on “ETH’s Biggest Upgrade Since EIP1559 | MEV Burn w/ Justin Drake and Dom”: https://youtu.be/nb7x7n8Ga3U  Eliezer Yudkowsky – “AI Alignment: Why It's Hard, and Where to Start”: https://youtu.be/EUjc1WuyPT8   Eliezer Yudkowsky - “Why AI Will Kill Us, Aligning LLMs, Nature of Intelligence, SciFi, & Rationality”: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/eliezer-yudkowsky   Vitalik Buterin’s “An Introduction to Futarchy”: https://blog.ethereum.org/2014/08/21/introduction-futarchy   Arthur Breitman’s “Towards Futarchy in Tezos”: https://medium.com/tezos/towards-futarchy-in-tezos-54a7b8926967   “More arrests for betting crypto on Taiwan election via blocked website” by Jono Thomson (Taiwan News, Staff Writer): https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5070386   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s set to be a historic week in crypto, with the SEC widely expected to finally approve a spot Bitcoin ETF, although it’s not a 100% certainty. Two Bloomberg analysts who have followed all the developments closely since the beginning, James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, join Unchained to discuss the final filings, the likely schedule, and whether all the applications are likely be approved on the same day. Then they dive into the real action: the cutthroat wars that have already begun, why Grayscale might be keeping its fees on the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust so high, and who the likely winners in what has traditionally been a “winner take most” category will be.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What the recent 19b-4 and S-1 filings say about how close the ETFs are to approval Whether Hashdex's existing futures ETF impacts its treatment in the spot Bitcoin ETF process The likely timeline for trading to start post-ETF approval The possibility of simultaneous launches for all approved ETF issuers The SEC's concerns about ensuring a fair launch, informed by the BITO experience Eric’s surprise at JP Morgan's involvement as an Authorized Participant Why the SEC is approving the ETF despite Gensler’s stance against crypto What extreme cases Eric believes might cause the ETF not to be approved  How BlackRock's low fees set a challenging benchmark for competitors The potential for an issuer to offer even lower fees than current players How issuer margins are thin due to marketing fees, and the impact of waivers James’ theory about why Grayscale might be keeping the fee on GBTC so high Predictions about which issuer(s) will gain the bulk of assets under management The rumor about BlackRock introducing substantial liquidity on the ETF's first day Eric and James's expectations for ETF inflows and market dynamics Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Guest: James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Previous appearances on Unchained: Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Previous appearances on Unchained: Will a Spot Bitcoin ETF Finally Get Approved? Links Previous coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs: The 4 Factors That Will Determine Which Spot Bitcoin ETFs Win Market Share How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Fees  Unchained: Fee Competition Heats Up Among BlackRock and Other Spot Bitcoin ETF Applicants Caitlin Long’s tweet warning about no fees Fidelity set their fee to .39% Invesco/Galaxy chose to waive fees Market participants: Unchained: Goldman Sachs Could Take Vital Role in BlackRock, Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETFs: Report The Block: Nasdaq to meet with SEC today to discuss spot bitcoin ETFs: Source Reuters: BlackRock, VanEck among asset managers that submitted updated filings for spot bitcoin ETF CoinDesk: BlackRock, Valkyrie Name Authorized Participants Including JPMorgan for Bitcoin ETF Others: Better Markets’ letter: The SEC Must Follow the Law and Reject Spot Bitcoin ETPs Which Will Inflict Massive Investor Harm FXSTREET: BlackRock might be on track to create history with $2 billion inflows in spot Bitcoin ETF in a week Eleanor Terrett of Fox News’ tweet on Better Markets’ letter Scott Johnson of Van Buren Capital’s estimate Learn more:  Unchained:  Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? Why The Spot Bitcoin ETF Is a Big Deal Deciding on Bitcoin: Should New Investors Jump In Now or Wait for an ETF? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. The past few days have been a busy stretch in the run-up to a potential spot Bitcoin ETF approval by the SEC. Goldman Sachs was revealed as a possible authorized participant (AP) for BlackRock and Grayscale’s offerings, the SEC met with representatives of major stock exchanges, and a report skeptical of an imminent SEC approval likely caused a 7% decline in Bitcoin. Spencer Bogart, general partner at venture capital firm Blockchain Capital, joined Unchained to break down what all of these events mean, as well as discuss who the likely winners will be among ETF issuers, the impact of a spot bitcoin ETF on companies such as MicroStrategy and Coinbase, and how a spot ETF will affect Bitcoin futures ETFs and leveraged crypto ETFs. Show highlights: Why the newly authorized participants in the spot Bitcoin ETFs are critical for maintaining the ETF’s price alignment The reasons behind the excitement over Goldman Sachs becoming an authorized participant in the spot Bitcoin ETFs How the Matrixport report led to a 7% drop in BTC value The importance of seed funding for ETFs and its impact on their stability and growth The pivotal role of distribution in an ETF and why Spencer emphasizes its significance Whether the fees charged by ETF issuers will become a decisive factor for consumers in choosing their preferred ETF The potential impact of changes in the Grayscale board on its aspirations to launch an ETF How the introduction of a spot Bitcoin ETF might influence BITO, the futures-based Bitcoin ETF Whether the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF could affect the stock value of MicroStrategy Spencer's reasoning behind why Coinbase stands to "absolutely benefit" from the introduction of a spot Bitcoin ETF Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guest Spencer Bogart, General Partner at Blockchain Capital Links Previous coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs: Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Matrixport report Why the SEC will REJECT Bitcoin Spot ETFs again Jihan Wu’s tweet defending the analyst  Unchained: Why Did Bitcoin's Price Dip as ETF Approval Nears? Market participants: Unchained: Goldman Sachs Could Take Vital Role in BlackRock, Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETFs: Report The Block: Nasdaq to meet with SEC today to discuss spot bitcoin ETFs: Source Reuters: BlackRock, VanEck among asset managers that submitted updated filings for spot bitcoin ETF CoinDesk: BlackRock, Valkyrie Name Authorized Participants Including JPMorgan for Bitcoin ETF 8-As The Block: Fidelity, Grayscale filing 8-A forms show progress for spot bitcoin ETF applications Fees Fidelity set their fee to .39% Invesco/Galaxy chose to waive fees Grayscale: Unchained: DCG CEO Silbert, President Murphy Exit Grayscale Board  Learn more:  Unchained:  Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? Why The Spot Bitcoin ETF Is a Big Deal Deciding on Bitcoin: Should New Investors Jump In Now or Wait for an ETF? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, they are joined by Laura Shin, the host of Unchained, to discuss the latest post from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who argues that crypto needs to get back to its idealistic cypherpunk roots. Is Vitalik the Pope of crypto, as Haseeb argues, and is there even a need for such an exemplary-type figure? And how do other influential crypto folks like Solana’s Anatoly Yakovenko and Tron’s Justin Sun fit into this dynamic? The gang also discusses the likely imminent approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. and what it might mean for Bitcoin’s price and Ordinals Inscriptions. Show highlights:  Who won the group’s bet on what the circulating supply of PayPal’s stablecoin, PYUSD, would be at the end of the year The Orbit Bridge hack and how the potential involvement of North Korea could be a problem for the industry How Vitalik’s post urging for a return to the cypherpunk ideals sparked a debate within the community Whether Vitalik is like “the Pope of crypto” and whether there’s even a need for one Why it’s so important to keep the cypherpunk ethos, according to Tarun Why Tom believes, after reading Vitalik’s post, that the wrong lessons are being learned How Vitalik and Solana’s Anatoly Yakovenko could represent the religious leaders of two different approaches Whether Justin Sun is the “inverse of Vitalik” How GBTC holders are the most impacted ones given that the spot Bitcoin ETFs will be created and redeemed in cash Whether the SEC is picking favorites in the Bitcoin ETF landscape What could happen to the price of BTC if the ETF is approved Whether the rise in Bitcoin’s price will increase fees so much that it crowds out Ordinals Inscriptions Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest Laura Shin, journalist, author of ‘The Cryptopians,’ founder and CEO of Unchained Disclosures Links Cypherpunk ideals Make Ethereum Cypherpunk Again by Vitalik Buterin Quotes on Vitalik’s post on X Business Insider: 'Heed these words of warning:' Ethereum founder threatens to leave if the crypto community doesn't grow up The Block: Solana Labs CEO: It ‘doesn’t really matter’ if the network goes down again Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained:  77% of Financial Advisors Are Waiting for a Spot Bitcoin ETF to Offer Their Clients How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Should First-Time Bitcoin Investors Buy Now or Wait for the ETF? Signs Increasingly Point to January Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETF Applications Why The Spot Bitcoin ETF Is a Big Deal Deciding on Bitcoin: Should New Investors Jump In Now or Wait for an ETF? CoinDesk: Michael Saylor Commences Plan to Sell $216M Worth of MicroStrategy Stock Options PayPal’s PYUSD bet: The Chopping Block: Curve Crisis Concludes With a Whimper, PayPal’s PYUSD Raises New Questions Orbit Bridge hack Unchained: Orbit Chain Announces 'Significant Clue' in $81 Million New Year's Eve Hack The Block: Orbit Chain's bridge reportedly hacked for $81.5 million Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Unchained, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs, Nick White, COO at Celestia, and Chris Burniske, partner at VC firm Placeholder discuss the differences between modular and monolithic, or integrated, blockchains, with Solana epitomizing the monolithic approach and Celestia the modular one. They all agree that both approaches have their merits and will likely coexist, but argue each lends itself to specific use cases and developer preferences.They also discuss what will drive the next crypto bull cycle, and each gives their best predictions for a specific development in the crypto industry in the next few years.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Chris’s explanation of the modular vs. monolithic approach in blockchains What drove Anatoly to prioritize speed in Solana's architecture and its impact on the network What Celestia is and how it represents the first modular blockchain network Whether developers and users will gravitate more towards modular or monolithic blockchains How Solana, as one of the fastest blockchains, is gearing up to handle massive usage and scalability Why Chris views Celestia as a frontrunner in the data availability sector How Nick perceives the philosophical similarities and executional differences between Celestia and Solana Whether there's potential for Solana to transition into a modular blockchain in the future Why Chris believes that the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) might surpass the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) in user adoption What challenges Bitcoin faces in developing actual Layer 2 solutions, especially considering its "doomers storage" issue What could drive the next crypto bull market Top predictions for 2024 and beyond  Anatoly’s perspective on how a significant hack could pose a serious setback for the entire industry  Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network iTrustCapital Guests: Anatoly Yakovenko, cofounder of Solana Labs Previous appearances on Unchained: Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans Will Solana Be the Execution Layer and Ethereum the Settlement Layer? Can Solana Seize Marketshare From Ethereum With Serum? Anatoly Yakovenko on Why Solana Is Building the SAGA Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Previous appearances on Unchained: Two VCs on Why This Is the Perfect Time to Invest in Crypto 2022 in Review + How Cobie and Chris Burniske Are Playing the New Year Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market How To Value A Crypto Asset Nick White, COO at Celestia Labs Links Modular vs. monolithic Alchemy: Modular vs. Monolithic Blockchains Visa: Monolithic vs. modular blockchain Chris Burniske’s tweet on modular vs monolithic “The horrific inefficiencies of monolithic blockchains” by polynya Blockworks: A spicy salvo launched in the monolithic vs modular debate Unchained: What Is the Blockchain Trilemma? Celestia Celestia’s explanation of modular blockchains Data availability Data availability sampling An introduction to sovereign rollups Spot Bitcoin ETF: Unchained:  Why The Spot Bitcoin ETF Is a Big Deal Deciding on Bitcoin: Should New Investors Jump In Now or Wait for an ETF? Ledger ConnectKit incident Unchained: Ledger Library Compromised, Causing Confusion and Panic in Crypto Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, they are joined by Lucas Bruder, co-founder and CEO of Jito Labs, an infrastructure provider that mitigates the impact of maximum extractable value (MEV) on Solana — specifically spam and wasted block space. He and the gang discuss how the Jito airdrop this month helped rejuvenate Solana; how Jito differs from Flashbots, its counterpart on Ethereum; Solana’s potential scalability; and how Solana believers have been vindicated by the developments of the last few months.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  Why Jito is a crucial development in the Solana ecosystem and its potential impact on network performance What sets Jito apart from its counterpart on Ethereum, Flashbots, in terms of functionality and benefits Whether Solana's speed uniquely influences Jito's effectiveness compared to Flashbots Lucas' explanation of maximum extractable value (MEV) and how it operates within the Solana network, providing insight into its complexities and advantages Whether Solana's infrastructure could sustain block production if the AWS integration encounters disruptions How the Jito airdrop may have rejuvenated the Solana network, potentially marking an end to its "ice age" What recent surges in on-chain activity in Solana indicate about the network's health and user engagement Where MEV fees in Solana are directed and who benefits from this value accrual within the ecosystem Whether Solana dapps are evolving their architectures to mitigate MEV opportunities and enhance network security How Tarun envisions the design of Solana's fee market for optimal efficiency and fairness Whether Solana has the inherent capacity for infinite scalability and what potential bottlenecks might impede this growth Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Lucas Bruder, CEO of Jito Labs Links MEV: Previous coverage of Unchained on MEV:  Unchained: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate The Chopping Block: Why the Once-Taboo MEV Is Now a Core Part of Ethereum CoinDesk: What Is MEV, aka Maximal Extractable Value? Jito:  Unchained: Jito, Solana-Based Liquid Staking Protocol, Airdrops Governance Token Solana Validator 101: Transaction Processing Jito Block Engine Expands Access to All Solana MEV Traders Solana’s recent activity and bull run: Unchained:  Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans Solana Takes the Lead in Daily Stablecoin Transfer Volume Solana Surges to $84, Flips Ethereum in Weekly DEX Volume Paxos Bringing Stablecoin Issuance on Solana, Diversifying Beyond Ethereum Solana’s model: Solana Proof of History: How Solana brings time to crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take the Unchained 2023 survey! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. As 2023 nears its end, the crypto community is abuzz with speculation: will the relentless crypto winter give way in 2024? Crypto OG Arthur Hayes is confident that crypto is on an upswing. According to Hayes, these market cycles are historically recurrent, indicating a potential bull run in the near future.  In this episode, Hayes offers his insights on a range of compelling topics, from what he believes will be a resurgence of central bank money printing between 2024 and 2027 to the effect spot Bitcoin ETFs will have on crypto markets.  He also shares his views on the post-FTX blockchain landscape, the dynamics of Ethereum and memecoins, and why he thinks Tether won’t last.  Show highlights: Why Arthur believes that central banks across the globe might resort to printing money again between 2024 and 2027 Why he's anticipating a bull run in the crypto market within the next year Whether the financial system established post-World War II is on the verge of a breakdown What Arthur recommends investors should do in the event of a spot Bitcoin ETF launch Why he is confident that the launch of a Bitcoin ETF won't immediately lead to a massive surge in prices How, according to Arthur, the collapse of FTX actually validated the resilience of the blockchain ecosystem Whether the DCG crisis is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the crypto industry Why Arthur maintains a bullish stance on ETH and the Ethereum ecosystem, despite labeling it a “shitcoin” Whether he sees the use of the Bitcoin blockchain for trading memecoins (BRC-20s) as problematic Why Arthur thinks Tether's dominance will be challenged with the entry of major U.S. banks into the stablecoin market Why he firmly believes that AI systems will favor Bitcoin over traditional forms of money Why, in Arthur's view, China may not aim to become the issuer of the global reserve currency The investment strategy of Arthur’s family office, Maelstrom Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Uniswap Popcorn Network Guest Arthur Hayes, CIO of Maelstrom. Previous appearances on Unchained: Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH  Arthur Hayes of Bitmex on Why Countries Will Turn to Digital The Chopping Block: Arthur Hayes on Why Crypto Needs to Ditch the Banks How Crypto and Blockchain Technology Could Change Financial Services Links Macroeconomics CoinDesk: The Relationship Between Bitcoin and Interest Rates Is Breaking Down: Arthur Hayes Bad Gurl by Arthur Hayes The Periphery by Arthur Hayes Arthur Hayes’ tweet: “the U.S. banking crisis is back” Bitcoin ETFs and markets Forbes’ Billy Bambrough on Arthur Hayes’ hot ETF take - “If ETFs managed by TradFi asset managers are too successful, they will completely destroy Bitcoin.” Blockworks: Institutional custody of bitcoin could kill it, cautions Hayes Arthur’s tweet on cash or in-kind Bitcoin ETFs Unchained: Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Arthur’s meme on BlackRock  SBF and FTX White Boy by Arthur Hayes White Man by Arthur Hayes New York Magazine: The Original King of Crypto Is Back Arthur Hayes rubbed success in the Feds’ face and got busted. Now he’s returning to a shell-shocked industry. CZ and Binance Panda Power by Arthur Hayes Unchained:  How Binance Will Open All Its Activity to the U.S. Government Binance to Pay $4.3B Penalty to Resolve U.S. DOJ Criminal Investigation; Changpeng Zhao Resigns, Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges For more detail and links visit Unchained! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take the Unchained 2023 survey! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. In 2023, the crypto industry began with post-FTX fallout such as Operation Chokepoint 2.0, the failures of banks serving the crypto industry and the SEC's Wells Notice against Coinbase. Meanwhile, Bitcoin Ordinals brought innovation to the Bitcoin network, while Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade introduced new functionalities.  The criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried was the dramatic climax of the year, as lawmakers’ concerns about crypto being used for terrorist financing brought crypto into the mainstream conversation. The year ended with Binance's substantial settlement with the U.S. government and spot Bitcoin ETFs in the horizon, ushering in what looks like the beginnings of another bull market.  Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Uniswap Popcorn Network Links DCG Unchained: Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? Reuters: Crypto lending unit of Genesis files for U.S. bankruptcy CELSIUS Unchained:  7 Revelations From Celsius’ Examiner Report Why the Celsius Examiner Report Shows 'a Complete Disaster in Almost Every Way' Operation Chokepoint 2.0 WSJ: Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin The Verge: Kraken pays a $30 million fine and shuts down crypto staking in the US Unchained:  Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ Just a Coincidence? Coinbase and Polygon Lawyers See Bad Omens in SEC Crackdown Bitcoin Ordinals Unchained:  Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Are Hot and Getting Hotter. What's the Hype About? Bitcoin’s Daily Transaction Fees Surpass Ethereum’s for First Time Since 2020 Signature, Silvergate, SVB, USDC depeg Investopedia: What Happened to Silicon Valley Bank? CNBC: Stablecoin USDC breaks dollar peg after firm reveals it has $3.3 billion in SVB exposure Unchained:  The Chopping Block: Was Crypto Just Debanked? Why Caitlin Long and Meltem Demirors Are Worried About Crypto’s Future in the US - Cryptocurrency SEC Issues Coinbase a Wells Notice Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Reuters: Signature Bank failure due to 'poor management,' US FDIC report says The Verge: Silvergate has collapsed Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade Unchained:   Shapella in the Rearview: After Major Upgrade, What’s Next for Ethereum?  Staked Ethereum Withdrawals Enabled As Shanghai Upgrade Goes Live CoinDesk: What’s Next After the Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Known as Shapella PROMETHEUM Unchained:  Prometheum and Paradigm in Debate: Can the Status Quo Work for Crypto These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler Crypto Community Unearths Questionable History of SEC-Aligned Prometheum - Cryptocurrency Regulation SEC vs. Binance and Coinbase Unchained:  SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Including the Mishandling of Funds, Sale of Unregistered Securities SEC Sues Coinbase for Breaking Securities Laws SEC Sues Binance, Coinbase: ‘This Is Not the End of Crypto in the United States’ RIPPLE Unchained:  New Order in SEC vs. Ripple Over XRP Is a Win for Crypto: What Happens Now? The Chopping Block: Jake Chervinsky on How the SEC Has Lost Credibility CoinDesk: Ripple, Crypto Industry Score Partial Win in SEC Court Fight Over XRP Visit our site to see more details and links! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take the Unchained 2023 survey! Over the past year, the crypto industry has seen the rise of a new trend: the adoption of points systems.  Li Jin, cofounder of Variant Fund, says that while points systems have long been a staple in the Web2 domain, their integration into the crypto ecosystem could have pitfalls.  She covers how these points are currently being leveraged within crypto applications in the hopes of driving user engagement and retention, why they’re taking off now, and why they’re off-chain. She also points out that, if implemented poorly, they could engender disloyalty instead of leading to sustainable communities, and urges founders to be thoughtful about the design of these systems, especially about how points translate to economic value. Show highlights: What points are in crypto and their role in rewarding user behavior​​ Examples of popular projects that have successfully implemented points systems​​ Why points mechanisms are gaining traction in crypto, offering benefits of tokens without the downsides​​ Whether points, which are currently off-chain, will eventually move on-chain, and the implications for users and founders​​ How points can incentivize inorganic behavior, drawing from Li Jin's experience in the Web2 sector​​ The potential pitfalls of points systems and how they can sometimes create more disloyalty than loyalty​​ Identifying which crypto projects are best suited for using points, and the importance of product-market fit​​ Why keeping the economic value of points ambiguous can enhance user engagement and loyalty​​ Whether points are being used by projects to navigate around regulatory challenges​​ Future developments in points systems, including the potential of bringing points on-chain for a universal loyalty system​​ Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Uniswap Popcorn Network Phemex Guest Li Jin, cofounder and General Partner at Variant Fund Previous appearances on Unchained:  Will Every Piece of Media Enter the Internet as an NFT? Variant Fund Says Yes The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! Links Points Li’s Newsletter: Lessons on Points Programs for Crypto Apps Li’s comments on the topic:  Tweet 1 on points entering “the crypto app zeitgeist” Tweet 2 on points discounting the cost of the product Tweet 3 on points and product-market-fit Tweet 4 on how points can “distort activity” CoinDesk:  Crypto Points: Off-Chain Derivatives That Everyone is Talking About  Web3 Loyalty Programs Are a Trojan Horse for Good Crypto Policy DL News: Why DeFi protocols love to offer ‘points’ before airdrops  Projects using points Rainbow wallet Friend.tech Blast Blackbirds Marginfi Parcl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take the Unchained 2023 survey! Swan founder and CEO Cory Klippsten is all-in on Bitcoin. Not only does he believe that Bitcoin is poised to reach $1 million by 2030, he also thinks most alt-coins add little to no value and will eventually all go to zero. Accordingly, his company is a massive bet on the future of Bitcoin, from educating people about the world’s first crypto and convincing them to eventually self-custody, to making private equity investments in the Bitcoin ecosystem, to eventually planning to launch the first US Bitcoin-only trust company to create a safer environment for investors.  Here he talks to Unchained about his crypto journey, the likely impact of spot Bitcoin ETFs on crypto adoption and prices, his extreme skepticism about Bitcoin Ordinals, when he first knew Sam Bankman-Fried was a fraud and why he thinks that crypto VCs have done a “massive disservice” to the world. Show highlights: What Swan Bitcoin is, its origin story and the future trajectory envisioned by Cory Cory's journey into crypto, his journalism background and the shift to a Bitcoin-centric focus How Cory is navigating discussions with hedge funds, family offices, and insurance companies in anticipation of a Bitcoin spot ETF Swan’s Bitcoin-only investment strategies How lending and borrowing with Bitcoin is evolving Cory's private equity investments within the Bitcoin ecosystem The rationale behind Swan launching the first US Bitcoin-only trust company Swan's stance on financial privacy, especially after warning customers that banks might close their accounts if they used mixers Cory's reasoning for advising against "trading" the Bitcoin spot ETF launch Predictions on when BTC might reach new all-time highs Cory's perspective on Bitcoin Ordinals and their impact on the Bitcoin mempool The concerns about decreasing block rewards and the future security of Bitcoin Why Cory was convinced of FTX's fraudulent nature after reviewing the balance sheet that led to SBF's downfall Why he thinks that VCs have done a "massive disservice” to the world Thank you to our sponsors! Uniswap Popcorn Network Arbitrum Foundation Guest: Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin Links: Swan Bitcoin: Fortune: Swan deployed more than $200 million in 2023 building out institutional offerings such as Bitcoin-backed lending Protos: Some Swan Bitcoin customers lose banking access CoinDesk: BitGo, Swan to Form Bitcoin-Only Trust Company WSJ: Crypto Custodian Prime Trust Files for Bankruptcy Protection Decrypt: Swan, Coinbits Disclose Prime Trust Ties as Fallout Continues Cointelegraph: Swan Bitcoin to terminate customer accounts that use crypto-mixing services Bitcoin ETFs: Previous coverage on spot Bitcoin ETFs: How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained:  Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? BlackRock Updates Bitcoin ETF Filing to Make Access Easier for Wall Street Banks  FTX CoinDesk: Divisions in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Blur on His Trading Titan Alameda’s Balance Sheet Ordinals: Cory’s tweet on Ordinals  Unchained: Bitcoin Ordinals-Related Token ORDI Passes $1 Billion in Market Value Bitcoin Mempool Reaches Record Levels of Congestion Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Are Hot and Getting Hotter. What’s the Hype About? Bitcoin’s BRC-20 Mania: Is It Sustainable? Why All 10,000 OnChainMonkey NFTs Will Move From Ethereum to Bitcoin Learn more: What Are BRC-20 Tokens?  What Are ORC-20 Tokens?  How to Create a Bitcoin Ordinal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, after an incredibly eventful year for crypto, The Chopping Block crew makes its picks for the best and worst of 2023, including its biggest winners and losers, biggest surprises, best memes, best or worst pivots, biggest flops, best comeback stories, favorite podcast guests and predictions for 2024. Hear why some in the gang consider Solana to be the year’s biggest winner, Circle the biggest loser, MicroStrategy the best and worst pivot, Coinbase the best comeback and a renewed boom in crypto lending one of the top predictions for 2024.  Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Surprises:  The Chopping Block: Was Crypto Just Debanked? What Is Depegging in Crypto and Why Does It Occur? Flops: The Chopping Block: Why the Azuki Elementals Drop Was a Big Flop The Chopping Block: Michael Lewis Swindled, SBF’s Effective Altruism Ruse, Ethereum Protocol Enshrinement The Block: Worldcoin unveils integrations with Minecraft, Reddit, Telegram and Shopify CoinDesk: Future of Solana's Hyped Saga Phone Is 'Under Internal Discussion' as Sales Figures Fail to Wow ApeCoin DAO Governance Winners: Unchained:  SEC vs Ripple: Judge Rules XRP Sold on Exchanges Is Not a Security Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans  Bitcoin’s Daily Transaction Fees Surpass Ethereum’s for First Time Since 2020 What Are BRC-20 Tokens? A Brief Introduction The Chopping Block: Wizards vs. Laser Eyes for the Future of Bitcoin Memes: Dexerto: What is TikTok’s viral NPC fetish? New streaming kink explained David Beckham’s memes Favorite guests: The Chopping Block: Top White Hat Hacker Samczsun Discusses the State of Crypto Security The Chopping Block: How This DeFi Hack Negotiator Gets Hackers to Return Stolen Money The Chopping Block: Why Vivek Ramaswamy Wants Less Crypto Regulation The Chopping Block: Coinbase’s Paul Grewal on Why the SEC Is Going After Crypto So Aggressively Others Unchained:  Ledger Library Compromised, Causing Confusion and Panic in Crypto Community Vitalik Buterin Supports Integrating Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines Into Main Ethereum Chain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take the Unchained 2023 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Let us know what we’re doing well, how we can improve, what you’d like to see more of, and generally, how we can serve you better. The survey also helps us find sponsors whose products and services would appeal to you. Plus, participating gives you an opportunity to win Unchained merch! Five randomly selected respondents will receive one free Unchained t-shirt or mug — your choice. Click here to participate. Thanks so much! The long-awaited approval of a spot bitcoin ETF looks to be mere weeks away, and Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart joins Unchained to discuss the final issues and considerations, especially the battle over whether the new funds will feature in-kind vs. cash creation and redemptions, which appears to be one of the last main sticking points in negotiations between the SEC and fund companies. He also discusses the specific impact of an ETF approval on Grayscale, which runs the $26.6 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and why he thinks the SEC has thrown in the towel on trying to classify Ethereum as a security.  Show highlights: Why James views the multitude of potential issuers meeting with the SEC as a positive sign for the future of ETFs When James anticipates the ETFs will actually be listed on exchanges, which differs from their approval dates The crucial differences between in-kind versus cash creation and redemptions in ETFs and their impact on market dynamics How the choice of in-kind or cash creation and redemptions influences the overall cost structure of these financial products Whether the current actions of ETF issuers suggest a "bending the knee" approach to the SEC's preference for cash creations and redemptions How the selected ETF model will specifically impact Grayscale and the future of its GBTC offering The potential strategies behind BlackRock's private trust, especially in terms of integrating its Bitcoin holdings into its prospective ETF Why James holds a more cautious outlook for the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF compared to his confidence in Bitcoin ETFs Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Uniswap Guest James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Previous appearances on Unchained: Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Links Previous coverage on spot Bitcoin ETFs: How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained:  Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? BlackRock Updates Bitcoin ETF Filing to Make Access Easier for Wall Street Banks  Understanding the ETF creation and redemption mechanism Nate Geraci’s tweet on in-kind/cash James comments “the people want in-kind” James: “I think everyone is gonna have to bend the knee to cash creates and redeems.” Eric Balchunas suggests the SEC is only letting cash-create ETFs launch initially Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The record $4.3 billion settlement reached between Binance and the U.S. government over charges of money laundering and sanctions violations calls for the world's largest crypto exchange to maintain an independent compliance monitor for the next five years. Michael Dawson, a partner at WilmerHale, and Dorothy DeWitt, founder and CEO of Tolt Strategies, a former director at the CFTC and former general counsel at Coinbase, dissect the intricacies of this arrangement, delving into the roles and responsibilities of the compliance monitor, the potential impact on Binance's operations and the broader implications for the crypto industry. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what exactly is a compliance monitor, and why it's essential in the Binance settlement  which regulatory agencies the monitors report to and their significance why the DOJ insisted on including a compliance monitor in its settlement with Binance how Binance’s compliance monitor is expected to create a “ripple effect across the industry,” according to Michael why Binance, despite being a non-U.S. entity, is subject to a U.S.-appointed monitor Dorothy's perspective on why more monitorships might be appointed in the crypto industry going forward how much the monitorship will cost Binance and the factors influencing their choice of monitor whether the government will be able to discover other crimes with all this new information, which will be used by other agencies such as the IRS and the FBI who might be appointed as the compliance monitor for Binance and why Michael favors Patrick McHenry what constitutes the SAR lookback and AML program consultancy what could happen when the government gets to look at all past transactions what happens if the monitor discovers any wrongdoing within Binance whether the monitorship is likely to impact Binance's business operations advice from Dorothy and Michael for Binance's new CEO on navigating these challenges why predicting the future of Changpeng Zhao, Binance's ex-CEO, is complex, according to Dorothy Thank you to our sponsors! LayerZero Popcorn Network Arbitrum Foundation Guests: Michael Dawson, partner, Financial Institutions Group at WilmerHale Dorothy DeWitt, founder and CEO of Tolt Strategies and former Director of the Division of Market Oversight at the CFTC Links Settlement DOJ Settlement Text FINCEN Settlement Text CFTC Settlement Text OFAC Settlement Text WSJ: Binance Penalties Include a Number of Crypto Industry Firsts: The Treasury Department’s FinCEN is imposing its first-ever monitorship on the cryptocurrency exchange CoinDesk: Binance's Future and Other Questions Post-Settlement  Unchained: Binance to Pay $4.3B Penalty to Resolve U.S. DOJ Criminal Investigation; Changpeng Zhao Resigns, Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges Law360: Binance's Compliance Chief Is Optimistic About Monitorship The CFTC’s guidance on monitorships CFTC Releases Enforcement Advisory on Penalties, Monitors and Admissions Other monitors at crypto companies  Coinbase (independent monitor): Press Release- January 3, 2023: Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris Announces $100 Million Settlement with Coinbase, Inc. after DFS Investigation Finds Significant Failings in the Company’s Compliance Program | Department of Financial Services Robinhood Crypto (independent compliance consultant): Press Release- August 2, 2022: DFS Superintendent Harris Announces $30 Million Penalty on Robinhood Crypto for Significant Anti-Money Laundering, Cybersecurity & Consumer Protection Violations | Department of Financial Services (ny.gov) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The likely impending approval of spot bitcoin ETFs has already sparked a major rally in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but will the bull run continue once the funds are up and running? On this episode of Unchained, the founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor, Raoul Pal, describes why a spot bitcoin ETF is such a significant development, likening it to a free trade agreement with the traditional financial world. He also discusses what effect a spot Ether ETF is likely to have on Ether prices, the relative merits of Ether vs. Solana, the usefulness of BRC-20 tokens and why 2024 is likely to be a very good year for crypto and the economy as a whole.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: How Pal sees crypto as creating a new parallel financial system that a spot Bitcoin ETF will soon offer entrée to  what he believes will be the key catalysts for the upcoming bull market in crypto why Raoul is predicting a "very strong 2024" for the crypto market, including his outlook for the price of Bitcoin how he thinks investors and institutions will respond to the potential launch of an ETH spot ETF why Raoul is bullish on both Ethereum and Solana what developments in the Solana ecosystem are making Raoul particularly optimistic which network Raoul expects to emerge as the winner in the blockchain space why he views BRC-20s and Ordinals inscriptions as positive developments for Bitcoin Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Phemex Popcorn Network Guest Raoul Pal, cofounder and CEO of Real Vision Links Bitcoin ETF and markets: Unchained:  Bitcoin Surges Past $40,000 for First Time Since April 2022 Signs Increasingly Point to January Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETF Applications 77% of Financial Advisors Are Waiting for a Spot Bitcoin ETF to Offer Their Clients How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Learn more: Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? Ordinals and BRC-20s Unchained:  Bitcoin Ordinals-Related Token ORDI Passes $1 Billion in Market Value Bitcoin Mempool Reaches Record Levels of Congestion Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Are Hot and Getting Hotter. What's the Hype About? Bitcoin’s BRC-20 Mania: Is It Sustainable? Why All 10,000 OnChainMonkey NFTs Will Move From Ethereum to Bitcoin Learn more:  What Are BRC-20 Tokens?  What Are ORC-20 Tokens?  How to Create a Bitcoin Ordinal Solana vs. ETH Unchained: Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, they are joined by Samczsun, an anonymous security researcher at Paradigm, who delves into the intricacies of crypto security, ethical hacking and the shifting landscape of smart contract vulnerabilities. He also discusses his strong feelings about the “Code Is Law” philosophy and gives tips on how people in crypto can best protect their online security.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  what led Sam to a career in crypto security and his current role at Paradigm how Sam uncovered one of crypto's most legendary vulnerabilities why security experts like Sam choose the path of white hat hackers over black hats The craziness of the KyberSwap hacker's proposal parallels that Robert draws between this case and Avi Eisenberg's Mango Markets exploit what advice Sam has for the KyberSwap hacker  whether Sam, as a security expert, trusts storing his money on-chain how the Platypus hack ruling by a French judge challenges the 'Code Is Law' philosophy what the Security Alliance aims to achieve and its impact on the industry how Sam suggests individuals should practice personal crypto security, including the importance of using password managers and hardware wallets, and avoiding SMS two-factor authentication Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound and Superstate Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Disclosures Guest:  Samczsun, security researcher at Paradigm Links Hacks Episode with Ogle: The Chopping Block: How This DeFi Hack Negotiator Gets Hackers to Return Stolen Money Unchained: $48 Million Drained from KyberSwap in Hack  Kyberswap hacker's latest message Cointelegraph:  KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for return of $46M loot Platypus exploiters walk free after claiming to be ‘ethical hackers’ Code is law: The Chopping Block: ‘Code Is Law’ Is ‘Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever’ Unchained: The Mango Markets Attacker on Whether His 'Trade' Was Ethical or Not Thread by Gabriel Shapiro on the topic and Vy Le’s response Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Solana’s native token SOL has been one of the best-performing cryptos of the year, up more than 500% so far, but you wouldn’t have guessed that would be the case given how closely tied the blockchain was to FTX, which held huge amounts of SOL and was a big supporter of the platform. The blockchain also experienced numerous outages in 2022. But Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana’s co-founder, says the discipline imposed by FTX’s collapse, as well as improvements to the technology, have made Solana stronger.  On this episode of Unchained, Yakovenko talks about the impact of FTX’s collapse, his early impressions of Sam Bankman-Fried, the SEC’s designation of SOL as a security, how entrepreneurs are leaving the U.S. because of the regulatory risk, SOL’s share of the stablecoin market, and why he thinks it’s inevitable that finance will eventually run on something like Solana.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: How the Solana ecosystem weathered the FTX crisis How FTX’s collapse was like ripping off a band-aid for Solana Anatoly's initial impression of SBF as a “super genius” Why, despite SOL's strong 2023 performance, the Solana ecosystem hasn't experienced a corresponding growth in active developers What factors Anatoly believes contribute to the relatively low number of daily active wallet addresses in Solana How Solana addressed and rectified the outage issues that were so frequent in previous years Why Anatoly draws a parallel between Ethereum and Windows 95, and Solana and Windows 2000 Why he's not worried about Jump Crypto building a client for the blockchain The ongoing debate within Solana on open-source versus closed-source culture, and the potential for future shifts How the Solana Foundation is handling the SEC's classification of SOL as a security Whether there's a trend of developers and founders relocating from the United States in search of a more supportive ecosystem Why Solana holds a low market share of stablecoins across various blockchains, and the implications of this trend Why Anatoly considers trading volume a more critical metric than Total Value Locked (TVL) in assessing blockchain success How Web3 gaming has been flourishing on Solana Why Anatoly is confident that DeFi will find its rightful place on the Solana network The future plans for the Saga phone after its market challenges What Anatoly thinks is the number one focus for Solana for the near term Thank you to our sponsors! LayerZero Popcorn Network Arbitrum Foundation Guest: Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-founder of Solana Labs Previous appearance on Unchained: Will Solana Be the Execution Layer and Ethereum the Settlement Layer? Previous appearance on Unchained: Can Solana Seize Marketshare From Ethereum With Serum? Previous appearance on The Chopping Block: Anatoly Yakovenko on Why Solana Is Building the SAGA Links Unchained: Solana Saga review  Decrypt: Mad Lads NFTs Hit All-Time High as Backpack Taps FTX Lawyer for Exchange Launch  Op-ed by Anatoly on Fortune: Solana co-founder: 'To keep the next great American founder in America, Congress must regulate crypto. But first lawmakers should learn how it works' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang sits down with Ogle Crypto, a veteran negotiator in crypto hacks, to discuss the recent KyberSwap exploit, which involved an almost $50 million loss across various chains.  Ogle shares how he initially became a negotiator, including his first case in which he tracked down a group of hackers from Hong Kong when they fled to Great Britain after stealing $24 million in funds. Ogle also shares his negotiation tactics, the typical profile of hackers he encounters today and his empathetic approach towards these often young and financially struggling individuals.  Then the group raises concerns around the hype and marketing strategies of Blast, a new Layer 2 on Ethereum offering “native yields” that achieved $620 million of TVL in less than two weeks. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  How KyberSwap's sophisticated security was breached, resulting in an almost $50 million loss across various blockchain networks. Why Tarun suspects the behind-the-scenes workings of an organized group, rather than a lone attacker, in the KyberSwap incident. The evolution of crypto hacks towards more systematic and professional negotiations with hackers. Ogle's journey into the world of crypto hack negotiations, highlighted by a fascinating case of pinpointing hackers who had fled Hong Kong. Ogle's strategic approach to negotiating with hackers, balancing empathy and tactical communication. Profiling the typical hackers in these scenarios, focusing on their youth, origins, and backgrounds. Ogle's perspective on why he often finds a sense of understanding towards these young, misguided hackers. Assessing the crypto industry's response to white hat hackers: Are they adequately rewarded for safeguarding the digital frontier? The curious surge of investments into Blast, Ethereum's new Layer 2 contender, amidst swirling concerns and skepticism. Robert's take on why the Blast phenomenon could signal a troubling trend, surpassing the chaos of 2017, paralleled by Tarun's analogy to a “decentralized Herbalife.” Were Blast’s marketing tactics misleading or merely overly optimistic? Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Guest Ogle Crypto, Crypto sleuth and negotiator Links Hacks Unchained: $48 Million Drained from KyberSwap in Hack  Kyberswap’s hacker latest message HackerNoon: Mark Cuban's Bane: How Iron Finance's $TITAN Crypto Crashed From $60 to $0  Cointelegraph: KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for return of $46M loot Blast Unchained: Blast Surges to $300M TVL, Rapidly Gaining on Top Ethereum L2s Amid Concerns DefiLlama: Blast TVL Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vivek Ramaswamy is likely the biggest supporter of crypto among the current crop of presidential candidates. But his enthusiasm comes not from an inherent love of the technology or its principles themselves, but a dissatisfaction with what he calls the “administrative state” that’s stifled innovation in a number of important industries, crypto among them.  On this episode of Unchained, Ramaswamy discusses his radical plan to slash the number of people working at federal agencies; his three-point crypto policy plan based on the freedom to code as a protected form of expression, the freedom of financial self-reliance, and the freedom to innovate free from regulatory overreach; why the current orientation of the U.S. government towards regulation of the crypto industry by enforcement isn’t helping anyone; his plans to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities that could eventually include Bitcoin; why he’s so opposed to central bank digital currencies; and what industries he thinks could benefit from the use of blockchain technology. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how Vivek, who has a background in biotech, fell down the “crypto rabbit hole” how the administrative branch of government doesn't work like it's supposed to, according to Vivek why he believes the government poses a threat to the future of crypto how he would respond to a situation in which the code of a smart contract is exploited how Vivek would prevent the use of crypto for illicit ends why he thinks that the current status quo in terms of crypto regulation is the “worst of all worlds” Vivek’s plan to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities, potentially including Bitcoin why he is so against the creation of a central bank digital currency in the U.S. how blockchain technology can be used to help the U.S. maintain its technological supremacy Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Phemex Popcorn Network Guest Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 U.S. Presidential Candidate Vivek on The Chopping Block: Why Vivek Ramaswamy Wants Less Crypto Regulation Links Original speech unveiling his crypto policy plan at the North American Blockchain Summit 2023 Unchained: GOP Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Makes the Case for Reduced Crypto Regulation Bloomberg: Ramaswamy’s Crypto Deregulation Plan Is Scaring the Industry CoinDesk: Ramaswamy Shares Crypto Plan, Making Him the Only GOP Candidate Who Has One Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IRS sparked a storm of controversy when it released proposed new rules for crypto transaction reporting earlier this year. The new rules seek to define who is considered a broker, what types of transactions need to get reported, and the kinds of digital assets that need to be included, but many in the industry consider them overly broad and ultimately unworkable.  Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase, and Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at tax software firm CoinTracker, discuss the crypto industry’s specific objections to the proposed new rules, and what might be a better way forward. They also delve into how the regulations would apply to stablecoins and NFTs, potential blockchain-based solutions for the reporting requirements, and what the likely outlook and timeline for the proposals to come into effect are.   Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What the newly proposed IRS regulations around crypto are and when they are likely to go into effect what entities qualify as a broker and why this may pose a problem what the implications for the industry are if these regulations were passed the number of additional reports the IRS is expecting to receive if these regulations are adopted how the regulations would apply to stablecoins and NFTs what the five types of brokers are under the proposed regulations and the three types that they exclude, according to Shehan the unprecedented amount of comments submitted what suggestions Coinbase and CoinTracker have in mind for better tax regulation why Lawrence thinks that DeFi exchanges should be treated the same as centralized ones whether people should have privacy concerns about the new proposals what some blockchain-based solutions for tax reporting are, such as attestation tokens what the next steps for the IRS proposed regulation are how long it will take to actually implement these regulations Thank you to our sponsors! LayerZero Popcorn Network Guests: Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase Links Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto taxes, with appearances from Shehan and Lawrence: Everything You Need to Know About Filing Your 2022 Crypto Taxes Your 2021 Crypto Taxes: How to Handle NFTs, DAOs, Airdrops and More Everything You Need to Know About Your 2020 Crypto Taxes  Why You Shouldn’t Trust Crypto Exchange Reports for Your Taxes The IRS Is Cracking Down on Crypto Taxes: What You Need to Know  Could the Bank Secrecy Act Harm Crypto? Coin Center Thinks So Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (117th Congress) Proposed rule: IRS proposed rule text: Gross Proceeds and Basis Reporting by Brokers and Determination of Amount Realized and Basis for Digital Asset Transactions U.S. Department of the Treasury, IRS Release Proposed Regulations on Sales and Exchanges of Digital Assets by Brokers CoinDesk: How the Crypto Industry Responded to the IRS Proposed Broker Rule Twitter thread from Ji Kim of Crypto Council for Innovation  CNBC: President Joe Biden to sign the bipartisan infrastructure bill⁠ into law—here's how crypto investors will be impacted IRS issues guidance, seeks comments on nonfungible tokens Coinbase first comment letter Coinbase second comment letter CoinTracker comment letter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tiffany Fong has had an unusual route to crypto fame. After losing most of her life savings in the Celsius bankruptcy, she began posting on YouTube about her experiences and eventually received some leaked documents, which she shared with The New York Times and on her channel. The leaks gave her some visibility, and that’s when Sam Bankman-Fried began following her on Twitter.   Fong unexpectedly managed to carve out a relationship with the one-time crypto mogul, and after he was arrested last November, she chatted often and even met with him while he was under house arrest. From there, she became known for posting details of her conversations with Bankman-Fried and documents he shared with her, and went on to attend every day of his trial in person and do videos on them.   On this episode of Unchained, Fong shares why she thinks SBF opened up to her, whether she ever had a romantic relationship with him, her unpleasant encounter with Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother at the trial, why she doesn’t really consider herself a crypto influencer, and what her plans are now that the trial is over.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what Tiffany did before getting into crypto how Tiffany lost most of her life savings in the Celsius bankruptcy and how that jumpstarted her journey into the content creation space how she got in touch with Sam Bankman-Fried and got him to speak with her after FTX’s collapse the conversations Tiffany had with SBF during his house arrest  Tiffany's response to the rumors about a romantic relationship with SBF how Tiffany reacted to the DOJ reaching out to her for information before the SBF trial  why she decided to go to the courtroom every day during the SBF trial Tiffany’s unpleasant encounter with SBF's mom, Barbara Fried how Tiffany feels about crypto, and why she doesn’t consider herself a "crypto influencer" what Tiffany’s career plans are now that the SBF trial is over Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Phemex Guest Tiffany Fong, Crypto content creator Links Unchained:  RollingStone: The Crypto Whistleblower at the Center of the Sam Bankman-Fried Storm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang breaks down the record $4.3 billion settlement between Binance and the U.S. government — whether it was fair, the chances CEO Changpeng Zhao will face any jail time, whether it was ultimately a good thing for Binance and for the U.S., and what this changes for the industry going forward. They also delve into the SEC’s lawsuit against Kraken, and the drama around Sam Altman’s firing from Open AI and what it says about corporate governance and crypto companies.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  the details of the settlement between Binance and the Department of Justice  how a core part of Binance’s business model was to allow bad actors on its platform, according to Robert why Binance had to settle with the U.S. government even though it's not an American company why Tom believes that the settlement represents a "very bad lesson" whether U.S. market makers should be liable in cases like these how the crypto community has reacted to the settlement  what the settlement means for the future of the crypto industry  whether the new SEC lawsuit against Kraken is just a “copy-and-paste” of its suit against Coinbase The drama around Sam Altman’s removal from his role as CEO of OpenAI Why Robert thinks that the OpenAI board was “silly and dumb” What the problems at OpenAI say about its innovative governance structure  Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Binance Settlement Unchained:  Binance to Pay $4.3 Billion to Settle U.S. DOJ Criminal Probe; CEO Changpeng Zhao Pleads Guilty for Violating Bank Secrecy Act  Binance CEO CZ Released on $175 Million Bond SEC Charges Against Kraken Unchained: Crypto Exchange Kraken Accused by SEC of Violating Securities Law OpenAI The Verge: Sam Altman returns as CEO of OpenAI Unchained: Worldcoin Falls and Rises After Sam Altman-OpenAI Saga Haseeb’s tweet on accelerationism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to surveys of financial advisors, only 12% are currently recommending that clients invest in Bitcoin, while 47% of advisors personally own Bitcoin and a whopping 77% say they are waiting for a spot Bitcoin ETF to become available so they can offer it to their clients.  On this episode of Unchained, Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and author of “The Truth About Crypto,” explains how this should all lead to high demand once the first spot Bitcoin ETFs become available, although it will take some time for them to allocate. Edelman also discusses how FTX’s implosion impacted advisor perceptions of crypto, why investors have not been that excited by crypto futures ETFs, and which Bitcoin ETF issuers he believes are likely to be the big winners. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how regulatory confusion keeps financial advisors away from recommending Bitcoin to their clients how the collapse of FTX affected financial advisors’ interest in crypto, according to Ric how the knowledge level of financial advisors about Bitcoin is "extraordinarily low" why 77% of investment advisors are willing to buy a spot Bitcoin ETF why there wasn't a huge interest from advisors after the launch of Bitcoin futures ETFs the percentage of client portfolios that he expects they will allocate to BTC why Ric thinks there won't be huge inflows immediately after the approval of spot BTC ETFs how financial advisors will decide whose ETF to buy, among the 12 potential issuers why he believes spot Ethereum ETFs have great growth potential why he thinks tokenization might be the "next big thing" that will increase institutional activity Take the Unchained 2023 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Let us know what we’re doing well, how we can improve, what you’d like to see more of, and generally, how we can serve you better. The survey also helps us find sponsors whose products and services would appeal to you. Plus, participating gives you an opportunity to win Unchained merch! Five randomly selected respondents will receive one free Unchained t-shirt or mug — your choice. Click here to participate. Thanks so much! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2023 Thank you to our sponsors! LayerZero Popcorn Network Guest: Ric Edelman, Founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals Previous appearance on Unchained: Financial Advisors Control $5 Trillion in Investor Wealth. Are They Buying Bitcoin? Links Previous coverage on spot Bitcoin ETFs: How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The 'Low IQ' Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained:  BlackRock Files for Spot Ethereum ETF The Bitcoin ETF Is a Double-Edged Sword Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? CoinDesk: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF in August Got on DTCC Site That Just Belatedly Moved Markets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Unchained, Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, explains why the IRS's proposed broker rule for tax reporting in crypto could harm the crypto industry as well as the security and privacy of users. He explains how Coin Center thinks the IRS should accomplish its aims, and why that would even work for collecting taxes on DeFi gains.  Additionally, Peter explains why he believes the Bank Secrecy Act might be unconstitutional and how that could potentially affect developers building in crypto.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What the IRS's proposed broker rule entails for crypto tax reporting and why this could have a negative impact on the industry What responsibilities brokers in the crypto space now face Why the IRS didn’t use Congress's amended language from the infrastructure bill Why Peter argues that the IRS’s new proposed broker rule on crypto is unconstitutional and the principles at stake The alternative approaches Peter suggests the IRS could adopt for more effective and fair regulation Why Peter has concerns for crypto developers about the potential application of the Bank Secrecy Act What actions Coin Center is undertaking to advocate for changes in the Bank Secrecy Act to better align with crypto realities Why Coin Center is appealing in its lawsuit against the Treasury Department over the OFAC sanctions on Tornado Cash Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Guest Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center Previous appearances on Unchained:  Why the SEC Is Probing Yuga Labs and Coin Center Is Suing Treasury How Coin Center Is Helping Define The 'Big Fuzzy Gray Area' Of Blockchain And Cryptocurrency Law Why the SEC's Proposed Rules Affecting DeFi Could Violate the First Amendment Links IRS Crypto Regulation Coin Center: Electronic Cash, Decentralized Exchange, and the Constitution The Blockchain Association’s letter opposing tax regulations proposed by the IRS CoinDesk: How the Crypto Industry Responded to the IRS Proposed Broker Rule Patriot Act  California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz Bank Secrecy Act Coin Center: Broad, Ambiguous, or Delegated: Constitutional Infirmities of the Bank Secrecy Act Tornado Cash Coin Center: U.S. Treasury sanction of privacy tools places sweeping restrictions on all Americans Coin Center is suing OFAC over its Tornado Cash sanction Denial of Coin Center’s motion in its case against the US Treasury over OFAC sanctions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent Wall Street Journal article that claimed Hamas raised $130 million via cryptocurrency has sparked considerable debate, especially after Sen. Elizabeth Warren used it as her sole source to ask for tighter regulations around crypto. However, the veracity of this claim has come under scrutiny.  Yaya Fanusie, Jessi Brooks, and Andrew Fierman delve into the veracity of reported figures, the methodology behind them, and the subsequent industry responses that sought to correct the public record. They examine the political implications of cryptocurrency, its use in funding organizations, and the nuanced role of stablecoins in this digital economy. Additionally, they address the broader challenges in regulating crypto to prevent illicit funding, emphasizing the need for factual accuracy and a comprehensive approach to understanding and tackling such complex issues.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the Wall Street Journal article claimed that Hamas and other militant groups in Palestine raised $130 million via crypto why Yaya, who spent some time in his career doing research on terrorist financing, found those numbers odd why Jessi believes that there's been a loss of focus on facts and accuracy Andrew's explanation of the post by Chainalysis that corrected the record why it's so difficult to make a confident assessment of how much money is being funneled to terrorist groups whether crypto has become politicized  why is it so important to focus not only on the crypto fundraising but also the other avenues, according to Jessi the role of USDT and other stablecoins in fundraising terrorist organizations how North Korea is a much more sophisticated actor than Hamas in its know-how about crypto how the government has tried to respond to the illicit usage of crypto, such as the OFAC sanctions on Tornado cash the challenges to creating regulations to prevent the use of illicit activity in crypto Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guests: Yaya Fanusie, Director of anti-money laundering and cyber risk at the Crypto Council for Innovation Previous appearance on Unchained: How Widespread Is Money Laundering in Crypto? Hamas has been experimenting with crypto for years: Yaya Fanusie, appearance on FOX Business Jessi Brooks, CCO and Legal Officer at Ribbit Capital Previous appearance on Unchained: How This DOJ Strike Force Hunts Down Cryptocurrency Criminals Andrew Fierman, Head of Sanctions Strategy at Chainalysis  Links Fundraising report and corrections: WSJ:  Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto Cryptocurrency Feeds Hamas’s Terrorism Questioning Two Senators on Crypto Terrorism Washington Post:  U.S. to warn crypto firms against financing Hamas, terror groups  U.S. Cyber Command helps prosecutors seize stolen cryptocurrency traced to illicit N. Korea nuclear weapons program FT: Israel orders freeze on crypto accounts in bid to block funding for Hamas Fortune: Stricter verification laws in the U.S. won’t stop international terrorists from using crypto DOJ: Global Disruption of Three Terror Finance Cyber-Enabled Campaigns Elliptic:  Setting the record straight on crypto crowdfunding by Hamas How Hamas has utilized crypto, and what may be coming Chainalysis:  Cryptocurrency and Terrorism Financing: Correcting the Record DOJ Takedowns Terrorism Financing with Blockchain Analysis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang welcomes Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who discusses his mission to end the U.S. government’s regulatory overreach of the crypto industry, the parallels between crypto and the biotech industry where he came from, whether “code is law” is an appropriate framework for crypto regulation, how Bitcoin could be a check on the Fed, and how less regulation would actually lead to fewer, not more, instances of fraud like FTX.   Ramaswamy is promising to release a comprehensive crypto policy plan this week.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  what Vivek thinks about crypto and why he is interested in this topic as a presidential candidate why he believes the SEC is engaging in “unconstitutional overreach” when it comes to crypto what the similarities are between early-stage biotech and early-stage crypto investing whether current regulatory requirements create a "false blanket of security" how Vivek would act to make sure the SEC doesn't overreach how the system should respond to less regulation in terms of fraud and innovation how stablecoins can reinforce the value of the dollar and Bitcoin can help discipline the Fed, according to Vivek whether Bitcoin is an asset that the Fed should buy for its balance sheet why Vivek believes it was a mistake to abandon the gold standard in the 1970s the gang's debrief of the conversation: what stood out, where they agree or disagree with Vivek their reaction to the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Guest Vivek Ramaswamy, American entrepreneur and U.S. presidential candidate Links Fox Business: Ramaswamy woos pro-crypto voters, says he’ll build new policy framework for digital assets Axios: Ramaswamy goes after regulators at crypto event CoinDesk: Vivek Ramaswamy Is Drafting a 'Crypto Policy Framework' WSJ: Stablecoins Can Keep the Dollar the World’s Reserve Currency Decrypt: What Stops the Fed From Buying Up Bitcoin? Forbes: What Happened In 1971? Unchained: SBF Trial, Day 18: Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guilty on All 7 Counts in Swift Verdict Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, OpenSea, the former frontrunner in the NFT marketplace, confirmed the layoff of half its workforce as the NFT markets seemed to bottom out.  gmoney, NFT collector and founder of 9dcc, joins Unchained to provide insight into the once-dominant NFT marketplace’s fall from grace. He talks about the competitive dynamics that challenge the platform's market share and whether a token launch could help. In addition, gmoney delves into why the NFT market has been “abysmal,” what could potentially catalyze its revival, and how he thinks creator royalties will evolve.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: whether OpenSea 'rested on their laurels' after becoming the market leader whether the fact that its competitor Blur launched a token was a reason for OpenSea's fall whether OpenSea not immediately following other platforms such as Blur in making creator royalties optional led to some of its decline how gmoney wants to incentivize people to pay creator royalties  why the NFT market has gone down and what gmoney's thesis for NFTs is what catalysts could cause the next NFT bull run, according to gmoney how NFTs make it possible for certain groups to access new forms of credit  whether Ethereum can be displaced from its leadership position in the NFT market what gmoney thinks could revive OpenSea’s prospects Whether Blur's model is to blame for the decline in the NFT market how gmoney thinks Blur should act to retain its market dominance Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Phemex Popcorn Network Guest gmoney, NFT collector and founder of 9dcc Links Previous episodes of Unchained and The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Did Blur Cause a Decline in the NFT Market? The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy Decrypt:  Did Blur Really Crash the NFT Market? OpenSea’s move to make creator royalties optional for NFT trades Blur Overtakes OpenSea as Ethereum NFT Trading Skyrockets The Crypto Times: Blur Jumps Nearly 30% Within Days While OpenSea Layoffs Cointelegraph: OpenSea lays off 50% of staff with severance in preparation for version 2.0 launch CoinDesk: NFT Lending Platform Blend Sparks Concerns Over Ecosystem Liquidity The Information: Coatue Cuts Value of OpenSea Stake by 90% as Fund’s Returns Sag Axios: The fight over a shrinking NFT market as marketplaces foresee next big boom  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, they explore the enigmatic 'unhinged scale' metric, consider whether recent layoffs could have been anticipated, and examine the challenges facing the NFT market. They also provide a somewhat critical look at the events of the recent BAYC Apefest and share their takeaways on how Solana survived the Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX fiasco.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  What the unhinged scale metric is and why SBF ranks the highest in that metric Whether the companies doing layoffs could have predicted the market moves in a better way Whether people and the press are being too harsh on the companies reducing their workforce How the NFT market is a much harder environment than everything else, given the extreme volatility Whether the model used by Blur caused the value of NFTs to go down What’s more important in the NFT market: the supply or the demand The BAYC ‘Apefest’ that caused eye damage to some participants and whether someone sabotaged the meetup Tarun’s takeaways from the recent Solana conference in Amsterdam Whether the people who survived the Solana market crash are like ‘cockroaches after a explosion’ Why Haseeb believes that Solana represents the most incredible story in the history of Layer 1s Whether crypto gaming studios should focus on building ‘dumber’ games rather than AAA ones Why “nature is a Ponzi scheme,” according to Tarun Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Previous episodes of Unchained and The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy Decrypt:  Ava Labs Confirms Layoffs, Affecting 12% of Avalanche Studio's Employees Did Blur Really Crash the NFT Market? Cryptotimes.io: Blur Jumps Nearly 30% Within Days While OpenSea Layoffs Cointelegraph: OpenSea lays off 50% of staff with severance in preparation for version 2.0 launch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Unchained, Laura does a detailed unpacking of the historic Sam Bankman-Fried trial and verdict with defense lawyer Sam Enzer and former Southern District of New York prosecutor Rich Cooper. They discuss what a thorough job the government did in presenting its case, whether the government will pursue a second trial on campaign finance charges, why it takes so long for sentencing to occur, what the differences between this case and the Bernie Madoff case are, and what Bankman-Fried’s likely sentence will be.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the cross-examination of SBF showed to the jury that he was unreliable, according to Rich why the charge conference with the jury is important to the prosecution for “protecting the record” why the closing argument of the prosecutors was so effective  what “conscious avoidance” is and how the prosecutors tried to prove that SBF was guilty of that why SBF’s tweet last November that "FTX is fine" was the hardest part of the trial for the defense, according to Enzer why Enzer wasn’t surprised by how quickly the jury made its decision  what SBF’s strongest argument is for an appeal why Enzer "hopes" that there won't be a second trial against SBF and whether he will plead guilty to the additional charges why the sentencing occurs so many months after the verdict how this case is similar, but also different, from the Bernie Madoff case how many years SBF could spend in prison, according to Enzer and Cooper when cooperating witnesses such as Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang are likely to get sentenced Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guest: Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Previous appearances on Unchained:  Why SBF's Testimony So Far Has Likely Already Doomed Him Another Bad Week for Sam Bankman-Fried in His Criminal Trial Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge. How Might That Impact the Trial? Rich Cooper, Former SDNY prosecutor Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? Visit www.unchainedcrypto.com for more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Genesis creditors, BJ and Branden, who prefer to use pseudonyms for security reasons, spoke with Unchained about the alleged fraud by the crypto lender and its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). The discussion is one of the first times Genesis creditors have spoken with a media organization about the situation.   BJ and Branden explain how they gave more loans to Genesis after it took a $1.1 billion hit from the liquidation of Three Arrows Capital and how they then came to be members of the ad hoc group, a collective of Genesis customers who came together to try and save the company from bankruptcy.   They talk about how they now want DCG to pay back the $1.1 billion it owes over a shorter timeframe and to pay back any Bitcoin in actual Bitcoin. The discussion with Unchained followed shortly after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Genesis, along with its parent company Digital Currency Group, and Gemini Trust. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what NYAG Letitia James alleged in the lawsuit against Gemini, DCG, and Genesis how BJ and Branden became creditors of Genesis, including the role of the influence of MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor how Genesis claimed it got into what it called a “liquidity mismatch” how, after the Three Arrows Capital collapse, BJ and Branden were reassured that Genesis had "no issues" and "was back to business" whether the trading and lending units of Genesis were all part of the same company and why that distinction is important what the difference is between the ad hoc group and an unsecured creditors committee what the creditors are proposing in order to get their assets back why the creditors want to be paid in crypto, not in USD whether the case will go to litigation and what Silbert can do to avoid it   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Phemex Popcorn Network Guests: Branden, Creditor of Genesis BJ, Creditor of Genesis Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis and DCG: ​​Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? $630M Due Next Week: Is DCG at Default Risk? NYAG Lawsuit Unchained: NY Attorney General Sues Crypto Firms Gemini, Genesis, and DCG for Over $1 Billion Fraud The Block: DCG says it was 'blind sided' by NYAG suit in third quarter shareholder letter Genesis, Gemini, DCG disputes Unchained: Gemini Says DCG Missed $630 Million Payment Last Week Cameron Winklevoss Threatens to Sue DCG and Barry Silbert Over Delays in Genesis Resolution DCG Calls Gemini Lawsuit a ‘Publicity Stunt’ From Cameron Winklevoss DCG Calls Gemini’s Complaint a PR Campaign in Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit FTX and Genesis Reach $175 Million Settlement, Resolving Complex Dispute DCG and Genesis Reach In-Principle Deal With Creditors Gemini and Genesis Creditor Groups Object to In-Principle Deal to Resolve Bankruptcy Genesis Winds Down its US Spot Crypto Trading Operation Genesis Sues Parent Company DCG, Seeks Repayment of $600 Million DCG Proposes Remuneration Plan That Could Enable Gemini Earn Users to Be Made Whole Genesis Winds Down All Crypto Trading Services: Report Gemini Pushes Back on DCG’s Remuneration Proposal, Calling it an ‘Attempt to Bait’ Earn Users   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The downfall of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried from king of the crypto world to crypto scammer is complete. A Manhattan jury of nine women and three men took less than five hours Thursday afternoon, day 18 of the high-profile trial, to convict Bankman-Fried on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy for stealing billions of dollars of his customers’ assets.  “Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history, a multi-million scheme designed to make him the king of crypto,” said Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in remarks following the verdict. The guilty verdict came a year to the day after crypto publication CoinDesk published a story showing balance sheet irregularities at Bankman-Fried’s investment company, Alameda Research, that suggested the ties between Alameda and FTX were unusually close. Bankman-Fried now faces potentially decades in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 28. After listening to Judge Lewis Kaplan read through 60 pages of instructions, jurors quickly concluded that Bankman-Fried was responsible for decisions that led to an $8 billion hole in its balance sheet, including the use of customer assets for political donations, investments and his own personal use. Prosecutors had reiterated this theme in a stinging, Thursday morning rebuttal.  And jurors rejected whole-hog Bankman-Fried’s defense team’s narrative that Bankman-Fried was being villainized for being a poor manager who didn’t create sufficient risk management systems. They also did not buy into Bankman-Fried’s claim that he was unaware of the severity of his company’s financial problems and that his inner circle, three of whom testified earlier in the trial as part of plea agreements, were to blame.  “We respect the jury’s decision,” said Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, Mark Cohen. But we are very disappointed with the result. Mr. Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to fight the charges against him.” U.S. attorney Wiliams called Bankman-Fried’s crimes “ fraud” as “old as time,” and said his office had “no patience for it.”  He added: “This case moved at lightning speed, that was a choice, not a coincidence.” Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried closed their arguments with similar stories to their opening statements more than three weeks ago: a tale of two Sams. On Wednesday morning, day 17 of the trial, the government took jurors on a final grand tour of Bankman-Fried’s alleged lies, evasions and misdirections that they said aimed to hide the ugly truth of a gaping $8 billion hole in the crypto exchange’s balance sheet from investors and regulators, and that reflected his indifference to spending customer assets.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Roos said that as the person overseeing FTX and the separate trading entity, Alameda Research, to which FTX funneled customer deposits, Bankman-Fried was the only person who could have been responsible for decisions that led to the deficit – criminally so. “He told a story and he lied to you,” said Roos, who punctuated his more than two-hour presentation with metadata readings and time tables that seemed to devastatingly illustrate SBF’s ongoing awareness of his company’s financial debacle. But in the afternoon, Bankman-Fried’s defense team portrayed him in softer tones, as a math nerd with no ill-intent and guilty only of bad management, particularly his failure to install adequate risk management protections. Attorney Mark Cohen said that the government had failed to prove its case as it sought to create a Hollywood villain responsible for the disappearance of the funds, cartooning his dress and personal habits to make their case. At one point, he seemed to appeal to jurors’ emotions, reminding them that Bankman-Fried had lived a big life and now faces prison. Bankman-Fried faces potentially decades in prison on a total of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. The prosecution will have an opportunity for rebuttal on Thursday, and jurors could begin deliberating his fate before the end of the day..  Often raising his voice for dramatic effect, Roos highlighted earlier testimony from Bankman-Fried’s inner circle and Google metadata indicating his awareness of the balance sheet woes to show his involvement in the company’s oversight. Bankman-Fried testified on Monday that he was unaware of the problems, suggesting others were to blame.  And Roos used the time tables to demonstrate separately that Bankman-Fried had lied to Congress about protecting customer assets even as he paid off loans using them, and that he had spent heavily on investments, political contributions and personal items, even after he knew of the massive balance sheet hole.  “This was a pyramid of deceit built by the defendant on a foundation of lies and false promises, all to get money, and eventually it collapsed, leaving countless victims in its wake,” Roos thundered. Visit UnchainedCrypto.com for prior episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang sits down with guest Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures, whose tweet thread pushed the Wall Street Journal to correct its story that Hamas had raised tens of millions in crypto. Carter discusses the challenges in tracking how much crypto Hamas has actually received, the declining prospects for Sam Bankman-Fried’s acquittal, and ongoing dramas surrounding staking protocol Lido and decentralized exchange dYdX.   Show highlights:  Why the cross-examination has not gone well for Sam Bankman-Fried how the Wall Street Journal misinterpreted data and may have overstated the amount of crypto donations flowing to Hamas for terrorist activities  why it’s difficult to pinpoint how much funding Hamas has raised in crypto donations how extensive crypto funding for terrorists is believable to many outside observers of the industry, even recently some of its supporters in Congress, but does not reflect reality Why Hamas has decided on its own to stop trying to raise funds in crypto how Lido is upset at the way Layer Zero has pre-marketed its bridge why dYdX’s pivot to decentralization with fees going into its token is a positive development but does not give the protocol the moral high ground to attack erstwhile competitors such as UniSwap. Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Guest Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures Disclosures Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges  Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX Day 15: Prosecutors Hammer Bankman-Fried’s Contradictions With Reams of Evidence Day 16: In Final Cross Examination, SBF Gets Caught Again by His Own Words Hamas Unchained: Binance Helps Israel Police Freeze Hamas Crypto Accounts: Report Unchained: Bitcoin Slips to $27.4K Amid Escalating Israel-Hamas War but Long-Range Impact Remains Uncertain Nic Carter Twitter thread: Can crypto-twitter OSINT outperform the WSJ’s chain analysis? Nic Carter Tweet: Liz Warren wyd? The Wall Street Journal: The Wall Street Journal and Liz Warren double down on the Hamas crypto canard Washington Post: U.S. to warn crypto firms against financing Hamas, terror groups CoinDesk: The Hamas Funding Story Is Why Crypto Is Sick of the Mainstream Media Layer Zero/Lido LayerZero’s wstETH bridge deployment draws Lido DAO ire LayerZero introduces omnichain token to move Lido's wstETH across Avalanche, BNB Chain and Scroll dYdX Examining dYdX’s Path to Profitable DeFi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a second, consecutive day, prosecutors pounded away at Sam Bankman-Fried’s credibility, asking the former FTX CEO to explain his obliviousness about how Alameda had spent $8 billion of FTX customer funds. Prosecutors and the defense both rested their cases on Day 16 of the high-profile trial. Both sides will make their closing arguments on Wednesday and jurors could begin deliberating the following day.  While Bankman-Fried claimed that he thought “it was permissible” for Alameda to use FTX customers’ fiat deposits, he also admitted that he didn’t tell his employees not to spend that money or create measures to segregate FTX customer funds from Alameda’s. Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon also grilled him on why he didn’t look into who had spent the FTX customer money. “So it’s your testimony that while you were CEO of Alameda some unknown people spent $8 billion without your knowledge?” prosecutor Danielle Sassoon asked Bankman-Fried, who replied that he didn’t agree that was his testimony. Bankman-Fried later said that he had asked former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison to explain the $8 billion in spending but did not fire anyone. Under subsequent defense questioning, Bankman-Fried said that he had wanted to look ahead. Earlier in the day, Sassoon had honed in on Bankman-Fried’s allegedly close relationship with government officials in the Bahamas, and presented an email in which he said that the company had “segregated funds for all Bahamian customers on FTX and that it would be “more than happy to open up withdrawals for all Bahamian customers on FTX.” The communication came Nov. 9, 2022, a few days after FTX had halted customer withdrawals as awareness of its financial problems grew.  Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX SBF Trial, Day 15: Prosecutors Hammer Bankman-Fried’s Contradictions With Reams of Evidence Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a trial during which he has suffered many low points, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried may have reached a nadir on day 15 as prosecutor Danielle Sassoon used his own words to show stark contradictions from his earlier testimony and a seemingly callous disregard for customer assets. The tenacious, methodical Sassoon punctuated her more than four hours of interrogation on Monday afternoon with devastating audio and visual evidence of Bankman-Fried, including memos to himself, internal FTX and Alameda documents, and testimony to Congress that countered statements he’d made under his defense team team’s kinder questioning. In one instance, Sassoon showed a Signal chat in which Bankman-Fried expressed his interest in purchasing MAPs token, a direct refutation of his testifying that he “was not involved at all in any way” in trading.  In another instance, she illustrated Bankman-Fried’s alleged lack of regard for his Twitter followers, showing a screenshot of a Twitter DM with Kelsy Piper in which he admits to being insincere about his support for regulation that protects customers, telling Piper at one point, “just PR, fuck regulators.” Bankman-Fried claimed not to remember a spreadsheet with seven, different balance sheets created by then Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison to make the company’s balance sheet look better than it was, a key piece of evidence that Ellison addressed in her testimony. Sassoon presented Google metadata showing Bankman-Fried had read the document.  Dressed in a light gray suit with a purple tie, Bankman-Fried claimed repeatedly not to remember other events or his responses in conversations, and he answered other questions with curt yeses and nos, unlike the windy, often convoluted responses that he provided to his defense team earlier in the day and on Monday. And as Sassoon continued to catch him in contradictions, he seemed to grow irritable and occasionally rocked back and forth in his chair.  Prosecutors will continue their cross-examination on Tuesday followed by redirect for one or two hours before the defense closes its case. The prosecution will then call two rebuttal witnesses. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers SBF Trial, Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Enzer, a partner at the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel, told Laura that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried did about as well as he could in his testimony Friday but that he was unlikely “to withstand the scrutiny” of what prosecutors have already said will be a robust cross-examination when he takes the stand Monday.  Enzer noted that Bankman-Fried’s attempts to explain why he thought his trading shop, Alameda Research, could borrow billions in dollars of FTX customer assets “defies common sense,” and that the company’s own terms of agreement or any other communications offered no justification for this belief. A Thursday hearing without the jury present, in which the defense gave a preview of some arguments it wanted to make, ended up giving the government answers from SBF that it can now use against him. Enzer also said that Bankman-Fried’s contention that his biggest mistake – a failure to implement proper risk management – did not constitute criminal fraud, did not address the core of the government’s case; namely, that he lied about how FTX was handling customer deposits. Show highlights: why Enzer thinks Sam Bankman-Fried’s testimony is unlikely to sway jury sentiment or withstand cross-examination why the evidentiary hearing in which SBF testified without a jury may hurt his cause the purpose of the evidentiary hearing how Judge Lewis Kaplan hinted at what he thought about SBF’s testimony how Bankman-Fried is likely to fare against prosecutor Danielle Sassoon in what she has promised will be a robust cross-examination how the defense tried to recast SBF’s image by humanizing him why the defense now has the strongest grounds for an appeal than it previously did  what the jury is likely to make of SBF’s contention that he was in the dark about core allegations  why the prosecution said it will call rebuttal witnesses what a charge conference is and why that will take place after SBF testifies Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation LayerZero Popcorn Network Guest: Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges  SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers SBF Trial, Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Good Morning America: FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried on crypto giant's collapse: 'A lot of people got hurt. And that's on me' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Bankman-Fried took the stand before a jury for the first time in his criminal trial for allegedly defrauding FTX customers. The exchange’s co-founder and former CEO tried to recast the image that prosecutors spent nearly three weeks shaping of an executive who defrauded customers and dismissed the concerns of the three members of his inner circle, all of whom named him as their co-conspirator earlier in the trial.   Responding to his defense team’s gentle questioning, SBF spent large parts of his testimony, offering alternative, often long-winded explanations for actions and behavior that prosecutors allege demonstrated intent to evade legal and regulatory scrutiny of the business he created. He admitted to making mistakes, which supported his defense team’s “failed entrepreneur” strategy, and none more significant than a failure to create a dedicated risk management team.  Bankman-Fried denied committing any crimes or attempting to defraud anyone and said that he believed funds used for sponsorships, real estate purchases, political donations, venture investments and payments to lenders did not come from customer funds. At times, he attempted to shift blame for certain decisions on the inner circle, who he insisted had the authority to take action “on behalf of the company without consulting” him.  SBF described former CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, his on-and-off girlfriend, as a good trader and researcher who did not act on his stated concerns about the FTX trading arm’s exposure to market risk and importance of hedging. Ellison, who agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors, testified early in the trial that Bankman-Fried had asked her to manipulate Alameda balance sheets at Bankman-Fried’s direction to make them seem less risky to lenders and that Alameda had used FTX customer funds for its own investments. Prosecutors have promised a robust cross-examination next week. Whether they or Bankman-Fried’s version of events is more persuasive for jurors remains uncertain.  Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a recent report, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, predicted that inflows to spot bitcoin ETFs would rise above $14 billion in the first year following the potential approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of multiple applications the agency is considering. Thorn called the availability of this product significant because it will give financial advisors and wealth managers accessibility to digital assets in a way that will be acceptable to clients seeking exposure to crypto. He also believes approval of a spot BTC ETF could occur this year before the holidays, and draws comparisons between bitcoin and gold as investment products.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why Alex believes this is a significant moment for Bitcoin how, in Bitcoin, retail had access to this asset before institutions why Alex expects the spot Bitcoin ETF approved this year what the capital inflows Galaxy expects to be in the first years and how they arrived at those numbers  whether the addressable market will increase significantly for Bitcoin what will be the average percentage of assets adding BTC exposure why Alex compares Bitcoin to gold, and what he learned after comparing both types of assets how much the price of Bitcoin will increase after the first year of the ETF approval, according to Galaxy's report how the several spot Bitcoin ETFs will be differentiated  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Guest Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Links Previous coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs: Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The 'Low IQ' Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained:  Bitcoin Soars Past $35,000 Amid Spot ETF Optimism Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? CoinDesk: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF in August Got on DTCC Site That Just Belatedly Moved Markets 12 spot bitcoin ETFs in consideration by the SEC Galaxy: Sizing the Market for a Bitcoin ETF Alex’s thread drawing out highlights from the report Alex’s thread on the potential for a “gamma squeeze” CoinShares Digital Asset Funds Flow Weekly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a courtroom drama minus the jury, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) took the stand for what can be best described as a “test run.” The hearing aimed to help the judge decide what evidence will be admissible in the actual trial. SBF's performance under Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon's questioning was less than stellar. His verbose answers and frequent apologies contrasted sharply with Sassoon's pointed questions, at times making him appear evasive. The hearing also touched on SBF's use of encrypted messaging app Signal and his company's data retention policy. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the four discuss Bitcoin’s price surge over the past week amid growing optimism that a spot BTC exchange traded fund would win regulatory approval, an erroneous Wall Street Journal story about crypto funding to the terrorist group Hamas and AI and crypto illiteracy among leading U.S. lawmakers.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  the reasons why the price of Bitcoin has gone up so much in the last week whether Bitcoin is decoupling from the traditional stock and equity markets  why Robert is convinced that Bitcoin pumped this much due to the BlackRock ETF news what an ETF is and why it could be a big deal for Bitcoin whether the analogy to the gold ETFs works for Bitcoin how an inaccurate report from the Wall Street Journal about Hamas' usage of crypto sparked so much criticism within the crypto community why that crypto is not a good venue for illicit financing how the US political class is 'illiterate' about AI and crypto, according to Tarun Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Recent coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs: Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Bitcoin ETFs Unchained:  Bitcoin Soars Past $35,000 Amid Spot ETF Optimism Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? South China Morning Post: China’s stock market fund outflows add to biggest capital flight since 2016: Goldman Regulation: Reuters: US lawmakers urge White House crack down on Hamas use of crypto after Israel attack Forbes: Elizabeth Warren Is Building An ‘Anti-Crypto Army’—Feeding Serious U.S. Bitcoin Ban Warnings WSJ: Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto Cryptoslate: Crypto community accuses WSJ of exaggerating Hamas crypto funding by 99% Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Seyffart, market analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, and Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, feel quite certain a spot Bitcoin ETF will launch in the next few months.  First, the SEC decided not to appeal a court’s rejection of Grayscale’s application to convert its bitcoin trust to a spot ETF. Second, there’s been a change in the way the SEC has been treating the many other spot Bitcoin ETF applications—requesting miniscule tweaks in disclosure language. And even though other legal hiccups are occurring—the NY Attorney General’s lawsuit against Grayscale parent company, DCG, the SEC’s potentially renewed vigor in the Ripple case, and Cointelegraph’s incorrect tweet about a bitcoin ETF—the SEC needs a PR win right now. According to them, this means good things not just for spot Bitcoin ETFs but also, shortly thereafter, Ethereum ETFs.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why the SEC did not appeal a decision in the Grayscale case whether the NYAG lawsuit against DGC, the parent company of Grayscale, will affect the prospects for GBTC being converted into an ETF how likely it is that GBTC will be converted into an ETF and what needs to happen for that to occur why the SEC probably wants Grayscale to "completely refile," according to James why the recent changes in the ETF applications are "relatively modest," according to Matt whether the incorrect Cointelegraph tweet about a spot bitcoin ETF will be used by the SEC to bolster its market manipulation argument an overview of the deadlines of the different applications what happened at the launch of Ethereum futures ETFs and how it was different from the launch of Bitcoin futures ETFs whether the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF will pave the way for a spot ether ETF what the impact is of all the negative PR for the SEC and Chair Gary Gensler after losing many cases what the differences between the various ETFs are and how they will compete in the market Lightning round questions: volumes after launch, inflows in the first year, projections for BTC price Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guests: James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Previous appearance on Unchained: Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Matthew Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Previous appearances on Unchained:  The 2 Types of Investors Driving Interest in Crypto Bitwise’s Latest Plans to Get a Bitcoin ETF Approved Links ETFs: Previous coverage of Unchained on ETFs: Does Grayscale’s Win Against the SEC Mean a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Be Approved? Grayscale v. SEC: Who Won This Week’s Hearing? Why Grayscale Is Suing the SEC Over Its Denial of a Bitcoin ETF $5 Billion in AUM: Why Growth at Grayscale Exploded in the Last Quarter Bitwise’s Latest Plans to Get a Bitcoin ETF Approved DCG’s Dilemma: Should It Sell Its GBTC Holdings to Repay Gemini? Unchained:  Bitcoin Surges to $30K After False Spot ETF Approval Tweet Ethereum Futures ETFs See ‘Average’ First Day Trading Volumes Cointelegraph: Clarification on sharing false spot Bitcoin ETF news Redeem GBTC 🌽 Campaign Ripple: SEC Drops Charges Against Ripple CEO and Chairman - Unchained Crypto Market manipulation CNET: 23-year-old arrested in Emulex hoax SEC Charges Avraham Eisenberg with Manipulating Mango Markets’ “Governance Token” to Steal $116 Million of Crypto Assets NYAG lawsuit: NY Attorney General Sues Crypto Firms Gemini, Genesis, and DCG for Over $1 Billion Fraud Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the four discuss – and disagree about – Uniswap’s new fees, SBF trial week 3, and DCG potentially being taken out by the NY Attorney General.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  What happened recently on the criminal trial against Sam Bankman-Fried, including testimonies from Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh why Robert doesn't like the cartoonist and how Tarun is friends with a stenographer  how Nishad Singh confirmed what everyone suspected about the cross-collateral risk engine at FTX why Haseeb believes that the NYAG's lawsuit against DCG, Genesis, and Gemini is "brutal" how DCG resembles the Roman Empire, according to Haseeb what Robert thinks about the introduction of the Uniswap Labs new fees, considering he was in a similar situation with Compound Labs' how can companies that build open-source protocols monetize their efforts whether the implementation of the fees will reduce the total volume for Uniswap Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges  SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole Uniswap: Unchained: Uniswap Labs to Charge 0.15% Fee on Certain Tokens NYAG lawsuit:  Unchained: NY Attorney General Sues Crypto Firms Gemini, Genesis, and DCG for Over $1 Billion Fraud Reddit: Unchained: Reddit to Discontinue Community Points Citing Scalability and Regulatory Issues, Sparking Community Backlash Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Enzer, a partner at the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel, told Laura that compelling evidence from Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle had increased the difficulty for the fallen FTX CEO to convince a jury of his innocence. Former FTX head engineer Nishad Singh said that he became suicidal after understanding the full magnitude of FTX’s misuse of customer funds, while ex-chief legal counsel Can Sun helped show how SBF allegedly lied to lawyers.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Sam (Enzer’s) thoughts on how the trial is going for the defense  what Nishad Singh's emotional testimony revealed about SBF how Singh felt "betrayed" by Bankman-Fried, who may have been a big brother figure to him why the defense went much harder after Singh in its defense than it did the other members of the inner circle whether the jury felt empathy with Singh about his suicidal feelings  what the rationale was behind the order of the witnesses why Sam believes that the accounting professor Peter Easton's testimony was "damning" for the defense  whether the testimony of former FTX general counsel proved that SBF lied to his own lawyers why the communications between SBF and his lawyer, which are generally privileged, were divulged in court why Sam believes that it's likely that SBF will testify, although he would advise him not to Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Hedera Popcorn Network Guest Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Previous appearances on Unchained:  Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge. How Might That Impact the Trial? Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges  SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Good Morning America: FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried on crypto giant's collapse: 'A lot of people got hurt. And that's on me' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 12th day of the SBF Trial, former FTX General Counsel Can Sun testified about a $7 billion deficit in customer funds. Sun, who was responsible for crafting FTX's terms of service, expressed shock at the deficit and revealed that Sam Bankman-Fried had asked him for legal justifications. Sun also mentioned that Nishad Singh, a key witness and former head of engineering at FTX, looked emotionally drained days before the company's collapse. Sun's testimony took a dramatic turn during a meeting with Bankman-Fried and others, where it was confirmed that FTX lacked sufficient funds to cover customer withdrawals. This meeting solidified Sun's suspicions that Alameda Research had misappropriated FTX customer deposits.  The day concluded with Robert Boroujerdi of Third Point stating that Bankman-Fried had omitted significant details that would have altered the firm’s decision to invest $60 million in the now failed crypto exchange. That investment is now worth zero. The trial will resume in a week, adding more suspense to this unfolding legal drama. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The courtroom was abuzz on Wednesday as financial and technical experts took the stand in the ongoing criminal trial against Sam Bankman-Fried. Accounting professor Peter Easton, a standout witness, presented a detailed analysis showing that Alameda had spent customer funds on VC investments, real estate, and political and charitable donations. Easton, who had previously worked on high-profile cases like Enron and Worldcom, said that by the end, the gap between what FTX owed to customers and what it had on hand was $8.8 billion. The defense, led by attorney David Lisner, attempted to challenge Easton's methods. Lisner questioned the accounting of the fiat@ftx internal account, which tracks customer deposits. Easton admitted to lumping amounts owed to customers from FTX’s bank accounts with what was owed to customers from Alameda's bank accounts, giving the defense an opportunity to question his accuracy. The day also saw other witnesses, including a former FTX lobbyist and a Google employee, both of whose relevance was questioned by Judge Kaplan. The judge criticized the prosecution for wasting time with witnesses who seemed to offer little to the case. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On day 10 of the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, SBF’s defense team tried to discredit Nishad Singh, a key witness for the prosecution. Despite their efforts, Singh's testimony about FTX's financial mismanagement and Bankman-Fried's questionable ethics remained largely unchallenged. The defense's line of questioning focused on Singh's memory and inconsistencies in his statements, but prosecutors were quick to counter these points in their redirect. FBI Agent Richard Busick presented an analysis of Bankman-Fried's phone locations, revealing his connections to influential political figures like former U.S. President Bill Clinton and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.  Can this information impact the jury's perception of Bankman-Fried as the trial continues to unfold?  Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The third week of the criminal trial against Sam Bankman-Fried began Monday. Nishad Singh, one of three key witnesses for the prosecution, testified about the alleged misuse of customer funds and a toxic work environment at FTX, created by Sam Bankman-Fried. Singh's account echoed earlier testimony by former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX CTO Gary Wang and raised questions anew about the company's venture investments, excessive spending on sponsorships, and attempts to deceive regulators. Singh also described his growing concerns about Bankman-Fried's lavish spending, even as the company faced mounting financial difficulties.  Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Samson Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, and Greg Strong, partner at DLX Law, dissect the second week of the criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried. At this point, the prosecution’s star witness, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, has testified, as well as another prominent insider, co-founder Gary Wang. Both Enzer and Strong believe that it’s already over for the defense, but agree that the only thing that could turn it around is testimony from SBF himself—but that runs the risk of the defendant significantly increasing his sentence.  Find out how they thought the more salacious details of Ellison’s testimony, concerning alleged bribes to Chinese government officials, would affect the jury, and why Enzer believes introducing that testimony may have been risky for the government.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Whether the prosecution gave the defense any fodder for its failed entrepreneur theory How SBF and Ellison’s romantic relationship could affect the jury’s deliberations The jury’s reaction to Ellison saying SBF’s belief was that “don’t lie, don’t steal” didn’t fit into his philosophy of utilitarianism  Why the defense didn’t object to the mention of alleged bribes to Chinese government officials the first time Why the defense attorney complained about photos shown of SBF and his hair How the jury might react to the testimony involving alleged Chinese government bribes, Thai prostitutes, and Saudi prince How Ellison crying in her testimony could affect the jury Why the defense didn’t ask Ellison about not hedging  Why the cross-examination of Gary Wang was limited in its success for the defense What caused a moment of tension between Zac Prince and the defense Why Greg and Sam think SBF shouldn’t testify, but believe it’s his only, very risky, chance  If convicted, how many years do they think SBF’s prison sentence will be? Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guests: Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Previous appearances on Unchained:  SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge. How Might That Impact the Trial? Greg Strong, partner at DLx Law Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges  SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge. How Might That Impact the Trial? Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Go deeper into the trial:  Unchained: In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Cooperating Witnesses in the SBF Trial May Get Little to No Prison Time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eighth day of the SBF trial, former BlockFi CEO Zac Prince took the stand, serving as a strong witness for the defense, while offering a detailed look into how Alameda Research's borrowing from FTX differed from traditional crypto lending, and the impact of FTX’s and Alameda’s collapse on BlockFi, which subsequently filed for bankruptcy. The defense team tried to pin BlockFi’s loans to Alameda on BlockFi executives ignoring advice from its own credit team, but Prince twice corrected defense attorney Mark Cohen that, for the document in question, the executives did follow the advice of their credit team. The defense also tried to raise the notion that BlockFi would have declared bankruptcy no matter what had happened with FTX and Alameda, but Prince also held his ground that the collapse of SBF’s empire resulted in BlockFi’s own bankruptcy. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here’s Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second week of Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial is underway, bringing emotional testimony from SBF’s ex-girlfriend and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, along with some surprising stories about alleged bribes to Chinese officials and discussion about reaching out to the Saudi Crown Prince for help. Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy at TRM Labs, discusses why the question of who was actually in charge is so critical to the case, the defense’s strategy to discredit Caroline Ellison, and why sidebars in the courtroom can get so heated.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Why Caroline Ellison is a critical witness on a "number of levels," according to Ari What a software developer at FTX revealed about whether SBF was directing trades Why a lawyer’s body language is something the jury looks out for  Why there have been so many sidebars in the trial and why they can sometimes get heated  The reason why the lawyers, particularly the defense team, have been so repetitive with their questions Considering the long prison sentence SBF is facing, why Ari "doesn't understand" SBF’s decision to push forward with the trial  Whether, after three days of testimonies, Ellison has come out as a credible witness for the jury Why the defense is facing an "uphill fight" and whether testimony from SBF would serve as a final Hail Mary for them Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Hedera Popcorn Network Guest Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy at TRM Labs. Previous appearances on Unchained:  Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says Yes The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge. How Might That Impact the Trial? Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Go deeper into the trial:  In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Cooperating Witnesses in the SBF Trial May Get Little to No Prison Time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Day seven of Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial saw the defense team unable to discredit Caroline Ellison, despite multiple attempts. The defense's questions often seemed aimless, failing to draw any substantial conclusions. Ellison remained steadfast, revealing that SBF had plans to buy Telegram around the time Alameda "borrowed" $14 billion of FTX customer money. Defense attorney Mark Cohen tried to portray Ellison as the one in charge of Alameda, but she clarified that SBF was the ultimate decision-maker. Ellison also disclosed that she had considered resigning from Alameda but was persuaded by SBF to stay, emphasizing his control over the firm. The day continued with testimony from Christian Drappi, a former Alameda employee, who corroborated Ellison's account. Zac Prince, founder of the bankrupt crypto lending firm BlockFi, briefly took the stand, setting the stage for his testimony to continue the next day. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here’s Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and chop it up about the latest news. This week, the crew is joined by Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, to talk about the key points in the criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried and his lackluster defense strategy so far. They also delve into Michael Lewis’ book and his depictions of SBF’s “lore and backstory,” and discuss how SBF’s “quirks of character” may have actually enticed investors. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  How Haseeb's previous comments on Sam Bankman-Fried’s intentions "didn't age well" after developments in the trial Why Gabriel believes that SBF is a "sociopath" and should have taken a plea deal if offered Shortcomings in the defense’s strategy and why Gabriel believes they’re “grasping at straws” How the fake numbers of FTX insurance fund highlight the weaknesses of a centralized exchange Why Matt Huang, cofounder of VC firm Paradigm, agreed to testify in such a high-profile trial, and why Haseeb as a VC himself wouldn't have done it Whether SBF understood the technical components of crypto and why he sounded like ChatGPT in his responses, according to Tarun Whether VCs are to blame for investing in FTX or what lessons VCs need to take away from the SBF debacle.  The differences and similarities between SBF and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Gabriel Shapiro, General counsel of Delphi Labs Previous appearances on Unchained: Are DAOs Strong Enough to Survive the Regulators? What Does Mango Markets Exploiter Avi Eisenberg’s Arrest in Puerto Rico Mean for DeFi? Disclosures Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF’s Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge. How Might That Impact the Trial? Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect FTX Used a Fake Number to Beef Up Its Insurance Fund: Gary Wang Previous coverage of the trial elsewhere:  NYT: What FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and J.P. Morgan Have in Common Forbes: Sam Bankman-Fried Knew Plenty About His Alameda Research Hedge Fund–And Sent Details To Forbes Just Months Ago Tarun's tweet on insurance funds being onchain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Day 6 of the SBF trial was marked by emotional testimony from Caroline Ellison, who shed tears as she detailed the financial chaos within Alameda and FTX. She also recounted dramatic incidents such as an alleged bribe by Alameda to a Chinese government official, creating accounts using the IDs of Thai prostitutes, and an attempt to raise money by selling FTX shares to a Saudi prince. Ellison discussed the financial turmoil that began with the crypto market crash and how it led to desperate actions, allegedly directed by SBF. She revealed the manipulation of balance sheets, the use of FTX customer funds for risky investments, and the ethical compromises made to keep Alameda afloat. The day also delved into the secretive culture within Alameda and FTX, highlighting the use of disappearing messages on Signal for sensitive discussions, and what was really happening behind the scenes as FTX began to implode.  Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here’s Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research and SBF's ex-partner, took the stand to reveal the alleged financial mismanagement at Alameda and FTX, which she claimed was at Bankman-Fried’s direction. The cross examination of Gary Wang finally began to show how SBF’s lawyers plan to defend him, though Wang largely appeared to be a yes man who simply trusted and followed his friend and co-founder. Ellison's revelations included Alameda's hidden trading of FTT to prop up its price, her warnings to SBF about Alameda’s inability to pay back its lenders if he put billions more into venture investments, and his views on risk and “expected value.” For instance, she claimed he said if, with a coin toss came up tails and would mean Earth’s destruction, he would toss the coin if there it was twice as likely that it would more than double prosperity on Earth. However, her testimony seemed designed to preemptively rebut the defense’s potential argument that Alameda needed to borrow customer funds because she had not hedged.  Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage:  Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here’s Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first week of the criminal trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has come to a close, with his former friends and FTX colleagues Adam Yedidia and Gary Wang delivering powerful testimonies that are forming the foundations for the prosecution’s arguments — arguments that the defense may have a difficult time surmounting. Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, and Brian Klein, partner at Waymaker, discuss Alameda’s special privileges coded into the FTX software, the reason why a scorched FTX customer may have been chosen as the first witness, and why upcoming key witnesses are going to be a “real problem” for the defense. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What we learned about the prosecution and defenses strategies after the first week of the trial How the jury being mostly professionals may impact deliberations Why Brian believes someone “out of the mainstream” would make an ideal juror for the defense Why Sam believes the defense’s opening was stronger than the prosecution’s Which arguments may be the most difficult for Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers to defend Why the defense’s “building a plane as you’re flying” analogy may come back to hurt them in closing Why Sam believes the order of the witness testimony so far is helping the prosecution build the foundation of its case Whether Adam Yedidia’s testimony was effective at establishing him as a credible witness Whether the fact that some witnesses are cooperating to avoid jail time will impact the jury’s decision What Gary Wang, former CTO of FTX, revealed about Alameda's special privileges coded into FTX software and how it wasn’t an “oversight” Whether Judge Kaplan is growing impatient with the defense Whether the prosecution's objections were sustained reasonably by Judge Kaplan Why upcoming insider witnesses pose a “real problem” to the defense Why it's "not even an open question" that the defense team will appeal if they lose the case Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guest: Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Previous appearance on Unchained: SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case Brian Klein, partner at Waymaker Previous appearance on Unchained: SBF Behind Bars: Why Revoked Bail Is a Big Deal for Crypto’s Biggest Trial Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura reports on the testimony of Gary Wang on Thursday, who described Alameda’s special privileges that were programmed into FTX’s code as early as July 2019, a few months after the exchange launched.  These privileges included Alameda’s ability to have a negative balance on its FTX account. This meant that Alameda was able to transfer and withdraw more funds than it had, essentially “borrowing from the exchange.” Those funds, Wang said, belonged to FTX customers, and at the time that FTX declared bankruptcy, Alameda had borrowed $8 billion from the exchange.  Wang said Alameda had a $65 billion line of credit — far higher than any other customer on the exchange. He also revealed details about FTT, the cryptocurrency that FTX had created, and the concerns that were raised about how the tokens were allegedly used to boost Alameda’s balance on the site. If you need to catch up, don’t miss our recent coverage on the trial: SBF Trial, Day 3: Long-Time Friend Says, ‘FTX Defrauded All of Its Customers’ SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ: Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ His Way to ‘Wealth, Power, and Influence’ SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The blockbuster trial of Sam Bankman-Fried wrapped up its third day, with multiple witnesses, including former FTX software developer Adam Yedidia, Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang, taking the witness stand. Joshua Ashley Klayman, Senior Counsel, U.S. Head of FinTech and Head of Blockchain & Digital Assets at Linklaters, discusses the main takeaways from the trial so far, the surprising testimonies given by former close associates of SBF, and how the prosecution and defense plan to paint a picture of who SBF is to the jury. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What Josh's biggest takeaways from the trial are so far Why Josh felt that the jury had “a lot to take in” in order to understand the basics of the case Whether the different backgrounds of the jury will affect the outcome of the trial Why the prosecution is arguing that regardless of the technical aspects of the case, the key issue is fraud How the defense plans to argue that SBF did not intend to defraud investors Why the selection of the first witness, a former FTX customer, is an "interesting" choice, according to Josh What is the fiat@ftx.com account and how it contributed to FTX’s undoing How they discovered the $8 billion hole in the FTX balance sheet and SBF's reaction at the time What an email revealed about the lack of corporate governance in FTX and Alameda Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Hedera Popcorn Network Guest Joshua Ashley Klayman, Senior Counsel, U.S. Head of FinTech and Head of Blockchain & Digital Assets at Linklaters Previous appearances on Unchained: Gary Gensler vs. Crypto: What Will the SEC Attack Next? How Crypto And Blockchain Technology Should Be Regulated Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura reports on the testimony of three witnesses on Thursday, including one who declared that “FTX defrauded all of its customers” and another stating that he had committed financial crimes at the direction of Sam Bankman-Fried.   Former FTX software developer Adam Yedidia, Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, and FTX and Alameda co-founder Gary Wang filled in the details of different aspects of FTX and Alameda’s business. Huang’s testimony detailed how Paradigm expressed concern about FTX’s lack of corporate controls and how the company was “owned and controlled by Sam.” Wang has only started his testimony but has already said he implemented advantages for Alameda into FTX’s code at Bankman-Fried’s direction.  Yedidia’s account had the most emotional details, describing how he had a strong belief in the company, to the point where, when employees began leaving FTX, he had messaged Bankman-Fried that he loved him and wasn’t going anywhere, but that it flipped once he realized “FTX defrauded all of its customers.” Find out what new information caused him to have a change of heart in this episode.  If you need to catch up, don’t miss our recent coverage on the trial: SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ: Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ His Way to ‘Wealth, Power, and Influence’ SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura reports on the opening statements of the prosecution and defense, which painted a portrait of Sam Bankman-Fried as power-hungry and discussed how he allegedly managed to fumble customer funds.  Next witnesses are set to include Matt Huang, cofounder and managing partner at crypto VC firm Paradigm, and Gary Wang, former CTO of FTX.  Tune in to get the latest updates and insights on a case that could have far-reaching implications for the crypto industry. If you need to catch up, don’t miss our recent coverage on the trial: SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect In the SBF Case, Elite Corruption Is What’s Really on Trial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, they discuss the wildest claims in Michael Lewis’ new book on Sam Bankman-Fried, debate whether SBF’s effective altruism was ever genuine, and whether Ethereum should enshrine more features onto its protocol. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  Michael Lewis’ interview on “60 Minutes” and the wildest claims in his new book Whether SBF would have paid Donald Trump $5 billion not to run for president  Why Lewis characterizing FTX’s downfall as a bank run is misleading Whether FTX executives, in the moment of the collapse, fled to their parents’ homes Was SBF genuine in his belief in effective altruism or was it clever branding Whether we will still be talking about the SBF trial years down the line The debate on whether Ethereum should enshrine more features onto its core protocol Whether Lido poses a centralization risk to the Ethereum ecosystem Predictions on how the SBF trial will play out and whether SBF has a trick up his sleeve Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links SBF’s trial:  Unchained:  Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect CBS: Rise, fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX at center of Michael Lewis' new book | 60 Minutes Protocol enshrinement: Unchained:  Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Warns of Risks in Lido and Rocket Pool Some Ethereum Staking Services Commit to 22% Self-Limit of Validators Others: Cryptoslate: Terra's Do Kwon and Daniel Shin conspired to falsify transactions, chat logs show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura reports on a noticeably composed Bankman-Fried and delves into the jury de-selection process, revealing potential jurors with surprising crypto ties. The government's stance on a plea deal is finally clarified, and a long list of potential witnesses from the crypto world is unveiled. Tune in to get the latest updates and insights on a case that could have far-reaching implications for the crypto industry. If you need to catch up, don’t miss our recent coverage on the trial: Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The high-stakes trial of Sam Bankman-Fried is set to begin on October 3, and the FTX founder and former CEO will have to answer for his role in the cryptocurrency exchange’s downfall, which led to billions in losses. Both the prosecution and defense are currently preparing for what is set to be a significant milestone for the crypto industry. Kayvan Sadeghi, partner at Jenner & Block and Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, discuss the differences between a civil and criminal trial, what the jury selection process might look like, and what arguments the prosecution and defense might use to support their cases.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: The difference between a civil and criminal trial and why it's difficult for the defense to prepare while Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail Whether SBF was offered a plea deal and if so, why he didn't take it What the process of vetting jurors looks like and what both sides are looking for What a pre-opening jury charge is and why Judge Lewis A. Kaplan might choose to use it The importance of intent when it comes to SBF’s charges The pros and cons of the defense using the argument that the FTX founder was receiving poor legal advice What charges SBF is facing and whether the defense or prosecution has the upper hand How the opening statements of both the prosecution and the defense might play out Whether SBF will be put on the stand and why that could be a "dangerous" move, according to Sam How the defense could respond to testimony from key witnesses like Caroline Ellison or Gary Wang How Judge Kaplan being a "tough sentencer" could impact SBF’s jail sentence, according to Sam Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guests: Kayvan Sadeghi, partner and co-chair of Fintech & Crypto Assets at Jenner & Block Previous appearance on Unchained: Why the SEC vs. Ripple Order Is Now About 2 Things: Coinbase and Congress Samson Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Links Previous coverage from Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out Why FTX Might Try to Claw Back Funds From Retail Customers How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Details of the trial: Unchained: FTX: The Exchange That Brought Down the Industry CoinDesk:  Here's the Sam Bankman-Fried Trial Schedule The SBF Trial: How Did We Get Here? Here’s How FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial May Play Out Forbes: Sam Bankman-Fried Could Face 'Very Long Sentence,' Judge Says Before Denying Release SBF’s defense team: Unchained: Sam-Bankman-Fried Files New Request for Temporary Release Before Trial CoinDesk:  U.S. Department of Justice Opposes Sam Bankman-Fried's Latest Move for 'Temporary Release' Key witnesses: Unchained: SBF’s Expert Witnesses Barred From Testifying at Trial Reuters: Who is Caroline Ellison, a key witness set to testify against Sam Bankman-Fried? NYT: Prosecutors Detail Evidence Against Sam Bankman-Fried - The New York Times CoinDesk:  All of Sam Bankman-Fried's Proposed Expert Witnesses Should Be Barred From Testifying: DOJ Judge Blocks Sam Bankman-Fried's Proposed Witnesses From Testifying Business Insider: Sam Bankman-Fried is being sent to jail after a judge revoked his bail over alleged witness tampering Jury selection: CoinDesk: Sam Bankman-Fried Can Ask DOJ Witnesses About Drug Use Cointelegraph: Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations can be surfaced in trial, rules judge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the group sits down to discuss why U.S. crypto conferences are quieter than they have been in the past, which DeFi metrics are still useful for measuring a changing market, and advice for NFT founders on how to continue to innovate. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  Why Tarun says that the U.S. is “dead as a doorknob” for crypto for crypto conferences Main takeaways from recent crypto conferences such as Token2049 in Singapore and Permissionless in Austin How the metrics in DeFi keep changing, and which ones still have merit What are “chart crimes” and the gang's advice for entrepreneurs pitching to VCs Why Haseeb doesn't think that token economics are as useful as everyone thinks The Stoner Cat settlement with the SEC and how it impacts the broader conversation about whether NFTs are securities  Legal drama between the co-founders of the Milady NFT project Advice for NFT founders on how to achieve success in a changing market Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links NFTs Unchained:  Mila Kunis’ Stoner Cats NFT Project Pays $1 Million to Settle SEC Charges  Milady NFT Founder Says Rogue Developer Embezzled $1 Million from Treasury PFP NFTs: What Are They & Why Are They So Popular? Generative Art NFTs: What Are They & Why Are They So Popular? SEC: Are NFTs Securities? Token2049: Haseeb’s panel on alt L1s DeFi and metrics: Unchained: What Is TVL in DeFi? A Guide to Total Value Locked Can DeFi Allow You To Be Your Own Bank? How to Invest in DeFi: 4 Ways You Can Explore Today Yield Farming: What Is It & How Does It Work? Regulation Unchained: U.S. House Lawmakers Urge SEC's Gensler to Approve Spot Bitcoin ETFs The Block: Gensler takes heat from lawmakers over his approach to regulating crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is set to begin on October 3. The 31-year-old is accused of committing wire fraud and conspiracy to commit other types of fraud, in relation to the dramatic collapse of his crypto empire last year, which led to billions in losses. Nik De, CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation, discusses the importance of jury selection, the potential testimony of key witnesses, and how many years Bankman-Fried may face if he is found guilty. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Why SBF's lawyers keep requesting the FTX founder be released  Why the jury selection is so important and how long it could take Why the DOJ opposed the proposed questions for the jury  Why the Judge agreed with the DOJ in blocking some of the witnesses proposed by the defense team How the defense team may try to discredit some of the proposed witnesses Whether the argument of SBF receiving “poor legal advice” holds any ground What role the political donations made by SBF may play in the trial How many years SBF could face if he were to be found guilty Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Hedera Toku Guest Nik De, CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation Previous appearances on Unchained: How SEC Chair Gary Gensler's Views on Crypto Have Changed Since His MIT Days Why the Ooki DAO Case Could Hurt Participation in DAOs Links Previous coverage from Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: Why FTX Might Try to Claw Back Funds From Retail Customers The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC SBF’s defense team motions: Judge Denies Sam Bankman-Fried’s Request for Temporary Release U.S. Department of Justice Opposes Sam Bankman-Fried's Latest Move for 'Temporary Release' Sam Bankman-Fried Can Use an 'Air-Gapped' Laptop in Court, Judge Rules Judge Blocks Sam Bankman-Fried's Proposed Witnesses From Testifying Key witnesses: SBF’s Expert Witnesses Barred From Testifying at Trial Who is Caroline Ellison, a key witness set to testify against Sam Bankman-Fried? All of Sam Bankman-Fried's Proposed Expert Witnesses Should Be Barred From Testifying: DOJ Sam Bankman-Fried is being sent to jail after a judge revoked his bail over alleged witness tampering Jury selection: Sam Bankman-Fried Can Ask DOJ Witnesses About Drug Use Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations can be surfaced in trial, rules judge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bitcoin Ordinals have exploded in popularity since their launch by developer Casey Rodarmor in January, changing the NFT game with millions of inscriptions to date. But what comes next for Bitcoin-based digital artifacts? Danny Yang and Bill Tai, cofounders of Metagood and creators of NFT collection OnChainMonkey, discuss why they will move OnChainMonkey from Ethereum to Bitcoin, Rodarmor’s proposal to change the Ordinals inscription numbering system, and why they believe more creators should consider moving to Bitcoin. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: How the idea for Metagood came up What is give-to-earn and how it is used to reward OnChainMonkey holders The differences between Ethereum versus Bitcoin when it comes to digital assets The creative potential of Bitcoin Ordinals  Why OnChainMonkey will move from Ethereum to Bitcoin Thoughts on Casey Rodarmor’s Bitcoin Ordinals proposal to change the inscription numbering system What are recursive inscriptions How to convince NFT creators to leave other blockchains for Bitcoin Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation LayerZero Toku Guest: Bill Tai, cofounder of Metagood and creator of OnChainMonkey Previous appearances on Unchained: https://unchainedcrypto.com/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology/  Danny Yang,  cofounder of Metagood and creator of OnChainMonkey Links Unchained:  MaiTai Global’s Bill Tai On Why Blockchain Is The 6th Wave Of Technology  Bitcoin Ordinals Creators Propose Changing Inscriptions Numbering  What Are BRC-20 Tokens? A Brief Introduction Was Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Pro-NFTs? Bitcoin Ordinals Inscriptions Surge Past 2.7 Million  How to Create a Bitcoin Ordinal  Elsewhere:  Bitcoin Ordinals Trading Is Down Bad—But Just How Bad? A New Frontier for Bitcoin? Recursive Inscriptions Explained ‘NFTs will win on Bitcoin’ — OnChainMonkey NFT collection ditches Ethereum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As lawsuits continue to pile up in the FTX saga, FTX chief John Ray III is focused on clawing back funds from former affiliates to pay back creditors. But how might that play out in court? Founder of 117 Partners Thomas Braziel, who specializes in the trading of bankruptcy claims, explains the different paths Ray may choose to go down and the potential outcomes of these cases. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: The chances of FTX winning in court against Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents The case against Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman  Whether civil cases could turn into criminal ones Whether bankruptcy proceedings and the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried are a coordinated effort  What retail clawbacks are and the likelihood that FTX will pursue them Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Toku Guest Thomas Braziel, founder of 117 Partners Previous appearances on Unchained: Will FTX Reboot? Here’s John Ray’s Internal Deadline for Making a Decision Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In Will Celsius Survive the Bankruptcy Process? How Crypto Bankruptcy Claims Buyers Will Profit From the Collapse of FTX Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Unchained:  New Suit Claims That FTX Kept Its Fraud All in the Family Stanford University Will Return $5.5 Million to FTX FTX Sues SBF’s Parents to Claw Back Misappropriated Funds: Report Full text of the FTX lawsuit against Bankman and Fried CoinDesk: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Dad Thought His Son Wasn’t Paying Him Enough, So He Got Mom Involved Bloomberg: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Elite Parents Enabled His Crypto Empire The Verge: The best stuff Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents bought using FTX money Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders chop it up about the latest news. This week, Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt speak to Will Warren, cofounder of 0x Labs, to discuss why the CFTC issued them a Wells Notice, how they responded to regulatory scrutiny, and how other countries may offer a blueprint for crypto regulation. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  why the CFTC issued a Wells Notice to 0x how a decentralized application addresses the issue of geolocalization of users how the team at 0x worked together with the CFTC to avoid violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) again what are the implications of the settlement and who's liable for offering services  why it's so hard for crypto projects to follow the rules without clear regulatory guidance why Haseeb says that the SEC wants this industry to “not exist” how lack of regulatory clarity may be stunting US innovation whether there's a conflict of interest between the companies building protocols and the protocols themselves Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Guest Will Warren, cofounder of 0x Labs  Disclosures Links Unchained:  UniswapX Launches With MEV Protection and Gas Free Swaps CFTC Charges Three DeFi Protocols With Violating AML Rules, Operating Without Licenses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zeke Faux, author of 'Number Go Up,' shares his findings after making a deep dive into the world of crypto. From skepticism to a full-blown investigation, Faux recounts his journey that led him to the heart of crypto, meeting some of the most eccentric characters in the industry. As a Bloomberg investigative reporter, Faux brings a critical eye to the crypto sphere, unearthing the bizarre, the risky, and the downright astonishing facets of what the crypto community calls a financial revolution. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what the book 'Number Go Up' is about Zeke's background as an investigative reporter for Bloomberg whether Zeke is skeptical about crypto  why Zeke thought it was a big deal to investigate Tether, the issuer of USDT whether he had a conclusion on the fact that he couldn't find anything big about Tether why Zeke says that Sam Bankman-Fried had a sloppy approach to risk management why Zeke believes that SBF did not give so much money to charity even though he's an effective altruist how projects like STEPN and Axie Infinity are 'clearly not the future of finance,' according to Zeke how SBF had such an open relationship with the media that helped him when the FTX collapse happened what Zeke found out investigating pig butchering scams in Cambodia how Zeke’s attempt to buy a Mutant Ape to get into an Ape Fest in New York City taught him about crypto’s bad user experience Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Toku LayerZero Guest: Zeke Faux, author of ‘Number Go Up’ Bloomberg: 11 Hours With Sam Bankman-Fried: Inside the Bahamian Penthouse After FTX’s Fall Links Tether Unchained:  Is Tether a Fraud? Its Bank Says It's Not  Tether, the Multibillion-Dollar Stablecoin at the Heart of the Crypto Ecosystem Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX Unchained:  Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC SBF Behind Bars: Why Revoked Bail Is a Big Deal for Crypto’s Biggest Trial Pig butchering scams Unchained: How This Prosecutor Is Spearheading the Fight Against Crypto ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams Crypto in developing countries Bitcoin in El Salvador: Why Would Cypherpunks Support Government-Mandated Bitcoin Adoption? Anita Posch on Why ‘Bitcoin Is a Tool for Freedom’ – Especially in Africa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of FTX’s collapse, Binance – already the biggest exchange in the world by a large margin – has continued to grow. But a series of challenges, including billions of dollars worth of customer outflows, the winding down of its stablecoin BUSD and the SEC and CFTC lawsuits related to its U.S. operations have challenged its market dominance. Steven Ehrlich, director of research at Forbes Crypto, joins the show to discuss how Binance has been dealing with a deluge of bad news and how it plans to forge a path forward.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the collapse of FTX impacted Binance and its market dominance how Binance has been losing market share over the past few months why Steven believes that Binance.US is in a "very tenuous situation" whether Binance is feeling stronger now that the SEC experienced a partial loss in the Ripple case the consequences of consumers losing trust in Binance, according to Steven the speculation around the recently filed sealed motion filed by the SEC whether the theory that Binance is the next FTX has some merits how Binance.US needs to recuperate some market volume to increase its revenue Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Toku Guest Steven Ehrlich, director of research at Forbes Crypto Links WSJ:  Binance, the Biggest Player in Crypto, Is Facing Legal Risks Over Russia More Binance Executives Leave, Including Some Overseeing Russia How the Binance CEO Operates: Weigh the Risk, Calculate the Reward What Is Happening With Binance? Binance Lays Off Over 1,000 Employees Some Binance.US Crypto Trading Was a Mirage, the SEC Alleges Binance.US Legal, Risk Executives Leave the Crypto Exchange Reuters:  Crypto exchange Binance hit by executive exodus Paxos receives U.S. SEC notice over Binance's stablecoin 'BUSD' Binance CEO's trading firm received $11 billion via client deposit company, SEC says The Block: Binance.US can't grow until CZ sells stake, fixes regulatory issues: sources Binance to end support for BUSD, encourages conversion to FDUSD Mastercard, Binance end crypto card partnership in four countries Binance withdraws crypto license application in Germany  CoinDesk: SEC's Secret Binance Court Filing Has Observers Bracing for Bad News John Reed Stark’s post on X  CFTC: CFTC Charges Binance and Its Founder, Changpeng Zhao, with Willful Evasion of Federal Law and Operating an Illegal Digital Asset Derivatives Exchange Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a busy year for USDC issuer Circle, with several new product launches and partnerships, a crypto banking crisis to contend with, the entry of PayPal into the stablecoin business, and plenty of new global regulatory developments, including a bill in the U.S. now making its way through Congress. Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire joins Unchained for an in-depth discussion on the reasons behind Coinbase’s investment in Circle, how Circle has emerged stronger from the banking crisis, what he thinks of PYUSD, what he likes and doesn’t like about the current U.S. stablecoin bill, and his thoughts on what the final bill will look like.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why Circle and Coinbase created the Center Consortium and why Coinbase acquired a stake in Circle whether Circle is aiming to be acquired or become a public company, and why Jeremy is pursuing a "multi-decade" strategy why Circle partnered with MercadoLibre and the stablecoin usage in Latin America [may need to cut if embargo does not stick] how the company has been supporting developers to build applications why Circle is launching native USDC on so many new blockchains  what the purpose of cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP) is and what the big problems with bridges are how Circle responded to Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and why the world began to feel that "it's not safe to be exposed to the US" Jeremy's thoughts on the launch of PayPal's stablecoin, PYUSD why having stablecoin legislation is a "national priority," according to Jeremy why Jeremy is a proponent of a fully reserved banking system why he thinks the US needs to "aggressively" take action to preserve the global reserve currency status of the US dollar how China’s national digital currency is likely to develop how crypto can provide a better way of providing identity without giving up privacy why blockchain technology is much more than just a financial regulatory matter Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Toku LayerZero Guest: Jeremy Allaire, cofounder, Chairman and CEO of Circle Previous appearances of Jeremy on Unchained:  Crypto on Every Corner: Driving Adoption With Jeremy Allaire and Meltem Demirors Circle’s Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville on Why Crypto Will Be Bigger Than the Web Jeremy Allaire on Why the US Government Needs a New Category for Digital Assets Links Unchained:  Coinbase Acquires Equity Stake in Circle Amid USDC Updates and Market Challenges Will PayPal’s PYUSD Steal Market Share From Tether and Circle? The Fall of SVB: What Happened and How It Affects Crypto CoinDesk:  U.S. Stablecoin Bill Takes Big Step Despite Fight From Democrats, White House  Circle Seeks to Make Crypto Payments Easier With New 'Programmable Wallets' Written Statement of Jeremy Allaire Before the United States House Committee on Financial Services, “The Future of Digital Assets: Providing Clarity for the Digital Asset Ecosystem” South China Morning Post: Head of crypto firm Circle accepts ban in mainland China, but sees role for yuan-backed stablecoins  TechCrunch: Solana Pay integrates plug-in with Shopify for USDC payments  Decrypt: News Explorer — Circle Partners With Mercado Libre to Bring USDC to Chile  Jeremy’s comments on the launch of PYUSD Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this week, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and four co-authors published a paper describing a smart contract protocol called privacy pools that would enable crypto users to associate their funds with those being used for legitimate purposes versus those being used in criminal activity such as hacks or money laundering. The protocol addresses one of the main shortcomings of coin mixer Tornado Cash, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. government.  Chainalysis chief scientist Jacob Illum, one of those co-authors, discusses the impetus for the paper, the technology behind privacy pools and how they would work in practice, who would provide some of the necessary organization to operate the pools, and some of the early criticisms of the paper. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what the current state of crypto privacy is and what the motivation was to write this paper what privacy pools are and how they work how zero-knowledge proofs are the key technology behind privacy pools what the role of association set providers is in making this new technology work what would happen in different potential scenarios, such as a "bad address" being discovered after a transaction has been made how the protocol would protect the privacy and identity of the users how law enforcement, credit score agencies and other organizations could have "special viewing privileges" of transactions, according to Jacob how the community has been reacting to the recently published paper Jacob’s response to criticisms the paper has received from industry players why Chainalysis participated in the paper given that many people see them as 'anti-privacy' Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Toku Guest Jacob Illum, chief scientist at Chainalysis Links Unchained: Tornado Cash Cofounder Arrested, Another Sanctioned by U.S. Government CoinDesk: Crypto-Mixing Service Tornado Cash Blacklisted by US Treasury Blockchain Privacy and Regulatory Compliance: Towards a Practical Equilibrium Matt Corallo’s tweet Crypto lawyer Preston Byrne’s tweet Previous coverage of Unchained on Tornado Cash: The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever' The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions Preston Van Loon on Ethereum’s Merge and His Lawsuit Against TreasuryGiven the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the group sits down with Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire to discuss how the USDC stablecoin issuer responded to the banking crisis that started at the end of 2022, what PayPal’s new stablecoin offering means for Circle and the rest of the industry, and whether central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) represent real competition for stablecoins.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  how the collapse of FTX and other companies led to a de-banking crisis for the industry what the Circle Reserve Fund is how the banking crisis in early 2023 caused a "flight from safety" how regulatory clarity has improved in the aftermath of the banking crisis why Jeremy actually hopes PayPal's recently launched PYUSD is successful why Tarun believes Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are one of the most "boring concepts" within the industry whether CBDCs pose a threat to businesses that issue stablecoins such as Circle Whether the status quo on stablecoins in the U.S. of knowing-your-customer on redemption and minting, but not on holding, is likely to continue.  Hosts: Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle Disclosures Links The Chopping Block: Was Crypto Just Debanked? Will PayPal's PYUSD Steal Market Share From Tether and Circle? The Fall of SVB: What Happened and How It Affects Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend.tech, a decentralized social media platform in which you can buy and sell “keys” in your friends on X (formerly known as Twitter) whose value can go up and down, has become a viral sensation, racking up as many as 100,000 users since launching on August 10. Should keys be considered securities and thus regulated by the SEC? How should gains and losses be taxed? And how private should users assume their communications and transactions on the platform are? Securities and banking law professor at George Mason Law School JW Verret, and tax partner and co-head of the Digital Assets and Blockchain Practice at Fried Frank Jason Schwartz, share their thoughts.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how Friend.tech works and how the price of keys is determined how Friend.tech is different from many other past attempts at creating a decentralized social media platform whether the keys offered by Friend.tech could be deemed securities by the SEC what wrapped Friend.tech tokens are and whether these could be considered securities why the traditional approach to crypto taxation is bad for most Friend.tech taxpayers what the tax implications of Friend.tech airdrops are what Friend.tech users should assume about their privacy on the app what the future holds for Friend.tech Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Toku Guests: J.W. Verret, Associate Professor of Law at George Mason Law School Previous appearance on Unchained: Coinbase's Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold Jason Schwartz, tax partner and co-head of the Digital Assets and Blockchain Practice at Fried, Frank Friend.Tech Shows How Complicated Taxing Crypto Transactions Can Be by Jason Schwartz Links Unchained:  Friend.tech Threatens to Penalize Users That Move to Copies or Forks Friend.tech Clarifies That Database of 100,000 Users Was Not Leaked What Is SocialFi? A Beginner’s Guide The ‘Howey Test’ and the Debate Over Crypto's Legal Status - Crypto Security vs Commodity CoinDesk: Friend.tech Attracted NBA Influencers. So Why Does Everyone Think Crypto’s Latest Trend Will Die? Decrypt: Friend.tech Renames Its Token—But Is It Even Legal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s emphatic ruling in favor of Grayscale in its suit against the SEC to convert its massive bitcoin trust into an ETF generated plenty of hopium among the bitcoin faithful that a spot bitcoin ETF will get approved soon and open a flood of investment in bitcoin. What are the odds of that truly happening now, though, and if it did, how much additional money could wind up being invested in bitcoin as a result? Also, which companies’ applications would get approved first and how would the various products compete with one other? Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas separates the hype from the reality in answering these questions and more. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why Bloomberg increased the likelihood of a Bitcoin ETF being approved this year from 50% to 75% how the ruling exceeded the expectations of the legal analysts at Bloomberg why it's important that the ruling was a bipartisan decision whether, from a legal perspective, it's "weird" to deny a spot ETF but approve a futures one how a spot Bitcoin ETF would act as a bridge for Baby boomers to invest in crypto what the two most likely SEC responses to the ruling are what the likely timelines for an SEC spot Bitcoin ETF approval or disapproval would be whether Gary Gensler's agency will approve Ethereum futures ETFs in the U.S. why BlackRock's and Fidelity's ETFs are more likely to be approved first, according to Eric how the different ETFs would compete in the market why spot Bitcoin ETFs pose a serious threat to crypto exchanges' businesses Eric's estimate of how much additional money would pour into Bitcoin if a spot Bitcoin ETF is approved Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Toku Guest Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Grayscale and ETFs: Why Grayscale Is Suing the SEC Over Its Denial of a Bitcoin ETF Bitwise’s Latest Plans to Get a Bitcoin ETF Approved DCG’s Dilemma: Should It Sell Its GBTC Holdings to Repay Gemini? Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Unchained:  Grayscale Wins Lawsuit Against SEC Over Denial of Bid to Convert GBTC Into a Bitcoin ETF Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra, chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang goes in depth with Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal to discuss Grayscale’s win in its court case against the SEC, Coinbase’s ongoing dust-up with the SEC, the onerous new crypto reporting regulations proposed by the U.S. Treasury, and the unsettling legal arguments behind the government crackdown on Tornado Cash.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  why Paul considers the court ruling in favor of Grayscale in its case against the SEC “nothing short of monumental” how much it actually matters if a spot Bitcoin ETF gets approved what options the SEC has now to pursue its position why BlackRock may have applied for its spot Bitcoin ETF when it did how the SEC 'changed its tune' and went from approving Coinbase’s S1 to suing them in a federal court, according to Paul how the collapse of FTX may have affected the SEC’s view of Coinbase why Coinbase has decided to wage its battle against the SEC so publicly  when Paul expects a final decision to be made on the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase what Paul would do to regulate the digital asset industry if he were Gary Gensler whether the Treasury Department’s extensive proposed reporting regulations mean the crypto industry is “screwed”  why Paul believes that the government’s crackdown on Tornado Cash is "dead wrong on the law" Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase Previous appearances on Unchained:  Just a Coincidence? Coinbase and Polygon Lawyers See Bad Omens in SEC Crackdown Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ Disclosures Links Unchained:  Grayscale Wins Lawsuit Against SEC Over Denial of Bid to Convert GBTC Into a Bitcoin ETF SEC Issues Coinbase a Wells Notice Tornado Cash Cofounder Arrested, Another Sanctioned by U.S. Government Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? Coinbase: We asked the SEC for reasonable crypto rules for Americans. We got legal threats instead. TechCrunch: SEC settles first NFT enforcement case, fines LA media company $6M The Block: Treasury, IRS release proposed crypto tax reporting rules Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oracles are all about bringing important data (mostly asset prices) onto the blockchain. As such, they’re a key part of decentralized finance. But oracle provider Pyth sees room for improvement as it relates to being more real-time than crypto incumbents like Chainlink. Mike Cahill, the CEO of a brand new Pyth-linked firm called Douro Labs, joins the show to explain the opportunity he sees in building better oracles. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how Pyth Network works and what the upcoming Perseus upgrade consists of Mike’s background in traditional finance why oracles are necessary in crypto and what the challenges are for oracle providers whether it’s hard for traditional institutions to participate in crypto protocols what the four types of oracle solutions are and how they differ how Pyth determines which data providers are allowed in the network and how that will change if it becomes more decentralized why Mike compares the scalability of Pyth to how Facebook grew why Douro Labs is being launched and why it will be solely focused on Pyth for now the factors driving Pyth’s growth, according to Mike Mike’s opinion on the current state of the crypto market and what the endgame is for Pyth Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 Guest: Mike Cahill, CEO at Douro Labs. Links What’s the Difference Between Pyth and Legacy Oracles Unchained:  What Are Blockchain Oracles? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, the U.S. Government indicted Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov for three counts of conspiracy involving a staggeringly large number: $1 billion in criminal proceeds. The U.S. Department of Justice attached North Korean hackers to a large portion of this sum, alleging that Tornado’s privacy tech enabled nefarious deeds. Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund, joins the show to assess whether the U.S. Government got it right or is merely misguided in its understanding of how blockchain technology works. Should Tornado Cash devs be held to account for the criminal use of their software? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why the U.S. Government says the cofounders of Tornado Cash facilitated money laundering what the difference is between the concealment of potential proceeds of a crime versus the facilitation of that crime why Amanda believes that if the government understood the technology they wouldn’t be making these allegations whether the charges and the indictment will have implications for all software developers whether these allegations could mark the “end of DeFi” in the U.S. whether front-end applications in DeFi will need to mandate KYC checks for all users how the charges appear to contradict earlier FinCEN guidance how the DOJ will use the involvement of North Korean hackers to “make it look bad” for the jury what the future of the case will look like and whether there will be a motion to dismiss the indictment Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Guest Amanda Tuminelli, Chief Legal Officer at DeFi Education Fund Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Tornado Cash: The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever' The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions Preston Van Loon on Ethereum’s Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? Unchained:  Tornado Cash Cofounder Arrested, Another Sanctioned by U.S. Government OFAC Updates Tornado Cash Sanctions To Include DAO Coin Center Sues the US Treasury Over Tornado Cash Sanctions Coin Center: New Tornado Cash indictments seem to run counter to FinCEN guidance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, Coinbase’s Jesse Pollak talks about the ambitious goals of Base, the new Optimism–based blockchain from the publicly traded crypto giant. With the viral success of Base-based Friend.Tech, Jesse discusses the Base team’s ambitious goals to onboard “a million builders, a billion users.” Is this the long-heralded path to scaling Ethereum? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  why Jesse says it’s still “day one” for Base the reason behind Base’s “one million developers, one billion users” slogan what the advantages of Base are compared to other layer 2 blockchains how Base accounts for the fact that it doesn’t have a token to incentivize developer activity how MEV bots represent a big part of the transactions on Base, especially with the emergence of Friend.Tech why Friend.Tech found early success despite being similar to previous efforts  Jesse’s response to the fact that fault proofs are not live on any of the OP Stack chains how much of the revenue generated by Coinbase’s sequencer will be distributed to Optimism whether Base and Optimism Mainnet compete with each other  how layer 2 chains are choosing different design paths and how that differentiates them Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest Jesse Pollak, lead contributor at Base Disclosures Links Unchained: Coinbase Launches a New Layer 2 on Ethereum CoinDesk: Social Platform Friend.tech Gains 100K Users in Days Even in Depths of a Bear Market TechCrunch: Friend.tech hype is skyrocketing, but will it actually reach the stars? Decrypt: Base Daily Transactions Outpace Ethereum on Friend.tech Frenzy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The height of the last bull run was when MakerDAO cofounder Rune Christensen felt most disillusioned by DeFi and DAOs. “I didn’t even see how Maker was going to survive,” Christensen tells Laura Shin in the latest episode of Unchained. Now Christensen is leading an effort to help DAOs escape their trough of disillusionment. He says the ambitious “Endgame Plan” for MakerDAO seeks to overcome “the central issue of voter apathy.” Will it work or are DAOs doomed to fail? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: the disillusionment that comes with the growth of DAOs and the need for a new approach Rune’s insights into the challenges that most DAOs face how Maker plans to implement alignment engineering through tools, gamification, and incentives what each phase of Maker’s “Endgame Plan” seeks to accomplish the strategy behind Maker’s rebranding, including the launch of new tokens while maintaining MKR and DAI the importance of governance boundaries in ensuring that participants follow the rules and contribute constructively the goal to reach a state of ossification and certainty, similar to Bitcoin the challenges of renaming tokens and the decision to keep the original brands why Rune believes that Phase 2 of the Endgame Plan will change the industry how SubDAOs will work to align incentives, improve the organization, and avoid ponzi schemes what Maker’s “Atlas” is and how it intends to set boundaries how Maker plans to use artificial intelligence  the role of delegates in the DAO and how users choose them the difference between “dovish” and “hawkish” governance what the motivation was for launching the Spark lending protocol why the DAI Savings Rate (DSR) is not offered to American investors and Rune’s take on DeFi regulation why South Korea and Japan are the best crypto environments in the world, according to Rune whether Maker should be doing more to mitigate the influence of “whales,” given that Rune owns about 10% of the MKR supply Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 Guest: Rune Christensen, Cofounder of MakerDAO Previous appearances on Unchained: Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 1: How to Keep a Crypto-Collateralized Stablecoin Afloat Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 2: How Dai Stayed at $1 While ETH Crashed From $1,400 to $85  The Chopping Block: How to Manage MakerDAO, With Hasu and Rune Rune Christensen of MakerDao on Its $15 Million From Andreessen Horowitz Why It's so Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable Links Unchained:  MakerDAO: The DeFi Protocol That Lets You Be Your Own Banker MakerDAO’s Spark Protocol Blocks VPN Users MakerDAO to Raise DAI Yield Amid Lower Demand for Stablecoin Maker Founder Proposes Changing DAI Savings Rate to 5%  The Defiant: Christensen Drops Radical Plan to Remake MakerDAO and Address 'Fundamental Problems', Christensen’s Twitter thread explaining Endgame Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyer Brian Klein joins the show to explain why Sam Bankman-Fried being locked up makes it “much tougher” for his legal team. This week, the judge presiding over the case said SBF went too far in attempting to intimidate key witnesses – chief among them former Alameda Research co-CEO (and ex-flame) Caroline Ellison. Will a jail cell change SBF’s defiant tune ahead of a hotly anticipated October trial date? Klein weighs in. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why the detention of SBF changes the dynamics of the trial preparation why Brian believes that the appeal to the detention won’t prevail whether these new conditions will lead to a request for a delay of the trial whether the fact that SBF is now in jail will make him more interested in a plea deal                 why both the prosecution and the defense have filed motions to limit allowable evidence and what that means for the trial what the short-term future of the trial looks like how long a trial like this would take to play out Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Guest Brian Klein, partner at Waymaker Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: Will FTX Reboot? Here’s John Ray’s Internal Deadline for Making a Decision The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Unchained:  Sam Bankman-Fried Remanded to Jail Ahead of Fraud Trial Prosecutors Move to Include Caroline Ellison’s List of ‘Things Sam is Freaking Out About’ Into Evidence Against FTX Founder Prosecutors Allege SBF Used $100 Million User Funds for Campaign Contributions The New York Times: Prosecutors Detail Evidence Against Sam Bankman-Fried The Block: Former FTX exec Salame to plead the fifth about campaign finance schemes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy joins the show to discuss market making when the crypto markets are quiet. Plus, an analysis of Base’s prospects following a surge of early interest. Also: Do you think bank fraud is going to run rampant in the AI era? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  how prop shops like Wintermute view the current state of the crypto market how an organization like WIntermute interacts with DeFi platforms Tarun and Evgeny attempt to squash some past beef why Evgeny believes that some exchanges are “zombies” whether this is a good time to build an exchange and how Evgeny would do it  how Base accomplished a big surge in its TVL and daily volumes whether it’s possible for Coinbase to balance the decentralized nature of building a blockchain with a desire to minimize scams how L2 sequencers have the power to censor transactions and the analogy to proof-of-authority chains how friend.tech, the social app built on Base, works and why it got so much attention why the crypto cognoscenti seemed to like friend.tech but hated BitClout, which is basically the same thing what is the role of biometrics in securing crypto wallets and assets whether bank fraud will increase or decrease because of advances in AI Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute Trading Previous appearance on Unchained: How Traders Are Thinking About the Merge — and a Potential ETHPoW Chain Disclosures Links Unchained: Coinbase Layer 2 Base Sees 80% Rise in Total Value Locked CoinDesk: Is Friend.tech a Friend or Foe? A Dive Into the New Social App Driving Millions in Trading Volume Halborn: Explained: The Wintermute Hack (September 2022) Forbes: Layer 2 Wars Heat Up As Coinbase Launches Base Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Educator Anita Posch has spent months on the ground in Africa onboarding new users into the world of Bitcoin. In the West, bitcoin may seem extraneous; but in her telling, bitcoin in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other African countries is essential. “Bitcoin can be one of the solutions for people who are disempowered, who are outlawed, the misfits,” says Posch. “Bitcoin is for them because no one can take it away from you.” Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what Anita does for Bitcoin education and why she was inspired to do this how people in developing countries are constantly getting scammed how the Central Bank of Zimbabwe acts as an intermediary in business operations whether people in these countries use BTC or stablecoins for their day to day expenses what the differences are between the several Bitcoin communities around the world how in Zimbabwe people could get arrested for transacting in Bitcoin why Bitcoin is essential to human rights, according to Anita whether Bitcoin can help to tackle the issue of discrimination against women, particularly in finance why Anita is “very sad” about the launch of Worldcoin why she was against Bitcoin Ordinals in the first place and whether she has changed her mind what Anita’s new Bitcoin learning program aims to accomplish  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 Guest: Anita Posch, founder of Bitcoin for Fairness, author of (L)earn Bitcoin, and host of the Anita Posch show. Online Learning and Scholarship Program  Website 45min Documentary: How Bitcoin Enforces Human Rights  13 min Keynote: Bitcoin empowers Africa and Africans empower Bitcoin Links Previous coverage of Unchained mentioned in the episode: Orb Outrage: Worldcoin Cofounder Defends Project Amid Backlash Why CoinFund Believes Worldcoin Could Become More Popular Than Bitcoin Bitcoin’s BRC-20 Mania: Is It Sustainable? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A major player has entered the stablecoin wars. PayPal went deeper down the crypto rabbithole this week with the launch of its Ethereum-based PYUSD. The dollar-backed stablecoin now puts PayPal in competition with the likes of Tether and Circle for quickly sending value around the world on-chain. José Fernández da Ponte, PayPal’s crypto SVP, joins the show to unpack how the fintech giant is building a long-term strategy around blockchain-based payments. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why PayPal decided to launch a stablecoin how long it will take for stablecoins to reach mainstream adoption and what the advantages of stablecoins are how PYUSD will differentiate from other giants in the stablecoin space such as USDT and USDC whether the U.S. stablecoin bill influenced the launch of PYUSD why stablecoins should be regulated at the state level whether PayPal plans to launch stablecoins pegged to other fiat currencies how Paxos will provide attestation reports for PYUSD why Jose thinks gaming is a huge opportunity for stablecoin payments what the rationale was for launching an ERC-20 on Ethereum how PayPal plans to monetize the stablecoin why PayPal’s expectations for PYUSD in the short-term are “moderate” Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Guest  José Fernández da Ponte, SVP of Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal Links Unchained: PayPal Launches PYUSD Stablecoin Built on Ethereum CoinDesk:  PayPal’s Real Stablecoin Strategy: It Wants to Earn Interest on Your Deposits Congresswoman Maxine Waters Says She’s ‘Deeply Concerned’ About PayPal’s New Stablecoin U.S. Stablecoin Bill Takes Big Step Despite Fight From Democrats, White House Paxos Has Other 'White Label' Stablecoin Opportunities in the Works in Addition to PayPal USD Blockworks: PayPal’s new stablecoin stirs centralization criticism  CNBC: PayPal is trying to drag its 435 million users into the $120 billion stablecoin market — here's why Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, a quiet conclusion to that Curve thing everyone was animated about. Plus, major developments from Web2 giant PayPal as it continues its journey down the crypto rabbithole. Also, is Maker’s juiced DAI Savings Rate the new Anchor? The gang discusses. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  how The Chopping Block got that sweet, sweet Red Bull money what to make of the Curve hacker’s message after they returned the funds does Curve trying to dox the hacker proves that Arkham’s model is right? the lessons from the Curve situation and whether DeFi needs to change how DeFi protocols could prevent situations where a single entity holds a significant percentage of a token’s total supply how the enhanced DAI Savings Rate triggered PTSD from other stablecoins (ahem, Anchor) what the consequences are of increasing the DSR the gang’s prediction on how much PYUSD will be minted by the end of 2023 Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Unchained:  $52 Million Drained in Curve Finance Pools Exploit Curve Founder’s Liquidation Could Trigger Chaos for DeFi Curve Exploit Results in Largest MEV Block Rewards in Ethereum’s History PayPal Launches PYUSD Stablecoin Built on Ethereum MakerDAO’s Spark Protocol Blocks VPN Users Curve Opens $1.85 Million Bounty to Identify Hacker      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Worldcoin is getting hit from all sides. Following a popular launch in late July, critics from the crypto community and public sector alike are coming out in droves with concerns about privacy, data protection, and tokenomics. Worldcoin co-founder Alex Blania joins the show to address the recent criticism and reiterate the project’s lofty goals. “It sounds crazy,” he said, “so you really need to understand the technology to understand why it’s not concerning.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why Worldcoin believes in the idea of a universal basic income (UBI) how World ID actually works, from the initial “orb” scan to actually using the app Alex’s comments on the rise of a black market for World IDs whether Worldcoin is storing people’s biometric data how people don’t really understand the nuances of getting their irises scanned and why it’s fine that the “average person will not understand how crypto works,” according to Alex whether Worldcoin took into consideration the various regulations around the world what the purpose of the WLD token is why the project decided to launch the token with a low float  how Alex got convinced to join Worldcoin and become one of its leaders why Alex believes that Worldcoin will become a “very powerful technology” that will be the main project for onboarding people to crypto Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 Guest: Alex Blania, cofounder of Worldcoin Previous appearances on Unchained: Is Sam Altman's Worldcoin the End of People's Privacy? Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Worldcoin: Why CoinFund Believes Worldcoin Could Become More Popular Than Bitcoin Unchained:  Worldcoin Can Be More ‘Widely Distributed’ Than Bitcoin, CoinFund Executives Say Worldcoin Launches Token on Mainnet, Plans to Deploy 1,500 Eyeball Scanning Orbs Is Sam Altman's Worldcoin the End of People's Privacy? CoinDesk:  Worldcoin Could Enable Wider Distribution of Crypto Than Even Bitcoin, Says CoinFund  Worldcoin Releases Tokenomics, Report Geofenced for Some Countries   The Block: German authorities probe Worldcoin project over privacy: Reuters Reuters: Kenyan government suspends activities of Worldcoin in country Rest of World: Why are people lining up for Worldcoin eyeball scans? “Easy $50,”  What do I think about biometric proof of personhood? By Vitalik Buterin MIT Technology Review: Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users Ouriel Ohayon’s video Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While it’s now mostly contained, the Curve crisis has exposed some of the systemic risks in the world of DeFi. Sam Kazemian, founder of Frax Finance, joins the show to discuss what DeFi needs to do to get better – and what builders should learn from a novel attack that was ultimately about much more than $50 million in drained funds. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the Curve exploit occurred and why this hack is different  how the attack triggered a crisis in major lending platforms like Aave, Fraxlend, and Abracadabra what Curve founder Michael Egorov’s solution was to the potential liquidation of his several loans whether this situation proves that DeFi is not as good as promised what can be done to prevent these kinds of issues in the future, particularly with large loans in DeFi that could potentially bring down the ecosystem Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO Arbitrum Foundation Thales DAO Guest Sam Kazemian, founder of Frax Finance Links Previous coverage on the Curve hack: The Chopping Block: Who’s to Blame for the Curve Hack? Unchained:  $52 Million Drained in Curve Finance Pools Exploit Curve Founder’s Liquidation Could Trigger Chaos for DeFi Curve Exploit Results in Largest MEV Block Rewards in Ethereum’s History CoinDesk:  Curve Founder Deploys New Liquidity Pool to Address FRAX Debt Situation Spooked by Curve Liquidation Threat, DeFi Protocols Shore Up Defenses Aave Should Block Curve Token Borrowing, Risk Management Firm Proposes After the Curve Attack: What's Next for DeFi?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, Laurence Day, smart-contract sleuth and co-founder of Wildcat Finance, joins the show to discuss the ramifications of the Curve Finance exploit that has the DeFi world talking. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how Curve Finance, one of the most prominent DeFi protocols, got hacked why maintaining different coding languages and clients is so hard whether developers are responsible for this kind of attack whether Curve founder Michael Egorov’s loans in Aave and Fraxlend have put DeFi at risk how the loan in Fraxlend impacted the liquidation price of the Aave loan Tarun’s reaction to the situation, given that his firm Gauntlet has tried to mitigate these risks in the past how people in the community worked together to keep DeFi safe and resilient why Tarun got canceled on LinkedIn what happened with the BALD meme coin mania on Base Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Laurence Day, co-founder of Wildcat Finance Disclosures    Links Unchained: BALD Token Falls 90% Amid Rug Pull Allegations $60 Million in ETH Bridged to Coinbase Layer 2 Base Curve Founder’s Liquidation Could Trigger Chaos for DeFi $52 Million Drained in Curve Finance Pools Exploit Curve Exploit Results in Largest MEV Block Rewards in Ethereum’s History CoinDesk: Curve Founder Deploys New Liquidity Pool to Address FRAX Debt Situation Spooked by Curve Liquidation Threat, DeFi Protocols Shore Up Defenses Aave Should Block Curve Token Borrowing, Risk Management Firm Proposes After the Curve Attack: What's Next for DeFi? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CoinFund’s Jake Brukhman and Chris Perkins join Unchained to dissect their recent $158 million seed round and the transformation of the investment landscape following the 2022 crypto carnage. As backers of Worldcoin, they confront criticisms about the project's approach of distributing money to individuals who may not fully comprehend the underlying technology. They also delve into why the Coinbase lawsuit could potentially boost the industry, share their perspectives on current crypto legislation, and explore the intersection of AI and crypto. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the fundraising crypto environment changed this past year after the 2022 carnage what the impact of FTX’s alleged fraud has been  why Chris and Jake believe that the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase is bullish for the industry why Jake believes there's no massive consumer application in web3 yet how institutions have been building during the bear market whether Worldcoin solves the sybil resistance problem in crypto and whether it could become more decentralized than Bitcoin Jake's response to the criticism surrounding the centralization and privacy issues in Worldcoin the ethical implications of giving free money to people who may not fully understand how their biometric data is being used what the Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR) is and what are its two main applications how the foundational web3 + AI intersection is happening in the compute area why Chris believes that the crypto market structure bill is not perfect whether creating proper stablecoin legislation is a very important opportunity for the US how DeFi should be regulated to ensure that privacy gets protected Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 Guests: Chris Perkins, President of CoinFund Jake Brukhman, Founder and CEO of CoinFund Links Unchained:  Worldcoin Launches Token on Mainnet, Plans to Deploy 1,500 Eyeball Scanning Orbs Is Sam Altman's Worldcoin the End of People's Privacy? CoinDesk:  Worldcoin Could Enable Wider Distribution of Crypto Than Even Bitcoin, Says CoinFund,  Worldcoin Releases Tokenomics, Report Geofenced for Some Countries   The Block: What exactly is CoinFund's new Composite Ethereum Staking Rate What do I think about biometric proof of personhood? By Vitalik Buterin CoinDesk Indices and CoinFund Announce CESR, the Benchmark Rate for Staking on Ethereum CoinFund Reinforces Commitment to Web3 Technology with the Close of $158M Seed IV Fund Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crypto markets are under the gun from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s ‘regulation by enforcement’ policy. Meanwhile, a divided political landscape creates gridlock on Capitol Hill. Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres (NY-15) claims regulators have overstepped their bounds, while generational divide in the Democratic party slows appropriate regulatory legislation from passing. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Why stablecoins are less dangerous than fractional reserve banking How the current system fails to protect retail investors Why Democrats and Republicans have flipped traditional stances on regulation Increased skepticism after the FTX meltdown Regulation by enforcement an abuse of power If and when a digital asset is an investment contract What he views as Prometheum’s planned political stunt Resolving crypto’s long term problems responsibly   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO Ondo Finance Arbitrum Foundation Guest  Ritchie Torres, U.S. representative   Links Fortune: Ritchie Torres went from crypto ‘newbie’ to key ally in Washington. Now he could shape the industry’s post-FTX future NY Daily: A liberal case for cryptocurrency CoinDesk: Rep. Ritchie Torres: We've Seen a 'Weaponization of the SEC' From Gensler Against Crypto Industry U.S. Financial Service Committee: McHenry, Thompson, Hill, Johnson Release Digital Asset Market Structure Proposal Bloomberg Law: McHenry Says White House Torpedoed Bipartisan Stablecoin Deal NBC: Sen. Cynthia Lummis: Crypto regulation bill could prevent another FTX-style crisis Rep. Torres’s open letter to Gensler following the Ripple decision Rep. Torres’ speech   Previously on Unchained Why the SEC Doesn’t Want the Ripple Case to Go to the Supreme Court New Order in SEC vs. Ripple Over XRP Is a Win for Crypto: What Happens Now? Why the SEC vs. Ripple Order Is Now About 2 Things: Coinbase and Congress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, they debate whether infrastructure is being over-invested in, explore the potential of UniswapX and the controversial launch of Worldcoin’s token, and dive into the curious world of hamster racing in crypto.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  why Tarun thinks EthCC Paris was much better than ETH Denver whether VCs are overinvesting in infrastructure why Haseeb believes that founders should focus on building applications rather than infrastructure whether the WRLD token is a new “Sam coin” what everyone thinks about Worldoin and the need to develop proof of personhood in crypto what is going on with hamster racing and whether this is the reason "normies hate crypto" UniswapX and its benefits (and tradeoffs)  whether there is a shift toward intents-based trading Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures  Links Unchained:  Worldcoin Launches Token on Mainnet, Plans to Deploy 1,500 Eyeball Scanning Orbs UniswapX Launches With MEV Protection and Gas Free Swaps Is Sam Altman's Worldcoin the End of People's Privacy? Decrypt: You Can Now Bet Crypto on Hamster Races. What Could Go Wrong? What do I think about biometric proof of personhood? By Vitalik Buterin Paradigm: Intent-Based Architectures and Their Risks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite the doom and gloom, Placeholder VC partners Chris Burniske and Joel Monegro are highly bullish on the present moment. “We’re all going to look back on this period and remember it as fondly as we remember ‘18 and ‘19,” Monegro tells Laura Shin. The two long-term investors explain why the confluence of macroeconomic factors and crypto-native (and AI) innovations make this the ideal time to invest in a Web3 future. They cut their teeth on Bitcoin, they grew up with Ethereum; hear what they think is next. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why Chris says crypto’s four-year cycle will likely play out once again the role of interest rates in asset valuation whether the crypto industry has learned its lessons from the “crypto carnage” of 2022 whether there’s a future for KYC’d DeFi when failing in crypto should be considered a crime, as in the Do Kwon case what could happen with the rate hikes and how the macroeconomic environment affects the markets how the ruling in the Ripple case impacts the development of new crypto companies and user adoption whether Joel felt relieved by the ruling, considering Placeholder has invested in many tokens that were named as securities by the SEC what Joel thinks of the new crypto bill in Congress and how he wishes that smart contracts were used to self-regulate the industry what Joel and Chris think of the delicate situations of crypto giants such as Binance and DCG whether the fat protocol thesis still holds up and whether it colors Placeholder’s current investment thesis why most of the Layer 1s will become rollups, according to Chris why Chris is bullish on Solana, despite the massive collapse in value following the FTX debacle how NFTs will play a significant role in “establishing the provenance of content” whether AI agents will become crypto power users Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 Guests: Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder VC Previous appearance on Unchained:  2022 in Review + How Cobie and Chris Burniske Are Playing the New Year Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market How To Value A Crypto Asset Joel Monegro, partner at Placeholder VC. Placeholder’s Joel Monegro on the Fat Protocols Thesis Links Fat Protocols by Joel Monegro The Blockchain Application Stack by Joel Monegro Decred Thesis by Joel Monegro and Chris Burniske WSJ:  Binance Lays Off Over 1,000 Employees Binance Cuts Back Employee Benefits, Citing Decline in Profit CoinDesk: Unpacking the Latest Lummis-Gillibrand Bill Draft Reuters: US SEC accepts six spot bitcoin ETF proposals for review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the SEC wants to appeal last week’s judgment in the Ripple case, it better act fast. So says Bill Hughes, regulatory chief at Ethereum booster ConsenSys and one of the many crypto policy pros assessing the ramifications of U.S. district judge Analisa Torres’ decision. The regulatory agency’s decision to appeal hinges on a number of factors, Hughes says, including that this Supreme Court will likely be unkind to SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s interpretation of how to regulate crypto. But of course, a political calculus is also in play, and suddenly U.S. lawmakers have a slew of crypto bills and amendments to choose from. How will it play out? Show highlights: whether the SEC is going to appeal the recent Ripple ruling and whether Judge Analisa Torres would allow it what the risks are for the SEC of taking the case to the Second Circuit why Bill believes that the SEC’s chances are not good at the Supreme Court what the motivation is behind the new DeFi bill in the U.S. Senate how that bill would impact the different stakeholders in a DeFi project why the crypto community should put its focus on the stablecoin and market structure bills first, according to Bill how the SEC has been dropping lawsuits days prior to Congressional debates about crypto Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO Ondo Finance Arbitrum Foundation Guest Bill Hughes, senior counsel and director of global regulatory matters at ConsenSys. Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the Ripple case:  Why the SEC vs. Ripple Order Is Now About 2 Things: Coinbase and Congress  New Order in SEC vs. Ripple Over XRP Is a Win for Crypto: What Happens Now? The Chopping Block: Should XRP Holders Really Be Rejoicing? The SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple and 2 Execs: What You Need to Know  Ripple's XRP: Why Its Chances of Success Are Low CoinDesk: Ripple's Legal Win Means It's Time for Crypto to Stand Up to the SEC Unchained:  U.S. Senate Bill Calls for Strict KYC and AML Regulations for DeFi SEC vs Ripple: Judge Rules XRP Sold on Exchanges Is Not a Security Bill’s thread on the Lummis-Gillibrand amendment S.Amdt.712 to S.2226 - 118th Congress (2023-2024) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

XRP isn’t itself a security; it depends on how it’s sold. So said a federal judge last Thursday in the SEC vs. Ripple case and the implications are significant. Jake Chervinsky, chief policy officer at the Blockchain Association, and lawyer Kayvan Sadeghi, partner at Jenner & Block, join the show to discuss two major ramifications. One: U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres dealt a major blow to the legal theory underpinning the SEC’s case against Coinbase. Two: This order really “lights a fire” under U.S. lawmakers to act on a pair of crypto bills in Congress. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why this is an “extraordinary victory” for the industry, according to Jake whether Judge Torres made the right decision how the SEC could seek an interlocutory appeal to halt the case, though it’s unlikely what are the pending items in the case that need to be resolved why the order that Judge Torres issued is not a final judgment why it is more important to look at the transaction, not at the nature of the asset, to determine whether something should be deemed a security whether the SEC has the authority to call digital assets securities the significance of the “major questions doctrine” how the order in the Ripple case will affect other cases like the Coinbase one whether exchanges should re-list XRP why this case could be instrumental in steering the direction of crypto regulation in the U.S. whether other crypto tokens like SOL or MATIC should feel relieved with this new ruling why Jake says that this case will speed up the chances of crypto legislation getting passed what the differences are between the current crypto bills that are being proposed whether SEC Chair Gary Gensler should recuse himself from enforcement actions in the crypto industry Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 Guests: Jake Chervinsky, chief policy officer at the Blockchain Association Previous appearances on Unchained: The Chopping Block: Jake Chervinsky on How the SEC Has Lost Credibility All Things Crypto Regulation With Jake Chervinsky Everything You Need to Know About the Looming Battle Over Privacy in Crypto Can Crypto Be a Force in the Midterms? Yes, Say Kristin Smith and Jake Chervinsky Kayvan Sadeghi, partner at Jenner & Block and co-chair of the fintech and crypto assets practice. Links: Previous coverage of Unchained on the Ripple case:  New Order in SEC vs. Ripple Over XRP Is a Win for Crypto: What Happens Now? The Chopping Block: Should XRP Holders Really Be Rejoicing? The SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple and 2 Execs: What You Need to Know  Ripple's XRP: Why Its Chances of Success Are Low SEC vs Ripple: Judge Rules XRP Sold on Exchanges Is Not a Security CoinDesk: Ripple, Crypto Industry Score Partial Win in SEC Court Fight Over XRP Ripple Labs Ruling Throws U.S. Crypto-Token Regulation into Disarray The Washington Post: Ripple ruling threatens SEC’s crypto regulation push Chair Gensler Must Recuse Himself From Digital Asset Enforcement Decisions - Blockchain Association Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, crypto lawyer Stephen Palley joins an emergency live show to unpack Thursday’s judgment in the Ripple case. Crypto markets are pumping after a judge handed Ripple Labs a partial victory in its fight against the SEC. But is the jubilation warranted? “I can understand why people are happy,” said Palley, a partner at Brown Rudnick LLP. “I’m just a little more cautious on what happens next.” Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  why Judge Analisa Torres ruled that retail sales of XRP do not violate U.S. securities laws how the court denied summary judgment on some issues relating to Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen why “Footnote 16” of the ruling was so “surprising,” according to Stephen whether the SEC will appeal the case and how that process could unfold why Coinbase, Kraken and other exchanges re-listed XRP and whether that’s a safe step whether Coinbase will cite the Ripple judgment in its lawsuit against the SEC  how this ruling does not represent a binding precedent why, even though this is a win for Ripple, it shouldn’t be used for investment strategy why Haseeb thinks the SEC should “fire their press department” whether the SEC’s case is “stronger than people on Twitter might like to believe” how, if proven, the allegations against Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky are “straight-up fraud”  why Stephen says that a lot of the enforcement activity focused on DeFi was an “absolute misuse of resources” Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Stephen Palley, litigation partner at Brown Rudnick Disclosures Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the Ripple case:  New Order in SEC vs. Ripple Over XRP Is a Win for Crypto: What Happens Now? The SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple and 2 Execs: What You Need to Know  Ripple's XRP: Why Its Chances of Success Are Low Unchained:  SEC vs Ripple: Judge Rules XRP Sold on Exchanges Is Not a Security Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Arrested in New York - Unchained Crypto CoinDesk: Ripple, Crypto Industry Score Partial Win in SEC Court Fight Over XRP Ripple Labs Ruling Throws U.S. Crypto-Token Regulation into Disarray The Washington Post: Ripple ruling threatens SEC’s crypto regulation push Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The SEC and Ripple have been locked in a legal tug of war for years, stirring up waves of controversy and debate in the crypto community. Finally, Judge Analisa Torres has given an order establishing that XRP buyers trading on exchanges were not, in fact, engaging in a securities transaction, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for the industry. Lewis Cohen, co-founder of DLx Law, unpacks the details of this pivotal case and what it might mean for the future of cryptocurrency regulation. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why the SEC lawsuit against Ripple has such historical significance in the crypto industry how Judge Torres split the case into two categories  why the 'programmatic buyers' did not meet the four prongs of the Howey test why the institutional sales constituted an investment contract  what makes the Ripple case different from the Kik and Telegram cases whether the new ruling by Judge Torres will have an impact on how other crypto projects deal with their offerings why, in the event of an appeal, Lewis expects a Second Circuit decision to take at least one year whether Judge Torres' decision will impact the ongoing cases against crypto exchanges like Coinbase why Lewis thinks the XRP order will not change the likelihood that spot bitcoin ETFs get approved how there's no way to deal with information asymmetries in digital assets now Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO Ondo Finance Arbitrum Foundation Guest Lewis Cohen, Cofounder DLx Law Previous appearances on Unchained: The Lummis/Gillibrand Crypto Bill: Is the ‘Ancillary Token’ Approach the Best Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the Ripple case:  The SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple and 2 Execs: What You Need to Know  Ripple's XRP: Why Its Chances of Success Are Low CoinDesk: Ripple, Crypto Industry Score Partial Win in SEC Court Fight Over XRP The Ineluctable Modality of Securities Law: Why Fungible Crypto Assets Are not Securities Paradigm Files Amicus Brief in SEC’s Lawsuit Against Ripple The Block: Lummis, Gillibrand to introduce revised comprehensive crypto bill  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest crypto news. This week, the crew is joined by Goldfinch co-founder Blake West to talk about the momentum around asset tokenization. Whether it’s private credit (what Goldfinch specializes in) or U.S. Treasurys (what Robert’s new venture Superstate will tackle), real-world assets (RWAs) are en vogue among the crypto set. What’s driving this fresh interest in an old concept that has failed to take off? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  how Blake got into RWAs why Robert launched his new company Superstate why Robert hates the term “real-world asset” why the only actual RWA in the blockchain space is the U.S. dollar, aka stablecoins why other non-native crypto assets have struggled to migrate onto blockchains how having on-chain T-bills could push demand for stablecoins why private credit is a good thing to bring on chain, according to Blake what the not-so-obvious benefits of bringing these things onto blockchains are whether Arkham’s model of de-anonymizing people goes against the ethos of crypto Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest: Blake West, cofounder of Goldfinch Disclosures Links Unchained: Compound Founder Creates ‘Superstate’ to Bridge TradFi and Blockchains Arkham Launches Bounty Marketplace to Trade Crypto Wallet Intel MakerDAO Mulls Proposal to Allocate $750 Million More to US Treasuries MakerDAO Has Brought in Real World Assets. Is It Worth the Risk? CoinDesk: Tokenized U.S. Treasurys Surpass $600M as Crypto Investors Capture TradFi Yield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent months, ChatGPT, Bard and other new artificial intelligence (AI) products have revolutionized numerous industries. But how this nascent technology can work with crypto and blockchain technology is still relatively unexplored. In this episode, Illia Polosukhin and Jason Warner delve into the transformative potential of AI and crypto coming together.  They explore a wide array of applications, from AIs managing Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), to DAOs being used to help open source AIs, to blockchain technology making the inner workings of AIs more transparent.  Tune in to this episode for a deep dive into the fusion of AI and crypto. Show highlights: Illia's and Jason’s backgrounds, including how Illia’s work in artificial intelligence (AI) got him into crypto what AI actually encompasses and how to define it why Jason says that "it works right now, it's machine learning and if you're raising money, it's AI" how blockchains can facilitate the provision of resources for training data  the problem of attribution in training AI models how OpenAI and Midjourney hold a lot of power at the moment, according to Illia why open source code helps build better AI systems how LLMs are being used to audit code in the blockchain ecosystem up to what point AI can be used for crypto trading why misinformation is a human problem, not an “AI problem,” and how blockchain technology can help solve this issue how blockchains can be used to verify facts to combat misinformation whether AI can help mitigate attacks on DeFi protocols how DAOS and AI can work together and whether AI can coordinate a company what’s missing in terms of infrastructure for DAOs to thrive with AI how to structure regulation with this rapidly evolving technology Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 OKX Guests: Illia Polosukhin, cofounder of NEAR. Previous appearance on The Chopping Block: The Chopping Block: Why AI Will Change the Course of History in Crypto Jason Warner, founder at Poolside.  Links Op-ed by Illia: Blockchain can save the media - Blockworks CoinDesk:  AI Can Generate a Trading Edge in Crypto Markets 10 Ways Crypto and AI Can Make Each Other Better (or Maybe Worse) Blockchain May Offer Answers for AI Challenges Former FTX.US President Brett Harrison's New Venture Is Seeking to Harness AI for Crypto Trading Blockchain Developer Platform Alchemy Releases AI-Powered Tools for Web3 Builders When AI and Blockchain Merge, Expect the Mundane at First Imagining the Future AI and Web3 Can Build World Economic Forum: Blockchain can help combat the threat of deepfakes. Here's how Cointelegraph: DAOs: Where humans may fail, AI could succeed Forbes: Convergence Of Web3, AI And Metaverse: Navigating The Great Reset For Investors,  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2022, crypto crime hit an all-time high. A staggering $3.8 billion in crypto was stolen, with DeFi protocols bearing the brunt of these thefts, accounting for 82% of the total losses. Amid this alarming scenario, has a beacon of hope emerged in ERC-7265?  The proposal aims to create a 'circuit breaker' safety layer for DeFi contracts, potentially revolutionizing security measures in the crypto space. Could this be the key to bolstering security and paving the way for mass adoption of DeFi? Will it essentially centralize protocols? Tune in to find out. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what ERC-7265 is meant to do and why they called it a 'circuit breaker’ how the idea would actually work on chain how this ERC could make DeFi applications more centralized, rather than decentralized what can be done to prevent small teams from seizing funds how different teams will be able to design the circuit breaker as they want what unsafe arbitrary calls and unprotected flows are why Philippe believes that this proposal will help newer teams improve their security how the ERC can pave the way for a more decentralized protocol  what will it take for protocols to start adopting the new standard Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com Railgun DAO Ondo Finance Arbitrum Foundation Guest Philippe Dumonet, Cofounder of DeReg Links Chainalysis 2022 report The Block: Ethereum community proposes new standard to mitigate DeFi hacks Philippe’s thread on ERC-7265 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ERC-721 token standard on Ethereum ignited the frenzied world of NFTs. Yet, as the dust settled, their limitations became apparent. Enter ERC-6551, a new standard designed to overcome these challenges. Benny Giang and Jayden Windle, cofounder and founding developer of Future Primitive, respectively, delve into the transformative potential of ERC-6551, a standard which allows every NFT to have a smart contract wallet associated with it. They discuss the exciting new possibilities it unlocks in the spheres of gaming, the metaverse, identity, messaging, and more. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what ERC-6551 is and how the idea was born the differences between NFT token standards the four big categories of applications for this new token standard why Benny thinks that "network playable characters" will solve many of the problems in the digital space how the token bound accounts work and whether they can interact with existing wallets the security implications of using ERC-6551 what Future Primitive does in the web3 space how creators can benefit from this new development whether it's possible for soulbound tokens to work with token bound accounts how blue chip NFT collections are using ERC-6551, if at all what could go wrong with token-bound accounts that are combined with AI what new things are being envisioned with this new standard Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation TOKEN2049 OKX Guests: Benny Giang, cofounder of Future Primitive  Jayden Windle, founding developer of Future Primitive Previous appearance on Unchained: Your NFTs Can Do Much More Than You Think Links ERC-6551: Non-fungible Token Bound Accounts Tokenbound ERC 6551 — Token Bound Accounts. Every NFT will have their own wallets… by Benny Giang Unchained:  How Soulbound Tokens Could Reduce Speculation and Improve DAO Voting - Quadratic Funding Could Account Abstraction Make Self-Custody Easier for Crypto Users? Ethereum Implements Account Abstraction With ERC-4337 What Can You Do in the Metaverse? Exploring the NFT blue chips What is the metaverse? What Is an NFT Marketplace? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From “hush money” allegations to a prospective FTX relaunch, it’s been a crazy week for those following the legal saga of Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsed crypto empire. Perhaps few are following it more closely than 507 Capital founder Thomas Braziel, who specializes in the trading of bankruptcy claims. He explains the significance of a spate of recent headlines and shares newsworthy tidbits from his meeting with new FTX honcho John J. Ray III. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what the Daniel Friedberg lawsuit revealed about the whistleblowers of FTX how FTX used allegedly false claims in its Series C funding round whether Friedberg’s former law firm, Fenwick & West, will suffer legal consequences how John Ray is prosecuting the allegedly fraudulent transactions made by FTX what stood out to Thomas in his personal dealings with John Ray what the timeline is for filing a reorganization plan for FTX what the odds are of an FTX 2.0 relaunch, according to Thomas why Thomas says that FTT won’t play a role in the potential FTX recovery  whether the decision to redact the identities of FTX customers was right Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Proton Railgun DAO Guest Thomas Braziel, Founder of 507 Capital Previous appearances on Unchained Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In Will Celsius Survive the Bankruptcy Process? How Crypto Bankruptcy Claims Buyers Will Profit From the Collapse of FTX Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC CoinDesk: FTX Customers Have Until End-September to Submit Bankruptcy Claims Unchained: FTX Sues Former Compliance Chief Who Allegedly Silenced Whistleblowers FTX Stops Sale of $500 Million Stake in AI Firm Anthropic: Report FTX Recovers $7 Billion in Assets in Liquid Assets WSJ: FTX Begins Talks on Reboot Amid Regulatory Crackdown on Crypto Exchanges  Bloomberg: Bankman-Fried's FTX Halts Sale of $500 Million AI Startup Anthropic Stake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest crypto news.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  why the Azuki new NFT collection 'Elementals' caused such a controversy among holders why Robert bought an Elemental and what was he expecting who the Michael Milken of NFTs is, according to Tarun how BitGo 'pulled a Binance' on Prime Trust how Prime Trust, a crypto custodian, collapsed and was put into receivership whether what Prime Trust did can be considered fraud and how the situation highlights DeFi's 'long term advantage' why the majority of blockspace is EVM-compatible what the problems are with current Layer 2 rollups such as Optimism and Arbitrum why rollups are so 'political' in the Ethereum ecosystem what makes Arbitrum better than Optimism, according to Tarun what shared sequencers are and whether they will be the future in crypto Why Haseeb is not so bullish on the app-chain thesis Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Unchained: Polygon Cofounder Proposes Upgrading PoS Chain to zkEVM Validium The Block:  Azuki NFT collections ends Elemental mint with $37.5 million Fidelity preparing to submit spot bitcoin ETF filing: Source CoinDesk: Azuki NFT Prices Slide 44% After Creator Releases 'Basically Identical' Elementals Nevada Files to Place Crypto Custodian Prime Trust Into Receivership Azuki’s thread on its situation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Kaplan, co-CEO of Prometheum, the trading platform that recently acquired a special-purpose broker dealer license for digital asset securities, has become a major lightning rod in the crypto community. Does the firm represent, as Kaplan has argued, a compliant path forward for crypto in the United States? Or, as Paradigm Special Counsel Rodrigo Seira maintains, does it only demonstrate that the SEC’s crypto regime is simply unworkable? The two join the show to debate the specifics – and it certainly gets heated. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: whether it is even possible to compliantly register a crypto exchange in the U.S. following SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s recent public statements which tokens Prometheum can list, if any why Rodrigo and Aaron disagree over what constitutes a security whether the Howey Test applies in secondary market transactions for tokens sold pursuant to a SAFT why Aaron says that Paradigm should reassess its entire thesis and that the status quo benefits venture capital firms like Paradigm why Rodrigo says Prometheum has a license, but not a business who would be responsible for providing required disclosures for a decentralized network like Ethereum how many tokens Aaron expects to list on the Prometheum platform whether Aaron and Prometheum had specific discussions with the SEC about what tokens are securities Aaron’s response to allegations that the Chinese Communist Party is infiltrating the U.S. financial system through Prometheum whether Aaron had previewed the questions he was asked by representatives in his Congressional hearing what they believe should be included in disclosures about tokens if federal securities laws didn’t exist and guidelines for disclosures were written from scratch what Aaron has to say about the Blockchain Association’s recent FOIA request whether Prometheum is open to being acquired by other entity Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com TOKEN2049 OKX Guest: Aaron Kaplan, co-CEO and co-founder of Prometheum. Previous appearance on Unchained:  These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler Aaron’s written testimony Rodrigo Seira, special counsel at Paradigm. Rodrigo’s thread on Prometheum Links Unchained:  Crypto Community Unearths Questionable History of SEC-Aligned Prometheum Former SEC Cyber Chief Calls the Agency’s Way of Labeling Tokens Securities ‘Not Fair’ Investopedia: Schwab and Fidelity-Backed Crypto Exchange EDX Goes Live, Adds More Backers CoinDesk:  Gary Gensler’s Catch-22 Vision of ‘Regulated’ Crypto Brokers Key Takeaways From House Hearing on Future of Digital Assets The Crypto Basic: Prometheum Founder Says SEC Will Win Ripple Lawsuit, XRP Community Reacts Digital Asset Investor’s video on SEC setting up a Chinese back door into crypto Thread from Blockchain Association’s Marisa Coppel Adam Cochran points out a slew of details that call Prometheum into question. Matt Walsh questions how Kaplan can be called a securities expert since the law school he earned his degree from is now unaccredited by the American Bar Association. A clip from Aaron’s exchange with U.S. Rep Mike Flood  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest crypto news. With BTC topping $30,000, the gang tackles the apparent surge in institutional bitcoin interest, with BlackRock’s spot ETF application spawning a bumper crop of similar bids. Why did all these TradFi players act at the same time? That, plus a look at the drama surrounding SEC-friendly Prometheum’s Congressional testimony and what Haseeb and Robert see as the trading platform’s many “red flags.” Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  the not-so logical reasons why the markets are up whether GBTC’s ETF conversion will also get approved if BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF gets the SEC go-ahead how all the applications were ready and were “waiting for some sign,” according to Robert whether Grayscale will have to sell the underlying assets of its GBTC trust why a bitcoin spot ETF is more retail-friendly than a bitcoin futures one how plausible it is that London becomes a leading crypto hub the drama around Prometheum’s testimony before Congress the “shady” details of Prometheum’s track record, according to Haseeb why Tarun says that the venture-funded exchanges have “completely failed on many different levels” and what tokens he would list what happened with Curve founder Michael Egorov’s loan on Aave and why Gauntlet, Tarun’s company, advocated freezing the CRV market in the lending protocol why the Aave community rejected the proposal Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Unchained: 3AC Founders Launch Venture Capital Firm Binance.US Briefly Displays Bitcoin Price at $138,000 Invesco and WisdomTree Follow BlackRock, Reapply for Bitcoin ETFs ​​BlackRock Files for Bitcoin Spot ETF - Coinbase  WSJ: Crypto Exchange Backed by Citadel Securities, Fidelity, Schwab Starts Operations Cointelegraph: Blockchain Assoc. requests info on Prometheum over ‘suspicious’ approval Aave proposal to freeze alleged Curve founder’s loans draws controversy CoinDesk: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Chooses U.K. as Destination for First Office Outside U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The SEC has swatted down so many spot bitcoin ETF applications that crypto diehards simply gave up caring. Then comes TradFi giant BlackRock – at the height of the SEC’s crypto crackdown, no less – with an ETF application that has seemingly changed the calculus. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF watcher James Seyffart joins the show to unpack the odds of BlackRock being the first to win approval, and what it would mean for other players in the space chasing down TradFi’s “holy grail.” Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why the SEC rejected all of the previous bitcoin spot ETF applications what makes the application from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, different  what a 19b-4 filing is and how it relates to the BlackRock application whether BlackRock “knows something,” considering the recent enforcement actions against major crypto exchanges why being a first mover is a considerable advantage in the ETF market whether BlackRock choosing Coinbase as a custodian is a risk, given that the SEC is in a legal battle with Coinbase what’s different about a spot bitcoin ETF, and why a bitcoin futures ETF is not enough  what are the differences between the applications filed by BlackRock, Invesco, WisdomTree and Valkyrie which are the applications that are most likely to be approved, according to James what the impact will be of Grayscale’s lawsuit against the SEC over the denial of its proposal to convert GBTC to an ETF why James says that Gary Gensler could be thinking like a politician as it relates to spot bitcoin ETFs  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Copilot Money ProtonMail Guest James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the topic: Grayscale v. SEC: Who Won This Week’s Hearing? Why Grayscale Is Suing the SEC Over Its Denial of a Bitcoin ETF $5 Billion in AUM: Why Growth at Grayscale Exploded in the Last Quarter Bitwise’s Latest Plans to Get a Bitcoin ETF Approved DCG’s Dilemma: Should It Sell Its GBTC Holdings to Repay Gemini? The Block: BlackRock ETF launch would put pressure on Grayscale's valuation: Bloomberg analyst CoinDesk: A Straightforward Explanation for Why Financial Giants Want to Issue a Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained: Invesco and WisdomTree Follow BlackRock, Reapply for Bitcoin ETFs ​​BlackRock Files for Bitcoin Spot ETF Valkyrie Applies for Bitcoin Spot ETF ‘BRRR’ Reuters:  Cboe files with U.S. SEC for third time to list ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF US court questions SEC's rejection of Grayscale's bitcoin fund proposal Barron’s: ETF: Invesco, WisdomTree Join Push. Why It Might Happen. Blockworks: BlackRock, then Bitwise — How the spot bitcoin ETF filings differ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The announcement of the upcoming launch of Uniswap v4 sparked fresh versions of old debates. Is it OK for DeFi’s leading DEX to not be fully open source at launch? What counts as composability and what counts as plagiarism? Is Uniswap’s dominance a threat to decentralization? Founder Hayden Adams joins the show to respond to the critics and explain the novel features of Uniswap v4.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how Uniswap was born and how it has evolved since 2018 how the SushiSwap vampire attack was a win for Uniswap  whether the new version of Uniswap brings it closer to the true ethos of Ethereum what the problems were with the previous fee model and how the new v4 approaches fee tiers an explanation of “hooks,” the most important feature of the new code what Hayden thinks the most common uses of hooks will be how v4’s time-weighted average market maker (TWAMM) feature works  whether Hayden is worried that hooks will be engineered to do rug pulls what Hayden thinks about v4’s new “singleton” approach how EIP-1153 (if implemented) will make Uniswap v4 more efficient  when Hayden estimates that the v4 code will be deployed  why Uniswap decided to go with a four-year business license Hayden’s response to allegations that Uniswap plagiarized Crocswap for its v4 code whether there’s a risk that U.S. authorities blacklist certain transactions on v4 whether it is possible to add KYC and AML compliance into v4 pools why Hayden is sad about the U.S. approach to regulating crypto why he believes that Uniswap will not become a centralizing force Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com TOKEN2049 OKX Guest: Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap Links Unchained: Uniswap Releases Draft Code for V4 Uniswap V3 Forks Are Now Legal After BSL Expiry Liquidity Pools: How DEXes Allow Trading Uniswap: Our Vision for Uniswap v4 EIP-1153: Transient storage opcodes v4-core/LICENSE at main · Uniswap/v4-core · GitHub Frax Finance’s Sam Kazemian tweet TWAMM - Paradigm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has a reputation in the industry for being more supportive of crypto than her peers. After a rough year for the industry, Peirce weighs in on whether the agency was right in recently naming several crypto tokens as securities, the state of the current regulatory framework, and the slow pace of change. “All I can say is that I’ve been at the agency for over five years, and it’s very frustrating to me that in that time we haven’t done something more productive,” Peirce tells Unchained.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what would Peirce do to regulate crypto if she were chair of the SEC whether the SEC was right in alleging that SOL, ADA, MATIC, and more are securities why Peirce says the SEC’s current approach will take many years to find a resolution whether special purpose broker-dealer licenses are a solution  why Peirce believes that the existing regulatory framework is not enough to oversee digital assets her views on the pressing need to find a way to make existing regulations comport with a technology that doesn’t require intermediaries whether the fact that many SEC employees worked on the Hinman speech reflects the opinion of the agency as a whole why Peirce is “very frustrated” after five years of working at the SEC why she’s been seen as the “Crypto Mom” and why she thinks it’s so important to provide a clear regulatory framework Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Copilot Money Proton Guest Hester M. Peirce, SEC Commissioner Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the topic: The Chopping Block: Jake Chervinsky on How the SEC Has Lost Credibility These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Gary Gensler vs. Crypto: What Will the SEC Attack Next? Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Unchained: SEC Sues Coinbase for Breaking Securities Laws SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Including the Mishandling of Funds, Sale of Unregistered Securities SEC Calls Solana, Polygon, Algorand and Other Tokens Securities but Misses Ether in Binance Lawsuit US House Republicans Propose Bill That May Give Crypto Assets a Path to Becoming Commodities Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition The Block:  Ripple calls for investigation into former SEC official after document release Former SEC director Hinman's plan to call Vitalik Buterin revealed in suit SEC comments on Hinman speech released in Ripple Labs filing WSJ: Who Is Brian Armstrong? Coinbase CEO Is Taking On the SEC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, Robert stirs the debate over Hinman's 2018 speech and what it means for the debate at the SEC over whether BTC and ETH should be considered securities, the similarities between Ethereum and Solana, and how Binance.US is dealing with a move to freeze its assets. Moreover, the group kicks off with a brief history lesson on the infamous PEPE meme! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  where the PEPE meme comes from whether Mark Zuckerberg and the project Libra played a role in the animosity toward crypto why Robert says that Hinman's speech in 2018 was crafted with broad inter-agency work, in contrast to what the SEC has been saying how the documents show that the SEC didn't believe there was enough clarity to classify ETH as a security whether these documents diminish Gary Gensler's claims that almost everything in crypto is a security the similarities between Ethereum in 2017 and Solana at the moment what the drama is in Solana around forking Alameda coins what the new features of the Uniswap V4 draft code are whether the 'hooks' in the new code facilitate rug pulls and introduce much more complexities how Binance.US has dealt with the SEC lawsuit and request to freeze its assets Robert's crazy idea to use Uniswap V4 and why Tarun killed it what extreme sports represent crypto more accurately Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Unchained: SEC Anticipates Responding to Coinbase Petition in 120 Days Binance.US and SEC Work On Deal to Avoid Total Asset Freeze: Report Binance.US Says SEC’s Request to Freeze Assets Would End Crypto Exchange Binance, Coinbase and Binance.US Record $4 Billion in Weekly Outflows Uniswap Releases Draft Code for V4 The Block:  Ripple calls for investigation into former SEC official after document release Former SEC director Hinman's plan to call Vitalik Buterin revealed in Ripple lawsuit SEC comments on Hinman speech released in Ripple Labs filing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 1, Hong Kong implemented new crypto regulations to license exchanges. Two experts – Angelina Kwan, CEO of Stratford Finance (and former COO of BitMEX), and Adrian Lai, founder and managing partner of Newman Capital – weigh in on the new rules in Hong Kong, which tokens can be listed, recent reports that China may be sanctioning this activity, and how the crypto community is responding so far. Plus, they dissect the latest developments of the digital yuan, whether China will ever embrace public blockchains, and the shifting global regulatory landscape for crypto, and more. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Angelina’s and Adrian’s backgrounds in crypto in Hong Kong how crypto in Hong Kong has evolved over the years what the new Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) rules consist of, including which tokens will be allowed in the newly licensed exchanges  how the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has taken onboarding crypto companies in the banking system very seriously  why Angelina says that crypto companies have already stopped leaving Hong Kong how some people are worried how a potential crackdown on crypto in China could affect Hong Kong why the SFC has committed to issuing a paper on tokenization and why it is particularly interested in real estate  the importance of the development of the digital yuan whether the new regulations in Hong Kong mean that China is prepared to adopt crypto in the mainland how China is 'excelling' at adopting real-world use cases, according to Angelina why you can't say “NFTs” in China and why the metaverse represents a “huge problem,” according to Adrian whether China will let public blockchains succeed  how the global regulatory landscape has been changing and what it means for the future of digital assets whether Africa is the next frontier of growth and what role the Middle East is playing Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com TOKEN2049 Guests: Angelina Kwan, CEO of Stratford Finance Adrian Lai, founder and managing partner of Newman Capital Links CoinDesk:  Hong Kong Securities Regulator to Accept License Applications for Crypto Exchanges Starting June 1 How Hong Kong Is Gearing Up to Regulate Stablecoins Cointelegraph:  Hong Kong’s regulatory lead sets it up to be major crypto hub China doles out millions in digital yuan in bid to boost adoption: Report Chinese city public servants to receive digital yuan salaries starting May TechCrunch:  Hong Kong’s crypto rules help it fit in more than stand out, but experts say that’s good A peek into China’s stance on web3 CNBC: One country, two crypto systems: Hong Kong harbors crypto hub ambitions despite China’s crackdown Bloomberg: Hong Kong’s Crypto Hub Ambitions Win Quiet Backing From Beijing Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: SFC concludes consultation on regulation of virtual asset trading platforms South China Morning Post: Hong Kong’s crypto market will not have ‘light-touch regulation’, HKMA chief says as city prepares new rules Forkast: China: Zhengzhou City proposes metaverse plan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, it was Binance. On Tuesday, Coinbase. Electric Capital General Counsel Emily Meyers joins the show to read between the lines of an action-packed week for Gary Gensler’s SEC. Meyers lends her lawyerly eye to the key differences between the two lawsuits, the SEC’s potential strategy, and whether federal legislation will beat the courts in providing clarity.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why Emily thinks the SEC’s actions don’t represent the end of crypto in the U.S. what the similarities and differences are in the lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance why it’s fundamental to the SEC’s allegations that the court determines that at least one of the named tokens is in fact a security whether Coinbase and Binance will file motions to dismiss whether allegations against Binance are comparable to those against FTX whether Gary Gensler’s interactions with Binance in 2019 raise ethical questions about his involvement in the case  why Emily thinks that Gensler’s approach to crypto is not aligned with the SEC’s mission to protect investors why the SEC allowed Coinbase to go public and is now suing them how the SEC sued Coinbase only after the exchange sued the agency first whether the Third Circuit will press the SEC to issue the rules that Coinbase has petitioned for why Emily believes that there’s not an effective path for crypto companies to properly register in the U.S. why the SEC has listed large-market-cap tokens such as SOL, ADA, and MATIC but has not gone after ETH Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Copilot Money Proton Guest Emily Meyers, general counsel at Electric Capital Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the topic: The Chopping Block: Jake Chervinsky on How the SEC Has Lost Credibility These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler Coinbase's Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold  ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Gary Gensler vs. Crypto: What Will the SEC Attack Next? Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ LINKS Unchained: SEC Sues Coinbase for Breaking Securities Laws SEC Files Motion to Freeze Binance’s Assets, Asks for ‘Sworn Accounting’ SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Including the Mishandling of Funds, Sale of Unregistered Securities SEC Calls Solana, Polygon, Algorand and Other Tokens Securities but Misses Ether in Binance Lawsuit US House Republicans Propose Bill That May Give Crypto Assets a Path to Becoming Commodities Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition CoinDesk:  SEC Seeks Temporary Restraining Order to Freeze Binance.US Assets Crypto Exchange Binance Says Gensler Once Offered to Be an 'Informal Advisor' Binance Redirected $12B to Firms Controlled by CEO Changpeng Zhao, SEC Says Fortune: Former Coinbase employee and his brother settle with the SEC, which again dodges proving whether cryptocurrencies are securities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, the Blockchain Association’s Jake Chervinsky breaks down the cases against Binance and Coinbase – and how they are different from FTX – what it means for the crypto industry, and who may be next. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  Why Jake believes that the Binance lawsuit didn’t present major surprises Whether the SEC is trying to ban the crypto industry by enforcement How Binance has been allegedly doing a huge amount of wash trading Whether Gemini is next on the SEC’s enforcement action list How CZ and Coinbase CEOs have responded to the complaints How the market reacted to the lawsuits What the differences are between the Binance case and FTX Why the SEC is alleging that Coinbase is operating as an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency Whether token issuers can bring action against the SEC for harming their business or reputation Whether the crypto industry doesn’t take the SEC seriously Whether the EOS settlement in 2019 shows how inconsistent the SEC has been in its crypto enforcement actions  Whether these cases will have an impact in Congress and accelerate legislation  What would happen if Gary Gensler stops being the chair of the SEC Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest Jake Chervinsky, chief policy officer at the Blockchain Association Previous Unchained Appearances: Can Crypto Be a Force in the Midterms? Yes, Say Kristin Smith and Jake Chervinsky Everything You Need to Know About the Looming Battle Over Privacy in Crypto All Things Crypto Regulation With Jake Chervinsky Disclosures Links Unchained: SEC Sues Coinbase for Breaking Securities Laws SEC Files Motion to Freeze Binance’s Assets, Asks for ‘Sworn Accounting’ SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Including the Mishandling of Funds, Sale of Unregistered Securities SEC Calls Solana, Polygon, Algorand and Other Tokens Securities but Misses Ether in Binance Lawsuit US House Republicans Propose Bill That May Give Crypto Assets a Path to Becoming Commodities Fortune: Former Coinbase employee and his brother settle with the SEC, which again dodges proving whether cryptocurrencies are securities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wallet security was in the spotlight after the announcement of Ledger Recover, but the crypto community doesn’t need to “freak out,” according to Itai Turbahn, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Labs, and Ouriel Ohayon, CEO of ZenGo. The two CEOs join the show to talk about the challenges of bringing self-custody to the masses. For many, “not your keys, not your coins” is actually “your keys, your problem.”   Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: the problems that may arise when managing your own keys the misconceptions that people have about hardware wallets why Ouriel says that Ledger is going in the right direction but made a major mistake how multi-party computation can be a solution to the problem of securing your own keys what are other ways to solve it, such as Shamir’s secret sharing (SSS) and multisigs the tradeoffs between security and user experience how Dynamic Wallet works by linking multiple wallets to a single account whether “passwordless authentication” is the future of security how can users protect themselves from “bad transactions” and what are companies doing to help whether open source contributes to more security in the wallet landscape how account abstraction will change the user experience whether security is the key to the future of crypto   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guests: Itai Turbahn, cofounder and CEO of Dynamic Labs Ouriel Ohayon, CEO of ZenGo Previous appearance on Unchained: ZenGo: A Self-Custodial Wallet Minus the Risk of Losing Your Keys Previous coverage of Unchained on wallets: The Ugly Tradeoffs of Ledger’s New Recovery Service Links What is ZenGo Recovery Kit? Cointelegraph: Multiparty computation could offer increased protection for crypto wallets I run a Ledger competitor — But I support it in blow-up over keys Unchained: ‘Backdoor’ for Seed Phrases? Ledger’s New Recovery Feature Spooks Users Tweet from Ouriel that explains the differences between ZenGo and Ledger Solving the crypto adoption problem: making crypto *actually* usable Multi-Party Computation (MPC) Technology Can Ensure Effective Fraud Detection | Nasdaq Web3 Auth 101: What is wallet-based authentication?   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, the gang answers audience questions, digs into the discourse around rollups, and debates whether modular blockchains will vanquish existing monoliths. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  How someone asked people to just give them money, and raised over $1 million Answering audience questions from Twitter, including ‘what’s Tarun’s favorite drug?’ Whether there’s tension between Haseeb and Tarun How the incoming generations of crypto people (e.g. “Class of 2017”) have changed over the cycles The five-level explainer on what a rollup is  Why everyone’s debating the ontology of rollups and why Haseeb still thinks blockchains are like religions Tarun’s take on the modular blockchain thesis and why Haseeb is skeptical Whether app chains like the ones in Cosmos will become dominant Whether one of the top 4 chains will be modular in the next five to 10 years Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Binance Feed: Bored Ape NFT Holder Ben.eth Launches Third Crusade of Memecoin Psychopathy Rollups, Rigor, and Reality by Kelvin Fichter Rollups Are L1s (& L2s) a.k.a. How Rollups *Actually Actually Actually* Work by Jon Charbonneau Haseeb’s question on Twitter Previous episode of The Chopping Block on the L1 debate: Why Are We Still Building Layer 1s? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If a year in crypto is like a decade in other industries, then Laura Shin has seen a lot. To commemorate the 500th episode of “Unchained” (actually, there’s about 150 more under a different brand name), Laura hops on the other side of the microphone to field questions from Unchained Contributing Editor Zack Seward about standout moments dating back to 2018. From the early rise of Binance to a charged interview with Terra founder Do Kwon, Shin takes you behind the scenes for rare insights into her process, her favorite moments, and how key episodes have aged. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Highlighted episodes: Sept. 25, 2018: How Binance Became the Most Popular Crypto Exchange in 5 Months March 26, 2019: Vitalik Buterin on Whether or Not Ethereum Is ‘Blowing It’ April 8, 2022: Here’s Why USDN De-Pegged From the Dollar – And Why UST Might Too Dec. 23, 2022: Martin Shkreli Explains Why Sam Bankman-Fried Got Lucky With His Judge Aug. 3, 2021: Can a DeFi Smart Contract Be Regulated? Two CFTC Commissioners Discuss May 23, 2023: Ex-CFTC Commissioner Berkovitz Says ‘DeFi Should Be Regulated’ – But How? March 18, 2022: Punk6529 on the Significance of Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks Oct. 18, 2022: Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’ July 31, 2018: Meltem Demirors and Jill Carlson on the Shitcoin Waterfall Aug. 10, 2021: Is ETH on Its Way to Becoming Ultra-Sound Money? Yes, Says Justin Drake Dec. 28, 2021: Why NFT OG Mitchell Chan Has Released Just One Project This Year Oct. 28, 2022: The Mango Markets Attacker on Whether His ‘Trade’ Was Ethical or Not Feb. 7, 2018: Xapo’s Wences Casares on How Bitcoin Makes a Fairer World Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Copilot Money Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Lack of regulatory clarity” is the catchall complaint levied against U.S. regulators by most major players in the crypto industry. But the founders of Bosonic and Prometheum disagree. Both firms have spent years chasing the necessary regulatory approvals to compliantly trade digital assets, including those seen as securities. Last week, Prometheum secured a potentially landmark approval to operate as a special purpose broker-dealer for digital asset securities. Prometheum co-founder Aaron Kaplan and Rosario Ingargiola, founder of Bosonic, which earlier secured a similar approval, discuss why big players like Coinbase need to quit carping in the court of public opinion and do the hard work of getting approved. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what Bosonic and Prometheum Capital do  how Aaron and Rosario started working in crypto what it means to be a special purpose broker-dealer what the three-step letter from the SEC is and why it's relevant for scaling a digital asset business how exchanges work in traditional finance and how crypto differs why Aaron believes there’s a “pathway forward for crypto in the U.S.” whether the argument that there’s a lack of regulatory clarity is convenient for crypto incumbents  why Aaron agrees with SEC Chair Gary Gensler on his stance that everything except BTC is a security how a token registration would work and what the nuances would be why Coinbase’s approval to be a publicly traded company does not mean that the SEC is in line with the business whether ETH is a security, with Aaron arguing it is and Rosario saying it’s a commodity what the different requirements are for national securities exchanges and alternative trading systems what Aaron and Rosario would tell existing crypto companies as it relates to compliance whether regulation kills innovation Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guests: Aaron Kaplan, co-CEO and co-founder of Prometheum Rosario Ingargiola, Founder and CEO of Bosonic Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto regulation:  Ex-CFTC Commissioner Berkovitz Says ‘DeFi Should Be Regulated’ – But How? ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Coinbase's Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US? Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ Links CoinDesk:  SEC Proposal Could Bar Investment Advisers From Keeping Assets at Crypto Firms U.S. SEC Moves Toward DeFi Oversight as It Reopens Proposed Regulations Prepared Remarks of Gary Gensler On Crypto Markets Penn Law Capital Markets Association Annual Conference SEC Issues Investigative Report Concluding DAO Tokens, a Digital Asset, Were Securities Unchained:  SEC Chair Gary Gensler Avoids Question: ‘Is Ethereum a Security?’ Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition SEC Asks Court to Deny Coinbase Demand for Crypto Rules Financial Institutions Hub: SEC Proposal Targets Crypto Exchanges, Trading Platforms, and Brokers Emmer and Soto Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s in the name: mint.fun. Co-founder Luke Miles joins the show to talk about his platform’s efforts to make NFTs more discoverable, accessible and fun. He also shares his on-the-ground perspectives on emerging trends in the NFT space – everything from Bitcoin Ordinals to the rise of Ethereum L2s as NFT hot spots. With last cycle’s NFT mania in the rearview, what’s next? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what mint.fun is and what problems it solves for NFT users how it is different from popular NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea and Blur why mint.fun is also launching on Ethereum layer 2s Luke’s thoughts on the current state of the NFT market  why the narrative has shifted from PFP projects delivering a roadmap to the ‘single creator narrative’ the difference between open-edition mints and limited editions why NFTs on layer 2s are “about to have a moment,” according to Luke whether mint.fun will launch on other blockchains what Luke thinks of Ordinals and the BRC-20 mania Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Stader Labs Guest Luke Miles, CEO of mint.fun Links Dune dashboard Fundrop Recent coverage on BRC-20s: Bitcoin’s BRC-20 Mania: Is It Sustainable? Unchained: What Is NFT Farming? A Beginner's Guide Music NFTs: What Are They & How Do They Work? A Guide to Yuga Labs: The Most Important NFT Company Exploring the NFT blue chips What Is an NFT Marketplace? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan explains his vision for providing “decentralized trust” to new projects on Ethereum. Was Vitalik Buterin’s recent “re-staking” post a shot across EigenLayer’s bow? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  how Sreeram has transitioned from academia into the world of crypto why he believes that crypto is the “coordination highway” what EigenLayer is – explained to a five-year-old, a high schooler, a day trader, a developer, and a crypto professor how middleware enables technology innovation where the value accrues if there’s no token for securing a blockchain whether Vitalik is right in being concerned about the risk of corrupting validators what EigenLayer did to minimize risks and externalities to Ethereum whether protocols and applications will fork if they get hacked and whether Ethereum will “bail them out” Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guest Sreeram Kannan, founder of EigenLayer Previous appearances on Unchained:  Do You Need to Think Twice Before Restaking Your Assets? Disclosures Links Don't overload Ethereum's consensus by Vitalik Buterin Previous coverage of Unchained on Ethereum staking:  Shapella in the Rearview: After Major Upgrade, What’s Next for Ethereum? How Will ETH React to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade? Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? In the Recent Crypto Market Meltdown, What Role Did Lido’s stETH Play? Is ETH on Its Way to Becoming Ultra-Sound Money? Yes, Says Justin Drake Learn more: How Liquid Staking Works A Guide to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade How to Stake Ethereum With Liquid Staking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the SEC’s push to rein in the crypto sector, one question looms large: Is ETH a security? Dan Berkovitz, a former CFTC commissioner and SEC general counsel, and Colin Lloyd, a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, assess the current state of the regulatory turf war in the U.S., shedding light on some of Washington’s unanswered questions.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how an asset can be both a commodity and a security what it means that bitcoin and ether were listed as non-security futures whether The Merge may have changed regulators’ views on the classification of ETH who would be responsible for determining that ETH is a security what Colin and Dan say about ETH being a security or not what would happen if any regulator, be it the CFTC or SEC, determined that ETH is a security how and whether DeFi applications should be regulated why it is important to consider the “human initiative” behind DeFi platforms the implications of having a technology that allows for the sale of securities without an intermediary the implications of the SEC’s proposal to change the definition of an exchange how new technologies were integrated with the regulatory system in the past and how that differs from the current approach of the SEC the problems of trying to regulate a technology that’s changing so fast how other jurisdictions have been taking a more proactive approach to regulating digital assets Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guests: Dan Berkovitz, former General Counsel at the SEC and former Commissioner at the CFTC. Previous appearance on Unchained: Can a DeFi Smart Contract Be Regulated? Two CFTC Commissioners Discuss Colin Lloyd, partner at Sullivan & Cromwell Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto regulation:  ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Coinbase's Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US? Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ Links CoinDesk:  U.S. SEC Moves Toward DeFi Oversight as It Reopens Proposed Regulations SEC Chair Gensler Declines to Say if Ether Is a Security in Contentious Congressional Hearing Bloomberg: CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam on the Fight to Regulate Crypto Unchained:  SEC Chair Gary Gensler Avoids Question: ‘Is Ethereum a Security?’ SEC Sues Bittrex, Names Dash, Algorand and Other Tokens ‘Crypto Asset Securities’ Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition SEC Asks Court to Deny Coinbase Demand for Crypto Rules Financial Institutions Hub: SEC Proposal Targets Crypto Exchanges, Trading Platforms, and Brokers Emmer and Soto Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, Taproot Wizards instigator Eric Wall joins the show to discuss the rise of Ordinals and what it means for the future of Bitcoin. Will inscriptions and BRC-20 tokens bring a slew of Ethereum-style problems to the original blockchain?  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  how Eric has set up a “war” between the “laser-eye tribe” and the “magicians” how the Bitcoin maxi community is different from the normal Bitcoin user base whether Ordinals fixes the lack of demand for Bitcoin block space what Taproot is and what it enabled on the Bitcoin network the MEV problem that could arise in Bitcoin now that demand for block space is going up whether Bitcoin’s values resemble a religion whether the increased demand for Bitcoin block space is good for the network, even if it’s fueled by JPEGs and “shitcoins” why so many people got worried about Ledger Recover why Robert thinks that Ledger’s new service is “terrifying” and why Haseeb is not so concerned whether Bitcoin is becoming a unit of account once again Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Guest Eric Wall, cofounder of Taproot Wizards Previous appearances on Unchained:  Eric Wall and Udi Wertheimer on Why Bitcoin Maximalism Is 'Like a Shitcoin Community' Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed Disclosures Links CoinDesk:  Ledger Bats Back Criticism of New Wallet Recovery Service The Blocksize Wars Revisited: How Bitcoin's Civil War Still Resonates Today Nic Carter: There's No Such Thing as High Fees on Bitcoin Unchained:  ‘Backdoor’ for Seed Phrases? Ledger’s New Recovery Feature Spooks Users ​​‘Technically’ Possible to Extract User Keys? Ledger Addresses Deleted Tweet Haseeb Qureshi’s thread on Ledger Recover Previous coverage of Unchained on Ordinals and BRC-20s: Bitcoin’s BRC-20 Mania: Is It Sustainable? Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Are Hot and Getting Hotter. What's the Hype About? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ledger, the crypto industry’s leading hardware wallet manufacturer, rolled out a new recovery feature this month that caused an uproar. The recovery service has dangerous implications for crypto self-custody, says Foundation Devices Head of Content “Seth For Privacy.” He joins the show to discuss the downsides of closed-source code and the security risks that come with compromising for mainstream adoption. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how Ledger Recover works and why it caused an outrage in the crypto community why the fact that Ledger’s code is not open-source could be considered a problem what the concerns are about handing over additional data to Ledger how darknet markets have always existed for fake ID verifications and how it relates to Ledger’s new feature some of Ledger’s previous security lapses  why introducing a trusted third party undermines one of Bitcoin’s most central tenets whether Ledger’s move is a “net good for society,” and whether people actually want a service like this in a hardware wallet whether something will go wrong with Ledger in the future Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Stader Labs Guest Seth for Privacy, blogger and head of content at Foundation Devices Blog Foundation Devices Twitter thread on the logistics and risks of the Ledger recovery process Links Ledger CTO Twitter thread on Ledger Recover  CoinDesk: Ledger Bats Back Criticism of New Wallet Recovery Service, CoinDesk  Unchained: ‘Backdoor’ for Seed Phrases? Ledger’s New Recovery Feature Spooks Users Ledger Recover webpage Haseeb Qureshi’s thread on the Ledger controversy Past Ledger security issues CoinDesk: Crypto Wallet Maker Ledger Loses 1M Email Addresses in Data Theft Cointelegraph: Ledger data leak: A ‘simple mistake’ exposed 270K crypto wallet buyers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ordinal theory has unleashed a new wave of NFTs, memecoins and innovation on Bitcoin — but not without controversy. Bitcoin educator Dan Held and Bitcoin Frontier Fund Managing Partner Trevor Owens join the show to discuss the breakneck rise of BRC-20s and why they’re both bullish on what memecoins mean for the original blockchain. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what ordinal theory is and how it enabled Bitcoin “NFTs” how the Ordinals Protocol differs from the ERC-721 token standard used by many Ethereum NFTs how BRC-20s work by relying on some off-chain mechanisms why Bitcoin is not a “dinosaur chain,” according to Dan why Trevor says BRC-20 memecoins are superior to those on Ethereum what the practical utilities of BRC-20s are, if any why transaction fees in Bitcoin rose so much and why it’s healthy for the network  whether innovation is coming back to Bitcoin whether Satoshi Nakamoto would have approved of Bitcoin NFTs the role of speculation in fueling bitcoin adoption  the current and future state of layer 2s on Bitcoin why Dan says BRC-20s “absolutely” solve the problem with Bitcoin’s security budget why it’s hard to determine an “appropriate” amount for the security budget of Bitcoin how the NFT market could be shaped after the rise of Ordinals and BRC-20s what needs to be developed so that BRC-20s can flourish Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guests: Dan Held, Bitcoin educator and marketing advisor at Trust Machines  Trevor Owens, managing partner at Bitcoin Frontier Fund Previous coverage of Unchained on Ordinals: Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Are Hot and Getting Hotter. What's the Hype About? - NFT Crypto Links Unchained:  How to Create a Bitcoin Ordinal Bitcoin Core Developers Mull Getting Rid of BRC-20 Transactions Binance Briefly Halted Bitcoin Withdrawals Amid Network Congestion Domo’s thread on BRC-20s  Anita Posch’s comments.on the high fees Nic Carter: There's No Such Thing as High Fees on Bitcoin Nic Carter’s MIT presentation: MIT Bitcoin Expo 2019 - 10 years of Bitcoin: Evaluating its Performance as a Monetary System Decrypt: Michael Saylor: Bitcoin Ordinals Are a ‘Catalyst’ for Adoption [bitcoin-dev] [Mempool spam] Should we as developers reject non-standard Taproot transactions from full nodes? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they talk about the recent issues surrounding the Aragon Foundation, the likelihood of Montenegro becoming an ETH hub, the BRC-20s mania, and much more! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  why Zuzalu is “Burning Man in the daytime” whether Montenegro could become the “ETH El Salvador doppelganger” why the Aragon Foundation alleged that they were under attack why Aragon has “missed the boat on a lot of everything that’s happened in DAOs” whether the Aragon Foundation is “suckling on the teat of the DAO for a fat salary” whether Arca was right about wanting the Aragon treasury to be part of the on-chain governance how on-chain governance can do even more than many of the investment banking functions that exist currently why some Bitcoin developers want to censor BRC-20 transactions why the way XEN works gives Haseeb a headache whether Binance CEO CZ invented the memecoin PEPE what the impact of Jump and Jane Street decreasing their market making activity is where the next market makers will come from Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Disclosures Links Unchained:  Coinbase Apologizes After Calling PEPE a ‘Hate Symbol’ Market Makers Jump and Jane Street Withdraw From U.S. Crypto Trading: Report CoinDesk: Aragon Cancels Planned Community Control of $200M Treasury Amid Battle With Activist Investors The Block: Coinbase cuddles up to UAE policymakers as US outlook sours Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

News emerged this week that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) placed $44 billion in claims on the FTX bankruptcy estate. Now creditors of the defunct crypto exchange are worried that the taxman is going to gobble up funds that would otherwise be used to make users partially whole. Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, joins the show to explain what’s going on, how that huge number is even possible, and why the so-called “trust argument” is not going to be the silver bullet that some FTX customers are dreaming of. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: whether the numbers of the IRS claim are even correct how these claims may affect all customers and unsecured creditors of FTX whether FTX CEO John Ray will fight the claims  what the trust argument is and how it could potentially save (or not) FTX’s creditors in what currency the investments made by creditors would be returned why the Three Arrows Capital case differs from FTX and Mt. Gox why what FTX allegedly did is similar, but different, from what Celsius or Voyager did Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Stader Labs Guest Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency Previous appearances on Unchained:  Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years  Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now? Links CoinDesk: U.S. Internal Revenue Service Files Claims Worth $44 Billion Against FTX Bankruptcy MeatTC’s Twitter thread Wassie’s Twitter thread Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Longtime crypto reporter Brady Dale has beat Michael Lewis to market with the first book on the dramatic collapse of FTX. In stores today, “SBF: How the FTX Bankruptcy Unwound Crypto’s Very Bad Good Guy,” tells the tale of the outsized role that Sam Bankman-Fried played in the FTX-Alameda death spiral. Drawing on years of reporting and interviews with SBF himself, the book charts the rise and fall of the one-time crypto wunderkind. “It became clear to me that Sam got really addicted to fame,” said Dale. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: Brady’s background and how he came to cover crypto how covering the space for a crypto outlet is different from a more mainstream publication how Brady was able to finalize his book so fast  what Brady’s favorite parts of the book are who was really responsible for the collapse of the FTX empire whether Sam Bankman-Fried will plead guilty  whether FTX will make a comeback how SBF thinks differently from other people, and how it led to his downfall why Brady thinks the “dot-com bust” for crypto has yet to arrive whether crypto has betrayed its cypherpunk ideals Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guests: Brady Dale, writer and reporter at Axios, and author of “SBF: How the FTX Bankruptcy Unwound Crypto’s Very Bad Good Guy” Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Genesis bankruptcy is about to take a high-stakes turn with a $630 million payment from Digital Currency Group (DCG) due by May 11. Barry Silbert’s DCG, the parent company of Genesis, is on the hook for the massive payment, but doubts are swirling as to whether the crypto conglomerate can cover it. Lumida Wealth CEO Ram Ahluwalia joins the show to unpack what could happen to Genesis creditors, Gemini Earn users, and the markets should DCG fail to cover its debt obligations. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: whether DCG will be able to pay its debt to the Genesis bankruptcy estate the ways DCG can “plug the hole” what the likelihood of DCG filing for bankruptcy is how FTX’s intent to claw back $3.9 billion from Genesis would affect DCG whether Gemini Earn customers will be made whole why Ram says that asymmetric information has plagued the bankruptcy process whether the creditors should accept the latest term sheet how the Grayscale lawsuit against the SEC could impact DCG’s cash flow Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Stader Labs Guest Ram Ahluwalia, CEO & Founder of Lumida Wealth Previous appearances on Unchained:  ​​Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? How Will the FTX Collapse Affect Silvergate? A Bear and a Bull Debate How Is the Fed Going to Respond to the Banking Crisis? Links Unchained: FTX Moves to Claw Back $3.9 Billion From Genesis Reuters: Crypto group DCG says bankrupt unit Genesis' creditors renege on deal CoinDesk:  Genesis Files for Mediator Assistance Over Amount of DCG Contribution to Reorganization DCG's CFO Steps Down as Crypto Conglomerate Repays $350M Loan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Sreeram Kannan, founder of EigenLayer, and Konstantin Lomashuk, cofounder of Lido Finance, discuss the complex world of staking in Ethereum's post-Shanghai ecosystem.   Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the staking ecosystem in Ethereum looks after the full completion of the Merge what EigenLayer is and why it's called that whether EigenLayer's model is more similar to Polkadot or, actually, to Ethereum Layer 2s what the risks of restaking are, for both projects and users how Lido is working to keep Ethereum decentralized and censorship-resistant what superfluid staking is and whether it could be done on Ethereum how EigenLayer incentivizes alignment between the delegator and the stakers whether there's a risk that Lido could become a governance layer for Ethereum what can be done to increase staking services adoption Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guests: Sreeram Kannan, founder of EigenLayer Konstantin Lomashuk, cofounder of Lido Finance Previous coverage of Unchained on Ethereum staking:  Shapella in the Rearview: After Major Upgrade, What’s Next for Ethereum? How Will ETH React to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade? Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? In the Recent Crypto Market Meltdown, What Role Did Lido’s stETH Play? Is ETH on Its Way to Becoming Ultra-Sound Money? Yes, Says Justin Drake Learn more: How Liquid Staking Works A Guide to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade How to Stake Ethereum With Liquid Staking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in digital assets. In this live episode from Consensus 2023, they are joined by Avery Ching, chief architect of Aptos, to discuss the latest SEC enforcement actions, an embarrasing admission by audit firm Certik, and crypto’s impact on the coming election. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  everyone's impressions of the conference why Korea has become a hub for crypto adoption why there's no benchmarking infrastructure to compare data across blockchains how Sui decided not to airdrop a token and what the implications for future airdrops are whether CertiK bears responsibility in the Merlin DEX rugpull whether the US elections have an effect on how the SEC is playing the case with Coinbase what impact AI will have on the crypto industry Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Guest Avery Ching, cofounder and CTO of Aptos Disclosures Links Unchained:  Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition ​​Exploit or Rug Pull? $1.8 Million Drained From zkSync DEX Merlin Despite Audit  SEC Sues Bittrex, Names Dash, Algorand and Other Tokens ‘Crypto Asset Securities’ CoinDesk: Sui Network to Issue Token Following Exchange Sale; Airdrop Hunters Dismayed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Major crypto exchange Coinbase has decided to take action to get an answer from the Securities and Exchange Commission: this week, they filed a court action seeking to compel Gary Gensler’s agency to give specific rulemaking on crypto assets. J.W. Verret, associate professor of law at George Mason Law School, talks about how both parties are playing this game, how it could change the Howey test, and much more. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: whether there's a long-term chess strategy being played by Coinbase whether the case could actually change the Howey test why the 'West Virginia vs. EPA' is important for crypto what the SEC's strategy is and why the Kraken settlement was an “overreach,” according to J.W. whether the SEC could develop a new framework for crypto assets  how the Ripple case will unfold and how long it will take if it is appealed Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest J.W. Verret, Associate Professor of Law at George Mason Law School J.W.’s thread My story of telling the SEC ‘I told you so’ on FTX Public Request for Rulemaking: Securities Regulation Genesis Block Proposal Previous coverage of Unchained on the SEC’s actions:  Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US? Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ Links Unchained: Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition - Unchained Crypto Coinbase takes another formal step to seek regulatory clarity from SEC for the crypto industry IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT COINBASE, INC.’S PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS TO THE Coinbase petition for SEC rulemaking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two lawyers, Josh Klayman, head of digital assets at Linklaters, and Marc Boiron, chief legal officer at Polygon Labs, offer their takes on the SEC’s recent crypto crackdown. They share what they heard from SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s Congressional testimony, whether this crackdown was inevitable or sparked by FTX, and why a proposed change to the definition of an exchange could be an existential threat for DeFi in the U.S. Show highlights: what Gary Gensler’s approach to crypto was when he took office whether the FTX collapse had any impact at all on the SEC’s recent actions whether the actions against Coinbase are “inappropriate” what the differences between Coinbase and Kraken staking services are why the concept of “exemptive relief” is important for exchanges whether the SEC is looking to go after AMM-based decentralized exchanges why SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says that complying with a new proposal wouldn’t be possible for much of DeFi why, according to Marc, the industry should be “pushing very hard” against the newly proposed definition of an exchange whether the SEC’s ability to pursue enforcement actions against ETH is diminished by the statements of the previous SEC chair Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Halborn Guests: Josh Klayman, head of blockchain and digital assets at Linklaters,  Marc Boiron, chief legal officer at Polygon Labs. Sufficient Decentralization Previous coverage of Unchained on the SEC’s actions:  ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US? Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ SEC Chair Gary Gensler Avoids Question: ‘Is Ethereum a Security?’ SEC Sues Bittrex, Names Dash, Algorand and Other Tokens ‘Crypto Asset Securities’ Links CoinDesk: U.S. SEC Moves Toward DeFi Oversight as It Reopens Proposed Regulations Proposed rule: Amendments Regarding the Definition of “Exchange” and Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs) Rendering Innovation Kaput: Statement on Amending the Definition of Exchange POLITICO: McHenry clashes with SEC’s Gensler over crypto crackdown Forbes: Crypto Exchange Beaxy Shuts Down Amid SEC Charges Treasury Releases 2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, the gang plays “guess the chart” and takes a deep dive into the booming world of Ethereum Layer 2s. Show highlights:  how much Layer 2s are spending to post data to Ethereum whether L2s suck up all the value of ETH the challenge of providing a good user experience across multiple rollups how the underlying technology of security is not improving but attackers are getting more sophisticated whether centralized lending in the industry is dead why crypto users still hold stablecoins that yield much lower than Treasury bills the new approach to bringing real-world assets and tokenized yields to blockchains whether all L2s are running via proof of authority whether alternative Layer 1s are dead or are actually more important than ETH L2s Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Disclosures Links Hildebert’s charts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It got heated this week on Capitol Hill with SEC Chair Gary Gensler testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on his agency’s efforts to rein in the U.S. crypto industry. Jason Gottlieb, partner at Morrison Cohen, unpacks what was said and whether we’ll continue to see more crackdowns from the U.S. securities regulator. Show highlights: Whether ETH is a security and what would be the impact if it was declared as such by the SEC Whether the SEC is harming investors  What the potential impacts of the SEC lawsuit against Bittrex are Why the case against crypto exchange Beaxy could serve as a precursor to a potential case against Coinbase How the SEC’s lack of clear regulation is pushing crypto out of America, according to Jason Why the SEC is trying to expand the definition of an exchange and its possible effects on DeFi Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Jason Gottlieb, Partner at Morrison Cohen & Chair of the Digital Assets Department  Previous appearances on Unchained: The Department of Justice Goes After Its First NFT Insider Trading Case Previous coverage of Unchained on the SEC’s actions:  Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’ Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US? Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’ Links CoinDesk: U.S. SEC Moves Toward DeFi Oversight as It Reopens Proposed Regulations Unchained:  SEC Chair Gary Gensler Avoids Question: ‘Is Ethereum a Security?’ SEC Sues Bittrex, Names Dash, Algorand and Other Tokens ‘Crypto Asset Securities’ Proposed rule: Amendments Regarding the Definition of “Exchange” and Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs) Rendering Innovation Kaput: Statement on Amending the Definition of Exchange POLITICO: McHenry clashes with SEC’s Gensler over crypto crackdown Forbes: Crypto Exchange Beaxy Shuts Down Amid SEC Charges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maximal extractable value, or MEV, is a mainstay of the Ethereum landscape. But the process of validators reaping profits from handling new blocks is not without controversy. Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake and bloXroute Labs CEO Uri Klarman assess the current state of MEV. Hear them disagree about the path forward for making Ethereum fairer for all its economic actors. Show highlights: what MEV is and how it has evolved over time the nuances of the newly proposed MEV Blocker and why it’s important for users whether it’s possible to enable “back-running” while preventing front-running how to give power back to blockchain users what the differences and similarities are among several projects trying to solve MEV how “MEV Burn” will be like the EIP-1559 to what Justin calls contention whether EigenLayer can help solve MEV problems whether wallets and DEXs could be doing something different to prevent MEV and generate more revenue how “exclusive order flow” could be detrimental to DeFi users what proposer-builder separation (PBS) is and whether it will change MEV distribution why Uri doesn’t think PBS is the right step forward for Ethereum Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Halborn Guests: Justin Drake, researcher at the Ethereum Foundation Uri Klarman, CEO of bloXroute Labs Links Previous coverage of Unchained on MEV: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate The Chopping Block: Why the Once-Taboo MEV Is Now a Core Part of Ethereum MEV Blocker CoinDesk: MEV Blocker Wants to Help You Outrun the Front-Runners MEV Blocker Unchained: Ethereum Builders Join Forces to Launch MEV Blocker MEV Distribution CoinDesk: Flashbots Proposes New Class of 'Matchmakers' to Share MEV Gains With Ethereum Users MEV-Share: programmably private orderflow to share MEV with users - The Flashbots Ship BackRunMe Wallet-Boost Design Doc · blocknative discourse · Discussion #1 · GitHub OpenMEV Mechanics and Formulas - Manifold Finance MEV Smoothing Committee-driven MEV smoothing - Economics MEV Burn Burning MEV through block proposer auctions - Economics Proposer-Builder separation Proposer-builder separation | ethereum.org Vitalik Buterin’s tweet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they’re joined by Unchained’s Laura Shin to debate FTX revival rumors, what the U.S. Treasury got wrong about DeFi, and whether VCs are antithetical to crypto’s core principles. Show highlights:  how much ETH is getting unstaked and deposited after Shapella the market reaction following the successful implementation of the upgrade whether FTX could reopen after its massive collapse why Robert thinks rebooting the exchange is a “terrible” idea whether FTX could do the same thing as Bitfinex and issue a debt token for creditors how the U.S. government misunderstands decentralized finance, in stark contrast with regulators from other parts of the world whether DeFi front-ends should be subject to the Bank Secrecy Act whether VCs go against the principles of crypto the difference between democratizing finance and democratizing fundraising Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Guest Laura Shin, author, and CEO of Unchained Disclosures Links Shapella: Previous coverage of Unchained on the upgrade: Shapella in the Rearview: After Major Upgrade, What’s Next for Ethereum? Ethereum's Shapella Upgrade - What to Expect? How Will ETH React to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade? Unchained:  Staked Ethereum Withdrawals Enabled As Shanghai Upgrade Goes Live Ethereum Surges Past $2,000 Post-Shanghai, $2 Billion Staked Withdrawals Pending Nansen: The Shanghai Upgrade Dashboard CoinDesk: What’s Next After the Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Known as Shapella FTX: Unchained: FTX Could Reopen Crypto Exchange, Recovers $7.3 Billion in Assets Treasury Report: Unchained: Poor DeFi Cybersecurity Presents Risks for National Security, Says U.S. Treasury Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura’s 10-Year Anniversary of Self-Employment: A Personal Message  Laura Shin, the host of Unchained, celebrated her 10-year anniversary of self-employment on Wednesday, April 12. She tells her story and has a message that she hopes will help others on their journeys.  Links:  Original Twitter thread Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s major Ethereum upgrade, Shapella (it was really two upgrades, Shanghai and Capella, in one), brings the network’s multi-year journey to proof-of-stake to a close. With validator withdrawals now live, the Ethereum Foundation’s Tim Beiko explains Shapella’s significance, why EIP-4844 is the next big thing, and what else is on Ethereum’s roadmap. Show highlights: how Ethereum transitioned from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake what the concerns about enabling withdrawals among developers were  why the upgrade has “de-risked” staking on Ethereum whether there are going to be more solo stakers now that The Merge is fully completed what’s next in the roadmap of Ethereum and how EIP-4844 will decrease the cost of posting data for Layer 2s what “proposer-builder separation” is and what it intends to solve Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Tim Beiko, head of the Ethereum protocol developer calls  Previous appearances on Unchained: Why Ethereum's Merge Was Delayed and Why It Won't Reduce Gas Fees Much Previous coverage of Unchained on the upgrade: Ethereum's Shapella Upgrade - What to Expect? How Will ETH React to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade? Links Unchained: Staked Ethereum Withdrawals Enabled As Shanghai Upgrade Goes Live Nansen: The Shanghai Upgrade Dashboard CoinDesk: What’s Next After the Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Known as Shapella Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) be more resilient? Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, and Fatemeh Fannizadeh, lawyer and researcher at Geneva-legal.ch, survey the landscape and offer their insights on what will fuel the next wave of DAO innovation. Are new rules from U.S. states like Wyoming and Utah a boon for DAO creation? Or will the proceedings against Ooki DAO by U.S. regulators cast a pall on this emerging segment of the Web3 world? Show highlights: how Gabriel and Fatemeh determine whether something is actually a DAO the pressing legal issues around DAO formation where the liabilities lie in these types of organizations Delphi Labs’ new “borg” concept and the problems it aims to solve what jurisdictions are more appropriate for different DAOs the nuances of Wyoming’s DAO LLC law Utah’s Introduction of LLDs – limited liability DAOs – and why it is innovative  why the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Ooki DAO whether governance token holders are liable for the DAO’s actions how the Ooki lawsuit will impact how DAOs structure their activities in the future what happened in the MakerDAO case and its implications why Fatemeh and Gabriel disagree on whether the Mango DAO’s agreement to not pursue actions against Avi Eisenberg was legally binding Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Halborn Guests: Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs Previous appearances on Unchained:  What Does Mango Markets Exploiter Avi Eisenberg’s Arrest in Puerto Rico Mean for DeFi?  Fatemeh Fannizadeh, lawyer and researcher at Geneva-legal.ch Lawmakers In New Hampshire And Utah Recognize DAOs As Legal Persons Links MakerDAO: CoinDesk: Crypto Investors' $28M ‘Black Thursday’ Lawsuit Against DeFi Giant Maker Dismissed by US Judge Mango Markets: CoinDesk: Legal Expert Says Mango Markets Exploit Case Is Wake-Up Call for DAOs Avi Eisenberg Detained Unlike SBF As Mango Labs Is Denied Injunction But TRO to March 15 Unchained:  The Mango Markets Attacker on Whether His 'Trade' Was Ethical or Not CFTC Charges Mango Markets Exploiter With Market Manipulation Mango Markets Exploiter Arrested on Market Manipulation Charges Tornado Cash Unchained: The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? Ooki DAO: Unchained: Why the Ooki DAO Case Could Hurt Participation in DAOs CoinDesk: Interpreting the CFTC’s Lawsuit Against Ooki DAO Wyoming law Legal Nodes: Wyoming LLC as a DAO Legal Wrapper: What You Need to Know Utah The National Law Review: Utah Passes Innovative DAO Legislation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amidst a wide-ranging crackdown on all kinds of crypto players, Representative Tom Emmer talks about recent enforcement actions, the classification of cryptocurrencies as securities or commodities, the potential impact of US regulatory actions on the country’s global economic power, and the Federal Reserve's upcoming payment system. He touches on the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in the crypto industry and the role of government in fostering these developments. Show highlights: why Rep. Emmer thinks there's an operation to cut crypto off from the banking system how, as he puts it, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been 'dancing on the grave' of the recent banking failures how the interest in crypto in Congress has changed over time, especially after the Infrastructure bill in 2021 whether the CFTC lawsuit against Binance represents an "appropriate" use of enforcement actions why Rep. Emmer says that bureaucrats are trying to polarize blockchain technology how the US’s attitudes toward crypto could affect the country’s global power why he is against FedNow, the new Federal Reserve's payment system Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Congressman and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer Previous appearances on Unchained: Rep. Tom Emmer, One of the Most Active Crypto Congress Members, on Taxes and DeFi Links Operation Choke Point 2.0: Coverage of Unchained Podcast on the topic: Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US? Operation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, And Crypto Is In Its Crosshairs Enforcement actions Unchained: CFTC Sues Binance and CZ Over US Regulatory Violations SEC Issues Coinbase a Wells Notice Coverage of Unchained Podcast on the recent regulatory crackdown:  Why the CFTC Case Against Binance Will Have Very Important Consequences for Crypto Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they are joined by Laura Shin, author, journalist, and host of Unchained, to discuss the drama around the Arbitrum governance’s proposal, the MEV attack on Ethereum, the Shanghai upgrade… and much more! Show highlights:  what the intentions behind Arbitrum Foundation's ratification poll were why Tarun says that it was suggested by a crypto lawyer what will happen to Ethereum staking after the Shanghai upgrade how ETH provides 'organic yield,' according to Tarun whether staking makes ETH a security  how a validator on Ethereum got slashed after a $25 million MEV attack the drawbacks of how Proof of Stake requires a locked stake, while Proof of Work allows joining and leaving freely whether Tarun should cut his hair (yes, this was actually discussed) Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Guest Laura Shin, author, and host of Unchained Disclosures Links Arbitrum DAO Unchained: Arbitrum Backtracks on AIP-1 After Community Backlash  MEV attack Unchained: Rogue Ethereum Validator Slashed After $25 Million MEV Bot Attack Euler hack  Unchained: Euler Hacker Returns All $200 Million Stolen in Exploit Shanghai:  Unchained: A Guide to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade Single Secret Leader Election Gauntlet’s View on the Shanghai Upgrade Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Quintenz, head of policy for a16z crypto, and Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures, talk about Operation Choke Point 2.0, the relationship between the government and the crypto industry, the status of different tokens as securities or commodities, and potential future developments in the space Show highlights: what the original Operation Choke Point was like the "evidence" that shows that Operation Choke Point 2.0 against crypto is real, according to Nic  how hard it is for crypto companies to get banked in the U.S. whether crypto had anything to do with the current banking crisis whether agencies such as the CFTC and the SEC are performing coordinated action against the industry how the collapse of FTX changed the approach of banking regulators toward crypto whether the U.S. needs to change its regulatory approach to maintain its status as a global leader whether crypto is a threat to the U.S. dollar and the financial system how Tether has benefited from the recent regulatory events why Brian says that the SEC has already demonstrated that BTC and – also ETH -- are not securities Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Halborn Guests: Brian Quintenz, head of policy for a16z crypto Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures Did The Government Start A Global Financial Crisis In An Attempt To Destroy Crypto? Operation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, And Crypto Is In Its Crosshairs Previous coverage of Unchained on the banking situation: Jim Bianco on Why the Banking System Has Always Been Broken The Fed Is In Checkmate: What Will Powell Do? The Fall of SVB: What Happened and How It Affects Crypto Previous coverage of Unchained on the recent regulatory crackdown:  Why the CFTC Case Against Binance Will Have Very Important Consequences for Crypto Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’  Links NYMAG: Barney Frank Talks More About the Surprise Shuttering of Signature Bank Unchained: Was Signature Bank Actually Insolvent? Regulators Close Signature Bank Following SVB Collapse CFTC Sues Binance and CZ Over US Regulatory Violations CoinDesk Editorial: It Sure Looks Like the U.S. Is Trying to Kill Crypto The Administration’s Roadmap to Mitigate Cryptocurrencies’ Risks | NEC | The White House Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Austin Campbell, a professor at Columbia Business School, discusses the recent allegations made by the CFTC against Binance, and whether or not criminal charges will be brought against company officers such as CEO Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, or former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim. He also sheds light on how this case could shape which agency will have regulatory authority over crypto assets. Show highlights: what the CFTC's allegations against Binance are whether Binance and its employees will face criminal charges what the two most likely scenarios for Binance are, according to Austin how regulators got so many details and so much information from CZ's phone whether CZ is personally liable and whether the US could extradite him  how the CFTC used the complaint to state that BTC, LTC, ETH, and some stablecoins are commodities Why Austin believes Coinbase would be the "single biggest winner" if Binance US is shut down how this case is going to help determine which agency has jurisdiction to regulate crypto assets Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Austin Campbell, professor at Columbia Business School and Managing Partner at Zero Knowledge Consulting Previous coverage on Unchained: Just a Coincidence? Coinbase and Polygon Lawyers See Bad Omens in SEC Crackdown Links CFTC vs. Binance Unchained: CFTC Sues Binance and CZ Over US Regulatory Violations Bloomberg’s Matt Levine: The CFTC Comes for Binance Previous coverage on Unchained: The Chopping Block: Is This the Beginning of the End for Binance? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they discuss Binance's recent regulatory issues, the potential impact on the crypto markets, the CFTC's stance on tokens, and also touch on Do Kwon's arrest and Hong Kong's approach to crypto regulation. Show highlights:  whether the chief compliance officer of Binance was aware of how the exchange was evading compliance how the CFTC contradicted the SEC about some tokens being securities whether Binance was trading against its customers what the future of Binance looks like after the CFTC lawsuit how the Do Kwon arrest coincided with Vitalik running an experiment in Montenegro  how the SEC's Wells Notice against Coinbase will affect the exchange whether all the regulatory actions are coordinated  what would happen to the crypto markets if Binance goes down  how Hong Kong’s approach to crypto regulation contrasts with that of the US Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Disclosures Links CFTC vs. Binance Unchained: CFTC Sues Binance and CZ Over US Regulatory Violations   Coinbase Wells Notice Previous coverage of Unchained: Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’  Coinbase: We asked the SEC for reasonable crypto rules for Americans. We got legal threats instead. The Crypto Securities Market is Waiting to be Unlocked. But First We Need Workable Rules. Unchained:  SEC Issues Coinbase a Wells Notice U.S. Supreme Court Hears First Crypto Case: Coinbase Arbitration Dispute Bloomberg: Coinbase (COIN) Gets SEC Wells Notice Over Crypto Offerings Do Kwon Unchained:  Do Kwon Arrested in Montenegro, Faces Criminal Charges From US Prosecutors  Do Kwon Plans to Appeal 30-Day Detention Extension After Arrest DL News: US requests extradition of Do Kwon from Montenegro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Stanford cryptography professor Dan Boneh and a16z General Partner Ali Yahya elevate our knowledge of zero-knowledge proofs and their applications in the blockchain world. Listen as they dive into the intricacies of succinct proof systems, the difference between SNARKs and STARKs, the magic of recursive SNARKs, and why zero-knowledge systems are essential to the evolution of Ethereum. Show highlights: how Ali became a general partner at a16z Crypto and why Dan started working on “the science of blockchains” what a succinct proof system is analogies for understanding zero-knowledge proofs the difference between SNARKs and STARKs and whether centralization can be fully avoided how zero-knowledge technology became so crucial for blockchains the reasons to push computations off-chain and the applications of this technology why zkEVMs are essential to help Ethereum scale why privacy is important not only in financial transactions but also in other areas like social networks and gaming the challenges that arise from trusted setups and whether it would be possible to create false proofs how to mitigate the trusted setup problem with different proof systems what is being built to make zero-knowledge proofs cheaper to create whether a privacy-focused technology can be pursued while staying compliant with regulations how zero-knowledge proofs can improve the security of blockchain bridges Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Halborn Guests: Ali Yahya, general partner at a16z crypto Dan Boneh, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, Stanford University; and senior research advisor, a16z crypto Using ZK Proofs to Fight Disinformation Links Unchained: zkEVM: The Computing Overhaul to Help Scale Ethereum Previous coverage of Unchained on zero-knowledge: Can You Trace Monero? 'It's Hard - But Not Impossible,' Says Nick Bax a16z crypto: Privacy-Protecting Regulatory Solutions Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Full Paper zkDocs: Zero-knowledge Information Sharing How the Coming Privacy Layer Will Fix the Broken Web CoinDesk: Polygon Rolls Out Zero-Knowledge, Privacy-Enhanced Identification Product   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, shares his concerns about the SEC’s recent warning that it would pursue legal action against the crypto exchange. With the U.S. markets regulator failing to provide clear rules on digital assets, Grewal discusses the implications for Coinbase and for the future of crypto in the United States. Show highlights: why Grewal was not surprised by the Wells notice  how Coinbase asked the SEC multiple times for clear rules and got no response, according to Grewal how the SEC is withholding information about which rules Coinbase allegedly broke, according to Grewal Coinbase’s efforts to disclose everything about its operations  whether Grewal thinks there was a change in the regulators’ approach after the collapse of FTX why Grewal thinks this is not the right way to go to keep crypto in the United States the jurisdictional fight between the CFTC and the SEC whether Coinbase will proceed with litigation  why Grewal thinks the Wells notice is a “shot at crypto as a whole” why Coinbase believes that its products are “fully compliant” what opportunities the U.S. Congress has to legislate blockchain technology Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase Previous appearances on Unchained: Just a Coincidence? Coinbase and Polygon Lawyers See Bad Omens in SEC Crackdown Links Coinbase:  We asked the SEC for reasonable crypto rules for Americans. We got legal threats instead. The Crypto Securities Market is Waiting to be Unlocked. But First We Need Workable Rules. Unchained:  SEC Issues Coinbase a Wells Notice U.S. Supreme Court Hears First Crypto Case: Coinbase Arbitration Dispute Bloomberg: Coinbase (COIN) Gets SEC Wells Notice Over Crypto Offerings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, NEAR co-founder and former Google AI researcher Illia Polosukhin joins the show to discuss the intersection of crypto and machine learning. Show highlights:  whether Signature was shut down because of its crypto arm whether banking crypto is riskier than banking other industries how Balaji’s $1 million BTC bet is just highly effective marketing whether the Fed is doing quantitative easing again how the artificial intelligence industry has changed over the years why Illia says that “open source always wins” the intersection of blockchain technology and AI whether a broken Tesla could become the world’s greatest investor Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Guest Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of Near Disclosures Links Signature and Banking Unchained: $4 Billion in Crypto Deposits Not Included in Flagstar Signature Deal Was Signature Bank Actually Insolvent? Regulators Close Signature Bank Following SVB Collapse Jim Bianco on Why the Banking System Has Always Been Broken Nic Carter: Operation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, And Crypto Is In Its Crosshairs Arthur Hayes: Kaiseki Balaji’s bet Coin Edition: Balaji Bets $1M on Bitcoin Price, Says US Hyperinflation Is Underway Artificial Intelligence: Richard Sutton: The Bitter Lesson Facebook: Introducing LLaMA: A foundational, 65-billion-parameter large language model Stanford: Alpaca: A Strong, Replicable Instruction-Following Model Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, and Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer of CoinShares, share their concerns about crypto in the U.S. following a wild week in the banking sector. With Signature Bank’s takeover looking like a targeted takedown and crypto-friendly upstarts like Custodia being shadowbanned by the Fed, the two longtime experts look ahead at the fights to come. Is USDC next to land in regulators’ crosshairs? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how crypto is viewed as a “big, scary, and strange” industry how Signature and Silvergate became so important for the crypto industry with SEN and Signet why Caitlin says it’s “crystal clear” that we are now in Operation Choke Point 2.0, with U.S. regulators pushing to debank the crypto industry why Caitlin says the Fed’s vote against Custodia’s application was preordained whether Sen. Elizabeth Warren had an impact on the current crisis how everything comes down to game theory whether VCs are responsible for causing the bank run whether the rollback in 2018 of certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act played a role in the recent collapse Caitlin’s hot takes on what happened with Signature Bank the unique characteristics of Custodia’s business model as a bank how stablecoins challenge the current financial system why it’s so important for crypto to improve its public perception Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Halborn Guests: Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank Links Previous coverage of Unchained: Jim Bianco on Why the Banking System Has Always Been Broken The Fed Is In Checkmate: What Will Powell Do? The Fall of SVB: What Happened and How It Affects Crypto NYT: Congress Approves First Big Dodd-Frank Rollback NYMAG: Barney Frank Talks More About the Surprise Shuttering of Signature Bank WSJ Editorial Board: Signature Bank’s Crypto Execution Unchained: FDIC Denies Asking Signature Buyers to Give Up Crypto: Report Was Signature Bank Actually Insolvent? Circle to Bring On New Banking Partner for USDC Minting, Redemption Circle Clears Backlog of USDC Minting and Redemption Requests Regulators Close Signature Bank Following SVB Collapse ​​Silvergate to Wind Down Operations in ‘Voluntary Liquidation’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Bianco, president and macro strategist at Bianco Research, explains what’s causing the recent cascade of bank failures. Yield seekers taking their money elsewhere are putting banks under strain. However, the Signature Bank takeover by New York regulators is “a little fishy,” Bianco says. He adds that DeFi has been holding up strong, providing an “alternative to this unstable system that we have right now.” Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why Jim thinks this is a liquidity crisis, not a solvency crisis the role of crypto and tech startups in the recent bank run  how people have been pulling out of crypto in the past 18 months why the traditional fractional reserve system for banks is broken why crypto projects like Aave and Compound are solutions why Jim says the Fed is a “legal counterfeiter” why money moving around so fast is a challenge to our antiquated financial system  whether Signet, Signature Bank’s digital payments platform, is the real reason why regulators shut the bank down whether the Fed will succeed or fail with FedNow, its instant payment system Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Jim Bianco, President and founder of Bianco Research Links Unchained: The Fall of SVB: What Happened and How It Affects Crypto Was Signature Bank Actually Insolvent? Circle to Bring On New Banking Partner for USDC Minting, Redemption Regulators Close Signature Bank Following SVB Collapse Silvergate to Wind Down Operations in ‘Voluntary Liquidation’ CNBC: Long-awaited Fed digital payment system to launch in July Ram Ahluwalia’s tweet on the Fed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week: Silicon Valley Bank went belly up and knocked USDC off its peg with it. For good measure, Signature Bank was taken over by regulators. After a hellish weekend, what did we learn? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:  what happened with Silicon Valley Bank  why USDC depegged and reached a low of 88 cents how Maker responded to the depegging of USDC whether DeFi responded flawlessly to the chaotic events how Haseeb’s VC fund, Dragonfly, was ensnared in SVB’s collapse what Tarun thinks made Elizabeth Warren change her tune on SVB whether Signature Bank was shut down because of its crypto-related activities why bonds are not marked to market by banks which company is going to issue the euro-dollar stablecoin how BTC has been outperforming the NASDAQ since the FTX collapse how Euler Finance got hacked for almost $200 million whether flash loans should be banned  the rules around crypto and finance in the Middle East why DeFi is a fundamental innovation that’s better than many financial systems across the world Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Disclosures Links Unchained: The Fall of SVB: What Happened and How It Affects Crypto Was Signature Bank Actually Insolvent? Euler Finance Loses $197 Million in Flash Loan Exploit MakerDAO to Reinforce DAI Peg With Parameter Changes Circle to Bring On New Banking Partner for USDC Minting, Redemption Coinbase Says It Holds $240 Million in Cash at Signature Bank Regulators Close Signature Bank Following SVB Collapse Silvergate to Wind Down Operations in ‘Voluntary Liquidation’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ETH staking began in December 2020. With Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade, which could happen as early as mid-April, withdrawals of staked ETH will finally be enabled. Will validators rush to cash out? Or will Shanghai bring more institutional stakers into the fold? Christine Kim, VP of research at Galaxy Digital, joins the show to discuss how Etheruem’s latest upgrade will affect the network, and maybe even ETH’s price. Show highlights: how Christine became an Ethereum expert what you need to know about Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade when Shanghai is expected to go live on mainnet what the difference is between Shanghai and Capella possible outcomes following the activation of staked ETH withdrawals whether Shanghai makes ETH staking more attractive to institutions why Christine thinks there won’t be much impact on ETH’s price how Shanghai will impact liquid staking providers upgrades that are coming to Lido and Rocket Pool what will happen in Ethereum’s subsequent upgrade: Cancun what “proto-danksharding” is and how it will help Ethereum scale what New York Attorney General Letitia James got wrong when she said ETH is a security how Ethereum development has become more and more decentralized over the years the next steps in Ethereum’s roadmap  why Christine is still concerned about Lido and staking centralization what zkEVMs are and why they play a key role in the future of Ethereum scaling Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com FTSE Halborn Guest: Christine Kim, Vice president of research at Galaxy Digital Twitter Links Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? In the Recent Crypto Market Meltdown, What Role Did Lido’s stETH Play? Is ETH on Its Way to Becoming Ultra-Sound Money? Yes, Says Justin Drake ETHDenver presentation: Staked ETH Withdrawals: A Step-By-Step Overview with Christine Kim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, fresh out of home confinement after settling charges with the U.S. government, joins “The Chopping Block” with Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra. The early crypto pioneer pulls no punches in his assessment of SBF, TradFi’s failings, and how crypto traders lost the plot in trusting CeFi middlemen. Show highlights:  why Arthur travels with stuffed animals, and what his favorite brands are what factors led Sam Bankman-Fried to success how Bill Clinton seems to be related to many multibillion-dollar downfalls whether everyone in crypto thinks that prices are eventually going up what’s the thesis behind Maelstrom, Arthur’s new investment arm why he’s bullish on decentralization but also game to trade “dog shit” what the impact of Silvergate’s failure will be on the crypto industry what would Arthur have done if he was the CEO of Silvergate the role of rising interest rates in understanding Silvergate’s downfall why holding Tether’s USDT is not so different from USDC why crypto needs alternatives to dollar-backed stablecoins the real reasons why the U.S. Treasury is worried about stablecoins Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Guest Arthur Hayes, cofounder of BitMEX Twitter Medium Disclosures Links Unchained:  ​​Silvergate to Wind Down Operations in ‘Voluntary Liquidation’ Silvergate Confers With FDIC to Avoid Closing Down: Report Silvergate Shuts Down Crypto Payments Network Bloomberg: Silvergate Had a Crypto Bank Run NYMAG: Arthur Hayes, the Original King of Crypto, Is Back. Arthur’s posts:  White Boy Dust on Crust Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elliott Stein, senior litigation analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, shares his insights from a court hearing this week on the SEC’s rejection of Grayscale’s bid to convert GBTC into a spot bitcoin ETF. Stein says federal appellate court judges seemed skeptical of the SEC’s arguments for why bitcoin futures ETFs are OK while bitcoin spot ETFs aren’t. Who’s likely to win the case and what does it mean for the crypto industry as a whole? Show highlights: why Grayscale filed the lawsuit against the SEC why Grayscale believes that a bitcoin futures ETF is essentially the same as a spot ETF what the SEC disagrees why the judges pushed back against the SEC’s arguments why Elliott changed his mind about who will win the case after the hearing what would happen if Grayscale ends up winning the lawsuit and whether the SEC could go back on its previous approvals whether other companies applying for a bitcoin spot ETF would benefit from Grayscale winning the case whether this case could have an impact on the jurisdictional battle between the SEC and the CFTC why Elliott is keeping an eye on other cases such as Ripple, Terraform Labs, and insider trading at Coinbase Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Previous coverage of Unchained on Grayscale and GBTC:  Why Grayscale Is Suing the SEC Over Its Denial of a Bitcoin ETF $5 Billion in AUM: Why Growth at Grayscale Exploded in the Last Quarter Bitwise's Latest Plans to Get a Bitcoin ETF Approved DCG's Dilemma: Should It Sell Its GBTC Holdings to Repay Gemini? Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Guest Elliott Stein, Senior Litigation Analyst for the Financials Sector at Bloomberg Intelligence Twitter Links CoinDesk:  Judges Express Skepticism of SEC Arguments in Grayscale Bitcoin ETF Hearing A Dozen Reasons Why the SEC Should Have Approved Grayscale's Spot Bitcoin ETF Axios: Judges question SEC rejection of Grayscale's spot bitcoin ETF Reuters: US court questions SEC's rejection of Grayscale's bitcoin fund proposal Don Verrilli Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LayerZero launched a testnet bridge that allows users to swap mainnet ETH for Goerli ETH (GoETH), which led to a sudden emergence of a liquid market for GoETH tokens. This was a hugely controversial decision, as many in the Ethereum community believe that testnet tokens should remain free. At ETH Denver, Laura moderated a panel discussion about this hot topic with Bryan Pellegrino, cofounder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, Greg Markou, founder of Chainsafe and Matt Garnett, software engineer for the Ethereum Foundation. Show highlights: why LazerZero launched a testnet bridge for Goerli ETH (GoETH) the three reasons why Greg is opposed to Goerli ETH having a price why Bryan believes it is impossible for a permissionless testnet to have free tokens  the three types of constituencies that use testnets  whether the Sepolia testnet solves the issues with Goerli the upcoming Holli testnet and the problems it aims to solve how to create a permissionless testnet that takes into account the needs of developers from all over the world whether LayerZero’s move will create more problems in the future Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com FTSE Halborn Panel Bryan Pellegrino, cofounder and CEO of LayerZero Labs. Greg Markou, founder of Chainsafe Matt Garnett, software engineer for the Ethereum Foundation Links: Unchained: Goerli Testnet ETH Is Now Being Monetized CoinDesk: Start of the End? Testnet Goerli Ether Spikes to $1.60 as Traders Jump on Opportunity Meant for Developers LayerZero blog post: Public Goods by LayerZero. Alchemy: What is the Sepolia testnet? Ethereum (ETH) Developer Announces Plan To Launch New ‘Holli’ Testnet Later This Year Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In-person at ETH Denver, crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest crypto news. This week, Kyle Samani, scion of Solana, joins the show.  Show highlights:  why Coinbase decided to launch Base, a layer 2 on Ethereum and whether developers are building on it how Coinbase might make money from it whether it will be a permissioned, KYC’ed chain that requires users to reveal their identities  Kyle's opinion on the allegedly fraudulent operations of FTX, in which his firm, Multicoin Capital, was an investor how due diligence changed in the investing space after the collapse of FTX what the future of Paxos looks like now that its primary source of revenue, BUSD, was impacted why Kyle thinks the latest nearly 20-hour outage of Solana is different from previous outages what he’s excited about in Solana now how Jump, a VC firm, was able to “hack back” $150 million in previously stolen assets after a court order Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Guest Kyle Samani, managing partner at Multicoin Capital Disclosures Links Base Unchained:  Coinbase Launches Ethereum Layer 2 Network ‘Base’ Video Solana Unchained: Solana Attempts Two Chain Restarts After Near 20-Hour Outage FTX Unchained: FTX’s Nishad Singh Charged With Fraud After Guilty Plea Wormhole Coindesk: Oasis Exploits Its Own Wallet Software to Seize Crypto Stolen in Wormhole Hack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks, discusses the Bitcoin trend that has everyone – or at least, many Bitcoiners – buzzing: Bitcoin ordinals. Ali explains why it is that they’ve taken up block space, pushed Bitcoin fees higher, and caused controversy in the community. Plus, he explains why the phenomenon has generated excitement about Stacks. Show highlights: how Ordinals technology works to enable NFTs in the Bitcoin blockchain the difference between NFTs in smart contracts platforms like Ethereum vs. NFTs in Bitcoin the way in which the Taproot upgrade allowed Ordinals technology to exist what security measures to take in order to protect one’s Bitcoin NFTs why the Bitcoin maxi community reacted negatively to Ordinals  why Stacks jumped so much in price after the release of Ordinals what Muneeb thinks is the significance of Yuga Labs launching NFTs on Bitcoin Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks Twitter Previous appearance on Unchained: Blockstack On Getting Independence From Google, Facebook And Amazon Links Unchained: BAYC Creator Yuga Labs to Launch Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Decrypt: What Are Ordinals? A Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin NFTs Dune: Ordinals - Inscriptions on Bitcoin Episodes about Bitcoin mentioned in the show:  Does Maximalism Help or Hurt Bitcoin? Lyn Alden and Udi Wertheimer Debate Eric Wall and Udi Wertheimer on Why Bitcoin Maximalism Is ‘Like a Shitcoin Community’ Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Greenberg, senior writer for WIRED and author of “Tracers in the Dark,” takes us inside the world of crypto-tracing crimebusters and voices the ambivalence of Bitcoin – a cypherpunk creation – eroding financial privacy. Hear how the longtime crypto scribe got law enforcement and sleuthing firms like Chainalysis to open up about their major wins in taking down darknet kingpins. Show highlights: why Andy thought early on that Bitcoin would enable crypto anarchy how blockchain analytics started being used to tackle crime why the IRS Criminal Investigation unit was more open to discussing its techniques  how Andy learned many new things about already well-known stories when writing about them for the book the methods used to bring down the “biggest dark-web drug lord” in history did AlphaBay’s Alexandre Cazes really kill himself in a Thai prison? how researcher Sarah Meiklejohn developed tools to deanonymize Bitcoin  why she’s now uncomfortable that her techniques were adopted by Chainalysis and sold to law enforcement what Andy feels about the importance of privacy how Monero is harder to trace than Bitcoin but not untraceable what the impact of zero-knowledge technology will be for blockchain analytics firms whether the cypherpunk ethos is dead why the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity will never die Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com FTSE Halborn NYU Guest Andy Greenberg, senior writer for WIRED and author of “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency” Twitter Writings for WIRED Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency Links: WIRED: The Hunt for the Kingpin Behind AlphaBay, Part 1: The Shadow The Hunt for the Kingpin Behind AlphaBay, Part 2: Pimp_alex_91 The Hunt for the Kingpin Behind AlphaBay, Part 3: Alpha Male  De-Anonymization in Bitcoin with Sarah Meiklejohn | a16z crypto research talks Wikipedia: Welcome to Video case Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Parker, CoinDesk’s executive director of global content, joins the show to discuss the Asian crypto markets. From Hong Kong to Tokyo, Parker sees bullish signs in recent developments. Hear why she thinks China and Japan are closely watching as the U.S. clamps down on the crypto industry.  Show highlights: how Hong Kong is trying to create a regulated environment for crypto whether Beijing and Chinese officials support Hong Kong’s initiative  what was China’s motivation to make it harder to buy and hold crypto whether Asian countries will lead the next bull run  what the crypto environment looks like in Japan and how it differs from the U.S. how Japan responded to major crypto hacks and meltdowns what Japan is doing in terms of stablecoin regulation and adoption how Japanese authorities are trying to establish guidelines for DAOs whether people in Asia have different attitudes and views toward crypto and investing in general Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Railgun DAO  Guest Emily Parker, executive director of global content at CoinDesk. Twitter Previous appearance on Unchained: Crypto in China: What It Really Looks Like Links CoinDesk:  Japan Embraces Web3 As Global Regulators Grow Wary of Crypto FTX Japan Customers Can Begin Withdrawing Fiat, Crypto on Feb. 21 WSJ: Some FTX Customers Can Withdraw Their Money—in Japan, at Least Bloomberg:  Hong Kong’s Crypto Hub Ambitions Win Quiet Backing From Beijing - Bloomberg Hong Kong Plans to Let Retail Sector Trade Larger Crypto Tokens Like Bitcoin Crypto Mogul Sun Says Huobi Betting China Will Warm to Digital Assets as Exchange Targets Hong Kong Hong Kong to Establish Task Force to Help Develop Crypto Hub US Crypto Crackdown Boosts Appeal of Dubai, Hong Kong, Europe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, it’s time for a case study: Special guest Pacman, founder of Blur, explains how his upstart NFT marketplace fought OpenSea and won. Show highlights:  what it’s like to launch a token why Blur was created and what its strategy was for competing with OpenSea why royalties remain a lightning rod in the NFT community how Blur designed its liquidity mining program and the lesson learned from failed designs the reasons why Blur succeeded in the NFT marketplace environment Pacman’s reaction to OpenSea’s decision to not enforce royalties why forking the Blur code won’t work for new marketplace competitors why the NFT market remained strong in the depths of a bear market why Pacman thinks AMMs for NFTs won’t work whether the “death of royalties” is good or bad for the ecosystem Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly  Guest Pacman, founder of Blur Twitter Disclosures Previous coverage on NFT royalties: The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy Links Dune: Blur VS OpenSea Blog post: How to earn royalties on Blur OpenSea’s response Unchained:  OpenSea Eliminates Marketplace Fee, Makes Creator Royalties Optional Blur Airdrops 360M Tokens to NFT Traders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A settlement with Kraken, a proposed custody rule, and lawsuits against Paxos and Terraform Labs. “This week has been a very long year,” said Polygon Labs Chief Policy Officer Rebecca Rettig. She joins Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal to interpret what’s going on with the SEC. Is it just one big push to cripple the crypto industry? “The fact that we’re all … trying to read tea leaves speaks to a failure in the system that relies upon one-off enforcement actions rather than a public rulemaking process,” said Grewal. Show highlights: how the implosion of FTX sped up regulatory actions  whether the SEC will go after other staking services why the statement that crypto firms should just register with the SEC is “disingenuous” what seems to be behind the decision to target the BUSD stablecoin whether SEC enforcement actions will be detrimental to innovation in the U.S. what features would make stablecoins securities why the SEC is alleging that the UST stablecoin is a security why “expansion of jurisdiction” is at the heart of the SEC’s proposed crypto custody rules why Paul thinks that forcing crypto innovation offshore could become a national security issue for the U.S. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com FTSE Halborn NYU Guests: Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase: Twitter Rebecca Rettig, Chief Policy Officer at Polygon Labs: Twitter Links WIRED: Confusion Spirals in Crypto as the US Cracks Down Unchained:  Circle Told NYDFS That Paxos-Issued BUSD Wasn’t Fully Backed SEC Wants Tougher Rules for Crypto Custody SEC Sues Do Kwon and Terraform Labs WSJ:  Crypto Firm Paxos Faces SEC Lawsuit Over Binance USD Token Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin Bloomberg: US Crackdown Seeks to Push Crypto Back to the Fringes of Finance SEC:  Pocketful of Quarters, Inc. Statement on Safeguarding Advisory Client Assets Proposal CoinDesk: SEC Proposal Could Bar Investment Advisers From Keeping Assets at Crypto Firms Jesse Powell’s tweet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Selig, counsel at Willkie Farr, has plenty to talk about this week, with a slew of actions from Gary Gensler’s SEC putting the future of crypto in the U.S. in question. From Kraken’s custodial staking settlement to action against BUSD issuer Paxos, the former CFTC law clerk voices concern that coordination among regulators could choke off the industry’s growth. Hear how Selig thinks Gensler’s SEC is working to bring crypto markets “within the regulatory perimeter.” Show highlights: whether regulators are using the FTX case to go against crypto as a whole what likely caused the NYDFS action against Paxos for BUSD whether there’s a coordinated effort to undermine the crypto markets how issuers could argue that stablecoins aren’t securities why there are limited implications for staking as a whole after Kraken’s SEC settlement how the regulators are “discouraging access and participation in crypto markets at the banking level” the differences between Gary Gensler’s SEC and that of his predecessor, Jay Clayton how the Gensler administration is skeptical of governance and DAOs why the SEC’s crypto custody rule proposal is refreshing, albeit not perfect Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Mike Selig, counsel at Willkie Farr Twitter Links Unchained:  Circle Told NYDFS That Paxos-Issued BUSD Wasn’t Fully Backed SEC Wants Tougher Rules for Crypto Custody CoinDesk: SEC Proposal Could Bar Investment Advisers From Keeping Assets at Crypto Firms WSJ: Crypto Firm Paxos Faces SEC Lawsuit Over Binance USD Token Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin - WSJ The Block: SEC action against Paxos paints regulatory target on stablecoins Tom Wan on the ramifications of Paxos being ordered to stop issuing BUSD  Bloomberg: US Crackdown Seeks to Push Crypto Back to the Fringes of Finance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, Polygon Chief Legal Officer Marc Boiron joins the show to examine the SEC’s recent enforcement ramp-up. why Marc thinks NYDFS coming after Paxos is the most interesting thing to analyze in the SEC-BUSD spat whether the SEC and NYDFS actions against Paxos were coordinated  whether a stablecoin is a security and why the SEC might be inclined to go after Paxos how a stablecoin could resemble a money market fund whether the SEC action against BUSD consolidates Tether's dominance why Robert is nervous about the ramifications of the Paxos situation for all of crypto the unique characteristics of Kraken's staking services that led to settlement with the SEC the meaning of the settlement for other custodial staking services and staking in general why Robert voted in favor of the Uniswap governance proposal why Haseeb is fine with how a16z voted in the proposal how on-chain governance should be approached  Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Guest Marc Boiron, chief legal officer at Polygon Links Disclosures BUSD shutdown WSJ: Crypto Firm Paxos Faces SEC Lawsuit Over Binance USD Token Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin The Block: Gensler: SEC has been 'clear' on cryptocurrencies Unchained: Circle Told NYDFS That Paxos-Issued BUSD Wasn’t Fully Backed SEC vs. Staking Ethereum ETH Staking Deposits Kraken to Discontinue Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Staking-As-A-Service Program and Pay $30 Million to Settle SEC Charges Coinbase’s staking services are not securities. And here's why. - Blog Uniswap governance drama Unchained episode on the topic: Chris Blec on Why He Believes a16z’s Uniswap Vote Exposes DeFi as a Farce - Ep. 454  Wormhole vs. LayerZero posts Wormhole  LayerZero Explanation video from Unchained  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erin West, Deputy District Attorney of California’s Santa Clara County, has heard firsthand tales of scammers preying on victims for hundreds of thousands of dollars. She joins the show to explain the scamming technique known as “pig butchering,” how it is estimated to have raked in tens of billions worldwide, and why it has led to suicide in some cases. West makes the case for why victims need empathy and how law enforcement is working with exchanges to claw back scammed funds. Show highlights: Erin’s background and how she started investigating crypto crimes what exactly the “pig butchering” method entails — and why it’s called that what kind of people scammers are targeting the devastating stories that have arisen from these crypto scams fresh intel on where the fraudsters are located whether the scammers may be connected to foreign governments  how the victims are often turned away by U.S. law enforcement agencies how Erin’s agency was able to return almost $1 million to victims late last year what local agencies can do to address these problems how law enforcement agencies around the U.S. are lacking crypto education the workshops Erin has been leading to help such agencies get educated the relatively low number of NFT-related scams her agency has dealt with so far what Erin recommends for victims of “pig butchering” scams Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com FTSE Halborn NYU Links SIM Swaps and Pig Butchering scams:  Forbes: Hackers Have Stolen Millions Of Dollars In Bitcoin -- Using Only Phone Numbers WIRED: What Is a Pig Butchering Scam? Podcast on Indian telemarketing scams: Chameleon: Scam Likely — Campside Media Guests: Erin: LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Blec, DeFi researcher and founder of the Blec Report, explains why he believes the involvement of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in a contentious Uniswap governance proposal flies in the face of crypto’s core value: decentralization. He argues that the venture capital firm’s ability to potentially sway the vote in favor of a portfolio company undermines claims that DeFi is “people-powered.” The vote, which is not yet concluded, is the latest venue for people to debate the merits of DeFi governance and whether one token really should equal one vote. Show highlights: why a16z decided to vote against a key section of the Uniswap governance proposal the problem Chris sees with the current design of DAOs whether there is a parallel to be drawn between TradFi and DAO governance why Chris says people are mistaken when they think about the goals of crypto VC whether the fact that some VCs control so much voting power goes against the ethos of decentralization how Chris thinks VCs are funding lobbyist groups to push for their interests, not those of crypto as a whole why Chris believes the "one token, one vote" system doesn't work some alternatives that could be pursued to help the issue of whale token voting whether regulators will come after DAOs and especially the ones that are using current governance mechanisms Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Chris Blec, DeFi researcher and founder of the Blec Report Twitter Tweet about token voting Tweet about engaging with a16z Links Unchained: Does a16z Control Uniswap? CoinDesk: Contentious Uniswap Vote Highlights the Opaqueness of Decentralized Governance Related Twitter threads: From Eddy Lazzarin From Defi Ignas From Abdullah Umar From Philipp Zentner From Macro Mate From Adam Cochran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase, and Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker, give a full accounting of everything U.S. crypto traders should be aware of as we inch closer to April 18. The two tax experts discuss the latest on how the IRS is approaching crypto taxation, going deep on everything from staking rewards to NFT royalties. Just a heads up: This interview is meant for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or tax advice. Show highlights: what’s new this year when it comes to reporting crypto transactions why staking is now firmly on the IRS’s radar how capital gains tax works for crypto the types of crypto transactions that are taxable as income the five situations where a crypto user incurs a taxable event the types of crypto activity that are not taxable what crypto holders can do to make tax time easier the IRS forms you need for various types of crypto transactions typical mistakes that crypto users make when it comes to filing their taxes why there’s not much you can do if you have assets stuck in Voyager, Celsius or other bankrupt crypto firms why you might consider arguing a “theft loss deduction” what to know about the Ethereum Merge as it relates to taxes things NFT creators should be aware of during tax time how the U.S. tax system can or cannot be applied to DeFi what tax forms you can expect to receive if you’re a Coinbase customer how corporations holding crypto may soon see favorable changes to current accounting rules why $5,000 is a key threshold for crypto donations Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com FTSE Halborn NYU Links Previous coverage of crypto taxes on Unchained: Your 2021 Crypto Taxes: How to Handle NFTs, DAOs, Airdrops and More Everything You Need to Know About Your 2020 Crypto Taxes  Why You Shouldn't Trust Crypto Exchange Reports for Your Taxes The IRS Is Cracking Down on Crypto Taxes: What You Need to Know  Guests: Shehan: Twitter CoinTracker Lawrence: Twitter Links: Digital Assets | Internal Revenue Service IRS CCA 202302012 (Crypto charitable donations) IRS CCA 202302011 (Coins which have substantially lost in value. Ex: Luna) MiCA – Overview of the New EU Crypto-Asset Regulatory Framework (Part 1) | HUB | K&L Gates CNBC: President Joe Biden to sign the bipartisan infrastructure bill⁠ into law—here's how crypto investors will be impacted S&P Global: What the US infrastructure bill means for cryptocurrency brokers and owners Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, they cover: why Bitcoin maximalists are mad about Bitcoin NFTs why Robert thinks Bitcoin is not a good blockchain on which to build things why Canto, a layer 1 blockchain, surged in price and activity and why Haseeb is anti-Canto how Ethereum will have multi-dimensional fee structures  what the role of applications in generalized blockchains should be and why they think they shouldn't be enforced at the base layer the accusations against the LayerZero team and their response the battle to provide the bridging services to Uniswap Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Links Disclosures Bitcoin NFTs:  The Block: What are Bitcoin NFTs Ordinals and how do they work? BTC: Core On-chain - Glassnode Studio Bitcoin - The Overview Ordinals Canto:  The Block: Layer 1 blockchain Canto sees surge in trading activity Canto - Lending LayerZero controversy: James Prestwich’s tweet Bryan Pellegrino’s response Explanation of the situation by Bartek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following the release of Celsius' examiner report, Kadhim Shubber, an investigative reporter at The Financial Times, dives into the controversial business practices of the lender, how the company inflated the CEL token, the use of customers' money, and much more. Show highlights: how Celsius used investors’ money to prop up the price of CEL the reasons why Celsius inflated the CEL token where the money to pay rewards to investors came from blatant misstatements from Alex Mashinsky and how his team tried to cover him how the company leveraged Bitcoin to fill the hole in its balance sheet who was responsible for Celsius' shady business practices Celsius' poor investment decisions whether Mashinsky is at risk of facing criminal charges Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Kadhim: Twitter Links Final report of Shoba Pillay, examiner Financial Times: Crypto lender Celsius misused customer funds for years, examiner finds Unchained: 7 Revelations From Celsius’ Examiner Report CoinDesk: Celsius Used New Customer Funds to Pay for Withdrawals: Independent Examiner The Block: Tether denies it borrowed $2B from Celsius, as described in court report Blockchain News: Celsius' Official Creditor Committee Denies Rejected Bids Ram Ahluwalia’s take on the Celsius bankruptcy examiner report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, and Miller Whitehouse-Levine, Policy Director of the DeFi Education Fund, offer insider takes on how lawmakers and regulators are viewing crypto after FTX’s catastrophic failure. Both expect heightened activity in the U.S. from what they’re calling the “Crypto Congress.” Will this be the year for stablecoin regulation? Is DeFi still in the crosshairs? What about Ripple’s fight with the SEC? The two crypto policy experts look to the U.S. and beyond for what regulatory battles lie ahead in 2023. Show highlights: why the current environment in Washington makes it difficult to pass new legislation whether the opinion of members of Congress on crypto has changed in the aftermath of FTX’s alleged fraud how Elizabeth Warren and others are using the FTX collapse to prove their anti-crypto stance whether it’s possible to prevent a fallout like FTX from ever happening again why Miller believes that this year Congress will be “absolutely obsessed” with crypto what stablecoin legislation would look like, and why stablecoins are more likely to be regulated sooner why Sheila thinks Ripple could win its case against the SEC why they believe the SEC’s failure to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF is a logical inconsistency  why they think it’s not possible to apply TradFi rules to DeFi technology how more policymaker education needs to be done how OFAC sanctioning Tornado Cash sparked many conversations among researchers and policymakers the role of the government in preserving national security how MiCA took an appropriately slow approach to imposing DeFi regulations the impact of China and India adopting digital currencies  why Miller thinks China’s digital yuan is “the apotheosis of a totalitarian technology”  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com FTSE Links Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto legislation: Why Bitcoin Now: Michael Casey and Niall Ferguson on How Bitcoin Fits in the History of Money Kristin Smith on Why Crypto Legislation Could Be Passed by Year's End Why Senator Pat Toomey Thinks SEC Chair Gary Gensler Is Wrong About Crypto Guests: Sheila: Twitter Miller: LinkedIn FTX CoinDesk:  After FTX: How Congress Is Gearing Up to Regulate Crypto Congress' FTX Problem: 1 in 3 Members Got Cash From Crypto Exchange's Bosses After FTX: How Congress Is Gearing Up to Regulate Crypto CNBC: House Republicans move to regulate crypto industry with a new subcommittee MiCA CoinDesk: Analyzing What's Next for Europe's Markets in Crypto Assets Law EU’s MiCA Crypto Law Would Have Stopped FTX's Malpractice, Officials Say Others Project Hamilton - Building a Hypothetical Central Bank Digital Currency U.S. Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash Tornado Cash is no “golem.” It’s a tool for privacy and free speech. - Coin Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, Flashbots co-founder Phil Daian joins the show to go deep on what maximal extractable value (MEV) means and how it’s shaping the Ethereum ecosystem. Show highlights: how Phil started working in MEV and why he believes it resembles 'Alice in Wonderland' Phil's definition of MEV and when he realized this was an actual problem how Flashbots was born the story of how Vitalik didn't care about sandwich attacks at the time Uniswap was released whether it's possible to minimize MEV via more competition the never-ending debate about whether MEV should be accepted why Tarun thinks the concept of fair ordering is against nature  how Bitcoin uses social norms to solve its weaknesses  how Google is being called out in court for creating auction to front run its customers how Flashbots worked prior to and after Ethereum's Merge why Flashbots complies with OFAC sanctions  what is the Suave project and how it aims to decentralize Flashbots what the future of MEV looks like Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Guest: Phil: Twitter Disclosures Links The Block: Flashbots seeks up to $50 million at a billion-dollar valuation CoinDesk: Opinion: Miners, Front-Running-as-a-Service Is Theft CNN: DOJ sues Google over its dominance in online advertising market Unchained: 51% of Ethereum Blocks Are OFAC Censored Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? - Ep. 390 The Cost of Decentralization in 0x and EtherDelta Previous coverage of Unchained on MEV: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, gives an overview of his firm’s case against the SEC, which has denied requests to turn Grayscale’s bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). With oral arguments kicking off March 7, Sonnenshein lays out what a worst-case “tender offer” would entail and whether DCG CEO Barry Silbert has any say over GBTC’s fate.  Show highlights: why Grayscale charges higher fees than, say, the average ETF what Grayscale will do if it loses its case against the SEC why Grayscale has not filed for Regulation M relief Michael's comments on Gemini liquidating 31 million shares of GBTC the reason behind the October 2022 timing of Grayscale changing GBTC's “authorized participant” the relationship between Grayscale and DCG, and Barry Silbert's involvement in Grayscale's operations why the trust agreement of GBTC was changed Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Michael Sonnenshein: Twitter Links CNBC: Court sets date for oral arguments in Grayscale's challenge of SEC's bitcoin ETF decision Reuters:  Grayscale would appeal lawsuit against SEC if court rejects case, CEO says Ruling in Grayscale-U.S. SEC lawsuit likely within a year MarketWatch: Grayscale may ‘ultimately’ consider tender offer for bitcoin trust, CEO says CoinTelegraph: Grayscale terminates Bitcoin trust material agreements with Genesis CoinDesk: Grayscale Slams SEC's 'Unreasonable' Barring of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Bloomberg: Hedge Fund Sues Grayscale for Data on Battered Bitcoin Trust Bitcoinist: Here's What A Reg M Will Entail For Genesis, DCG And Bitcoin Why Investment Experts Say a Spot Bitcoin ETF Would Be Superior to Bitcoin Futures ETFs by Laura Shin Andrew Parish’s tweet on the possibility of the case going to the Supreme Court Grayscale’s End of Year CEO Letter to Investors Ycharts: GBTC Discount or Premium to NAV Previous coverage of Unchained on GBTC:  Bitwise's Latest Plans to Get a Bitcoin ETF Approved DCG's Dilemma: Should It Sell Its GBTC Holdings to Repay Gemini? Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, they covered: why the markets were up so much recently how and why Genesis entered into bankruptcy why the hole in DCG's financials are potentially much bigger than previously reported the differences between the bankruptcies of FTX and Genesis whether 3AC founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies will find success with their new exchange what will happen to GTBC now that a huge portion has already been liquidated whether Tarun is predicting "the start of a new supercycle" the large percentage of vested SOL held by the FTX estate how SBF is still trying to win the public  Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Links Disclosures Genesis:  Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Judge Backs Company Law Firm, Rejects Last Minute ‘Rumors’ CoinDesk:  Crypto Lender Genesis Global Capital Is FTX's Largest Unsecured Creditor Crypto Trading Firm Cumberland DRW Disputes Genesis Exposure CNBC:  Crypto firms Genesis and Gemini charged by SEC with selling unregistered securities Crypto publication CoinDesk hires Lazard to explore sale as crisis deepens at parent company DCG Unchained:  Is Genesis’s Prepackaged Bankruptcy The Ultimate Sacrifice?  Gemini Ends Its Earn Program and Calls for Barry Silbert’s Ouster DCG Under Investigation by DOJ and SEC: Report Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution FTX: Unchained:  SBF Says Excel Spreadsheet Proves FTX US Is Solvent WSJ: New FTX Chief Says Crypto Exchange Could Restart The Block: FTX debtors identify $5.5 billion of liquid assets in ’Herculean effort’ 3AC/GTX:  Unchained: 3AC Founders Are Raising $25M for ‘GTX’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Block, crypto skeptic and author of the Dirty Bubble Media newsletter, rose to prominence with a timely post predicting FTX’s insolvency. The blogger, a doctor by day, explains why he sees crypto as an unregulated morass of would-be securities and outright “Ponzi schemes.” From an early interest in Tether to connecting the dots on Celsius, Block explains why he does what he does and why almost all of crypto is just “regulatory arbitrage.” Show highlights: how James got into crypto and why he started writing about the space why James chose "Dirty Bubble Media" for the name of his publication the problems with the legitimacy of crypto projects the reasons to be bearish on Coinbase why the question of whether Bitcoin has intrinsic value is highly subjective whether every token in crypto is a scam and whether regulations will hit stablecoin issuers hard how FTX used tokens to create fictitious value worth billions of dollars  why Celsius and FTX were closely linked, and the difference between both cases ties James found between FTX's European subsidiary and a company doing binary options, an industry characterized by fraud how he believes financial fraud is similar throughout history — it doesn't repeat, but it rhymes James’s concerns around Signature Bank and its "questionable tactics" why Genesis and DCG got into trouble and how James thinks the situation will likely play out whether exchange tokens are securities and why he believes they have very little value why he says BNB resembles OneCoin's pyramid scheme James's contrarian take on the Avi Eisenberg case Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com DeFi Saver Links Guests: James Block: Twitter Substack FTX:  Dirty Bubble Media: Is Alameda Research Insolvent? FTX'ed: The Tangled Ties Of Celsius Network and Sam Bankman-Fried FTX's European subsidiary was built on top of a binary options scam A forgotten banking scandal suggests FTX is the tip of the crypto iceberg DCG Dirty Bubble Media: Digital Currency Grift  Unchained: ​SEC Charges Gemini and Genesis With Sale of Unregistered Securities Binance Dirty Bubble Media: The Binance Scam Chain Signature Bloomberg: Binance Says Signature Sets Transaction Minimum Amid Pullback Mango Markets The Ballad of Risk-Free Avi - Dirty Bubble Media  Unchained:  Mango Markets Exploiter Arrested on Market Manipulation Charges Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit Celsius Dirty Bubble Media: Anatomy of a (fake) Market Unchained: NYAG Sues Celsius’s Alex Mashinsky for Defrauding Investors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maria Shen, partner at Electric Capital, unpacks the venture firm’s latest Developer Report. Hotly anticipated among crypto observers, the annual report captures which chains developers are building on. Despite 2022’s price carnage, the report finds developer interest remains strong. Ethereum is the leading chain by far but EVM-compatibility is emerging as a major force in winning developers’ hearts and minds. Shen unpacks Bitcoin’s stability, Terra’s implosion, and many more insights from crypto’s open-source code repos. Show highlights: why the report "undercounts" developers and how it defines active developers how developers represent a fundamental measure of the health of emerging technologies like crypto the meaning of developer numbers going up even when prices plummet why in recent years the speed of developer growth jumped so drastically what happened after the number of developers reached an all-time high in June 2022 the role of Terra in the decline of developer activity in 2022’s second half why Ethereum dominates the ecosystem and whether it will continue to be the leader the benefits of being part of “the EVM universe” why the number of Bitcoin developers has remained flat over the last year whether looking at the number of developers in the NFT ecosystem is even relevant Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Maria Shen: Twitter Electric Capital Developer Report Full report Maria’s 2022 thread 2021 report 2020 report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From 3AC to FTX (and possibly more to come), it’s boom times for those trading crypto bankruptcy claims. Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of 507 Capital, gives a crash course on bankruptcy law, offering the latest updates on the FTX, Celsius, and Three Arrows Capital cases. Plus, insight on how 2023 could finally be the year Mt. Gox creditors get (some) closure. Show highlights: how Tom got into crypto with the Mt. Gox bankruptcy and whether "crypto distressed" is an emerging asset class how buying bankruptcy claims is also a way to buy crypto assets at a discount how to determine how much value creditors are owed in a crypto bankruptcy what the marketplaces for buying and selling claims are like whether it's possible to tokenize bankruptcy claims whether crypto tokens should be treated as property what is likely to happen when Mt. Gox creditors are returned their BTC the importance of Celsius' separation of custodial assets vs. assets in interest-bearing accounts the likelihood of Celsius being acquired why the fact that FTX recovered $5 billion in assets is "amazing" why so many stakeholders disputed the ownership of the $450 million in Robinhood shares why there's so much difference in the prices of FTX, Voyager, BlockFi and Celsius claims whether the customer list of FTX should be kept private what type of creditors are Gemini Earn customers Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com DeFi Saver Links Guests: Thomas: Twitter 507 Capital Previous appearances on Unchained: Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In Will Celsius Survive the Bankruptcy Process? Episode Links:  Celsius Reuters: U.S. judge says Celsius Network owns most customer crypto deposits Celsius bankruptcy judge orders return of some crypto assets to customers Bloomberg: Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius Receives Multiple Bids for Retail and Mining Assets FTX Unchained:  DOJ Seizes $450M in Robinhood Shares from FTX Bankrupt FTX Recovers Over $5B Worth of Assets: Report CoinDesk:  FTX Creditor Claims Going for 13 Cents on the Dollar on Bankruptcy Marketplace Xclaim After Bankruptcy, FTX User Claims Pay Cents on the Dollar Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers just filed a claim to keep his $450 million in Robinhood shares Reuters: U.S. Trustee files objection to FTX's planned asset sales Thomas Braziel’s prediction on the FTX claims Connor Grogan’s take on the $5 billion in assets  DCG/Gemini: Unchained: Gemini Ends Its Earn Program and Calls for Barry Silbert’s Ouster 3AC Kyle Davies’ comments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. Show topics: Haseeb’s TL;DR of the ongoing situation between DCG, Genesis and Gemini whether DCG committed fraud because of a misrepresentation of its financials why DCG did Genesis a favor by absorbing the losses from exposure to Three Arrows Capital what's required to force an entity into bankruptcy  why Cameron Winklevoss would request Barry Silbert to step down as DCG CEO the SEC’s probe into the investors of FTX and whether the regulators will fine them whether there will be on-chain assets for trading FTX bankruptcy claims what Tarun thinks of the future of NFTs and what needs to be built for them to thrive why Robert thinks most NFTs are “hot garbage” what the value behind NFTs is and whether they need a utility  whether the massive layoffs are good for the industry and how many companies over-hired during the bull market Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Links DCG/Gemini: Unchained:  Gemini Ends Its Earn Program and Calls for Barry Silbert’s Ouster DCG Under Investigation by DOJ and SEC: Report Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution Previous coverage of Unchained on DCG and Genesis:  Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid FTX: Unchained:  DOJ Seizes $450M in Robinhood Shares from FTX Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty to All Charges Decrypt: FTX Restructuring Team Has Clawed Back $5B in Lost Assets Previous episodes of The Chopping Block on FTX: The Chopping Block: Can Exchange CEOs Like SBF Be Crypto True Believers? The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? Layoffs:  Unchained:  Coinbase Lays Off 950 Employees Amid Market Conditions Genesis Considers Bankruptcy and Cuts Another 30% of Staff: Report - Unchained Podcast Bloomberg: Silvergate (SI) Tumbles After FTX Implosion Prompts $8.1 Billion Bank Run Why We Missed On Inflation, and Implications for Monetary Policy Going Forward | by Neel Kashkari Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gemini has accused Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert of fraud after allegedly misrepresenting the financials of his company. The accusations follow a dispute over the return of $900 million in assets owed to Gemini Earn’s users. Karim Dandashy, CFA and portfolio manager at XBTO Group, discusses everything about the ongoing drama between Genesis, its parent company DCG, and Gemini.  Show highlights: the fraud accusations against DCG CEO Barry Silbert all the details disclosed in Barry's response whether Genesis will file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the meaning of the $1.1 billion promissory note being not callable the EDNY and SEC investigation on transfers between DCG and a subsidiary – potentially Genesis whether the 1% interest rate charged for the loan was suitable considering the nature of Genesis' business whether DCG could sell its venture investments to plug the hole why Bitvavo rejected an offer from DCG to return 70% of the $300 million owed to them what Karim would do if he was leading DCG  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Karim: Twitter LinkedIn Previous coverage of Unchained on DCG and Genesis:  Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Genesis/Gemini: Unchained:  Gemini Ends Its Earn Program and Calls for Barry Silbert’s Ouster DCG Under Investigation by DOJ and SEC: Report Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution ​​Gemini Co-Founder Accuses DCG’s Barry Silbert of ‘Bad Faith and Stall Tactics’  Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report Financial Times: DCG’s crypto broker Genesis owes creditors more than $3bn Protos: Scoop: Larry Summers gives up advisory role at crypto firm DCG amid criticism CNBC: Crypto firms Genesis and Gemini charged by SEC with selling unregistered securities Forbes: Gemini Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Unregistered Interest-Bearing Accounts Decrypt: Dutch Bitcoin Exchange Bitvavo Says DCG’s Payback Plan ‘Not Acceptable’  Sam Andrew’s thread Ram Ahluwalia on DCG CEO’s update to shareholders Ryan Selkis on the definition of the current assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, and Collins Belton, managing partner at Brookwood P.C., dive into the controversial case of Avi Eisenberg, the self-described “applied game theorist” who was arrested in Puerto Rico on Dec. 26 on market manipulation and fraud charges. The two crypto lawyers discuss the case’s potential impact on DeFi and DAO governance — and whether “code is law” stands a chance in the courtroom. Show highlights: whether Avi’s manipulation of the markets constitutes fraud  debating the crypto maxim “code is law” whether it’s wrong to use DeFi code in a “smarter way” how the Mango Markets exploit happened due to poor governance management whether crypto should be regulated from the securities angle or the commodities angle the consequences of Avi’s arrest for the DeFi space whether MEV could constitute market manipulation, even if it’s democratized for everybody the role of DAOs and whether early-stage projects should maintain some level of centralization how DAOs could be designed to have better mechanisms in order to deal with potential issues whether members of the Mango Markets DAO are liable because of their role in designing the system how Avi was “naive” to think he could avoid legal liability by returning the funds why Gabe thinks credit protocols are socially positive and why he hopes that prosecutors won’t “throw everyone in jail” Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com DeFi Saver Links Guests: Gabriel: Twitter Delphi Labs Gabriel’s Twitter thread on the case Previous appearances on Unchained:  The SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple and 2 Execs: What You Need to Know Collins: Twitter LinkedIn Previous appearances on Unchained: How the Greatest Decentralizing Force for Crypto Projects Is the SEC Episode Links:  Previous coverage of Unchained on Avi Eisenberg and the Mango Markets exploit:  The Mango Markets Attacker on Whether His 'Trade' Was Ethical or Not - Ep. 413 The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever' The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? - Ep. 428 Mango Markets exploit Explanation Avi’s “Highly profitable trading strategy” Twitter thread Unchained:  Mango Markets Exploiter Arrested on Market Manipulation Charges Mango Markets Exploiter Gets Liquidated But Leaves Aave With ‘Excess Debt’ Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit Chaindebrief: How Manipulation On AAVE And CURVE Went Wrong, Attacker Got Rekted Instead The Defiant: Another Fork Bites the Dust: The Looming Fall of Fortress DAO and the Perils of Off-Chain Governance Karlstack: EXCLUSIVE: The Man Who May Have Milked $100+ Million from Mango Markets CoinDesk: The Impact of Avraham Eisenberg’s Case on the Future of Crypto Mango Markets Exploiter Eisenberg Arrested in Puerto Rico Mango Exploiter's Funds Get Liquidated After Roiling Aave Using $20M of Borrowed Curve Tokens Complaint CNBC: Decoding The Avraham Eisenberg Arrest And Its Impact On Crypto Bug Bounties, White Hat Hackers Decrypt: Mango Markets Attacker Avraham Eisenberg Arrested, Charged With 'Market-Manipulation Offenses' Protos: Who is Avraham Eisenberg and why is he all over Crypto Twitter? Crypto Briefing: Curve Whipsaws 75% as DeFi Degens Squeeze Avraham Eisenberg New Filing: CFTC charges Avi Eisenberg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder at Lumida, talks about the ongoing dispute between Gemini and Digital Currency Group (DCG), specifically focusing on the actions and statements of DCG CEO Barry Silbert and Gemini’s cofounder Cameron Winklevoss. Ram discusses various aspects of the conflict, including the potential commingling of assets between DCG and its subsidiary Genesis and the options available to Gemini if DCG does not cooperate. Show highlights: how Cameron Winklevoss’s tweets attempt to put Barry Silbert in the same class of actors as Celsius and BlockFi whether the assets of DCG and Genesis are commingled what Gemini’s options are if DCG does not commit to cooperate whether Gemini will file an involuntary petition for Genesis to enter chapter 11 bankruptcy why Barry's statement that DCG didn't borrow $1.675 billion from Genesis is "very surprising" to Ram why it is relevant whether Genesis has a liquidity issue or an insolvency one whether a class-action lawsuit alleging Gemini's earn product is an unregistered security has any merit the essential role of the $1.1 billion promissory note and whether Genesis will drag DCG into bankruptcy if DCG goes under, what would happen to Grayscale whether Valkyrie is going to become the hero and save GBTC why DCG needs to accept the credit committee terms, according to Ram Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Ram: Twitter Ram Ahluwalia’s thread on Fir Tree and Valkyrie Previous appearances on Unchained: Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Previous coverage of Unchained on DCG and Genesis:  ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Genesis: Unchained:  ​​Gemini Co-Founder Accuses DCG’s Barry Silbert of ‘Bad Faith Stall Tactics’  Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report Protos: Scoop: Larry Summers gives up advisory role at crypto firm DCG amid criticism Forbes: Gemini Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Unregistered Interest-Bearing Accounts WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Grayscale Ethereum Trust Trades at Record 60% Low Against Ethereum - Decrypt The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger' FT: Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucas Nuzzi, head of R&D at CoinMetrics, and Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, discuss the current state of the crypto market, including the potential for contagion effects and the challenges faced by VC companies. They also delve into the mining industry and the issues surrounding MEV and Ethereum. The conversation also touches on stablecoins, DeFi activity and NFT trading, and the potential dangers of Binance's dominance in the industry.   Show highlights: how the collapse in 2022 of FTX and other behemoths will affect the industry in 2023 why there's been a lot of forced selling in the markets recently why the industry could still be headed to more contagion effects the characteristics of the current bear market, how it differs from previous ones, and the role of the macroeconomic environment why it's very hard to predict how prices will behave in 2023 why VC firms will have to focus on long-term projects rather than speculation what's going to happen in the Bitcoin mining industry in 2023 considering the current tough situation why Lucas thinks that Bitcoin "drastically overpays for security" why MEV is a concerning issue and how it represents a single point of failure for Ethereum how the narrative of alternative layer 1s has changed and why the focus will shift to layer 2s whether there is a need to develop better blockchain monitoring tools why stablecoin issuers have a very good business model given the interest rate environment what are the problems of stablecoins and how they will be regulated why DeFi activity and NFT trading were down so heavily in 2022 and whether the downtrend will change  how Binance's dominance is "terrifying" and whether it could hurt the industry Lucas' concerns about the lack of transparency around Binance's BNB token   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver   Links   Guests: Lucas : Twitter CoinMetrics   Larry: Twitter The Block Research Previous appearances on Unchained: Larry Cermak of The Block on What 90% of Bitcoin Trading Is For   The year in crypto:   FTX Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: Why Martin Shkreli Thinks SBF’s New Judge Could Still Be Lenient – Ep. 438 The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC   NFTs: The Block: From CryptoPunks to Redditors — and a Trump card: The year in NFT charts CoinDesk: Over $30B of NFT Trading Volume on Ethereum Is Wash Trading, Research Suggests NFT Market Overview   MEV:  MEV Watch Flashbots dashboard Unchained: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate   BTC Mining: The Block: Bitcoin mining companies close out year $4 billion in debt: Report Unchained: Bitcoin Miners Going Bankrupt? Here's How Crypto Winter Is Impacting the Industry   Contagion:  Genesis/DCG:  Unchained:  ​​Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It?  Genesis Owes Creditors At Least $1.8B: Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur, investor and convicted white-collar criminal, talks about the new judge assigned to the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, whether Sam’s going to plead guilty or not, and the potential involvement of his family in the lawsuit. Show highlights: whether Sam Bankman-Fried truly did not have money to post bail why the government did not restrict Sam's usage of the internet and social media why Martin thinks the new judge assigned to the case, Judge Lewis Kaplan, is good for SBF how many years Judge Kaplan could sentence SBF to, given his unusual work experience whether there's still a chance that Sam could paint this case as a business failure how defense attorneys will likely try to exploit the romantic relationship between Ellison and SBF in their favor why it is unlikely that SBF will plead guilty on the January 3rd arraignment date what a telemarketing fraudster case has to do with FTX how the prosecutors could indict SBF's family if he doesn't plead guilty how a jury would be selected  whether Sam has enough funds to pay for a decent lawyer and how that's going to affect the case how Martin learned about crypto while he was in prison how prisoners engage with crypto while incarcerated whether Sam could run a business from prison Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Martin: Socials Previous appearances of Martin on Unchained: Martin Shkreli Explains Why Sam Bankman-Fried Got Lucky With His Judge - Ep. 435 Videos on SBF: Which Gang Will Sam Bankman Join In Prison? | Martin Shkreli Gives Prison Advice to FTX CEO My Boy Sam Bankman Is Facing Life in Jail for Sure | Martin Shkreli Predicts the FTX Court Hearing Episode Links Reuters: Sam Bankman-Fried to enter plea in FTX fraud case Unchained: SBF Released on $250M Bond Secured by Parents Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang Plead Guilty and Are Cooperating in FTX Investigation SBF Signs Extradition Papers After 8 Nights in Bahamas Jail With AC and Cable TV CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bloomberg: Bankman-Fried Judge Recused Because Husband’s Firm Advised FTX FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the year 2022 in the crypto industry and share their biggest winners and losers of the year, what were the best mechanisms, the biggest surprises and the best memes, and their predictions for the upcoming year.   Show topics:   why stablecoin bulls performed so well in 2022, as well as journalism, DeFi, and the EVM how the reputation of the industry suffered tremendously in 2022 how Solana had to endure multiple hacks and challenges and whether it’s having its “ETH moment”  whether ETH is the only crypto with good tokenomics why MEV has seen such a massive adoption, even if it’s technically not good for crypto  why the investment landscape changed so much in June whether Arbitrum is the winner among layer 2s on Ethereum and the role of retroactive airdrops why so many lending companies went bust this year whether proof of reserves is a useful concept whether developers will go back to build on Ethereum rather than alternative layers 1s     Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital   Links   Last year's episode: The Chopping Block... 2021 in Crypto: The Biggest Winners, Biggest Losers, and Best Memes - Unchained Podcast   FTX: The Chopping Block: Can Exchange CEOs Like SBF Be Crypto True Believers? The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?   Tornado Cash The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Solana The Chopping Block: Anatoly Yakovenko on Why Solana Is Building the SAGA Phone The Chopping Block: Why Solana’s Frequent Downtime Doesn't Bother Kyle Samani Terra: The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash  The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance?  Others: The Chopping Block: Here’s What Was So Bad About Three Arrows Capital  The Chopping Block: SBF on a Crazy Week of Bitfinex, Wormhole and ENS Drama  The Chopping Block: Do Kwon Pitches a Decentralized NFT Publishing Service The Chopping Block: Did Andre Cronje Pull an Epic Crypto Rug Pull?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of Unchained looks back on a tumultuous year for the cryptocurrency industry in 2022. Significant events such as the bankruptcies of FTX, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, and the collapse of Terra/LUNA, led to billions being lost due to market plunges and also due to numerous hacks.  This year also brought the Ethereum Merge, one of the most awaited events in crypto's short history. Amidst the turmoil, true believers like Chris Burniske saw a silver lining, while the crypto community watched for the further fallout of this year’s crypto contagion to play out.    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver DAO attacker revealed:  Exclusive: Crypto’s Biggest Whodunnit: Who Was Behind the 2016 DAO Attack on Ethereum? Exclusive: Austrian Programmer And Ex Crypto CEO Likely Stole $11 Billion Of Ether Ukraine War: How Ukraine Is Leveraging Crypto in Its Fight Against Russia - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: In 'the First Crypto War,' How Should the Money Be Spent? - Unchained Podcast Ukraine Has Received $150 Million in Crypto. Here’s How It Is Being Used - Unchained Podcast Hacks and exploits: Bridge Hacks Have Caused ~$1 Billion in Losses. Here’s Why Bridge Security Is Tricky - Unchained Podcast Terra collapse: Did Someone Deliberately Attack Terra/Luna to Kick off a Death Spiral? - Unchained Podcast Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash - Unchained Podcast The 5 Biggest Lessons From Terra/Luna's Collapse, According to Tascha Che - Unchained Podcast Bankruptcies - 3AC, Celsius and Voyager:  Why Possible Insolvencies by Celsius and 3AC Could Spell Disaster for Crypto - Ep. 364 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Here’s What Was So Bad About Three Arrows Capital - Ep. 368 - Unchained Podcast Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now?- Ep. 374 - Unchained Podcast Tornado Cash: Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? - Ep. 384 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? - Ep. 386 - Unchained Podcast Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No - Ep.387 - Unchained Podcast Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? - Ep. 390 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions - Ep. 392 - Unchained Podcast The Merge: With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? - Ep. 389 - Unchained Podcast Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH - Ep. 393 - Unchained Podcast Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury- Ep.394 - Unchained Podcast Did the Merge Make Ethereum ‘the Most Secure Blockchain in the World’? – Ep. 397 Do Kwon comes on Unchained:  Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’ – Ep. 408 NFT royalties: The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! - Ep. 409 - Unchained Podcast Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy - Ep. 414 - Unchained Podcast FTX Collapse: The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? - Ep. 418 - Unchained Podcast Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets - Ep. 419 - Unchained Podcast Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In - Ep. 420 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater - Ep. 421 - Unchained Podcast Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? - Ep. 422 - Unchained Podcast Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion - Ep. 423 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'? - Ep. 424 - Unchained Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur and investor, talks about what Sam Bankman-Fried’s potential life in prison could look like. As a former white-collar criminal, Martin had a lot to say about prison culture, how judge selection affects sentencing, and more. Show highlights: why Martin says that the prosecution part of the case is the most difficult to endure why he thought Sam had "no chance at bail" (although shortly after we recorded, news broke that Sam had been released on what is believed to be the largest bail bond ever – $250 million) whether SBF should plead guilty and hope to be favored by his cooperation what jails in New York are like and how the other inmates might treat SBF  whether SBF will be in danger if he goes to prison and Martin's suggestions for him if he wants to survive why the FTX's case is so unprecedented, especially considering the current sentencing guidelines Martin's take on Ronnie Abrams, the judge in charge of the case, and why her selection will be good for SBF whether Caroline Ellison made a mistake by pleading guilty to so many counts why Gary Wang would likely face a tough time in prison for ratting out SBF Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Martin: Socials Videos on SBF: Which Gang Will Sam Bankman Join In Prison? | Martin Shkreli Gives Prison Advice to FTX CEO My Boy Sam Bankman Is Facing Life in Jail for Sure | Martin Shkreli Predicts the FTX Court Hearing Episode Links CNBC: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bail, will live with his parents Unchained: Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang Plead Guilty and Are Cooperating in FTX Investigation SBF Signs Extradition Papers After 8 Nights in Bahamas Jail With AC and Cable TV CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bloomberg:  FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?  How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?  Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a year. Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, sift through 2022’s rubble for clues as to what lies ahead in 2023. The two bright lights of Crypto Twitter weigh in on SBF’s fraud, how to succeed through the bear market, and what remains promising despite the gloom and doom. Show highlights: why 2022 is “the hangover of 2021” why this year’s big meltdowns were different and dispiriting why it was actually a year to remind us of why we’re all here how the underlying protocols didn’t skip a beat how to survive the bear market what Chris feels guilty about in the wake of Alameda’s collapse why Cobie hopes SBF spends life in jail whether people will actually use decentralized alternatives – or if banking-like relationships will prevail what Chris sees as the 2023 version of proof-of-stake in 2017 why Cobie thinks bitcoin is an area of opportunity over the next few years whether the multichain thesis (“Solunavax”) will ever rise again whether the contagion is over if disgraced figureheads deserve a second chance a lightning round lookback on 2022 Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver Guests: Cobie: Twitter Substack UpOnly Previous appearances on Unchained: Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market Chris: Twitter Placeholder VC Previous appearances on Unchained: Chris Burniske: A Blank Slate of State Chris Burniske of Placeholder on the Downsides of ICOs The year in crypto: FTX Unchained: CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Terra: CoinDesk: The Fall of Terra: A Timeline of the Meteoric Rise and Crash of UST and LUNA Three Arrows Capital CNBC’s full interview with Three Arrows Capital’s Kyle Davies on the downfall of the defunct crypto hedge fund CoinDesk: Three Arrows Capital Files for Bankruptcy in New York Tied to British Virgin Islands Proceeding DeCrypt: Bankrupt Three Arrows Capital Owes $3.5B to Creditors, Including $2.3B to Genesis Binance Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony Silvergate The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom Genesis/DCG:  Unchained:  Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news. Show topics: the details of the SEC and CFTC complaints how crypto traders have always speculated about Alameda's preferential treatment whether many people knew about the mismanagement of funds and alleged fraud why Haseeb thinks SBF was a "f*cking psycho" how helpful Tarun believes a testimony from Sam Trabucco, former co-CEO of Alameda, would be why Alameda and FTX lost billions of dollars, and the poor diligence of SBF's venture investments Sam's "ineffective altruism"  why a bull market wouldn't have solved the insolvency problems of FTX whether SBF will fight extradition and how long it would take how Sam's consistent use of Facebook and his anti-Maker stand shows he was not a crypto-native why Laura thinks that The Block CEO's undisclosed loans represent a "total betrayal" Robert's take on the ineffectiveness of the government's control of information why Binance is under scrutiny and whether it's the "next FTX" Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Guest: Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained Episode Links FTX: Unchained:CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX SBF Denied Bail in The Bahamas, Will Remain in Fox Hill Prison Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bahamas Asked SBF to Mint Hundreds of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of New Tokens After Collapse, Say FTX Liquidators SBF Directed $8B Alameda Liabilities to an FTX Account He Called ‘Weird Korean,’ Says CFTC Forbes: Despite Boasting Of Big Profits, FTX And Alameda Lost $3.7 Billion Before 2022 Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Binance: Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony The Block Unchained: The Block CEO Steps Down After Revealing He Was Secretly Funded By SBF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discusses all the charges that Sam Bankman-Fried is facing and their potential outcomes.  Show highlights: the charges against SBF and why the criminal indictment is the most important whether SBF testifying in Congress would have complicated the DOJ's criminal case against him why it is complicated to state how much prison time Sam is facing the ways in which Bankman-Fried can reduce his sentence by cooperating with authorities why it's so unprecedented that the indictment came only one month after the collapse of FTX whether other senior FTX executives are providing prosecutors with information to reduce their charges the reasons why SBF is being held in The Bahamas and the likelihood of him being extradited how much the case will be delayed if SBF's lawyers fight the extradition Ari's thoughts on whether this case will go to trial Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Ari: Twitter Previous appearances on Unchained:  Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No  Episode Links Unchained: CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX SBF Denied Bail in The Bahamas, Will Remain in Fox Hill Prison Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bahamas Asked SBF to Mint Hundreds of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of New Tokens After Collapse, Say FTX Liquidators SBF Directed $8B Alameda Liabilities to an FTX Account He Called ‘Weird Korean,’ Says CFTC Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials The Enron Trial: A Chronology Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Marc Cohodes, individual investor and former hedge fund manager, have a heated debate about Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that plays a key role in integrating crypto with traditional finance and is currently under scrutiny due to its ties with FTX and Alameda. Both Marc and Ram have a vested interest in Silvergate. Marc is shorting the stock, while Ram is longing it.   Show highlights: why Silvergate plays such a vital role in the movement of money within the crypto industry whether Silvergate runs proper KYC and AML practices whether Silvergate has a $1 billion hole in its balance sheet whether regulators will go after Silvergate as they are doing with FTX why Marc thinks the FTX collapse wouldn't have happened without Silvergate  whether Silvergate was complicit with FTX’s activities or simply negligent  why Ram believes this case is different from JPMorgan's involvement with Madoff  what regulatory actions might come in the near future for Silvergate  why Ram thinks regulators will go to "great lengths" to avoid a bank failure what would it take for Ram and Marc to change their minds   Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver  Guests: Ram: Twitter Ram’s thread on Silvergate Ram’s previous appearances on Unchained: Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Marc: Twitter   Episode links: Class action lawsuit against Silvergate The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion Letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren, John Kennedy, and Roger Marshall The Guardian: JP Morgan Chase to pay more than $2bn in penalties for Madoff ties The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom WSJ: Crypto Is Taking a Few Small Banks on a Wild Ride Bloomberg:  These Banks Were Left Holding the Bag in Crypto Implosion An Obscure Bank Found Its Key to Success. Then FTX Collapsed CoinDesk: Crypto Bank Silvergate Says Its BlockFi Digital-Asset Deposit Exposure Totals Less Than $20M New York Post: Crypto ‘smart’ money? Big traders fell for Sam Bankman-Fried NBC: Sen. Warren demands answers from Silvergate Bank about its business dealings with FTX Dylan LeClair’s Twitter thread Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory & policy at Bain Capital Crypto, discusses how the legal process for Sam Bankman-Fried in the wake of the FTX scandal could play out.  Show highlights: the allegations that Bankman-Fried manipulated the market during the Terra crash the motivations for Bankman-Fried's media appearances what the selection of Mark Cohen as a lawyer says about the potential charges and the case why SBF hasn't been arrested yet how the US investigating the potential involvement of Bahamian government officials could complicate cooperation of an arrest of SBF in the Bahamas why this case is very different from Bernie Madoff's what evidence would be needed to say, legally, that SBF committed fraud the potential outcomes of the legal case for SBF and how many years of prison time he could face Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com TuongVy : Twitter Episode Links FTX: Unchained: Regulators Investigate Sam Bankman-Fried for Terra-Related Market Manipulation Sam Bankman-Fried Hires Ghislaine Maxwell’s Defense Lawyer: Report Investigations:  Reuters: U.S. authorities probe FTX collapse, executives' involvement -sources CoinDesk: California Financial Regulator Announces FTX Investigation Others: CNBC: Former OpenSea employee charged in first-ever NFT insider trading case NYT:  Ex-Coinbase Employee and 2 Others Charged With Insider Trading of Crypto Assets Two former Deutsche Bank traders win their appeal in a Libor manipulation case Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The collapse of FTX has dealt crypto lender Genesis another major blow, with the firm halting withdrawals and DCG stepping in to help. Now the two face a range of suboptimal outcomes in the face of massive debts. Ahluwalia and Andrew discuss what could come next, and what should be learned from the recent debacles.  Show highlights: why Genesis and DCG are so important for the crypto sector Ram's explanation of the "Grayscale trade" and why it is relevant to understand the current crisis the ghost of Three Arrows Capital and the origins of Genesis' problems why Sam thinks Genesis was "reckless" in its loan underwriting what a spot Bitcoin ETF would mean for Grayscale's revenue what options Genesis and DCG have to weather the storm whether it makes sense for Genesis to file for bankruptcy why Ram thinks Genesis lending product needs to be be shut down why Gemini and its Earn program loom large in the Genesis situation the risks of enforcement action from regulators what the most likely outcome is for Genesis and DCG and whether creditors will be made whole whether there will be broader contagion stemming from Genesis and what other crypto companies could be in trouble the problems of leverage and why crypto's "shadow banks" need regulation     Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima   Ram: Twitter Ram’s thread on GBTC Previous Unchained episodes: Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Sam: Twitter Substack     Episode Links   Genesis: Unchained:  Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger' Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis: ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?   FT: Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn   WSJ: Rising Tether Loans Add Risk to Stablecoin, Crypto World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news.  Show topics: highlights of Sam Bankman-Fried's interview with the New York Times whether SBF knew what was going on in his companies, and how that impacts potential prosecution why Genesis and DCG are in financial trouble whether Genesis will file for bankruptcy or go through a restructuring process revelations from BlockFi's bankruptcy filing new info on why FTX bailed out BlockFi last summer what is going on with Binance’s recovery fund  how Avi Eisenberg tried to pull off an attack on Aave  how the banking industry works and whether Changpeng Zhao is the closest thing to a central bank in crypto how DeFi responds in a crisis, and how it contrasts with CeFi’s recent implosions Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links FTX: Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen NYT: Sam Bankman-Fried’s interview Bill Ackman’s tweet Interview with Tiffany Fong Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC BlockFi:  Unchained: Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX’s Contagion Effects Continue Decrypt: FTX, Alameda Owe BlockFi More Than $1 Billion: Court Hearing Genesis: Ryan Selkis’ tweet on Genesis Unchained:  Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis: Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis DeFi Pancakeswap flipped Uniswap in TVL Unchained:  Mango Markets Exploiter Gets Liquidated But Leaves Aave With ‘Excess Debt’ Aave Freezes 17 Low-Liquidity V2 Pools and Votes to Migrate 26 Assets to Ethereum V3 Compound Finance Slashes Borrow Caps for 10 Markets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, talks about the collapses suffered during this year, their impacts on big traditional finance players, and what’s coming in the crypto markets in the near future.  Show highlights: whether Sam Bankman-Fried lied during his interview at the Deal Book Summit why SBF kept the number of FTX's engineers at such a low number why Adam is optimistic about Genesis and DCG what options Genesis have to raise liquidity the significance of a potential meltdown of DCG in the crypto industry why Adam is worried about Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) what lessons can be learned from this crypto winter Adam's prognosis for crypto lending and for the crypto markets in general the impact of the bankruptcy of BlockFi and all the other centralized lenders Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors!Crypto.com Adam: Twitter Thread on community buyout Previous Unchained episodes: Why 3AC’s Collapse Could Spell the Start of a Crypto Credit Crunch Episode Links BlockFi:  Unchained: Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX’s Contagion Effects Continue Decrypt: FTX, Alameda Owe BlockFi More Than $1 Billion: Court Hearing Genesis: Bloomberg: Genesis Creditors Seek Options to Keep Crypto Brokerage Out of Bankruptcy Semafor: Online news site CoinDesk attracts suitors amid crypto crash Unchained:  Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger' Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis: Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis FTX: Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Jordan, founder at DBA and former co-head of investments at Galaxy Digital, and Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC, talk about the potential insolvency of Genesis and DCG, the cycle of credit expansion, and the importance of DeFi to prevent these situations.    Show highlights: what will happen with Genesis and its parent company DCG where the insolvency of Genesis might have come from how the expansion of crypto lending in 2021 is impacting the markets and the role the Fed played in this expansion how the Terra collapse kickstarted a ton of contagion effects in crypto companies Alex's story of why he did not invest in Alameda in 2018 whether it is possible to prevent the "FTXs of the future" the importance of assessing the quality of collateral assets the story of when SBF called DeFi a "Ponzi black box" the mystery of where FTX Ventures got the $2 billion it planned to invest    Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima   Michael: Twitter Previous Unchained episodes: Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Alex: Twitter     Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis and FTX:   Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC   Genesis: Unchained:  Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger'   FTX Collapse: First declaration document Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Bloomberg: Transcript: Sam Bankman-Fried and Matt Levine on How to Make Money in Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabriel Haines, a crypto content creator, comes on this 2022 Thanksgiving edition of Unchained to talk about his videos and leave a positive message for these holidays.  Show highlights: how Gabriel started doing his very unique type of videos Gabriel's hummus eating competition how Gabriel's videos are "quite not professional" how Gabriel is monetizing some of his videos with NFTs whether NFTs are a solution for content creators how Lee, Gabriel's wife, has also started creating some funny videos how Web3 is going to change the traditional version of media in the Internet Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Gabriel: Twitter Gabriel’s video with a machete Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news concerning the collapse of FTX.  Show topics: the statements of newly appointed CEO John Ray in the first day declaration why Tarun, Robert and Haseeb think SBF is possibly delusional or at least in denial whether the assets of FTX and Alameda were commingled from the beginning or whether they had been separate and at a certain point, FTX loaned money to Alameda whether the Bahamian government was the 'FTX' hacker the theories of why Alameda started falling how regulators and legislators are assessing the failure of FTX whether SBF will get a pardon like Mark Rich and the chances of him being charged criminally whether Genesis will go insolvent and its potential contagion effects Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2022 Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: First declaration document Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Unchained: Bahamas Regulator Directed SBF to Transfer FTX Assets to Government Wallet SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection WSJ: FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Cashed Out $300 Million During Funding Spree Vox interview with SBF: Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself NYT: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed Arthur Hayes’s article on SBF: ‘White Boy’ NYT: Elizabeth Holmes Is Sentenced to More Than 11 Years for Fraud Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhou, cofounder of Galois Capital, and Jesse Powell, cofounder of Kraken, talk about why FTX collapsed, the warning signs, and whether it’s a catalyst for self-custodial adoption.  Show highlights: the root causes of the FTX collapse, according to Jesse and Kevin whether there were warning signs of all the risks that were to come the importance of learning from mistakes, even for new people in the space Kevin's response to the stuck funds in FTX the debate about utilitarianism and SBF's effective altruism whether the philosophy behind founders matters Kevin's and Jesse's theories of how FTX and Alameda lost billions of dollars how Alameda and FTX's books were commingled  whether people will start using self-custodial wallets whether the fall of FTX vindicates BTC maximalism whether regulation has been beneficial or harmful for American customers the role of venture capital firms and their "mixed incentives" Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Kevin: Twitter Previous Unchained episodes: How Traders Are Thinking About the Merge — and a Potential ETHPoW Chain Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge. The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash Jesse: Twitter Previous Unchained episodes: Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, on Drawing a Line With Regulators Episode Links Previous coverage on Unchained of FTX: Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? – Ep. 422 The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: First declaration document Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Unchained: Bahamas Regulator Directed SBF to Transfer FTX Assets to Government Wallet SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Vox interview with SBF: Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself NYT: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed Bloomberg: Crypto Hedge Fund Galois Confirms $40 Million Exposure to FTX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, explains the first declaration from new FTX CEO John Ray in the company’s bankruptcy case.  Show highlights: why CEO Ray said there's been a complete failure of corporate controls in FTX how there was no separation of accounts between Alameda and FTX whether FTX US customers are in a better position to recuperate their assets why FTX's Bahamas unit is seeking protection under chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code why there's a jurisdictional battle, according to Wassie whether the Bahamian government is responsible for letting deposits out of the platform how former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to save the company  Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors!Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Wassielawyer: Twitter Thread on community buyout Previous Unchained episodes: Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now? Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater  Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: First declaration document FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. FTX Wasn’t Authorized to File for US Bankruptcy: Bahamas Liquidators Vox interview with SBF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about the collapse of FTX.  Show topics: Haseeb's explanation of the blowup of FTX whether FTX was a Ponzi scheme Sam Bankman-Fried's strategy to become a billionaire the weird sale of Serum, a project backed by SBF the lack of proper accounting practices in FTX and Alameda whether FTX did not have a proper and large enough security team  the likelihood that FTX’s volume numbers are fake  why Haseeb thinks this is one of the biggest catastrophes in venture history the role of media in building SBF's character and the revindication of journalism whether venture capital firms run propaganda for their portfolio companies whether VC culture enabled this collapse to happen the story of how Sam convinced Tom Brady to invest in FTX the debate about effective altruism and whether SBF's EA caused his mistakes whether FTX's failure will set the crypto industry back Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guests Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained: The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? The Chopping Block: SBF on a Crazy Week of Bitfinex, Wormhole and ENS Drama Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection NYT’s “How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed” Sam Bankman-Fried built a "backdoor" to his FTX exchange to change financial records and move funds without alerting others. $600 million hack Unchained coverage: Could FTX’s Bankruptcy Trigger a Domino Effect? FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, and Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of 507 Capital, talk about the bankruptcy of FTX.  Show highlights: what the bankruptcy process of FTX is expected to look like why FTX got to the the point of filing for bankruptcy protection why Wassie thinks Alameda is dead why FTX filed for bankruptcy in the US given that it's a Bahamian company how FTX's balance sheet is composed and whether it includes Alameda whether Justin Sun will be dragged into the bankruptcy how FTX's terms of service differ from Celsius’s and Voyager’s how the $600 million hack affects the bankruptcy proceeding whether it's worth it to spend millions of dollars in law firms to go after the hacked money what's the impact of the 192 million FTT tokens that were printed Saturday night what will happen with the fork of Serum and the forked tokens the consequences for all the projects that FTX invested in why Wassie thinks that tokenizing the liabilities could be a good potential solution how the FTX's bankruptcy affects Voyager's proceedings and customers whether FTX’s bankruptcy has put BlockFi in trouble Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Wassielawyer: Twitter Thread on community buyout Previous Unchained episodes: Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now? Thomas: Twitter 507 Capital Previous Unchained episodes: Will Celsius Survive the Bankruptcy Process? Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sam Bankman-Fried built a "backdoor" to his FTX exchange to change financial records and move funds without alerting others. $600 million hack Unchained coverage: The Bahamas Loophole: FTX Users Buy KYC Accounts to Withdraw Crypto Could FTX’s Bankruptcy Trigger a Domino Effect? FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero Contagion: Serum Fork in the Works Amid Fears That FTX-Owned Upgrade Keys Are Compromised BlockFi Halts Withdrawals Amid FTX Crisis Voyager had to reopen the bidding process for its assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, and Jordan Fish, aka Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, talk about the collapse of FTX.  Show highlights: the links between FTX and Alameda what kickstarted the blowup of FTX why Erik and Cobie think that Bankman-Fried's behavior was “sociopathic” why the $10 billion hole is so shocking to Cobie considering the advantages that FTX had as a company whether this would have ever happened if the prices hadn’t plummeted in the bear market the tension between advocates of privacy and those who want to limit criminal activity why Erik believes that SBF’s donations to both political parties are bribery whether regulators can prevent an exchange from collapsing whether Changpeng Zhao did a better job at investigating FTX than anyone at the SEC the likelihood that this will result in criminal charges how blockchain technology is the solution to the problem of centralized exchanges doing things in the dark Tether’s decision to freeze USDT owned by FTX Erik’s response to Bitcoin maximalists who say FTX was caused by altcoins whether it is a mistake for exchanges to issue their own tokens how big the contagion could be in the industry why nobody should leave a significant amount of their net worth in a centralized exchange Erik’s message to regulators whether SBF was aligned with the values and the ethos of crypto Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Erik: Twitter ShapeShift Previous Unchained episodes: Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State Cobie: Twitter Substack UpOnly Previous Unchained episodes: Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained: Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? FTX Collapse: FTX Tapped Into Customer Accounts to Fund Risky Bets, Setting Up Its Downfall SBF’s video talking to regulators Unchained coverage: FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero Binance’s dropped deal with FTX CZ’s announcement SBF’s announcement Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves Unchained coverage: Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2 Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX  Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Crypto regulation Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt were joined by Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi, and Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about Binance’s buyout of FTX.  Show topics: Haseeb's tl;dr of Binance's possible acquisition of FTX whether Alameda is the new Three Arrows Capital the implications of FTX's collapse for regulators and lawmakers what will happen to all the companies that lent money to Alameda Sam Bankman-Fried's emergency effort to raise billions of dollars whether there could be criminal charges against FTX why FTX was not as profitable as other derivative exchanges what the probabilities are of Binance actually buying FTX whether the enterprise value of FTX is negative Tom's concerns about the concentration in the industry how FTX's implosion will impact crypto venture capital firms whether Solana can survive without SBF's support how the lack of transparency kicked off this situation and how blockchains help solve this issue Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Guests Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi Nic’s proof of reserves Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained:Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Acquisition of FTX CZ’s announcement SBF’s announcement Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves Unchained coverage: Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2 Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX  Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Crypto regulation Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, talk about Bitcoin Maximalism, how Bitcoin is developing, and what’s the future of Bitcoin’s security model.    Show highlights: What the definition of Bitcoin maximalism is whether BTC maximalism is toxic whether Vitalik Buterin is still a bitcoiner and how Bitcoiners became the 'token police', according to Udi why Lyn thinks Bitcoin has been attacked by the media since the beginning the attacks by Bitcoin maximalists on Nic Carter and Andreas Antonopoulos how adoption kicked in during previous cycles and why it benefitted BTC what the different types of Bitcoiners are what developments are being made around Bitcoin the importance of Bitcoin being permissionless what the use cases for Bitcoin are and whether it’s still a highly speculative asset whether people care about using decentralized payment tools how Lyn defines ‘ultra sound money’ and why she thinks that Bitcoin is better at that than ETH whether Bitcoin’s security model needs to be fixed  why being able to run a node is essential for censorship resistance Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima   Udi: Twitter Substack Previous Unchained episodes: Why Bitcoin Maximalism Is ‘Like a Shitcoin Community’   Lyn: Twitter Website Previous Unchained episodes: How Will Inflation Impact Crypto? Is Ethereum a Good Investment?  Why Bitcoin Now: Meltem Demirors and Lyn Alden on the Perfect Conditions for Bitcoin Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained: Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH  With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold?  Bitcoin’s culture and security Bitcoin Maximalism Is Dead, Long Live Bitcoin Maximalism by Pete Rizo Setting the record straight by Nic Carter The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd Justin Bons’ thread on BTC security model A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin by John Blocke Ultra sound money Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry.  Show topics: Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter – and its effect on DOGE the irony that people working in centralized companies want to decentralize Twitter whether Twitter is going to become like Facebook why Twitter has been the most pro-crypto among big tech companies why Tarun thinks Binance Pay is an impressive product whether it is possible to run a decentralized social media for billions of users the debate between Sam Bankman-Fried and Erik Voorhees about crypto regulation whether crypto exchange CEOs are true believers in the philosophy of crypto why Haseeb believes Sam Bankman-Fried is a very honest person how Reddit used a simple strategy to gain massive adoption whether it is necessary to rebrand NFTs Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links Twitter acquisition What Are the Potential Impacts of Musk’s Twitter Purchase? Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, will receive between $50 million and $100 million from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter. Vitalik Buterin said Musk’s idea of charging $8 a month for a blue check on Twitter could “damage the blue check's anti-scam role.” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said he would join Twitter’s board if Elon Musk asked him to.  Crypto regulation Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees  Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Trojan Horse of NFTs? Reddit Onboards 3M Wallets as Trading Volume Soars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Hansen, cofounder and CEO of Luxor Technologies, talks about the Bitcoin mining industry, why some miners are struggling while others are succeeding, and the next steps for the industry.    Show highlights: the current state of the Bitcoin mining industry why miners have the lowest margin environment ever why there are so many mining rigs sitting latent how to calculate the profitability of mining cryptocurrency why miners are not moving to other countries for lower energy prices what the impact of a Core Scientific bankruptcy would be whether finance pools to aid struggling miners are helpful why some miners are succeeding in this environment whether Bitcoin miners can adopt renewable resources and help with the transition to green energy  how the mining industry is going to change in the following years Take the Unchained Podcast survey for 2022! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!    Thank you to our sponsors!Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver   Nick Twitter Luxor Technologies   Episode links   Troubled miners: Bondholders of Troubled Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Said to Be Working With Lawyers A Huge Glut of Bitcoin Mining Rigs Is Sitting Unused in Boxes Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Says Some Machines Aren't Covering Financing Costs Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Fears Negative Cash Flow as $27M Raise Fails Bitcoin mining hosting company Compute North filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection   Miners currently weathering the storm: Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark Spends Millions on Equipment as Others Struggle Amid Market Conditions Bitcoin Miner Stronghold Digital Completes Debt Restructuring Digihost Bucks Bearish Trend Among Bitcoin Miners, Remains Cash-Flow Positive Crypto Miner Marathon Digital Mines Record 615 Bitcoin in October  Green energy:Solar-Powered Bitcoin Miner Aspen Creek Raises $8M Despite Bear Market   Finance Pools: DeFi Platform Maple Finance Aims to Help Struggling Bitcoin Miners With $300M Lending Pool Binance Pool To Support BTC Mining Industry With a $500M Miner Lending Project   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sterling Crispin, artist and software developer and Holly Herndon, host of the Interdependence podcast, talk about the problems that creators face, some potential solutions, and the debate over creator royalties.  Show highlights: how Holly and Sterling got into crypto how Holly used the Holly Plus Project to pay royalties how NFTs change the economic experience of being a creator how creators make money and why it is so difficult for most of them whether NFT royalties are necessary for artists why creators are the ones that should decide to charge royalties or not how the enforcement of royalties also occurs in the traditional art world whether NFT royalties only benefit big players vs. smaller creators what shifts could make paying royalties a norm, the way paying for music streaming became a norm over piracy other solutions to helping creators earn from their work besides NFT royalties whether NFT creators should use blocklists whether people objecting to blocklists can be hypocritical about decentralization  whether creators can build their own marketplaces how a profit-sharing model among creators could work Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Sterling: Twitter Website Blog post: NFTs and Crypto Art: The Sky Is not Falling Holly: Twitter Podcast Holly's AI Video Episode Links Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? NFT Royalties Magic Eden Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate MetaShield Solana Could Get Enforceable NFT Royalties Via New Metaplex Standard Why NFT royalties are almost impossible to enforce on-chain Galaxy Digital report showing that Nike and Yuga Labs earned the most in NFT royalties. Royalties in NFTs: Yes, no, and why? Royalties Chaos Shows Ethereum NFT Market 'More Serious' Than Solana: Fidenza Artist Tyler Hobbs Artists’ Royalties by BlackBox.art On Royalties by foobar Kyle Samani thread on verticalization Potential solutions Collector Royalties Collector Royalties Eligibility Expansion — Aug ‘21 How do they work Profit Sharing Cardinal Labs Metaplex Standard Exchange Royalties Guarantee NFTs for n00bs: A brief history of tokens and tulips, NFT aesthetics, energy dramas, fan  brigades, social tokens and the metaverse with Daniel Keller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Avraham Eisenberg, blogger at DeepFi Value – more commonly known as the Mango Markets attacker – shared his insights about the exploitation of code, his personal story, and why there’s hatred directed towards profitable traders.    Show highlights: Laura’s description of the Mango Markets exploit the way in which code gets used in a different way from the original intention why Avi decided to return part of the funds he got from exploiting Mango Markets Avi’s clarification of a misconception regarding the bad debt of Mango Markets the difference between arbitrage trades and exploits why people making profitable strategies are hated, according to Avi how Avi got into crypto and the story of his failed online business  whether it is possible to run non-zero-sum games what he thinks of Compound’s decision to pause activity on illiquid assets     Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs   Avi Twitter DeepFi Value    Mango Markets exploit Explanation of the exploit “Highly profitable trading strategy” Twitter thread Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit Previous discussion of Mango Markets on Unchained: The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever'   Avi’s online business storyCompound Votes to Pause Activity for Illiquid Crypto Assets   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Wall, crypto blogger and investor, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, discuss everything about Bitcoin Maximalism, whether BTC can survive, and whether Ethereum constitutes a threat for Bitcoin.    Show highlights: how Eric and Udi got involved with Bitcoin what Bitcoin was like in the first days how Bitcoin maxis appear to have a script to engage in discussions the philosophy behind Bitcoin maximalism why Eric believes Bitcoin maximalism is like a “weird cult” how Eric thinks that the BTC community has an unspoken rule forbidding criticisms whether Bitcoin has lost intellectual power why people have recently been turning away from Bitcoin maximalism why the poor Bitcoin culture doesn't mean it's the end for Bitcoin, according to Eric the perception of the Lightning network and how people are not interested in faster blockchains whether Bitcoin should increase the use cases of the blockchain, like DeFi, NFTs, and stablecoins El Salvador's adoption of BTC and whether it had an impact what happens to internet subcultures and how the behavior of Bitcoiners could be predicted whether Ethereum is a threat to Bitcoin Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis web3 with a16z     Udi: Twitter Eric: Twitter Medium   Episode Links   Previous Coverage of Unchained: Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH  With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold?   Bitcoin Culture and Security The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd Justin Bond’s thread on BTC security model A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin   Ultra sound money   El Salvador: Previous Coverage of Unchained: Bitcoin in El Salvador: Why Would Cypherpunks Support Government-Mandated Bitcoin Adoption? El Salvador’s Bitcoin Paradise Is a Mirage by Nelson Rauda     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry.  Show topics: Everyone’s impression of Laura’s interview with Do Kwon The importance to differentiate failure and fraud The Mango Markets hack and whether code is law What happened with the BNB hack and the concerns it raised about decentralization Magic Eden’s decision to enable optional royalties and the debate about NFT royalties How creators are going to find a way around the royalties, according to Robert Whether NFTs should be treated as securities Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links Laura’s interview with Do Kwon:Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’ Hacks Mango Markets Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit BNB BNB Smart Chain Plans Hard Fork In Response to $100M Exploit Binance Chain Was Halted Amid Hack Rumors NFT Royalties Magic Eden Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate TCB Debate Tom’s tweet: “turns out people don’t want to pay royalties” Robert’s request for a startup Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fat Man Terra, the anonymous Twitter account dedicated to bringing Do Kwon to justice, reacts to my recent interview with Do Kwon and says what he thinks it revealed about his personality.  Show highlights: why Fat Man Terra created the Twitter account whether Terra was used to enrich insiders how Fat Man believes Do Kwon evaded questions in the interview with Laura whether Do lied about Chai to misrepresent the success of UST and LUNA why Fat Man believes some people will never admit wrongdoing what he thinks of Do’s response to the stories of people losing everything and whether he is actually sorry what he calls Do’s lack of transparency about his history what he believes is the need to make an example out of the collapse of Terra and Do’s failure Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Fat Man Terra Twitter  Laura’s Interview with Do Kwon Other Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra: How Will the Legal Case Against Do Kwon Play Out in South Korea? Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed Fat Man Terra’s thread with several devastating stories related to the collapse of Terra SDT pre-mine CoinDesk Korea article Chai  WSJ article Do’s tweets about Chai: 2.5 million users Tweet in May 2021 Tweet in May 2021 #2 Tweet in January 2021 Abracadabra Degenbox $2.7 billion cash out TFL Exit Liquidity dashboard on Dune Basis Cash CoinDesk article Luna Foundation Guard Ergo-BTC on-chain evidence of more than 313 BTC Dumps BTC LFG postpones compensation Allegations against Do Kwon SBS news reporting Do moved funds to the Virgin Islands Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash Class action against Do Kwon Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Host Haseeb Qureshi partnered with Zhuoxun Yin, cofounder of Magic Eden, to debate Unchained host Laura Shin and Li Jin, cofounder at Variant Fund, on the topic of NFT Royalties.  Show highlights: What NFT royalties are Why Laura believes zero NFT royalties is a bad business decision prioritizing short-term needs over long-term ones and that it will turn creators off from the industry How charging royalties is not sustainable, according to Haseeb Why royalties are the best mechanism to align incentives between creators and holders, according to Li The technical limitations of NFT royalties on a general-purpose blockchain like Ethereum or Solana How to align incentives between NFT creators and holders Why the prices of NFTs would go up if royalties are not enforced Whether the NFT market will change in the future Whether it is possible to create a standard that enforces royalties in a smart contract The creators’ reaction to Magic Eden moving to optional royalties The possibility of a bifurcation of the NFT market Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly  Guests Laura Shin, author, and host of Unchained Zhuoxun Yin, cofounder of Magic Eden Li Jin, cofounder of Variant Episode Links Magic Eden Optional Royalties - Unchained Coverage  Post-debate poll Tool Metashield  The standards innovation paradox by Li Jin X2y2 flexible royalties Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties The Chopping Block - Ep. 405 The Chopping Block - Ep. 386 Article: Why NFT Creators and Collectors Can’t Stop Talking About Artist Royalties Article: NFT Royalties: Why artists love them, and traders don’t Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do Kwon, cofounder of Terraform Labs, discusses the charges against him, gives a message to Terra victims, answers allegations about potential fraud and non-transparent business practices, and much more. Show highlights: whether Do finds the charges based on the Capital Markets Act legitimate  why he doesn’t want to discuss his location whether the South Korean government is lying about the accusations against him what happened with the BTC held by the Luna Foundation Guard whether Do regrets being so arrogant in his tweets what he would say to the people who lost huge amounts of money in Terra or family members of people who committed suicide due to its collapse the decision to set Anchor’s yield near 20%  why Terra had a large SDT pre-mine that was not proactively disclosed whether Do’s actions show he didn’t think that the algorithmic mechanism was sufficient to keep UST pegged to the dollar whether Terraform Labs cashed out $2.7 billion using Degenbox why there were no disclosures about Chai terminating its agreement with Terra why the Terra blockchain went through a hard fork without a public discussion the failure of the basis cash stablecoin, also worked on by Do Kwon whether an algorithmic stablecoin can work the week of the UST depeg and what happened to the funds held by LFG where the 3 million Luna unlocked per month by Project Dawn went when the LFG will return funds to UST holders what Do would do differently if he had the chance to go back    * Quick correction*  At 7min 18sec, I misspoke, the Korean government posted a pdf for Do Kwon’s passport revocation, not his arrest warrant.    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis web3 with a16z   Episode Links Do Kwon: Twitter   Previous Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra: How Will the Legal Case Against Do Kwon Play Out in South Korea? Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed   Devastating Stories One man commits suicide Fat Man Terra’s thread with several stories   SDT pre-mine CoinDesk Korea article Anchor yield JTBC article reporting core devs wanted a lower yield   Chai  WSJ article Do’s tweets about Chai: 2.5 million users Tweet in May 2021 Tweet in May 2021 #2 Tweet in January 2021   Abracadabra Degenbox $2.7 billion cash out TFL Exit Liquidity dashboard on Dune   Project Dawn Launch The Defiant article   Basis Cash CoinDesk article   Luna Foundation Guard Ergo-BTC on-chain evidence of more than 313 BTC Dumps BTC LFG postpones compensation   Allegations against Do Kwon SBS news reporting Do moved funds to the Virgin Islands. Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash Class action against Do Kwon Was LUNA a Security? Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport   SEC Actions Against Terra SEC Investigating UST Stablecoin Blowup in Fresh Threat to Terra Terraform Labs Loses US Appeal over SEC Subpoena Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash.  Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash.  Show highlights: whether there’s an over-reliance on the Howey Test and how a token being non-fungible doesn’t mean it’s not a security what constitutes an investment contract and how it works in the Metaverse the consequences for NFT holders and issuers if the NFTs are considered securities why Coin Center is suing the US Treasury over the Tornado Cash sanctions Who the plaintiffs are whether this lawsuit differs from the one Coinbase is supporting how to solve the issue of bad actors like North Korea using tools such as Tornado Cash to launder money the remedy Coin Center is looking for in the lawsuit against the Treasury  how long the lawsuit could take to be resolved Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Peter Twitter  SEC probe into Yuga Labs Unchained article CrypTones thread on land sales Coin Center lawsuit over Tornado Cash sanctions Coin Center lawsuit and statement Unchained article  Coinbase Backs Tornado Cash Lawsuit Against U.S. Treasury North Korean hacks Treasury Press release on the sanctions Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No  Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zaki Manian, cofounder of Sommelier Protocol and cofounder of Iqlusion and Jack Zampolin, founder of Strangelove Ventures, discuss everything about Cosmos, the new white paper, and how to improve MEV capture for ATOM holders. Show highlights: how Jack and Zaki got involved with crypto and Cosmos what the Sommelier protocol is, the role of Iqlusion, and what Strange Love does the basics of Cosmos and application-specific blockchains (ASB) why would a project choose to be an ASB rather than an application on a blockchain whether Cosmos can achieve network effects the reasons behind launching a new white paper for Cosmos why the team decided to pursue interchain security whether there would be an increase in fees with so many chains relying on the Cosmos Hub for security how much economic value the Cosmos Hub will end up securing if the proposal gets passed how the Cosmos Treasury could be used to fund development the role of the Interchain Scheduler to capture MEV whether centralized exchanges are going to start trading against the customers the new issuance model proposed for ATOM the role of an active governance community to make Cosmos more decentralized what problems Liquid staking solves how USDC will launch on a consumer chain Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis web3 with a16z Jack: Twitter Zaki: Twitter Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained on Cosmos: How Osmosis Is Trying to Improve the Crypto User Experience New white paper Document Proposal Interchain security Paper The Block article The DeFi investor thread ATOM 2.0 Thread by Route 2 DeFi Youseff Amrain’s thread Charlie Morris’ thread Other articles Vaneck’s article: Why we are bullish on Atom Alex Valaitis article: A deep dive into Cosmos Liquid Staking Native USDC on Cosmos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry.    Show topics: Whether crypto optimism is different in Asia than in the United States How Sam Bankman-Fried has been doing some work with US regulators How the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO changed people’s perspectives about the regulator Whether the lawsuit could make all DeFi illegal and the role of DAOs to coordinate governance The SEC settlement with Kim Kardashian for $1.26 million, Gensler’s video explaining the case and whether it was a publicity stunt Why Tarun would fire almost everyone at the CFTC and the SEC to hire more technical people How the NFT QQL collection censored a marketplace in its code What the whole purpose of NFTs is, according to Haseeb The debate around NFT royalties and their enforcement How a huge portion of the blocks in Ethereum are generated by Flashbots and whether it represents a centralizing force  Whether MEV should be stopped or accelerated    Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital   Guest Laura Shin, author, and host of Unchained   Episode Links   The lawsuit against Ooki DAO Previous Coverage of Unchained on Ooki DAO: Why the Ooki DAO Case Could Hurt Participation in DAOs Kristin Smith on Why Crypto Legislation Could Be Passed by Year’s End CFTC Filing $250,000 fine Nik’s article CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger’s dissenting statement CFTC serving the members of the Ooki DAO via their forum Tim Copeland’s article on what’s next for DAOs A federal court ruled that the CFTC legally served Ooki DAO through a website help bot. The LeXpunK Army filed a motion for amicus status in the SEC case against bZx/Ooki DAO. Crypto group DeFi Education Fund argued that the CFTC should properly serve Ooki DAO’s actual members, not just the DAO at large.   NFT Royalties Tyler Hobbs’ QQL $17 million collection QQL blacklist explanation NFT platform hits back Previous episode of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties Article: Why NFT Creators and Collectors Can’t Stop Talking About Artist Royalties Article: NFT Royalties: Why artists love them, and traders don’t  SEC charges against Kim Kardashian The SEC fined reality TV star Kim Kardashian $1.26 million for promoting a crypto security without proper disclosure. Fortune article on the Kim Kardashian settlement as publicity stunt eMax price spiked Gary Gensler’s video  Flashbots and MEV Post-merge relay drama What is MEV Proposer-Builder separation:  MEV Boost Flashbots auctions Previous Coverage of Unchained on MEV: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Smith, Executive Director of the Blockchain Association, comes to talk about Tornado Cash, the lawsuit against Ooki DAO, the SEC charges against Kim Kardashian, and crypto legislation.    Show highlights: whether regulators did not understand the implications of sanctioning smart contracts the necessity of having a conversation around financial privacy whether the government wants sanctions compliance at the base layer the reasons behind the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO  why the SEC settled charges with Kim Kardashian and whether it was a publicity stunt the chances of the different crypto bills becoming law why Kristin thinks stablecoin legislation won’t come this year whether the CFTC being the main regulator of crypto settles the question of crypto being securities or commodities Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch Crypto.com   Kristin Twitter      The lawsuit against Ooki DAO Previous coverage of Unchained on Ooki DAO: Why the Ooki DAO Case Could Hurt Participation in DAOs CFTC Filing $250,000 fine CoinDesk’s Nik De’s analysis CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger’s dissenting statement Jake Chervinsky’s opinion Ooki DAO’s options CFTC serving the members of the Ooki DAO via their forum Tim Copeland’s article on what’s next for DAOs A federal court ruled that the CFTC legally served Ooki DAO through a website help bot. The LeXpunK Army filed a motion for amicus status in the SEC case against bZx/Ooki DAO. Crypto group DeFi Education Fund argued that the CFTC should properly serve Ooki DAO’s actual members, not just the DAO at large.  Tornado Cash Treasury Press release  Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No  Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury   Legislation Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 Europe’s MiCa bill Previous coverage of Unchained on legislation: Why Senator Pat Toomey Thinks SEC Chair Gary Gensler Is Wrong About Crypto Congressman Ro Khanna: How to Get More Democrats into Web3 Why the Crypto Industry Believes SEC Regulation by Enforcement Hurts US Consumers   SEC charges against Kim Kardashian The SEC fined reality TV star Kim Kardashian $1.26 million for promoting a crypto security without proper disclosure. Fortune article: The SEC’s Kardashian fine was a dumb publicity stunt   Stablecoins Stablecoin Draft Bill Bloomberg article: Senator Pat Toomey Still Sees Chance of Stablecoin Legislation This Year     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, discusses his views on crypto regulation, macroeconomics, and the role of FTX in a decentralized industry.    Show highlights: whether the market has already bottomed and the influence of macroeconomics why Sam thinks regulation could have a significant impact on the crypto industry the impact of the Terra collapse, Sam’s thoughts on stablecoins, and the importance of disclaimers what the industry can do to prevent high leverage from crypto companies like Three Arrows Capital how crypto lenders should manage risk in a sustainable way whether the crypto collapses affected the opinion of lawmakers and regulators the topics and proposals that Sam is discussing with regulators and his philosophy on financial regulation what Sam thinks about building a centralized entity in a decentralized space what it would take for FTX to move back to the United States why Sam’s political donations more commonly support Democrats, among which are some prominent critics of crypto whether he makes political donations based solely on candidates’ crypto stances the role of FTX in the TradFi market and whether crypto and TradFi will evolve toward or away from each other concerns about potential conflict of interests between FTX and Alameda Research the impact of the Merge, the value proposition of Ethereum and whether it affects the narrative of Bitcoin as digital gold how FTX is positioning itself in this macroeconomic environment  the type of acquisitions FTX is interested in   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com a16z Chainalysis   Episode Links Sam: Twitter    Bailouts and Acquisitions FTX raising $1 billion in funding FTX’s acquisitions had ‘mixed results’ Voyager Digital Auction Celsius Possible Acquisition   Stablecoins and Regulation Bankman-Fried Says He’s ‘Surprisingly Optimistic’ U.S. Will Devise Crypto Rules Within A Year Stablecoin Draft Bill Yellen cites UST stablecoin risk after it loses its dollar peg Previous Coverage of Unchained on Stablecoins and Regulation: Why Senator Pat Toomey Thinks SEC Chair Gary Gensler Is Wrong About Crypto Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed Donations and Politics Giant crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried promises to give away most of his $21 billion fortune Political donations Sam Bankman-Fried is Democrats' largest donor in May   Alameda Research Concerns Crypto Quant Shop With Ties to FTX Powers Bankman-Fried's Empire   Collapse of Crypto Companies Celsius bankruptcy filing Voyager Digital bankruptcy filing Three Arrows Capital bankruptcy filing   FTX proposal to clear derivatives New method of clearing Previous coverage on Unchained:  FTX Wants to Compete with CME – Here’s Why It’s a Big Deal   Interest in buying Twitter Text messages reveal Sam Bankman-Fried's guru told Elon Musk the crypto billionaire was 'potentially interested' in buying Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nikhilesh De, CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation, comes to talk about the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO and the potential consequences across the crypto industry.    Show highlights: the enforcement action against Ooki DAO and the CFTC’s arguments behind it whether bZx’s statements that the DAO would be beyond the reach of regulators made it a target for the CFTC whether the broader implication of these charges could mean that all DeFi is illegal whether the hacks of bZx made it a high-profile target the CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger's dissenting statement and her concerns who the targets of the CFTC enforcement action are the consequences of the lawsuit for token holders and how to determine which token holders are liable why the CFTC chose to post a notice in the Ooki DAO forum and whether that is sufficient notice  what the next steps for DAO members are and whether there will be wide community support Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch Crypto.com   Nik Twitter    Previous Coverage of Unchained on regulation: Why Senator Pat Toomey Thinks SEC Chair Gary Gensler Is Wrong About Crypto Congressman Ro Khanna: How to Get More Democrats into Web3 Why the Crypto Industry Believes SEC Regulation by Enforcement Hurts US Consumers     The lawsuit against Ooki DAO CFTC Filing $250,000 fine Nik’s article CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger’s dissenting statement Jake Chervinsky’s opinion Ooki DAO’s options CFTC serving the members of the Ooki DAO via their forum Tim Copeland’s article on what’s next for DAOs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zack Guzman, journalist and Coinage host, and Jongbaek Park, partner specializing in blockchain and crypto assets at Bae, Kim & Lee, discuss how the case in South Korea against Do Kwon and TerraForm Labs will likely go, whether Do Kwon is on the run, and what his sentence could be.    Show highlights: Jongbaek’s and Zack’s disclosures regarding Terra how big the Terra phenomenon was in South Korea and how Do Kwon was perceived in the country whether Do Kwon posed any conditions for his interview with Zack what Do Kwon is being charged with the colliding opinions on which tokens are considered securities whether the collapse of Terra had any negative impact on the South Korean President’s image whether Do Kwon feels like a charge for violating the capital markets law is unfair whether Do Kwon is “on the run,” despite his denials how the potential revocation of Kwon’s passport could make him go back to Korea whether Terra was a failure or a fraud, and how prosecutors are looking into it whether Terra was centralized  the chance of prosecutors going after other people from Terraform Labs and the probability of the entity’s assets being frozen how much jail time Kwon could be facing and whether he is prepared to go to prison     Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com a16z Chainalysis   Guests:   Jongbaek Zack: Twitter   Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra: Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed   SEC Actions Against Terra SEC Investigating UST Stablecoin Blowup in Fresh Threat to Terra Terraform Labs Loses US Appeal over SEC Subpoena Allegations against Do Kwon Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash Class action against Do Kwon Was LUNA a Security? Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra Do Kwon  Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport Stablecoin Regulation Stablecoin Draft Bill Yellen cites UST stablecoin risk after it loses its dollar peg   Haseeb Qureshi’s summary of the Terra collapse: Zack’s Interview with Kwon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry.    Show topics: Why the ETH price slumped after the Merge even though it was successful Whether the BTC security model is flawed and why Robert thinks Bitcoin will change Why Tarun thinks Bitcoin won’t change and why he’s bearish on Bitcoin development Whether the Lightning Network can succeed with so many competitors getting better more quickly ETHPoW’s performance after the Merge, whether it’s dead and why Robert wouldn’t rule out the PoW fork Why Haseeb thinks the criminalization of the collapse of Terra is a bad precedent The broader impacts of the Terra meltdown and whether Do Kwon not disclosing the fact that he had been involved with Basis Cash, which failed, is problematic The House’s draft bill on stablecoins and whether it is necessary to study algo stablecoins What happened with the Wintermute hack  Why Tarun thinks the Wintermute team is incompetent  Whether there is any positive news in crypto lately Who would be a better pick for deploying treasury funds between Three Arrows Capital and Wintermute What Haseeb, Tom, Robert and Tarun are excited about  Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links   Post Merge ETHPoW ETH issuance   Do Kwon and Terra Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport   Wintermute hack   House’s Draft Bill on Stablecoins Bloomberg’s Article Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pat Toomey, U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania, talks about legislation in the crypto industry, how to determine if something is a security, the future of CBDCs, and much more.  Show highlights: the structural differences between crypto tokens and securities why Sen. Toomey is demanding crypto legislation why “regulation by enforcement” does not provide clarity how to determine if a token is decentralized whether proof of stake consensus turns tokens into securities Sen. Toomey’s take on the new framework for stablecoin regulation whether it is appropriate to ban algorithmic stablecoins the importance to make disclosures so that regular users understand the risks of crypto how the collapse of Terra and other crypto companies like Voyager and Celsius affected lawmakers’ perception of crypto whether the US Treasury made a mistake with the Tornado Cash sanctions what the government should take into account in regards to a central bank digital currency (CBDC) why he believes the White House reports on crypto are not helpful and whether entrepreneurial talent is migrating to other countries the likelihood of any of the crypto bills passing soon Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch Crypto.com Messari Sen. Toomey Twitter  Previous Coverage of Unchained on regulation: Congressman Ro Khanna: How to Get More Democrats into Web3 The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? Why the Crypto Industry Believes SEC Regulation by Enforcement Hurts US Consumers SEC Views Gary Gensler’s comments on PoS tokens Sen. Toomey’s opinion White House Reports Stablecoins Stablecoin Draft Bill Bloomberg article: Senator Pat Toomey Still Sees Chance of Stablecoin Legislation This Year Sen. Toomey’s framework for payment stablecoins that he released last spring Tornado Cash Treasury Press release  Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash Sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No  Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Ian Balina charges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a heated debate, Eric Wall, crypto blogger and investor, and Justin Bons, founder and chief investment officer of Cyber Capital, discuss Bitcoin’s security model, whether there are fundamental flaws in its design, and which is the best consensus mechanism.    Show highlights: why Justin stopped believing in Bitcoin and why he calls it “technically one of the worst cryptocurrencies” how Eric’s views on Bitcoin changed over time  the problems they see with Bitcoin’s security why Eric attacks BTC maximalism, even when he is a Bitcoiner how the Bitcoin community will change in the next decades, and why the security problem is a challenge that could be solved whether BTC should increase its inflation and whether that would break the store of value proposition why Justin thinks that BTC fails as money and won’t play a relevant role in the future what happened around the time of the blocksize debate back in 2015-2017 whether there’s something wrong with Bitcoin’s culture and why Eric compares it to a doomsday cult why Ethereum has external dependencies that can impose systemic risks, according to Eric whether proof of stake or proof of work is a better consensus mechanism whether Ethereum is more censorship resistant than Bitcoin why BTC is a speculative asset and what Justin believes is needed for crypto to finally flourish Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs a16z Justin: Twitter Eric: Twitter Medium   Episode Links   Previous Coverage of Unchained: Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH  With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold?   Bitcoin’s Security, Blocksize and Culture Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd Justin’s thread that kicked off the debate A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin Theory On Bitcoin Governance; Three Stage Model by Justin Bons   Centralization: Ethereum Post-Merge Centralization Lido’s validators BTC Centralization Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Drake, researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, talks about the Merge, how this transition affects Bitcoin, where Ethereum’s road map is going, and more.    Show highlights: how Justin was feeling prior to and during the Merge whether the upgrade is complete or there are other things to watch out for why Ethereum has slashing and why it is a better form of removing any attackers the concern about centralization due to liquid staking derivatives providers, like Lido or Coinbase how the Merge affects MEV and the long-term vision of proposer-builder separation whether the Merge puts pressure on BTC to also transition to proof of stake what impact ETH’s more deflationary nature will have on BTC’s narrative as digital gold why Ethereum is the settlement layer for the internet of value whether there is a winner take all dynamic in the blockchain industry why Ethereum is more secure than Bitcoin, according to Justin what Justin thinks about the ETHPoW fork and its team and the risks of interacting with the ETHPoW fork the next steps in Ethereum’s roadmap     Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch Crypto.com Messari Justin Twitter    Previous Coverage of Unchained on the Merge: How Traders Are Thinking About the Merge -- and a Potential ETHPoW Chain Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum?     The Merge: Vitalik announcement of the Merge Ethereum carbon emission reductions A guide on the Merge by Dan Chen from Sequoia Capital   ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Ultra sound money ETH issuance and burn Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge  Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge The triple point asset   Post Merge MEV: PMCGoohan’s tweet Pintail on post-Merge MEV   ETH Proof of Work Poloniex announces a different token ETHPoW team Mainnet announcement   Ethereum’s roadmap: ETH Vision Haym on Ethereum’s roadmap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Emin Gün Sirer, the emperor of Avalanche, also joined the conversation Show topics: Gün’s take on the Ava Labs conspiracy story and whether there was any truth in the videos The impact of the Merge on ETH issuance and energy usage What’s going on with the ETHPoW fork, and how the team has been messing up The TL;DR of the technical side of Ethereum scaling, explained by Tarun How, in the beginning, proof of stake was designed to resemble proof of work  What Ethereum miners are going to do after the Merge Whether increasing hash rates spike prices of PoW coins  How the Basic Attention Token is like the Stanford prison experiment Whether the fights between Gün and other founders were positive or negative How an exchange delisted every privacy coin Whether Coinbase's support of the lawsuit against the US Treasury over Tornado Cash was a PR move How this moment in history resembles the 90s and the rise of the internet Whether there are blockchain-haters and what the crypto industry can do better How there can’t be a single chain to meet every need How FTX and Coinbase have different approaches to regulation  How would everyone celebrate a successful Merge and whether there’s a chance of it failing Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  Guest Emin Gün Sirer, Founder and CEO of Ava Labs   Episode Links   Ava Labs Accusations: Emin Gün Sirer’s statement CoinDesk article  Crypto Leaks article   Tornado Cash Treasury Press release  Coinbase supports lawsuit against US Treasury Huobi delisting privacy coins Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash Sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No  Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury   ETH Proof of Work and Miners: ChainID missing; the request from Coinbase   CoinDesk article The ETHPoW team said the fork will be deployed within 24 hours of the Merge ETHPoW team’s promise to abolish EIP-1559 ETHPoW first blocks   The Merge: Ethereum Foundation Merge announcement. Ethereum carbon emission reductions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhou, co-founder of Galois Capital, and Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of Wintermute, discuss how to trade the Ethereum Proof of Work fork, what the market is telling about the Merge, and whether the Merge affects Bitcoin.    Show highlights: what will happen at the time of the Merge according to Kevin and whether there’s uncertainty when the ETH Proof of Work chain will emerge and how that affects trading opportunities the mistakes of the ETHPoW team, like repealing EIP-1559 what percentage of ETH market cap ETHPoW will accrue what the first few blocks of ETHPoW will be like what the strategies are to earn the ETHPoW airdrop and what the on-chain activity looks like whether there is an “up-only” monoculture in Ethereum what stETH is, how it should be priced and what the futures market indicates where the value of a chain comes from and the likelihood of ETHPoW failing catastrophically how to protect from replay attacks the price action of ETH after the Merge how ETH becoming deflationary affects Bitcoin’s narrative as digital gold how the ESG-friendly image of Proof of Stake could affect the narratives of ETH and BTC   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs a16z Kevin: Twitter Evgeny: Twitter   Episode Links   Previous Coverage of Unchained on the Merge: Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH  With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? ETH Proof of Work: ChainID missing; and the request from Coinbase Kevin’s analogy CoinDesk article ETHPow Token  Summary of Kevin’s thoughts ETHPoW team’s promise to abolish EIP-1559 ETHPoW first blocks Tether supports PoS Circle (USDC) supports PoS   ETH Trade Ether’s backwardation Eth-Flexive by Arthur Hayes Whether Ethereum’s Merge is priced in Gauntlet’s view on the Merge BTC correlation with stocks   ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Onchain Wizard post Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge  Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Preston Van Loon, cofounder and Ethereum core developer at Prysmatic Labs, talks about the Merge, its impact on an environmental level, and why he is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Treasury Department over Tornado Cash.    Show highlights: what the Merge is on a technical level and what its impact will be  whether the proof of stake consensus mechanism makes the network more decentralized and secure what happens if the Merge fails and whether there’s a contingency plan why Preston founded Prysmatic Labs and how Prysm works what the next steps are for Ethereum and what the community is working on whether Preston thinks a proof of work Ethereum fork would succeed when and how Ethereum’s high fees and scaling issues are going to be resolved why Preston joined the lawsuit against the US Treasury over the Tornado Cash sanctions how Preston would celebrate a successful Ethereum Merge Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch Crypto.com Messari   Preston Twitter    Episode Links   Previous Coverage of Unchained on the Merge: Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum?   Lawsuit against the US Treasury: Coinbase is supporting a lawsuit against the Treasury Department by six users of Tornado Cash. Fortune article on the lawsuit Why Preston joined the lawsuit.   The Merge: Ethereum Foundation Merge announcement. Ethereum carbon emission reductions.   ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge  Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge The triple point asset   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arthur Hayes, cofounder of BitMex, discusses how he’s trading the Merge, the impact of macroeconomic policy in the markets, his career as a writer, and much more.    Show highlights: how crypto is reconfiguring how humans do finance over the internet why Arthur initially thought Ethereum was worthless  how NFTs allow users to trade human culture and will unlock trillions of dollars of value why Ethereum doesn’t even need to be deflationary whether other layer 1s can take some market cap from Ethereum why Arthur thinks that a successful Merge is understated and why this is a valid reason for hedging why he thinks an Ethereum proof of work chain won’t succeed and how Arthur will trade ETHPoW why LDO, Lido’s token, is a riskier bet but has more potential gains how he believes the Shanghai upgrade will impact ETH’s price whether the Merge affects BTC’s narrative as digital gold and whether the inflation hedge theory of Bitcoin still holds why Bitcoin is a measure of USD liquidity and why the Fed rates don’t matter as much as everyone thinks whether hedge funds and institutional investors would want to invest in crypto given the high correlation with traditional markets what Arthur believes the impact of a potential US recession would be on the crypto markets  why he believes the real economy is not relevant to the financial markets whether algorithmic stablecoins are doomed to fail how the credit cycle works and how it repeats again and again Arthur’s method for identifying good projects to invest in how Arthur became such a good writer whether BTC is money and the religious aspect of the Bitcoin culture Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs a16z   Arthur: Twitter Medium    Episode Links   Previous Coverage on Unchained: With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? Arthur’s posts discussed during the show: Eth-Flexive Ether, a double digit shitcoin Teach me Daddy (on USD liquidity and Macroeconomics)   Macroeconomics: Adam Cochran on the Fed’s QT Pantera Capital’s newsletter   ETH Trade: Whether Ethereum’s Merge is priced in Gauntlet’s view on the Merge BTC correlation with stocks   ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge  Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge The triple point asset Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Jill Gunter, the empress of Espresso, also joined the conversation.    Show topics: Whether product management is the new consulting What is going to happen with macroeconomics and whether monetary policy is data-driven Why Jill’s faith is getting renewed, especially after listening to Fed authorities The TL;DR on the Ava Labs conspiracy story Why the industry needs a decentralized RPC The role of Flashbots and Ethermine in censoring transactions  Potential over-compliance from the biggest crypto projects on how to deal with sanctioned addresses Whether social slashing allows Ethereum to stay uncensored The importance of educating regulators on crypto What Haseeb thinks lawyers would recommend to Coinbase about validating transactions from sanctioned addresses The significance of both transactional and application-layer privacy How stablecoin providers need to implement some basic levels of privacy Why corporations do not run Ethereum and whether users are pro-OFAC restrictions Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt   Guest Jill Gunter Twitter: https://twitter.com/jillrgunter Episode Links   Tornado Cash Treasury Press release  Tornado Cash developer arrested  Circle freezes USDC in sanctioned wallets Crypto exchange dYdX blocked accounts that received funds from Tornado Cash What the sanctions mean for privacy coins Celebrities get dusted Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash Sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No  Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Ava Labs Accusations: CoinDesk article  Crypto Leaks article   Social Slashing and Censorship on ETH Axios summary of the situation BitMex research on how the sanctions affect Ethereum Ethermine banning transactions Nic Carter’s article Eric Wall’s article on social slashing Hetzner banning Ethereum users Previous Coverage on Unchained Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miles Jennings, general counsel at a16z crypto, talks about its new “can’t be evil” NFT licenses and how they help to solve many problems within the NFT industry. Show highlights: what “can’t be evil” NFT licenses are and what problems they solve what can these licenses achieve for content creators which are the five rights that the licenses address whether the NFT licenses help resolve hate speech issues for creators why a16z described its licenses as “can’t be evil” how these licenses will be enforced how anyone buying NFTs should now be able to understand what they are buying why previous attempts to create standardized NFT license didn’t succeed why Miles thinks these new NFT licenses are going to succeed Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch: https://1inch.io/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Messari: https://mainnet.events/    Guest Miles Twitter: https://twitter.com/milesjennings   “Can’t be evil” NFT licenses: a16z article: https://a16zcrypto.com/introducing-nft-licenses/ Miles’ thread: https://twitter.com/milesjennings/status/1564991860824674305?s=20&t=pJEE9HfA9DnC_9PlsGelEw Wiki article: https://www.nftstandards.wtf/NFT/NFT+License   Previous coverage on Unchained:  What legal rights NFTs come with: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-exactly-do-you-get-when-you-buy-an-nft-three-lawyers-discuss/ Understanding intellectual property rights with NFTs: https://unchainedpodcast.com/excited-about-your-bored-ape-or-crypto-punk-make-sure-you-understand-your-ip-rights/ Punk 6529 on how rights helped Bored Apes succeed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/punk6529-on-the-significance-of-bored-ape-yacht-club-and-cryptopunks/    IP issues around prominent NFT collections:  Galaxy Digital report on NFT owners being misled about rights: https://decrypt.co/107827/bored-apes-moonbirds-misled-buyers-nft-ip-rights-galaxy-digita  CryptoPunks gets IP rights: https://decrypt.co/107184/as-cryptopunks-nft-owners-get-commercial-rights-yuga-hopes-to-secure-their-legacy-as-artwork  Bored Apes’ more permissive license helps it become more valuable than Crypto Punks: https://www.thedefiant.io/bored-apes-yacht-club-cryptopunks-copyright-fight  Moonbirds controversy ignites after move to CC0 license: https://www.thedefiant.io/moonbirds-cc0-license-nfts   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show highlights: the legal meaning of the OFAC sanctions on Tornado Cash and why it is causing complications how legislation is built for the fiat world, and how in DeFi and crypto there’s no clarity  how miners have changed their behavior prior to the Merge whether a proof of work chain or a proof of stake chain would be more censorship resistant whether laws apply to validators in a PoS chain the ways in which the government could provide more clarification  the different entities involved in Proof of Stake the liabilities for each entity in PoS and what secondary liability is how the task of the bidder can be described as a mathematical optimization problem whether Lido is exposed to US regulations how long would it take for a large staker like Coinbase to stop being a validator how a user-activated soft fork works and the conditions in which a fork could happen whether social slashing is enforceable considering it is not in the protocol the likelihood of Ethereum becoming a permissioned system the role of Flashbots’ relay code and what it means for Ethereum’s censorship resistance how DeFi’s exposure to US-based institutions can affect the likelihood of the chain complying with sanctions whether DAI is just wrapped USDC how MakerDAO is trying to be more independent of USDC why US-based companies will choose a conservative path, considering the lack of guidance the importance of educating the regulators  how cash and crypto are the only remaining private payment methods  Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Ava Labs: https://avax.network a16z: https://link.chtbl.com/HObAJQDL?sid=unchained   Andrew Twitter: https://twitter.com/propelforward   Martin Twitter: https://twitter.com/koeppelmann   Previous Coverage of the Tornado Cash Sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-trm-labs-blocking-addresses-from-defi-protocols-ari-redbord-says-no-ep-387/ Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/tornado-cash-sanctioned-did-the-government-overstep-its-bounds-ep-384/ The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-did-ofac-overstep-by-sanctioning-tornado-cash-ep-386/     Social Slashing and Censorship on ETH Axios summary of the situation: https://www.axios.com/2022/08/23/how-transactions-might-be-censored-after-ethereum-changes-next-month BitMex research on how the sanctions affect Ethereum: https://blog.bitmex.com/ofac-sanctions-ethereum-pos-some-technical-nuances/ Ethermine banning transactions: https://twitter.com/takenstheorem/status/1560690035955011585?s=20&t=59hWdhr8_O-hYA8uYnZJ8w Nic Carter’s article: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/08/25/if-ethereum-starts-slashing-it-burns/ Eric Wall’s article on social slashing: https://ercwl.medium.com/the-case-for-social-slashing-59277ff4d9c7 CoinDesk article: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/08/23/as-censorship-on-ethereum-begins-could-this-open-sourced-code-help-counter-it/?outputType=amp Hetzner banning Ethereum users: https://twitter.com/koeppelmann/status/1563146729314467840?s=20&t=ubFhCQqrQyHKfflgMHEmJw   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travis Kling, Chief Investment Officer at Ikigai Asset Management, talks about how ETH changes after the Merge, what factors are going to affect its price action, and whether it can decouple from traditional assets.    Show highlights: how the supply and demand dynamics of ETH will change after the Merge why he believes the Merge is the most significant catalyst in crypto history what the risks are in terms of price action  whether there is an estimate of how much ETH will be locked up and how this lockup resembles Mt. Gox’s BTC the impact that being a deflationary asset will have on the price of ETH and whether it will actually become deflationary after the Merge how activity levels have been decreasing in the Ethereum network  whether ether is underpriced or overpriced, and how to evaluate it how institutional money is sitting on the sidelines at the moment after all the de-leveraging events that happened this year how the Merge affects BTC’s narrative and value-proposition how institutions have never been more interested in ether  what the futures market is saying about the price action of ether whether ETHPoW has any value and how to trade it how macroeconomics has been impacting the crypto markets and whether ETH can decouple from the macro setups Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch: https://1inch.io/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Messari: https://mainnet.events/    Travis Twitter: https://twitter.com/Travis_Kling   ETH Post-Merge ETH Dynamics: Ultra sound money dashboards: https://ultrasound.money/ Dune dashboards on the Merge: https://twitter.com/DuneAnalytics/status/1562021273575751680?s=20&t=HELDvcJ6gI3Z5RmVsGHdiA Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the Merge: https://res.cloudinary.com/drw/image/upload/v1661351279/comm-cumberland/uploads/The_Ethereum_Merge_-_Derivative_Market_Opportunities_Changes_to_SupplyDemand_Dynamics_1_zwearq.pdf Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge: https://twitter.com/milessuter/status/1560070819518234624?s=20&t=qjolzcydMY_nTU__vZNciQ Robert Leshner on the Ethereum Merge: https://twitter.com/rleshner/status/1559727104903757826?s=20&t=cKkI7b_Hj7dDe0DKmgP13g The triple point asset: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/ether-a-new-model-for-money Previous coverage of Unchained: Is ETH on Its Way to Becoming Ultra-Sound Money? Yes, Says Justin Drake: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-eth-on-its-way-to-becoming-ultra-sound-money-yes-says-justin-drake/ Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-kevin-zhou-believes-ethereum-will-have-3-forks-after-the-merge-ep-381/ Why Ethereum’s Merge Was Delayed and Why It Won’t Reduce Gas Fees Much: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ethereums-merge-was-delayed-and-why-it-wont-reduce-gas-fees-much/   ETH Trade Whether Ethereum’s Merge is priced in: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/08/22/is-ethereums-merge-priced-in/ Arthur Hayes on the ETH trade: https://blog.bitmex.com/eth-flexive/ ETH flips Bitcoin open interest: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/08/01/ether-flips-bitcoin-in-options-market-for-the-first-time/ “Max bidding” by Arthur Hayes: https://cryptohayes.medium.com/max-bidding-7a1c56c1cd07 Gauntlet’s view on the Merge: https://medium.com/gauntlet-networks/gauntlets-view-on-the-merge-7c79e39e4b59     Macroeconomics Arthur Hayes on USD liquidity conditions and how it affects assets:https://cryptohayes.medium.com/teach-me-daddy-33e7a66dfe76 Adam Cochran on the Fed’s QT: https://twitter.com/adamscochran/status/1562077260819173378?s=20&t=Jh2DRYu-nr2mRg_4kJEFqA Pantera Capital’s newsletter: https://panteracapital.com/blockchain-letter/ethereum-tightening-more-than-fed/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephane Gosselin, cofounder and chief architect of Flashbots, and Uri Klarman, CEO of bloXrouteLabs, joined Unchained to discuss everything about MEV, an especially important topic now with the Merge coming.  Show highlights: what MEV is, how it works under Proof of Work some examples of MEV, like frontrunning and arbitrage how MEV is a rabbit hole full of monsters the role of Flashbots in the MEV industry and how Flashbots enabled a reduction of gas fees for users how MEV-geth functions and how it relates to auctions systems how bloXroute, Uri’s company, is working with MEV where Stephane and Uri disagree on MEV, despite agreeing on many fundamental things how MEV changes with the implementation of Proof of Stake what MEV-Boost is and the problems it solves what proposer-builder separation is and the motivation behind this idea whether DeFi would flourish more if there wasn’t frontrunning and why MEV-Boost doesn’t prevent it what externalities MEV-Boost or proposer-builder separation (PBS) would solve for users how MEV exists in other industries and in traditional finance why Flashbots’ own investors would rather trade on a fair-sequenced rollup than on Flashbots how the number of MEV extractors has been decreasing and whether this would end up centralizing MEV whether exploiting certain types of MEV is illegal how other chains are trying to solve frontrunning, like Osmosis with threshold encryption what are the levers that can be pulled to solve MEV, according to Uri how eradicating MEV can positively affect the price of ETH, and by how much whether validators can potentially share MEV profits with users how to determine if a network has a good MEV supply chain Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/ a16z: https://link.chtbl.com/HObAJQDL?sid=unchained   Show Links   Uri:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/uriklarman   Stephane:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegostep   Previous coverage of MEV on Unchained: The Debate Over Ethereum MEV: Should It Be Minimized or Boosted?: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/the-debate-over-ethereum-mev-should-it-be-minimized-or-boosted The Other Side(s) of Ethereum's MEV Argument: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/the-other-side-s-of-ethereum-s-mev-argument MEV What is MEV: https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/mev/#:~:text=Maximal%20extractable%20value%20(MEV)%20refers,of%20transactions%20in%20a%20block Proposer-Builder separation: https://www.alchemy.com/overviews/proposer-builder-separation Uri’s blog post: https://medium.com/@uri_61495/flipping-the-table-on-the-mev-game-dc31df8baaf7 MEV Profit sharing validators: https://www.recvc.com/mev-2-0-the-rise-of-mpsvs/ Panel conversation mentioned in the episode (39:53): https://youtu.be/UKfBFV1TuEM?t=2393 Sealed auction design: https://ethresear.ch/t/mev-sgx-a-sealed-bid-mev-auction-design/9677  Priority Gas Auction (PGA): https://www.mev.wiki/terms-and-concepts/priority-gas-auctions#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20priority%20gas,up%20fees%20for%20other%20users. Dune’s dashboard - amount of MEV extractors: https://dune.com/queries/1171509  The MEV Game of the Crypto Economy: Osmosis' Threshold Encryption vs. SGX of Flashbot?: https://mirror.xyz/infinet.eth/SFjR1H1-RMnKoIoPjqkxpauVPrLYGqLHQP1dY9FHvx4 Bank of International Settlements report on MEV: https://www.bis.org/publ/bisbull58.pdf   Flashbots Flash Boys 2.0 paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1904.05234.pdf Flashbots Dashboard: https://dashboard.flashbots.net/ Flashbots auctions: https://docs.flashbots.net/flashbots-auction/overview Flashbots relay open source: https://twitter.com/hasufl/status/1559908331145265156?s=20&t=gtHe5sVetxQXVKfZL2VMYg MEV Boost: https://www.alchemy.com/overviews/mev-boost MEV in ETH PoS: https://writings.flashbots.net/writings/mev-boost-call-for-testing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Redbord, Head of Legal and Government Affairs at TRM Labs, talks about the sanctions on Tornado Cash, and the role of blockchain analytics tools in crypto.    Show highlights: Ari’s background as a federal prosecutor and his work for the US Treasury why regulators sanctioned Tornado Cash, according to Ari why the Ronin hack was important for regulators to start taking DeFi hacks more seriously the fact that for the first time the Treasury Department sanctioned software whether the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) messed up whether regulators understood the impact on regular users the role of TRM and blockchain analytics tools in mitigating risk how decentralized applications use tools like the ones provided by TRM to comply with regulations and to block addresses why, if Ari were a regulator, he would focus on regulation guidance whether the sanctions on Tornado Cash are unconstitutional what the future of privacy in crypto looks like and whether the government is going after privacy technologies   Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch: https://1inch.io/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Ari Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARedbord   Tornado Cash Treasury Press release:  https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0916#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%93%20Today%2C%20the%20U.S.%20Department,since%20its%20creation%20in%202019 Tornado Cash Sanctioned: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/08/08/crypto-mixing-service-tornado-cash-blacklisted-by-us-treasury/ Developer arrested: https://www.fiod.nl/arrest-of-suspected-developer-of-tornado-cash/ TRM Labs blog post:  https://www.trmlabs.com/post/how-defi-platforms-are-using-data-from-trm-labs-to-respond-to-tornado-cash-sanctions Tornado Cash post on compliance: https://tornado-cash.medium.com/tornado-cash-compliance-9abbf254a370 Coin Center’s article authored by Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh: https://www.coincenter.org/u-s-treasury-sanction-of-privacy-tools-places-sweeping-restrictions-on-all-americans/ Second Coin Center article authored by Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh: https://www.coincenter.org/analysis-what-is-and-what-is-not-a-sanctionable-entity-in-the-tornado-cash-case/ Coin Center may challenge the US Treasury's decision to sanction Tornado Cash: https://decrypt.co/107475/coin-center-tornado-cash-ban-court Circle freezes USDC in sanctioned wallets: https://www.theblock.co/post/162172/circle-freezes-usdc-funds-in-tornado-cashs-us-treasury-sanctioned-wallets  Crypto exchange dYdX blocked accounts that received funds from Tornado Cash: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/11/crypto-exchange-dydx-blocked-accounts-that-received-even-small-amounts-from-tornado-cash/ The possibility of forking Tornado Cash: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/08/10/cloning-tornado-cash-would-be-easy-but-risky/ What the sanctions mean for privacy coins: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/08/09/what-the-tornado-cash-sanction-means-for-privacy-coins/ Tornado Cash laundered $1.5 billion, according to Elliptic: https://hub.elliptic.co/analysis/tornado-cash-mixer-sanctioned-after-laundering-over-1-5-billion/ Celebrities get Dusted: https://decrypt.co/es/107090/tornado-cash-dusts-public-wallets-jimmy-fallon-brian-armstrong-steve-aoki-logan-paul Previous Coverage of Unchained: Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/tornado-cash-sanctioned-did-the-government-overstep-its-bounds-ep-384/ The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-did-ofac-overstep-by-sanctioning-tornado-cash-ep-386/  ** For more episode links and details visit the Unchained website **   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Laura Shin, host of Unchained and author of The Cryptopians, also joined the conversation.    Show topics: What Tornado Cash is and why it got sanctioned by the OFAC The difference between Tornado Cash and blender.io  Whether privacy is dead as a category and whether regulators are going after it How these sanctions have a negative impact on the funding of privacy projects How people within the industry can have different points of view, even when they understand the technology Whether the ban of Tornado Cash only means that malicious groups will just go and use other protocols Why regulation by enforcement sucks The asymmetry between the government’s sanction and the effort needed to push it back. What changes after the Merge for ETH in terms of centralization Whether some MEV solutions make Ethereum more centralized Why MEV is intrinsic to blockchains and whether it is impossible to get rid of it Why Proposer-Builder Separation is helpful for the network Whether MEV is illegal and the plausibility of major exchanges not extracting MEV Why Facebook has an MEV extraction business model, according to Tarun How some NFT exchanges are not enforcing royalties What Sudoswap is and how it works How the royalties were there to bootstrap the supply side of NFTs Why Tarun thinks music NFTs will never happen The economic reasoning around royalties The differences between NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Magic Eden Whether NFTs have a real-world use How Dragonfly’s acquisition of Metastable brought Laura some old memories Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra    Laura Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurashin Episode Links   Tornado Cash Treasury Press release:  https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0916#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%93%20Today%2C%20the%20U.S.%20Department,since%20its%20creation%20in%202019 Developer arrested: https://www.fiod.nl/arrest-of-suspected-developer-of-tornado-cash/ Coin Center’s article authored by Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh: https://www.coincenter.org/u-s-treasury-sanction-of-privacy-tools-places-sweeping-restrictions-on-all-americans/ Second Coin Center’s article authored by Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh: https://www.coincenter.org/analysis-what-is-and-what-is-not-a-sanctionable-entity-in-the-tornado-cash-case/ Coin Center may challenge the US Treasury's decision to sanction Tornado Cash: https://decrypt.co/107475/coin-center-tornado-cash-ban-court Circle freezes USDC in sanctioned wallets: https://www.theblock.co/post/162172/circle-freezes-usdc-funds-in-tornado-cashs-us-treasury-sanctioned-wallets  Crypto exchange dYdX blocked accounts that received funds from Tornado Cash: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/11/crypto-exchange-dydx-blocked-accounts-that-received-even-small-amounts-from-tornado-cash/ The possibility of forking Tornado Cash: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/08/10/cloning-tornado-cash-would-be-easy-but-risky/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surojit Chatterjee, chief product officer at Coinbase, comes to talk about what products Coinbase is building, how it can thrive in such a competitive landscape, how to onboard billions of users into crypto, and much more.    Show highlights: how Surojit got into crypto and ended up at Coinbase what sets Coinbase apart from the competition how to bring billions of customers to crypto  Surojit’s mental model of a bridge between the fiat world and the crypto world how Coinbase is integrating its main app with Web3 whether crypto can become a utility rather than an investment asset how Coinbase is building a product in such a way that it attracts even “crypto-native” people what happened with Coinbase NFT Marketplace’s failure and whether the company will keep investing in NFTs whether Coinbase has lost crypto-embedded people among its employees how the partnership with BlackRock indicates how far crypto has come the amount of money that institutions could potentially pour into crypto how Coinbase will prevent itself from having the largest percentage of staked ETH how the company is monetizing the Coinbase wallet and what would happen to revenue if the trading volume were to move from the exchange to Coinbase wallet swaps why Coinbase is suffering a decline in trading volume whether Coinbase can compete with newer exchanges like FTX and Binance and why Surojit still thinks Coinbase will win why it is important to keep investing and building through this crypto winter Surojit’s take on the frontrunning of coins about to be listed on the platform why the Howey test (which determines whether something is a security) is outdated how Coinbase understands securities, and whether the firm thinks the tokens listed on the platform are securities how can Coinbase compete with decentralized exchanges like Uniswap why Surojit is worried about regulatory clarity and stablecoins how hacks and security give the crypto industry a bad reputation what Surojit’s dreams are for the industry Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/ Show Links   Surojit:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/surojit   Coinbase Q2 2022 Earnings: Shareholder letter: https://s27.q4cdn.com/397450999/files/doc_financials/2022/q2/v2/Q2-2022-Shareholder-Letter.pdf Summary: https://twitter.com/fintechintern/status/1557130836574539776?s=20&t=R-oDUTEaev-F8bPonC2q5Q Earnings call: https://s27.q4cdn.com/397450999/files/doc_financials/2022/q2/Coinbase-Q2%2722-Earnings-Call-Transcript.pdf   NFT Marketplace: Coinbase NFT launch: https://decrypt.co/99561/coinbase-nft-marketplace-150-users-first-day-public NFT Market data: https://dune.com/Marcov/0x-NFT-Market Gamestop NFT stats: https://dune.com/dataisking420/gamestopnft-stats Gamestop’s performance against Coinbase: https://decrypt.co/105069/gamestop-ethereum-nft-sales-dwarf-coinbase-nft   Partnerships BlackRock:  https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/03/24/blackrocks-fink-says-ukraine-war-could-accelerate-crypto-adoption-report/ https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-selected-by-blackrock-provide-aladdin-clients-access-to-crypto-trading-and-custody-via-b9e7144f313d https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/07/14/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-seeing-very-little-demand-for-crypto-lately/ Integration with META: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/04/meta-confirms-nft-rollout-across-100-countries-amid-coinbase-integration/   ** For more episode links and details visit the Unchained website ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, talks about Tornado Cash, why it was sanctioned, and what this means for privacy in crypto.    Show highlights: what Blender.io is and how it relates to Tornado Cash how hackers have used Tornado Cash to launder money whether the Office of Foreign Assets Control made a mistake, according to Jerry how Americans were affected by the sanctions why Jerry believes OFAC should have done an analysis to estimate how many people would be impacted by its decision whether the sanctions should have been aimed at North Koren wallets and not the protocol whether the sanctions are unconstitutional and whether Coin Center will litigate this how Jerry believes Circle freezing USDC complicated everything what the famous people who received 0.1 ETH from random accounts via Tornado Cash should do  what would happen if someone forked the Tornado Cash code and deployed a copycat smart contract to a new address whether the sanctions signal the beginning of a privacy war on crypto how regulators are applying the same traditional rules with crypto as they use with centralized entities   Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch: https://1inch.io/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Jerry Twitter: https://twitter.com/jerrybrito   Tornado Cash Tornado Cash Sanctioned: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/08/08/crypto-mixing-service-tornado-cash-blacklisted-by-us-treasury/ Coin Center’s article authored by Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh: https://www.coincenter.org/u-s-treasury-sanction-of-privacy-tools-places-sweeping-restrictions-on-all-americans/ Circle freezes USDC in sanctioned wallets: https://www.theblock.co/post/162172/circle-freezes-usdc-funds-in-tornado-cashs-us-treasury-sanctioned-wallets  Crypto exchange dYdX blocked accounts that received funds from Tornado Cash: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/11/crypto-exchange-dydx-blocked-accounts-that-received-even-small-amounts-from-tornado-cash/ The possibility of forking Tornado Cash: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/08/10/cloning-tornado-cash-would-be-easy-but-risky/ What the sanctions mean for privacy coins: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/08/09/what-the-tornado-cash-sanction-means-for-privacy-coins/ Tornado Cash laundered $1.5 billion, according to Elliptic: https://hub.elliptic.co/analysis/tornado-cash-mixer-sanctioned-after-laundering-over-1-5-billion/ Celebrities get Dusted: https://decrypt.co/es/107090/tornado-cash-dusts-public-wallets-jimmy-fallon-brian-armstrong-steve-aoki-logan-paul   Hacks linked to Tornado Cash Ronin: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/15/ronin-hack-north-korea-linked-to-615-million-crypto-heist-us-says.html Harmony: https://decrypt.co/104138/north-korean-attackers-behind-100m-harmony-hack-report Crypto.com: https://www.wired.com/story/crypto-hack-nso-group-security-news/ Nomad: https://decrypt.co/106459/crypto-bridge-nomad-exploited-190m-frenzied-free-for-all Previous Coverage of Unchained: Will the Nomad Mass Looting Change How Law Enforcement Treats DeFi Hacks?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-the-nomad-mass-looting-change-how-law-enforcement-treats-defi-hacks-ep-382/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Hasu, the gourmand of governance and Rune Christensen, chief mischief maker at MKR, discuss how to manage a DAO, their respective visions for MakerDAO, and much more.    Show topics:   What MakerDAO is, how DAI works and whether it is the “central bank” of DeFi How the visions for MakerDAO of Hasu and Rune differ Whether Maker should only hold highly liquid collateral assets Hasu’s mental model of DAI as eurodollars The role of real-world assets in backing DAI What the purpose of a DAO is and how it differs from a legal entity Whether people behave in their purest form within a DAO How DAI can create positive externalities and make a better world How crypto holders are not only in it for the money but also for the philosophy  What the “decentralized stablecoin trilemma” is Whether there’s a need for dollar-denominated collateral for DAI to work What “clean money” is according to Rune Why Rune thinks having a single council is not viable due to the political risks and whether the solution is to have multiple councils How to keep the principal-agent problem in check, according to Hasu Why Hasu believes council members wouldn’t pursue their own interests and go against the benefit of MKR token holders Whether a council would be corruptible and the dangers that it entails What kind of interests should be represented in the council Whether Maker can create more synthetic assets The iron law bureaucracy and how it relates to governance How to design the DAO to be steered in alignment with the token holders Whether ossification is a feature to be pursued, and where innovation happens How complexity is very expensive for an organization Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Hasu Twitter: https://twitter.com/hasufl   Rune Christensen Twitter: https://twitter.com/RuneKek Episode Links   MakerDAO Hasu’s governance proposal: https://vote.makerdao.com/address/0xafaff1a605c373b43727136c995d21a7fcd08989#delegate-credentials Rune’s proposal - the endgame: https://forum.makerdao.com/t/the-endgame-plan-parts-1-2/15456 Proposal to add a lending oversight core unit: https://forum.makerdao.com/t/mip39c2-sp33-adding-lending-oversight-core-unit-love-001/15098 Previous Coverage of Unchained:  Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 1: How to Keep a Crypto-Collateralized Stablecoin Afloat: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 2: How Dai Stayed at $1 While ETH Crashed From $1,400 to $85: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ The Rise of MakerDAO: A Personal Journey:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-rise-of-makerdao-a-personal-journey/ Real World Assets: Huntingdon Valley Bank (“HVB”) proposal: https://forum.makerdao.com/t/huntingdon-valley-bank-hvb-rwa-collateral-onboarding-risk-assessment/15828 $500 million allocation proposal: https://forum.makerdao.com/t/signal-request-asset-allocation-of-mip65-clydesdale/15922   The stablecoin trilemma: https://fluid.ch/stablecoin-trilemma/#:~:text=A%20deeper%20dive%20into%20the,decide%20on%20the%20stablecoin%20supply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Layne Haber, Co-founder of Connext Network, discusses the Nomad bridge hack, how it happened, and what can be done to prevent these exploits.    Show highlights: what Nomad is and how it works how the hack occurred and what the vulnerability was how much TVL the protocol had and how much of it was drained why the Nomad hack was unique how this exploit resembled the DAO hack on Ethereum the bounty program that Nomad offered and how hackers responded to it how Nomad is working with law enforcement, and the reasons why law enforcement has decided to get involved how Nomad has partnered with TRM Labs to help with tracking the hackers whether privacy developments in the crypto ecosystem will make it harder for law enforcement to track down hackers why cross-chain hacks happen so often what Layne thinks can be done to improve bridge security what mechanism can be implemented to prevent errors that enable these types of mass looting what Layne expects to see in the next few weeks around the Nomad exploit   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/ Oasis: https://oasisl.ink/3Bo612R EPISODE LINKS   Layne Twitter: https://twitter.com/LayneHaber Nomad Hack:  https://www.theblock.co/post/160731/nomad-cross-chain-crypto-bridge-suffers-possible-exploit Sam Sun explaining the hack: https://twitter.com/samczsun/status/1554252024723546112?s=20&t=SHIZQRqJ00mmuZVXFKXuZg Nomad’s bounty program: https://twitter.com/nomadxyz_/status/1555293965049630722?s=20&t=RxH5UuWbBXiRLqu5gHDNyg Pranay Mohan’s thread: https://twitter.com/pranaymohan/status/1556402131325915137?s=20&t=RxH5UuWbBXiRLqu5gHDNyg $36 million recovered: https://twitter.com/nomadxyz_/status/1556681397993058304?s=20&t=makkX3SX1ezAXQSd6fdZYA    Cross-chain security:  Chainalysis article: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/cross-chain-bridge-hacks-2022/ Adam Cochran on crypto bridges: https://twitter.com/adamscochran/status/1554473323073093634?s=20&t=8YFw6sPEGfjvh12q8w7p-Q Vitalik’s take on cross-chain applications: https://old.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/rwojtk/ama_we_are_the_efs_research_team_pt_7_07_january/hrngyk8/ Previous Unchained coverage: The Chopping Block: How to Improve DeFi and Cross-Chain Bridge Security: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bridge-hacks-have-caused-1-billion-in-losses-heres-why-bridge-security-is-tricky/ Bridge Hacks Have Caused ~$1 Billion in Losses. Here’s Why Bridge Security Is Tricky: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bridge-hacks-have-caused-1-billion-in-losses-heres-why-bridge-security-is-tricky/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhou, co-founder of Galois Capital, comes to talk about the possibility of a Proof of Work chain on Ethereum after the Merge, the LUNA death spiral, how he plans to play the Merge, and much more...    Show highlights: how Kevin got started in crypto  what Galois Capital is and what its investment thesis is why Kevin was more vocal than most about the possibility of the LUNA death spiral whether Kevin made money out of the Terra collapse and what was his strategy what the difficulty bomb in Ethereum is the potential scenarios that could arise after the Merge whether the public is not considering the risks of the Merge how the fact that everybody was telling the same narrative about ETH made Kevin suspicious how Chandler’s statement about forking Ethereum made it a lot more likely that it would happen the groups behind the encouragement of a proof-of-work Ethereum chain whether there is a value proposition for a Proof of Work chain how Kevin used The Cryptopians to remember how the DAO fork went what replay protection is and why it is important when forking a chain why anyone would want to keep the difficulty bomb in a potential proof of work chain Kevin’s predictions about the market cap of the potential Ethereum forks how a proof of work chain of Ethereum would function without the biggest stablecoins like USDT and USDC whether Tether is going to support Ethereum 2 why Kevin writes using metaphors related to history and gaming and how those analogies relate to Ethereum how Kevin wanted to “stick it” to the Ethereum Foundation by offering his services whether Vitalik trolled Kevin on Twitter whether Kevin will apply the same strategy he used with ETC after the DAO fork   Thank you to our sponsors!   1inch:  https://1inch.io/   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021       Kevin Twitter: https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital     ETH2 What is the Merge?: https://ethereum.org/en/upgrades/merge/   Proof of Work Chain Kevin’s analogy: https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1554053321165512705?s=20 Haseeb’s answer to Kevin’s arguments: https://twitter.com/hosseeb/status/1554163977806000128?s=20 Chandler Guo’s proposal: https://decrypt.co/106409/prominent-chinese-ethereum-miner-wants-to-resist-merge-create-fork Kevin’s consulting offer: https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1553090706708856832?s=20 BitMEX researchers on the possibility of an Ethereum PoW chain: https://blog.bitmex.com/ethpow-vs-eth2/ CoinDesk article: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/08/03/who-will-mine-ethereum-after-its-gone/ Poloniex’s announcement: https://twitter.com/poloniex/status/1555085757450272768?s=21&t=jkjNGieNXdY5SgT2e9xhoQ Justin Sun’s support of ETHW: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1555112296006922240?s=21&t=jkjNGieNXdY5SgT2e9xhoQ   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, and Mauricio di Bartolomeo, cofounder of Ledn, discuss how inflation could affect the digital asset industry. Show highlights: how Mauricio’s upbringing in Venezuela and firsthand experience with inflation led him to Bitcoin what a “long-term debt cycle” is and why Lyn thinks the 2020s could be similar to the 1930s and 1940s the difference between inflation and hyperinflation how inflation changes consumer investing and purchasing decisions what the impact of inflation is on Bitcoin how Russia’s war on Ukraine will continue to impact inflation how rising interest rates will affect Bitcoin and stablecoin adoption  what type of economic environment is worst for BTC growth whether Bitcoin is an inflation hedge why Lyn is long-term bullish on stablecoins and Bitcoin what effect a global recession would have on Bitcoin how global inflation has changed adoption rates for BTC in developing economies how Venezuelans use and perceive Bitcoin  why Lyn and Mauricio are excited about Lightning Network in developing countries what Lyn and Mauricio think about El Salvador’s adoption of BTC and its billion dollar BTC bond how Ledn, as a lending company, was able to navigate the Celsius/Voyager crash how Lyn analyzes the risks associated with firms like BlockFi what lessons Lyn and Mauricio have learned in 2022 about digital assets and the economy   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/  Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/grant-programs?utm_source=unchained&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=podcast-oasis-grants-program    Episode Links   Lyn Alden Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact  Website: https://www.lynalden.com/ Previous Unchained episodes: Is Ethereum a Good Investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/lyn-alden-and-raoul-pal-is-ethereum-a-good-investment/ Why Bitcoin Now: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-meltem-demirors-and-lyn-alden-on-the-perfect-conditions-for-bitcoin/    Mauricio di Bartolomeo Twitter: https://twitter.com/cryptonomista LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauricio-di-bartolomeo-780284101   Recommended Lyn Reading on Inflation https://www.lynalden.com/ecb-trapped/ https://www.lynalden.com/investing-during-stagflation/ https://www.lynalden.com/may-2022-newsletter/ https://www.lynalden.com/the-area-under-the-curve/ https://www.lynalden.com/blockfi/   Ledn Information https://ledn.io/  https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/07/01/blockfi-approached-with-ledn-led-funding-offer-amid-ftx-acquisition-talks-report/    El Salvador https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/opinion/bitcoin-el-salvador-bukele-crypto.html?searchResultPosition=1 https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-in-el-salvador-why-would-cypherpunks-support-government-mandated-bitcoin-adoption-ep-375/   Inflation https://twitter.com/nic__carter/status/1538909209022058498 https://www.reuters.com/business/imf-cuts-global-growth-forecasts-warns-high-inflation-threatens-recession-2022-07-26/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGCxEMgnMco&list=PL9flMWibV82fmwt5vd0YROikG2msYYphX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Balaji Srinivasan discusses his latest book, “The Network State, how different digital tools like crypto will help empower network states, and analyzes how crypto fits into the current political environment.    Show topics: why Balaji wrote a book and why he is so enthralled with a digitized future what a “network state” is, and what components of crypto are embedded into the idea why Balaji is interested in “re-centralization” why Balaji believes that networks states need to be recognized by real nations what makes a network state better than a physical nation or digital community why Balaji thinks a community of people who eat a keto diet could be the first network state why Balaji thinks the network states will be a good thing where Bitcoin maximalism fits into the left vs. right political divide, woke culture, and Christianity what the overlap between politics and crypto will be going forward what is the best way to learn, read, and debate “The Network State” where crypto tools and communities have gone wrong so far and how the industry can improve going forward what lessons Balaji learned from the tech bubble in the early 2000s what Balaji’s over-under is for when the first network state will arrive Balaji’s pitch for a 50:50 BTC/ETH portfolio (note: not investment advice)   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Guest: Balaji Srinivasan Twitter: https://twitter.com/balajis    Episode Links   The Network State ​​https://thenetworkstate.com/    Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital https://www.amazon.com/Technological-Revolutions-Financial-Capital-Dynamics/dp/1843763311    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marisa Tashman, policy counsel at Blockchain Association, analyzes the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to name nine tokens as securities and investigate whether Coinbase lists securities. Show highlights:  why the SEC named tokens as securities in an insider trading case where no exchanges or token teams are listed as defendants  what happens if the Coinbase insider trading case is settled or goes to court why the SEC’s actions should be considered “regulation by enforcement”  whether there is any process to force the SEC to reveal its reasoning for calling a token a security why Marisa thinks the SEC is actively harming US investors with its crypto policy how Coinbase is handling the SEC’s investigation what Marisa thinks of Coinbase’s listing process why the Cynthia Lummis-led crypto regulatory framework is a good start what Marisa believes will happen in the crypto regulatory landscape in the near future Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch: https://1inch.io/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Episode Links   Marisa Tashman https://twitter.com/mtash   Blockchain Association https://theblockchainassociation.org/    Coinbase SEC investigation into listing unregistered tokens: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-26/coinbase-faces-sec-investigation-over-cryptocurrency-listings SEC insider trading case: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-127 Coinbase does not list securities blog post: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-does-not-list-securities-end-of-story-e58dc873be79  Coinbase petition: https://www.sec.gov/rules/petitions/2022/petn4-789.pdf    SEC Regulation by Enforcement Response CFTC Commissioner: ​​https://twitter.com/CarolineDPham/status/1550159347984044033 Lindsay Lin: https://twitter.com/lindsayxlin/status/1552320370019106822?s=21&t=4OaAjw3r8NlH23ppWiVK1w  Jake Chervinsky: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1550515627961589762?s=20&t=gGwDPAJzZXSu6Gwc9agDOg  Hester Peirce: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/05/03/hester-peirce-pushes-back-against-secs-plans-to-nearly-double-crypto-enforcement-staff/  Matt Levine: https://twitter.com/matt_levine/status/1550202036570017792?s=20&t=e1g8U-V4K_ixd1vJoRc9gA  Chair Gary Gensler wanting crypto exchanges to register as securities exchanges: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-28/sec-chair-gensler-hardens-line-on-crypto-exchange-registration?sref=m9L277rN https://twitter.com/garygensler/status/1552700562533236739?s=21&t=mNENJd2qeQYkeFFdZqWUPA   Gillibrand x Lummis Crypto Regulatory Framework https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/release/-lummis-gillibrand-introduce-landmark-legislation-to-create-regulatory-framework-for-digital-assets  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two crypto law experts, WassieLawyer and Adam Levitin, analyze the bankruptcies of 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager. Show highlights: the difference between Voyager and Celsius “custody” and “earn” deposits why Celsius commingling customer custody and earn deposits could make it harder for creditors to get their money back what similarities and differences the Voyager and Celsius bankruptcies have how Chapter 11 bankruptcy works why Wassie and Adam believe Celsius might have engaged in shady business practices, whereas they believe Voyager was just an irresponsible lender what the latest is on the 3AC bankruptcy and the location of Kyle Davies and Zhu Su what Celsius and Voyager can clawback from 3AC how Alameda fits into the Voyager bankruptcy case whether creditors will receive funds back in crypto or dollars the three types of ways creditors can “claw back” funds in a bankruptcy case why Wassielawyer and Adam believe Celsius’ Chapter 11 plan to restructure around mining is so weird whether the founders from 3AC, Celsius, or Voyager will see jail time Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/  Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/grant-programs?utm_source=unchained&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=podcast-oasis-grants-program    Episode Links   Adam Levitin https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin    Adam Levitin 3AC/Celsius/Voyager Content https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1549935271323607040 https://www.thedeal.com/restructuring/oped-looming-legal-issues-in-cryptocurrency-bankruptcies/   https://www.thedeal.com/restructuring/oped-crypto-winter-arrives/   https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4107019  https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1549142827774447619   https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1548727063930077188   https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1547945325125480451   https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1547699788279193600   https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1547584853180162049  https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1547389680198508546     WassieLawyer https://twitter.com/wassielawyer    WassieLawyer 3AC/Celsius/Voyager Content https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1543238225338454016  https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1538167831946473472 https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1545827666590601216 https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1536192639112183808   Celsius Content https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/07/19/celsius-lays-out-mining-focused-reorganization-plan-at-first-bankruptcy-hearing/ https://twitter.com/BradyDale/status/1549415579399979008  https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/former-employees-say-issues-plagued-crypto-company-celsius-years-before-bankruptcy.html https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/07/18/celsius-outlines-next-steps-as-bankruptcy-proceedings-begin/  https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1548947257961086976 https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-lender-celsius-files-bankruptcy-2022-07-14/  https://blog.celsius.network/a-memo-to-the-celsius-community-59532a06ecc6  https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/07/13/wobble-in-steth-price-shows-fear-celsius-might-dump-435m-stake/  https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/07/11/celsius-reclaims-172m-collateral-from-aave-compound/ https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/07/13/celsius-pays-off-last-defi-loan-reclaims-nearly-200m-of-wrapped-bitcoin-from-compound/  Voyager Content https://unchainedpodcast.com/voyager-digital-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy/  https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-lender-voyager-files-bankruptcy-2022-07-06/  https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/22/voyager-digital-requests-loan-repayment-from-3ac-considers-issuing-default-notice/    3AC https://unchainedpodcast.com/3ac-files-for-chapter-15-bankruptcy/  https://www.theblock.co/post/157141/bankruptcy-court-judge-gives-green-light-to-serve-subpoenas-to-3ac-founders-for-discovery https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-possible-insolvencies-by-celsius-and-3ac-could-spell-disaster-for-crypto/  https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-heres-what-was-so-bad-about-three-arrows-capital-ep-368/  https://unchainedpodcast.com/does-venture-capital-investment-violate-the-ethos-of-crypto-sequoia-says-no-ep-367/  https://unchainedpodcast.com/three-crypto-bankruptcies-3ac-celsius-and-voyager-what-happens-now-ep-374/    Other Kirkland and Ellis are running both bankruptcies https://twitter.com/kadhim/status/1549864279536553984  https://twitter.com/tier10k/status/1550133741158219776 (made $1m/week) What is happening to assets in bankruptcy cases https://twitter.com/OGLawPanda/status/1549357959746043909  No exposure for Coinbase https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coinbase-celsius-voyger-three-arrows-exposure-142730485.html  KeyFi lawsuit https://fortune.com/2022/07/08/crypto-lender-celsius-ponzi-scheme-used-customer-funds-manipulate-token-prices-jason-stone-says-lawsuit/ 3AC founders break silence https://cryptobriefing.com/the-whole-situation-is-regrettable-3ac-breaks-silence-to-bloomberg/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, discusses the impact of 3AC’s impending liquidation. Show topics: why 3AC founders (and family members) are listing themselves as creditors what the “corporate veil” is and why it matters regarding 3AC where retail investors stand in the pecking order of creditors  why Adam doesn’t believe we know the full story about 3AC’s downfall, despite liquidators leaking a 1,000-page report about it what creditors might do with 3AC’s yacht why Adam is less worried about the health of GBTC in light of recent 3AC filings what effect 3AC’s fall will have on Genesis and Digital Currency Group why creditors might prefer liquidations to be paid out in equity compared to cash in this environment  how 3AC’s liquidation is impacting retail investors at Voyager and Celsius why there could be a crypto credit crunch coming soon Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch: https://1inch.io/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Adam Cochran Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamscochran    Coverage Adam Cochran Twitter thread on 3AC liquidation:  https://twitter.com/adamscochran/status/1543253799929876480 Adam Cochran Twitter thread on 3AC contagion: https://twitter.com/adamscochran/status/1546477191420170240 3AC founders subpoenaed https://www.theblock.co/post/157141/bankruptcy-court-judge-gives-green-light-to-serve-subpoenas-to-3ac-fouSubpoenaedders-for-discovery  3AC x Genesis relationship https://www.theblock.co/post/158167/crypto-lender-genesis-lent-2-36-billion-to-three-arrows-capital 3AC owes creditors $3.5 Billion https://www.theblock.co/post/158169/three-arrows-capital-3ac-creditors-list-3-5-billion-crypto-affidavits 3AC liquidation committee ​​https://www.theblock.co/post/158279/three-arrows-capital-3ac-creditors-committee-five-members  3AC x Blockchain.com relationship https://www.theblock.co/post/158533/3ac-borrowed-and-repaid-more-than-2-billion-from-blockchain-com-before-outstanding-debt  Deribit liquidation dispute https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/07/19/stake-in-crypto-exchange-deribit-becomes-disputed-asset-in-three-arrows-bankruptcy/ 3AC x StarkWare https://thedefiant.io/zhu-3ac-starkware/    Previous Unchained Coverage Wassielawyer on 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager https://unchainedpodcast.com/three-crypto-bankruptcies-3ac-celsius-and-voyager-what-happens-now-ep-374/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nelson Rauda, Salvadoran journalist for El Faro, comes to talk about the impact of Bitcoin in El Salvador, the needs of Salvadoran people, Bitcoin City and the Bitcoin Bond, and much more.    Show highlights: Nelson’s story and how he began covering BTC what kind of politician and president Nayib Bukele was before BTC what the financial reality was for Salvadoran people before the implementation of BTC the reasons for the high rates of unbanked people in El Salvador how Bukele changed the monetary policy with what Rauda says was very little discussion why Rauda believes the BTC law is not meant for Salvadorans, but instead is a PR stunt how people reacted after the announcement of BTC as legal tender, and how it resembled the dollarization of the economy in 2001 how Nelson did not even understand BTC at the moment of the announcement and how he says there was not an effort from the government to educate the population whether BTC was successful in attracting investments and tourism, and how there’s no hard data about it why Nelson believes Bukele was trying to hide the scandals when he adopted BTC whether BTC has been used as a PR stunt why bitcoiners are enthusiastic about an authoritarian government adopting BTC as legal tender how Bukele might be undermining his own authority by adopting BTC, a type of money that is not controlled by a state whether the Chivo wallet is a surveillance tool why Nelson believes BTC does not represent a solution for the needs of average Salvadoran people whether the $30 dollar initial gift to download the BTC wallet was seen as just another subsidy the status of Bitcoin City and how Nelson believes it represents the most spectacular PR stunt from Bukele’s administration how the expensive prices of electricity in El Salvador make the country not the best place for mining the significance of Bitcoin Beach what the BTC bond is, what Bukele tried to achieve with it, and why it has been postponed whether El Salvador will default on its debt and what the impact of the BTC price has on the national finances and on how Salvadorans perceive Bitcoin how Nelson believes people in El Salvador do not have political freedom and how it contradicts the narrative of financial freedom that BTC aims to provide what Nelson thinks about Bitcoin and whether governments should adopt it as legal tender Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/ Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/grant-programs?utm_source=unchained&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=podcast-oasis-grants-program   Nelson:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/raudaz_ NYT Opinion article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/opinion/bitcoin-el-salvador-bukele-crypto.html?referringSource=articleShare   Bitcoin Law:   PwC report: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/financial-services/pdf/el-salvadors-law-a-meaningful-test-for-bitcoin.pdf Full law: https://freopp.org/el-salvadors-bitcoin-law-full-proposed-english-text-9a2153ad1d19 BBC article - The IMF urges El Salvador to remove Bitcoin as legal tender: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-60135552 BTC as a Trojan horse: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-is-a-trojan-horse-for-freedom Last BTC Purchase: https://decrypt.co/104275/el-salvador-president-nayib-bukele-more-bitcoin-after-losing-60m Washington post article on tourism attraction: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/06/el-salvador-bitcoin-beach/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter NYT Article on El Salvador’s bet: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/world/americas/el-salvador-bitcoin-national-currency.html   El Salvador:   Research paper on El Salvador by the NBER: https://www.nber.org/papers/w29968 The World Bank report on El Salvador: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/elsalvador/overview El Salvador and the IMF: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-finance-minister-says-possible-imf-deal-no-panacea-2022-07-14/ CNBC on El Salvador Finances: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/25/el-salvador-bitcoin-experiment-not-saving-countrys-finances.html IMF report on El Salvador Finances: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2022/02/15/cf-el-salvadors-comeback-constrained-by-increased-risks     Bitcoin Bond: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/03/25/bitcoin-city-el-salvadors-dreams-for-utopia-on-hold/ El Salvador postpones BTC bond: https://www.reuters.com/technology/el-salvador-postpones-bitcoin-bond-issue-expects-better-conditions-2022-03-22/   Bitcoin City:  https://www.dezeen.com/2022/05/12/bitcoin-city-el-salvador-president-nayib-bukele/#:~:text=Bitcoin%20City%20is%20planned%20for,from%20the%20nearby%20Conchagua%20volcano.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a highly educational conversation, Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, discusses the bankruptcy and liquidation of Three Arrows Capital, plus sheds light on similar processes unfolding with Celsius and Voyager. Show highlights: Wassielawyer’s experience as a lawyer and his professional background what the liquidation process looks like and what drives a company to get into this situation what the creditors of 3AC can expect from the liquidation process and who will be paid first why he doesn’t think the liquidators breached their fiduciary duty by not exercising the Starkware token warrants what Chapter 15 bankruptcy is and what it means for a company whether Zhu’s and Davies’ unknown whereabouts affect the liquidation process and whether they are likely to cooperate whether 3AC counterparties will get anything back from the credits they provided how Chapter 11 bankruptcy differs from Chapter 15  what Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing means for Celsius and its account holders what are the similarities and differences between Celsius and Voyager filings   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/  EPISODE LINKS Wassielawyer Twitter: https://twitter.com/wassielawyer 3AC: Wassielawyer’s threads: https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1543238225338454016?s=20&t=kXB2gr4UCkAz5p09LD24XA https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1538167831946473472?s=20&t=kXB2gr4UCkAz5p09LD24XA Unchained Newsletter: https://unchainedpodcast.com/3ac-files-for-chapter-15-bankruptcy/ Crypto Contagion:    Court order allowing subpoenas: https://www.theblock.co/post/157141/bankruptcy-court-judge-gives-green-light-to-serve-subpoenas-to-3ac-founders-for-discovery Previous coverage: Unchained Coverage: Why Possible Insolvencies by Celsius and 3AC Could Spell Disaster for Crypto: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-possible-insolvencies-by-celsius-and-3ac-could-spell-disaster-for-crypto/ The Chopping Block: Here’s What Was So Bad About Three Arrows Capital: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-heres-what-was-so-bad-about-three-arrows-capital-ep-368/ Does Venture Capital Investment Violate the Ethos of Crypto? Sequoia Says No: https://unchainedpodcast.com/does-venture-capital-investment-violate-the-ethos-of-crypto-sequoia-says-no-ep-367/ Voyager: Wassielawyer’s thread: https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1545827666590601216?s=20&t=kXB2gr4UCkAz5p09LD24XA Unchained Newsletter: https://unchainedpodcast.com/voyager-digital-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy/ Bankruptcy: https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-lender-voyager-files-bankruptcy-2022-07-06/ Voyager exposure to 3AC: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/22/voyager-digital-requests-loan-repayment-from-3ac-considers-issuing-default-notice/ Celsius: Wassielawyer’s thread: https://twitter.com/wassielawyer/status/1536192639112183808?s=20&t=kXB2gr4UCkAz5p09LD24XA Celsius bankruptcy: https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-lender-celsius-files-bankruptcy-2022-07-14/ Halt of withdrawals: https://blog.celsius.network/a-memo-to-the-celsius-community-59532a06ecc6 Celsius repaying debt and claiming collateral: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/07/13/wobble-in-steth-price-shows-fear-celsius-might-dump-435m-stake/ https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/07/11/celsius-reclaims-172m-collateral-from-aave-compound/ https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/07/13/celsius-pays-off-last-defi-loan-reclaims-nearly-200m-of-wrapped-bitcoin-from-compound/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Anatoly Yakovenko, Tsar of Solana, joins the show to discuss the use cases of Solana, whether it’s actually a blockchain, how Solana scales, and much more!    Show topics: What Anatoly thinks of Andre Cronje's opinion that Solana is not a blockchain Why Solana has had so many instances of downtime Whether Solana is the NASDAQ of blockchains Why Solana changed its approach to fee markets and how it is different from other blockchains Why Anatoly is bearish on generic Layer2s How to prevent a mempool to blow up Whether Anatoly is pro app-chains Why Anatoly would have had Solana build a fee model from the start What proof of history is and what its problems are  How vertical scaling and horizontal scaling differ What the use cases of Solana are  Why Solana decided to build the SAGA phone How a web3 phone enables new ways of innovation Why Solana doesn’t see Avalanche or BSC or other EVM chains as competitors but Mysten and Aptos Why the execution environment is where all innovation happens Why Tarun thinks rollups on Solana is a good idea Whether EVM could work on Solana and why Anatoly cares less about EVM on Solana than Solidity What Anatoly’s biggest lessons from building Solana are Why Haseeb admires Anatoly and what the similarities are between him and Vitalik What Anatoly advises people who are building in crypto       Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Guest: Anatoly Yakovenko Twitter: https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko   Episode Links   Solana Serum: https://www.projectserum.com/ Some of the Solana outages and consequences:  September 2021: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/09/14/solana-validators-ready-potential-restart-amid-blockchain-outage/ January 2022: https://www.theblock.co/post/131278/traders-are-complaining-about-solanas-performance-raising-questions-about-its-status-as-a-wall-street-darling  May 2022: https://www.theblock.co/linked/144639/solana-restarted-after-seven-hour-outage-caused-by-surge-of-transactions  Solana’s blockchain clock 30 minutes behind: https://www.theblock.co/post/149112/solanas-blockchain-clock-loses-track-of-time-now-running-30-minutes-behind  June 2022: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/06/02/solana-halted-by-bug-linked-to-certain-cold-storage-transactions/ Popularity of NFTs on Solana: https://www.theblock.co/post/153214/magic-eden-raises-series-b-funding-solana-nft-unicorn Solana phone https://solana.com/news/saga-reveal https://dune.com/queries/952048/1656567 https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/23/solana-labs-is-building-a-web3-mobile-phone/  Fee market: https://www.reddit.com/r/solana/comments/u3p8xc/eli3_solana_fee_market/ Aptos/Mysten:  https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/07/11/web-3-startup-mysten-labs-aiming-for-2b-valuation-in-latest-funding-report/ https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/05/31/paypal-ventures-invested-in-team-reviving-diem-blockchain/ Paper on Proof of History: https://www.shoup.net/papers/poh.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Berckmans, Ethereum investor and community member, and Alexandre Bergeron, Bitcoin investor, discuss Lido’s dominance as a liquid staking provider, whether that issue can be resolved, and how it could be a centralizing force for Ethereum. Show highlights: what stETH is, what the uses cases are for stETH, and why it is important how Lido had a first-mover advantage and how that kicked off network effects whether the liquid staking derivatives system is one of a “winner-take-all” how much of the staked ETH will be turned into a liquid staking derivative how Lido might have a huge MEV opportunity after the Merge what the proposer-builder separation is whether Lido's dominance will increase over time whether other competitors have been competitive with Lido why Lido is a natural monopoly because of the incentives and MEV opportunities what the implication of Lido’s monopoly is for Ethereum’s censorship resistance whether Lido is effectively a single entity despite having multiple node operators whether there could be a long waiting period for becoming a validator after the Merge how Lido is moving its staking derivatives to other chains how Lido’s new dual-governance proposal works, why it might be useful to decentralize Lido and whether it reduces the power of LDO token holders how Lido’s centralization is the biggest threat to Ethereum in the long term and what are the possible solutions why Ryan believes the value of ETH comes from its credible neutrality and whether Lido's centralization may jeopardize that whether finding solutions around MEV opportunities is a good way to reduce Lido’s monopoly whether Lido’s competitors could form an alliance and build a tokenized basket of their staking derivatives to compete with Lido whether Lido could airdrop the LDO token to all ETH holders to decentralize its governance token   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/ Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/grant-programs?utm_source=unchained&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=podcast-oasis-grants-program   Alex:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bergealex4 Ryan:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanberckmans   stETH Lido’s explanation of what stETH is: https://twitter.com/LidoFinance/status/1535184472546889735?s=20&t=oQeB1uj7HG7Y4he-0gbcLg Previous Unchained Coverage: In the Recent Crypto Market Meltdown, What Role Did Lido’s stETH Play?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/in-the-recent-crypto-market-meltdown-what-role-did-lidos-steth-play-ep-370/ Lido’s Centralization: Alex’s thread on why ETH is broken: https://twitter.com/bergealex4/status/1410761639226318852?s=20&t=JLyNokP7Kxj7tIiDzHIHTQ Ryan on a liquid staking monopoly: https://twitter.com/ryanberckmans/status/1521179049548300291?s=20&t=JLyNokP7Kxj7tIiDzHIHTQ Ryan’s proposed solutions: https://twitter.com/ryanberckmans/status/1531731955011579904?s=20&t=JLyNokP7Kxj7tIiDzHIHTQ Is Lido making Ethereum less decentralized?: https://cryptobriefing.com/is-lido-making-ethereum-less-decentralized/ LDO token analysis: https://medium.com/general_knowledge/lido-finance-liquid-ethereum-staking-ldo-potential-f5dc3553b8d2 Ethereum researcher Danny Ryan’s take: https://twitter.com/dannyryan/status/1524044527828303872?s=20&t=H4UNoLn7sKQyZx5ll3-Ncw Ryan’s take on Lido’s self-limit: https://research.lido.fi/t/should-lido-on-ethereum-be-limited-to-some-fixed-of-stake/2225/9?u=ryanberckmans     Lido’s Governance Proposals Lido + stETH dual governance: https://research.lido.fi/t/ldo-steth-dual-governance/2382 Hasu on Lido’s dual governance proposal: https://twitter.com/hasufl/status/1540652075352313857?s=20&t=sJU5C5xo5litEJrZZDaWNQ Lido’s two-phase voting scheme: https://blog.lido.fi/moving-to-two-phase-voting/   MEV Ryan on post-merge MEV: https://twitter.com/ryanberckmans/status/1453597003397611526?s=20&t=JLyNokP7Kxj7tIiDzHIHTQ Alex on proposer-builder separation: https://twitter.com/bergealex4/status/1540934540901744640?s=20&t=JLyNokP7Kxj7tIiDzHIHTQ Haseeb on post-merge MEV: https://twitter.com/hosseeb/status/1464003851942391834?s=20&t=JLyNokP7Kxj7tIiDzHIHTQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amir Haleem, CEO of Nova Labs and founder of Helium, talks about the use cases for Internet of Things (IoT), how blockchain and crypto help to construct a decentralized internet infrastructure, and what is the future of Helium. Show highlights: what Helium is and what it is trying to solve how, after struggling for years, introducing crypto tokens, finally helped Helium grow who the users of Helium are and how they differ from each other how Helium grew to have one million devices around the world what the challenges and use cases of the IoT space are why Helium decided to add new networks why Helium is launching specific tokens for each of the new networks what proof of coverage is and why it is useful what an open-source cellular network is and how it would work whether there is a need for some centralization of the network what Helium’s roadmap is and what the major milestones are for the future   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://avax.network   EPISODE LINKS   Amir Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirhaleem Helium: Twitter: https://twitter.com/helium Website: https://www.helium.com/ NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/technology/helium-cryptocurrency-uses.html Plans to launch new networks: https://www.theblock.co/linked/151491/helium-network-accelerates-multi-network-protocol-expansion https://blog.helium.com/helium-chapter-2-a-network-of-networks-7372262210bd Helium 5G plans: https://blog.helium.com/whats-next-for-helium-5g-data-transfer-proof-of-coverage-rewards-67b54f19f8d5 Number of Helium hotspots growing: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/02/17/helium-network-passing-half-million-hotspots-could-fire-up-hnt-price/ Where Helium users are: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/09/helium-miners-from-lisbon-to-miami-say-its-location-location-location/ Nova Labs raises $200 million: https://www.axios.com/2022/02/18/crypto-startup-helium-raises-200-million  $111 million token sale: https://www.theblock.co/linked/114095/helium-token-sale-a16z Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hasu, strategic advisor to Lido, and Tarun Chitra, founder of Gauntlet, explain everything about staked ETH, aka stETH, how it should be priced, Lido’s market dominance, and much more. Show highlights: the role of Lido, what stETH is, and what its benefits are whether Ethereum’s lack of delegated proof of stake contributes to the need for stETH why stETH is not mispriced and why it doesn’t necessarily have to be worth 1 ETH the inherent risks associated with stETH how there was not enough liquidity to handle all the liquidations, especially in automated vaults on, for instance, Instadapp  how automated market makers work and what Curve’s amplification factor is whether 3AC and Celsius had a significant impact on the stETH/ETH “de-peg” how does the Merge affect the liquidity of stETH Hasu’s and Tarun’s level of confidence that the Merge will happen this year and whether it will be a success what will happen to the price of stETH after the redemptions are enabled why Lido has achieved such a level of dominance how Lido decreases the cost of staking and helps improve the security of the Ethereum blockchain whether there is going to be a “winner take all” in the liquid staking derivatives market how liquidity fragmentation can cause the system to blow up why LDO tokenholders might not have the same incentives as ETH tokenholders what is Lido’s new dual governance model and what is it trying to achieve whether Lido should self limit its market dominance how Lido coordinates validators and the role of the LDO token in this coordination what are the lessons to be learned from the stETH situation how governance is a liability to DeFi protocols   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/ Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/grant-programs?utm_source=unchained&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=podcast-oasis-grants-program   EPISODE LINKS   Hasu:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/hasufl Uncommon Core Podcast: http://uncommoncore.co/podcast/ Tarun:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/tarunchitra   stETH   Lido’s explanation: https://twitter.com/LidoFinance/status/1535184472546889735?s=20&t=oQeB1uj7HG7Y4he-0gbcLg Lido’s explanation #2: https://twitter.com/LidoFinance/status/1536756933054676992?s=20&t=oQeB1uj7HG7Y4he-0gbcLg Hasu’s thread #1: https://twitter.com/hasufl/status/1524717773959700481?s=20&t=oQeB1uj7HG7Y4he-0gbcLg Hasu’s thread #2: https://twitter.com/hasufl/status/1525427069198508033?s=20&t=oQeB1uj7HG7Y4he-0gbcLg Tarun’s take: https://twitter.com/tarunchitra/status/1538775828573609985?s=20&t=oQeB1uj7HG7Y4he-0gbcLg Tarun’s paper: Why Stake when you can borrow: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3629988   Lido Self-limit?: https://twitter.com/LidoFinance/status/1540258690942615555?s=20&t=sJU5C5xo5litEJrZZDaWNQ Hasu on Lido’s dual governance proposal: https://twitter.com/hasufl/status/1540652075352313857?s=20&t=sJU5C5xo5litEJrZZDaWNQ Lido’s two phase voting scheme :https://blog.lido.fi/moving-to-two-phase-voting/ Previous Unchained Coverage on DAO governance: Solend and Bancor Drama: Did These DAOs Violate the Ethos of Crypto?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/solend-and-bancor-drama-did-these-daos-violate-the-ethos-of-crypto-ep-366/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Badiucao, Chinese artist and activist, talks about the importance of NFTs for political activism, the role of China in his career as an artist, the significance of blockchain technologies to resist censorship, and much more. Show highlights: why Badiucao became an artist and how the censorship in China brought him to NFTs how Badiucao only learned about Tiananmen Square when he was 22 years old  why Badiucao took up work as a preschool teacher in Australia how anonymity is important for Chinese activists for their family’s safety the intention of Badiucao’s art and what is he trying to express the repercussions of Badiucao’s activism why Badicuao eventually gave up his anonymity why Badiucao decided to issue art as NFTs and what possibilities he sees in NFTs how Badiucao enabled people to write a message of protest in the blockchain with the launch of his NFT and how this represented the first large mass protest written into the blockchain whether the Beijing Winter Olympics is an outrage and a disgrace for the international community and how this inspired Badiucao’s NFT collection Beijing 2022 how Niki approached the issue of the possibility of having the art taken down how Badiucao used NFTs to help Ukraine due to the war the reasons political art has so much value, and how NFTs enable possibilities for all political artists around the world whether NFTs are much more than just some apes, and how learning about art is important how to get started as a political artist and the importance to remain truthful the significance of using power as an artist Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://avax.network   EPISODE LINKS   Badiucao Twitter: https://twitter.com/badiucao Website: https://www.badiucao.com/   Niki Website: http://nikiselken.com/   Documentary about Badiucao: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10601676/   60 Minutes interview: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/badiucao-60-minutes-2021-12-26/   Unveiling his identity: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/world/asia/china-tiananmen-cartoonist-badiucao.html?searchResultPosition=1   The importance of NFTs How Activists are Using NFTs as Civil Disobedience: https://www.jumpstartmag.com/how-activists-are-using-nfts-as-civil-disobedience/ Nadya Tolokonnikova on NFTs with social messages: https://editorial.brytehall.com/nadya-tolokonnikova-on-nfts-with-social-messages-and-shock-value/ Unchained Coverage: This Noble Family’s Art Was Taken by Nazis, But Is Being Saved by NFTs: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-noble-familys-art-was-taken-by-nazis-but-is-being-saved-by-nfts/ Unchained Coverage: Punk6529 on the Significance of Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/punk6529-on-the-significance-of-bored-ape-yacht-club-and-cryptopunks/ Unchained Coverage: Why This Environmentalist Doesn’t Blame Creators for the Carbon Footprint of NFTs: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-this-environmentalist-doesnt-blame-creators-for-the-carbon-footprint-of-nfts/   Beijing 2022 Collection https://www.badiucao.com/nft Badiucao launches NFT collection to protest against China's human rights record on eve of Beijing Winter Olympics: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/02/01/badiucao-launches-human-rights-protest-nft-collection-on-eve-of-beijing-winter-olympics     NFTs for Ukraine Collection https://www.badiucao.com/ukraine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Taylor Monahan, matriarch of Metamask, joins the show to discuss the contagion of major crypto firms, the bear market, SBF saving crypto, and much more! Show topics: The importance of UX and security How Three Arrows Capital’s practice of borrowing to leverage their bets has caused a crisis for crypto lenders that rippled out to many customers How the GBTC arbitrage trade was part of 3AC’s undoing, and how that trade was one many other crypto trading institutions had previously abandoned How crypto lenders were being degens with customers funds Why SBF stepped in and made sure that BlockFi and Voyager didn’t default on customers’ deposits Whether this whole wind-down reflects a credit cycle How DeFi protocols were built to avoid these kinds of centralized finance problems  How the systemic issues caused by CeFi institutions like Celsius, BlockFi and Voyager are reminiscent of the Great Financial Crisis What are the similarities between this crypto meltdown, the Mt. Gox debacle, and the 1907 and 2008 financial crises What are the consequences of losing retail money vs. institutional money How surviving a credit cycle crisis creates the best risk managers The lessons to be learned from all these crises  How MakerDAO is trying to figure out what to do with its money What happened with Solend and why the DAO resorted to a centralized action Why DeFi needs more clauses about how to handle edge cases The difference between doing dumb things and wrong things Why Tarun is impressed with Solana’s DAO tooling Why Taylor is thankful for the bear market Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Guest: Taylor Monahan Twitter: https://twitter.com/tayvano_ Taylor’s thread on resources to learn about all things crypto: https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1509380091184246784?s=20&t=kNk8fJ7pJAWfEEVZQHwpvg   Episode Links   Crypto Contagion 3AC: https://blockworks.co/three-arrows-capital-brink-default-owes-voyager-657m/ Voyager Celsius + Goldman buyout? https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/goldman-celsius-bankruptcy BlockFi bailout: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/21/blockfi-receives-250m-credit-facility-from-ftx/ Unchained newsletter on BlockFi’s bailout: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-says-this-deserves-mockery/ CoinFlex: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-27/crypto-exchange-coinflex-to-issue-tokens-after-withdrawal-freeze?sref=Q2SpVkJl Babel: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/20/babel-finance-reaches-debt-agreement-with-counterparties-after-withdrawal-freeze/ Unchained Coverage: Why Possible Insolvencies by Celsius and 3AC Could Spell Disaster for Crypto: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-possible-insolvencies-by-celsius-and-3ac-could-spell-disaster-for-crypto/ Solend DAO situation: Unchained Coverage: Solend and Bancor Drama: Did These DAOs Violate the Ethos of Crypto? – Ep. 366: https://unchainedpodcast.com/solend-and-bancor-drama-did-these-daos-violate-the-ethos-of-crypto-ep-366/ https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/06/19/solana-defi-platform-votes-to-control-whale-account-in-bid-to-avoid-liquidation-chaos/ Covered on Unchained Newsletter: https://unchainedpodcast.com/does-this-dao-deserve-emergency-power%e2%81%89%ef%b8%8f/ MakerDAO governance proposal: https://www.theblock.co/post/154515/maker-governance-is-voting-to-invest-500-million-in-us-treasury-bills Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shaun Maguire and Michelle Bailhe, partners at Sequoia, discuss their long term view and thesis about crypto, what do they look for to invest in a crypto project, the takeaways from the blowup of Terra, the insolvency of crypto companies, and much more. Show highlights: what is Sequoia’s long term view and thesis about the crypto industry how different our lives will look in 20 years from now due to blockchain technology how Sequoia had to adapt to invest in this new asset class and what are the similarities and differences with investing in traditional startups when a product or service on the internet should be offered in a decentralized or centralized way how Sequoia decides whether to invest in the entity behind a project or in the tokens whether having venture capitalists involved at all goes against the ethos of decentralization why Shaun believes that Ethereum proved that decentralization can be achieved even when you start being centralized whether people underestimate the value that VCs can add to a project why Shaun believes that Solana is moving towards decentralization Sequoia’s thesis about privacy in crypto and the potential of zero-knowledge proofs  how Michelle sees the macroeconomic environment impacting crypto and whether this cycle is different from the previous ones the importance of product market fit in crypto projects what crypto projects should be focusing on and the business model they should be pursuing the main takeaways of the Terra collapse and how it was a major setback for algo stablecoins how crypto founders should always do the right thing even though there is no clear regulation whether SBF is the Berkshire Hathaway of crypto today the lessons to be learned from the potential insolvency of some crypto lenders and investment firms how demand for blockspace will keep increasing and whether a single blockchain could supply all that space the future of the metaverse and how it can be defined Michelle’s mental model for crypto and the phases for achieving worldwide adoption   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance/ Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/ EPISODE LINKS   Shaun Maguire:  Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/shaunmmaguire Sequoia Profile: https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/shaun-maguire/   Michelle:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/michellebailhe Sequoia Profile: https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/michelle-bailhe/ Michelle’s investment thesis: https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/ask-not-wen-moon-ask-why-moon/ Bear Market: Michelle’s Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/michellebailhe/status/1526373378516365312?s=20&t=c7vdmdg2mnQ34rsAGIm0lg Insolvency of crypto lenders: Voyager: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/22/voyager-digital-requests-loan-repayment-from-3ac-considers-issuing-default-notice/ BlockFi: https://decrypt.co/103422/blockfi-secures-250-million-line-of-credit-from-ftx Celsius: https://www.theblock.co/linked/151522/crypto-lending-firm-celsius-pauses-withdrawals-and-transfers-citing-market-conditions Celsius possible bankruptcy: https://www.theblock.co/linked/154100/crypto-lender-celsius-hires-more-advisors-ahead-of-possible-bankruptcy-wsj Previous Unchained Coverage:  Why Possible Insolvencies by Celsius and 3AC Could Spell Disaster for Crypto: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-possible-insolvencies-by-celsius-and-3ac-could-spell-disaster-for-crypto/ Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market: https://unchainedpodcast.com/cobie-and-chris-burniske-on-how-to-navigate-a-crypto-bear-market-ep-354/ ** For more episode links and details visit the Unchained website ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Derek Hsue, cofounder at Reverie, discusses the recent controversial decisions by Solend DAO and Bancor, the importance of establishing processes for black swan events, and whether decentralized governance truly exists. Show highlights: what situation prompted Solend to feel it was in jeopardy what Solend DAO’s response was to that situation why Derek views it as “the nuclear option” why the proposal sparked an outcry from the crypto community whether this issue could have been prevented or managed differently if the protocol was built on a blockchain other than Solana why, a day later, the DAO reversed its first decision to take over the whale’s account whether Derek thinks the DAO made the right decision to not take over the whale’s account what is Impermanent Loss Protection, a feature offered by Bancor why Bancor decided to pause Impermanent Loss Protection whether Celsius and 3AC had anything to do with Bancor’s problem how Bancor’s decision was made unilaterally how DAOs should deal with black swan events     Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/     EPISODE LINKS   Derek Twitter: https://twitter.com/derek_hsue   Reverie Website: https://www.reverie.ooo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/hi_reverie   Solend DAO Situation Covered on Monday’s Unchained Newsletter: https://unchainedpodcast.com/does-this-dao-deserve-emergency-power%e2%81%89%ef%b8%8f/ Proposal to invalidate the first one: https://decrypt.co/103330/solana-lending-dao-overturns-vote-to-take-over-at-risk-whale-wallet The whale moved $25 million from Solend: https://www.theblock.co/post/153207/solana-whale-shuffles-25-million-to-reduce-risk-to-defi-protocol-solend   Bancor Pausing Impermanent Loss Protection Bancor’s post: https://blog.bancor.network/market-conditions-update-june-19-2022-e5b857b39336 Anthony Sassano’s reaction: https://twitter.com/sassal0x/status/1539082583832526848?s=20&t=OzTV6M5bCH4fxJIJUtLA4Q   DAO Governance issues: Lido DAO proposes to reduce the existing scope of governance of its token holders: https://research.lido.fi/t/ldo-steth-dual-governance/2382 Jack Niewold 's thread: https://twitter.com/JackNiewold/status/1539307339928457217?s=20&t=OzTV6M5bCH4fxJIJUtLA4Q Unchained Coverage: How Soulbound Tokens Could Reduce Speculation and Improve DAO Voting – Ep.360: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-soul-bound-tokens-could-reduce-speculation-and-improve-dao-voting-ep-360/     Main tweet On this Friday’s Unchained, Derek Hsue explains: * why the first Solend DAO vote was the “nuclear option” * whether Solana’s history of downtime spurred the proposal * Bancor’s decision to stop Impermanent Loss Protection * what this all means for DAO governance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caroline Pham, commissioner at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, discusses how we should build a regulatory framework for crypto assets, whether the SEC and CFTC should work together, what were the consequences of the Terra collapse, and much more. Show highlights: how Cmr. Pham got started in crypto and became a CFTC commissioner the importance of the regulatory strategy around crypto what crypto’s role is in the financial system how bitcoin is a sort of money outside of the traditional financial system how friendly regulators should be with the industries they regulate why she believes transparency is one of the greatest ideals of American democracy how Cmr. Pham believes in self-determination and the power of free markets why Cmr. Pham published an op-ed with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce how the Terra collapse incentivized regulators to look deeper into the space whether the US approach towards regulation can improve the role of the regulatory agencies in making the US the financial leader of the world what Cmr. Pham thinks about the new Gillibrand and Lummis bill whether SEC Chair Gary Gensler is right about the majority of cryptos being securities what are the low-hanging fruit opportunities for regulators when it comes to crypto how Cmr. Pham believes we should have a global regulatory framework for crypto why she believes algorithmic stablecoins are derivatives why things like Terra could act as a “shadow banking 3.0” whether there is a way to regulate without having intermediaries what Cmr. Pham thinks about FTX proposal to bypass futures commission merchants    Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance/   EPISODE LINKS   Caroline Pham Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolineDPham CFTC Profile: https://www.cftc.gov/About/Commissioners/CarolineDPham/index.htm Stablecoin regulation   Financial Times article: https://www.ft.com/content/981c380f-bb1c-45bd-8d0d-a95b15d96a00 CNBC on crypto regulation: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/03/cryptocurrency-industry-focus-regulation-stablecoins-market-crash.html Unchained Coverage: Why Crypto Twitter’s Disrespect Toward Regulators Is a ‘Really Bad Business Decision’: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-crypto-twitters-disrespect-toward-regulators-is-a-really-bad-business-decision/ Unchained Coverage: Can a DeFi Smart Contract Be Regulated? Two CFTC Commissioners Discuss: https://unchainedpodcast.com/can-a-defi-smart-contract-be-regulated-two-cftc-commissioners-discuss/ FTX proposal to serve as the trading engine for derivatives: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2022/04/27/the-ftx-us-proposal-that-shook-congress-and-the-crypto-derivatives-world/?sh=3dac29ef4e19 Unchained Coverage: FTX Wants to Compete with CME – Here’s Why It’s a Big Deal: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ftx-wants-to-compete-with-cme-heres-why-its-a-big-deal/   Hester Peirce Caroline’s op-ed with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/3503277-making-progress-on-decentralized-regulation-its-time-to-talk-about-crypto-together/ Hester Peirce's token safe harbor proposal: https://decrypt.co/66453/secs-hester-peirce-floats-revised-crypto-safe-harbor-rules Unchained Coverage: Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF: https://unchainedpodcast.com/hester-peirces-former-counsel-on-terra-2-0-xrp-and-a-bitcoin-spot-etf/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mika Honkasalo, independent crypto researcher, discusses what is happening with Celsius and Three Arrows Capital, the importance of having proper risk management, and the contagion effects on the industry.   Show highlights: why is it so significant that Celsius paused withdrawals what is stETH and why is it important to understand the Celsius situation how the Luna/UST debacle started a contagion effect in the crypto space why Celsius’s investors won’t bail the company out what will happen to Celsius’s retail customers what Three Arrows Capital (3AC) is and whether they have a solvency problem how 3AC was levered long and whether they had poor risk management who will be hurt if 3AC goes under what would be the effect of 3AC and Celsius collapsing which types of funds that Mika will be eyeing to see if they also end up in a similar situation to 3AC and Celsius why Mika would counsel anyone who keeps their money with centralized crypto lenders to scrutinize their practices   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://avax.network   EPISODE LINKS   Mika Honkasalo Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhonkasalo Substack: https://mhonkasalo.substack.com/ Mika’s writings on The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/author/mika-honkasalo   Mika’s blog post on the stETH-ETH peg: https://mhonkasalo.substack.com/p/stetheth-peg-not-a-peg-presents-a?s=r   Celsius announcement that they would be withholding assets: https://twitter.com/CelsiusNetwork/status/1536169010877739009?s=20&t=hL-ZsBSKZOLF-whTwNmjgw   Nexo’s offer to buy Celsius assets:  https://twitter.com/Nexo/status/1536256598993211393?s=20&t=vKmJCZGNToaOqZU-TEjcDg   Celsisus’s investors unlikely to bail out company:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/celsius-networks-investors-unlikely-to-provide-more-funds-to-bail-out-crypto-lender-11655395113   Celsius hires restructuring lawyers:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/crypto-lender-celsius-hires-restructuring-lawyers-after-account-freeze-11655250575?tpl=br   Why staked ETH is part of Celsius’s and 3AC’s woes:  https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/06/14/staked-ether-becomes-focus-of-crypto-stress-from-celsius-to-three-arrows/    Conor Ryder on the stETH liquidity problem https://twitter.com/ConorRyder/status/1537130483007508480?s=20&t=pZGZf17ed_DyOS18CHExmQ   The DeFi Edge on the 3AC situation: https://twitter.com/thedefiedge/status/1537465349976694786?s=20&t=Q29mo3EKSASasTenHVEm4Q   Who else has exposure to 3AC:  https://fortune.com/2022/06/16/crypto-crash-hedge-fund-three-arrows-capital-insolvency-rumors-novogratz/    3AC withholding $1M in assets from 8 Blocks Capital:  https://twitter.com/Danny8BC/status/1537224378554806272?s=20&t=Q29mo3EKSASasTenHVEm4Q   Meltem Demirors explains the problem from the balance sheet perspective: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem/status/1537155214897201153?s=20&t=Q29mo3EKSASasTenHVEm4Q   Adam Levitin on Celsius bankruptcy https://twitter.com/AdamLevitin/status/1536932912674836481?s=20&t=Q29mo3EKSASasTenHVEm4Q   degentrading on Why Celsius and 3AC going under should cause you to worry https://twitter.com/hodlKRYPTONITE/status/1536902115540742144?s=20&t=Q29mo3EKSASasTenHVEm4Q   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olta Andoni, deputy general counsel at Ava Labs, and Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discuss the Terra stablecoin meltdown, implications for impending international regulations, and the history of stablecoin regulation internationally. Topics covered include: What the most important legal issues are for the Terra meltdown How the Terra implosion will trigger more regulation of the space How regulators seemed to think stablecoins should be regulated even before Terra How their approach differs between dollar-backed stablecoins vs. algorithmic vs. crypto collateral-backed coins How European regulators want stablecoin issuers to be treated like banks What the Lummis-Gillibrand bill would mean for US stablecoin regulation Whether Terra’s demise will mean that regulators won’t tolerate experimentation with algorithmic stablecoins  Why regulators will be skittish about stablecoins in response to Terra’s meltdown Why Olta and Ari were impressed by the NY Department of Financial Services guidance on stablecoins What the establishment of SEC jurisdiction over Terraform Labs based on the Mirror investigation from last fall means for any enforcement action by the SEC over Terra  Whether Do Kwon and/or Terraform could face criminal charges in multiple jurisdictions Why international regulatory consistency is important in the crypto space Whether civil and class-action lawsuits against Terraform could be expected How Terra 2.0 could open TFL up to further action from regulators and law enforcement Why more education is needed to overcome anxiety about DeFi regulations How hack nondisclosures could be subject to government investigation   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance/    Episode Links   Olta Avalanche https://www.avax.network/ Ava Labs https://www.avalabs.org/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/oltaandoni/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AndoniOlta   Ari TRM Labs Website:  https://www.trmlabs.com/ TRM Labs Twitter https://twitter.com/trmlabs?s=20&t=m24Ir0OerqPgEejlhL-bdQ TRM Talks https://www.trmlabs.com/category/trm-talks LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ari-redbord-4054381b4/ Twitter https://twitter.com/ARedbord?s=20&t=m24Ir0OerqPgEejlhL-bdQ   Lummis-Gillibrand Bill Bill Introduction: https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/release/-lummis-gillibrand-introduce-landmark-legislation-to-create-regulatory-framework-for-digital-assets Legal Memo from DLx Law: https://dlxlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DLX_FSV-summary_RFIA_060722.pdf Lummis-Gillibrand Section by Section Overview (summary by bill authors): https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Lummis-Gillibrand%20Section-by-Section%20%5bFinal%5d.pdf Responsible Financial Innovation Act (full text): https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Lummis-Gillibrand%20Responsible%20Financial%20Innovation%20Act%20%5bFinal%5d.pdf Blog post intro (by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand): https://gillibrandny.medium.com/the-responsible-financial-innovation-act-218a764abd6c   FINMA FINMA: https://www.finma.ch/en/ FINMA on Stablecoins: https://www.finma.ch/en/news/2019/09/20190911-mm-stable-coins/ FINMA Publishes Stablecoin Guidance: https://www.sif.admin.ch/sif/en/home/finanzmarktpolitik/digitalisation-financial-sector/stablecoins.html   NY DFS Guidance on Stablecoin Issuance: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/industry_letters/il20220608_issuance_stablecoins Press Release: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202206081 CNBC Coverage: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/08/new-yorks-financial-watchdog-issues-stablecoin-guidance-calls-for-reserve-requirements.html   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – in person at Consensus in Austin! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra are joined by guest Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital to chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: why Kyle believes people are too negative about the macro environment  how the only crypto product with product-market fit is parties what soulbound NFTs are, and what their pitfalls might be why Kyle and Robert have a beef between them why Kyle has a lot of run-ins with other people in crypto how Kyle thinks about Solana’s 12 instances of downtime over the last six months  how this has caused problems for SOL held in cold storage how Kyle and Robert think projects need to make tradeoffs between stability and adaptability why Kyle thinks every layer 1 and 2 will have a major failure over the next several years how Kyle thinks EVM chains are value-destructive how Tarun thinks zk L2s might be better aligned with the Ethereum ethos how Optimism’s market-making partner Wintermute was hacked for $20 million in OP why the hacker returned most of the money how programming language centralization makes sense how the Lummis-Gillibrand bill is a good opening salvo with respect to crypto regulation why they believe that being paid for staking is not the same as being paid a dividend how disclosure requirements could be onerous for small new projects how they think the crypto industry is moving up the learning curve for lobbying  why they believe the Lummis/Gillibrand bill will be changed to target stablecoins and DeFi more   EPISODE LINK   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner  Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra   Guest Kyle Samani, cofounder and managing partner of Multicoin Capital https://twitter.com/KyleSamani?s=20&t=DN1G0CNY7JR11OoXOAFD2g   Show Topics Wintermute Compromise Optimism Foundation statement: https://plaid-cement-e44.notion.site/A-Message-to-the-Community-from-the-Optimism-Foundation-f49b913bb0974d8a854a8bdd409a9dd6 Wintermute statement:  https://gov.optimism.io/t/message-to-optimism-community-from-wintermute/2595 https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/06/09/15m-of-optimism-tokens-stolen-by-an-attacker-after-wintermute-sent-wrong-wallet-address/#:~:text=Optimism%20is%20a%20permissionless%20network%20and%20behaved%20as%20intended.&text=Wintermute%2C%20for%20its%20part%2C%20says,make%20the%20protocol%20whole%20eventually.%E2%80%9D Osmosis Hack https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/150752/osmosis-dex-on-cosmos-exploited-for-5-million-as-validators-halt-the-network https://twitter.com/stake_fire/status/1534598315441913856?s=20&t=VvGyUlOjGSlhXXUwZvKszw Litecoin Delisting https://decrypt.co/102350/crypto-exchanges-delist-litecoin-privacy-feature-concerns Solana outage re: durable transactions (12 serious outages this year, about 2 a month) https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/149698/solana-blockchain-suffers-new-network-outage https://solana.com/news/06-01-22-solana-mainnet-beta-outage-report-2 Unchained episode with Andre Cronje about Solana’s downtime: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-did-andre-cronje-pull-an-epic-crypto-rug-pull/  Cynthia Lummis & Kirsten Gillibrand presents landmark crypto bill Coindesk Coverage:  https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/06/07/key-us-senators-introduce-bill-outlining-sweeping-plan-for-future-crypto-rules/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lewis Cohen, lead attorney at DLx Law LLC, joins to discuss the recently proposed Lummis-Gillibrand bill, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, which he helped shape. In this episode, we cover:  how Lewis was impressed by Gillibrand’s and Lummis’s offices’ hard work and bipartisanship   how the bill creates a new definition for an “ancillary asset” with split oversight responsibilities between the CFTC and the SEC  how the bill proposes a test of managerial centralization as a determinant of disclosure requirements for digital assets  his response to criticism that the ancillary token approach is more complicated than need be and gives too much power to the SEC  why the bill didn't adopt an approach more similar to something like SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s token safe harbor proposal  how Lewis would respond to SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s contention that the vast majority of digital assets are securities  how Cohen is concerned about legislation or regulation impinging on basic freedoms to transact by over-applying securities regulation what kind of SEC disclosures will be required for “ancillary assets” and the requirements for projects to be able to cease mandatory disclosure how the bill defines stablecoins whether the requirement for stablecoins to maintain reserves means the end of algorithmic stablecoins or whether they will just be called something else how the bill handles DAOs and how legislation in this area must be delicate why Lewis believes the proposal is a “bright spot” for thoughtful US legislation and bipartisanship why he doesn’t see the bill being adopted in the current Congress  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://avax.network     EPISODE LINKS    Lewis Cohen  DLx Law LLC: https://dlxlaw.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYcryptolawyer  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lewis-cohen-a3211410/   Lummis-Gillibrand Proposal (Responsible Financial Innovation Act)  Legal Memo from DLXLaw : https://dlxlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DLX_FSV-summary_RFIA_060722.pdf Lummis-Gillibrand Section by Section Overview (summary by bill authors): https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Lummis-Gillibrand%20Section-by-Section%20%5bFinal%5d.pdf Responsible Financial Innovation Act (full text): https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Lummis-Gillibrand%20Responsible%20Financial%20Innovation%20Act%20%5bFinal%5d.pdf Blog post intro (by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand) : https://gillibrandny.medium.com/the-responsible-financial-innovation-act-218a764abd6c Commentary: CoinDesk recap: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/06/07/key-us-senators-introduce-bill-outlining-sweeping-plan-for-future-crypto-rules/ Fortune on what the bill means for algo stablecoins: https://fortune.com/2022/06/08/algorithmic-stablecoins-terra-luna-crypto-regulation-senate-bill-lummis-gillibrand/ JW Verret's critique: https://twitter.com/JWVerret/status/1534165678831325191?s=20&t=nIWYdZKJzXsr-SVK7F_W9w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glen Weyl, RadicalxChange Foundation founder and political economist & social technologist at Microsoft Special Projects, and Puja Ohlhaver, strategist at Flashbots, discuss “soulbound tokens” and their implications for collaboration and social organization in a variety of spaces. Topics covered include: how Glen got involved in crypto, wrote a book, and came to co-write a paper with Vitalik Buterin  how Puja studied economics and got in touch with Glen in pursuit of a middle ground between left and right politics what soulbound NFTs are and how they work how Vitalik’s paper articulated how the concept of the soulbound token could advance decentralized collaboration in web3 how decentralized reputation can enable larger networks of coordination how identity can be understood through the lens of community participation how the name ‘soulbound token’ came about how these tokens could provide a technology for those who value scarcity but disdain speculation how identity-dedicated tokens could work on a technical level (including recovery) what is DeSoc and why is it important? how non-transferable tokens can improve DAO organization, including resolving issues with quadratic funding how identity-locked tokens can be protected from bots and AI abuse how these tokens could support community privacy and responsible information disclosure   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance/    Related Reading Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul (Weyl, Ohlhaver, and Buterin; 2022) https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4105763  Georg Simmel, German neo-Kantian who laid groundwork for antipositivism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Simmel  How Blockchains Can Help Create Little Democracies Everywhere https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/    Soulbound Tokens Vitalik on Soulbound tokens https://vitalik.ca/general/2022/01/26/soulbound.html TL;DR written by Glen https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/05/11/after-defi-desoc-finding-web-3s-soul/ Other write-ups https://nftnow.com/guides/soulbound-tokens-sbts-meet-the-tokens-that-may-change-your-life/ https://www.radicalxchange.org/concepts/soulbound-tokens/ https://fortune.com/2022/05/26/what-are-soulbound-tokens-web3-buterin/ https://thedefiant.io/vitalik-soulbound-tokens/   Projects Mentioned Ceramic https://ceramic.network/  Verifiable Credentials Data Model (w3) https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model/#abstract  Optimism https://optimism.io/  Gitcoin https://gitcoin.co/  Glen Weyl Personal Website https://glenweyl.com/  Twitter (@glenweyl) https://twitter.com/glenweyl/    Puja Ohlhaver LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/puja-ohlhaver-b44b878  Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/pujaohlhaver  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Gottlieb, a crypto attorney and partner at Morrison Cohen, discusses the insider trading case being built by the US Department of Justice against former OpenSea employee Nathaniel Chastain. Show topics: why Nathaniel is being charged with wire fraud and money laundering instead of insider trading what makes NFT insider trading different from usual insider trading indictments why an employee’s “duty of confidentiality” can be important when building an insider trading case whether the money laundering charge makes sense  whether moving money between self-custodied wallets constitutes money laundering why Jason does not think this particular case will have widespread implications for the NFT and crypto space Jason’s advice for employees at crypto exchanges and companies who may be tempted to trade on private information what happens next in the Chastain case why the potential sentences are so long – 20 years for each charge how likely it is that Chastain has to serve jail time   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://avax.network    Episode Links   Jason Gottlieb Website: https://www.morrisoncohen.com/jgottlieb Twitter: https://twitter.com/ohaiom    Department of Justice Press Release https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-employee-nft-marketplace-charged-first-ever-digital-asset-insider-trading-scheme    Nathaniel Chastain Arrest https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/06/01/us-charges-ex-opensea-exec-with-nft-insider-trading/ https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/149685/former-head-of-product-for-opensea-indicted-after-insider-trading-scandal Resignation https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/09/16/opensea-exec-accused-of-insider-trading-leaves-company/ Insider trading allegations https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/09/15/insider-trading-allegations-rock-opensea-nft-marketplace-responds/ Twitter https://twitter.com/natechastain    Insider Trading and Crypto https://www.morrisoncohen.com/siteFiles/files/Insider%20Trading%20and%20Cryptocurrency%20-%20A%20Primer%20for%20Traders.pdf https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=132529   Taylor Monahan Recap of the Case https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1532085029857284101  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Since Robert Leshner couldn’t make it, Laura also decided to hop on the show too! Show topics: how Terra is trying to rebuild what its value proposition is why Laura is surprised at how fast Do Kwon began shitposting again how teams affected by the Terra collapse, like Delphi Digital and Mars Protocol, are responding how its implosion will affect Cosmos why Tarun thinks Osmosis’ purchase of Keplr was the “best” purchase in crypto history whether the collapse of UST could help Cosmos in the long run what the legal implications of UST’s depeg will be whether Terra was a fraud like Theranos why Tarun thinks that investors should be sued for getting clients involved in Terra why Tarun thinks regulators are against 24-hour trading why Tarun thinks Matt Levine is a “boomer” what FTX’s chances are in getting approval from the CFTC to be the engine for 24-hour derivatives trading why NFTs are denominated in ETH/SOL instead of fiat why Tom doesn’t think airdrops matter what went wrong with the OP token drop   Hosts   Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra    Guest Laura Shin, host of Unchained https://twitter.com/laurashin    Show Topics Terra revival plan https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/terra-blockchain-restart-approved  LUNA 2.0 https://fortune.com/2022/05/30/do-kwon-luna-2-airdrop-plunges/   LUNA airdrop calculation issues:  https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1531410663674888192  https://agora.terra.money/t/terra-ecosystem-revival-plan-2-passed-gov/18498  Delphi Digital https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/147755/delphi-digital-admits-we-were-wrong-on-terra-stablecoin-risks  Luna Classic https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/149361/mirror-protocol-suffers-new-exploit-and-could-be-drained-in-hours  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/149342/a-90-million-defi-exploit-on-terra-went-unnoticed-for-seven-months  Korean prosecutors are looking to crackdown on Terra https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/149309/terraform-labs-employees-summoned-korea-prosecutors-ust-luna  Adam Neumann crypto project ​​https://www.vox.com/recode/23142106/adam-neumann-crypto-carbon-credit-offset-flowcarbon  FTX and CFTC and CME https://twitter.com/aguye_/status/1529547230318718976  ​​https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/143792/as-it-weighs-ftx-proposal-cftc-announces-a-roundtable-on-disintermediation  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/148786/cftc-roundtable-on-ftx-proposal-highlights-barriers-in-clearing-of-digital-vs-physical-assets  Farmers vs FTX https://twitter.com/fintechfrank/status/1531605653269188608  CME word salad https://twitter.com/fintechfrank/status/1524811596421382144  Optimism Airdrop https://twitter.com/epolynya/status/1531719021833334784?s=21&t=MoImAkB4p8qwOV3p63sSnw https://dune.com/hildobby/op-airdrop    Unchained Coverage on Optimism https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-optimisms-op-token-draw-people-back-to-layer-2s-on-ethereum/    Unchained Coverage on Osmosis and Keplr https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-osmosis-is-trying-to-improve-the-crypto-user-experience/    Unchained Coverage on FTX x CFTC https://unchainedpodcast.com/ftx-wants-to-compete-with-cme-heres-why-its-a-big-deal/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sunny Aggarwal, co-founder of Osmosis Labs, talks about how Osmosis is being built, the innovations that are coming, the reasons to use app chains, and much more. Show highlights: how Sunny got into crypto  how the DAO hack turned him off Ethereum at first  how the scaling issues with Ethereum got him interested in the Cosmos vision of app-chains why he is interested in Proof of Stake what the vision of Cosmos is how Sunny compares the evolution of blockchains with human evolution why he thinks that Cosmos integrates the best of Bitcoin and Ethereum networks why he thinks that having more than one Proof of Work chain is fundamentally insecure which three technologies are necessary for Cosmos to succeed what IBC and the Cosmos SDK do why Sunny decided to build Osmosis  how automated market makers are massively underexplored why UX is such a priority for the Osmosis team why Sunny does not want to list the OSMO token on other exchanges why Osmosis has a curated dex as well as a permissionless one how Osmosis governance works  how security is provided on Osmosis what superfluid staking is how CosmWasm helps Osmosis compete with centralized exchanges how Osmosis is solving frontrunning with threshold encryption why the Osmosis team chose Axelar for bridging whether Yuga Labs could have used an app chain    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance/   EPISODE LINKS Sunny Aggarwal Twitter: https://twitter.com/sunnya97 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnya97/   COSMOS What is Cosmos: https://v1.cosmos.network/intro Cosmos whitepaper: https://v1.cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper CosmWasm: https://cosmwasm.com/ Cosmos IBC: https://www.coinbase.com/es/cloud/discover/dev-foundations/ibc-protocol#:~:text=The%20Cosmos%20ecosystem%20has%20a,protocol%20(IBC)%20was%20created. Cosmos SDK: https://v1.cosmos.network/sdk OSMOSIS  Twitter: https://twitter.com/OsmosisZone Website: https://osmosis.zone/ Superfluid staking: https://medium.com/osmosis/osmosis-superfluid-staking-launch-feb-28-45f8e43064af Osmosis Vision: https://medium.com/osmosis/vision-for-osmosis-e68e796ff1c2 Threshold Encryption: https://medium.com/zero-knowledge-validator/privacy-in-cosmos-defi-edition-event-summary-8cafda021aa6#:~:text=Threshold%20encryption%2C%20applied%20by%20Osmosis,of%20votes%20required%20for%20consensus. Osmosis Governance: https://docs.osmosis.zone/overview/governance.html   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coy Garrison, former counsel to SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce and partner at Steptoe & Johnson, discusses the role of regulation in the crypto industry and what the SEC could be doing to make crypto a better space. Show notes: how Coy started working with crypto why Coy decided to leave the SEC why recent comments by SEC chair Gary Gensler made him hopeful in how the SEC approaches crypto how the crypto industry has grown and evolved over the years whether the regulations are impeding innovation in the crypto space how stablecoins should be regulated what Coy thinks about the UST collapse what is the SEC’s take on decentralization whether ETH is centralized and whether it is a commodity  why the SEC has not approved a BTC spot ETF   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Coinchange: https://coinchange.io  Ava Labs: https://avax.network The Graph: https://thegraph.com/graph-day   EPISODE LINKS Coy Garrison Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coygarrison/   Steptoe & Johnson: https://www.steptoe.com/en/   Previous coverage of Unchained on regulation: Why the SEC’s Proposed Rules Affecting DeFi Could Violate the First Amendment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-secs-proposed-rules-affecting-defi-could-violate-the-first-amendment/ Why Crypto Twitter’s Disrespect Toward Regulators Is a ‘Really Bad Business Decision’: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-crypto-twitters-disrespect-toward-regulators-is-a-really-bad-business-decision/ Can a DeF Smart Contract Be Regulated? Two CFTC Commissioners Discuss: https://unchainedpodcast.com/can-a-defi-smart-contract-be-regulated-two-cftc-commissioners-discuss/ Terra/Luna:  Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-terra-collapsed-and-whether-an-algo-stablecoin-can-ever-succeed/ Did Someone Deliberately Attack Terra/Luna to Kick off a Death Spiral?: https://unchainedpodcast.com/did-someone-deliberately-attack-terra-luna-to-kick-off-a-death-spiral/ The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-kevin-zhou-on-why-he-knew-terra-would-crash/ The 5 Biggest Lessons From Terra/Luna’s Collapse, According to Tascha Che:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-5-biggest-lessons-from-terra-lunas-collapse-according-to-tascha-che/ Here’s Why USDN De-Pegged From the Dollar – And Why UST Might Too: https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-de-pegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/   Bitcoin Futures ETF vs Spot ETF: https://medium.com/@laurashin/why-investment-experts-say-a-spot-bitcoin-etf-would-be-superior-to-bitcoin-futures-etfs-aaab862262ff   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cobie, co-founder of Lido and UpOnlyTv, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, talk about surviving a crypto bear market, the Terra collapse, lessons they’ve learned from their mistakes, and much more. Show highlights: whether Chris and Cobie think crypto is in a bear market why Chris says these are the times to buy what effect the Terra debacle will have on the crypto industry why Chris was expecting UST to blow up why Chris thinks there is going to be another massive liquidation event whether an algo stablecoin could work why bear markets are sometimes a good thing how USDT was stress tested and proved its resilience how macro is affecting the crypto space and what the role of the Fed is when will we see the bottom of this bear market how meme coins are the symptoms of a broken system why this crypto cycle is different whether regulations are helping VCs rather than the retail investors why risky assets are the ones that could increase 10,000x  whether the future of crypto is multichain or not how developers signal what ecosystem is going to win in the next expansion cycle whether Cobie thinks staking is dying how Chris judges market bottoms and tops what lessons Cobie and Chris have learned from their mistakes what innovations will catalyze the next bull cycle what needs to happen in the future for crypto to succeed Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Episode Links   Cobie Twitter: https://twitter.com/cobie  UpOnlyTv: https://uponly.tv/ Substack: https://cobie.substack.com/ L1 trading: https://cobie.substack.com/p/trading-the-metagame?s=r Death of staking: https://cobie.substack.com/p/apecoin-and-the-death-of-staking?s=r Token unlocks: https://cobie.substack.com/p/on-the-meme-of-market-caps-and-unlocks?s=r Cycle Tweets: Why “the next cycle” reasoning scares him https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1524965475813568512 What projects will survive the bear https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1469253171885318146 His call to “buy” on March 12 2020 https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1238282793244860417 Which VCs will win https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1515667977118826500    Chris Burniske LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/burniske/ Twitter https://twitter.com/cburniske Previous Unchained episode https://unchainedpodcast.com/chris-burniske-a-blank-slate-of-state/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/chris-burniske-of-placeholder-on-the-downsides-of-icos/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/want-to-diversify-your-portfolio-try-bitcoin-say-arks-chris-burniske-and-coinbases-adam-white/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-value-a-crypto-asset/ Cycle Tweets Feb 2022 bear call https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1495468570708426754 March 2022 bear call https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1523021991619428352  November 2021 top call https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1457884538806308868  DCA advice https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1525906152881459200 https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1500593438433021952  What could knock the market further down https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1525157945079496705 https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524260987787902978  2017 ATH calls https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524838447784947712 https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524524188366635008  Trying to time the bottom https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1523573129431240710  Chris x Cobie Luna https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524280637431164929  Feeling sorry for people who have lost $ https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524267901456248832 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tascha Che, founder of Tascha Labs, unpacks the Terra/Luna debacle and reveals what she believes are the five main takeaways from its collapse. Here are some highlights from the show: how stablecoin issuers make money what caused Terra’s downfall why Tascha is bullish on algo stablecoins whether she believes undercollateralized stablecoins can work how fast market cap expansion without actual network effect equals death for stablecoins why she doesn’t believe a stablecoin’s network effects mean much for its success why small(er) stablecoins are better how blockchains mirror national economies  which stablecoins is Tascha excited about how FRAX is a stablecoin that resembles fiat currencies whether the UST collapse will affect the stablecoin development and further regulation how cross-chain agreements would be helpful for the stability of the crypto ecosystem Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021       Coinchange: https://coinchange.io  The Graph: https://thegraph.com/graphday    Episode Links   Tascha Che Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TaschaLabs Tascha Labs:  https://taschalabs.com/  Tascha’s thread on nonobvious lessons from the Terra fallout:  https://twitter.com/TaschaLabs/status/1526276308119932928?s=20&t=SCxfocBJoQqTEvCHadjYxA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this episode, Kevin Zhou, the CEO of Galois Capital and long-time critic of UST, also joined the conversation. Show topics: the UST depeg and Terra collapse  Kevin on what it was like being one of the earliest naysayers of LUNA why Kevin believes that UST initially depegged and became a “fear cascade” how Galois Capital traded the UST depeg, from shorting LUNA to keeping their UST in Anchor until the last moment why Kevin was disappointed in the lack of transparency in how Luna Foundation Guard attempted to defend the UST peg the implications of UST’s collapse across the crypto and traditional financial markets  whether Terra’s decline will lead to more regulation in the crypto industry why Anchor was the “cancer” of the Terra system  why VCs are reticent to say something bad about protocols they don’t believe in why grifting is so much more prevalent in crypto  what Jump Trading had to do with the Terra collapse the difference between the way trading and VC firms interact with crypto the issues with the Terra 2 proposal without UST which chains are receiving the people leaving the Terra ecosystem  why Haseeb compared the collapse of UST to the collapse of the Soviet Union who Kevin believes should be reimbursed in the aftermath of the UST collapse how political considerations might affect how Terra continues to develop going forward why Terra NFTs were skyrocketing during the Terra meltdown whether crypto is in a bear or bull market Hosts   Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Guest Kevin Zhou, CEO of Galois Capital https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-zhou-82938324/    Previous Unchained Coverage   Nic Carter, Erik Voorhees, and Eric Wall on the collapse of UST https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-terra-collapsed-and-whether-an-algo-stablecoin-can-ever-succeed/  Do Kwon on backing UST with BTC ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/do-kwon-is-backing-ust-with-bitcoin-and-heres-what-else-he-is-building/ Kevin Zhou on the risk of UST’s death spiral https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-depegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/  Jon Wu on how Terra got depegged: https://unchainedpodcast.com/did-someone-deliberately-attack-terra-luna-to-kick-off-a-death-spiral/ Do Kwon on The Chopping Block https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xl8u7-KVwM    Haseeb’s summary of the Terra collapse: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/the-reign-of-terra-the-rise-and-fall-of-ust-208dabbc8e6e   Jon Wu’s write-up on the UST Depeg Article: https://www.notboring.co/p/terra-to-the-moon-and-back  Thread: https://twitter.com/jonwu_/status/1523793482850050048?s=20&t=lvB1zdz98wu5TE5emh4fCw    Terra Background Info  Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money  UST Mechanics: https://angelprotocol.medium.com/how-does-ust-work-ec7b2f6e2c2c UST Bank Run: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crash-of-terrausd-shakes-crypto-there-was-a-run-on-the-bank-11652371839 Speculation of a deliberate attack: https://onchainwizard.substack.com/p/how-to-make-800m-in-crypto-soros?s=r Do Kwon’s Proposed Terra’s Revival: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/05/13/do-kwon-proposes-restart-of-terra-blockchain-as-ust-luna-plummet/ Anchor: https://twitter.com/anchor_protocol  Terra 2.0: https://unchainedpodcast.com/do-kwon-has-a-new-plan-again/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Venture, Eric Wall, former Chief Investment Officer of Arcane Assets, and Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, discuss what happened with the TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA fiasco, Do Kwon’s responsibility, the impact on the crypto ecosystem, and much more. Show highlights:  how Erik used to feel that algo stablecoins were impossible and why he changed his mind why Eric considers that the demand for UST was tied to a sh*tcoin why Nic didn’t think LUNA would work how a stablecoin could theoretically be decentralized whether Nic, Eric, and Erik think this was a deliberate attack why they think whether or not there was a deliberate attack is not even relevant how the de-peg started with a liquidity issue on Curve why Nic thinks that Terra’s biggest mistake was the 19.5% APY on Anchor whether pursuing a decentralized stablecoin is a worthy goal what aspects of UST were decentralized, according to Erik whether algo stablecoins are dead or whether in the future, death spirals of algo stablecoins can be avoided why Erik believes that everything in the crypto space is an experiment, even BTC what it says that the VCs behind Terra knew were so reputable why Do Kwon's arrogance and inexperience might have caused this chaos whether Terra can be rebuilt whether this collapse imposes risks on other blockchains and other assets why the Luna Foundation Guard’s purchase of Bitcoin might have made the UST collapse even worse what Erik thinks about the global financial system and the US dollar how this event could trigger more regulation in the crypto space and why it might hurt the entire ecosystem how regulators might use the Terra case to impose CBDCs.   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance       Episode Links   Erik Vorhees  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees   Eric Wall Twitter: https://twitter.com/ercwl   Nic Carter Twitter: https://twitter.com/nic__carter   Previous Unchained Coverage of Terra Do Kwon on backing UST with BTC ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/do-kwon-is-backing-ust-with-bitcoin-and-heres-what-else-he-is-building/ Kevin Zhou on the risk of UST’s death spiral https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-de-pegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/  Jon Wu on how Terra got de-pegged: https://unchainedpodcast.com/did-someone-deliberately-attack-terra-luna-to-kick-off-a-death-spiral/ Terra Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money  UST Mechanics: https://angelprotocol.medium.com/how-does-ust-work-ec7b2f6e2c2c Luna Foundation Guard: https://lfg.org/team/ UST Bank Run: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crash-of-terrausd-shakes-crypto-there-was-a-run-on-the-bank-11652371839 Speculation of a deliberate attack: https://onchainwizard.substack.com/p/how-to-make-800m-in-crypto-soros?s=r Do Kwon’s Proposed Terra’s Revival: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/05/13/do-kwon-proposes-restart-of-terra-blockchain-as-ust-luna-plummet/ Terra Blockchain Halted: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/05/12/luna-issuer-terra-halts-blockchain-after-week-of-losses/ Upcoming Regulation https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/terra-stablecoin-loses-peg https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/146583/yellen-says-the-stablecoin-market-is-still-too-small-to-pose-systemic-risk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Wu, head of growth at Aztec Network, recaps a historically chaotic week in the Terra ecosystem that saw $UST depeg, Anchor depositors flee, and $LUNA fall 99%. Show highlights: how $UST, $LUNA, Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), and Anchor Protocol are supposed to work why Jon compares the Terra blockchain with VISA, LFG with the Fed, and Do Kwon with Jerome Powell how a previous $UST de-peg foreshadowed this week’s dystopian price action how a bitcoin short seemed to have kickstarted $UST’s depeg and why Jon thinks it was a deliberate attack why Luna Foundation Guard originally purchased Bitcoin – and how that plan backfired and made the Terra death spiral even more violent why $UST had such low liquidity this week – making it more susceptible to a bank run what Jon’s predictions are for $UST and $LUNA going forward what were the reasons behind Terra halting why Jon does not think this will be the end of algorithmic stablecoins why Jon thinks this should not affect ETH directly, even though there is a high amount of staked ETH in the Terra ecosystem   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io      Episode Links   Jon Wu Twitter https://twitter.com/jonwu_   Jon’s Write-Up on the UST Depeg Article: https://www.notboring.co/p/terra-to-the-moon-and-back  Thread: https://twitter.com/jonwu_/status/1523793482850050048?s=20&t=lvB1zdz98wu5TE5emh4fCw    Previous Unchained Coverage of Terra Do Kwon on backing UST with BTC ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/do-kwon-is-backing-ust-with-bitcoin-and-heres-what-else-he-is-building/ Kevin Zhou on the risk of UST’s death spiral https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-de-pegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/    Terra: Terra proposal to accelerate the burn of UST and increase the base pool: https://station.terra.money/proposal/1164  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/146254/terraform-labs-ceo-do-kwon-unveils-plan-to-restore-ust-peg Terra halting the network: https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1524785058296778752?s=20&t=FUJkFuN8PyxRoF9TCPgrGg Terra going live again: https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1524812171179327488?s=20&t=FUJkFuN8PyxRoF9TCPgrGg Regulatory risks: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/146426/the-sec-has-already-sued-terraform-labs-it-has-every-reason-to-investigate-ust-lawyers-say    Other Recaps on Terra:  CoinDesk on how Do Kwon was behind previous algorithmic stablecoin: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/05/11/usts-do-kwon-was-behind-earlier-failed-stablecoin-ex-terra-colleagues-say/  Rekt: https://rekt.news/luna-rekt/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix, and Ben Jones, cofounder and chief scientist at Optimism Foundation, discuss the current state of Ethereum Layer 2s, Optimism’s new governance structure, why Synthetix chose to build on Optimism, and more. Show topics: what Optimism and Synthetix are how zero-knowledge rollups differ from optimistic rollups why Synthetix decided to build on Optimism what makes L2s more enticing to build on than other L1s how Optimism’s governance is going to change with the launch of the Optimism Collective and OP token what issues Synthetix has had with Discord governance and early token voting, and how they have now solved this by forcing users to consolidate wallet addresses what retroactive public goods funding is and how it could create a “flywheel” of development on Optimism why whales might be excluded from Optimism’s token grant to Synthetix why Ben thinks the future is about the “superchain” rather than multi-chain  what Kain and Ben think about bridging between L2s and Mainnet why Optimism is a staunch backer of EIP 4844 how the merge could affect Optimism and Synthetix Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/    Episode Links   Guests Ben Jones: https://twitter.com/ben_chain Kain Warwick: https://twitter.com/kaiynne    Synthetix https://twitter.com/synthetix_io   Optimism https://twitter.com/optimismPBC    Optimism Collective https://optimism.mirror.xyz/gQWKlrDqHzdKPsB1iUnI-cVN3v0NvsWnazK7ajlt1fI    Synthetix Launching on Optimism https://blog.synthetix.io/optimism-launch-announcement/    Synthetix Governance https://docs.synthetix.io/governance/    Kain’s Blog https://blog.synthetix.io/author/kain/    Rollups What are the biggest risks to optimistic rollup chains? https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/01/05/rollup.html#:~:text=Anatomy%20of%20a%20fraud%20proof  What is the difference between optimistic and ZK rollups? And why did Synthetix choose Optimism? https://blog.matter-labs.io/optimistic-vs-zk-rollup-deep-dive-ea141e71e075    EIP 4844 https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-4844 https://www.eip4844.com/   The Merge https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ethereums-merge-was-delayed-and-why-it-wont-reduce-gas-fees-much/    Kain’s previous Unchained appearances Ethereum killers episode https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-solana-and-binance-smart-chain-could-take-ethereums-lead/ How Synthetix became the second-largest DeFi platform https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-synthetix-became-the-second-largest-defi-platform/ DeFi summer https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-comp-5xed-on-day-1-and-what-this-means-for-a-defi-bull-market/    Optimism’s Bridging Solution https://twitter.com/optimismPBC/status/1517548430297604096  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Golden, the owner of BAYC #7560 and host of Web3 Breakdowns, discusses the Otherdeed NFT drop that stalled Ethereum and burned over $150 million worth of ether. Show topics: what the Otherdeed mint is  Why Yuga Labs had buyers undergo a know-your-customer process in order to mint the NFTs why Eric was pretty certain a gas war was imminent in the hours leading up to the mint how KYC’d addresses played into the Otherdeed mint what Eric thought about Yuga Labs’s decision to scrap a Dutch auction in favor of a flat minting price why Eric does not believe Yuga Labs purposefully botched their smart contract, as many in the Ethereum community alleged why Eric was frustrated with Yuga Labs’s response on Twitter to the mint  why Eric does not think Otherside needs its own chain what effect the Otherdeed mint is having on other Yuga Labs-adjacent assets like ApeCoin and Bored Ape Yacht Club what Kodas are and why they are trading for tens of thousands of dollars why Eric is confident that Yuga Labs is well-positioned to follow through on their promises to build out a metaverse game Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io      Episode Links   Eric Golden https://twitter.com/ericgoldenx   Otherside https://otherside.xyz/   Otherdeed License ​​https://otherside.xyz/license Punk6529 thread: https://twitter.com/punk6529/status/1520697396119879680  CryptoGarga saying at least one term in the license would be changed:  https://twitter.com/CryptoGarga/status/1520818410149617666    Otherdeed Yuga Labs’ response to the sale: https://twitter.com/yugalabs/status/1520612362986078208  NFTs: https://opensea.io/collection/otherdeed  Canceling the Dutch auction https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/144298/yuga-labss-otherside-scraps-dutch-style-auction-for-nft-sale  0xcrumbs’s tweet showing there was more demand than supply: https://twitter.com/0xCrumbs/status/1520559050592817152?s=20&t=ngPe9YzByzwJbMa_N1hThw CoinDesk coverage: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/05/01/bayc-team-raises-285m-with-otherside-nfts-clogs-ethereum/ https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/05/04/the-yuga-labs-catastrophe-could-have-been-prevented/    Smart Contract Conversation Will Papper: https://twitter.com/WillPapper/status/1520592312379658241 Vitalik Buterin:  ​https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1520621813209784321    Kodas https://medium.com/@jseid212/koda-rarity-ranking-the-newest-creatures-in-the-yuga-lab-ecosystem-9e6adba0ab68  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this episode, Andre Cronje, the recently retired (sort of) DeFi developer, also joined the conversation. Show topics: why being doxxed led to Andre retiring (sort of) from crypto Andre’s response to Robert who calledl his departure from DeFi “an epic rug pull”  why Andre is back – and why he is working on “regulated” crypto products how the Otherside KYC’d NFT drop was an “absolute fail” where identity fits into the crypto space and why traditional and DeFi institutions alike are interested in the identity of their users Dalle 2 why the Bored Ape community likely sees the Yuga Labs Otherdeed NFT sale as a turning point why Robert would compare buying a BAYC NFT last year to purchasing BTC in 2010 main takeaways from Solana’s seven-hour outage and why designing a mempool (or multiple) is critical for the chain     Hosts   Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Guest Andre Cronje, DeFi OG https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-cronje    Show Topics   Andre Cronje’s Retirement https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-defi-og-is-leaving-crypto/ Andre Cronje’s return to regulated crypto https://andrecronje.medium.com/crypto-regulation-vs-regulated-crypto-aae56b36dcd8  Solana outage  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/144639/solana-restarted-after-seven-hour-outage-caused-by-surge-of-transactions https://twitter.com/0xEdgar/status/1521188981538537472 https://github.com/metaplex-foundation/metaplex-program-library/pull/417 Yuga Labs rakes in $317MM from the sale of Otherside land NFTs and causes huge congestion on Ethereum. https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/144549/otherside-land-nfts-sell-out-in-hours-as-yuga-labs-rakes-in-317-million Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

André Allen Anjos, who is better known as the crypto-friendly artist RAC, and David Greenstein, co-founder of Sound.xyz, a web3 music platform, analyze the current state of the web3 music scene and discuss how artists can leverage web3 tools to get paid at fair market value for their art.  Show highlights: RAC’s experience in the traditional music industry why David believes music is the most undervalued sector in the world – and how Sound and crypto can help value it correctly the different types of NFTs with which musicians like RAC are experimenting what Sound.xyz is and how it is helping artists unlock their fanbase and community why David is so passionate about creating a social experience when it comes to music NFTs Sound.xyz’s decision to allow artists to deploy their own smart contracts what RAC has made in NFT drops compared to Spotify streams why Sound.xyz was built with “editions” as the most common format for NFTs sold on the platform what makes blockchain technology well-suited for the music industry RAC’s crypto adventures: $TAPE, $RAC, and more … how the famous “Amen Break” sample would work as an NFT what artists will be measured by in the NFT world   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/    Episode Links   David Greenstein LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgreenstein/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/dgreenstein1?lang=en RAC Twitter: https://twitter.com/RAC Website: https://rac.fm/ Crypto Adventures RAC Token https://etherscan.io/address/0xc22b30e4cce6b78aaaadae91e44e73593929a3e9 https://v2.info.uniswap.org/pair/0xf744417d0a5fd18b5b18726ce1b48f931dfa32ea https://blog.ourzora.com/home/introducing-rac https://www.billboard.com/pro/rac-nfts-social-token-platform-racos-web3/ Music NFTs (w/ Sound.xyz embeds) https://rac.fm/nfts Discord https://discord.com/invite/rac Tokenized cassette tape https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/64760/ethereum-tokenized-cassette-dj-rac-zora-grammy Sound.xyz Website https://www.sound.xyz/ FAQs https://soundxyz.notion.site/soundxyz/Frequently-Asked-Questions-1-0e39e44edccb42f8b3c3ca5d93c703a9 Recent raise https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/15/sound-xyz-raises-5m-from-a16z-to-explore-how-web3-can-upend-the-economics-of-the-music-business/ Recent drops that are fun Bored Ape Yacht Club Band Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Perkins, president of CoinFund, a web3 investment firm, discusses his experience at the Crypto Bahamas conference before diving into an FTX.US proposal that would allow for direct trading of crypto derivatives in the US – which appears to be rocking the boat of certain regulators in D.C. Show topics: Chris’s two biggest takeaways from his Crypto Bahamas experience how Chris’s experience at Lehman Brothers and Citi prepared him for crypto  what issues arise via the plumbing of traditional financial markets why centralized intermediaries make derivatives trading efficient what FTX.US is proposing and how it could be a boon for retail traders how crypto settlement would work compared to the current batch trading method why the acquisition of LedgerX enabled FTX.US to make this proposal what license FTX.US feels like it no longer needs since it can settle derivative transactions on a blockchain whether FTX.US would expand to other derivatives and what that might do to an entity like CME what Chris is listening for in the CFTC’s public discussion surrounding FTX.US’s proposal  whether FTX.US’s proposal will be a partisan issue Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/  Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/    Episode Links   Chris Perkins LinkedIn:  ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-perkins-092569a/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/perkinscr97  CoinFund:  ​​https://twitter.com/coinfund_io    Coverage of the FTX.US Proposal Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-21/crypto-billionaire-rankles-wall-street-with-futures-trading-plan?sref=m9L277rN  Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2022/04/27/the-ftx-us-proposal-that-shook-congress-and-the-crypto-derivatives-world/ The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/143792/as-it-weighs-ftx-proposal-cftc-announces-a-roundtable-on-disintermediation  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/137304/cftc-opens-up-ftx-uss-derivatives-trading-model-to-public-comment  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/140026/ftx-derivatives-proposal-takes-center-stage-at-congressional-hearing-with-cftc-chairman  CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/03/10/ftxus-derivatives-unit-seeks-cftc-amendment-to-clear-margin-trades-directly-for-customers/ https://www.coindesk.com/video/recent-videos/ftx-us-to-meet-with-cftc-regarding-derivatives-trades/  Public comment:  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/137304/cftc-opens-up-ftx-uss-derivatives-trading-model-to-public-comment May roundtable:  https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8519-22 https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/04/19/ftx-plan-said-to-face-cftc-roundtable-next-month/ https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/143792/as-it-weighs-ftx-proposal-cftc-announces-a-roundtable-on-disintermediation CME opposition to proposal:  ​​https://www.marketsmedia.com/cme-to-oppose-ftx-clearing-proposal/   Unchained Coverage of FTX.US and LedgerX 2021: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-ftx-us-ledgerx-deal-indicates-crypto-ma-might-start-booming/  2019: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ledgerx-on-the-reasons-to-trade-bitcoin-options/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Wu, head of FTX ventures and gaming initiatives, discusses her role at FTX, what problems need to be addressed in the web3 gaming world, and her thoughts on APE and Yuga Labs as a board member of Apecoin DAO and investor in Yuga Labs. Show highlights: what Amy does at FTX how her background investing in gaming prepared her for her role at FTX Amy’s vision for FTX’s gaming studio how FTX is helping gaming studios get into web3 and NFTs why Amy thinks blockchain games are the evolution of the ‘free to play’ gaming archetype what best practices Amy believes web2 companies should implement when transitioning into web3 gaming why there is so much backlash against traditional companies incorporating NFTs (hint: it’s not just about environmental concerns) how FTX Ventures is looking to deploy capital and why it is so interested in Korea and India, specifically why Amy thinks the L1 wars will end with just a few winning chains why “consumer products” are going to be more important than high throughput blockchains in onboarding the next billion users what Amy’s role as a board member of Apecoin DAO is like what Amy thinks about APE and Yuga Labs trends for the rest of 2022: social media, dating apps, and more…   Tickets to the Cryptopians Book Clubs Go on Sale Today at 1pm ET! Today, Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm Eastern Time, we will sell the NFT tickets to five book clubs to discuss my book, The Cryptopians. All the book clubs, which are 90 minutes and limited to 22 participants each, will be hosted by me and will take place on my Discord from May 2nd to May 10th. The sale will will take place on Bitski: bitski.com/@laurashin/created   The dates and times for the book clubs are:  Monday, May 2, at 8 pm ET  Tuesday May 3, at 1pm ET with Lefteris Karapetsas, Griff Green, and Christoph Jentzsch of the DAO Thursday, May 5, at 12pm Monday, May 9, at 12pm ET with Andrey Ternovskiy of Chatroulette Tuesday, May 10, at 3pm ET   Again, the link for the sale is at https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created.    Also, join me for a Twitter Spaces, hosted by Bitski (https://twitter.com/bitski), at 12pm ET today.    Unchained Is Hiring!  Find out information on the three openings at Unchained and how to apply here:  part-time remote social media marketing manager:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-social-media-and-marketing-manager/ part-time remote editorial assistant: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/ part-time remote video/audio producer: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-video-audio-producer/a   Thank you to our sponsors! Ether Cards: https://galaxis.xyz Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Episode Links   Amy Wu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amytongwu/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/amytongwu    Roles FTX Gaming https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1495834891858100232 Apecoin DAO Board https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1504238389737967622  FTX Ventures https://ventures.ftx.com/    FTX Stuff Going On NFT lounge at Coachella https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1515407892693745665 FTX Ventures x SuperteamDAO (India) https://twitter.com/ajm_ftx/status/1510339725059629058 Acquisition of Good Luck Games https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1506308327399063557 Backlash `https://kotaku.com/nft-crypto-blcckchain-storybook-brawl-card-f2p-steam-re-1848708120  FTX Africa https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1504095099873280005  Com2uS, a publicly-traded company, launched a token on FTX `https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1501675620832583684  FTX launch in Europe https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1500902895880974340 YGG India push for FTX https://twitter.com/amytongwu/status/1499075404887465994  FTX Future Fund https://ftxfuturefund.org/announcing-the-future-fund/  $400 million raise w/ plans for M&A’s https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-31/bankman-fried-s-ftx-valued-at-32-billion-after-latest-round    Miscellaneous Blockchain gaming backlash https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgd78d/the-crypto-revolution-is-an-existential-crisis-for-video-games  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, discusses a proposed rule by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that has massive implications for the free-speech rights of crypto software developers in the US. Show highlights: why an SEC proposal changing the definition of “exchange” could violate the right to free speech of US crypto developers whether the SEC is going after DeFi on purpose – as its 200+ page proposal never mentions crypto or DeFi what precedent Peter has found that should prohibit the SEC from taking away software developers’ right to free speech how Peter and Coin Center structured their recent letter of comment to the SEC what the next steps (such as a lawsuit?) should be for the crypto community if the rule goes into effect  why writing software is part of someone's right to free speech what implications the proposed rule could have on AMMs what happens next: when could the rule be put into place? Unchained is hiring!  Find out information on the three openings at Unchained and how to apply here:  part-time remote social media marketing manager: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-social-media-and-marketing-manager/ part-time remote editorial assistant: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/ part-time remote video/audio producer: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-video-audio-producer/ Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs! On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests.    The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/  Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/   Episode Links   Peter Van Valkenburgh Coin Center profile: https://www.coincenter.org/people/peter-van-valkenburgh/ Twitter:  ​https://twitter.com/valkenburgh    The SEC Proposal Proposal: ​https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-10#  Comments on the proposal: https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-02-22/s70222.htm  Coin Center’s/Peter’s comment: https://www.coincenter.org/a-new-sec-proposal-has-a-serious-change-hidden-within-its-complex-language/ Coin Center blog on its comment: https://www.coincenter.org/a-new-sec-proposal-has-a-serious-change-hidden-within-its-complex-language/  Gabriel Shapiro’s comment: https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1516079145213739013  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this episode, Laura Shin, the host of Unchained and author of The Cryptopians, also joined the conversation. Show topics: how people have responded to The Cryptopians why traditional publishers were reticent to publish the story revealing the alleged DAO attacker’s identity what lessons can be learned from North Korea’s alleged involvement in the Ronin bridge exploit what zero-knowledge proofs work and how a miscalculation in a whitepaper almost caused major issues in the crypto world this week how math proofs and reporting specifications work in the crypto space why security engineers, like samczsun, are so hard to come by how an attacker was able to steal ~$80 million from Beanstalk in a governance attack  @hosseeb vs. @haseeb  the difference between being in crypto and covering it as a journalist – and why Laura sees herself as more a “referee” than a participant in the crypto space whether DeFi hackers can actually cash out of their positions why Tarun is worried about Ethereum’s security in the wake of the merge being delayed even further what staking derivatives are, and how traditional are using Lido to lever up why traditional funds getting into crypto has Tarun worried about Anchor  why the guys think Cosmos is more popular than Polkadot Episode Links   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Laura Shin, the crypto referee https://twitter.com/laurashin    Helpful Information North Korea’s interest in crypto:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-north-korea-is-interested-in-cryptocurrency/  The Merge delayed https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ethereums-merge-was-delayed-and-why-it-wont-reduce-gas-fees-much/  https://bitcoinist.com/ethereum-merge-headed-for-another-delay/ https://twitter.com/korpi87/status/1513459657381068812 Beanstalk rekt for $180M https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/142272/ethereum-based-stablecoin-protocol-beanstalk-loses-more-than-80-million-to-exploit Crazy attack using flash loans to insta-ship governance proposals: https://rekt.news/beanstalk-rekt/ https://twitter.com/kelvinfichter/status/1515735718840184835    The Cryptopians   http://bit.ly/cryptopians    UST and Anchor worries   https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-de-pegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/   Lido and centralization   https://www.suresats.com/post/ethereum-s-centralization-dilemma-through-lido-staking   Cosmos vs. Polkadot   https://medium.com/coinmonks/polkadot-vs-cosmos-which-one-is-the-best-246e67b25d6c    MakerDAO technical docs   https://docs.makerdao.com/   Zero-Knowledge explainer   https://www.notboring.co/p/zero-knowledge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two policy experts, Chris Lehane, chief strategy officer at Haun Ventures, and Niki Christoff, the founder of Christoff and Co., discuss how the crypto industry has performed in Washington and how it can better educate more regulators and politicians about the technology. Show highlights:  Niki and Chris’ background how Niki and Chris would grade the performance of crypto companies in Washington what parallels Chris can draw between crypto in the 2020s and FAANG in the mid-90s whether having a plethora of crypto policy groups helps or hurts crypto in Washington whether calling politicians and regulators names and making memes of them helps or hurts the crypto industry an effective way crypto companies can prompt lawmakers and regulators to prioritize crypto policy why it can be strategically smarter to try to convince incumbents to adopt pro-crypto policy over supporting challengers why Chris thinks crypto could be a bipartisan topic what Chris and Niki think about the fact that Democratic candidates received more donations from people working in the crypto industry than Republicans did the three types of crypto users that are valuable to political candidates what Niki and Chris would tell Senator Elizabeth Warren about crypto if they were to meet with her today what effect crypto might have on midterms why the terminology native to crypto may have to change   Unchained is hiring!  Find out information on the three openings at Unchained and how to apply here:  part-time remote social media marketing manager: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-social-media-and-marketing-manager/ part-time remote editorial assistant: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/ part-time remote video/audio producer: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-video-audio-producer/ Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs! On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests.    The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created   Here is the schedule:  Monday May 2, at 8pm ET/5pm PT with Laura Shin Tuesday, May 3, at 7pm CET/1pm ET/10am PT with guests Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, and Griff Green  Thursday, May 5, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with Laura Shin Monday, May 9, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with guest Andrey Ternovskiy Tuesday, May 10, at 9pm CET/3pm ET/12pm PT with Laura Shin If you'd like to participate, be sure to mark your calendars for the sale time on April 26th. Hope to see you in one of the book clubs! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021            Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/   Episode Links   Chris Lehane LinkedIn: ​https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lehane-2562535/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrislehane  Joining Haun Ventures https://twitter.com/chrislehane/status/1506395461187354624      Niki Christoff LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikichristoff/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikiChristoff    Miscellaneous Links Overview of crypto and politics https://www.citizen.org/article/capitol-coin-cryptocurrency-lobbying-revolving-door-report/  Biden’s executive order Thread of official statements: https://twitter.com/crypto_council/status/1501606327621197835 Fact sheet: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/09/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-innovation-in-digital-assets/  Overview: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/09/heres-whats-in-bidens-executive-order-on-crypto.html  New bill from Senator Warren to crack down on sanctions evasion: https://www.coincenter.org/new-crypto-sanctions-bill-targets-publishing-code-facilitating-transactions/ DeFi Education Fund  https://medium.com/@defieducationfund Blockchain Association https://theblockchainassociation.org/news/  Crypto Council for Innovation https://twitter.com/crypto_council/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Beiko, the Ethereum Foundation coordinator for core developers, discusses his recent estimation that Ethereum’s merge, where the network transitions from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, will be delayed until the second half of 2022. Show topics: what the Ethereum merge is  why an upcoming difficulty bomb could force developers to delay the merge what shadow forks are and how they affect the decision to go forward with the merge how network difficulty is used in Ethereum to keep a balance between the blockchain and miners Tim’s (purposefully vague) timeline for the merge how the merge could increase Ethereum’s throughput by 9% – and thus potentially reduce gas fees slightly how the Ethereum Foundation plans to address gas fees and scaling issues post-merge Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs! On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests.    The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created   Here is the schedule:  Monday May 2, at 8pm ET/5pm PT with Laura Shin Tuesday, May 3, at a time TBD with guests Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, and Griff Green  Thursday, May 5, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with Laura Shin Monday, May 9, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with guest Andrey Ternovskiy Tuesday, May 10, at 9pm CET/3pm ET/12pm PT with Laura Shin If you'd like to participate, be sure to mark your calendars for the sale time on April 26th. Hope to see you in one of the book clubs!   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/  Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/   Episode Links   Tim Beiko Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimBeiko    Related Content Tim’s post on the merge FAQs: https://github.com/timbeiko/eth-roadmap-faq#merge-timelines Tim’s tweets from this week: https://twitter.com/TimBeiko/status/1514423985517203458  https://twitter.com/TimBeiko/status/1514010098145759232 Previous Unchained appearance discussing the merge and EIP 1559: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereums-eip-1559-will-solve-some-problems-but-big-ones-will-remain/  Shadow fork threads https://twitter.com/parithosh_j/status/1513129893235769346?s=20&t=w63Iw2RPkldNMnRS4PJdjA https://twitter.com/vdWijden/status/1513540976438091779  Unchained episode about how Ethereum 2.0 will work: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereum-2-0-what-you-need-to-know/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart Levi, co-head of the Technology Transaction and Intellectual Property Group at Skadden Arps, and Marta Belcher, general counsel and Head of Policy at Protocol Labs, break down the legal issues surrounding NFTs specifically in the context of Yuga Labs’ recent purchase of CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights. Show highlights: the definitions and differences between copyrights, trademarks, and rights of publicity (name, image, likeness) how NFT projects have evolved in the past 12-18 months and what that means for the rights of NFT holders why NBA Top Shot’s licensing model is the best model for famous brands entering the NFT space how the popularity of PFPs and the open-source ethos of crypto has led to confusion regarding the commercial rights of NFT holders what you are getting when you buy an NFT (hint, it’s not copyright) the misconceptions surrounding Yuga Labs’ acquisition of Crypto Punks and Meebits why Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders most likely cannot use the Bored Ape Yacht Club brand or logo what issues web3 projects face in getting NFT holders to accept terms and conditions why web3 projects should protect their trademark what a Creative Commons license is, and how it can be used in the NFT space what sort of licenses exist in the NFT space why secondary sales and transfers of NFTs pose such massive problems for copyright and trademark owners how marketplaces are handling terms and conditions what NFT projects can do to help the transfer of copyrights and trademarks   Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs! On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests.    The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created   Here is the schedule:  Monday May 2, at 8pm ET/5pm PT with Laura Shin Tuesday, May 3, at a time TBD with guests Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, and Griff Green  Thursday, May 5, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with Laura Shin Monday, May 9, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with guest Andrey Ternovskiy Tuesday, May 10, at 9pm CET/3pm ET/12pm PT with Laura Shin If you'd like to participate, be sure to mark your calendars for the sale time on April 26th. Hope to see you in one of the book clubs! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021            Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/   Episode Link:   Marta Belcher https://www.linkedin.com/in/martabelcher  https://twitter.com/MartaBelcher    Stuart Levi https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartlevi/ Content on NFT IP/Legal Issues Josh Durham on IP rights and NFTs https://lexdao.substack.com/p/protecting-your-nft-personal-property-rights?s=r Punk 6529 on CryptoPunks and Yuga Labs https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502595586960367617.html Decrypt on stolen IP https://decrypt.co/96637/nfts-have-a-problem-with-copyright-theft Why IP rights are meaningless https://twitter.com/nftlawguy/status/1509233036369416192 IP questions from DC Investor https://twitter.com/iamDCinvestor/status/1509187304027529222 The Copyright NFT bible https://medium.com/initc3org/copyright-vulnerabilities-in-nfts-317e02d8ae26  What Exactly Do You Get When You Buy an NFT? Three Lawyers Discuss https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-exactly-do-you-get-when-you-buy-an-nft-three-lawyers-discuss/   Difference between copyright and trademark ​​https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/trademark-vs-copyright   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhou, co-founder of Galois Capital, discusses a crazy week in the world of algorithmic stablecoins that saw USDN de-peg from the dollar and Terra unveil plans to create a new liquidity pool on Curve to strengthen UST. Show highlights: how USDN and Waves works what made USD de-peg why Kevin thinks algorithmic stablecoins fail so often what Kevin thinks about backing UST with BTC how 4pool works in the context of Curve Finance, 3pool, UST, Frax Finance, and Redacted Cartel why Kevin believes Anchor is the reason UST could de-peg what might happen to Terra and the crypto market writ large if UST were to de-peg why lowering yields on Anchor could depress LUNA’s price by 8x how UST and LUNA redemptions work Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/  Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/ Episode Links   Kevin Zhou LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-zhou-82938324/  Galois Capital: https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital    UST Proposal https://agora.terra.money/t/ust-goes-interchain-the-4pool-and-redacted-cartel/5648 Why Terra would want to implement 4pool (in the context of the curve wars) https://twitter.com/CryptoHarry_/status/1510244225304117252  Do Kwon on trying to make DAI less relevant https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1511017532764803078  FXS price jump https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/04/04/frax-finances-fxs-jumps-as-terra-introduces-stablecoin-pool-4pool/  Galois Twitter threads https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1511455703642394628  https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1511198930951938049  UST vs LUNA market cap risk https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1506372692005593090  https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1511198930951938049  https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1507651829366145030  Why curve wars matter https://twitter.com/JackNiewold/status/1511484763630194699  Terraform Labs’ CEO Do Kwon’s appearance on Unchained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMRbP_b4JXM  Anchor https://medium.com/@_0xfr/anchor-protocol-how-the-dev-team-rigged-liquidations-a188fb87a99f  USDN Recap of Waves x Alameda Drama https://thedefiant.io/waves-ftx-ponzi-accusations/  OG thread pointing out Waves market manipulation https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1509581295621451779  https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1502381061925261312  Waves founder blaming Alameda https://twitter.com/sasha35625/status/1510589983920656385 Governance proposal to kill Alameda’s short ​​https://unchainedpodcast.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0085a41334b3edf854fd51f9b&id=2fb7761d5b&e=3c1178619e   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: how social engineering was used in the $600 million+ Ronin bridge hack what bridge infrastructure needs to be built (note: if someone wants to build a cross-chain Etherscan, it sounds like Tarun would fund it) why the Inverse Finance hack impressed Tom how Open Zeppelin found and patched a $15 billion vulnerability for Convex Finance why transitioning to token governance might be an issue for Convex what made USDN de-peg why Tarun think algorithmic stablecoin creators are a little crazy the elegance of the Bitcoin whitepaper what their biggest takeaways from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter are why Tarun thinks FTX investing in IEX is actually a huge deal   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner  Topics Covered Ronin hack https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-29/hackers-steal-590-million-from-ronin-in-latest-bridge-attack https://decrypt.co/96811/nearly-7m-hacked-ronin-funds-sent-privacy-mixer-tornado-cash https://roninblockchain.substack.com/p/community-alert-ronin-validators?s=w More hacks: Inverse Finance, Convex Rugpull disclosure https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/04/02/defi-lender-inverse-finance-exploited-for-156-million/ https://twitter.com/bertcmiller/status/1510284763332071427 https://blog.openzeppelin.com/15-billion-rugpull-vulnerability-in-convex-finance-protocol-uncovered-and-resolved/ USDN Peg broken, drama ensues ​​https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/140475/drama-erupts-around-the-waves-blockchain-project-and-trading-firm-alameda  https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/neutrino-usd Why is Elon taking a stake in Twitter? https://decrypt.co/96809/dogecoin-cheerleader-elon-musk-takes-9-2-stake-in-twitter https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-to-name-elon-musk-to-its-board-of-directors-11649162614?mod=article_inline FTX purchasing a stake in IEX https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftx-us-and-iex-join-forces-to-help-shape-market-structure-for-digital-assets-301517550.html Lightning Labs' $70 million raise https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/140560/lightning-labs-taro-protocol-stablecoins-fundraise  Gauntlet raises $23.8M led by Ribbit, now a Unicorn - congrats Tarun! https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-quant-firm-gauntlet-valued-at-1b-following-series-b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Brock, general manager of TBD at Block, discusses how TBD’s yet-to-be-released DEX is structured, explains why he thinks decentralized solutions do not necessarily need blockchains, and tells the humorous story about how Jack Dorsey convinced him to start working on a Bitcoin project. Show highlights: what TBD is and what its relation to Block (formerly Square) is how TBD differs from Spiral, another Block-based Bitcoin firm how tbDEX works and why building on-ramps and off-ramps to crypto is so important who will be supplying the liquidity for tbDEX why Mike is passionate about creating digital identity infrastructure how tbDEX will incorporate digital identity tooling into its protocol what Mike thinks about Vitalik Buterin’s misgivings concerning tbDEX’s design why Mike fell down the rabbit hole (thanks Jack Dorsey) what lessons Mike learned at CashApp that he is using at TBD which stablecoin TBD will be working with why Mike is not a believer in DeFi why tbDEX (or, seemingly, other TBD products) will not utilize tokens Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021            Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/ Episode Links   Mike Brock Twitter; https://twitter.com/brockm  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-brock-9030813/  Introduction to TBD: https://twitter.com/brockm/status/1415795490914856961    TBD Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbd54566975?lang=en  GitHub: https://github.com/TBD54566975/tbdex-whitepaper  Whitepaper https://tbd54566975.ghost.io/introducing-tbdex/  https://tbdex.io/whitepaper.pdf  Careers: https://block.xyz/careers?search=tbd  Other Origin of name: https://twitter.com/TBD54566975/status/1424818221652324355  Vitalik’s reticence: https://cryptopotato.com/vitalik-buterin-tells-how-jack-dorseys-tbd-might-build-the-bitcoin-dex/    Other Topics Spiral (lightning development). Brock helped set up Spiral.  Twitter: https://twitter.com/spiralbtc  Website: https://spiral.xyz/  CashApp Impressive BTC revenue: https://decrypt.co/93793/block-bitcoin-earnings-cash-app-hit-nearly-2-billion-q4  Lightning network: https://blockworks.co/cash-app-integrates-lightning-network-for-bitcoin-payments/ Aaron Levie https://twitter.com/levie  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arjun Bhuptani, founder of Connext and bridging expert, breaks down the Ronin bridge exploit that led to a hacker stealing $600 million+ and discusses different bridge designs that could limit future attacks. Show highlights: how a hacker was able to drain more than $600 million from Ronin bridge the difference between DeFi hacks and the Ronin bridge exploit, which was a social-engineering based attack why multisig bridges are susceptible to social engineering attacks why Arjun believes the Ronin hacker is a sophisticated entity whether Sky Mavis will be able to reimburse users the different attack vectors for cross-chain bridges what Arjun thinks about different bridge designs Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/    Episode Links Arjun Bhuptani Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani    Ronin Hack Latest update from Ronin https://twitter.com/Ronin_Network/status/1509284549020188672  https://twitter.com/Psycheout86/status/1509134627319033863  Community alert explaining the hack: https://roninblockchain.substack.com/p/community-alert-ronin-validators?s=w Etherscan of the hack taking place https://etherscan.io/address/0x098b716b8aaf21512996dc57eb0615e2383e2f96 Reactions Mudit Gupta – the hacker is sophisticated https://twitter.com/Mudit__Gupta/status/1508868214075310091 Arjun Bhuptani – why multisig bridges are vulnerable https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani/status/1508861771595059205 https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani/status/1508861771595059205  Ed Zitron – social engineering https://ez.substack.com/p/the-infinite-exploitation-of-cryptocurrency Information on Ronin https://twitter.com/joel_john95/status/1486809221962289154  Why bridging is hard https://blog.connext.network/the-interoperability-trilemma-657c2cf69f17  Arjun’s latest article on Optimistic bridges https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani/status/1509582024104939523?t=4HCssiWfO5v65ehXRnWL3A&s=19  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do Kwon is the CEO of Terraform Labs and a director at Luna Foundation Guard. On Unchained, he explains why LFG is spearheading a plan to partially back Terra’s $15 billion stablecoin UST with Bitcoin. He also dives into another project idea that would transform developer salaries into financial assets that, as far as I can tell, he has not yet spoken about publicly.   Part 1: Everything you need to know about Terra, UST, and BTC. how Terra works and why Do thinks UST will soon be the third-largest stablecoin why Do and LFG decided to back UST with bitcoin why Do thinks LUNA’s price will continue to appreciate despite UST’s new dependence on bitcoin how UST might perform if the price of a bitcoin were to crash why diversifying UST with different types of collateral could help Terra politically how LFG plans to use bridges, smart contracts, and an AMM reserve pool to secure its bitcoin why Do thinks Terra is now a Layer 2 project for Bitcoin who is deciding to purchase bitcoin and who determines what other assets to purchase as collateral for UST how a bitcoin reserve pool would help UST not de-peg from the dollar whether Do thinks Anchor’s 19%+ yield is sustainable and why Anchor is moving to other chains   Part 2: Do, the self-described “toymaker” of DeFi. why Do is fascinated with creating a fungible labor market how developer working hours could become a token traded on an AMM and used to take out loans why Do thinks developer salaries in crypto should be cyclical how on-chain identity and history will be similar to credit scores why Do is a personal fan of Thorchain – but is reticent to use it as a bridge for LFG why Do is interested in Prism Protocol what Do thinks the impact of a pro-crypto president will have on South Korea   Book events Keep up on all the latest events here!  https://www.laurashin.com/book/#tour-dates   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021            Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto   Upcoming Book Events Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited!   Tuesday, April 5: I will be doing a reading and signing hosted by the City of Miami Beach and Future Perfect Ventures at Sky Yard from 6-8 pm. Jalak Jobanputra, CEO of Future Perfect Ventures will be interviewing me. You need to RSVP by April 1 to dianafontani@miamibeachfl.gov.     Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am.    Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD).    May 4-7: I will be in conversation with author Jimmy Soni at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7.    May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD.    Episode Links   Do Kwon https://twitter.com/stablekwon Previous Unchained appearance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=683fXfedOZY    Terra Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money  Luna Foundation Guard: https://lfg.org/team/   LFG Purchases Pomp – the $10B Bitcoin Bet on Stablecoins https://pomp.substack.com/p/the-10-billion-bitcoin-bet-on-stablecoins?s=w 3/10 BTC purchase https://twitter.com/LFG_org/status/1503680315969060864  $1 BTC billion purchase https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1496162889085902856  TFL x LFG relationship https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1502225674840555523    Terraform Labs proposal to make Terra inter-chain https://agora.terra.money/t/ust-goes-interchain-reasonable-strats-part-five/5024  Anchor Going Cross Chain to Avalanche https://twitter.com/CryptoHarry_/status/1504309092411920387  Jump’s BTC reserve proposal https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1506736478449127425    Recent worries about Anchor APY being sustainable  Do said Anchor yield shouldn't be sustainable (marketing scheme) https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1503154137420079107  Arca + Polychain proposal: https://twitter.com/jdorman81/status/1502024302526304262    South Korea’s new President https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Cryptocurrencies/South-Korea-s-incoming-president-vows-big-cryptocurrency-push    SEC subpoena https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/12/10/most-influential-2021-do-kwon/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Beal, head of ecosystem development at Forta and author of the 30,000 Feet newsletter, discusses the dramatic governance proposal on Juno Network, a Cosmos-based project, where Juno holders are voting to confiscate millions of dollars in tokens from a whale who allegedly gamed the Juno airdrop. Show topics: how the Juno airdrop worked  how the whale was able to amass more JUNO tokens than the team wanted why the Juno Network community feels threatened by an entity holding so many JUNO tokens what the whale did to invoke the ire of the Juno Network community the community’s vote on whether to confiscate up to 98.5% of the whale’s tokens what three courses of action the community is considering to confiscate the whale’s JUNO what Andy’s biggest takeaways are from the dramatic governance moment Come to an Event on Laura's Book Tour! https://www.laurashin.com/book/#tour-dates   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/    Episode Links   Andy Beal https://twitter.com/ajbeal  Andy's newsletter: https://30000feet.substack.com   Juno Network drama Andy’s write-up https://30000feet.substack.com/p/issue-60-juno-whale?s=r  Decrypt coverage https://decrypt.co/95435/juno-network-dao-proposal-16-voted-to-revoke-tokens-from-whale Coindesk coverage https://www.coindesk.com/video/recent-videos/why-junos-vote-to-confiscate-a-whales-funds-is-a-watershed-for-blockchain-governance/ https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/03/16/junos-proposal-16-vote-is-a-watershed-for-blockchain-governance-for-better-or-worse/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this week’s episode, Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs, also dropped by. Show topics: why Do decided to make millions of dollars in bets that LUNA will appreciate in value next year what Robert and Do, as crypto/DeFi founders, think about Crypto Twitter how the difficulty of building payment systems led to Do launching Terra Gauntlet’s recent funding round (and what it does) takeaways from Yuga Labs purchasing CryptoPunk and Meebits IP, ApeCoin, Otherside, and more how NFTs could change the game for publishing and content IP industries whether an NFT collection’s cultural relevance is similar to an L1’s TVL Bored Ape Yacht Club as the first NFT franchise why Haseeb is so disappointed with Axie Infinity, VCs, and other P2E games what Facebook’s foray into NFTs might look like Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Guest Do Kwon, founder of Terra https://twitter.com/stablekwon    Episode Topics Gauntlet raises $23.8M led by Ribbit, now a Unicorn - congrats Tarun! https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-quant-firm-gauntlet-valued-at-1b-following-series-b Do Kwon on a Terra betting spree ($1M, then $10M) https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/137832/terraform-labs-ceo-do-kwon-seals-10-million-bet-over-luna-price Yuga Labs launches Apecoin, Apes buy Punks, teases metaverse, plans land sales, closes $450M raise led by a16z https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/03/18/what-is-apecoin-and-who-is-behind-it/ https://twitter.com/yugalabs/status/1505014986556551172 https://twitter.com/yugalabs/status/1502420714527334406?s=11 NFTs coming to Instagram? Minting + PFPs? https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/03/15/mark-zuckerberg-says-nfts-are-coming-soon-to-instagram/ Info on Axie Infinity https://research.thetie.io/axie-infinity/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder NEAR Protocol, and George Kikvadze, executive vice chairman at BitFury Group, both of whom have called Ukraine “home” at one point in their lives, discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the role crypto is playing in the war, and the various avenues crypto users can donate to. Show topics: George and Illia’s background in crypto George and Ilia’s connection to Ukraine why crypto is so popular in Ukraine what supplies are being purchased with donated crypto how to donate crypto to Ukraine why Patreon blocked donations to Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO George and Illia’s estimation of the amount of crypto donations received by Ukraine what department of Ukraine’s government spearheaded its adoption of crypto what happened with the canceled airdrop  the different organizations accepting crypto donations in Ukraine   Upcoming Book Events   Friday, March 25: I’ll be on the Harvard campus at HBS Aldrich 011 from 4 pm ET - 5 pm ET. This is *not* open to the general public, but we have a few spots we can give away, first come, first serve. Email hello@unchainedpodcast.com, subject line "Harvard reading."   Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited!   Tuesday, April 5: I will be doing a reading and signing hosted by the City of Miami Beach and Future Perfect Ventures at Sky Yard from 6-8 pm. Jalak Jobanputra, CEO of Future Perfect Ventures will be interviewing me. You need to RSVP by April 1 to dianafontani@miamibeachfl.gov.     Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am.    Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD).    May 4-7: I will be at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7.    May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD.    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021            Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto Episode Links   George Kikvadze, executive vice chairman at BitFury Group Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitfuryGeorge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-kikvadze-6256175/   Illia Polosukhin, co-founder NEAR Protocol Twitter: ​https://twitter.com/ilblackdragon  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/illia-polosukhin-77b6538/  Raising $ for Ukraine via Unchain Fund https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-09/ukraine-s-crypto-community-sends-donation-support-after-russia-invasion  https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/03/01/absolutely-surreal-inside-a-fund-raising-millions-in-crypto-for-besieged-ukraine/  https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/26/22952357/ukraine-bitcoin-ethereum-donation-vitalik-buterin https://thedefiant.io/ukraine-blockchain-development-teams/    Unchain Fund: https://unchain.fund/  Come Back Alive: https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/ Government Website for Crypto Donations: ​​https://donate.thedigital.gov.ua/    Ukraine x Crypto Ukraine purchasing supplies https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/03/07/ukraine-is-buying-bulletproof-vests-and-night-vision-goggles-using-crypto/  https://twitter.com/abornyakov/status/1502231351273172992?s=21 Live update from on Ukrainian crypto funds received https://www.elliptic.co/blog/live-updates-millions-in-crypto-crowdfunded-for-the-ukrainian-military  Ukraine accepting crypto: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282  Ukraine NFT launch to reflect history https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/13/ukraine-nft-history-of-russian-invasion-war   Unchained Coverage https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-ukraine-is-leveraging-crypto-in-its-fight-against-russia/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-in-the-first-crypto-war-how-should-the-money-be-spent/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his first podcast appearance ever, Punk6529, known for writing massive threads on Crypto Twitter, discusses the cultural and historical significance of Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs purchasing the intellectual property rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs. Topics: how CryptoPunks set the industry standard for PFP projects how Bored Ape Yacht Club distinguished itself from CryptoPunks – and other NFT projects why 6529 is bullish on the utility of intellectual property rights and commercial use being granted to NFT holders by Yuga Labs why 6529 believes Yuga Labs will be good stewards of CryptoPunks how NFTs (and Bitcoin) are leveraging memes and social construction to go mainstream  what 6529 thinks Larva Labs’ legacy will be in the NFT space how royalty revenue streams led to the Yuga Labs purchase of Meebits and CryptoPunk IP why 6529 is unsure about the significance of metaverse real estate what 6529 thinks about ApeCoin Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/   Upcoming Book Events Friday, March 26: I’ll be on the Harvard campus at HBS Aldrich 011 from 4 pm ET - 5 pm ET. I’ll be interviewed about my book by NF Castle’s Michelle Choi and will also do a signing.  Saturday, March 27: I’ll be moderating a panel at the Harvard Blockchain conference from 3-3:45 pm. The panel will include NFT artist Pplpleasr, NF Castle’s Will Lobkowicz and Michele Choi, and Nifty Gateway COO Patrick McLaren.  Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited! Tuesday, April 5: I will be doing a reading and signing hosted by the City of Miami Beach and Future Perfect Ventures at Sky Yard from 6-8 pm. Jalak Jobanputra, CEO of Future Perfect Ventures will be interviewing me. You need to RSVP by April 1 to dianafontani@miamibeachfl.gov.   Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am.  Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD).  May 4-7: I will be at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7.  May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD.    Episode Links   6529 Twitter: https://twitter.com/punk6529  Threads: https://threadreaderapp.com/user/punk6529   Miscellaneous Yuga Labs purchase of Larva Labs IP: https://decrypt.co/94898/bored-ape-yacht-club-yuga-labs-cryptopunks-larva-labs  Yuga Labs metaverse land plans: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/137829/bored-ape-yacht-club-yuga-labs-virtual-land-sales-metaverse ApeCoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/138156/apecoin-tied-to-bored-ape-nft-ecosystem-debuts-with-planned-community-airdrop  Punk 6529 on the Yuga Labs purchase: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502595586960367617.html  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jack of all metaverse-trades Chase Chapman discusses her experience working for DAOs, how DAO tooling and governance can improve, and drops a hot take about Discord. Chase brings a unique perspective to Unchained as a co-founder and advisor at Decentology, host of On the Other Side podcast, and active DAO contributor at Orca, Index Coop, and Rabbit Hole. Show topics: how Chase got into crypto new avenues for bringing more women into crypto how DAOs change the nature of work how Chase gets paid – and why her accountants might start ducking her calls why Chase is passionate about DAOs having a core set of values why Chase thinks terms like “permissionless” and “decentralized” should not be used to describe DAOs what DAOs can learn from corporate structures why Chase is coming around to the idea that DAOs might not need a single HR department how DAOs are dealing with inactive whale token holders versus DAO contributors (who own smaller amounts of token) what suggestions Chase has for some of the recent big DAO controversies involving Ethereum Name Service and SushiSwap the role of anonymity in DAOs which DAO tools Chase is impressed with and what SnapShot has in common with Wikipedia why Discord is not that bad for DAO management how Chase envisions DAOs and NFTs intersecting in the future what DAO trends Chase is looking forward to in the coming months Sponsors Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto Episode Links   Chase Chapman Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaserchapman Jobs Decentology: https://www.decentology.com/  On the Other Side: https://www.othersidepod.xyz/  Index Coop: ​​https://twitter.com/indexcoop Orca Protocol: https://twitter.com/OrcaProtocol RabbitHole: https://twitter.com/rabbithole_gg    Interesting tweets/blogs/podcasts from Chase on DAOs https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1460257486888448003 https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1500136746301992961  https://mirror.xyz/chappy.eth/Rw4sMBofUrVGj3QjzErkWkP9UNP1JYhcyX7CLOwgUD4  https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1483124528679211022  ​​https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1494359483958636550  https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1491856996819247111 https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1492210731789520897    Miscellaneous Mentions she256: https://twitter.com/she_256  Snapshot: https://twitter.com/SnapshotLabs  Brantly Millegan is staying at ENS Foundation: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/07/brantly-millegan-remains-a-director-of-ens-foundation-after-failed-attempt-to-boot-him/  SushiSwap leadership drama: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/12/08/sushi-cto-joseph-delong-resigns-after-reports-of-project-infighting/  Wonderland drama: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/131931/avalanche-defi-wonderland-time-0xsifu-quadrigacx-patryn  Coordinape: https://coordinape.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Harland-Dunaway, a freelance reporter for The Verge, talks about his most recent investigative story on Tron founder Justin Sun, which details a long string of questionable decisions and actions by Sun. Show topics: why Justin Sun fled China after the Tron ICO why Chris’s 15 sources were granted anonymity for this story why Chris believes that Tron’s market-making team was performing insider trading how Justin Sun has tried to evade US securities law what “Operation Couch Cushions” was and how it led to 300 BTC being sent to Poloniex where Justin Sun is looking for citizenship what Chris knows about a grand jury investigation into Justin Sun what Justin Sun had to say about Chris’ allegations Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   Episode links:    Christopher Harland-Dunaway: https://twitter.com/ChrisHDeee  Justin Sun: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron    Chris’ articles on Justin in The Verge: March 2022: https://www.theverge.com/c/22947663/justin-sun-tron-cryptocurrency-poloniex  September 2020: https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/21459906/bittorrent-tron-acquisition-justin-sun-us-china    Justin Sun’s rebuttal https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1501626464596201472    Chris’ previous Unchained appearance ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/abuse-and-ethical-lapses-what-happened-when-justin-sun-acquired-bittorrent/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While researching for The Cryptopians, I discovered that Andrey Ternovskiy, the founder of internet sensation Chatroulette, was heavily involved in The DAO back in 2016. In this episode, we skirt around revealing major spoilers from The Cryptopians and discuss Andrey’s experience founding Chatroulette, how he fell down the crypto rabbit hole, whether hacking smart contracts is ethical, and more. Show topics: Andrey’s background  how Andrey’s struggles with PayPal at Chatroulette led him to quickly understand the need for crypto  what Andrey’s involvement at Chatroulette is the different ways Andrey thinks crypto can disrupt middlemen why Andrey became infatuated with the narrative behind the “crypto” movement why Andrey became a fan of Ethereum why Andrey decided to tell me about his previously undisclosed involvement in The DAO and early Ethereum whether hacking smart contracts is ethical (or legal) what Andrey thinks about how Ukraine has used crypto in its fight against Russia’s invasion why Andrey will most likely not decentralize Chatroulette  what Andrey’s perspective is on decentralization in terms of DeFi and DAOs Upcoming Book Events For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze   For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/   And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating.  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021            Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto  Episode Links Andrey Ternovskiy: ​​https://www.crunchbase.com/person/andrey-ternovskiy  Chatroulette: https://chatroulette.com/    The Cryptopians http://bit.ly/cryptopians  On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2 On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012  On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012 Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-writing-the-cryptopians-shaped-my-views-on-ethereum/    DAO Hacker Reveal:  Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/ Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/exclusive-cryptos-biggest-whodunnit-who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum/  Medium: https://medium.com/@laurashin/who-hacked-the-dao-on-ethereum-heres-how-we-jumped-past-one-critical-step-60aec489a127 Bulletin: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum-the-backstory-to-my-investigation Forbes on YouTube: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuICbAucfn0  Daily Tech News Show: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1306972988    The DAO Hack https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/ https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tomicah Tillemann, the global chief policy officer of Katie Haun's new firm, analyzes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and explains how crypto is being used in an unprecedented manner to render aid to civilians, move money across the world, and potentially document war crimes. Show highlights: Tomicah’s background, which includes stints working for the State Department and a16z  recap of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine what Tomicah thinks of the decision to boot certain Russian banks from SWIFT why Tomicah believes that it would be very difficult for Russia to use crypto at a large scale to evade sanctions why ruble/BTC volume is spiking how Ukraine’s usage of web3 tools could change humanitarian aid forever what lessons to take away from Ukraine’s almost-airdrop the four real-world crypto use cases governments should take notice of Upcoming Book Events For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze   For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/   And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating.  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained    Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    Episode Links   Tomicah Tilllemann https://twitter.com/TomicahTD  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomicah/   Topics Covered Ukraine accepting crypto: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282  Cutting Russia out of SWIFT: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_22_1423  UkraineDAO: https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO  Ukraine asking for a blanket ban on Russians from crypto exchanges: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/26/ukraine-mounts-effort-to-surveil-russian-politicians-crypto-wallets/  Why crypto won’t help Russia avoid sanctions:  https://jerrybrito.com/2022-02-28 https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1498786025438650369  Ruble/BTC trading: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/135888/ruble-trading-pair-volumes-surge-on-binance-after-russias-invasion-of-ukraine  Ukraine Airdrop:  https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/02/ukraine-says-airdrop-confirmed-after-receiving-33m-crypto-donations/  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/136211/ukraine-cancels-crypto-airdrop-plans-to-sell-nfts-instead  Arweave x Ukraine https://cryptoslate.com/decentralized-data-storage-solution-arweave-archives-millions-of-documents-from-ukraine/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During my research for The Cryptopians, I found information that I believe identifies the perpetrator behind The DAO hack on Ethereum. Three founding members of The DAO and Slock.it (Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, Griff Green) discuss how and why they created The DAO, how they helped save the funds being siphoned off by black hat hackers, their personal feelings about The DAO, along with their reaction to the news about who I believe was The DAO attacker. Show topics:   Part 1: Background on The DAO Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s background and how they came to Slock.it what Slock.it was and why the Slock.it team decided to create The DAO what The DAO has to do with venture capital funding why the Slock.it team did not cap The DAO sale what made The DAO such a popular investment vehicle why The DAO developers were scared at the amount of money they raised   Part 2:  what Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s initial reaction to The DAO was saving funds from The DAO via a hard fork versus white hat hacking whether they thought Ethereum Classic would survive a hard fork how the Ethereum community has treated Christoph, Griff, and Lefteris in the wake of The DAO attack   Part 3: why they disagree on whether code is law their reaction to my naming Toby Hoenisch as The DAO attacker which actor would play them in a movie about The DAO attack Come to My In-Person Book Signings and Events! New York:  Wednesday, March 2, at 7pm At The Strand Bookstore Moderated by CoinDesk’s Christine Lee https://www.strandbooks.com/events/event403?title=laura_shin_the_cryptopians_idealism_greed_lies_and_the_making_of_the_first_big_cryptocurrency_craze   Bay Area:  Tuesday March 8, 6pm San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club  Moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze   Seattle:  Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm The Forum Moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle.  https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/ Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021            Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance     Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto    Episode Links   Guests Christoph Jentzsch ​​https://twitter.com/ChrJentzsch Griff Green https://twitter.com/thegrifft  Lefteris Karapetsas https://mobile.twitter.com/LefterisJP    DAO Hacker Reveal:  Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/ Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/exclusive-cryptos-biggest-whodunnit-who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum/  Medium: https://medium.com/@laurashin/who-hacked-the-dao-on-ethereum-heres-how-we-jumped-past-one-critical-step-60aec489a127 Bulletin: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum-the-backstory-to-my-investigation Forbes on YouTube: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuICbAucfn0  Daily Tech News Show: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1306972988    The Cryptopians http://bit.ly/cryptopians  On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2 On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012  On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012 Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-writing-the-cryptopians-shaped-my-views-on-ethereum/    The DAO Hack https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/ https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a fun change of pace, Steven Ehrlich, editor of Forbes Cryptoasset and Blockchain Advisor, joins Unchained to interview me about my book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, which came out this week. We discuss… where the inspiration for “The Cryptopians” title came from why I wanted to write a book about Ethereum how Vitalik’s role changed over the course of Ethereum’s founding who the main characters in The Cryptopians are the biggest challenges Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation faced in its early days Ethereum’s “red wedding” day what issues with crowdfunding and US securities laws were faced by early Ethereum founders how The DAO hack, along with the Shanghai attacks and Parity drama, shaped Ethereum what I discovered about Ming Chan’s time as the Ethereum Foundation director my biggest takeaways from researching ICOs why I think DAOs could be the next big thing whether or not I have an idea for a new book…   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained    Coinchange: https://coinchange.io  Episode Links Laura Shin https://twitter.com/laurashin The Cryptopians http://bit.ly/cryptopians  On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2 On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012  On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012 The Cryptopians content: CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/video/coindesk-spotlight/laura-shin-on-the-cryptopians-and-what-she-discovered-investigating-the-ethereum-origin-story Alexis Garcia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOzujORW7fI  NFT Notes: https://shows.acast.com/ipse-dixit/episodes/nft-notes-21-laura-shin-on-the-story-of-ethereum  NYT Book Review: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/books/review/new-this-week.html    DAO Hacker Reveal:  Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/ Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/exclusive-cryptos-biggest-whodunnit-who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum/  Medium: https://medium.com/@laurashin/who-hacked-the-dao-on-ethereum-heres-how-we-jumped-past-one-critical-step-60aec489a127 Bulletin: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum-the-backstory-to-my-investigation Forbes on YouTube: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuICbAucfn0  Daily Tech News Show: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1306972988    Steven Ehrlich https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/?sh=fb976542ce44  https://twitter.com/Steven_Ehrlich  https://www.forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: their thoughts on The DAO hacker reveal the importance of The DAO and why it made Robert fall in love with crypto how the alleged attacker was found (feat. a deep dive into the Morden testnet and Wasabi) dumb DAOs: why the guys are unimpressed with DAOs seeking to purchase, among other things, the Denver Broncos and fast-food restaurants how to fix price discovery for DAO mergers and acquisitions whether Anchor’s 20% yield on UST is sustainable in light of Luna Foundation Guard’s decision to backstop its reserves with $1 billion in BTC why deploying funds from a large treasury is difficult why the BlockFi fine was not a surprise what lessons the BlockFi settlement taught crypto companies why Tarun still loves Olympus DAO and OHM how EthDenver has changed since the NFT boom   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner  Show Topics: The DAO attacker revealed https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/ DAO trying to buy the Denver Broncos https://www.buythebroncos.com/ Fries DAO https://fries.fund/ BlockFi Agrees to Pay $100 Million in Penalties and Pursue Registration of its Crypto Lending Product https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-26 Terra and UST receiving backstopped funds https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/134871/luna-founation-guard-token-sale  OHM bonds as Vol-reduction strategy https://twitter.com/tarunchitra/status/1495807277978341385 Eth Denver https://thedefiant.io/ethdenver-scene-cryptopunks-community/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While researching for my book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, I found evidence that I believe resolves the biggest whodunnit in crypto: who hacked The DAO? This podcast is coming out in conjunction with an article in Forbes revealing the prime suspect’s identity.    Part 1: Who Attacked the DAO? Here’s the Evidence To document the process of finding the alleged attacker, I wrote an article for Forbes, with which I opened the podcast. In it, I reveal  who, evidence indicates, attacked the DAO how my sources and I uncovered this person’s identity how a previously undisclosed technical capability by Chainalysis helped my sources and I identify the alleged hacker    Part 2: Contextualizing the DAO Attack Forbes’s Steven Ehrlich comes onto the pod to interview me about finding the DAO attacker. Topics what is The DAO, and why is it important?  who are the key players in The DAO’s story how the attacker pulled off the hack what legal questions surrounded the hack why finding the attacker is important the legal implications of identifying the attacker what Laura’s interactions have been with the suspect what the future of DAOs may hold Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance   Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/   Episode Links   Laura Shin https://twitter.com/laurashin   The Cryptopians http://bit.ly/cryptopians  On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2 On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012  On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012   Steven Ehrlich https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/?sh=fb976542ce44  https://twitter.com/Steven_Ehrlich  https://www.forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor/    The DAO Hack https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/ https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressman Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, discusses crypto and decentralization, his new book, Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us, and how to regulate the crypto industry. Show highlights: what Silicon Valley had to do with Congressman Khanna’s journey down the crypto rabbit hole why Congressman Khanna is so passionate about decentralization why Congressman Khanna thinks crypto could bring tech jobs across the country and world (rather than staying in hubs like Silicon Valley) why Congressman Khanna thinks a new regulatory regime is necessary for crypto assets, like stablecoins what Congressman Khanna would like vocal crypto opponents like Congressman Brad Sherman or Senator Elizabeth Warren to know about the crypto space Congressman Khanna explains the difference between determining if an asset is a security and regulating an asset what Congressman Khanna is doing to bring predictability to crypto regulation how regulators could incentivize Bitcoin miners to use less energy what Congressman Khanna thinks about know-your-customer/anti-money-laundering mechanisms in the DeFi world how Congressman Khanna believes crypto taxes should be treated what actions Congressman Khanna recommends for bringing more Democrats to the crypto side whether Congressman Khanna thinks crypto is a bipartisan issue    Become a Premium Bulletin Subscriber! Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access to: a premium-only Discord group premium-only interviews the opportunity to ask questions the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix Join today for $4.99/mo or $49.99/year!    Get a Signed Book Plate! Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how: Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians, or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to. If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates.   Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained  Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   Ro Khanna Website: https://khanna.house.gov/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna    Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09842C2RG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0    Miscellaneous Questions for Congressman Khanna from Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1491587026344366088 Congressman Brad Sherman thinks crypto hurts people of color: https://decrypt.co/92776/crypto-race-and-democrats-brad-sherman  President’s Working Group report on stablecoins: https://www.scribd.com/document/536522482/PWG-Stablecoin-Report Congressman Khanna’s attempt to fix the infrastructure bill: https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/khanna-mchenry-lead-bipartisan-legislative-fix-new-digital-asset-reporting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two crypto tax experts, Shehan Chandrasekera, certified public accountant and head of strategy, Tax, at Cointracker, and John Cardone, senior director of Washington National Tax at RSM US LLP, explain everything crypto traders need to understand when filing taxes for 2021. Show topics: -the five types of transactions that constitute a taxable crypto event -how NFT taxes should be reported -why the sale of collectibles (NFTs) is taxed differently than the sale of crypto property (tokens) -what type of forms you might receive from crypto exchanges and why this information is usually incomplete -why the crypto provision in the infrastructure bill most likely won’t affect retail traders -why John wants a digital asset-specific 1099 form -how staking income will be taxed this year (and why this might change soon) -how to report taxes for… airdrops like ENS and SOS income earned via a play-to-earn game like Axie Infinity the sale of virtual land wrapping Bitcoin onto Ethereum rewards received via a crypto credit card -how to save money on taxes going forward -how Shehan and John think crypto taxes will evolve  -why the IRS listed a job posting for someone who could exploit crypto wallets Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021       Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance   Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/ Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org Become a Premium Bulletin Subscriber! Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access   to:  a premium-only Discord group  premium-only interviews the opportunity to ask questions ️ the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix Join today for $4.99/mo or $49.99/year!  Join now! Get a Signed Book Plate! Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how: Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians, or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to. If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates. Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP. Episode Links John Cardone ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-cardone-436412b1/   Shehan Chandrasekera https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA Helpful Links Shehan’s tax guide: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2022/01/24/quick-guide-to-filing-your-2021-cryptocurrency--nft-taxes/?sh=d5c00f765f9d Staking rewards case: https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA/status/1489268205877035016  US Gov. job posting: https://sam.gov/opp/799a1650bd5349b6af4f646842999187/view  2022 Crypto Tax Guides CoinTracker: https://www.cointracker.io/blog/crypto-tax-guide CryptoTrader.Tax: https://cryptotrader.tax/blog/the-traders-guide-to-cryptocurrency-taxes Koinly: https://koinly.io/cryptocurrency-taxes/  ZenLedger: https://www.zenledger.io/guides/crypto-tax-us  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, the US government seized $3.6 billion in bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex hack and arrested two individuals, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, on charges of money laundering. Tom Robinson, cofounder and chief scientist at the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, breaks down how law enforcement was able to seize the BTC, what techniques the alleged money launderers used to avoid capture, and who could have pulled off the initial hack. Show highlights: background on the 2016 Bitfinex hack who was arrested this week and why  how the US government gained access to the private keys in Lichtenstein’s and Morgan’s control why AlphaBay, a now-defunct darknet website, was crucial to law enforcement’s effort to track down the stolen Bitfinex funds what money laundering techniques were used to cash out the stolen Bitfinex funds before this week’s arrests whether, as blockchain analytics technology advances, it will always catch up to be able to trace the movements of crypto as its laundered  why using Monero, a privacy coin, to cash out stolen funds is a red flag why Tom does not think the two individuals arrested this week for money laundering the stolen Bitfinex funds were the original hackers Become a Premium Bulletin Subscriber! Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access  to:  a premium-only Discord group   premium-only interviews   the opportunity to ask questions ️  the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix The special launch price until February 14 $2.99/mo or $29.99/year. Starting on February 15, the price increases to $4.99/mo or $49.99/year. Join now! Get a Signed Book Plate! Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how: Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the nameof who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to. If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates. Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Episode Links Tom Robinson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomarobinson?originalSubdomain=uk  Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomrobin  Information on the Bitfinex hack + arrest: DOJ Information: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-alleged-conspiracy-launder-45-billion-stolen-cryptocurrency  https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1470211/download  Elliptic Coverage: https://www.elliptic.co/blog/elliptic-analysis-new-york-husband-and-wife-arrested-for-laundering-5-billion-in-bitcoin-stolen-from-bitfinex-in-2016  Unchained Coverage: https://unchainedpodcast.com/feds-seize-3-6-billion-in-btc-connected-to-bitfinex-hack/ CoinDesk coverage https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/08/us-officials-seize-bitcoin-from-2016-bitfinex-hack/  Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/92529/bitfinex-billion-bitcoin-who-keeps-it  The Defiant: https://thedefiant.io/bitfinex-leo-surge/ Bitfinex statement:  https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/766  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this week’s episode, Sam Bankman-Friend (SBF), CEO and founder of FTX, also dropped by. Show topics: Robert and SBF’s takeaways from previous experiences speaking to regulators what happened during the Wormhole hack and why building decentralized systems is difficult  whether AssangeDAO is a good use of money and how it showcases the power of DAOs + NFTs why GameStop dumping IMX tokens might have been Immutable X’s fault ENS drama, cancel culture, and whether or not the guys would have fired Brantly Millegan if it had been their company making the decision how the US was able to recover funds from the Bitfinex hack (and how Tarun knows one of the individuals arrested for allegedly using the stolen BTC via money laundering) Shape rotators versus wordcels: what is the meme, how does SBF identify, and Arthur Hayes?    Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner  Guest Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and founder of FTX https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda   Links Wormhole hack https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/3/22916111/wormhole-hack-github-error-325-million-theft-ethereum-solana AssangeDAO raises ~$41M on Juicebox, larger than ConstitutionDAO https://juicebox.money/#/p/assangedao ENS drama https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/02/07/ethereum-name-service-removes-brantly-millegan-as-steward-over-2016-tweet/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-big-4-firm-added-btc-and-eth-to-its-balance-sheet/  Gamestop and ImmutableX https://twitter.com/polarply/status/1489572631649083394 https://unchainedpodcast.com/another-gamestop-pump-and-dump/  Bitfinex Hack https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-arrests-couple-allegedly-laundering-45-bln-crypto-tied-bitfinex-hack-2022-02-08/ https://twitter.com/tarunchitra/status/1491104365683552256?s=20&t=7KkfnSsGjDz-MxJjYWBB6A  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmahJCWJ8iM&t=1s  https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/08/us-officials-seize-bitcoin-from-2016-bitfinex-hack/  Wordcels vs. Shape Rotators https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1489998900438077441  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Variant Fund is a venture capital firm that describes itself as “a first-check crypto fund investing in the ownership economy.” Jesse Walden and Li Jin, co-founders and general partners at Variant, join Unchained to discuss the ownership economy, issues with web2 and web3, NFTs, the future of work, and more. Highlights: where Li and Jesse met and how their backgrounds as investors + founders led them to the crypto space how Li’s investing niche, which she describes as the passion economy, ended up intersecting with crypto why Li believes that web3 platforms will be better for creators than the current web2 ecosystem why Jesse was so inspired by Bitcoin after working in the music industry for so many years why Jesse believes that NFTs are the “port of entry” for the mainstream adoption of crypto what other use-cases exist for NFTs outside of the JPEG or PNG meme (and why Jesse is so excited about music NFTs) why Li believes that web3 tools can help fix the issues inherent to the “gig economy” Li and Jesse respond to criticisms of web3 coming from Jack Dorsey and Moxie Marlinspike how Variant Fund thinks about investing in crypto projects what token allocation Variant Fund targets when investing in crypto projects why mainstream platforms are experiencing backlash for integrating with NFTs and crypto what trends in NFTs, DAOs, and the ownership economy Jesse and Li think will pop in 2022 Get Access to Premium Content Sign up for a premium Bulletin subscription! For becoming a premium subscriber, you'll get access to: a premium-only Discord group premium-only interviews the opportunity to ask questions the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and whatever other future offerings we add to the mix The special launch price until February 14 $2.99/mo or $29.99/year. Starting on February 15, the price increases to $4.99/mo or $49.99/year. Join now! Get a Signed Book Plate! Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how: Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to. If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates. Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance   Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/ Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org   Episode links   Li Jin Twitter: https://twitter.com/ljin18  Substack: https://li.substack.com/ Li Jin on the creator economy The future of the creator economy https://drive.google.com/file/u/1/d/1C3fBfPgWxf-zqezGlPFr7VXIetlHlnaZ/view  https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1454096370281943041  What the creator economy is doing wrong https://li.substack.com/p/legitimacy-lost  How to fix the “gig” style economy for creators https://li.substack.com/p/the-creator-economy-is-in-crisis How the creator economy could power universal basic income https://li.substack.com/p/the-case-for-universal-creative-income What labor should look like in Web3 https://li.substack.com/p/a-labor-movement-for-the-platform Building the middle class of the creator economy https://li.substack.com/p/building-the-middle-class-of-the Other Web3 is the “golden age” of content https://every.mirror.xyz/y_WLA-Tk3VF5uPqHi-glDLVVfHxLUbjXakRI7SMISas  Transitioning to Web3 from a non-tech perspective https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1479111931977867275    Jesse Walden Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessewldn  Website (no blogs since 2020): https://jessewalden.com/  Random Tweets DAOs https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1459014962207244290 https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1470406564582498315  NFTs https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1473641606951669767  Music NFTs x Sound XYZ https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1471148257892044812 Commoditizing a compliment https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1465713306363117578  Writing NFTs make the internet ownable https://variant.mirror.xyz/T8kdtZRIgy_srXB5B06L8vBqFHYlEBcv6ae2zR6Y_eo Product vs. Protocol https://variant.fund/writing/balance-product-protocol-web3 Leadership in the ownership economy https://variant.fund/writing/leadership-in-the-ownership-economyscaling-decision  How DeFi crosses the chasm https://variant.fund/writing/how-does-defi-cross-the-chasm Crypto’s Business Model is Familiar. What Isn’t is Who Benefits https://variant.fund/writing/cryptos-business-model-is-familiar.-what-isnt-is  Narrative Economics https://variant.fund/writing/narrative-economics  Progressive decentralization https://variant.fund/writing/progressive-decentralization-a-playbook-for-building Layers of blockchain computing https://variant.fund/writing/layers-not-eras-of-blockchain-computing   Variant Fund Variant Fund Twitter https://twitter.com/variantfund Variant Fund website https://variant.fund/ Writing:  https://variant.fund/writing  Mirror Blog (Feb 2021 article on NFTs) https://variant.mirror.xyz/  Variant Fund + Atelier joining forces https://variant.fund/writing/atelier-ventures-and-variant-fund-are-joining-forces  https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/19/variant-debuts-a-new-110m-fund-for-crypto-startups-announces-li-jin-has-joined-as-a-general-partner/ Variant Fund team https://twitter.com/spencernoon/status/1450500555961507844 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shrina Kurani, a Democrat running for a House seat in California, and Morgan Harper, a Democratic candidate running to represent Ohio in the US Senate, explain why they are running pro-crypto campaigns. They discuss how crypto will affect the 2022 midterms, justify being both pro-crypto and pro-environment, and talk about the importance of educating regulators about Web3. On this episode of Unchained, they highlight: how Morgan’s work at the American Economic Liberties Project and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau led her to run for Senate on a pro-crypto platform why Shrina chose to mint NFTs on Solana to help fundraise for her campaign what issues Morgan and Shrina have with the current financial system (and how they believe crypto could help solve such issues) why both Shrina and Morgan stress that education is the key to making effective crypto policy in the US what message Shrina and Morgan want to send to fellow Democrats about the crypto industry why Morgan believes that single-issue voting for crypto candidates could be dangerous Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Morgan Harper Campaign Website: https://morganharper.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mh4oh    Shrina Kurani Campaign Website: https://www.shrinakurani.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/shrinakurani    Additional Reading Information on Shrina’s NFT drop https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/12/16/congressional-candidate-kurani-dropping-2022-solana-nfts-as-part-of-campaign/  Why Shrina is advocating for web3 ​​https://medium.com/@shrinakuraniforcongress/im-running-for-congress-here-s-why-i-m-advocating-for-web3-50409ffdd11 Morgan’s thoughts on web3 versus traditional finance https://twitter.com/mh4oh/status/1463219384776806402?s=21 9 pro-crypto congressional candidates https://laurashin.bulletin.com/want-to-support-a-pro-crypto-congressional-candidate-check-out-these-9  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dapper Collectives CEO and Friends With Benefits founder Trevor McFedries joins Unchained to discuss social tokens, NFTs, the creator economy, $FWB, VC snacks, DAOs, Cooper Turley, and more. Show highlights: Trevor’s past, which includes a top 10 album, working at Spotify, founding Brud, creating Lil Miquela, and, of course, falling down the crypto rabbit hole what Trevor’s vision for Dapper Collectives is what type of activities DAOs will facilitate in the future why Trevor is so excited to be working with Dapper Labs and Flow what Friends With Benefits is and how the $FWB token works what sort of tokens make up the Friends With Benefits treasury why venture capitalists who want to be involved with Friends With Benefits need to have a good snack game why Trevor is not worried about $FWB becoming a security what plans Friends With Benefits has in store for 2022 Trevor’s response to Friends With Benefits suspending co-founder Cooper Turley regarding 10-year old racist and homophobic tweets what can be done to onboard a more diverse demographic to crypto how Trevor defines the passion/creator economy what Trevor is looking forward to in 2022 regarding NFTs, DAOs, and social tokens Join the Unchained With Laura Shin discussion group on Facebook!  Laura is launching a paid Facebook discussion group where you and other listeners of the show can discuss recent episodes, ask questions in advance, get access to special AMAs with myself and show guests and more. Those who join now and for the next two weeks will get a special introductory price of $2.99 a month or $29.99 annually. Those who join from February 15 and on will be charged the regular rate of $4.99 a month or $49.99 annually. We will open up the group on the 15th, one week ahead of my book launch. If you’re interested in subscribing, head to  https://laurashin.bulletin.com/subscribe.    Check out my new author website! Keep up to date on all things I'm up to at the newly launched laurashin.com. There, you can find out all the latest on my book, all my writing, and press and speaking appearances. Enjoy! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance   Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/   Episode Links   Trevor Mcfedries Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatdotcd  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-mcfedries-0a5285a8/    Work CEO - Dapper Collectives Decrypt write-up: https://decrypt.co/82517/dapper-labs-nfts-daos-collectives-brud  Announcement: https://medium.com/dapperlabs/the-future-of-x-is-decentralized-bb3245faf1b1    Founder → Brud Twitter: https://twitter.com/makebrud Website: https://www.brud.fyi/  Lil Miquela: https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/ Acquisition by Dapper Labs: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/04/nft-startup-dapper-labs-acquires-virtual-influencer-startup-brud/  AI Influencers: https://mailchimp.com/courier/article/ai-influencers/    Friends With Benefits Basics FWB website: https://www.fwb.help/  Mirror: https://fwb.mirror.xyz/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/fwbtweets  FWB Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/token/0x35bd01fc9d6d5d81ca9e055db88dc49aa2c699a8  CoinMarketCap: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/friends-with-benefits-pro/    Background Reads Trevor’s role: https://consensys.net/blog/codefi/friends-with-benefits-a-new-model-for-social-tokens-on-ethereum/  a16z investment: https://a16z.com/2021/10/27/investing-in-friends-with-benefits-a-dao/  FWB deep dive: https://ra.co/features/3914 Intelligencer write up: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/whats-a-dao-why-your-group-chat-could-be-worth-millions.html  Coindesk write up: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/09/the-social-token-network-rally-friends-with-benefits-and-the-future-of-branding/    Cooper Turley removed from DAO https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/15/crypto-influencer-cooper-turley-removed-from-fwb-over-2013-bigoted-tweets/  Backlash to removal:  https://twitter.com/mewn21/status/1482202603563798530   WHALE treasury tokens https://snapshot.org/#/friendswithbenefits.eth/proposal/QmWnifY3KD5ECJNtQ23m9GHt2oQ1McA3T4DEEpFarPy9jW    Additional Links Sound.xyz https://www.sound.xyz/  Catalog https://beta.catalog.works/ Daily Ape on DAOs: https://thedailyape.notion.site/DAOs-95332c7ab79c49dc89f9a72c628dfeb8 Social Tokens:  Cooper Turley: https://coopahtroopa.mirror.xyz/DYSs-mhdJi1uXZTaiyJfwiFZYAF9kRK6yBsAplk6A68 Linda Xie: https://linda.mirror.xyz/4PDBWBMpFFPVEsP5EGgg5to2AyEpEHEXasq_K0b-yYk  Forefront: https://forefront.market/learn/social-tokens  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Analyzing the market drawdown Twitter-native NFTs + Crypto Coven LooksRare — real or BS? Solana’s disappointing network performance What broke during the market downturn: OHM, Solend, and MakerDAO Predictions for market action going forward   Episode Links   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra  Robert Leshner, founder of Compound  https://twitter.com/rleshner    Background on certain topics covered: Twitter NFTs https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/131052/twitter-begins-rolling-out-access-to-nft-profile-pictures Loot adding royalties https://twitter.com/DappRadar/status/1486005954520907778 LooksRare versus OpenSea https://dune.xyz/hildobby/LooksRare-VS-OpenSea Tom’s issue w/ Dune queries https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt/status/1485721279663534082 Robert and his Crypto Coven NFT https://twitter.com/rleshner  Rune’s tweet about MakerDAO https://twitter.com/RuneKek/status/1484663000443371520  Solana’s poor performance https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/131278/traders-are-complaining-about-solanas-performance-raising-questions-about-its-status-as-a-wall-street-darling https://twitter.com/solendprotocol/status/1485315186797936646?s=21 Block’s DEX https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/19/square-releases-white-paper-detailing-protocol-for-a-decentralized-bitcoin-exchange/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Papper and Ian Lee, the two co-founders of Syndicate, join Unchained to announce the release of Syndicate’s new product: Web3 Investment Clubs, an innovation they believe could end up disrupting the web2 investment world, along with the entire venture capital industry. For example, with Web3 Investment Clubs, users will be able to turn an Ethereum wallet address into an investing DAO with just a few clicks, transfer funds without going through banks, and manage a cap-table directly on-chain. Show topics: what differentiates a Web3 Investment Club club from a normal investment club what on-chain tools Syndicate has built for Web3 Investment Clubs how Web3 Investment Clubs work within existing regulations how Ian and Will met and what inspired them to create Syndicate whether Syndicate plans to decentralize why Will and Ian believe investment DAOs will disrupt the venture capital industry why venture capital firms invested in Syndicate, a company built to disrupt them what Will learned from building Adventure Gold (AGLD), the governance token for Loot what plans Syndicate has for 2022 Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021          Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org   Episode Links   Will Papper Twitter: https://twitter.com/WillPapper  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wpapper   Ian Lee Twitter: https://twitter.com/iandaos  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrianlee/    Syndicate: Twitter: ​https://twitter.com/SyndicateDAO  Website: https://twitter.com/SyndicateDAO   Miscellaneous History of AGLD https://twitter.com/WillPapper/status/1484215805478797312 Will Papper’s previous Unchained appearance https://unchainedpodcast.com/constitutiondao-did-not-win-the-auction-but-it-demonstrated-the-power-of-daos/ Will DAOs disrupt crypto venture capital? ​https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/06/will-daos-replace-crypto-venture-capital/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fais Khan, author of the Startups and Econ newsletter, dives into his recently published research report, "You Don't Own Web3": A Coinbase Curse and How VCs Sell Crypto to Retail. Show highlights: whether tokens perform better before or after being listed on Coinbase what relationship a16z, a venture capital firm, has to Coinbase why Fais believes that the poor performance of VC-backed tokens after being listed could be the result of insiders dumping other reasons for a token’s poor performance after being listed on Coinbase besides insiders dumping what type of coin/token went up 1,800% in 2020 why Fais is suspicious of how quickly certain VC-backed tokens were listed on Coinbase whether Fais believes Coinbase or a16z is actually doing something nefarious  what sort of regulatory actions he believes would improve crypto what advice Fais has for token investors Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Episode Links   Fais Khan https://twitter.com/Faktastic11    Article https://startupsandecon.substack.com/p/you-dont-own-web3-a-coinbase-curse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Binance Smart Chain is the third largest chain by TVL and its token, BNB, is the third-largest token by market capitalization. However, there are questions about hacks, centralization, lack of developer support, and sketch MEV transactions. On Unchained, Gwendolyn Regina, investment director of the Binance Smart Chain Growth Fund, and Samy Karim, ecosystem coordinator at Binance Smart Chain, give a candid interview discussing BSC, from its amazing growth in 2021 to some of the toughest questions surrounding the chain. Topics covered include: how and why BSC grew from 50,000 daily active users to about 7 million over the course of 2021 what differentiates Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain why Binance Smart Chain decided to design its blockchain with only 21 validators how Gwen and Samy envision BSC fitting into a multichain future what plans BSC has to scale its throughput  why blockchain gaming is so important to BSC and how it will use its $1 billion growth fund to grow the gaming aspect of the chain how BSC’s relationship between Binance and BNB works    In the second half of the show, Sam and Gwendolyn respond to a few critiques, such as: is BSC really innovating, or is it just a copy and paste blockchain of Ethereum? why are there so many failed transactions on BSC? how is BSC addressing the numerous hacks on the blockchain? why has BSC’s share of total value locked among smart contract blockchains fallen from 20% in May to 6%?  how is BSC attempting to help developers, who, according to some critical posts, are struggling to work with BSC? why does it appear that some validators are front running without risk? does BSC have a future if Ethereum scales?  what does BSC have planned for 2022? Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021          Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org    Episode Links Gwendolyn Regina Twitter: https://twitter.com/gwendolynregina?lang=en Website: https://www.gwendolynregina.com/   Samy Karim LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samsulkarim/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/cryp7omaxi    Binance Smart Chain Website: https://www.binance.org/en  Documentation: https://docs.binance.org/index.html  Binance Validator Reqs: https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/a-quick-guide-to-bnb-staking-on-binance-smart-chain-bsc Whitepaper: https://dex-bin.bnbstatic.com/static/Whitepaper_%20Binance%20Smart%20Chain.pdf    Binance 2021 Recap https://twitter.com/gwendolynregina/status/1476089910498971648   Misc Top BSC apps: https://dappradar.com/rankings/protocol/binance-smart-chain    Criticisms “Stoned teenager:” https://github.com/binance-chain/bsc/issues/553  NullQubit: https://github.com/binance-chain/bsc/issues/658  Other Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1359426876440207361  Wilson Withiam: https://twitter.com/WilsonWithiam/status/1381420702918664194  Ryan Watkins: https://twitter.com/RyanWatkins_/status/1381421858675953665    BSC Research Nansen: https://www.nansen.ai/research/the-binance-smart-chain-scalability-in-action Bison Trails: https://bisontrails.co/guide-to-bsc/  Decrypt:  https://decrypt.co/58654/how-binance-put-the-smarts-in-its-smart-chain  https://decrypt.co/57420/binance-smart-chain-is-starting-to-rival-ethereum-heres-why  Messari (Pro): https://messari.io/article/exploring-the-binance-smart-chain-ecosystem  Galaxy Digital: https://docsend.com/view/tdgbf4sfmyd7sr3m    Twitter questions I received about Binance Smart Chain https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1480582386677133313  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Avid NFT collector Aftab Hossain (aka @iamDCinvestor on Crypto Twitter) discusses why OpenSea and NFT volumes are popping to start 2022, how LooksRare’s vampire attack is a good thing for the NFT market, and how royalties affect a project’s trading potential. Show topics: why Aftab thinks NFT floor prices are rising and what role NFT “flippers” have to do with his theory whether the NFT industry could continue growing even if fungible crypto assets enter a bear market how the LooksRare vampire attack on OpenSea works why people are wash trading NFTs on LooksRare why Aftab would choose to list NFTs on LooksRare over OpenSea whether LooksRare’s vampire attack will force OpenSea to decentralize and/or tokenize what sort of NFT projects should have royalties… and which projects shouldn’t  Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Episode Links   Aftab Hossain Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamDCinvestor   LooksRare LooksRare vampire attack + wash trading:  https://decrypt.co/90317/ethereum-nft-market-looksrare-wash-trading https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/01/11/one-day-after-launch-opensea-competitor-looksrare-sells-over-100m-in-nfts/  LooksRare: https://twitter.com/LooksRareNFT  LooksRare vs OpenSea data: https://dune.xyz/hildobby/LooksRare-VS-OpenSea   Background Links NFT volume to start the year: https://cryptopotato.com/opensea-records-over-2-billion-in-trading-volume-early-in-2022/  OpenSea metrics: https://dune.xyz/rchen8/opensea  Fred Ehrsam tweet: https://twitter.com/FEhrsam/status/1370414944265572353 The Chopping Block: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-why-the-crypto-markets-have-been-down-this-week/  Nas NFTs:  ​https://decrypt.co/89881/rap-legend-nas-sells-2-songs-as-nfts-on-dj-3laus-royal-platform  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/130123/3lau-backed-platform-royal-crashes-during-first-music-nft-drop-mint-delayed  OpenSea IPO rumors: https://decrypt.co/87701/opensea-ipo-criticism-crypto-ethereum-token  SushiSwap vampire attack: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/76419/uniswap-fork-sushiswap-700-million-total-value-locked Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Chopping Block is back! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: why crypto assets experienced a drawdown after last week’s FOMC meeting that hinted at accelerated rate hikes which emerging assets Tarun, Haseeb, and Tom envision weathering a bear market which assets could be further hurt by a continued bear market the significance of Paradigm and Sequoia investing in Citadel Securities what aspects of Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike’s web3 article Haseeb, Tom, and Tarun take umbrage with whether Cryptoland is crypto’s Fyre Festival or whether it’s the metaverse what the heck is going on with the Pudgy Penguins community the lessons from the CFTC’s fine of Polymarket (disclosure: a former sponsor of my shows)   Episode Links   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra    Topics   FOMC = Crypto assets dip https://www.ar.ca/blog/debunking-more-overreactions-to-macro-a-ronin-case-study Paradigm + Sequoia invest in Citadel Securities https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/11/paradigm-sequoia-to-invest-115b-in-citadel-securities-bringing-trading-firm-closer-to-crypto/ Cryptoland https://thenextweb.com/news/welcome-to-cryptoland-real-island-cryptocurrency-fans-analysis Moxie Marlinspike’s first impressions of web3 https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html Pudgy Penguins drama https://thedefiant.io/fire-on-the-iceberg-pudgy-penguin-holders-eye-coup-amid-acquisition-talks/ Polymarket fined by CFTC ​​https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/01/03/cftc-fines-crypto-betting-service-polymarket-14m-for-unregistered-swaps/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Smith, executive director at Blockchain Association, and Jake Chervinsky, head of Policy at Blockchain Association, discuss the current state of crypto regulation. Show topics: why 2021 was a watershed year for crypto regulation and lobbying why Jake decided to move from Compound Labs to Blockchain Association what Kristin and Jake think about the current state of regulation in the crypto industry how crypto education will play a significant role in Blockchain Association efforts going forward how crypto will affect midterm elections why Kristin thinks crypto will not be a partisan issue long term what sort of budget Blockchain Association functions on what Kristin and Jake think about the President’s Working Group report on stablecoins why Jake does not think the US should issue a CBDC what Blockchain Association’s take is on SEC commissioner Hester Peirce’s “safe harbor” proposal why Kristin and Jake believes the idea of a “crypto czar” is not feasible how regulators are treating DeFi going into 2022 how crypto tax guidelines could be improved for centralized exchanges how Blockchain Association thinks tax code 6050I should be applied what issues could arise from DAOs in 2022+ what listeners can do to address the different regulatory topics discussed in this podcast Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021             Show Links   Guests Jake Chervinsky: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky  Kristin Smith: https://twitter.com/kmsmithdc Previous Unchained appearances: https://unchainedpodcast.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-looming-battle-over-privacy-in-crypto/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/  ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-is-the-proposed-fincen-rule-for-unhosted-wallets-being-pushed-so-quickly/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-the-crypto-industry-could-see-under-a-biden-administration/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/when-is-a-token-decentralized-enough-to-not-be-a-security-ep-056/     The Blockchain Association Website: https://theblockchainassociation.org/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn  2021 growth: ​​https://theblockchainassociation.org/crypto-industrys-leading-trade-association-more-than-doubles-membership-in-2021/ Jake joining the team: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2021/11/09/blockchain-association-fills-out-its-washington-team-with-seasoned-hands-798774 Regulatory Topics Discussed: a16z  https://a16z.com/2021/10/13/an-agenda-for-the-future-of-the-internet/ Tax Code 6050i https://www.coincenter.org/congress-takes-its-war-on-cash-to-digital-assets/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/not-reporting-info-on-some-transaction-partners-could-soon-be-a-felony/  Infrastructure Bill https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/1461317078175072263 President’s Working Group stablecoin report https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/11/01/biden-administration-to-congress-put-stablecoins-under-federal-supervision-or-we-will/ FATF Guidance https://twitter.com/coincenter/status/1453700485484097537    Articles Jake Mentioned Jake on CBDCs: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2021/12/21/secure-americas-financial-strength-with-stablecoins-not-central-banks/  Gabriel Shapiro on DAOs: https://lexnode.substack.com/p/wyomings-legal-dao-saster  Morgan Harper thread: https://twitter.com/mh4oh/status/1463219384776806402    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Electric Capital’s Maria Shen dives into her company’s recently published research report about Web3 open-source development in 2021 and shares her thoughts and insights on how developers are flocking to Web3 in a manner that goes far beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum. Show topics: Maria’s biggest takeaways from the Electric Capital Developer Report how developer growth is affected by asset price which ecosystems are growing fastest why Maria thinks the growth in Bitcoin development has slowed down why Maria is so impressed by Ethereum’s performance in terms of retaining developers how closed-source development on, for example, Solana or Flow could affect the report’s findings the significance of Polkadot, Solana, NEAR, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Terra growing faster than Ethereum did at similar points in its history developer growth in DeFi during 2021 why Electric Capital did not study developer growth for NFTs, DAOs, or gaming why Maria is so interested in studying community growth going forward what Maria will be watching for in 2022 Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Episode Links   Maria Shen https://twitter.com/MariaShen  Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/electric-capital-on-the-coins-punching-below-their-weight/    Electric Capital https://www.electriccapital.com/   Electric Capital Developer Report (2021) https://medium.com/electric-capital/electric-capital-developer-report-2021-f37874efea6d  Previous reports: https://medium.com/electric-capital  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, and Igor Igamberdiev, director of research and data at The Block, recap the most significant trends of 2021 (BTC mining, L1s, NFTs, DeFi, venture funding) and discuss what might happen in 2022. Show topics: why 2021 was so significant for the crypto industry why the crypto markets didn’t see a blow-off top at the end of the calendar year the way they typically do about a year after a Bitcoin halving what Larry thinks about whether the crypto market is in a supercycle how the state of BTC and ETH mining changed in the past year why Igor thinks multichain technology was key to a record-breaking year for venture capital entering the crypto space in 2021 how the layer 1 (L1) ecosystem wars played out in 2021 and what it could look like in 2022 what Larry and Igor think of Ethereum layer 2s (L2s) how Ethereum’s shift to 2.0 could affect the L1 race what Larry thinks about DeFi tokens going into 2022 how DeFi trends, like decentralized exchange volume and lending, played out in 2021 why Igor thinks KYC-DeFi (know-your-customer decentralized finance) is inevitable what Larry thinks about NFTs going in 2022 and why he thinks PFPs are dead Larry and Igor’s outlook on the metaverse going into the new year Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021        Episode Links Guests Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster  Igor Igamberdiev: https://twitter.com/FrankResearcher   The Block’s 2022 Digital Asset Outlook Report https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/127723/the-block-research-2021-digital-asset-outlook-report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Mann has published a song a day for 13 years. On Unchained, he talks about his writing process, how he came up with the idea of publishing his songs as NFTs, his plans for a DAO he created called SongADAO, and more. Show topics: the significance and process of making a song a day for 13 years straight how Jonathan monetized his content in the early days (2009) of the internet what crypto event sent Jonathan down the rabbit hole and how Vitalik Buterin was involved why CryptoPunks piqued Jonathan’s interest in monetizing his content on-chain how being in the crypto world has changed Jonathan’s creative process where his song data is being uploaded in the context of web2 and web3  how SongADAO will work and how it could change the paradigm of the music industry the characteristics of his 12/31/2021 NFT drop, which will see over 3,000 songs minted  Jonathan plays “Mongoose Coin” for the Unchained audience, a song he made about Senator Brad Sherman’s comments about cryptocurrency in a recent hearing.  Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links:   Jonathan Mann Twitter: https://twitter.com/songadaymann  Website: https://www.jonathanmann.net/  Instagram: ​​https://www.instagram.com/jonathanmann/   Song A Day: YouTube: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanmann/ Minting website: https://songaday.world/  OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/song-a-day    Tweet Thread on Song A Day + SongADAO (must read if you are interested in Jonathan’s work)  ​https://twitter.com/songadaymann/status/1475210923124178951    Jonathan at Devcon https://www.jonathanmann.net/devcon    Mongoose Coin https://decrypt.co/87904/congressional-hearing-spawns-mob-mongoose-based-meme-coins  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Chopping Block, a new show on Unchained hosted by Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra, in which they discuss the latest juicy topics in crypto. This week, the four crypto heavyweights take a look back at 2021. Show topics: Biggest winners and losers Best mechanism  Biggest surprise Best meme Predictions for 2022   Without revealing too much, Haseeb, Robert, Tom, and Tarun cover a lot of ground, diving into “esoteric” subjects like Luna tokenomics, the Tezos NFT marketplace HEN, the origins of web3, the Grayscale arbitrage opportunity, OHM, Convex Finance, single-basis point liquidity pools on Uniswap, and Empty Set Dollar. They also tackle more popular topics like BTC, Dogecoin, NFT marketplaces, L1s, and more.    Episode Links   Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Robert Leshner, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/rleshner Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures https://twitter.com/tarunchitra    Biggest Winners: L1 performance in 2021: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/128603/in-2021-l1-blockchains-took-the-spotlight-thanks-to-defi  Coinbase IPO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-coinbase-stock-a-good-buy-this-analyst-says-yes/  Solana: https://www.notboring.co/p/solana-summer  OpenSea: https://www.readthegeneralist.com/briefing/opensea  Lido: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/is-lido-undervalued  Dogecoin: https://docsend.com/view/vutymtgqjf99yrpu  Solana early investors:  ​https://www.theinformation.com/articles/solana-generates-1-billion-in-returns-for-early-backers    Mechanisms Uniswap V3: https://uniswap.org/blog/launch-uniswap-v3   Convex Finance (+ Curve): https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/11/curve-wars-heat-up-emergency-dao-invoked-after-clear-governance-attack/  OHM: https://www.coingecko.com/buzz/what-is-olympusdao-and-how-does-it-work  ESD: https://medium.com/@lewisfreiberg/empty-set-dollar-esd-a0abbfc5ecdb     Biggest Losers: Grayscale: https://dcresearch.medium.com/interpreting-grayscale-premiums-gbtc-ethe-a7261dd8cfca  Bitcoin: https://www.coindesk.com/price/bitcoin/ HEN: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/news+/126688/tezos-art-marketplace-hen  EOS: https://cryptonews.com/news/eos-down-as-community-forks-out-blockone.htm    Biggest Surprises Uniswap pool analytics:https://info.uniswap.org/#/pools  NFTs: https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/11/22325054/beeple-christies-nft-sale-cost-everydays-69-million + https://decrypt.co/89060/bored-ape-yacht-club-nfts-flip-cryptopunks-floor-price-in-ethereum  Luna: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/11/10/terra-passes-highly-anticipated-proposal-to-burn-nearly-89m-luna/    Best Memes Dog coins: https://nypost.com/2021/12/27/santa-floki-cryptocurrency-surges-3500-after-elon-musk-tweet/   SBF shoes: https://twitter.com/zackseward/status/1468641558346059777  Grimes tweet: https://twitter.com/grimezsz/status/1449528005966000129  Web3: https://www.coindesk.com/learn/what-is-web-3-and-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mitchell F. Chan, who released one of the first NFT projects on Ethereum back in 2017, discusses his projects, making art on a blockchain, how NFTs are transforming the traditional art world, and more. Show topics: Mitchell’s art career before NFTs how Mitchell was inspired by Yves Klein’s 1950's work 'Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility’ the story behind Mitchell’s OG NFT art project: ‘Digital Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility’  what the traditional world thinks about NFTs who is collecting NFT art the story behind Mitchell’s 2021 NFT project: ‘LeWitt Generator Generator’ why Mitchell has not minted any more NFTs this year – even though the market has been on fire whether Mitchell thinks NFTs are changing the art world (hint: he thinks yes) NFTs and the financialization of art why Mitchell can empathize with some of the backlash about NFTs coming from the traditional art and gaming industries Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021        Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ         Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained     Episode Links   Mitchell Chan Twitter: https://twitter.com/mitchellfchan Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4QdtdZWMpN  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchellfchan/  Gallery: https://chan.gallery/    Content: DIGITAL ZONES OF IMMATERIAL PICTORIAL SENSIBILITY (Sotheby’s NFT - $1M+) Sotheby’s Sale: https://metaverse.sothebys.com/natively-digital/lots/digital_zone_of_immaterial_pictorial_sensibility  33 Page Essay: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmcdKPjcJgYX2k7weqZLoKjHqB9tWxEV5oKBcPV6L8b5dD https://twitter.com/mitchellfchan/status/1465699544436330496  OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/ikb-cachet-de-garantie-1  TL;DR: https://twitter.com/LeonidasNFT/status/1470397221548052480  Video Essays on NFTs (super interesting) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtUGpOe-zE4&list=PLVRveZVaYYqHZKN_5oH8wC5QBRMMlXdBT&t=25s  Sol Lewitt Generator Generator https://medium.com/@mitchellfchan/nfts-generative-art-and-sol-lewitt-e99a5fa2b0cb  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas (Eve)! For this special episode of Unchained, three other crypto journalists and I discuss their favorite stories from the past twelve months, how they would grade crypto journalism in 2021, and what they are looking forward to covering in 2022. Show highlights: what stories Michael, Michael, Jeff, and I will remember from a ~busy~ 2021  why 2021 is “clearly the biggest year” yet for the industry how CoinDesk, Forbes, and Decrypt can improve their news coverage in 2022 what Michael, Michael, Jeff, and I think about all the negative energy directed at journalists from the crypto and tech space how mainstream media can do a better job covering crypto predictions for what the biggest stories of 2022 will be Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Michael Casey  Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikejcasey CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/ Unchained Appearances ​​Why Bitcoin Now: Michael Casey and Niall Ferguson on How Bitcoin Fits in the History of Money https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-michael-casey-and-niall-ferguson-on-how-bitcoin-fits-in-the-history-of-money/ Live from SXSW: Michael Casey and Paul Vigna, Co-Authors of The Truth Machine, on Why the SEC Has Issued Subpoenas to ICOs https://unchainedpodcast.com/live-from-sxsw-michael-casey-and-paul-vigna-co-authors-of-the-truth-machine-on-why-the-sec-has-issued-subpoenas-to-icos/   Michael del Castillo Twitter: https://twitter.com/delRayMan Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/   Jeff Roberts Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeffjohnroberts Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/  Unchained Appearances Will Coinbase Do a Token Offering When It Goes Public? https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-coinbase-do-a-token-offering-when-it-goes-public/ Coinbase’s S-1: The Number That May Make the Exchange Nervous https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinbases-s-1-the-number-that-may-make-the-exchange-nervous/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jess Symington, research lead at Elliptic, a blockchain forensics company, discusses the massive upswing in DeFi hacks during 2021, resulting in over $10 billion of DeFi value lost. Show topics: the state of crime in DeFi how much value has been lost to exploits whether the majority of hacks are the result of user or developer error the various types of exploits how to confirm when a project did, in fact, rug pull which blockchains are most susceptible to having exploits what has been happening recently in ransomware how DeFi hackers cash out why ransomware attackers, who usually request payment in Bitcoin, have a tougher time cashing out than DeFi hackers  whether hackers trend towards a specific profile/demographics  how easy it is for law enforcement to find hackers  whether blockchain’s transparency is proving to be a helpful tool for regulators Jess’s advice on how to prevent hacks for both protocols and users   Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ      Episode Links   Elliptic Website: https://www.elliptic.co/  Blog: https://www.elliptic.co/blog    Hack Coverage Elliptic Research DeFi: Risk, Regulation and the Rise of DeCrime: https://www.elliptic.co/resources/defi-risk-regulation-and-the-rise-of-decrime https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/14/common-defi-crypto-related-scams-and-how-to-protect-your-wallet.html  https://cryptobriefing.com/elliptic-estimates-12b-lost-to-defi-exploits/  Rekt Leaderboard (giving a dollar figure for recent hacks along with a summary of what happened) https://rekt.news/leaderboard/    Unchained Podcast on Ransomware https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-ransomware-evolved-into-a-big-business/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabby Dizon, cofounder of Yield Guild Games, discusses his background in gaming, why he started Yield Guild Games, the performance of Axie Infinity, and more. Show topics: how Gabby fell down the crypto rabbit hole what inspired Gabby to co-found Yield Guild Games what Yield Guild Games does how blockchain games improve upon games in the traditional world a real-life story of Yield Guild Games improving a player’s life why it’s difficult for Yield Guild Games players to cash out earnings and how Yield Guild Games is trying to solve this issue via a partnership with XLD why Gabby thinks the value of $SLP in Axie Infinity is dropping what sort of game and tokenization mechanisms work best for blockchain games why Gabby wants a new Ethereum token standard what Gabby thinks makes an in-game NFT valuable why Axie Infinity is popular in the Philippines and Venezuela  where Yield Guild Games is attempting to expand next how Yield Guild Games built out the tokenomics for YGG, the guild’s native token what Gabby thinks about P2E games on chains outside of Ethereum how Yield Guild Games is decentralizing  how blockchain games are changing the nature of work  what sort of jobs exist in the metaverse why Gabby buys NFTs Gabby’s crypto prediction for 2022   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ      Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained     Episode Notes Gabby Dizon -- cofounder at Yield Guild Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabusch  Website: https://y.at/%F0%9F%95%B9%F0%9F%A5%8A%F0%9F%96%BC%F0%9F%A5%83   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabbydizon/  Cointelegraph profile https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/2021/04/15/gabby-dizon-making-computer-games-real  Metaverse job board https://twitter.com/gabusch/status/1416682528090460160   Yield Guild Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/YieldGuild  Discord: https://discord.com/invite/ygg Blog: https://medium.com/yield-guild-games  Primer: ​​https://cryptobriefing.com/defi-project-spotlight-yield-guild-games-dao-titan/  A16z investment into YGG https://a16z.com/2021/08/19/investing-in-yield-guild-games/  YGG whitepaper https://yieldguild.io/YGG-Whitepaper-English.pdf  Scholarships https://medium.com/yield-guild-games/yield-guild-explains-play-to-earn-and-scholarships-bb1e097c2a61  Summary of 8 new YGG games: https://coinyuppie.com/a-three-minute-overview-of-yggs-latest-8-games-included-in-the-investment-landscape/    Miscellaneous Axie Infinity documentary:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo-BrASMHU4  XLD Token = “real-world use case” https://twitter.com/gabusch/status/1467763722257301507 https://xld.medium.com/xld-finance-and-yield-guild-games-partner-to-enable-play-to-earn-gamers-to-pay-bills-with-crypto-d35c80d29a0d Play to Earn token economics https://twitter.com/mikojava/status/1459041371289841666  Axie Infinity + Filipino Workers Good:  https://twitter.com/kookoocryptotv/status/1461164984117784576 Declining wages:  https://twitter.com/larsiusprime/status/1459191090100244483    Unchained Episodes on Axie Infinity Axie Infinity’s July Revenue Tops $200 Million. Here’s How Filipinos Drove It (Leah Callon-Butler) https://unchainedpodcast.com/axie-infinitys-july-revenue-tops-200-million-heres-how-filipinos-drove-it/ How Axie Infinity Boosted Revenue 400%+ in 30 Days (Aleksander Larsen, Axie Infinity COO) https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-axie-infinity-boosted-revenue-400-in-30-days/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at Arca, discusses the recent events surrounding SushiSwap, including CTO Joseph Delong’s departure this week, Arca’s proposal to create a hierarchical management structure for SushiSwap, and why Jeff is still excited about Arca’s investment in SushiSwap. Show topics: what SushiSwap is and how it has performed since its inception how Jeff views SushiSwap’s performance from an investor’s perspective how the departure of 0xMaki affected SushiSwap what Jeff thinks about the decentralization versus centralization  why Jeff thinks SushiSwap is in a fantastic position in which to receive investment what happened with the controversy around Joseph Delong leading to his resignation this week  what Jeff thinks about how Joseph handled his departure what three factors SushiSwap needs to figure out in order to function why SushiSwap could benefit from creating a legal entity why Jeff is in favor of hierarchical governance structures versus flat governance structures how SushiSwap could become a trendsetter for DAOs in general   Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ     Episode Links:    Jeff Dorman Twitter https://twitter.com/jdorman81  Arca https://www.ar.ca/    Joseph Delong’s Departure The Block’s coverage:  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/126411/sushiswap-cto-threatens-to-quit-as-infighting-escalates https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/126879/sushiswaps-cto-resigns-amid-infighting The Defiant: https://thedefiant.io/sushiswap-leadership-crisis/   Sushi Bickering on Twitter Screenshot of 0xMaki being ousted: https://twitter.com/makibacknow/status/1463078678724632576/photo/1 Joseph Delong on SushiSwap drama: https://twitter.com/josephdelong/status/1467498481573052427  Joseph Delong’s resignation: https://twitter.com/josephdelong/status/1468689021530427395  Boring Crypto on SushiSwap drama: https://twitter.com/Boring_Crypto/status/1467162233905893379    SushiSwap Proposals Arca https://forum.sushi.com/t/sushi-dao-restructure-proposal/6282  Bridge compensation https://forum.sushi.com/t/bridge-compensation-for-sushi-core/6217/3    Miscellaneous 0xMaki transitioning to an advisory role https://forum.sushi.com/t/transition-into-advisor/5533  SushiSwap on leadership tumult https://hackmd.io/ipJtfxhuQmqW9B8igew_AA?view      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the biggest names in the crypto industry discuss their personal giving philosophies, how blockchain technology could change the dynamics of giving to charity, and which crypto projects are making a lasting real-world impact. Guests include Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital; Caroline Ellison, co-CEO of Alameda Research; and Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos. Show topics: the definition of effective altruism  why Haseeb thinks crypto is the best industry for effective altruism how Haseeb and Arthur differ in their philosophy of doing good why blockchain technology is less important than liquidity when donating money across borders whether Axie Infinity is making a real-world impact why Arthur thinks Axie’s impact will be short-term and not sustainable whether people should donate now versus later Haseeb’s and Arthur’s thoughts on how giving changes people what people working in crypto can do to give back Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ     Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained    Episode Links   GiveDirectly https://www.givedirectly.org/unchained — all donations made here will be matched! There are $50,000 in matching funds available!    https://www.givedirectly.org/crypto-for-good-2021/   Guests Caroline Ellison https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-ellison-309216a7 Haseeb Qureshi https://twitter.com/hosseeb  Arthur Breitman https://twitter.com/ArthurB    Miscellaneous Effective Altruism https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/introduction-to-effective-altruism/ Code to Inspire https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-actually-fixes-this-how-code-to-inspire-uses-crypto-in-afghanistan/  Pineapple Fund https://pineapplefund.org/ BitGive https://www.bitgivefoundation.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Zurrer, founder of Dialectic, a crypto wealth multi-family office, discusses his recent $29 million purchase of Beeple’s Human One and his experience at Art Basel in Miami, along with his thoughts on the NFT space in general. Show highlights: what Human One is and why Ryan purchased it how Ryan and Beeple’s personal relationship factored into the purchase of Human One why Human One is important to the metaverse how Ryan defied the odds in purchasing Human One how Miami’s Art Basel conference missed out by not capitalizing enough on NFTs what Ryan thinks about the NFT industry being described as a bubble how Ryan uses “proof-of-artwork” to determine which NFTs to buy Ryan’s experience visiting Beeple’s art studio/campus where Ryan thinks NFTs will go from here, and why he is so bullish on music NFTs in particular  Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links:   Ryan Zurrer Twitter: https://twitter.com/kukulabanze Previous Unchained appearances: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ryan-zurrer-would-like-to-see-a-new-dao/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-cryptoeconomics-pt-1-with-olaf-carlson-wee-and-ryan-zurrer-of-polychain-capital/    Human One Beeple x Christie’s interview: https://www.christies.com/features/Beeple-gets-real-with-human-one-11940-7.aspx Barron’s on Human One purchase: https://www.barrons.com/articles/beeples-human-one-video-sculpture-and-nft-sells-for-nearly-29-million-01636506472  Ryan Zurrer purchase: https://twitter.com/kukulabanze/status/1458236032818819075?s=20  Proof-of-Artwork: ​​https://www.decential.io/features/proof-of-artwork-ryan-zurer-on-his-29-million-purchase-of-beeples-human-one   Art Basel Miami https://artbasel.com/miami-beach    Beeple saying NFTs are a “bubble:” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-21/prices-in-a-bubble-beeple-says-after-his-69-million-nft-sale  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Unchained, two co-founders of Solana Labs, Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, dive deeply into the Solana ecosystem, discussing everything from the price of SOL to the Solana network outage to the competition between Ethereum and Solana. Show highlights: why Raj thinks SOL’s market cap grew from $86 million to $68 billion in less than a year Anatoly’s and Raj’s background and how they found themselves working together to build Solana why Anatoly thinks Solana will be a general-purpose blockchain rather than specializing in gaming or high frequency trading Anatoly’s goal to make Solana the first billion-user blockchain why Raj thinks NFTs on Solana have been so popular why, in the opinion of Raj and Anatoly, Solana’s purpose has shifted away from high-frequency trading how NFTs could replace ads why “everything is DeFi” how Solana Labs plans to allocate the recent $314 million funding round it raised what lessons Anatoly learned from the 18-hour September network outage technically speaking, what happened to cause Solana’s network outage why Anatoly believes that outages, at this stage, aren’t necessarily a bad thing whether “trading mercenaries” dominated at Solana Breakpoint why developers are interested in building on Solana how Solana and Ethereum compare as execution and settlement layers why Raj doesn’t like framing competition between Solana and Ethereum as a fight how Anatoly views the competition between Ethereum and Solana whether the arrival of Neon Labs, which is bringing EVM to Solana, could lead to developers leaving Ethereum how NFTs and Phantom wallets are bringing in new users for Solana whether Raj and Anatoly would roll back Solana if something like Ethereum’s DAO hack were to occur why Solana has the competitive advantage in throughput, according to Anatoly what would happen if FTX cofounder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried gave up on Solana their predictions for Solana five years from now   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ      Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained   Episode Links:   Anatoly Yakovenko https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko    Raj Gokal https://twitter.com/rajgokal    Solana News Anatoly Yakovenko -- ​​ It ‘doesn’t really matter’ if the network goes down again https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/124887/solana-labs-ceo-it-doesnt-really-matter-if-the-network-goes-down-again  Neon Labs https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/123744/neon-labs-developer-of-ethereum-virtual-machine-on-solana-raises-40-million Aave + SushiSwap going to Solanas through Neon Labs https://twitter.com/joselitommutuc/status/1462043806207938563  Solana + Brave integration https://decrypt.co/85538/privacy-browser-brave-expands-beyond-ethereum-solana  ATH at $260 https://decrypt.co/85457/solana-hits-all-time-high-of-260  Solana Breakpoint https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/15/solana-throws-a-three-day-party-for-itself/  https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2021/11/solana-network-highlights-from-breakpoint-conference-paint-a-very-healthy-picture/  https://decrypt.co/85934/the-view-from-solana-week-in-lisbon  FTX US + Solana NFTs https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/120044/ftx-us-launches-marketplace-for-trading-solana-based-nfts  Solana Outage The Block’s coverage https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/117711/solana-blockchain-validators-restart-network-after-transaction-stoppage  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/117624/solana-experiences-transaction-stoppage-as-developers-report-intermittent-instability  Why the mainnet went down https://twitter.com/buffalu__/status/1437792673784549383   Potential ramifications https://twitter.com/CometShock/status/1437870278684590091  Anatoly Yakovenko Solana outage tweets https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1437887482897518595 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1437784552324358155 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1438496595360862215 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1438465508412739588 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/with_replies  Solana $314M Fundraise https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/107749/solana-labs-raises-314-million-funding-a16z-polychain-capital    Solana Topics Raj thinks Ethereum cannot be killed https://twitter.com/rajgokal/status/1458420316569489410 NFT Growth https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1455556328404013057  https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1459157853848195079  Pplpleasr https://decrypt.co/85964/the-collectoooooor-pplpleasr-latest-nft-art-solana-ethereum  Investment in gaming Forte https://decrypt.co/85966/cosmos-solana-ventures-join-725m-series-b-crypto-gaming-platform-forte  Alexis Ohanian investment https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/cryptocurrency/articles/why-reddit-co-founder-alexis-ohanian-will-invest-100-million-in-solana-social-media/  FTX + Solana https://decrypt.co/85302/ftx-solana-ventures-lightspeed-100m-crypto-gaming  Phantom wallet hits 1M+ users https://decrypt.co/85563/phantom-wallet-preps-mobile-launch-reaching-million-users-solana   Solana Basics CoinMonk: https://medium.com/coinmonks/solana-more-update-for-sol-becb65024877  Solana Labs: https://medium.com/solana-labs/proof-of-history-a-clock-for-blockchain-cf47a61a9274  The Tie: https://research.thetie.io/solana-ecosystem/  Binance.Research: https://research.binance.com/en/projects/solana  Genesis Block: https://genesisblockhk.com/what-is-solana/  Block Explorers: https://explorer.solana.com/supply + https://solanabeach.io/supply + https://solanalysis.com/  Messari: https://messari.io/article/the-perpetual-sol-rise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maren Altman is a professional astrologer and crypto trader. On Unchained, she discusses her end-of-year price target for Bitcoin, how crypto fits into her natal chart, and how she uses planets to divine the price movement of crypto assets. Highlights: why Maren believes she was born to trade cryptocurrencies how long-term planetary transits explain the rise of cryptocurrency why the transits of Uranus, North Node, and Jupiter could lead to a big, extremely innovative “metaverse/cyber pandemic/internet of things” development in spring 2023 how Maren determines the “natal chart” (a birth chart that determines a person or entity’s astrological chart) for cryptocurrencies how Maren uses astrology to trade cryptocurrencies Maren’s price prediction for BTC for the end of the year what astrological factors make Maren think BTC could crash after December 30th Maren’s EOY projections for ETH what Maren thinks about crypto regulation why Maren thinks CBDCs are inevitable whether Maren feels giving alpha for free via TikTok hurts her trading   Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links   Maren Altman TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marenaltman Twitter: twitter.com/marenaltman   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marenaltman/  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MarenAltman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two tokenomics experts, Yan Liberman, co-founder of Delphi Digital, and Viktor Bunin, protocol specialist at Coinbase Cloud, discuss their experiences building tokens, their thoughts on the recent ENS/PSP airdrops, and what “fair” token distribution looks like. Show highlights: the definition of tokenomics what factors (such as utility, fairness, liquidity, security, etc.) token designers are incentivizing for what Yan learned from helping design Astroport tokenomics what Vikor learned from helping design Threshold, the token that was built to facilitate the merge of NuCypher and Keep how the EIP 1559 burn has changed Ethereum’s tokenomics how EIP 1559 has improved investor outlook for Ethereum why Viktor is worried about people actually using Ethereum going forward what Viktor and Yan think about how the ENS airdrop farming issue was handled what Viktor and Yan think about ParaSwap’s PSP airdrop and why Viktor thinks ParaSwap made a “mistake” how Viktor and Yan would go about airdropping a token to good actors instead of bad actors how improvements in on-chain identity could help future airdrops  fair launch tokens versus VC-backed tokens what the definition of fair is in terms of tokenomics why Viktor thinks a token’s distribution is more important than a token’s launch what could be the optimal way to distribute liquidity mining rewards how community affects tokenomics how to incentivize NFT-based tokens, like the forthcoming Bored Ape Yacht Club token, for the right goals      Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Yan Liberman -- co founder at Delphi Digital LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanliberman Twitter: https://twitter.com/yanliberman    Viktor Bunin -- protocol specialist at Coinbase (Bison Trails) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktorbunin  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ViktorBunin    Tokenomics 101 Primers: The Tie: https://research.thetie.io/token-economics/  Smith and Crown: https://smithandcrown.com/research/issues-of-fairness-in-token-distribution/  A Timeline of Token Distributions: https://blog.coinlist.co/the-evolution-of-token-distribution-models/    Recent Airdrops + Airdrop farming PSP:   https://medium.com/paraswap/introducing-the-psp-token-to-make-paraswap-even-more-efficient-and-decentralized-c4730e50be72  ENS: https://twitter.com/ensdomains/status/1457862602239926274 https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1456424366850281488    Airdrop Farming Potential airdrops coming up:  https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/09/missed-the-ens-airdrop-here-are-the-crypto-projects-rumored-to-decentralize-next/  https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-airdrops https://www.trustnodes.com/2021/11/14/ethereans-sneak-to-zksync-for-airdrop-farming  PSP drop w/ heavy requirements ​https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/11/15/dex-aggregator-paraswap-launches-psp-token-on-heels-of-ens-airdrop-excitement/   ENS Blacklist https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1456048492141441027    Topics Mentioned Astroport tokenomics https://astroport.medium.com/hello-astro-announcing-the-astroport-governance-token-drops-a07a1bf3ed94 NuCypher + Keep merge https://decrypt.co/73800/forget-hard-fork-what-happens-after-kee-nucypher-hard-merge SushiSwap vampire attack https://finematics.com/vampire-attack-sushiswap-explained/  Tokemak tokenomics https://medium.com/the-capital/defi-2-0-is-it-the-next-wave-of-cryptocurrency-4499e838ea44    Miscellaneous What is liquidity mining? https://medium.com/coinmonks/what-is-liquidity-mining-and-how-does-it-work-d0ab491e607  The Internet of Money (recommended by Viktor) https://theinternetofmoney.info/    Other Fun Topics  How Token Governance Mechanisms can be implemented https://outlierventures.io/research/what-is-the-secret-to-building-valuable-tokens-part-2/ Crypto Gaming economics https://outlierventures.io/research/p2e-2-0-a-new-economic-model-for-gaming-based-on-crypto-tokens/  Does farming represent progress in token distribution? https://smithandcrown.com/research/adaptations-in-token-distribution-mechanisms-does-farming-represent-progress/  Should treasuries hold native tokens? https://twitter.com/AntonioMJuliano/status/1460278949867442182  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Papper, SyndicateDAO co-founder and ConstitutionDAO contributor, tells the story of how a group of internet friends came together as a DAO to crowdfund a $41 million bid at a Sotheby’s auction for a physical copy of the US Constitution. Show highlights: how Will and other ConstitutionDAO members feel after losing the auction the significance of ConstitutionDAO despite its loss whether Will knows who the other bidder was why museums began reaching out to ConstitutionDAO and seem to be excited about DAOs moving forward why there was so much confusion over who was the bidder for the DAO and whether it had won why ConstitutionDAO did not bid more than $41 million -- even though the crowdfund was at nearly $50 million why ConstitutionDAO did not have a crypto-whale help keep the bidding war going how ConstitutionDAO plans to refund participants what Will thinks about using a layer 2 solution to refund ETH for ConstitutionDAO donations how the idea for ConstitutionDAO came about what role Will had in the formation of ConstitutionDAO what lessons can be learned from ConstitutionDAO what’s next for DAOs in general Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ      Episode Links   Will Papper Twitter: https://twitter.com/WillPapper LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wpapper    ConstitutionDAO Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConstitutionDAO  Website: https://www.constitutiondao.com/  Contribution page: https://juicebox.money/#/p/constitutiondao    Sotheby’s Auction YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TBa-9Lx3vc    ConstitutionDAO’s Statement After Losing Auction ​​https://twitter.com/ConstitutionDAO/status/1461527516670316544  https://twitter.com/ConstitutionDAO/status/1461498841820192771    Press Not Boring: https://www.notboring.co/p/lets-buy-the-us-constitution  Stratechery: https://stratechery.com/2021/constitutiondao-the-need-for-trust-memes-and-reality/  New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/business/crypto-constitution-sothebys.html?smid=tw-share Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crypto-investors-want-to-buy-rare-copy-of-u-s-constitution-at-sothebys-auction-11637071590  The Defiant: https://thedefiant.io/dao-constitution-4m/ CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/11/15/i-think-were-doing-this-inside-one-daos-20m-plot-to-purchase-the-us-constitution/  William Lobkowicz tweet thread: https://twitter.com/WRLobkowicz/status/1461401142953402371  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s senior vice president and general manager of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies, discusses PayPal’s crypto game plan, how CBDCs might be implemented, crypto regulations, and more. Show highlights: Jose’s path to becoming the GM of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies at PayPal what factors led to PayPal’s decision to launch its crypto offering what sort of customer makes up PayPal’s crypto demographic how users are engaging with the various PayPal crypto services, like crypto-rewards cards whether the introduction of crypto had anything to do with Venmo’s 36% jump in volume during Q3 2021 how PayPal interacts with Paxos on the backend to settle crypto transactions why Jose thinks PayPal has decided to not add cryptocurrency to its balance sheet how crypto transactions work within PayPal’s internal ledger and how that might change once PayPal launches support for withdrawals off-platform  the three types of directions that Jose believes stablecoins and CBDCs could be built what solutions would need to be built before PayPal would consider issuing its own stablecoin what scaling technologies, be it L1 or L2, PayPal is interested in whether stablecoins and CBDCs can/will co-exist Jose’s thoughts on how long it will be before CBDCs are being issued why Jose thinks that new regulation might be necessary for cryptocurrencies whether PayPal will be participating in decentralized activities, such as on-chain governance why Jose thinks that PayPal’s crypto offering could help improve financial inclusion -- especially for smaller companies why Jose and PayPal are excited about NFTs how PayPal will decide to support new cryptocurrencies on its platform what Jose thinks PayPal’s crypto offering could look like in the future Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ   Episode Links Jose Fernandez da Ponte LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-fernandez-da-ponte-a46ba81/   PayPal Crypto Basics Homepage: https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/crypto FAQs:  https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/cryptocurrency-on-paypal-faq-faq4398 https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/topic/MY_WALLET_PER  Terms + Conditions:  https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/cryptocurrencies-tnc Venmo Crypto:  https://venmo.com/about/crypto/     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Trabucco, co-CEO of Alameda Research, discusses the different price drivers that led to BTC, ETH, SOL, and LUNA reaching new all-time highs in the past week. Show highlights: why Sam believes no bad news from regulators is good news what effect leverage has on the crypto markets the significance of Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high and the crypto market cap reaching $3 trillion how the approval of a bitcoin futures ETF affected the crypto market what Sam thinks about the actions of US crypto regulators (hint: it’s probably not what you would think) why Sam thinks ETH’s price hit a new all-time this week what Sam thinks about the changes to ETH monetary policy and the upcoming merge to Ethereum 2.0  how Sam views the competition among layer 1 blockchains and why he is not a fan of maximalism what factors he believes are driving the price of SOL  what sort of projects are being built on Solana, and why people are excited about the ecosystem  what Sam thinks about Terra passing a proposal to burn LUNA   Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ     Sam Trabucco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-trabucco-79215263/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlamedaTrabucco   Alameda Research Website: https://www.alameda-research.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlamedaResearch    Recent all-time highs: BTC: https://www.yahoo.com/now/bitcoin-sets-time-high-above-152238016.html ETH: https://fortune.com/2021/11/08/ethereum-all-time-high-bitcoin-btc-ether-spot-etf/  SOL: https://decrypt.co/85457/solana-hits-all-time-high-of-260 LUNA: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/11/10/terra-passes-highly-anticipated-proposal-to-burn-nearly-89m-luna/   Links mentioned: Alexis Ohanian’s Solana investment: https://www.forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor/2021/11/09/reddit-co-founder-alexis-ohanian-bets-big-on-solana-and-web-30/  Breakpoint conference: https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2021/11/solana-network-highlights-from-breakpoint-conference-paint-a-very-healthy-picture/  Sam Bankman-Fried on Solana: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/solana-ethereum-rival-price-rising-bitcoin-000139765.html  Sam Trabucco on leverage trading: https://twitter.com/AlamedaTrabucco/status/1451281805584310273  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Non-Fungible Castle 2021, an NFT exhibition in Prague, four NFT experts debate some of the hottest topics in the metaverse, like how to value NFTs, whether insider trading exists, what makes Ethereum-based NFTS so special, and the environmental impact of NFTs.  Guests include Maria Paula Fernandez, co-founder at JPG, Kavita Gupta, cofounder of FINTECH.TV, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, artist, and Gmoney, an NFT collector. Show highlights: what an NFT is  why NFTs have value what the “myth of decentralization” has to do with NFT valuation why collectors like gmoney prefer to collect NFTs on Ethereum vs. other chains how provenance and IP rights interact with value why gmoney thinks Solana Punks are like fake Chanel bags what “owning an NFT” actually means whether newbies need to be protected from buying scam NFTs the “rite of passage” of falling pretty to a rug pull and the concept of “do your own research” (DYOR) what can be done about insider-trading-like activities in NFTs how to navigate public-facing blockchains when your address is doxed different ways to link off-chain assets to NFTs what the crypto industry can do to better understand the NFT impact on climate change   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links   Non-Fungible Castle 2021 Website: https://www.nfcastle.com/ Conference recordings: https://www.nfcastle.com/conference Twitter: https://twitter.com/nf_castle  Tweet thread of Laura’s experience at NFCastle 2021:  https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1449731658928824320  Maria Paula Fernandez Medium: https://mariapaulafernandezneglia.medium.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mar%C3%ADa-paula-fern%C3%A1ndez-no-social-selling-please-a96a8034/   Kavita Gupta Twitter: https://twitter.com/KavitaGupta19  Oliver Halsman Rosenberg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliver_halsman_rosenberg/?hl=en  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-halsman-rosenberg-940a0935  gmoney https://twitter.com/gmoneyNFT  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Non-Fungible Castle 2021, an NFT exhibition in Prague, four NFT experts discuss the legal implications of NFTs. Guests include Jonathan Victor, product/business development at Protocol Labs; Louis Baudoin, advisor at Monax; Diana Stern, product counsel at Stripe; and Shant Marootian COO at Fractional.art. Show highlights: what users are receiving with the purchase of an NFT how the terms of service for different NFT marketplaces change NFT rights how on-chain storage and off-chain storage affects NFT ownership what rights do creators need to mint an NFT what recourse creators have if someone mints their art as an NFT and profits from it whether NFT marketplaces should respect NFT royalty standards on resales how NFT marketplaces could make it easier for creators to clarify licensing and royalty standards whether NFTs should be regulated under existing laws and what gaps in regulation need to be filled when an NFT should be considered a security how different jurisdictions may work together to regulate NFTs why money laundering is a problem for NFTs how a DAO could go about owning an NFT or IP what would happen to NFTs and DAOs if Ethereum were to suffer a hard fork again why DAOs should stay compliant with traditional regulations how to improve licensing and industry standards for NFTs whether NFTs should be considered as financial objects what would happen if a museum fractionalized the Mona Lisa   Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links:   Non-Fungible Castle 2021 Website: https://www.nfcastle.com/ Conference recordings: https://www.nfcastle.com/conference Twitter: https://twitter.com/nf_castle  Tweet thread of Laura’s experience at NFCastle 2021:  https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1449731658928824320    Jonathan Victor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-victor-69a44255  Louis Baudoin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lou-baudoin-5b847a151/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/MerkleData  Diana Stern Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianajstern  Shant Marootian LinkedIn: ​https://www.linkedin.com/in/smarooti/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Secret Network is a privacy-first, permissionless layer 1 blockchain built for computational privacy. Tor Bair, founder of Secret Foundation, a developer of Secret Network, discusses what makes Secret Network unique, including smart contract privacy, private metadata for NFTs, and how regulators should treat privacy tech in blockchain. Show highlights: how Tor fell down the crypto rabbit hole what the Secret Network is and how it is bringing privacy to blockchain why public blockchains are problematic what makes Secret Network different from Monero or Zcash how Secret Network works from a technical perspective what type of applications Secret Network can support that public blockchains cannot why blockchain voting is probably a bad idea (for now) what attack vectors exist regarding Secret Network how Secret Network nodes work and why there are only 50 of them how Secret Network fixes miner extractable value (MEV) what DeFi applications are possible on Secret Network how NFTs on Secret Network are different from public blockchain NFTs how regulators should treat Secret Network   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links   Tor Bair Twitter https://twitter.com/TorBair   Website http://www.torbair.com/ Medium https://medium.com/@TorBai Secret Network Primers Messari:  https://messari.io/asset/secret-network/profile https://messari.io/article/shhhhh-it-s-a-secret-network  Decrypt:  https://decrypt.co/resources/what-is-secret-network-scrt-formerly-enigma  Coin Monks: https://medium.com/coinmonks/what-is-secret-network-bad9a233c481  Tech Crunch:  https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/03/in-the-race-towards-web-3-financial-privacy-secret-network-attracts-backing-from-key-players/  Introduction from Enigma/Secret Article: https://blog.enigma.co/introducing-secret-network-ed48621754ad  Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c70BBVUCxxk  Tech Smart contracts → Secret contracts https://scrt.network/blog/programmable-privacy/ Upcoming Supernova upgrade (November 9) https://scrt.network/blog/supernova-explosive-vision-future-secret-network  Secret NFTs (only the holder can view the NFT) https://scrt.network/blog/secret-opensea-partner-nfts-world-renowned-artist https://www.yahoo.com/now/secret-network-partners-opensea-launch-130000946.html  SCRT Tokenomics https://scrt.network/blog/secret-network-tokenomics-and-ecosystem-pool  https://scrt.network/about/about-scrt  Secret Network block-explorer/node explorer https://secretnodes.com/secret/chains/secret-3  Ecosystem https://scrt.network/ecosystem/overview  Graypaper https://scrt.network/graypaper  Node information https://docs.scrt.network/node-guides/secret-nodes.html    Enigma  Original ICO `https://icodrops.com/enigma/  Research https://picoloresearch.com/upload/attachment/14614.pdf  Enigma token swap https://medium.com/staky-io/how-to-swap-eng-enigma-to-scrt-secret-f80d855992ef  https://blog.enigma.co/enigma-announces-settlement-with-sec-and-successful-launch-of-enigma-mainnet-3811ef291705  https://beincrypto.com/privacy-token-enigma-files-with-sec-after-settlement/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do Kwon, cofounder of Terraform Labs, was recently served subpoenas by the US Securities and Exchange Commission during Messari’s mainnet event, leading Kwon and Terraform to preemptively sue the SEC. On Unconfirmed, Kwon discusses: what Terraform Labs does and how it is building its DeFi ecosystem around TerraUSD ($UST) why Terraform Labs created its synthetics protocol, Mirror, and how it works what Do thinks about the SEC’s investigation into Mirror what happened to Do at Messari’s mainnet event why the SEC’s approach to crypto regulation does not impact Do very much what Do thinks about how US regulators are treating crypto companies how Do would regulate the crypto industry why he believes the current state of crypto regulation doesn’t work in a global context why he says the SEC couldn’t do anything to TerraUSD -- even if it wanted to what two characteristics are critical in building a decentralized protocol how the crypto industry could improve security in light of the $130 million Cream Finance hack   Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links   Do Kwon Twitter: https://twitter.com/stablekwon    Terra Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money  Website: https://www.terra.money/  Terra ecosystem: https://docs.terra.money/Reference/ecosystem.html    SEC Lawsuit CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/10/23/terras-do-kwon-was-served-by-sec-new-lawsuit-shows/  Terraform V SEC https://www.scribd.com/document/534537134/Terraform-v-SEC  Stephen Palley https://twitter.com/stephendpalley/status/1451709816020348933    Messari Mainnet Serving https://twitter.com/gogoSlava/status/1439972015910408195    Miscellaneous SEC charging Abra https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-153 Stablecoin market cap comparison ​​https://coinmarketcap.com/view/stablecoin/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which caused considerable backlash from the crypto community due to the language regarding “brokers?” Abe Sutherland, an adjunct professor at University of Virginia School of Law, believes another provision tucked inside the bill could end up being a far more significant issue for anyone transacting in digital assets. Show highlights: how Abe fell down the crypto rabbit hole what provision 6050I is and how it could affect anyone transacting with digital assets how 6050I works and when it would apply why violating 6050I would be a felony how 6050I discourages digital asset transactions how 6050I would apply to different transaction types, like peer-to-peer trades, NFT sales, and smart contract escrow accounts what information recipients of digital assets must verify from the sender how the government came up with the $10,000 reporting threshold and why Abe believes this number is outdated why Abe thinks proposing 6050I within the infrastructure bill is inappropriate what reasons the government has to want to put such stringent reporting requirements on digital asset transactions  how 6050I fits under the financial laws of the Bank Secrecy Act why Abe believes the amendment should be struck from the infrastructure bill what Abe thinks of the constitutionality of 6050I how Abe views 6050I as less about generating tax revenue and more about tracking people’s digital asset transactions what action steps he says the crypto community can take to fix the bill Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021         Nodle: http://nodle.io/unchained     Episode links   Abe Sutherland https://twitter.com/abesutherland   Medium Post: https://medium.com/@laurashin/why-not-reporting-info-on-your-crypto-trading-partner-could-become-a-felony-c6399998f113   Information on 6050I Abe’s research report  https://www.proofofstakealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Research-Report-on-Tax-Code-6050I-and-Digital-Assets-printable.pdf Tweet thread from Abe https://twitter.com/abesutherland/status/1438881314871156736 https://twitter.com/abesutherland/status/1443082205383696384 6050I article Abe wrote for Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/the-proposal-to-regulate-digital-asset-transactions-should-be-struck  Abe’s appearance on What Bitcoin Did to discuss 6050I https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/hidden-danger-in-the-infrastructure-bill Twitter spaces with Congressman Warren Davidson, Peter McCormack, and others regarding the infrastructure bill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCq6BVLzF44 Miscellaneous 6050I links https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-crypto-industry-could-take-tax-fight-all-the-way-to-the-supreme-court-11632509009 https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/09/29/infrastructure-bills-crypto-surveillance-criticized-unconstitutional/ https://fortune.com/2021/09/21/crypto-transactions-report-to-government/ https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/17/crypto-lobbying-group-warns-of-another-tax-provision-in-senate-infrastructure-bill https://www.coincenter.org/an-unworkable-and-arguably-unconstitutional-tax-change-tucked-away-in-the-infrastructure-bill/ https://decrypt.co/81236/overlooked-part-senate-infrastructure-bill-renews-worries-crypto-lobby https://nickanthony.substack.com/p/last-minute-cryptocurrency-taxation https://www.cato.org/blog/infrastructure-bill-hangs-balance-so-does-crypto https://ambcrypto.com/what-is-the-u-s-infra-bill-crypto-amendment-really-all-about   Unchained coverage of the infrastructure bill How Congress Might Pass Laws Bad for Proof-of-Stake and DeFi https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PlanB, a former institutional investor with 25 years of experience in financial markets turned anon Bitcoin analyst, discusses Bitcoin’s price action, from the macroeconomic drivers to what his models predict for the rest of 2021. Show highlights: PlanB’s background and how he got into Bitcoin what a stock-to-flow model is and how PlanB uses it to predict Bitcoin’s price why PlanB called for a $1 trillion market cap when Bitcoin was priced at sub $4K how the approval of a bitcoin futures ETF has affected Bitcoin’s price why institutions are more comfortable with bitcoin futures, rather than the underlying asset how to properly calculate gold’s stock-to-flow model why he believes the stock-to-flow models works -- even when detractors say it is flawed how the pandemic has affected Bitcoin’s price what PlanB thinks about China’s decision to effectively ban Bitcoin the three charts PlanB uses to model Bitcoin what the price floor for Bitcoin will be in October, November, and December whether PlanB thinks we are in a supercycle Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links   PlanB: Twitter: https://twitter.com/100trillionUSD Website: https://100trillionusd.github.io/   Topics Covered Stock-to-flow modeling https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-with-scarcity-91fa0fc03e25  https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/efficient-market-hypothesis-and-bitcoin-stock-to-flow-model-db17f40e6107 https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/bitcoin-stock-to-flow-cross-asset-model-50d260feed12  Bitcoin RSI https://twitter.com/100trillionUSD/status/1451128329176768514 Worst-case scenario BTC prices https://twitter.com/100trillionUSD/status/1406577006230245376 Bitcoin futures ETF approved https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/10/15/sec-approves-bitcoin-etf-opening-crypto-to-wider-investor-base/ China’s decision to boot out crypto miners https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/10/13/us-claims-bitcoin-mining-crown-following-china-crackdown/  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/109315/bitcoin-hashrate-declines-50-percent-china-mining-crackdown Why stock-to-flow is not accurate https://francistapon.com/Work/WanderLearn-Podcast/8-Flaws-in-Bitcoin-s-Stock-to-Flow-Model-Will-Doom-It Bitcoin supercycle https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/06/17/the-supercycle-how-crypto-could-shape-the-decade-ahead/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Steinwold, managing partner at Sfermion, and John Egan, CEO at L'Atelier BNP Paribas, discuss NFTs and debate the characteristics of the metaverse. Show highlights:  their backgrounds and how they got into NFTs how they each define the metaverse what NFTs have to do with the metaverse how John and Andrew’s depiction of the metaverse differs what John thinks about Facebook’s entrance into the metaverse whether Second Life is a metaverse game how blockchain technology allows for an open metaverse (and why Web2 is “communist”) what NFTs currently unlock for the metaverse whether the metaverse will necessarily have to be experienced through augmented reality whether there will be multiple metaverses across different blockchain platforms why John thinks NFT maxis and crypto maxis are destined to clash how the metaverse is changing how people generate income  how to make the metaverse more accessible whether regulators will force the metaverse to be siloed how the metaverse will handle jurisdictional disputes what happens when someone’s Web3 avatar/identity is stolen in the metaverse what John and Andrew predict will happen in the metaverse over the next 6-12 months.  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021        Nodle: http://nodle.io/unchained    NFT Research John Egan Twitter:  https://twitter.com/iamjohnegan  Website:  https://www.iamjohnegan.com/  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndegan/ Content NFTs are like gambling, but could be the bedrock of virtual economy https://decrypt.co/62809/buying-nfts-like-gambling-in-a-casino-analyst Wired article on NFTs https://www.wired.co.uk/article/crypto-tokens    L’Atelier  NFT Content How NFTs are changing ownership https://atelier.net/insights/nfts-art-ownership-collecting The Virtual economy https://atelier.net/virtual-economy Real estate NFTs https://atelier.net/insights/tech-real-estate-nfts-tokenisation  Metaverse Content Unified coms vs. the Metaverse https://atelier.net/insights/unified-communications-metaverse-tech Primer on the metaverse https://atelier.net/insights/primer-define-metaverse-fortnite Digital anthropology https://atelier.net/insights/nathalie-bechet-digital-anthropology    Andrew Steinwold Twitter https://twitter.com/AndrewSteinwold LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-steinwold/ Blog must-reads A quick overview of the NFT ecosystem  https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/-quick-overview-of-the-nft-ecosystem  NFTs will introduce the world to crypto?  https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/nfts-will-introduce-crypto-to-the  Why functional NFTs will gain value slower than crypto art https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/-the-promise-effect-why-functional  History of NFTs https://medium.com/@Andrew.Steinwold/the-history-of-non-fungible-tokens-nfts-f362ca57ae10  NFT Value Drivers https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/-nonfungible-token-nft-value-drivers  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four investors talk about the decentralized web, explain how the crypto industry is improving upon Web 2, and discuss what can be done to increase diversity and financial inclusion within Web 3. Featuring Rik Willard, founder of Agentic Group, Thomas France, co-founder of Cygni Capital, Dylan Hixon, president of Arden Road Investments, and Nick Grossman,general partner at Union Square Ventures . Show highlights:   how funding rounds for decentralized protocols differ from investing in traditional companies what VC investors can do to 1) participate in the protocols they invest in, and 2) not take advantage of whale holdings in governance voting how Web 3 has the potential to displace the “plantation economy” the difference between crypto idealism (i.e., banking the unbanked) versus what has actually played out (i.e., Salvadorans being mandated to accept BTC) what area of blockchain is delivering on the promise of financial inclusion how to bring diversity to the blockchain + crypto industry what can be done to solve the gender imbalance in crypto how investors are navigating the murky waters of US regulations regarding crypto projects how institutions fit into the Web 3 landscape what I think about the state of sexism within the crypto industry   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ   Episode Links   Original Link: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8884996/video/614236078   Rik Willard Twitter: https://twitter.com/rik_willard?lang=en Agentic Group: https://www.agenticgroup.com/   Nick Grossman Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickgrossman?lang=en Website: https://www.nickgrossman.xyz/ Union Square Ventures: https://twitter.com/usv   Dylan Hixon LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-hixon-1887803 Arden Road Investments: https://www.ardenrd.com/   Thomas France Twitter: https://twitter.com/totofrance?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasfrance/   Topics mentioned Fereshteh Forough on Unchained https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-actually-fixes-this-how-code-to-inspire-uses-crypto-in-afghanistan/ Discussing crypto’s gender disparity on Unchained https://unchainedpodcast.com/cryptos-gender-disparity-what-can-be-done-about-it-4-women-weigh-in/ she256 https://she256.org/ El Salvador and BTC https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/24/why-el-salvador-is-botching-its-bitcoin-experiment/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, discusses Visa’s crypto game plan, stablecoin regulation, NFTs, and more. Show highlights: Cuy’s background and his journey down the crypto rabbit hole how Visa and cryptocurrency can coexist why crypto companies and fintech companies are similar what Visa is trying to solve for consumers regarding cryptocurrencies how cross-chain payment infrastructure would work why Visa requires enhanced diligence for crypto companies what countries can learn from stablecoins when building CBDCs why Visa is creating a universal payment channel for CBDCs and other cryptocurrencies why Visa chose USDC to begin making payments with the two main reasons why stablecoins are used (hint: it’s not for buying cups of coffee) how cryptocurrency is changing financial education and inclusion how crypto’s open-source ethos is helping underserved and emerging markets build financial infrastructure why NFTs are Cuy’s favorite topic how NFTs level the playing field for black artists (and artists in general) why Visa purchased a CryptoPunk and how other businesses could leverage NFTs Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021       Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ   Cuy Sheffield Twitter: https://twitter.com/cuysheffield LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cuy-sheffield-72082126/ NFT collection: https://tryshowtime.com/csheffield    Content: Medium https://medium.com/@cuysheffield  Tweets Thoughts on payroll deposits https://twitter.com/cuysheffield/status/1442571326447767554  DAOs as chaotic organizations https://twitter.com/cuysheffield/status/1441536551016534019   Visa Crypto Plays CryptoPunk purchase https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog/bdp/2021/08/18/nfts-mark-a-1629328216374.html  First smart contract on Ropsten https://ropsten.etherscan.io/address/0xadb1f7e78a3ac3d0a006961f95d96bbb0ec14326#code NFT research report https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/regional/na/us/Solutions/documents/visa-nft-whitepaper.pdf  Cross-chain Interoperability https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog/bdp/2021/09/29/making-digital-currency-1632954547520.html https://arxiv.org/pdf/2109.12194v2.pdf  Visa + USDC https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.17821.html  https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabambysheva/2021/03/29/visa-to-start-settling-transactions-with-bitcoin-partners-in-usdc/  Digital currency whitepaper https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/regional/na/us/Solutions/documents/visa-digital-currency-overview.pdf  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Gentry, business development lead at Lightning Labs, discusses the latest updates on the Lightning Network, the layer 2 solution for Bitcoin. Highlights: how Lightning Network is bringing Bitcoin to the masses through partnerships with Twitter, Substack, and Paxful what the significance of El Salvador adopting Bitcoin means for the Lightning Network how many nodes are running Lightning Network nodes why the capacity on the Lightning Network has grown rapidly how Ryan has seen interest in Lightning has changed since the El Salvador announcement earlier this year what stage of adoption Ryan thinks the Lightning Network is why Lightning Network total-value-locked should not be compared to Ethereum L2s or other DeFi protocols  how Lightning Network differs from DeFi what metric Ryan believes is the best way to measure adoption on Lightning Network how El Salvador has changed the types of transactions being made on Lightning Network what’s next for Lightning Network and how Lightning micropayments could affect how podcasts (like Unchained!) are distributed Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021         Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ   Sorare: https://sorare.com            Episode Links   Ryan Gentry Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanthegentry   The Summer of Lightning: Reaching the Tipping Point https://lightninglabs.substack.com/p/the-summer-of-lightning-reaching    Lightning Labs Twitter: https://twitter.com/lightning Website: https://lightning.engineering/    Lightning Enabled Tips Twitter: https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/product/2021/bringing-tips-to-everyone  Substack: https://decrypt.co/79215/substack-accept-bitcoin-payments-lightning-network   Paxful Integration https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/paxful-integrates-bitcoin-lightning-network    Arcane Research Paper Paper: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60377b34e7791c1277aaae97/t/615cb9aeaab8c63e1a732771/1633466815710/The+State+of+Lightning.pdf Tweet thread: https://twitter.com/ArcaneResearch/status/1445749299703205894   Lightning Network stats https://studio.glassnode.com/metrics?a=BTC&c=native&category=Lightning&chartStyle=column&contractExpiration=1640908800&ema=0&m=lightning.NetworkCapacitySum&mAvg=0&mMedian=0&resolution=24h&zoom=all https://1ml.com/statistics   Lightning Network Resources https://www.lopp.net/lightning-information.html    Preston Pysh episode with BTC Sessions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5bBJjVEg1U  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does the SEC determine if a token is a security? Why is DeFi particularly hard to regulate? What will regulators do about stablecoins? On Unchained, Greg Xethalis, chief compliance officer at Multicoin Capital, and Collins Belton, founding partner at Brookwood P.C., dive into crypto regulation, discussing securities laws, DeFi regulation, and why the US should be promoting stablecoins rather than trying to shut them down. Highlights: why the SEC and CFTC have not announced bigger crypto enforcement news at the end of their fiscal years why the SEC is going after DINO (decentralized in name only) companies what the Howey and Reves tests areand how the SEC uses themto determine whether an asset is a security or not why Collins and Greg think the SEC has recently begun been applying Reves more often why they think centralized crypto lending products should not be considered securities under the Howey test whether new legislation needs to be written for cryptocurrency-based products what makes Collins think the SEC is being “disingenuous” regarding the SEC registration process for crypto companies, like Coinbase how regulators will end up handling DeFi and why both Greg and Collins are long-term optimistic how the US government has a “great history” of respecting privacy and encryption why regulatory pressure is likely to build up around centralized crypto exchanges and what we can learn from the EtherDelta case why Collins thinks most cryptocurrency companies should be regulated  why the SEC is the best motivator for forcing protocols to fully decentralize how smart contracts could theoretically be used to standardize SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s Safe Harbor proposal how blockchain data makes cryptocurrency companies more transparent and easier to regulate than centralized entities what Collins and Greg think will happen with stablecoin regulation going forward why the US should be pushing to make dollar-pegged stablecoins more prominent   Take the Unchained survey! Have idea son how we can improve at Unchained? Let us know. This is the last week in which you can take the Unchained survey and be entered to win a BTC Candle. Be sure to end by EOD Friday. We'll be announcing the winners in next week's show. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2021    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    Episode Links   Greg Xethalis Twitter: https://twitter.com/xethalis  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xethalis/    Collins Belton Twitter: https://twitter.com/collins_belton  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/collins-belton-10226283/   Cases Mentioned SEC charged DeFi Money Market  https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/08/06/sec-charges-so-called-defi-company-for-allegedly-fraudulent-30m-offering/  SEC charged EtherDelta https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/11/08/sec-charges-etherdelta-founder-over-unregistered-securities-exchange/  Howey Test and Reves Test https://securities-law-blog.com/2014/11/25/what-is-a-security-the-howey-test-and-reves-test/ https://skrypto.sewkis.com/howeys-cousin-reves-may-be-another-way-for-the-sec-to-argue-that-tokens-are-securities  https://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2021/09/coinbase-and-the-sec-.html  DINO https://twitter.com/hesterpeirce/status/1423637816492318722?lang=en    -uniswap-labs-investigation-could-signal-a-new-era-of-enforcement  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Palley, partner at Anderson Kill, discusses a few hot-button crypto regulatory issues like lending products, whether DeFi protocols fall under the SEC’s purview, and more. Show highlights: why Stephen thinks the SEC and CFTC did not announce more extensive crypto enforcement news this week what areas the SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the SEC as a whole are focused on regulating what Stephen has heard about whether stablecoins that are not fully-backed are securities why Coinbase decided to drop its Lend product why Stephen is skeptical that decentralized protocols should be regulated under existing securities laws how securities law is contrary to consumer protection in light of DeFi protocols and airdrops why DeFi AMMs should be regulated differently than centralized market books whether companies running a front-end for a DeFi protocol should be considered an exchange why crypto devs are “going Satoshi” because of US securities laws   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021        Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ  Sorare: https://sorare.com         Episode Links   Stephen Palley Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephendpalley Unchained podcast appearance speaking about Ripple: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-secs-lawsuit-against-ripple-and-2-execs-what-you-need-to-know/    Topics Covered   Lending Products Coinbase blogs regarding Lend https://blog.coinbase.com/the-sec-has-told-us-it-wants-to-sue-us-over-lend-we-have-no-idea-why-a3a1b6507009  https://blog.coinbase.com/sign-up-to-earn-4-apy-on-usd-coin-with-coinbase-cdad79e5f5eb Lend overview: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/a-september-to-remember-coinbase-avoids-7608131/  Brian Armstrong angry tweet storm https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1435439291715358721 BlockFi and Celsius overview https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/17/3-states-alabama-securities-commission-also-claims-celsius-violated-securities-laws/    SEC + Gary Gensler How SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s Views on Crypto Have Changed Since His MIT Days https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-sec-chair-gary-genslers-views-on-crypto-have-changed-since-his-mit-days/ SEC Chair Gary Gensler Washington Post Q&A https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2021/09/21/transcript-path-forward-cryptocurrency-with-gary-gensler/  Gary Gensler + Elizabeth Warren letters https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-releases-response-from-sec-chair-gensler-affirming-need-to-regulate-cryptocurrency-exchanges-and-protect-investors-and-our-financial-system  Other Uniswap delisting certain tokens through its front end https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/112399/uniswap-labs-culls-synthetic-stock-and-derivatives-citing-evolving-regulatory-landscape  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fereshteh Forough is the founder and CEO of Code to Inspire, a coding school for girls in Afghanistan. She discusses her background as a refugee, how she uses crypto to fund the school and pay students, and how the US military’s departure has affected student life. Topics include: Fereshteh’s journey from refugee to computer science professor to founder and CEO of Code to Inspire what Code to Inspire offers to young Afghan women and what risks they take by getting an education how Code to Inspire success stories are changing the attitudes of student’s families and communities the importance of Afghan Hero Girl, a video game created by Code to Inspire students why crypto payments are a better alternative to PayPal and Western Union for Code to Inspire and its students how Code to Inspire and its students exchange crypto to fiat what the perception of crypto is in Afghanistan how the Taliban is stifling the education of women and how Code to Inspire is attempting to continue its curriculum how crypto companies can offer assistance to Code to Inspire what features and products Fereshteh thinks would the crypto industry actually bank the unbanked how listeners can help Code to Inspire and where to find more information on Fereshteh Thank you to our sponsors!   Ledger: ​https://www.ledger.com/start-your-crypto-journey/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=Partnership_Podcast&utm_campaign=14-09-Ledger-US-Brand-Paid&utm_content=subj_Global__msg_brand_convenience__targ_Crypto  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Digital Asset Research: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/       Episode Links   Fereshteh Forough Twitter: https://twitter.com/f_forough LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fereshtehforough/    Code to Inspire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codetoinspire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CodeToInspire  Website: https://www.codetoinspire.org/  Donating crypto: https://www.codetoinspire.org/donate-crypto/  Services offered: https://www.codetoinspire.org/hire-a-cti-graduate/    Code to Inspire Coverage Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2021/08/17/taliban-resurgence-could-threaten-afghan-school-teaching-women-to-code-and-build-ethereum-apps/?sh=465a8208197d The Giving Block https://thegivingblock.com/donate/Code-to-Inspire/ Code to Inspire students are coding at home https://cointelegraph.com/news/amid-taliban-takeover-aspiring-crypto-miner-flees-afghanistan  CoinDesk on Code to Inspire + ETH https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/06/12/forget-prices-ethereum-is-offering-a-different-value-in-afghanistan/  Coinbase https://blog.coinbase.com/fereshteh-forough-interview-1e73a684788f Inverse https://www.inverse.com/innovation/57129-fereshteh-forough-afghanistan-bitcoin Afghan Hero Girls https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-04-19-code-to-inspire-is-creating-afghan-hero-girls-through-education   US Military leaving Afghanistan https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-withdrawal-united-states-troops-pentagon/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/last-u-s-troops-leave-afghanistan-after-nearly-20-years-11630355853  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nik De, managing editor for global policy and regulation at CoinDesk, stops by Unconfirmed to discuss the current state of crypto regulation, including recent comments by SEC Chair Gary Gensler on stablecoins and why Coinbase decided to sideline its Lend product. Highlights: Nik’s biggest takeaway from Gary Gensler’s interview with the Washington Post  why Nik thinks Gensler has escalated his rhetoric regarding stablecoins and DeFi  how crypto exchanges are currently regulated and how that might change what it would take to convince crypto exchanges to register with the SEC whether the SEC has the purview to regulate stablecoins Nik’s thoughts on Coinbase’s Lend product and the SEC’s stance on lending products what the overall picture of crypto lending is in the US whether the SEC will go after DeFi protocols what to expect from the SEC going forward, especially with the end of its fiscal year coming up next week Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021       Digital Asset Research: https://digitalassetresearch.com    Sorare: https://sorare.com          Episode Links   Nikhilesh De CoinDesk articles: https://www.coindesk.com/author/nikde/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nikhileshde    Content Coinbase blogs regarding Lend https://blog.coinbase.com/the-sec-has-told-us-it-wants-to-sue-us-over-lend-we-have-no-idea-why-a3a1b6507009  https://blog.coinbase.com/sign-up-to-earn-4-apy-on-usd-coin-with-coinbase-cdad79e5f5eb SEC Chair Gary Gensler Washington Post Q&A https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2021/09/21/transcript-path-forward-cryptocurrency-with-gary-gensler/ Brian Armstrong tweet storm https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1435439291715358721 BlockFi and Celsius overview https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/17/3-states-alabama-securities-commission-also-claims-celsius-violated-securities-laws/  Read my latest Medium post, “The Reason Crypto Regulation Is Turning Out to Be So Difficult,” which takes take a deeper dive into some of the topics addressed in this pod :) https://medium.com/@laurashin/the-reason-crypto-regulation-is-turning-out-to-be-so-difficult-788cc134958d Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rhea Myers, artist, hacker, writer, and senior smart contract developer at Dapper Labs, has been making crypto art before NFTs were a thing. Check out this episode to learn about Rhea’s work as an OG crypto artist, why she believes concerns over NFT energy consumption are overblown, and how NFTs are changing the art world. Show highlights Rhea’s experience entering the crypto space what inspired her to make Bitcoin-based transaction art what blockchain art she was creating in 2014 how she helped Coin Artist create crypto puzzles what Rhea thinks about Cadence, the programming language for Flow what conceptual art and blockchain art have in common how Rhea minted her soul on a Dogecoin fork how Rhea came up with the idea of Secret Artwork (Content), which was recently sold at a Sotheby’s auction what cryptographic elements influenced Secret Artwork (Content) why Rhea was wrong about how the NFT industry would evolve why Rhea believes concerns over NFT energy usage are overblown how NFTs are changing the art world  what Rhea thinks about the NFT DAO movement what about NFTs make them so fascinating, in a legal sense, to Rhea   Read the sidebar — and see Rhea's artwork! If you'd like to see the art discussed in the show, be sure to check out the sidebar I wrote on Medium:  https://medium.com/@laurashin/how-rhea-myers-made-blockchain-art-before-nfts-were-a-thing-e6ac52d3abf9   Thank you to our sponsors! Ledger: ​https://www.ledger.com/start-your-crypto-journey/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=Partnership_Podcast&utm_campaign=14-09-Ledger-US-Brand-Paid&utm_content=subj_Global__msg_brand_convenience__targ_Crypto Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Digital Asset Research: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/      Episode Links   Rhea Myers Twitter: https://twitter.com/rheaplex Website: https://rhea.art/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertmyers/ Example Art Secret Artwork (Content) https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/natively-digital-a-curated-nft-sale-2/secret-artwork-content  MYSOUL https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/nft-joke-1234588596/  Is Art https://rhea.art/is-art  Proof Of Existence 2, 2014, Bitcoin Transaction https://rhea.art/proof-of-existence  Art examples https://rhea.art/art   Other Artists Rethinking the Blockchain (book) https://torquetorque.net/publications/artists-rethinking-the-blockchain/  Generative art (featuring Rhea Myers) https://medium.com/@mitchellfchan/nfts-generative-art-and-sol-lewitt-e99a5fa2b0cb  Blockade games + crypto puzzles ​​https://blockade.games/press/index.html https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.4528357/this-painting-is-actually-a-bitcoin-puzzle-worth-more-than-40k-and-someone-finally-solved-it-1.4529176  Unchained Episode: What Exactly Do You Get When You Buy an NFT? Three Lawyers Discuss https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-exactly-do-you-get-when-you-buy-an-nft-three-lawyers-discuss/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aidan Mott, research analyst at Messari, discusses Solana’s network restart that resulted in the blockchain going dark for 17 hours earlier this week. Show highlights: when Solana validators noticed something was wrong and how they responded what initial dex offering (IDO) caused the network to be flooded with transactions how a surge in bot transactions pushed validators to decide to restart the network how Solana’s outage compares to similar incidents on other chains why the Solana community was most likely not surprised by the 17-hour restart how Solana validators and the Solana Foundation coordinated the network restart how Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko communicated with the community during the outage whether Solana is still vulnerable to a similar flood of transactions what the network restart means in terms of Solana’s centralization why Solana validators running the same client could be an issue   Check Out the Related Article In addition to the analysis from Aidan, I did an interview with a Solana validator about his experience of the outage, and his concerns for the network going forward. Check out "The Experience of One Validator: What Happened During Solana's 17-Hour Outage?" in my Facebook Bulletin newsletter here -- and subscribe today! https://laurashin.bulletin.com/178076467796725 Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Digital Asset Research: https://digitalassetresearch.com   Sorare: https://sorare.com       Episode Links Aidan Mott Twitter: https://twitter.com/KidKrypt0 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidan-mott-77665267/  Messari https://messari.io/   Solana Outage The Block’s coverage https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/117711/solana-blockchain-validators-restart-network-after-transaction-stoppage https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/117624/solana-experiences-transaction-stoppage-as-developers-report-intermittent-instability CoinDesk coverage https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/09/14/solana-validators-ready-potential-restart-amid-blockchain-outage/  Decrypt coverage https://decrypt.co/81004/solana-back-online-following-downtime-network-restart  Why the mainnet went down https://twitter.com/buffalu__/status/1437792673784549383  Potential ramifications https://twitter.com/CometShock/status/1437870278684590091 Neha Narula tweet https://twitter.com/neha/status/1438487308433494022  Solana Status -- the Twitter account that sent information out on the state of the network https://twitter.com/SolanaStatus Anatoly Yakovenko Solana outage tweets https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1437887482897518595 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1437784552324358155 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1438496595360862215 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1438465508412739588 https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/with_replies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once the block reward diminishes greatly, can Bitcoin be secured only by transaction fees? On Unchained, Bitcoin writer Vijay Boyapati and Ethereum Foundation’s Justin Drake debate the merits of Bitcoin’s security model, which Drake says will largely rely on transaction fees as soon as within 20-30 years, not in 100+ years. Highlights: Justin’s and Vijay’s professional backgrounds why Justin thinks Bitcoin cannot survive solely on fees how Bitcoin is currently secured what makes Bitcoin’s security subjective rather than binary how much it would cost in dollars to 51% attack Bitcoin what the Bitcoin network could do in response to a 51% attack how to calculate Bitcoin’s security budget why Bitcoin's price can’t go exponential forever whether a “nuclear option” for Bitcoin miners could protect against a 51% attack why nation-states could be either pro or anti-Bitcoin why a Bitcoin Standard could be similar to the Gold Standard how Bitcoin will change going forward, and why Vijay thinks transaction fees will increase why Justin does not think transaction fees will increase enough to secure Bitcoin’s base layer how Justin would fix Bitcoin’s security model -- and why he thinks the 21 million hard cap is a meme why Vijay does not think Bitcoin’s security model will ever change -- especially the 21 million hard cap what Justin thinks Ethereum is doing better than Bitcoin why Vijay thinks Ethereum will fail Take the annual Unchained survey!  Hey all, the Unchained survey is out now, and we'd so appreciate it if you could give us your thoughts on how Unchained is doing and what we could do better. Plus, we've got some questions for you about Laura's upcoming book launch and the articles that she's already starting to write! Two lucky survey respondents will receive a BTC candle, which is scented with "satoshiwood, musk musk, tulip bulbs and finite minerals."    Head to surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2021 to fill out the survey today!    Subscribe to my Facebook Bulletin Newsletter!   Hey all, I'm excited to announce that I'll be writing a Facebook Bulletin newsletter , joining the likes of Malcolm Gladwell, Malala Yousafzai and Adam Grant, among others. My first post is already up.   Thank you to our sponsors! Digital Asset Research: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/  Ledger: https://www.ledger.com/  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Episode Links   Justin Drake Twitter: https://twitter.com/drakefjustin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drakefjustin/ Recent Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-eth-on-its-way-to-becoming-ultra-sound-money-yes-says-justin-drake/    Vijay Boyapati Twitter: https://twitter.com/real_vijay LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijayboyapati  The Bullish Case for Bitcoin: https://vijayboyapati.medium.com/the-bullish-case-for-bitcoin-6ecc8bdecc1    Bitcoin’s Security Model Hasu https://ark-invest.com/podcast/bitcoins-security-model-with-hasu/ Dan Held https://danhedl.medium.com/bitcoins-security-is-fine-93391d9b61a8  Nic Carter https://medium.com/@nic__carter/bitcoin-bites-the-bullet-8005a2a62d29 https://www.docdroid.net/C7uTY1R/mit-expo-slides-nic-carter-pdf#page=12 Paul Sztorc https://www.truthcoin.info/blog/security-budget/  Donal McIntyre https://etherplan.com/2019/05/17/why-the-bitcoin-fee-model-will-work/7587/ Phil Geiger https://unchained-capital.com/blog/21-million-is-non-negotiable/  Jordan McKinney https://medium.com/coinmonks/bitcoin-security-a-negative-exponential-95e78b6b575 https://medium.com/coinmonks/bitcoin-security-in-one-chart-694ee3ed8c2d  Lyn Alden https://www.lynalden.com/bitcoin-security-modeling/  Princeton https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~arvindn/publications/mining_CCS.pdf  Doomsday economics of PoW https://www.bis.org/publ/work765.pdf    Basic Info How BTC fees work https://river.com/learn/how-bitcoin-fees-work/ https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Miner_fees  What will happen when all BTCs are mined? Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/33124/what-will-happen-to-bitcoin-after-all-21-million-are-mined River: https://river.com/learn/what-will-happen-after-all-bitcoin-mined/    Bitcoin Fees https://studio.glassnode.com/metrics?a=BTC&category=&ema=0&m=fees.VolumeSum&mAvg=365&mMedian=0&modal=loginForm  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ephrat Livni, a DealBook business and policy reporter at the New York Times, discusses Coinbase’s fight with the SEC over its Lend product and El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender. Show highlights: why Coinbase is unhappy with what it calls the SEC’s “sketchy” behavior how Coinbase’s Lend product is structured and why it might be a security why Ephrat considers Coinbase’s reaction to the SEC’s decision on Lend to be “trolling” what we can learn from SEC chair Gary Gensler’s letters with Senator Elizabeth Warren what legal precedence the SEC is leaning on in its decision about Lend how to explain the SEC’s choice to not meet with Coinbase in Washington why Ephrat thinks Brian Armstrong sounds entitled Why even pro-Bitcoin groups in the US take issue with El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender why Ephrat thinks Bitcoin is not a practical payment mechanism for El Salvadorans how El Salvadorans have reacted to the law why Ephrat believes El Salvador’s mandate to accept BTC is philosophically problematic for Bitcoiners   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Digital Asset Research: https://digitalassetresearch.com  Sorare: https://sorare.com        Episode Links   Ephrat Livni Twitter: https://twitter.com/el72champs  New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/by/ephrat-livni    Coinbase Brian Armstrong tweet thread: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1409555338836078592 Coinbase blog: https://blog.coinbase.com/the-sec-has-told-us-it-wants-to-sue-us-over-lend-we-have-no-idea-why-a3a1b6507009  Coinbase Lend: https://www.coinbase.com/lend  Howey and Reves test: https://securities-law-blog.com/2014/11/25/what-is-a-security-the-howey-test-and-reves-test/    Bitcoin and El Salvador CoinDesk coverage: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/07/as-el-salvador-enacts-bitcoin-law-locals-remain-confused-about-implementation/  Wall Street Journal coverage: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-comes-to-el-salvador-first-country-to-adopt-crypto-as-national-currency-11631005200 CNN coverage: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/06/business/bitcoin-price-el-salvador-intl-hnk/index.html CBS coverage: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bitcoin-el-salvador-legal-currency/#:~:text=As%20legal%20tender%20in%20El,subject%20to%20capital%20gains%20tax.  Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/technology/it-guy-in-chief-president-tries-fix-el-salvadors-bitcoin-woes-2021-09-08/  Jerry Brito’s opinion: https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/1405660809024393221  Survey results: ​​https://www.reuters.com/technology/majority-salvadorans-do-not-want-bitcoin-poll-shows-2021-09-02/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Audius, a blockchain native music streaming platform, hit six million monthly active users in August and announced a partnership with TikTok. Roneil Rumburg, co-founder and CEO of Audius, talks about how Audius works, AUDIO tokenomics, the give and take of decentralization, and more. Show highlights: what problems Audius is solving for creators how artists are utilizing crypto to connect with fans how the crypto components of Audius fit together what three utilities AUDIO, the native token of Audius, offers holders why Audius requires over $500K in AUDIO tokens to run a node why AUDIO’s inflation rate is higher than other popular tokens like Ethereum or Bitcoin which portions of Audius are centralized versus decentralized where the majority of Audius’s listens come from (hint: it’s not the app) how Audius has created a “password” system to make blockchain technology easier to use for non-crypto natives why Audius uses both Solana and Ethereum how big-name artists like Diplo found their way onto Audius how Audius makes it easier to upload music to TikTok what’s next for Audius Take the annual Unchained survey!  Hey all, the Unchained survey is out now, and we'd so appreciate it if you could give us your thoughts on how Unchained is doing and what we could do better. Plus, we've got some questions for you about Laura's upcoming book launch and the articles that she's already starting to write! Two lucky survey respondents will receive a BTC candle, which is scented with "satoshiwood, musk musk, tulip bulbs and finite minerals."    Head to surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2021 to fill out the survey today!    Follow Laura on Medium!  Hey everyone, some news: I've begun writing news and features again. I’m now a Medium Partner, one of a group of writers I have long admired, such as Susan Orlean, Cory Doctorow, James Surowiecki and Will Leitch, among others. You can already check out my first post, which is on my career trajectory and why I still love covering crypto six years in. To find all my writing on Medium, please follow me at Medium.com/@laurashin.  Thank you to our sponsors! Digital Asset Research: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/ Ledger: https://www.ledger.com/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     Episode Links   Roneil Rumburg Twitter: https://twitter.com/roneilr    Audius Website: https://audius.co/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/AudiusProject  Whitepaper: https://whitepaper.audius.co/AudiusWhitepaper.pdf  Discord: https://discord.com/channels/557662127305785361/806017242734395413    What is Audius? Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/resources/what-is-audius-the-decentralized-music-sharing-and-streaming-service Messari: https://messari.io/asset/audius/profile Coindesk: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2020/11/11/audius-has-big-numbers-by-crypto-standards-but-can-it-take-on-soundcloud/    TikTok + Audius Coverage Audius: https://twitter.com/AudiusProject/status/1427299274325323779  Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/tiktok-sounds-streaming-crypto-blockchain-nfts-audius-1211699/   General Coverage 6M monthly users https://twitter.com/AudiusProject/status/1433248161443684356 Moving to Solana (Oct 2020): https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/10/29/audius-the-decentralized-spotify-is-moving-part-of-its-service-to-solana-blockchain/ 5M monthly users (Aug 5): https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/08/05/blockchain-based-music-streaming-service-audius-up-to-5m-monthly-users/  Copyright nightmare (The Verge 2019) https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/9/20905384/audius-blockchain-music-streaming-service-copyright-infringement-piracy  NFTs (April 2021) https://decrypt.co/65808/crypto-streaming-music-service-audius-nfts Token Drop (Oct 2020): https://medium.com/audius/welcome-audio-to-mainnet-409009bc130c  https://decrypt.co/46390/audius-distributes-crypto-rac-deadmau5-listeners Youtube + Audius project https://youtubetoaudius.com/  Music Racer: https://store.steampowered.com/app/893030/Music_Racer/  Raises https://musically.com/2020/10/26/decentralised-streaming-service-audius-raises-another-1-25m/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/08/audius/ https://musically.com/2020/08/03/blockchain-music-service-audius-raises-3-1m-funding-round/  Node requirements: https://blog.audius.co/posts/a-primer-on-audio-staking#:~:text=All%20node%20operators%20are%20required,cost%20slightly%20more%20to%20operate.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Ehrlich, director of research for digital assets at Forbes, discusses the FTX.US-LedgerX merger, what to expect from FTX going forward, DeFi regulation, and more. Show highlights: why the FTX.US acquisition of derivatives platform LedgerX is significant how FTX.US stacks up against other US cryptocurrency exchanges who should use crypto derivative products how regulators might handle FTX.US and crypto derivative ETFs what to expect from FTX going forward how long FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried spends talking to regulators every day why Steven thinks crypto mergers and acquisitions will be a trend going forward what Steven learned from his conversations with Polygon and Hermez how Fereshteh Forough, a woman living in Afghanistan, is using crypto to help teach women to build dapps, smart contracts, and use crypto   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   Polymarket: https://polymarket.com   Sorare: https://sorare.com       Episode Links   Steven Ehrlich https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/?sh=fb976542ce44 https://twitter.com/Steven_Ehrlich  https://www.forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor/?sh=55678b72dec8   FTX.US Merger https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2021/08/31/us-bitcoin-exchange-backed-by-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-moves-into-crypto-derivatives/   M&A Trend https://www.forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor/2021/08/31/exploring-voyagers-900-million-token-merger/?sh=29f4f16851b4    Interview with Sam Bankman-Fried https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2021/08/30/billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-pushes-back-against-critics-of-crypto-derivatives/?sh=6428141b5cbd    Polygon-Hermez Deal https://www.coindesk.com/polygon-merges-with-hermez-network-in-250m-deal    Fereshteh Forough Coverage https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2021/08/17/taliban-resurgence-could-threaten-afghan-school-teaching-women-to-code-and-build-ethereum-apps Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pplpleasr, the artist behind Fortune magazine’s recent crypto cover and Uniswap’s V3 announcement animation, talks about her crypto journey and how NFTs are changing the game for creators. Show highlights: how not getting a job at Apple changed her life forever how the Pplpleasr-Uniswap collaboration came about what goes into her creative process how Pplpleasr got hired for the Fortune magazine cover why she chose to represent anon-avatars on the Fortune cover why Pplpleasr was surprised by Fortune’s response to her artwork (and crypto in general) what sort of crypto personas are represented on the Fortune cover and why how NFTs are changing the paradigm of monetization for creators compared to the traditional art world what pplpleasr is looking forward to in future NFT smart contracts why NFTs are still limited right now why institutions, like Budweiser and Visa, are suddenly interested in NFTs what Fortune is doing to grow its NFT collection how DAOs are changing art curation and collecting why Pplpleasr was surprised that a DAO (bearing her name) purchased the Uniswap V3 animation where Pplpleasr thinks the NFT space will go in the next year or so   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Polymarket: https://polymarket.com    Episode Links:   Pplpleasr Twitter: https://twitter.com/pplpleasr1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pplpleasr/  Website: https://pplplsr.com/    Pplpleasr Content: Fortune op-ed on crypto https://fortune.com/2021/08/06/nft-art-pplpleasr-fortune-cover-ethereum-defihow-crypto-changed-my-life/ Her previous work for DeFi protocols https://pplplsr.com/Crypto Fortune cover https://fortune.com/2021/08/05/nft-drop-pplpleasr-cover-art-opensea-auction-ethereum/  https://twitter.com/pplpleasr1/status/1423359319639212037?s=20    Miscellaneous Links PleasrDAO  https://pleasr.org/  https://pleasr.mirror.xyz/D9wIadL-5EEkt17glTtar21m3RDqfgkhkr__OEE2mOE  OpenSea’s post-mortem on Chad sale https://twitter.com/opensea/status/1424866514558128130  Business of business write up https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/defi-crypto-meme-hustler-yield-farmer-finance-blockchain-art-nft-pplpleasr-memetic-markting/ Manifold https://www.manifold.xyz/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Johnson, lead developer at the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), talks about making Ethereum human-readable, why Budweiser purchased an NFT, how purchasing an ENS works, and more. Show highlights: what ENS does and why it is important why Budweiser bought “beer.eth” how ENS names can be used to make Ethereum easier to use what business use cases ENS names make possible what made Nick want to create a naming service on Ethereum how people are using their ENS names why people are purchasing ENS names what privacy issues arise from people attaching their name to an ETH address what happens when Ethereum addresses get spammed with unwanted tokens how to buy an ENS name and how much it costs how ENS handles squatters what happens when you lose access to an address holding an ENS name how ENS is integrating normal domains (ex: “.com”) to Ethereum what ENS has planned for L2 launches   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Polymarket: https://polymarket.com  Sorare: https://sorare.com      Episode Links:    Nick Johnson Twitter: https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson Website: http://blog.notdot.net/  Ethereum Domain Service Twitter: https://twitter.com/ensdomains Website: https://app.ens.domains/    Miscellaneous links Budweiser ENS purchase: https://decrypt.co/79397/from-visa-to-budweiser-big-brands-are-taking-nfts-seriously Unwanted tokens being sent to addresses https://decrypt.co/79406/budweiser-dick-pic-nft-ethereum-wallet  https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/05/12/vitaliks-regift-of-unsolicited-doge-knockoffs-sends-memecoin-prices-plunging/  DNS (.com) integration with ENS: https://twitter.com/ensdomains/status/1430933399745798155    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe and COO Jeff Horowitz talk about one of the hottest topics facing the crypto industry today: regulation. They discuss... what BitGo does why Jeff left his successful TradFi career to go crypto how crypto compliance and custody differs from the traditional finance world the state of crypto education amongst regulators why Jeff and Mike think the infrastructure bill is a win for the crypto industry what FinCEN is doing to regulate crypto why they think the infrastructure bill’s goal of raising billions in crypto taxes could only bring in millions what FATF guidance regarding VASPs requires of crypto companies why the travel rule could lead to US customer data being shared overseas how digital assets change the implications of the travel rule how regulators are attempting to deal with DeFi what the FATF guidance means for FATF countries, like the US why DeFi is not ready for strict regulations Jeff’s views on Brian Brooks’s departure from BinanceUS the Galaxy Digital acquisition of BitGo what security issues a trillion-dollar wallet presents why BitGo refused to put a “freeze” function in its WBTC contract why Tesla and MicroStrategy purchased BTC and why other companies have been slow to follow suit whether BitGo will offer NFT solutions going forward   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2    Polymarket: https://polymarket.com/    Episode links   Mike Belshe -- CEO BitGo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebelshe/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikebelshe  Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/mike-belshe-on-what-bitgos-kingdom-trust-acquisition-means-for-crypto-and-how-security-will-develop-in-the-future/  Jeff Horowitz -- CCO BitGo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-horowitz-3381977   BitGo Website: https://www.bitgo.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitGo Blog: https://blog.bitgo.com/  Galaxy Digital purchase: https://www.coindesk.com/galaxy-digital-to-buy-bitgo-for-about-1-2-billion-in-stock-cash  FATF solution: https://www.coindesk.com/us-crypto-giants-build-first-version-of-fatf-compliant-travel-rule-tool New York Trust Charter: https://decrypt.co/60110/bitgo-new-york-trust-charter-crypto-wall-street    Infrastructure bill and its implications for crypto https://twitter.com/mikebelshe/status/1424163820726009861  https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-fans-are-suddenly-a-political-force-11629115380 https://www.coindesk.com/infrastructure-bill-house-politics https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/16/tax-foundation-infrastructure-bill-crypto-tax-provision-is-unworkable.html https://decrypt.co/78198/senate-passes-infrastructure-bill-crypto-tax-house https://www.taxnotes.com/featured-analysis/proposal-regulate-digital-asset-transactions-should-be-struck/2021/08/13/775gf#.YRfX9GEX2GI.twitter https://twitter.com/vtg2/status/1426264859071627266 https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn/status/1427276559052910599  Unchained coverage:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-got-screwed-what-happens-next-in-the-senate/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-bill-looks-very-bad-for-crypto/   FATF and the travel rule https://sumsub.com/blog/what-is-the-fatf-travel-rule/ Unchained coverage: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-travel-rule-is-one-of-the-most-significant-regulations-in-crypto/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-proposed-fatf-rules-could-be-a-shock-for-defi/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SOL is up 75% over the past seven days, 205% in the past month, and 3,800% YTD. On Unchained, Multicoin Capital’s Kyle Samani discusses the DeFi projects fueling Solana’s growth, why he thinks Solana could make Ethereum obsolete, and the spectrum of decentralization. Show highlights: what factors have contributed to SOL’s growth this year what two milestones occurred last week that Kyle thinks supercharged SOL’s popularity why Kyle thinks the issues with the Degen Ape Academy NFT drop were not actually a problem with the Solana blockchain what projects will be possible on Solana that are impracticable on Ethereum why Kyle thinks some combination of NFTs and social token apps will be the first breakout app on Solana why Solana decreases the risk of massive liquidations -- like the crypto industry saw on Black Thursday in March 2020 how Solana and Ethereum differ in regards to composability and fragmentation what BitClout has to do with Kyle’s Solana investment thesis why Solana could be the basis for the next crypto bull run why Kyle thinks the Ethereum merge as it completes transition to Ethereum 2.0 will not really affect Solana how the competition between Solana and Ethereum could play out in the next 12 months why Kyle is not overly concerned about Solana being more centralized than Ethereum what the Solana versus Ethereum competition will look like going forward, and why Solana may have the upper hand what Kyle learned from his investment in EOS   Thank you to our sponsors! Sorare: https://sorare.com    Polymarket: https://polymarket.co/unconfirmed  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021     Episode links   Kyle Samani Twitter: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani  Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital/    Previous Unchained appearances: May 2021: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-solana-and-binance-smart-chain-could-take-ethereums-lead/  April 2020: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-most-forkable-defi-protocols-on-ethereum/ March 2020: https://unchainedpodcast.com/teetering-on-the-edge-how-black-thursday-exposed-the-flaws-in-the-crypto-markets/  January 2020: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kyle-samani-on-how-2020-will-be-the-year-of-small-success-stories/  March 2019: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-could-become-the-first-decentralized-autonomous-corporation/  June 2018: https://unchainedpodcast.com/multicoins-kyle-samani-on-why-he-believes-bitcoin-governance-doesnt-accommodate-the-real-world-ep-025/  May 2018: https://unchainedpodcast.com/multicoin-on-the-1-thing-crypto-teams-miss-in-their-quests-for-success/    Solana  Twitter: https://twitter.com/solana  Recent updates: https://solana.com/news/solana-ecosystem-news/  Website:  https://solana.com/    Recent SOL boom https://twitter.com/JohnStCapital/status/1427088119870935047 https://www.ar.ca/blog/11-thoughts-during-a-digital-assets-bull-market https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabambysheva/2021/08/16/solana-hits-new-all-time-high-above-60/  https://twitter.com/KyleSamani/status/1425282669630328841    Projects Saber (AMM/DEX) growth https://twitter.com/Saber_HQ/status/1428062812228759564  Audius https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-powered-audius-wins-tiktok-tie-up-for-streaming-music-direct-to-platform Degenerate Ape Academy https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/114703/solana-hits-all-time-high-as-market-watchers-say-institutional-interest-is-growing https://twitter.com/Pentosh1/status/1427034066784763904  https://twitter.com/samecwilliams/status/1426828830552084482  Mango Markets https://www.coindesk.com/solanas-mango-markets-dex-raises-70m-in-mngo-token-sale Wormhole https://www.coindesk.com/solana-launches-cross-chain-wormhole-for-shuttling-assets-from-ethereum-bsc    Multicoin’s Solana material https://multicoin.capital/2021/05/04/announcing-venture-fund-ii/ https://multicoin.capital/2019/03/14/on-value-capture-at-layers-1-and-2/ https://multicoin.capital/2019/07/30/the-world-computer-should-be-logically-centralized/    Solana overview https://thedefiant.io/solana-defi-ecosystem-overview/ https://research.thetie.io/solana-ecosystem/ https://research.binance.com/en/projects/solana https://medium.com/coinmonks/solana-more-update-for-sol-becb65024877 https://genesisblockhk.com/what-is-solana/   Block explorers https://explorer.solana.com/ https://solanabeach.io/ https://solanaproject.com/    Submitted questions from Unchained listeners https://twitter.com/Unchained_pod/status/1428136429805264898  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NFTs are the talk of the metaverse, EIP 1559 just went live, and DeFi stats are rebounding. On Unchained, Fredrik Haga, cofounder and CEO at Dune Analytics, along with Richard Chen, general partner at 1confirmation, discuss the booming Ethereum ecosystem through the lens of on-chain data, diving into NFTs, DeFi, ETH, and their favorite layer 2s. Show highlights: why Ethereum is on such a pronounced upswing why on-chain metrics lead to superior information reporting  mind-blowing OpenSea statistics why NFTs are so hot at the moment how Richard explains NFTs to normies whether the NFT market is sustainable what makes an NFT drop pop and why profile pics (PFPs) matter how Polygon NFTs compare to Ethereum NFTs the main driving force behind DeFi usage  how Richard measures the total amount of DeFi users what brings new users into DeFi what DEX trends Fredrik is keeping his eye on why structured products are crucial to DeFi’s continued success how Ethereum is doing since the London hard fork why NFT drops are like 2017 ICOs what metric shows ETH adoption outpacing BTC adoption among institutions which layer 2 solutions are Fredrik and Richard excited about why Richard considers Binance Smart Chain a centralized blockchain why Fredrik likes what Solana is building Richard and Fredrik’s predictions for the NFTs, DeFi, and ETH going forward   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2   Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero   Polymarket: https://polymarket.com/    Episode Links   Richard Chen Twitter: https://twitter.com/richardchen39 1confirmation: https://www.1confirmation.com/ Dune Analytics dashboards: https://dune.xyz/rchen8 Fredrik Haga Twitter: https://twitter.com/hagaetc Dune Analytics: https://dune.xyz/home  Dune Analytics dashboards: https://dune.xyz/hagaetc  On-chain dashboards Stablecoins: https://dune.xyz/hagaetc/stablecoins Lending: https://dune.xyz/hagaetc/lending DEXs: https://dune.xyz/hagaetc/dex-metrics  ETH 2.0 deposits: https://dune.xyz/hagaetc/eth2-0-deposits OpenSea: https://dune.xyz/rchen8/opensea DeFi users: https://dune.xyz/rchen8/defi-users-over-time  NFT prices: https://dune.xyz/rchen8/NFT-prices  SuperRare: https://dune.xyz/rchen8/superrare_4  Nexus Mutual: https://dune.xyz/eliasimos/Nexus-Mutual-Financials  ETH fees burned: https://dune.xyz/rchen8/ETH-fees-burned-in-1confirmation-portfolio  Base Fees: https://dune.xyz/msilb7/EIP1559-Base-Fee-x-Tip-by-Block Unchained episodes mentioned Ultra Sound Money: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-eth-on-its-way-to-becoming-ultra-sound-money-yes-says-justin-drake/ EIP 1559: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereums-eip-1559-will-solve-some-problems-but-big-ones-will-remain/  OpenSea: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-nft-platform-opensea-plans-to-maintain-its-competitive-advantage-ep-232/    Miscellaneous Zed Run: https://zed.run/ Axie Infinity: https://axieinfinity.com/ Qiao Wang tweet: https://twitter.com/QwQiao/status/1425773846418821125 Ethereum burning: https://ultrasound.money/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poly Network, a cross-chain DeFi protocol, recently suffered a $600M hack -- the largest DeFi exploit in crypto history. Mudit Gupta, security researcher and SushiSwap dev, breaks down the attack, explaining how it occurred, why the hacker is returning the funds, and what Poly Network should do next. Show highlights: how Poly Network works what specific mechanism the hacker attacked on Poly Network why many people (including myself) had never heard of Poly Network before the hack how “keepers” failed to protect Poly Network why a failed transaction was the key to pulling off the hack what SlowMist claims to have discovered about the hacker what could be motivating the hacker to return the stolen funds how the hacker is communicating with Poly Network why Tether was able to freeze funds while USDC and BSC allowed the hacker to get away with their tokens how Poly Network should handle negotiations with the hacker   Thank you to our sponsors! Sorare: https://sorare.com   Polymarket: https://polymarket.co/unconfirmed Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021    Episode Links   Mudit Gupta Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mudit__Gupta Blog: https://mudit.blog/ SushiSwap: https://twitter.com/SushiSwap    Poly Network hack Poly Network response: https://twitter.com/PolyNetwork2/status/1425870262067548163  Mudit’s analysis: https://mudit.blog/poly-network-largest-crypto-hack/  Kelvin Fichter thread: https://twitter.com/kelvinfichter/status/1425217046636371969 Hacker Q&A: https://twitter.com/tomrobin/status/1425487745166753794 Tether blacklist: https://twitter.com/paoloardoino/status/1425090760609832978 ETH tip: https://twitter.com/HsakaTrades/status/1425093301691195407 The Block’s coverage: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/114189/poly-hack-attacker-return-funds-id-slowmist  ​​Returning funds: https://www.coindesk.com/poly-network-hacker-starts-to-return-funds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ethereum just went through its most complex upgrade ever. Justin Drake, researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, discusses what the upgrade, aka the London hard fork, means for ether’s future as what he calls "ultra-sound money." At the end of the episode, he also drops a few Bitcoin hot takes. Show highlights: his background and how he got involved in crypto how EIP 1559 will affect Ethereum now that it is live why burning ether is good for the Ethereum economy what two concepts are crucial to understanding money what three ways ether is used as money why he believes ether will become “ultra sound money,” when gold and silver are just “sound money” what the main drivers of ETH’s value are how the merge from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake will happen for Ethereum  how much more efficient Justin calculates proof-of-stake will be compared to proof-of-work why people are saying Ethereum is going through a “triple halvening” what factors influence how much Ethereum is issued and burned how Ethereum could become deflationary why net sell pressure is about to decrease what projects are burning the most ETH now that EIP 1559 is live why Justin is worried about Bitcoin’s future what Bitcoin could do to survive once it only subsists on transaction fees whether Justin considers himself a bitcoiner how ETH as ultra-sound money is becoming a meme   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2   Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero    Episode Links   Justin Drake Twitter: https://twitter.com/drakefjustin   Written content June 23 Ethereum Foundation ETH 2.0 Research AMA (command F for Justin Drake responses) https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/o4unlp/ama_we_are_the_efs_research_team_pt_6_23_june_2021/ “If capped-supply gold is sound money decreasing-supply ether is ultra sound money” https://twitter.com/drakefjustin/status/1396796596281614339   Math Modeling ETH based on EVM fees https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1U9cGxGY3_t7m4MEIpjKWtRcA2zRajywaxMCZYqbF9eI/edit#gid=0  Calculating ETH supply https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZN444__qkPWPjMJQ_t6FfqbhllkWNhHF-06ivRF73nQ/edit#gid=0 Podcast appearances Bankless “Modeling Ultra Sound Money” (April 28) https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/-sotn-44-modeling-ultra-sound-money Bankless “Ultra Sound Money” (Mar 23) https://twitter.com/drakefjustin/status/1374049775474114562 Bankless “Bull Case for Cryptography” (Jan 25) https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/-moon-math-the-bull-case-for-cryptography   London/EIP 1559/Ethereum 2.0 Resources Unchained content Episodes Ethereum’s EIP-1559 Will Solve Some Problems But Big Ones Will Remain https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereums-eip-1559-will-solve-some-problems-but-big-ones-will-remain/  Ethereum 2.0: What You Need to Know https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereum-2-0-what-you-need-to-know/ Why Ethereum 2.0 Could Fail and How It Could Be Fixed https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ethereum-2-0-could-fail-and-how-it-could-be-fixed/  Previous resources EIP 1559 links (Tim Beiko) https://hackmd.io/@timbeiko/1559-resources  Messari Research https://messari.io/pdf/messari-report-eth2-the-next-evolution-of-cryptoeconomy.pdf  Staked ETH address https://etherscan.io/address/0x00000000219ab540356cBB839Cbe05303d7705Fa#analytics DETH of Ethereum https://medium.com/ideo-colab/the-deth-of-ethereum-98553866e81b   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Smith, executive director at the Blockchain Association, discusses the latest news on a provision in the infrastructure bill that seeks to raise $28B from the crypto industry in taxes. Show highlights: how the original crypto provision within the infrastructure bill came to be why the expansion of the term “broker” is problematic in the original language of the bill what the Treasury and the White House have to do with this bill and how they, along with Senator Portman, are resisting change how Senators Ron Wyden, Pat Toomey, and Cynthia Lummis are attempting to change the language of the provision through an amendment how the crypto community rallied around Wyden's amendment  why Kristin believes a rival amendment put forward by Senators Warner and Portman and supported by the White House late Thursday is worse than the bill’s original language  when the Senate will be voting on the amendments how the amendment the White House supports seems harmful to proof-of-stake networks and bad for DeFi whether this is part of a master plan to regulate crypto in the US what Kristin hopes happens during the vote how the crypto community can have its voice heard how to fix the issues within the crypto policy world so this doesn’t happen again   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021    Episode Links Kristin Smith: https://twitter.com/KMSmithDC Blockchain Association: https://theblockchainassociation.org/   Infrastructure Bill Information Latest Coverage: https://decrypt.co/77838/rival-amendment-senate-infrastructure-bill-threatens-proof-stake https://decrypt.co/77859/crypto-industry-mobilizes-to-stop-controversial-tax-plan https://decrypt.co/77841/biden-crypto-infrastructure-bill-amendments https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/16-civil-society-organizations-call-congress-fix-cryptocurrency-provision  https://decrypt.co/77681/senators-move-exempt-bitcoin-miners-tax-provision-infrastructure-bill https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/08/04/senators-propose-change-to-new-crypto-rules-for-tax-reporting-heres-whos-affected/ https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn/status/1422976741715361792 https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/1422002228102107142 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/113196/wyden-crypto-language-in-infrastructure-bill-fails-to-understand-how-the-technology-works https://www.coindesk.com/new-infrastructure-bill-looks-to-raise-30b-through-crypto-taxes https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1421150344051048451 https://twitter.com/NeerajKA/status/1421242689148932105 https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/politics/bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-collins-manchin-senate-cnntv/index.html https://www.coindesk.com/gop-lawmaker-janet-yellens-treasury-likely-behind-surprise-crypto-bill  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CFTC Commissioners Dan Berkovitz and Brian Quintenz discuss the difficulties of regulating crypto derivatives and DeFi. Show highlights: their backgrounds what the CFTC’s duties are regarding crypto how the CFTC’s jurisdiction has evolved over the years why Commissioner Quintenz believes SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s safe harbor proposal is “brilliant” what relationship the CFTC and SEC have when making decisions on crypto assets why the commissioners believe CFTC’s complaints regarding BitMEX are “well-founded” why formal regulation for crypto derivatives is unlikely to be produced by the CFTC why leveraged derivatives products are a “concern” to the CFTC what makes regulating DeFi platforms so difficult when it comes to DeFi, who is a natural entity for the CFTC to regulate, if any whether the CFTC would ever go after DeFi "market participants," who the CFTC also regulates why smart contracts involving futures could be illegal  how the possibility that smart contracts could be illegal squares with the view that software development is a form of free speech  whether the CFTC could prosecute developers who write smart contracts whether the CFTC needs to re-write its laws in light of DeFi innovation why Commissioner Berkovitz thinks the DeFi “winners” will be protocols that focus on meeting regulatory requirements why the CFTC approved Bitcoin futures in 2017 while the SEC has not yet approved a Bitcoin ETF how a Bitcoin ETF could solve Bitcoin’s accounting issue, which currently gives companies no upside for adding BTC to its balance sheet   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  Conjure: https://conjure.finance    Episode Links   People Dan Berkovitz, CFTC Commissioner (Sep 2018+) CFTC website: https://www.cftc.gov/About/Commissioners/CommissionerDanMBerkovitz/index.htm Twitter: https://twitter.com/CFTCberkovitz  Brian Quintenz, CFTC Commissioner (Aug 2017+) CFTC website: https://www.cftc.gov/About/Commissioners/BrianQuintenz/index.htm Twitter: https://twitter.com/CFTCquintenz    Related Links CFTC digital asset resources: https://www.cftc.gov/digitalassets/index.htm Commissioner Berkovitz DeFi speech: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/107769/cftc-commissioner-criticizes-defi-decries-lack-of-intermediaries Commissioner Quintenz smart contracts/blockchain speech: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaquintenz16 CFTC jurisdiction over digital assets: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/giancarlostatement010418  CFTC BitMEX complaint: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8270-20 FTX and Binance remove high leverage: https://decrypt.co/76858/ftx-and-binance-remove-high-leverage-from-exchanges SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s safe harbor proposal: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-statement-token-safe-harbor-proposal-2.0  Bitcoin futures approval from CFTC in 2017: https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-futures-trading-exchanges-cftc-2017-12 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leah Callon-Butler, director of Emfarsis, discusses her documentary, “Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines,” and the real-world impact that crypto is having in the Philippines. Show highlights: how the Axie Infinity movement started in the Philippines how much money players can earn through Axie Infinity compared to normal wages in the Philippines how Filipino crypto exchanges are catering to Axie Infinity players to make it easier to cash out their earnings what percentage of Axie Infinity players live in the Philippines why the game is so popular in rural areas what about Axie Infinity is bringing in non-crypto native players why Axie Infinity now has high barriers to entry how players have created their own system for helping bring new users into Axie Infinity how Axie Infinity scholarships work what Leah thinks about Yield Guild Games’s relationship with Axie Infinity Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links Leah Callon-Butler: https://twitter.com/leah_cb  Emfarsis: https://emfarsis.com/ Axie Infinity: Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo-BrASMHU4  Coverage https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/14/people-in-philippines-earn-cryptocurrency-playing-nft-video-game-axie-infinity.html https://venturebeat.com/2021/05/13/how-a-rural-filipino-community-is-earning-a-living-playing-an-nft-game/ https://hypebeast.com/2021/5/axie-infinity-nft-cryptocurrency-game-philippines-documentary https://www.esquiremag.ph/money/industry/axie-infinity-mobile-game-cryptocurrency-nft-a00289-20210521   Leah’s NFT/Axie Infinity writings: https://www.coindesk.com/the-metaverses-emerging-economics  https://www.coindesk.com/how-axie-infinity-creates-work-in-the-metaverse https://www.coindesk.com/nft-game-filipinos-covid  https://www.coindesk.com/artists-who-now-make-a-living-because-of-nfts https://www.coindesk.com/for-filipinos-axie-infinity-is-more-than-a-crypto-game https://www.coindesk.com/here-comes-the-virtual-real-estate-boom https://www.coindesk.com/vindicatio-nft-pioneer-looks-ahead  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ShapeShift recently announced an intent to decentralize -- a move that would transition the one-time centralized exchange to a full-on DAO. Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of ShapeShift, comes onto the show to talk about decentralizing the exchange, along with his thoughts on Bitcoin maximalism and crypto regulation. Show highlights: why ShapeShift is decentralizing the company  how ShapeShift used to work what needs to happen for ShapeShift to decentralize why user experience should not change during the transition how the FOX token works what parts of a company cannot be decentralized yet how ShapeShift’s forthcoming foundation will function how ShapeShift decided upon the allocations for the FOX token airdrop why ShapeShift employee and shareholder FOX tokens are locked up for three years what Erik’s role will be going forward how ShapeShift plans to attract devs why Erik believes FOX is not a security how Erik wants the SEC to handle crypto why he believes THORChain is one of the most critical projects in crypto why he is opposed to Bitcoin maximalism Erik’s thoughts on BitMEX’s and Binance’s regulatory issues what he thinks about stablecoin regulation Why Erik believes ShapeShift and Uniswap are not competitors   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  Conjure: https://conjure.finance    Episode Links Erik Voorhees Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/shapeshifts-erik-voorhees-on-how-crypto-will-separate-money-and-state/ ShapeShift: https://beta.shapeshift.com/  Decentralizing Tweet thread: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1415339998740508674 Blog post: https://erikvoorhees.medium.com/shapeshift-is-decentralizing-639bb4c82fc8 Airdrop info: https://shapeshift.com/shapeshift-decentralize-airdrop FOX token contract: https://etherscan.io/token/0xc770eefad204b5180df6a14ee197d99d808ee52d  CoinDesk write-up: https://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-to-shut-down-airdrop-fox-tokens-to-decentralize-itself-out-of-existence  FOX token analysis: https://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-fox-token-rally-yield-play-daos  Other THORChain: https://erikvoorhees.medium.com/an-introduction-to-thorchain-for-bitcoiners Getting booed at Miami BTC Conference: https://twitter.com/finematics/status/1401498099441405953 Paxos stablecoin blog: https://www.paxos.com/a-regulated-stablecoin-means-having-a-regulator/ Circle reveals reserves: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/112001/circle-reveals-majority-of-usdc-reserves-are-in-cash-and-cash-equivalents  CFTC and BitMEX: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8270-20 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neha Narula, director of the Digital Currency Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, discusses Elon Musk’s appearance at ‘The B Word’ conference, along with a few current events in the Bitcoin world. Show highlights: her main takeaway from ‘The B Word’ conference why governance plays an essential role in Bitcoin’s block size arguments what Neha thinks of proof-of-work mining and Bitcon’s environmental concerns why Neha is skeptical of Dogecoin becoming a serious cryptocurrency why Jack Dorsey’s new Bitcoin platform business is a good idea what Bitcoin’s dip in hashrate due to China’s crackdown could affect network security going forward what questions Neha has about Bitcoin’s adoption in El Salvador why Neha thinks cryptocurrencies and CBDCs will coexist what DCI has planned for the rest of 2021   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links: Neha Narula: https://twitter.com/neha MIT Media Lab: ​​https://twitter.com/medialab  Digital Currency Initiative https://dci.mit.edu/ CBDC research https://dci.mit.edu/cbdc-central-bank-digital-currency  Bitcoin network development https://dci.mit.edu/cbdc-central-bank-digital-currency  The B Word conference Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Cathie Wood conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwx_7XAJ3p0  Neha’s appearance: https://www.thebword.org/c/track-3-Supporting-the-Developer-Ecosystem Miscellaneous Square’s Bitcoin DeFi platform https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/16/square-is-building-a-decentralized-finance-business-for-bitcoin.html Bitcoin and El Salvador https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/05/el-salvador-becomes-the-first-country-to-adopt-bitcoin-as-legal-tender-.html Bitcoin hashrate drop https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/15/chinas-bitcoin-miner-exodus-.html  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gurvais Grigg, Chainalysis public sector CTO, and Kim Grauer, director of research at Chainalysis, review the ransomware landscape. Show Highlights: their backgrounds and roles at Chainalysis how a ransomware attack works what types of businesses are usually targeted in ransomware attacks why ransomware as a service (RAAS) is a booming business why Kim and Gurvais believe the hacking group REvil is becoming more sophisticated what characteristic of REvil hints that the group could be affiliated with Russia how the RAAS business model works how ransomware payments can be tracked why ransomware reporting has a data problem why Bitcoin is the preferred method of payment amongst ransomware attackers what two factors makes BTC preferable to privacy coins how ransomware groups teach victims to transfer BTC how ransomware groups cash out of their BTC how counter-terrorism tactics can help fight ransomware attacks how the Department of Justice may have partially recovered part of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware payment what tools and strategies governments can and will use to battle ransomware Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  Conjure: https://conjure.finance    Episode Links   People Kim Grauer - Director of Research at Chainalysis https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-grauer-a9501144 Gurvais Grigg - Global Public Sector Chief Technology Officer at Chainalysis https://www.linkedin.com/in/gurvais-grigg-b1027a153/    Chainalsysis Ransomware Data https://go.chainalysis.com/rs/503-FAP-074/images/Ransomware-2021-update.pdf   https://go.chainalysis.com/rs/503-FAP-074/images/Chainalysis-Crypto-Crime-2021.pdf   https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/applying-counterterrorism-strategies-to-ransomware   https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/eastern-europe-cryptocurrency-market-2020    Ransomware Attacks Kaseya https://decrypt.co/75246/what-the-revil-ransomware-attack-means-for-crypto https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-03/ransomware-attack-us-revil/100265656  Colonial Pipeline https://ciphertrace.com/ransomware-seizure-blockchain-analytics-helps-us-authorities-seize-over-2-million-in-darkside-ransom-paid-by-colonial-pipeline/  https://www.elliptic.co/blog/us-authorities-seize-darkside  JBS Holdings https://www.wsj.com/articles/jbs-paid-11-million-to-resolve-ransomware-attack Other Chainalysis  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chainalysis Website: https://www.chainalysis.com/ Who is REvil?  https://fortune.com/2021/07/07/what-is-revil-ransomware-attack-kaseya/ https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/revil-threat-actors/  Combating ransomware: https://securityandtechnology.org/ransomwaretaskforce/report/  Why Gurvais joined Chainalysis: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/gurvais-grigg-chainalysis  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Parker, partner at Reed Smith, summarizes the slew of regulatory headlines facing Binance and how such scrutiny may affect the exchange going forward. Show highlights: which countries are investigating Binance why it has been difficult for governing bodies to regulate Binance whether the reports that regulatory bodies, like the CFTC/IRS/DOJ, coming after Binance are correct when Christine expects regulators to make a move against Binance how hiring ex-regulators might help Binance in Congress whether Binance’s strategy of leaving countries with tight regulations helped or hurt the exchange what Christine thinks of Binance’s strategy to localize its business model  whether or not it is too late to avoid regulatory penalties for Binance why transitioning to a DAO business model would not absolve Binance of prior infractions how the BitMEX situation could inform Binance whether criminal charges could be in Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s future Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org  NEAR: https://near.org     Episode Links   Christine Parker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-parker-b09a31/   Binance Investigations https://www.coindesk.com/state-of-crypto-binance-is-firmly-in-the-regulatory-crosshairs  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/110380/thailand-sec-binance-crypto-exchange-criminal-complaint https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/104836/binance-crypto-irs-us-government-investigation-report https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/110510/barclays-customers-in-the-u-k-can-no-longer-transfer-funds-to-binance https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/110617/binance-suspends-deposits-from-key-european-payments-network https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/111482/italy-binance-consob-warning   Binance Material CZ letter https://www.binance.com/en/blog/421499824684902301/A-Letter-from-Our-CEO-Reflecting-on-Progress-and-the-Road-Ahead CZ Unchained appearance https://unchainedpodcast.com/listen-to-cz-compare-binance-to-bitcoin/  Binance’s compliance hiring spree https://www.radicalcompliance.com/2021/07/08/binance-compliance-hiring-spree/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Wright, co-founder of OpenLaw and Professor at Cardozo Law, and Ross Campbell, SushiSwap core developer and LexDAO contributor, discuss the latest breakthroughs and legal implications in the burgeoning world of DAOs. Show highlights: how Aaron and Ross fell down the crypto rabbit hole whether a DAO, like Curve, could sue to protect its IP when a governance token might be considered a security who owns the copyright to a DAO how SushiSwap handles its open-source licenses why Ross views Uniswap’s business license as a good thing what an DAO is and how the idea stems from Bitcoin how Wyoming’s DAO law works what makes a Wyoming DAO different from a DAO registered as a Delaware LLC how an algorithmically managed DAO might work in the future why Aaron thinks a DAO should not be allowed to be manager-managed why wrapping a DAO into an LLC could be advantageous the difference between private and public ordering Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2 Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero Conjure: https://conjure.finance    Episode Links   People Ross Campbell Social Twitter: https://twitter.com/r_ross_campbell Medium: https://medium.com/@rosscampbell9  Career OpenLaw: https://www.openlaw.io/ LexDAO: https://lexdao.substack.com/people/867851-ross-campbell SushiSwap: https://app.sushi.com/swap    Aaron Wright Social Twitter: https://twitter.com/awrigh01 Career OpenLaw: https://www.openlaw.io/ Cardozo Law: https://cardozo.yu.edu/directory/aaron-wright Content The Rise of DAOs: https://stanford-jblp.pubpub.org/pub/rise-of-daos/release/1   DAO Information Basics: https://ethereum.org/en/dao/  https://1729.com/daos  Kain Warwick: DAO First Capital Formation https://blog.synthetix.io/dao-first-capital-formation/  https://twitter.com/kaiynne/status/1287961077041393664 DAO Stats https://deepdao.io/  Wyoming: https://www.wyoleg.gov/2021/Engross/SF0038.pdf https://lexnode.substack.com/p/wyomings-legal-dao-saster https://twitter.com/prestonjbyrne/status/1370002015644962816?s=20 https://www.coindesk.com/wyoming-dao-llc-law-passed  https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1407668599205027843?s=20 https://decrypt.co/75222/americas-first-dao-approved-in-wyoming  Delaware: https://ricardian.gitbook.io/ricardian-llc/is-ricardian-legal  Curve IP:  https://gov.curve.fi/t/cip-xx-enforce-curves-ip-rights/1890 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108561/the-first-dao-lawsuit-proposal-asks-if-curve-should-protect-its-ip https://www.coindesk.com/curve-dao-contemplates-its-intellectual-property  https://twitter.com/SamMiorelli/status/1405141398479847426 https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1405251782574497799  Uniswap V3 https://www.coindesk.com/uniswap-v3-introduces-new-license-to-spoil-future-sushis  https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1374738548239314951 https://defiprime.com/uniswap-v3-explained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aleksander Larsen, co-founder and COO of Axie Infinity, discusses Axie Infinity’s recent growth, which has seen the platform do 20X the volume of NBA Top Shot in recent days. Show highlights: what is Axie Infinity? why there has been such an uptick in network activity and profitability how the Axie Infinity team came together  how Axie Infinity uses blockchain technology within its game how Axie Infinity leverages the ‘play to earn’ mania sweeping across Web3 applications what problems may arise as Axie Infinity starts to decentralize  how Axie Infinity is attempting to lower the expensive barrier to entry that comes with blockchain-based games why the Philippines is going crazy for Axie Infinity why building out a sidechain has been such a positive development for the company the two ways Axie Ininity makes money what’s next for Axie Infinity   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links   Aleksander Larsen: https://twitter.com/Psycheout86 Axie Infinity: https://axieinfinity.com/    Content Philippines: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/14/people-in-philippines-earn-cryptocurrency-playing-nft-video-game-axie-infinity.html Sidechain: https://medium.com/axie-infinity/introducing-ronin-axie-infinitys-ethereum-sidechain-8745e31eaef1 The Game That Helps Pay Bills: https://startups.my/the-game-that-helps-pay-bills-axie-infinity/ CoinDesk write up: https://www.coindesk.com/axie-infinity-token-quadruples-nfts Play-to-earn: https://metaportal.substack.com/p/the-memetic-power-of-play-to-earn Unchained Axie Infinity write-up: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-nft-marketplace-does-20x-the-volume-of-nba-top-shot/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhang, vice president of business development at Foundry, breaks down the latest developments surrounding China and bitcoin mining. Show highlights:  how he came across crypto and which Bitcoin OG he joined at Bitcoin.com to help start its mining operations arm what Foundry does and its relationship with Digital Currency Group (DCG) why DCG wanted to build out a mining infrastructure business what news from China in early March kickstarted the process of the mining ban how China’s Central Television broadcasting company might have brought extra scrutiny to cryptocurrencies  what the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party has to do with its Bitcoin mining ban why the Inner Mongolia and Sichuan Bitcoin mining bans were especially disruptive for Chinese miners how much of China’s hash rate Kevin estimates has been shut down since May where are miners relocating to  why Chinese mining equipment will not be allowed to turn on in the US whether or not China’s Bitcoin mining ban will stick why China banning bitcoin mining will be good for the network in the long run  what significant risk to Bitcoin’s network is solved by China banning bitcoin mining how much Bitcoin’s hash rate will drop and what effect this will have on miner revenue why Kevin thinks that Bitcoin is good for renewable energy how immersion cooling technology works what tangible benefits miners could find by moving to North America if El Salvador’s volcanic bitcoin mining plan is feasible what Kevin predicts will happen in the Bitcoin mining industry for the latter half of 2021 Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2      Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero      Conjure: https://conjure.finance     Episode Links   Kevin Zhang Twitter: https://twitter.com/SinoCrypto  Mining tweet storms: https://twitter.com/SinoCrypto/status/1407524150885994497 https://twitter.com/SinoCrypto/status/1409227438262046723  Content from previous work experience: Greenridge Generation https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/57943/a-power-plant-in-new-york-is-reportedly-mining-roughly-50000-in-bitcoin-each-day  Project Spokane https://medium.com/@derekbrouwer/the-bitcoin-barons-how-a-marketer-and-a-money-launderer-sold-montana-on-digital-gold-2a255c96c981    Foundry, Subsidiary of DCG Twitter: https://twitter.com/foundryservices Website: https://foundrydigital.com/  Foundry USA Pool Bit Digital: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bit-digital-joins-foundry-usa-pool-with-5-679-machines-adding-up-to-280-phs-of-compute-power-to-the-pool-301283792.html  Bitfarms partnership: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/04/23/2215897/0/en/Bitfarms-Partners-with-Foundry-to-Expand-Bitcoin-Mining-Fleet-and-Join-Foundry-USA-Pool-Instantly-Boosts-Operating-Hashrate-By-15.html  China’s Bitcoin Mining Ban Travis Kling noted 25 different announcements from China in June alone: https://twitter.com/Travis_Kling/status/1410630499748388865  Glassnode: mining difficulty to face its largest decrease ever https://insights.glassnode.com/the-week-on-chain-week-26-2021/  The Block: hash rate dropped 50%, Foundry up while everyone else is hurting https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/109315/bitcoin-hashrate-declines-50-percent-china-mining-crackdown Nic Carter: breaking down the hashrate migration https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-unpacking-hashrate-nic-cart-migration Secondhand mining equipment prices are spiking https://www.coindesk.com/chinese-logistics-firm-airlifting-bitcoin-mining-machines-to-maryland-report https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/109301/secondhand-bitcoin-miner-supply-spiking-bitmain Bitcoin miners shut down, 26 farms affected after Sichuan bans BTC mining https://www.coindesk.com/sichuan-becomes-latest-chinese-province-to-order-bitcoin-miner-shutdown https://decrypt.co/74075/bitcoin-hashrate-falls-17-overnight-after-china-mining-crackdown China’s Inner Mongolia announced eight measures in its crypto ban https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/105973/china-inner-mongolia-crypto-bitcoin-mining-ban-measures  Hash rate hits yearly low https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-mining-hashrate-drops-low Miners are moving to Kazakhstan https://www.coindesk.com/chinese-bitcoin-mining-company-delivers-first-machines-to-kazakhstan Tweet thread on how bitcoin miners reacted to the PRC’s May crackdown  https://twitter.com/MustafaYilham/status/1396574185598590979 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and founder of FTX, explains FTX’s sports-centric advertising model and talks about what is on his regulatory wish list going forward. Show highlights: why Sam is so excited to bring Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen onto the FTX team how FTX decides on who to sponsor why so many of FTX’s sponsorship are targeting US customers what makes the sports industry such an attractive place to advertise for FTX how FTX’s tokenized stocks work what Sam learned from the GameStop/Robinhood situation what makes FTX’s tokenized stocks different from Binance’s offering how FTX is dealing with regulatory obstacles what item is on the top of Sam’s regulatory wishlist whether FTT is a security   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021     Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org  NEAR: https://near.org     Episode Links   Sam Bankman-Fried Twitter: https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda  Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-gamestop-insanity-is-so-similar-to-crypto/    FTX Website: https://ftx.com Carbon credits: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/ftx-bitmex-to-become-carbon-neutral  Tokenized Stocks FTX guidelines: https://help.ftx.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051229472-Tokenized-Stocks  CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/ftx-follows-binances-lead-with-move-into-tokenized-stocks    FTX Sports Deals NBA: https://www.coindesk.com/ftx-miami-heat-nfts  Tom Brady: https://decrypt.co/74771/tom-brady-and-gisele-bundchen-invest-in-ftx  TSM FTX: https://www.sporttechie.com/tsm-esports-signs-210-million-sponsorship-with-ftx-crypto-exchange MLB: https://www.coindesk.com/ftx-sponsors-mlb-umpires-to-wear-crypto-exchanges-logo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taylor Monahan, CEO of MyCrypto, and Tim Beiko, Ethereum Foundation core-dev facilitator, discuss the upcoming upgrade to the Ethereum network, EIP 1559. Show highlights: why Tim believes EIP 1559 is necessary what narrative is driving EIP 1559 what problems the network upgrade will solve how Ethereum transactions/fees work whether gas prices are correlated with ETH/USD the 3 main protocol changes that EIP 1559 proposes why Taylor, as the CEO of a wallet provider, is wary of EIP 1559 how EIP 1559 will affect Ethereum’s block size what changes wallet providers are considering due to EIP 1559 whether ‘Black Swan’ events will be more or less likely after the network upgrade how EIP 1559 will affect miners whether Tim or Taylor believes that miners could fork Ethereum to stop EIP 1559 how EIP 1559 will change the state of miner extractable value (MEV) how Taylor and Tim feel about the Ethereum as sound money narrative in light of EIP 1559 when EIP 1559 will go live Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2     Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero     Conjure: https://conjure.finance      Episode Links   Taylor Monahan Twitter: https://twitter.com/tayvano_ MyCrypto: https://mycrypto.com/    Tim Beiko Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimBeiko Ethereum Foundation: https://ethereum.org/en/foundation/    EIP 1559 Resources: https://hackmd.io/@timbeiko/1559-resources Taylor Monahan tweets https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1397725861575421953 https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1408000351916093441 https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1407853518493413379 Actual proposal: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-1559.md  Research: http://timroughgarden.org/papers/eip1559.pdf  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Clemente, author of the BTC by WC3 newsletter, breaks down the current state of Bitcoin’s on-chain activity and explains why he believes the market is in a mid-cycle lull rather than turning bearish. Show highlights:  why Will is not worried about a bear market what indicators make Will believe BTC is in a mid-cycle consolidation who is selling and driving the recent market downturn why Will thinks the unwinding of derivatives is a significant factor in Bitcoin’s move below $30K what Will believe institutions are waiting on before entering the market again how Bitcoin cycles can be broken down into mini hype-cycles how long-term holders are acting on-chain the difference between long-term holders versus short-term holders during bear and bull markets why Will is interested in finding data on Latin American Bitcoin users how long the consolidation process might take what metrics Will has his eyes on for the latter half of 2021   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021    Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links:   Will Clemente Twitter: https://twitter.com/WClementeIII Newsletter: https://btcbywc3.substack.com/   Miscellaneous Links Unchained w/ Willy Woo and Raphael Shultze-Kraft: https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-bitcoins-price-go-up-again-yes-according-to-on-chain-analytics/  Willy Woo and Will Clemente ratio: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1407403983023460354 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Lammer, author and host of the Exit Scam podcast, recounts the mysterious and controversial death of QuadrigaCX’s founder Gerald Cotton. Show highlights: A quick recap of QuadrigaCX why Aaron felt compelled to create a series on QuadrigaCX how Gerald Cotton, a lifelong Ponzi-addict, came to be the CEO of Canada’s largest crypto exchange what Ponzi-schemes Gerald ran before starting Quadriga CX why customers trusted QuadrigaCX and what red flags were readily apparent looking back the sketchy tactic Gerald used to single-handedly boosted QuadrigaCX’s trading volume by 30%  a new wife, empty wallets, a hastily written will, and the circumstances surrounding Gerald’s shocking death how Gerald’s dark web background might have prepared him to fake his own death what the chances are that Canadian authorities exhume Gerald’s body  why Aaron is skeptical Gerald’s widow was “in” on the QuadrigaCX fiasco   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2    Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero    Conjure: https://conjure.finance     Episode Links   Aaron Lammer   Co-founder of Longform.org + co-host of Longform Podcast (2010+) Treats Media -- podcast platform (2018+) Exit Scam CoinTalk: https://medium.com/s/cointalk      Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/exitscampod    Episodes:  The Lost Password https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-password/id1565845318?i=1000521095118  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-ii-the-co-founder/id1565845318?i=1000521984138  The Co-Founder https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-iii-the-ponzi-schemer/id1565845318?i=1000522885172 The Ponzi Schemer https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-iv-the-chris-markay-account/id1565845318?i=1000523624957  The Chris Markay Account https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-v-the-old-friend/id1565845318?i=1000524470802 The Old Friend https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-vi-the-coffin/id1565845318?i=1000525407259  The Coffin Quadriga Deep Dives:  CBC News https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/bitcoin-gerald-cotten-quadriga-cx-death  Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten  Amy Castor timeline https://amycastor.com/2019/02/12/how-the-hell-did-we-get-here-a-timeline-of-quadrigacx-events/  Ontario Securities Commission https://www.osc.gov.on.ca/quadrigacxreport/    Details Ontario Securities Commission deems Quadriga an “old fashioned fraud” + “Ponzi” https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten https://www.coindesk.com/quadriga-was-a-ponzi-scheme-ontario-securities-regulator-says  Crypto officially recognized as property in Canada due to this case https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=728711fd-5d3c-43ea-91b4-efb8c02f4bec Fun Reddit stuff Is a Gerald Cotten alive? -- a poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/QuadrigaCX/comments/m17kip/is_gerald_cotten_really_dead/ Graphic connecting Michael Patryn to Omar Dhanani https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinCA/comments/828dnr/quadrigacx_cofounder_michael_patryn_is_a/  Lawyers publicly request that RCMP exhume Gerald Cotten’s body https://www.coindesk.com/lawyers-ramp-up-pressure-to-exhume-quadriga-ceos-body  Report on Gerald Cotten transferring funds into a personal account https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/28259/quadrigacx-co-founder-transferred-user-funds-into-personal-accounts-ey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jaynti Kanani, cofounder and CEO of Polygon, discusses why the layer 2 solution has seen so much success during a down crypto market. Show highlights: what factors have led to Polygon’s and MATIC's impressive performance YTD how Polygon is scaling Ethereum what types of projects are taking off on Polygon how Polygon is attempting to address the issue of layer 2 composability  how Polygon plans to use its latest funding why Jaynti is confident Polygon will still be necessary after ETH 2.0 launches Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021   Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero   NEAR: https://near.org     Episode Links   Jaynti Kanani Twitter: https://twitter.com/_jdkanani   Polygon Website:  https://polygon.technology/  Overview: https://www.theblockresearch.com/polygon-a-technical-overview-105799 https://www.theblockresearch.com/mapping-out-polygons-ecosystem-105540 Popularity: https://www.coindesk.com/defi-projects-continue-flocking-to-layer-2-solution-polygon  https://www.coindesk.com/institutional-investors-have-arrived-on-polygon-amid-rising-ethereum-layer-2-demand-blockchain-data https://www.coindesk.com/polygons-matic-token-ended-may-up-120-despite-bitcoins-price-crash  Investments: https://www.coindesk.com/au21-capital-opens-polygon-fund https://www.coindesk.com/mark-cuban-invests-in-ethereum-layer-2-polygon   Miscellaneous: https://www.coindesk.com/okcoin-integrates-polygon-reduce-users-ethereum-gas-fees https://polygon.technology/lightpaper-polygon.pdf  https://www.coindesk.com/kyber-network-announces-polygon-integration-and-liquidity-mining-program https://defiwatch.net/second-letter-to-polygon/  https://www.coindesk.com/google-cloud-now-provides-blockchain-insights-for-polygon-network https://www.coindesk.com/decentralized-exchange-aggregator-1inch-network-expands-to-polygon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of Unchained, I answer some questions submitted to me by the audience. In this episode, I cover: what I think about the relationship between psychedelics and crypto the most entertaining guest I’ve interviewed on Unchained why Coinbase founders may have a more impactful future on crypto than Ethereum founders which show has been the most impactful why I am a “nocoiner” where I believe DAOs fit into the future of crypto who my favorite guests have been over the years what I am most fearful and most hopeful about in the crypto space why I think user-friendly products are so important moving forward which DeFi projects I find the most interesting what sort of expenses go into producing Unchained which topics I would like to cover in the future the most surprising answers I have received in an interview (feat. CZ and Vitalik) what three cryptos I think will be most important three years from now if I think I have interviewed Satoshi :) my advice for anyone looking to change careers and go crypto who has been the hardest person to book on Unchained what crypto trend has surprised me the most in the past five years Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2   Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero   Keychain: https://conjure.finance    Episode Links   Twitter: https://twitter.com/Unchained_pod  Daily Newsletter: https://unchainedpodcast.com/    Podcasts mentioned during the show: Vitalik Buterin on Ethereum’s Five-Year Anniversary https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-ethereums-five-year-anniversary/ Listen to CZ Compare Binance to Bitcoin https://unchainedpodcast.com/listen-to-cz-compare-binance-to-bitcoin/  Mark Cuban on Why He Thinks ETH Is a Better Store of Value Than Bitcoin https://unchainedpodcast.com/mark-cuban-on-why-he-thinks-eth-is-a-better-store-of-value-than-bitcoin/  Meltem Demirors and Jill Carlson on the Shitcoin Waterfall – Ep.74 https://unchainedpodcast.com/meltem-demirors-and-jill-carlson-on-the-shitcoin-waterfall-ep-74/ Yeonmi Park on Why Doing Business With North Korea Is Like Buying a Ticket to a Concentration Camp https://unchainedpodcast.com/yeonmi-park-on-why-doing-business-with-north-korea-is-like-buying-a-ticket-to-a-concentration-camp/  Andre Cronje of Yearn Finance on YFI and the Fair Launch: ‘I’m Lazy’ https://unchainedpodcast.com/andre-cronje-of-yearn-finance-on-yfi-and-the-fair-launch-im-lazy/  Nick Tomaino on 1confirmation’s $125 Million Fund and What Future NFTs Will Look Like https://unchainedpodcast.com/nick-tomaino-on-1confirmations-125-million-fund-and-what-future-nfts-will-look-like/  Why Bitcoin’s December Price Target Is Now ‘Above $300,000’ (Willy Woo) https://unchainedpodcast.com/charting-bitcoins-growth-with-willy-woo-and-peter-brandt/ What Makes a CryptoKitty Worth $140,000? – Ep.75 (Roham Gharegozlou) https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-makes-a-cryptokitty-worth-140000-ep-75 Why I don’t own crypto: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1376211065772576770 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ForUsAll recently announced a new product that will allow cryptocurrency investments to be made inside 401(k) retirement accounts. Jeff Schulte, CEO of ForUsAll, discusses why putting crypto in a 401(k) is such a game changer, how this differs from Bitcoin IRAs, and more! Show highlights:  how bringing crypto into a 401(k) with ForUsAll will work what “guardrails” ForUsAll is placing on investors who choose to invest in crypto the tax advantages of purchasing crypto within a 401(k) whether ForUsAll is offering a Roth IRA why nobody has offered crypto within a 401(k) before now what differentiates a crypto 401(k) from a self-directed IRA what are the fees for the 401(k), who it will be available to, and when it will launch how security and keys are being handled why ForUsAll is not offering every token available on Coinbase how ForUsAll is determining which cryptos will be available to trade  why offering crypto ETFs through a 401(k) may cause problems regarding the fiduciary risk of employers what new crypto features ForUsAll is excited to roll out   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero   NEAR: https://near.org     Episode Links   Jeff Schulte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffschulteproductmanagment/    ForUsAll: https://www.forusall.com/ + https://twitter.com/ForUsAll401k    Coinbase partnership: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coinbase-teams-up-with-401-k-provider-to-offer-crypto https://fortune.com/2021/06/10/coinbase-crypto-401k-roth-offering-forusall/ https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108034/coinbase-forusall-401k-advisor-crypto-retirement-accounts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Willy Woo, on-chain Bitcoin analyst and writer of the Bitcoin Forecast, a market intelligence newsletter, and Rafael Schultze-Kraft, co-founder and CTO of Glassnode, discuss Bitcoin and what the on-chain metrics tell us about the price. Here to discuss is. Episode highlights: what factors pushed the price of BTC down in May why Elon’s Twitter account hold so much sway over the market why Willy believes Bitcoin is good for renewable energy who sold during the last month which type of BTC investors stopped purchasing in Feb/March what trends Willy and Rafael have noticed from coins moving to/from exchanges their thoughts on exchange-traded products, like GBTC and Canadian ETFs how derivatives trading has played a role in Bitcoin’s price why stablecoins were trading above their peg in the months leading up to the Coinbase direct listing how Willy values Bitcoin (specifically using NVT ratio) whether the trend of corporate treasuries investing in Bitcoin will continue how they expect Ethereum's adoption of a deflationary monetary policy to impact the price of Bitcoin when the market could turn bullish once again and predictions for the rest of the year   Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero    Episode Links   Willy Woo Twitter: https://twitter.com/woonomic Substack: https://willywoo.substack.com/ Charts: http://charts.woobull.com/    Rafael Schultze-Kraft Twitter: https://twitter.com/n3ocortex  Glassnode Blog: https://insights.glassnode.com/author/rafael/ Medium (no posts in 2021): https://medium.com/@neocortex    Glassnode Website: https://glassnode.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/glassnode  Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/glassnode    Willy on BTC trends: NVT 2021 re-hash: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1399644889596370950  User growth on BTC network: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1396716391940575232  Exchange flows are bullish: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1395350421187690500  The movement to strong holders is unprecedented: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1391209800252358658  BTC undervaluation: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1389145220432859144    Rafael on BTC trends: Investors becoming fearful: https://twitter.com/n3ocortex/status/1394922200923312132 Bear market?: https://twitter.com/n3ocortex/status/1394312942678679559 Why on-chain exchange metrics are difficult to analyze: https://insights.glassnode.com/exchange-metrics/  BTC ownership is not highly concentrated: https://insights.glassnode.com/bitcoin-supply-distribution/  BTC illiquidity: https://insights.glassnode.com/bitcoin-liquid-supply/    Glassnode on BTC trends: May 31 recap: https://insights.glassnode.com/the-week-on-chain-week-22-2021/  May 24 recap: https://insights.glassnode.com/the-week-on-chain-week-21-2021/  December buyers approaching cost basis: https://twitter.com/glassnode/status/1399757635512066052  Battle of Bulls vs. Bears: https://twitter.com/glassnode/status/1399231089764360192  Grayscale discount: https://twitter.com/glassnode/status/1397059742019686400 Deleveraging futures market: https://twitter.com/glassnode/status/1395771367958581251 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Rubin, a Bitcoin Core contributor and founder of Judica, a Bitcoin R&D Lab, joins Unchained from the Miami Bitcoin Conference (2021) to discuss all things Taproot. Show highlights: a general update on the Miami Bitcoin Conference  what Taproot will do for the Bitcoin network how Taproot will make Bitcoin transactions more private what effect Taproot might have on on-chain analytics companies what parts of Bitcoin transactions will be public if/when Taproot goes live what new wallet features Taproot will unlock for Bitcoin how Bitcoin vaults might work a user-friendly definition of MASTs (Merklized Abstract Syntax Tree) how Taproot signaling works when/if Taproot will lock-in why network updates strain the relationship between miners and users   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links:  Jeremy Rubin Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeremyRubin  Judica: https://judica.org/  Personal website: https://rubin.io/    Taproot Signaling status of Taproot: https://taproot.watch/  Bitcoin Magazine on Taproot: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/taproot-coming-what-it-and-how-it-will-benefit-bitcoin  Why Taproot matters: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-privacy-and-scaling-tech-upgrade-taproot-just-took-a-big-step-forward  Marathon lifts block mining censorship: https://www.coindesk.com/marathon-wont-censor-bitcoin-transactions-says-mining-ceo  MASTs: https://bitcointechtalk.com/what-is-a-bitcoin-merklized-abstract-syntax-tree-mast-33fdf2da5e2f Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Tomaino, general partner of 1confirmation, discusses his firm’s recently announced third fund of $125 million and gives his perspective on many hot crypto topics, such as NFTs, Layer 2 solutions, Polkadot, DAOs, and more. Show highlights: why Nick became interested in crypto and his background what drives 1confirmation’s investment thesis why he Nick believes NFTs have taken off in popularity this year why NFTs are currently in a bubble what we might do with NFTs in the future how competition between different NFT marketplaces will shake out how music NFTs could work the feasibility of charging royalties in the secondary sale of NFTs why environmental concerns over crypto mining to only be a short-term issue why Nick is not an Ethereum maxi and how he feels about the fragmentation of Layer 2 solutions on ETH why Polkadot is such an exciting project whether, as an early Coinbase employee, he would say the fat protocols thesis is true what new trend Nick is keeping an eye on for 2021 and beyond Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero    Episode Links   Nick Tomaino   Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/NTmoney  Recommended Content: Writing Introducing 1confirmation Fund 3 https://thecontrol.co/1confirmation-fund-iii-4633d18273e  NFTs + Mimetic Desire https://thecontrol.co/stories-scarcity-and-mimetic-desire-c4a344fa74e1  Twitter Threads Has crypto “earned it?”  https://twitter.com/NTmoney/status/1391782884202061824 Ethereum + decentralized identity https://twitter.com/NTmoney/status/1389608747924742157 WSB optimism https://twitter.com/NTmoney/status/1356036385287720960 The crypto perfect storm https://twitter.com/NTmoney/status/1352301464060760064  His journey from Coinbase to 1confirmation  https://twitter.com/NTmoney/status/1353405899990155264  Guest Appearances/Quotes “Digital art has a chance to exceed $3 trillion in total value and flip traditional art” https://fortune.com/2021/03/30/nft-crypto-superrare-art-market/ “It's not going to look the same as the crypto booms and busts, but there are going to be a lot of these sales that maybe don't have buyers in the future” https://cheddar.com/media/nfts-facing-bubble-but-crypto-art-platforms-see-long-term “It's clear we're in some type of NFT bubble” https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/25/technology/cryptocurrency-mainstream.html  Old Unchained Appearances https://unchainedpodcast.com/nick-tomaino-on-why-he-is-skeptical-libra-will-be-significant/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/icos-why-people-are-investing-in-this-380-million-phenomenon/    1confirmation   Basics Website/Portfolio https://www.1confirmation.com/portfolio  Twitter https://twitter.com/1confirmation  Recently announced fund https://thecontrol.co/1confirmation-fund-iii-4633d18273e    Recently, 1confirmation has funded...  Notional Finance https://www.coindesk.com/notional-raises-10m-to-grow-defi-lending-protocol-with-real-world-potential  SuperRare series A https://decrypt.co/63295/nft-marketplace-superrare-9m-funding-mark-cuban Nexus Mutual https://decrypt.co/57844/vc-firms-invest-2-7-million-in-defi-insurer-nexus-mutual dYdX series B https://integral.dydx.exchange/dydx-closes-10m-series-b-investment/  Acala https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/76313/polkadot-based-defi-project-acala-raises-7-million-saft    Miscellaneous Meebits https://meebits.larvalabs.com/ Polkadot governance https://polkadot.network/polkadot-governance/ Unchained podcast discussing the petrodollar https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-vs-the-petrodollar-which-is-more-environmentally-friendly/ Fat Thesis https://www.usv.com/writing/2016/08/fat-protocols/  ZED Run https://zed.run/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House Representative Tom Emmer, of Minnesota, is one of the most active voice for crypto and blockchain in the US government. In this episode, he discusses: what book made Tom fall down the crypto rabbit hole  why Tom believes the Financial Accounting Standards Board needs to set clear accounting standards for cryptocurrencies why the current way of accounting for Bitcoin on balance sheets may be a detriment to companies in the future how he feels about the acting head of the OCC putting together a “sprint team” of federal regulators to establish overarching crypto standards why he is fighting to change tax rules for forked coins what problems the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act might solve why he is so passionate about the Securities Clarity Act, which would explicitly separate digital tokens from securities how DeFi should be regulated and why he is not a fan of FATF’s recently proposed guidance Tom’s prediction for when these bills may actually become law    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero   NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links   Tom Emmer Twitter: https://twitter.com/RepTomEmmer  Website: https://emmer.house.gov/  Documents Mentioned FASB letter https://emmer.house.gov/2021/5/emmer-urges-fasb-to-issue-clear-accounting-standards-for-virtual-currencies Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2021/04/22/us-house-passes-bill-to-create-first-crypto-task-force-on-digital-assets/ Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets Act https://emmer.house.gov/2021/5/emmer-introduces-legislation-to-protect-taxpayers-with-digital-assets-pending-further-irs-guidance Securities Clarity Act https://emmer.house.gov/2020/9/emmer-introduces-legislation-to-provide-clarity-for-digital-assets-under-securities-law Proposed FATF Guidance (quick breakdown) https://www.coincenter.org/a-quick-analysis-of-fatfs-2021-draft-cryptocurrency-guidance/    Miscellaneous Congressional Blockchain Caucus https://congressionalblockchaincaucus-schweikert.house.gov/members US Regulatory “sprint” https://decrypt.co/71975/us-agencies-sprint-align-on-bitcoin-regulations  Michael Saylor episode https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-michael-saylor-on-the-best-way-for-companies-to-buy-bitcoin/ Age of Cryptocurrency https://www.amazon.com/The-Age-of-Cryptocurrency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix, and Kyle Samani, managing partner at Multicoin Capital, debate the merits of Ethereum, Solana, and Binance Smart Chain. In this episode, they discuss: why Ethereum is losing market share to Solana and BSC whether decentralization matters and at what point decentralization becomes redundant why they think Solana and Binance Smart Chain need to be taken seriously as competitors to EThereum whether BSC or Solana is the bigger long-term threat to Ethereum the biggest obstacle to Ethereum’s success (and it’s not gas fees) how Ethereum will navigate fragmented Layer 2 solutions Solana and its lack of developers what differentiates DeFi from CeFi why Solana has an edge on Ethereum in terms of composability  how Ethereum will onboard new users why Kain is such an ardent backer of Ethereum why both Kyle and Kain think EIP 1559 and the potential for higher ETH prices is bad for Ethereum if Synthetix would ever consider launching a cross-chain product the viability of a multi-chain world why Kyle believes the future holds a winner-take-most blockchain ecosystem   Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange    Episode Links   People Kyle Samani Twitter: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani  Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital/  Kain Warwick Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kaiynne Synthetix: https://synthetix.io/    Content Kain’s tweet that instigated this pod: https://twitter.com/kaiynne/status/1387266949302734852 Multicoin Blogs: New $100m fund focused on Solana https://multicoin.capital/2021/05/04/announcing-venture-fund-ii/  BNB Investment + valuation https://multicoin.capital/2019/02/19/binance-coin-analysis-and-valuation/  Investment in Solana https://multicoin.capital/2019/07/30/the-world-computer-should-be-logically-centralized/  Ethereum analysis https://multicoin.capital/2019/05/24/the-unbundling-of-ethereum/ Value Capture at Layers 1 and 2 https://multicoin.capital/2019/03/14/on-value-capture-at-layers-1-and-2/  Kain Warwick and Sam Bankman Fried podcast https://www.cryptonotes.org/2020/10/sbf-kain-blockcrunch-117/  Comparing AMMs on different blockchains https://www.coindesk.com/pancakeswap-uniswap-sushiswap-crypto-defi-exchange  BSC and Solana NFT platforms https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/102959/binance-is-launching-its-own-nft-marketplace-in-june https://www.coindesk.com/banksy-burners-raise-3m-to-build-nft-platform-on-solana  Overview of Layer 2 solutions on Ethereum https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/scaling/layer-2-rollups/ Binance Smart Chain guide https://defiprime.com/binance-smart-chain Solana guide https://thedefiant.io/solana-defi-ecosystem-overview/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Novogratz, founder, CEO, and chairman of Galaxy Digital, digs into the drivers behind this week’s market selloff. Show highlights: the five factors Mike believes led to this week’s dip  what Mike thinks about the environmental concerns surrounding Bitcoin how Ethereum will perform in 2021 whether centralized blockchains will survive regulatory scrutiny why Galaxy Digital made its $1 billion acquisition of BitGo what sort of projects Galaxy Digital is mulling in the DeFi space when Mike thinks a bitcoin ETF could be approved Mike’s 2021 bitcoin price prediction   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links   Mike Novogratz: https://twitter.com/novogratz    Galaxy Digital: https://www.galaxydigital.io    Recommend Reads:  Galaxy Digital BitGo purchase https://www.coindesk.com/galaxy-digital-to-buy-bitgo-for-about-1-2-billion-in-stock-cash SEC skepticism regarding bitcoin ETF https://www.coindesk.com/sec-warns-mutual-fund-investors-of-bitcoin-futures-risks Galaxy Digital 2021 Q1 results https://www.coindesk.com/galaxy-digital-q1-aum-rose-58-net-comprehensive-income-more-than-doubles Galaxy Digital bitcoin ETF https://www.coindesk.com/galaxy-digital-files-for-us-bitcoin-etf  Youtube energy consumption https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-carbon-footprint-of-streaming-video-fact-checking-the-headlines  https://thefactsource.com/how-much-electricity-does-youtube-use/ Dapper Labs lawsuit https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreatinianow/2021/05/17/no-slam-dunk-for-plaintiffs-in-nba-top-shot-moments-class-action-lawsuit/?sh=be89ec3df3da Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Tesla announced they will no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for vehicles. In a timely episode, Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, and James McGinniss, CEO and co-founder of David Energy, come onto the show to discuss Bitcoin, the petrodollar, and how to contextualize the energy usage of the first cryptocurrency (BTC) versus the leading fiat currency (USD). Show highlights: their backgrounds and how they became interested in the intersection of currency and energy usage why Alex and James really think Tesla stopped accepting BTC as payment why James thinks Bitcoin’s energy intensity is a “feature, not a bug”  Alex on the history of the petrodollar and how the USD in recent decades has been tied to fossil fuel production comparing the carbon cost of a dollar to Bitcoin’s energy consumption what both James and Alex think of the Square and Ark Invest research paper saying renewable energy production could be tied with Bitcoin mining why measuring Bitcoin’s energy usage is difficult how Bitcoin mining in China is changing for the better how the Biden administration might impact Bitcoin where to find more information on Bitcoin and energy consumption   Thank you to our sponsors!   E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange    Episode Links   People: Alex Gladstein Twitter: https://twitter.com/gladstein Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/  James McGinniss Twitter: https://twitter.com/James_McGinniss David Energy: https://www.davidenergy.com/    Recommended Reads: “Uncovering the Hidden Cost of the Petrodollar” by Alex Gladstein https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/the-hidden-costs-of-the-petrodollar  “Think BTC is a Dirty Business? Consider the Carbon Cost of a Dollar” by Susan Su https://susanfsu.medium.com/think-btc-is-a-dirty-business-consider-the-carbon-cost-of-a-dollar-c38122fb55c5  “Bitcoin is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future” by Square and Ark Invest https://assets.ctfassets.net/2d5q1td6cyxq/2D2BnksJjavw4a6SUvAPwZ/c42a9e3a520b0cc3b230cda3b43eead5/BCEI_White_Paper_.pdf  Elisabeth Steyn thread on Tesla and energy credits https://twitter.com/Elisabeth_Steyn/status/1392799067986554880 “Tesla seeks entry into U.S. renewable fuel credit market” by Reuters https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-tesla-seeks-entry-into-us-renewable-fuel-credit-market-sources-2021-05-12/ “Debt” by David Graeber https://www.amazon.com/Debt-First-5-000-Years/dp/1612191290  Others: Bitcoin energy consumption index https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption/ Cambridge study on cryptoassets https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-ccaf-3rd-global-cryptoasset-benchmarking-study.pdf Triffin Dilemma https://dailyreckoning.com/the-triffin-dilemma/   Alex Gladstein’s Recommended Follows: Nic Carter https://twitter.com/nic__carter Lyn Alden https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact Susan Su https://twitter.com/susanfsu Luke Gromen https://twitter.com/LukeGromen Michael Hudson https://twitter.com/michaelwhudson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at Arca, comes on the show to give a macro perspective on the crypto environment. In this episode, he discusses: how economic data and real-world events have affected digital assets how Jeff classifies the different types of assets within crypto what market forces have pushed ETH to new all-time highs above $4k whether EIP 1559 will have the same effect on ether price as the Bitcoin halving has on BTC price what is happening with Dogecoin and other meme-coins why the market’s reaction to Tesla’s halt of BTC vehicle purchases was healthy whether environmental concerns surrounding Bitcoin will have long-term consequences on crypto as an asset class   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021    Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero    NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links   Jeff Dorman Twitter  https://twitter.com/jdorman81 Arca https://www.ar.ca/ Blog post titled “How Economic Data Affects Digital Assets” https://www.ar.ca/blog/crypto-market-recap-05-10-21  Blog post titled “The Four Types of Digital Assets” https://www.ar.ca/blog/crypto-market-recap-06-29-20    Miscellaneous Links Dogecoin SNL clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5RCfQyTDFI SHIB token + dog meme-coins https://decrypt.co/70587/shiba-inu-shib-what-why-price-dogecoin https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/104676/vitalik-buterin-donates-more-than-60m-to-charity-after-selling-meme-tokens-including-shiba-inu  https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1392533724814876680/photo/1  Nic Carter on Bitcoin mining https://www.coindesk.com/the-last-word-on-bitcoins-energy-consumption Tesla’s announcement on halting BTC vehicle purchases https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1392602041025843203   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-an-elon-tweet-sent-bitcoin-below-50k/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this discussion I moderated for Paxos, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla discuss GameStop, the broken traditional financial infrastructure, and how blockchain technology may change the future of settlements. Show highlights:   why Robinhood stopped trading on GameStop and AMC stock earlier this year what both Charles and Vlad think the feasibility of T+0 settlements versus Citadel’s and the DTCC’s aim of T+1 settlements  how the GameStop scenario would have been different in a T+0 environment  what it would look like if certain markets used T+0 settlements while others still settled on T+1 why Robinhood decided to add crypto back in early 2018 how Robinhood’s crypto operations work on the back end why Robinhood does not allow users to move crypto off-platform whether securities trading or crypto will be a larger portion of both Paxos’ and Robinhood’s business model what Paxos and Robinhood have planned for the near future   Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2   Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange     Episode Links:   People:   Charles Cascarilla   Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescascarilla/  Coindesk Profile https://www.coindesk.com/charles-cascarilla-most-influential-2020  Previous interview with Laura https://unchainedpodcast.com/chad-cascarilla-on-paxoss-partnership-with-paypal/  Blog post on the GameStop saga  https://www.paxos.com/what-lehman-brothers-gamestop-and-the-next-financial-crisis-have-in-common/    Vlad Tenev   Twitter https://twitter.com/vladtenev  CNN Article https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/01/investing/robinhood-gamestop-vlad-tenev/index.html  Tweet Thread on T+2 https://twitter.com/vladtenev/status/1356687248746455041    Companies: Paxos Twitter https://twitter.com/PaxosGlobal   Paxos Settlement Service https://www.paxos.com/securities/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-paxos/paxos-to-launch-settlement-of-u-s-listed-equities-after-secs-no-action-letter-idUSKBN1X727M   Wall Street Journal write-up https://www.wsj.com/articles/blockchain-makes-inroads-into-the-stock-markets-1-trillion-plumbing-system-11573131600    Robinhood   Twitter https://twitter.com/RobinhoodApp Robinhood Crypto https://robinhood.com/us/en/about/crypto/ Public offering https://blog.robinhood.com/news/2021/3/23/robinhood-markets-inc-confidentially-submits-draft-registration-statement    Miscellaneous Links   Citadel on settlements https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/95326/citadel-robinhood-shorter-settlements-congress DTCC on settlements https://www.dtcc.com/news/2021/february/24/dtcc-proposes-approach-to-shortening-us-settlement-cycle-to-t1-within-two-years    Other:   Caitlin Long Unchained episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/caitlin-long-why-avanti-will-be-a-new-kind-of-crypto-bank/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reshma Patel, a Democratic candidate for New York City’s Comptroller position, talks about her “future proof” plan for the city, which centers on investing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. In this episode, she discusses: what duties the New York City Controller performs how Reshma thinks crypto and blockchain tech can help New York City, which she calls her “future proof” plan how a city comptroller would go about investing 1%-3% of the city’s pension funds into crypto what type of crypto investment vehicles would be appropriate for the city to invest in  why Reshma became interested in crypto in the first place  what sort of real-world issues blockchain technology could solve in NYC, particularly in its procurement system whether Reshma envisions an NYC blockchain solution for its procurement system being on a private or public blockchain  how the Comptroller could influence the state of New York to make the BitLicense more accessible for entrepreneurs  why NYC must compete in the blockchain/crypto space with Miami and Wyoming  how crypto could help NYC recover post-COVID  what comes next for Reshma’s campaign and why she is not allowed to receive crypto donations    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links   Reshma Patel Twitter: https://twitter.com/reshmapatelnyc?lang=en  Blockchain campaign: https://www.reshma2021.com/blockchain  CoinDesk profile: https://www.coindesk.com/city-comptroller-candidate-says-blockchain-is-in-new-yorks-future  The Block article: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/102122/candidate-nyc-comptroller-crypto-blockchain Miscellaneous Links BitLicense https://ciphertrace.com/new-york-bitlicense/ https://www.coindesk.com/bitlicense-timeline  Duties of NYC Comptroller https://comptroller.nyc.gov/about/duties-of-the-comptroller/  Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/doge-up-13000-ytd/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crypto sits at the intersection of two male-dominated industries: tech and finance. I was asked to moderate a panel for the Amber Group with four leading women in crypto to discuss the role of gender in the crypto industry and what can be done to bring more women into the space. Panelists include Mia Deng, partner at Dragonfly Capital; Amy Zhang, vice president of sales at Fireblocks; Alexis Gauba, cofounder at Opyn; and Annabelle Huang, partner at Amber Group. Show highlights: how each panelist got into crypto, what it is they do, and which company they work for why women have been somewhat reluctant to speak on crypto gender disparity in public what the main obstacles to bringing about better gender diversity in crypto whether the crypto space is harder to break into than traditional finance for women how gender issues in the U.S. are different than in Asia why more women have begun trading cryptocurrencies and how to increase that interest which crypto explanations are most effective for female friends why there are so few female crypto co-founders good hiring practices for bringing more women into the space advice for women trying to break into crypto    Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange    Episode Links   Panelists Mia Deng Crypto career cofounder at TR Lab ---- NFT Platform (2021) partner at Dragonfly Capital - https://medium.com/dragonfly-research  Head of biz Development + Venture partner @ Amber Group - https://www.ambergroup.io/about  Social link https://twitter.com/miagegedeng?lang=en   Amy Zhang Crypto career vice president of sales at Fireblocks - https://www.fireblocks.com/  head of sales/investor relations at Diginex - https://www.diginex.com/  Social link https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyzwzhang/?originalSubdomain=hk    Alexis Gauba Crypto career cofounder at Opyn - https://www.opyn.co/#/  cofounder at she256 - https://she256.org/  Social link https://twitter.com/AlexisGauba   Annabelle Huang Crypto career partner at Amber Group  - https://www.ambergroup.io/about  founding member at KeeperDAO - https://twitter.com/Keeper_DAO  risk lead at AirSwap - https://www.airswap.io/  Social Link https://twitter.com/_annabellehuang?lang=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Finlay, co-founder of MetaMask, talks about the meteoric growth of monthly active users of the crypto wallet, which has quintupled in the past seven months. In this episode, he discusses: which crypto use case drove MetaMask’s active user base to grow 5x in under a year what types of scaling solutions are drawing users to MetaMask how MetaMask works what kind of customers are using MetaMask  how MetaMask has grown without targeted marketing  whether the type of crypto usage in developing nations differed from developed nations which feature MetaMask released in 2020 that is bringing in revenue what pivotal moments in crypto over the past six years have brought new users to MetaMask why scalability and security are the most important challenges facing MetaMask in the short term  how MetaMask is trying to make online wallets more secure  how much volume users have traded via MetaMask's new swap feature  what new features are coming up for MetaMask wallets    Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  InterPop: https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links MetaMask Dan Finlay: https://twitter.com/danfinlay MetaMask: https://metamask.io/ $5 Million Monthly Active Users: https://consensys.net/blog/metamask/metamask-surpasses-5-million-monthly-active-users/ MetaMask in Emerging Markets: https://twitter.com/MetaMask/status/1387114770923466755 Filecoin in MetaMask: https://medium.com/metamask/developer-preview-metamask-snap-for-filecoin-c28b01dfdcb    Miscellaneous Robbie Ferguson on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-layer-2-solution-processed-more-nft-trades-in-24-hours-than-ethereum-did-in-1-week/ Marguerite deCourcelle on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-the-ways-crypto-can-make-gaming-more-fun/ Charles Cascarilla + Vlad Tenev conversation: https://t.co/2AG0y5j36B?amp=1   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-bitcoin-standard/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of NFT marketplace OpenSea, talks all things non-fungible. Check out the whole show to hear Devin answer the following questions:   First Half: Breaking Down NFTs Why did he become so interested in NFTs ?  What is an NFT? Why have NFTs become so popular recently?  Who is creating NFTs? Who is purchasing NFTs?  Are we in an NFT bubble?  How is the NFT ecosystem going to evolve over the next few years?  What are people purchasing when they buy an NFT?    Second Half: OpenSea Q+A What is OpenSea?  How will OpenSea maintain its competitive advantage in the open-source blockchain ecosystem?  How does OpenSea make money?  Are artists making money on OpenSea?  How is OpenSea planning on integrating with layer 2 solutions on Ethereum and other blockchains?  How do royalties work on OpenSea? Why are they hard to enforce?  What can be done about content being minted on OpenSea without an artist’s permission?  What issues in the NFT world still need to be resolved?  How is OpenSea handling the environmental concerns surrounding NFTs?  What’s next for OpenSea?    Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange   Episode Links   Basic Links Devin’s Twitter https://twitter.com/dfinzer?lang=en  OpenSea https://opensea.io/    Devin Finzer Content Podcast appearances https://www.owltail.com/people/YzIoa-devin-finzer/appearances  The NFT Bible https://opensea.io/blog/guides/non-fungible-tokens/ Blockchain gaming (2018) https://www.coindesk.com/the-emerging-trends-in-the-blockchain-gaming-world    OpenSea Profiles Fortune https://fortune.com/2021/03/18/nft-art-crypto-marketplace-opensea-amazon/ CoinDesk 50 for 2020 (#47) https://www.coindesk.com/the-coindesk-50  Recent announcements scaling solution w/ Immutable X (Mar 31) https://www.coindesk.com/nft-opensea-immutable-layer-2-protocol-ethereum  https://decrypt.co/65828/immutable-x-ethereum-nft-gods-unchained  A16z investment (Mar 18th) https://a16z.com/2021/03/18/investing-in-opensea/  updating terms of service (Mar 13) https://twitter.com/opensea/status/1370895902068637697  taking down the hacker NFT (Mar 9) https://www.coindesk.com/hacker-selling-cybersecurity-exploit-nft unlockable content (early March) https://twitter.com/opensea/status/1366780226416631817  Tezos collab (Feb 10) https://twitter.com/opensea/status/1359519631275352064  creating NFTs for free (Dec 29) https://opensea.io/blog/announcements/introducing-the-collection-manager/  https://twitter.com/xanderatallah/status/1358848443356221445  recent usage: https://duneanalytics.com/rchen8/opensea 2018 investing round https://www.coindesk.com/ebay-cryptokitties-raises-2-million-star-vcs  https://opensea.io/blog/announcements/opensea-raises-2-million/  Other Terms of service talk https://www.reddit.com/r/opensea/comments/m12uh4/do_i_keep_the_rights_to_any_nft_i_sell_on_opensea/ Stats https://www.forbes.com/sites/youngjoseph/2021/03/29/nft-market-rages-on-nfts-market-cap-grow-1785-in-2021-as-demand-explodes/?sh=2974862a7fdc  https://duneanalytics.com/rchen8/opensea Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robbie Ferguson, co-founder and president of Immutable, talks about how Immutable is transforming the NFT industry through its layer 2 solution, Immutable X, which just launched April 8. In this episode, he discusses:  what sort of problems Immutable is solving by creating a layer 2 solution (1:21) why scalability is especially an issue for NFTs in gaming (1:59) how Immutable X, built with partner Starkware, addresses the problems with scaling NFTs (3:28) how Immutable is scaling Ethereum and the definition of a layer 2 solution (5:46) the Immutable business model and how the company makes money (6:40) how validity proofs like ZK-rollups differ from fraud proofs like Optimistic rollups (7:52) how Gods Unchained has performed since the April 8th launch of Immutable X (8:27) why building on Ethereum is so important to Immutable (10:54) why Immutable is obsessed with bringing liquidity to NFTs (14:54) what sort of partners Immutable is looking to attract and how Immutable X is different from a traditional marketplace (18:00) why Immutable decided to purchase carbon credits to offset the gas the protocol consumes on Ethereum (21:33) what we might see from Gods Unchained, Immutable X, and NFT gaming in general by the end of this  year (23:32 ) weekly news recap (26:22)   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  InterPop: https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop  NEAR: https://near.org    Episode Links   Robbie Ferguson https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieferguson/?originalSubdomain=au   Immutable Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Immutable?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor  Website for Immutable X https://market.x.immutable.com/assets/0xacb3c6a43d15b907e8433077b6d38ae40936fe2c  Layer 2 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/101092/ethereum-startup-immutable-aims-to-cut-nft-costs-with-new-layer-2-scaling-protocol https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/100084/opensea-nft-layer-2-immutable-x https://twitter.com/Immutable/status/1385263903450484741  Gods Unchained https://www.coindesk.com/james-ferguson-on-decentralized-gamings-next-moves https://decrypt.co/65828/immutable-x-ethereum-nft-gods-unchained Previous Unconfirmed interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-the-hong-kong-protests-gave-a-boost-to-gods-unchained/   Miscellaneous Links Hearthstone link https://decrypt.co/48379/gods-unchained-review-and-beginners-guide  Carbon Credits https://twitter.com/immutable/status/1377099577178779659?lang=en  StarkWare relationship https://medium.com/starkware/starkware-immutable-8896aabab4e5 StarkWare’s recent Unchained appearance https://unchainedpodcast.com/can-dydx-become-a-decentralized-bitmex-how-it-is-scaling-with-starkware/    Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/2600-eth/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a fun change of pace, I was interviewed by the On Deck Podcaster Fellowship about the origins of Unchained pod, how my background as a journalist prepared me for podcasting, and tips for aspiring creators. Episode highlights: why I believe the Unchained podcast has been successful and how my penchant for asking tough questions came about (1:48) how my background in journalism prepared me for hosting a podcast (6:35) how I choose guests for the show and how they feel about being asked difficult questions (9:10) why I feel my background in traditional media is so important (15:46) whether my podcast helped me land a book deal (20:35) the Unchained podcast origin story (26:37) how I’ve brought my sense of journalistic integrity and ethics to podcasting (33:56) the top tips for choosing a good podcast title (41:58) advice for aspiring podcasters on sifting through BS answers and warming up shy guests (48:19) who I look up to in the podcast space (53:25) what future creators and podcasters from underrepresented backgrounds can learn from my experience breaking into the world of finance and technology (57:33)   Thank you to our sponsors: E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange   Episode Links On Deck: https://www.beondeck.com/    Laura Shin: https://twitter.com/laurashin    Unchained Podcast: https://twitter.com/Unchained_pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gil Luria, director of research at D.A. Davidson, talks about Coinbase’s performance on its first day as a public company. In this episode, Gil discusses: the significance of Coinbase going public (1:05) why doing a direct listing was a risky move (1:31) why he revised his price target for COIN from $440 to $650 (3:17) how investing in COIN as a “pure play” crypto company compares to buying stock in companies like MicroStrategy and Square (5:06) why some people are disrupting Coinbase’s actual market cap (7:11) whether Coinbase can smooth out revenue over the long term and not be so correlated to the crypto markets themselves(10:45) what sort of statistics Gil is looking for in valuing Coinbase (13:08) why Gil thinks Coinbase can meet its goal of growing non-transaction revenue from 4% to 50% in five to ten years (15:32) how Coinbase could navigate the compression of fees that will occur as competition increases among exchanges (17:33) whether Coinbase’s stance as an apolitical company could affect the stock price in an era in which companies are getting involved in issues like voting rights (19:45) whether the Bitcoin price and COIN stock price will always be highly correlated (21:18) which other crypto companies are good candidates for going public as well (22:35) weekly news recap (24:03)   Thank you to our sponsors! Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”:  https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021    Check out InterPop, a superteam redefining the future of NFTs and fandom! https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop    Episode links:   Gil Luria Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/gilluria   Introducing Crypto’s Amazon Moment (written by Gil): https://unchainedpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DA-Davidson-Coinbase-Initiation-20210302.pdf  2013 Quote from Gil on Bitcoin: https://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/Bitcoin+Could+Be+Worth+10-100x+Current+Price+-+Analyst/8936836.html Previous Unchained Appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-coinbase-stock-a-good-buy-this-analyst-says-yes/    Related Content Ellie Frost Blog: https://frostbyte.substack.com/p/coinbase-earnings-some-less-obvious  https://frostbyte.substack.com/p/coinbase-earnings-will-blow-you-away Tweet Thread on Market Cap Discrepancy w/ Comment From Jeff Dorman https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1382746574577668111 https://twitter.com/jdorman81/status/1382749674105237507 Forbes Coverage of Coinbase Direct Listing: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/04/14/coinbase-skyrockets-in-nasdaq-listing-landing-105-billion-valuation-on-first-day-of-trading/?sh=3afb44928dc1  https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2021/04/14/coinbases-ipo-creates-a-multibillion-dollar-windfall-for-founders-now-it-faces-five-big-threats/?sh=13405d8e61ff  Brian Armstrong CNBC Interview on Transaction Fees: https://twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1382279472599162880?s=20 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an interview I moderated at Real Vision’s “Crypto Gathering,” Peter L Brandt, veteran trader and publisher of the Factor Report, and Willy Woo, prominent on-chain Bitcoin analyst and author of the “The Bitcoin Forecast,” a market intelligence newsletter, discuss Bitcoin charts, trading, and how Bitcoin is evolving as an asset. They cover: why Peter believes that, with Bitcoin, we are watching history in the making and what a “parabolic advance” has to do with that belief (2:02) the differences in trading Bitcoin, which trades 24/7/365, in comparison to a normal asset -- like a stock or commodity (6:36 ) Willy’s price target for the top of this bull run (8:37) why Willy thinks there is a Bitcoin supply shock (12:12) the reason Peter does not think Bitcoin is a bubble (15:09) why Willy believes we are witnessing the birth of a new monetary system (17:23) the state of Bitcoin adoption and how fast adoption will grow (21:24) Peter’s crypto journey and why he measures wealth in Bitcoin instead of dollars (27:02 ) why Peter thinks we are prisoners of war to the fiat system and how Bitcoin fixes this (31:33) what sort of volatility both Peter and Willy expect going forward from Bitcoin (33:43) how Peter feels about the laser eyes trend on Crypto Twitter (39:35) tips for aspiring chartists and traders (41:33)   Thank you to our sponsors! Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Indexed Finance: https://indexed.finance/  Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange   Episode Links   Willy Woo Twitter: https://twitter.com/woonomic Website: http://charts.woobull.com/  Content Unchained podcast appearances https://unchainedpodcast.com/willy-woo-on-why-its-an-extremely-great-time-to-buy-bitcoin/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/willy-woo-how-bitcoin-reaches-up-to-300000-by-end-of-year/ Tweets https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1347127159538688002?s=20 https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1345221723751206912?s=20  https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1346827893322616833  https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1356310219215699968  https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1379804421823942656  Peter L. Brandt Twitter https://twitter.com/PeterLBrandt Website: https://www.peterlbrandt.com/about-us/  Content Book https://www.amazon.com/Trading-Commodity-Futures-Classical-Patterns/ Tweets BTC https://twitter.com/PeterLBrandt/status/1372380949695053824 https://twitter.com/PeterLBrandt/status/1374816381837799424 https://twitter.com/PeterLBrandt/status/1368593967059767297  Crypto https://twitter.com/PeterLBrandt/status/1366810037084020736  USD https://twitter.com/PeterLBrandt/status/1368903818201600009 https://twitter.com/PeterLBrandt/status/1368383829098913795 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry Cermak, director of research at The Block, discusses the upcoming Coinbase direct listing in light of the exchange’s recently released Q1 revenue hitting an impressive $1.8 billion. In this episode, Larry talks about: significant takeaways from Coinbase’s Q1 results (1:04) how Coinbase was able to increase its non-transaction revenue in Q1 and why he thinks the exchange gets away with charging higher fees than its competitors (4:14) why retail consumers are investing in crypto at such a high clip (8:36) how Coinbase compares to its competition -- and why competition will drive transaction fees down (11:23) whether it matters that Coinbase has so little Bitcoin on its balance sheet (14:52) what he still wants to know about Coinbase after its S-1 filing and Q1 results 15:36) products and services that Coinbase should acquire to round out its crypto offering (17:10) his expectations for Coinbase’s stock performance (17:50) why investors may not be interested in NFTs (19:37) how the crypto markets will perform in 2021 and how that might affect the COIN price (20:43) Crypto New Recap (22:40)    Thank you to our sponsors! Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”:  https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021   Check out InterPop, a superteam redefining the future of NFTs and fandom! https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop   Episode links:   Larry Cermak https://twitter.com/lawmaster   Coinbase Q1 Results Coinbase Details https://investor.coinbase.com/news/news-details/2021/Coinbase-Announces-First-Quarter-2021-Estimated-Results-and-Full-Year-2021-Outlook/default.aspx  Larry Cermak Analysis https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1379527265021743110  The Block https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/100749/final-notes-ahead-of-the-coinbase-direct-listing?utm_source=research&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-04-08 John Street Capital https://twitter.com/JohnStCapital/status/1379526362692788227   Direct Listing Information https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/01/coinbase-direct-listing-set-for-april-14-after-sec-approval.html https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-sec-form-s-1   Related Podcasts Gil Luria https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-coinbase-stock-a-good-buy-this-analyst-says-yes/ Jeff Roberts https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinbases-s-1-the-number-that-may-make-the-exchange-nervous/   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/happy-birthday-satoshi1/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Cuban -- billionaire investor, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and Shark Tank “shark” -- shares his thoughts on the Ethereum vs. BTC debate, issues with DeFi, and how NFTs could change content distribution. Tune in to hear Mark talk about... why ETH is a better store of value than BTC (1:08) why bitcoin as an inflation hedge is a bananas narrative 6:29) his opinion on EIP-1159 and the idea of proof of stake mining (9:06) why minting an NFT was a crypto-lightbulb moment for him (11:36) how his background in technology prepared him to invest in crypto (13:55) the main problem with the DeFi user experience and his advice for new DeFi users (16:34) what might happen to the centralized banking system if DeFi becomes the norm (20:46) how putting private data on a blockchain could work (25:53) why CBDC’s make “perfect sense” (32:11) how he evaluates decentralized business models and governance structures (41:13) his NFT investment thesis (47:09) who he believes will be the NFT winners in the long term (52:09) why Mavs tickets are a perfect example for how NFTs may be used in the future (54:55) industries that are ripe for NFT disruption (59:45) the many use cases for NFTs (1:01:48) why he is advising against minting social tokens (1:04:15)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2    Indexed Finance: https://indexed.finance/    Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange   Episode Links   Mark Cuban Personal website: https://markcubancompanies.com/marks-bio/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcuban    NFT Investment Lazy.com https://lazy.com/  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/98974/mark-cuban-digital-art-gallery-nft Mintable https://cryptoslate.com/mark-cuban-invests-undisclosed-sum-in-nft-platform-mintable/ Esprezzo https://blog.esprezzo.io/esprezzo-raises-round-to-bring-no-code-automation-to-crypto-investors-nft-creators-collectors-defi-users OpenSea https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/18/nft-marketplace-opensea-raises-23-million-from-a16z/  SuperRare https://www.coindesk.com/cuban-chamath-back-nft-marketplace-superrares-9m-series-a Other https://markcubancompanies.com/blockchain/   Other Links Defiant Podcast (“ETH Has An Advantage Over Bitcoin”)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdGseBuuq_I Why DeFi is the Future | Mark Cuban on the Bankless Podcast https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/-why-defi-is-the-future-mark-cuban Mark Cuban: The Billionaire Crypto Degen on the Delphi Podcast https://www.delphidigital.io/reports/mark-cuban-the-billionaire-crypto-degen/ NFTs as ticketing disruptor https://cryptoslate.com/forget-overvalued-artwork-mark-cuban-sees-nft-ticketing-as-the-mass-market-disruptor/ Bananas video (2:16-3:49) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWBlN9o6Azc  CoinDesk interview https://www.coindesk.com/mark-cuban-bitcoin-nfts-blockchain-dallas-mavericks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Jevans, CEO of Cipher Trace, talks about what the new draft guidance from the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) means for DeFi, NFTs, and crypto in general. In this show, he breaks down: the six main areas the draft guidance covers, including the expansion of KYC regulatory standards into DeFi (1:07) how a dex like Uniswap would operate under the proposed draft guidance, and which types of companies or services providers would have to take identifying customer information (3:54) why DeFi applications might start requiring customers to create an account to use their platforms (7:03) how the crypto community has reacted to the FATF draft guidance (8:59) whether NFTs are affected by the proposed draft guidance (11:01) who the FATF recommendations apply to (13:54) how to reach out to FATF to comment on the draft guidance (15:32) the nuances of the travel rule and how DeFi developers may now be forced to include KYC mechanisms in their applications (17:29) how the crypto community would likely want to tweak the guidance to align the philosophy of DeFi (21:27) Crypto News Recap (23:42)    Thank you to our sponsors! Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”:  https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021   Check out InterPop, a superteam redefining the future of NFTs and fandom! https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop   Episode Links   Dave Jevans Twitter: https://twitter.com/davejevans Cipher Trace: https://ciphertrace.com/ Previous Unchained episode:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-travel-rule-is-one-of-the-most-significant-regulations-in-crypto/ FATF Website: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/ Updated FATF draft guidance: http://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/recommendations/March%202021%20-%20VA%20Guidance%20update%20-%20Sixth%20draft%20-%20Public%20consultation.pdf Analysis of draft guidance: CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/fatfs-new-guidance Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/62600/fatf-money-laundering-rules-defi-nfts Coin Center: https://www.coincenter.org/a-quick-analysis-of-fatfs-2021-draft-cryptocurrency-guidance/ Cipher Trace: https://ciphertrace.com/analysis-proposed-fatf-guidance-for-virtual-assets-and-vasps/  Miscellaneous Links Travel Rule: https://www.coindesk.com/is-the-travel-rule-good-or-bad-for-crypto-both FinCEN: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/fincen-looks-to-rein-in-cryptocurrency-6821323/    Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/michael-jordans-nft-investment/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olta Andoni, fintech and IP Attorney at Zlatkin Wong and adjunct professor at Chicago Kent College of Law, Tonya Evans, visiting Full Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law School and host of the podcast Tech Intersect, and Stuart Levi, co-head of the Intellectual Property and Technology practice at Skadden Arps and coordinator of the firm's Blockchain and Digital Asset practice, break down the legal issues surrounding NFTs. In this episode, they discuss: how the law looks at non-fungible tokens (1:25) why owning an NFT is different from owning the rights to the underlying asset making up the NFT (3:12) problems that blockchain solves for creators  (5:09) how corporations (aka content intermediaries) are handling NFTs (6:53) what rights the purchase of an NFT gives a buyer (11:51) derivative artwork, the fair use copyright law, moral rights, and how U.S. law views NFTs (15:53) how to determine the jurisdiction of an NFT (25:00) what type of legal recourse is available to artists whose art has been stolen and redistributed as an NFT (32:37) the differences in the terms of services between NFT marketplaces  (36:26) why the first sale doctrine may not apply to digital assets (43:16) what a buyer is getting when purchasing a blockchain license (46:12) how NFT creators should protect their work (51:43) whether a fractionalized NFT is a security (55:25) how NFTs will change the business of content creation (58:44)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2    Indexed Finance: https://indexed.finance/    Episode Links   People Tonya Evans Twitter: https://twitter.com/IPProfEvans Penn State Dickinson Law: https://dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/tonya-m-evans  Relevant content: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-intersect-59-ping-prof-2-non-fungible-tokens-nfts/id1493143898?i=1000512485580 https://clarivate.com/darts-ip/blog/copyright-blockchain/  https://clarivate.com/darts-ip/blog/intro-to-ip-and-blockchain/  Olta Andoni Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndoniOlta?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Zlatkin Wong: https://zlatkinwong.com/en/  Relevant content: https://www.coindesk.com/stop-tokenizing-art-you-dont-own  Stuart Levi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartlevi/ Skadden: https://www.skadden.com/  Relevant content:  https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/fin-tech/799182/emerging-discovery-issues-in-blockchain-litigation    Legal Links Fair Use Doctrine: https://pitt.libguides.com/copyright/fairuse#:~:text=The%20doctrine%20of%20Fair%20Use,teaching%2C%20scholarship%2C%20and%20research. First Sale Doctrine: https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1854-copyright-infringement-first-sale-doctrine#:~:text=The%20first%20sale%20doctrine%2C%20codified,interests%20of%20the%20copyright%20owner Moral Rights: https://www.copyright.gov/policy/moralrights/ Digital Millennium Copyright Act https://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf  Visual Artists Rights Act http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/martin/art_law/esworthy.htm    Miscellaneous Links Banksy https://www.cbsnews.com/news/banksy-nft-injective-destroy-art-digital-token/ Fractionalized NFTs https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/sec-crypto-mom-hester-peirce-selling-nft-fragments-illegal-2021-3-1030250153 Dapper Labs License https://medium.com/dapperlabs/nft-license-2-0-why-a-nft-can-do-what-mickey-mouse-never-could-27673d5f29aa  TechnoLlama Blog https://www.technollama.co.uk/can-copyright-teach-us-anything-about-nfts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez talks about how Miami plans to be the crypto capital of the world. In this show, he discusses: what Miami is doing to become the crypto capital of the world (1:40) why he feels so strongly about bringing crypto to Miami (3:09) the relationship between cryptocurrencies and government (4:08) why he believes that, in the future, governments will transaction in crypto, not fiat currency (5:26) his feelings about the FTX sponsorship proposal and how he convinced city officials to move past crypto’s tumultuous past (6:51) whether city of Miami employees have expressed interest in being paid in bitcoin (10:06) what needs to happen for Miami to be able to hold BTC in its treasury (11:25) how Mayor Suarez balances his interest in Bitcoin against his interest in mitigating the effects of climate change on Miami (14:24) Crypto News Recap (18:00)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”:  https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021   Check out InterPop, a superteam redefining the future of NTFs and fandom! https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop   Episode Links:   Francis Suarez - Mayor of Miami Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrancisSuarez    Miami and Crypto  Overview New York Times: https://www.nytimes3xbfgragh.onion/2021/03/23/business/dealbook/miami-suarez-crypto.html  CNBC interview: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/02/17/miami-mayor-francis-suarez-on-push-to-accept-bitcoin-attract-big-tech.html  Forbes Coverage: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerhuang/2021/02/01/miamis-mayor-leads-the-charge-to-bring-bitcoin-to-americas-largest-cities/?sh=5bbbbf68c6c9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/leeorshimron/2021/02/07/miami-mayor-francis-suarez-talks-bitcoin--building-a-tech-innovation-hub/?sh=1d1c40691a53  FTX Naming Rights Press Release: https://www.miamidade.gov/releases/2021-03-23-mayor-arena-agreement.asp  The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/99134/report-ftx-miami-heat-stadium-vote  Bitcoin paying employees in BTC + investing treasury in BTC: https://twitter.com/francissuarez/status/1360069847971954690?lang=en   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/tesla-is-a-hodler/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines, and Matthew Kolesky, president at Arbor Capital, discuss the state of Bitcoin adoption amongst financial advisors, who control $5 trillion in investor wealth. In this episode, they talk about: their background and why they got into crypto (1:25) how most RIAs (registered investment advisors) view digital assets and the hassle of buying crypto on a client’s behalf (8:59) what percentage of financial advisors have already invested in bitcoin and how many more will come into the space by next year (18:20) how RIADAC -- the RIA Digital Assets Council -- is educating financial advisors about crypto (21:59) their favorite methods to explain Bitcoin and other digital assets (25:22) the different ways financial advisors are getting bitcoin/crypto exposure for their clients (35:32) why RIAs use investment vehicles to purchase Bitcoin rather than spot-buying the actual asset (39:58) why GBTC is trading at a deficit to the bitcoin price and their thoughts on a bitcoin ETF (44:40) the percent allocation to crypto they feel comfortable with for their clients (54:26) how they rebalance crypto holdings, whether they use yield-bearing crypto products yet, and projections for 2021 (57:35)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2    Indexed Finance: https://indexed.finance/    Episode links: Ric Edelman Twitter: https://twitter.com/ricedelman?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor RIADAC: https://riadac.com/   Matt Kolesky Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkolesky  Arbor Capital: https://www.acminc.com/ + https://digital.arbor.capital/    Helpful Links: Bitwise ETF Trends + Survey of Financial Advisors https://static.bitwiseinvestments.com/Research/Bitwise-2021-Benchmark-Survey-Financial-Advisor-Attitudes-Toward-Cryptoassets.pdf Fidelity’s Bitcoin Investment Thesis https://www.fidelitydigitalassets.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/FDAS/bitcoin-alternative-investment.pdf  RIADAC’s 12 Predictions for 2021 https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2021/01/07/ric-edelman-12-predictions-for-bitcoin-other-cryptos-in-2021/ RIADAC 1% Allocation strategy https://riadac.com/digital-assets-are-now-mainstream/its-still-early-with-tremendous-upside-potential/ Arbor Capital’s “True Digital Asset SMA” https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arbor-digital-and-blockchange-partner-on-digital-asset-sma-for-registered-investment-advisors-301219459.html  Grayscale BTC Premium Flips Negative https://www.coindesk.com/grayscale-negative-premium-bitcoin Blockchange https://blockchange.ai/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MetaKovan, the pseudonymous buyer of Beeple’s Everydays NFT and founder of MetaPurse, talks about his recent $69 million purchase. In this episode, he discusses: why he bought Everydays: The First 5000 Days for $69 million (1:57) Beeple’s 13-year “proof of effort” process of creating art and why Beeple has the potential to become a generational artist (4:38) why he believes NFTs are “10x” better than physical art (9:40) his vision of the metaverse (13:57) the reasons for hiding his identity behind the Metakovan avatar (17:09) how he made his fortune in crypto and why he felt comfortable spending $69 million on something that might be a fad (19:12) why he started Metapurse and how its native B20 token works (24:31) crypto news recap (28:57)   Thank you to our sponsor! Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2    Episode Links   MetaKovan: https://twitter.com/metakovan?lang=en   Metapurse:  https://metapurse.fund/   Everydays: The First 5000 Days Purchase: https://www.coindesk.com/metakovan-buyer-of-record-setting-beeple-nft-explains-why-he-spent-69-3m https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/12/arts/beeple-nft-buyer-ether.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/12/buyer-of-69-million-beeple-nft-is-a-crypto-investo-metakovan.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/17/nft-beeple-metakovan-christies/ https://slate.com/technology/2021/03/metakovan-beeple-christies-auction-nfts.html    B20 Tokens: https://www.playtoearn.online/2021/01/13/metapurse-to-share-ownership-beeple-collection/ https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/03/20195109/69m-beeple-nft-artwork-may-have-been-used-to-pump-b-20-token-price-by-6200-reports-suggest   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/3-publicly-traded-crypto-exchanges/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jamie Burke, CEO of Outlier Ventures, and Mason Nystrom, a research analyst at Messari, discuss the NFT craze that has enveloped the crypto world over the past few weeks. In this episode, they talk about: their backgrounds, and how they became involved in crypto (1:19) the major catalysts -- specifically Beeple and NBA Top Shot -- that have brought NFTs into the mainstream (5:29) why NFTs are a “megatrend” and not just another ICO-like bubble (13:35) how to explain non-fungible tokens to normies (18:06) what someone is actually purchasing when they buy an NFT (24:46) the reasons behind NBA Top Shot's success and why it is so difficult to withdraw money from its platform (36:27) the best way to scale NFTs and why Ethereum, despite severe storage limitations, will most likely remain the most popular blockchain on which to mint NFTs (41:44) why the gaming, fashion, and music industries will be disrupted by NFTs (49:37) when the current subscription-based business model for content creators will transition to the ownership economy (55:10) the differences between the marketplaces and platforms that make up the NFT economy (57:06) whether NFT valuations will go to zero and the challenges of appraising digital art (1:03:39) their predictions for the market capitalization of NFTs by the end of 2021 (1:15:23)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021    Square: https://square.com/go/unchained    Episode Links:    Jamie Burke Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamie247  Outlier Ventures: https://twitter.com/OVioHQ  Content: the open metaverse: https://outlierventures.io/research/the-open-metaverse-os/  100xARt: https://art.art/blog/jamie-burke-and-100xart-a-true-story-of-the-rising-art-order  podcast: https://outlierventures.io/podcasts/    Mason Nystrom Twitter:  https://twitter.com/masonnystrom  Messari: https://messari.io/  Content: NFTs as an investment strategy: https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1310942572429312010  evolution of content: https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1361692703025729536  psychology of crypto art collecting: https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1365028848509870080  the current state of NFTs: https://twitter.com/masonnystrom/status/1363283887691038720    NFT Sales Mentioned Beeple: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/beeple-first-nft-artwork-at-auction-sale-buyer-intl-scli/index.html  Previous Unconfirmed interview with Beeple: https://unchainedpodcast.com/beeple-on-how-and-why-he-raked-in-3-5-million/ Taco Bell: https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/8/22319868/taco-bell-nfts-gif-tacos-sell  3LAU: https://edm.com/gear-tech/3lau-record-breaking-nft-sale  Jack Dorsey Tweet: https://v.cent.co/tweet/20  Kings of Leon album: https://www.maxim.com/entertainment/kings-of-leon-releases-album-in-nft  NBA Top Shot: https://www.actionnetwork.com/news/nba-top-shot-blockchain-nba-highlight-marketplace    NFT Guides New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/business/nft-nba-top-shot-crypto.html?utm_source=morning_brew  DappRadar: https://dappradar.com/blog/what-are-non-fungible-tokens-nfts  Andrew Steinwold: https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/-quick-overview-of-the-nft-ecosystem  Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/resources/non-fungible-tokens-nfts-explained-guide-learn-blockchain CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/nfts-became-art-everything-nft    Miscellaneous Links:  Chris Dixon blog: https://a16z.com/2021/02/27/nfts-and-a-thousand-true-fans/  NFT market cap: https://nonfungible.com/market/history  Outlier Ventures decentralized accelerator program: https://outlierventures.io/base-camp/  Top NFT marketplaces (DappRadar): https://decrypt.co/resources/non-fungible-tokens-nfts-explained-guide-learn-blockchain  Jesse Walden’s “Ownership Economy”: https://variant.mirror.xyz/T8kdtZRIgy_srXB5B06L8vBqFHYlEBcv6ae2zR6Y_eo  Flow blockchain: https://www.onflow.org/primer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brendan McGill, co-founder of Offsetra and Carbon.fyi, a company focused on reducing carbon emissions, talks about the environmental impact of NFTs. In this episode, Brendan discusses: his career as an environmentalist and how his sites intersect with crypto (1:07) why online art platform ArtStation canceled its plans to create an NFT program (3:21) what the environmental impact of NFTs actually is and why minting and transacting with NFTs has a greater environmental impact than for normal Ethereum transactions (5:21) misconceptions surrounding the environmental impact of NFT minting and why he believes artists should not be blamed for the carbon footprint calculated by Offsetra (6:57) what accounts for the emissions in NFT transactions and why it’s hard to calculate the exact environmental impact of any specific NFT, and why minting NFTs doesn’t necessarily increase emissions (7:32)  why NFTs aren’t really responsible for the bulk of emissions from Ethereum and why Brendan thinks the backlash against NFT creators for the environmental impact is unfair (12:02) how Offsetra and Carbon.fyi attempt to calculate the amount of ‘clean’ energy vs. fossil fuels used in PoW mining and what assumptions they use (13:59) the methods (and blockchains) artists are using to create “clean NFTs” (16:17) Crypto New Recap (16:17)   Thank you to our sponsor!  Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021   Episode links: Brendan McGill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanmc6/   Offsetra:  website: https://offsetra.com/ Ethereum CO2 footprint calculator: https://carbon.fyi/ carbon.fyi methodology: https://carbon.fyi/learn    Reading Material: guide to ecofriendly NFTs https://github.com/memo/eco-nft fixing NFTs’ carbon pollution problem https://earther.gizmodo.com/how-to-fix-crypto-art-nfts-carbon-pollution-problem-1846440312 Other: statement from ArtStation https://magazine.artstation.com/2021/03/a-statement-from-artstation/ CryptoArt.wtf http://cryptoart.wtf/   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-69-million-nft/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antonio Juliano, founder of the decentralized exchange dYdX, and Eli Ben-Sasson, cofounder of StarkWare, discuss the recent launch of dYdX on Ethereum layer 2 using StarkWare’s scaling technology. In this episode, they cover: what cross-margin perpetual trading is and why dYdX chose StarkWare to be its scaling partner (1:13) ZK rollups and how they contrast with optimistic rollups (8:49) how many transactions per second StarkWare can handle through its layer 2 solution (16:57) lessons learned and critical takeaways from their six months spent working together (20:15) the similarities between Ethereum and StarkNet (26:07) why Antonio believes that scalability is more important than composability (27:30) the benefits of decentralized exchanges and how dYdX fits into the dex marketplace (31:54) why dYdX chose Chainlink as its oracle provider, and how it got oracle prices onto layer 2, which previously had none (38:11) why Cairo, StarkWare’s Turing-complete programming language and platform, can be the “one verifier to rule them all” (42:10) what it was like for StarkWare to compete in the Great Reddit Scaling Bake-Off (45:41) whether or not DeFi could handle a GameStop/Robinhood situation (48:56) fair launch tokens versus VC tokens (54:12) the likelihood of dYdX and StarkWare each creating a token (58:19) upcoming developments and projects for both companies (1:02:14)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021  Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla   Square: https://square.com/go/unchained   Episode Links: Antonio Juliano Twitter: https://twitter.com/AntonioMJuliano  Eli Ben-Sasson Twitter: https://twitter.com/EliBenSasson  dYdX Twitter: https://twitter.com/dydxprotocol Website: https://dydx.exchange/  Exchange: https://alpha.dydx.exchange/trade/BTC-USD  Reading Material Recent funding: https://www.coindesk.com/big-guns-back-10m-investment-in-defis-dydx  2020 in review: https://dydx.exchange/2020.pdf  Decrypt profile: https://decrypt.co/resources/dydx-ethereum-margin-trading-platform-explained-learn  Medium post: https://medium.com/dydxderivatives/introducing-dydx-2d0f0f326fd StarkWare Twitter: https://twitter.com/StarkWareLtd  Website: https://starkware.co/  Reading Material: ZK roll-up explainer: https://medium.com/starkware/on-the-road-to-starknet-a-permissionless-stark-powered-l2-zk-rollup-83be53640880  Understanding Cairo: https://medium.com/starkware/hello-cairo-3cb43b13b209  Funding: https://www.coindesk.com/paradigm-leads-30-million-funding-for-crypto-privacy-startup-starkware dYdX and StarkWare Relationship Original Twitter announcement (2020):  https://twitter.com/dydxprotocol/status/1295791012552597507?s=20  The Block’s original coverage:  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/75209/dex-dydx-starkware-layer-2  Layer 2 is live announcement:  https://twitter.com/dydxprotocol/status/1364591430447091719  Blog post on why dYdX is moving to Layer 2 (2021):  https://dydx.exchange/blog/alpha  CoinDesk’s coverage:  https://www.coindesk.com/defi-tech-cefi-speed-dydx-touts-new-starkware-integration    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gil Luria, director of research at D.A. Davidson, talks about the upcoming Coinbase direct listing and his recent research note, “Introducing Crypto’s Amazon Moment.” In this episode, Gil discusses: his crypto background, including his experience as the first Wall Street analyst to cover Bitcoin back in 2013 (1:27) why the Coinbase IPO is going to be an inflection point for the crypto industry (3:02) why he gave Coinbase's upcoming stock a “buy” rating (4:14) who Coinbase's biggest competitors are (5:13) why Gil believes Coinbase is the “gold standard” in crypto (6:29) how investing in Coinbase stock compares to investing in actual crypto assets (8:13) how he came to $195 price target for COIN (10:39) why a $2 billion revenue estimate for Coinbase in 2021 might be conservative (12:01) how Coinbase is generating money outside of transaction fees (14:19) whether he expects the institutional adoption trend to grow (15:49) what his expectations are for the price of COIN on the day it opens (17:20) why GBTC is no longer trading at a premium to the spot price of bitcoin (18:20) whether Gil will continue to cover crypto (20:05) crypto News Recap (20:53)    Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://bit.ly/3jzkTAD  Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla   Episode links: Gil Luria’s Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/gilluria    Crypto’s Amazon Moment: https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/coinbase-direct-listing-public-coverage-stock-price-amazon-cryptocurrency-dadavidson-2021-3-1030150896    Introducing Crypto’s Amazon Moment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DA-Davidson-Coinbase-Initiation-20210302.pdf   Coinbase S-1 Filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1679788/000162828021003168/coinbaseglobalincs-1.htm    2013 Quote from Gil on Bitcoin: https://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/Bitcoin+Could+Be+Worth+10-100x+Current+Price+-+Analyst/8936836.html    Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-irs-clarifies-its-position-on-crypto-purchases/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, talks about the issues plaguing the current state of technology in traditional finance and how her background as a 22-year Wall Street veteran, gubernatorial appointee to the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force, and crypto pioneer is helping her shape Avanti into a bridge between conventional banking and crypto. Tune in to hear Caitlin discuss: the current state of crypto adoption on Wall Street (1:09) how her entrepreneurial spirit galvanized a career spanning Wall Street, the Wyoming Legislature, and, now, crypto banking (2:07) why Caitlin fell in love with Bitcoin (4:57) fractional reserves and why the current financial system is a “violation of property rights” (7:00) how stablecoin technology will change banking leverage and what effects faster settlement times will have on inflation (11:30) why corporate treasurers have been using BTC since 2014 in foreign exchange transactions (17:14) what issues Wyoming is trying to solve through crypto legislation and why banks might be closing down customer accounts linked to crypto exchanges (19:18) a proposed Wyoming bill that would prohibit judges from disclosing private cryptographic keys (28:32) where the idea for Avanti came from and how it will be different than other banks (32:50) existing problems with stablecoin regulation and a deep-dive into GAAP accounting for crypto (46:51) why Wall Street’s accounting system is to blame for the GameStop and Robinhood situation (52:32) whether or not a blockchain could work for settling securities (52:32) her thoughts on pension funds and endowments directly owning crypto (59:54) what it is going to take for Avanti to successfully bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto (1:02:38)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://bit.ly/3jzkTAD Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla   Square: http://square.com/go/unchained   Episode links:  Caitlin Long Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_  Personal website: https://caitlin-long.com/  CoinDesk profile: https://www.coindesk.com/most-influential/2019/caitlin-long    Avanti Website:  https://avantibank.com/  Twitter announcement: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1231958552790482950  Avit: https://www.coindesk.com/unpacking-the-avit-avanti-banks-new-digital-asset-being-built-with-blockstream  Banking charter: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/28/avanti-unanimously-wins-bitcoin-banking-charter/?sh=50db610816aa  Wyoming and blockchain: https://www.coindesk.com/haven-blockchain-case-wyoming GAAP accounting and crypto: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1356759511856410624  Trust charter vs. SPDI: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1349850451374587907  Special purpose depository institutions: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1194022779730968577  Bailment: https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreatinianow/2019/03/07/a-split-emerges-in-blockchain-law-wyomings-approach-versus-the-supplemental-act/?sh=49635109719a  Caitlin on GameStop: https://www.coindesk.com/first-mover-crypto-gamestop-bitcoin-dogecoin    Previous Episodes   On How 'Utility Tokens' Are Now Legal in Wyoming, 2018 Why the ICE/BAKKT News Makes Some Crypto Investors Nervous, 2018 How Avanti Will Be a 'Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins' Bank, Feb 2020 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Roberts, executive editor at Decrypt and author of “King of Crypto: One Startup’s Quest to take Cryptocurrency Out of Silicon Valley and Onto Wall Street” talks about Coinbase going public. In this episode we discuss: Jeff's biggest takeaways from Coinbase’s S-1 filing (0:56) why institutions are choosing Coinbase (2:42) how Coinbase going public feels like validation for bitcoiners (4:37) issues Coinbase may face as a business that currently generates 96% of revenue through transaction fees (6:25) Why Surojit Chatterjee has so much equity in Coinbase (11:29) why Coinbase has only invested $130 million in crypto through its corporate treasury (12:26) whether or not decentralized exchanges like Uniswap pose a threat to Coinbase, and whether unregulated centralized exchanges might squeeze them from the other end (15:41) challenges Coinbase will face going forward (19:13) how well the stock will do once it's listed (20:05) Crypto News Recap (20:59)    Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://bit.ly/3jzkTAD  Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla   Episode Links Jeff Roberts Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeffjohnroberts Personal Website: https://jeffjohnroberts.com/  Decrypt: https://decrypt.co Kings of Crypto: https://store.hbr.org/product/kings-of-crypto-one-startup-s-quest-to-take-cryptocurrency-out-of-silicon-valley-and-onto-wall-street/10436   Coinbase S-1 Filing Information S-1 Form: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1679788/000162828021003168/coinbaseglobalincs-1.htm Coinbase Profit: https://decrypt.co/59347/coinbase-big-profit-for-2020-ahead-of-milestone-ipo-direct-listing S-1 Deep Dive: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/95921/coinbases-s-1-public-filing-is-now-public-setting-stage-for-a-direct-listing-on-nasdaq Sending to Satoshi Nakamoto: https://decrypt.co/59509/coinbase-s-1-filing-bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto + https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1364954956571279369  Share Distribution: https://decrypt.co/59439/coinbase-insiders-very-rich-goes-public Pre-IPO Shares: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/96057/coinbase-pre-ipo-shares-ftx-s1  Armstrong Income: https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-sec-form-s-1  Balance Sheet: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/96021/coinbase-says-holds-bitcoin-btc-on-balance-sheet  Transaction Revenue: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1364972834167148548   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-one-figure-in-the-coinbase-s-1/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Unchained, Charles Cascarilla, CEO and cofounder of Paxos, explains how the 2008 financial crisis led him to crypto, what financial plumbing has to do with GameStop, and how Paxos is leveraging blockchain technology to change financial services. In this episode Charles discusses: his work experience prior to Paxos and how the financial crisis in 2008 opened his eyes to Bitcoin and blockchain (01:07) what it was like to work in Bitcoin during the early days compared to now (4:02a) why Paxos decided to focus on building solutions for institutions rather than targeting the retail market like Coinbase (11:38) the relationship between Paxos and PayPal + why PayPal customers can’t send crypto directly to their wallets or crypto addresses yet (19:37) how Microstrategy and Tesla are bringing Bitcoin mainstream (25:31) what really happened with GameStop and Robinhood and why financial plumbing matters (30:34) how the Paxos Settlement Service is bringing greater transparency to financial markets by using blockchain technology (39:02) what other assets he thinks will be tokenized (50:32) stablecoin regulation and why this might be as good as it gets for Tether (58:36) why Paxos chose to pursue a New York State trust company charter instead of a BitLicense (1:06:15) what changes he would make to crypto regulation for 2021 and beyond (1:09:28) what’s next for Paxos (1:15:12)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://bit.ly/3jzkTAD Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla Square: https://square.com/go/unchained   Episode links:  Charles Cascarilla Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescascarilla/  Coindesk Profile: https://www.coindesk.com/charles-cascarilla-most-influential-2020 Previous interview with Laura: https://unchainedpodcast.com/chad-cascarilla-on-paxoss-partnership-with-paypal/ Presentation at Microstrategy’s Bitcoin for Corporation’s conference: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/bitcoin/videos/paxos Blog post on the GameStop saga: https://www.paxos.com/what-lehman-brothers-gamestop-and-the-next-financial-crisis-have-in-common/ Interview with Frank Chaparro: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/61823/the-scoop-paxos-cascarilla-coronavirus    Paxos Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaxosGlobal + https://twitter.com/PaxosStandard  Paxos Settlement Service: https://www.paxos.com/securities/ + https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-paxos/paxos-to-launch-settlement-of-u-s-listed-equities-after-secs-no-action-letter-idUSKBN1X727M Series C Fundraising: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/88133/142-million-series-c-paxos-crypto-stablecoins  Wall Street Journal write-up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/blockchain-makes-inroads-into-the-stock-markets-1-trillion-plumbing-system-11573131600 Plans to tokenize precious metals: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/15413/paxos-plans-to-put-precious-metals-on-the-blockchain   Other Links Paypal’s crypto-focused business unit: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/93668/paypal-crypto-business-unit-earnings-2021 Paypal’s Q4 earnings: https://www.coindesk.com/paypal-2020-results-outstanding-finish-to-a-record-year  Stablecoin rankings: https://stablecoinstats.com/ Tether whitepaper: https://tether.to/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/TetherWhitePaper.pdf BitLicense: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/apps_and_licensing/virtual_currency_businesses/regulation_history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lea Thompson, aka Girl Gone Crypto, talks about what goes into producing her popular “The Crypto Minute” vlog, what initially got her into crypto, and her recent decision to quit her day job and go full time crypto. In this episode we discuss: what “The Crypto Minute” is all about, and all the crypto video content she produces (2:37) how Lea comes up with creative content such as wearing a whale costume to portray Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor (5:04) how long it actually takes to create “The Crypto Minute” (6:36) what goes into producing “The Crypto Minute” and which family member is behind the camera (7:05) the biggest challenges Lea faces when creating her videos and how she decides which stories make the final cut (8:56) Lea’s favorite bloopers including, but not limited to, rug pulls, sushi, an Amazon money printer, and a few fake $100 bills (10:28) how Girl Gone Crypto fell down the crypto rabbit hole and why her ukulele skills were instrumental to her crypto journey (12:54) the time when JK Rowling tweeted about Bitcoin, resulting in Lea’s viral “A Muggle’s Guide to Bitcoin” video (17:31) what type of crypto content works best on different social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok  (20:00) when Girl Gone Crypto stopped being a hobby and how it is going now that Lea is full-time crypto (21:46) how Lea is trying to educate people about crypto in a simple and approachable way… one ninja suit at time (22:34) Crypto News Recap (26:12)   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://bit.ly/3jzkTAD Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla The Sun Exchange: http://thesunexchange.com/unconfirmed   Episode links: Lea Thompson: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto Her YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GirlGoneCrypto Her TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlgone_crypto?source=h5_m Lea's personal website: https://www.lealovescrypto.com/   Video Examples 2020 Year in Review… News Vlog Style: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto/status/1344384717466914817?s=20  A Muggle’s Guide to Bitcoin: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto/status/1261445010832015361?s=20 Hardware Wallets Explained: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto/status/1329580439820849153?s=20   Miscellaneous Information Fair Use: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html Money Printer: https://www.amazon.com/Printing-Machine-Magician-Close-Up-Accessories/dp/B07XRBDCL8   Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-300k-btc-by-eoy/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave, comes onto the show to discuss the lending protocol and second-biggest DeFi project by total value locked. Here are some of the highlights:  How Stani’s background studying law and his passion for fintech led him to the world of smart contracts (1:53) Why he decided to transition ETHLend to Aave, and how that eliminated the “meme” narrative (5:55) How Stani would explain Aave to a five-year-old, or your normie friend (9:04) What new features were released in Aave v2 (15:54) reducing overall gas costs aTokens swapping collateral debt tokens What Aavenomics is and how the “safety module” attempts to keep the protocol secure (20:39) How AAVE works as a governance token Active versus passive risk in governance staking How Aave is transitioning from a centralized to a decentralized protocol (25:01) what he's finding difficult about this process issues with voting and an over-reliance on the Aave team delegating voting power to what he calls “protocol politicians” and whether this is good or bad for DeFi Who is using Aave and how they are using it? (37:27) what OpenLaw is and how OpenLaw contracts work how credit delegation, or unsecured loans enforced by law, differ in v2 vs V1 how people could use lending protocols to build credit What Aave plans to do with the E-Money (EMI) license it obtained in the UK (50:51) Since Aave was a pioneer in flash loans, which are responsible for the majority of DeFi attacks, whether Stani would do anything differently (53:12) Aave’s partnership with tokenized real estate project RealT and how Aave manages it given that, in the US, RealT tokens are securities and can only be sold to accredited investors (58:42) How Aave has been thinking about scaling given the high fees on Ethereum (1:03:57) Why building a moat in DeFi is impossible (1:07:16) What is next for Aave (1:11:40)   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/   Episode links:  Stani Kulechov: https://twitter.com/StaniKulechov Aave: https://aave.com Aave stats: https://aavewatch.com   Protocols mentioned ETHLend: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ethlend-announces-launch-of-new-parent-company-aave-300713825.html Aavegotchi: https://www.coindesk.com/defi-game-aavegotchi-preps-for-jan-4-mainnet-launch-with-nft-auctions RealT: https://medium.com/aave/realt-market-coming-to-the-aave-protocol-da4499a1e965 Yearn: https://yearn.finance/ Uniswap: https://uniswap.org/ Sushiswap: https://sushiswap.fi/ Kyber: http://kyber.network/ Balancer: https://balancer.finance/ $LINK: https://chain.link/ Aavenomics Aave’s documentation: https://docs.aave.com/aavenomics/ Safety Module: https://docs.aave.com/aavenomics/safety-module Summary: https://aave.com/aavenomics/ More background: https://defirate.com/aavenomics-upgrade/ Decentralization concepts Handing off admin keys: https://decrypt.co/46544/aave-officially-hands-over-governance-keys-to-defi-community + https://medium.com/aave/aave-admin-key-handover-3e09e603d348 OpenLaw: https://www.openlaw.io/ Protocol Governance: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/73336/defi-lending-aave-token + https://docs.aave.com/developers/protocol-governance/governance Other topics Electronic Money Licence: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/75845/aave-uk-fca-emi-license-defi Unsecured Loans: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/70678/aave-launches-new-service-for-unsecured-peer-to-peer-loans-on-ethereum Flash Loans: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/93740/flash-loans-as-a-capital-boost-tool Aave Version 2: https://medium.com/aave/the-aave-protocol-v2-f06f299cee04 + https://github.com/aave/protocol-v2/blob/master/aave-v2-whitepaper.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lyn Alden, CEO and founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategies, and Raoul Pal, CEO & cofounder  of Real Vision Group & Global Macro Investor, explain their thinking about Ethereum and its native token, and talk about their perspective on GameStop. In this episode, we discuss: why Raoul views ether as similar to bitcoin at a macro level (1:25) why Lyn decided ETH was not currently investable (5:06) an analysis of utility protocols (John Pfeffer’s paper) (6:55) counterarguments to John Pfeffer’s paper (9:31) how to allocate between BTC and ETH (11:22) why Raoul also invested in other coins beyond BTC and ETH (11:47)  whether Metcalfe's law applies equally to all kinds of networks (13:35) why Lyn views Ethereum’s use case as circular, and why that makes it less investable (15:09) whether Ethereum 2.0 and Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559, and whether that could make ETH more investable (21:20) the impact of fees on the value of Ethereum (23:36) Raoul's views on what S-Curves and the Lindy Effect indicate about the development of a currency (25:22) how high fees make DApps less attractive, while low fees potentially decrease demand for ETH (27:06) how Lyn believes demand for DeFi is to circumvent compliance and know-your-customer processes, and she doesn't also see that as a downside for Bitcoin (33:10) how the regulators are behind innovation in cryptocurrencies, particularly around taxation (36:32) Raoul's and Lyn's predictions for the ETH price by end of 2021 (41:45) what GameStop says about the democratization of financial information (45:32) whether smart contracts could play in preventing situations similar to what happened with GameStop and/or Robinhood (49:03) how blockchain technology could be used to prevent a situation in which the hedge funds could short more shares than existed (54:03) how the GameStop/Robinhood saga is a giant advertisement for self-custody (54:53) whether r/WallStreetBets' behavior was market manipulation or not (56:53)   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com   Episode links:  Lyn Alden: https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact Lyn Alden Investment: https://www.lynalden.com/   Raoul Pal: https://twitter.com/RaoulGMI Real Vision: https://www.realvision.com/contributor/raoul-pal Global Macro Investor: https://www.globalmacroinvestor.com   Raoul's tweet storm on Ethereum: https://twitter.com/RaoulGMI/status/1347013567799848961?s=20 Lyn Alden’s research paper on Ethereum: https://www.lynalden.com/ethereum-analysis/ Raoul Pal’s tweet: ETH equals BTC: https://twitter.com/raoulgmi/status/1347013567799848961?lang=en John Pfeffer’s paper: https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/john-pfeffer/An+Investor's+Take+on+Cryptoassets+v6.pdf Network effects and Metcalfe’s Law: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_developing-new-products-and-services/s04-12-there-is-power-in-numbers-netw.html Quantity Theory of Money: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_economics-theory-through-applications/s30-01-the-quantity-theory-of-money.html How Will the Government React to GameStop?: https://www.coindesk.com/gamestop-regulators-response GameStop and Crypto trading: https://cryptonews.com/exclusives/are-gamestop-style-surges-in-crypto-any-different-from-old-p-9151.htm Robinhood Raises Extra funds: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/93258/report-robinhood-billions-raised-investors-1 Possible role of blockchain in trading: https://cointelegraph.com/news/cardano-foundation-ceo-says-blockchain-could-prevent-gme-type-showdowns Caitlin Long: https://www.forbes.com/sites/caitlinlong/2019/05/16/naked-shorting-in-the-uber-ipo-it-couldnt-happen-on-a-blockchain/?sh=f2a0dcd4737d Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Shehan Chandrasekara, head of strategy at CoinTracker, and Dan Hannum COO at Zen Ledger, take a deep dive into the world of crypto taxes. Over an hour and fifteen minutes they tackle a bevy of topics ranging from why the IRS is asking about your crypto history to explaining the proper way of reporting yield farming income. Shehan and Dan give up their hard-earned tax secrets and tips learned through building their respective cutting-edge crypto tax software. Here is a list of talking points covered in the discussion: how the IRS is handling crypto this year (1:20) where to start with reporting crypto and what constitutes a taxable event (5:59) bitcoin corner cases: mining, with a description of calculating cost basis (19:48)  wages (27:01) peer-to-peer transactions outside of exchanges (28:23) defi and taxes: yield farming — and how it's like Russian nesting dolls (31:45) how the IRS taxes earned interest (36:32) airdrops (40:15) crypto transactions that are not taxable: purchases, withdrawals, and stablecoins (46:28) navigating tax documents (51:24-58-10) NFT’s and social tokens (57:14) tax loss harvesting (1:03:09) how having coins on platforms like Robinhood and Paypal can have an effect on your taxes (1:05:05) proposed tax changes (1:06:50) crypto tax software and tips for the upcoming year (1:10:29)   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com   Episode links:    Guests Shehan Chandrasekara: https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA Dan Hannum: https://twitter.com/DHannum8    Software CoinTracker: cointracker.io ZenLedger: zenledger.io   Accounting LIFO, HIFO, FIFO: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2020/09/17/what-crypto-taxpayers-need-to-know-about-fifo-lifo-hifo-specific-id/?sh=7077f8e936aa (written by Shehan) 1040 Question: https://fortune.com/2020/09/28/the-irs-is-adding-a-cryptocurrency-question-to-form-1040-for-2020/ 1099 Misc: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1099msc.pdf 1099 B: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1099-b   Regulatory research: 2014 IRS Tax Guidance: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-21.pdf IRS Virtual Currency page: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/virtual-currencies IRS gains and losses: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p550.pdf Equipment write-offs: https://www.section179.org/section_179_deduction/ IRS sues Coinbase: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/29/16717416/us-coinbase-irs-records How holding crypto at PayPal or Robinhood or any platform that does not allow you to transfer to an address off-platform could affect your taxes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2021/01/28/exiting-robinhood-could-create-a-tax-nightmare-for-crypto-users/?sh=106b74a84ad6 De minimis exemption: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/series63-050509.asp#:~:text='The%20De%20Minimis'%20exemption%20means,period%20with%20a%20physical%20address. FinCEN intends to apply FBAR to cryptocurrency held offshore: https://www.coindesk.com/fincen-foreign-crypto-exchange-disclosure-rule   Backstory: Bitcoin Cash Fork: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-cash-has-split-into-two-new-blockchains-again   Yield farming and social tokens: https://decrypt.co/resources/what-is-yield-farming-beginners-guide https://www.cointracker.io/blog/defi-yield-farming-crypto-tax-guide (written by Shehan) Alex Masmej: https://www.coindesk.com/man-who-sells-himself-now-wants-buyers-to-control-his-life   Crypto tax guides BlockFi: https://blockfi.com/crypto-tax-laws Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/learn/tips-and-tutorials/crypto-and-bitcoin-taxes-US Nerd Wallet: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/bitcoin-taxes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Saylor, CEO and founder of Microstrategy, explains how he decided the publicly traded business data firm needed to put its excess cash in bitcoin and what happened afterward. In this episode, we discuss:  why Microstrategy decided to buy Bitcoin, and how the pandemic spurred that whether his previous experience with Microstrategy stock imploding after accounting irregularities were revealed had any bearing on the company's decision to buy bitcoin the reactions of the officers and board members to his suggestion to invest in bitcoin why they put all the excess cash into bitcoin as opposed to some percentage what parts of the bitcoin industry could be improved to better serve corporate interests whether Microstrategy intends to take any money off the table at the top of any future bubbles and reinvest when the price hits a new low whether it hurts Microstrategy that GAAP rules require the company to mark Bitcoin down to the lowest price it traded at during the quarter how his life has changed since Microstrategy bought bitcoin what he thought of Citi downgrading Microstrategy stock what he thinks of Renaissance Technology being the third-largest buyer of Microstrategy stock since the summer what will happen to Microstrategy stock in a bitcoin bear market whether or not there was any further conversation after his tweets with Elon Musk what types of companies, and how many, have been talking with him, expressing interest in buying bitcoin what will happen at the Bitcoin for Companies conference what type of bitcoin data products they are contemplating offering what he thinks will happen to the USD’s global reserve currency status what it would take for him to sell any bitcoin   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com 1inch: http://1inch.exchange   Episode links:  Michael Saylor: https://twitter.com/michael_saylor Microstrategy: https://www.microstrategy.com/en Bitcoin for Corporations: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/resources/events/world-2021/bitcoin-summit   Microstrategy purchases an additional $10 million in bitcoin: https://www.microstrategy.com/content/dam/website-assets/collateral/financial- documents/financial-document-archive/Form-8-K_jan-22-2021.pdf   Unchained interview with Saifedean Ammous:   August 11, 2020: Microstrategy adopts Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset:   August 11, 2020: Microstrategy makes tender offer to purchase up to $250 million of its common stock:   September 11, 2020: Microstrategy to purchase $60.5 million of common stock:   Plan to offer $550 million in convertible notes: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/87120/microstrategy-550m-convertible-notes-bitcoin   Microstrategy announces over $1 billion in Bitcoin purchases in 2020:   Michael Saylor’s 2013 tweet on Bitcoin: https://twitter.com/michael_saylor/status/413478389329428480?s=20   Forbes expose on unusual accounting practices by Microstrategy back in 2000: https://www.forbes.com/global/2000/0306/0305024a.html?sh=46312df01674 April 2000 profile of Michael in The New Yorker: https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2000-04-03/flipbook/034/ SEC enforcement action against Microstrategy: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/34-43724.htm Forbes profile after the SEC enforcement action: https://www.forbes.com/2000/12/18/1218faces.html?sh=523061e03bf9 Forbes announcing Microstrategy would restate earnings after its expose: https://www.forbes.com/2000/03/20/mu3.html?sh=21efe89d1ee6 Summary of SEC action:   Citi downgrading MSTR:   Renaissance Technologies has been third-largest buyer of Microstrategy’s stock since the summer: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/87194/renaissance-technologies-microstrategy-bitcoin  Microstrategy contemplating bitcoin data products: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/85310/microstrategy-bitcoin-data-products Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Palley, partner at Anderson Kill. and Gabriel Shapiro, partner at BSV Law, discuss the SEC's lawsuit against Ripple and two executives, Chris Larsen and Bard Garlinghouse. In this episode, they explain: what was so "egregious" that the SEC went after two executives, Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, were charged  why their sales showed an information asymmetry, and why that matters why the complaint comes close to being a fraud case, but why the SEC didn't charge them with fraud why the idea that XRP is a currency and therefore cannot be a security will likely not fly why it's unlikely the case will go to the Supreme Court the SEC's case for why XRP is a security, and Ripple's role in it how even on a technical level, the XRP network is centralized how strong the SEC's case is against Larsen and Garlinghouse Stephen's and Gabriel's predictions on how the lawsuit will play out how this will likely impact XRP investors whether or not Ripple could become an SEC-reporting company and XRP a security what happened with Ripple's lead investor in its most recent fundraising round whether or not the SEC might go after exchanges or other players who made money off XRP or collaborated with Ripple around XRP trading what this means for Coinbase, in particular, because it's going public later this year what Ripple's defense, in its summarized Wells submission, was  how this case compares to some of the other big SEC/crypto securities cases, Kik/Kin and Telegram whether there might ever be a digital token that is determined to be a security for specific transactions but not others what the wider implications of the case are for the rest of the crypto industry    Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com 1inch: https://1inch.exchange   Episode links:  Stephen Palley: https://twitter.com/stephendpalley Gabriel Shapiro: https://twitter.com/lex_node   SEC lawsuit against Ripple: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2020/comp-pr2020-338.pdf   SEC lawsuit against Ripple being close to a fraud case: https://twitter.com/stephendpalley/status/1341523294344896515?s=20   Former SEC commissioner Joe Grundefest on the case: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/89164/former-sec-commissioner-says-ripple-lawsuit-will-cause-multi-billion-dollar-losses-to-innocent-third-parties   Other lawsuit against Ripple: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.334410/gov.uscourts.cand.334410.115.0.pdf   Technical assessment of Ripple network: https://cryptobern.github.io/noconsensusripple/   Tetragon’s case against Ripple: https://twitter.com/stephendpalley/status/1346531087971999749?s=20   What the case means for exchanges: https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-delist-xrp-exchanges-dilemma   Coinbase suspends trading in XRP: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-will-suspend-trading-in-xrp-on-january-19-2e09652dbf57 https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-suspends-xrp-trading   Lawsuit against Coinbase: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-30/coinbase-sued-over-xrp-commissions-after-sec-pursues-ripple?sref=m9L277rN https://twitter.com/stephendpalley/status/1344352455895691269?s=20   People in the industry thinking for a while that XRP is a security: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/57366/xrp-is-probably-a-security-dont-at-me   Mary Jo White: https://www.coindesk.com/former-sec-chair-represents-ripple-xrp-lawsuit Ripple’s Wells submission: https://ripple.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Ripple-Wells-Submission-Summary.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Willy Woo, a prominent on-chain Bitcoin analyst and author of the “The Bitcoin Forecast,” a market intelligence newsletter, explains the parabolic activity of Bitcoin in the past month. We cover:  why he thinks Bitcoin has more than doubled in the last month what the "double pump" market is and why Bitcoin may see two rallies this cycle what stage of the Bitcoin bull market we are currently in who is buying, and how they've differed from previous investors who still is yet to buy this cycle why Bitcoin hitting new all-time highs mean that we're in "uncharted price discovery" how his "top cap model" shows Bitcoin could be around $95k by end of year and how if certain trends accelerate, it could reach $200,000-$300,000 by year's end how the pandemic impacted Bitcoin’s price what on-chain movements he's seeing that make him call the current cycle of Bitcoin "whale spawning season”  how to gauge the increasingly rapid investor activity  what to expect from Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2021   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com 1inch: http://1inch.exchange    Episode links:  Willy Woo: https://twitter.com/woonomic Woobull.com: http://charts.woobull.com   Willy on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/willy-woo-on-why-its-an-extremely-great-time-to-buy-bitcoin/   Fibonacci traces tweet: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1347433551906500614?s=20   Bitcoin reflexivity: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1344189627997949952/photo/1   Who has been buying recently: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1347127159538688002?s=20   Double pump bull market: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1346889817792004096?s=20   Buying by long-term holders: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1346827893322616833/photo/1   What percentage of the Bitcoin supply is liquid: https://insights.glassnode.com/bitcoin-liquid-supply/   Premium above NVT Price: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1346797291668029440/photo/1   Accumulation of BTC before the OCC announcement: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1346296294797582336/photo/1   Will never see a $20k BTC again: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1345660018541019138?s=20   Bitcoin as investment vs. tech: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1345221723751206912?s=20 NVT Ratio: http://charts.woobull.com/bitcoin-nvt-ratio/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This panel, from a panel for the fifth anniversary of Hyperledger, features Rob Palatnick, managing director of global head of technology research and innovation at the DTCC and chairman of the Hyperledger board, Matthieu Saint Olive, Codefi payments product manager and CBDC advisor at ConsenSys, and Robert Bench, assistant vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. In this discussion on the current outlook on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), they cover:  what main problems CBDCs can solve whether CBDCs should be open sourced why building a new technology for CBDCs is preferred over using existing tech how concerns over CBDCs and their privacy implications differ across countries what possible pain points or opportunities CBDCs pose for central banks whether CBDCs should be blockchain-based to what extent CBDCs will be distributed and open networks, and whether fees would be charged for transactions how central banks are thinking about methods of adoption, like whether they will bank directly with retail customers or still use commercial banks  how developers balance the drawbacks and benefits of blockchain-based CBDCs with different stakeholders whether stable coins will be replaced by or coexist with CBDCs and what the future holds for the continued development of CBDCs   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com 1inch: http://1inch.exchange    Episode links:  Rob Palatnick: https://www.dtcc.com/our-experts/robert-palatnick Brian Behlendorf: https://twitter.com/brianbehlendorf?lang=en  Matthieu Saint Olive: https://twitter.com/msaintolive?lang=en  Robert Bench: https://www.bostonfed.org/home/people/bank/robert-bench.aspx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Laura Shin recaps the biggest stories of the year in crypto, with clips from shows throughout the year. In this episode, we cover how the pandemic drove Bitcoin to new all-time highs, how regulation began to come for the crypto space in a big way, plus new trends in DeFi, corporate structures, and how ETH will change as an asset.    Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com 1inch: https://1inch.exchange   Episode links:  Meltem Demirors on Bitcoin’s behavior during the recession https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-meltem-demirors-and-lyn-alden-on-the-perfect-conditions-for-bitcoin/   Mike Novogratz and Raoul Pal on Bitcoin’s relation to fiat https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-mike-novogratz-and-raoul-pal-on-the-single-greatest-brand-of-the-last-10-years/   Chamath Palihapitiya on Bitcoin as a financial hedge https://unchainedpodcast.com/chamath-palihapitiya-why-bitcoin-will-be-the-category-winner/   Cathie Wood and Dan Tapiero on corporate adoption of Bitcoin https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-bitcoin-under-a-biden-administration/   Dave Jevans and Siân Jones on regulation and VASPs https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-travel-rule-is-one-of-the-most-significant-regulations-in-crypto/    Jake Chervinsky and Kristin Smith on the Swiss Rule and self-hosted wallets https://unchainedpodcast.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-looming-battle-over-privacy-in-crypto/   Jeremy Allaire and Kristin Smith on Mnuchin’s proposed FinCEN rule https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-is-the-proposed-fincen-rule-for-unhosted-wallets-being-pushed-so-quickly/   Jessi Brooks and Zia Faruqui on cryptocurrencies facilitating illicit activity https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-this-doj-strike-force-hunts-down-cryptocurrency-criminals/    Brian Brooks on Americans accepting more privacy restrictions https://unchainedpodcast.com/acting-comptroller-of-the-currency-brian-brooks-on-crypto-banks/   Meltem Demirors on privacy being under attack https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-meltem-demirors-and-lyn-alden-on-the-perfect-conditions-for-bitcoin/   Haseeb Qureshi on the maturation of DeFi https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-decentralized-trading-has-10xed-in-a-few-months/    Vitalik Buterin on risks that still exist in DeFi https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-ethereums-five-year-anniversary/   Taylor Monahan and Dan Guido on DeFi security https://unchainedpodcast.com/defi-security-with-so-many-hacks-will-it-ever-be-safe/    Vitalik Buterin reflecting on the last five years of Ethereum https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-ethereums-five-year-anniversary/    Ryan Watkins on Ethereum 2.0 https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereum-2-0-what-you-need-to-know/    Olaf Carlson-Wee on DeFi impacting the traditional corporate structure https://unchainedpodcast.com/olaf-carlson-wee-if-there-is-a-money-losing-exploit-the-money-is-gone/ Andrew Cronje on shifting corporate structures https://unchainedpodcast.com/andre-cronje-of-yearn-finance-on-yfi-and-the-fair-launch-im-lazy/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Allaire of Circle Pay and Kristin Smith of the Blockchain Association explain the impact of and motivation behind Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s proposed FinCEN rule that targets “unhosted” wallets. In this episode, they cover: what the new FinCEN rule says, and how it would impact unhosted or self-hosted wallets, as well as crypto businesses why they believe this is really politically motivated and unilateral midnight rule making by Secretary Mnuchin  what other bureaucrats and policymakers think should be done instead  whether the rule only affects businesses rather than individuals  what information will be recorded according to the rule ways to circumvent compliance  how the rule affects DeFi and Web3 the procedural hurdles Mnuchin took to propose the rule, and what they recommend the crypto community to do try to stop the implementation of the rule  how the rule comports with European GDPR regulations  which government entities will be tasked with making the regulatory changes the space needs  why President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration may be more favorable for the space   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com 1inch: http://1inch.exchange    Episode links:  Jeremy Allaire: https://twitter.com/jerallaire  Kristin Smith: https://twitter.com/kmsmithdc   Circle: https://www.circle.com/en/ The Blockchain Association: https://theblockchainassociation.org   Stories on proposed rule:  https://www.coindesk.com/fincen-proposes-kyc-rules-for-crypto-wallets https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/88347/treasury-crypto-wallets-reporting-rule   Effect on DeFi: https://twitter.com/jerallaire/status/1340060806088671232?s=20   https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1340050400871911424?s=20   Coin Center response: https://www.coincenter.org/a-midnight-rule-for-cryptocurrency-transaction-reports/   Brian Armstrong’s earlier tweet thread: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1331745196887867393 Collins Belton’s tweet thread: https://twitter.com/collins_belton/status/1340051986008350721?s=20 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marguerite deCourcelle is co-founder and CEO of Blockade Games, which is releasing the role-playing game game Neon District the day this episode comes out. She discusses her background in art, how her love of video games led her to discover Bitcoin in the early days of the cryptocurrency, and how she helps create the next phase of web 3.0 content creation and distribution. Topics include: how Marguerite became involved in crypto and what led her to co-found Blockade Games her work on Pineapple Arcade and Plasma Bears the problems she sees with gaming and how blockchain technology can solve them how Blockade Games is utilizing blockchain tech Neon District, a blockchain-based RPG game with active gameplay and animation that uses NFTs and farming the difference between ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens and how each is utilized in Neon District how they have been marrying NFTs with DeFi through the NIFTEX exchange how an open economy challenges the dynamics of gameplay and how they account for this in their game design why a decentralized profile can be so powerful in gaming the types of users Blockade Games hopes to attract with Neon District why they are using the Matic Network how blockchain tech within a game changes the business model for Blockade as opposed to a traditional gaming company whether she thinks conventional gaming companies will be disrupted by blockchain technology the problems in content creation business models and distribution and how she thinks blockchain can solve them her personal token, COIN, how it is connected to CRED and how the two work together and people earn them what Coin Artist Liquidity Mining is and how it works   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com 1inch: http://1inch.exchange   Episode links:  Marguerite: https://twitter.com/coin_artist Coin Artist: https://coinartist.io   Yield farming NFTs: https://www.coindesk.com/nfts-yield-farming-defi-buzz-explained   Crypto puzzles: https://www.coindesk.com/theres-more-money-to-win-in-the-310-bitcoin-challenge-heres-some-hints   Blockade Games's seed round: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-puzzle-artists-blockchain-gaming-startup-valued-at-13-million   CoinDesk podcast network with Marguerite: https://www.coindesk.com/what-artists-love-about-crypto   Delphi Digital podcast with Marguerite: https://www.delphidigital.io/podcasts/marguerite-decourcelle-building-towards-a-neon-future/   Delphi Digital report on Coin's E-den syndicate: https://www.delphidigital.io/reports/social-tokens-the-rise-of-the-coins-e-den-syndicate/   OpenSea store for Alex Botez chess pieces: https://opensea.io/collection/get-pwnd   Blog post about the Alexandra Botez collaboration: https://coin-artist.medium.com/bringing-chess-to-ethereum-5969d9cfa07a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gavin Wood, founder of Polkadot, Kusama, and Parity, discusses what he calls the "meta-protocol," Polkadot. In this episode, he talks about: his vision for Polkadot and the problems he set out to solve when conceiving it why he considers Polkadot a meta-protocol the implementation of parachains and parathreads, how they are defined and how they differ parachain auctions and candle auctions how DDoS attacks can be prevented on parachains initial parachain offerings and how they differ from initial coin offerings and avoid the regulatory problems that were so common with ICOs on-chain governance on Polkadot and how it works how immediate implementation of proposals that pass consensus will prevent forks his answer to those who point to Parity's history with security lapses as cause for concern about Polkadot's security how he sees Polkadot co-existing with Ethereum whether Polkadot is working toward composability how the Web3 Foundation and Parity plan to use their collective stake of DOTs within the network how he plans to address the possibility that DOT could be labeled a security how he imagines Polkadot will serve the enterprise world and how Polkadot will benefit enterprise blockchains   Thank you to our sponsors!  1inch: https://1inch.exchange Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Gavin Wood: https://twitter.com/gavofyork Polkadot: https://polkadot.network Kusama: https://kusama.network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Watkins and Wilson Withiam, senior research analysts at Messari, explain the nuts and bolts of Ethereum 2.0, including how it will transform ETH as an asset and why they believe it will be Ethereum’s most ambitious upgrade yet. Topics include: the different phases of Ethereum 2.0 and the functions they serve the problems Ethereum hopes to solve with this upgrade the technical requirements needed to ensure the launch can happen the new proof of stake consensus and why Ethereum is leaving proof of work behind the requirements necessary to maintain a validator node on the Ethereum 2.0 network why users won’t be able to use their ETH once it is staked on Ethereum 2.0 the incentives and services that will allow users staking on Ethereum 2.0 to continue using their ETH on Ethereum 1.0 whether the appeal of DeFi is a threat to Ethereum 2.0 staking how Ethereum 2.0 incentivizes client diversity the monetary policy of “minimum necessary issuance” that supports Ethereum 2.0 how Ethereum 2.0 will allow ETH to achieve the unprecedented combination of a store of value, a capital asset, and a commodity what will be done in the short term to help ease the scaling problem while ETH 2.0 is being built whether scalability can be efficiently addressed in time to prevent migrations to other blockchains and the most significant risks Ethereum 2.0 is facing   Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links: Ryan Watkins: https://twitter.com/RyanWatkins_ Wilson Withiam: https://twitter.com/wilsonwithiam   Messari Crypto: https://messari.io/   Messari report on Ethereum 2:0: https://messari.io/road-to-eth2     Amount of ETH in the Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract: https://etherscan.io/address/0x00000000219ab540356cBB839Cbe05303d7705Fa#analytics https://www.stakingrewards.com/earn/ethereum-2-0   ETH issuance based on amount staked: https://docs.ethhub.io/ethereum-basics/monetary-policy/#proof-of-stake-impact Dan Elitzer article on DETH: https://medium.com/ideo-colab/the-deth-of-ethereum-98553866e81b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Sandler, head of sales and marketing at Fidelity Digital Assets, talks about how 30 years in traditional finance and an early retirement led her to Coinbase, and, eventually, Fidelity Digital Assets. She discusses the history of Fidelity's involvement in crypto, how they became one of the first to enter the space, and what the future holds. Topics include: what Fidelity Digital Assets is and Christine's role there Christine's background in traditional finance, how she was drawn into the world of cryptocurrencies, eventually working at Coinbase, and how she found her way to Fidelity Digital Assets the role Fidelity sees itself playing in the digital asset space how the client base for digital assets has changed over time how Fidelity approaches the difficulties around explaining what bitcoin and crypto is, and the most common questions they receive how the pandemic has changed the conversation around digital currencies the types of services and products Fidelity is considering for the future the differences Fidelity sees in how international investors are approaching digital currency Fidelity's plans for a Bitcoin index fund and whether they are considering offering futures how financial institutions and institutional investors fit into a world of decentralized finance founded with the ethos of excluding them the regulatory improvements Fidelity is hoping to see what a Bitcoin ETF would mean for Fidelity how Fidelity might use a central bank digital currency in its business Fidelity's thoughts on offering proof of stake services whether a more deflationary Ethereum might attract more institutional investors and whether Fidelity will offer Ethereum in the future   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Christine Sandler: https://twitter.com/shoegalnyc Fidelity Digital Assets: https://www.fidelitydigitalassets.com/overview Twitter: https://twitter.com/DigitalAssets   Christine leaves Coinbase for FDAS: https://www.coindesk.com/fidelity-poaches-coinbase-institutional-sales-head-christine-sandler   Fidelity Center for Applied Technology: https://fcatalyst.com/overview   Fidelity Digital Assets looking to become prime broker: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/68920/fidelity-digital-assets-eyes-service-for-introducing-crypto-funds-to-big-investors   How the client profile has changed: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/42342/the-client-profile-is-changing-fidelity-digital-assets-exec-says-new-players-are-entering-the-crypto-fold   How to Explain Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains to the Average Person Unchained episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-explain-cryptocurrencies-and-blockchains-to-the-average-person/   Fidelity expands crypto business to Europe: https://www.coindesk.com/fidelity-to-expand-institutional-crypto-business-to-europe   Fidelity obtains New York Trust Charter: https://www.coindesk.com/fidelity-gets-a-new-york-trust-charter-to-custody-bitcoin-for-institutions   Bitcoin Index Fund: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/08/26/fidelity-president-files-for-new-bitcoin-fund/?sh=13aa335445c9   Fidelity survey of 800 institutional investors: https://www.fidelitydigitalassets.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/FDAS/institutional-investor-study.pdf   FDAS hiring: https://www.fidelitydigitalassets.com/articles/engineering-hiring-initiative?ccmedia=owned&ccchannel=social&cccampaign=hiring_blog&cctactics=twitter   Kingdom Trust:  https://www.coindesk.com/fidelity-digital-assets-to-custody-bitcoin-in-kingdom-trust-retirement-accounts   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Chervinsky, general counsel at Compound Labs, and Kristin Smith, executive director of The Blockchain Association, talk about the storm brewing in the cryptosphere involving self-custody and privacy. In this episode, they cover: the differences between hosted and self-hosted wallets and how transactions between them differ why the ability to transact from self-hosted wallets is so important compliance and regulation in the traditional financial world and how it could affect self-custody the “Swiss rule” and what it could mean for the rest of the world the proposal by FinCEN to lower the threshold for collecting data on transactions from $3,000 to $250 how regulators might achieve their goals without “dragnet” surveillance how the amount of crime and money laundering in the traditional financial system compares to that in the crypto world why OTC brokers are considered the most significant money laundering risk in crypto, and how that risk might be mitigated how different political environments can influence the value of peer to peer transactions whether Americans should be willing to give up some of their financial privacy in favor of security what the recent statement by the DOJ's cryptocurrency enforcement framework labeling anonymous transactions as "high-risk activity indicative of possible criminal conduct" could mean for privacy coins like Monero and Zcash Gary Gensler's appointment as head of Biden's financial policy transition team and whether to view it as a positive or negative for crypto whether they think the incoming Congress will be in favor of more surveillance or more privacy whether there might eventually be regulations for developers who write code for self-hosted wallets how potential rules regarding self-custody could affect non-monetary items like NFTs and the next big developments they are watching out for regarding this issue   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com   Episode links:  Jake Chervinsky: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky Compound Labs: https://compound.finance   Kristin Smith: https://twitter.com/kmsmithdc The Blockchain Association: https://theblockchainassociation.org/ https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn   FinCen NPRM: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/10/27/2020-23756/threshold-for-the-requirement-to-collect-retain-and-transmit-information-on-funds-transfers-and   Coin Center commentary on lowering FinCEN threshold: https://www.coincenter.org/app/uploads/2020/10/Coin-Center-Comment-FinCEN-FRB-250-threshold.pdf    Unchained episode about the FATF travel rule: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-travel-rule-is-one-of-the-most-significant-regulations-in-crypto/    The choice of Gary Gensler to lead the financial policy transition team:  https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-biden-election-day-2020/card/peMRHGPJasECSPLezSFx   https://www.coindesk.com/biden-confirms-gary-gensler-will-lead-financial-policy-transition-team   Shapeshift delists Zcash: https://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-delists-privacy-coin-zcash-over-regulatory-concerns Jessie Liu interview on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-dojs-cryptocurrency-enforcement-framework/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Dan Tapiero, founder of 10T Holdings and Gold Bullion International, and Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO at ARK Invest, discuss the long election week in the U.S. and how they believe Bitcoin will behave in a post-election world. They also talk about: how a changeover from a Trump to a Biden administration could affect Bitcoin how the prospect of legal challenges from the Trump administration might affect Bitcoin whether they think the presidential election influenced Bitcoin’s precipitous price jump in the first week of November what it takes to change the mind of a Bitcoin skeptic in the investment world whether gold investors are becoming more resistant or more embracing of Bitcoin whether Democratic control of the Senate would affect Bitcoin how they expect the new wave of rising coronavirus cases and lockdowns to affect economies and Bitcoin the new inflation policy introduced by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and how it will affect Bitcoin the recent Bitcoin halving and how they expect Bitcoin to perform over the next year how banking will change over the next few years and how that will affect Bitcoin their thoughts on central bank digital currencies and how an increase in CBDCs might affect Bitcoin what factors they are looking at right now when thinking about what could happen with Bitcoin over the next year   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Cathie Wood: https://twitter.com/cathiedwood Ark Invest: https://ark-invest.com/ Yassine Elmandjra: https://twitter.com/yassineARK   Dan Tapiero: https://twitter.com/DTAPCAP 10T Holdings: https://10tfund.com/ Gold Bullion International: https://bullioninternational.com/   Unchained with Brian Brooks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/acting-comptroller-of-the-currency-brian-brooks-on-crypto-banks/   Jerome Powell speech on targeting inflation of 2%: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/27/powell-announces-new-fed-approach-to-inflation-that-could-keep-rates-lower-for-longer.html   Bitcoin-gold correlation: https://coinmetrics.io/correlation-charts/#assets=btc-gld   Bitcoin-S&P 500 correlation: https://coinmetrics.io/correlation-charts/#assets=btc-s&p   Forbes profile on Cathie Wood: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2020/10/05/how-cathie-wood-beat-wall-street-by-betting-tesla-is-worth-more-than-1-trillion/?sh=12d44f813d45   ARK Invest Bitcoin white papers: https://ark-invest.com/white-papers/bitcoin-part-one/ https://ark-invest.com/white-papers/bitcoin-part-two/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this seventh installment of the Why Bitcoin Now series, Meltem Demirors, the chief strategy officer at Coinshares, and Lyn Alden, the founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, discuss the state of Bitcoin since June, amidst the presidential election – which takes place on the date of publication of the show -- and a global pandemic. Topics discussed include: the significance of bitcoin staying above $10k for over three months why the pandemic has created the conditions for which Bitcoin was designed how the markets may react to a Trump or Biden win why they believe, no matter which party wins, there will be massive deficits and a money-printing debt spiral why other countries see opportunities to erode the supremacy of the US dollar why Bitcoin has shown that it’s possible to have money without state how the current record unemployment and massive stimulus efforts during the pandemic have impacted Bitcoin the increasing interest in Bitcoin from traditional investors the IMF’s recent call for a “New Bretton Woods moment”  and how it may impact crypto China’s DCEP central bank digital currency and the effects it may have on increasing China’s trade leverage why the pandemic has made clear the importance of bringing more Bitcoin mining onshore whether or not Bitcoin will be able to remedy growing wealth inequality why privacy/encryption will be the main issue Bitcoiners need to watch from the coming administration   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Lyn Alden: https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact Lyn Alden Investment Strategy: lynalden.com Meltem Demirors: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem Coinshares: https://www.coinshares.com/   Lyn’s post on how the economy and stock market perform under Democratic vs. Republican presidents: https://www.lynalden.com/presidential-elections/   US stimulus spending: https://datalab.usaspending.gov/federal-covid-funding/#section-tracking   IMF New Bretton Woods speech: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/10/15/sp101520-a-new-bretton-woods-moment   Stocks in a bubble: https://www.longtermtrends.net/sp500-price-earnings-shiller-pe-ratio/   Meltem on the financialization of internet infrastructure: https://medium.com/coinshares/the-financialization-of-compute-connectivity-66beaffe7501   BitOoda report on Bitcoin mining: https://bitooda.medium.com/bitcoin-mining-hashrate-and-power-analysis-bitooda-research-ebc25f5650bf   Bloomberg wealth report: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-08/top-50-richest-people-in-the-us-are-worth-as-much-as-poorest-165-million   Cash app’s Bitcoin sales: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/74001/square-q2-bitcoin-cash-app   JPMorgan research note on Bitcoin: https://fortune.com/2020/10/26/jp-morgan-chase-bitcoin-predictions-analyst-jpm-cryptocurrency/ https://twitter.com/DTAPCAP/status/1319703750450302980?s=20 Forbes interview with Daniel Masters of Coinshares: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/24/jp-morgan-veteran-daniel-masters-explains-how-blockchain-will-end-commercial-banks/#77ec4f6a6bdd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Brooks got his start in traditional finance before joining Coinbase in 2018 and is currently the acting comptroller of the currency. In this episode, he discusses: how his background in traditional financial services led him to take a position at Coinbase whether the role blockchain and crypto will likely play in the financial future is being recognized at the federal level whether or not banks have always had the authority to custody crypto for their customers how he expects things to unfold in the coming years as banks begin to become more involved in crypto custody his thoughts on Kraken and others launching crypto banks and whether it will lead to the founding of other crypto banks how his office is pushing for a national fintech charter, and how it could affect less crypto-friendly states whether banks that work with crypto companies supporting unhosted wallets are prohibited from holding stablecoin reserves whether or not OCC regulations cover DeFi, and the regulatory challenges that open source protocols present whether he sees a time when governments and regulators participate in the governance of crypto platforms what roles he thinks public and private sectors, as well as commercial banks, should play in the creation of a central bank digital currency what stance the OCC might take around privacy in blockchain transactions how U.S. regulators can offer more clarity to the crypto industry and how he thinks the pandemic, its effect on the economy, and the government’s response through stimulus will affect the crypto industry   Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Brian Brooks: https://twitter.com/BrianBrooksOCC Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: https://www.occ.gov   Letter to authorize banks to provide crypto custody services for customers: https://www.occ.gov/topics/charters-and-licensing/interpretations-and-actions/2020/int1170.pdf   The significance of the letter for banks and crypto companies: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthougan/2020/07/27/the-occs-notice-on-crypto-is-a-really-big-deal/#13aad8806301   The OCC’s statement on federally chartered banks and crypto custody: https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2020/nr-occ-2020-98.html   His support for a federal licensing framework for crypto companies: https://www.coindesk.com/us-banking-regulator-suggests-federal-licensing-framework-for-crypto-firms   Questions about the OCC’s stablecoin guidance https://www.coindesk.com/questions-occ-first-guidance-stablecoins   CSBS “One Company, One Exam” policy: https://www.coindesk.com/csbs-firms-explained   Battle with states over federal licensing program: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/31/currency-comptroller-reshape-banking-406393    FinCEN’s 2019 Regulatory Guidance: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/new-fincen-guidance-affirms-its-longstanding-regulatory-framework-virtual   Federal Reserve says it is exploring a central bank digital currency: https://www.coindesk.com/fed-reserve-evaluating-digital-dollar-but-benefits-still-unclear-says-chairman    His view that a CBDC should be designed by the private sector:  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/69216/heres-how-brian-brooks-disagrees-with-fed-chair-jerome-powell-on-the-digital-dollar The OCC’s Financial Inclusion Project: https://www.occ.gov/topics/consumers-and-communities/minority-outreach/project-reach.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Magistrate judge Zia Faruqui, and Jessi Brooks, assistant U.S. attorney in the national security section at the United States Attorney’s Office, have prosecuted several cryptocurrency-related cases, many of them amongst the most well-known. In this episode, they talk about: how they came to be involved in the prosecution of so many cases involving cryptocurrency the nature of civil forfeiture cases the Al-Qassam Brigades case, which led to the largest ever seizure of a terrorist organization’s cryptocurrency accounts, and the terrorist organization’s use of dynamic addresses in an attempt to elude detection by authorities. how Al Qaeda used Telegram to pursue cryptocurrency donations the case involving ISIS and counterfeit PPE for COVID the process of seizing funds from unhosted wallets the North Korean affiliated Lazarus Group, and how they were able to amass $2580 million worth of cryptocurrency the methods hackers will use to cash out stolen crypto funds to fiat how different government agencies in the U.S., as well as in other countries, are coordinated when tackling these cases the Welcome to Video case and how they went about prosecuting a person in a foreign country how they’ve seen the use of cryptocurrencies by criminals evolve over time and whether or not they think decentralized exchanges will make it easier for criminals and hackers to cash out   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Jessi Brooks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-brooks-8289ab32/ Zia’s Faruqui: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zia-faruqui-a73ba11a5/   Three terror-finance cybercrime cases: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/global-disruption-three-terror-finance-cyber-enabled-campaigns   The Al-Qassam Brigades case: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/global-disruption-three-terror-finance-cyber-enabled-campaigns   Scam PPE site: https://www.wired.com/story/isis-allegedly-ran-a-covid-19-ppe-scam-site/   Civil forfeiture complaint against North Korea-affiliated hackers, Lazarus Group:  https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/united-states-files-complaint-forfeit-280-cryptocurrency-accounts-tied-hacks-two https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1310411/download https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/lazarus-group-north-korea-doj-complaint-august-2020   Welcome to Video indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/south-korean-national-and-hundreds-others-charged-worldwide-takedown-largest-darknet-child   Dark Scandals: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2020/03/13/dark-deja-vu-irs-announces-charges-in-takedown-of-multi-million-dollar-child-exploitation-website-funded-by-bitcoin/#4a09b2ac28ae https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1257581/download Jonathan Levin from Chainalysis on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-bitcoin-led-to-the-demise-of-the-largest-child-porn-site/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hester Peirce, AKA “Crypto Mom,” was just confirmed to a second term as SEC Commissioner of the Securities Exchange Commission in August. In this episode, she talks about: the reasons for her dissent in the Unikrn Settlement and what she believes would have been a proper penalty the current status of her token safe harbor proposal her thoughts on fair launch projects as opposed to traditional VC-backed tokens her view on how the SEC should view airdrops her thoughts on whether existing securities laws could be tweaked as opposed to implementing a safe harbor whether she thinks DeFi governance tokens should be considered securities her thoughts on DeFi playing its own regulatory role her thoughts on the Securities Clarity Act introduced in Congress the chances of a Bitcoin ETF being approved by the SEC in the future the charges against BitMEX and the effect it may have on the industry in general stablecoins, and how they might raise securities issues and whether she thinks that all securities could one day be tokenized Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Hester Peirce: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce SEC: https://www.sec.gov   Her dissent on the Unikrn settelement: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-statement-settlement-charging-token-issuer   Unconfirmed interview on her safe harbor proposal: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-on-her-safe-harbor-proposal/ Her token safe harbor proposal: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-remarks-blockress-2020-02-06   Unchained interview with Cmr. Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/   Proposal in The Block on ways to amend existing securities law instead of issuing a token safe harbor: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/57207/case-for-reg-a-response-commissioner-peirce-sec-token   Is UNI a security: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/78231/uniswap-token-security-debate   FCA banning crypto derivatives and ETNs: https://www.coindesk.com/fca-bans-sale-of-cryptoderivatives-to-retail-consumers-in-uk https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/79911/uk-regulator-fca-bans-crypto-derivatives-retail-users   Securities Clarity Act: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/78231/uniswap-token-security-debate   Statement on ATS’s: https://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/mr-noaction/2020/finra-ats-role-in-settlement-of-digital-asset-security-trades-09252020.pdf   SEC chairman Jay Clayton says all stocks could be tokenized: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/79783/all-stocks-tokenized-sec-chairman-clayton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX and Alameda Research,  and Anatoly Yakovenko,  the co-founder and CEO of Solana Labs, discuss the Project Serum ecosystem that they are building on the Solana blockchain, and the unique approach to scaling the Solana blockchain is taking. In this episode, they talk about: their backgrounds, and how they became involved in crypto why Solana takes a different approach to scaling and how it is implemented why they think a relatively lower number of nodes is sufficient to protect from attacks or collusion what the vision for Solana is, who they see using it, and how Serum fits into that vision why they think there haven’t been more crypto projects migrating to Solana yet Solana’s proof-of-history algorithm and how it works how Solana plans to attract DeFi developers why Serum was made interoperable with Ethereum the types of traders they are hoping to attract with Serum, and what their experience will be like on the platform why Project Serum is an ecosystem and not just an order book exchange how high-frequency trading firm Jump Trading came to adopt Serum how Serum will manage trading tokens from different chains the purpose of Serum’s two tokens, SRM and MSRM and what’s in store for Project Serum in the future   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.Com: https://www.crypto.com Gods Unchained: https://playgu.co/unchainedpod   Episode links:  Anatoly Yakovenko: https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko Solana: Solana.com Sam Bankman-Fried: https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda Project Serum: https://www.projectserum.com Project Serum on Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectserum   Solana CoinList auction in March: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/59952/blockchain-project-solana-raises-1-76m-from-its-launch-auction-on-coinlist   Solana network stats: https://explorer.solana.com   The Block Research on Solana: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/76615/solana-blockchain-overview   Proof of history:  https://medium.com/solana-labs/proof-of-history-a-clock-for-blockchain-cf47a61a9274   Serum: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/72924/ftx-dex-serum-solana-blockchain   Tether: https://medium.com/solana-labs/tether-to-bring-usdt-to-the-solana-network-77864184b20 Jump Capital: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/76826/veteran-market-maker-jump-trading-forays-into-defi-to-provide-liquidity-for-ftxs-solana-based-dex Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andreas M. Antonopoulos, speaker, educator, and the author of Mastering Bitcoin, Mastering Ethereum, and The Internet of Money, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, and Dan Held,  growth lead at Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, discuss the core features of Bitcoin's monetary policy, including how it differs from traditional central bank monetary policy, what gives it value and yet how it seems to have derived value from thin air. Plus, we talk about how the coronavirus pandemic will affect Bitcoin. In this episode, we cover: how monetary policy in general is defined the core feature of Bitcoin’s monetary policy, and how it differs from previous forms of money the similarities and differences between Bitcoin and gold why the hard cap on Bitcoin is unique and so important the difficulties in analyzing and classifying Bitcoin whether or not transaction fees alone can sustain the network once all 21 million Bitcoin have been minted if Bitcoin will be able to fulfill its original vision of democratizing finance and serving as an everyday medium of exchange why they think Bitcoin has recently been more correlated with the stock market their thoughts on the stock to flow model and whether it works for Bitcoin how they think the coronavirus, unprecedented quantitative easing, and increasing inflation will impact Bitcoin’s adoption and price how crypto banks that don’t conduct fractional reserve banking or lending might change the economy   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Gods Unchained: https://playgu.co/unchainedpod   Episode links:  Andreas Antonopoulos: https://aantonop.com On Twitter: https://twitter.com/aantonop YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/aantonop/ Dan Held: https://www.danheld.com On Twitter: https://twitter.com/danheld   Dan Held on Bitcoin's monetary policy: https://medium.com/the-bitcoin-times/information-theory-of-money-36247aebdfe1   Dan Held on Bitcoin's security model: https://www.danheld.com/blog/2019/6/16/bitcoins-security-is-fine   Unchained interview with Saifedeam Ammous: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-saifedean-ammous-on-why-bitcoin-is-the-most-advanced-form-of-money/   Mises’ Regression Theorem: https://mises.org/library/bitcoin-regression-theorem-and-emergence-new-medium-exchange   Stock to flow model: https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-with-scarcity-91fa0fc03e25   https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/bitcoin-stock-to-flow-cross-asset-model-50d260feed12   Why the stock-to-flow model is wrong: https://www.coindesk.com/why-the-stock-to-flow-bitcoin-valuation-model-is-wrong   Federal Reserve announcement about letting inflation run higher than normal to achieve a 2% target rate of inflation: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200827a.htm Kraken launching the first crypto bank: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-first-crypto-bank-what-kraken-financial-will-do-and-how/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Leising, a reporter at Bloomberg who began covering crypto in 2015, is out with a new book Out of the Ether: The Amazing Story of Ethereum and the $55 Million Heist that Almost Destroyed It All. In this episode, he discusses: the catalyst that led to him writing his new book, which covers the early history of Ethereum and the DAO attack of 2016 why he thought the story of the DAO hack was compelling enough to make a book, and how he went about reporting it the surprising things he learned about Ethereum’s early days and Vitalik the twists and turns during his quest to discover the identity of the DAO attacker why he thinks separate people were responsible for the two biggest DAO attacks his meeting in Tokyo with one of the prime suspects of a copycat DAO attack why he decided to end his story at the Ethereum hard fork and chose not to write about Ethereum Classic  what he feels the long-term significance of the DAO and the hard fork has been for Ethereum why he thinks the lessons of the DAO are not being heeded today what he thinks the next chapter of Ethereum will be and how it will unfold the differences he’s found as a journalist covering crypto as opposed to covering more traditional finance and how the book is about more than just the DAO   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com Gods Unchained: https://playgu.co/unchainedpod   Episode links:  Matthew Leising: https://twitter.com/mattleising Out of the Ether: The Amazing Story of Ethereum and the $55 Million Heist that Almost Destroyed It All: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Out+of+the+Ether%3A+The+Amazing+Story+of+Ethereum+and+the+%2455+Million+Heist+that+Almost+Destroyed+It+All-p-9781119602934   Matt's original Bloomberg article on the DAO attack, "The Ether Thief": https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-the-ether-thief/   Excerpt in Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-16/a-trip-down-the-crypto-rabbit-hole-in-search-of-the-dao-hacker   Excerpt in CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/55m-hack-ethereum-down Decrypt's interview with Matt about the book: https://decrypt.co/41952/book-sheds-new-light-on-ethereums-55-million-dao-hack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andre Cronje, the developer of yearn.finance, talks about all things DeFi and the past, present, and future of yEarn. In this episode, he discusses:   what Yearn Finance is, and what led him to develop it and eventually open it to the public his history and background, leading up to the development of Yearn the processes and mechanisms involved in yEarn v1 and yEarn v2 why he decided to do a "fair launch" of the YFI token, despite being in debt as a result of building Yearn why he felt that a Decrypt article about him in August was a "horrible hatchet job" why he disagrees with what he sees as the current anti-VC narrative his thoughts on the phenomenal rise in YFI's price and why the price of a YFI token still doesn't matter how and why he decided governance participation would be a requirement for earning tokens in the Balancer/yCurve/YFI pool the governance processes in Yearn and his thoughts on whether or not a Compound-style form of governance would be better how he might mitigate whales dominating the vote what he means by "I test in prod" and how people have misinterpreted his meaning why he briefly walked away from DeFi whether he agrees that YFI could be a new structure to replace existing traditional business structures his response to the allegations by XAR Network whether he would consider moving Yearn to another blockchain his vision for what Yearn can become and how much YFI he currently owns personally   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Gods Unchained: https://playgu.co/unchainedpod   Episode links:  Andre Cronje: https://twitter.com/AndreCronjeTech Yearn Finance: https://yearn.finance https://docs.yearn.finance   CoinDesk on Yearn: https://www.coindesk.com/what-is-yearn-finance-yfi-defi-ethereum   The Block report on yEarn Finance: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/75189/defis-yield-aggregator-dao-yearn-finance   Post introducing $YFI: https://medium.com/iearn/earning-yfi-y-curve-fi-53b5fd347f0f   Delegated vaults: https://medium.com/iearn/delegated-vaults-explained-fa81f1c3fce2 V2: https://medium.com/iearn/yearn-finance-v2-af2c6a6a3613   Delphi Digital report on yETH yVault: https://www.delphidigital.io/reports/yeth-now-do-you-understand/   yETH collateralization ratio: https://defiexplore.com/cdp/13972   Tony Sheng newsletter: https://tonysheng.substack.com/p/yfi-ponzinomics   Yearn Governance: https://medium.com/iearn/yearn-governance-forum-7b7c9d0300ac   yInsure Finance: https://medium.com/iearn/yinsure-finance-a-new-insurance-primitive-77d5d4217896   Delegated funding DAO vaults: https://medium.com/iearn/delegated-funding-dao-vaults-7ab05a63d7ba    Siege Rhino question about governance: https://twitter.com/SiegeRhino2/status/1303415750238101504?s=20   Andre’s “Building in DeFi Sucks” post: https://medium.com/@andre_54855/building-in-defi-sucks-b8fdfda0ef58?source=---------17------------------ Andre quits in February: https://decrypt.co/21068/founder-of-promising-defi-project-abandons-the-toxic-cryptosphere Andre close to quitting in August: https://decrypt.co/37995/exclusive-yfi-andre-cronje-broke-quitting-defi   What Andre wishes he had known before building Ethereum dapps: https://medium.com/iearn/things-i-wish-i-knew-before-building-ethereum-defi-dapps-cd6bf0f07a16    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olaf Carlson-Wee, the founder and CEO of Polychain Capital, goes deep into yield farming, fair launches and how decentralization will upend the traditional notion of the corporation. In this episode, he talks about: when it makes sense for a team to introduce a liquidity mining scheme, and when it doesn't the difference between yield farming and ICOs when it comes to investing his thoughts on YFI, as well as YAM, and the pace at which unaudited DeFi projects are moving forward the three advantages he sees in automated market makers as opposed to centralizedexchanges his thoughts on Uniswap and SushiSwap and why he's not sure Uniswap will make a token his thoughts on fair launches and whether he thinks they will threaten traditional crypto VCs whether the CRV token launch really was instigated by someone unrelated to the team his thoughts on the yEarn yETH vault and what it says about where the DeFi space is going what he sees as the pros and cons of rebasing why he sees projects like YFI as a new kind of corporation whether he thinks Ethereum will scale fast enough to meet the demand already being put on it why he thinks systems like Polkadot are going to expand what is possible in the same way that Ethereum expanded beyond what was possible with Bitcoin whether he thinks the yields from yield farming will pull investors away from staking on Ethereum 2.0 what he thinks DeFi teams should do to improve security Bitcoin on Ethereum and what he believes it could mean for DeFi in the future the chatter around a potential public offering from Coinbase, and what's in store for Polychain in the future   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/   Episode links:  Olaf Carlson-Wee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olafcw/ Polychain Capital: https://polychain.capital   Previous interviews with Olaf on Unchained and Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-first-employee-of-coinbase-launched-a-hedge-fund/   https://unchainedpodcast.com/to-the-moon-and-back-with-polychains-olaf-carlson-wee/   https://unchainedpodcast.com/special-episode-with-cnbcs-crypto-trader-olaf-carlson-wee-on-why-this-crypto-winter-is-different-from-previous-ones-ep-028/   https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-cryptoeconomics-pt-1-with-olaf-carlson-wee-and-ryan-zurrer-of-polychain-capital/   Why trading on automated market makers has risen so quickly: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-decentralized-trading-has-10xed-in-a-few-months/    Launch of yEarn/YFI: https://medium.com/iearn/yfi-df84573db81   Dex volume over time: https://defiprime.com/dex-volume   YAM recap: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/74810/yam-token-market-cap-collapses-by-more-than-90-flaw   YAM team’s plans going forward: YAM Post-Rescue Attempt Update. At approximately 6PM UTC, on Wed August… | by Yam Finance | Aug, 2020 | Medium   SushiSwap vs. Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sushiswap-takes-on-uniswap-which-should-win-and-why/   Ian Lee of IDEO CoLab Ventures on fair launches vs. VC coins: https://synthesis.substack.com/p/fair-launches-will-disrupt-crypto   And on fast-follower forks: https://synthesis.substack.com/p/fast-follower-forks-in-defi   CRV token launch: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/74921/the-story-of-the-botched-crv-launch   yEarn's yETH vault: https://www.coindesk.com/yearn-finance-yeth-vault-defi-triforce   Ethereum's transition to 2.0: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-ethereums-five-year-anniversary/   Security in DeFi: https://unchainedpodcast.com/defi-security-with-so-many-hacks-will-it-ever-be-safe/ Whether Coinbase will do a token offering when it goes public: https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-coinbase-do-a-token-offering-when-it-goes-public/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, and Dan Robinson, research partner at Paradigm, discuss the explosion in decentralized exchange activity on automated market makers from $1 billion earlier this year to more than $10 billion in August.  Why trading in automated market makers has 8xed in a few months how automated market makers work, and how specific dexes can specialize for the assets being traded on them why traders would prefer to trade on a dex vs. a centralized exchange how incentivized pools have drawn traders and liquidity  why trading on a dex seems can be more appealing than on a centralized exchange why trading on dexes now mirrors trading on Binance in 2017 how "DeFi is the hottest coolest place where people are making a lot of money" the difference between the metrics of liquidity, trading volume and total value locked for a dex why AMMs are capital inefficient what it means that fees paid on Uniswap are about half of those paid on Bitcoin  what the purpose of liquidity mining is why Haseeb doesn't think that dexes have network effects and that once professional market makers come in the space, Uniswap will lose market share whether users will use DeFi directly through the dexes or through another interface why Dan thinks that DeFi is now comparable to financial investment in the 1970s  whether or not yield aggregators like yEarn make it harder for AMMs to compete what happened with the CRV token launch initial dex offerings or initial DeFi offerings, like the UMA token launch whether, because of the high fees on Ethereum and the how long its transition to Ethereum 2.0 will take, DeFi activity could move to another blockchain such as Solana where DeFi will go over the next few years   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com   Episode links:  Haseeb Qureshi: https://twitter.com/hosseeb Dan Robinson: https://twitter.com/danrobinson   Haseeb’s post on the rise of AMMs: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/what-explains-the-rise-of-amms-7d008af1c399   Haseeb's post on how Uniswap could be un-bundled: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/unbundling-uniswap-the-future-of-on-chain-market-making-1c7d6948d570   Dex volume: https://defiprime.com/dex-volume   Trading volume on centralized exchanges: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/74539/july-by-the-numbers-a-look-at-crypto-exchange-volumes-open-interest-and-miner-revenue   Incentivized pools: https://pools.fyi/#/?tag=incentivized   Top dexes by trading volume: https://www.coingecko.com/en/dex   Ethereum transaction fees: https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/ethereum-transactionfees.html    Uniswap website visits 15x in July: https://messari.io/article/uniswap-total-website-visits-grew-15x-in-july   Website traffic to DeFi platforms explodes in July: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/74231/defi-platforms-web-traffic-july   Fees paid to various crypto projects: https://cryptofees.info   Curve reaches $1 billion in TVL: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/75014/curve-becomes-third-defi-protocol-to-hit-1-billion-in-total-value-locked   The Block on dex aggregators: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/69468/dex-aggregators-user-experience   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saifedean Ammous is an economist and the author of The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking, which has been translated into 20 languages. In this episode, he discusses: the basic tenets of Austrian economics and why it is the only school where Bitcoin is possible historical examples of currencies and how they lost their monetary value the stock-to-flow model and how Bitcoin fits into that model the three functions, or descriptive properties, of money and why Bitcoin fulfills these functions the concept of sound money the idea of time preference in economics and why he believes it is so important the distinction between debt and money, and why they are not the same the significance of difficulty adjustment and why he believes it is the crowning achievement of Bitcoin why he views Bitcoin as the best store of value humanity has ever invented the metrics he watches when assessing Bitcoin what he thinks is in store for Bitcoin in the future, and whether he still thinks central banks will buy Bitcoin as a reserve currency his thoughts on Ethereum and other digital currencies and his predictions for Bitcoin in the next year   Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/   Episode links:  Saifedean Ammous: https://twitter.com/saifedean Saifedean’s website: https://saifedean.com   The Bitcoin Standard: https://saifedean.com/book/   Invest Like the Best episode with Saifedean: http://investorfieldguide.com/ammous/   What Bitcoin Did episode with Saifedean: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/saifedean-ammous-on-understanding-bitcoin-economics   Plan B’s stock-to-flow model applied to Bitcoin: https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-with-scarcity-91fa0fc03e25 https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/bitcoin-stock-to-flow-cross-asset-model-50d260feed12 Essay on why the stock-to-flow model is wrong: https://www.coindesk.com/why-the-stock-to-flow-bitcoin-valuation-model-is-wrong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Chaum, the inventor of eCash and CEO of xx network, and Adam Back, the inventor of Hashcash and the cofounder and CEO of Blockstream, discuss their involvement in digital currency well before Bitcoin existed. In this episode, they discuss: how they each became enamored with the idea of digital currency years before such an idea was widely discussed the crypto wars of the 1990s and the U.S. government’s attempts to control access to advanced cryptography Digicash, the creation of eCash, and the difficulties of implementing the system with the technology available at the time the innovation of blind signatures used in eCash what caused the demise of Digicash, and David's role in that the development of Hashcash and the problems Adam was trying to solve by creating it their initial reactions to learning about Bitcoin for the first time how they think Bitcoin might improve in the future the stock-to-flow Model, and where they believe the Bitcoin price might go next why the Hashcash proof-of-work mechanism became so widely used    Thank you to our sponsor!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/   Episode links:  Adam Back: https://twitter.com/adam3us Blockstream: https://blockstream.com  Adam's website: http://www.cypherspace.org   David Chaum: https://twitter.com/chaumdotcom Elixxir: https://elixxir.io  XX Network: https://xx.network   Previous Unchained episode on the history of digital currency: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-the-history-of-digital-currency/   Wired article on “e-money”: https://www.wired.com/1994/12/emoney/     Translated Dutch article on why DigiCash failed:  https://cryptome.org/jya/digicrash.htm   Aaron Van Wirdum's Bitcoin Magazine series on the history of digital currency:  https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/the-beginners-guide-to-bitcoin-part-3-bitcoins-pre-history-and-the-cypherpunks-with-aaron-van-wirdum    David Chaum's e-Cash: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/genesis-files-how-david-chaums-ecash-spawned-cypherpunk-dream Hashcash: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/genesis-files-hashcash-or-how-adam-back-designed-bitcoins-motor-block Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron van Wirdum is the technical editor at Bitcoin Magazine. Finn Brunton is the author of “Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency.” In this episode, they tackle the history of digital currency. Topics include: the motivations behind the earliest attempts to create digital currencies, and who was behind those attempts the Extropian philosophy and how digital currency was born out of it how the cypherpunks came together and eventually began implementing tools that would lead to the creation of digital currencies the problems faced during the development of digital money, from double-spending to privacy, centralization, and spam the development of a public key protocol and why it was so significant the characteristics of earlier forms of digital currency like e-cash, hashcash, b-money, and bit gold, as well as their differences the original purpose of proof-of-work and how it was developed Hal Finney’s essential contributions to the creation of earlier digital currencies, and later, Bitcoin previous implementations of blockchain and how Bitcoin came to reinvent and utilize it which previous digital currencies come closest to Bitcoin and who they think Satoshi Nakamoto is …    Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com   Episode links:  Aaron Van Wirdum: https://twitter.com/AaronvanW Finn Brunton: http://finnb.net   Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179490/digital-cash   Aaron's Bitcoin magazine series on the early days of digital currency: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/genesis-files-how-david-chaums-ecash-spawned-cypherpunk-dream https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/genesis-files-hashcash-or-how-adam-back-designed-bitcoins-motor-block https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/genesis-files-if-bitcoin-had-first-draft-wei-dais-b-money-was-it https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/genesis-files-bit-gold-szabo-was-inches-away-inventing-bitcoin   Aaron on What Bitcoin Did discussing the stories: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/the-beginners-guide-to-bitcoin-part-3-bitcoins-pre-history-and-the-cypherpunks-with-aaron-van-wirdum  Breaker Mag Interview with Finn Brunton about his book: https://breakermag.com/new-book-reveals-cryptos-radical-origins/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Jevans, CEO of CipherTrace, and Siân Jones, Senior Partner at XReg Consulting, give the lowdown on the Financial Action Task Force’s travel rule and how it applies to businesses in the crypto space. They discuss: their background and journey into crypto what the travel rule is the consequences for countries that are not compliant whether the regulation will apply to staking providers in the future the type of companies and transactions that will be covered under the travel rule the type of information that has to be provided  how banks comply with the travel rule and whether crypto companies can use the same system the different open standards available for sharing information how the information will get shared between entities who use different travel rule solution providers the “sunrise problem” in which different companies implement their compliance systems at different times the security of user data being shared between different entities how it applies to central bank digital currencies and centralized stablecoins how the rule would affect privacy coins the inherent contradiction between the cypherpunk philosophy and regulatory compliance unintended consequences of the travel rule how the travel rule may play out in the coming years A glossary of terms discussed in the episode:  FATF: Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental organization that develops policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing VASP: virtual asset service providers, who are custodial entities that run fiat-to-crypto or crypto-to-crypto exchanges, or run businesses related to transfer and safekeeping of virtual assets and financial services. FinCEN: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the United States federal bureau that analyzes information about financial transactions in order to fight money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes FCA: Financial Conduct Authority, the financial regulatory body of the UK   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com  Tezos: https://tquorum.com/   Episode links:  Dave Jevans: https://twitter.com/davejevans CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/ Sian Jones: https://twitter.com/COINSULT XReg Consulting: https://www.xreg.consulting/ Financial Action Task Force (FATF): https://www.fatf-gafi.org/   The Osaka conference where crypto got serious about FATF’s travel rule: https://www.coindesk.com/inside-the-osaka-conference-where-crypto-got-serious-about-fatfs-travel-rule   Will Osaka be crypto’s Bretton Woods moment? https://forkast.news/will-osaka-be-cryptos-bretton-woods-moment/   InterVASP Messaging Standard: https://intervasp.org OpenVASP: https://openvasp.org OpenVASP white paper: https://openvasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/OpenVasp_Whitepaper.pdf?cache=1   FATF report on “so-called stablecoins”: http://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/recommendations/Virtual-Assets-FATF-Report-G20-So-Called-Stablecoins.pdf   OKEx’s Korea arm delisted privacy coins: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/39724/okex-korea-delisting-all-privacy-coins-including-monero-zcash-and-dash-as-these-violate-fatfs-travel-rule   Some of the potential FATF compliance solutions:  Travel Rule Information Sharing Alliance (TRISA): https://trisa.io/ Coinbase’s messaging board solution: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/72293/coinbase-exchanges-fatf-travel-rule-solution CoolBitX: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/56853/coolbitx-raises-16-75m-series-b-to-help-crypto-exchanges-comply-with-fatfs-travel-rule Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, shares his thoughts on the five-year anniversary of Ethereum, challenges with ETH 2.0 and criticisms about DeFi. We discuss: his thoughts and feelings ahead of Ethereum’s five-year anniversary how to address the high gas fees on the Ethereum network whether the complexity of Ethereum 2.0 creates a risk for the security of the network whether staking will lead to a higher focus on ETH price and issues such as monetary policy  how he looks at the ETH price with its significance for security in Ethereum 2.0 how proof of stake systems can be more democratic whether staking lends itself to the kind of securitization that looks similar to mortgage-backed securities his concerns about DeFi the most optimal way for DeFi projects to distribute their tokens his thoughts about Bitcoin on Ethereum inherent risks to Ethereum users connected to China’s Blockchain Service Network (BSN) his views on DCEP, other CBDCs and Libra the indictment of Ethereum Foundation staff member Virgil Griffith for allegedly helping North Korea to circumvent sanctions how he plans to make the Ethereum Foundation more transparent whether lack of diversity would impact the success of Ethereum in the long term where he would like to see Ethereum in the next five years Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com  Tezos: https://tquorum.com/   Episode links:  Vitalik Buterin: https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin Ethereum: https://ethereum.org/en/ Vitalik’s blog: https://vitalik.ca   Median gas price: https://blockchair.com/ethereum/charts/median-gas-price Average gas price: https://blockchair.com/ethereum/charts/average-gas-price   Solutions to gas price problem: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-developers-consider-new-fee-model-as-gas-costs-climb   Reddit AMA with the Ethereum 2.0 Research team, including Vitalik: https://old.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/ho2zpt/ama_we_are_the_efs_eth_20_research_team_pt_4_10/   Paper on how DeFi lending could undermine security in a POS system: https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.00919   Vitalik tweet on yield farming: https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1278337657194655744   Abra settlement with SEC and CFTC: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-cftc-hit-crypto-app-abra-with-300k-in-penalties-over-illegal-swaps   Maya Zehavi’s comments on what this could mean for DeFi: https://twitter.com/mayazi/status/1282696180741414918   China’s BSN using public chains, including Ethereum: https://www.coindesk.com/chinas-blockchain-infrastructure-to-extend-global-reach-with-six-public-chains   Unchained interview about DCEP: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/   Charges against Virgil Griffith: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-arrest-united-states-citizen-assisting-north-korea   More on Virgil Griffith case: https://www.coindesk.com/usa-v-virgil-griffith-what-we-know-and-dont-in-the-bombshell-crypto-sanctions-case   Unchained interview with human rights activist Yeonmi Park on what life is like in North Korea: https://unchainedpodcast.com/yeonmi-park-on-why-doing-business-with-north-korea-is-like-buying-a-ticket-to-a-concentration-camp/   Unchained interview on why North Korea is interested in cryptocurrency: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-north-korea-is-interested-in-cryptocurrency/   Case against Steven Nerayoff: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/two-arrested-extortion-startup-cryptocurrency-company Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Camila Russo, founder of The Defiant and author of a new book on Ethereum, "The Infinite Machine," speaks about how currency controls in Argentina got her interested in crypto and explains why she chose to tell the Ethereum story. She discusses: how she started covering the crypto space what it was like living through currency controls in Argentina why she started focusing on Ethereum instead of Bitcoin what’s in her new book, The Infinite Machine the most pivotal moments in Ethereum’s history possible risks to Ethereum 2.0 because of delays whether competing protocols could take market share away from Ethereum the most surprising aspect of the Ethereum story starting her own DeFi-focused media platform, The Defiant why she launched ‘CAMI’ tokens and how they are used the significance of ERC-20 tokens having a higher market cap than ETH her predictions about trends and promising projects in the DeFi space   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com  Tezos: https://tquorum.com/   Episode links:  Camila Russo: https://twitter.com/CamiRusso The Infinite Machine: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-infinite-machine-camila-russo The Defiant: https://thedefiant.substack.com/   Excerpt from The Infinite Machine on CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/sale-of-the-century-the-inside-story-of-ethereums-2014-premine   Decrypt review: https://decrypt.co/35466/the-incredible-story-of-ethereum-the-infinite-machine   Camila on what Ethereum has accomplished in five years: https://www.coindesk.com/five-years-on-ethereum-really-is-the-minecraft-of-crypto-finance   Hidden Forces podcast with Camila:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rise-ethereum-future-defi-transformation-crypto-media/id1205359334?i=1000484635053   Camila in the Keen On podcast: https://lithub.com/camila-russo-on-ethereum-and-the-future-of-the-internet/ Ethereum 2.0 phase 0 may not go live until 2021: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/71155/eth-2-phase-0-ama-2021 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the author of numerous books including The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World and most recently, the Square and the Tower: Networks and Power from the Freemasons to Facebook, and Michael Casey, chief content officer at CoinDesk and coauthor of two books on crypto, The Age of Cryptocurrency and The Truth Machine, discuss the history of money and the macro environment for Bitcoin. We cover: how they became involved in crypto historically, what has made things money, or how people have decided that something is money the difficulty of managing fiat currency modern monetary theory and the role of the state in the financial system Satoshi’s message in BTC’s genesis block and what that indicates about Satoshi's intentions with Bitcoin  whether a more transparent, blockchain-based financial system could eventually lead to a new financial order how Bitcoin behaves like an option on digital gold, and when it will behave like digital gold whether Bitcoin is simply a reversion to previous forms of money that weren’t controlled by the state how crypto/blockchain and fintech innovation from startups and the Chinese government will affect the USD how a hypothetical war between the US and China would affect the dollar's dominance how China's DCEP could disintermediate banks  how Bitcoin fits into all of the different macro conditions facing the global economy whether Libra is going to be the initial gateway getting people into our digital currency world how well the recovery from coronavirus will go, and how it will affect the development of the crypto space in the near-term   Thank you to our sponsors!   Crypto.com: https://crypto.com   Tezos: https://tquorum.com/   Episode links:    Niall Ferguson: http://www.niallferguson.com   The Ascent of Money: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/302900/the-ascent-of-money-by-niall-ferguson/   Michael Casey: https://www.michaeljcasey.com   Money Reimagined: https://www.coindesk.com/tag/money-reimagined The Age of Cryptocurrency: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250081551   The first episode in the Why Bitcoin Now series: Mike Novogratz and Raoul Pal on 'the Single Greatest Brand' ofo the Last 10 Years:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-mike-novogratz-and-raoul-pal-on-the-single-greatest-brand-of-the-last-10-years/   How Niall got into Bitcoin: http://www.niallferguson.com/journalism/finance-economics/bitcoin-may-go-pop-but-its-revolution-will-go-on   Niall and Michael at Consensus: https://www.coindesk.com/disruption-money-and-a-world-of-change-feat-niall-ferguson   Unchained interview with Chamath Palihapitiya, who believes Bitcoin is a hedge on everything blowing up: https://unchainedpodcast.com/chamath-palihapitiya-why-bitcoin-will-be-the-category-winner/   Carlota Perez at CoinDesk's Consensus: https://www.coindesk.com/video/carlota-perez-on-blockchains-and-technological-revolutions   Unchained interview about the DCEP: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/   Unchained interview with Christopher Giancarlo about a digital dollar: https://unchainedpodcast.com/christopher-giancarlo-why-the-us-needs-to-have-a-digital-dollar/   Unconfirmed episode with Michael about Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/ Unchained episode with a co-creator of Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-libra-co-creator-on-how-facebook-will-make-money-from-calibra/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Elitzer, investor at IDEO CoLab Ventures, and Will Price, data scientist at Flipside Crypto, discuss the yield farming craze. In this episode, we cover: the goals of protocols offering liquidity mining the goals of users yield farming right now whether users of Compound will have much awareness of COMP in the future how Compound is trying to dampen inorganic activity and properly align incentives  how incentives in one DeFi protocol can screw up another's such as changes in Compound's liquidity mining program causing Dai to lose its peg whether the activity created by liquidity mining is sustainable and how whether Compound is overvalued and how to determine valuations for DeFi tokens the security risks that come with trying yield farming how teams can keep their protocols safe given the composability of DeFi and the growing number of developments in the space whether the yield farming craze will cause the price of ETH to rise and why the prevalence of stablecoins might prevent that whether new DeFi tokens could push flagging layer 1s out of the top 10 what will happen if even more Bitcoin comes to DeFi how the next big thing in DeFi might be trying to stack yield across protocols and eventually prime brokerage protocols Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com   Episode links:  Dan Elitzer: https://twitter.com/delitzer IDEO CoLab Ventures: https://www.ideocolab.com/ventures/ Will Price: https://twitter.com/will__price Flipside Crypto: https://flipsidecrypto.com   Total value locked in Compound: https://defipulse.com/compound   What liquidity bootstrapping pools are: https://medium.com/balancer-protocol/building-liquidity-into-token-distribution-a49d4286e0d4    Dan on earning more from borrowing USDT than lending it on Compound: https://twitter.com/delitzer/status/1272642107128164354    Tony Sheng on how yield farming works and how much you can earn from it: https://twitter.com/tonysheng/status/1274393189231689728   And his followup on the risks of yield farming: https://twitter.com/tonysheng/status/1274780457729617920   The purpose of COMP for governance: https://medium.com/compound-finance/compound-community-ownership-ee0ed1252cc3  https://medium.com/compound-finance/expanding-compound-governance-ce13fcd4fe36   Risks of so much BAT being held in Compound: https://twitter.com/spencernoon/status/1276897377446776832?s=20 https://twitter.com/defiprime/status/1277026665952980992?s=20 https://twitter.com/devops199fan/status/1274732220192829441?s=20   Cyrus of MakerDAO concerned about the risks COMP poses to the Dai peg: https://forum.makerdao.com/t/upcoming-comp-farming-change-could-impact-the-dai-peg/2965   Dan Guido and Taylor Monahan on Unchained discussing DeFi security: https://unchainedpodcast.com/defi-security-with-so-many-hacks-will-it-ever-be-safe/   Twitter discussion on whether ETH price will rise due to yield farming: https://twitter.com/RyanSAdams/status/1274781676875452421   What will happen to other Layer 1s? https://twitter.com/Shaughnessy119/status/1274376237239189504?s=20  Aquaponic yield farming: https://bankless.substack.com/p/aquaponic-yield-farming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is the first in a series, Why Bitcoin Now, that takes a deeper dive into Bitcoin and the history of money in the macroeconomic environment of the coronavirus. Mike Novogratz, founder, CEO and chairman of Galaxy Digital, and Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor and Real Vision Group, tell us where they think Bitcoin is going amidst this macro uncertainty and the global crisis due to the coronavirus. We discuss:  why Bitcoin’s price hasn't risen in price due to the global turmoil, and instead fell with the rest of the market on Black Thursday  why quantitative easing is the catalyst for institutional investors to turn to Bitcoin, but why that takes time, and why registered investment advisors may be on the cusp why they think retail investors will continue to buy Bitcoin despite record unemployment why Bitcoin will benefit from social unrest why any particular country's success in dealing with the coronavirus won’t really lessen the economic impact there whether China's first-mover advantage with the DCEP and its comprehensive enterprise blockchain initiatives will undermine the global dominance of the US dollar  why they believe there will ultimately be a dollar-based stablecoin  why they believe Libra will be a strong player in the future of stablecoins  how election outcomes, and in particular a potential movement to break up Big Tech, could affect Bitcoin and the vision for Web3 whether Ethereum, and staking, will see more adoption from institutional investors  why they believe yield farming is ultimately not sustainable, but still profitable the impact the Bitcoin halving will have in this macroeconomic environment Unchained is hiring!  Check out our job listing for a remote editorial assistant here! Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://crypto.law  Stellar: https://www.stellar.org  Episode links:  Mike Novogratz: https://twitter.com/novogratz Galaxy Digital: https://www.galaxydigital.io Raoul Pal: https://twitter.com/RaoulGMI Real Vision: https://www.realvision.com Unchained interview with Kyle Samani on what happened in the crypto markets on Black Thursday: https://unchainedpodcast.com/teetering-on-the-edge-how-black-thursday-exposed-the-flaws-in-the-crypto-markets/ Unconfirmed interview with Antoine Le Calvez on what happened on BitMEX during Black thursday: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-happened-on-bitmex-during-black-thursday/ Unchained interview with Chamath Palihapitiya on Bitcoin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/chamath-palihapitiya-why-bitcoin-will-be-the-category-winner/ Brian Armstrong tweet about deposits to Coinbase the same size as the $1,200 stimulus check: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1250907110730170370?s=20 China's DCEP and blockchain initiative: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/ Unchained interview on Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-libra-co-creator-on-how-facebook-will-make-money-from-calibra/ Unconfirmed interview with the Libra Association's Dante Disparte: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Unconfirmed interview with Michael Casey on why it would it would be good if Libra rivaled the USD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/ Christopher Giancarlo's digital dollar project: https://unchainedpodcast.com/christopher-giancarlo-why-the-us-needs-to-have-a-digital-dollar/ Ethereum 2.0 staking: https://www.coindesk.com/3-ways-staking-will-upend-the-economics-of-ethereum Unconfirmed with Kain Warwick on COMP's launch: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-comp-5xed-on-day-1-and-what-this-means-for-a-defi-bull-market/ Unconfirmed interview with Tony Sheng on yield farming: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-you-can-double-your-money-or-lose-everything/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chamath Palihapitiya, the CEO of Social Capital and chairman of Virgin Galactic, talks about a wide range of issues, including Bitcoin, COVID, civil unrest, and broad economic trends and forecasts. We discuss: Whether his economic forecasts have shifted throughout COVID Why he believes a debt crisis will occur How he views the success of BTC as a hedge against the ruling class How the economic pendulum will swing back toward consumers Why he doesn't mind if big corporations and hedge funds get wiped out Whether he subscribes to the thesis that Bitcoin is uncorrelated  Why the pandemic has not spurred institutional adoption of crypto Why he sees no merit in Ethereum How the economy will become more decentralized in the future and whether blockchain will be a part of it  Why he prefers SPACs over ICOs Why he started capital as a service  Why he believes the government should bust up large corporations Unchained is hiring! I'm looking for a remote editorial assistant. If you love crypto and have journalism experience, get in touch! https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/ Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Stellar: https://www.stellar.org  Kelman Law: https://www.kelman.law  Episode links:  Chamath Palihapitiya: https://twitter.com/chamath Social Capital: https://www.socialcapital.com/ Turmoil at Social Capital: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/social-capital-founder-gives-his-account-of-turmoil-at-firm https://observer.com/2018/09/chamath-palihapitiya-social-capital-turmoil/ https://medium.com/@chamath/the-reports-of-our-death-have-been-greatly-exaggerated-11bcc80ee4ab 2019 interview with Kara Swisher: https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2019/3/4/18247010/chamath-palihapitiya-social-capital-happiness-identity-crisis-kara-swisher-teddy-schleifer-podcast Chamath on Recode Decode in 2020: https://podcastnotes.org/recode-decode/chamath-palihapitiya-kara-swisher-investing/ Fed buying up to $250 billion in individual corporate bonds: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/federal-reserve-begins-individual-corporate-bond-purchases-secondary-market-relief-2020-6-1029309910 CNBC interview where he says Bitcoin is an uncorrelated hedge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2gDmcU8bDw  https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/12/12/social-capitals-palihapitiya-bitcoin-is-going-to-1-million-in-the-next-20-years.html SPAC: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-modern-ipo-is-useless-lets-reinvent-it-1506361770?mod=searchresults&page=2&pos=13 China’s blockchain efforts: https://www.coindesk.com/from-banking-giants-to-tech-darlings-china-reveals-over-500-enterprise-blockchain-projects Capital as a service:  https://caas.socialcapital.com  https://medium.com/social-capital/from-experiment-to-product-capital-as-a-service-one-year-later-6d8b4b9c038b 2019 investor letter: https://www.socialcapital.com/annual-letters/2019 At Stanford GSB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMotykw0SIk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At an event at the NYU Stern School of Business, Christopher Giancarlo, former CFTC Chairman and co-founder of the Digital Dollar Foundation, discusses his proposal for a US central bank digital currency (CBDC), and how that fits into the broader geopolitical environment. We cover: Why he has focused on pushing for a US digital dollar after leaving the CFTC How a US CBDC would be different from other stablecoins How the proposal is designed to build off of the traditional banking infrastructure What pilot programs would look like How a digital dollar would foster economic inclusion even though using the digital dollar requires owning a smartphone How it would handle privacy How the network would be secured Whether the US is falling behind China in terms of central bank digital currencies and blockchain exploration Whether Libra will be a proxy for the digital dollar How COVID-19 has affected the discourse around a digital dollar Whether the election will affect the future of the digital dollar Unchained is hiring! Check out our job listing for a remote editorial assistant here! https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/ Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://crypto.law   Stellar: https://www.stellar.org Episode links:  Chris Giancarlo: https://twitter.com/giancarlo Digital Dollar Project : https://www.digitaldollarproject.org Previous Unchained interview with Chris: https://unchainedpodcast.com/christopher-giancarlo-on-the-craziness-of-becoming-crypto-dad/  Chris and Daniel Gorfine’s WSJ op-ed advocating for a digital dollar: https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-sent-a-man-to-the-moon-we-can-send-the-dollar-to-cyberspace-11571179923 Digital dollars in stimulus bills — March: https://www.coindesk.com/house-stimulus-bills-envision-digital-dollar-to-ease-coronavirus-recession  April: https://www.coindesk.com/digital-dollar-reintroduced-by-us-lawmakers-in-latest-stimulus-bill Pew Research on smartphone adoption: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/ FDIC survey on the unbanked and underbanked: https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/2017/2017execsumm.pdf Banks keeping some of customers’ stimulus money: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/business/stimulus-paychecks-garnish-banks.html Why a digital dollar is politically more feasible at this moment than before: https://www.coindesk.com/the-overton-window-opens-for-a-digital-dollar Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown also proposes digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/us-senate-floats-digital-dollar-bill-after-house-scrubs-term-from-coronavirus-relief-plan  Philadelphia Fed paper: https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/research-and-data/publications/working-papers/2020/wp20-19.pdf Receptivity in Congress to the idea of a digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/how-a-flurry-of-digital-dollar-proposals-made-it-to-congress Libra white paper: https://libra.org/en-US/white-paper/#cover-letter Congressional hearing on using FedAccounts and for stimulus: https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=406612 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. House Representative, Warren Davidson, contextualizes the state of crypto legislation in terms of widespread civil unrest, COVID-19, and global shifts in power. He explains where crypto plays a role in these paradigm shifts and talks about: Why he believes in crypto, and how he came into the space How his Token Taxonomy Act creates regulatory clarity for token issuers What four conditions tokens would have to meet to not be considered securities Other features of the Token Taxonomy Act, including a de minimus exemption for taxes and no taxation of crypto-to-crypto trades How the pandemic and coronavirus-related fiscal stimulus affects the prospects for the Token Taxonomy Act What he thinks about China's blockchain push and its DCEP digital yuan Whether and how that creates a credible threat to US dominance in global markets Whether Libra could be a counterweight How a shift toward digital currencies could undermine the global reserve status of the USD and whether that affects the US's ability to enforce sanctions How outcomes of the upcoming election will affect the potential passage of crypto-friendly regulation Why it is easier for crypto legislation to be more bi-partisan than other bills   What help he needs from the industry right now to push along crypto-friendly bills Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://crypto.law   Stellar: https://www.stellar.org Episode links:  Rep. Warren Davidson: https://twitter.com/WarrenDavidson His House page: https://davidson.house.gov Press release on the Token Taxonomy Act: https://davidson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/token-taxonomy-act-address-blockchain-innovation-flight-america Token Taxonomy Act on GovTrack: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2144 Text of the Token Taxonomy Act: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2144/text Letter requesting IRS clarify some crypto tax policies: https://www.coindesk.com/us-lawmakers-ask-irs-to-clarify-crypto-tax-rules-around-airdrops-forks-in-new-letter Congressman Patrick McHenry on Unchained discussing his “permanent beta testing” idea for crypto: https://unchainedpodcast.com/congressman-patrick-mchenry-bitcoin-will-be-of-enormous-value/ Unchained interview on the DCEP: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/ Unchained interview with Libra co-creator Christian Catalini: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-libra-co-creator-on-how-facebook-will-make-money-from-calibra/ Unchained with Christopher Giancarlo on his proposal for a digital dollar: https://unchainedpodcast.com/christopher-giancarlo-on-the-craziness-of-becoming-crypto-dad/ Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Libra and a digital dollar: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-05/mnuchin-powell-see-no-need-for-fed-to-issue-digital-currency Video in which Rep. Davidson says “shitcoin”: https://www.coindesk.com/lawmakers-amp-up-pressure-on-facebook-to-halt-libra-cryptocurrency-development Meltem Demirors and Jill Carlson on the Shitcoin Waterfall on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/meltem-demirors-and-jill-carlson-on-the-shitcoin-waterfall-ep-74/taxes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Walden of Variant Fund, and Robert Leshner of Compound explain all of the problems associated with the decentralizing process in terms of governance and compliance, pulling from their own lessons and their commentary on other projects. We cover: Why projects must start with some level centralization How projects can both monetize and not put their code at risk of being forked How they can decentralize while also maintaining security, especially for composable DeFi projects that may become vulnerable as new technology and new protocols are introduced How and when to distribute the token so as not to attract only speculators and also not trip regulatory wires  How Compound’s current governance works, how it is decentralizing, why they decided to use a governance token, and what Compound (the company) will do after full decentralization  Why open-sourced projects are still able to extract profits, even after a fork Whether or not teams should have admin keys, such as what was used in response to the bZx attacks Whether or not projects should be upgrade-able What Block.One, which raised $4 billion in an ICO, did right to only pay a $24 million fine to the SEC  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://crypto.law   Stellar: https://www.stellar.org Episode links:  Jesse Walden: https://twitter.com/jessewldn Robert Leshner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rleshner/ A16z Crypto startup school: https://a16z.com/crypto-startup-school/ Compound: https://compound.finance Progressive Decentralization playbook: https://jessewalden.com/progressive-decentralization-a-playbook-for-building-crypto-applications/ What recent moves by the SEC say about mutability when it comes to crypto networks: https://a16z.com/2019/10/22/mutability-sec-recent-cases/ Compound’s $COMP token: https://medium.com/compound-finance/compound-governance-5531f524cf68 More on Compound’s governance token: https://www.coindesk.com/compound-extends-defi-ethos-to-itself-launches-governance-token Unchained discussion about bZx attacks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-bzx-attacks-unethical-or-illegal-2-experts-weigh-in/ Eric Wall tweet storm on admin keys: https://twitter.com/ercwl/status/1229198599264907264?s=20 tBTC shutting down: https://twitter.com/keep_project/status/1262483526437556228 More on tBTC: https://www.coindesk.com/bug-forces-shutdown-of-bitcoin-backed-ethereum-token-tbtc Unchained interview about tBTC in which Matt Luongo explains the admin key: https://unchainedpodcast.com/tbtc-what-happens-when-the-most-liquid-crypto-asset-hits-defi/ Is the SEC trying to kill the SAFT? https://www.coindesk.com/with-kik-and-telegram-cases-the-sec-tries-to-kill-the-saft  Block.One settlement with SEC: https://www.coindesk.com/eos-maker-block-one-settles-with-sec-over-unregistered-securities-sale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s Unchained is my panel at Ready Layer One! We talk everything layer one with four key players and projects -- Illia Polosukhin of NEARprotocol, Zaki Manian of Cosmos, Rob Habermeier of Polkadot, and Arthur Breitman of Tezos — to find out how these projects plan to compete with Ethereum and attract developers and users. We discuss:  What platforms they are building and at which stage in development they are  How they differentiate themselves from Ethereum, and what problems they believe need to be solved  How they plan to attract devs in an industry of network effects  Whether or not Bitcoin and Ethereum are direct competitors Whether, in the long run, crypto will be more winner-take-all or there will be multiple, interoperable chains   How they plan to bring new users into the space How they think the transition to ETH2.0 will shake up the existing blockchain space Take our survey! Tell us what would you like to see from Unchained! Please take a moment to fill out the survey to let us know what you'd like from the show: surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020. Crypto.com has offered our survey respondents a chance to win a metal MCO Visa card -- and Crypto.com will stake these cards indefinitely! Ten lucky winners will enjoy card benefits including free Spotify, free Netflix and 3% back on all spending, and they’ll earn extra interest on their crypto deposit and more!  Thanks, Crypto.com! Again, take the survey now: surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020. Unchained is hiring! Come work at Unchained! We have an opening for a remote editorial assistant — find out more about the gig and apply here: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/ Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Stellar: https://www.stellar.org/ Episode links:  Illia Polosukhin: https://twitter.com/ilblackdragon Near protocol: https://near.org Zaki Manian: https://twitter.com/zmanian Cosmos: https://cosmos.network Rob Habermeier: https://twitter.com/rphmeier Polkadot: https://polkadot.network Arthur Breitman: https://twitter.com/ArthurB Tezos: https://tezos.com Near protocol on mainnet: https://near.org/blog/near-mainnet-genesis/ Electric Capital report on the number of developers in Ethereum: https://unchainedpodcast.com/electric-capital-on-the-coins-punching-below-their-weight/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, cofounder and CEO of Binance, and I kicked off the Ethereal Virtual Summit with a fun fireside chat! He talked about Binance’s current operations, its plans for the future, and the crypto industry as a whole. He explains:  Why he thought the questions I asked him in our first interview were misleading Whether Libra’s new plans are affecting Binance’s strategy for Venus What impact China’s DCEP will have on crypto Why the confluence of circumstances caused by COVID are a “perfect storm” for crypto, and how this will affect crypto in the long-term Whether the Binance Smart Chain will leech away Ethereum developers and users Why he thinks competition in the industry only grows it How Binance can own CoinMarketCap without affecting its objectivity  What he says to the class-action lawsuit against Binance, him and the other cofounders of Binance accusing them of offering unregistered securities How he views the role of Binance in governance in delegated proof-of-state systems, such as when Binance flip-flopped on a contentious hard fork in Steem Where Binance is headquartered Unchained is hiring! Check out the job posting here! https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/ Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Stellar: https://www.stellar.org/ Episode links: CZ: https://twitter.com/cz_binance Binance: https://www.binance.com/en My first interview with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Details on BUSD: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/38607/binance-launching-its-own-usd-pegged-stablecoin-busd-with-paxos-as-custodian Binance announcement about BUSD: https://binance.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032604131-Binance-Announces-Open-Blockchain-Project-Venus-  BUSD marketshare: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-stablecoin-busd-tops-100m-but-lags-behind-rivals Venus as the One Belt, One Road initiative of Libra: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1163364542233006082?s=20  Venus focusing on developing countries: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-is-pitching-its-stablecoin-as-a-government-friendly-libra-competitor Binance’s acquisition of CoinMarketCap: https://www.coindesk.com/binances-coinmarketcap-acquisition-is-a-bet-that-crypto-really-is-for-the-masses 125x leverage: https://www.binance.com/en/blog/393707200802271232/5-Things-You-Need-to-Know-About-Binance-Futures-125x-Leverage The Block report on BNB’s latest token burn: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/62306/a-closer-look-at-binances-bnb-burns Lee et al. vs. Binance: https://www.scribd.com/document/455203877/Lee-et-al-vs-Binance Estimate that Binance earned $46 million in profit in 2018:  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/10491/analysis-binance-brought-in-446-million-in-profits-in-2018-despite-the-bear-market Binance used Steem tokens on its exchange to help vote out Steem validators: https://steempeak.com/witness/@ura-soul/ura-soul-witness-update-anarchy-vs-empire-tron-replaces-top-witnesses-and-takes-over-the-steem-blockchain  CZ’s initial tweet about the how Binance handled the Steemit fork: https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1234565384327585792?s=20 Binance reverses course: https://www.coindesk.com/steem-will-hard-fork-in-just-hours-over-community-fears-of-justin-sun-power-grab Binance not authorized to operate in Malta: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/56603/binance-is-not-authorised-to-operate-in-malta-says-the-countrys-financial-regulator  CZ on Binance not being based in Malta and decentralized: https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1230860647086338048 Binance shut down Shanghai offices: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/47922/binances-shanghai-office-shut-down-following-police-raid-sources-say Links to topics we did not have time to cover: Binance removes all references to Visa from its credit card: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/60886/binance-quietly-scrubs-visa-mentions-from-its-payment-card-website Opening mining pool: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-crypto-exchange-is-launching-its-first-bitcoin-mining-pool Investment in startups in Africa: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-backed-crypto-payments-app-as-race-for-africa-heats-up In-browser trading: https://www.coindesk.com/brave-partners-with-binance-to-develop-in-browser-crypto-trading https://brave.com/binance/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amanda Fabiano, director of Bitcoin mining at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, and Christopher Bendiksen, head of research at CoinShares, discuss the third Bitcoin halving, which occurred hours before the publication of this episode. They discuss: the significance of the halving what effect it could have on price and what Amanda and Christopher think of Dan Morehead's projection that it could reach $115,000 next year how macroeconomic events like the coronavirus and quantitative easing could impact uptake of Bitcoin how the halving could affect miners and hash rate how the halving could influence the environmental impact of Bitcoin why mining was the first activity Fidelity pursued with Bitcoin what they think needs to happen in Bitcoin to foster more adoption why hash rate derivatives will be a crucial step what the outlook is for institutional adoption of Bitcoin plus, is it halving or halvening? Take the 2020 Unchained Podcast survey!  I'm doing another survey to find out what you want from the podcasts and how I can make them better! Please take a moment to fill it out here and to tell us at Unchained what you'd like from the show: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020 Plus, Crypto.com has offered our survey respondents a chance to win a metal MCO Visa card -- Crypto.com will stake these cards indefinitely! Ten lucky winners will enjoy card benefits including free Spotify, free Netflix, 3% back on all spending, earn extra interest on their crypto deposit and more!  Thanks, Crypto.com! Again, take the survey now! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020 Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Stellar: https://www.stellar.org/ Episode links:  Amanda Fabiano: https://twitter.com/_amanda_fab Fidelity Center for Applied Technology: https://www.fidelitylabs.com Christopher Bendiksen: https://twitter.com/C_Bendiksen Coinshares: https://coinshares.com Coinshares’ 5 Popular Bitcoin Halving Theories: https://coinshares.com/research/5-popular-btc-halving-theories Coinshares’ December 2019 Bitcoin Mining Report: https://coinshares.com/assets/resources/Research/bitcoin-mining-network-december-2019.pdf Unconfirmed episode with Dan Morehead: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-bitcoin-price-of-115000-next-year/ Bitcoin stock-to-flow ratio: https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-with-scarcity-91fa0fc03e25 Fidelity opens trading to institutional customers: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-06/fidelity-said-to-offer-cryptocurrency-trading-within-a-few-weeks Fidelity Digital Assets signs first exchange: https://www.coindesk.com/fidelity-digital-assets-to-sign-up-its-first-crypto-exchange-by-end-of-the-year Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone, this is an essay by Mariano Conti of MakerDAO that was so popular, personal and relatable, especially to those living in Latin America, that we decided to have Mariano translate it and read it in Spanish. Share it with your Spanish-speaking friends who still don’t understand what crypto is about, to show how it solved real-world problems for at least one person.  Mariano Conti, jefe de contratos inteligentes de MakerDAO, nos lee su ensayo sobre su experiencia personal con criptomonedas, desde el punto de vista de un Argentino cuya familia ha experimentado períodos de hiperinflación, y de un freelancer que recibe pagos por su trabajo desde varios países. Mariano describe la evolución de Maker desde Dai de Colateral Único (ahora Sai) hasta Dai Multi Colateral, y también brinda su perspectiva de los eventos del Jueves Negro y las subastas de deuda subsecuentes que el protocolo debió llevar a cabo para regularizar su situación. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Guido, cofounder and CEO of Trail of Bits, and Taylor Monahan, founder and CEO of MyCrypto, discuss all the recent hacks in DeFi, how it can be made more safely and who is responsible.  We tackle:  the Hegic security incident: whose responsibility it was to make sure the contract was secure — the auditor (Trail of Bits) or the team (Hegic) — what Trail of Bits was saying in its audit summary, and how to read between the lines of an audit summary how long an audit should be upgradeability: particularly around when more advanced technology and contracts interface with older technology/contracts centralization vs. decentralization: whether contracts can be made safely while maintaining adhering to the principle of decentralization, why Taylor would prioritize centralization and security, and how teams can create different levels of risk for users  bug bounties: why asking what amount they should be is the wrong question the security threats posed by oracles and what a checklist for DeFi teams might look like Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com  Stellar: https://www.stellar.org Episode links:  Dan Guido: https://twitter.com/dguido Trail of Bits: https://www.trailofbits.com Taylor Monahan: https://twitter.com/tayvano_ MyCrypto: https://mycrypto.com Initial tweet by Hegic calling the security issue a typo: https://twitter.com/HegicOptions/status/1253937104666742787?s=20 Hegic tweet saying, “It’s not a security issue”: https://twitter.com/HegicOptions/status/1253954145113038849?s=20   Trail of Bits saying it will no longer work with Hegic: https://twitter.com/dguido/status/1254260725431894020?s=20  Taylor breaks down the audit summary: https://twitter.com/MyCrypto/status/1254058121342803968?s=20 Molly Wintermute’s Medium post on requesting a week audit vs. three-day review: https://medium.com/@molly.wintermute/post-mortem-hegic-unlock-function-bug-or-three-defi-development-mistakesthat-i-feel-sorry-about-5a23a7197bce  Unconfirmed episode with Haseeb Qureshi on the Lendf.me attack: https://unchainedpodcast.com/haseeb-qureshi-on-the-unbelievable-story-of-the-25-million-lendf-me-hack/ Unchained interview showing Matt Luongo's approach to kill switches and upgradeability with tBTC: https://unchainedpodcast.com/tbtc-what-happens-when-the-most-liquid-crypto-asset-hits-defi/ Discussion of the bZx attacks on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-bzx-attacks-unethical-or-illegal-2-experts-weigh-in/ Issue with Curve contract: https://blog.curve.fi/vulnerability-disclosure/  Compound bug bounty program: https://compound.finance/docs/security#bug-bounty Taylor on “upgradeability makes things more insecure”: https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1222564979657723904?s=20  Synthetix oracle incident, allowing a bot to profit $1 billion: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-synthetix-became-the-second-largest-defi-platform/ Taylor’s tips on how to get more ROI on an audit: https://twitter.com/MyCrypto/status/1254061500244713474?s=20 Tips to follow before getting an audit: https://blog.openzeppelin.com/follow-this-quality-checklist-before-an-audit-8cc6a0e44845/  Resources for security in DeFi:  crytic/building-secure-contractsGuidelines and training material to write secure smart contracts - crytic/building-secure-contractsgithub.com https://consensys.github.io/smart-contract-best-practices/  https://forum.openzeppelin.com https://swcregistry.io https://diligence.consensys.net/blog/2020/03/new-offering-1-day-security-reviews/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Luongo, CEO of Thesis, the parent company of Fold and Keep, describes the just-launched tBTC, his plan for a censorship-resistant Bitcoin-Ethereum bridge. He explains his personal reasons for wanting such a platform, why tBTC is different from other versions of Bitcoin on Ethereum, and how it works -- including the process of becoming a signer in minting tBTC, how the system will handle crises, the reason for high collateralization levels, why staking assets are limited, and the necessity of a work token, Keep. He also discusses the economics behind tBTC-backed tBTC, his vision for DeFi, how tBTC could buffer an ETH crash, and the reasoning behind minimal governance mechanisms -- playing into why institutions trust BTC more than ETH. Plus, he contrasts the Bitcoin and Ethereum communities and talks about the possibility of tBTC2.0.   Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  Matt Luongo: https://twitter.com/mhluongo Thesis: https://thesis.co/ Keep: https://keep.network/ Fold App: https://foldapp.com/ tBTC white paper: https://docs.keep.network/tbtc/index.pdf Initial reveal: https://twitter.com/mhluongo/status/1162481737525583873?s=20 Announcement on Keep blog: https://blog.keep.network/bridging-bitcoin-and-ethereum-b2f9923630a7?gi=5c9040ed3a72 Some criticism of tBTC: https://twitter.com/peterktodd/status/1162728205607985152?s=20 Matt on the Breakdown podcast: https://www.coindesk.com/will-defi-matter-in-a-post-coronavirus-world-feat-matt-luongo Matt on Sendwyre podcast: https://blog.sendwyre.com/announcing-tbtc-with-james-prestwich-and-matt-luongo-of-cross-chain-group-c424e2b0b40c?gi=d1e8b53ca80e How tBTC works: https://defipulse.com/blog/what-is-tbtc/ The Block on tBTC: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/55284/inside-tbtc-the-bitcoin-backed-erc-20-token-that-could-go-live-in-march Keep raises $7.7 million: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinoconnell/2020/04/03/coinbase-co-founder-invests-in-project-to-bridge-bitcoin-and-ethereum/#368a6f737df4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO of ARK Invest, and Yassine Elmandjra, ARK's thematic analyst, discuss their investment strategy with disruptive innovation, and how blockchain technology, especially Bitcoin, plays a major role in it. They explain why the unique market circumstances due to the coronavirus have led to more correlation between crypto and the traditional financial markets, but also why, in the long-term, it will ultimately be uncorrelated. We cover why they think crypto in the age of COVID-19 will see new opportunity, and when there will be a recovery of the larger economy. They also share, from an investor standpoint, their growing conviction in Bitcoin due to its long-term value proposition compared to other chains like Ethereum. Plus, we talk about the future outlook for central bank digital currencies, and how Libra will launch, albeit differently, than expected.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  Cathie Wood: https://twitter.com/cathiedwood?lang=en Yassine Elmandjra: https://twitter.com/yassineARK  Yahoo Finance interview on ARK’s big ideas for 2020: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/cathie-wood-talks-ark-invests-222723696.html Keynote on State of Digital Assets at Volt Capital summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2729&v=c50TMCKsktA&feature=emb_logo ARK’s Q&A video conference on COVID-19: https://ark-invest.com/research/bis2020?utm_campaign=BIS%202020&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--kCZDJ0VuIxNViHjN7KR7qOryEusndZqMfNp7JMkD4AIZJCv8otUtZm8YgPdmVYTZb3ylv4ysbxt8fRIUvngkRLcyvIw&_hsmi=85729999&utm_source=hs_email&utm_content=85729999&hsCtaTracking=14ee7e75-5bf4-46f8-8c8c-f5aeb84b32a7%7C5f5d3a43-f10e-4792-92de-96ef495eb5c6  Feature on Cathie Wood: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-02-18/cathie-wood-s-tesla-bet-puts-ark-invest-in-spotlight Her views on Zcash: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/12660/cathie-wood-on-the-block-the-crypto-revolution-is-coming-jump-on-or-get-out-of-the-way Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mariano Conti of MakerDAO, head of smart contracts at MakerDAO, reads from his essay about his personal experience with cryptocurrency, particularly as an Argentine whose family has experienced periods of hyperinflation, and as a freelancer accepting payment from foreign countries. He describes the evolution of Maker from single-collateral Dai (now Sai) to multi-collateral Dai, and also gives his perspective on the events of Black Thursday and the subsequent debt auctions the protocol undertook to right itself.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  Mariano Conti: https://twitter.com/nanexcool Linda Xie’s essay about crypto memes on Unchained : https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-memes-can-help-crypto-go-mainstream/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital reads from his essay on how defensible each of the major DeFi protocols on Ethereum are, and what that says about Ethereum's defensibility.  He evaluates how easy it would be from an effort and capital standpoint to fork each of the major DeFi protocols, and makes a strong case for how and why he thinks protocols like Maker are quite defensible, and why he believes certain dexes are less so. Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this essay, Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly Capital explains why he thinks the focus on decentralization can be overhyped. He looks at why decentralization can be important but then makes it clear, by dissecting when it is important and when it’s not, and to whom it does and doesn’t matter, that it isn’t the be-all end-all goal for every endeavor. He talks about which questions we should be asking beyond just, “is it decentralized,” and also explains why that question doesn’t even make sense.  Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyle Samani, managing partner at Multicoin Capital, dissects Black Thursday, March 12, the day the crypto markets plunged twice amid the wider sell-off in the markets due to the coronavirus. He offers several theories for the first price drop that day, how that set off a series of liquidations on various exchanges, and then why liquidations stopped for about 12 hours before the next wave, which triggered the next price slump. He also describes why, at that point, the crypto market structure broke, as arbitrageurs attempted to move collateral from one exchange to another but could not because both the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains became congested, setting off a downward spiral particularly in Bitcoin, as miners began turning off equipment due to the falling BTC price. This led, ultimately, to there being $200 million worth of positions to liquidate on BitMEX, but only $20 million worth of bids on the entire BitMEX order book. Then we cover what happened next that ultimately saved the price of BTC dropping to $0 on BitMEXT. Next, we discuss the second fall in prices that day, and how that affected MakerDAO, with congestion on the Ethereum blockchain preventing keepers from being able to liquidate undercollateralized vaults. A clever keeper sent a bid to liquidate a vault with a higher gas price, but realizing that there was no competition, bid $0, walking away with $4.5 million, and a total of $8 million being won this way. We covered how the price of ETH fell to $88 but because oracles weren't properly updating, the last price of ETH on MakerDAO was at $101 — a dollar higher than the $100 where a bunch of liquidations would have occurred, which would have likely put more downward pressure on ETH, resulting in another downward spiral.  Kyle also evaluates some of the technical options for preventing these issues in future times of volatility, why many of them aren't promising but what is.  Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  https://multicoin.capital/2020/03/20/march-12-the-day-crypto-market-structure-broke-part-2/ Links from news recap: Kyle Samani: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital/ Multicoin blog part 1: https://multicoin.capital/2020/03/17/march-12-the-day-crypto-market-structure-broke/ Part 2: https://multicoin.capital/2020/03/20/march-12-the-day-crypto-market-structure-broke-part-2/ Theory that BitMEX’s maintenance was to prevent a collapse in Bitcoin: https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda/status/1238306306043162625 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/58918/money-2-0-stuff-free-price-auctions How traders took advantage of the roiling markets: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/59172/surfing-the-spread-crypto-market-turmoil-arbitrage More on the liquidations in MakerDAO: https://medium.com/@whiterabbit_hq/black-thursday-for-makerdao-8-32-million-was-liquidated-for-0-dai-36b83cac56b6 https://blog.makerdao.com/usdc-approved-by-maker-governance-as-the-third-collateral-type-of-the-maker-protocol/ MakerDAO weighs emergency shutdown: https://www.coindesk.com/defi-leader-makerdao-weighs-emergency-shutdown-following-eth-price-drop MakerDAO adds USDC as collateral: https://www.coindesk.com/makerdao-adds-usdc-as-defi-collateral-following-black-thursday-chaos Kain Warwick on USDC as Dai collateral: https://twitter.com/kaiynne/status/1239795250882740225?s=20 Eva Beylin on USDC as Dai collateral: https://twitter.com/evabeylin/status/1240039492985085952?s=20 Huobi’s derivatives platform introduces circuit breaker:  https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/59210/huobis-derivative-platform-now-includes-a-circuit-breaker-function Debate over circuit breakers in crypto:  https://twitter.com/TusharJain_/status/1238311534767595520 https://www.coindesk.com/does-crypto-need-circuit-breakers-last-weeks-price-crash-ignites-a-debate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this essay, Chris Burniske of Placeholder Capital talks about what kind of world crypto entrepreneurs are creating and want to be creating with the systems they build. He talks about different kinds of values, the dangers of only pursuing market values, and why crypto has a unique opportunity now to recalibrate those market values and incorporate more of the societal virtues we hold dear. Then he dives into which values he hopes to imbue into crypto networks and how that informs his thinking as a VC in the space. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soona Amhaz, general partner at Volt Capital, and Yele Bademosi, founder of Microtransaction, explain why they believe Africa is poised to become a hub for crypto development. They give some interesting stats on how crypto is currently used and traded on the continent, plus talk about how these factors interplay with the region’s unique demographics and the status of some of the continent’s fiat currencies to create what could be a unique environment for increased crypto activity. They end with what they think crypto entrepreneurs should be working on to help further that development. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  Soona Amhaz: https://twitter.com/soonaorlater Yele Bademosi: https://twitter.com/YeleBademosi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this fireside chat from ETH Denver, crypto-friendly governors Jared Polis of Colorado and Mark Gordon of Wyoming discuss how they each became interested in crypto and blockchain, how their states became friendly to the industry and how to resolve some of the thornier problems in crypto regulation, such as the state-by-state money transmission licensing regime. We also dive into the details on some of the regulations in their states, such as the regulations that make it possible to hold state-specific ICOs, what types of companies are taking advantage of those, and whether there's a bipartisan attitude toward crypto regulation.  Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  CO Governor Jared Polis: https://twitter.com/jaredpolis WY Governor Mark Gordon: https://governor.wyo.gov/ CO Governor Jared Polis’s background:  https://gazette.com/election/profile-entrepreneur-jared-polis-sees-governor-s-race-as-a/article_af2d0222-c1b2-11e8-8b2b-afa916b3b182.html Governor Polis’s letter to SEC chairman Jay Clayton and then-CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo on crypto regulation: https://www.coindesk.com/lawmakers-renew-calls-us-lead-crypto-innovation Colorado’s Digital Token Act: https://www.coindesk.com/colorado-could-be-next-in-the-race-to-bank-crypto-and-cannabis https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_023_signed.pdf https://thetokenist.io/colorado-signs-digital-token-act-into-law-some-digital-assets-exempt-from-securities-requirements/ Wyoming passes three crypto-friendly laws: https://www.coindesk.com/wyoming-lawmakers-pass-three-bills-in-boost-for-states-crypto-industry Wyoming laws: https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2018/HB0070 https://www.forbes.com/sites/caitlinlong/2019/03/04/what-do-wyomings-new-blockchain-laws-mean/amp/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maya Zehavi, blockchain consultant, and Zubin Koticha, cofounder and CEO of Opyn, discuss the two recent bZx attacks, whether they were hacks or arbs and whether they were unethical or illegal. They also look at whether flash loans are to blame, how much transparency DeFi teams should have about vulnerabilities on their platforms, how much bug bounties should be for DeFi, and whether flash loans means the amount of bug bounties should be higher. We also talk about  whether DeFi should institute circuit breakers, when those would make sense, and whether these attacks could happen to anybody or whether bZx isn't up to the standards needed in this community. We also cover how bZx should handle the under-collateralized loans left on their platform, whether Chainlink will be a sufficient solution to prevent these attacks in the future, and whether DeFi insurance should cover these kinds of attacks. Plus, Maya and Zubin explains why they're happy the attacks happened and have made them more optimistic. And Maya reveals why she has a pizza slice emoji in her Twitter profile. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  Maya Zehavi: https://twitter.com/mayazi Zubin Koticha: https://twitter.com/snarkyzk Opyn: https://opyn.co/ Description of first attack: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/56171/bzx-exploit-former-google-engineer-explains-how-an-attacker-made-350k-in-single-transaction  Description of second attack: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/56171/bzx-exploit-former-google-engineer-explains-how-an-attacker-made-350k-in-single-transaction https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/56413/experts-weigh-in-on-bzx-attacks-flash-loans-highlight-the-need-to-improve-defi-security-models https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/56134/defi-lending-protocol-bzx-exploited-a-portion-of-eth-lost Unconfirmed episode about the attacks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-2-defi-attacks-made-almost-1-million-in-profit/ 1inch.exchange blog post: https://medium.com/@1inch.exchange/yes-we-hacked-bzx-fulcrum-but-one-month-ago-3f7e5c437ee3 1inch exchange-Fulcrum dispute: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/56579/bzx-attacks-and-1inch-exchange-allegations-heres-what-the-teams-have-to-say  Nexus Mutual payouts: https://defirate.com/nexus-mutual-first-payouts/ Nexus Mutual blog post: https://medium.com/nexus-mutual/bzx-flash-loan-event-55753d19e52b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Santiago Siri, the cofounder and president of Democracy Earth, reads from his essay on how governance and identity change in the age of cryptography. Thank you to our sponsors!  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, reads his essay, A World Without Bitcoin.  Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda Xie, cofounder at Scalar Capital, reads her essay on how the crypto community can successfully use memes to help people understand the technology. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Kraken: http://kraken.com/ Episode links:  Linda Xie: https://twitter.com/ljxie Scalar Capital: https://scalar.capital/ Read Linda's full essay at: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-memes-can-help-crypto-go-mainstream/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CSO of Chainalysis, and Kim Grauer, head of research, discuss the company's 2020 Crypto Crime Report, which explores how cryptocurrency criminals, who perpetrate hacks and scams and send out ransomware and more, cash out. We cover how criminals are turning their illicit crypto into fiat currency, why exchanges are a prime avenue for money laundering, and how over-the-counter brokers are playing a large role. They talk about a group of OTC brokers they describe as the Rogue 100, what their transactions look like, and what can be done to help stop criminals from cashing out. Jonathan and Kim talk about the PlusToken scam, the largest Ponzi scheme in crypto and how Chainalysis determined that it was likely driving down the price of Bitcoin. They also explain the trends in exchange hacks and how the most prolific hackers have grown more sophisticated, giving some examples of how the Lazarus Group, a cybercriminal syndicate linked to the North Korean government has become more advanced. Finally, we also discuss ransomware and terrorism financing and what trends they are seeing there. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Episode links:  Chainalysis: https://www.chainalysis.com/ Jonathan Levin: https://twitter.com/jony_levin Kim Grauer: https://twitter.com/KimberlyGrauer Previous Unchained interview with Jonathan: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-chainalysis-helps-solve-crimes-jonathan-levin-tells-all-ep-62/ Unconfirmed episode on how Bitcoin led to the demise of the largest child porn site: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-bitcoin-led-to-the-demise-of-the-largest-child-porn-site/ Money laundering report: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/money-laundering-cryptocurrency-2019  https://fortune.com/2020/01/15/crypto-criminals-brokers-launder-billions/ Exchange hacks report: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/cryptocurrency-exchange-hacks-2019 Unchained interview with Priscilla Moriuchi on why North Korea is interested in cryptocurrency: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-north-korea-is-interested-in-cryptocurrency/ Plus Token report: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/plustoken-scam-bitcoin-price Terrorism financing report: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/terrorism-financing-cryptocurrency-2019 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brendan Eich, CEO and president of Brave, discusses his history in tech prior to crypto, including working at Netscape, how he created Javascript in 10 days and his short stint as CEO of Mozilla, what problems with ads that Brave is trying to solve, and why Brave needs the Basic Attention Token. He explains why Bitcoin wouldn't work for cryptocurrencies on the platform, why they use BAT over stablecoins, and how Brave strips ads from publishers' webpages, but doesn't from Facebook or Google, and how it causes collateral damage to publishers. He talks about how the browser is a middleman, how Brave works with Uphold and why it doesn't require KYC unless the users wants to cash out on his or her Brave rewards. He also explains why he isn't worried that BAT could meet the four prongs of the Howey test, what it will look like when Basic Attention Token is decentralized and why he doesn't know if publishers are earning back in BAT the ad revenue that Brave blocks. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://kraken.com/ Episode links:  Brendan Eich: https://twitter.com/BrendanEich Brave: https://brave.com/ Basic Attention Token: https://basicattentiontoken.org/ BAT white paper: https://basicattentiontoken.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BasicAttentionTokenWhitePaper-4.pdf Brave Rewards: https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027276731-Brave-Rewards-FAQ Brave privacy policy: https://brave.com/privacy/ https://brave.com/privacy/#dev-detail  BAT Growth: https://batgrowth.com Publishers on BAT: https://batgrowth.com/publishers/website Brendan Eich admits Brave is semi-decentralized: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/11/23/brave-blockchain-cryptocurrency-browser/ How Brave hurts publishers: https://practicaltypography.com/the-cowardice-of-brave.html Publishers send cease and desist to Brave: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-browser-brave-responds-cease-desist Whether BAT is necessary for Brave: https://micky.com.au/just-3-9-of-brave-browser-users-have-bat-in-their-wallets/ BAT ICO: https://www.coindesk.com/35-million-30-seconds-token-sale-internet-browser-brave-sells Vitalik blog post on token sales: https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/06/09/sales.html BAT roadmap: https://basicattentiontoken.org/bat-roadmap-1-0/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catherine Coley, the CEO of Binance US, talks about her background as a foreign exchange trader, how and why she made the leap into crypto, and how she became the CEO of Binance US. We discuss how Binance US differs from Binance, who Binance US's target customers are, how Binance decides which coins to list, what's on Catherine's wish list to regulators, and whether Binance US will be connected to or cut off from the global, open financial system Binance is building. We also cover why Binance US launched with Tether as its stablecoin, why the company is also focusing on BUSD, how they became comfortable using BNB token on the exchange, whether or not they worry that BNB could be considered a security. Catherine talks about whether the company will offer leverage, lending, staking, etc., and where Binance US's future revenue could come from as exchange fees trend to zero. We also cover what Catherine has learned from working customer support for Binance US and and how she compares the US and Asian crypto markets.  Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/ Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Episode links:  Catherine Coley: https://twitter.com/cryptocoley Binance US: https://www.binance.us/en  Binance US on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BinanceAmerica Binance US blog: https://www.binance.us/en/blog Crypto Rating Council: https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-led-crypto-ratings-council-draws-skepticism-from-legal-experts Telegram notice about Grams and Ton: https://telegram.org/blog/ton-gram-notice  CZ’s 2020 New Year’s message: https://www.binance.com/en/amp/blog/419417682154909696/Binance-2020-New-Year-Message-Building-Foundations--  Binance US joins Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee: https://www.binance.us/en/blog/419943835304939520/BinanceUS-Joins-the-Executive-Committee-of-the-Chamber-of-Digital-Commerce Multicoin Capital report, Binance is Blitzscaling: https://multicoin.capital/2019/11/07/binance-is-blitzscaling/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Pack, founding partner of Dragonfly Capital, and Haseeb Qureshi, Dragonfly managing partner, talk about why Dragonfly has a global focus, how they choose investments, and why they try to be as agnostic as possible about asset type. They also discuss why most protocols, including Bitcoin, still look like venture bets, why, at the moment, Bitcoin looks like a better investment than anything built on top of Bitcoin, and why Lightning hasn't yet taken off and why they think it won't. We also cover what the future holds  for Bitcoin. They explain what they think will happen in the smart contract platform race, why Ethereum is so far in the lead and whether anything will become an Ethereum killer. We also cover Libra, and how Libra affects their investments in stablecoins, why Xi Jinping's "blockchain, not crypto" emphasis is a dead end, whether blockchain-based identity is an investable area, what they think the killer app is or will be and their predictions for 2020. Also, Haseeb, a former professional poker player, describes how poker playing is similar to crypto trading. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained  Kraken: https://kraken.com/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Episode links:  Alex Pack: https://twitter.com/alpackap Haseeb Qureshi: https://twitter.com/hosseeb Dragonfly Capital: https://www.dcp.capital/ Dragonfly Capital’s blog: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research Forbes on Dragonfly Capital’s $100 million initial raise: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2018/10/09/new-fund-dragonfly-bridges-china-us-crypto/#572aeb953c9a Venture Beat story: https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/09/dragonfly-capital-partners-scoops-up-100-million-for-cryptocurrency-investments/ https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/10/09/1618445/0/en/Dragonfly-Capital-Partners-Unveils-100-Million-Inaugural-Fund-for-Cryptocurrencies-Bridges-Gap-between-East-and-West.html DeFi cannibalizing POS security: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/how-defi-cannibalizes-pos-security-84b146f00697 Mimblewimble blog post: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/breaking-mimblewimble-privacy-model-84bcd67bfe52 Haseeb’s 2020 article on CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/what-defi-needs-next-year-three-priorities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Best of 2019 episode, I selected the clips that seemed most representative of what crypto was about this year, which I call, The Year Things Got Geopolitical. My only regret is that none of the clips about DAOs lent themselves well to this episode. However, years from now, after we’ve got global stablecoins pinging around the world at a high transactions-per-second rate, the crypto community has made peace with U.S. regulators, and more of our lives seems to take place in the borderless digital world, perhaps we'll find it ironic that DAOs were burbling up right around the same time. Thank you to our sponsors!  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Unchained Interview with Vitalik Buterin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-whether-or-not-ethereum-is-blowing-it/ Unchained Interview with Hester Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/ Unchained Interview with Ted Livingston: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/ Unchained Interview with Glen Weyl and Santiago Siri: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/ Unchained Interview with Christian Catalini: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-libra-co-creator-on-how-facebook-will-make-money-from-calibra/ Unchained Interview with Martin Chorzempa and Dovey Wan: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/ Unchained Interview with Emily Parker: https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-in-china-what-it-really-looks-like/ Unchained Interview with Sandra Ro: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sandra-ro-why-crypto-friendly-laws-are-coming-in-the-us/  Unchained Interview with Patrick McHenry: https://unchainedpodcast.com/congressman-patrick-mchenry-bitcoin-will-be-of-enormous-value/ Unchained Interview with David Andolfatto: https://unchainedpodcast.com/fed-economist-on-the-prospect-of-the-usd-losing-global-reserve-status-who-cares/ Unchained Interview with Yeonmi Park: https://unchainedpodcast.com/yeonmi-park-on-why-doing-business-with-north-korea-is-like-buying-a-ticket-to-a-concentration-camp/ Unchained Interview with Alex Gladstein: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This fall, I had an idea to do a crypto show for my normie friends, and figured I’d release it over the holidays, when maybe my regular listeners would be with the very people in their lives who could benefit from such an episode.  I solicited questions from my own real-life friends, edited down the repeats and tried my best to make the explanations as simple as possible. I cover basic explanations of Bitcoin, blockchain and Ethereum, plus we go into questions around mining and electricity usage, and why anyone would use cryptocurrency. I hope this clears things up for some of your friends and family — and gets some of them to go down the crypto rabbit hole. Thank you to our sponsors!  Givewell: http://givewell.org/unchained CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained  Kraken: http://kraken.com Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links:  Previous beginner episodes:  Crypto 101: https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-101-everything-you-need-to-know-about-bitcoin-ethereum-blockchains-icos-and-more/ How to Explain Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain to the Average Person: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-explain-cryptocurrencies-and-blockchains-to-the-average-person/ Interviews with Vitalik Buterin: 2017: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-creator-of-ethereum-on-the-big-guy-vs-the-little-guy/ 2019: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-whether-or-not-ethereum-is-blowing-it/ Episode with Wences Casares: https://unchainedpodcast.com/xapos-wences-casares-on-how-bitcoin-makes-a-fairer-world/ Lolli: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-get-7-of-your-purchases-back-in-bitcoin/ Cryptocurrency to evade surveillance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/ KHmap.live interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/an-interview-with-the-anonymous-developer-of-hkmap-live/ North Korea's interest in cryptocurrency: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-north-korea-is-interested-in-cryptocurrency/ Bitwise: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitwises-latest-plans-to-get-a-bitcoin-etf-approved/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Priscilla Moriuchi, director of strategic threat development at Recorded Future and non-resident fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, explains North Korean usage of the internet and how it has changed over time, how it is reserved only for the few most senior people in the regime, and what the mobile devices of the other 25 million citizens connects to, and who is watching the activity on those devices. She also describes the various ways North Korea has shown an interest in cryptocurrency, how it's been determined that North Korea is engaging in those activities, such as cryptocurrency exchange hacks and malware, and its seeming interest in Monero. We also discuss how they convert crypto to fiat, and how well the government seems to have connected its cryptocurrency activities with its other real-world criminal networks used for other activities such as smuggling, drugs and counterfeiting cigarettes and US dollars. We also talk about which North Koreans have been trained to carry out such attacks and how and why they carry them out abroad rather than in North Korea. She also covers why Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith's visit to North Korea, even if he were dispensing "public" information, would have been helpful in a country where everyone but a tiny elite is denied access to the internet. Thank you to our sponsors!  Givewell: http://givewell.org/unchained CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links:  Priscilla Moriuchi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priscilla-moriuchi-410297127/  Recorded Future: https://www.recordedfuture.com Recorded Future on North Korea’s internet activity: https://www.recordedfuture.com/north-korea-internet-activity/ Full report: https://go.recordedfuture.com/hubfs/reports/north-korea-activity.pdf Recorded Future report on North Korea’s interest in cryptocurrency: https://www.recordedfuture.com/north-korea-cryptocurrency/ Full report: North Korea targeting South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges: https://www.recordedfuture.com/north-korea-cryptocurrency-campaign/ Full report: https://go.recordedfuture.com/hubfs/reports/cta-2018-0116.pdf  Podcast: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/recorded-future-inside-threat-intelligence/e/52982550 Priscilla on why Virgil’s attendance at a blockchain conference in North Korea was helpful to the regime: https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-virgil-griffith-cryptocurrencies-bad-idea-analyst-2019-12 Priscilla on how North Korea uses cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions: https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/28/17055762/north-korea-sanctions-bitcoin-nuclear-weapons North Korea’s interest in Monero: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-north-korea-hackers-mine-cryptocurrency-abroad-1515420004 North Korea’s plan to build its own version of the Petro, I mean, Bitcoin: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9ke3ae/north-korea-is-building-its-own-bitcoin  DOJ Complaint against Virgil: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1222646/download Virgil’s Facebook post inviting others to North Korea: https://www.facebook.com/virgil.gr/posts/10112756681859159 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In light of the questions around whether or not Virgil Griffith's talk at a blockchain conference in Pyongyang could have helped everyday North Koreans, Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector, human rights activist, board member of the Human Rights Foundation and author of “In Order to Live, A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom,” talks to Unchained. She tells us about her life growing up in North Korea, how she thought the "dear leader" could read her thoughts, why freedom of thought is not allowed in North Korea, and how a South Korean had to teach her that Kim Jong Il was fat and not starving for the North Koreans, as she had been taught. She talks about what happened after her father was sent to a prison camp for selling copper, silver and nickel, how three generations of her family were then tainted and put in the "hostile" class of the caste system, and how watching the movie Titanic introduced her to the concept of romantic love. She tells the story of how, because of hunger, she fled to China — right into the hands of human traffickers, but decided to stay because of what trash cans in China signified to her, and describes the first time she heard the word "free." She also covers the difficulty of her transition to freedom and how reading George Orwell's Animal Farm was a turning point for her.  We discuss why the strategy for liberating North Korea is mostly about getting outside information in, who benefits from tours to North Korea and why lifting sanctions would only help the regime. She also explains why the only people who would have benefited from Griffith's talk would have been North Korean elite, and how any actions in line with what the dictator wants help him maintain power. She says the best ways to improve the situation in North Korea are to boost awareness of what is happening, empower the people there by getting outside information in and helping during the rescue, as 300,000 defectors, most of them women and girls living as sexual slaves, are hiding in China.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Givewell: http://givewell.org/unchained Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Yeonmi Park: https://yeonmi.com/ Yeonmi Park on Twitter: https://twitter.com/YeonmiParkNK Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialYeonmiPark/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yeonmi_park/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpQu57KgT7gOoLCAu3FFQsA Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/ In Order to Live: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318940/in-order-to-live-by-yeonmi-park-with-maryanne-vollers/ One of the first speeches by Yeonmi that went viral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei-gGvLWOZI Yeonmi's TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/yeonmi_park_what_i_learned_about_freedom_after_escaping_north_korea New York Times video op-ed with Yeonmi's message for President Trump: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/opinion/north-korea-trump-kim-human-rights.html DOJ complaint against Virgil Griffith: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-arrest-united-states-citizen-assisting-north-korea Economist video on the efforts to get outside information into North Korea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVRQpfXGQyc&app=desktop Guardian article on North Korean defector activist groups attempting to get outside information into North Korea: https://amp.theguardian.com/global/2016/aug/27/north-korea-defectors-ian-birrell Wired article on getting outside information in: https://www.wired.com/2015/03/north-korea/ The story of Otto Warmbier: https://www.gq.com/story/otto-warmbier-north-korea-american-hostage-true-story South Korean woman shot for crossing line at a resort in North Korea: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/12/korea Unchained interview with Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/ Unconfirmed interview with Alex Gladstein: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep-021/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix, talks about synthetic asset issuance platform, which enables people to create tokens that track the price of assets in traditional and crypto finance. We discuss the various types of assets available, why changing the monetary policy helped the ecosystem take off, why people would buy synthetic Bitcoin over Bitcoin itself, and why Uniswap has been pivotal to Synthetix's success. He covers the role the SNX token plays, why people minting synths must be over-collateralized by about 700%, and some of the changes coming down the pike, including futures, tweaks to the inflation rate, and a new oracle system. He also explains what happened when a trader made the system insolvent — and how they negotiated with the trader to keep it alive — how he thinks about decentralization and why the system's governance might one day be handled by a DAO. Thank you to our sponsors!  GiveWell: http://givewell.org/unchained Kraken: https://kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Episode links:  Synthetix: https://www.synthetix.io/ Synthetix on Twitter: https://twitter.com/synthetix_io Kain Warwick: https://twitter.com/kaiynne Havven transforming into Synthetix: https://blog.havven.io/havven-is-transforming-into-synthetix-2fdf727b8892 Synthetix overview: https://blog.havven.io/synthetix-overview-f4a5a6c41210 How Synthetix works: https://www.synthetix.io/how-it-works/ Synthetix lite paper: https://www.synthetix.io/uploads/synthetix_litepaper.pdf Changing monetary policy: https://blog.synthetix.io/synthetix-monetary-policy-changes/ Oracle hack: https://www.coindesk.com/synthetix-trader-rolls-back-broken-trades-that-netted-1-billion-profit Synthetix response to oracle incident: https://blog.synthetix.io/response-to-oracle-incident/ How staking works on Synthetix:  https://www.stakingrewards.com/asset/synthetix-network-token https://help.synthetix.io/hc/en-us/articles/360020245314-How-can-I-earn-Synth-exchange-rewards- Reddit complaint by trader who initially made the system insolvent: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/d4edxm/the_synthetix_dapp_deleted_my_balance/ Efforts to resolve the front running problem: https://sips.synthetix.io/sips/sip-6 Synthetix and Chainlink: https://blog.synthetix.io/synthetix-and-chainlink/ Kain’s tweets on the censorship vector stack: https://twitter.com/kaiynne/status/1197265019169169409?s=20 https://twitter.com/kaiynne/status/1197265044204998656?s=20 Unconfirmed episode on Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/ Defiant interview: https://thedefiant.substack.com/p/theres-a-pipeline-of-etf-like-tokens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carylyne Chan, chief strategy officer at CoinMarketCap, and Gerald Chee, head of research, discuss the history of CoinMarketCap, why the founder Brandon Chez initially focused on circulating supply to calculate market cap, how the ICO craze has changed the way CoinMarketCap defines circulating supply and how the kimchee premium on the Bitcoin price in Korea at the end of 2017 is influencing the future direction of the website. We cover why CoinMarketCap is branching out into other areas such as metrics, blockchain explorers, hosting conferences and more, how the site has made money historically, the demographics, geographical distribution and behaviors of users on the site, and how CoinMarketCap's web traffic is 90% correlated to the Bitcoin price. We talk about the fake volume problem, how CoinMarketCap decided to address it with a new liquidity metric, the new Data Accountability and Transparency Alliance they formed, and why they are working with some of the exchanges identified by Bitwise as being the most egregious in faking volumes, and how those exchanges fare when it comes to CMC's new liquidity metric. We also cover some of the other ways companies have tried to address the fake volume issue, how CoinMarketCap tries to identify the "true price" for any cryptocurrency (and why USDT makes this hard), and what the circulating supply of Ripple should be. Thank you to our sponsors!  Kraken: https://kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Episode links:  CoinMarketCap: https://coinmarketcap.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoinMarketCap Carylyne Chan: https://twitter.com/carylyne Gerald Chee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerald-chee-8340a0161/ History of CoinMarketCap: https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2019/05/01/happy-6th-birthday-data-alliance-block-explorers-and-more/ Incident in which CoinMarketCap shaved $100 billion off the total market cap of crypto assets when Chez decided to remove South Korean exchanges from its calculations: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-programmer-at-the-center-of-a-100-billion-crypto-storm-1516708800   CoinMarketCap's new interest for crypto loans  page: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/43460/coinmarketcap-now-publishes-interest-rates-on-cryptocurrencies-allowing-users-to-compare-and-choose Bitwise report on fake trading volume: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nysearca-2019-01/srnysearca201901-5164833-183434.pdf The 10 exchanges Bitwise says have real volume: https://www.bitcointradevolume.com/ CryptoCompare Q3 Exchange Benchmark Report: https://www.cryptocompare.com/media/36569367/cryptocompare_exchange_benchmark_2019_11pdf.pdf DATA: https://coinmarketcap.com/data-transparency-alliance/  Messari benchmarks: https://messari.substack.com/p/more-reliable-cryptoasset-benchmarks Messari report on Ripple’s “circulating supply”: https://messari.io/article/messari-research-ripple-s-market-cap-is-likely-overstated-by-6-1-billion Ripple’s response to Messari report: https://www.coindesk.com/xrp-market-cap-may-be-overstated-by-billions-messari-report-estimates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Chorzempa, research fellow the Peterson Institute, and Dovey Wan, founding partner at Primitive Ventures, discuss China's new blockchain push and the forthcoming DCEP. They cover how the blockchain initiative is part of an effort to set global blockchain standards, how it fits into the larger U.S.-China trade war as well as the threat from Facebook's Libra, and why part of the motivation behind the DCEP may stem from the shadow banking system in China. They also talk about how the DCEP might work, why it aims to be like cash, and ways in which a successful digital currency could be used to help internationalize the renminbi, but why other countries will likely still resist becoming more dependent on China's currency. We also explore what "controlled anonymity" will look like in the DCEP, why it might actually be preferable to transacting via WeChat Pay or Alipay and whether or not Chinese people will become interested in Bitcoin due to this exposure to blockchain technology. Thank you to our sponsors!  Kraken: https://kraken.com/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Martin Chorzempa: https://www.piie.com/experts/senior-research-staff/martin-chorzempa https://twitter.com/ChorzempaMartin Dovey Wan: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan Xi Jinping’s speech: https://www.coindesk.com/president-xi-says-china-should-seize-opportunity-to-adopt-blockchain Cryptography law: https://www.coindesk.com/chinas-congress-passes-cryptography-law-effective-jan-1-2020  China’s 500 enterprise blockchain projects: https://www.coindesk.com/from-banking-giants-to-tech-darlings-china-reveals-over-500-enterprise-blockchain-projects Changchun Mu, the deputy director of the payment and settlement department of the PBOC, on how DC/EP aims to replace the M0 money supply (banknotes and coins): http://www.cf40.org.cn/uploads/newsletter/20190803.pdf Dovey’s article on how the digital yuan will affect the M0 money supply: https://www.coindesk.com/digital-renminbi-a-fiat-coin-to-make-m0-great-again China’s already very digital economy: https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economic-issues-watch/who-likes-facebooks-libra-currency-not-chinese Reaction of Chinese dissident to China’s blockchain push: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-dissident-sees-dark-warnings-in-chinas-blockchain-push Unconfirmed interview with Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-digital-yuan-could-one-day-be-seen-as-a-blunder/ The commercial entities involved in helping to release the DCEP: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2019/08/27/alibaba-tencent-five-others-to-recieve-first-chinese-government-cryptocurrency/#95e9d351a516 How they will be involved: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1191807688570626048?s=20 ”Controlled anonymity“: https://twitter.com/ChorzempaMartin/status/1162071943568338944?s=20 Problems that could arise with the DCEP: https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3035797/blockchain-endorsement-chinas-xi-jinping-could-lead-fraud-and People with poor social credit banned from buying plane and train tickets: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/01/china-bans-23m-discredited-citizens-from-buying-travel-tickets-social-credit-system The FT on why China’s currency will not replace the USD: https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/09/19/1537329600000/China-s-currency-will-not-replace-the-US-dollar/  2000 speech by Bill Clinton: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/030900clinton-china-text.html?mcubz=2&module=inline Change in plans to eliminate the Bitcoin mining industry: https://www.coindesk.com/sichuan-should-work-to-remain-attractive-to-crypto-mining-policy-advisor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo talks about how his experience of the financial crisis piqued his interest in blockchain technology, why the CFTC thought the introduction of Bitcoin futures would help pop the 2017 Bitcoin bubble, and how "there's no simple answer" to explain when a token goes from being a security to a commodity. He discusses why he believes there needs to be a "refresh" of regulations written decades ago that are difficult to apply in a digital world, why he thinks Libra represents a fundamental generational change and why he thinks the project should be allowed to go forward. We also cover the Chinese digital yuan, why the USD should not assume that its global dominance today will translate into global dominance tomorrow, and his own proposal for a digital dollar, which he dubs "Zelle + JPMorgan Coin." Plus, he gives the behind-the-scenes look at why he decided to speak "as a dad" in the Congressional hearing that made him an overnight crypto celebrity. Thank you to our sponsors!  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links:  Christopher Giancarlo: https://twitter.com/giancarloMKTS  https://www.cftc.gov/About/Commissioners/JChristopherGiancarlo/index.htm CFTC: https://www.cftc.gov/ Chamber of Digital Commerce: https://digitalchamber.org/ Let the technology evolve before regulating/CFTC is behind on regulating: https://www.coindesk.com/cftc-chair-says-regulator-is-behind-on-blockchain Popping the Bitcoin bubble: https://www.coindesk.com/trump-administration-popped-2017-bitcoin-bubble-ex-cftc-chair-says  Talks with Facebook pre-Libra launch: https://www.coindesk.com/facebook-holds-talks-with-cftc-over-globalcoin-cryptocurrency-report The introduction of Bitcoin futures helping to pop the crypto bubble: https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2018/may/how-futures-trading-changed-bitcoin-prices/ Wall Street Journal op-ed proposing a digital dollar: https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-sent-a-man-to-the-moon-we-can-send-the-dollar-to-cyberspace-11571179923 Initial confusion over LedgerX not receiving approval or disapproval within 180 days to launch Bitcoin futures: https://www.coindesk.com/what-happened-why-the-first-us-physical-bitcoin-futures-contracts-havent-launched CoinDesk article with emails from LedgerX on CFTC dispute: https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-claims-personal-animus-drove-ex-cftc-chair-to-stall-approvals Commodity Exchange Act: https://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/Commodity%20Exchange%20Act.pdf Emails sent from LedgerX to the CFTC:  https://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/19-00104-FOIA-Records.pdf Paul Chou’s blog post summarizing what happened: https://blog.ledgerx.com/let-me-set-the-record-straight/ More context from Noelle Acheson on the dispute: https://www.coindesk.com/derivatives-drama-the-unintended-consequences-of-crypto-regulation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christian Catalini, co-creator of Libra and chief economist at Calibra, explains why Facebook made the design choices it made for Libra, reveals whether the team was prepared for the regulatory blowback it received after publishing the white paper, and talks about what it means for Libra now that nearly all the initial payment company members have left the Association. He describes how Facebook defined stability for Libra, whether the Chinese renminbi could ever be added to the reserve the way it is part of the IMF special drawing rights basket, and if so, what the Libra or Calibra would do if the Chinese government tried to censor individuals or transactions in the system. We also cover the tension between the desire to have strong know-your-customer and anti-money laundering processes on the platform but then also to bank the unbanked, who often don't have strong government identification. We also discuss how Facebook will make money from Calibra, what it would take for Facebook to let the Libra Association go forward without it, and why Facebook, which not too long ago was trying to woo China to enter the Chinese market, now says it is the best counterweight to a Chinese digital yuan. Plus, he answers how Facebook and Calibra will handle privacy.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Christian Catalini: https://twitter.com/ccatalini Libra: https://libra.org/en-US/ Calibra: https://calibra.com/ Libra white paper: https://libra.org/en-US/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/06/LibraWhitePaper_en_US.pdf Letters to payment companies from Congress: https://www.schatz.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Signed%20Letters%20re%20Libra%20to%20Patrick%20Collison,%20Ajaypal%20Banga,%20and%20Alfred%20Kelly.pdf Mark Zuckerberg's testimony in front of Congress: https://www.c-span.org/video/?465293-1/facebook-ceo-testimony-house-financial-services-committee Reported breakdown of the Libra reserve: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-libra-basket/u-s-dollar-to-be-main-currency-underpinning-facebooks-libra-spiegel-idUSKBN1W522K Calibra — can send money at low to no cost: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/06/coming-in-2020-calibra/ Chargebacks in Libra: https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/18/18682838/facebook-digital-wallet-calibra-libra-cryptocurrency-kevin-weil-david-marcus-interview Asian central banks not too open to Libra: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-22/facebook-scaling-back-libra-will-please-asian-central-banks Unconfirmed interview about UN work with blockchain-based vouchers: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-un-world-food-programmes-blockchain-based-food-vouchers-for-syrian-refugees-with-robert-opp/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hunter Horsley, cofounder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, and Matt Hougan, global head of research at Bitwise, describe their vision for Bitwise, its current funds and indices, as well as how it handles things like forks and airdrops. Then they give their reaction to and interpretation of the SEC disapproval of their Bitcoin ETF proposal, as well as what their focus will be now to try to get a Bitcoin ETF approved. We also discuss their general thesis around how the crypto space will develop, whether or not indices and funds around the top 100 assets will ever make sense, their ideas on how to value these networks and whether or not the company would ever try to compete in the DeFi space. Plus, don't miss our conversation on Bitcoin IRAs.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://kraken.com CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/ Hunter Horsley: https://twitter.com/HHorsley Matt Hougan: https://twitter.com/Matt_Hougan Unchained interview with Spencer Bogart: https://unchainedpodcast.com/spencer-bogart-on-the-20-trillion-in-store-of-value-assets/ Bitwise 10 Private Fund fact sheet: https://static.bitwiseinvestments.com/FactSheet/bitwise10/Bitwise-10-Private-Index-Fund-Investor-Class-Fact-Sheet.pdf  Bitwise 10 Offshore Index Fund: https://static.bitwiseinvestments.com/FactSheet/bitwise10-offshore/Bitwise-10-Index-Offshore-Fund-Investor-Fact-Sheet.pdf Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust: https://grayscale.co/bitcoin-trust/ Bitwise Ethereum Fund: https://static.bitwiseinvestments.com/FactSheet/ethereumFund/Bitwise-Ethereum-Fund-Investor-Class-Fact-Sheet.pdf  SEC order disapproving the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF proposal: https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/nysearca/2019/34-87267.pdf Matt on CNBC discussing the Bitcoin ETF proposal: https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1181309471349526530?s=20 Bitstamp/BitMEX trading manipulation: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1129246233917382656 Jake Chervinsky’s tweet about how the SEC is unlikely to approve a Bitcoin ETF under Chair Jay Clayton: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1182149164177608704?s=20  Unchained interview with Jake: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/ SEC commissioner Hester Peirce’s dissent to the disapproval of the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723 Van Eck’s withdrawal of the Bitcoin ETF proposal: https://www.coindesk.com/vaneck-solidx-withdraw-bitcoin-etf-proposal-from-sec-review Chris Burniske on how to value these networks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-value-a-crypto-asset/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressman Patrick McHenry, or 'Mr. Fintech' to his peers in the House, is announcing the reintroduction of the Financial Services Innovation Act, a bill that would create what he calls "permanent beta testing," or many jurisdictions call "regulatory sandboxes," in which entrepreneurs can apply for regulatory approval to conduct innovative experiments. The bill is intended to get regulators into a position where their default leans more toward yes than no. He describes how this would affect teams that want to conduct ICOs, how it would square with the phenomenon of some token teams trying to raise through Reg A+, and whether it would allow exchanges without BitLicenses to operate in New York. He also discusses what type of digital currency he believes is best suited to compete against a Chinese digital yuan, and says the government is currently looking into whether or not the Federal Reserve has the authority to issue a digital dollar. Thank you to our sponsors!  CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com Episode links:  Congressman McHenry: https://mchenry.house.gov/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PatrickMcHenry The House Libra hearings from July 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-ZTkCNW0w8 Financial Services Innovation Act explainer: https://www.alta.org/file.cfm?name=McHenry-Bill-Explainer Introduction of the bill in 2016: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-house-bill-aims-to-set-up-sandbox-for-fintech-innovation-1474539893 https://www.natlawreview.com/article/financial-services-innovation-act-us-wants-sandbox-too Congressman McHenry’s interest in fintech: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/09/patrick-henry-mr-fintech-interview-000214 CNBC article on how Libra is being slowed by regulation while China’s central bank digital currency speeds ahead: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/china-races-to-launch-a-cryptocurrency-that-could-rival-facebooks.html Fortune article: https://fortune.com/2019/10/16/if-libra-fails-china-wins-the-ledger/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mariano Conti, the head of smart contracts for MakerDAO and creator of SelloutDAO, and Peter Pan, the summoner for Metacartel DAO, discuss all things DAOs, including how Peter started Metacartel DAO after being rejected from MolochDAO, and why Mariano initially voted against Peter joining. (Peter eventually joined.) They also discuss how they came to form YangDAO, why Mariano almost rage quit MolochDAO after the YangDAO formed, and how other MolochDAO members felt about SelloutDAO, which Mariano describes as an experiment in "on-chain corruption." We discuss how DAOs are actually heavily built on trust and why they require a lot of social coordination off-chain. They also discuss funding for LAOs, which have a legal entity such as an LLC affiliated with them, why Metacartel is launching a LAO, and which types of projects should be funded by DAOs vs traditional corporate structures. We also cover governance issues at MakerDAO, why it has a CEO, and what role leadership in general plays in a DAO.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Mariano Conti: https://twitter.com/nanexcool Peter Pan: https://twitter.com/pet3rpan_ MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/ https://chat.makerdao.com Metacartel DAO: https://www.metacartel.org/ https://twitter.com/meta_cartel SelloutDAO: https://selloutdao.com/ Unchained interview with Ameen Soleimani of MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/ Unchained interview with Santiago Siri: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/ DAO Revival: https://www.coindesk.com/in-berlin-a-dao-renaissance-begins https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-10-05/crypto-rebels-trip-over-each-other-en-route-to-financial-utopia Andy Milenius’s account of MakerDAO’s change from a decentralized to a centralized project: https://www.scribd.com/document/407743542/Zandy-s-Story CoinDesk story on the rift: https://www.coindesk.com/darkest-days-yet-purple-pill-tell-all-details-years-long-rift-at-heart-of-makerdao-stablecoin-project Two most recent MakerDAO votes:  https://vote.makerdao.com/executive-proposal/keep-the-stability-fee-set-to-a-total-of-105-per-year https://vote.makerdao.com/executive-proposal/lower-the-stability-fee-by-2-to-a-total-of-85-per-year https://vote.makerdao.com/polling-proposal/qmpem83sxjjwe1jvn2csdtetn4r3j95ejuzpbmtxef4lu5 Unchained interviews with Rune Christensen of MakerDAO: Part 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Part 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ MakerDAO vulnerabilities:  ETH could have been stolen: https://hackerone.com/reports/684092 https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/10/03/makerdao-security-vulnerability-ethereum-dai-stablecoin-collapse-theft-cryptocurrency/  The LAO: https://medium.com/openlawofficial/the-lao-a-for-profit-limited-liability-autonomous-organization-9eae89c9669c Critique of the LAO: https://prestonbyrne.com/2019/09/03/the-lao-demystified/ MakerDAO launching multi-collateral Dai: https://www.coindesk.com/makerdaos-multi-collateral-dai-token-is-launching-nov-18 https://blog.makerdao.com/breaking-launch-date-of-multi-collateral-dai-announced-at-devcon-5/ Are DAO’s legal? https://www.coindesk.com/new-interest-in-daos-prompts-old-question-are-they-legal Unconfirmed interview with Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/ Unconfirmed episode with Ryan Zurrer about resurrecting the DAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ryan-zurrer-would-like-to-see-a-new-dao/ Unchained interview with Aragon: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-aragon-hopes-to-improve-on-democracy/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Andolfatto, senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, gives his thoughts on Facebook's Libra, including why regulatory issues will make it hard to compete with the US dollar, and why Bitcoin wouldn't have such issues. He also says, "who cares?" about the US dollar losing global reserve status, pointing out that many prosperous countries have currencies that don't function as global reserves. He tells us how he would design a central bank digital currency, and why, even if central banks enabled citizens to open accounts with them, thus bypassing commercial banks, it wouldn't drive banks out of business. We also cover how that could affect fractional reserve banking and credit creation, the People's Bank of China's soon-to-be-issued digital yuan, and why blockchains haven't yet substantially helped the unbanked, as they were originally touted to do. Thank you to our sponsors!  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com:  https://crypto.com Episode links:  St. Louis Federal Reserve: https://www.stlouisfed.org David Andolfatto: https://research.stlouisfed.org/econ/andolfatto/sel/ David's blog: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com Letter from House Reps to Fed Chair Jerome Powell: https://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Foster-Hill-US-Crypto.pdf Talk on blockchain, cryptocurrency and central banks: https://www.stlouisfed.org/dialogue-with-the-fed/blockchain https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/files/pdfs/dwtf/blockchain_082918.pdf?la=en Blog post on cost efficiency of a centrally managed ledger: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2017/12/fedcoin-and-blockchain.html?spref=tw David’s paper on the impact of central bank digital currency private banks: https://s3.amazonaws.com/real.stlouisfed.org/wp/2018/2018-026.pdf Raskin and Yermack paper: https://ccl.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Raskin_Max_and_Yermack_David_The%20Future%20of%20Central%20Banking.pdf David on FedCoin: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2015/02/fedcoin-on-desirability-of-government.html  Philadelphia Federal Reserve banker Patrick Harker on a G20 CBDC being inevitable: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-harker-digital/feds-harker-digital-central-bank-currency-inevitable-idUSKBN1WH1L4 Related Unchained interview: Dong He and Yan Liu on central bank digital currencies: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-imf-on-how-to-design-central-bank-digital-currencies/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Parker, cofounder of Longhash, describes what the company, which has an Asia-focused incubator and data media site does, how she ended up launching an Asia-focused company, why she’s seeing US crypto teams and ICOs going to Singapore, why the Chinese government cracked down on crypto, and what misconceptions she sees about crypto in China. She explains how the Chinese still trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies despite the ban, why Tether plays a big role, how the China ban has affected crypto entrepreneurship and how the upcoming People's Bank of China digital currency could impact crypto. We also discuss how the attitude toward crypto has changed in Japan over time, why so many crypto teams are settling in Singapore, and whether or not the philosophies of censorship-resistance or decentralization resonate in China.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Longhash: LongHash.com Longhash's Twitter: https://twitter.com/longhashdata Emily Parker: Emilyparkerwrites.com Emily Parker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilydparker Emily Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-parker-738034142/ Longhash's incubator: https://incubator.longhash.com BTC trading by US EST and PST vs. China: https://www.longhash.com/news/american-traders-lead-on-bitcoin-rally-while-asian-traders-not-so-bullish Bitcoin metrics on Longhash: https://www.longhash.com/livecharts/bitcoin-social-metrics Emily's interview with SEC commissioner Hester Peirce: https://www.longhash.com/news/in-cryptocurrency-will-asia-surpass-the-us-exclusive-interview-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce Unchained interview with commissioner Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/ Longhash article showing more ICOs in Singapore than in US in Q1 2018: https://www.longhash.com/news/how-singapore-became-asias-ico-hub Longhash's graphic showing money transmitter laws in the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/is-cryptocurrency-money-depends-on-your-state Longhash on ICOs fleeing the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/after-years-of-regulatory-uncertainty-icos-are-fleeing-the-united-states Unchained interview with Primitive Ventures: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/ Unchained interview with Da Hongfei and Patrick Dai (not Lai!): https://unchainedpodcast.com/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban/ Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Emily's interview with Coincheck's president: https://www.longhash.com/news/lessons-from-the-largest-crypto-hack-in-history-exclusive-interview-with-coincheck-president-toshihiko-katsuya Longhash deck of cards of crypto players: https://www.longhash.com/news/fiftyfour-players-in-the-blockchain-industry-transformed-into-a-real-deck-of-cards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer Bogart, general partner at Blockchain Capital, the first VC firm to tokenize one of its funds, talks about how well offering tokenized shares has worked out, why it didn't do so for the following fund, the appeal of security tokens generally and what advantages tokenized securities offer over non-blockchain platforms like Second Market, in which investors can trade shares in private companies. He also explains what entrepreneurs are looking for from VCs now that they have more ways to raise from the crowd, how Blockchain Capital decides between investing in equity vs. tokens when there is an option, and why the firm believes there will only be five or fewer dominant blockchains. He describes why he thinks it's likely Bitcoin will take the lion's share of the market, noting its $200 billion market cap vs. the $20 trillion in other store-of-value assets such as gold, real estate and art, and whether or not it's possible to invest in Lightning, the second layer built on top of Bitcoin. We also cover the Bitcoin ETF proposals, stablecoins, how crypto might take off in video games and its 66x return within two years on its investment in Block.One.  Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com Kraken: https://kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Blockchain Capital: https://blockchain.capital/ Spencer Bogart: https://twitter.com/CremeDeLaCrypto Unchained interview with Brock Pierce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-vc-is-sure-venture-capital-is-about-to-be-disrupted/ BCAP Q2 Nav: https://blockchainloop.com/blockchain-capital-releases-q2-2019-bcap-token-nav/ Upgrading of BCAP to Securitize platform: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/09/04/1565117/0/en/BCAP-Tokens-to-be-Upgraded-Utilizing-Securitize-Platform.html Funding of Securitize: https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-backs-security-token-startups-12-75-million-funding-round Blockchain Capital’s fourth fund: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blockchain-capital-closes-fund-iv-at-150-million-300617495.html Story about Blockchain Capital trying to separate itself from Brock Pierce: https://decrypt.co/6876/is-blockchain-capital-trying-to-scrub-co-founder-and-mighty-ducks-star-brock-pierce-from-its-history Interview with Brock Pierce in which he describes leaving Blockchain Capital: https://hackernoon.com/brock-pierce-interview-tales-from-the-bitcoin-floor-e479693a49bd Lightning Network statistics: https://bitcoinvisuals.com/lightning Tweets from LNBig on how they earned $0.10-$0.30 a day on Lightning fees: https://twitter.com/lnbig_com/status/1163055682964348934?s=20 https://twitter.com/lnbig_com/status/1159538637597487104?s=20 LNBig on how they spent $1,000 or so to open their Lightning channels: https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/bxh0ny/lightning_network_capacity_takes_a_sudden_dive/eq9x4i9/ Profitability of running a lightning node: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/a9dmzw/how_profitable_is_running_a_lightning_node/ Letter to the SEC: https://blockchain.capital/examining-bitcoins-valued-attributes-a-letter-to-the-sec/ Blog post about Bitcoin’s likely dominance: https://blockchain.capital/the-past-future-of-blockchain-where-were-going-and-why/ Spencer's Reddit post with questions/concerns about MakerDAO: https://www.reddit.com/r/MakerDAO/comments/asb9n6/a_couple_questions_concerns_about_maker_and_mkr/ + tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/cremedelacrypto/status/1103428046621618178 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olga Feldmeier, CEO of SmartValor, describes how her upbringing in Ukraine when it was undergoing 10,000% and 5,000% annual inflation helped her understand the potential in Bitcoin years later, and helped her connect with Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo. She also talks about how Xapo was able to get regulated in Switzerland, without having to get a banking license, and why she believes Switzerland has been open to the crypto industry. She explains why she is now focused on security tokens and tokenizing other real-world assets with her venture SmartValor, why it is also licensed in Lichtenstein, why it is aiming to make South Korea its second home, and what her view is on Facebook's Libra.  Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Smart Valor: https://smartvalor.com/en/ Olga Feldmeier: https://twitter.com/OlgaFeldmeier Forbes interview with Olga: https://www.forbes.com/sites/montymunford/2018/07/30/qa-with-olga-feldmeier-cryptoqueen-and-ceo-smart-valor/#e3a3c9f3bcd1 Untold Stories interview with Olga (episode 14): https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/untoldstories?selected=BWG5775450315 Xapo receives approval to operate as a financial intermediary in Switzerland: https://blog.xapo.com/xapo-regulatory-status-in-switzerland/ SmartValor white paper: https://res.smartvalor.com/public/SMART-VALOR-WhitePaper.pdf SmartValor launches in Switzerland: https://www.coindesk.com/smart-valor-launches-regulated-crypto-exchange-in-switzerlandBusiness Insider interview on tokenizing physical objects:  https://www.businessinsider.com/smart-valor-ceo-tokenization-of-everything-icos-bitcoin-future-value-2018-1 Smart Valor makes South Korea its second home: https://news.smartvalor.com/korea-update/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sebastian Sonntag, the new CEO of LocalBitcoins, and Mika Impola, software developer at LocalBitcoins, explain why the peer-to-peer bitcoin trading company has a new CEO, why it stopped cash trades and what kind of response they've received from the community about it. They describe how the service works, how it has changed over time, the range of payment options available amongst sellers on the site, and how peer-to-peer trading differs from country to country. Plus, we cover why it suspended buying in Iran, how regulation is changing the site in general, how it handles forks and what Sonngtag's plans are for the company. Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com/ Kraken: https://kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: LocalBitcoins: https://localbitcoins.com/ LocalBitcoins blog: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/ LocalBitcoins names a new CEO: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/localbitcoins-names-a-new-ceo/ LocalBitcoins stops cash trades: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-removes-cash-for-crypto-trading-option New Finnish AML regulations: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/aml-features-update/  LocalBitcoins’ new ID verification system: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/id-verification-update/  LocalBitcoins trading volume across countries: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins LocalBitcoins trading in Venezuela: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins/VES/BTC LocalBitcoins suspends buying in Iran: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-bans-bitcoin-buying-in-iran-in-blow-to-rising-crypto-commerce Bitcoin Cash hard fork decision: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/bitcoin-bcash/ Bitcoin Maven: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bitcoin-sentencing-20180709-story.html Hack on LocalBitcoins forums: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-reveals-security-breach-with-some-crypto-wallets-affected Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luis Cuende, the CEO of Aragon One, describes the Aragon Network, how it aims to create new systems better for human coordination and the roles of the various parts of the ecosystem, such as Aragon One, the Aragon Association, the Aragon Court, Aragon Nest and the Aragon Network token. He describes the various parts of the Aragon Network, such as a finance app and voting app, how the network can be used both by decentralized organizations as well as centralized companies, and how he thinks decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) interact with real-world legal jurisdictions. We discuss how disputes are handled in Aragon, what the token, ANT, is used for, and why Aragon is contemplating building its own blockchain instead of sitting atop Ethereum, as it currently does. We also talk about how Aragon is governed, how it hopes to someday decentralize its governance and other ways Aragon can reach Cuende's ideal governance. Plus, we cover a few controversial votes in Aragon and the role of whales in such systems.  Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Aragon Network: https://aragon.org/network/ Luis Cuende: https://twitter.com/licuende?lang=en Aragon white paper: https://github.com/aragon/whitepaper Breaker Mag article about Aragon: https://breakermag.com/can-aragon-make-decentralized-autonomous-governance-work/ Vitalik Buterin's proposals on DAICOs: https://ethresear.ch/t/explanation-of-daicos/465 Aragon Governance Proposals (AGP): https://github.com/aragon/AGPs/blob/master/AGPs/AGP-1.md Vote against funding Polkadot: https://www.coindesk.com/voters-on-ethereum-app-veto-proposal-to-fund-polkadot-blockchain Unchained episode about Polkadot: https://unchainedpodcast.com/paritys-jutta-steiner-and-gavin-wood-on-polkadot-substrate-and-the-frozen-funds/ Unchained episode about Ethereum 2.0: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-whether-or-not-ethereum-is-blowing-it/ Unchained episode with Ameen Soleimani of MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/ Stats on Aragon: https://scout.cool/aragon/mainnet Unchained episode about Melon protocol: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-melon-could-make-asset-management-easier/ Autark, the decentralized SpaceX: https://www.autark.xyz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Zeppettini, international ops lead and chief evangelist for Decred, aka "Decred Jesus," announces the launch of the coin's privacy feature. He first describes how Decred came out of some developers' frustrations of trying to work with Bitcoin Core developers, and how that led them to realize a couple of issues with Bitcoin's governance around the funding of development and giving other stakeholders a say in the development of the coin. He explains how Decred addresses those issues, how governance in Decred works, what tickets are used for in the system and why it uses a hybrid POW/POS system. We discuss the comparatively high participation rates in Decred, how it's resistant to contentious hard forks, and what Politeia is. Plus, he gives the scoop on Decred's new privacy feature, how it works, why it was developed in secret, and how the plan to make it more decentralized in the future. Plus, he talks about how Decred plans to decentralize its own governance.  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Decred: https://decred.org Jonathan Zeppettini: https://twitter.com/jz_bz Decred in brief: https://decred.org/brief/ Jacob’s 2015 post on the challenges with Bitcoin: https://blog.companyzero.com/2015/11/bitcoins-biggest-challenges/ Placeholder VC on why it invested in Decred: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2018/5/12/decred-investment-thesis?rq=decred Smith and Crown's Decred report: https://sci.smithandcrown.com/research/decred-report Voting in Decred: https://storage.googleapis.com/smithandcrown-asset-engine-prod/images/voting-cycle.original.png Politeia: https://blog.decred.org/2017/10/25/Politeia/ CoinDesk article on Politeia: https://www.coindesk.com/one-of-investors-favorite-governance-blockchains-is-handing-over-20-million DiceMix “paper”: https://www.ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ndss201701-4ruffingSlides.pdf  Brave New Coin post: https://bravenewcoin.com/insights/decred-price-analysis-a-sustained-increase-in-mining-activity-2  Coinbase may list Decred: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-continues-to-explore-support-for-new-digital-assets-4d2ecbcbd38c  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sandra Ro, the CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council and former head of digitization at CME, explains what the GBBC does, how it chooses partners, and what level of involvement they have with projects under the GBBC umbrella. We discuss some of the more controversial projects, such as the Voatz pilot that conducted election voting using blockchain technology, as well as how she responds to people saying many "blockchain" projects could instead use a database. She also reveals why she believes that the US will eventually lead the world on crypto regulation, why she thinks that there's strength in the fragmentation in US regulations and what she thinks is the best way forward on the BitLicense. Plus, she gives us the inside scoop on what it took for her to get CME to launch Bitcoin futures.  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Sandra Ro: https://twitter.com/srolondon GBBC: https://gbbcouncil.org/ Previous Unchained interview with Sandra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-derivatives-exchanges-doing-with-bitcoin/  Controversy over Voatz: https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/west-virginia-blockchain-voting-voatz.html Episode with Jake Chervinsky: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/ Jeremy Allaire on Unconfirmed on why the US needs a new category for digital assets: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jeremy-allaire-on-why-the-us-government-needs-a-new-category-for-digital-assets/ Fred Wilson on crypto regulation in the US: https://avc.com/2019/05/defendcrypto-org/ Ted Livingston on why Kik set up DefendCrypto.org: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/ Unchained interview with Juthica Chou: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ledgerx-on-the-reasons-to-trade-bitcoin-options/ Patent for physically settled cryptocurrency derivatives contracts: https://www.coindesk.com/cme-explores-cryptocurrency-derivatives-contracts-in-patent-filing Ro named to New York State Digital Currency Task Force: https://www.coindesk.com/new-york-legislature-names-initial-members-to-crypto-task-force The Libra Association's Dante Disparte on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dong He, deputy director of the monetary and capital markets department of the IMF, and Yan Liu, Assistant General Counsel at the legal department of the IMF, talk about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs): the current level of interest among central banks in issuing them, what concerns they need to address when designing them, and how commercial banks might be affected, depending on the design of the CBDC. We discuss how privacy could be built into such a currency while also fulfilling anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financial regulations and how a CBDC could affect the IMF's ability to achieve its goal of financial inclusion. Plus, we also cover how crypto assets being widely adopted could influence economies, as well as Facebook's Libra.   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: IMF: https://www.imf.org/  Dong He: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donghe Yan Liu: https://blogs.imf.org/bloggers/yan-liu/  Speech by IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on the case for new digital currency: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/11/13/sp111418-winds-of-change-the-case-for-new-digital-currency  He’s speech on monetary policy in the digital age: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/06/central-bank-monetary-policy-and-cryptocurrencies/he.htm Article on how crypto assets could reduce the demand for central bank money: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/06/central-bank-monetary-policy-and-cryptocurrencies/he.pdf   The IMF on Libra: https://www.imf.org/~/media/Files/Publications/FTN063/2019/English/FTNEA2019001.ashx Unconfirmed episode with Michael Casey on why it would be good if Libra rivaled the US dollar: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/ Also check out this Unchained episode from the Oslo Freedom Forum, which dived deeply into the issues around privacy vs. keeping out bad actors: https://unchainedpodcast.com/oslo-freedom-forum-2019-protecting-financial-freedoms-in-the-digital-age/ And this Unchained episode with Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation, which covered similar issues: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Chervinsky, general counsel at Compound, goes over a plethora of crypto regulatory issues, such as those related to securities law such as the SEC vs. Kik case, Ripple, stablecoins, no-action letters, Blockstack and more. We also discuss whether there should be one regulator for crypto matters in the US, whether it makes sense to create a new category for digital assets instead of applying laws for securities, commodities, etc., to digital tokens, and why he thinks Libra will likely not launch in its proposed form. He also gives his odds on a Bitcoin ETF being approved soon, talks about the tension between privacy and financial regulation and  reveals what he thinks is the biggest regulatory issue in DeFi that no one's talking about. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Jake Chervinsky: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky Compound: https://compound.finance/ Unchained interview with Compound CEO Robert Leshner: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/  Unchained with Ted Livingston of Kik about its intention to fight the SEC in court: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/ Kik's Wells response: https://www.kin.org/wells_response.pdf  SEC no-action letter to Quarters: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-clears-blockchain-gaming-startup-to-sell-quarters-tokens  SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on the first no-action letter for a token: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-how-we-howey-050919  Unconfirmed episode on Blockstack’s Reg A+ filing: https://unchainedpodcast.com/blockstacks-reg-a-filing-and-the-future-of-token-offerings%e2%80%8b/   Decrypt article on issues with issuing a token under Reg A+: https://decrypt.co/7839/blockstack-token-offering-historic-but-dance-with-sec-far-from-over  How much Ripple has sold recently: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1154276254775947264?s=20 Jake’s tweet storm on the Libra hearings in Congress: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1151875713903005697?s=20 Jeremy Allaire’s testimony to Congress: https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Allaire%20Testimony%207-30-19.pdf Unchained interview with Jeremy Allaire on regulations: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jeremy-allaire-on-why-the-us-government-needs-a-new-category-for-digital-assets/ Push for new crypto regulations:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-push-for-new-bitcoin-rules-11562405401 Tax issues: https://fortune.com/2019/07/29/here-comes-the-irs-the-ledger/ Bitcoin ETF: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1111734963798458369?s=20  Jake’s tweet storm on Bakkt: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1059828623471972354?fbclid=IwAR259I8Q2NSNmQ_PEb6l__XatWhmqj9U8gocHRoeb-JXizviI9T62rMuQC8 The latest on Bakkt: https://www.coindesk.com/bakkt-is-supposed-to-start-testing-its-bitcoin-futures-contracts-today Sanctions coming to crypto: https://www.coindesk.com/get-ready-for-crypto-sanctions-enforcement  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Juthica Chou, chief operating officer of LedgerX, talks about the company's new license to offer its derivatives to retail investors and the resulting platform, Omni. She walks through what call and put options are, how they work and why people and companies purchase them as opposed to just buying or selling bitcoin directly. We discuss why LedgerX believes physically settled bitcoin options are superior to cash-settled ones, how LedgerX handles hard forks, and other contracts focused on the technicals of crypto networks it could offer such as its halving contract. Plus, she describes what it was like to be building a Bitcoin-centered company during the "blockchain not Bitcoin" era.  Sign up for the Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute!! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  LedgerX: https://www.ledgerx.com Juthica Chou: https://twitter.com/juthica  LedgerX blog posts introducing Omni: https://blog.ledgerx.com/the-long-game/ https://blog.ledgerx.com/introducing-omni-powered-by-ledgerx/ https://www.coindesk.com/cftc-approves-ledgerx-to-settle-futures-in-real-bitcoin https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-reveals-bid-to-beat-bakkt-to-physical-bitcoin-futures-launch CNBC interview with Ari Paul about why he bought $50,000 Bitcoin call option: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/12/26/man-behind-massive-bet-that-bitcoin-could-hit-50000.html Cheddar interview: more opportunity with the retail market:  https://cheddar.com/media/ledgerx-wins-u-s-regulatory-approval-to-trade-bitcoin-futures Bitcoin halving contract: https://blog.ledgerx.com/a-new-type-of-contract-for-a-new-type-of-asset/ https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-unveils-betting-market-for-2020s-bitcoin-block-reward-halving Ledger on how to it would handle the Bitcoin Gold hard fork: https://www.ledgerx.com/s/LedgerX-LLC-Notice-to-Participants-2017-10.pdf Call option for $100k Bitcoin by December 2020: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-16/anybody-can-now-bet-on-bitcoin-100-000-with-new-call-options Unchained interview with Dan Morehead of Pantera Capital: https://unchainedpodcast.com/pantera-capital-how-bitcoin-could-reach-356000-in-a-few-years/ Cboe stops listing Bitcoin fuures: https://www.coindesk.com/cboe-puts-brakes-on-bitcoin-futures-listing https://www.wsj.com/articles/cboe-abandons-bitcoin-futures-11552914001 Why CME’s futures saw more volume than Cboe’s: https://www.coindesk.com/cme-cboe-bitcoin-futures How Bitcoin futures will be taxed: https://blog.ledgerx.com/less-taxation-with-digitization/ Doomschain clock/attitude toward private blockchains: https://blog.ledgerx.com/updating-the-doomschain-clock/ Oracle blog post: https://blog.ledgerx.com/how-to-talk-to-the-oracle/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of Pantera Capital, and Joey Krug, co-chief investment officer of Pantera and founder of Augur, discuss where we are in the development cycle of blockchain technology, how Bitcoin, if stays on past trend lines, could hit $42,000 by year's end and $356,000 a couple years after that, and why the biggest challenges now are around scaling and onboarding. We also cover what the adoption of the technology will mean long-term — how creating assets and markets will no longer be the realm of a privileged view — but why payments may be one of the last areas to be disrupted. Morehead and Krug also talk about how Libra walks the line between decentralized and centralized, and it's unclear how Libra will become decentralized. Plus, hear how they respond to questions about the SEC vs. Kik.  Sign up for the Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute!!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Pantera Capital: https://www.panteracapital.com Dan Morehead: https://twitter.com/dan_pantera Joey Krug: https://twitter.com/joeykrug Dan Morehead on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/dan-morehead-of-pantera-capital-on-why-this-crypto-winter-is-different/ Unchained with Joey Krug: https://unchainedpodcast.com/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep-79/ A Crypto Thesis: https://medium.com/@PanteraCapital/a-crypto-thesis-47eaacf861ca Unconfirmed about Congressional hearings on Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-congressional-hearings-on-facebooks-libra-were-good-for-bitcoin/ Unconfirmed about why it would be good if Libra rivaled the USD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/ Unconfirmed with Dante Disparte of the Libra Association: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Some crypto industry players fed up with US regulators: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/29/crypto-companies-and-investors-fed-up-with-the-sec/#3f348ad7701c The SEC vs. Kik: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/ Bitcoin ETF: https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2018/10/pantera-capital-ceo-sec-doesnt-want-widows-and-orphans-buying-bitcoin-etfs-i-think-an-etf-is-years-away/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rich Sanders, cofounder and chief security officer of CipherBlade, and Harry Denley, director of security of MyCrypto.com, discuss the phone porting phenomenon: who's behind these thefts, how they perpetrate them, who is targeted, how to recognize the signs you're a victim and how to the hackers are adapting to people protecting themselves. They cover how you can protect yourself, which accounts to protect, what kinds of email addresses and numbers to set up, how to set them up, how to separate them from anything valuable, and which two-factor authentication methods could work instead. Plus, they go over how to report a theft, to whom you should report, and what information to include. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kraken: https://kraken.com CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  MyCrypto: https://mycrypto.com/ https://twitter.com/MyCrypto https://medium.com/mycrypto CipherBlade: https://cipherblade.com The SIM Swapping Bible: https://medium.com/mycrypto/what-to-do-when-sim-swapping-happens-to-you-1367f296ef4d My Forbes story covering the phone hijacking phenomenon: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#1964ddb738ba Michael Terpin, awarded $75 million in case after losing $24 million in crypto: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-investor-awarded-over-75-million-in-sim-swapping-hack-case Cody Brown who lost $8,000 on Coinbase due to a phone hijacking: https://medium.com/@CodyBrown/how-to-lose-8k-worth-of-bitcoin-in-15-minutes-with-verizon-and-coinbase-com-ba75fb8d0bac BitGo engineer losing his money via SIM porting: https://medium.com/coinmonks/the-most-expensive-lesson-of-my-life-details-of-sim-port-hack-35de11517124 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabriel Abed, founder of Bitt.com and Vice President of the board of directors, describes how he went from mining Bitcoin to persuading governors of central banks to not quash Bitt's goal to create central bank digital currencies in the Caribbean and getting the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to pilot one starting next year. He tells the tale of how Overstock came to invest in Bitt, how he brought on a new CEO to take over the company he founded, and how he teamed up with Polymath to create a new company that became the single largest shareholder of the Barbados Stock Exchange. He also describes Digital Asset Capital Management, an investment firm he launched, and why he's still a Bitcoin maximalist despite working on and investing in other types of cryptocurrencies.  Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Bitt.com: https://www.bitt.com/ Gabriel Abed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielabed/ mMoney in Barbados: https://www.mmoneybb.com/ Digital Asset Capital Management: https://dacm.io/ Overstock announces $4 million investment in Bitt.com, to total $16 million over time: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/overstock-invests-in-bitt-to-launch-official-digital-currencies-in-the-caribbean-islands-1459961581 Second Overstock investment in Bitt.com of $3 million: https://www.coindesk.com/overstock-venture-arm-invests-3-million-in-blockchain-payments-startup CoinDesk on the meaning of Bitt's work with the Barbadian digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/how-a-tiny-island-could-give-cryptocurrency-a-big-boost Bitt’s pilot with Eastern Caribbean Central Bank: https://www.coindesk.com/eastern-caribbean-central-bank-takes-step-toward-digital-currency-roll-out Partnership with Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) to look into issuing a central bank-backed digital currency for Curaçao and Sint Maarten: https://www.coindesk.com/bitt-partners-with-dutch-caribbean-islands-to-explore-central-bank-crypto Bitt's identity work: https://www.coindesk.com/bitt-reveals-big-plans-blockchain-powered-caribbean-settlement-network Crypto activity in Bermuda and the Caribbean:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/technology/cryptocurrency-bermuda-malta-gibraltar.html Bermuda's crypto regulatory framework:  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-bermuda-is-going-crypto-with-new-regulatory-framework-130512103.html Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Unchained interview with Bitfury: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitfury-on-the-ways-it-collaborates-with-governments-and-why-its-partnered-with-a-public-company/ Unchained interview with Sandra Ro: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-derivatives-exchanges-doing-with-bitcoin/ Unconfirmed interview with Dante Disparte: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luis Buenaventura, founder of Bloom Solutions, and Leo Weese, president of Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, discuss the crypto scene in Asia — how it differs from that of the West, and how it differs within the region. We also cover the regulatory climate there, how Korean traders occasionally stuff their pockets with cash and hop flights to Hong Kong, and whether the Hong Kong protests have had any impact on interest in BItcoin. Leo and Luis also talk about Binance and what they think are the top crypto projects in the region. Plus, they reveal Asia's perception of Tron. LAST WEEK to take the Unchained Podcast survey! Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Luis Buenaventura: https://twitter.com/helloluis Bloom: https://www.bloom.solutions/ Leo Weese: https://twitter.com/LeoAW The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong: https://www.bitcoin.org.hk/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinorghk?lang=en Panel from the Oslo Freedom Forum, where I met Leo and Luis: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/ Previous Asia scene episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/ Crypto Garage: https://cryptogarage.co.jp/en Bitspark: https://www.bitspark.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, the Human Rights Foundation and Alex Gladstein, its chief strategy officer, have become forces in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency community. In this episode, he discusses why Bitcoin is important for human rights, its three most important characteristics, and why Facebook's Libra project should be helpful to the adoption of the technology, at least in the short-term. He also describes how Bitcoin is just part of other movements that have become more open, such as governments shifting toward democracies and information becoming freer via the internet. He talks about how he thinks the technology can get wider adoption, why HRF supports the Open Money Initiative, and whether or not Bitcoin can help the North Korean people, rather than enriching its government, which has been the case so far.  Read the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/25/how-bitcoin-can-help-in-the-fight-for-human-rights/ Take the Unchained Podcast survey! Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: The Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/ Alex Gladstein: https://twitter.com/gladstein Last year's Unconfirmed episode with Alex: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep-021/ This year's panel discussion on finances and freedom from the Oslo Freedom Forum: https://unchainedpodcast.com/oslo-freedom-forum-2019-protecting-financial-freedoms-in-the-digital-age/ Alex's essay for Time on why Bitcoin matters for freedom: https://time.com/5486673/bitcoin-venezuela-authoritarian/ Alex's response to Bitcoin critics: https://medium.com/@alexgladstein/a-human-rights-activists-response-to-bitcoin-critics-d50e6760ee80 The Open Money Initiative: https://www.openmoneyinitiative.org/ https://www.coindesk.com/whats-holding-back-bitcoin-in-venezuela-this-group-is-investigating How Bitcoin could help improve foreign aid: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/23/perspectives/bitcoin-foreign-aid/index.html Unchained episode with Bill Tai:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology/ Eric Wall's posts on Bitcoin privacy and wallets: https://medium.com/human-rights-foundation-hrf/privacy-and-cryptocurrency-part-i-how-private-is-bitcoin-e3a4071f8fff https://medium.com/human-rights-foundation-hrf/privacy-and-cryptocurrency-part-ii-bitcoin-wallets-2f68099b055f What Bitcoin Did episode with Mahsa Alimardani: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/wbd-live-bitcoin-around-the-world-panel-at-the-oslo-freedom-forum Thae Yong Ho, the highest-ranking North Korean defector, at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2019: https://youtu.be/HmnBvsHl0qY?t=2662 Unchained episode with Jimmy Song: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jimmy-song-on-why-bitcoin-will-be-the-winning-cryptocurrency-ep-69/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarun Chitra, cofounder and CEO of Gauntlet, describes how his company enables crypto teams to run through simulations to see how their design choices will affect the project once it is trading. Using the cofounders' background in quantitative finance and high-frequency trading, Gauntlet uses tools from behavioral economics as well as game theory, plus real-world information such as exchange data to model outcomes after 100,000 blocks. We discuss how it makes its assumptions, how proof of stake differs from proof of work, and how the initial token distribution can affect the eventual concentration of tokens. He also reveals what design choice tends to have the greatest impact, as well as what main factor crypto teams aren't  thinking about that they should be. Plus, he talks about his involvement in the launch of Facebook's Libra project, and gives us his thoughts on the design choices Facebook made regarding the consensus algorithm, programming language and the structure of the coin. See the full show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/18/how-to-make-cryptoeconomics-work-in-live-trading/ Take the Unchained Podcast survey! Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode Links: Gauntlet: https://gauntlet.network Tarun Chitra: https://twitter.com/tarunchitra?lang=en Gauntlet blog posts: https://medium.com/gauntlet-networks?source=logo-23cfbaf25c9a Unchained episode with Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain from Consensus 2019: https://unchainedpodcast.com/to-the-moon-and-back-with-polychains-olaf-carlson-wee/ Zero Knowledge podcast episode with Tarun Chitra: https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/61 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this panel, recorded at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2019, I moderated what an attendee described as a "lively" discussion on the relationship between finances and freedom with Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Alena Vranova, Head of Strategy at Casa; and Coin Center founder Jerry Brito. We talked about what it's like to live under a regime where people don’t have a lot of financial freedom, how the move to a cashless society is leading to a surveillance state, and how we're seeing the emergence of a corporate surveillance state. We talked about how cryptocurrency could bring us more financial freedom, how crypto is/should be regulated, privacy coins and the imminent Financial Action Task Forces rules that require crypto exchanges and other services send each other information on customers for each transaction. Plus, we discuss bad state actors using crypto. Read the show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/11/how-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrencies-can-further-financial-freedom/ Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, -- including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Those of you interested in learning more about Casa, or about protecting your Bitcoin investment generally, should check out my interview with CEO Jeremy Welch. https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-casa-makes-it-harder-for-someone-to-steal-your-bitcoins/ Thank you to Casa for donating! Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Oslo Freedom Forum: https://oslofreedomforum.com Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org Jimmy Song: https://twitter.com/jimmysong Alena Vranova: https://twitter.com/AlenaSatoshi Jerry Brito: https://twitter.com/jerrybrito Programming Blockchain: https://programmingblockchain.com Casa: https://keys.casa Coin Center: https://coincenter.org FATF rules: https://www.coindesk.com/beyond-kyc-global-regulators-appear-set-to-adopt-tough-new-rules-for-crypto-exchanges How regulation could spur the development of technology in the crypto space toward more P2P: Vitalik blog post on this: https://vitalik.ca/general/2019/05/09/control_as_liability.html Michael Casey on the topic: https://www.coindesk.com/the-cat-and-mouse-game-of-crypto-regulation-enters-a-new-phase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Smith, the CEO of Blockchain, discusses how the company got started, why the company is focused on users owning their own private keys and how that is what enables all the most interesting applications of blockchain technology. He talks about the full range of customers and markets they serve, their lending business and their dark pool. We also discuss regulation, SegWit, nation-states getting involved in crypto and why Blockchain plans to go public. Read more on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/04/everything-interesting-in-crypto-relies-on-having-a-private-key/ Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Peter Smith: https://twitter.com/OneMorePeter Blockchain: https://www.blockchain.com Wired article on the short period when cofounder Ben Reeves worked with Brian Armstrong: https://www.wired.com/2014/03/what-is-bitcoin/ Dovey Wan tweet on manipulative trade on Bitstamp/Bitmex: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1129246233917382656 Fortune article on Blockchain launching an exchange: http://fortune.com/2018/02/15/blockchain-google-coinbase/ SEC guidance mentioning airdrops: https://www.sec.gov/files/dlt-framework.pdf FinCen guidance mentioning hosted vs. unheated wallets: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/2019-05/FinCEN%20Guidance%20CVC%20FINAL%20508.pdf Blockchain's Airdrop of XLM: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2018/11/06/stellar-is-airdropping-125-million-to-blockchain-wallet-users/ The Wall Street exodus from crypto: https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2019/01/143834-is-the-exodus-from-wall-street-to-crypto-reversing-jamie-selway-leaves-blockchain/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ted Livingston, CEO of Kik and the founder of the Kin Foundation, and Patrick Gibbs, partner at Cooley, announce the formation of the $5 million DefendCrypto.org fund at Coinbase Custody to fight the SEC in court. Kik and Kin are hoping that a lawsuit would eventually result in a new Howey test for crypto tokens, to determine which ones are a security. In this episode, they explain has happened so far between them and the SEC to bring them to this point and what their main arguments are. Plus they defend themselves against some of the evidence against their case and we discuss what they can expect going forward. Read the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/28/kin-launches-5-million-defendcrypto-fund-to-take-on-the-sec/ Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: Https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: DefendCrypto: https://www.defendcrypto.org Kik: https://www.kik.com Kin: https://www.kin.org Ted Livingston: https://twitter.com/ted_livingston Patrick Gibbs of Cooley: https://www.cooley.com/people/patrick-gibbs Kik’s Wells response: https://www.kin.org/wells_response.pdf Kin white paper: https://www.kin.org/static/files/Kin_Whitepaper_V1_English.pdf The DAO report: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/investreport/34-81207.pdf Kathryn Haun of A16z Crypto's blog post: https://a16z.com/2019/05/15/kik-and-the-sec-whats-going-on-and-what-does-it-mean-for-crypto/ Importance of the Kik and Kin Foundation case by the Blockchain Association:  https://medium.com/@BlockchainAssoc/the-potential-kik-and-the-kin-foundation-case-has-major-consequences-for-the-open-blockchain-de8ed616a1c Breaker Mag on Kik's fight with the SEC: https://breakermag.com/how-kiks-looming-sec-fight-could-unfold-and-why-it-will-define-blockchains-future/ Video of Ted at the San Francisco Meetup: https://youtu.be/rqN7srwqRf8 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/31/video-shows-kik-ceo-discussing-ico-pre-sale-it-will-become-super-valuable/ Kik chooses Stellar: https://www.coindesk.com/two-chains-no-more-kik-selects-stellar-over-ethereum-for-crypto-token-launch Kik chooses Stellar and Ethereum: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-and-stellar-mobile-messenger-kik-embraces-two-blockchains Next Web story: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/12/06/kik-kin-cryptocurrency-blockchain-2/ Kik pre-sale: https://www.coindesk.com/mobile-messenger-kik-raises-50-million-ahead-75-million-ico https://www.coindesk.com/why-big-investors-are-betting-real-money-on-a-kik-cryptocurrency SEC Framework: https://www.sec.gov/corpfin/framework-investment-contract-analysis-digital-assets Token Taxonomy Act: https://medium.com/@BlockchainAssoc/the-token-taxonomy-act-is-back-and-we-need-it-more-than-ever-d2cbf0154776 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sharon Goldberg, CEO of Arwen and Boston University computer science professor, describes how the protocol enables people to trade on crypto exchanges without making their coins vulnerable to exchange hacks, how this differs from trading on a decentralized exchange, and how Arwen would function if the exchange you were using on was hacked during a trade. She also discusses how Arwen works with any custody solution, how they choose which coins to support and what other features they are considering adding in the future. Read the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/21/how-to-trade-on-crypto-exchanges-without-your-coins-getting-hacked/ On May 27th I will be hosting a conversation about the future of finance and human rights at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. As the world continues to move toward a cashless society, paper currency is disappearing. Companies like Facebook, Apple, and TenCent are becoming increasingly influential in the digital payment space. We'll discuss how individuals and companies can preserve and protect financial freedoms in the digital age. I'll be joined by Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Casa chief technology officer Alena Vranova; and CoinCenter founder Jerry Brito. To register to attend, you can visit oslofreedomforum.com today -- use discount code "unchained25" to get 25% off your ticket price! Thank you to our sponsor: CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Arwen: https://www.arwen.io Sharon Goldberg: https://twitter.com/goldbe How Arwen prevents exit scams: https://medium.com/arwensecure/how-arwen-prevents-exit-scams-55d1a9de32b How Arwen protects traders from a hacked exchange: https://medium.com/arwensecure/unleashing-mt-fox-4e8b20a11dea Forbes article on Arwen: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2019/01/28/this-startup-is-fixing-the-biggest-security-hole-in-bitcoin-exchanges/#5f68d5905812 The Block on Arwen: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/02/05/a-startup-is-launching-a-solution-that-protects-users-from-exchange-hacks/ https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-startup-wants-you-to-trade-on-exchanges-without-trusting-them Kucoin launching Arwen: https://www.coindesk.com/kucoin-exchange-traders-can-now-self-custody-their-crypto-assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jutta Steiner, CEO of Parity, and Gavin Wood, who goes by the title "chief white space officer," describe the network Parity plans to launch later this year, Polkadot, how it aims to solve scalability, interoperability and security and when a developer would choose to build a dapp on Ethereum vs. a parachain on Polkadot. We also discuss another one of their products, Substrate, which enables developers to easily customize blockchains, and perceived competition between Ethereum and Polkadot. Plus, we talk about the frozen funds of Parity and other crypto teams, and why Jutta and Gavin think the community should upgrade in a way that would enable the funds to be unlocked. Be sure to check out the full show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/12/how-polkadot-hopes-to-help-blockchains-scale/ Thank you to our sponsors! CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Parity: https://www.parity.io Jutta Steiner: https://twitter.com/jutta_steiner Gavin Wood: https://twitter.com/gavofyork Polkadot light paper: https://polkadot.network/Polkadot-lightpaper.pdf Polkadot Wiki: http://wiki.polkadot.network/en/latest/ Gavin's 2014 blog post on Web 3: https://gavwood.com/dappsweb3.html Gav’s keynote on the journey to Web 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1pEE0W3ug Chain Fibers article in the Ethereum Wiki: https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Chain-Fibers-Redux Web 3.0 vision: https://medium.com/@gavofyork/why-we-need-web-3-0-5da4f2bf95ab More explanation of Polkadot, Substrate, Consensus, Governance, etc.: http://wiki.polkadot.network/en/latest/polkadot/learn/relevant-links/ Upgradeability without hard forks via Substrate https://medium.com/polkadot-network/never-fork-again-438c5e985cd8 Controversy around Afri Schoedon’s tweet: https://breakermag.com/exclusive-afri-schoedon-on-his-contentious-split-from-ethereum/ Dothereum: https://twitter.com/dothereum?lang=en https://www.reddit.com/r/dothereum/ Gavin and Vitalik Buterin discussing competition between Ethereum and Polkadot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=vRqJK16t4-I Why not to fork for the frozen funds: https://medium.com/@avsa/avoid-evil-twins-every-ethereum-app-pays-the-price-of-a-chain-split-e04c2a560ba8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Campbell and Kevin Johnson, cofounder and COO, respectively, of Tagomi, describe how Tagomi helps institutional players make larger crypto trades more efficiently and at the best price possible, plus analyze how that was executed. They contrast it with the pre-Tagomi process for doing large crypto trades, how their software, which functions as a sort of "Kayak.com" for crypto trading, works on the backend, and how they keep funds held on exchanges secure. Plus, we compare today's crypto trading infrastructure to the early days of electronic trading in traditional financial markets, and look down the road at how they'll accommodate trends such as staking and decentralized exchanges. For more, check out the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/07/how-to-make-large-crypto-trades-without-moving-the-market/ Thank you to our sponsors! ConsenSys/Ethereal: Head to Etherealsummit.com with my discount code LAURA20 to get 20% off tickets to Ethereal Summit New York, May 10th to 11th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Tagomi: https://tagomi.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/tagomisystems Forbes article on Tagomi: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2019/02/15/crypto-finance-grows-up-tagomis-new-tools-could-draw-institutions-into-the-crypto-market/#6c9bf98c13a0 Bloomberg video featuring Jennifer and Greg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-03-04/meet-tagomi-the-end-to-end-crypto-solution-video Bloomberg article on comparisons to early days of electronic trading in equities: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-17/former-goldman-electronic-trading-head-sees-parallels-in-crypto WSJ Article on Tagomi: https://www.wsj.com/articles/peter-thiel-backed-venture-to-help-big-investors-bet-on-bitcoin-1525176121 Tagomi receiving BitLicense: http://fortune.com/2019/03/27/bitcoin-peter-thiel-tagomi-bitlicense/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jae Kwon, founder and CEO of Tendermint and president of the Interchain Foundation, and Ethan Buchman, cofounder of Tendermint and Cosmos and technical director of the Interchain Foundation, discuss the various technologies that form the Cosmos/Tendermint system. When the Cosmos network launched on March 13, it was built on what is the blockchain equivalent of an operating system, a consensus algorithm called Tendermint, Cosmos is like the world wide web (for blockchains) built on top, and the Cosmos Hub is a specific blockchain that exists in the system that can be used to connect other blockchains. We discuss all the above, as well as how secure the chain is, and how governance works in the system. Check out the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/30/cosmos-a-world-wide-web-for-blockchains/ Thank you to our sponsors! CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. ConsenSys/Ethereal: Head to Etherealsummit.com with my discount code LAURA20 to get 20% off tickets to Ethereal Summit New York, May 10th to 11th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Cosmos: Cosmos.network Cosmos.network/launch Luni: Luni.io Tendermint: Tendermint.com - company and product Interchain Foundation: Interchain.io Cosmos intro/FAQ: https://cosmos.network/intro Cosmos white paper: https://cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper Chart showing number of transactions vs. validators: https://medium.com/paradigm-fund/cosmos-network-the-internet-of-blockchains-is-coming-9ce956c7b78 The Control on Cosmos: https://thecontrol.co/into-the-cøsmos-433586b82865 Paradigm’s description of Cosmos: https://medium.com/paradigm-fund/cosmos-network-the-internet-of-blockchains-is-coming-9ce956c7b78 Bitfish’s response to Game of Stakes, in which it grew to 55% of the network: https://medium.com/bitfishlabs/bitfish-response-to-gos-5-24eaeeea9876 CoinDesk on Cosmos launch: https://www.coindesk.com/a-blockchain-to-connect-all-blockchains-cosmos-is-now-officially-live Cosmos vs. Polkadot: https://tokeneconomy.co/the-state-of-crypto-interoperability-explained-in-pictures-654cfe4cc167 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin and aka SatoshiLite, discusses how he came to launch Litecoin, how the "fair" launch may have helped its success, why he didn't work on it for a stretch, and what inspired him to devote all of his time to it — but not own any litecoins. We also discuss his vision for Litecoin, why he believes stablecoins aren't superior, why he's considering enabling private Litecoin payments, and how he feels about the perception that he sold his litecoins near the all-time high, leaving others holding the bag. Read the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/23/charlie-lee-on-why-litecoins-goal-is-to-be-used-for-payments/ Read Charlie’s additional answers: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-cutting-room-floor-charlie-lee/ Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained CoinDesk: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don't miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. Episode links: Litecoin: http://litecoin.org Charlie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite Charlie on Unconfirmed, discussing the 10th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper: https://unchainedpodcast.com/charlie-lee-aka-satoshi-lite-on-the-10-year-anniversary-of-the-bitcoin-white-paper-ep-044/ Charlie on Unconfirmed, discussing the Ethereum Classic 51% attack: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-ethereum-classic-51-attack-how-it-happened-and-why-the-price-didnt-crash-ep-055/ Unchained interview with Charlie's brother, Bobby Lee: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bobby-lee-ceo-of-btcc-on-why-the-chinese-probably-arent-using-bitcoin-to-evade-capital-controls/ CoinDesk on Charlie’s work after Coinbase: https://www.coindesk.com/life-coinbase-can-charlie-lee-keep-litecoins-revival-alive CoinDesk profile: https://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-most-influential-2017-3-charlie-lee Charlie selling his LTC: https://www.reddit.com/r/litecoin/comments/7kzw6q/litecoin_price_tweets_and_conflict_of_interest/ WSJ article on selling his LTC: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-founder-tries-a-new-play-sell-it-all-1513873355?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3 Multicoin Capital report on Litecoin: https://multicoin.capital/2018/09/14/debunking-market-narratives-litecoin-ltc-edition/ Magical Crypto Friends: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVDsIYJBQ_C7Bh_aI3ZMxQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexander Zaidelson, the CEO of Beam, a cryptocurrency being built on the MimbleWimble protocol, talks about how he came to start Beam, how it differs from Grin, another cryptocurrency being built on MimbleWimble and what types of users the cryptocurrency is targeting. See the full show notes at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/16/how-businesses-might-one-day-use-cryptocurrency/ Interested in a weekend of yoga, nature, healthy food and talking crypto? Then join me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, from September 20-22. Sign up today! https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Beam: https://www.beam.mw Medium: https://medium.com/beam-mw Overviews of Grin vs. Beam: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/battle-privacycoins-what-we-know-about-grin-and-beams-mimblewimble/ https://www.coindesk.com/grin-and-beam-a-tale-of-two-coins-being-built-on-mimblewimble Comparisons of Beam to Zcash and Monero: https://medium.com/beam-mw/whats-the-difference-between-monero-zcash-and-beam-953eafd89354 Beam Roadmap: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-beam-roadmap-2019-b2c7f38fc106 Beam emission schedule: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-emission-schedule-215551948259 Beam FAQ: https://www.beam.mw/faq The Block on Mimblewimble: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/08/mimblewimble-history-technology-and-the-mining-industry/ Wallet vulnerability: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-wallet-vulnerability-report-7b8e88dc7e Blockchain stoppage: https://www.coindesk.com/beam-cryptocurrency-experiences-brief-blockchain-stoppage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Lehnberg and Michael Cordner, core team members of Grin, discuss the first implementation of the MimbleWimble protocol, named after a tongue-tying curse in Harry Potter. We discuss the many ways in which Grin is similar to Bitcoin: its origin story, its goal to be "digital cash," as Satoshi's paper was subtitled, and even its emission schedule. We discuss how Grin is private, how it is lighter weight than the Bitcoin blockchain, and the philosophy behind Grin, which stands in stark contrast to the many ICOs. For the full show notes, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/09/a-nimbler-more-private-version-of-bitcoin/ Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Grin: https://grin-tech.org Grin newsletter: https://grinnews.substack.com Daniel Lehnberg: https://twitter.com/lehnberg?lang=en Michael Cordner: https://twitter.com/yeastplume?lang=en MimbleWimble white paper: https://scalingbitcoin.org/papers/mimblewimble.txt Grin Intros: https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin/blob/master/doc/intro.md https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin/blob/master/doc/grin4bitcoiners.md Circle Research report on MimbleWimble technology: https://research.circle.com/crypto-reports/mimblewimble Grin's monetary policy — visually, easier to see how its similar in effect to Bitcoin's: https://github.com/mimblewimble/docs/wiki/Monetary-Policy https://www.tokendaily.co/blog/on-grin-mimblewimble-and-monetary-policy Questions about whether Grin got the incentives right: https://twitter.com/nlw/status/1091319888562532355 https://twitter.com/TusharJain_/status/1091316903346429952 Tracking YeastPlume’s funding: https://grin-tech.org/yeastplume Ignotus Peverell post noting his disappointment in funding for YeastPlume: https://www.grin-forum.org/t/solved-early-disappointments/3682 Interview with Ignotus Peverell: https://breakermag.com/grin-founder-ignotus-peverell-on-life-after-launch-and-the-path-forward/ Conversation with Grin developers: https://medium.com/@BHEXOfficial/bhex-original-ignotus-grin-as-bitcoins-younger-more-nimble-brother-612efadd0478 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a fireside chat I moderated with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce held by the Blockchain Digital Asset Forum, in conjunction with the NYU Stern Executive MBA program, on March 26, 2019, she explained where her reputation as 'Crypto Mom' comes from — a desire to look at the world with fresh eyes and say, are there things we can do things better? We also discussed a Bitcoin ETF and the prospects for one after Bitwise released a report showing a health legitimate market, as well as initial coin offerings and what will happen to the hundreds of ICO issuers that had initial coin offerings that look much like the ICOs that have already had enforcement actions against them. She described the process that occurs when something like an application for a Bitcoin ETF is submitted to the SEC, whether or not there's a lot of disagreement amongst the commissioners about how to regulate crypto, how much they work to persuade each other to come over to their side and whether Chairman Jay Clayton's opinion overrules everyone else's or whether majority rules. Plus, we covered dexes, stablecoins and security tokens. View the full show notes on my Forbes page: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/02/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-on-why-you-shouldnt-have-to-be-rich-to-get-rich/ Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce SEC: https://www.sec.gov Event link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fireside-chat-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-and-laura-shin-tickets-58327939437 Hester's dissent to the Bitcoin ETF disapproval: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723 Bitwise's report: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nysearca-2019-01/srnysearca201901-5164833-183434.pdf SEC enforcement action against Munchee: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2017/33-10445.pdf SEC enforcement action against Paragon: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/33-10574.pdf SEC enforcement action against Airfox: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/33-10575.pdf SEC enforcement action against Gladius: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2019/33-10608.pdf Speech by William Hinman, SEC director of the Division of Corporate Finance, on ether not being a security: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/speech-hinman-061418 Token Taxonomy Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/7356 Unchained episode with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ SEC enforcement action against Zachary Coburn of EtherDelta: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/34-84553.pdf DTC report on blockchains for securities: http://www.dtcc.com/news/2019/march/13/dtcc-outlines-guiding-principles-for-post-trade-processing-of-tokenized-securities Thank you to Lawson Baker at TokenSoft (disclosure: a previous sponsor) for helping me think through some of the issues for this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the first Unchained Live, Vitalik explained why he thought it was "inevitable" Ethereum would lose some of its lead, when he would be upset if Ethereum were overtaken by a competitor, and whether the Ethereum 2.0 road map was too long. We also discussed why a strain of Ethereum maximalism is emerging, how the foundation sets its funding priorities, whether or not the community should adopt inflation funding for development of the blockchain and why he thinks the MolochDAO experiment likely won't garner much investment. For the full summary, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/03/26/vitalik-buterin-on-why-ethereum-has-lost-some-of-its-lead/. Thank you to our sponsors! Quantstamp, the venue sponsor for Unchained Live: http://quantstamp.com/unchained Columbia School of Professional Studies, the networking sponsor: http://sps.columbia.edu/podcast CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Previous Unchained interview with Vitalik Buterin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-creator-of-ethereum-on-the-big-guy-vs-the-little-guy/ Unchained episode about MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/ Zcash interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/zcashs-zooko-wilcox-on-why-he-believes-privacy-coins-will-be-used-more-for-good-than-bad/ Unchained interview with Glen Weyl and Santiago Siri referencing radical markets: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/ 0x interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future/ Augur interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep-79/ Dharma interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep-80/ Compound interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/ dYdX interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep-86/ Unchained episode on MakerDAO, part 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Part 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ Unconfirmed episode about superfluid collateral and echoes of the 2008 financial crisis: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-earn-money-on-collateral-in-defi-and-why-thats-risky/ Unconfirmed episode about Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/ Dfinity interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/dfinitys-dominic-williams-on-how-its-blockchain-nervous-system-is-not-an-ai-ep-78/ 100th episode of Unchained featuring a poem about crypto and the podcast: https://unchainedpodcast.com/100th-episode-past-guests-and-listeners-take-over-the-show-ep-100/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ameen Soleimani, CEO of Spankchain, comes on the show to discuss his latest effort to fund Ethereum development through the decentralized autonomous organization MolochDAO. He describes how it works, plus we cover competition in the smart contract space and whether we're seeing the emergence of Ethereum maximalism. Full show notes are back on Forbes.com! See the full recap of this week's recap of the episode at http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/03/18/how-could-ethereum-development-be-funded-perhaps-through-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization/. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: MolochDAO website: MolochDAO.com MolochDAO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MolochDAO MolochDAO white paper: https://github.com/MolochVentures/Whitepaper/blob/master/Whitepaper.pdf Moloch Github: https://github.com/molochventures/moloch State of Ethereum 2.0 report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PS0k9MaKPdPwEw3Uh9rq7USjq7LcSpT6ICQUXRij4YE/edit#heading=h.kdbgcss2wsc Ameen's tweet storm on MolochDAO: https://twitter.com/ameensol/status/1084652403889065989?s=19 MolochDAO tweetstorm with update on members, etc.: https://twitter.com/MolochDAO/status/1100516720563806209?s=19 MolochDAO presentation at ETHDenver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abTRJZcmPwI  Post by Dino Mark, Vlad Zamfir and Emin Gun Sirer, A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on the DAO: http://hackingdistributed.com/2016/05/27/dao-call-for-moratorium/ Ameen on the importance of ETH price: https://twitter.com/ameensol/status/1090319128810815489 Ryan Zurrer's position on ether fund recovery: https://medium.com/@rzurrer/evolution-dogma-a-proposed-path-towards-ether-fund-recovery-9810f213e8ee r/Ethereum decision on moderators: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/azyqdu/a_statement_call_for_discussion_from_some_of_the/ Ameen on the timeframe for developing Ethereum 2.0 relative to development on potentially competitive chains like Polkadot: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/ajc9ip/ama_we_are_the_eth_20_research_team/eewscyf/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tushar Jain and Kyle Samani, managing partners of Multicoin Capital, discuss Binance, Binance Chain and BNB token, and why they believe Binance will become the first centralized company to successfully decentralize itself and migrate the value in itself to its token. We cover what Binance, the centralized company has so far achieved in terms of trading volume, fiat on-ramps, and regulatory arbitrage, and whether the company has any more regulatory risk than any other exchange. We also look at the features of Binance Chain, how they compare to other decentralized exchanges such as 0x, and why Multicoin believes that it will have more liquidity than previous dexes. We then explore BNB token — how it works now, the regulatory risk for BNB token, and how it will function on the dex. Finally, we touch on Binance's decentralization strategy overall and how it could fail. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital Kyle Samani: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani Tushar Jain: https://twitter.com/TusharJain_ Multicoin Capital BNB report: https://multicoin.capital/2019/02/19/binance-coin-analysis-and-valuation/ Unchained episode with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get your tickets now for Unchained Live with Vitalik Buterin! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176   It will take place March 20th at 6pm at Columbia Journalism School in the Joseph D. Jamail Lecture Hall. Hope to see you there! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mona El-Isa, the cofounder and CEO of Melonport, explains how Melon, the asset management protocol which recently launched on Ethereum, makes launching a fund easier and less expensive, plus gives investors even more transparency into the manager's decisions. She describes who will be using Melon, how the funds using Melon access liquidity if the protocol only connects to decentralized exchanges, what happens if bugs are found in the protocol's smart contracts, and how know-your-customer processes are handled. Noting that the company Melonport will now be winding down, she talks about how the protocol will be managed going forward. Plus, we dive into the MLN token. Thank you to our sponsor! http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Melonport: https://melonport.com Launch of Melon 1.0: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melon-v1-0-zahreddino-60105f51988d Front and back office functions in a traditional fund vs. a Melon-based fund: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/what-is-melon-2018-edition-3437f3d064d8 Management fees in Melon: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/management-and-performance-fees-in-a-melon-fund-f1df2a26abd9 Integration with Kyber: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/kyber-network-melon-3f6bcfa2d328 Melonport will not exist by DevCon V: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTLSnS4DTak&t=882s Melon governance: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/introduction-to-the-melon-governance-system-f6ff73c70eb0 MLN token: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-melon-but-were-too-afraid-to-ask-9ea3fda6d71f Melonomics 1: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-1-aligning-interests-through-token-unification-d0b98a02de46 Melonomics 2:  https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-2-the-melon-engine-48bcb0dae65 Melonomics 3:  https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-3-counting-melons-7632afad844c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glen Weyl, a political economist and social technologist, the coauthor of Radical Markets and a principal researcher at Microsoft, and Santiago Siri, the founder of Democracy Earth, discuss how blockchains can be used to create borderless democracies that can reach any citizen on earth and can be used not just by nation-states but in all kinds of communities such as the workplace, church or a social network like Facebook. We cover concepts such as quadratic finance and quadratic voting, and look at how forcing voters to have a budget for their votes changes voting behavior. We also dive into what needs to be put in place for blockchain-based voting systems to work, why identity solutions are crucial but also so hard to get right, and how we can prevent token-based governance systems from becoming plutocracies. Plus, we surmise that blockchain-based governance might be the 21st century political experiment and that someday, we may all be citizens of multiple communities. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained Episode links: Democracy Earth:  https://www.democracy.earth Santiago Siri: https://twitter.com/santisiri Radical Xchange: https://twitter.com/RadxChange Glen Weyl: https://twitter.com/glenweyl Radical Xchange conference in March: radicalxchange.org Radical Markets: https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11222.html Democracy Earth white paper: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sifogl4zimwkkei/Democracy%20Earth%20-%20Social%20Smart%20Contract%20-%20Paper%20v0.2.pdf?dl=0 Democracy Earth cofounder Pia Mancini on early work with digital democracy: https://www.ted.com/talks/pia_mancini_how_to_upgrade_democracy_for_the_internet_era?language=en Santi on how blockchains could revolutionize democracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UajbQTHnTfM Wired article on Democracy Earth: https://www.wired.com/story/santiago-siri-radical-plan-for-blockchain-voting/ CoinDesk feature on Glen Weyl: https://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-most-influential-blockchain-2018-glen-weyl Vitalik Buterin blog post on Radical Markets: https://vitalik.ca/general/2018/04/20/radical_markets.html Paper by Vitalik, Zoe Hitzig and Glen on quadratic financing: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243656 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you haven’t heard, I’m doing a live podcast recording with Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum. What is a live podcast recording? It's a podcast performed by me and the guest on a stage, in front of an audience.  Vitalik and I will be discussing Ethereum 2.0, Polka Dot, Substrate, what happened with Afri this week and more. And you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions.  It’ll be in New York City the evening of March 20th, which is one month from today. The doors open at 6, the show starts at 7. We will be announcing the venue soon.  Get your tickets here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jalak Jobanputra, founder and managing partner of Future Perfect Ventures, talks about how, in 2014, her experience as an investment bank and VC, her global background, and her observation that new streams of data were becoming available led her to launch her first fund, which ended up being 70% invested in blockchain. She describes what it was like selling LPs on the nascent technology in 2014, how her latest fund, which will be more than $50 million, is different and how it's drawing LPs who thought they could make money through liquid hedge funds invested in tokens. She talks about why she thinks early-stage technologies can't be IPO'ed -- and why FPV shied away from ICOs -- but why her second fund is capable of investing in tokens. She also explains how the space is still lacking in early-stage VCs with knowledge of the blockchain sector, why New York launched the New York Blockchain Center and whether crypto is becoming more diverse. Come See Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin! Wednesday, March 20th, doors at 6, show at 7, venue TBD Get your tickets now! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained Episode links: Future Perfect Ventures: Futureperfectventures.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/jalak Blog: Thebarefootvc.com Jalak op-ed on Bitcoin at $10,000 in Recode: https://www.recode.net/2017/11/29/16716014/bitcoin-price-10k-ethereum-blockchain-cryptocurrency-value-creation-global Profile of Jalak in Breaker Mag: https://breakermag.com/why-one-of-blockchains-first-vcs-thinks-the-developing-world-will-lead-the-way/ Jalak on the 10th birthday of the Bitcoin white paper: https://breakermag.com/remembering-the-bitcoin-whitepaper-part-3-the-thinkers/ New York Blockchain Center: https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/nycedc-open-nyc-s-public-private-blockchain-center Wired story on the Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ Unconfirmed episode with Bill Barhydt of portfolio company Abra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-abra-enables-you-to-buy-5-of-an-etf-like-token-of-the-top-10-cryptos-ep-040/ Unchained episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of portfolio company Bitpesa: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island/ Unchained episode with Vinny Lingham of portfolio company Civic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/civics-vinny-lingham-on-when-crypto-demand-will-catch-up-with-the-technology/ Unchained episode with Josh Stein of portfolio company Harbor: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/ Unchained episode with Riccardo Spagni of portfolio company Tari: https://unchainedpodcast.com/moneros-riccardo-spagni-aka-fluffypony-on-how-he-feels-about-monero-being-used-for-crime-ep-93/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Welch of personal key security system Casa describes the company's various services and products, including its $10,000-a-year premium service for HODLers of at least $500,000 worth of cryptocurrency and the Casa node. He explains how he came to start Casa, why using seed phrases for managing security of crypto hardware devices is so problematic, and how customers should set up the keys in their possession for the company's multi-signature solution, in which any transaction requires the use of three of five keys. We go on at length at about potential ways in which an attacker could still force a target, say, at gunpoint, to move money to the hacker's wallet. We also discuss why the company doesn't offer a multi-sig solution for ether, why people choose to run Casa's Bitcoin/Lightning node and where people are using Lightning. Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin in New York City: Get your tickets here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Episode links: Casa: https://keys.casa Jeremy Welch: https://twitter.com/jeremyrwelch The Cutting Room Floor: Jeremy Welch of Casa, in which Jeremy answers by email the remaining questions we didn't get to: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-cutting-room-floor-jeremy-welch-of-casa/ Casa blog post on the evolution of Bitcoin key management: https://blog.keys.casa/the-evolution-of-bitcoin-key-management/ Ways to store your crypto: https://blog.keys.casa/crypto-101-storing-your-cryptocurrency/ Forbes on Casa's $2 million seed funding: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2018/03/02/bitcoin-thieves-beware-super-secure-wallet-maker-casa-raises-2-million/#4c5b2e544230 Casa's seven guiding principles: https://medium.com/casa/seven-guiding-principles-at-casa-92f43e5e546a Announced after we recorded: Casa's new browser extension: https://blog.keys.casa/casa-browser-extension/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rune Christensen, CEO and cofounder of MakerDAO, explains how multicollateral Dai will work, what happens if one type of collateral fails, and what happens when someone's collateralized debt position with multicollateral Dai needs to be liquidated. He also discusses who gets to participate in the various levels of governance with the MKR token, who owns those tokens and what the purpose of the Maker Foundation is. We also cover whether the CFTC would consider collateralized debt positions to be derivatives and therefore under its purview, how Dai is being used and how much education is required for people to use the system. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Episode links: MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/ Rune Christensen: https://twitter.com/RuneKek Previous Unchained episode on stablecoins with Rune and Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/ Unconfirmed episode with Rune on Andreessen Horowitz’s $15 million investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/ Part 1 of my interview with Rune: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Digital Asset Research report on MakerDAO: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/our-products/#in-depth-research CFTC smart contracts primer prohibiting derivatives contracts that are traded on exchanges that are supposed to be registered with the CFTC and are not.  https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/LabCFTC_PrimerSmartContracts112718.pdf Nice recap of how Dai has performed as ETH has dropped in price: https://medium.com/@mikeraymcdonald/single-collateral-dai-9-months-in-review-b9d9fbe45ab MKR Tools website: https://mkr.tools/tokens/dai Description of Maker Tools: https://medium.com/@mikeraymcdonald/announcing-the-new-mkr-tools-e32466f1c3db Maintaining its peg as ETH dropped: https://medium.com/makerdao/volatile-times-dai-as-a-safe-haven-2f017453e9f1 MakerDAO and Wyre partnership: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/makerdao-and-wyre-give-businesses-immediate-access-to-dai-stablecoin-in-over-thirty-countries-including-usa-300696400.html ETH in DeFi projects: https://mikemcdonald.github.io/eth-defi/ Placeholder VC blog post: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2019/1/23/maker-investment-thesis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rune Christensen, CEO and cofounder of MakerDAO, explains the intricacies of the MakerDAO system, which includes the stablecoin Dai, which is pegged to $1, backed by collateral, and whose governance is managed by holders of the MKR token. He describes how the current version of "single-collateral" Dai, is backed by ether, how Dai is created with a collateralized debt position and what happens when the value of the collateral falls too low. He also talks about the roles of various players in the system, such as keepers, oracles and MKR token holders. We also cover how the system handles black swan events or other emergencies. The MakerDAO system is so complex, however, that we will reconvene for a part 2 to describe the rest of the system and how a multi-collateral Dai will function. Thank you to our sponsors! Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/ Rune Christensen: https://twitter.com/RuneKek Previous Unchained episode on stablecoins with Rune and Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/ Unconfirmed episode with Rune on Andreessen Horowitz's $15 million investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/ MakerDAO white paper: https://makerdao.com/en/whitepaper/ Decreasing the stability fee: https://medium.com/makerdao/decreasing-the-stability-fee-1f9fe50cf582 Unchained episode on generalized mining with Jake Brukhman and Tushar Jain: https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinfunds-jake-brukhman-and-multicoins-tushar-jain-on-generalized-mining-ep-92/ Laura's TEDx talk: https://unchainedpodcast.com/lauras-tedx-talk-how-crypto-could-allow-more-people-to-be-their-own-boss-ep-047/ USD Coin's banking partners: https://support.usdc.circle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015278272-Who-are-the-banking-and-financial-partners-you-are-using-for-USDC- TrueUSD's trust companies and their correspondent banks: https://blog.trusttoken.com/who-are-the-correspondent-banks-and-trustee-partners-for-trueusd-e12508f0d5a2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gemini's Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who serve as chief executive and president, respectively, discuss their new ad campaign -- what they mean when they say crypto needs rules, why they agree in certain respects with some of their critics, and what the general reaction has been. They discuss why they launched a stablecoin, why they chose the stablecoin structure of dollar reserves and GUSD's role in an arbitrage involving a Chinese exchange and a competing stablecoin. They also explain how they intend to make a Bitcoin ETF a reality, what they think of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce's dissent and what they intend for the Virtual Commodity Association. Plus, the brothers talk about why their goal is to be "the fastest tortoise in the race." Thank you to our sponsors! Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Gemini's new ad campaign: https://www.wsj.com/articles/winklevosses-cryptocurrency-exchange-says-the-revolution-needs-rules-11546599600 Negative reaction to Gemini ad campaign from crypto community: Erik Voorhees: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1081204430857416706 Gemini USD gets approval of New York Department of Financial Services: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-10/controversial-crypto-coin-tether-to-get-regulated-competitors Past episodes with other stablecoin projects: USDC/Circle: https://unchainedpodcast.com/circles-jeremy-allaire-and-sean-neville-on-why-crypto-will-be-bigger-than-the-web-ep-71/ TrueUSD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/ MakerDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/ Bloomberg reporter Matt Leising on Tether: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bloombergs-matt-leising-on-why-it-appears-tether-has-sufficient-dollar-reserves-ep-052/ Trading of GUSD for Pax and cashing out via Huobi: https://medium.com/paxos/regulation-in-the-crypto-world-part-i-leading-the-way-into-the-light-11e54d16b035 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/04/gemini-gave-trading-firms-a-stablecoin-discount-and-it-caused-big-headaches-for-one-of-its-rivals/ GUSD distribution on Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/token/tokenholderchart/0x056fd409e1d7a124bd7017459dfea2f387b6d5cd Cameron and Tyler's AMA on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/adk0ua/we_are_cameron_and_tyler_winklevoss_cofounders_of/edhlb3b/ SEC commissioner Hester Peirce's dissent on Bitcoin ETF decision: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723 Bitcoin Cash launch on Gemini: https://medium.com/gemini/bitcoin-cash-is-now-available-on-gemini-cc75299d892f The 51% attack on Ethereum Classic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-ethereum-classic-51-attack-how-it-happened-and-why-the-price-didnt-crash-ep-055/ Gemini year in review https://medium.com/gemini/geminis-2018-year-in-review-1cd0815dd45e Virtual Commodity Association: https://medium.com/gemini/joining-the-virtual-commodity-association-8bdf3b2f803e Gemini's new mobile app: https://medium.com/gemini/introducing-the-gemini-mobile-app-crypto-on-the-go-1448d2ae74fa USD Coin's banking partners: https://support.usdc.circle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015278272-Who-are-the-banking-and-financial-partners-you-are-using-for-USDC-    TrueUSD's trust companies and their correspondent banks: https://blog.trusttoken.com/who-are-the-correspondent-banks-and-trustee-partners-for-trueusd-e12508f0d5a2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this wide-ranging episode, Eric Meltzer and Dovey Wan of Primitive Ventures describe how Asia is weathering the crypto downturn: how have the low prices affected miners, how has this affected Bitmain's prospects for an IPO and how, despite a ban on crypto exchanges, Chinese crypto users have been trading. We also discuss more broadly how crypto projects and startups differ between China and the U.S., how crypto is upending Silicon Valley's dominance, and how differences in regulation are affecting entrepreneurship in the space. Plus, Eric and Dovey address whether or not the surveillance state is motivating Chinese interest in crypto. Thank you to our sponsors! Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Primitive Ventures: http://primitive.ventures Eric Meltzer: https://twitter.com/wheatpond Dovey Wan: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan Binance was more profitable than Deutsche Bank in quarter 1 of 2018: https://www.ccn.com/binance-surpassed-germanys-biggest-bank-deutsche-in-profitability/ Bitmain and Huobi layoffs: https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/2179513/chinas-cryptocurrency-giants-bitmain-and-huobi-plan-lay-offs-amid Hong Kong regulators reluctant to allow crypto firms to IPO: https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2178747/hong-kong-regulators-say-ipos-cryptocurrency-businesses-are Report that China wants an "orderly exit" from crypto mining: https://qz.com/1174091/china-wants-an-orderly-exit-from-bitcoin-mining/ Chinese op-ed on why the People’s Bank of China should consider a yuan-pegged cryptocurrency: https://www.coindesk.com/pboc-op-ed-pushes-use-case-for-yuan-pegged-crypto-stablecoins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Larcheveque, cofounder and CEO of Ledger, and Demetrios Skalkotos, global head of Ledger Vault, describe the company's three main offerings: its hardware wallets, the new software-as-a-service product for institutions, and an Internet of Things offering for transactions involving physical assets. They also describe how the company scaled for a massive increase in demand in 2017, who their customers are and how the company has responded to vulnerabilities found in its products. Plus, they explain why they don't put tamper-proof packaging on their hardware wallets. Thank you to our sponsors! TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Ledger: https://www.ledger.com Eric Larcheveque: https://twitter.com/EricLarch Demetrios Skalkotos: https://twitter.com/DemoSkalkotos Introduction of Ledger Vault: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-vault-nyc-office-brings-crypto-security-to-institutional-investors-ec9ee3445850 Three part-series on hardware wallets: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-101-part-1-do-you-really-need-a-hardware-wallet-7f5abbadd945 Ledger's description of BOLOS: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/a-closer-look-into-ledger-security-our-custom-operating-system-bolos-ab608bcb0839 Blog post from Saleem Rashid: https://saleemrashid.com/2018/03/20/breaking-ledger-security-model/ Demonstration of attacks on hardware wallets at 35c3: https://wallet.fail Ledger's response: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/chaos-communication-congress-in-response-to-wallet-fails-presentation-17bcd166a052 Ledger Donjon: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-donjon-3e04e0ce49a9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate the 100th episode of Unchained, I talk a little about what this podcast means to me and thank everyone who's helped me with it. Then I let past guests and listeners take it away with their comments and predictions for 2019. Thank you to everyone who sent in submissions -- and to the listeners and sources who've helped me along the way! Thank you to our sponsors! TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: My TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Ew7PW4LCo Facebook working on a stablecoin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-21/facebook-is-said-to-develop-stablecoin-for-whatsapp-transfers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up in Argentina, Wences Casares saw his family lose all their money three times due to actions by the government. The so-called "patient zero" of Bitcoin in Silicon Valley explains why he believes that experience predisposed him to seeing the potential in Bitcoin earlier than most people, why it's so hard to explain Bitcoin to Americans and why the company he founded, Xapo, isn't just a Bitcoin vault and wallet company but his best effort at helping to ensure that Bitcoin succeeds. He talks about why he isn't scared of all the new competitors to his service, including Coinbase Custody, why Xapo hasn't branched out into any other crypto assets, and why he believes there's a more than 50% chance that Bitcoin is worth $1 million in five to ten years. Additionally, he still believes the attempt to accommodate more transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain with the SegWit2x fork, which he backed, was wrong -- even though the fees after its failure skyrocketed to as high as $60. Plus -- he reveals what it would look like if Bitcoin became a global standard of value, and why that vision doesn't threaten governments. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain Episode links: Wences Casares: https://twitter.com/wences Xapo: https://xapo.com/ Wences's Facebook Live with Dan Schulman of PayPal: https://www.facebook.com/DanSchulmanPayPal/videos/1419329821528449/ To learn more about Wences, read New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper's book, Digital Gold: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062362506/digital-gold/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, describes the company's services and products, why it's launching a credit offering, and why he pivoted from his original intention to launch a crypto hedge fund and then pivoted again from working with ICOs to serving institutional players. He talks about why, if he had the chance to go public again, he wouldn't do it, why Galaxy's stock fell so precipitously one day that trading was halted, and why he thinks the SEC has made it clear the ICO markets are closed. He also talks about why, on the way to democratizing finance, the crypto markets need to "take a step back" and start with institutions, why decentralization is important, and why he thinks the launch of Bakkt is the most important news in the crypto space this year. Plus, Mike surmises as to how consumers will start using crypto, but believes it won’t replace fiat in the Western world. Thank you to our sponsors! Microsoft: aka.ms/unchained CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Galaxy Digital: https://www.galaxydigital.io Galaxy Digital's losses so far this year: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-28/novogratz-s-crypto-trading-desk-lost-136-million-in-nine-months https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-26/novogratz-s-galaxy-digital-sees-134-million-loss-on-crypto-drop Unchained episode about security tokens: http://unchainedpodcast.co/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep77 Unchained interview with Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable Unconfirmed episode with Tom Jessop of Fidelity Digital Assets: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043 Unchained podcast with Arthur Hayes of Bitmex: http://unchainedpodcast.co/arthur-hayes-of-bitmex-on-why-countries-will-turn-to-digital-cash-ep63 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special episode of Unchained from the CME Global Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida. There, I spoke with Arthur Hayes, CoFounder and CEO of Bitmex, Dan O’Prey, chief marketing officer of Digital Asset, and Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Reddit and Co-Founder of Initialized Capital. We cover how public and permissioned chains will compete or complement each other, how blockchain technology will affect incumbent financial services, and how it has already proven itself (hint: as a store of value is one answer). We discuss whether or not crypto represents a new asset class, why the crypto winter is helping to improve the space, and what the launch of Bakkt and Fidelity Digital Assets could mean going forward. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain Episode links CME's Global Financial Leadership Conference: https://www.gflc.com Arthur Hayes: https://twitter.com/cryptohayes Bitmex: https://www.bitmex.com Dan O'Prey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danoprey/ Digital Asset: https://www.digitalasset.com Alexis Ohanian: https://twitter.com/alexisohanian Initialized Capital: https://initialized.com Unconfirmed episode with Tom Jessop's Fidelity Digital Assets: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coinbase has departed from its conservative roots and begun adding many more coins. Dan Romero, vice president of Coinbase, explains how its listing process works, how it tries to prevent insider trading, and why it's listed coins that had ICOs, even though the SEC has indicated all coins that were offered in ICOs at least started off as securities. He also talks about Coinbase's international expansion, how regulations around crypto differ in Japan vs. the U.S., and the importance of banking relationships for crypto companies. Plus, we dive into how Coinbase plans to weather competition on multiple fronts -- from Robinhood, Square and Binance on its consumer side, and from Fidelity and Bakkt on the institutional side -- how its decentralized projects could affect its current revenues and how it is staffing now for any future hype cycles that could increase crypto adoption by an order of magnitude. Thank you to our sponsors! Microsoft: aka.ms/unchained CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Altlending:  https://altlending.com Episode links: Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/ Dan: https://twitter.com/dwr Coinbase Listing: https://listing.coinbase.com Digital Asset Framework: https://listing.coinbase.com Coinbase's new listing process: https://blog.coinbase.com/new-asset-listing-process-a83ef296a0f3 Announcement that they were exploring adding Cardano, Basica Attention Token, Stellar Lumens, Zcash and 0x: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-is-exploring-cardano-basic-attention-token-stellar-zcash-and-0x-9e44f0eb823f News announced after we recorded: Coinbase considering offering 31 new assets: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-continues-to-explore-support-for-new-digital-assets-92ba4ab7f465 Interview with Will Warren of decentralized exchange 0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future Coinbase investigates insider trading of Bitcoin Cash: http://fortune.com/2017/12/20/coinbase-bitcoin-insider-trading/ Coinbase finds no insider trading of Bitcoin Cash: http://fortune.com/2018/07/24/coinbase-insider-trading/ Unchained episode on Coinbase/IRS case: http://unchainedpodcast.co/is-the-irs-justified-in-demanding-information-on-millions-of-bitcoin-users Link to Alistair Milne's tracking of total Coinbase customer base: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NgvD2kFT69mSXuJPzPDu-Qv9SS1ck2iPt6Kw9a55z0k/edit#gid=0 Coinbase adding USDC: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-and-circle-announce-the-launch-of-usdc-a-digital-dollar-2cd6548d237 Unchained episode with Circle: http://unchainedpodcast.co/circles-jeremy-allaire-and-sean-neville-on-why-crypto-will-be-bigger-than-the-web-ep71 Unchained episode with Rune Christensen of MakerDAO: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable Unconfirmed episode with Rune: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep039 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Paul, CIO of BlockTower Capital, explains why he likes how short-term trades concentrate risk in investment, why, "no matter what," he thinks Bitcoin is a good-value buy today, and how big university endowments investing in crypto now could eventually lead institutions to go from having a fear-of-loss attitude about crypto to having FOMO. He also dives into why he's not as excited about generalized mining as some of BlockTower's crypto fund peers and who he thinks is really well-poised in that space. We also discuss why Bitcoin futures didn't have a positive impact on the price and what effect Bakkt and Fidelity launching their crypto products could have. Plus, he responds to people who accused him of insider trading when a private conversation in which he mentioned Stellar was acquiring enterprise blockchain startup Chain was released. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Altlending: https://altlending.com Episode links: Ari Paul: https://twitter.com/AriDavidPaul BlockTower Capital: https://www.blocktower.com Harvard, Stanford, MIT endowments invest in crypto: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/harvard-stanford-mit-endowments-invest-in-crypto-funds Yale endowment invests in a16z and Paradigm: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/yale-investment-chief-david-swensen-jumps-into-crypto-with-bets-on-two-silicon-valley-funds.html Bitcoin Cash hard fork recap: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/week-2-how-bitcoin-cash-hash-war-came-and-went-and-not-much-happened/ Unconfirmed episode on Bitcoin Cash hard fork with Aaron Van Wirdum: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/the-bitcoin-cash-hard-fork-bitcoin-abc-vs-bitcoin-sv-ep046 Unchained episode with Riccardo Spagni of Monero: http://unchainedpodcast.co/coinfunds-jake-brukhman-and-multicoins-tushar-jain-on-generalized-mining-ep92 Unchained episode with Jake Brukhman and Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital: http://unchainedpodcast.co/coinfunds-jake-brukhman-and-multicoins-tushar-jain-on-generalized-mining-ep92 Unconfirmed episode with Fidelity's Tom Jessop: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043 Ari's private conversation in which he mentioned Stellar was acquiring Chain: https://hackernoon.com/ten-questions-for-ari-david-paul-of-blocktower-capital-dcd8d81ef27e IMF managing director Christine Lagarde's talk on the case for central bank digital currencies: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/11/13/sp111418-winds-of-change-the-case-for-new-digital-currency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Connie Gallippi, the founder and executive director for BitGive, and Joe Waltman, the executive director of GiveCrypto.org, discuss charitable giving in crypto -- what problems in philanthropy it solves, what level of transparency they can achieve and how they measure impact. Connie explains why she has chosen to work with existing non-profits and Joe, why GiveCrypto is working on its own initiatives, and why its working thesis is that crypto will be especially helpful in places with broken money or broken government. They also dive into the tax implications of donating crypto directly -- namely that donors can offset taxes on gains, particularly by donating their oldest coins before the end of the calendar year. Connie talks about how BitGive needs to ensure it doesn't hold or convert money in order to avoid money transmitter regulations, and Joe, how GiveCrypto has to ensure it's not giving money to bad people, such as money launderers or people or entities under economic sanctions. Plus, the two discuss why a space that so often espouses the ideals of democratization of finance gives so little and what it will take for it to donate more. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained Episode links: Bitgive: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveTrack: https://www.givetrack.org BitGive Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitGiveOrg GiveCrypto: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveCrypto Twitter - https://twitter.com/givecrypto?lang=en BitGive's five-year report: https://d1i1964a5wuyjt.cloudfront.net/2018/11/5-year-deck-021118_compressed-1.pdf Joe's work trial for GiveCrypto: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecrypto-work-trial-a-new-financial-system-a-new-opportunity-7f564b65aff5 GiveCrypto's October report: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecryptos-october-monthly-report-5c191bc03b56 Unconfirmed episode with Robert Opp of the UN World Food Programme: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/the-un-world-food-programmes-blockchain-based-food-vouchers-for-syrian-refugees-with-robert-opp-ep017 Episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of Bitpesa: http://unchainedpodcast.co/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Riccardo Spagni, the lead maintainer for Monero, describes the four pillars of Monero's privacy, makes the case for why it would still be valuable even if BItcoin were to adopt privacy, and explains the ways in which its privacy is stronger and weaker than Zcash's. He also discusses his new project, Tari, and how it could enable a new world of natively digital assets such as tickets, loyalty points and in-game assets, and how it will relate to Monero. He also explains his view on the fact that Monero is one of the top currencies used on the dark web and appears to have been in demand by bad state actors such as North Korea. Plus, he gives us his backstory, which includes gel-based nail polish and bikinis, and the origin of his nickname, Fluffypony. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Altlending: https://altlending.com Abra: Click this special link for a free $25 in Bitcoin! https://www.abra.com/unchained Episode links: Riccardo Spagni: https://twitter.com/fluffypony?lang=en Monero: https://getmonero.org Tari: https://www.tari.com Wired article on Monero's traceability: https://www.wired.com/story/monero-privacy/ Laura's listener mail episode: http://unchainedpodcast.co/listener-mail-laura-answers-your-questions-on-the-markets-velocity-privacy-and-more-ep88 Unchained episode with Zooko Wilcox of Zcash: http://unchainedpodcast.co/zcashs-zooko-wilcox-on-why-he-believes-privacy-coins-will-be-used-more-for-good-than-bad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Brukhman of CoinFund and Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital discuss a new trend among crypto funds: generalized mining, also called mining 2.0, in which investors participate in the networks in order to seed activity on them. For instance, an investor might offer disk space on a file storage network or provide capital on a decentralized lending network. They explain why it makes more sense to do this in the early days of a network than when it's matured, whether this will lead away from a peer-to-peer vision for crypto toward more professionalization and how this affects the basic premise of the fat protocols thesis. We also discuss how this impacts how crypto funds hire, do their accounting and reporting and structure their LP agreements. Thank you to our sponsors! Abra: Click this special link for a free $25 in Bitcoin! https://www.abra.com/unchained Altlending: https://altlending.com WeTrust: WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained Episode links: Jake Brukhman: https://twitter.com/jbrukh?lang=en CoinFund: https://coinfund.io Tushar Jain: https://twitter.com/TusharJain_ Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital Jake's post on crypto borrowing: https://blog.coinfund.io/crypto-borrowing-and-staking-networks-e7d2d64a81a4 Tushar's post on generalized mining: https://multicoin.capital/2018/10/23/the-evolving-role-of-crypto-investors/ Jake on LivePeer as a case study: https://blog.coinfund.io/livepeer-cryptoeconomics-as-a-case-study-of-active-participation-in-decentralized-networks-19a932415e0e Unchained episode with MakerDAO: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable Unconfirmed episode with Rune Christensen of MakerDAO: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep039 Initial witness offerings, by Jake's partner Alexsandr Bulkin: https://blog.coinfund.io/iwos-with-adapt-a-creative-technological-solution-to-a-regulatory-problem-513b0bc811ff Jake's post on fat protocols not being an investment thesis: https://blog.coinfund.io/fat-protocols-are-not-an-investment-thesis-17c8837c2734 Unchained interview with Joel Monegro, the author of the fat protocols thesis: http://unchainedpodcast.co/placeholders-joel-monegro-on-the-fat-protocols-thesis-today-ep65 Videos that Jake mentions at the end of the show: Generalized Mining, An Introduction & Primer by Jake Brukhman, CEO of CoinFund: https://youtu.be/ceex9CN2YZU Panel #1: Supply Side Services | Generalized Mining and The Third-Party Economy: https://youtu.be/Cr6H2FcidjY Panel # 2: New Role of Crypto Investors | Generalized Mining and The Third-Party Economy:  https://youtu.be/zakQc07GRXA Panel #3: Staking Economic Design |  Generalized Mining and The Third-Party Economy:  https://youtu.be/ydViUpTZens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the ICO craze of 2017, such offerings have raised extremely little so far this fall, with total sales in October down 94% since February, according to Token Data. Why? And where to next? Andy Bromberg, president of CoinList, and Marco Santori, president and chief legal officer of Blockchain, discuss the changing nature of token sales. Andy reveals how the projects approaching CoinList have changed over the last year, how investors are changing their approach to due diligence in the space, and how CoinList complies with various regulations. Marco explains the origin of the SAFT framework, what laws would apply outside of securities regulation and why rulings in civil lawsuits and no-action letter are likely the next way we'll get regulatory clarity. We also discuss why the Civil token sale failed, why airdrops could be a better than ICOs for seeding usage on networks and how to figure out which wallets to target in an airdrop. Plus: Marco and Andy disagree on one aspect or how regulation could apply to airdrops. Thank you to our sponsors! WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained Abra: Click this special link for a free $25 in Bitcoin! https://www.abra.com/unchained Episode Links Andy Bromberg: https://twitter.com/andy_bromberg CoinList: https://coinlist.co Marco Santori: https://twitter.com/msantoriESQ Blockchain: https://www.blockchain.com Autonomous Next data on September ICOs down 90% since January: https://next.autonomous.com/thoughts/crypto-september-icos-90-down-from-january-but-venture-funding-is-ray-of-hope Token Data on October ICOs down 94% since February: https://twitter.com/TokenData/status/1057953301440983040 SAFT project: https://saftproject.com Previous episode with Marco and Joshua Ashley Klayman including her concerns about the SAFT framework: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-crypto-and-blockchain-technology-should-be-regulated SEC Director of Finance Bill Hinman's comments that ether is not a security (5:25): https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-announces-ether-not-security-162658147.html Jay Clayton's comments that every ICO he's seen is a security: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-chief-clayton-every-ico-ive-seen-security/ Civil token sale: https://tokenfoundry.com/projects/civil Blockchain's Airdrop program: https://www.blockchain.com/airdrop CoinList's Airdrops program: https://airdrops.coinlist.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For this episode on the eve of the Bitcoin white paper's 10-year anniversary, Nathaniel Popper and Paul Vigna, reporters who cover Bitcoin and crypto for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, respectively, and who have written books about it, discuss wide-ranging questions regarding the first cryptocurrency. We explore why it succeeded where previous digital currencies failed, what role the financial crisis and Satoshi's disappearance played in its success and how it compares to the development of the internet. We also look at the "blockchain, not Bitcoin" debate, the scaling debate and the merits of on-chain governance, and how scandals involving centralized services such as the Equifax hack and the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica breach will affect its development. Finally, we discuss its potential as a global reserve currency, potential abuse of crypto assets by bad state actors, and whether and how regulators can regulate decentralized technologies. Plus, Paul and Nathaniel give their thoughts on the next 10 years. Thank you to our sponsors! Abra: Click this special link for a free $25 in Bitcoin! https://www.abra.com/unchained Onramp: http://www.thinkonramp.com WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained Episode links: Bitcoin white paper: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf Nathaniel Popper: https://twitter.com/nathanielpopper https://www.nytimes.com/by/nathaniel-popper?8qa Digital Gold: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062572066/digital-gold/ Paul Vigna: https://twitter.com/paulvigna https://www.wsj.com/news/author/7296 Age of Cryptocurrency: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250081551 The Truth Machine: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250114570 Edward Bernays' Propaganda: http://www.igpub.com/propaganda/ CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz's speech discussing how they would prosecute illegal prediction markets: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaquintenz16 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While many companies like to use buzzwords like crypto, blockchain, AI and encryption, Numerai actually combines all these technologies in a novel way. Founder Richard Craib discusses how his hedge fund started off crowdsourcing good financial models from data scientists to optimize its trading strategies in global equities. He then explains how it airdropped a token, the Numeraire, to those data scientists, giving them the option to stake some Numeraire for models they were especially confident in, and how staked models have higher returns. He also describes Numerai's new Erasure protocol, which helps build a marketplace for predictions for sellers who could profit more from selling their predictions than trading on them, and for buyers who can now use the signal of staking to filter between good and bad data. We dive into the protocol's "griefing" process, in which buyers can punish sellers, as well as the thorny issue of whether selling predictions based on proprietary information could constitute insider trading. Plus, we explore whether or not other hedge funds would really want to buy a token created by another hedge fund, and what Numerai's plans are to become more decentralized. Thank you to our sponsor! Onramp: http://www.thinkonramp.com Episode links: Numerai: https://numer.ai Richard Craib: https://twitter.com/richardcraib My Forbes article on the Numeraire: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/02/21/this-is-the-worlds-first-cryptocurrency-issued-by-a-hedge-fund/#3cda45f360b6 Erasure: https://erasure.xxx Announcement about Erasure: https://medium.com/numerai/numerai-reveals-erasure-unstoppable-peer-to-peer-data-feeds-4fbb8d92820a Unchained episode with Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain Capital: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-the-first-employee-of-coinbase-launched-a-hedge-fund Unchained episode with Joey Krug of Augur: http://unchainedpodcast.co/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep79 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, because I was busy with my TEDx talk and my book, I decided to do an episode in which I answer your questions. Thank you to everyone who submitted one, and I'm so sorry I didn't get to all your questions. In this episode, I talk about what's necessary to gain wider adoption, how I think the next bull run will manifest and how Bitcoin would behave in a serious financial crisis. Plus, I reveal which areas of the industry I think will blossom, and which areas I'm less optimistic about. I also answer what people who are just getting into the technology can do in the space, why the oracle problem is so challenging and how it can be resolved, and what the velocity problem is, and whether it applies especially to Ethereum. I also delve into privacy coins, whether or not the lower overall crypto market volatility we're seeing now will continue, and where this trend with stablecoins is going. There are a LOT of episode links -- be sure to check them out! Thank you to our sponsors! Altlending: https://altlending.com Blockdaemon: http://blockdaemon.com/unchained/ Episode links: Senate hearing on cryptocurrencies: https://www.c-span.org/video/?452837-1/senate-banking-panel-explores-cryptocurrencies-blockchains Tweets with me, Nouriel and Vitalik: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1050782831859752960 My conversation with Soona Amhaz of Token Daily about Nouriel Roubini on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/how-were-misusing-the-word-decentralization-ep041 Milken Institute panel featuring Nouriel Roubini: http://www.milkeninstitute.org/videos/view/cryptocurrencies-irrational-exuberance-or-brave-new-world Skeptics' Episodes: Preston Byrne & Angela Walch: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-skeptics-episode-preston-byrne-and-angela-walch-on-what-the-industry-and-regulators-get-wrong-in-crypto Meltem Demirors & Jill Carlson: http://unchainedpodcast.co/episode-74 Singularity University episode discussing usbaility: http://unchainedpodcast.co/singularity-university-global-summit-how-do-we-get-consumer-adoption-ep83 My Forbes article on phone hijacking: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#2ada233b38ba USV blog post on apps and infrastructure: https://www.usv.com/blog/the-myth-of-the-infrastructure-phase CryptoKitties episode: http://unchainedpodcast.co/what-makes-a-cryptokitty-worth-140000-ep75 Token Foundry standards: https://blog.tokenfoundry.com/token-foundry-standards/ Civil: https://civil.co Forbes magazine feature on blockchain not Bitcoin, featuring Chain: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/09/09/bitcoins-shared-ledger-technology-moneys-new-operating-system/#66bb2f4c7dd1 Recent episode with Barry Silbert: http://unchainedpodcast.co/barry-silbert-on-what-wall-street-says-privately-about-crypto-vs-what-it-says-publicly-ep87 Decentralized Finance series: 0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future Dharma: http://unchainedpodcast.co/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep80 Compound: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep82 dYdX: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep86 Institutional money: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, which has invested in 130 crypto ventures worldwide, describes his company, its strategy for investing in the crypto space, and how his perspective on the development of the space has changed since he first launched in 2014. He also explains why he's not a big believer in decentralization, like many others in the space, why he's not bullish on ICOs, and why he also is a bigger proponent of Ethereum Classic than Ethereum. We also touch on regulation and how he thinks that will affect the development of crypto, why Grayscale launched an investment vehicle for a little-known cryptocurrency, and why he's excited about Decentraland. Plus, he reveals what Wall Street says publicly about crypto vs. what it says privately and reflects on his role in the New York Agreement -- a failed attempt to bridge a divide in the Bitcoin community. Thank you to our sponsors! Altlending: https://altlending.com Blockdaemon: http://blockdaemon.com/unchained/ If you're interested in sponsoring Unchained or Unconfirmed, email Raelene at laurashinpodcast@gmail.com. Episode Links: DCG: https://dcg.co Barry Silbert: https://twitter.com/barrysilbert Grayscale: https://grayscale.co Genesis: https://genesistrading.com CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com New York state Bitlicense: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/legal/regulations/bitlicense_reg_framework.htm Decentraland: https://decentraland.org GBTC: https://grayscale.co/bitcoin-investment-trust/ Radar Relay: https://www.radarrelay.com The Unchained interview with 0x, the decentralized exchange with which Radar Relay works: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future Blog post announcing the New York Agreement: https://medium.com/@DCGco/bitcoin-scaling-agreement-at-consensus-2017-133521fe9a77 Unchained podcast on the failure of the compromise: http://unchainedpodcast.co/what-bitcoins-history-says-about-its-future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antonio Juliano, founder of dYdX, explains how this protocol for derivatives will enable you to take a short position in a single token, why they are starting with protocols shorting and margin lending and how these protocols work vs. how shorting and margin lending work today. The former employee of Coinbase also discusses how the protocol determines the prices of the assets involved, how low liquidity affects the trading of the derivatives and who dYdX's users will be. He also talks about how the company, which has raised money from Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital and others, plans to make money despite not currently having a token. Plus, we discuss dYdX's plans to create protocols for derivatives that are not fully collateralized and the risks that come with that. Thank you to our sponsor! Blockdaemon: http://blockdaemon.com/unchained/ Interested in sponsoring Unchained or Unconfirmed? Reach out to Raelene at laurashinpodcast@gmail.com. Episode links: dYdX: https://dydx.exchange Antonio Juliano: https://twitter.com/antoniomjuliano dYdX white paper: https://whitepaper.dydx.exchange Expo: https://www.expotrading.com https://medium.com/dydxderivatives/introducing-expo-ffe74a328f85 Investments in dYdX: https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/03/short-ethereum/ Unchained episode about decentralized exchange protocol 0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future Unchained episode about decentralized debt protocol Dharma: http://unchainedpodcast.co/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep80 Unchained episode about decentralized money market protocol Compound: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep82 Unchained interview with Josh Stein of Harbor: http://unchainedpodcast.co/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep77 Unchained interview with CryptoKitties: http://unchainedpodcast.co/what-makes-a-cryptokitty-worth-140000-ep75 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this fascinating and compelling panel on Why Decentralization Matters at the Oslo Freedom Forum in New York, I spoke with Alejandro Machado, a researcher at Zcash; Amber Baldet, founder and CEO of Clovyr, a decentralized software and developer tools company; Andy Bromberg, cofounder and president of CoinList, a compliant token offering platform; and Megha Rajagopalan, correspondent for Buzzfeed and former China bureau chief. In this discussion, we cover what is happening in authoritarian regimes like China and Venezuela that highlight the importance of decentralized technologies, how people in those countries are using crypto assets, and how technologists think about decentralization and censorship-resistance. We also talk about the usability issues of decentralized technologies and how people in authoritarian regimes can even get access to them. Plus, we also look at how bad state actors are also using the same technology to oppress people or evade sanctions. Thank you to our sponsors! StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com Episode links: PC Mag story on how cryptocurrency is both "an oppressor and a lifeline" in Venezuela: https://www.pcmag.com/feature/362486/in-venezuela-cryptocurrency-is-an-oppressor-and-a-lifeline Naval on Unchained talking about how money is now speech: http://unchainedpodcast.co/naval-ravikant-on-how-crypto-is-squeezing-vcs-hindering-regulators-and-bringing-users-choice Google's Dragonfly project: https://theintercept.com/2018/09/14/google-china-prototype-links-searches-to-phone-numbers/ For more on how decentralization and blockchain technology can help Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep021 A previous interview with Amber Baldet on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/sxsw-episode-amber-baldet-blockchain-program-lead-at-jpmorgan-on-the-potential-clash-between-blockchains-and-the-right-to-be-forgotten A previous interview with Andy Bromberg on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/coinlists-andy-bromberg-on-the-one-big-regulatory-issue-facing-crypto-ep030 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this fast-paced and exhilarating conversation, Changpeng Zhao, aka "CZ," tells the pivotal business decisions that led users to flock to the brand-new Binance in the summer and fall of 2017, catapulting it from obscurity to become the world's most popular crypto exchange within five months. He also describes his regulatory stance, why he focuses on small jurisdictions and why he lets token teams hire their own lawyers to determine whether their coins are securities or not.  He explains the company's insider trading and market manipulation policies and how BNB coin works. Plus, he disputes the notion that stocks have better information due to disclosure rules, lays out Binance's current mission and delineates the differences in the crypto communities in North America, Europe and Asia. Thank you to our sponsors! Altlending: https://altlending.com Blockdaemon: https://blockdaemon.com/unchained/ If you're interested in sponsoring Unchained or Unconfirmed, reach out to Raelene at laurashinpodcast@gmail.com. Episode links: Binance: https://www.binance.com CZ: https://twitter.com/cz_binance Binance white paper: https://www.binance.com/resources/ico/Binance_WhitePaper_en.pdf Unchained interview with Bobby Lee: http://unchainedpodcast.co/bobby-lee-ceo-of-btcc-on-why-the-chinese-probably-arent-using-bitcoin-to-evade-capital-controls Unchained interview with Da Hongfei on China bad on ICOs: http://unchainedpodcast.co/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban Epicenter BTC's interview with CZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEaxQneanIY Binance's "creative" approach to regulation: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-28/crypto-s-billionaire-trading-king-has-suddenly-run-into-problems Unchained interview on crypto regulation in the US: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-chamber-of-digital-commerces-perianne-boring-and-amy-kim-on-why-us-crypto-regulation-is-complicated-and-confusing Unchained interview with Coin Center: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-coin-center-is-helping-define-the-big-fuzzy-gray-area-of-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-law Binance's purchase of TrustWallet: http://fortune.com/2018/07/31/binance-trust-wallet-acquistion/ Binance's $1 billion investment fund: https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/01/binance-1-billion-investment-fund/ Forbes cover story on CZ: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamelaambler/2018/02/07/changpeng-zhao-binance-exchange-crypto-cryptocurrency/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a recording of the full "blockchain block" of the Singularity University Global Summit in late August. It features a talk by me on the power of decentralization, Abra CEO Bill Barhydt on the evolution of Bitcoin, and Atlas Holdings Group CEO Mickey Costa on distributed autonomous organizations. Following are two panels. The first is on where we are in the development of crypto and how we get consumer adoption with Bill and Galia Benartzi of Bancor. The second is on blockchain for good, with Cara LaPointe of the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University and Anne Connelly of Singularity University. It was a great day for a lot of stimulating discussion on where we are in crypto's development and how we can steer it in the direction we want. Thank you to our sponsor! StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained Episode links: Singularity Global Summit: https://su.org/summits/su-global-summit/ Singularity University Global Summit 2018 program: https://su.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SUGS_PROGRAM_2018_AUGUST-21_V4-1.pdf Bill Barhydt: https://twitter.com/billbarhydt Abra: https://www.abra.com Mickey Costa: https://twitter.com/mickeycosta Atlas: https://atlas.money Galia Benartzi: https://www.bancor.network Bancor: https://www.bancor.network Cara LaPointe: http://beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/cara-lapointe/ Anne Connelly: https://su.org/about/faculty/anne-connelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Leshner, founder of Compound, describes how its protocol will enable people to earn interest on crypto assets, and why he thinks this will be crucial to crypto becoming mainstream. He also describes how the company is currently building an interest rate model -- a task so difficult that an early version "blew up" the Ethereum virtual machine -- and why using one of its smart contract-based money markets is both riskier and less risky than using an exchange. We talk about who will use Compound and how, which coins they're going to launch with, and how Compound plans to make money. Thank you to our sponsors! AltLending: https://altlending.com StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained Episode links: Compound: https://compound.finance Robert Leshner: https://twitter.com/rleshner Intro to Compound: https://medium.com/compound-finance/introducing-compound-the-money-market-protocol-4b9546bac87 TechCrunch article on Compound: https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/16/cryptocurrency-compound-interest/ Unchained interview with Nadav Hollander of Dharma: http://unchainedpodcast.co/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep80 Unchained interview with Joey Krug of Augur: http://unchainedpodcast.co/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep79 Unchained interview with Danny An of TrustToken, which is creating TrueUSD: http://unchainedpodcast.co/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep77 Unchained interview with Will Warren of 0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future Unchained interview with Vitalik Buterin: http://unchainedpodcast.co/vitalik-buterin-creator-of-ethereum-on-the-big-guy-vs-the-little-guy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Founder and CEO of Adamant Capital Tuur Demeester explains what factors he considers when valuing crypto assets, why this has led him to become a Bitcoin maximalist, and why he doesn't think Ethereum can scale. We also discuss why he doesn't have much faith in any of the smart contract platforms that are vying in this space. He also describes why he believes proof of work is superior to proof of stake, and why he's excited about the Lightning Network and the apps being built on top. Thank you to our sponsors! StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained The Sun Exchange: https://thesunexchange.com Episode Links: Tuur Demeester: https://twitter.com/TuurDemeester Tuur's critique of proof of stake: https://medium.com/@tuurdemeester/critique-of-buterins-a-proof-of-stake-design-philosophy-49fc9ebb36c6 Why Tuur is bearish on Ethereum: https://medium.com/@tuurdemeester/im-not-worried-about-bitcoin-unlimited-but-i-am-losing-sleep-over-ethereum-b5251c54e66d https://medium.com/@tuurdemeester/why-im-short-ethereum-and-long-bitcoin-aee5b1c198fd Unchained interview with David Vorick of Siacoin, Nebulous and Obelisk: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-asics-may-be-better-than-gpus-even-if-they-tend-toward-mining-centralization-ep67 For a recap of the battle between big and small block factions in Bitcoin: http://unchainedpodcast.co/what-bitcoins-history-says-about-its-future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nadav, founder of Dharma protocol, explains how it enables the borrowing and lending of crypto assets, what would happen in the case of default, and why it would make sense to do it in a decentralized fashion rather than using one of the many fintech companies in the lending space. He talks about what effect he thinks decentralized credit markets could have on the market capitalization of all debt, why it will likely enable forms of debt currently unimaginable, and who could benefit most from this protocol. He also dives into why Dharma doesn't currently have a token, how or whether it could work on a non-Ethereum blockchain and ways the for-profit company could someday make money. Thank you to our sponsors! StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained The Sun Exchange: https://thesunexchange.com Episode links: Nadav Hollander: https://twitter.com/NadavAHollander Dharma protocol: https://dharma.io The Dharma white paper: https://github.com/dharmaprotocol/WhitePaper/blob/master/DharmaWhitepaper.pdf To understand the similarities with Dharma, check out the 0x interview with Will Warren: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future New types of debt possible with Dharma: https://twitter.com/NadavAHollander/status/1032754247341756416 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Krug, cofounder of Augur and co-chief investment officer at Pantera Capital, talks about what Augur is and is not, why it’s difficult to create new financial markets today and whether or not Augur markets could curb fake news. He explains why the teams burned its escape hatch key and whether he’s worried that Augur’s crowdsale would be considered an unregistered securities offering, plus answers whether he would benefit financially if assassination markets pop up on Augur. We also discuss what he sees happening in the market in his role as co-chief investment officer at Pantera Capital, what problems he think need to be resolved before Augur and dapps can take off, and which projects he believes have the greatest potential to democratize finance. Thank you to our sponsors! Start Engine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained The Sun Exchange: https://thesunexchange.com/ Episode Links: Joey Krug: https://twitter.com/joeykrug?lang=en Augur: https://www.augur.net/ Pantera: https://www.panteracapital.com/ Joey on Unconfirmed: https://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/joey-krug-on-how-to-create-a-regular-cryptocurrency-ep022 Augur FAQ: https://www.augur.net/faq/ Predictions Global: https://predictions.global/ Assassination markets on Augur: https://www.coindesk.com/the-first-augur-assassination-markets-have-arrived/ SEC action against Sand Hill Exchange: https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-123.html Listen to the Unchained interview with 0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dfinity's Dominic Williams talks about how Dfinity is an internet computer that can host our software and data, instead of it being held by centralized services. He describes the consensus algorithm, threshold relay, and why he believes Dfinity will be much more secure than Bitcoin. We also dive into Dfinity's governance mechanism, the "blockchain nervous system." Williams, who has written about the "AI-managed environment provided by the blockchain nervous system" and talked about how Dfinity upgrades the "code is law paradigm" to "the AI is law paradigm," explains on the show that the blockchain nervous system is not an AI and is manually controlled by users. Thank you to our sponsors! StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained The Sun Exchange: https://thesunexchange.com Episode links: Dfinity: https://www.dfinity.org Dominic: https://twitter.com/dominic_w?lang=en Dfinity as decentralized cloud: https://medium.com/dfinity/the-decentralized-cloud-vision-of-the-dfinity-blockchain-f68449c49be2 Dfinity consensus algorithm: https://medium.com/dfinity/dfinity-white-paper-our-consensus-algorithm-a11adc0a054c Threshold relay: https://dfinity.org/pdf-viewer/pdfs/viewer?file=../library/threshold-relay-blockchain-stanford.pdf Posts where Dominic has described Dfinity's governance system as an AI: https://medium.com/dfinity/dfinity-in-a-nutshell-a-non-technical-introduction-ec45ec5967c1 https://medium.com/dfinity/the-dfinity-blockchain-nervous-system-a5dd1783288e Phi: https://dfinity.org/pdf-viewer/pdfs/viewer?file=../library/phi-dfinity-extended-v2.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Stein, CEO of Harbor, and Danny An, cofounder and CEO of TrustToken, talk about security tokens and tokens backed by real-world assets, often called an unsexy area of crypto. They explain the strategies their teams are using to tackle the tokenization of what currently constitute $250 trillion in assets, what kinds of new behaviors and business opportunities "faster, cheaper, more liquid" assets could open up, and how they'll comply with regulations across all jurisdictions for markets that are global and trade 24/7/365. Thank you to our sponsors! StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained The Sun Exchange: https://thesunexchange.com Episode links: Harbor: https://harbor.com Trust Token: https://www.trusttoken.com True USD: https://www.trusttoken.com/trueusd/ An overview of security tokens: https://medium.com/@apompliano/the-official-guide-to-tokenized-securities-44e8342bb24f More on Harbor and security tokens: http://fortune.com/2018/05/18/security-token-harbor-ce More on True USD: https://venturebeat.com/2018/07/18/trusttoken-readies-sale-of-more-trueusd-asset-based-tokens/ The PICO: https://medium.com/harborhq/introducing-the-private-ico-pico-3e8b782924c1 Episode with Meltem Demirors and Jill Carlson: http://unchainedpodcast.co/episode-74 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In July in San Francisco, I moderated a panel at "Distributed 2018: Unlocking the Global Power of Decentralized Business." The title of our discussion was "Innovate or Reinvent?" and the panelists were Amber Baldet, cofounder and CEO of Clovyr, Matt Roszak, cofounder and chairman of Bloq, and Lily Liu, cofounder of Earn.com. We had a wide-ranging discussion, which included topics such as how the "Crypto 50" combined have more budget for blockchain development services than Fortune 50 companies,  how developing in the blockchain space and revolutionize an existing market requires that the new offering be many times better than existing options, and why enterprise needs to wait to get permission rather than ask for forgiveness, which doesn't hinder new projects. We also discussed how government is also a competitor in the space, that building entities don't include only decentralized projects and corporations, and how regulation could affect the development of the space. Thank you to our sponsors! DACC: https://www.digitalassetcustody.com Quantstamp: https://www.quantstamp.com The Sun Exchange:  https://www.thesunexchange.com Episode links: Distributed conference: https://2018.distributed.com Amber Baldet: https://twitter.com/AmberBaldet Clovyr: https://clovyr.io Matt Roszak: https://twitter.com/MatthewRoszak Bloq: https://www.bloq.com Lily Liu: https://twitter.com/calilyliu Earn.com: https://earn.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs, the company behind CryptoKitties, and Benny Giang, Dapper Labs’ head of Asia, describe how employees at venture studio AxiomZen came up with the idea for CryptoKitties, what problems it exposed in crypto (beyond scaling!), and how CryptoKitties can teach people the value of decentralization. They also defend the $140,000 price tag on one kitty, explain how they plan to grow from the current 300 users per day that the blockchain is logging, and surmise that if it weren't for user experience issues, CryptoKitties could have been 100 times bigger. Plus, they talk about the Kittyverse. Thank you to our sponsors! DACC: https://www.digitalassetcustody.com Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com The Sun Exchange: https://thesunexchange.com Episode links: CryptoKitties: https://www.cryptokitties.co AxiomZen/Dapper Labs: https://www.axiomzen.co Roham Gharegozlou: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roham Benny Giang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennygiang/ The $140,000 CryptoKitty: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/style/cryptokitty-auction.html Fundraising news: https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/20/cryptokitties-raises-12m-from-andreessen-horowitz-and-union-square-ventures/ CryptoKitties on HTC's new phone: http://fortune.com/2018/07/11/cryptokitties-app-htc/ Listen to previous episodes of Unchained with these CryptoKitties investors: Chris Dixon: http://unchainedpodcast.co/chris-dixon-on-how-trust-is-the-best-lego-block-ep70 Naval Ravikant: http://unchainedpodcast.co/naval-ravikant-on-how-crypto-is-squeezing-vcs-hindering-regulators-and-bringing-users-choice Bill Tai: http://unchainedpodcast.co/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology William Mougayar: http://unchainedpodcast.co/icos-why-people-are-investing-in-this-380-million-phenomenon "Developers all the way down" -- Unchained episode with Meltem Demirors and Jill Carlson: http://unchainedpodcast.co/episode-74 Listen to my previous interview with Arianna Simpson on Unconfirmed about CryptoKitties: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/arianna-simpson-of-autonomous-partners-on-privacy-cryptokitties-and-crypto-regulation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this hilarious skeptics' episode, Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer of CoinShares, and Jill Carlson, an independent consultant, explain why they think crypto needs fewer moral arguments and more empirical evidence, and how there's too much focus on financial engineering, but not enough focus on winning hearts and minds. They also explain why people are not machines where "you put in a token and get out an action," what the "sh*tcoin waterfall" is, and why cryptoeconomics isn't anything new. Plus, they give their tips for working in the space. Thank you to our sponsors! DACC: https://www.digitalassetcustody.com Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com Episode links: Meltem on Twitter: https://twitter.com/melt_dem On Medium: https://medium.com/@Melt_Dem Jill on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_jillruth AirTM: https://www.airtm.io Fat protocols thesis: http://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols Amber Baldet's tweet about the finger guns guy: https://twitter.com/amberbaldet/status/1006286345122275331 Meltem's tips on working in crypto: https://medium.com/@Melt_Dem/so-you-want-to-work-in-crypto-57961ca074c4 Jill's tips on working for yourself: https://medium.com/@jillcarlson/working-alone-165ababeafc2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathleen Breitman, CEO of Dynamic Ledger Solutions, the company behind the Tezos protocol, and Ryan Jesperson, president of the foundation, discuss the Tezos initial coin offering, which was the largest ICO at the time of sale. Kathleen explains why she wouldn't do anything differently, except for the choice of foundation head, Johann Gevers, with whom Kathleen and her co-creator and husband, Arthur Breitman, ended up in multiple disputes. She muses as to why many people initially praised Gevers and then later revealed that he was not liked or that he'd defrauded them when they'd worked for him. Ryan and Kathleen also explain how they will attempt to help Tezos compete in the competitive smart contract platform space, despite the fact that Tezos is built in less well-known computer languages, and they explain why they've chosen delegated proof of stake as their consensus protocol, despite the criticism that it could create a plutocracy. Tezos: https://tezos.com Kathleen Breitman: https://twitter.com/breitwoman Ryan Jesperson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-jesperson-23b0053a/ Thank you to our sponsors! Preciate: https://preciate.org Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com The Sun Exchange: https://www.thesunexchange.com Podcast links: Wired story on Tezos: https://www.wired.com/story/tezos-blockchain-love-story-horror-story/ Unconfirmed episode with Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of the Wired cover story: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/behind-the-tezos-scandal-conflicts-of-interest-self-dealing-and-bullying-ep024 Unconfirmed with Caitlin Long on Wyoming blockchain laws: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/behind-the-tezos-scandal-conflicts-of-interest-self-dealing-and-bullying-ep024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yaya Fanusie, director of analysis at the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Tom Robinson, chief data officer and cofounder of blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, discuss how common money laundering is in crypto, how jihadist groups are using it, and how privacy coins (really Monero) affect their work. (The reason why the dark markets haven't much used Zcash surprised me.) We also discuss bad state actors using cryptocurrency, such as Venezuela's efforts with the metro and North Korea's alleged Bitcoin ransomware attacks, and how, leaving aside bad state actors, central bank cryptocurrencies would compete with decentralized ones. Plus, we discuss what impact OFAC blocked addresses list will have. Thank you to our sponsors! Preciate: https://preciate.org Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com Yaya Fanusie: https://twitter.com/SignCurve Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/csif Tom Robinson: https://twitter.com/tomrobin    Elliptic: http://www.elliptic.co Yaya and Tom's report on Bitcoin laundering: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/documents/MEMO_Bitcoin_Laundering.pdf New AML regulations on cryptocurrencies in Europe: https://www.elliptic.co/our-thinking/5th-aml-directive-eu-regulation-cryptocurrency Money laundering in ICOs: https://www.elliptic.co/our-thinking/ico-risk-why-aml-compliance-matters Yaya's op-ed on the Venezuelan metro in CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-investors-stay-away-venezuelas-petro/ Russia's blockchain plans: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/technology/346476-blockchain-technology-may-give-russia-its-next-sputnik-moment What jihadists are doing with crypto assets: https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/exclusive/international/terrorist-networks-eye-bitcoin-cryptocurrencys-price-rises https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column/private-sector/the-new-frontier-in-terror-fundraising-bitcoin Yaya's essay on self-policing in CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-community-must-use-blockchain-self-police/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Allaire, cofounder and CEO of Circle, and Sean Neville, cofounder and president, discuss why they think the internet of value will be even bigger than the internet of information and how all assets will be tokenized. They also talk about why they're launching a stable coin, how their services in payments, exchange and investing will compete against decentralized versions of the same, and how they chose the assets for Circle Invest -- and why XRP didn't make the cut. They also address the investor presentation circulated that claimed the SEC would not pursue enforcement against Poloniex for prior activity and explain why Circle took investment from Bitmain despite negative sentiment against the mining equipment manufacturer. And they explain how Circle could compete once Wall Street incumbents begin to offer competitive services in crypto. Thank you to our sponsors! Clarity PR: http://clarity.pr Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Links: Circle.com: https://www.circle.com/en/ Circle's plans around a federal banking license and brokerage and trading registration: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-06/circle-in-talks-with-u-s-to-become-licensed-bank-trading-venue Acquisition of Poloniex: https://blog.circle.com/2018/02/26/circle-acquires-poloniex/ XRP in a screenshot of Circle Invest, but offered after launch: https://www.coindesk.com/circle-adds-monero-crypto-investment-app/ The Circle Asset Framework: https://www.circle.com/marketing/pdfs/en/circle-asset-framework.pdf Nathaniel Popper's tweet showing the Circle investor deck indicating the SEC won't pursue action against Poloniex: https://twitter.com/nathanielpopper/status/968202570719117313?lang=en Circle's stable coins + Bitmain investment: https://blog.circle.com/2018/05/15/circle-announces-usd-coin-bitmain-partnership-and-new-strategic-financing/ Unchained episode on stable coins: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable Unchained episode with David Vorick, which includes some comments on Bitmain: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-asics-may-be-better-than-gpus-even-if-they-tend-toward-mining-centralization-ep67 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Dixon, partner at Andreessen Horowitz, talks about the new $300 million crypto fund he is leading with Kathryn Haun, the new general partner of Andreessen, and how a16z came to hire its first female GP. The long-time crypto entrepreneur also discusses his theory of how crypto will grow -- and why Cryptokitties was one example of how that might happen -- his nights-and-weekend theory of technological change, and his view that writing software and smart contracts is similar to writing a novel. Additionally, he explains how someday, it will seem funny we didn't have concepts of ownership and money in the digital world, why Andreessen is investing almost exclusively in crypto-first projects and why he believes that the ability to create trust software will be the best Lego block for building things like money, finance, digital goods and more. Thank you to our sponsors! Blockchain Warehouse: https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com Clarity PR: http://clarity.pr Preciate: https://preciate.org LINKS: The a16z $300 million crypto fund: https://a16zcrypto.com Katie Haun's appointment as GP: https://a16z.com/2018/06/25/katie-haun/ My previous interviews with Katie Haun -- Unchained: http://unchainedpodcast.co/federal-prosecutor-kathryn-haun-on-how-criminals-use-bitcoin-and-how-she-catches-them Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/sxsw-episode-former-doj-prosecutor-kathryn-haun-on-what-the-sec-subpoenas-and-fincen-letter-likely-mean Chris on decentralization: https://medium.com/@cdixon/why-decentralization-matters-5e3f79f7638e On how tokens can reverse the centralization of the internet: https://medium.com/@cdixon/crypto-tokens-a-breakthrough-in-open-network-design-e600975be2ef Chris mentioned Placeholder Ventures -- if you haven't heard my interview with the firm's Joel Monegro, check it out: http://unchainedpodcast.co/placeholders-joel-monegro-on-the-fat-protocols-thesis-today-ep65 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an episode of strong positions, Blockchain Capital  partner and Bitcoin educator Jimmy Song explains why private blockchains will never work, why smart contracts will never work, and why Bitcoin will be the one and only valuable cryptocurrency. He also gives his definition sound money, describes why Bitcoin is sound money, and talks about how he finds new companies to invest in if he believes Bitcoin is already the winner. Plus, he recounts the story of his buzz-generating debate with ConsenSys's Joe Lubin at the Consensus conference, which ended with a challenge to come up with a bet in Bitcoin, and what terms Jimmy would like to make the bet on. Lubin, it's your move. Jimmy Song on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmysong Medium: https://medium.com/@jimmysong Blockchain Capital: http://blockchain.capital/ Programming Blockchain: http://programmingblockchain.com Off Chain with Jimmy Song on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEFJVYNiPp8xeIUyfaPCPQw Medium post on smart contracts: https://medium.com/@jimmysong/the-truth-about-smart-contracts-ae825271811f Jimmy's rebuttal to the responses to his post: https://medium.com/@jimmysong/crypto-keynesian-lunacy-16bb9193a58 Video of Amber Baldet, Joe Lubin and Jimmy's panel at Consensus -- video 31 under Day 1: https://www.coindesk.com/events/consensus-2018/videos/ Thank you to our sponsors! Blockchain Warehouse: https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com Clarity PR: http://clarity.pr Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a live recording from a panel I moderated at the World Economic Forum Industry Strategy Meeting. The speakers included Shwetha Shetty Senior Director, Corporate Strategy Group, of SAP, Adam Ludwin, CEO of Chain, Brian Behlendorf, executive director of HyperLedger the Linux Foundation and Sheila Warren, project head of blockchain and distributed ledger technology at the World Economic Forum.We dive into the pros and cons of using blockchains for elections. which types of problems are best-suited to be solved by blockchain, why B2B applications of blockchain might come before B2C products and what kinds of identity-related data might be safe to put on a blockchain. Plus, Adam reveals some entertaining anecdotes about Silicon Valley safaris and how old World’s Fair tickets could have an analog to blockchain systems today. Episodes I referenced during the discussion in case listeners want to dive more into the elections topic: Tomicah Tillemann episode on the blockchain voting pilot in West Virginia: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/battling-corruption-with-blockchain-technology-tomicah-tillemann-of-the-blockchain-trust-accelerator-ep018 Alex Gladstein episode with more on blockchain-based voting: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep021 Tweets about blockchain-based voting: Matt Blaze’s objecton to blockchain-based voting: https://twitter.com/mattblaze/status/1002921011854143488 Vitalik’s response: https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1004203105611726849 Tomicah Tillemann’s response: https://twitter.com/TomicahTD/status/1004325810252197888 To address the question at the end about blockchain-based passports:  2 Katie Haun episodes on using blockchain-based systems to solve the problems of "breeder documents" and fraud, waste and abuse: Fraud, waste and abuse: http://unchainedpodcast.co/live-from-inforum-at-the-commonwealth-club-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-the-basics-with-kathryn-haun Breeder documents: http://unchainedpodcast.co/federal-prosecutor-kathryn-haun-on-how-criminals-use-bitcoin-and-how-she-catches-them  Episode with Vinny Lighal, founder of Civic, which is working on a blockchain-based identity solution: http://unchainedpodcast.co/bitcoin-oracle-vinny-lingham-on-why-bitcoin-is-overpriced  Thank you to our sponsor! Blockchain Warehouse: https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Vorick, CEO of Nebulous, which operates Siacoin and a new subsidiary, Obelisk, describes what he's discovered in his exploration of the mining industry, including why he's decided that specialized chips like ASICs are preferable to generalized chips like GPUs, even if they tend to bring out mining centralization. He also describes Obelisk's new service, Launchpad,which secures exclusive deals to create a custom proof-of-work algorithm for a coin and also the mining equipment for it, in exchange for being the only miner on the market at launch or for a period. He explains why he thinks proof of work is the only really viable type of consensus algorithm and doesn't even see any other potentially workable ones on the horizon. Plus, he has some sharp criticisms of Bitmain and claims that several groups were secretly mining Monero, though he can't reveal how he knows.   David Vorick: https://twitter.com/DavidVorick https://medium.com/@davidvorick Siacoin: http://sia.tech Blog.sia.tech Obelisk: https://obelisk.tech Blog.obelisk.tech David on why Siacoin chose ASICs: https://medium.com/obelisk-blog/choosing-asics-for-sia-4b11695df051 David's long post about the state of cryptocurrency mining: https://blog.sia.tech/the-state-of-cryptocurrency-mining-538004a37f9b Announcement about Obelisk: https://medium.com/obelisk-blog/introducing-obelisk-launchpad-b78756eaa74c Zooko's recap of his conversation with Jihan Wu, CEO of Bitmain: https://forum.z.cash/t/so-i-had-a-videochat-with-jihan-wu/29379 Bitmain's tweets being transparent (account currently disabled): https://twitter.com/BITMAINtech/status/1001376036985028608 Bitmain's blog post about being transparent: https://blog.bitmain.com/en/antiminer-z9-mini-shipments-experiment-radical-transparency/ Thank you to our sponsors! Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a recording of a panel discussion I participated in with a couple other reporters and crypto PR people at Consensus. (It was at the same time as Jack's talk, so it's totally understandable if you missed it. Also, the room was freezing. I was shivering the entire time.) The other panelists were Leigh Cuen of CoinDesk, Avi Salzman of Barron's (and my old classmate from grad school!), Jill Richmond of Spark PR, Trey Ditto of Ditto PR, and the discussion was moderated by Frank Chaparro of Business Insider. We discussed whether or not crypto projects and publications should engage in pay to play (I would have hoped the answer to this would obvious to everyone, but alas), coverage that could cause investors to lose money, whether or not the business model of the media industry drives clickbait headlines and why journalists have a responsibility to include more of the nuances in crypto. We also dish up some practical tips and insider info, like how crypto projects can get media coverage, what factors reporters use in deciding whether or not to write about a project they're pitched, and whether or not crypto teams should hire crypto-specific PR firms. Apologies that there was no mic for the questions from the audience. I've left the questions in, as you can sometimes hear them faintly. I tried my best to have someone or myself recap each question. For the question about our favorite stories, these were the articles we named My favorite of mine: my phone hijacking story: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#464b730d38ba Leigh liked a series I did exposing fake advisors: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/11/01/alex-tapscotts-crypto-vc-firm-going-public-with-100m-cad-falsely-touted-4-blockchain-stars-as-advisors/#483d3ff31b1f https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/11/03/cibc-walks-from-tapscotts-nextblock-global-after-falsehoods-revealed-more-misrepresentations-found/#724de0e13cbf https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/11/05/alex-tapscotts-crypto-vc-firm-aborts-public-listing-will-return-money-after-falsehoods-revealed/#1d4de0a62e27 Leigh's favorite stories: Cryptocurrency in Iran: http://www.ibtimes.com/bitcoin-adoption-rate-iran-surges-despite-censorship-protests-2636607 http://www.ibtimes.com/initial-coin-offerings-are-coming-iran-2653474 Cryptocurrency for sex workers: http://www.ibtimes.com/beyond-bitcoin-blockchain-tokens-sex-industry-2601252 Avi's favorite story: https://www.barrons.com/articles/bitcoin-storms-wall-street-1512188427 Thank you to our sponsors! Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com Token Agency: https://tokenagency.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Monegro, partner at crypto VC firm Placeholder Ventures, describes how well his seminal blog post, "Fat Protocols," is holding up, why he and his partner Chris Burniske opted to found a crypto VC firm as opposed to a hedge fund, and what main factors they think will determine the success of a blockchain. He also describes how crypto and blockchains fit into the evolution of technology, how the business models in the crypto space will be built, and why their first publicly known investment was in Decred. Plus, he reveals why their firm is called Placeholder. Placeholder: https://www.placeholder.vc Joel: https://twitter.com/jmonegro The Placeholder investment thesis: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmZL4eT1gxnE168Pmw3KyejW6fUfMNzMgeKMgcWJUfYGRj/Placeholder%20Thesis%20Summary.pdf The Fat Protocols Thesis: https://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols Decred investment thesis: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2018/5/12/decred-investment-thesis Blog post on information technology cycles: https://monegro.org/work/2018/2/20/information-technology-market-cycles-a-brief-history Joel's blog post on the shared data layer of the blockchain application stack: http://joel.mn/post/104755282493/the-shared-data-layer-of-the-blockchain and on the blockchain application stack: http://joel.mn/post/103546215249/the-blockchain-application-stack Two episodes featuring his partner, Chris Burniske: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-to-valuate-a-crypto-asset-s3e08 http://unchainedpodcast.co/want-higher-returns-invest-in-bitcoin-say-arks-chris-burniske-and-coinbases-adam-white Another episode that I forgot to mention during the show, the interview with Bill Tai, which contains ideas that overlap quite a bit with Joel's: http://unchainedpodcast.co/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology Thank you to our sponsors! Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Blockchain Warehouse: https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This recording is of Blockchain vs. the Surveillance State, a series of talks and a panel from the Oslo Freedom Forum put on by the Human Rights Foundation. In this session, hear presentations from Ryan Shea of decentralized technology platform Blockstack; Galia Benartzi of smart token platform Bancor; Steve Waterhouse of surveillance-free internet project Orchid; and Arthur Breitman from smart contract platform Tezos. Afterward, I moderate a panel among the four speakers that touches on the ways in which blockchains can be used to curb human rights abuses -- but also how bad actors can also use them for nefarious purposes. Oslo Freedom Forum: https://oslofreedomforum.com Human Rights Foundation: https://www.hrf.org The four presentations: Ryan Shea https://twitter.com/ryaneshea of Blockstack: https://blockstack.org (Also check out his interview with cofounder Muneeb Ali on Unchained: http://unchainedpodcast.co/blockstack-on-getting-independence-from-google-facebook-and-amazon) Galia Benartzi https://twitter.com/galiabenartzi of Bancor https://www.bancor.network/discover Steve Waterhouse https://twitter.com/deseventral of https://orchid.com Arthur Breitman https://twitter.com/arthurb of https://tezos.com Be sure also to listen to the Unconfirmed podcast episode with Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation -- not to be missed if you're interested in the topics discussed during Blockchain vs. the Surveillance State! http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep021 Thank you to our sponsors! Blockchain Warehouse: https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arthur Hayes, CEO of Bitmex, describes how traders on his platform can make great gains but experience limited losses, how Asia's crypto markets differ from those in the U.S., and why he makes money whether or not crypto prices go up or down. He also describes why ICOs are crap now but why he fully supports the idea in theory and how they should get back to their roots. He also explains why he believes governments will issue digital cash, and why he believes everyday people will be surveilled through these transactions, but will give up this privacy for the sake of convenience. And where does he see this leaving cryptocurrencies? To become needed to transact privately. Bitmex: https://www.bitmex.com/ Arthur Hayes: https://www.bitmex.com/app/aboutUs Bitmex blog, with detailed research reports: https://blog.bitmex.com/ Arthur's Crypto Trader Digest: https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=db45c09bdf20e1866bb32123f&id=ac43da8d18 Thank you to our sponsors! Blockchain Warehouse: https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com/ Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Levin, cofounder and chief operating officer for blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, describes how the company was born out of questions he had while a grad student, how they began mapping the Bitcoin blockchain to certain entities, and how their customers, which include government agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS, Europol and others, use Chainalysis to help solve Bitcoin crimes. He also reveals what level of detail the software tracks, how privacy coins could affect their work, and what new developments in the technology could decrease current crimes, such as physical extortion of crypto holders. Plus, he answers the question of whether or not Chainalysis's work destroys the fungibility of Bitcoin. Chainalysis: http://chainalysis.com/ Jonathan Levin: https://twitter.com/jony_levin Chainalysis report on the changing nature of crypto crime: https://www.chainalysis.com/static/Cryptocrime_Report_V2.pdf Forbes article on Chainalysis: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/04/05/snooping-on-bitcoin-is-big-business/#234e6792d198 Usage of Chainalysis by IRS: https://www.thedailybeast.com/irs-now-has-a-tool-to-unmask-bitcoin-tax-cheats Threats of violence against bitcoin and other crypto holders: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/technology/virtual-currency-extortion.html Thank you to our sponsors! Blockchain Warehouse: https://www.blockchainwarehouse.com/ Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/ Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Powell, CEO of crypto asset exchange Kraken, explains why he publicly rejected then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's request for information from crypto exchanges, why he felt it was a publicity stunt and why Kraken, which stopped serving New York customers after New York's Bitlicense was introduced, doesn't see the market as a top priority. He also talks about why Kraken decided to stop operations in Japan after further regulations were imposed and discusses Kraken's $1 million donation to Coin Center (and its $1 million match). Plus, he gets into why he named the exchange after a Norse sea monster, the dangers of the exchange's margin trading product, and what steps he recommends everyone in crypto take to keep their tokens safe. Jesse Powell: https://twitter.com/jespow Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/ Past Unchained episode with Brock Pierce who also had a pre-Bitcoin career involving video game currency (Jesse and Brock were competitors): http://unchainedpodcast.co/this-vc-is-sure-venture-capital-is-about-to-be-disrupted Kraken's position on regulation (discussion of New York AG request and Japan + guidance for regulators): https://blog.kraken.com/post/1561/krakens-position-on-regulation/ Kraken donation to Coin Center: https://blog.kraken.com/post/1591/kraken-donates-1m-to-coin-center-with-an-additional-1m-matching-during-may/ Kraken down for 40 hours: http://fortune.com/2018/01/12/bitcoin-price-ripple-kraken-down/ Past Unchained episode on taxation of crypto: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-tax-rules-that-have-crypto-users-aghast Kraken blog post on phone numbers being hijacked: https://blog.kraken.com/post/219/security-advisory-mobile-phones/ My article on the same topic: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#1d79923338ba Thank you to our sponsors! Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/ Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Token Agency: https://tokenagency.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This recording of a panel I moderated at Ethereal with Ethereum researcher Vlad Zamfir and GovernX founder Nick Dodson covered the topic that it seems everyone in crypto is discussing these days: governance. We talk about how the community should decide whether or not to unlock the funds frozen by bugs, on-chain governance, what role the Ethereum Foundation plays and what it means that nearly all the people who write Ethereum's code are men. Nick Dodson: https://twitter.com/iamnickdodson Vlad Zamfir: https://twitter.com/VladZamfir If you liked this discussion, also be sure to check out my recent episode with Aya Miyaguchi, executive director of the Ethereum Foundation: http://unchainedpodcast.co/aya-miyaguchi-of-the-ethereum-foundation-on-who-makes-the-final-call-ep59 And this Unconfirmed episode on blockchain ethics with Cara LaPointe of Georgetown: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/from-the-bellagio-blockchain-summit-blockchain-ethics-with-georgetowns-cara-lapointe-ep016 Thank you to Ethereal for hosting a great event! https://etherealsummit.com/ And thank you to our sponsors! Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/ Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Token Agency: https://tokenagency.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The newly appointed head of the Ethereum Foundation, Aya Miyaguchi, talks about her background as a teacher, at Kraken, helping the Mt. Gox trustee unwind that mess, and the closed process by which she was plucked for her current role. She also describes her goals with the Ethereum Foundation, how the EF believes the Ethereum community should make decisions, how it defines community and more. She also talks about how she hopes to push more financial inclusion with Ethereum, and what she thinks needs to be done to get more women involved in crypto. Aya Miyaguchi: https://twitter.com/mi_ayako Ethereum Foundation: https://www.ethereum.org/foundation Thank you to our sponsors! Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/ Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Token Agency: http://tokenagency.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this show, recorded without the participation of Ripple (explanation included in the show), Ryan Selkis, CEO and founder of Messari and Matt Leising, Bloomberg reporter, discuss Ripple's XRP, the third-largest coin by market cap. We go over whether or not it plays an essential role in Ripple's products, why banks are unlikely to adopt it, and why it's centralized. We also discuss whether or not it's an unregistered security (although the class-action lawsuit alleging XRP is an unregistered security being sold in a "never-ending ICO" came out after we recorded -- link below). We also discuss recent attempts by XRP to get it listed on top crypto exchanges, and how, as Selkis puts it, there's a fine line between some of its business activity and bribes. We also ponder the question: If XRP is meant for banks and financial institutions, why should everyday people own XRP? Ryan Selkis: https://messari.io/ https://twitter.com/twobitidiot Matt Leising: https://twitter.com/mattleising https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AGfq0QVqo0I/matthew-leising Full text of class-action lawsuit against Ripple: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5938711a9de4bb74f63b4059/t/5aebc4112b6a28e0ef4a0381/1525400594617/Coffey+v+Ripple+Labs+Complaint.pdf Bloomberg article on lawsuit: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-04/ripple-hit-with-class-action-suit-over-never-ending-ico Matt's article on why big banks have no interest in using XRP: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/ripple-wants-xrp-to-be-bitcoin-for-banks-if-only-the-banks-wanted-it How Ripple tried to buy its way onto crypto exchanges: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-04/ripple-is-said-to-struggle-to-buy-u-s-listing-for-popular-coin Ryan's post on XRP: https://medium.com/@twobitidiot/i-still-see-you-xrp-815369a539ea Izabella Kaminska's article on XRP: https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/01/05/2197220/the-ripple-effect/ CoinDesk article on XRP: https://www.coindesk.com/ripples-xrp-giving-third-largest-cryptocurrency-second-look/ XRP chat post by David Schwartz: https://www.xrpchat.com/topic/5280-valuation-models-xrp-the-digital-currency-vs-ripple-the-company/?tab=comments#comment-50182  Another post by David Schwartz on how XRP is not required: https://www.quora.com/Is-XRP-not-required-for-the-Ripple-Swift-replacement/answer/David-Schwartz-9 Bitmex post on XRP: https://blog.bitmex.com/the-ripple-story/ The dueling lawsuits between Ripple and R3 over XRP: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/09/08/blockchain-enterprise-firms-r3-and-ripple-sue-each-other-over-1-billion-of-cryptocurrency/ Thank you to our sponsors! Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/  Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here is the second special episode from the Time Summit, a Bridge Alternatives event, on how institutional investors can do operational due diligence. Suna Said, founder and CEO of family office Nima Capital, Eddie Duszlak of Texas Children's Hospital, and Joel Gantcher of Gantcher Family Partners discuss how they invest in the nascent Web 3.0. They discuss why a year of experience in crypto is so valuable, how they determine who the serious players are in the space and why the speed of disruption from the internet revolution gives them motivation to get into the crypto markets. Thank you to the Time Summit, a Bridge Alternatives event! https://timesummit.org/ http://bridgealternatives.com/ Suna Said: https://timesummit.org/2018/04/18/suna-said/ Eddie Duszlak: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/06/eddie-duszlak/ Joel Gantcher: https://timesummit.org/2018/04/19/joel-gantcher/ Thank you to our sponsors! Ethereal Summit: https://etherealsummit.com/ Use code Unchained10 for 10% off! Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This talk is from a panel I led on infrastructure in the crypto space at the Time Summit, by Bridge Alternatives, featuring Kayvon Pirestani of director of institutional sales at GDAX, Tim McCourt, CME Group’s managing director and global head of equity products and alternative investments, Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis Trading and Genesis Capital, and Hu Liang, founder and CEO of Omniex. We discussed what infrastructure tools need to be built to get institutional players comfortable with the space, how custodying a digital asset differs from custodying a traditional asset, why they can see institutional players dealing in stablecoins and trading on decentralized exchanges at some point in the future, and what needs to be built out in terms of trading infrastructure for institutional players. (Hint: it turns out Excel and Google Sheets are the biggest competitors for crypto trading infrastructure services.) We also talk about the challenges of building out infrastructure for trading that can suddenly double or quadruple in volume and for a market that runs 24/7/365. Thank you to Bridge Alternatives and the Time Summit for the panel! https://www.bridgealternatives.com/ https://timesummit.org/ Kayvon Pirestani: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/19/kayvon-pirestani/ Michael Moro: https://timesummit.org/2018/04/21/michael-moro/ Tim McCourt: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/15/tim-mccourt/ Hu Liang: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/23/hu-liang/ The episode with Mike Belshe where we discuss custodying digital assets and qualified custodians: http://unchainedpodcast.co/mike-belshe-on-what-bitgos-kingdom-trust-acquisition-means-for-crypto-and-how-security-will-develop-in-the-future Thank you to our sponsors! Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Ethereal Summit: https://etherealsummit.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain, cofounders of Multicoin Capital, dive deeply into their sometimes controversial and unpopular opinions on how the crypto revolution will play out. They describe why they don't think the technology that a team develops early on will play nearly as big a role as some think, why there will be a spectrum of blockchains offering different features with different tradeoffs, and why they're bearish on stablecoins. They discuss why they disagree on whether or not the Lightning Network is revolutionary (and therefore why they disagree on whether Bitcoin is failing). Samani and Jain also explain how they decide whether or not to invest in a token, their strategies for trading and why they don't have to be invested in a project to help out. Multicoin: https://multicoin.capital/ Kyle Samani: @KyleSamani Tushar Jain: @TusharJain_ A blog post that came out after we recorded in which Kyle expands on his contention that technical features will matter less in the long-term success of a network than people think: https://multicoin.capital/2018/04/25/good-artists-copy-great-artists-steal/ Kyle's post on the outlook for coins for store of value, utility tokens and stablecoins: https://multicoin.capital/2018/03/15/paths-to-tens-of-trillions/ More Multicoin thinking around stablecoins: https://multicoin.capital/2018/01/17/an-overview-of-stablecoins/ Previous Unchained episode: Why It's So Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable Thank you to our sponsors: Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/ Preciate: https://preciate.org/recognize Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Walsh had long ago predicted that internet scams would migrate from email to private messaging platforms, but it wasn't until crypto mania took off that his thesis was proved right -- in a big way. In the summer of 2017, the founder and CEO of MetaCert discovered many crypto Slack channels were being overrun by scammers capitalizing on FOMO to get people to inadvertently give them their ether and other tokens. Now, the company has several products to help prevent crypto enthusiasts from being scammed and it also decentralizing its work so the whole world can help classify bad links and proven others from being scammed. In this talk, he describes how the scams work, how Metacert tries to keep people from falling victim, and how best you can protect your own crypto. MetaCert the company: https://metacert.com MetaCert the protocol: http://metacertprotocol.com/  Story on phone hijackings: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#7125f2f738ba Link to episode where Mike Belshe and I discuss physical crimes against crypto people: http://unchainedpodcast.co/mike-belshe-on-what-bitgos-kingdom-trust-acquisition-means-for-crypto-and-how-security-will-develop-in-the-future Thank you to our sponsors! Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com Preciate: https://preciate.org, which is taking suggestions for new people to appreciate at https://preciate.org/recognize Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this live recording of a panel discussion at the CoinAlts Fund Symposium, Marco Santori, president and chief legal officer of Blockchain, managing director at Grayscale Investments, and Barbara Minuzzi, cofounder and managing partner of Ausum Ventures take stock of the 2017 year and discuss a range of trends they're seeing in the industry. Santori describes what the ICO wave was like from his seat as one of the most in-demand lawyers for ICOs, and why he doesn't actually think that securities (such as a SAFT) can later transform into something that is a non-security. He also talks about how big corporations are thinking about use blockchain technology -- and why we haven't yet seen much activity on that front in the market. We talk about the current clouds over the industry -- custody and regulation -- and Sonnenshein explains why investors choose Grayscale's investment products, such as the Bitcoin Investment Trust, rather that investing in the coin directly, and  Blockchain.info: https://blockchain.info Grayscale Investments: https://grayscale.co Ausum Ventures: https://www.ausum.vc Thank you to the CoinAlts Fund Symposium for hosting the panel: https://www.coinaltsfundsymposium.com For more on regulatory issues, check out these past episodes: Perianne Boring and Amy Kim of the Chamber of Digital Commerce on crypto regulation: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-chamber-of-digital-commerces-perianne-boring-and-amy-kim-on-why-us-crypto-regulation-is-complicated-and-confusing The Tax Rules That Have Crypto Investors Aghast: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-tax-rules-that-have-crypto-users-aghast How Crypto and Blockchain Technology Should Be Regulated: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-crypto-and-blockchain-technology-should-be-regulated Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh of Coin Center: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-coin-center-is-helping-define-the-big-fuzzy-gray-area-of-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-law Caitlin Long on How 'Utility Tokens' Are Now Legal in Wyoming: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/caitlin-long-on-how-utility-tokens-are-now-legal-in-wyoming Former DOJ Prosecutor Kathryn Haun on What the SEC Subpoenas and FinCen Letter Likely Mean: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/sxsw-episode-former-doj-prosecutor-kathryn-haun-on-what-the-sec-subpoenas-and-fincen-letter-likely-mean For more on custody issues, check out the episode with Mike Belshe of BitGo and its acquisition of Kingdom Trust: http://unchainedpodcast.co/mike-belshe-on-what-bitgos-kingdom-trust-acquisition-means-for-crypto-and-how-security-will-develop-in-the-future Thank you to our sponsors! Ethereal Summit: https://etherealsummit.com Quantstamp: https://www.quantstamp.com StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If U.S. crypto regulation seems incredibly convoluted, this is the episode for you. Perianne Boring, the founder and president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, and its global policy director and general counsel Amy Kim, discuss why U.S. regulation calls crypto assets currency, property, commodities and securities, and how that results in agencies enforcing their own laws without a higher level understanding of the technology. They also discuss what they call the "failure" of the regulatory regime that requires certain types of crypto companies to get licenses from 53 different states and territories and why no firms have so far even gotten close. They also advocate for the technology to be taxed more like currency than property, claiming that the current classification stifles usage of cryptocurrencies as currencies. We also dive into juicy questions like whether ether, which was sold in what we would now call an initial coin offering, is a security and what self-regulation of the crypto space could look like. Chamber of Digital Commerce: https://digitalchamber.org/ Token Alliance: https://digitalchamber.org/initiatives/token-alliance/ Previous episodes on Unchained and Unconfirmed that touched on regulation: Live from SXSW: Michael Casey and Paul Vigna, Co-Authors of The Truth Machine, on Why the SEC Has Issued Subpoenas to ICOs http://unchainedpodcast.co/live-from-sxsw-michael-casey-and-paul-vigna-co-authors-of-the-truth-machine-on-why-the-sec-has-issued-subpoenas-to-icos Caitlin Long on How 'Utility Tokens' Are Now Legal In Wyoming http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/caitlin-long-on-how-utility-tokens-are-now-legal-in-wyoming SXSW Episode: Former DOJ Prosecutor Kathryn Haun on What the SEC Subpoenas and FinCen Letter Likely Mean http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/sxsw-episode-former-doj-prosecutor-kathryn-haun-on-what-the-sec-subpoenas-and-fincen-letter-likely-mean The Tax Rules That Have Crypto Users Aghast http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-tax-rules-that-have-crypto-users-aghast How Crypto And Blockchain Technology Should Be Regulated http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-crypto-and-blockchain-technology-should-be-regulated Is The IRS Justified In Demanding Information On Millions Of Bitcoin Users? http://unchainedpodcast.co/is-the-irs-justified-in-demanding-information-on-millions-of-bitcoin-users Federal Prosecutor Kathryn Haun On How Criminals Use Bitcoin -- And How She Catches Them: http://unchainedpodcast.co/federal-prosecutor-kathryn-haun-on-how-criminals-use-bitcoin-and-how-she-catches-them How Coin Center Is Helping Define The 'Big Fuzzy Gray Area' Of Blockchain And Cryptocurrency Law http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-coin-center-is-helping-define-the-big-fuzzy-gray-area-of-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-law Thank you to our sponsors! Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/  Preciate: https://preciate.org/, make a suggestion for who to recognize in a future episode at https://preciate.org/recognize/      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Through Inforum at the Commonwealth Club, I recently moderated a sold-out discussion on the basics of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. My guest was Kathryn Haun, a former federal prosecutor who is now teaching a class on cryptocurrency at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and serves on the boards of Coinbase and Hacker One. We go through all the elementary questions most newbies have: what is bitcoin, what is a blockchain, what is Ethereum, what is mining, etc., and give real examples of how this technology could be used. I think it's a perfect primer for people new to crypto -- whether you're listening for tips on how to explain these concepts to your friends and family, or you're a newbie yourself and want a dead-simple explainer. This is the first in a series of talks with Inforum on blockchain and crypto, so stay tuned for future events. Kathryn Haun: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/kathryn-haun Inforum at the Commonwealth Club: http://inforumsf.org/ http://inforumsf.org/upcoming-events/2018/4/12/blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-the-basics Thank you to our sponsors! Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Ethereal Summit: https://etherealsummit.com/ enter the code Unchained10 for 10% off And StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/unchained for a 20% discount Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Valery Vavilov and George Kikvadze of Bitcoin mining and blockchain software company Bitfury discuss why the firm has partnered with the publicly traded Hut 8, how it plans to branch out into mining other crypto assets, and how it chooses where to open mining operations. They also explain how low the bitcoin price can go before mining will be unprofitable for them, what their new blockchain analytics tools Crystal can do, and why they often choose people outside the blockchain/crypto industry to attend the Blockchain Summit they co-host on Richard Branson's Necker Island. Vavilov also tells the story of a childhood experience that has influenced Bitfury's decision to work so much with governments and regulators, and he and Kikvadze describe the company's new blockchain analytics tool, Crystal, plus its hand in launching other blockchain-and-government-focused organizations such as the Blockchain Alliance and the Blockchain Trust Accelerator. Bitfury: http://bitfury.com/ Bitfury's origin story as told by Bill Tai: http://unchainedpodcast.co/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology  Hut 8: https://www.hut8mining.com/ Exonum: https://exonum.com/ Necker Blockchain Summit: http://www.neckerblockchainsummit.com/ Blockchain Alliance: http://blockchainalliance.org/ Blockchain Alliance on Unchained:  http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-the-blockchain-alliance-helps-law-enforcement-with-bitcoin-crime-and-developments-like-the-dao Crystal: https://crystalblockchain.com/ Blockchain Trust Accelerator: https://trustaccelerator.org/ Pilot with Coca-Cola and State Department: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blockchain-coca-cola-labor/coca-cola-u-s-state-dept-to-use-blockchain-to-combat-forced-labor-idUSKCN1GS2PY Emercoin: https://emercoin.com/en Thank you to our sponsors! Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained Preciate, at https://preciate.org/. To recognize someone for a future ad spot, go to https://preciate.org/recognize/ Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an intermittent series on cryptoeconomics, Olaf Carlson-Wee and Ryan Zurrer of crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital describe what cryptoeconomics is, what goals it typically helps networks accomplish and what behaviors token systems might someday incentivize. We discuss when cryptoeconomic models don't make sense, how the type of consensus algorithms a blockchain chooses can affect behavior in that system and which consensus mechanisms excite them now. We also dive into whether or not it's desirable for a cryptoeconomic system to depend on a small number of knowledgeable participants, how to manage on-chain governance so networks don't vote themselves into a "black hole," and what disciplines are helpful in designing smart cryptoeconomic systems. Polychain Capital http://polychain.capital/ Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate: Recognize someone with a shout out: https://preciate.org/recognize/ Bitwise Asset Management: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained Keepkey: https://www.keepkey.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zooko Wilcox, the founder and CEO of the Zcash company, explains why he wanted to create the privacy coin Zcash, why he believes privacy is essential to decentralization, and how encryption is the way censorship-resistance can be created on a technical level. We talk about the revelation that the NSA was targeting Bitcoin users by gathering details on their devices and how even Zcash users could be targeted the same way, but why Zooko believes most people are more concerned about other threats. We also delve into the Facebook/Cambridge Analytics news and why people don't see to care about privacy and why so few people choose to transact privately in Zcash. He also describes he would feel if he knew that criminals were using Zcash for horrible crimes. Zcash company: https://z.cash/ Matthew Green's bitter tweet about Cryptokitties raising $12 million when he had to beg VCs to give Zcash a fraction of that amount: https://twitter.com/matthew_d_green/status/976298627759972353 The transaction that Zooko and I dissect during the episode: https://explorer.zcha.in/transactions/eed1d3993e52863fd33f9961672a22d016ca2a63f1e452b7d27fc41f5a2f2664 The Intercept article about the NSA tracking Bitcoin users: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/20/the-nsa-worked-to-track-down-bitcoin-users-snowden-documents-reveal/ Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate: https://preciate.org/; nominate someone to be recognized in a future spot at https://preciate.org/recognize/ Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained StartEngine: https://www.startenginesummit.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arianna Simpson, managing partner of investment firm Autonomous Partners, discusses this week's news that Cambridge Analytica had used data from Facebook to perhaps manipulate the 2016 election and whether that could create an opening for blockchain-based decentralized social networks. We also cover the announcement that Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and top individual investors invested $12 million in Cryptokitties and why Simpson thinks the area of digital collectibles could take off. The Facebook/Cambridge Analytica story: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html Cryptokitties: https://www.coindesk.com/a16z-leads-12-million-funding-for-ethereum-app-cryptokitties/ Why Arianna isn't worried about the downturn: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-smart-money-isnt-worried-about-the-bitcoin-selloff-2018-03-19?siteid=rss Thank you to the sponsors of today's episode: Preciate: ​​​​https://preciate.org/ and https://preciate.org/recognize/ Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Belshe, the founder and CEO of BitGo, talks about one of the biggest problems facing crypto today: security. We discuss some of the ways BitGo has resolved this issue, whether that still leads to single points of failure, and what the company's recent acquisition of Kingdom Trust (a "qualified custodian" as defined by the 1940 Investment Company Act) means for the space -- hint, it may have to do with ETFs. We also discuss the recent violent crimes against people in crypto and how everyday people should go about protecting their funds. Mike Belshe: https://twitter.com/mikebelshe BitGo: https://www.bitgo.com/ A Wired article on the BitGo acquisition of Kingdom Trust: https://www.wired.com/story/why-a-tiny-kentucky-firm-rules-a-corner-of-the-crypto-market/ New York Times article on crimes against crypto holders: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/technology/virtual-currency-extortion.html Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate: https://preciate.org/, which is taking suggestion for new people to recognize at https://preciate.org/recognize/ Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained StartEngine:https://www.startenginesummit.com/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the Founders Organization's Initial Taco Offering, an unofficial SXSW event, the co-authors of the recently released Truth Machine, talked about a wide range of regulatory issues from what the SEC subpoenas mean to whether or not the SEC is investigating the SAFT to whether or not the regulators should address crypto on a federal level. We also discuss central bank cryptocurrencies, how the dollar could be knocked off world reserve currency status, rogue governments issuing cryptocurrencies, the Telegram ICO, ways in which blockchain can be applied to problems such as climate change and how the media is covering crypto. The Truth Machine: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250304964 Michael Casey: http://www.michaeljcasey.com/ Paul Vigna: https://twitter.com/paulvigna Paul's article on SEC subpoenas: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-launches-cryptocurrency-probe-1519856266 Michael's essay on China's desire to end the dollar's global dominance: https://www.coindesk.com/political-china-hates-bitcoin-loves-blockchain/ Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate: https://preciate.org/, to recognize someone in a future episode, go to https://preciate.org/recognize/  and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wyoming now has five blockchain-specific laws. Caitlin Long, cofounder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, describes what these laws are, what they mean, and how our least populous state became a crypto leader. The former chairman and president of Symbiont explains what this could mean for any project that aims to launch a utility token, whether or not ICOs held in Wyoming would only be available to Wyoming residents, and what big issue she thinks remains for the SEC to address. Caitlin Long: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-long-/ To read the laws: https://legiscan.com/WY/bill/HB0070/2018 An op-ed Caitlin co-authored with WY House Rep. Tyler Lindholm: https://www.coindesk.com/haven-blockchain-case-wyoming/ Thank you to our sponsors, Onramp http://www.thinkonramp.com/ and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amber Baldet, JPMorgan Chase blockchain program lead, talks about what she was discussing at SXSW with Hyperledger executive director Brian Behlendorf and what themes she heard at the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris. She talks about privacy in financial transactions, how "immutable" blockchains might conflict with a new EU privacy law granting people the "right to be forgotten." And we briefly touch on her work with Jalak Jobanputra's new diversity-focused group Collective Future.  Privacy on Ethereum: https://www.coindesk.com/progress-hot-ethereum-privacy-projects-cooling-off/ The Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ https://iapp.org/news/a/blockchain-technology-is-on-a-collision-course-with-eu-privacy-law/ Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate https://preciate.org/ which is seeking suggestions for who to appreciate at https://preciate.org/recognize/ and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a former government official, current board member of Coinbase and professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Kathryn Haun has a unique and varied view of the crypto space. She doesn't necessarily see the SEC subpoenas as a reason to be alarmed and compares it to her work as a federal prosecutor. We also discuss the FinCen letter and why her take is different from the fear we've seen in the marketplace. SEC issues 80 subpoeast: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-launches-cryptocurrency-probe-1519856266?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1 The FinCen letter: https://coincenter.org/link/fincen-raises-major-licensing-problem-for-icos-in-new-letter-to-congress Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate https://preciate.org/ which is seeking suggestions for who to appreciate at https://preciate.org/recognize/ and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Preston Byrne, an independent consultant and English lawyer, and Angela Walch, an associate professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law who focuses on blockchain technology, both explain their criticisms of the crypto space, give grades to regulators on their job so far, and how they think major players in the space can improve. They discuss what systemic risks they believe crypto could pose to the wider financial system, how the current activity in the space is accruing "legal debt," and what it's like being a critic in a land of believers. Preston Byrne: https://prestonbyrne.com/ Angela Walch: https://law.stmarytx.edu/academics/faculty/angela-walch/ Sponsored by Preciate: https://preciate.org/ for https://preciate.org/recognize/ and StartEngine: http://startengine.com/ for https://www.startengine.com/pages/summit   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer Bogart, partner at Blockchain Capital, discusses why he think Bitcoin's growing pains are a sign of success, how the SEC regulatory gloom could affect the development of crypto and how a liquidity crunch could affect crypto hedge funds. We also take a peek at the coming platform wars. Blockchain Capital: http://blockchain.capital/ New crypto hedge funds: https://hackernoon.com/the-fate-of-crypto-hedge-funds-ca5850e8421c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Warren, cofounder of decentralized exchange protocol 0x, was working on building tokenized derivatives for Ethereum when he and his cofounder realized there would be no place to trade them. They ended up pivoting to create a decentralized exchange protocol, 0x, that enables companies to use that infrastructure to direct fulfill trade orders without worrying about a Mt. Gox- or Bitfinex-type hacking situation, as users would still retain control of their funds. In this conversation, he talks about the problems with centralized exchanges and how decentralized exchanges can overcome some of their own obstacles including liquidity and problems with front running. He also gives answers to some of the criticisms of the 0x project, including why it needs its own token (ZRX) and what the token's purpose is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Future Perfect Ventures' founder and managing partner Jalak Jobanputra and I discuss the New York Times article earlier this week about how few women there are in crypto. We discuss some of the surprising comments we saw from women in the space who wish the story hadn't been written and Jobanputra's new effort to increase diversity in crypto, The Collective Future. The New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/business/cryptocurrency-women-blockchain-bros.html Jutta Steiner's tweet: https://twitter.com/jutta_steiner/status/968158503096471553 Meltem Dermirors' tweet: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem/status/967983438945968130 Elizabeth Stark's tweet: https://twitter.com/starkness/status/968307972597272576 Wired article about The Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rune Christensen of MakerDAO and Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life and High Fidelity, discuss why stablecoins are called crypto's holy grail, why they may be what's necessary for mainstream adoption, and all the ways a stablecoin can be constructed. Philip brings in his experience with Second Life's Linden dollars, often called the first true virtual currency, to describe how it was constructed and how he's planning to disseminate the cryptocurrency of his new virtual world, High Fidelity. Plus, we talk about why a digital USD wouldn't be a threat to stablecoins and whether collateralized stablecoins resemble fractional reserve banking or not. Maker DAO: https://makerdao.com/ High Fidelity: https://highfidelity.com/ HFC: https://docs.highfidelity.com/high-fidelity-commerce/basics/hfc More info on Linden dollars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Second_Life The Hacker Noon post by Haseeb Qureshi: https://hackernoon.com/stablecoins-designing-a-price-stable-cryptocurrency-6bf24e2689e5 IMF SDRs: http://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2016/08/01/14/51/Special-Drawing-Right-SDR Episode with Bill Tai: http://unchainedpodcast.co/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology Vitalik's post on collateralized debt obligations for issuer-backed tokens: https://ethresear.ch/t/collateralized-debt-obligations-for-issuer-backed-tokens/525 Other stablecoins: Tether: https://tether.to/ Basecoin: http://www.getbasecoin.com/ Havven: https://havven.io/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to my new show, Unconfirmed! Here's a sample: Brian Kelly of BKCM talks about token-curated registries, such as the proposal for Messari, by Ryan Selkis, formerly of Digital Currency Group and CoinDesk, and why such TCRs are probably a good idea, but what pitfalls they may face. We also discuss the highly anticipated launch of crypto trading on Robinhood and look behind the scenes at Venezuela's new crypto offering, the petro. Token curated registries: Proposal for Messari: https://medium.com/@twobitidiot/a-token-to-self-regulate-tokens-but-really-a61da77e6a7b TCRs generally: https://medium.com/@ilovebagels/token-curated-registries-1-0-61a232f8dac7 A curated list of resources on TCRs: https://medium.com/@tokencuratedregistry/the-token-curated-registry-whitepaper-bd2fb29299d6 Robinhood launches crypto trading: http://blog.robinhood.com/news/2018/2/21/robinhood-crypto-trading-is-here https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/22/free-crypto-trading/ Petro: A good tweet storm on some of the issues surrounding the petro's launch: https://twitter.com/alemacgo/status/966072887319973891 Some meeting having to do with the petro that Laura found amusing -- the guy's smiles begin around 00:25: https://twitter.com/infrabolivar/status/965777624516759552 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cofounder of MyEtherWallet and CEO of newly launched MyCrypto walks us through the nuts and bolts of how MyCrypto works, how it differs from a company like Coinbase, why the keys you get from the site even enable to work offline -- and how the company makes money. She also describes how the crypto community changed in 2017, her crazy sleeping schedule during that year, and how she responds when users ask questions like whether or not an initial coin offering will really deliver on the returns promised. We also cover what it's like being a CEO when running a company was never in her game plan, how she got into crypto after starting off in film school and what her tips are for not losing your crypto. https://mycrypto.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out the first episode of Unconfirmed, in which Olaf Carlson-Wee, CEO and founder of Polychain Capital, discusses why an issue facing the Ethereum community right now has him thinking about on-chain governance. If you enjoy the episode, subscribe to Unconfirmed today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unconfirmed: Insights and Analysis From the Top Minds in Crypto drops today! The first guest is Olaf Carlson-Wee, CEO and founder of crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital. We discuss the week's news and what is on Olaf's mind these days. It's available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Spotify, TuneIn and wherever you get your podcasts. Check it out and subscribe today! Online at: www.unconfirmedpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Voorhees says the greatest scam perpetrated on mankind is currency debasement -- and that crypto will change all that. In this wide-ranging interview, the CEO of crypto-to-crypto exchange Shapeshift talks about how crypto will take away power from central banks, why he believes "maximalists" -- those who believe one crypto asset will rule them all -- are wrong, and why someday we will look back and see the intertwining of money and state as barbaric and unjust, just as we now see the intertwining of church and state. We also discuss the prospects for Bitcoin in the face of high fees, how regulation will affect the development of crypto and why 2017 was the kind of year he hoped for when he got involved in Bitcoin in 2011. Shapeshift's products: https://shapeshift.io/#/coins https://prism.exchange/ https://www.keepkey.com/ http://coincap.io/ Erik's blog: http://moneyandstate.com/ His blog post addressing maximalism: http://moneyandstate.com/no-non-bitcoin-blockchains-are-not-disrespectful-to-satoshi/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us find more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained Growing up in Argentina, Wences Casares saw his family lose all their money three times due to actions by the government. The so-called "patient zero" of Bitcoin in Silicon Valley explains why he believes that experience predisposed him to seeing the potential in Bitcoin earlier than most people, why it's so hard to explain Bitcoin to Americans and why the company he founded, Xapo, isn't just a Bitcoin vault and wallet company but his best effort at helping to ensure that Bitcoin succeeds. He talks about why he isn't scared of all the new competitors to his service, including Coinbase Custody, why Xapo hasn't branched out into any other crypto assets, and why he believes there's a more than 50% chance that Bitcoin is worth $1 million in five to ten years. Additionally, he still believes the attempt to accommodate more transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain with the SegWit2x fork, which he backed, was wrong -- even though the fees after its failure skyrocketed to as high as $60. Plus -- he reveals what it would look like if Bitcoin became a global standard of value, and why that vision doesn't threaten governments. Xapo: https://xapo.com/ Wences's Facebook Live with Dan Schulman of PayPal: https://www.facebook.com/DanSchulmanPayPal/videos/1419329821528449/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained Tax attorney Tyson Cross and CPA Jason Tyra discuss all things crypto and taxes, including what types of crypto transactions are taxable events, how you'll be taxed on hard forks -- relevant for those who owned Bitcoin last August 1! -- and whether you can deduct a loss if you lose your private keys or exchange loses your coins. Plus, they reveal the top question they get from crypto enthusiasts and their top recommendations for people who love crypto but want to minimize their tax headache. Tyson Cross: https://www.bitcointaxsolutions.com/ Jason Tyra: https://www.tyracpa.com/ Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2018/01/23/the-tax-rules-that-have-crypto-users-aghast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained The 23-year-old whiz dives into who blockchains will someday help, how we transition from Ethereum for digital cats to higher social impact, and why even big companies like JPMorgan, Microsoft and BP are using Ethereum. He also walks through some important technical challenges Ethereum faces with scaling and the shift from a proof-of-work consensus algorithm to proof of stake. And he reveals why he isn't a big believer in on-chain governance. Plus, he talks about his worries and gives us his predictions for 2018. Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2018/01/09/vitalik-buterin-creator-of-ethereum-on-the-big-guy-vs-the-little-guy/ Some of Vitalik's blog posts that we discussed: On token sales: http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/06/09/sales.html Interactive coin offerings: https://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~teutsch/papers/ico.pdf Blockchain governance: http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/12/17/voting.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained  In this special bonus episode, Laura cover all your basic questions about crypto. What is Bitcoin? What is Ethereum? What is a blockchain? Share this episode with friends, family and anyone who is new to the crypto space and wants to understand what it's all about. Thanks to Elaine Zelby for conducting the interview! No show notes for this show, but some helpful links: Phone hijackings: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#1b2acf5a38ba Bitcoin -- these links are old but the information mostly still applies: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/12/11/should-you-invest-in-bitcoin-10-arguments-in-favor-as-of-december-2015/#34fbc792df28 https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/12/28/should-you-invest-in-bitcoin-10-arguments-against-as-of-december-2015/#117fcfe43895 https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/12/16/bitcoin-at-tax-time-what-you-need-to-know-about-trading-tipping-mining-and-more/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/12/31/want-to-own-bitcoin-heres-how-to-buy-invest-in-and-store-it/#792fd9d5b9ef ICOs: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/10/the-emperors-new-coins-how-initial-coin-offerings-fueled-a-100-billion-crypto-bubble/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/17/how-to-speculate-in-icos-10-practical-financial-tips/#3b8ca6ff5378 https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/18/how-to-speculate-in-icos-and-buy-tokens-an-easy-step-by-step-guide/#376caf8c743a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained Marco Santori, who leads the blockchain technology team at Cooley, and Joshua Ashley Klayman, who leads the blockchain and smart contracts group at Morrisson and Forrester, explain why they disagree on how to ensure a token sale won't run afoul of securities laws, how they think regulation around crypto will likely be formed and why the Bitcliense has made New York a crypto innovation backwater. Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/12/12/how-crypto-and-blockchain-technology-should-be-regulated/ Marco Santori: https://www.cooley.com/people/marco-santori Joshua Ashley Klayman: https://www.mofo.com/people/joshua-klayman.html The SAFT white paper: https://saftproject.com/ The Cardozo Blockchain Project SAFT response, "Not So Fast": https://cardozo.yu.edu/sites/default/files/Cardozo%20Blockchain%20Project%20-%20Not%20So%20Fast%20-%20SAFT%20Response_final.pdf Are ICOs For Utility Tokens Selling Securities? Prominent Crypto Players Say Yes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/10/02/are-icos-for-utility-tokens-selling-securities-prominent-crypto-players-say-yes/#107e96e34fa4 IRS Nabs Big Win Over Coinbase In Bid For Bitcoin Customer Data: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2017/11/29/irs-nabs-big-win-over-coinbase-in-bid-for-bitcoin-customer-data/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained The executive chairman of AngelList and partner at crypto hedge fund MetaStable explains how blockchains are changing the entrepreneurship model, his philosophy for crypto investing, and what kind of threat crypto could someday pose to governments. We also dive into why blockchains represent a new form of governance, his philosophy for investing in tokens and why he believes there will only be five or fewer winners among the money-like tokens. Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/11/28/naval-ravikant-on-how-crypto-is-squeezing-vcs-hindering-regulators-and-bringing-users-choice/ AngelList: https://angel.co/ MetaStable: http://metastablecapital.com/ CoinList: https://coinlist.co/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/05/18/want-to-hold-an-ico-coinlist-makes-it-easy-and-legal/ Zcash: https://z.cash/ BlockStack: https://blockstack.org/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/09/05/blockstack-on-how-to-take-control-from-google-facebook-and-amazon/ Bitwise Hold 10: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/10/02/new-crypto-index-fund-to-launch-with-backing-from-naval-ravikant/     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained Days after the SegWit2x fork was called off, Nathaniel Popper, New York Times tech reporter and author of the book Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money, put this latest suspenseful chapter in Bitcoin's history into context. He discusses why he thinks Bitcoin has become such a vicious, polarized community, why so many of the early Bitcoiners ended up becoming supporters of big blocks, and what could happen to Bitcoin now that new money is entering the system but transactions are expensive and often backlogged. We also dive into who Satoshi Nakamoto might be, whether there are any viable Bitcoin businesses other than ones buying and selling Bitcoin and where regulation of the space is likely to go. Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/11/14/what-bitcoins-history-says-about-its-future/ Digital Gold: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062362490/digital-gold Nathaniel's story on ICOs: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/technology/how-floyd-mayweather-helped-two-young-guys-from-miami-get-rich.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fnathaniel-popper His story on who Satoshi Nakamoto may be: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/business/decoding-the-enigma-of-satoshi-nakamoto-and-the-birth-of-bitcoin.html?_r=0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Bitcoin faces the biggest test in its nine-year history, two players on opposing sides -- Mike Belshe of BitGo and Bitcoin protocol developer Matt Corallo -- debate how the community got here and what the definition of Bitcoin is -- whether the white paper or price determines it. We also look at how the upcoming hard fork could affect Bitcoin Cash, and debate whether or not censorship on the Bitcoin subreddits has influenced people’s views on the block size debate. Plus, they give their best post-hard fork predictions. For reference: Will This Battle For the Soul of Bitcoin Destroy It? https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/10/23/will-this-battle-for-the-soul-of-bitcoin-destroy-it/ Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/10/31/what-will-happen-at-the-time-of-the-bitcoin-hard-fork/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained Chris Burniske of Placeholder Ventures has recently come out with a new book, "Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investors' Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond" that dives into what crypto assets are, what makes them a new asset class, and how you calculate a valuation for such a network. He applies what is known as the equation of exchange (MV = PQ) to crypto assets and describes why the velocity of crypto assets -- the frequency with which they change hands during a particular time frame -- is likely to be much higher than for traditional assets, and discusses why he gives crypto assets much higher discount rates, which are used to determine what you should pay now for something will be worth more later. Plus, we talk about why the financial incumbents are in for a rude awakening from public blockchains. Show notes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/10/17/how-to-value-a-crypto-asset/ Book: https://www.bitcoinandbeyond.com/ Chris's Medium post on crypto asset valuations: https://medium.com/@cburniske/cryptoasset-valuations-ac83479ffca7 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Unchained? Please take this extremely brief survey to help us obtain more sponsors: https://survey.libsyn.com/unchained Tired of having your friends and family say cryptocurrencies are a Ponzi scheme, nothing backs them, they're in a bubble and only criminals use them? In this episode, Amanda Gutterman, chief marketing officer of ConsenSys, and Jamie Smith, global chief communications officer of Bitfury, tackle every common misconception of Bitcoin, Ethereum and cryptocurrencies. This is an episode you'll want your friends and family to listen to. Plus: Gutterman and Smith talk about how they did the seemingly impossible: create gender-balanced crypto conferences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Da Hongfei of NEO and Patrick Dai of Qtum tell us just how crazy China's ICO craze was getting, with mooncake companies, celebs and Ponzi schemers all jumping on the blockchain train. They also explain what the reaction was to the ICO and bitcoin exchanges ban, how they're refunding investors (if the investors want to be refunded -- a big if) and what the future of crypto is in China. Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/09/19/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban/ Qtum: https://qtum.org/ NEO: https://neo.org/ Previous episodes mentioned in the podcast: Interview with Smith & Crown: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/08/22/the-high-speed-world-of-icos-smith-and-crown-discuss-cryptoeconomics-and-the-future-of-tokens/ Interview with Bobby Lee: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/03/21/bobby-lee-ceo-of-btcc-on-why-the-chinese-probably-arent-using-bitcoin-to-evade-capital-controls/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Shea and Muneeb Ali, the cofounders of Blockstack, on how their tools enable users to control their own data, why the internet should have universal usernames but no company should control that, and why Blockstack’s storage system still allows users to choose centralized options  like Google Drive and Dropbox. They also talk about how other blockchain systems are thinking about scaling wrong, why they launched a developer fund, and why a developer would choose Blockstack over Ethereum. Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/09/05/blockstack-on-how-to-take-control-from-google-facebook-and-amazon/ BlockStack: https://blockstack.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Lio, CEO of cryptofinance research site Smith and Crown, and head of research Matt Chwierut discuss how they do their research, how they decide which projects to cover in-depth rather than just list and when they provide advisory services for teams. They also discuss how they think the blockchain and crypto space will develop, the best structures for token sales, and why they joke that financial institutions haven't heard anything Smith and Crown has said. Smith and Crown: https://www.smithandcrown.com/ Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/08/22/the-high-speed-world-of-icos-smith-and-crown-discuss-cryptoeconomics-and-the-future-of-tokens/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Afghan entrepreneur Roya Mahboob has launched numerous companies, but it was a blogging platform that presented her with the problem of how to pay her (mostly female) users, 99% of whom did not have bank accounts. And even if they did get paid, their families would often confiscate the money. She found her solution in Bitcoin, and later launched a new startup, Digital Citizen Fund, that trains girls in blockchain technology and Bitcoin. Mahboob, named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2013, funded the Afghan girls' robotics team that made news recently, and describes what went on behind-the-scenes. She also tells us about her other ventures, EdyEdy, her coffee/tea venture Digital Citizen Brew, and the marketplace for Afghan goods that she is launching -- which will accept Bitcoin or perhaps its own token.   Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/08/08/how-bitcoin-solved-this-serial-entrepreneurs-problems/   Digital Citizen Fund: http://digitalcitizenfund.org/ Roya's Time 100 description, written by Sheryl Sandberg: http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/roya-mahboob/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bitcoin core developer Eric Lombrozo and OB1 CEO Brian Hoffman debate whether SegWit2x is the best path forward, discuss who supported it and why, and whether the potential for a hard fork harms the price. They also discuss what happens to the power of core developers now that a change they didn’t support might get pushed through, what their ideal solutions for increasing transactions on the network are, and how much power miners should have. Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/25/why-november-will-be-the-real-test-for-bitcoin/ Back story referenced in this episode: The different sides in Bitcoin threatening to cut each other out: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/03/21/is-this-massive-power-struggle-about-to-blow-up-bitcoin/#33e4c5047325 New York agreement: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/05/23/bitcoin-agreement-promises-to-resolve-years-long-impasse/#6ed7d8dd448d Economic activity moving to other blockchains: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/06/07/bitcoin-is-at-an-all-time-high-but-is-it-about-to-self-destruct/#2c563f8dcb31 Brian's company: https://ob1.io/ Eric's company: https://ciphrex.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, coming one day after the release of my Forbes cover story online, I answer listener questions, starting with my background, the history of the podcast, whether or not I trade or invest in crypto, and what tokens I think have the strongest real-world application. If you haven't read the cover package, I highly recommend you do so now: Cover story: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/10/the-emperors-new-coins-how-initial-coin-offerings-fueled-a-100-billion-crypto-bubble/ Sidebars: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/10/return-of-the-day-traders/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/10/how-crypto-tokens-work-a-close-look-at-golem/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/10/not-so-tiny-bubbles-the-top-25-crypto-assets/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/10/cryptos-in-wonderland-12-of-the-weirdest-wackiest-coins/ And if you haven't listened to the episode with Olaf Carlson-Wee, I strongly suggest you check that out now as well: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/why-the-first-employee-of-coinbase-launched-a-hedge-fund/id1123922160?i=1000382301347&mt=2 Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Dg3qrzci54ppzevdqvztwap2yiu?t=Why_The_First_Employee_Of_Coinbase_Launched_A_Hedge_Fund-Unchained_Big_Ideas_From_The_Worlds_Of_Bloc I also get philosophical, fielding listener questions about whether blockchain is a Ponzi scheme, whether greed will undercut the democratic possibilities offered by blockchain and whether this isn't really a bubble but just a new form of exponential growth. I also cover security in this episode, and would like to point readers to this story that explains the phone hijacking situation: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/ Some tips on how to protect yourself: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/21/hackers-are-hijacking-phone-numbers-and-breaking-into-email-and-bank-accounts-how-to-protect-yourself/#720a302f4e1b Other episodes referenced in this podcast are the ones with Coin Center, Kathryn Haun, Michael Casey, Elizabeth Rossiello and Matt Roszak. Please give a listen to those as well if you haven't! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The DCG director of development talks about why she thinks identity will be the first tangible application of blockchain technology that consumers experience, why DCG supports Ethereum Classic as an investment vehicle and yet still supports Ethereum as a protocol, and how bitcoin itself as a global currency hasn't taken off as much as she thought when she first got into the industry. She also explains what the top regulatory issue is for blockchain startups and projects -- it's a lot more mundane than you might expect -- and why she doesn't, at this point, have a lot of confidence in crypto hedge funds. Plus, she makes suggestions on how ICOs could improve and reveals her top picks for new tokens.   Show notes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/06/13/why-digital-currency-groups-meltem-demirors-is-concerned-about-the-ico-craze/ The phone hijacking article referenced in the episode: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/ DCG: http://dcg.co/ Ethereum Classic Investment Trust: https://grayscale.co/ethereum-classic-investment-trust/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Civic CEO and cofounder explains how his upbringing in South Africa and his experience at former company Gyft led him to launch a startup focused on identity. It was also at Gyft that he realized how enthusiastic the bitcoin and cryptocurrency crowd is and how a business could harness that enthusiasm to grow its user base. We discuss why the ICO craze has only just gotten started and how cultural differences could make the scams and speculation worse than in previous bubbles. Plus, Lingham explains what risks in bitcoin investors aren't pricing in and why he believes the odds of a split in bitcoin are currently greater than 50%. Don't forget to take the Unchained podcast survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained Civic: https://www.civic.com/ Show notes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/05/30/bitcoin-oracle-vinny-lingham-on-why-bitcoin-is-overpriced/ More on ICOs: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/05/16/icos-why-people-are-investing-in-this-380-million-phenomenon/#ff1983411a18 The risks of a split in Bitcoin: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/03/21/is-this-massive-power-struggle-about-to-blow-up-bitcoin/#5c5658677325 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices