On The Brink with Castle Island

Matt and Nic are back for another week. In this episode: El Salvador's bitcoin launch Was the Chivo rollout really that bad? Bukele buys the dip Did El Salvador's bitcoin day cause a 20% selloff? McDonalds supports lightning in El Salvador SEC v Coinbase Introducing the Reves test Takeaways from the Miami Bitmain conference What is the NFL planning with NFTs? Oil majors are getting into bitcoin mining Is flare gas the future? Sponsor notes This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto. This show supported by Coinbase Prime, an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime

We welcome Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen.ai to On the Brink to provide color on Nansen's unique approach to on-chain data and analysis. We discuss: The evolution of Nansen from a wallet labelling tool to an end-to-end analytics platform How Nansen provides actionable insights from its analysis of individual addresses, transactions, and contracts Nansen's process to scale the collection of individual wallet level data over time Specific ways end-users are leveraging Nansen to make data-driven NFT investments And more broadly, the application of AI to the analysis of blockchain data You can learn more about the company and its offerings at Nansen.ai and the company's YouTube channel.

Nic and Matt are back for another week. Patriots choose Mac Jones Kanye releases Donda Two year anniversary of OTB The fate of the OTB lost episode Matt's peculiar NFT acquisition strategy What the hell is Loot Punks weren't the first NFTs Square is making a Bitcoin DEX The SEC sues Bitconnect Sponsor notes This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto.

Matt and Nic return for another week. In this episode: Nic sells an NFT to Von Miller OnlyFans and financial inclusion Visa buys a cryptopunk Do stablecoins have a future outside of the banking sector? The history of Choke Point and what it means today Our merch supply chain issues Tungsten talk Content mentioned Iain Murray's OTB appearance on Choke Point Nic in Coindesk, OnlyFans Shows How the Banking System Is Politicized Sponsor notes This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto.

Nic and Matt are back for news and deals. In this episode: Our current sentiment on the Senate infrastructure bill The controversial Flipside/Uniswap portfolio MIT's 2014 Bitcoin airdrop Chainalysis' new data on Bitcoin adoption shows that it's a developing markets phenomenon Is there a conflict between good stablecoins and a competitive market for stablecoins? Are lossmaking stablecoins anti-competitive? Gensler makes more noise about DeFi The problem with futures-based ETFs Content mentioned in this episode: Bitmex's new Proof of Reserve/Liability Nic in Bitcoin Magazine, The Bitcoin Energy Debate is a Modern Reprise of the Gold Resource Cost Debate Chainalysis, The 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index David Marcus on Medium, Good Stablecoins Sponsor notes This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto.

Nic and Matt return for more deals and news of the week. In this episode: Where we stand on the Senate infrastructure bill Is Bitcoin a bipartisan issue? What the prospects for the House to change the language in the infrastructure bill? The crypto lobby shows its teeth Why is Bitcoin rallying in the presence of this bill? What is Gensler cooking up for the crypto industry? The Economist publishes a pair of critical articles on Bitcoin Should stablecoins be regulated like banks What's Tether's leverage ratio? Is there a political Bitcoin bloc being formed? Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto. Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

Nic and Matt return for another week. In this episode: Gensler makes a landmark speech Gensler asks for a futures-based ETF Will the crypto taxation in the infrastructure bill be sufficient to pay for the new spending? What explains the 11th hour language in the infra bill? When does the Bitcoin lobby become a meaningful voter bloc? BSV gets 51% attacked Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto. Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

George Selgin, director of the Center of Monetary Alternatives at the Cato Institute joins the show to discuss Bitcoin, Free Banking, and stablecoins. In this episode: Why George refers to Bitcoin as a synthetic commodity money Why George was excited by the possibility for synthetic commodity money What conditions would have to hold for Bitcoin to be considered money Why money is a spectrum rather than binary Are stablecoins prone to bank runs? Is Tether's melange of underlying collateral sufficient? How should stablecoins be regulated? Why are regulators looking into stablecoins today? Comparing stablecoins to Money Market Mutual Funds Why money market funds broke the buck in 08 Are stablecoins as systemic as money market funds? George's objections to Gorton and Zhang's paper on free banking and stablecoins George's definition of free banking Was the 1830s-60s period in the U.S. a period of genuine free banking? The actual causes of bank failures in the pre-Civil War period Why 'unit banking' was so fragile What lessons can be taken from Canada's experience with free banking in that era Why the history of Free Banking is a red herring in the stablecoin debate George's recommendations for a primer on free banking George's reflections on Hal Finney's reference to his work Why bank failures are often the consequence of regulation Content mentioned in this episode: Selgin, Synthetic Commodity Money The Alt-M Blog Selgin, Money Free and Unfree White, Free Banking in Britain Selgin, The Theory of Free Banking Dowd, The Experience of Free Banking Gorton and Zhang, Taming Wildcat Stablecoins Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto.

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Warren's shadowy super coders Was Digicash the first stablecoin? Is TVL overrated? Castle Island adds a new partner An anti crypto rider inserted into the Congress infrastructure bill Does taxation pay for government spending? Goldman applies for a 'DeFi ETF' Exxon looking at flare gas? China's crackdown on big tech Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit withum.com/crypto. Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

We welcome Michel Rauchs, research affiliate and longtime contributor to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance which just released an update its Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index featuring new mining location data. Covered in this episode: Why Michel returned to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance The evolution of the CCAF's miner benchmarking efforts The original motivation for the Bitcoin Energy Index The relationship between the CCAF and Cambridge University How to estimate energy consumption from hashrate figures The meaning of the confidence interval in the electricity consumption figures How CCAF amassed the CBECI mining map Is the pool sample for the mining map representative? Methodological drawbacks with miner location assessment Why the CCAF is still reluctant to determine a carbon emissions figure for Bitcoin New evidence regarding the seasonal hashrate migration Is the Chinese crackdown going to lower the carbon intensity of the Bitcoin network? Is country-level granularity sufficient to determine the energy mix of mining? How the CCAF devised comparisons between the Bitcoin network and other consumers of energy Does Bitcoin get held to a different standard than other industries? Michel's experience talking to the press about Bitcoin energy consumption Has the narrative changed in the press at all? Michel's level of optimism regarding the decarbonization of Bitcoin mining This episode supported by: Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

Nic and Matt are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: We debate the merits of the Merritt parkway We reflect on the B Word conference SpaceX owns Bitcoin We cover the Elonfolio Gensler covers tokens giving synthetic exposure to underlying securities Are stablecoins appropriately regulated? Can stablecoins learn from the free banking era in the 1830s? Is there a future for Ripple or Stellar as a bridge currency? What's next for US CBDCs? Content mentioned: Gary Gensler's speech Gerald Dwyer in AIER, What do Wildcat Banks tell us about Stablecoins? Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. Wherever your company is at, from pre-seed to IPO, we have tailored solutions just for you. To learn what our advisory, tax and audit services can do for you, visit withum.com/crypto.

Nic and Matt are back for a sideways week. In this episode: BlockFi's credit card comes out How mesopotamian clay tablets are blockchains Cambridge releases new data regarding bitcoin mining distribution Shapeshift decentralizes itself Can corporations successfully decentralize? Elizabeth Warren writes a letter to the SEC Larry Fink sees little demand for crypto Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. Wherever your company is at, from pre-seed to IPO, we have tailored solutions just for you. To learn what our advisory, tax and audit services can do for you, visit withum.com/crypto.

Nic and Matt are back. In this episode: Circle's SPAC filing Circle's evolution over the year The business model behind stablecoins Circle's risk factor slides The SEC is targeting centralized exchanges for trading unregistered securities Senator Pat Toomey buys BTC and ETH Matt tries out the Blockfi credit card GBTC unlocks wrapping up this summer Why are congresspeople allowed to trade financial assets? Warren grumbles about crypto markets once again Bullish exchange is SPACing Fed vice chair Randal Quarles has some good takes on stablecoins and CBCS Content mentioned in this episode: Randal Quarles' speech Circle's announcement on becoming a public company

Anton Katz and Ethan Feldman, the cofounders of Talos join the show. In this episode we discuss: Anton and Ethan's path from roles at AQR and Broadway Technologies and into the world of cryptoassets The problem they are seeking to solve for market participants How the exchange and OTC liquidity landscape is evolving How custodians and exchanges have evolved their offerings The challenges of capital efficiency in the cryptoasset markets What it was like to fundraise in a bear market What is ahead for Talos To learn more about Talos visit www.talos.com Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. Wherever your company is at, from pre-seed to IPO, we have tailored solutions just for you. To learn what our advisory, tax and audit services can do for you, visit withum.com/crypto.

Nic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: A new twist in the turkey tale Why airdrops historically haven't work Sam Altman's eyeball-based cryptocurrency Brady partners up with FTX The FCA tangles with Binance Nic's paper on DeFi risks NYDIG deepens their bank partnerships Mexico's bitcoin rebuke Coinbase's aggressive new strategy The Bitcoin Mining Council shares Q2 data This episode supported by: Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

Kinjal Shah of Blockchain Capital and Manasi Vora of Skynet Labs join us to discuss their recently launched investment DAO, KomorebiCollective. We discuss: 1) The motivation behind Komorebi and its mission to fund female and non-binary founders 2) The decision to structure the collective as a DAO 3) The cost, transparency, and speed benefits DAOs provide 4) What use cases DAOs are serving well today and could serve as they mature To learn more about Komorebi, you can visit their website and apply for funding. Sponsor notes: Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Matt and Nic are back for another rocky week in the markets. In this episode: Our thoughts on the Chinese mining situation Is Sichuan being spared the crackdown? Why Bitcoin's hashrate may not recover for a while Why China is cracking down on mining now How China's ultra-high voltage transmission is affecting mining policy How is miner selling influencing price? Our remaining China grey swans Our theories on the relationship between price and hashrate The SEC settles another ICO from 2017 Our analysis of the NYDIG/ core banking provider integrations Why social graph portability is so important Taleb writes a bad bitcoin paper Bitcoin still has a GBTC overhang Content mentioned in the episode: Nic in Coindesk, Go West, Bitcoin! Unpacking the Great Hashrate Migration NYDIG/FIS press release Rebuttals to Taleb's paper on Bitcoin This episode supported by: Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

Hunter Horsley, the co-founder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Bitwise's recent $70M Series B fundraise and how he approached building a roster of unique investors Views on what is driving interest in cryptoasset products Decentralized Finance and how Bitwise is approaching constructing products to enable exposure to this part of the market NFTs and how Hunter contextualizes this segment of the market To learn more about Bitwise visit www.bitwiseinvestments.com. Follow Hunter on Twitter @HHorsley Sponsor notes: Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Nic and Matt return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: What's the biggest story with Bukele that isn't being covered? Is Bukele motivated by a sanctions threat from the US? Will Salvadorians use the Lightning Network? How Bitcoin elevates heads of state in the popular consciousness Nic's paper on DeFi protocol risks The SEC's year-ahead agenda has no mention of Bitcoin The NY anti-mining bill fails The World Bank joins the IMF in spurning El Salvador Is the Salvadorian law a 'forced tender law'? Content mentioned: Max Raskin in the WSJ: A Global First: Bitcoin as National Currency This episode supported by: Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

In our second OTB AMA, we field questions from Brink Nation. In this episode: What other countries are good candidates to ratify Bitcoin next? What are the prospects for DeFi on Bitcoin? Is price to hashrate a viable ratio to use to value bitcoin? Will other countries follow El Salvador's lead in light of the pushback from the IMF? Who will win Euro2020? Are ransomware attacks good because they will get directors to add Bitcoin to corporate balance sheets "just in case"? Will users eventually hold their bitcoin through banks? What is missing to make lightning workable? Why do people allocate energy cost pro rata across bitcoin transactions? Matt's turkey update Stablecoin yields as an attractive product for corporate treasuries? Why doesn't bitcoin just increase the block size? Our takes on DAOs What govt action could turn bitcoiners into dissidents? Our proposed improvements for twitter spaces Sponsor notes: Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Nic and Matt are back and recovered from an insane Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. In this episode: Our lost roundup from last week Our reflections on Bitcoin 2021 Nic reacts to his spaces with President Bukele El Salvador accepts Bitcoin The story behind the 25k attendee Twitter space Does the Salvadorian law change the accounting treatment for Bitcoin in the US? President Bukele's geothermal Where else is the Bitcoinización likely to happen? A new non-aligned movement The Bitcoin Bloc MSTR's new bond offering Basel changes the rules for bank regulatory capital regarding Bitcoin Liz Warren attacks Bitcoin The Bitcoin political demographic grows Content: Recording of Nic's spaces room with President Bukele (and 25,000 others) This episode supported by: Eventus, the leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, transaction monitoring and market risk solutions. Its award-winning trade surveillance platform is easy to deploy, customize and operate. Eventus is proven in the most complex, high-volume and real-time environments and supports many of the industry's leading crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini, ErisX and OSL. Find them at onthebrink.link/eventus

Chris Blec is a researcher and the founder of DeFi Watch, a project dedicated to identifying points of centralization and risk factors in DeFi, in particular the presence of admin keys. In this episode: How Chris got interested in DeFi How he first noticed the risk of admin key usage The changing nature of admin keys and multisigs Whether project multisigs reduce dependence on trust Why worry about Admin keys in the first place? Have DeFi projects improved their key management and trustlessness over time? Chris' letter to 0xPolygon Chris' plans with DeFi Watch Should Bitcoiners care about DeFi? About admin key failures? Why transparency is a self-regulatory measure Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Jeff Kirt and Ted Rogers, CEO and board director of Greenidge Generation LLC respectively, join the show to discuss the Greenidge plant and Bitcoin mining operation in upstate New York. In this episode: The origins of Greenidge Why Ted Rogers chose to join the Greenidge board How Atlas/Greenidge converted their NY plant from coal to natural gas Ted's retrospective on the Segwit 2x drama in the context of the Crypto Mining Council How US-based mining has a lower carbon intensity than global miners at large Why Greenidge decided to offset their CO2 emissions and how they went about procuring them How natural gas has a much lower carbon intensity than coal Why banning Bitcoin in NY would actually raise the carbon intensity of Bitcoin How the energy debate ultimately comes down to the societal merit of Bitcoin How Greenidge sent 60% of their 2020 generated energy to the grid How Bitcoin mining has allowed Greenidge to run continuously and better contribute to grid stability Demystifying concerns about the trout habitat Has Greenidge fielded inquiries from mining firms looking to leave China?

Matteo Leibowitz of Uniswap and Eric Stone of Flipside Crypto join the show. In this episode we discuss: Uniswap v3 and how it differs from v2 and other AMMs Broader implications of Uniswap v3 for DeFi Uniswap v3 metrics and how the system is being used today Uniswap treasury and grant program How Flipside is engaging with Uniswap and other DeFi communities Follow Teo on Twitter @teo_leibowitz and learn more about Uniswap at Uniswap.org. Follow Eric on Twitter @theericstone and learn more about Flipside Crypto at flipsidecrypto.com. Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Matt and Nic are back for another roundup. In this episode: Elon is back Our take on the mining council Is Twitter Spaces killing Clubhouse? Prepare yourself for Kazakh FUD Is Chia driving up hard drive prices? OneRiver's green Bitcoin ETF The SEC asks for help regulating crypto The key catalysts we're watching in China Lael Brainard spreads historical fake news about free banking The Fed is concern trolling stablecoins Why neo Free Banking can work today Content mentioned in this episode: Hass McCook on OTB Fed Governor Lael Brainard's speech This episode supported by: Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin Eventus, global leader in trade surveillance, market risk and transaction monitoring solutions

Hass McCook is a civil engineer who has been delivering estimates of Bitcoin's energy use and CO2 emissions since 2014, as well as alternatives like gold or finance. In this episode: Hass's background in civil engineering and how it prepared him for the energy debate The conflation between energy generation and electricity generation Why you can't just generalize energy consumption to carbon emissions Hass breaks down the varying carbon intensities of different sources of generation How much energy goes to waste globally The difference between CO2 and CO2e / greenhouse gases Why today's US grid has lowered its carbon intensity over the last decade Why combusting methane is a net good from an emissions perspective Hass' level of optimism around flared gas mining Why the changing rate of ASIC innovation affects bitcoin's energy consumption The opportunity for stranded gas at landfills Hass' estimates of the gold and the financial system's energy footprints How gold mining actually works The ecological and human cost of gold mining Hass' thoughts on offsets Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Matt and Nic are back for another volatile week. In this episode: Nic's 72h fast Nic explains the Moscow time joke on Bloomberg Coinbase sells off Our explanations for the selloff Tax selling or Fed discussion of tapering? Taproot edges towards activation Eth monetary hardening - improving or impairing its monetary credibility? IRS demands cash transaction reports for transactions over $10k FinCEN doesn't inflation-index their reporting thresholds OCC reviews Brian Brooks' rules Will the new OCC be hostile to Bitcoin? Tom Emmer asks accounting regulators to revisit their accounting treatment of digital assets Elon suggests miners disclose their energy mix Should miners buy carbon offsets? Content mentioned in this episode: Nic's appearance on Bloomberg NyMag, Jack Dorsey Says Bitcoin Can Make the World Greener This episode supported by: Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin Eventus, global leader in trade surveillance, market risk and transaction monitoring solutions

Alex Thorn, the head of research at Galaxy Digital joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Alex's career path and the insights that led him to diving into the crypto space Perspectives on Dogecoin and whether this is an enduring phenomenon Considerations for Doge market infrastructure and the status of the network from a technical standpoint The state of the crypto venture market and how Alex sees this evolving To learn more about Galaxy Digital visit their website. Follow Alex on Twitter @Intangiblecoins Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Nic and Matt are back for an insane week. In this episode: Tom Brady is a Bitcoiner Elon betrays us Do virgin coins exist? Binance under investigation by the DOJ Bitwise launches the BITQ ETF Palantir thinks about buying Bitcoin Diem partners with Silvergate We break down Tether's questionable reserves 46 million Americans own BTC Elon's bad tweet New FUD dice just dropped The changing Bitcoin energy mix landscape Content mentioned in this episode: Nic Carter in Coindesk, The Virgin Bitcoin Fallacy Nic on Bloomberg/What'd You Miss This episode supported by: Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin Eventus, global leader in trade surveillance, market risk and transaction monitoring solutions

Katie Chase, the Chief Operating Officer of Coin Metrics joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Katie's time leading blockchain initiatives at Fidelity and how the firm approached early R&D efforts Her point of view on the historical barriers to institutional adoption of cryptoassets and how that is changing How Coin Metrics is addressing the data needs of large financial institutions Why risk management is an overlooked area and how CM's Farum product addresses the needs of exchanges and brokerages To learn more about Coin Metrics visit coinmetrics.io Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Nic and Matt return for another huge week of deals and news. In this episode: The Chamber of Digital Commerce publishes a Proof of Reserve whitepaper Why Proof of Reserves matter Popular critiques of PoR Coin Metrics raises a Series B from Goldman Sachs Galaxy acquires BitGo How do you pronounce 3LAU? NYDIG brings Bitcoin to banks through FIS global NYDIG continues their ascent Paypal considers a stablecoin DCG commits to another GBTC repurchase NY state explores a Bitcoin mining moratorium Why a ban in NY would be counterproductive Could Ripple actually win their case against the SEC? New FUD dice are in Content mentioned in the episode: The Chamber's PoR whitepaper Nic in the Harvard Business Review, How Much Energy does Bitcoin Actually Consume? This episode supported by: Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin Eventus, global leader in trade surveillance, market risk and transaction monitoring solutions

Noah Buxton and Jeremy Nau from accounting firm Armanino LLP join the show once again to discuss the launch of the Chamber of Digital Commerce's new whitepaper on Proof of Reserves, which they contributed to. In this episode: What was the purpose of the paper by the Chamber? What problems does it solve? History of PoR and Armanino When did Armanino first get into it? why? What's involved in a PoR? Why include an audit firm? Why exchanges are so reluctant to do PoR How trustless and fraud-proof is the process? what are the pitfalls? What are the prospects for protecting privacy in PoR? Other related engagements that Armanino is undertakin How do you expect the industry to respond to it? Different procedures that PoR refers to The semantic drift of PoR Armanino's PoR Taxonomy Why accounting firms have an important role in PoR

Nicholas Gregory, CEO of CommerceBlock, joins the show to talk about their new statechain implementation, Mercury. In this episode: Origins of CommerceBlock Nicholas' prior career in martial arts Nicholas' underground MMA club in NY Did Roger Ver take the most expensive BJJ lesson ever? The purpose of CommerceBlock's Mainstay system The difference between OpenTimestamps and Mainstay How sidechains evolved from the original vision and where they are today What can Bitcoin learn from Ethereum? Nic's rundown of privacy-enhancing technologies Centralized mixers versus coinjoin versus statechains for privacy How statechains allows you to send a UTXO without an on-chain transaction Trust drawbacks and caveats in using statechains CommerceBlock's Mercury statechain implementation Statechains as virtual opendimes Synergies between statechains and Lightning Nicholas' thoughts on Bitcoin scalability Statechain timelines Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Matt and Nic return for deals of the week, joined for the first time by new member of CIV Ria Bhutoria. In this episode: An update on Matt's Turkey problem Will Matt create OTB Turkey Jerky? Will Matt tase the Turkeys? Is monetizing stranded natural gas good for the environment? Elon 'proves Bitcoin's liquidity' Elon admits to having a personal Bitcoin position Nexon announces a $100m Bitcoin buy Is US Bank getting into Bitcoin custody? German regulators warn about Binance's equity tokens Do NFTs make sense for collectible card trading game studios? Genesis originates $20b worth of new loans Content mentioned in this episode Square and Ark Invest, Bitcoin is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future [pdf] Fidelity and BBH, Applying Subcustody to Digital Assets This episode supported by: Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin Eventus, global leader in trade surveillance, market risk and transaction monitoring solutions

Andrew Steinwold, the founder of Sfermion, an investment fund focused on investing in themes surrounding the metaverse joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Andrew's journey in the cryptoasset industry and how we came to see the Metaverse as an investable theme How NFTs are a critical infrastructure component for the metaverse Views on the evolution of digital property rights How Andrew views investing in cryptocurrencies vs. NFTs vs. equity The companies that are best positioned to build the infrastructure for the metaverse To learn more about Andrew follow him on Twitter @AndrewSteinwold and subscribe to his newsletter, Zima Red. Today's episode is brought to you by: Aave: Aave is a decentralised, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi. Copper: Copper is the global provider of blockchain infrastructure solutions for institutional investors who are actively trading digital assets. Head over to www.copper.co/clear-loop to learn more.

Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: 43% capital gains taxes? Are decentralized storage networks reaching fruition Binance US hires ex-Comptroller Brian Brooks Matt's Turkey problem A Turkish exchange apparently exit scams Scott Minerd has a new target for Bitcoin Bernstein isn't worried about Bitcoin's energy consumption Ark Invest thinks Bitcoin is an incentive for renewables How much did Bitcoin hashrate really collapse? What did we learn from the Xinjiang shutdown? Why hashrate is hard to estimate Xinjiang is more renewable than you think Content mentioned in this episode: Alliance Bernstein, Is Bitcoin ESG Friendly for Equity Investors? Square and Ark Invest, Bitcoin is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future [pdf] This episode supported by: Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin Eventus, global leader in trade surveillance, market risk and transaction monitoring solutions

Nick Neuman, the CEO of multisig software provider Casa, joins the show to discuss how to harden your Bitcoin custody setup. In this episode: Nick's own journey to Bitcoin and to becoming CEO of Casa Casa's design philosophy The merits of native multisig on Bitcoin Casa's decision to stay Bitcoin-only Nick's experience raising capital as a Bitcoin-only startup Is it easier to be a Bitcoin-only startup today? How complicated is multisig? Why Casa recommends the usage of multiple brands of hardware wallets Why self-custody matters Nick's vision for the future and how private keys will power the decentralized web Nick's responses to common criticisms of Casa The purpose of Casa's new subaccounts feature Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Nic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Nic's feud with the NYT How Lysenkoism fits in Issues with the contemporary press Coinbase does the biggest direct listing of all time Is COIN a trojan horse for Bitcoin? Coinbase mafia? The best thing about Coinbase being public Gary Gensler finally confirmed as SEC chairman Our thoughts on Hester Pierce's token safe harbor 2.0 How do you do disclosures in token land? The former CIA director points out that Bitcoin has less illicit usage then believed Content mentioned: SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce's Safe Harbor 2.0 Nic Carter, On Bitcoin, the Gray Lady Embraces Climate Lysenkoism This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.

Dmitry Tokarev, the cofounder and CEO of Copper joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dmitry's path to crypto and the pain points that led him to starting Copper How Dmitry sees the competitive landscape and how legacy financial firms are reacting How MPC enables Copper to quickly add support for new blockchain platforms Views on what it's like to hire in a rapidly growing startup Outlook for settlement and custody services in the years to come To learn more about Copper and Clearloop visit: www.copper.co

The Block's Director of Research Larry Cermak and Research Analyst Mike Rogers join the show to talk through their latest report on stablecoins. In this episode: Why the Block chose to focus on stablecoins for this report Larry and Mike's opinion on why stablecoins are so disproportionately dollar-based China's influence in the Tether market The history of Tether and why it attained so much traction initially How you can determine the location of stablecoin users The Tetherification for offshore exchanges – and how it displaced Bitcoin as the reserve asset The influence of USDC in DeFi and whether it represents a systemic risk to the sector Dai's transition to non-native collateral types Mike and Larry's view of algorithmic stablecoins Why stablecoins are so divisive between economists and crypto entrepreneurs Why Tether's dominance is declining Where the NYAG settlement leaves Tether now What Larry makes of USDT on TRON stealing some market share from Ethereum Why investors are settling deals in stablecoin terms The prospects for Libra/Diem Mike and Larry's expectations for the next decade in stablecoins Related content: The Block's report on Stablecoins The OTB Crypto-dollarization series Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Matt and Nic are back for deals and news of the week. In this episode: Nic 'debates' Steve Hanke Update on the FUD Dice Nic attempts to send a wire to Poland NYDIG raises more capital and adds more insurance companies to their roster Coinbase Q1 earnings are out Grayscale wants to roll GBTC into an ETF Tom Brady is launching an NFT platform Peter Thiel's comments on Bitcoin The DC/EP may come with expiration dates Content mentioned in the episode: Nic vs Steve Hanke debate This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.

Matthew Mežinskis, creator of the Crypto Voices Global Monetary Base project joins the show to discuss how Bitcoin stacks up against sovereign currencies. In this episode: The difference between base money and broad money Why Bitcoin should be compared to base money and not the broad money supply How exchanges are serving as proto free banks – and why they might end up becoming transparent fractional reserve institutions How free banking actually worked Why unrestricted banking activity tends to equilibrate with single digit reserve ratios How the Scottish free banking system was stable despite fractional reserve How Bitcoin improves upon gold in a free banking system The role of Proof of Reserve in a neo free banking system The bankruptcy of the Ayr Bank and what it tells us about the Scottish banking system Why 'free banking' in the US wasn't really free Bitcoin passes the Swiss Franc Where Bitcoin stacks up relative to all the major sovereign base monies Follow Matthew on Twitter and check out the Monetary Base project. Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Jeth Soetoyo, the founder and CEO of Pintu, a cryptoasset brokerage based on Indonesia joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jeth's path to the cryptoasset industry and his journey from Consensys to business school to founding Pintu Views on stablecoin adoption and how Jeth and team are approaching this with their Rupiah Token project The Indonesian market and how Pintu is approaching this market opportunity View on DeFi and how centralized infrastructure companies are positioned To learn more about Pintu visit www.pintu.co.id and follow Jeth @Jeth_Soetoyo This episode is brought to you by: Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi. Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ

Nic and Matt return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: A crisis with our dice manufacturers Visa will enable USDC settlements on their payment network Paypal turns on Bitcoin payments for 29m merchants Are Paypal transactions actual Bitcoin expenditures? Sillvergate working with Fidelity to provide Bitcoin-backed loans SEC charges LBRY with securities law violations Are founders taking the wrong lessons from SEC inaction? Jay Clayton is now advising OneRiver on their digital asset strategy Tether publishes a new attestation The merit of real time attestations for stablecoins The CME launches a Bitcoin microfutures The Boston Fed will be open sourcing some of their CBDC code Will we ever get a retail CBDC in the USA? NFTs make it to SNL A new pasta shape just dropped Nic syncs his Umbel node Content mentioned in this episode: Nic on Medium, Noahbjectivity on Bitcoin Mining Nic on the Lex Fridman podcast NFT skit on SNL This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.

Rafael Cosman, cofounder and CEO of TrustToken, joins the show to talk stablecoins and TrueFi, their non-fully collateralized lending protocol. In this episode: TrustToken's various stablecoins that they administer The real-time stablecoin attestations TrustToken has done with Armanino How a real time attestation works Why the USD is so disproportionate in market share among stablecoins Why DeFi is potentially the killer app for stablecoins today Why Trust Token built a global fx currency basket Why overcollateralized lending doesn't necessarily constitute lending in the traditional sense How TrueFi introduces uncollateralized lending into DeFi How underwriting and credit creation works in a public blockchain context How legal contracts are introduced into DeFi Howo the TrueFi system incorporates revisions in creditworthiness How on-chain credit scores could proliferate and be used on a cross-platform basis How privacy is compatible with on-chain credit scoring Rafael's explanation for structurally high interest rates in DeFi The contrast between crypto yields and legacy yields

James Davolos, VP and portfolio manager at Horizon Kinetics, joins the show to make the case for inflation and to explain their Inflation Beneficiaries ETF, ticker $INFL. In this episode: How Horizon and Murray Stahl were one of the earliest asset managers to put client assets in GBTC How Horizon's value approach landed them at a Bitcoin allocation James' reaction when Horizon first made the Bitcoin allocation Whether Bitcoin is a growth or a value asset, and how to reason about it from either perspective James' reaction to Jerome Powell's announcement on rates The genesis of the idea to create an inflation beneficiaries ETF James' case for inflation Should the disinflationists be taking victory laps? Why the Fed is calling inflation 'transitory' Why we didn't get inflation from 2010-20 What crystallized the case for inflation for Horizon Kinetics? The importance of the 'taper tantrum' Why historical parallels are so hard to find – and why we have no historical precedent for our current moment How the dollar is the 'least rotten apple' The prospects for a non-dollar monetary system The effect of ESG on commodity cycles How fiscal spending and the political anti-capital movement represents a structural shift The constant battle between capital and labor Why equities may suffer from higher labor costs Why Horizon focuses on asset light companies James' answer to the equity-inflation return puzzle Horizon's specific allocations to benefit from inflation The early success of the Inflation Beneficiaries ETF Why the inflation beneficiaries ETF does not contain Bitcoin How this ETF sets itself apart from other ways to play inflation – and why TIPS aren't the best bet Is the thesis playing out so far? Why the Fed has to remain subtle with their debasement James' pitch to Bitcoiners

Nic and Matt are back for another blockbuster week. In this episode: How Nic ended up being labeled the most violent person on Earth Fidelity files for their Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF The significance of Fidelity's filing today Can the GBTC product actually be redeemed by a majority of shareholders? Amendments to the GBTC charter Odds of the SEC finally seeing the light on the ETF Why an ETF approval is more urgent than ever The toppiest top signal ever making us nervous FATF is back with a vengeance Jack Dorsey includes a Blockclock in his Congressional testimony Is Bitcoin a battery? Content mentioned: Peter Johnson, Crypto Credit Market Breakdown Nic Carter, The Frustrating, Maddening, All-Consuming Bitcoin Energy Debate Nick Grossman, Bitcoin as a Battery This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.

Dan Tapiero, the Managing Partner or 10T Holdings joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dan's pre-crypto career as a macro manager and entrepreneur and the path that led him to founding 10T Holdings The institutional narrative for Bitcoin and cryptoassets and how this thesis interplays with gold Views on layer one smart contract platforms and how to think about value accrual on these networks How Dan is approaching growth stage opportunities in this industry To learn more about 10T visit: 10tfund.com Follow Dan on Twitter @DTAPCAP

Michael Greenwald is a former U.S. Treasury official with expertise in sanctions programs and using USD infrastructure to promote policy objectives. In this episode: What the weaponization of the dollar really means How sanctions mechanically work How Treasury and the State Dept carry out sanctions The risk of sanctions wearing blunt as a tool The growth of sanctions post 9/11 How sanctions against Russia represented a sea change in policy How the US deputizes SWIFT for sanctions How and why Europeans tried to route around US sanctions on Iran Is the US led international order fraying? China's attempt to build a parallel financial infrastructure to challenge the dollar The objectives of the Belt and Road Initiative The purpose of the digital yuan Can the yuan challenge the primacy of the dollar in the international system? How China uses the belt and road initiative to advance the yuan How the US should react to China's aggressive move into closer economic relationships with the third world What a digital US dollar or CBDC might look like How the US can reassert dominance in the international sphere Michael's thoughts on stablecoins and Bitcoin Read Michael's paper, The Future of the US Dollar Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ

Nic and Matt return for another week of deals and news. In this episode: We announce onthebrink.shop What was Robby Gutmann from NYDIG rumoring on our recent episode? Morgan Stanley opens up their platform to Bitcoin funds A new taxonomy for NFTs Bridging the gap between NFT fans and skeptics Why NFTs are not bearer assets and are liabilities of an issuer We break down a popular thread debunking NFTs Bitmex Research publishes a book on the blocksize war BoFa publishes a very bad report on Bitcoin India dithers on their cryptocurrency ban The parallels between the crypto wars of the 90s and state bans today Is there a double standard for Bitcoin versus other ETFs at the SEC? Is Gensler a grey swan for crypto markets? The SEC is officially on the clock for a new ETF application Why FTX should not buy the naming rights to the Miami Heat stadium Content referenced in this episode: Nic Carter on Medium, Why NFTs are Hard to Explain Twitter thread on NFTs by Jonty BitMEX Research publishes 'The Blocksize War' SEC Comissioner Hester Pierce's speech, Paper, Plastic, Peer to Peer This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.