On The Brink with Castle Island

Nic and Matt return for one of the most explosive weeks in the history of the podcast. In this episode: How Nic ended up at war with the Dogecoin fans CIV closes a $50m fund Tom Brady wins the Super Bowl Should responsible CFOs own Bitcoin on their corporate balance sheets? Bitcoin on the balance sheet as a signaling mechanism BNY Mellon announces support for Bitcoin The St Louis Fed is writing articles about DeFi Nic orangepills Central Bankers Our guesses for the first central banks to adopt Bitcoin Nigeria contemplates a Bitcoin ban Mastercard is supporting cryptocurrency on their networks – what does this mean? The Bitcoin energy debate Can you compare Bitcoin to Visa? Are Christmas lights wasteful Content mentioned in this episode: Nic in Coindesk, What Bloomberg Gets Wrong About Bitcoin's Climate Footprint St Louis Fed, DeFi coverage Nic on Bloomberg, Bitcoin's Impact on the Environment

Edan Yago, product lead at Sovryn, talks us through the prospects for DeFi on Bitcoin. In this episode: Edan Yago's origin story How Edan became disenchanted with the Bitcoin community's ambition Did Bitcoiners compromise on an original vision of adopting successful alternative technologies? Is Bitcoin sufficiently expressive to be a functional base layer for smart contracting? Was the original vision of sidechains abandoned? The state of the art in trustless sidechains Is the perfect the enemy of the good with Bitcoin? Is Lightning "worse is better"? Is Bitcoin hamstrung by the pursuit of perfection? Why compromising on trust assurances has been a boon for Ethereum Why native smart contracting on Bitcoin is superior to using wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum Do rollups break composability for DeFi? Is DeFi subsidized by token issuance and liquidity mining? What can Bitcoiners learn from Ethereum? Thoughts on other Bitcoin L2s like Blockstack Update on Rootstock/RSK and why Sovryn is building on it What Sovryn is and what you can do with it Does Sovryn require any changes to Bitcoin itself?

Galen Wolfe-Pauly, cofounder of Tlon, joins the show to give us an update on Urbit in light of the politicization of internet infrastructure. In this episode: The purpose of Urbit How the power of internet oligopolies has been recently revealed in the last few months Does the internet of today resemble the internet of 1994? The problem with having a single ToS/legal system for major internet platforms What's new with Urbit since our last Urbit episode in 2019 How hosting makes Urbit much more user friendly Urbit's governance system and how it contrasts from the feudal model on Twitter Galen's political taxonomy for Urbit - and where galaxies and stars fit in to this How internet platforms are like living in Vegas Whether users literally own their handles on internet platforms The politicization of internet infrastructure How resistant is Urbit itself to deplatforming at the infrastructure level Whether there is any irony in Urbit offering hosting for users Galen's view on data portability legislation The near term roadmap for Urbit The distinction between Tlon and Urbit How to get started with Urbit Apply to Urbit hosting here.

Nic and Matt return for another jam packed week. In this episode: Our reflections on Saylor day Is Ross Stephens the 2021 Bitcoin MVP? NYDIG bursts onto the scene Visa's overlooked crypto API pilot for banks Is hashrate moving to the US? Nic's ongoing spat with the Wall Street Journal Bitcoiin 2gen gets taken down by the SEC Soulja Boy's ENS name gets lost in Coinbase's vaullts IBM finally abandons 'enterprise blockchain' How will public markets treat Coinbase equity? India contemplates a crypto ban Content mentioned in this episode: Bitcoin Masterclass with Michael Saylor and Ross Stevens Stone Ridge, 2020 Shareholder Letter Visa's API pilot for banks Nic's response to the WSJ piece NYT, As Bitcoin's Price Surges, Affluent Investors Start to Take a Look Balaji Srinivasan, Why India Should Buy Bitcoin

Amanda Fabiano, the Head of Mining at Galaxy Digital joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Amanda's path to finding her passion in the mining sector Her role in leading Fidelity's mining initiatives Her views on the Bitcoin mining value chain and the categories that are most compelling Thoughts on the future of off-grid mining in the USA To learn more follow Amanda on Twitter or visit www.galaxydigital.io

Boaz Sobrado, data analyst and the founder of whynotcuba.com joins the show to talk about trends in Cuban Bitcoin adoption. In this episode: How Boaz came to start an ecommerce company in Cuba and how Bitcoin became relevant to him The structure of Bitcoin trading markets in Cuba How Bitcoin currently trades in Cuba Drivers of Bitcoin adoption in Cuba Why Cuba until recently hasn't been known as an important jurisdiction for Bitcoin Why Cuba doesn't show up in the typical proxies for bitcoin usage Why internet penetration in Cuba is accelerating Bitcoin adoption How Bitcoin is incorporated into the remittance flow in Cuba How the Cuban regime thinks about and talks about Bitcoin The history of Cuba's three simultaneous sovereign currencies How the sovereign currency transitions are a means for the government to acquire hard currency at the expense of savers The key factors supporting a wave of Bitcoin adoption in Cuba today How Bitcoin markets permit the pricing of the black market peso rate Content mentioned in this episode: Boaz Sobrado, A Day Using Money in Cuba Boaz Sobrado in Decrypt, Why Cuba is Primed for Bitcoin Adoption

Nic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Our view on the Robinhood/Gamestop affair Why 'rebuilding the financial system from scratch' is a good idea, actually Could the brokerages deplatform Bitcoin financial products too? Will FTX be the last Gamestop market standing? Nic's reflections on the Mike Green / Grant Williams debate We correct the record on certain claims made in the debate We settle the question of inflation in the 40s We declare a truce between bitcoiners and goldbugs Another ETF filing Ray Dalio starts to come around on Bitcoin Content mentioned: The Grant Williams Podcast, Both Sides of the Coin: A Civilized Bitcoin Debate OTB Episode, What Keeps Stablecoins Stable OTB Episode, The Market Effects of Stablecoin Issuance Ray Dalio, What I Think of Bitcoin Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Economics professor at Charles University Ladislav Krištoufek joins us for a discussion centered on his new paper, On the Role of Stablecoins in Cryptoasset Pricing Dynamics. In this episode: How Ladislav began covering crypto markets in 2013 Ladislav's research agenda as it pertains to the crypto markets Why the quality of so much Bitcoin academia is dubious The academic-practitioner gap and how to close it How Ladislav came to write his newest paper Methodological details How to interpret the findings in the paper Whether issuance of stablecoins affects the price of bitcoin Ladislav's critiques of the Griffin and Shams paper Key takeaways from Ladislav's paper Ladislav's ultimate explanation for stablecoin issuance Other papers Ladislav recommends on stablecoins Also mentioned: 'What Keeps Stablecoins Stable?', OTB discussion with Ganesh Viswanath-Natraj Is Bitcoin Really Untethered? by Griffin and Shams

Nic and Matt cover an insane week of deals and market turmoil. In this episode: The Biden admin freezes the Treasury guidance on unhosted wallets Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expresses her concern about cryptocurrency for terrorist financing Bitcoin as a monetary escape valve The real reasons behind Treasury's concern about Bitcoin The prospects for monetary repression in the US Prospects for Chris Brummer as the new head of the CFTC Blackrock warms to Bitcoin Our point by point 'debunking' of the anonymous blog post on Tether Why Tether critiques are so popular Why a Tether implosion would emphasize Bitcoin's value proposition We explain the Bitcoin 'double spend' How Bitcoin settlement is probabilistic Content mentioned in this episode: Nic in NYMag, What Explains Bitcoin's Resurgence? On The Brink, Interview with Ganesh Viswanath-Natraj The Bit Short: Inside Crypto's Doomsday Machine Kraken, On Tether, Journalists Defy Logic

Iain Murray, VP of Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joins the show to discuss the history of Operation Choke Point, a 2011-2015 program used to exclude legal businesses from banking led by the DoJ and FDIC. In this episode: How Iain Murray came to be one of the main historians of Operation Choke Point The roots of Choke Point in the crackdown on poker sites in 2011 How Choke Point was started on a whim by two midlevel DoJ lawyers in 2011 How OCP targeted completely legal but politically disfavored industries How mechanically the DoJ was able to get banks to comply with their informal guidance Why the closed nature of banking means that alternatives financial service providers for these industries couldn't be created How bank consolidation meant that OCP was easier to instrumentalize How successful was Choke Point in marginalizing targeted industries? Did OCP have buy-in from the highest levels of the Obama administration? How regulations should have implemented the rules they sought to create with Choke Point – and why they chose not to How OCP was an end-around the administrative procedure act, and why it was done covertly Was there any accountability for the individuals behind OCP? Was anyone fired? Why individuals on any side of the political spectrum should be concerned about OCP Did Choke Point ever really end? The long term enduring effects of OCP How the Wyoming SPDI is a reaction to Choke Point Whether Iain agrees with the OCC's 'Fair Access' rule Content mentioned in this episode: Iain Murray at CEI, Operation Choke Point: What it is and why it matters OCC, 'Fair Access' rule

Nic and Matt return for another explosive week. In this episode: The bike saga enters its final chapter Sci Hub tries Handshake Is Choke Point returning? We break down the Bakkt SPAC FinCEN extends the comment period for its notice of proposed rulemaking Gemini announces a credit card with crypto rewards What Gary Gensler as SEC Chairman means for the industry Prospects for a Bitcoin ETF under a Gensler SEC The OCC creates a national crypto bank charter One reason why Miami could make it as a tech hub We discuss the latest NYT article on losing coins Content mentioned in this article Nic Carter in Coindesk, Twitter, Trump, and the 'Private Company' Fallacy FinCEN extends its comment period OCC, OCC Conditionally Approves Conversion of Anchorage Digital Bank Brian Brooks in the FT, Get Ready for Self-Driving Banks

Matthew Gould, co-founder and CEO of Unstoppable Domains joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Matthew's path into the cryptocurrency industry and the insight behind launching Unstoppable Domains. How Matthew sees the opportunity for blockchain-based domain systems. Tradeoffs between the various layer-one blockchains that are addressing this opportunity. Views on single sign-on and potential future adjacent use-cases. To learn more about Unstoppable Domains visit their website. Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Nic and Matt return for another week of ATHs. In this episode: Coindesk acquires Tradeblock The OCC says that banks can use public blockchains and stablecoins We digest the OCC letter Potential drawbacks to the new OCC guidance Has Brian Brooks had the most successful regulatory term in recent memory? The Treasury's comment period expires Does the Treasury even have the authority to pass these new rules? Our favorite comment letters in response to the Treasury rules Does JPM's price call make them hypocrites on the topic of Bitcoin? Ripple's series C lead investor is suing Ripple Strike announces Strike Global How crypto-based fiat-to-fiat remittances work Our favorite quarterly investor letters Content mentioned in this episode: Coin Center, Supplemental Comments to FinCEN Neha Narula and Patrick Murck, Letter to FinCEN Fidelity Digital Assets, Letter to FinCEN Bill Miller, Q4 2020 Market Letter Stone Ridge, 2020 Shareholder Letter Matt Hougan and David Lawant, CFA research brief on Cryptoassets

Travis Schwab, the founder and CEO of Eventus Systems, a company specializing in trade surveillance, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Travis' entrepreneurial journey and path to starting Eventus Systems How he came to see cryptoassets as a market opportunity Thoughts on current market structure, the role of exchanges, and the institutional readiness of this market How trade surveillance directly impacts the prospects of a Bitcoin ETF 2021 predictions To learn more about Eventus visit their website. Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Matt and Nic return for the first roundup of 2021. In this episode: Why some funds might be buying Bitcoin at year end Are Ripple fans buying Bitcoin? Are fair launches obsolete? Vaneck files for a new Bitcoin ETF CME futures are officially the most liquid futures market BitGo pays a fine to OFAC Exchanges start delisting XRP Will exchanges face repercussions for listing securities? Why being a security dooms the cross-border settlement use case for XRP Which Bitcoin skeptic we'd like to flip the most

Brian Venturo is the CTO of CoreWeave, the largest North American GPU miner, which also doubles as a cloud infrastructure firm for general computation. In this episode: How Brian went from hobbyist Ethereum mining to wielding a fleet of 50,000 GPUs How Core Weave was able to cheaply acquire GPUs from insolvent mining farms The implications of the Ethereum DAG file growing beyond 4 GB and its effect on miners The effect of the looming PoS transition on miner decision-making Why Core Weave specifically limited their GPU fleet to NVIDIAs with more memory Brian's stance on Ethereum's transition to Proof of Stake Are miners pro-cyclical or counter-cyclical? Does Core Weave hold inventory in the coins they mine or do they divest them immediately? Brian's options based model for pricing hardware The mini gold rush happening in publicly traded mining firms Brian's opinion on hashrate swaps or derivatives How Core Weave is transitioning from purely mining based to public cloud services The feasibility of GPU miners moving into cloud computing Core Weave's plans to train an open source version of GPT-3 Brian's view of the role of miners in the Ethereum ecosystem The motivations behind monetary-related EIPs in Ethereum Brian's analysis of incentives to make Ethereum deflationary Why Proof of Work is an underrated distribution method Brian's position on increasing the gas limit Why tinkering with the fee market is counterproductive in terms of transactional efficiency The relationship between blockspace and fee revenue for miners Brian's thoughts on EIP 1559 and whether it increases Ethereum's security Brian's view on the pace of ethereum development Why Proof of Work launches are preferable to liquidity mining launches The current state of the ASIC v GPU debate Brian's retrospective on the Grin launch Why Core Weave is not interested in miner-extractable value (MEV) Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Craig Warmke is an assistant professor of philosophy at Northern Illinois University. He has written several papers on the subject of Bitcoin, both pertaining to the question of what Bitcoin actually is. We cover Craig's papers (linked below) and explore the role for philosophers in Bitcoin. How Craig realized there was an opportunity for philosophy in Bitcoin Other philosophers writing about Bitcoin Why philosophers don't take Bitcoin seriously The Bitcoin-related questions where philosophers can weigh in The risk of epistemic trespassing Why Satoshi may have been wrong when they defined an electronic coin as a 'chain of digital signatures' How Satoshi made a critical engineering decision which differentiated Bitcoin from prior e-cash systems Why units of Bitcoin cannot be tracked over time through the ledger – and why this matters Why Bitcoin tracks quantities of a substance, rather than discrete, individual units of Bitcoin Craig's stylized model of Bitcoin Why Craig describes Bitcoin as 'fictional substance in an ongoing and massively coauthored book' Why Bitcoin being 'fictional' does not delegitimize it at all How Craig's model extends to stablecoins Why Bitcoin's liability-freeness is so important, and distinguishes it from other monetary assets The practical significance of determining what Bitcoin is How Craig's analysis helps demystify chain splits How ETH 2.0 sheds light on the debate over Bitcoin's identity The greatest threat to Bitcoin Is Bitcoin the protocol a democratic phenomenon? Are there knowable facts about what the nature of Bitcoin is? Referenced in this episode: Craig Warmke, What is Bitcoin, forthcoming in Inquiry Craig Warmke, Electronic Coins George Selgin, Synthetic Commodity Money Martin Glazier, In Blockchain We Trust?

Nic and Matt return for a special Christmas episode of OTB. In this episode: Jay Clayton steps down and Elad Roisman takes over as interim SEC Chair We analyse the Treasury's proposed rule on VASPs and crypto transactions Why the FinCEN rule imposes greater demands on crypto transactions than cash as far as surveillance is concerned Are the proposed workarounds between VASPs and defi asset pools viable? Our book recommendation on the politicization of the Treasury Our analysis of the SEC complaint against Ripple How bad is the SEC complaint for Ripple? Some of the most damning quotes from the SEC complaint The significance of the SEC extending the statute of limitations with Ripple Our theory for why the SEC waited so long to sue Ripple Implications for exchanges facilitating the trading of XRP A development on 15c3-3 We revisit our predictions for 2020 and issue new predictions for 2021 Content mentioned in this episode: The Treasury's proposed rule on crypto wallets The Presidential Working Group's statement on stablecoins The SEC complaint against Ripple Labs The Tokendaily 2021 Crystal Ball Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Matt Hougan, the Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Bitwise's new OTC trust product "BITW" The state of play for cryptoasset adoption in the RIA channel The evolving thesis for Bitcoin and other cryptoassets Prospects for a Bitcoin ETF in 2021 To learn more visit Bitwise Asset Management and follow Matt on Twitter. Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Matt and Nic return to cover a blockbuster week of ATHs. We invite a pseudonymous bond trader to give a rebuttal to our somewhat misguided take on the Microstrategy bond offering on last week's episode. Also in this episode: Our take on the STABLE Act (again) Are balances on the Dunkin and Starbucks apps stablecoins Paxos raises a $142m Series C SBI acquires B2C2 The BITW premium explodes Ruffer's telling reasons for investing $740m in Bitcoin The CME announces ETH futures ... three years to the day since the CME Bitcoin Futures launch Did the CME futures pop the 2017 Bitcoin bubble? We screwed up with our take on the MSTR bond offering We revisit the MSTR convertible note Who is buying the MSTR fixed income offering? Coinbase inches towards an IPO ErisX introduces sports-based futures contracts Why onions aren't a commodity Bitcoin values are American values Content mentioned: Nic in Coindesk, Nationalizing Stablecoins Won't Improve Financial Access

Compliance expert Amber Scott joins the show to explain why crypto-firms are systematically excluded from the bank sector in Canada. In this episode: Our objective in launching a series on bank suppression of the crypto industry The current bank landscape in Canada Why crypto firms struggle to get access to banking in Canada Why money transmitters face a more burdensome treatment from banks What derisking is and why it is so common Whether MSBs and crypto firms deserve the treatment they get from banks Why derisking often forces crypto firms into using grey market payment processors, exposing them to the risk of fraud The underlying reasons for reluctance on the part of banks to bank crypto firms Why informal guidance from regulators is so critical How US regulations are structurally imported into Canada How a service provider called Central One imports US policy for thousands of credit unions Follow Amber on Twitter and learn more about Outlier Canada.

Nic and Matt return to cover an avalanche of news and deals. In this episode: Blockstack's transmutation Bitso raises $62m Matt breaks down the Microstrategy bond offering Mass Mutual buys $100m worth of Bitcoin through NYDIG A bipartisan group of Representatives asked Jay Clayton for clarity on broker dealer custody for cryptoassets The looming crackdown on noncustodial wallets from Treasury The effect of requiring transactional metadata for on-chain transactions More comments on the STABLE Act Matt's plan to primary Stephen Lynch via Dunkin talkin points Would the STABLE Act kill Dunkin Donuts? Why Bitcoin is pristine collateral Fidelity Digital Assets partners up with BlockFi for Bitcoin-backed loans Bitwise launches their index fund Square goes carbon neutral Standard Chartered launches a crypto trading service Singapore's DBS bank launches a crypto exchange Paxos and BitPay file for national bank charters The Financial Times changes their tune on BTC Our call for data portability legislation

Muneeb Ali, cofounder of Blockstack, joins the show to talk about the launch of Stacks 2.0 and its evolution from a securities offering to a freely tradable instrument in the U.S. New developments with Stacks and a novel legal opinion What constitutes sufficient decentralization and how Blockstack took cues from regulators Why Blockstack felt empowered to list their token on public US exchanges The current state of Blockstack governance Reflections on Ethereum's purported transmutation How Blockstack did the first reg A+ securities offering for a cryptoasset Why securities registration is worthwhile for token issuance Whether the SEC disclosure framework is suitable for the issuance of a token Alternative disclosure and securities offering frameworks for registered token issuance Whether Blockstack was willing to treat Stacks as a security in perpetuity Why security tokens haven't taken off in the US so far The evolution from Stacks 1.0 to Stacks 2.0, and the differences between the two Why Blockstack chose to build on Bitcoin, and how they managed to do so in an efficient manner Why Blockstack chose not to build a distinct chain in its own right Why Bitcoin's inflexibility as a base layer makes it a suitable underlying protocol How Muneeb thinks about Stacks value accrual Blockstack's transaction-based consensus mechanism relying on Bitcoin Why Blockstack chose not to use OP_RETURN The relationship between Blockstack usage and BTC value accrual Muneeb's response to the criticism of their regulated token issuance model Key readings: Wilson Sonsini's Summary of Memorandum Regarding the Status of the Stacks Tokens Upon Adoption of Stacks Blockchain 2.0 Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Mustafa Yilham, VP of global business development at Bixin, joins the show. Bixin is an early Asia-based Bitcoin miner; they operate a popular wallet app, and they run a Bitcoin-denominated quant fund of funds. We cover prevailing myths around industrial Bitcoin mining and the reality of sourcing energy at competitive prices for mining. In this episode: The story behind Bixin's Bitcoin-denominated quant fund How Bixin's fund of fund employs a Bitcoin benchmark Why Bixin as a firm is not market neutral and does not hedge their mining operation Whether miners have a procyclical or countercyclical effect on the price of Bitcoin Whether or not miners are fundamentally long Bitcoin The key considerations for finding a good source of electricity for mining Why Central Asia, Russia, and North America are promising locations for mining Why Mustafa expects more hashpower to end up in North America in the near term The factors leading Mustafa to expect less hashrate concentration in China in the future Whether the CBECI mining map is a reliable guide to where mining is located Miner attitudes to Iran and OFAC Current electricity prices required to competitively mine What sold out hardware means for the price of Bitcoin Was the hashrate drop earlier this year was due to the seasonal migration of hashpower in China? Bixin's approach to seasonal electricity costs Whether the withdrawal issues at Okex and Huobi prevented miners from selling and 'caused' the recent Bitcoin rally Mustafa's take on the "China controls Bitcoin" narrative Why Bitcoin mining is getting progressively more decentralized Why Bitcoin miners are positively disposed towards Bitcoin Whether Bixin plans to support Taproot Mustafa's view on who controls Bitcoin Mustafa's experiences in Turkey and why it is so popular there Why central asian and post-Soviet households like gold Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

In this week's episode, Nic and Matt torch the STABLE Act cosponsored by their local representative Stephen Lynch (MA-8). Also covered: Stephen Lynch and Rashida Tlaib's STABLE Act What the STABLE Act requires of fintech providers hosting user balances What stablecoin issuers are not like banks Why the STABLE Act would be disastrous for competition in the Fintech space Why the moral positioning for the bill is internally inconsistent The prospects for the STABLE Act Why legislation like the STABLE Act will likely become USDC partners with Visa, and what it means for the industry Why the USDC-Visa partnership solves a critical issue that the industry has had for years BlockFi announces a Bitcoin-back credit card Larry Fink starts to shift his tone on Bitcoin Garry Cohn's bizarre new Bitcoin critique Our takeaways from the BCAP Bitcoin survey Will Bitcoin outlive the Euro? Content mentioned in this episode: Spencer Bogart, Bitcoin is (Still) a Demographic Mega-Trend Niall Ferguson, Bitcoin Is Winning the Covid-19 Monetary Revolution The STABLE Act press release Coin Center, The Unintended (?) Consequences of the STABLE Act

Mathias Imbach, cofounder and CEO of Sygnum Singapore, joins the show. In this episode: How Mathias came to cofound Sygnum The state of affairs in Crypto Valley in Switzerland today Why crypto banks are necessary and useful Why the company is split – cofounders, offices, and investors – between Zurich and Singapore Why Switzerland and Singapore are suitable venues for a crypto bank The case for convergence between traditional financial infrastructure and the crypto industry Sygnum's product lineup Current regulatory attitudes towards the crypto industry in Switzerland in Singapore How Sygnum compares with the entities receiving crypto-focused bank charters in the U.S. Switzerland's treatment of the Travel Rule for crypto exchanges The current state of EU regulations for crypto service providers How Sygnum created a tokenized Swiss Franc backed directly by central bank liabilities Differences between tokenized base money and a state-issued CBDC Mathias' explanations for the renewed enthusiasm for Bitcoin in the market Why Bitcoin and gold decoupled earlier this year – and how Bitcoin stopped being a rates bet How Sygnum's clients are an indication of the changing nature of Bitcoin investors

Pelle Brændgaard, the cofounder and CEO of Notabene, an enterprise software company building compliance tools to enable trusted cryptoasset transactions between financial services firms, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Pelle's early work in distributed systems and pre-bitcoin cyber-cash projects His path to cofounding Uport and his views on decentralized identity systems The vision of Notabene how the firm is addressing the compliance needs of financial institutions and crypto exchanges and brokerages His views on the travel rule and how this will impact market participants The unhosted/hosted wallets debate Learn more about Notabene here. Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Nic and Matt return with a special Thanksgiving issue of OTB. In this episode: How Castle Island VC was almost Brink VC The difference between financialized walled-garden gold and its Bitcoin equivalent How USDC is being used in Venezuela via AirTM How stablecoins are now tools of geopolitical power projection Vaneck lanches an ETN on the Deutsche Bourse Is GBTC the cause of the rally The OCC proposes fair access to banking services A few people and organizations that we're thankful for Chaincode Labs Bitcoin Optech Greg Schvey and Adam Ludwin Caitlin Long John Pfeffer Fidelity Digital Assets Coin Center Three Arrows and CMS Holdings Should thanksgiving turkey trots be cancelled? Content mentioned in this episode: Jeremy Rubin's collegiate BTC sweater Adventures in Capitalism, Why this Reflexive Ponzi Scheme will Continue Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Proposed Rule Would Ensure Fair Access to Bank Services, Capital, and Credit Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

John Newbery, Bitcoin Core developer and founder of Bitcoin Optech, announces an independent nonprofit organization to support Bitcoin development, Brink. Donate here. In this episode, we discuss the formation and mandate of Brink, as well as the developer funding context that we find ourselves in. Covered in the episode: John Newbery's core developer story and how he came to found Brink Why John left Chaincode and struck out on his own Brink's mandate and foundational purpose Lessons learned from the Bitcoin Foundation The future of Bitcoin Optech The state of funding for Bitcoin development The accessibility of Bitcoin protocol development today Does the existence of financial incentives cannibalize the intrinsic motivation to work on open source? Why John works on Bitcoin Why ossification might be more remote than we expect Whether Bitcoin's developer funding model exposes it to corporate capture The political implications of Bitcoin having a sole reference implementation The importance of distinguishing the validation element of Bitcoin Core from the other components Is Bitcoin protocol dev meritocratic or technocratic? Why the structurelessness of Bitcoin core dev raises the barriers to entry Is Bitcoin protocol development adequately funded right now? Does developer funding equate to influence in the Bitcoin protocol development The dispersion of Bitcoin protocol development influence Content mentioned in this episode: Joseph Jacks on On The Brink Bitmex Research, Who Funds Bitcoin Development? Nic Carter in Coindesk, Bitcoin's Patronage System is an Unheralded Strength

Nic and Matt return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: Nic's appearance on Bloomberg TV Is Jay Clayton's departure good for the SEC? Our dark horse pick for SEC Chair Scaramucci's fund considers a Bitcoin position Is Binance decentralized? How are enterprise blockchains still going? How Bitcoin is akin to gold in the 1970s Bitcoin's changing narratives as a strength How our quiet rally isn't quiet How to interpret the BTC inflow into GBTC Why digital asset interest rates are structurally high Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto. Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Parker Lewis, head of Business Development at Unchained Capital, and author of the Gradually then Suddenly series, joins the show. In this episode: Parker's progress in our Bitcoin fantasy league Our views on how Bitcoin gives purpose Bitcoin's relationship to the prospects for fiscal spending How the virus may have been an excuse to extend the fragile credit system Why Covid-related spending is often framed in moral, rather than economic terms How Bitcoin eschews academic debates Unchained's mission and current product focus Why on-chain multisig is such a good blend of resilience and convenience What multisig enables in terms of bitcoin applications What credit in a Bitcoin economy looks like Bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset and how Unchained is building for that future Why Bitcoin custody is fundamentally hard Parker's feelings on avowed Bitcoiner Cynthia Lummis being elected to the Senate How Bitcoin aligns with American values Parker's favorite piece in his Gradually then Suddenly series

Nic and Matt return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Cred files for bankruptcy Why Bitcoin banking is uniquely robust Why we should not be discouraged by the occasional failure of Bitcoin banks The ECB looks to create a CBDC within 2-4 years Gary Gensler's influence on the Biden administration XRP's fate hangs in the balance Stephen Lynch's letter to Brian Brooks criticizing his stance on crypto Zelle's influence in Venezuela and the reality of crypto-dollarization Why crypto-dollarization is more sustainable than physical dollarization Our response to Ray Dalio's critiques of Bitcoin Why Bitcoin can't be 'Order 6102'ed' today Valid and less valid critiques of Bitcoin Content mentioned in this episode: Nic Carter in Coindesk, The Case for Bitcoin Banking (Despite Cred's Bankruptcy) Coindesk, US Representatives Rip OCC, Brooks for 'Excessive Focus' on Crypto Coindesk, Canada Tax Collector Seeks to Force Crypto Exchange Coinsquare to Fork Over Client Records Bloomberg, Zelle Has Turned Dollar-Starved Venezuela Into a Cashless Test Lab

Alan Lane, the CEO of Silvergate Financial joins the show. In this episode we discuss: How Silvergate came to bank blockchain companies. The challenges and opportunities in providing services in this fast growing market. Silvergate Exchange Network – how this product is driving growth and solving customer pain points. Alan's perspectives on stablecoins and how Silvergate plans to play in this area. Views on the long-term opportunities for digital asset custody and lending. To learn more about Silvergate visit their website. Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Matt and Nic cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode: The latest on Matt's bike saga Possible election outcomes and the prospect for inflation How Kelly Loeffer's runoff election might affect Bitcoin Were prediction markets vindicated by the election? The government seizes $1b worth of Bitcoin Why the seized bitcoin is good news Our take on the big Blockchain Voting Debate Our explanation for why people are curious about blockchains for voting Longtime Bitcoin holder Cynthia Lummis joins the Senate Decentralized storage tech is reaching geopolitical levels of importance Why Bitcoin's demand in 2020 might be more enduring than the demand in 2017 Content mentioned in this episode: Matthew Green on blockchain voting Benlog, Blockchain and Voting The USA v 1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbh Sponsor notes: Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today's complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

Josh Cincinnati, former Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation, joins the show to talk about his tenure at that organization, and lessons he's taken from the experience. In this episode: The genesis of the Zcash Foundation Prior foundation mistakes that Josh sought to avoid The difference between governing a non-cryptocurrency FOSS project and an open source protocol with an explicit monetary element Why Josh chose to step down from the Zcash Foundation How the monetary distribution of Zcash was initially devised and how the founder's reward became a developer fund The dynamics around the trademark sharing in Zcash Trademarks as a last resort tool of power in blockchain governance How public blockchains are 'Marxist in their goals, Leninist in their implementations' How the mandate of the Zcash Foundation was broader than simply the Zcash ecosystem The current outlook for funding Zcash development The subtle change in the social contract underlying development funding Why poorly formalized social contracts risk opening up projects to capture How 'aid dependency' is relevant to blockchain governance Why blockchain insiders hide the true mechanisms of power Why coin votes might be more of the output of power rather than the input Josh's advice to a founder trying to devise funding for a novel cryptocurrency Why Rawls' Veil of Ignorance is so important in determining initial conditions for a monetary protocol What Josh is working on now The story behind PonzICO.win Why there is no good satire in the crypto industry Content mentioned in this episode: Angela Walch, Deconstructing 'Decentralization': Exploring the Core Claim of Crypto Systems James Prestwich, Zcash Dev Fund Opinions

Matt and Nic cover deals and news of the week. In this episode: Matt's bike is stolen in mysterious circumstances Our top takeaways from the Brian Brooks interview with Laura Shin The state of financial regulation in the US as it pertains to crypto Is the permissioned pseudonymity model of stablecoins sustainable? SoFi's application for a new bank charter approved Why lowering the barrier to entry for new bank charter approvals is so important is there any merit to personal tokens? Avanti gets their SPDI charter approved Why Avanti's Avit stablecoin is so interesting What is the legal enforceability of stablecoin transactions? Accounting and tax questions with stablecoins Coin Metrics partners with KPMG Is the Iranian Central Bank accumulating Bitcoin? Why Iran adopting Bitcoin demonstrates its value proposition FTX offers equities – is it compliant? Is Paypal a Bitcoin Sidechain? Content mentioned in this episode: Brian Brooks appears on Laura Shin's Unchained The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance Bitcoin mining map Apolline Blandin on On The Brink

Yoann Turpin, cofounder of Wintermute Trading joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Yoann's background in trading and how he made his way to trading cryptoassets His views on the evolving market structure for cryptoassets and where the industry is headed How important market makers are for new token launches The role of stablecoins and how these instruments are changing the landscape for traders Wintermute's decision to raise capital from VCs and how they see themselves are a technology firm To learn more about Wintermute Trading visit their website.

Joel Revill is the cofounder and CEO of Two Ocean Trust, a Wyoming Chartered Trust Company offering wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Two Ocean Trust has recently received a no-action letter from the Wyoming Division of Banking stating the division's determination that Two Ocean is a "qualified custodian" under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the SEC Custody Rule. This letter states the division's determination that Two Ocean may provide custodial services for digital assets under Wyoming law, including virtual currency and digital tokenized securities. In this episode: Joel's background and the genesis of Two Ocean Trust Current gaps in the market as far as digital asset custody is concerned The significance of Two Ocean's No-Action letter from the State of Wyoming What Qualified Custody actually means, and why it matters Why Wyoming is a great place to start a business pertaining to digital assets The history of the SPDI Charter – and why Two Ocean did not opt for the SPDI Why high net worth individuals are buying Bitcoin today Joel's current monetary outlook – and why Bitcoin is more than just a hedge

Matt and Nic cover deals and news of the week. In this episode: PTJ's latest comments on Bitcoin How Bitcoin is akin to a cathedral Franklin Templeton invests in Curv PayPal launches a crypto offering Will PayPal open up its walled garden? The Kik story finally reaches a conclusion Coinbase publishes their first transparency report Paradigm's big bet Is CBDC going to be pro-inflationary? The bank lobby pushes back at the Wyoming SPDI Why this bull run is more sustainable than that of 2017 How Bitcoin scales with capital, not people Content mentioned in this episode: Doubleline, The Pandora's Box of CBDC Paul Tudor Jones appears on CNBC Coinbase, Transparency at Coinbase Forbes, feature on Paradigm Raoul Pal, The Bitcoin Life Raft Bank Policy Institute, Beware the Kraken

Bruce Fenton, founder of the Satoshi Roundtable and Chainstone Labs, joins the show to talk security tokens and tokens-which-are-securities. In this episode: About Bruce's company Chainstone labs How the Bitcoin Roundtable is intertwined with Bitcoin history and the blocksize debate Coinbase's ongoing rapprochement with Bitcoiners Why longevity is so difficult in the crypto industry Are we living in the most historically aggressive period in terms of regulatory oversight into the industry? What Bruce makes of Heath Tarbert's comments on Ethereum Continuing uncertainty about the status of Ripple's XRP – and what possible outcomes look like The prospects for token S1s and a genuine standard of disclosure for new issuances Why trying to avoid securities laws causes token issuers to create subpar instruments How much control do governance tokens really give tokenholders? Why Bitcoin isn't sufficient to resist the state alone – and what tools are part of that toolkit Why the US should consider disrupting itself with regards to managing the world's financial system Why some people like security tokens for the wrong reasons The logistical advantages of tokenizing a security How security tokens could open up mid-size businesses which don't have access to capital markets

Matt and Nic cover deals and news of the week. In this episode: NYDIG emerges from stealth and announces a Bitcoin balance sheet position More companies add Bitcoin to their balance sheet Filecoin launches at a $200b implied fully diluted valuation Is the Filecoin SAFT different from the other SAFTs? Why token projects are strongly incentivized to be untransparent about their tokens CFTC chair Heath Tarbert praises Ethereum The relationship between securities and commodities Ripple complains about securities regulation and claims China controls Bitcoin Grayscale Ether Trust becomes an SEC reporting entity Grayscale raises $1b in Q3 Breitling creates NFTs as an anti-counterfeiting measure Risks involved with brainwallets Coinbase plans to sponsor Bitcoin developers A new deadline in the Mt Gox saga Content mentioned in this episode: Crypto VC panel on privacy from the Fidelity privacy conference Ripple, What's at Stake for the U.S. When It Comes to Digital Asset Regulation The Block's new data dashboard Bitmex Research, Call me Ishmael Ryan Castellucci talk at DevCon, Cracking Cryptocurrency Brainwallets

Kyle Samani, cofounder and managing partner at Multicoin, joins the show to talk his current views on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and to give an update on web3 and how Multicoin is approaching the opportunity. In this episode: Kyle's current views on Ethereum, its positioning, and its prospects for filling out the roadmap Whether liquidity network effects for smart contract chains are insurmountable What it would take to reach global scale for public blockchains Kyle's changing view of Bitcoin over time The effect of WBTC on Ethereum The topic that Kyle has most dramatically changed his mind on recently Kyle's view of the validity of DCF valuations for DeFi tokens Kyle's theory on which classes of DeFi tokens should accrue long-term value A retrospective on Multicoin's EOS thesis and where they were tripped up Which blog post of his Kyle thinks has aged the best What Web3 means to Kyle How fast Web3 has grown relative to Kyle's expectations in 2017 The imminent Web3 projects that Kyle thinks could have mass market applicability Multicoin's Helium thesis and the importance of LoRaWAN How Helium tokenomics are modeled after physical commodities Kyle's expectations for web3 applications within the next 5 years Whether Ethereum requires web3 to succeed and vice versa Content mentioned in this episode: Multicoin, EOS Analysis and Valuation Multicoin, On Forking DeFi Protocols Multicoin, Augur Analysis and Valuation

Matt and Nic cover deals and news of the week. Repeat guest Zachary Kelman joins the show to give his view of the FinCEN files and how the crypto industry should interpret the revelations. In this episode: How fees affect DeFi liquidity and the price of ETH Braintrust raises $18m Bitnomial raises an $11m Series B Arthur Hayes and Sam Reed step down from their roles at 100x Despite everything, Bitmex is still operational BitMEX keeps processing withdrawals India's legislature turns hostile to Bitcoin Square buys $50m worth of BTC to hold on its balance sheet The difference in the rationale between Microstrategy and Square for their Bitcoin positions John MacAfee is arrested in Spain for tax evasion Ripple complains that the US is an unfavorable regulatory environment The latest on the Ripple class action suit The Chamber of Digital Commerce gives congresspeople $50 worth of USA-mined Bitcoin The DOJ publishes a Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework Zach Kelman on how Bitcoin enthusiasts should be thinking about the FinCEN files Silvergate crosses $100b transacted through the SEN Content mentioned in this episode: Peter Van Valkenburgh, There Is No Such Thing as a Decentralized Exchange Fidelity Digital Assets, The Role of Prime Brokerage in Digital Assets Nic on Medium, Public blockchain fee cyclicality and negative feedback loops Forbes, How Cathie Wood Beat Wall Street By Betting Tesla Is Worth More Than $1 Trillion

Mitchell Nicholson is the founder of DACS Conduit and formerly an economist at the Bank of Canada. Mitchell's views are his own and not those of the Bank of Canada. In this episode: His path to joining the Bank of Canada Why he chose to start his career in central banking Mitchell's work on the Band of Canada Bitcoin awareness surveys Why the Bank of Canada put resources to the Bitcoin awareness surveys Mitchell's masters thesis on Bitcoin How covering Bitcoin was part of Mitchell's mandate at the Bank of Canada Their reaction to Quadriga How Crypto Twitter helped was useful to Mitchell during his time at the bank What it's like being a Bitcoin enthusiast working at a central bank Crypto penetration among Bank staff How Mitchell applied lessons from traditional finance to his analysis of Bitcoin Mitchell's thoughts on the legitimacy of Tether Comparing the risk profiles of single and multi collateral Dai Lessons that Bitcoiners can take from central banking Whether central banks should be concerned about crypto-dollarization The prospects for CBDCs Why the public sector may not be able to create a true digital cash with strong privacy assurances What a more restricted digital form of central bank money might look like Mitchell's view of the true killer app of the crypto industry Mitchell's new project now that he has left the BoC The one big gap Mitchell has identified in the crypto industry The likely effect of the rise of crypto markets on central banking Content mentioned in this episode: The Bank of Canada's 2018 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey: Awareness and Usage Chainalysis' 2020 Global Crypto Adoption Report

Mason Borda, CEO and cofounder of Tokensoft, joins the show. In this episode: Tokensoft's ERC-1404 standard Why put securities on chain? Commonalities between the spirit of securities laws and the values of crypto markets The possibility of making stock transactions into a real time phenomenon Transparency through registered security offerings versus on-chain cash flows and freely viewable contracts How on-chain tokens are transparent and where they should volunteer additional disclosures Tokensoft's Arcoin and INX issuances Mason's response to the critiques of the INX offering Why regular companies don't just "hold their own securities on a centralized database" DTCC explained for Bitcoiners How Mason thinks about securities regulation today as compared with 2017 Is the 'complexity defense' sufficient to ward off securities regulators? Mason's desired approach to the market from the SEC Lessons that the SEC can take from MAS (Singapore) and FINMA (Switzerland) The outstanding barriers to security tokens gaining liquidity and market share

Nic and Matt cover a tumultuous week in the crypto markets. In this episode: We investigate the Dollar Milkshake Theory BitPanda raises $52m Genesis announces the official launch of their custody product Our breakdown of the BitMEX situation Where the BitMEX situation leaves the remaining offshore crypto exchanges The prospects for users who currently have funds on BitMEX How the BitMEX lawsuit potentially improves the prospects for a Bitcoin ETF Whether BitMEX was a source of sell pressure for Bitcoin Where BitMEX leaves decentralized exchanges The SEC obtains a summary judgment over Kik Why the SALT lending settlement with the SEC signals a shift in the SEC's attitude with regards to tokens CommerceBlock converts their token into equity into a UK company Talos Trading comes out of stealth mode The biggest remaining systemic risk that the crypto industry faces

Trent and Brock Elmore, two of the five creators of Yam Finance, a decentralized finance protocol, join the show. In this episode we discuss: The inspiration for starting Yam Finance The story behind the launch, the initial bug and the subsequent re-launch Contextualizing DeFi – what is a fad and what is enduring The future for Yam Finance and the long term sustainability of fair launch platforms To learn more about Yam Finance visit: https://yam.finance/

Chase Lochmiller, cofounder and CEO of Crusoe Energy Systems joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Crusoe's approach to addressing the issue of natural gas flaring by monetizing stranded energy The process by which Crusoe turns this stranded energy into Bitcoin How Chase sees the compute use cases that can benefit from capturing stranded energy Chase's career path from finance to crypto to founding Crusoe The impact that successfully climbing Mount Everest has had on his career. To learn more about Crusoe Energy Systems visit their website.

Matt and Nic return for deals and the news of the week. In this episode: The OCC clarifies that banks can custody dollars for stablecoin issuers Maker's flippening in collateral types, and what that means for the system Tether falls below 80% of stablecoin market share Two congressional bills propose to federally regulate crypto exchanges and tokens "Stablecoins" or "cryptodollars"? Cambridge AltFin releases their long-awaited cryptoasset benchmarking report The prospects for big tech antritrust What to replace the 60/40 portfolio with Content mentioned in this episode: OCC, OCC Chief Counsel's Interpretation on National Bank and Federal Savings Association Authority to Hold Stablecoin Reserves Coin Center, Two new bills in Congress would clarify agency jurisdiction over cryptocurrency Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, 3rd Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study ECB Crypto-assets Task Force, Stablecoins: Implications for monetary policy, financial stability, market infrastructure and payments, and banking supervision in the euro area Apolline Blandin on OTB, Estimating Bitcoin's Energy Footprint

Jeff Dorman is the CIO at Arca, which is currently engaged in a fascinating standoff with Gnosis, a token project in which they have a position. Arca is asserting that Gnosis has delivered little value to tokenholders and has proposed that they perform a tender offer for GNO tokens with the assets held on their balance sheet (which exceed the capitalization of GNO). Covered in this episode: The original purpose of Gnosis as laid out in the whitepaper Why Gnosis only sold 5% of their tokens in the initial sale How Gnosis's dutch auction backfired How the original objective to create a prediction market failed The history of Gnosis' non-core products and expenditures – and why they don't accrue value to GNO Under what circumstances pivoting is permissible – and when it isn't The existence of obligations towards tokenholders, even if implicit and unstated What should a well-codified arrangement between tokenholders and token issuers look like? Jeff's view of whether the utility theory of tokens is still valid The substance of Arca's proposal to Gnosis, and their preferred resolution Arca's proposal around a tender offer to buy back GNO at a fixed price with treasury assets Why large investors exerting themselves in governance benefits smaller shareholders How Arca's GNO position is similar to the ESG movement Arca's response to the rebuttal that tokenholders have no rights Arca's leverage to achieve a positive outcome – and willingness to litigate Whether explicit security tokens like Arcoin and INX will converge to tokens with equity-like characteristics