On The Brink with Castle Island

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

Tom Lombardi, Managing Director at 3iQ Corp, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Tom's path from traditional finance to the cryptoasset industry The enterprise blockchain era: lessons learned and the second order effects of the hype cycle The state of institutional exchange infrastructure The crypto-asset-management segment and how 3iQ is positioned to capture this opportunity To learn more visit www.3iq.ca and follow Tom on Twitter @tomlombardi

Matt and Nic return to cover news of the week. In this episode: Our review of NFL week 1 Whether or not securities law topics come up at parties Why we're so excited about Kraken getting the Wyoming SPDI Why the SPDI being full reserve is so important – and why it eliminates certain regulators from the picture How Kraken's bank charter is reminiscent of a classic scene in There Will Be Blood Why Wyoming's SPDI is a long-awaited rebuke to Operation Choke Point Michael Saylor stacks MORE sats How Matt was able to initially break the Microstrategy news Why financial services firms looking at crypto need buy-in from the top Michael Saylor's revealing quote about Bitcoin's hard forks Why shrugging off hard forks defeats a key critique of Bitcoin What the SEC settlement with Unikorn inc means for other tokens The SEC sanctions rapper TI Matt's embarrassing TI story Our current view on handshakes Why the settlement quality of stablecoins is context-specific

Today, Kraken Financial, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kraken, became the first financial institution to receive the Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter from the State of Wyoming. To celebrate this major milestone, David Kinitsky, CEO of Kraken Financial, and Marco Santori, Kraken CLO, joined us on the show. In this episode: Why Kraken decided to open an office in Wyoming and pursue the SPDI Why David and Marco chose to join Kraken and work on this project Kraken's journey to obtaining the SPDI and what's next Why Kraken Financial will not seek oversight from the FDIC – and why it doesn't need deposit insurance What an SPDI will enable Kraken to do What distinguishes a full reserve bank – and why take that approach How Kraken Financial would distinguish itself from the standard banks that service crypto companies and from full reserve bitcoin custodians Whether Kraken expects NY to honor reciprocity for the Wyoming SPDI The relationship between Kraken group and Kraken Financial The next steps to take the SPDI approval and become an operational, fully-fledged deposit taking institution What the SPDI will mean for existing Kraken customers Read more about the SPDI here.

Gabriel Shapiro, partner at BSV Law (no relationship to the coin), joins the show to chat securities law, tokenized securities, and the nature of industry regulation. In this episode: Gabriel's introduction to the crypto industry and Nick Szabo's influence Gabriel's view on what public blockchains are for, most fundamentally Why there is an inherent tension between blockchains and the law Can public blockchains be made compatible with the law, and to what extent? The best opportunities for synergy between the law and crypto Gabriel's case for real tokenized securities How stock certificates are held and organized in legacy markets Domains where tokenized securities could outperform the current state of affairs A mistake investors make when interpreting SEC behavior Why the SEC will often let private litigation play out before imposing a fine The contrast between the EOS/Block One and Sia/ Nebulous Gabriel's critique of Hester Pierce's safe harbor for tokens - and her response Precedents to consider when looking at the utility/security distinction Whether a "Hinman test" for sufficient decentralization exists and what it entails Gabriel's proposed modification to securities laws to suit the reality of the industry The effect of election outcomes on securities enforcement Follow Gabriel on Twitter and read his fantastic series on Medium, Size Does Matter

Matt and Nic return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: the NFL is BACK Matt's predictions for the Patriots season New data on countries where crypto penetration is highest Mastercard launches a CBDC testing platform USDC launches on Algorand Past is prologue for stablecoins moving chains DCG continues to grow into a juggernaut Our Sushiswap explainer Can DeFi projects maintain sustainable moats? What distinguishes DeFi tokens from ICOs? Why you can't apply traditional equity earnings multiples to DeFi valuations How Sushi reminds us of Monero's origins How Curve reminds us of Dash's launch Why communities often stick with botched 'fair launches' Content mentioned in this episode: Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer on On The Brink Ruben Galindo appears on the show Jump Capital's mid-2020 crypto theses Chainalysis' 2020 global crypto adoption index Bitcoin: A Novel Economic Institution from Ark Invest

Ruben Galindo, cofounder and CEO of Airtm, joins the show. Recently, Airtm has been in the news as it was reported that Juan Guaidó, Venezuela's would-be President, was using the app to coordinate the disbursement of funds seized from the Maduro regime to healthcare workers in Venezuela. In this episode: Why Ruben cofounded Airtm How Airtm creates local liquidity for dollars against any local currency How Airtm manages their reserve How Bitcoin and Ethereum intersect with AirUSD How Airtm creates local liquidity on their platform The size of Airtm's userbase globally and in Venezuela Why international freelancers gravitate towards AirTM The genesis of Airdrop Venezuela How Airtm linked up with Venezuelan president Juan Guaido to distribute payments to Venezuelans The genesis of the plan to distribute seized funds to Venezuelan healthcare workers How Airtm is planning to route around Maduro's attempts at censorship How Airtm manages the physical risks of running a grey market business in Venezuela Read more about Airtm here.

Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer, founding partners of Electric Capital, join the show. In this episode we discuss: Their path from entrepreneurship to starting Electric Capital The experience of raising a $110M fund II from institutional limited partners The current state of play for layer one smart contract platforms Framing decentralized finance for the non-crypto native The geopolitical chess match for the USA and China vis a vis cryptoasset regulation The outlook for privacy coins To learn more about Electric Capital visit their website and follow Avichal and Curtis on Twitter

Nic and Matt return with deals and news of the weak. In this episode: Nic and Matt happen to buy the same book Nic's article on why the US should embrace stablecoins and credibly neutral crypto-financial infrastructure Our theory on why NYDFS went after Tether Can the US successfully disrupt itself as the administrator of financial infrastructure? Coinbase IPO prospects Coinshares adds transparency to their Bitcoin ETN and the prospects for Proofs of Reserves How Proofs of Reserves can ward off regulation Arca takes an activist stance towards Gnosis What recourse do jilted tokenholders have? Publicly traded energy companies are mining Bitcoin with stranded natural gas Matt's suggestion for a Bitcoin-themed sequel to Armageddon The single most impactful way you can help Bitcoin Nic's theory about the effect of a fee-transaction count oscillation on Ethereum How fees are a regressive tax on users Content mentioned in this episode: Nic in Coindesk, The Crypto-dollar Surge and the American Opportunity Larry White in Alt-M, Should the US Government Create a Token-based Digital Dollar? Electronic Frontier Foundation, It's Past Time for Coinbase to Issue Transparency Reports Nic in Coindesk, The Last Word on Bitcoin's Energy Consumption Coin Center, Are Regulators Poised to Demand Cryptocurrency Address Whitelisting? Probably Not Tyler Winklevoss, The Case for $500k Bitcoin

Kyle Davies, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Kyle's perspectives on layer one blockchain protocols and how smart contract platforms are evolving The decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape, and where Kyle sees the biggest opportunities The blurring of the lines between centralized and decentralized finance platforms Learn more about Three Arrows Capital: https://www.threearrowscap.com/ Follow Kyle on Twitter @kyled116

Aditya Palepu and Frédéric Fortier, the cofounders of DerivaDEX, join the show to talk about DEXes and prospects for their future development, and to introduce their own project. In this episode: How Adi and Fred chose to build a Dex Why traders tend to love Dexes despite their shortcomings Dexes versus noncustodial exchanges Adi and Fred's Dex taxonomy and where they fit into that How Derivadex plans to decentralize the operation of their orderbook Are today's AMM-style Dexes sufficient? How the Derivadex team is thinking about the shape of the liquidity mining distribution curve How the distribution curve actually affects which users end up owning a piece of the DAO Why Derivadex struck a more pragmatic approach than certain other Dexes – and how they're going after CeFi users Why the team opted for USDT as the default collateral type The lessons Derivadex took from the MakerDAO exploit Their approach to capitalizing an insurance fund For more, see this introduction to DerivaDEX.

Nic and Matt cover news and deals of the week. In this episode: FTX acquires Blockfolio for $150m DCG announces a $100m investment in Foundry, a mining subsidiary Fidelity files with the SEC for a Bitcoin fund – and what this means for other asset managers Why large asset managers have not built products around Bitcoin just yet The INX situation explained Why security tokens might actually make sense The Boston Fed is evaluating 30 different blockchains for their digital dollar project Do exchanges owe depositors their forked coins? How will NYDFS react to the Wyoming SPDI? The Fed signals a more inflationary environment Can you use whisky as a SoV?

Zachary Kelman, managing partner at Kelman Law PLLC, joins the show to shed light on the FATF – it's origins and its current mandate – the travel rule, and what the industry can expect from these developments. Covered in this episode: Zach's prior career in bank compliance and how he decided to focus on Bitcoin How Zach noticed the blurring of lines between stopping crime and politics for bank AML Why overseas payments in the correspondent bank system are expensive What the Travel Rule actually means Why Zach thinks Bitcoin compares favorably with the default correspondent banking system Why banks freeze out certain sectors even without a specific ban or prohibition How Coins.ph moved the needle for financial inclusion in the Philippines The history of the FATF and its original mandate and intent Why the FATF's recommendation could possibly bifurcate the bitcoin market How the end of the Cold War might have influenced the creation of the FATF What Fukuyama's End of History has to do with financial crimes enforcement Will the decline of the US-led international order mean organizations like the FATF will have a reduced ability to police global finance Zach's thesis that western Europe might end up being a haven for the crypto industry How the FATF recommendations actually get enforced at the local level How the FATF black and graylists change bank behavior Why NYDFS has so much control over global finance How bank behavior in the US is often more norm based than couched in law Why a rise of nationalism could advantage Bitcoin

Dick Bove, senior research analyst at Odeon Capital Group joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dick's 52 year career as a research analyst and his path to covering the banking sector The 2008 financial crisis, the measures that were taken, and how this has impacted the banking industry The future of dollar dominance and the rise of China on the geopolitical stage The role of cryptocurrency and the state of awareness in the institutional world Dick's favorite books and his perspective on the research industry To learn more about Odeon Capital and to access Dick's research visit www.odeoncap.com

Nic and Matt cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode: Hawaii announces the Digital Currency Innovation Lab Wyoming's Senate nominee Cynthia Lummis is a Bitcoiner Why Bitcoin values are American values How Bitcoin is mutualistic with the US dollar Evidence that Tether is used for capital outflows from China Kraken creates Kraken Financial to pursue the SPDI in Wyoming Warren Buffett buys gold Our explanation of a new breed of ponzis Where DeFi is and is not compelling to us

Zac Prince, CEO and Founder of crypto lender BlockFi, joins the show once again to talk their recent growth and milestones. Today, BlockFi announced a $50m Series C round of financing, capitalizing on their recent growth. We dive into the fundraise, BlockFi's eye-popping growth, and what is driving interest in the crypto lending space today. In this episode: Blockfi announces a $50m Series C fundraising round What it was like raising a Series C during covid BlockFi's insane traction and what is driving that growth Zac's big picture vision for the company as a global bank The growth that BlockFi has seen in stablecoins on the platform and the role they play What is really behind the high yields that BlockFi is able to offer The risk profile of lending BTC with BlockFi Zac's taxonomy of stablecoins BlockFi's plan for Tether – and why Zac decided to support it Zac's view of current institutional participation in the lending market How Zac thinks about DeFi and the rise of decentralized lending – and whether it competes with BlockFi What positions BlockFi is hiring for and who they would like to apply

Kyle Powers is the cofounder and CEO of LibertyPay, a Boston business that powers remittances to Brazil and Mexico – settling on Bitcoin, rather than traditional financial rails. LibertyPay has settled nine figures worth of value in its history – and most users never know their transactions are settling via Bitcoin. In this episode: How LibertyX began with the cofounders standing beside a Bitcoin ATM in South Station in 2014 The origins of LibertyPay and how the cofounders realized that Bitcoin-based remittances were a viable product How LibertyPay determined the most viable channels for their Bitcoin remittance product Why Brazil is a goldilocks zone for Bitcoin-powered remittances In which domains Bitcoin-based remittances outmatch the traditional system Why LibertyPay uses Bitcoin as their bridge currency and not another asset Why obtaining banking in 2014 was such a challenge Whether there was a coordinated attempt to unbank crypto companies in 2014-15 Whether Kyle is optimistic about the future of digital cash Whether XRP will ever grow into its promise as a touted bridge currency Why Kyle views Bitcoin's base layer as more of SWIFT analogue rather than a payments network Why owning Bitcoin gives you exposure to all of its descendants, in the case of a dispute Why Bitcoiners should be excited about stablecoins

Coin Metrics network data product lead Lucas Nuzzi joins the show to help explain how to audit the supply of Ethereum – and other, even more challenging blockchains. Also covered in this episode: Does the Winklevoss gold asteroid mining talking point have any merit? Are the Winklevii being ironic or sincere The Boston Fed is hiring crypto engineers Why DeFi tokens remind us of PoW launches from 2014 Why we need a new taxonomy for autonomous fair launched DeFi tokens Why DeFi might not herald a resurgence of the ICO phenomenon Microstrategy surprises to the upside Facebook focuses on payments ETH supplygate explained

James Lovejoy, recent MEng MIT grad and former graduate researcher at the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, joins the show to talk about his masters thesis and associated project focusing on detecting double-spends in proof of work cryptocurrencies. Previously, little data was collected in a systematic way to detect double-spends and reorganizations across many cryptocurrencies. James' project sheds light on previously unknown security properties of PoW. In this episode: How James came to work on Vertcoin Why James thinks ASIC resistance is valuable James' blockchain monitoring project and why it matters Why reorgs are challenging to detect Why investigating the economic damage of reorgs is difficult How James noticed a 51% attack in progress on Vertcoin and intervened to save Bittrex money – and how this can be replicated Why understanding Nicehash is critical to detecting and dealing with 51% attacks James' critiques of dominant theoretical models of PoW security How James found reorgs and counterattacks happening on BTG in real time Why exchange processes like KYC might actually help protect blockchains from reorgs How permissionless trading and leverage makes certain blockchains more vulnerable to attacks Rules of thumb for confirmation requirements for exchanges The issue with calling coins "Nicehash-able" – and why it's likely a lowball How exchanges can proactively mitigate the risk of 51% attacks and what they should be targeting How BTG developers finally defeated deep reorgs Whether James is confident in the long-term prospects of PoW Whether James still believes in GPU mining Content referenced in this episode James Lovejoy, An Empirical Analysis of Chain Reorganizations and Double-Spend Attacks on Proof-of-Work Cryptocurrencies Raphael Auer, Beyond the doomsday economics of "proof-of work" in cryptocurrencies Eric Budish, The Economic Limits of Bitcoin and the Blockchain Hasu, Prestwich, and Curtis, A model for Bitcoin's security and the declining block subsidy Carlsten, Kalodner, Narayanan, Weinberg, On the Instability of Bitcoin Without the Block Reward Moroz, Aronoff, Narula, Parkes, Double-Spend Counterattacks: Threat of Retaliation in Proof-of-Work Systems Judmayer et al, Pay-To-Win: Cheap, Crowdfundable, Cross-chain Incentive Manipulation Attacks on Cryptocurrencies Liao and Katz, Incentivizing Blockchain Forks via Whale Transactions James Lovejoy and David Vorick, ASICs and cryptocurrencies: benefits and drawbacks [debate] Nic Carter, It's the settlement assurances, stupid [blog] Elaine Ou, Cryptocurrency Deals can Always be Erased, for a Price [article]

Nic and Matt cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode: Are we in a bull run or is fiat devaluating? Africa volumes growing on Paxful BCH contemplating redirecting block rewards to fund developers Electric Capital raises 110m Casa adds a direct buy bitcoin feature Dapper labs raises $12m with participation from multiple NBA players Matt's scoop about the Microstrategy Bitcoin position Grayscale files a form 10 for their Ethereum Investment Trust Whether Bitcoiners should try to appeal to goldbugs Why the world needs Bitcoin hardware that demonstrates UTXOs held Is DGC the biggest company in the crypto industry? Square's monster Q2 for Bitcoin Goldman has a new digital assets lead ETC keeps getting 51% attacked

Ray Youssef, founder and CEO of Paxful, joins the show to talk his journey with Paxful and his mission to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Paxful is a wholly bootstrapped startup that has recently taken the crown as the largest Bitcoin p2p marketplace in the world with $2.1B in annualized volume. Ray is from Egypt and has always sought to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Today, Africa is the 2nd most active region by volume on the platform (behind North America). In this episode: Why Bitcoin p2p is so popular in Africa Why interstate settlements in Africa are so challenging today Ray's predictions about p2p volume versus centralized volume Why p2p exchange data is more reliable than centralized exchange volume How Ray went from being homeless to founding the largest p2p Bitcoin exchange Why KYC in emerging markets is so challenging How Ray went through 11 failed startups before starting Paxful The downside of taking venture financing and why Paxful is better off without it Why western startups fail when they try and get involved in African markets Why African users are under-served by KYC providers like Jumio or Onfido Why Paxful has KYC How the Paxful remittance flow works with gift cards Whether Paxful users are retail or wholesalers Why Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana are popular on Paxful Why Ray focused on Africa for Paxful How Ray found his way to New Orleans after Katrina The genesis of Ray's humanitarian project to build schools in Africa Paxful is hiring!

Michael Graham and Pat McEvoy of Canaccord Genuity join the podcast to discuss how their firm has approached the blockchain/cryptoasset sector. In this episode we discuss: Michael's perspective on blockchain/cryptoassets from his role as Head of Equity Research at the firm. We discuss how blockchain technology could alter the landscape of the dominant internet companies of our era Pat's perspective on the maturation of cryptoassets and the increased participation of institutional participants in the trading of these assets Where Pat and Michael see the biggest opportunities and how Canaccord is positioning their blockchain strategy To learn more about Canaccord visit their website.

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring John Collins, partner and cofounder of FS Vector, to cover the OCC letter and its implications. Covered in this episode: Our Plustoken conspiracy Nic's bird situation USDC raises $25m from DCG Avanti's dollar-coin Avit Why Pats players keep declaring their intention to sit out the season Bitcoin Suisse raises $48.6m Polkadot raises $43m What tokensales and desert real estate have in common FTX is building a DEX on Solana Paradigm sponsors a Bitcoin developer Why Bitcoin's patronage system is a competitive advantage relative to other blockchains Our predictions on whether this rally will last The circular logic inherent in valuations of certain DeFi tokens Why distinguishing pseudo equity from cryptocurrency is so important

Jesse Walden, founder of Variant joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jesse's journey in the crypto industry, from founding Mediachain, to being an investor at A16Z, to founding Variant The crypto ownership economy and how Jesse sees the evolution of consumer software Crypto projects through the lens of contract theory Learn more and follow Jesse at www.variant.fund and follow him on Twitter @Jessewldn

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week. Covered in this episode: Why holding Bitcoin in banks isn't necessarily contrary to the nature of Bitcoin VALR, a South African exchange, raises $3.45m from 100x Group and others The OCC's bombshell letter saying that banks can custody cryptocurrency What this means for established crypto custodians Follow-up questions we have for the OCC Hester Pierce expresses her disappointment with the outcome of the Telegram case Standard Chartered working on cryptoasset custody Paypal partnering with Paxos Coinbase blacklists the Twitter hacker addresses Our explanation of what's going on with Ampleforth The potential pro-Bitcoin regulatory troika in the US

Sam Wyner and Sal Ternullo, cryptoasset services co-leads at KPMG, join the show to talk about KPMG's newly-released analytics capabilities dubbed Chain Fusion. Chain Fusion is a patent pending suite of advanced analytics capabilities built on leading cryptoasset data and infrastructure products, to streamline the ability for financial services companies, FinTechs, and organizations across industries to deliver institutional quality cryptoasset capabilities and services. In this episode: KPMG's historical engagement with the crypto industry How audit/consulting firms are engaging with crypto financial institutions The choice to have a crypto specific team at KPMG (rather than simply focusing on blockchain) The reason why formal financial statement audits for crypto companies are not occuring in the US today Why an asset taxonomy from regulators matters to auditors What Chain Fusion is and what it's designed to solve The intersection of Chain Fusion and Proofs of Reserves for exchanges Why audit standards still don't take into account the notion of cryptographic signatures to prove ownership of an asset Why the FATF travel rule is so difficult to implement Check out the press release for Chain Fusion which provides a high-level overview of the accelerator suite and contact information to get in touch with Sam and Sal. Learn more about KPMG's Blockchain initiatives to explore recent thought leadership including Cracking Crypto Custody which describes four pillars for winning institutional crypto custody models.

Nate Maddrey, senior research analyst at Coin Metrics, joins the show to discuss a recent report published by CM in collaboration with Bitstamp, The Rise of Stablecoins. We talk through the report and analyse some of the charts in depth. In this episode: Why the auditability of public blockchains is so useful for evaluating stablecoins Why fiat backed stablecoins have different price dynamics from 'native crypto collateral' backed ones How the arbitrage growth cycle works for fiat-backed stablecoins What the distribution of ownership and addresses for USDT tells us Liquidity for USDT versus USDC and BUSD Distinguishing stablecoins based on median transfer value Stablecoins as wholesale rather than retail value transfer networks What velocity of stablecoins relative to bitcoin and ether tells us

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Alex Treece, president and cofounder of Zabo. Alex joins the show to discuss his report covering the intersection of fintech and cryptocurrency. Also in this episode: We gripe about the SaaSification of the world and the loss of genuine ownership Whether the Bitcoin hero's journey requires a private blockchain digression The boys argue about the merit of soccer We talk Twitter hack scenarios Why the Twitter hackers had to use Bitcoin Social media handles as property Grayscale's blockbuster quarter Abra settles with the SEC We cover the theory that individual bitcoins don't actually exist

Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, joins the show. Caitlin is a thinker and writer we admire a huge amount and she has done a monumental job with her advocacy for responsible custody practices among crypto depository institutions. She is one of the key architects of the Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution legislation which establishes a new form of crypto bank in Wyoming. In in no small part thanks to her efforts that Wyoming is the most progressive state in terms of defining and regulating digital assets and the institutions that custody them. We share Caitlin's enthusiasm for clarifying depositor exchange relationships and for public-facing proofs of reserve, so we were very excited have her on the show. Covered in this episode: Risks involved in complying with the FATF's travel rule How the FATF enforces its recommendations Why compliance burdens freeze out small and community banks How the $10k limit for disclosure for cash transactions increases the scope of transactions that should be disclosed in real terms How the Bank Secrecy Act and the third party doctrine means the government can procure warrantless financial data Caitlin's Bitcoin origin story The thawing of the gold community's sentiments towards bitcoin The tension inherent in the institutionalization of bitcoin Why Proofs of Reserves aren't more popular today The importance of distinguishing ownership of a key and a legal title Why users are poorly equipped to hold exchanges accountable Why the state by state regulation in the US doesn't suit the reality of crypto custodians How the Wyoming SPDI legislation got started What the Wyoming SPDI laws actually mean How Avanti got its name Caitlin's long term objectives with Avanti Why banking remains the achilles heel of the crypto industry Why existing banks might not be able to handle future growth of the crypto industry How the FDIC targeted the crypto industry Why custodians should have access to the Fed window Caitlin's pitch to entrepreneurs to move to Wyoming

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: Nic's viral Tweet The Fed competes with crypto startups for talent TikTok influences the crypto markets Why supply metrics should be reexamined Why we wrote our cryptodollar whitepaper Chainalysis raises another round Coinbase IPO rumors USDC funds are frozen for the first time Can the stablecoin 'blacklist model' survive? Our FATF 101 and what their new guidance means for the industry What the 'travel rule' actually means why the FATF is worried about stablecoins The FATF fires a shot at decentralized stablecoins

Tim Rice, Coin Metrics CEO, and Ben Celermajer, index manager at Coin Metrics join the show to discuss a new supply measure for cryptoassets which takes into account their "free float." This is designed to take into account coins which are immobilized or illiquid, and brings a systematic approach to the issue inherited from traditional capital markets. In this episode: Why Coin Metrics developed a "free float" measure of supply and why it's informative to investors How CM borrowed from index weighting strategies in equity markets to devise a free methodology for cryptoassets Why the highly auditable nature of cryptocurrencies allows for extremely informative assessments of supply The lack of standards in how supply is assessed among existing data providers Which assets saw the greatest reduction in supply due to the free float adjustment How market capitalization in equities in indexes went through a historical transition from total supply to float-adjusted supply For more on free float supply, see CM's introductory research piece on the topic.

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: The MPC custody debate NYDIG raises $190m for a Bitcoin fund Zimbabwe bans all mobile money services and contemplates redollarization 4% of the UK population owns cryptocurrency, according to the securities regulator What a long-defunct exchange has to do with Bitcoin's GINI coefficient Why the 'market cap' of BCH and BSV is significantly overstated Why 'market cap' remains a problematic measure to compare cryptoassets Ark Invest's rebuttal to Goldman Nic gets a paper published in an antitrust law journal The looming antitrust wave against big tech

Dave Balter, the cofounder and CEO of Flipside Crypto, a business intelligence company focused on public blockchains, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dave's new book, The Humility Imperative, and the lessons he has learned from seven startups His POV on leadership in an emerging market like cryptoassets/blockchain Reflections on fundraising, remote working, personal relationships and more. To learn more about Flipside Crypto visit their website and follow Dave @DaveBalter

We host Lyn Alden, equity research and investment strategist focusing on global macro and commodities, to talk about the debt overhang, the effect of the dollar as the reserve currency, QE, the likelihood of inflation, and the prospects for Bitcoin. In this episode: How the Bretton Woods system broke down and gave way to the Nixon shock The genesis of the petrodollar system with Saudi Arabia Alternatives to the dollar reserve that were mooted prior to Bretton Woods II Why the dollar reserve system has begun to impose a cost on americans rather than being a net benefit How the US became a debtor nation and what that means for the middle class Why the US dollar can't find a natural equilibrium The relationship between dollar strength and emerging markets Why the US government is caught between remaining strategic power through dollar centrality versus re-onshoring supply chains Can the world transition past a dollar standard? Why global commodities being priced in a single currency is a historical aberration Why calling QE simply an asset swap isn't a complete description Why our monetary situation bears resemblance to the 1940s The Fed's changing inflation target Why QE in 2008-14 was largely noninflationary and why this time might be different Lyn's view on Bitcoin and how it fits into her macro thesis Lyn's major concerns about Bitcoin

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: More Proof of Reserve chatter OmiseGo's parent company raises $80m Bitmex backs a new options exchange Paypal plans to roll out crypto products KPMG announces Chain Fusion USDC goes multi-chain We explain the COMP situation Telegram finally settles with the SEC Jay Clayton eyes the SNDY job An explanation of Bitcoin as a synthetic commodity money Our favorite and least favorite regional Fed branches Why a US CBDC has troubling privacy implications Our breakdown of the Compound situation