On The Brink with Castle Island

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

Pat Larsen, cofounder and CEO of ZenLedger joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Pat's entrepreneurial journey and the path that led him to start Zenledger The current state of cryptoasset tax regulation Perspectives on emerging consumer use cases and new applications for cryptoassets To learn more about ZenLedger visit their website and to receive a 15% discount on your tax prep this year use the coupon code "Castle15"

Noah Buxton, director and co-lead of Armanino's blockchain practice and Jeremy Nau, senior manager of the practice join the show. Armanino LLP is an accounting and audit firm that has developed proof of reserve tools for exchanges and custodians, as well as real time attestation tools for stablecoins. In this episode, we cover: How Armanino came to engage with crypto financial companies Why Proof of Reserve matters to the industry How a modern Proof of Reserve process is mechanically carried out Why exchanges are looking to adopt PoR today Why the first round of PoR didn't stick Why the Liability side is so tricky Why involve an auditor in a PoR process Whether PoR inherently requires an audit or accounting firm Proof of Reserve as a way to avoid onerous regulation Armanino's real time assurance tool for Trust Token

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: An update on our office plant River Financial raises a seed round, and our thesis on Bitcoin financial institutions Microsoft ION launches on mainnet Private keys as private property Wisdomtree's commodity ETF... feat. Bitcoin Another ICO bites the dust Former CFTC chairman Giancarlo says Ripple isn't a security XRP... was it created or discovered? What cryptodollars mean for utility tokens

David Nage, Principal and Head of Strategic Relations at Arca joins the show. In this episode we discuss: David's experience in the family office channel and his path to the crypto industry His upcoming FO256 family office virtual conference on June 24th Podcasting and content creation as a complement to investing in the blockchain industry To learn more about David check out his Base Layer podcast and follow him @DavidJNage

Ryan Rabaglia has had a colorful career trading forex, equity, and oil before making his way into the cryptocurrency markets. He's witnessed crypto develop from a niche, uninvestable curiosity to a liquid and financialized global asset. Now Managing Director and Global Head of Trading at OSL, one of the largest digital asset brokerages in the world, Ryan has a unique view of crypto markets. We invited Ryan on the show to talk his personal journey to crypto, how he established himself at a leading digital asset platform in Hong Kong, and of course his market color on the dollarization of crypto markets, and how Tether is understood and used in Asia. In this episode: Ryan's journey from commodity trading to Bitcoin Ryan's explanation for Tether's explosive growth since March How funds play the Tether arbitrage game The compression of margins in OTC desks Where Tether's accumulated credibility derives from Whether there is a perception that Tether would resist regulators if it came to a fight Whether cryptodollars are forcing out BTC as reserve collateral How March 12 was a catalyst for the growth of Tether The growth of alternative use cases for Tether outside of inter-exchange settlement Why traders prefer dollars, regardless of jurisdiction Follow Ryan on Twitter. About OSL: OSL is an Asia-based digital asset brokerage that provides a global counterpart network with a suite of institutional products and services. OSL's capabilities include industry-leading over-the-counter trading with access to large pools of liquidity, systematic RFQ, exchange and custody services for institutions and professional investors. OSL is part of BC Group, which is publicly traded in Hong Kong. Learn more about OSL at osl.com.

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Christine Sandler, head of Sales and Marketing at Fidelity Digital assets. Christine joins the show to discuss Fidelity's newly-released survey of institutional investor attitudes on digital assets. We talk about what FDAS is up to, client enthusiasm for the asset class, and how institutions are thinking about it today. Also covered in the episode: The Web3 dream – does it require blockchains? Bank Frick adds support for USDC Rebranding stablecoins to cryptodollars Bitcoin Billionaires is greenlit for a movie Other events in Bitcoin history which are movie worthy Three Arrows owns 6.26% of GBTC The fate of the GBTC 'premium trade' and the in-kind contribution Stephanie Kelton's NYT op-ed and unspoken constraints on MMT Coinbase is at a crossroads

Mark Casady, cofounder and General Partner at Vestigo Ventures, and former Chairman and CEO of LPL Financial joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mark's career in financial services and the path that led him to becoming CEO of the world's largest independent broker-dealer The evolution of the financial advice industry Mark's thesis on Fintech and founding Vestigo Ventures Blockchain and cryptoassets in the broader world of fintech To learn more about Vestigo Ventures visit their website, and follow Mark on Twitter @MSCasady

So far on the crypto-dollarization miniseries, we've covered Tether's stability mechanics, we've heard from traders and OTC desks using the asset, but we haven't heard from the issuers of the stablecoin itself. To give us insight into how they run the system, Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Tether and Bitfinex, joins the show. In this episode: The factors behind the outflow of BTC and inflow of ETH to Bitfinex Fork futures for ETH 2.0? Bitfinex' policy on staking on behalf of users The principal-agent problem inherent in exchange staking Whether the growth of crypto dollars threatens native collateral like BTC and ETH Paolo's explanation for the growth of tether after March 12th 2020 The advantages of cryptodollars over the current financial system Why Tether opted to list on 7 different blockchains (note: this was recorded before Tether listed on OmiseGo) Paolo's view on the claims that Tether is clogging Ethereum How Tether Gold works Could Tether go from $9b to $100b – what the constraints to scaling are Tether's ability and willingness to surveil transations Tether's business model in a negative rate world How Paolo deals with the pressure of being the public figurehead for Tether Stay up to date on the growth of Tether's capitalization here.

Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. In today's episode: Avanti Bank's raise and Wyoming's Special Purpose Depository Institution regulation GBTC eating up the new supply Bloomberg's commentary on Bitcoin Hester Pierce is re-nominated to the SEC The prospects for blockchain games The Section 230 debate, and how that intersects with Web3 Social media and digital property rights The continued normalization of Bitcoin as a global macro asset

Apolline Blandin, cryptocurrency research lead at the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, joins the show. In this episode: The Cambridge AltFin research agenda The motivation behind the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index How they determine Bitcoin's electricity consumption How Bitcoin's energy usage can be understood in context The genesis of their new geographical mining estimates Why high granularity estimates of mining location are so important to determine its energy mix How and why Bitcoin hashpower migrates on a seasonal basis Why there is so much spare hydro capacity in Sichuan and Yunnan Surprising country-level findings The most defensible academic approaches Apolline has seen so far Why the per-transaction cost estimates of Bitcoin are misleading The prospects for wind, solar, and natural gas for bitcoin mining

Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry, featuring special guest Matt Hougan, global head of research at Bitwise. In today's episode: Tagomi is acquired by Coinbase Matt Hougan's response to Goldman's bearish note What wealth managers are saying about Bitcoin today Light at the end of the tunnel in the CSW saga? BitClave's punishing SEC settlement Calibra rebrands A new paper on Bitcoin Vaults

Dan Matuszewski, Principal and Co-Founder of CMS Holdings joins the show once again. Since he last appeared, the market has been through some gut-wrenching turmoil, and Tether (one of the subjects of the first episode) has tacked on a casual $5B in market cap. Dan, alongside his colleagues at CMS, has also joined the Crypto Twitter fray. In this episode: Why Dan relented and started a twitter account Dan's explanation for the massive growth of Tether since March Whether there is non-crypto business occuring in Tether What we can expect for the Tether-denominated futures markets if it trades below par How Dan thinks about using Tether on Omni versus Ethereum versus Tron What Dan makes of the rise in CME open interest

Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. In this week's episode: The story behind bitcoin pizza day The impact of hashrate futures Genesis Capital's acquisition of Vo1t and what that means for their business Why the DTCC should get into crypto Brian Brooks becoming acting Comptroller of the currency Our analysis of the coins from feb. 2009 reawakening Our theory for why those ancient coins might be moving now The great Bitcoin energy consumption debate Nic gets unblocked by CZ

Tim Kelly, founder and CEO of BitOoda joins the show. BitOoda is a financial services firm that is innovating in the field of structured products based on Bitcoin hashrate and difficulty. In this show we discuss: Tim's career background and the similarities he sees with cryptoassets vs. other asset classes he has traded The mining ecosystem and how derivative contracts solve real business needs The evolving market structure for cryptoasset derivatives and Tim's view on the regulatory landscape To learn more about BitOoda visit: http://bitooda.io/

Nic and Matt cover the week's deals and news. In this episode: Bitcoin full node count Celo and the viability of seigniorage shares stablecoins Telegram winding down their TON project Why we think the SAFT window of opportunity is closed Why the SAFT is just ICOs in a suit Why the next global monetary asset will never be massively premined and disproportionately owned by VC funds How the success of Bitcoin drove VC funds crazy Stablecoins pass $10B ErisX announces Ethereum physically settled futures How futures contracts would handle contested hard forks The importance of JPM banking Coinbase and Gemini Our retrospective on the halving What we're reading and listening to this week Why we don't believe in space mining

Peer to peer marketplaces are a wealth of data on genuine demand for Bitcoin – but not in the way you might think. As it turns out, a large fraction of the volume in these markets relates to complex, multi-step trades designed to use Bitcoin as a bridge currency to move fiat-denominated remittances, especially into countries like Venezuela. Matt Ahlborg, data scientist and creator of UsefulTulips.org, has done great work compiling this data and engaging with these traders to determine what exactly is happening on these opaque marketplaces, and what Bitcoin is being used for. In this episode we cover: How Matt went from working in the Navy to pursuing a career in Bitcoin data science Why p2p exchange volume is more reliable What a massive blackout in Venezuela tells us about foreign exchange flows in Latin America How exactly Bitcoin works as a bridge currency on p2p exchanges The under-reported role of Chinese exporters in Venezuela on LocalBitcoins Matt's investigation into how Argentine capital controls are driving p2p Bitcoin volumes Why Bitcoin still dominates in p2p markets rather than stablecoins Why p2p volumes are likely significantly larger than the reported numbers