The Crypto Conversation

Konstantin is the founder and CEO of Vaulty Finance - a vault that bridges Defi and NFTs on the Binance Smart chain. The Vaulty platform is a yield aggregator that offers multiple strategies to optimize yield farming through regular auto-compounding. Why you should listen: Vaulty is a decentralized platform designed to enable automatic asset allocation across DeFi instruments. Every vault has its own smart contract with predetermined logic. Choose your vault and passively earn yields or NFTs stress-free. Vaults allow users to minimize network fees and time spent researching the best instruments. Vaulty unites the power of DeFi and NFT. Vaulty is a unique profit-sharing yield aggregator that incorporates both traditional DeFi and NFT yield strategies into the same decentralized platform. Konstantin shares some fascinating stories on what it was like to grow up in rural Russia and why so many talented poker and chess players are Russian. Supporting links: Vaulty Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Bill Barhydt is the CEO of Abra, a platform that enables crypto banking services for consumers and institutions in over 100 countries. Abra's mission is to become a crypto bank that replaces the need for legacy banking services. Bill was a member of the Cryptography Mailing List where Satoshi first released the Bitcoin White Paper. Bill started his career working in cryptography for the CIA. Why you should listen: Abra is making cryptocurrency investing simple. Abra operates an easy-to-use smartphone-based wallet, exchange, high yield interest accounts, and lending service supporting 125 digital assets. Users can buy, sell, store, and invest in cryptocurrencies and manage their crypto investments, in one app. Their vision is an open, global financial system that is easily accessible to everyone. Bill is a globally recognized technology pioneer with a unique perspective on the early days of the internet and blockchain. Bill started his career working in R&D at the CIA and NASA. Bill was one of the early team members at Netscape where he was involved in building the core infrastructure that helped grow the consumer Internet we use today. Supporting links: Abra Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points. This week Morgan Stanley's SEC Filings reveal it has purchased a large holding of Bitcoin via the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Only Fans has reversed its decision to ban sexually explicit content, and the NFT market continues to boom as a new wave of Generative Art is released. Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Zach Burks is the CEO and founder of NFT marketplace Mintable. Mintable is the first NFT platform to pioneer 'gasless minting', enabling content creators to mint NFTs without prohibitive transaction fees. Zach says he is building Mintable with Mom in mind. If his Mom finds it easy to use Mintable to mint and trade NFTs, then anyone can use Mintable. Zach is applying the best features from e-commerce sites such as Amazon to make Mintable one of the most exciting and feature-rich marketplaces of the future. Why you should listen: Mintable is the first NFT platform to pioneer 'gasless minting', enabling content creators to mint NFTs without being burdened by prohibitive transaction fees. When the Mark Cuban-backed platform recently completed its US$13 million Series A funding round, it also announced an upcoming integration with Ripple's XRP ledger to enable a new breed of ecologically friendly NFTs. Supporting links: Mintable Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Manu Alzuru is a humanist, a solarpunk, and the founder of DoinGud - a next-gen NFT platform designed to empower creators and collectors to create meaningful impact. Why you should listen: DoinGud is an NFT ecosystem where passion has the ability to create social impact. NFT creators can donate at least 5% of their profits from every sale to charitable causes benefiting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. These goals include creating gender equality, ending world hunger, ensuring all individuals have good health and well-being, and quality education for all. Invited creators can onboard colleagues. Brands and communities can open meta-galleries to house their artists. Anyone can submit their artwork to a pool to be represented by a community gallery. Solarpunk is an art movement that envisions how the future might look if humanity succeeds in solving climate change. The iconography of Solarpunk focuses on renewable energies such as solar and wind power. It is the flipside to Cyberpunk. Supporting links: DoinGud Solar Power Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Victor David is co-founder and CEO of Epik, a global agency that connects brands with video games to offer unique and immersive digital experiences using NFTs. Why you should listen: Epik is putting brands into video games to offer unique and immersive digital experiences to more than a billion fans worldwide. Epik is solving the problem of building interconnectivity between metaverses so that metaverses will be able to talk to each other in ways never possible before. Called the "Epikverse," this technology will span across multiple virtual worlds, including, one day, Facebook. Epik's core mission is to improve the experience of gamers, making them feel the nostalgia of collecting in-game items that are accessible across different games, allowing them to interact with their assets outside of the game, and be able to trade them anytime. The opportunities we see in NFTs are not only limited to arts and music. Most of our NFT collections are based on collaborations with the leading gaming companies, and these unique digital assets will give the players distinctive benefits when playing the game (special offers, skins, accessories, playable characters, etc) giving real-world value in real life. Supporting links: Epik Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points. This week Bitcoin breaks US$46,000 while the U.S. senate has included draconian restrictions on the crypto ecosystem in the infrastructure bill. On the positive side, the last week has seen an awakening of political support for crypto, from all sides. Following the successful implementation of EIP-1559, can Ethereum become ultra sound money? Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Dave the Wave is a pseudonymous investor, trader, and technical analyst. A contrarian, Dave is respected on Crypto Twitter for his objective, rational approach to technical analysis. Dave's thesis is that Bitcoin is following his Logarithmic Growth Curve model. Logarithmic growth suggests exponential gains at the beginning that slowly taper off towards a plateau in the long term. Why you should listen: Dave the Wave has a gentleman's agreement with Plan B (stock to flow). If Bitcoin achieves a price above $100K by December this year, the stock-to-flow model will remain valid, and Dave's Logarithmic Growth Curve will be invalidated. If Bitcoin fails to break $100K by December, then stock-to-flow is invalidated and the Logarithmic Growth Curve remains valid. Dave says that Bitcoin is a nascent currency in the process of capitalization. There are periods of volatility in both directions as new people add and subtract liquidity in adoption waves. Bitcoin is following the path of gold that was capitalized over hundreds if not thousands of years, Bitcoin has already reached a market cap of 1T in just 12 years. Despite sometimes being misunderstood as bearish, Dave says that if Bitcoin follows the Logarithmic Growth Curve, Bitcoin will hit somewhere between $500k and $1million in approx ten years' time. Supporting links: Dave the Wave The Logarithmic Growth Curve Dave on Twitter The Bitcoin Liquid Index Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Jamie Burke is the Founder & CEO of Outlier Ventures. Jamie and his team are investors in and authors of The Open Metaverse thesis which explores how the Web 3.0 Stack extends beyond financial services into virtual worlds, gaming and decentralized economies. Why you should listen: Outlier has created a framework to assess and interrogate Metaverses, and a toolkit to design alternatives based on the principles of user centricity and sovereignty of identity, data and wealth. They call it the Open Metaverse OS, a shared and open operating system built upon the success of decentralized protocols, in particular DeFi and NFTs emerging in The Web 3 Stack. Jamie says it is important to understand that the beginnings of the Metaverse are already here and if we think of it as a far-off destination we will sleepwalk into not addressing some fundamental design choices and replicate what is broken about the Web today. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny said "The Metaverse is going to be far more pervasive and powerful than anything else. If one central company gains control of this, they will become more powerful than any government, and be a god on Earth." For this reason, it is crucial that the metaverse is designed on open and permission protocols. Supporting links: Outlier Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Mark Berisha is the CEO of APEcoin and MemeFarm, and a founding member of the BustaBNB DAO. APECoin embraces the viral nature of memes and builds DAO-based perpetual utility machines. Apecoin is developing BustaBNB for the Binance Smart Chain and they have just launched a new NFT marketplace and NFT-OTC solution. Why you should listen: APEcoin is an ecosystem for crypto enthusiasts and entrepreneurs who are building DAO-based perpetual utility machines. APEcoin incubates projects which focus on automated Defi solutions. MemeFarm is designed to automate the NFT ecosystem and allow users to mint, auction, buy and sell NFTs on the Binance smart chain. By using the NFT marketplace, users can solve many of the problems that exist in the altcoin OTC trading space. BustaBNB is an online crypto crash game with BNB as the primary play token. Users place a bet, watch the multiplier curve increase exponentially and click before the crash. BustaBNB was influenced by games like Bustabit, and Satoshi Dice. A BUST airdrop will occur for existing APE holders. Supporting links: APEcoin MemeFarm BustaBNB Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Iqbal V Gandham is VP of Payments & Transactions at Ledger. One of the best-known companies in crypto, Ledger has sold more than 3 million hardware devices and secures an estimated 15% of all crypto assets. Ledger is now preparing to make inroads into Web3. Why you should listen: As we move towards a world where all types of assets will be digitized, providing users with the most complete and secure user experience will be more important than ever. Ledger Live is an all-in-one digital asset management application that allows users to exchange, stake, and lend their crypto, interact with dapps and manage NFTs. When combined with Ledger's hardware, Ledger Live provides best-in-class security for users in the digital asset environment. Iqbal hints that a new Ledger hardware wallet is coming in 2022. Supporting links: Ledger Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points. This week markets are up as Amazon rumors and a short squeeze pump Bitcoin. Plus Elizabeth Warren says shadowy super coders are threatening the financial system, Tether is in the regulatory firing line, and CZ is ready to work with regulators. Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Tom Bilyeu is the CEO of Impact Theory and one of the world's leading motivational speakers. Tom is committed to pulling people out of the matrix. A successful multi-business entrepreneur, Tom's goal is to impact culture at scale. He plans to do this by building the next Disney. Impact Theory produces comics, graphic novels, books, television, film, interview talk shows and more. Tom is building an NFT universe that will leverage the unique properties of Manga, Anime, and blockchain to take Impact Theory to the next level. Why you should listen: Impact Theory is a revolutionary studio that produces original content on themes of empowerment, by bringing together some of the most talented creators, writers, and artists. The studio was started by CEO Tom Bilyeu, one of the planet's most successful entrepreneurs. Impact Theory distributes content across digital platforms including the emerging NFT space. The studio has built a loyal audience in the millions with over one billion social media impressions, and its catalog of content has hundreds of millions of views. Supporting links: Impact Theory Matthew Ball on the Metaverse Nexo Tom on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Tess Rinearson is VP of Engineering at Interchain where she leads the team responsible for Tendermint Core, the leading BFT engine for building blockchains. Why you should listen: Interchain is responsible for stewarding foundational infrastructure for blockchain ecosystems. Their work helps secure billions of dollars in value across a variety of major blockchain projects, including Cosmos. The team is pioneering new protocols for interoperability across the entire blockchain ecosystem. The vision is to create a new interconnected ecosystem, a new internet of blockchains: The Interchain. In 2017 Tess published a popular Bitcoin explainer guide using emojis. Supporting links: Interchain Bitcoin Explained with Emoji Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points. This week markets are down as rising inflation pushes up food costs and the delta variant worsens the pandemic. Plus AXIE keeps mooning, stablecoins are in the regulatory firing line, and is CZ willing to work with regulators? Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Dean Tribble is the CEO of Agoric, the JavaScript-native smart contract platform with backing from Naval and Polychain Capital. Dean co-designed the negotiation process and contract for the first smart contracting system, AMiX. As a Principal Architect at Microsoft, he co-designed the Midori distributed object-capability operating system. As founder and CTO for Agorics, he architected the brokerage information system for Schwab's active traders and the WebMart electronic contract system for SunLabs. Dean has a fascinating perspective on the past, present, and future of blockchain. Why you should listen: Dean's life work can be described as creating software that lets humans cooperate better. He wants to use technology to give humanity leverage to accomplish our goals and create a more cooperative world. A Proof of Stake blockchain and JavaScript-native smart contract platform, Agoric offers developers and enterprises an interoperable ecosystem for deploying and managing DeFi applications. Agoric is a robust architecture for building secure smart contracts based in JavaScript for maximum reach. Agoric empowers developers to execute transactions, establish new markets, and craft novel exchanges — without centralized control. Agoric uses an object-capability (ocap) security architecture, in which access to a programming object itself is the authority to use the object. All kinds of digital assets can be created, but importantly, they can be transferred in exactly the same ways, with exactly the same security properties. Agoric's composable smart contract development environment provides reusable governance, lending, and trading components to propel the creators of the multi-chain DeFi economy. Supporting links: Agoric Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points. This week we look at Shapeshift's announcement that it will decentralize and give FOX tokens away in an airdrop to a million users. Plus what's behind the AXIE blockchain game boom, and more signs of the emerging Metaverse... Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Molly Mackinlay is Network Lead at Protocol Labs, an open-source research, development, and deployment laboratory. Protocol Labs projects include IPFS, Filecoin, libp2p, and more. The team aims to make human existence orders of magnitude better through technology. Why you should listen: Molly is project lead at IPFS, The InterPlanetary File System, a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to preserve and grow humanity's knowledge by making the web upgradeable, resilient, and more open. Filecoin is an open-source, public cryptocurrency and digital payment system intended to be a blockchain-based cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method. It is made by Protocol Labs and builds on top of InterPlanetary File System, allowing users to rent unused hard drive space. Supporting links: Protocol Labs IPFS Filecoin Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

James Gillingham is the Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of FINXFLO, the world's first Regulated Hybrid Liquidity Aggregator. The platform is launching in August but traders can sign up now. Why you should listen: After an injury brought a promising football career to an end, James worked at Close Brothers, and International Asset Management, before founding JageroFX, a startup delivering automated trading algorithms. Having spent his career identifying problems in the financial markets, James then founded FINXFLO to provide solutions for crypto traders. FINXFLO is described as the world's first hybrid DeFi/CeFi liquidity and protocol aggregator. Using only one account with one KYC, users are now able to utilize liquidity from 25+ CeFi and DeFi platforms through a single user interface. Supporting links: FINXFlow Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Simona Pop is Head of Community at Status, a secure messaging platform that also functions as a crypto wallet and Web3 browser. Status is designed to enable the free flow of information, protect the right to private, secure conversations, and promote the sovereignty of individuals. Why you should listen: Status aims to be a decentralized, secure by design communication tool. The true benefit of Web3 is the ability to transact and communicate on our own terms – without middlemen. In order to enjoy this type of free communication, we must be confident that our messages, transactions, identities, and funds are safe and secure. Status has been hosting workshops in Latin America to provide educational resources to local creators on how to get involved with NFTs - from minting to collecting - in a variety of native languages. Looking ahead, the team is also examining how crypto-based social applications are a key component of crypto's evolution. Status believes creating social platforms that uphold crypto's values of decentralization, privacy, and user rights is the next step. Simona is an NFT collector and inverse meme aficionado. To find what an inverse meme is, listen to the show! Supporting links: Status Read Simona's blog story Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points of the last week. June was a huge month with Bitcoin's antifragility put to the test. Bitcoin's market cap dropped by 50%, hash rate dropped by 50%, China stepped up its crackdown on mining and exchanges, and everyone from Nassim Taleb to Elizabeth Warren had a crack at Bitcoin. What happens next? Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Benjamin Sauter is a partner at Kobre and Kim, a legal firm that specializes in International Disputes and Investigations. The firm prides itself on its aggressive, trial-ready approach. Ben's role is to aggressively defend clients in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries against high-stakes government enforcement actions. Why you should listen: Ben and his colleagues wrote a piece for Brave New Coin called The U.S. govt is aggressively prosecuting crypto cases - how to defend yourself. The article summary reads: Thinking Beyond The Government Playbook - how crypto holders can proactively plan for and respond to aggressive U.S. Government enforcement tactics. Ben says the high level takeaway is that U.S. prosecutors are becoming increasingly aggressive in their attempts to police digital asset markets — and more creative in their ability to follow through. Recent events highlight the ability of prosecutors not only to collect actionable intelligence about digital assets, but also to use that information to achieve law enforcement objectives across international borders. By recognizing these tactics and acting proactively, individuals with digital-asset wealth can reduce the risk of falling afoul of the authorities. With U.S. prosecutors adopting an aggressive approach towards enforcement against cryptocurrency market players, companies and individuals who are concerned that they may be the target of a government investigation should prepare to mount a creative defense. That means hiring counsel who understands criminal defense and trial strategy, and the technical issues raised by digital asset holdings, including blockchain forensics, and asset forfeiture procedures. Supporting links: Kobre & Kim Ben's piece on Brave New Coin Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Charlie Silver is the founder and CEO of Permission, a crypto startup that gives individuals a way to monetize their data and get paid in ASK, the crypto asset that powers the Permission ecosystem. Why you should listen: Permission.io has developed the infrastructure for a new engagement model based on permission and value exchange. The Permission platform runs on ASK, a new currency created to pay users for your engagement. ASK allows users to be compensated for data shared while doing the things users normally do online. ASK is a currency that users can spend on Permission.io and on other sites that accept ASK. The company has created the Permission Coin ("ASK") to enable individuals to securely grant permission and monetize their personal data across a decentralized eCommerce ecosystem. Advertisers reward consumers with ASK for interacting with brands and content, building loyalty and trust. By transferring value back to consumers along the buying journey, away from big tech's exploitation of data, Permission is bringing change to the current Internet business model. The company has launched a Google Chrome browser extension that enables members to monetize their data while browsing the web. Supporting links: Permission Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

BTSE is a crypto asset exchange and futures trading platform. BTSE has partnered with Brave New Coin to create two indices - the BBCX and BBAX, around which BTSE has developed futures trading products. BTSE co-founder Brian Wong explains what makes BTSE one of the most compelling crypto trading solution providers. Why you should listen: BTSE offers a suite of sophisticated futures trading products. BTSE traders can now use index perpetuals to build market-neutral strategies, and target risk profiles. Index perpetuals allow traders the ability to hedge out unwanted exposures, such as the broad crypto market or a particular sector. BTSE has partnered with Brave New Coin to create several indices. An index is a way to track the value of a broad market or sector, via a single price. The BNC-BTSE Composite Index (BBCX) tracks the real-time market performance of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. The BNC-BTSE Alt Coin Index (BBAX) tracks the real-time market performance of Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and EOS. Both indices have outperformed their largest constituents in the year to date 2021. Supporting links: BTSE Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points of the last week. And what a week it was - China has stepped up its crackdown on all parts of the crypto ecosystem. As a result, miners are moving out of China, and the Bitcoin hashrate is dropping. The markets are down in response, but ultimately, is this good for the bitcoin network? Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Sebastián Milla is Chief of Special Projects at Exodus, one of the most popular blockchain wallets in the world. Exodus has 1.6 million users and completed a fund-raising round by issuing stock tokens to Exodus users on Algorand. Why you should listen: The internet is the future of experiences. The Exodus product and design teams are focused on delivering these experiences now. By focusing relentlessly on UI/UX Exodus has grown swiftly, developing a cryptocurrency wallet experience that surprises and delights its users. Supporting links: Exodus Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points of the last week. And what a week it was, Andy looks at El Salvador's decision to make Bitcoin legal tender, which countries might be next, and is Elon Musk warming back up to Bitcoin? Supporting links: Nexo Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Oliver Gale is the CEO and co-founder of Panther Protocol, an end-to-end privacy protocol for digital assets, which can be deployed in a compliant way on any public blockchain. After pursuing a hip-hop career in the Caribbean, Oliver entered the world of start-ups and blockchain. Why you should listen: Panther Protocol is an interoperable privacy solution focused on the needs of decentralized finance traders and investors. Due to the immutable and transparent nature of public blockchains, DeFi users are subject to surveillance and economic espionage. Transactional privacy is in high demand, as it allows retail, whales, and institutional users to protect their competitive advantages by not allowing adversaries to reverse engineer and front-run their strategies. Traders lose their alpha very quickly in DeFi, and Panther's value proposition is to help traders protect that alpha. Key Takeaway: Panther Protocol is an end-to-end privacy protocol for DeFi. Panther provides DeFi users with fully collateralized privacy-enhancing digital assets, leveraging crypto-economic incentives and zkSNARKs technology. Users are able to mint zero-knowledge zAssets by depositing digital assets from any blockchain into Panther vaults. zAssets will become an ever-expanding asset class for users who want their transactions and strategies the way they should always have been: private. Supporting links: Panther Protocol Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Aaron McDonald is the CEO and co-founder of Centrality, a tech ventures ecosystem building the infrastructure for the emerging decentralized web. Why you should listen: One of Centrality's mission statements is to UnF**ck the world. To achieve this they are building a suite of decentralized technology solutions that allow the world's citizens to interact with each other on a more even playing field. Key Takeaway: The CENNZ blockchain is part of the Centrality ecosystem. It is the world's first natively permissioned public blockchain. A "permissioned" blockchain provides specific access or privilege for certain participants of the network. So by making the permissioning native, you can be certain that the access control functionality is aligned with all the services. In practical terms, this means CENNZnet is one of the most secure blockchains in the world with higher performance and fewer issues. Supporting links: Centrality Aaron on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Johan Unger is the CEO of Meme.com, a memetic asset protocol that acts as a story layer of the internet. Operating at the intersection of memes, NFTs, and social media, the platform describes itself as what would happen if Doge and Wikipedia had a baby. Why you should listen: Meme.com uses crypto and entertainment to measure the value of internet content. It enables people to mint memetic coins, which are priced based on the perceived value of the trend or meme they represent, like a CoinMarketCap for memes. Key Takeaway: Memes are the soul of the internet, a new way to communicate complex ideas, and fun to make, trade and collect. Johan thinks of memes in the way that Richard Dawkins originally described them: that any idea that spreads is a meme. So a song, a YouTube video or a tweet can be memes if they spread. Meme.com is building the meme economy. Supporting links: Meme.com Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Matthew Graham is the CEO of Beijing-based Sino Global Capital. Matthew is a prominent personality on Crypto Twitter, an authority on China's ever-shifting attitude to blockchain, and an outspoken critic of Elon Musk and Bitclout. Why you should listen: Sino Global Capital is an investment firm based in China that invests in decentralized technologies that have a strategic connection to the mainland Chinese market. Matthew says the firm is very bullish on DeFi, and the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems. While he comes from a traditional finance background and describes himself as an intense personality and a suit and tie guy, Matthew has embraced crypto's meme culture. Key Takeaway: China sees blockchain as a key strategic technology pillar critical to the next decade of growth. China is moving forward with its digital currency initiative and continuing to hold trials across the country. While headlines that say China is banning bitcoin or banning crypto mining can be alarming and market-moving, there is always much more nuance behind the scenes and headlines shouldn't be taken at face value. Supporting links: Sino Global Capital Matthew on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Lin Dai is the CEO and co-founder of OneOf, a green NFT platform for music NFTs, built on Tezos, with backing by Quincy Jones. Why you should listen: OneOf was co-founded by tech entrepreneur Lin Dai, digital media executive Joshua James, and music industry veteran Adam Fell, in partnership with Quincy Jones. Launching in June, the platform will feature exclusive NFT drops from top music artists such as Whitney Houston, Doja Cat, H.E.R., Quincy Jones, John Legend, and TLC. Key Takeaway: Non-fungible token (NFT) platform OneOf raised $63 million in a seed round from prominent tech and music industry veterans. Its mission is to become a more environmentally sustainable marketplace for artists and fans. OneOf is built on the Tezos blockchain. Minting an NFT on OneOf uses an order of magnitude less energy than platforms on the Ethereum Network. Supporting links: OneOf Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points of the last week. We look at Elon Musk and the new Bitcoin Mining Association, the price volatility, and the news out of China - bullish or bearish for Bitcoin? Supporting links: Watch this podcast on YouTube Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Erica Stanford is the founder of the popular Crypto Curry Club in the UK and the author of a new book called Crypto Wars: Faked Deaths, Missing Billions and Industry Disruption. Why you should listen: With time on her hands during lockdown, after listening to the BBC podcast The Missing Crypto Queen about the infamous Onecoin crypto scam, Erica decided to write a book about crypto scams. The book covers everything from Onecoin to Bitconnect, the ICO bubble, and the various exchange exit scams. Supporting links: Crypto Wars on Amazon The Crypto Curry Club Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Colin Pape is the founder of Presearch, a community-powered, decentralized search engine that provides better search results while protecting privacy and rewarding users with crypto when they search. Why you should listen: Colin says the best way to compete with Google is to build a framework that enables people from all over the world to collaborate on an open and decentralized search engine. Presearch is preparing to release its first decentralized technology – a new search engine experience that runs on node servers operated by Presearch community members. The new Presearch Engine offers results that are as good as the world's top search engines. It also provides an additional layer of data through community packages which makes those results even better. For example, you can search Presearch for "Bitcoin" to see what the crypto package looks like. Over time, there will be additional results provided by a user-curated supplementary index. Key takeaway: Presearch is dedicated to creating significant value for marketers who want to reach Presearch users. Advertisers can stake their PRE to a keyword, and whichever advertiser stakes the most tokens will have its ads displayed when a user searches on the term selected. Advertisers confer the most external value on PRE, so their success is important to the ecosystem. Supporting links: Presearch Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Ben Pousty is the US Marketing Lead for Bitstamp, a crypto exchange with offices in Luxemburg, London and New York. We talk to Ben about Bitstamp's new "For All The Ways We Crypto" campaign, the challenges of crypto marketing, Bitcoin's unit bias issue, and more. Supporting links: Bitstamp Bitstamp U.S. expansion Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Last week Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. He said that Tesla is concerned about the increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining. In response, the crypto markets crashed with Bitcoin falling to $42,000. Let's look at the subsequent tweets from Elon, reaction from the Bitcoin community, the Doge angle, and speculate on what happens next. Supporting links: Bitcoin is key to an abundant energy future The Investors Guide to Bitcoin and the Environment Is this Elon's Doge wallet? Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin

Elon Musk tweeted today that Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. He said that Tesla is concerned about the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining. In response, the crypto markets crashed with Bitcoin falling 12% to $49,000. In this podcast, Andy reacts to Elon's tweets and suggests some resources that argue that Bitcoin mining incentivizes a renewable energy future. Supporting links: Bitcoin is key to an abundant energy future Bitcoin Mythology The Investors Guide to Bitcoin and the Environment Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Owl is the cofounder of 0x_nodes, a cross-chain yield aggregation network. 0x_nodes is a network of deployed systems that allow users to move, acquire, and build yield-bearing strategies with non-native assets across EVM and non-EVM-based blockchains. Why you should listen: One of the fundamental problems across the crypto ecosystem is the lack of interoperability between blockchains. The ability to easily move value between blockchains will unlock the next growth cycle in decentralized finance. This is the problem that 0x_nodes seeks to solve. To the non-technical, Web 3.0 feels seamless. Video streaming, global zoom conferences, smartphone apps, gaming, and social media. Everything is integrated and it all just works. Through innovation and fast development cycles, 0x_nodes aims to end the fragmentation of the Ethereum network — and make interoperability commonplace for all. Key takeaway: 0x_nodes is a cross-chain protocol that allows synthetic asset movements between blockchains — enabling broader yield aggregation strategies. Being able to seamlessly move value between blockchains will open up a new world of financial products and services. 0x_nodes will start on the Ethereum mainnet first — deploying nodes throughout the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) ecosystem. Instead of utilizing a spoke network topology, 0x_nodes will be comprised of a core mesh network between EVM ecosystems — and will bridge the EVM network with external blockchain networks. This unidirectional yield aggregation pulling from EVMs to the mainnet will create new opportunities for yield, while simplifying the experience for the user. Supporting links: 0x_nodes Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Bette Chen is the co-founder of Acala - the DeFi hub of Polkadot, powering open finance applications and removing the need for financial intermediaries. Guest: Bette Chen Why you should listen: The mission of the Acala project is to support and nurture the financial applications of the decentralized web. The drivers of this mission are delivering financial stability, liquidity, and accessibility for all. Key takeaway: Acala offers a suite of financial primitives, including: a trustless staking derivative (liquid DOT - LDOT), a multi-collateralized stablecoin (aUSD) backed by cross-chain assets, and an AMM DEX – all with micro gas fees that can be paid in any token. Acala is a blockchain platform custom-built for DeFi and powered by ACA. Supporting links: Acala Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Dogecoin, a memecoin that was abandoned by its founders, is the best performing crypto asset of 2021, appreciating more than 12,000% YTD. With high-profile backers such as Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, can Doge stay the course or is it set to crash and burn? Why you should listen: Andy takes a deep dive into a new report by Galaxy Digital that takes a 360 angle look at Dogecoin's fundamentals. The report finds a large number of positives and some serious negatives as well. Dogecoin may have always been a joke, but it's a joke that keeps getting both funnier and more serious too. Key takeaway: On the positive side of the ledger, Doge is the best performing major digital asset year to date. More people own Doge than at any other time. Doge is dominating the cultural conversation thanks to memes and to Elon Musk. There are negatives. Dogecoin has zero development. Few people run full nodes and those who do have difficulty downloading the chain or staying synced with the network. There's no market infrastructure, barely any wallet software, and despite being more than 7 years old, many exchanges don't support it. There is no long-term narrative or use-case supporting its wide adoption. And it's not clear whether DOGE holders are dogmatic about the coin's long-term prospects. Supporting links: Galaxy Digital Doge Report Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Alex Wearn has a background in product development for tech companies such as Amazon. He now brings a user-first product lens to decentralized exchanges. Alex is the CEO and co-founder of IDEX, one of the first decentralized exchanges. Guest: Alex Wearn Why you should listen: The IDEX goal is to create a non-custodial exchange that has the same user experience as a centralized exchange, eliminating the choice that users have to make today between functionality and fund safety. Key takeaway: IDEX has just announced the IDEX Hybrid Liquidity model. This new innovation is a response to the rise of AMM based DEXes. However, AMMs have issues with failed transactions, high slippage, front-running bots, and high gas fees. These issues are a result of users being close to the blockchain. The IDEX Hybrid Liquidity approach attempts to smooth out these issues while still maintaining the core ethos of a DEX - remaining non-custodial. Supporting links: Bobby Lee Ballet Crypto Bobby On Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Bobby Lee is the Founder of Ballet Crypto, co-founder of BTCChina, and he is the author of a superb new book called The Promise of Bitcoin: The Future of Money and How It Can Work for You. Why you should listen: With a software engineering and computer science background, Bobby Lee has always been technologically inclined. So when his brother Charlie Lee introduced Bobby to Bitcoin in 2011, he understood its significance immediately. After dedicating himself to Bitcoin for the last ten years, Bobby has written a book that tells his story and explains why Bitcoin's journey has only just begun. Key takeaway: Bobby says that understanding and projecting the value of Bitcoin can be daunting - while the path is never a straight line, Bitcoin continues to grow in interest and appreciate in value. While Bitcoin is still working out its kinks - corporations and governments are likely to become more interested in Bitcoin, and interested in acquiring it as an asset. Supporting links: Bobby Lee Ballet Crypto Bobby On Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Camilla Churcher is the Global Head of Business Development at Celsius Network. Why you should listen: After a successful career in traditional finance with stints at Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, and Bank of America, Camilla made the move into crypto. She has been at Celsius since March 2020. Camilla sees crypto regulations as a positive that allow more users and institutions to enter the crypto ecosystem. She thinks there is a 75% chance that a Bitcoin ETF is approved in 2021. Key takeaway: The Celsius platform lets users earn interest on their crypto assets and use it as collateral to get fiat loans. Celsius offers a platform of curated financial services and can be thought of as a crypto bank. Their goal is to disrupt the financial industry, one user at a time, and introduce financial freedom through crypto. Supporting links: Celsius Network Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Techemy Capital has launched two actively managed portfolios that allow investors to gain exposure to BTC/ETH price action and the DeFi sector. Trades are executed by Techemy Capital's Josh Olszewicz. Investors can take advantage of crypto price moves without having to trade themselves - and because Techemy's products are non-custodial - without releasing control of their assets. Guest: Josh Olszewicz Why you should listen: Trader Josh Olszewicz joins Andy to talk about the two actively managed portfolios that Techemy Capital has deployed on Enzyme Finance. Individuals can invest into the portfolios in a non-custodial manner that gives them exposure to Josh's professional trading strategies. Key takeaway: Enzyme Finance is an on-chain asset management platform. Because everything is on-chain all trades are transparent and recorded on the blockchain. Rather than have to learn the stress of trading themselves, investors can simply buy into either portfolio and capture the gains or losses that the portfolios achieve over time. Investors can enter or leave the portfolios at any time. Supporting links: Techemy Capital Enzyme Finance Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Market optimism around the soon-to-be-implemented Ethereum Improvement Proposal, EIP1559, is high. The Ethereum EIP will arrive as a part of the London network Hard Fork in July and will overhaul Ethereum's fee structure. Andy is joined by Brave New Coin analyst Aditya Das to discuss the implications of EIP1559 for users, investors, and miners. Guest: Aditya Das Why you should listen: EIP1559 was first proposed by Vitalik Buterin in 2018. It will replace the variable first-price auction model currently used to decide Ethereum transaction fees with a more deterministic base fee model. It is hoped this will remove much of the volatility and uncertainty associated with paying the Gas fees required to successfully conduct a transaction on the network. It will also introduce a fee burn model for each transaction, that may add a deflationary element to the ETH currency and increase its appeal as a safe-haven, hard asset. Key takeaway: EIP1559 will solve four key problems with the current gas model: Making transaction fees more predictable Reducing delays in transaction confirmation Improving user experience by automating the fee bidding system Creating a positive feedback loop between network activity and the ETH supply. Supporting links: EIP 1559 Leverj Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Vasja Veber is the co-founder of music tech company Viberate. Vibrate has been building blockchain solutions for the music industry since 2017 and are positioning as market leaders in the music data sector. They have just entered the NFT space. Techno DJ UMEK is also a co-founder and is about to execute a live event NFT. Guest: Vasja Veber Why you should listen: On April 29 Viberate co-founder and Techno producer UMEK will mint the first-ever live performance and live stream NFT. If the release is successful, Viberate plans to enable their half a million verified artists database to mint gig NFTs, secure future bookings, and create a new revenue stream. Key takeaway: With this drop, UMEK aims to disrupt the live event industry, minting the first-ever live gig NFT and the first-ever livestream NFT, as well as minting three unique remixes of his track Lanicor. During the pandemic, UMEK, like all touring artists, has resorted to live streams and online fan interaction. Still searching for new ways of expression and exploring the digital space, he wants to push the boundaries of NFTs and create something unique. With the live gig NFT, he aims to disrupt the booking industry and offer promoters and artists a safety net until events are up and running again. Live streams have proven they're here to stay. NFTs have the power to create a brand new market for them, offering musicians a new revenue stream and enabling fans to support and book their favorites. Supporting links: Vibrate UMEK NFT Leverj Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Robbie Ferguson is the co-founder of Immutable, best known for launching the Gods Unchained blockchain game, one of the most successful blockchain games in the wild. Robbie is now focused on Immutable X, a decentralized gas-free layer-2 protocol for Ethereum NFTs. Guest: Robbie Ferguson Why you should listen: Immutable X is the first Layer 2 scaling solution for NFTs on Ethereum. It seeks to solve the key challenges facing the Ethereum NFT ecosystem such as scaling, UX, fees, and environmental impact. Immutable X has instant trade confirmation, massive scalability (9,000 TPS+), and zero gas fees - without compromising user custody. The largest NFT marketplace OpenSea is one of many NFT projects working with or supporting Immutable X including: SuperfarmDAO (defi NFT farm), Epics.GG (collectibles), Illuvium (auto battler RPG), Lucid Sight (MLB Champions Baseball, Crypto Space Commander), War Riders (post-apocalyptic MMO), Gods Unchained (TCG), Guild of Guardians (mobile RPG), and Mintable (NFT marketplace). Key takeaway: Robbie is a passionate supporter of the Ethereum community. He says it best represents the philosophy of trustless, decentralized asset ownership. It has prioritized decentralization and network health over short-term scalability upgrades. Immutable X lets projects stay on Ethereum while massively boosting their scalability and liquidity. Supporting links: Immutable The Three-Body Problem The Culture Series Leverj Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Chainlink has released a new whitepaper called Chainlink 2.0: Next Steps in the Evolution of Decentralized Oracle Networks. The new whitepaper outlines an ambitious vision for the future of smart contracts. We talk with Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov who explains the implications for the next generation of blockchain ecosystems. Guest: Sergey Nazarov Why you should listen: Chainlink's new whitepaper outlines a long-term, multi-year vision for the future of oracle-enabled smart contracts. The paper states that "Decentralized Oracle Networks will create a decentralized meta-layer that enhances smart contracts with highly scalable, confidential, and secure forms of off-chain computation, in addition to the external data feeds that Chainlink powers today." Key takeaway: The Chainlink 2.0 Whitepaper is over 100 pages long and represents a year of work by the Chainlink team. It was written by a team of academic researchers from computer science fields such as security, cryptography, distributed systems, game theory, and mathematics. The paper outlines a new architecture for building hybrid smart contracts where Decentralized Oracle Networks offer all of the capabilities that blockchains cannot, serving as an off-chain computation layer that is anchored to blockchains for security while operating with the feature-richness and scalability of off-chain systems. The new layer enables a product suite of Chainlink Decentralized Services that power a variety of secure, smart contract applications capable of supporting a wider set of use cases than is currently available today. Supporting links: Chainlink Chainlink 2.0 whitepaper Leverj Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Jaime Rogozinski was the original founder of the r/wallstreetbets subreddit. WSB is notorious for its community of young traders who executed risky trading strategies. WSB played a key role in the GameStop short squeeze that caused losses on short positions in U.S. firms topping US$70 billion in early 2021. VIX is the CEO of the new WSB Dapp, a decentralized Dapp that is launching a token. Token funds will be used by a WSB DAO to buy token portfolios (ETPs) voted on by the community. Guest: Jaime Rogozinski and VIXX Why you should listen: The Wall Street Bets subreddit is described as "Like 4chan found a Bloomberg terminal." Known for its aggressive trading strategies, members are generally young retail traders prepared to take on high amounts of risk. The community is fond of meme stocks that capture the zeitgeist. The subreddit is also known for its memes, with traders self-identifying as degenerate apes who trade stonks for tendies (profits). Key takeaway: The WSB movement for financial democracy began on Reddit and has become a global phenomenon. The WSB Dapp was created to give this decentralized community a tool to voice their opinions as retail investors so that anyone, anywhere can YOLO together as one. The WSB Dapp allows for index-fund type instruments to exist on the blockchain. $WSB governance token holders vote to decide on the rebalancing and exposure of each community-controlled instrument. The ETPs are wholly collateralized, instantly redeemable, and self-custodial. Supporting links: WSB Dapp Leverj Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.