The Crypto Conversation

Edmund Lowell is the CEO of KYC-chain and the Selfkey network - a blockchain startup developing digital identity solutions that empower individuals to take back ownership of their identity data. Guest: Edmund Lowell Why you should listen: Everyone's data is concentrated in the hands of a few large institutions. They store information about your browsing history, shopping habits, location data, bank statements, medical history, and more. With the growing threat of data breaches, and the loss of privacy - our information is increasingly at risk. One of the reasons for this is because rather than the individual controlling their data, it is instead tech companies and government databases that store data. This is at risk of being hacked and leaked. For example, last year hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger was data hacked. The data consisted of a list of one million email addresses, as well as a list of 272,000 individual customers, containing emails, phone numbers, and physical addresses. Those customers have since been targeted with phishing attempts by scammers sending fraudulent emails claiming that their "cryptocurrency assets are at risk", prompting them to download a fake version of Ledger Live that would then ask for the user's seed phrase. Key takeaway: Current identity systems have failed to deliver the most basic requirements for a successful identity system: security, privacy, ownership, access, protection, interoperability, or linked data portability to identity owners. SelfKey's mission is to empower individuals to own, control, and manage their personal data; and to help businesses protect personal data entrusted to them by users, and stay compliant with privacy regulators. SelfKey envisions a safer world where individuals are freer because their personal data and privacy is protected and under their control. Supporting links: Selfkey 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.

Axie Infinity is a Pokémon-inspired blockchain-based digital pet universe where players can earn tokens through gaming. Players can battle, collect, breed, and build a kingdom for their pets. Like CryptoKitties, Axies are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represented as cryptographically unique characters that can't be replicated. And like Pokémon, they are born to battle. While Axie can be just a game, it has built a strong social network, passionate community, and emerging jobs platform due to the play to earn opportunities it is generating. Guest: Jeff Zirlin Why you should listen: Jeff grew up playing games like Neopets, Pokémon, and World of Warcraft. "I played so much WOW that my parents sent me to boarding school," he says. "I've always been a collector. As I kid my dad and I would collect fossils and insects. And as a lifelong gamer, I'm a digital collector as well, so I was predisposed to be interested in blockchain gaming." The blockchain gaming play to earn revolution started to gain traction after it emerged that a large community of players in the Philippines was earning money playing Axie Infinity. Jeff says "Most game companies sell in-game resources, items, and upgrades. With Axie there's an in-game resource that you need to create more Axies and it's called the love potion. So most game developers would sell this love potion, and people would pay for it. In Axie we don't sell it ourselves, the only way that love potions can be created is by people playing the game. Players who have big Axie collections need the love potion to breed Axies and have to buy the token from a liquidity pool on UniSwap or from Binance. So players can earn a basic income and we've seen that with the rise in value of ETH, this can appreciate significantly." Key takeaway: The power of blockchain games is that they're becoming more than games. They're becoming places that we can live, work, and play. The eventual vision is to create a Metaverse similar to Ready Player One where people spend the majority of their time. "We believe in a future where work and play become one," says Jeff. "And we believe in empowering our players and giving them economic opportunities." To do this the Axie team is committed to aligning the incentives of the Axie community. Players can earn the AXS governance token. The token economics were designed by Delphi Digital. Delphi Digital has invested a significant amount of capital in buying several extremely rare Mystic Axies. If Axie Infinity continues to gain traction Mystic Axies will grow in value in the future. Jeff says "We're seeing the rise of Mystic Axies and other NFTs as a true asset class. This trend accelerated when Delphi Digital picked up some of the rarest Axies in the game, like quadruple Mystics, triple Mystics. You can think of Mystics as rare and valuable skins. It makes sense that there's a lot of interest around NFTs and it makes sense because we live in a digital world." Supporting links: Axie Infinity Delphi Digital on Axie Leverj Jeff 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.

The legendary Bitcoin evangelist, educator, and advocate Andreas M. Antonopoulos returns for his second appearance on the Crypto Conversation. Topics of discussion include the Ledger data breach, crypto security, the proposed new FinCEN regulations, techno-optimism, and why decentralized blockchains are a source of hope. Why you should listen: "I'm a techno-optimist," says Antonopoulos. "I believe that technology has freed people from the constraints of the past. It has empowered individuals and improved the lives of billions. The world is a more equitable place as a result. Technology itself is a neutral tool that we can use for good or evil. You have to take the base assumption that the vast majority of human beings are good. There are exceptions, of course, but the exceptions validate this truth. Technologies that are truly decentralized and go directly into the hands of empowering individuals, they will be used by those individuals to do good. And so when I look at a technology that can be used at scale by lots of people and based on my understanding of human nature, I see immense hope. I see immense hope that if you allow people to act on their own impulses and give them power in the form of technology, the outcomes are massive good on a massive scale." Key takeaway: Antonopoulos, never one to mince words, says the proposed FinCEN regulations are an attempt to extend a totalitarian financial surveillance structure over the entire world. "They are acting with complete disregard for the consequences and side effects on billions of innocent people," he says. "This is wrapped up in the self-righteous and easy to sell idea that this prevents crime. Of course, they bundled in all of the worst kinds of crimes, such as terrorism and child pornography. The truth is, however, that for decades now, every study that has ever looked at the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, these kinds of customer regulations prevent a vanishingly small amount of those activities." Supporting links: Aantonop Leverj Andreas 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.

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to Bharath Rao and Swapman from LEVERJ, the world's first scalable decentralized derivatives exchange​. LEVERJ is a trading platform created to perform like traditional financial exchanges while maintaining the critical function of security. Built on Gluon, a Plasma sidechain, LEVERJ is self-custodial by design, meaning that users always control their private keys and funds. Gluon is the first fully operational Ethereum Layer 2 chain, giving LEVERJ the high-transaction throughput to work as fast as centralized exchanges. Why you should listen: LEVERJ is a self-custodial decentralized derivatives exchange that provides up to 100x leverage. High speed, decentralized spot trading went live on mainnet in 2019 while futures trading went live in September. The first tradable futures products are ETH-USD and BTC-USD perpetual swaps with many more products in the pipeline. LEVERJ has partnered with Brave New Coin to roll out a pipeline of innovative exchange traded products. Some examples of these are sub-sector specific tradable products such as a DeFi index, a privacy coin index, volatility indices and more. "Most exchanges self-index, which introduces unnecessary risk," says LEVERJ CEO Bharath Rao. "By partnering with Brave New Coin, we give our users more transparency in the benchmark methodology and instrument design process as well as a greatly expedited product roadmap. It's our goal to bring the best practices of capital markets into the DeFi space, thus attracting new institutions." Key takeaway: Interest in DeFi exploded in 2020. To cater to this demand, LEVERJ has built a high-frequency, multi-currency spot and futures trading platform. The explosion of DeFi in 2020 has seen Ethereum gas prices rise significantly. The huge spike in demand for transaction space on the Ethereum chain has put a strain on the Ethereum and DeFi ecosystems. Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have faced challenges with security and performance, often falling short of the standards set by traditional financial exchanges. LEVERJ solves these challenges with the Gluon sidechain, a mathematically rigorous protocol preventing fraud, compromise, and collusion to provide the benefits of blockchain without the limitations. Gluon is an advanced, fully operational Ethereum Layer 2 chain, giving LEVERJ high-transaction, low-latency throughput similar to centralized exchanges. Other developers can also build decentralized applications using Gluon, including their own decentralized exchanges. Gluon has been in development for over three years and is currently the only Layer 2 solution purpose-built for high-capacity trading, that has instant-finality, strong composability, and conventional APIs for sophisticated traders to feel like they are using a regular centralized exchange without counterparty risk. Supporting links: LEVERJ LEVERJ 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.

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to DJ J-SCRILLA, a critically acclaimed hip-hop producer from Washington DC. DJ J-SCRILLA has released a new hip-hop album called Sound Money that tells the story of Bitcoin. Here it is, the official hip-hop edition of the Crypto Conversation…. Yeah boi! Why you should listen: Sound Money by DJ J-SCRILLA is a body of Bitcoin art combining audio clips, samples, dirty drums and some of the hip-hop underground's best rappers. The album serves as a soundtrack for Bitcoiners and serves up audio inspiration for no-coiners interested in the future of decentralized money. This podcast features music highlights from the album including the new crypto anthem 'Faith In My Money (Money Printer Go Brrr)'. Key takeaway: On the hip-hop edition of the Crypto Conversation podcast, we discuss the lockdown trend that has seen top rappers engage in Instagram battles, such as the recent soundclash between DJ Premier and RZA. DJ J-SCRILLA says "the album is not a foolishly positive take on Bitcoin. It's a rational angle that condemns the abuses of central banking and portrays Satoshi Nakamoto's currency as an alternative." Following the Crypto Conversation hot take round, DJ J-SCRILLA shares his top 5 hip-hop albums. Sound Money is available on major streaming services. Supporting links: Rarescrilla.com Money Printer Go Brrr DJ J-Scrilla on Twitter Sound Money on Spotify Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin LEVERJ 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.

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to Robert Breedlove, one of the deepest and most insightful thinkers on Bitcoin. Robert is the author of The Number Zero and Bitcoin. Robert says Satoshi gave the world Bitcoin, a true "something for nothing." This discovery of absolute scarcity for money is an unstoppable idea that is changing the world tremendously, just like its digital ancestor: the number zero. Guest: Robert Breedlove Why you should listen: Robert says that Satoshi gave the world Bitcoin, a true "something for nothing." This discovery of absolute scarcity for money is an unstoppable idea that is changing the world tremendously, just like its digital ancestor: the number zero. Like the invention of zero, which led to the discovery of "nothing as something" in mathematics and other domains, Bitcoin is the catalyst of a worldwide paradigmatic phase change. What numeral is to number, and zero is to the void for mathematics, Bitcoin is to absolute scarcity for money: each is a symbol that allows mankind to apprehend a latent reality (in the case of money, time). More than just a new monetary technology, Bitcoin is an entirely new economic paradigm: an uncompromisable base money protocol for a global, digital, non-state economy. Key takeaway: Robert says that many believe that Bitcoin is "just one of thousands of crypto assets"—this is true in the same way that the number zero is just one of an infinite series of numbers. In reality, Bitcoin is special, and so is zero: each is an invention which led to a discovery that fundamentally reshaped its overarching system—for Bitcoin, that system is money, and for zero, it is mathematics. Since money and math are mankind's two universal languages, both Bitcoin and zero are critical constructs for civilization. Zero and Bitcoin are unstoppable ideas gifted to mankind; gestures made in the spirit of "something for nothing." In a world run by central banks with zero accountability, a cabal that uses the specious prospects of "infinite cash" to promise us everything (thereby raising the specter of hyperinflation), nothingness may prove to be the greatest gift we could ever receive… Supporting links: The Number Zero and Bitcoin An Open Letter to Ray Dalio Robert's Tweet Storm Sapiens Interstellar The Sovereign Individual Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Leverj

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk with Torsten Hoffmann a documentary filmmaker. His new film Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is now available online. Why you should listen: After writing a research paper on alternative currencies as part of his MBA at Oxford University, Torsten was intrigued by Bitcoin. In 2014 he started working on Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know it, his first documentary. Hoffmann's award-winning first film looks at Bitcoin in the context of the history of money. His new film, Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is a bigger budget, ambitious follow up that takes a 360 wide-angle approach to the technology that may define Web 3.0. "Since the release of the first film, the industry has grown by a factor of 100. Bitcoin has been called one of the most disruptive technologies of our time. However, media coverage is often misinformed and the general public is still confused about the technology and its implications," says Hoffmann. "Can this technology, designed to operate independent of trust and within a decentralized network, really provide a robust alternative? Or are cryptocurrencies just as unfairly distributed, easily manipulated, and dangerous as our current systems? That was my starting point." Key takeaway: Filmed over two years Torsten says the new documentary has three arcs. "First we look at Bitcoin, then we look at the ecosystem, public / private blockchains and ICOs, and then we look forward at the potential of blockchain to unlock Web 3.0." He interviewed some of the ecosystem's biggest brains and biggest egos including Andreas Antonopoulos, Roger Ver, Charlie Lee, Samson Mow, Craig Wright, Preethi Kasireddy, and Wences Casares. While the film has a global feel, with filming taking place on four continents in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Switzerland, and Melbourne, Hoffmann says the highlight of the filming schedule was being granted access to the Xapo vault located in a top secret location buried deep in the Swiss mountains. Founded by Bitcoin entrepreneur Wences Casares, the Xapo vault is a decommissioned military bunker dug into the mountainside in a remote part of Switzerland. Its exact location is secret, and access is protected by a complex series of security measures. "The bunker scene was a highlight and we are the only film crew to be allowed inside. Allegedly up to 10% of all Bitcoin private keys are stored in the Xapo vault. It was a James Bond style adventure to get clearance and film inside the bunker," said Hoffmann. Supporting links: Cryptopia Film Torsten on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Leverj

Bitcoin achieved a new all-time high today of USD $20,800. Bitcoin is now in full price discovery mode and looks set to continue as the bull market heats up. With a reduction in supply following May's halving, increasing demand from institutions, and a strong narrative that Bitcoin is a store of value, Bitcoin's future has never looked brighter. Why you should listen: Josh says "I think that $33k by July 2021 is more viable and possible than ever. I don't think it is likely we'll see a bear market any time soon, we're now in possible multi-year bull market territory. This is good for BTC, this is good for ETH, this is good for all of crypto." Key takeaway: If you're reading this, you are probably a bitcoiner - good for you. Give yourself a pat on the back for believing in and participating in the birth of a brand new asset class, this is just the beginning. Andy and Josh also discuss ETH, DeFi and the growing NFT and collectible digital art scene. Supporting links: Leverj Josh 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.

Haseeb Awan is a cellphone security expert and the CEO of efani - America's most secure & private cellphone service. Haseeb was the creator of the 1st Bitcoin ATM in the U.S. Why you should listen: Haseeb has a background in Telecom Engineering. After being targeted by a sim swapper he looked at the weaknesses in existing mobile operators. He then designed a secure solution for his personal use. After growing interest from his network, Haseen founded efani, the most secure, private mobile operator in the U.S. The potential ROI for sim-swap attackers is massive. Crypto is an attractive target that can be turned into dollars. The sim-swap attack is easy to execute and doesn't require coding skills. Once an attacker has control of a phone account, they are often able to gain access to a victim's email account, Google Drive, passwords, and more. Key takeaway: With crypto prices tracking up, it's an excellent time to review your security practices. If prices continue to rise more bad actors will be incentivized to target crypto holders. Mobile phone support staff are underpaid and overworked and are not well trained against sophisticated social engineering attacks. All of the information an attacker needs to know to begin a social engineering attack can be purchased on the dark web. efani will transfer your existing number to efani and separate your personal information from your telephone number. Efani enforces 11-layers of military-grade client-side integrity, privacy and authentication protection. Efani is not for everyone, the company is a boutique solution for those who understand the value of privacy and security. Supporting links: Efani Haseeb 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.

Richard Sanders is a co-founder and lead investigator at CipherBlade, an elite blockchain investigation agency that works closely with top crypto exchanges, blockchain protocols, and the FBI. The agency uses a potent mix of on-chain and off-chain analytics and investigative techniques to track the most sophisticated cybercriminals on the planet. Guest: Richard Sanders Why you should listen: Richard Sanders and his team at CipherBlade are the 911 that the blockchain industry calls for cryptocurrency scam and hack investigations. Richard says "We'd prefer it if people came to us before they get hacked, rather than after they get hacked. We provide security audits for exchanges and high net worth individuals and can provide extensive training for companies and individuals." Blockchain investigators use a variety of tools that allow them to visualize the blockchain. A block explorer does something similar, the difference with professional tools is they take those visualizations to the next level and significantly increases the information and attribution that can be analyzed. Richard says he is also adept at off-chain investigative skills. "Social engineering is a good example of this. I pretended to be a female gamer on Discord and that helped me identify one of the Ian Balina scammers. At the end of the day, the blockchain is the best source of data, if you can follow a set of transactions to a KYCed account on an exchange, that is the best place to start. There are some elements on the psyops side that can come into play. For example, you might look at indicators of behavior. If a person of interest has a history of speeding tickets and gambling, then those would be red flags, just as an example." Key takeaway: Richard describes himself as a Realistic-Libertarian-Contrarian-Cyborg. Despite his intensive military background and strong working relationship with the FBI, Rich is also a cryptocurrency advocate, a staunch supporter of Monero, and a passionate believer in privacy. Richard says "I love the idea of privacy by default. As a realist, I understand that there will be an increase in diligence on people using crypto platforms and if you're making deposits you'll need to explain your source of funds. Monero has never tried to advertise using Monero for nefarious purposes. They don't need to. Privacy is a strong enough use case for adoption in and of itself. The question is, how do we have privacy by default but in the interests of public safety? We need to have this conversation as an industry so we can figure this out before governments are forced to do it for us." The range of scammers and bad actors in the blockchain ecosystem runs the full gamut from the lowest to the highest basket of sophistication. The least sophisticated is Twitter and Telegram impersonation scammers, often based out of Nigeria. Many of these scammers don't use VPNs, they don't always use mixers and sometimes they use direct deposit addresses for exchanges. At the other end of the scale, you have Lazarus, a very sophisticated hacking group out of North Korea that uses sophisticated mixing and crypto hopping techniques. What scammers have in common is they play on human greed, stupidity, and laziness. Richard says a significant portion of the industry is in it for the money. "There's a meme that says I'm in it for the technology but come on. It's fine to want to make money, but it gives people an unrealistic impression that crypto is a way to get rich quick and this makes them more vulnerable to these scams where people promise high returns." It's not just scammers that are having a negative effect on the industry. When considering the broader topic of crypto exchanges - think about what the perception is of our industry is from the outside. Exchanges get hacked left and right, scams abound, and there is a lax level of KYC and AML. Critics of crypto like to say that Bitcoin is only used for illegal activity, and while in the industry we know that is not true, it doesn't help to combat that narrative when exchanges get hacked and don't do enough to stop engaging with transactions from bad actors. In less than half an hour, Richard was able to identify several OKEx deposit addresses that received deposits from addresses associated with darknet markets. Any exchange with a simple compliance tool would pick these transactions up. Compliance professionals at compliant exchanges have access to know your transaction (KYT) tools. These tools show sending and receiving exposures, and break these down by category. If a transaction comes from a darknet market, the tool will identify this. These tools are not expensive for an exchange, they are usually charged by volume, so they are affordable for exchanges but out of the reach of individuals. Supporting links: CipherBlade Richard 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 an

Nansen is an analytics platform for the Ethereum blockchain. Nansen combines on-chain data with a massive database of millions of wallet addresses. Nansen helps crypto investors and product teams surface the signal from blockchain data. Guest: Alex Svanevik Why you should listen: Alex Svanevik and his co-founders have worked in the blockchain data space since 2017 and kept seeing the same problem. There was a need to get a better understanding of who the different participants were on a blockchain network. This challenge of trying to understand the different addresses on the Ethereum blockchain was unsolved. The Nansen team knew that knowledge about network participants would be valuable to crypto product builders and potential investors. Alex says "that was our big idea, to help those two customer profiles better understand Ethereum blockchain activity to inform their decision making. Crypto is information inefficient which means there are opportunities to be gained if you are able to gain an insight into blockchain activity." Alex and his team have been tracking the deposits into the Ethereum 2.0 smart contract and he is excited by the potential of Ethereum 2.0. "I hope that people understand that the transition from Ethereum 1.0 to 2.0 is going to be a long and slow process but many of the challenges that Ethereum has faced will be addressed with 2.0." Alex says DeFi has had a promising year in 2020 and it has a sustainable future, something that wasn't the case with ICOs. Despite the many smart contract exploits, Alex is not concerned and sees these as part of the evolutionary process and a result of early adopters experimenting and taking risks. "Everything is in an experimental learning phase at the moment that is fraught with risk," he said. "Right now DeFi is complex and difficult to use. The future of DeFi will be a mix of centralized exchanges that integrate with DeFi protocols. This will improve the user experience and benefit all participants." Key takeaway: Blockchains represent radical transparency. Investors are able to get real time direct access to what is happening in the markets, something that is not available in the traditional markets. This radical transparency has advantages and disadvantages. On the negative side, some entities would prefer to hide their movements, whether that be purchases, investments, or trades, so there is a lack of privacy to some degree. On the positive side, this transparency creates a higher degree of trust. If you send your money to a centralized exchange, once your assets arrive with them, it is harder to trust that they are safe. However, decentralized on-chain platforms such as Aaave and Compound are inherently transparent and the user can see their transactions and assets on-chain at all times. Supporting links: Nansen Alex 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.

Mark Yusko is the CEO of Morgan Creek Capital. Mark is one of the most insightful investors and most articulate Bitcoin bulls on the planet. Mark's investment thesis is that the greatest wealth is created by being an early investor in innovation. Making that investment requires believing in something before the majority of people understand it. Why you should listen: Mark says that Bitcoin is the most elegant savings technology ever invented. In a world where consumption is emphasized you become a slave to money. In a world where money is working for you, like with Bitcoin, your savings power is strengthened. With Bitcoin back at high prices, anyone who bought Bitcoin any day across the last 11 years, except for 5 days in December 2017, is now in profit. Marks says "What that tells me is that if you're a fiduciary, family office or individual, you don't need to pick a day to buy. It might be easier and less stressful to adopt a dollar cost average strategy. Buy some every day. Or every week. Or every month. Think of Bitcoin as savings technology, so instead of putting all of your money in the bank, put some in the bank, and some into Bitcoin. Key takeaway: Mark says it is not too late for people who have not already taken a position in Bitcoin. "Like Churchill said, this is not the end, this is not the beginning of the end, it may perhaps be the end of the beginning," says Mark. "But people haven't missed anything. The fact that we went from 0.003 cents in 2009 to where we are today, at $18k that's not the miracle. The miracle is that we went from 0.003 cents to one dollar and that Bitcoin survived all the attempts to kill it in those early years. The miracle is that Bitcoin found critical mass and it was elegantly constructed so that it could reach critical mass and then the network effects kicked in from there. Mark says that with prices now close to all time highs, it's important for new investors not to FOMO. "A better idea is to dollar cost average in overtime, have some discipline to it. Allocate some % of your portfolio to Bitcoin over time. The younger you are, the higher that % can be. Just remember that concentration makes you rich and diversification keeps you rich. And Bitcoin is one of the great diversifying assets on the planet so adding a small amount to a portfolio can pay great dividends. You have to embrace technological innovation, and that's what Bitcoin is, and that is why it is time to #GetOffZero." Supporting links: Morgan Creek Mark on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Leverj 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.

Decred is a hybrid proof-of-work/proof-of-stake store of value crypto asset for the digital age. It has strong governance, good security, privacy, and an innovative incentive alignment. If Bitcoin is about being your own bank, Decred is about being your own bank and having a say in bank policy. Decred has launched a new DEX with no trading fees. Guest: Jake Yocom-Piatt Why you should listen: Decred is an experimental project to redefine governance using blockchain technology. Instead of electing officials, Decred uses a rolling opt-in lottery to make policy decisions. Decred aims to create a fairer financial system driven by sound money, where the community makes decisions and every decision-maker has skin-in-the-game. Decred has just launched the DCRDEX, a decentralized crypto exchange. DCRDEX does not collect trading fees and utilizes an order matching system to level the playing field between retail and professional traders. The DCRDEX is permissionless and non-custodial. The first assets available to trade are Decred, Bitcoin, and Litecoin. However, DCRDEX plans to allow all crypto assets, putting projects on an equal footing by not charging a listing fee. Projects can get their crypto asset supported by adding support for atomic swaps. Key takeaway: Jake says "The goal with DCRDEX is to bring the same principles that we support in Decred, like sound money and strong governance, and create a fairer system for trading crypto. We want to make sure that the DCRDEX is true to the spirit and ethos of the cryptocurrency movement. That's why it is non-custodial, there is no KYC, and it is secure. Instead of turning DCRDEX into a business that is driven by fees and rent-seeking, we aim to create an email-like user experience for the exchange process, where anyone can operate a server and exchange any crypto they want." Supporting links: Decred DCRDEX Decred 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.

Jed McCaleb is the co-founder and Chief Architect of the Stellar Development Foundation, an open network working to connect the world's financial infrastructure. In 2014, Jed created Stellar, an open-source blockchain network designed to democratize economic participation by making money more fluid, markets more open, and people more empowered. Why you should listen: Jed's history is the story of crypto itself. An early pioneer of decentralized systems, he created eDonkey2000 one of the first file-sharing networks. In July 2010, after reading about Bitcoin on Slashdot he became fascinated and founded the mtgox.com Bitcoin exchange. "I wanted to get some Bitcoin and the only way you could do that at the time was to mine it or go on internet forums. So I started the Gox exchange so I could learn more about Bitcoin as a system, and buy bitcoins. It was something that was needed by the community at the time and I knew it could build it so I did. I didn't run it for very long before Mark Karpeles took over and everyone knows what happened after that." In 2011 McCaleb founded the crypto asset company Ripple and served as CTO until 2013. McCaleb then parted ways with Ripple but as part of a settlement, he was granted a large amount of XRP tokens. At the height of the January 2018 altcoin boom, McCaleb was briefly the 40th wealthiest person on the planet based on the value of his XRP tokens. McCaleb founded Ripple and then Stellar to try and improve on the promise of Bitcoin. "Bitcoin is an awesome idea," says McCaleb, "But software is iterative and can always be improved. One of the things that bothered me about Bitcoin is the mining aspect. There are literally billions of dollars spent on mining which is a shame. I thought if there is another way we can solve the consensus problem, then we should explore it. So with Ripple and now Stellar, this is a way to solve consensus without the proof-of-work mining process so transactions can be sent in a much cheaper, faster, more energy-efficient way." Key takeaway: McCaleb says the current financial system is clunky and inefficient. "The problem with the way that money moves around the planet, is that the rails were built pre-internet so none of it was designed to interoperate. And the beauty of the internet is that with email, for example, it doesn't matter who runs your email server, they all speak the same language so you can seamlessly and instantly send an email to anyone in the world. There is really no reason why money can't work the same way. That's what Stellar is, it is an interoperable payment protocol between payment networks. McCaleb says that Stellar is intended to enhance rather than replace the existing financial system. Whereas, say, the Bitcoin network was made for trading only bitcoins, Stellar is a decentralized system that's built for trading any kind of money in a transparent and efficient way. "Stellar is designed as an upgrade to the existing financial structure," says McCaleb. "It will be a long time, if ever before everyone is using one cryptocurrency. So instead, the better route is to build something that makes the current system easier, cheaper, reduces friction, and enables value transfer between people that wasn't possible before. Once we connect these networks of information in a frictionless way that will allow people to build all these interesting things on top of the network. Once you can send 10 cents from the U.S. to Vietnam, with no problem, that's when innovation happens. Right now we're building the plumbing for everything to be built on top of." Supporting links: Stellar Stellar Meridian Conference The Three-Body Problem 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.

Rekt Capital, a Forbes featured crypto technical analyst and trader returns for his second appearance on the Crypto Conversation. As Bitcoin surges through $15,000 to hit its highest price since January 2018, Rekt Capital says this bull cycle is just getting started. Guest: Rekt Capital Why you should listen: Rekt Capital is an astute analyst who specializes in technical analysis and trading psychology. He has written three recent research articles, analyzing the effect of the Bitcoin Halving on price, dissecting Bitcoin's Four Year Cycle to better understand Bitcoin's price trajectory, and the Crypto Money Flow Cycle to track the movement of capital from Bitcoin to mid-caps to small-caps and back. Key takeaway: Rekt Capital says that if we assume the rate of diminishing Post-Halving returns remain constant, Bitcoin could rally exponentially to a relatively conservative new all-time-high of ~$90,000 in 2021. However, this conservative extrapolation of current Post-Halving bull trends by the standards of Bitcoin's price history doesn't account for upside wicks past key resistances. This means Bitcoin could overextend past $90,000 and even beyond the psychological level of $100,000 before finally rejecting. Want to get $50 OFF Rekt Capital's Technical Analysis course? Simply follow this link and use the discount code "cryptoconversation" in the Discount Code field. Supporting links: Bitcoin After The Halving Bitcoin's Four Year Cycle Crypto Money Flow Cycle Rekt Capital Newsletter 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.

Trality is building a marketplace where creators can publish crypto trading bots and get paid rent by anyone wanting to piggyback on their trades. The creator's algorithmic secret sauce remains top secret. Guests: Moritz Putzhammer and Christopher Helf Why you should listen: While working as an assistant professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Moritiz Putzhammer was trading crypto on the side and working on a PHD. He realized that any individual actively trading crypto would at some point lose sleep, and money. Wanting to devise a system that would allow him to trade without having to be in front of the screen he reached out to his friend Christopher Helf, who has a background in computer science. After reaching his limit as a trader with an economics background, Putzhammer worked with Helf to automate his trading. The pair began by writing basic utility scripts that soon evolved into a useful set of automated trading tools. The pair realized that they had a product that could help other traders and decided to build a product. Key takeaway: Trality is a platform for anyone to create and invest through algorithmic trading bots. The platform is aimed at two groups. The first group are "creators" who have access to state of the art tools to build the best possible bots and the data to test and improve them. Creators can deploy their bots on the Trality cloud platform and on the Trality marketplace. The second group, called "followers" can access the marketplace and choose what bot they want to use, and copy trade that bot. The Trality team believes that in the near future everything will be automated, from your car to your home, to work and investment tools. Trality wants to be the platform for automated private investments. Trality has launched a trading bot competition. It has a submission period of 30 days and then a competition period that runs for 45 days. Bots are simulated in a live environment where the best performing bots will win a cash price. Got to trality.com Supporting links: Trality Trality 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.

Bruce Pon is the founder of Ocean Protocol. Ocean helps developers build marketplaces so that organizations can privately and securely publish, exchange, and consume data. Ocean protocol is building the new data economy. Guest: Bruce Pon Why you should listen: Ocean protocol enables the monetization and tokenization of data. This gives power back to data owners, enabling them to gain value from their data and allow it to be used in ways that benefit the world. Pon says the data economy already exists but there are powerful gatekeepers such as the FAANG companies in the West, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent in China, and data publishers such as Bloomberg and Reuters. "The data economy is any economic value that can be created from the use of data," says Pon. "It's all around us and it is potentially worth trillions. Data can be reused, optimized and improved over time. Data can be used in countless different ways for different purposes. So as the world goes digital, the potential to turn this data into something truly valuable is immense." Key takeaway: There is a growing understanding that from a macro world level to an industry sector level, to the government and institutional level, to the city, to company, and the individual - all are data producing machines. We now have the tools to collect and analyze this data and there are huge learnings and breakthroughs that can be teased out of the data. This is what makes data incredibly valuable. Pon says that Ocean Protocol Version 3 is the culmination of all of the learnings from version 1 and 2. "The space has advanced a lot since we began building in 2017," he explained. "The architecture that we designed early on can now be simplified and optimized to integrate with the current state of the art. So with a light weight model we can integrate with the web 3.0 infrastructure and make full use of AMMs like Balancer and Uniswap to create data tokens. We always talked about turning data streams into value streams and it is now possible. We have the ability to create ERC20 tokens that represent data streams. The tokens can be used to access the data, and they can also be traded or speculated on. We can even create mutual data funds that can track various types of health data or automotive data for example. That's what Ocean enables." Supporting links: Ocean Protocol Ocean Protocol on Twitter Bruce 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.

Josh Olszewicz is a professional crypto trader and analyst. In this episode Josh explains why he thinks a Bitcoin price target of $20K by January is reasonable. Plus Josh gives his views on DeFi, Monero, and announces his new crypto analysis YouTube channel for Brave New Coin. Guest: Josh Olszewicz Why you should listen: As we close out a volatile year, Bitcoin is looking extremely bullish. Josh says it is very possible that Bitcoin reaches a new all time high in the near future. "The way I look at it is to ask what is the rate of change in the current trend? That gives us a timeline for price expectation. This suggests that if the current rate of change continues we can expect that by January price should be somewhere around $18-$20k. Those numbers sound insane but as long as the trend remains intact, there aren't many reasons to be bearish right now." Bitcoin has only a short history of the price being in five figures. The time it has spent above $12k is even shorter, just 61 days or so. To put this in context Josh says it's important to note that "the biggest thing we're doing now is normalizing five digits versus four digits. In 2017 it was more of a parabolic rise, there were simply more buyers than sellers and price didn't really matter. When they aren't enough sellers to meet the demand the price just keeps going up. When you have a bull trend you have to let a runner run. If this goes to 20K people will feel euphoric, but it's just a number, it could go much higher." Key takeaway: Josh has started a series of four new weekly videos for the Brave New Coin YouTube channel. Monday features Josh's trading set-up for the week, Tuesday is trading tip Tuesday with a weekly trading tool breakdown, Wednesday is a DeFi roundup focusing on chart action for the leading DeFi tokens, and Thursday sees Josh look at the legacy charts such as equities and precious metals. Supporting links: Brave New Coin on YouTube Josh 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.

Fernando Martinelli is the founder and CEO of Balancer, an automated asset management platform for programmable liquidity. Balancer allows anyone to create public or private liquidity pools for up to 8 assets with customizable weighting. Guest: Fernando Martinelli Why you should listen: Balancer began as a research project in 2018. By exploring multidimensional invariant surfaces, Fernando and his team came up with a powerful mathematical framework that enables continuous portfolio rebalancing while also generating fees. Fernando says "the formula itself is quite simple and easy to express mathematically. The way it works and the way it proves self-balancing in liquidity pools is the trickier part. It's a function of mathematical expression whose value cannot change when trades are done. The same way Uniswap relies on X x Y = K, we have something similar but slightly more complex. And if you think of each of the balances as a dimension and then if you have a pool with three balances, then you have a 3-dimensional surface, which is actually in the fourth dimension because the surface itself is the energy value of this function that has three inputs and one output." Balancer is similar to Uniswap. However Fernando says that one of the main differences is that "our main focus is on the asset management side of things where Uniswap's focus is more on the decentralized exchange. So our focus is to make sure we meet the needs of liquidity providers so they will come to Balancer to put their crypto to work, and rebalance their portfolios. We want to be a flexible primitive where people can be as creative as they want." Asked about one of the key Defi themes in 2020, Fernando said, "Liquidity mining is a mechanism to get a platform to a decentralized stage. Balancer started with investors, advisors, founders, and this was at a time when there wasn't really an idea of a fair launch. It's just the way it worked out. There are pros and cons but ultimately you need capital to bootstrap but we don't want to be a VC coin we want to be decentralized and that's our goal." Key takeaway: Balancer is a financial primitive that serves as a fundamental building block in decentralized finance. However, it is also an asset management platform, and it is an automated market maker (AMM) providing programmable liquidity. This in turn makes other features such as decentralized asset exchange, automated portfolio management, DAO-governed treasuries, and fair token distributions possible. Fernando says this is an important point, and that as a permissionless platform, Balancer allows any developer to leverage its infrastructure to build financial products and services. "Balancer wouldn't work if there wasn't the other side of the market. So you have the liquidity providers who want to have their index funds rebalanced, and make some money with fees. And that's up to them to decide. And the other side of the equation is the DEX. So all the pools on Balancer allow anyone to trade in any direction on any pair that that pool contains. The fact that we have a two sided market means we need both actors for the system to work." Balancer Smart Pools are private pools controlled by a smart contract. These pools can be made of two to eight token constants, and customized with configurable weights that represent the desired ratio of each token in a pool. The smart contract acts as a controller for the liquidity in that pool. Fernando describes smart pools as "Uber for liquidity pools, whereas what we've had to date has been taxis. It's about matching demand to supply." For example, the RealT smart pool – essentially a real estate index fund building on all their tokenized real-estate – where the smart pool ERC20 tokens represent ownership of the whole index. Finally Fernando says "DeFi is a revolution that is just getting started. It will have cycles and some serious ups and downs but it is going to keep growing I believe." Supporting links: Balancer Balancer on Twitter Fernando on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin The Three-Body Problem 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.

Anton Bukov is the co-founder and CTO of the 1inch exchange. 1inch is a DEX aggregator that executes a swap of tokens at the best price in one single transaction. Anton is a software developer with more than 15 years experience. Why you should listen: The 1inch exchange began life as a hackathon project which was presented at ETHNewYork in 2019. 1inch was created and developed by Sergej Kunz (co-founder & CEO) and Anton Bukov (co-founder & CTO). After receiving positive feedback, Kunz and Bukov kept working to improve the project to the point that it became their primary work focus. Bukov says "1inch is a DEX aggregator that executes a swap of tokens at the best price in one single transaction. With some DEXes there has been a lack of liquidity, and the more liquidity there is, the better it is for everyone. So 1inch addresses the liquidity problem through an optimizing algorithm that splits up the trade across different exchanges. We see 1inch as unifying all of the layer one DEXes into one single highly liquid DEX, so the purpose of 1inch is to create one super DEX with the highest possible amount of liquidity and best possible fees on layer one." Key takeaway: Bukov revealed that 1inch is working on a 1inch token that will arrive this year. "In 2017 users paid money to get ICO tokens and after three years we see that most of those projects have failed. Now, projects start with the opposite model. They are not selling tokens, they give tokens away to the users of the platforms. So users who provide liquidity to the platform are rewarded with the token. You can see this as payment for market making. This idea of a far launch is nice because it means that the supply that exists is fairer, there is no pre-mine and it is less likely that someone can dump a large amount of tokens. Yes we are considering a 1inch token - we have worked on the tokenomics and the token will do some interesting things, it's not just a governance token. But for it to work, there is a new product we need to launch that we are building now. We are trying to deliver this token and product this year." Bukov says "the most interesting thing about DeFi is the way the protocols work with each other - composability - anyone can build an amazing product on a protocol. The creativity that this allows is amazing and you don't have to ask anyone permission. This is a very powerful idea." Bukov says that he believes that "crypto is the missing piece of the puzzle for how money should work. Visa, Mastercard and the current banking system is the wrong idea. We are building a new system and every banking system on the planet will eventually use it. It won't happen overnight, it might take up to 20 years." Supporting links: 1inch 1inch on Twitter Anton 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.

Shayne Coplan is the founder of Polymarket, an information markets platform. Speculators can bet on the world's most highly-debated topics like the upcoming US elections, COVID-19, DeFi, cryptocurrencies, and more. Guest: Shayne Coplan Why you should listen: In 2014 Coplan was a teenager interested in music, technology, and the peer-to-peer file sharing scene. He had started mining crypto assets like Litecoin using the early GPU miners. When the website for the Ethereum presale went live he became inspired by the Ethereum vision and at 16 years old, Coplan was one of the youngest participants in the Ethereum presale. "It seemed really cool to me. I didn't have a lot of capital to put into it but it was really exciting and it has been fantastic to be part of the journey so far." Prediction markets are exchange-traded markets created for the purpose of trading the outcome of events. They date back to the 1500s and started as simple bets. Some forms of information markets such as dead pools or assassination markets are part of the Cyberpunk literature. Polymarket is an Information Markets platform built on Ethereum. Speculators can harness the power of free markets to bet on the outcome of real world events. Coplan says, "I've always loved markets. I'm a fan of liquid markets and I'm fascinated by shadow economies and different market structures. I'm a believer in markets as the most effective mechanism for aggregating information. I have a tough time believing everything I read in the media. I think a market is a much more reliable aggregator of truth. If you have a lot of different participants acting on their beliefs, a market is the best way we can distill that information into one equilibrium or signal." Key takeaway: One of the problems with social media is a lack of accountability. Everyone has an opinion to share and there's not much downside to being wrong. This makes it hard for regular people to find out what's fact and what's fiction. 2020 has showcased just how bad the consequences can be. Ploymarket thinks that one part of the solution is to let people bet on current events. Free markets are the best method of aggregating disparate information in real time (see: Hayek, stock market, EMH). Coplan says "one of the best use-cases for a blockchain and a generalized smart contract platform is the ability to create markets on arbitrary topics that can be easily created, traded, and resolved. For a couple of dollars you can create a market on anything and avoid the bureaucratic risk that is inherent to creating these markets in the legacy financial system. On Polymarket, speculators bet on future event outcomes and profit from accuracy. With all the conflicting 'expert' opinions on social media, Polymarket lets people put their money where their mouth is, have skin in the game, and profit from being correct. Supporting links: Polymarket Polymarket on Twitter Shayne on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Mind Game 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.

Steve Kokinos is the CEO at Algorand. Algorand is an open, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol that wants to usher in a new era of serious DeFi. Similar to how AWS (Amazon Web Services) has made cloud computing accessible, Algorand is building an ecosystem to unleash the potential of DeFi. Why you should listen: Led by Turing award-winner Silvio Micali and a team of cryptographers, engineers, and mathematicians that claim to have solved the blockchain trilemma, Algorand is committed to the development of solutions for the future of economic exchange. Impressed by the Bitcoin whitepaper and its deployment, computer science professor Silvio Micali thought that Bitcoin represented a fascinating use of cryptography and distributed systems science. However, he felt that the high costs of mining coupled with its low performance features left room for improvement. His work with Algorand is concentrated on improving the fundamental properties of blockchain. Key takeaway: After a successful career in tech, Steve Kokinos met Silvio Micali and impressed with his vision for Algorand he joined the company as CEO in 2018. Steve says we are moving toward a multi-blockchain world. "There will be a handful of platforms and public networks that can be used for different purposes and they can all be winners here. Other tech waves have shown that there can be several winning platforms or several winning new technologies that are adopted. In the same way that when a user fires up Spotify or Netflix there isn't an AWS logo saying they're running the back end, and that's how we see Algorand, we want to be the utility in the background that people can build great applications on." Ethereum currently supports around 15 transactions per second, Bitcoin is a little slower. Steve says that Algorand today can process 1100 tps and over the next coming releases they want to scale that up 10,000 tps. "It's important for us to understand what people are using blockchains for and to build the functionality that they need into layer one primitives. At Algorand we're focused on layer one primitives, that might be financial applications, programmable money or building dapps. We've also announced a layer 2 smart contract platform where the initialization of the contract will be on layer 1 but will then run-off-chain. We think the way to do that is run the computation off-chain, make sure it's provably true and then bring it back to the main again." Algorand is permissionless so anyone can build on it. Steve says, "Our layer 1 pure proof of stake approach lends itself to different forms of financial applications. Use cases include DeFi, more traditional payment assets, and bank transfers and post-trade settlements. And then the third use case is central bank digital currencies. The Marshall Islands has launched a CBDC on Algorand. There are 400 companies that have deployed projects on Algorand. One is Planet Watch, which has sensors in homes and businesses across the world to capture air quality data around the globe and then compare that to govt guidelines and regulations. The ALGO token is the prime asset of the public network. It is used to pay transaction fees and run smart contracts. As part of the pure proof of stake protocol every token holder can be called upon to propose a block, and every token holder can vote on upgrades via its use as a governance token. Asked about his favorite piece of sci-fi, Steve picks Snow Crash directed by Neal Stephenson. Supporting links: Algorand Steve on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Snow Crash 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.

Peter McCormack is the host of the popular What Bitcoin Did podcast and the new Defiance podcast. After starting the podcast in late 2017, What Bitcoin Did has grown steadily and recently achieved an impressive 5 million downloads. Why you should listen: Before the pandemic, Peter traveled regularly preferring to do his interviews in-person. With global travel now on hold, Peter is based out of his home in Bedford, UK. Peter says that he has used the time to focus on his craft and keep refining his content production. He has also given up booze and redone his garden. Peter says the Libertarian argument against lockdowns is stronger now and as countries get hit by a second wave it will likely be more difficult to enforce new lockdowns without social unrest. Peter is impressed by the leadership of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern. Key takeaway: Peter started podcasting almost by accident after spending time at a retreat in Italy with podcaster Rich Roll. After telling Roll about his growing interest in Bitcoin, Roll encouraged McCormack to start a Bitcoin podcast. In the three years since McCormack has traveled to 30 countries and interviewed hundreds of people. The success of the podcast means McCormack now has the freedom to pursue topics that he is genuinely interested in. What Bitcoin Did will continue to focus on the Bitcoin ecosystem. Peter says, "If you're into lots of different coins you get called a shitcoiner and if you're into Bitcoin only, you get called a maximalist. So at one point I took a step back and thought 'what is it I want to do?' I looked at my portfolio and I only hold Bitcoin. Why? Because I believe in it and because I understand it, and because I think it can be a useful tool for a lot of people. I'm also interested in the human rights angle, so if I focus on Bitcoin - it allows me to cover other topics such as Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road and Venezuela." In some circumstances, Peter will cover other blockchains if it is of interest to bitcoiners. For example, his recent episodes on Ethereum were relevant because there are people who are wrapping Bitcoin on Ethereum so it's important for people to understand what Ethereum is. "Does that mean I'll cover Tron? No. Does it mean I'll cover Binance Chain? No. I will cover Ethereum because there is a significant amount of Bitcoin that is wrapped on it and people need to understand the risks." Asked about his favorite piece of sci-fi, Peter picks Alien 3 directed by David Fincher. Supporting links: What Bitcoin Did Peter on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Alien 3 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.

Piers Ridyard is the CEO of Radix, a layer-one protocol built for DeFi. DeFi applications are currently built on protocols that were not designed to scale. Radix has built a scalable, secure, high-throughput protocol for building applications and tokens. Building on the successes of existing public ledgers, Radix's protocol is a permissionless framework on which DeFi services can be developed and run. Radix claims to have solved two of the biggest challenges in DeFi - scalability, and security. Why you should listen: Radix has raised $6 million in funding, including $4.1 million in 2020 from the founder of TransferWise, Taavet Hinrikus. The value of DeFi is over $8 billion. However, for DeFi to reach its full potential, it needs fast, low-cast transactions and secure by design systems. It's critical that DeFi applications are scalable and composable. Piers says that protocols such as Ethereum 2,0, Polkadot and Cosmos are solving the wrong scaling problems, and not addressing others. Piers says that mainstream DeFi needs a DLT platform designed bottom-to-top to make DeFi just work – for users, and for developers. This is the aim of Radix. For the DeFi ecosystem to continue to grow incentives are needed to attract developers. Radix has an innovative developer incentive program that allows developers to profit from the applications they contribute to. Key takeaway: Radix features two core innovations, firstly Cerberus, the scalable consensus protocol. Cerberus is capable of processing massive numbers of transactions in parallel due to its highly sharded data structure and unique application layer. The second innovation is the Radix Engine, a developer interface that allows quick public ledger deployments in a secure environment. The Radix Engine is Radix's application layer. In the Crypto Conversation hot take round Piers says that he expects DeFi to have more liquidity than any other single exchange in the transitional market within the next ten years. "The fundamental component of DeFi is the way that liquidity can move between applications and products." Asked about his favorite piece of sci-fi, Piers picks Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. Supporting links: Radix Radix on Twitter Piers on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Rendezvous with Rama 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.

Douglas Borthwick is Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at INX. INX is building a regulated cryptocurrency, security token, and derivatives trading platform in the U.S. INX has just launched the world's first fully regulated Security Token based IPO. Why you should listen: Douglas has a long career in finance including roles with Morgan Stanley, managing foreign exchange derivatives trading groups, and running the strategic trading desk at Merrill Lynch. He is part of an impressive team of financial market, crypto asset and technology experts at INX. INX is building a fully-licensed and regulated cryptocurrency, security token and derivatives trading platform. The goal is to be a leader in the regulated security token platform space. INX aims to enable the listing and trading of both regulated security tokens and cryptocurrencies for institutional and retail investors. Security tokens give investors the ability to trade fractionalized assets, specific income streams, particular business lines, or assets that could not be traded before. This brings new liquidity and efficiencies to the markets. Key takeaway: The INX blockchain asset trading solution has been developed and is ready for launch following the completion of the IPO. After launch INX traders will be able to buy/sell crypto assets as well as security tokens and their derivatives. INX announced in January 2018 its submission of a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering of the INX Token. In August this year, INX announced that the SEC declared as effective the registration statement on Form F-1 filed in connection with the initial public offering of up to 130 million INX Security Tokens. INX has set the offering price at $0.90 per Token with a minimum investment of $1,000. The offering began August 25, 2020. INX intends to use a portion of the net proceeds raised from the sale of INX Tokens in the offering for the continued development and operation of INX Trading Solutions, and for the establishment of a cash reserve fund. Investors in the tokens are entitled to receive pro rata distributions of 40% of the Ccmpany's cumulative adjusted operating cash flow. Supporting links: INX INX on Twitter Douglas 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.

The next big thing in DeFi is LEVERJ - the world's first scalable decentralized derivatives exchange​. LEVERJ is a trading platform created to perform like traditional financial exchanges while maintaining the critical function of security. Built on Gluon, a Plasma sidechain, LEVERJ is self-custodial by design, meaning that users always control their private keys and funds. Gluon is a mathematically rigorous solution preventing fraud, compromise, and collusion to provide all the benefits of blockchain without the limitations. Gluon is the first fully operational Ethereum Layer 2 chain, giving LEVERJ the high-transaction throughput to work as fast as centralized exchanges. Why you should listen: LEVERJ is a self-custodial decentralized derivatives exchange that provides up to 100x leverage. High speed, decentralized spot trading went live on mainnet in 2019. Futures trading is available on testnet and will launch on mainnet at the end of September. The first tradable futures products are ETH-USD and BTC-USD perpetual swaps with many more products in the pipeline. LEVERJ has partnered with Brave New Coin to roll out a pipeline of innovative exchange traded products. Some examples of these are sub-sector specific tradable products such as a DeFi index, a privacy coin index, volatility indices and more. "Most exchanges self-index, which introduces unnecessary risk," says LEVERJ CEO Bharath Rao. "By partnering with Brave New Coin, we give our users more transparency in the benchmark methodology and instrument design process as well as a greatly expedited product roadmap. It's our goal to bring the best practices of capital markets into the DeFi space, thus attracting new institutions." Key takeaway: Interest in DeFi has exploded in 2020. Trading on decentralized exchanges reached $4 billion in July. To cater to this demand, LEVERJ has built a high-frequency, multi-currency spot and futures trading platform. The explosion of DeFi in 2020 has seen Ethereum gas prices rise significantly. The huge spike in demand for transaction space on the Ethereum chain has put strain on the Ethereum and DeFi ecosystems. Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have faced challenges with security and performance, often falling short of the standards set by traditional financial exchanges. LEVERJ solves these challenges with their Gluon sidechain, a mathematically rigorous protocol preventing fraud, compromise, and collusion to provide the benefits of blockchain without the limitations. Gluon is an advanced, fully operational Ethereum Layer 2 chain, giving LEVERJ high-transaction, low-latency throughput similar to centralized exchanges. Other developers can also build decentralized applications using Gluon, including their own decentralized exchanges. Gluon has been in development for over three years and is currently the only Layer 2 solution purpose built for high-capacity trading, that has instant-finality, strong composability and conventional APIs for sophisticated traders to feel like they are using a regular centralized exchange without counterparty risk. Supporting links: LEVERJ LEVERJ 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.

Mona El Isa is the founder of the Melon protocol. Melon is an Ethereum-based protocol for decentralized on-chain asset management. Melon empowers anyone to set up, manage, and invest in customized on-chain investment vehicles. The process of setting up an investment fund on Melon costs less than $60 and takes ten minutes using the Melon terminal. Why you should listen: After spending a decade building a career as a successful trader at Goldman Sachs and at a hedge fund, Mona was approached to set up and run her own investment fund. It did not work out. Mona realized that successful traders at investment funds were shielded from the many administrative processes required. Companies like Goldman hire entire teams of people to look after the many legal and financial requirements needed to run a fund. This means that setting up a new fund is out of reach except for those with the resources to do so. Melon is a decentralized protocol to set up and manage on-chain investment funds. By automating the back and middle office processes of fund management through the use of smart contracts, Melon enables fund managers to create their own tokenized funds. Managers can write a fund prospectus in code. Mona says "You can think of Melon as a technology that helps managers customize the set-up of their fund. You can pre-define all sorts of rules from fees, to number of positions, types of assets, risk management etc." The protocol takes care of investments and redemptions, it takes care of the NAV calculations, it enforces any of the rules that managers have in their funds. And everything is automated using smart contracts. Users can write as many rules as they want, so they can create uniquely individual funds. The process of setting up an investment fund on Melon costs less than $60 and takes ten minutes using the Melon terminal. Key takeaway: The Melon target market is what Mona describes as the "long tail of investment managers". This could be any fund below $150 million dollars. 90% of new funds in this category fail, many due to the high level of compliance, fees and processes involved. It will soon be possible to set up a Melon fund that has a yield-farming strategy, or lends to market-making pools, or a DAO that invests in other Melon funds, or can interact with synthetic assets. No other protocol is permissionless in the way that Melon allows any non-technical person to set up an on-chain investment fund in a matter of minutes. Ethereum Gas prices are putting a strain on DeFi. The Melon team is slimming down contracts to make them more efficient and less gas-intensive for V2. Medium-term the team are looking at layer two solutions to mitigate against high gas prices. Supporting links: Melon Protocol Melon Terminal Melon on Twitter Mona 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.

Kosala Hemachandra is the founder and CEO of MyEtherWallet, one of the original and most popular Ethereum wallets. MEW is now at the center of a fast growing ecosystem designed to become the nexus of Ethereum. Why you should listen: MyEtherWallet was founded in 2015, ten days after the launch of Ethereum - as one of the first client-side interfaces for the Ethereum blockchain. With first-mover advantage, it became the default Ethereum wallet for the first users of Ethereum. MyEtherWallet was a popular and user-friendly wallet that supported ERC-20 tokens — important for engaging with ICOs. As a result, MEW attracted a large user-base during the ICO boom of 2017. Kosala says, "the MEW motto is that if it works with Ethereum it works with MEW. Our goal is to become the nexus of Ethereum." MEW is the umbrella brand for the MEW ecosystem that includes MEWwallet, MEWtopia, and MEWconnect. Key takeaway: Kosala says there are some similarities between the ICO boom of 2017 and the current interest in DeFi. He says that is human nature to be attracted to hype and speculation. However, he says he is excited by the promise and potential of DeFi as a technology and what it brings to Ethereum. The first MyEtherWallet DeFi integrations are with Ren and Aave, with more to come. The new MyEtherWallet DeFi integrations use MEWconnect, a connection protocol designed to let Dapp developers make their Dapps available to MEW users. Dapp developers can make their products available to a large user base while MEW users can access the growing suite of decentralized tools and apps designed to navigate the Ethereum ecosystem. Supporting links: My Ether Wallet MEWwallet 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.

Josh Olszewicz is a professional crypto trader at Techemy Capital and the lead analyst at Brave New Coin. On this episode of the Crypto Conversation Josh joins Andy to discuss the recent positive price action, the TokenSets platform, and Josh confirms that we're in a crypto bull market. Why you should listen: Josh says that the technical indicators are looking very strong for BTC with strong echoes of 2017. "There is a possibility we're set for a multi-year bull run, especially post-halving. It's almost eerie the similarities we're seeing in the price chart and in the fundamentals to 2017. It's ramping up for quite an exciting situation. With Gold at all-time highs, ongoing money printing, and with chaos in the world, it's an ideal macro backdrop for BTC to perform well." Josh says that for ETH, a price target of $750 is on the cards, and for BTC $13K might happen in the next two weeks. "$33k sounds like a ridiculous target, but for me, that is where we are headed. One of the big banks released a target recently of $125K based on the 2017 bull run, so all of a sudden my targets are low compared to traditional financial analysts. All the signs are converging, so seeing BTC at an all-time-high soon is an expectation. It's not that I think it might happen, at this point I'm expecting it will happen." Key takeaway: Josh says that while it is an uncertain time in the world, the U.S. election might not be too disruptive to the markets. "As soon as Bernie lost the nomination, traditional financial markets exhaled dramatically. He was the potential change agent for anything that would affect them. But now, with Biden and Trump, they don't mind too much, either is fine at this point. Biden is not going to rock the boat and Trump is Trump." Josh is a pro trader at Techemy Capital who has just launched two actively managed investment portfolios on the TokenSets automated asset management platform. This allows investors to gain exposure to BTC and ETH price action. Investors are now able to take advantage of the crypto market's price moves without having to trade themselves - and because Techemy's new products are non-custodial - without having to release control of their crypto assets to a third party. Techemy Capital's BTC and ETH portfolios are actively traded using strategies designed to generate capital gains. Trades are executed by Techemy Capital's professional in-house trading team, led by Rob Brewis and Josh Olszewicz. Supporting links: Techemy Capital TokenSets Josh 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.

James Beattie is the CEO of the Toronto Futures Options Swaps Exchange (tFOSE), a new Canadian-based derivatives exchange and clearinghouse. tFOSE is currently seeking regulatory approval in Canada and plans to open for trading in early 2021. Why you should listen: Canada has been slow to bring institutional-grade crypto asset products to market. The Canadian exchange-traded derivatives market is ripe for disruption. Issues include a lack of liquidity driving order flow out of Canada, high FX cost and currency risk, high trading fees, and a lack of product innovation. There's a growing demand for traders to diversify their portfolios and exposure, hedge risk, and access an emerging asset class without having to directly hold the underlying crypto assets. tFOSE aims to provide a solution to these issues. James Beattie, tFOSE CEO says they are working closely with regulators in Canada. "Regulators have put forward a definitive affirmative effort to understand crypto. It's incumbent on ecosystem participants to build the right way. If they want the benefits of regulation, they should understand process and due diligence. You must play by the rules, there is no downside to transparency." Key takeaway: tFOSE CEO James Beattie says the team is committed to new derivative solutions that will repatriate order flow to Canada and unlock new global markets. Brave New Coin has signed a contract with tFOSE to design, calculate, and administer a suite of crypto indices to power tFOSE's cash-settled options trading. tFOSE expects production on the indices to be completed during Q3 2020 with cash-settled crypto options trading beginning in early 2021. James says Brave New Coin was selected as tFOSE crypto index builders after a due diligence process. "BNC meets all of our needs," he said, "taking a unique approach to index design, methodology, and governance that will help tFOSE meet the specific, exacting needs of both our retail and institutional investors." Supporting links: tFOSE Crypto Indices Program Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account.

Loi Luu is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kyber Network - one of the best used Defi protocols in the world. Kyber is an on-chain liquidity protocol that powers decentralized applications, exchanges, funds, and DeFi lending protocols. Why you should listen: Loi Luu has a PhD in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore, where he worked to improve the base technical layers of decentralization, scalability and security for the public blockchain infrastructure. His work benefits many blockchain companies and projects world wide and collectively these companies are worth tens of billions of US dollars. The idea for Kyber Network came from Loi's belief that he could bring the benefits of decentralized technologies to a bigger audience and facilitate real-world use cases. When a project approached him to accept a different token in addition to Ethereum, Loi realized that there was no practical solution to this problem. He then began work on developing the liquidity infrastructure for what would become known as the decentralized finance ecosystem. Key takeaway: Kyber is the liquidity infrastructure for decentralized finance (DeFi). Kyber aggregates liquidity from diverse sources into a single pool, which provides the best rates for takers such as DApps, wallets, and DEXs. Kyber is a fully on-chain liquidity protocol that enables the decentralized exchange of crypto assets in any application. Liquidity providers are integrated into one single endpoint for takers and users. When a user requests a trade, the protocol will scan the entire network to find the reserve with the best price and take liquidity from that particular reserve. Kyber was the most used project in DeFi in 2019. To date, more than 100 blockchain projects have integrated Kyber for their liquidity needs. Supporting links: Kyber Network Loi Luuu on Twitter Kyber on Twitter The DeFi Liquidity Vortex Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Hugh Karp is the founder and CEO of Nexus Mutual - a people-powered alternative to insurance. Nexus Mutual uses the power of Ethereum so individuals can share risk together without the need for an insurance company. Why you should listen: Hugh is an insurance professional and actuary with 15 years of experience. An actuary is a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries are employed by insurance companies or risk management firms to calculate the "risks" associated with insuring individuals against downside events. A mutual is simply a group of people coming together to share risk. Hugh says the only reason we've moved away from a mutual (in legacy systems) to shareholders is that it's a more efficient way of connecting capital with people. However, thanks to smart contracts, we can start to do that in a peer to peer fashion which optimizes for efficiency when it comes to capital pooling. When joining the mutual you become a legal member of a UK company. All members have legal rights to the pool of funds. Key takeaway: Hugh first became interested in blockchain technology in 2011. He became fascinated by the emergence of Ethereum. Hugh recognized that the traditional insurance industry wasn't yet prepared to provide any meaningful cover for crypto-related risks. Hugh watched the DAO being drained live and realized there was a need for a company like Nexus Mutual to provide cover against Smart Contract risks. Smart Contract Cover is not an actual contract of insurance but rather an insurance like product. Members of the mutual vote to decide on claims. Claims payments are enforced by token economic incentives rather than placing trust in an insurance company. In DeFi there are three primary risk categories; technical smart contract risk, external risk, and economic incentive failure risk. It's important to understand these risks are in addition to the normal use of the particular smart contract. For example, if you use a gambling app there is a risk you could lose all of your money through the normal usage of the system. Nexus Mutual is focused on the more severe risks, and provides cover against system failure. Supporting links: Nexus Mutual Nexus Mutual on Twitter Hugh Karp on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Why you should listen: Vallas says "the promise of the Blockchain industry is extraordinarily expansive. Before we build out that capability we need a renewed focus on establishing confidence. Confidence in our vision, confidence in the regulatory frameworks that underpin this emergent technology, and confidence in the people and organizations that will drive the uptake in this space." Key takeaway: As the new CEO of Blockchain Australia, Vallas says he is focused on building confidence in blockchain and improving the image of blockchain technology among businesses and governments. He says Blockchain Australia's success will be judged by its ability to educate (grassroots to the boardroom), elevate (drive innovation), and leverage partnerships (with industry leaders across the economy). In February, the Australian government released a National blockchain roadmap titled "Progressing towards a blockchain-empowered future." The report projects that Blockchain technology will generate an annual business value of over US$175 billion by 2025 and in excess of US$3 trillion by 2030. The roadmap identifies three key areas where blockchain technology can provide solutions. These are in supply chains, trusted credentials in the university sector, and transferable customer checks in the finance sector. Steve says his personal vision is for Australian stakeholders to gain confidence in blockchain tech. He wants developers to keep building, and for industry and investors to get buy-in. Supporting links: Blockchain Australia Australia's blockchain roadmap Steve on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Eden Dhaliwal is the Global Managing Director at Conflux Network, a high-performance, layer-1 blockchain protocol designed for scalability, security, and extensibility for the next generation of open commerce, decentralized applications, and Web 3.0. Conflux is the most endorsed DLT project in China. Why you should listen: Conflux Network is an open protocol for a new world of Dapps, finance, and Web 3.0. As a fast and secure public blockchain, Conflux Network combines Proof of Work and a Tree-Graph structure to power a new generation of decentralized commerce. Prior to joining Conflux, Eden was a Partner at Outlier Ventures, where he worked on crypto tokenomics. Eden helped develop Outlier's Convergence Thesis - the Convergence Stack is a set of privacy-protecting, peer-to-peer, open-source technologies that will decentralize the cloud and unbundle internet platforms to build Web 3.0. Key takeaway: Founded in 2018, Conflux Network raised $35 million in capital from investors including Sequoia China, Metastable, Baidu Ventures, F2Pool, Huobi, IMO Ventures. Conflux Network has backing from the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission. Currently in Testnet, Conflux Network seeks to provide the security of a POW network with transaction speeds an order of magnitude faster. The key enabler technique is a novel DAG-based ledger structure together with an optimistic concurrency control to achieve a consistent order of transactions among all the nodes in the network. In Conflux, the throughput bottleneck is no longer at consensus layer. Unlike other scalability solutions such as DPOS and hybrid consensus, the Conflux consensus algorithm is decentralized and permissionless without any hierarchy. Supporting links: Conflux Network Conflux Network on Twitter Eden on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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 and TokenSets have collaborated to launch a suite of DeFi-based investable products to help investors tap into the open finance ecosystem. Hosted on the TokenSets automated asset management platform, Techemy has created two actively managed investment portfolios that allow investors to gain exposure to BTC and ETH price action. Investors can take advantage of the crypto market's price moves without having to trade themselves - and because the products are non-custodial - without having to release control of their crypto assets to a third party. Guests: Fran Strajnar and Anthony Sassano Why you should listen: Anthony Sassano, Product Marketing Manager at TokenSets, says "Holding is no longer enough. If you want to get outsized returns in crypto, you can play in the altcoin market, which is basically like a casino. Trying to pick the ones that will do well, and knowing when to sell is extremely difficult. Most users don't want the stress and pressure of having to make trading decisions themselves. They want to make a return, and they want someone else or an algorithm to do the trading for them. That's where TokenSets comes in." Key takeaway: DeFi refers to the interconnected crypto assets, smart contracts, protocols, and decentralized applications built on the Ethereum blockchain. Run by programmable code, DeFi reduces friction and capital inefficiency and offers the possibility of higher yields. Fran Strajnar, CEO at Techemy Capital says, "We've been talking about DeFi being a game-changer since 2014. It has taken until now for the infrastructure to mature enough for innovative investable products that can scale globally. Money and value are now woven into the fabric of the internet. Liquidity is abundant and risk is manageable. This has created an environment that is appealing to many investor classes." Hosted on the TokenSets automated asset management platform, Techemy's new offering consists of two actively managed investment portfolios that allow investors to gain exposure to BTC and ETH price action. Investors are now able to take advantage of the crypto market's price moves without having to trade themselves - and because Techemy's new products are non-custodial - without having to release control of their crypto assets to a third party. Techemy Capital's BTC and ETH portfolios are actively traded using strategies designed to generate capital gains. Trades are executed by Techemy Capital's professional in-house trading team, led by Rob Brewis and Josh Olszewicz. A third portfolio that Techemy will launch soon on TokenSets is a passive yield portfolio based on the yield-bearing cDAI/cUSDC stablecoin pair. This portfolio protects against price volatility and offers other benefits including the ability to earn interest through the Compound Finance network. Techemy's new portfolio products are aimed at investors already familiar with digital assets and those entering the market for the first time. While the former can interact with the new portfolios with ease due to the seamless user experience, for users needing additional support Techemy offers personalized services - from custody to OTC and wallet management. Supporting links: Techemy Capital TokenSets Techemy Capital on Twitter TokenSets on Twitter Fran On Twitter Anthony on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Torsten Hoffmann is a documentary filmmaker who has completed two full length blockchain films. Bitcoin: The End Of Money As We Know It from 2015, and his new film Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet which is now available online. Why you should listen: After writing a research paper on alternative currencies as part of his MBA at Oxford University, Torsten was intrigued by Bitcoin. In 2014 he started working on Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know it, his first documentary. Hoffmann's award-winning first film looks at Bitcoin in the context of the history of money. His new film, Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is a bigger budget, ambitious follow up that takes a 360 wide-angle approach to the technology that may define Web 3.0. "Since the release of the first film, the industry has grown by a factor of 100. Bitcoin has been called one of the most disruptive technologies of our time. However, media coverage is often misinformed and the general public is still confused about the technology and its implications," says Hoffmann. "Can this technology, designed to operate independent of trust and within a decentralized network, really provide a robust alternative? Or are cryptocurrencies just as unfairly distributed, easily manipulated, and dangerous as our current systems? That was my starting point." Key takeaway: Filmed over two years Hoffmann says the new documentary has three arcs. "First we look at Bitcoin, then we look at the ecosystem, public / private blockchains and ICOs, and then we look forward at the potential of blockchain to unlock Web 3.0." He interviewed some of the ecosystem's biggest brains and biggest egos including Andreas Antonopoulos, Roger Ver, Charlie Lee, Samson Mow, Craig Wright, Preethi Kasireddy, and Wences Casares. While the film has a global feel, with filming taking place on four continents in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Switzerland, and Melbourne, Hoffmann says the highlight of the filming schedule was being granted access to the Xapo vault located in a top secret location buried deep in the Swiss mountains. Founded by Bitcoin entrepreneur Wences Casares, the Xapo vault is a decommissioned military bunker dug into the mountainside in a remote part of Switzerland. Its exact location is secret, and access is protected by a complex series of security measures. "The bunker scene was a highlight and we are the only film crew to be allowed inside. Allegedly up to 10% of all Bitcoin private keys are stored in the Xapo vault. It was a James Bond style adventure to get clearance and film inside the bunker," said Hoffmann. Supporting links: Cryptopia Film Torsten on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

A New Zealand software engineer, Sam Blackmore is the CEO and co-founder of Vimba, a platform that makes it easy for users to save Bitcoin using an automated dollar cost average strategy. Why you should listen: After growing up as a surf photographer, Sam moved to Bristol in the early 2000s where he documented the street art culture popularized by Banksy. As a software engineer, Sam became fascinated by open source technology such as Linux. He first discovered Bitcoin when he saw a headline on a Linux magazine that described Bitcoin as the most powerful open-source technology ever created. Intrigued, Sam became fascinated by Bitcoin's philosophy and potential. He created Vimba to make it possible for friends and family to easily accumulate Bitcoin without having to join an exchange. Vimba is now available in over thirty countries, making it easy for anyone to save in Bitcoin using an automated dollar cost average strategy. Key takeaway: To scale Vimba, Sam moved to the UK to leverage the UK's open banking framework and FinTech friendly regulations. The 2018 open banking legislation forced banks to open up their APIs so that users can share their data with other services. This has allowed a wave of innovative new financial products. Vimba will integrate with these products allowing users to easily purchase Bitcoin or use it as collateral. Vimba's mission is to make it as normal to accumulate BTC as it is to save dollars. A recent survey suggests that 42% of millennials are planning to buy BTC in the next 5 years. Banksy is anonymous. Satoshi Nakamoto is anonymous. This anonymity allows Banky's artwork and Satoshi's Bitcoin to be judged on their own merits without being tainted by the individual creator and their beliefs or flaws. Supporting links: Vimba Vimba on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro Neuromancer Banksy The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

An OG Bitcoiner from Colorado with a background in precious metals, Stephen Macaskill is the co-founder and CEO of the Dasset digital asset exchange. Based in New Zealand, Dasset has announced a strategic partnership with the U.S. based Bittrex exchange. The new partnership will give Dasset users access to deeper liquidity. Why you should listen: Stephen says the impetus for Dasset came from the realization that there was a gap in the local crypto market. "When we looked at the New Zealand market four years ago, there was a 20% premium over the global spot prices of crypto assets in New Zealand due to a lack of liquidity, and a lack of local exchanges," he said. "Dasset has helped that situation, so the spread has dropped by around 80%. That means that compared to global spot prices, New Zealanders can now access rates that are within 1-3% of those prices." Key takeaway: Dasset provides the ability for New Zealanders and Australians to buy, sell, and trade over thirty different crypto assets. Stephen says that Dasset provides the on-ramps and off-ramps between the legacy financial system and the digital asset financial system. Stephen is a Bitcoiner who pays his bills in crypto. He says he has opted out of the legacy financial system and uses crypto for all of his financial transactions. While Stephen is a passionate supporter of Bitcoin as the world's largest decentralized digital currency, he says ultimately it is up to the market to decide which digital asset will win the future. Supporting links: Devs The Sovereign Individual Bitcoin Billionaires Dasset on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Framework Ventures is a San Francisco based venture firm with a strong DeFi thesis. Framework believes a new age of venture capital is upon us, known as 'Network Capital.' Rather than just hold onto the asset, this type of investing aims to be more holistic. "If you're going to be investing in decentralized networks, this requires a new hybrid model where the stakeholders can participate in market-making, staking, and governance." Framework is a major holder of Chainlink's LINK token. Why you should listen: Framework Ventures is a thesis-driven venture firm that partners with founders and teams to build token-based networks and develop the requisite cryptoeconomics, governance, and community to scale. Framework are very bullish on the DeFi space in general, and particularly on Chainlink and Synthetix. Vance Spencer, a co-founder at Framework, spent time as head of strategy for Netflix Japan. His co-founder Michael Anderson spent time at Snapchat and Dropbox. This gives Framework unique insight into digital products and networks which they apply to DeFi. Key takeaway: Vance says DeFi is still early and just needs time to mature. Chris Dixon said that most new disruptive technology starts out looking like a toy. This is a good analogy for DeFi right now. As DeFi building blocks start to be put together in new and increasingly useful ways, exciting new use cases will be unlocked. Framework doesn't invest in Bitcoin and it doesn't invest in Ethereum killers. Framework is long Ether as a core position. Ethereum built liquidity for Ether, it built tooling for Solidity, and it built a passionate dev community. These are significant achievements. 2000 ETH devs dancing on stage at Devcon is not something you can easily replicate. The ETH community is hard to disrupt. Supporting links: Framework Ventures Aggregation Theory The next big thing will start out looking like a toy Donnie Darko Framework Ventures on Twitter Vance on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Robert Breedlove wrote The Number Zero and Bitcoin. Robert says Satoshi gave the world Bitcoin, a true "something for nothing." This discovery of absolute scarcity for money is an unstoppable idea that is changing the world tremendously, just like its digital ancestor: the number zero. Robert is the CEO of Parallax Digital, a firm specializing in digital asset investments. The company is founded on the premise that Bitcoin will radically reshape the global economy. Why you should listen: Robert says that Satoshi gave the world Bitcoin, a true "something for nothing." This discovery of absolute scarcity for money is an unstoppable idea that is changing the world tremendously, just like its digital ancestor: the number zero. Like the invention of zero, which led to the discovery of "nothing as something" in mathematics and other domains, Bitcoin is the catalyst of a worldwide paradigmatic phase change. What numeral is to number, and zero is to the void for mathematics, Bitcoin is to absolute scarcity for money: each is a symbol that allows mankind to apprehend a latent reality (in the case of money, time). More than just a new monetary technology, Bitcoin is an entirely new economic paradigm: an uncompromisable base money protocol for a global, digital, non-state economy. Key takeaway: Robert says that many believe that Bitcoin is "just one of thousands of crypto assets"—this is true in the same way that the number zero is just one of an infinite series of numbers. In reality, Bitcoin is special, and so is zero: each is an invention which led to a discovery that fundamentally reshaped its overarching system—for Bitcoin, that system is money, and for zero, it is mathematics. Since money and math are mankind's two universal languages, both Bitcoin and zero are critical constructs for civilization. Zero and Bitcoin are unstoppable ideas gifted to mankind; gestures made in the spirit of "something for nothing." In a world run by central banks with zero accountability, a cabal that uses the specious prospects of "infinite cash" to promise us everything (thereby raising the specter of hyperinflation), nothingness may prove to be the greatest gift we could ever receive… Supporting links: The Number Zero and Bitcoin An Open Letter to Ray Dalio Robert's Tweet Storm Sapiens Interstellar The Sovereign Individual Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Stephen Stonberg is the COO/CFO at Bittrex Global, a digital asset exchange based in Liechtenstein. Bittrex Global is a spin-off from one of the OG crypto exchanges, the original Bittrex, based in the U.S. Bittrex Global serves all Bittrex users based outside of the U.S. Why you should listen: Stephen Stonberg is a graduate of Harvard who spent time at Goldman Sachs. Working in the finance industry in London, Stephen became interested in the potential of the crypto asset class in 2017. After a short stint working in business development in the early days of Binance, Stephen moved to Bittrex where he is now as COO/CFO at Bittrex Global. Key takeaway: Bittrex Global moved from Malta to Liechtenstein. The Liechtenstein Blockchain Act that was passed in January is a good piece of legislation that best supports their exchange activities. Liechtenstein is a professional financial services hub and is a much better fit than Malta for Bittrex Global. Bittrex Global aims for the highest possible standards of regulation, security, and compliance to protect itself and its users. A new Bittrex Global exchange token is coming soon. Supporting links: Bittrex Global Bittrex Global on Twitter Stephen On Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Jeff McDonald is the co-founder of the NEM Foundation. Jeff was one of the first members of the NEM community and has helped build the NEM project to where it is today. NEM is preparing for the launch of Symbol (codename Catapult), the second generation of the NEM blockchain. Why you should listen: Jeff McDonald shares recollections of the NEM journey to date. NEM was one of the earliest enterprise blockchains and began life as a thread on the BitcoinTalk forums before growing into a top 5 market cap asset with NEM communities all over the globe. Symbol (codename Catapult) represents a full rewrite of the NEM protocol. NEM core dev Jaguar recently published an update that unifies the governance plans for all NEM ecosystem entities to support one goal - the launch of Symbol later in 2020. Key takeaway: In building Symbol, Jeff says NEM has applied all the learning that comes from running version 1 of their blockchain in production for four years. Symbol is a more performant, scalable, and feature-rich protocol as a result. It will become the core NEM engine, powering both private and public blockchains. Jeff says the 3 other blockchain projects that he sees as the most formidable competitors are Libra, Hyperledger, and Ethereum. Supporting links: Symbol Roadmap Nem Ecosystem Updates Nem.io Nem on Twitter Jeff on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

Chris Brookins is the founder of Valiendero Digital Assets, a quantitative cryptocurrency investment fund. Chris is the co-author of a new report titled Safe Havens - How gold and bitcoin can adapt to a new paradigm. In the current global crisis - the world is trending towards negative interest rates, money printing, and a decline in cash - traditional safe-haven assets are being turned on their head. The report explores what the function of a 21st-century safe haven should be. Why you should listen: Bitcoin is on the path to becoming a store of value. The narrative of bitcoin being uncorrelated with any other asset class, and being a safe haven store of value took a hit on March 12, black Thursday when it crashed along with other global markets. However, Bitcoin has since recovered, proving itself surprisingly resilient, and its recovery didn't require central bank intervention or a government bailout. Key takeaway: The COVID-19 pandemic is a black swan event that will impact all industries. It will affect the economy, supply chains, and political and social systems. Bitcoin is antifragile and may benefit from the current global uncertainty. However, as a risk asset, due to rising unemployment retail investors will likely have less income to buy Bitcoin. Expectations of risk to the global economy based on historical events are underestimated because events are inherently fat-tailed and because the tail has become fatter with increased connectivity. In other words high impact, low probability events are becoming more probable. Supporting links: Safe Havens - How gold and bitcoin can adapt to a new paradigm Valiendero Digital Assets Chris on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin BNC Pro The Crypto Conversation is sponsored by BNC Pro, the new digital wealth platform featuring an all-in-one suite of customizable, institutional-grade applications that help you manage your crypto investments. Research, chart, screen, analyze, optimize, report, and more. BNC Pro is the ultimate portfolio tool for individual or enterprise use. Streamline your workflow, manage your crypto, and master this brave new asset class with BNC Pro. Go to BNC-Pro.com to create your free account. 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.

DJ J-SCRILLA is a critically acclaimed hip-hop producer and illustrator from Washington DC. His discography includes hall of fame rappers Killer Mike, Raekwon, and Smif N Wessun. DJ J-SCRILLA has released a new hip-hop album called Sound Money that tells the story of Bitcoin, and samples John Mcafee, Hotep Jesus, and Andreas Antonopoulos. Why you should listen: Sound Money by DJ-SCRILLA is a body of Bitcoin art combining audio clips, samples, dirty drums, and some of the hip-hop underground's best rappers. The album serves as a soundtrack for Bitcoiners and serves up audio inspiration for no-coiners interested in the future of decentralized money. This podcast features music highlights from the album including the new crypto anthem 'Faith In My Money (Money Printer Go Brrr)'. Key takeaway: On the hip-hop edition of the Crypto Conversation podcast, we discuss the lockdown trend that has seen top rappers engage in Instagram battles, such as the recent soundclash between DJ Premier and RZA. DJ J-SCRILLA says "the album is not a foolishly positive take on Bitcoin. It's a rational angle that condemns the abuses of central banking and portrays Satoshi Nakamoto's currency as an alternative." Following the Crypto Conversation hot take round, DJ J-SCRILLA shares his top 5 hip-hop albums. Sound Money is available on major streaming services. Supporting links: Rarescrilla.com Money Printer Go Brrr DJ J-Scrilla on Twitter Sound Money on Spotify 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.

Hugo Renaudin is the CEO and co-founder of LGO Group, a digital asset exchange for institutions. Hugo says that Bitcoin has a fascinating market infrastructure. It is both revolutionary, but imperfect. Hugo says the Black Thursday crash revealed underlying problems with Bitcoin's market infrastructure. The crash triggered a wave of liquidations that could have sent BTC to zero. What can be done to avoid this risk? Why you should listen: The Bitcoin and crypto markets have a fascinating market infrastructure that is potentially revolutionary, and a vital part of the capital markets 2.0. However, there are serious problems with Bitcoin's market infrastructure due to the centralization of existing trading platforms. These problems surfaced on Black Thursday, March 12, when the global markets crash triggered a wave of liquidations that could have sent BTC to zero on Bitmex. Key takeaway: Volatility is a natural part of markets but the potential for volatility remains extreme in the crypto markets. The current financial crisis means that the months and years ahead are a make or break time for Bitcoin and the digital asset space. Bitcoin emerged out of the 2008 financial crisis and it now has the potential to establish itself in the current COVID-19 economic crisis. Bitcoin is not controlled by governments, it has a fixed supply, limited inflation, and it is decentralized. That makes Bitcoin uniquely positioned as a hedge when central banks are forced to inject new fiat into the system. Supporting links: LGOGroup on Twitter Hugo 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.

Loong Wang is the CTO and co-founder of Ren, a DeFi protocol that enables the private, permissionless transfer of value between any blockchain. Ren is solving the blockchain interoperability problem. Why you should listen: Loong studied computer science and distributed systems and then became increasingly interested in the potential of blockchain and decentralized finance. The goal of Ren is generic interoperability to enable the trustless, permissionless transfer of value between blockchain. Ren is part of the DeFi ecosystem but Loong sees Ren as helping to build out the decentralized future internet. Key takeaway: Ren will make it possible to exchange value between different blockchains. The launch of the Ren mainnet is one month away. The goal of interoperability is to make it possible for users to exchange value on any chain, without even knowing that they are interacting with a blockchain. Everything should happen seamlessly in the background. Blade Runner is Loong's favorite sci-fi movie, a masterpiece of patient world-building and story-telling. The Crypto Conversation is proudly sponsored by DeFi leaders NEXO Click here to borrow instantly in 45+ fiat currencies Click here to earn daily interest on your idle assets Supporting links: Ren Project Ren on Twitter Loong 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.

Marco Streng is the CEO of Genesis Mining, one of the largest Bitcoin cloud-mining companies. Genesis has mining locations in Iceland, Greenland, Norway, and Europe. Marco studied mathematics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He set up a Bitcoin mining operation in his dorm room that ended when the electricity bill arrived. Why you should listen: Bitcoin mining is a contest for cheap energy and efficient mining rigs. Miners who are able to operate for long time frames at low costs are in the best position. All other miners are at risk of being buffeted by external market forces. Key takeaway: Any professional miner is well prepared for the Bitcoin halving in May. It is a known event therefore competent miners are able to prepare for all scenarios well in advance. Marcos says that worries about Bitcoin's energy footprint are overblown due to Bitcoin mining's increasing use of cheap renewable energy. The Crypto Conversation is proudly sponsored by DeFi leaders NEXO Click here to borrow instantly in 45+ fiat currencies Click here to earn daily interest on your idle assets Supporting links: Genesis Mining Genesis on Twitter Marco on Twitter Marco on VICE Life 3.0 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.

Diogo Monica is the president and co-founder of Anchorage, the leading crypto custodian for institutional investors. Anchorage was selected as a founding member of the Libra Association and recently completed a $40m Series B fundraise, led by Visa. Why you should listen: Diogo says that custody needs have evolved beyond simple cold storage. With proof-of-stake assets allowing on-chain governance and 24/7 trading opportunities, there's a need for a custody solution that allows institutional-grade security as well as near-instant access to assets. Anchorage aims to be the leading provider of that solution. Key takeaway: Anchorage uses multiple types of biometric signals and behavioral analytics about the client and device to verify their identity. This is the cutting edge of crypto custody. Digo thinks that Facebook's Libra stablecoin will launch in some form in 2020. Anchorage is a founding member of the Libra Association. The Crypto Conversation is proudly sponsored by DeFi leaders NEXO Click here to borrow instantly in 45+ fiat currencies Click here to earn daily interest on your idle assets Supporting links: Anchorage Anchorage on Twitter Diogo on Twitter Glacier Protocol The Way of Kings 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.

Muneeb Ali is the co-founder and CEO of Blockstack, a decentralized computing network that gives users control of their data. Muneeb talks about the limits of Web 2.0 and how that led to an intrusive ad model, and how web 3.0 changes this model by giving individuals control of their digital sovereignty. Why you should listen: Muneeb explains that over a dinner with Balaji S. Srinivasan in February, Balaji convinced him that COVID-19 was about to crash the world and all precautions should be taken. Balaji was right. The simple but robust protocol design for the Internet Protocol (IP) took the internet to 15B connected devices through the period of the fastest technological change in history. Muneeb says Bitcoin's protocol has the same properties - it is simple and robust - that's why Bitcoin is the ideal narrow waist for Web 3. Key takeaway: Blockstack completed its capital raise six months ago and rebalanced its portfolio in February - leaving them in a strong position to keep building in these turbulent times. Blockstack aims to be simple and powerful - like Bitcoin. Blockstack can be thought of as the inverse of the world computer - or platform blockchains such as Ethereum and EOS. Muneeb says that in trying and uncertain times - it is important for individuals to have a sense of purpose to help them keep pushing forward. Snow Crash is Mnueeb's fav sci-fi novel and it informs his thinking about Web3 and Web4. The Crypto Conversation is proudly sponsored by DeFi leaders NEXO Click here to borrow instantly in 45+ fiat currencies Click here to earn daily interest on your idle assets Supporting links: Blockstack Blocktack Blog Bitcoin as the narrow waist for Web3 Fireside chat with Balaji S. Srinivasan Snow Crash Simulation Theory Why Decentralization Matters Google creepily records you Muneeb 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.

Trent McConaghy is a data and statistical modeling expert. Alarmed at the exponential spread of COVID-19, Trent became concerned that if the virus followed the same trajectory as in Wuhan and Lombardy - other cities would be similarly overwhelmed. Trent created a model to answer the question - how long before hospital capacity gets overwhelmed; at which point the death rate jumps? The focus of the modeling is on the hot zones of the U.S. and Germany: Washington state (WA) and Berlin. According to the model WA will hit capacity by March 25, and Berlin by April 5. Why you should listen: There are things we can do now, as citizens, organizations and governments, to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to bound the downside. If we don't, the downside could be severe. Trent has a Ph.D. in EE from KU Leuven, Belgium. He undertook machine learning research for the Canadian Department of National Defense. He is the founder of Ocean Protocol, a decentralized data marketplace. COVID-19 is a Black Swan. It's gone from highly unlikely, to likely, to happening. No one has perfect models of how it will unfold, exactly. But, we can identify possible worst-case scenarios and take action to minimize the negative impacts if those scenarios do occur. The most rational thing that we can do is to bound the downside. Key takeaway: The virus will not hit nations in a uniformly spread fashion. It will take out one city at a time, not one country at a time. In China, Northern Wuhan was taken out first. In Italy, it was Lombardy, Venice, and Milan. So while we can start with analyses at the national level (USA, Germany), it's critical to drill into specific hotspots (Washington state, Berlin) which will experience capacity constraints sooner than the national average. What can be done? For starters, get more beds. Cancel large gatherings, start remote work, and accelerate universal testing. We should act now. We can learn a lot from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The Crypto Conversation is proudly sponsored by DeFi leaders NEXO Click here to borrow instantly in 45+ fiat currencies Click here to earn daily interest on your idle assets Supporting links: When does hospital capacity get overwhelmed What we can do about Coronavirus Systemic Risk of Pandemic via Novel Pathogens Ocean Protocol Trent 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.