Unchained

Mariano Conti, the head of smart contracts for MakerDAO and creator of SelloutDAO, and Peter Pan, the summoner for Metacartel DAO, discuss all things DAOs, including how Peter started Metacartel DAO after being rejected from MolochDAO, and why Mariano initially voted against Peter joining. (Peter eventually joined.) They also discuss how they came to form YangDAO, why Mariano almost rage quit MolochDAO after the YangDAO formed, and how other MolochDAO members felt about SelloutDAO, which Mariano describes as an experiment in "on-chain corruption." We discuss how DAOs are actually heavily built on trust and why they require a lot of social coordination off-chain. They also discuss funding for LAOs, which have a legal entity such as an LLC affiliated with them, why Metacartel is launching a LAO, and which types of projects should be funded by DAOs vs traditional corporate structures. We also cover governance issues at MakerDAO, why it has a CEO, and what role leadership in general plays in a DAO. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Mariano Conti: https://twitter.com/nanexcool Peter Pan: https://twitter.com/pet3rpan_ MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/ https://chat.makerdao.com Metacartel DAO: https://www.metacartel.org/ https://twitter.com/meta_cartel SelloutDAO: https://selloutdao.com/ Unchained interview with Ameen Soleimani of MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/ Unchained interview with Santiago Siri: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/ DAO Revival: https://www.coindesk.com/in-berlin-a-dao-renaissance-begins https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-10-05/crypto-rebels-trip-over-each-other-en-route-to-financial-utopia Andy Milenius’s account of MakerDAO’s change from a decentralized to a centralized project: https://www.scribd.com/document/407743542/Zandy-s-Story CoinDesk story on the rift: https://www.coindesk.com/darkest-days-yet-purple-pill-tell-all-details-years-long-rift-at-heart-of-makerdao-stablecoin-project Two most recent MakerDAO votes: https://vote.makerdao.com/executive-proposal/keep-the-stability-fee-set-to-a-total-of-105-per-year https://vote.makerdao.com/executive-proposal/lower-the-stability-fee-by-2-to-a-total-of-85-per-year https://vote.makerdao.com/polling-proposal/qmpem83sxjjwe1jvn2csdtetn4r3j95ejuzpbmtxef4lu5 Unchained interviews with Rune Christensen of MakerDAO: Part 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Part 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ MakerDAO vulnerabilities: ETH could have been stolen: https://hackerone.com/reports/684092 https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/10/03/makerdao-security-vulnerability-ethereum-dai-stablecoin-collapse-theft-cryptocurrency/ The LAO: https://medium.com/openlawofficial/the-lao-a-for-profit-limited-liability-autonomous-organization-9eae89c9669c Critique of the LAO: https://prestonbyrne.com/2019/09/03/the-lao-demystified/ MakerDAO launching multi-collateral Dai: https://www.coindesk.com/makerdaos-multi-collateral-dai-token-is-launching-nov-18 https://blog.makerdao.com/breaking-launch-date-of-multi-collateral-dai-announced-at-devcon-5/ Are DAO’s legal? https://www.coindesk.com/new-interest-in-daos-prompts-old-question-are-they-legal Unconfirmed interview with Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/ Unconfirmed episode with Ryan Zurrer about resurrecting the DAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ryan-zurrer-would-like-to-see-a-new-dao/ Unchained interview with Aragon: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-aragon-hopes-to-improve-on-democracy/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Andolfatto, senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, gives his thoughts on Facebook's Libra, including why regulatory issues will make it hard to compete with the US dollar, and why Bitcoin wouldn't have such issues. He also says, "who cares?" about the US dollar losing global reserve status, pointing out that many prosperous countries have currencies that don't function as global reserves. He tells us how he would design a central bank digital currency, and why, even if central banks enabled citizens to open accounts with them, thus bypassing commercial banks, it wouldn't drive banks out of business. We also cover how that could affect fractional reserve banking and credit creation, the People's Bank of China's soon-to-be-issued digital yuan, and why blockchains haven't yet substantially helped the unbanked, as they were originally touted to do. Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Episode links: St. Louis Federal Reserve: https://www.stlouisfed.org David Andolfatto: https://research.stlouisfed.org/econ/andolfatto/sel/ David's blog: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com Letter from House Reps to Fed Chair Jerome Powell: https://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Foster-Hill-US-Crypto.pdf Talk on blockchain, cryptocurrency and central banks: https://www.stlouisfed.org/dialogue-with-the-fed/blockchain https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/files/pdfs/dwtf/blockchain_082918.pdf?la=en Blog post on cost efficiency of a centrally managed ledger: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2017/12/fedcoin-and-blockchain.html?spref=tw David’s paper on the impact of central bank digital currency private banks: https://s3.amazonaws.com/real.stlouisfed.org/wp/2018/2018-026.pdf Raskin and Yermack paper: https://ccl.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Raskin_Max_and_Yermack_David_The%20Future%20of%20Central%20Banking.pdf David on FedCoin: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2015/02/fedcoin-on-desirability-of-government.html Philadelphia Federal Reserve banker Patrick Harker on a G20 CBDC being inevitable: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-harker-digital/feds-harker-digital-central-bank-currency-inevitable-idUSKBN1WH1L4 Related Unchained interview: Dong He and Yan Liu on central bank digital currencies: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-imf-on-how-to-design-central-bank-digital-currencies/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Parker, cofounder of Longhash, describes what the company, which has an Asia-focused incubator and data media site does, how she ended up launching an Asia-focused company, why she’s seeing US crypto teams and ICOs going to Singapore, why the Chinese government cracked down on crypto, and what misconceptions she sees about crypto in China. She explains how the Chinese still trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies despite the ban, why Tether plays a big role, how the China ban has affected crypto entrepreneurship and how the upcoming People's Bank of China digital currency could impact crypto. We also discuss how the attitude toward crypto has changed in Japan over time, why so many crypto teams are settling in Singapore, and whether or not the philosophies of censorship-resistance or decentralization resonate in China. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Longhash: LongHash.com Longhash's Twitter: https://twitter.com/longhashdata Emily Parker: Emilyparkerwrites.com Emily Parker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilydparker Emily Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-parker-738034142/ Longhash's incubator: https://incubator.longhash.com BTC trading by US EST and PST vs. China: https://www.longhash.com/news/american-traders-lead-on-bitcoin-rally-while-asian-traders-not-so-bullish Bitcoin metrics on Longhash: https://www.longhash.com/livecharts/bitcoin-social-metrics Emily's interview with SEC commissioner Hester Peirce: https://www.longhash.com/news/in-cryptocurrency-will-asia-surpass-the-us-exclusive-interview-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce Unchained interview with commissioner Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/ Longhash article showing more ICOs in Singapore than in US in Q1 2018: https://www.longhash.com/news/how-singapore-became-asias-ico-hub Longhash's graphic showing money transmitter laws in the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/is-cryptocurrency-money-depends-on-your-state Longhash on ICOs fleeing the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/after-years-of-regulatory-uncertainty-icos-are-fleeing-the-united-states Unchained interview with Primitive Ventures: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/ Unchained interview with Da Hongfei and Patrick Dai (not Lai!): https://unchainedpodcast.com/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban/ Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Emily's interview with Coincheck's president: https://www.longhash.com/news/lessons-from-the-largest-crypto-hack-in-history-exclusive-interview-with-coincheck-president-toshihiko-katsuya Longhash deck of cards of crypto players: https://www.longhash.com/news/fiftyfour-players-in-the-blockchain-industry-transformed-into-a-real-deck-of-cards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer Bogart, general partner at Blockchain Capital, the first VC firm to tokenize one of its funds, talks about how well offering tokenized shares has worked out, why it didn't do so for the following fund, the appeal of security tokens generally and what advantages tokenized securities offer over non-blockchain platforms like Second Market, in which investors can trade shares in private companies. He also explains what entrepreneurs are looking for from VCs now that they have more ways to raise from the crowd, how Blockchain Capital decides between investing in equity vs. tokens when there is an option, and why the firm believes there will only be five or fewer dominant blockchains. He describes why he thinks it's likely Bitcoin will take the lion's share of the market, noting its $200 billion market cap vs. the $20 trillion in other store-of-value assets such as gold, real estate and art, and whether or not it's possible to invest in Lightning, the second layer built on top of Bitcoin. We also cover the Bitcoin ETF proposals, stablecoins, how crypto might take off in video games and its 66x return within two years on its investment in Block.One. Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com Kraken: https://kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Blockchain Capital: https://blockchain.capital/ Spencer Bogart: https://twitter.com/CremeDeLaCrypto Unchained interview with Brock Pierce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-vc-is-sure-venture-capital-is-about-to-be-disrupted/ BCAP Q2 Nav: https://blockchainloop.com/blockchain-capital-releases-q2-2019-bcap-token-nav/ Upgrading of BCAP to Securitize platform: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/09/04/1565117/0/en/BCAP-Tokens-to-be-Upgraded-Utilizing-Securitize-Platform.html Funding of Securitize: https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-backs-security-token-startups-12-75-million-funding-round Blockchain Capital’s fourth fund: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blockchain-capital-closes-fund-iv-at-150-million-300617495.html Story about Blockchain Capital trying to separate itself from Brock Pierce: https://decrypt.co/6876/is-blockchain-capital-trying-to-scrub-co-founder-and-mighty-ducks-star-brock-pierce-from-its-history Interview with Brock Pierce in which he describes leaving Blockchain Capital: https://hackernoon.com/brock-pierce-interview-tales-from-the-bitcoin-floor-e479693a49bd Lightning Network statistics: https://bitcoinvisuals.com/lightning Tweets from LNBig on how they earned $0.10-$0.30 a day on Lightning fees: https://twitter.com/lnbig_com/status/1163055682964348934?s=20 https://twitter.com/lnbig_com/status/1159538637597487104?s=20 LNBig on how they spent $1,000 or so to open their Lightning channels: https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/bxh0ny/lightning_network_capacity_takes_a_sudden_dive/eq9x4i9/ Profitability of running a lightning node: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/a9dmzw/how_profitable_is_running_a_lightning_node/ Letter to the SEC: https://blockchain.capital/examining-bitcoins-valued-attributes-a-letter-to-the-sec/ Blog post about Bitcoin’s likely dominance: https://blockchain.capital/the-past-future-of-blockchain-where-were-going-and-why/ Spencer's Reddit post with questions/concerns about MakerDAO: https://www.reddit.com/r/MakerDAO/comments/asb9n6/a_couple_questions_concerns_about_maker_and_mkr/ + tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/cremedelacrypto/status/1103428046621618178 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olga Feldmeier, CEO of SmartValor, describes how her upbringing in Ukraine when it was undergoing 10,000% and 5,000% annual inflation helped her understand the potential in Bitcoin years later, and helped her connect with Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo. She also talks about how Xapo was able to get regulated in Switzerland, without having to get a banking license, and why she believes Switzerland has been open to the crypto industry. She explains why she is now focused on security tokens and tokenizing other real-world assets with her venture SmartValor, why it is also licensed in Lichtenstein, why it is aiming to make South Korea its second home, and what her view is on Facebook's Libra. Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Smart Valor: https://smartvalor.com/en/ Olga Feldmeier: https://twitter.com/OlgaFeldmeier Forbes interview with Olga: https://www.forbes.com/sites/montymunford/2018/07/30/qa-with-olga-feldmeier-cryptoqueen-and-ceo-smart-valor/#e3a3c9f3bcd1 Untold Stories interview with Olga (episode 14): https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/untoldstories?selected=BWG5775450315 Xapo receives approval to operate as a financial intermediary in Switzerland: https://blog.xapo.com/xapo-regulatory-status-in-switzerland/ SmartValor white paper: https://res.smartvalor.com/public/SMART-VALOR-WhitePaper.pdf SmartValor launches in Switzerland: https://www.coindesk.com/smart-valor-launches-regulated-crypto-exchange-in-switzerlandBusiness Insider interview on tokenizing physical objects: https://www.businessinsider.com/smart-valor-ceo-tokenization-of-everything-icos-bitcoin-future-value-2018-1 Smart Valor makes South Korea its second home: https://news.smartvalor.com/korea-update/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sebastian Sonntag, the new CEO of LocalBitcoins, and Mika Impola, software developer at LocalBitcoins, explain why the peer-to-peer bitcoin trading company has a new CEO, why it stopped cash trades and what kind of response they've received from the community about it. They describe how the service works, how it has changed over time, the range of payment options available amongst sellers on the site, and how peer-to-peer trading differs from country to country. Plus, we cover why it suspended buying in Iran, how regulation is changing the site in general, how it handles forks and what Sonngtag's plans are for the company. Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com/ Kraken: https://kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: LocalBitcoins: https://localbitcoins.com/ LocalBitcoins blog: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/ LocalBitcoins names a new CEO: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/localbitcoins-names-a-new-ceo/ LocalBitcoins stops cash trades: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-removes-cash-for-crypto-trading-option New Finnish AML regulations: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/aml-features-update/ LocalBitcoins’ new ID verification system: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/id-verification-update/ LocalBitcoins trading volume across countries: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins LocalBitcoins trading in Venezuela: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins/VES/BTC LocalBitcoins suspends buying in Iran: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-bans-bitcoin-buying-in-iran-in-blow-to-rising-crypto-commerce Bitcoin Cash hard fork decision: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/bitcoin-bcash/ Bitcoin Maven: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bitcoin-sentencing-20180709-story.html Hack on LocalBitcoins forums: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-reveals-security-breach-with-some-crypto-wallets-affected Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luis Cuende, the CEO of Aragon One, describes the Aragon Network, how it aims to create new systems better for human coordination and the roles of the various parts of the ecosystem, such as Aragon One, the Aragon Association, the Aragon Court, Aragon Nest and the Aragon Network token. He describes the various parts of the Aragon Network, such as a finance app and voting app, how the network can be used both by decentralized organizations as well as centralized companies, and how he thinks decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) interact with real-world legal jurisdictions. We discuss how disputes are handled in Aragon, what the token, ANT, is used for, and why Aragon is contemplating building its own blockchain instead of sitting atop Ethereum, as it currently does. We also talk about how Aragon is governed, how it hopes to someday decentralize its governance and other ways Aragon can reach Cuende's ideal governance. Plus, we cover a few controversial votes in Aragon and the role of whales in such systems. Thank you to our sponsors! Simbachain: https://simbachain.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Aragon Network: https://aragon.org/network/ Luis Cuende: https://twitter.com/licuende?lang=en Aragon white paper: https://github.com/aragon/whitepaper Breaker Mag article about Aragon: https://breakermag.com/can-aragon-make-decentralized-autonomous-governance-work/ Vitalik Buterin's proposals on DAICOs: https://ethresear.ch/t/explanation-of-daicos/465 Aragon Governance Proposals (AGP): https://github.com/aragon/AGPs/blob/master/AGPs/AGP-1.md Vote against funding Polkadot: https://www.coindesk.com/voters-on-ethereum-app-veto-proposal-to-fund-polkadot-blockchain Unchained episode about Polkadot: https://unchainedpodcast.com/paritys-jutta-steiner-and-gavin-wood-on-polkadot-substrate-and-the-frozen-funds/ Unchained episode about Ethereum 2.0: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-whether-or-not-ethereum-is-blowing-it/ Unchained episode with Ameen Soleimani of MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/ Stats on Aragon: https://scout.cool/aragon/mainnet Unchained episode about Melon protocol: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-melon-could-make-asset-management-easier/ Autark, the decentralized SpaceX: https://www.autark.xyz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Zeppettini, international ops lead and chief evangelist for Decred, aka "Decred Jesus," announces the launch of the coin's privacy feature. He first describes how Decred came out of some developers' frustrations of trying to work with Bitcoin Core developers, and how that led them to realize a couple of issues with Bitcoin's governance around the funding of development and giving other stakeholders a say in the development of the coin. He explains how Decred addresses those issues, how governance in Decred works, what tickets are used for in the system and why it uses a hybrid POW/POS system. We discuss the comparatively high participation rates in Decred, how it's resistant to contentious hard forks, and what Politeia is. Plus, he gives the scoop on Decred's new privacy feature, how it works, why it was developed in secret, and how the plan to make it more decentralized in the future. Plus, he talks about how Decred plans to decentralize its own governance. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Decred: https://decred.org Jonathan Zeppettini: https://twitter.com/jz_bz Decred in brief: https://decred.org/brief/ Jacob’s 2015 post on the challenges with Bitcoin: https://blog.companyzero.com/2015/11/bitcoins-biggest-challenges/ Placeholder VC on why it invested in Decred: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2018/5/12/decred-investment-thesis?rq=decred Smith and Crown's Decred report: https://sci.smithandcrown.com/research/decred-report Voting in Decred: https://storage.googleapis.com/smithandcrown-asset-engine-prod/images/voting-cycle.original.png Politeia: https://blog.decred.org/2017/10/25/Politeia/ CoinDesk article on Politeia: https://www.coindesk.com/one-of-investors-favorite-governance-blockchains-is-handing-over-20-million DiceMix “paper”: https://www.ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ndss201701-4ruffingSlides.pdf Brave New Coin post: https://bravenewcoin.com/insights/decred-price-analysis-a-sustained-increase-in-mining-activity-2 Coinbase may list Decred: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-continues-to-explore-support-for-new-digital-assets-4d2ecbcbd38c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sandra Ro, the CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council and former head of digitization at CME, explains what the GBBC does, how it chooses partners, and what level of involvement they have with projects under the GBBC umbrella. We discuss some of the more controversial projects, such as the Voatz pilot that conducted election voting using blockchain technology, as well as how she responds to people saying many "blockchain" projects could instead use a database. She also reveals why she believes that the US will eventually lead the world on crypto regulation, why she thinks that there's strength in the fragmentation in US regulations and what she thinks is the best way forward on the BitLicense. Plus, she gives us the inside scoop on what it took for her to get CME to launch Bitcoin futures. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Sandra Ro: https://twitter.com/srolondon GBBC: https://gbbcouncil.org/ Previous Unchained interview with Sandra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-derivatives-exchanges-doing-with-bitcoin/ Controversy over Voatz: https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/west-virginia-blockchain-voting-voatz.html Episode with Jake Chervinsky: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/ Jeremy Allaire on Unconfirmed on why the US needs a new category for digital assets: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jeremy-allaire-on-why-the-us-government-needs-a-new-category-for-digital-assets/ Fred Wilson on crypto regulation in the US: https://avc.com/2019/05/defendcrypto-org/ Ted Livingston on why Kik set up DefendCrypto.org: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/ Unchained interview with Juthica Chou: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ledgerx-on-the-reasons-to-trade-bitcoin-options/ Patent for physically settled cryptocurrency derivatives contracts: https://www.coindesk.com/cme-explores-cryptocurrency-derivatives-contracts-in-patent-filing Ro named to New York State Digital Currency Task Force: https://www.coindesk.com/new-york-legislature-names-initial-members-to-crypto-task-force The Libra Association's Dante Disparte on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dong He, deputy director of the monetary and capital markets department of the IMF, and Yan Liu, Assistant General Counsel at the legal department of the IMF, talk about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs): the current level of interest among central banks in issuing them, what concerns they need to address when designing them, and how commercial banks might be affected, depending on the design of the CBDC. We discuss how privacy could be built into such a currency while also fulfilling anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financial regulations and how a CBDC could affect the IMF's ability to achieve its goal of financial inclusion. Plus, we also cover how crypto assets being widely adopted could influence economies, as well as Facebook's Libra. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: IMF: https://www.imf.org/ Dong He: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donghe Yan Liu: https://blogs.imf.org/bloggers/yan-liu/ Speech by IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on the case for new digital currency: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/11/13/sp111418-winds-of-change-the-case-for-new-digital-currency He’s speech on monetary policy in the digital age: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/06/central-bank-monetary-policy-and-cryptocurrencies/he.htm Article on how crypto assets could reduce the demand for central bank money: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/06/central-bank-monetary-policy-and-cryptocurrencies/he.pdf The IMF on Libra: https://www.imf.org/~/media/Files/Publications/FTN063/2019/English/FTNEA2019001.ashx Unconfirmed episode with Michael Casey on why it would be good if Libra rivaled the US dollar: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/ Also check out this Unchained episode from the Oslo Freedom Forum, which dived deeply into the issues around privacy vs. keeping out bad actors: https://unchainedpodcast.com/oslo-freedom-forum-2019-protecting-financial-freedoms-in-the-digital-age/ And this Unchained episode with Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation, which covered similar issues: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Chervinsky, general counsel at Compound, goes over a plethora of crypto regulatory issues, such as those related to securities law such as the SEC vs. Kik case, Ripple, stablecoins, no-action letters, Blockstack and more. We also discuss whether there should be one regulator for crypto matters in the US, whether it makes sense to create a new category for digital assets instead of applying laws for securities, commodities, etc., to digital tokens, and why he thinks Libra will likely not launch in its proposed form. He also gives his odds on a Bitcoin ETF being approved soon, talks about the tension between privacy and financial regulation and reveals what he thinks is the biggest regulatory issue in DeFi that no one's talking about. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Jake Chervinsky: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky Compound: https://compound.finance/ Unchained interview with Compound CEO Robert Leshner: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/ Unchained with Ted Livingston of Kik about its intention to fight the SEC in court: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/ Kik's Wells response: https://www.kin.org/wells_response.pdf SEC no-action letter to Quarters: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-clears-blockchain-gaming-startup-to-sell-quarters-tokens SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on the first no-action letter for a token: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-how-we-howey-050919 Unconfirmed episode on Blockstack’s Reg A+ filing: https://unchainedpodcast.com/blockstacks-reg-a-filing-and-the-future-of-token-offerings%e2%80%8b/ Decrypt article on issues with issuing a token under Reg A+: https://decrypt.co/7839/blockstack-token-offering-historic-but-dance-with-sec-far-from-over How much Ripple has sold recently: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1154276254775947264?s=20 Jake’s tweet storm on the Libra hearings in Congress: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1151875713903005697?s=20 Jeremy Allaire’s testimony to Congress: https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Allaire%20Testimony%207-30-19.pdf Unchained interview with Jeremy Allaire on regulations: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jeremy-allaire-on-why-the-us-government-needs-a-new-category-for-digital-assets/ Push for new crypto regulations: https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-push-for-new-bitcoin-rules-11562405401 Tax issues: https://fortune.com/2019/07/29/here-comes-the-irs-the-ledger/ Bitcoin ETF: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1111734963798458369?s=20 Jake’s tweet storm on Bakkt: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1059828623471972354?fbclid=IwAR259I8Q2NSNmQ_PEb6l__XatWhmqj9U8gocHRoeb-JXizviI9T62rMuQC8 The latest on Bakkt: https://www.coindesk.com/bakkt-is-supposed-to-start-testing-its-bitcoin-futures-contracts-today Sanctions coming to crypto: https://www.coindesk.com/get-ready-for-crypto-sanctions-enforcement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Juthica Chou, chief operating officer of LedgerX, talks about the company's new license to offer its derivatives to retail investors and the resulting platform, Omni. She walks through what call and put options are, how they work and why people and companies purchase them as opposed to just buying or selling bitcoin directly. We discuss why LedgerX believes physically settled bitcoin options are superior to cash-settled ones, how LedgerX handles hard forks, and other contracts focused on the technicals of crypto networks it could offer such as its halving contract. Plus, she describes what it was like to be building a Bitcoin-centered company during the "blockchain not Bitcoin" era. Sign up for the Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute!! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: LedgerX: https://www.ledgerx.com Juthica Chou: https://twitter.com/juthica LedgerX blog posts introducing Omni: https://blog.ledgerx.com/the-long-game/ https://blog.ledgerx.com/introducing-omni-powered-by-ledgerx/ https://www.coindesk.com/cftc-approves-ledgerx-to-settle-futures-in-real-bitcoin https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-reveals-bid-to-beat-bakkt-to-physical-bitcoin-futures-launch CNBC interview with Ari Paul about why he bought $50,000 Bitcoin call option: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/12/26/man-behind-massive-bet-that-bitcoin-could-hit-50000.html Cheddar interview: more opportunity with the retail market: https://cheddar.com/media/ledgerx-wins-u-s-regulatory-approval-to-trade-bitcoin-futures Bitcoin halving contract: https://blog.ledgerx.com/a-new-type-of-contract-for-a-new-type-of-asset/ https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-unveils-betting-market-for-2020s-bitcoin-block-reward-halving Ledger on how to it would handle the Bitcoin Gold hard fork: https://www.ledgerx.com/s/LedgerX-LLC-Notice-to-Participants-2017-10.pdf Call option for $100k Bitcoin by December 2020: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-16/anybody-can-now-bet-on-bitcoin-100-000-with-new-call-options Unchained interview with Dan Morehead of Pantera Capital: https://unchainedpodcast.com/pantera-capital-how-bitcoin-could-reach-356000-in-a-few-years/ Cboe stops listing Bitcoin fuures: https://www.coindesk.com/cboe-puts-brakes-on-bitcoin-futures-listing https://www.wsj.com/articles/cboe-abandons-bitcoin-futures-11552914001 Why CME’s futures saw more volume than Cboe’s: https://www.coindesk.com/cme-cboe-bitcoin-futures How Bitcoin futures will be taxed: https://blog.ledgerx.com/less-taxation-with-digitization/ Doomschain clock/attitude toward private blockchains: https://blog.ledgerx.com/updating-the-doomschain-clock/ Oracle blog post: https://blog.ledgerx.com/how-to-talk-to-the-oracle/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of Pantera Capital, and Joey Krug, co-chief investment officer of Pantera and founder of Augur, discuss where we are in the development cycle of blockchain technology, how Bitcoin, if stays on past trend lines, could hit $42,000 by year's end and $356,000 a couple years after that, and why the biggest challenges now are around scaling and onboarding. We also cover what the adoption of the technology will mean long-term — how creating assets and markets will no longer be the realm of a privileged view — but why payments may be one of the last areas to be disrupted. Morehead and Krug also talk about how Libra walks the line between decentralized and centralized, and it's unclear how Libra will become decentralized. Plus, hear how they respond to questions about the SEC vs. Kik. Sign up for the Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute!! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/ Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Pantera Capital: https://www.panteracapital.com Dan Morehead: https://twitter.com/dan_pantera Joey Krug: https://twitter.com/joeykrug Dan Morehead on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/dan-morehead-of-pantera-capital-on-why-this-crypto-winter-is-different/ Unchained with Joey Krug: https://unchainedpodcast.com/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep-79/ A Crypto Thesis: https://medium.com/@PanteraCapital/a-crypto-thesis-47eaacf861ca Unconfirmed about Congressional hearings on Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-congressional-hearings-on-facebooks-libra-were-good-for-bitcoin/ Unconfirmed about why it would be good if Libra rivaled the USD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/ Unconfirmed with Dante Disparte of the Libra Association: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Some crypto industry players fed up with US regulators: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/29/crypto-companies-and-investors-fed-up-with-the-sec/#3f348ad7701c The SEC vs. Kik: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/ Bitcoin ETF: https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2018/10/pantera-capital-ceo-sec-doesnt-want-widows-and-orphans-buying-bitcoin-etfs-i-think-an-etf-is-years-away/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rich Sanders, cofounder and chief security officer of CipherBlade, and Harry Denley, director of security of MyCrypto.com, discuss the phone porting phenomenon: who's behind these thefts, how they perpetrate them, who is targeted, how to recognize the signs you're a victim and how to the hackers are adapting to people protecting themselves. They cover how you can protect yourself, which accounts to protect, what kinds of email addresses and numbers to set up, how to set them up, how to separate them from anything valuable, and which two-factor authentication methods could work instead. Plus, they go over how to report a theft, to whom you should report, and what information to include. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kraken: https://kraken.com CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: MyCrypto: https://mycrypto.com/ https://twitter.com/MyCrypto https://medium.com/mycrypto CipherBlade: https://cipherblade.com The SIM Swapping Bible: https://medium.com/mycrypto/what-to-do-when-sim-swapping-happens-to-you-1367f296ef4d My Forbes story covering the phone hijacking phenomenon: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#1964ddb738ba Michael Terpin, awarded $75 million in case after losing $24 million in crypto: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-investor-awarded-over-75-million-in-sim-swapping-hack-case Cody Brown who lost $8,000 on Coinbase due to a phone hijacking: https://medium.com/@CodyBrown/how-to-lose-8k-worth-of-bitcoin-in-15-minutes-with-verizon-and-coinbase-com-ba75fb8d0bac BitGo engineer losing his money via SIM porting: https://medium.com/coinmonks/the-most-expensive-lesson-of-my-life-details-of-sim-port-hack-35de11517124 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabriel Abed, founder of Bitt.com and Vice President of the board of directors, describes how he went from mining Bitcoin to persuading governors of central banks to not quash Bitt's goal to create central bank digital currencies in the Caribbean and getting the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to pilot one starting next year. He tells the tale of how Overstock came to invest in Bitt, how he brought on a new CEO to take over the company he founded, and how he teamed up with Polymath to create a new company that became the single largest shareholder of the Barbados Stock Exchange. He also describes Digital Asset Capital Management, an investment firm he launched, and why he's still a Bitcoin maximalist despite working on and investing in other types of cryptocurrencies. Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Bitt.com: https://www.bitt.com/ Gabriel Abed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielabed/ mMoney in Barbados: https://www.mmoneybb.com/ Digital Asset Capital Management: https://dacm.io/ Overstock announces $4 million investment in Bitt.com, to total $16 million over time: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/overstock-invests-in-bitt-to-launch-official-digital-currencies-in-the-caribbean-islands-1459961581 Second Overstock investment in Bitt.com of $3 million: https://www.coindesk.com/overstock-venture-arm-invests-3-million-in-blockchain-payments-startup CoinDesk on the meaning of Bitt's work with the Barbadian digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/how-a-tiny-island-could-give-cryptocurrency-a-big-boost Bitt’s pilot with Eastern Caribbean Central Bank: https://www.coindesk.com/eastern-caribbean-central-bank-takes-step-toward-digital-currency-roll-out Partnership with Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) to look into issuing a central bank-backed digital currency for Curaçao and Sint Maarten: https://www.coindesk.com/bitt-partners-with-dutch-caribbean-islands-to-explore-central-bank-crypto Bitt's identity work: https://www.coindesk.com/bitt-reveals-big-plans-blockchain-powered-caribbean-settlement-network Crypto activity in Bermuda and the Caribbean: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/technology/cryptocurrency-bermuda-malta-gibraltar.html Bermuda's crypto regulatory framework: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-bermuda-is-going-crypto-with-new-regulatory-framework-130512103.html Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Unchained interview with Bitfury: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitfury-on-the-ways-it-collaborates-with-governments-and-why-its-partnered-with-a-public-company/ Unchained interview with Sandra Ro: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-derivatives-exchanges-doing-with-bitcoin/ Unconfirmed interview with Dante Disparte: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luis Buenaventura, founder of Bloom Solutions, and Leo Weese, president of Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, discuss the crypto scene in Asia — how it differs from that of the West, and how it differs within the region. We also cover the regulatory climate there, how Korean traders occasionally stuff their pockets with cash and hop flights to Hong Kong, and whether the Hong Kong protests have had any impact on interest in BItcoin. Leo and Luis also talk about Binance and what they think are the top crypto projects in the region. Plus, they reveal Asia's perception of Tron. LAST WEEK to take the Unchained Podcast survey! Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Luis Buenaventura: https://twitter.com/helloluis Bloom: https://www.bloom.solutions/ Leo Weese: https://twitter.com/LeoAW The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong: https://www.bitcoin.org.hk/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinorghk?lang=en Panel from the Oslo Freedom Forum, where I met Leo and Luis: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/ Previous Asia scene episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/ Crypto Garage: https://cryptogarage.co.jp/en Bitspark: https://www.bitspark.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, the Human Rights Foundation and Alex Gladstein, its chief strategy officer, have become forces in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency community. In this episode, he discusses why Bitcoin is important for human rights, its three most important characteristics, and why Facebook's Libra project should be helpful to the adoption of the technology, at least in the short-term. He also describes how Bitcoin is just part of other movements that have become more open, such as governments shifting toward democracies and information becoming freer via the internet. He talks about how he thinks the technology can get wider adoption, why HRF supports the Open Money Initiative, and whether or not Bitcoin can help the North Korean people, rather than enriching its government, which has been the case so far. Read the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/25/how-bitcoin-can-help-in-the-fight-for-human-rights/ Take the Unchained Podcast survey! Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: The Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/ Alex Gladstein: https://twitter.com/gladstein Last year's Unconfirmed episode with Alex: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep-021/ This year's panel discussion on finances and freedom from the Oslo Freedom Forum: https://unchainedpodcast.com/oslo-freedom-forum-2019-protecting-financial-freedoms-in-the-digital-age/ Alex's essay for Time on why Bitcoin matters for freedom: https://time.com/5486673/bitcoin-venezuela-authoritarian/ Alex's response to Bitcoin critics: https://medium.com/@alexgladstein/a-human-rights-activists-response-to-bitcoin-critics-d50e6760ee80 The Open Money Initiative: https://www.openmoneyinitiative.org/ https://www.coindesk.com/whats-holding-back-bitcoin-in-venezuela-this-group-is-investigating How Bitcoin could help improve foreign aid: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/23/perspectives/bitcoin-foreign-aid/index.html Unchained episode with Bill Tai: https://unchainedpodcast.com/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology/ Eric Wall's posts on Bitcoin privacy and wallets: https://medium.com/human-rights-foundation-hrf/privacy-and-cryptocurrency-part-i-how-private-is-bitcoin-e3a4071f8fff https://medium.com/human-rights-foundation-hrf/privacy-and-cryptocurrency-part-ii-bitcoin-wallets-2f68099b055f What Bitcoin Did episode with Mahsa Alimardani: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/wbd-live-bitcoin-around-the-world-panel-at-the-oslo-freedom-forum Thae Yong Ho, the highest-ranking North Korean defector, at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2019: https://youtu.be/HmnBvsHl0qY?t=2662 Unchained episode with Jimmy Song: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jimmy-song-on-why-bitcoin-will-be-the-winning-cryptocurrency-ep-69/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarun Chitra, cofounder and CEO of Gauntlet, describes how his company enables crypto teams to run through simulations to see how their design choices will affect the project once it is trading. Using the cofounders' background in quantitative finance and high-frequency trading, Gauntlet uses tools from behavioral economics as well as game theory, plus real-world information such as exchange data to model outcomes after 100,000 blocks. We discuss how it makes its assumptions, how proof of stake differs from proof of work, and how the initial token distribution can affect the eventual concentration of tokens. He also reveals what design choice tends to have the greatest impact, as well as what main factor crypto teams aren't thinking about that they should be. Plus, he talks about his involvement in the launch of Facebook's Libra project, and gives us his thoughts on the design choices Facebook made regarding the consensus algorithm, programming language and the structure of the coin. See the full show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/18/how-to-make-cryptoeconomics-work-in-live-trading/ Take the Unchained Podcast survey! Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode Links: Gauntlet: https://gauntlet.network Tarun Chitra: https://twitter.com/tarunchitra?lang=en Gauntlet blog posts: https://medium.com/gauntlet-networks?source=logo-23cfbaf25c9a Unchained episode with Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain from Consensus 2019: https://unchainedpodcast.com/to-the-moon-and-back-with-polychains-olaf-carlson-wee/ Zero Knowledge podcast episode with Tarun Chitra: https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/61 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this panel, recorded at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2019, I moderated what an attendee described as a "lively" discussion on the relationship between finances and freedom with Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Alena Vranova, Head of Strategy at Casa; and Coin Center founder Jerry Brito. We talked about what it's like to live under a regime where people don’t have a lot of financial freedom, how the move to a cashless society is leading to a surveillance state, and how we're seeing the emergence of a corporate surveillance state. We talked about how cryptocurrency could bring us more financial freedom, how crypto is/should be regulated, privacy coins and the imminent Financial Action Task Forces rules that require crypto exchanges and other services send each other information on customers for each transaction. Plus, we discuss bad state actors using crypto. Read the show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/11/how-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrencies-can-further-financial-freedom/ Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, -- including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Those of you interested in learning more about Casa, or about protecting your Bitcoin investment generally, should check out my interview with CEO Jeremy Welch. https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-casa-makes-it-harder-for-someone-to-steal-your-bitcoins/ Thank you to Casa for donating! Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Oslo Freedom Forum: https://oslofreedomforum.com Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org Jimmy Song: https://twitter.com/jimmysong Alena Vranova: https://twitter.com/AlenaSatoshi Jerry Brito: https://twitter.com/jerrybrito Programming Blockchain: https://programmingblockchain.com Casa: https://keys.casa Coin Center: https://coincenter.org FATF rules: https://www.coindesk.com/beyond-kyc-global-regulators-appear-set-to-adopt-tough-new-rules-for-crypto-exchanges How regulation could spur the development of technology in the crypto space toward more P2P: Vitalik blog post on this: https://vitalik.ca/general/2019/05/09/control_as_liability.html Michael Casey on the topic: https://www.coindesk.com/the-cat-and-mouse-game-of-crypto-regulation-enters-a-new-phase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Smith, the CEO of Blockchain, discusses how the company got started, why the company is focused on users owning their own private keys and how that is what enables all the most interesting applications of blockchain technology. He talks about the full range of customers and markets they serve, their lending business and their dark pool. We also discuss regulation, SegWit, nation-states getting involved in crypto and why Blockchain plans to go public. Read more on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/04/everything-interesting-in-crypto-relies-on-having-a-private-key/ Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Peter Smith: https://twitter.com/OneMorePeter Blockchain: https://www.blockchain.com Wired article on the short period when cofounder Ben Reeves worked with Brian Armstrong: https://www.wired.com/2014/03/what-is-bitcoin/ Dovey Wan tweet on manipulative trade on Bitstamp/Bitmex: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1129246233917382656 Fortune article on Blockchain launching an exchange: http://fortune.com/2018/02/15/blockchain-google-coinbase/ SEC guidance mentioning airdrops: https://www.sec.gov/files/dlt-framework.pdf FinCen guidance mentioning hosted vs. unheated wallets: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/2019-05/FinCEN%20Guidance%20CVC%20FINAL%20508.pdf Blockchain's Airdrop of XLM: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2018/11/06/stellar-is-airdropping-125-million-to-blockchain-wallet-users/ The Wall Street exodus from crypto: https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2019/01/143834-is-the-exodus-from-wall-street-to-crypto-reversing-jamie-selway-leaves-blockchain/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ted Livingston, CEO of Kik and the founder of the Kin Foundation, and Patrick Gibbs, partner at Cooley, announce the formation of the $5 million DefendCrypto.org fund at Coinbase Custody to fight the SEC in court. Kik and Kin are hoping that a lawsuit would eventually result in a new Howey test for crypto tokens, to determine which ones are a security. In this episode, they explain has happened so far between them and the SEC to bring them to this point and what their main arguments are. Plus they defend themselves against some of the evidence against their case and we discuss what they can expect going forward. Read the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/28/kin-launches-5-million-defendcrypto-fund-to-take-on-the-sec/ Thank you to our sponsors! Kraken: Https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: DefendCrypto: https://www.defendcrypto.org Kik: https://www.kik.com Kin: https://www.kin.org Ted Livingston: https://twitter.com/ted_livingston Patrick Gibbs of Cooley: https://www.cooley.com/people/patrick-gibbs Kik’s Wells response: https://www.kin.org/wells_response.pdf Kin white paper: https://www.kin.org/static/files/Kin_Whitepaper_V1_English.pdf The DAO report: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/investreport/34-81207.pdf Kathryn Haun of A16z Crypto's blog post: https://a16z.com/2019/05/15/kik-and-the-sec-whats-going-on-and-what-does-it-mean-for-crypto/ Importance of the Kik and Kin Foundation case by the Blockchain Association: https://medium.com/@BlockchainAssoc/the-potential-kik-and-the-kin-foundation-case-has-major-consequences-for-the-open-blockchain-de8ed616a1c Breaker Mag on Kik's fight with the SEC: https://breakermag.com/how-kiks-looming-sec-fight-could-unfold-and-why-it-will-define-blockchains-future/ Video of Ted at the San Francisco Meetup: https://youtu.be/rqN7srwqRf8 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/31/video-shows-kik-ceo-discussing-ico-pre-sale-it-will-become-super-valuable/ Kik chooses Stellar: https://www.coindesk.com/two-chains-no-more-kik-selects-stellar-over-ethereum-for-crypto-token-launch Kik chooses Stellar and Ethereum: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-and-stellar-mobile-messenger-kik-embraces-two-blockchains Next Web story: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/12/06/kik-kin-cryptocurrency-blockchain-2/ Kik pre-sale: https://www.coindesk.com/mobile-messenger-kik-raises-50-million-ahead-75-million-ico https://www.coindesk.com/why-big-investors-are-betting-real-money-on-a-kik-cryptocurrency SEC Framework: https://www.sec.gov/corpfin/framework-investment-contract-analysis-digital-assets Token Taxonomy Act: https://medium.com/@BlockchainAssoc/the-token-taxonomy-act-is-back-and-we-need-it-more-than-ever-d2cbf0154776 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sharon Goldberg, CEO of Arwen and Boston University computer science professor, describes how the protocol enables people to trade on crypto exchanges without making their coins vulnerable to exchange hacks, how this differs from trading on a decentralized exchange, and how Arwen would function if the exchange you were using on was hacked during a trade. She also discusses how Arwen works with any custody solution, how they choose which coins to support and what other features they are considering adding in the future. Read the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/21/how-to-trade-on-crypto-exchanges-without-your-coins-getting-hacked/ On May 27th I will be hosting a conversation about the future of finance and human rights at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. As the world continues to move toward a cashless society, paper currency is disappearing. Companies like Facebook, Apple, and TenCent are becoming increasingly influential in the digital payment space. We'll discuss how individuals and companies can preserve and protect financial freedoms in the digital age. I'll be joined by Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Casa chief technology officer Alena Vranova; and CoinCenter founder Jerry Brito. To register to attend, you can visit oslofreedomforum.com today -- use discount code "unchained25" to get 25% off your ticket price! Thank you to our sponsor: CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Arwen: https://www.arwen.io Sharon Goldberg: https://twitter.com/goldbe How Arwen prevents exit scams: https://medium.com/arwensecure/how-arwen-prevents-exit-scams-55d1a9de32b How Arwen protects traders from a hacked exchange: https://medium.com/arwensecure/unleashing-mt-fox-4e8b20a11dea Forbes article on Arwen: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2019/01/28/this-startup-is-fixing-the-biggest-security-hole-in-bitcoin-exchanges/#5f68d5905812 The Block on Arwen: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/02/05/a-startup-is-launching-a-solution-that-protects-users-from-exchange-hacks/ https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-startup-wants-you-to-trade-on-exchanges-without-trusting-them Kucoin launching Arwen: https://www.coindesk.com/kucoin-exchange-traders-can-now-self-custody-their-crypto-assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jutta Steiner, CEO of Parity, and Gavin Wood, who goes by the title "chief white space officer," describe the network Parity plans to launch later this year, Polkadot, how it aims to solve scalability, interoperability and security and when a developer would choose to build a dapp on Ethereum vs. a parachain on Polkadot. We also discuss another one of their products, Substrate, which enables developers to easily customize blockchains, and perceived competition between Ethereum and Polkadot. Plus, we talk about the frozen funds of Parity and other crypto teams, and why Jutta and Gavin think the community should upgrade in a way that would enable the funds to be unlocked. Be sure to check out the full show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/12/how-polkadot-hopes-to-help-blockchains-scale/ Thank you to our sponsors! CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Parity: https://www.parity.io Jutta Steiner: https://twitter.com/jutta_steiner Gavin Wood: https://twitter.com/gavofyork Polkadot light paper: https://polkadot.network/Polkadot-lightpaper.pdf Polkadot Wiki: http://wiki.polkadot.network/en/latest/ Gavin's 2014 blog post on Web 3: https://gavwood.com/dappsweb3.html Gav’s keynote on the journey to Web 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1pEE0W3ug Chain Fibers article in the Ethereum Wiki: https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Chain-Fibers-Redux Web 3.0 vision: https://medium.com/@gavofyork/why-we-need-web-3-0-5da4f2bf95ab More explanation of Polkadot, Substrate, Consensus, Governance, etc.: http://wiki.polkadot.network/en/latest/polkadot/learn/relevant-links/ Upgradeability without hard forks via Substrate https://medium.com/polkadot-network/never-fork-again-438c5e985cd8 Controversy around Afri Schoedon’s tweet: https://breakermag.com/exclusive-afri-schoedon-on-his-contentious-split-from-ethereum/ Dothereum: https://twitter.com/dothereum?lang=en https://www.reddit.com/r/dothereum/ Gavin and Vitalik Buterin discussing competition between Ethereum and Polkadot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=vRqJK16t4-I Why not to fork for the frozen funds: https://medium.com/@avsa/avoid-evil-twins-every-ethereum-app-pays-the-price-of-a-chain-split-e04c2a560ba8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Campbell and Kevin Johnson, cofounder and COO, respectively, of Tagomi, describe how Tagomi helps institutional players make larger crypto trades more efficiently and at the best price possible, plus analyze how that was executed. They contrast it with the pre-Tagomi process for doing large crypto trades, how their software, which functions as a sort of "Kayak.com" for crypto trading, works on the backend, and how they keep funds held on exchanges secure. Plus, we compare today's crypto trading infrastructure to the early days of electronic trading in traditional financial markets, and look down the road at how they'll accommodate trends such as staking and decentralized exchanges. For more, check out the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/07/how-to-make-large-crypto-trades-without-moving-the-market/ Thank you to our sponsors! ConsenSys/Ethereal: Head to Etherealsummit.com with my discount code LAURA20 to get 20% off tickets to Ethereal Summit New York, May 10th to 11th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Tagomi: https://tagomi.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/tagomisystems Forbes article on Tagomi: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2019/02/15/crypto-finance-grows-up-tagomis-new-tools-could-draw-institutions-into-the-crypto-market/#6c9bf98c13a0 Bloomberg video featuring Jennifer and Greg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-03-04/meet-tagomi-the-end-to-end-crypto-solution-video Bloomberg article on comparisons to early days of electronic trading in equities: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-17/former-goldman-electronic-trading-head-sees-parallels-in-crypto WSJ Article on Tagomi: https://www.wsj.com/articles/peter-thiel-backed-venture-to-help-big-investors-bet-on-bitcoin-1525176121 Tagomi receiving BitLicense: http://fortune.com/2019/03/27/bitcoin-peter-thiel-tagomi-bitlicense/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jae Kwon, founder and CEO of Tendermint and president of the Interchain Foundation, and Ethan Buchman, cofounder of Tendermint and Cosmos and technical director of the Interchain Foundation, discuss the various technologies that form the Cosmos/Tendermint system. When the Cosmos network launched on March 13, it was built on what is the blockchain equivalent of an operating system, a consensus algorithm called Tendermint, Cosmos is like the world wide web (for blockchains) built on top, and the Cosmos Hub is a specific blockchain that exists in the system that can be used to connect other blockchains. We discuss all the above, as well as how secure the chain is, and how governance works in the system. Check out the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/30/cosmos-a-world-wide-web-for-blockchains/ Thank you to our sponsors! CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. ConsenSys/Ethereal: Head to Etherealsummit.com with my discount code LAURA20 to get 20% off tickets to Ethereal Summit New York, May 10th to 11th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Cosmos: Cosmos.network Cosmos.network/launch Luni: Luni.io Tendermint: Tendermint.com - company and product Interchain Foundation: Interchain.io Cosmos intro/FAQ: https://cosmos.network/intro Cosmos white paper: https://cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper Chart showing number of transactions vs. validators: https://medium.com/paradigm-fund/cosmos-network-the-internet-of-blockchains-is-coming-9ce956c7b78 The Control on Cosmos: https://thecontrol.co/into-the-cøsmos-433586b82865 Paradigm’s description of Cosmos: https://medium.com/paradigm-fund/cosmos-network-the-internet-of-blockchains-is-coming-9ce956c7b78 Bitfish’s response to Game of Stakes, in which it grew to 55% of the network: https://medium.com/bitfishlabs/bitfish-response-to-gos-5-24eaeeea9876 CoinDesk on Cosmos launch: https://www.coindesk.com/a-blockchain-to-connect-all-blockchains-cosmos-is-now-officially-live Cosmos vs. Polkadot: https://tokeneconomy.co/the-state-of-crypto-interoperability-explained-in-pictures-654cfe4cc167 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin and aka SatoshiLite, discusses how he came to launch Litecoin, how the "fair" launch may have helped its success, why he didn't work on it for a stretch, and what inspired him to devote all of his time to it — but not own any litecoins. We also discuss his vision for Litecoin, why he believes stablecoins aren't superior, why he's considering enabling private Litecoin payments, and how he feels about the perception that he sold his litecoins near the all-time high, leaving others holding the bag. Read the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/23/charlie-lee-on-why-litecoins-goal-is-to-be-used-for-payments/ Read Charlie’s additional answers: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-cutting-room-floor-charlie-lee/ Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained CoinDesk: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don't miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. Episode links: Litecoin: http://litecoin.org Charlie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite Charlie on Unconfirmed, discussing the 10th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper: https://unchainedpodcast.com/charlie-lee-aka-satoshi-lite-on-the-10-year-anniversary-of-the-bitcoin-white-paper-ep-044/ Charlie on Unconfirmed, discussing the Ethereum Classic 51% attack: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-ethereum-classic-51-attack-how-it-happened-and-why-the-price-didnt-crash-ep-055/ Unchained interview with Charlie's brother, Bobby Lee: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bobby-lee-ceo-of-btcc-on-why-the-chinese-probably-arent-using-bitcoin-to-evade-capital-controls/ CoinDesk on Charlie’s work after Coinbase: https://www.coindesk.com/life-coinbase-can-charlie-lee-keep-litecoins-revival-alive CoinDesk profile: https://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-most-influential-2017-3-charlie-lee Charlie selling his LTC: https://www.reddit.com/r/litecoin/comments/7kzw6q/litecoin_price_tweets_and_conflict_of_interest/ WSJ article on selling his LTC: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-founder-tries-a-new-play-sell-it-all-1513873355?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3 Multicoin Capital report on Litecoin: https://multicoin.capital/2018/09/14/debunking-market-narratives-litecoin-ltc-edition/ Magical Crypto Friends: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVDsIYJBQ_C7Bh_aI3ZMxQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexander Zaidelson, the CEO of Beam, a cryptocurrency being built on the MimbleWimble protocol, talks about how he came to start Beam, how it differs from Grin, another cryptocurrency being built on MimbleWimble and what types of users the cryptocurrency is targeting. See the full show notes at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/16/how-businesses-might-one-day-use-cryptocurrency/ Interested in a weekend of yoga, nature, healthy food and talking crypto? Then join me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, from September 20-22. Sign up today! https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Beam: https://www.beam.mw Medium: https://medium.com/beam-mw Overviews of Grin vs. Beam: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/battle-privacycoins-what-we-know-about-grin-and-beams-mimblewimble/ https://www.coindesk.com/grin-and-beam-a-tale-of-two-coins-being-built-on-mimblewimble Comparisons of Beam to Zcash and Monero: https://medium.com/beam-mw/whats-the-difference-between-monero-zcash-and-beam-953eafd89354 Beam Roadmap: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-beam-roadmap-2019-b2c7f38fc106 Beam emission schedule: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-emission-schedule-215551948259 Beam FAQ: https://www.beam.mw/faq The Block on Mimblewimble: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/08/mimblewimble-history-technology-and-the-mining-industry/ Wallet vulnerability: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-wallet-vulnerability-report-7b8e88dc7e Blockchain stoppage: https://www.coindesk.com/beam-cryptocurrency-experiences-brief-blockchain-stoppage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Lehnberg and Michael Cordner, core team members of Grin, discuss the first implementation of the MimbleWimble protocol, named after a tongue-tying curse in Harry Potter. We discuss the many ways in which Grin is similar to Bitcoin: its origin story, its goal to be "digital cash," as Satoshi's paper was subtitled, and even its emission schedule. We discuss how Grin is private, how it is lighter weight than the Bitcoin blockchain, and the philosophy behind Grin, which stands in stark contrast to the many ICOs. For the full show notes, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/09/a-nimbler-more-private-version-of-bitcoin/ Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Grin: https://grin-tech.org Grin newsletter: https://grinnews.substack.com Daniel Lehnberg: https://twitter.com/lehnberg?lang=en Michael Cordner: https://twitter.com/yeastplume?lang=en MimbleWimble white paper: https://scalingbitcoin.org/papers/mimblewimble.txt Grin Intros: https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin/blob/master/doc/intro.md https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin/blob/master/doc/grin4bitcoiners.md Circle Research report on MimbleWimble technology: https://research.circle.com/crypto-reports/mimblewimble Grin's monetary policy — visually, easier to see how its similar in effect to Bitcoin's: https://github.com/mimblewimble/docs/wiki/Monetary-Policy https://www.tokendaily.co/blog/on-grin-mimblewimble-and-monetary-policy Questions about whether Grin got the incentives right: https://twitter.com/nlw/status/1091319888562532355 https://twitter.com/TusharJain_/status/1091316903346429952 Tracking YeastPlume’s funding: https://grin-tech.org/yeastplume Ignotus Peverell post noting his disappointment in funding for YeastPlume: https://www.grin-forum.org/t/solved-early-disappointments/3682 Interview with Ignotus Peverell: https://breakermag.com/grin-founder-ignotus-peverell-on-life-after-launch-and-the-path-forward/ Conversation with Grin developers: https://medium.com/@BHEXOfficial/bhex-original-ignotus-grin-as-bitcoins-younger-more-nimble-brother-612efadd0478 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a fireside chat I moderated with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce held by the Blockchain Digital Asset Forum, in conjunction with the NYU Stern Executive MBA program, on March 26, 2019, she explained where her reputation as 'Crypto Mom' comes from — a desire to look at the world with fresh eyes and say, are there things we can do things better? We also discussed a Bitcoin ETF and the prospects for one after Bitwise released a report showing a health legitimate market, as well as initial coin offerings and what will happen to the hundreds of ICO issuers that had initial coin offerings that look much like the ICOs that have already had enforcement actions against them. She described the process that occurs when something like an application for a Bitcoin ETF is submitted to the SEC, whether or not there's a lot of disagreement amongst the commissioners about how to regulate crypto, how much they work to persuade each other to come over to their side and whether Chairman Jay Clayton's opinion overrules everyone else's or whether majority rules. Plus, we covered dexes, stablecoins and security tokens. View the full show notes on my Forbes page: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/02/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-on-why-you-shouldnt-have-to-be-rich-to-get-rich/ Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce SEC: https://www.sec.gov Event link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fireside-chat-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-and-laura-shin-tickets-58327939437 Hester's dissent to the Bitcoin ETF disapproval: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723 Bitwise's report: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nysearca-2019-01/srnysearca201901-5164833-183434.pdf SEC enforcement action against Munchee: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2017/33-10445.pdf SEC enforcement action against Paragon: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/33-10574.pdf SEC enforcement action against Airfox: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/33-10575.pdf SEC enforcement action against Gladius: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2019/33-10608.pdf Speech by William Hinman, SEC director of the Division of Corporate Finance, on ether not being a security: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/speech-hinman-061418 Token Taxonomy Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/7356 Unchained episode with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ SEC enforcement action against Zachary Coburn of EtherDelta: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/34-84553.pdf DTC report on blockchains for securities: http://www.dtcc.com/news/2019/march/13/dtcc-outlines-guiding-principles-for-post-trade-processing-of-tokenized-securities Thank you to Lawson Baker at TokenSoft (disclosure: a previous sponsor) for helping me think through some of the issues for this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the first Unchained Live, Vitalik explained why he thought it was "inevitable" Ethereum would lose some of its lead, when he would be upset if Ethereum were overtaken by a competitor, and whether the Ethereum 2.0 road map was too long. We also discussed why a strain of Ethereum maximalism is emerging, how the foundation sets its funding priorities, whether or not the community should adopt inflation funding for development of the blockchain and why he thinks the MolochDAO experiment likely won't garner much investment. For the full summary, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/03/26/vitalik-buterin-on-why-ethereum-has-lost-some-of-its-lead/. Thank you to our sponsors! Quantstamp, the venue sponsor for Unchained Live: http://quantstamp.com/unchained Columbia School of Professional Studies, the networking sponsor: http://sps.columbia.edu/podcast CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Previous Unchained interview with Vitalik Buterin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-creator-of-ethereum-on-the-big-guy-vs-the-little-guy/ Unchained episode about MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/ Zcash interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/zcashs-zooko-wilcox-on-why-he-believes-privacy-coins-will-be-used-more-for-good-than-bad/ Unchained interview with Glen Weyl and Santiago Siri referencing radical markets: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/ 0x interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future/ Augur interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep-79/ Dharma interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep-80/ Compound interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/ dYdX interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep-86/ Unchained episode on MakerDAO, part 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Part 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ Unconfirmed episode about superfluid collateral and echoes of the 2008 financial crisis: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-earn-money-on-collateral-in-defi-and-why-thats-risky/ Unconfirmed episode about Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/ Dfinity interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/dfinitys-dominic-williams-on-how-its-blockchain-nervous-system-is-not-an-ai-ep-78/ 100th episode of Unchained featuring a poem about crypto and the podcast: https://unchainedpodcast.com/100th-episode-past-guests-and-listeners-take-over-the-show-ep-100/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ameen Soleimani, CEO of Spankchain, comes on the show to discuss his latest effort to fund Ethereum development through the decentralized autonomous organization MolochDAO. He describes how it works, plus we cover competition in the smart contract space and whether we're seeing the emergence of Ethereum maximalism. Full show notes are back on Forbes.com! See the full recap of this week's recap of the episode at http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/03/18/how-could-ethereum-development-be-funded-perhaps-through-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization/. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: MolochDAO website: MolochDAO.com MolochDAO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MolochDAO MolochDAO white paper: https://github.com/MolochVentures/Whitepaper/blob/master/Whitepaper.pdf Moloch Github: https://github.com/molochventures/moloch State of Ethereum 2.0 report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PS0k9MaKPdPwEw3Uh9rq7USjq7LcSpT6ICQUXRij4YE/edit#heading=h.kdbgcss2wsc Ameen's tweet storm on MolochDAO: https://twitter.com/ameensol/status/1084652403889065989?s=19 MolochDAO tweetstorm with update on members, etc.: https://twitter.com/MolochDAO/status/1100516720563806209?s=19 MolochDAO presentation at ETHDenver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abTRJZcmPwI Post by Dino Mark, Vlad Zamfir and Emin Gun Sirer, A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on the DAO: http://hackingdistributed.com/2016/05/27/dao-call-for-moratorium/ Ameen on the importance of ETH price: https://twitter.com/ameensol/status/1090319128810815489 Ryan Zurrer's position on ether fund recovery: https://medium.com/@rzurrer/evolution-dogma-a-proposed-path-towards-ether-fund-recovery-9810f213e8ee r/Ethereum decision on moderators: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/azyqdu/a_statement_call_for_discussion_from_some_of_the/ Ameen on the timeframe for developing Ethereum 2.0 relative to development on potentially competitive chains like Polkadot: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/ajc9ip/ama_we_are_the_eth_20_research_team/eewscyf/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tushar Jain and Kyle Samani, managing partners of Multicoin Capital, discuss Binance, Binance Chain and BNB token, and why they believe Binance will become the first centralized company to successfully decentralize itself and migrate the value in itself to its token. We cover what Binance, the centralized company has so far achieved in terms of trading volume, fiat on-ramps, and regulatory arbitrage, and whether the company has any more regulatory risk than any other exchange. We also look at the features of Binance Chain, how they compare to other decentralized exchanges such as 0x, and why Multicoin believes that it will have more liquidity than previous dexes. We then explore BNB token — how it works now, the regulatory risk for BNB token, and how it will function on the dex. Finally, we touch on Binance's decentralization strategy overall and how it could fail. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital Kyle Samani: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani Tushar Jain: https://twitter.com/TusharJain_ Multicoin Capital BNB report: https://multicoin.capital/2019/02/19/binance-coin-analysis-and-valuation/ Unchained episode with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get your tickets now for Unchained Live with Vitalik Buterin! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 It will take place March 20th at 6pm at Columbia Journalism School in the Joseph D. Jamail Lecture Hall. Hope to see you there! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mona El-Isa, the cofounder and CEO of Melonport, explains how Melon, the asset management protocol which recently launched on Ethereum, makes launching a fund easier and less expensive, plus gives investors even more transparency into the manager's decisions. She describes who will be using Melon, how the funds using Melon access liquidity if the protocol only connects to decentralized exchanges, what happens if bugs are found in the protocol's smart contracts, and how know-your-customer processes are handled. Noting that the company Melonport will now be winding down, she talks about how the protocol will be managed going forward. Plus, we dive into the MLN token. Thank you to our sponsor! http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Melonport: https://melonport.com Launch of Melon 1.0: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melon-v1-0-zahreddino-60105f51988d Front and back office functions in a traditional fund vs. a Melon-based fund: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/what-is-melon-2018-edition-3437f3d064d8 Management fees in Melon: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/management-and-performance-fees-in-a-melon-fund-f1df2a26abd9 Integration with Kyber: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/kyber-network-melon-3f6bcfa2d328 Melonport will not exist by DevCon V: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTLSnS4DTak&t=882s Melon governance: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/introduction-to-the-melon-governance-system-f6ff73c70eb0 MLN token: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-melon-but-were-too-afraid-to-ask-9ea3fda6d71f Melonomics 1: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-1-aligning-interests-through-token-unification-d0b98a02de46 Melonomics 2: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-2-the-melon-engine-48bcb0dae65 Melonomics 3: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-3-counting-melons-7632afad844c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glen Weyl, a political economist and social technologist, the coauthor of Radical Markets and a principal researcher at Microsoft, and Santiago Siri, the founder of Democracy Earth, discuss how blockchains can be used to create borderless democracies that can reach any citizen on earth and can be used not just by nation-states but in all kinds of communities such as the workplace, church or a social network like Facebook. We cover concepts such as quadratic finance and quadratic voting, and look at how forcing voters to have a budget for their votes changes voting behavior. We also dive into what needs to be put in place for blockchain-based voting systems to work, why identity solutions are crucial but also so hard to get right, and how we can prevent token-based governance systems from becoming plutocracies. Plus, we surmise that blockchain-based governance might be the 21st century political experiment and that someday, we may all be citizens of multiple communities. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained Episode links: Democracy Earth: https://www.democracy.earth Santiago Siri: https://twitter.com/santisiri Radical Xchange: https://twitter.com/RadxChange Glen Weyl: https://twitter.com/glenweyl Radical Xchange conference in March: radicalxchange.org Radical Markets: https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11222.html Democracy Earth white paper: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sifogl4zimwkkei/Democracy%20Earth%20-%20Social%20Smart%20Contract%20-%20Paper%20v0.2.pdf?dl=0 Democracy Earth cofounder Pia Mancini on early work with digital democracy: https://www.ted.com/talks/pia_mancini_how_to_upgrade_democracy_for_the_internet_era?language=en Santi on how blockchains could revolutionize democracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UajbQTHnTfM Wired article on Democracy Earth: https://www.wired.com/story/santiago-siri-radical-plan-for-blockchain-voting/ CoinDesk feature on Glen Weyl: https://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-most-influential-blockchain-2018-glen-weyl Vitalik Buterin blog post on Radical Markets: https://vitalik.ca/general/2018/04/20/radical_markets.html Paper by Vitalik, Zoe Hitzig and Glen on quadratic financing: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243656 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you haven’t heard, I’m doing a live podcast recording with Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum. What is a live podcast recording? It's a podcast performed by me and the guest on a stage, in front of an audience. Vitalik and I will be discussing Ethereum 2.0, Polka Dot, Substrate, what happened with Afri this week and more. And you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions. It’ll be in New York City the evening of March 20th, which is one month from today. The doors open at 6, the show starts at 7. We will be announcing the venue soon. Get your tickets here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jalak Jobanputra, founder and managing partner of Future Perfect Ventures, talks about how, in 2014, her experience as an investment bank and VC, her global background, and her observation that new streams of data were becoming available led her to launch her first fund, which ended up being 70% invested in blockchain. She describes what it was like selling LPs on the nascent technology in 2014, how her latest fund, which will be more than $50 million, is different and how it's drawing LPs who thought they could make money through liquid hedge funds invested in tokens. She talks about why she thinks early-stage technologies can't be IPO'ed -- and why FPV shied away from ICOs -- but why her second fund is capable of investing in tokens. She also explains how the space is still lacking in early-stage VCs with knowledge of the blockchain sector, why New York launched the New York Blockchain Center and whether crypto is becoming more diverse. Come See Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin! Wednesday, March 20th, doors at 6, show at 7, venue TBD Get your tickets now! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained Episode links: Future Perfect Ventures: Futureperfectventures.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/jalak Blog: Thebarefootvc.com Jalak op-ed on Bitcoin at $10,000 in Recode: https://www.recode.net/2017/11/29/16716014/bitcoin-price-10k-ethereum-blockchain-cryptocurrency-value-creation-global Profile of Jalak in Breaker Mag: https://breakermag.com/why-one-of-blockchains-first-vcs-thinks-the-developing-world-will-lead-the-way/ Jalak on the 10th birthday of the Bitcoin white paper: https://breakermag.com/remembering-the-bitcoin-whitepaper-part-3-the-thinkers/ New York Blockchain Center: https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/nycedc-open-nyc-s-public-private-blockchain-center Wired story on the Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ Unconfirmed episode with Bill Barhydt of portfolio company Abra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-abra-enables-you-to-buy-5-of-an-etf-like-token-of-the-top-10-cryptos-ep-040/ Unchained episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of portfolio company Bitpesa: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island/ Unchained episode with Vinny Lingham of portfolio company Civic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/civics-vinny-lingham-on-when-crypto-demand-will-catch-up-with-the-technology/ Unchained episode with Josh Stein of portfolio company Harbor: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/ Unchained episode with Riccardo Spagni of portfolio company Tari: https://unchainedpodcast.com/moneros-riccardo-spagni-aka-fluffypony-on-how-he-feels-about-monero-being-used-for-crime-ep-93/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Welch of personal key security system Casa describes the company's various services and products, including its $10,000-a-year premium service for HODLers of at least $500,000 worth of cryptocurrency and the Casa node. He explains how he came to start Casa, why using seed phrases for managing security of crypto hardware devices is so problematic, and how customers should set up the keys in their possession for the company's multi-signature solution, in which any transaction requires the use of three of five keys. We go on at length at about potential ways in which an attacker could still force a target, say, at gunpoint, to move money to the hacker's wallet. We also discuss why the company doesn't offer a multi-sig solution for ether, why people choose to run Casa's Bitcoin/Lightning node and where people are using Lightning. Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin in New York City: Get your tickets here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Episode links: Casa: https://keys.casa Jeremy Welch: https://twitter.com/jeremyrwelch The Cutting Room Floor: Jeremy Welch of Casa, in which Jeremy answers by email the remaining questions we didn't get to: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-cutting-room-floor-jeremy-welch-of-casa/ Casa blog post on the evolution of Bitcoin key management: https://blog.keys.casa/the-evolution-of-bitcoin-key-management/ Ways to store your crypto: https://blog.keys.casa/crypto-101-storing-your-cryptocurrency/ Forbes on Casa's $2 million seed funding: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2018/03/02/bitcoin-thieves-beware-super-secure-wallet-maker-casa-raises-2-million/#4c5b2e544230 Casa's seven guiding principles: https://medium.com/casa/seven-guiding-principles-at-casa-92f43e5e546a Announced after we recorded: Casa's new browser extension: https://blog.keys.casa/casa-browser-extension/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rune Christensen, CEO and cofounder of MakerDAO, explains how multicollateral Dai will work, what happens if one type of collateral fails, and what happens when someone's collateralized debt position with multicollateral Dai needs to be liquidated. He also discusses who gets to participate in the various levels of governance with the MKR token, who owns those tokens and what the purpose of the Maker Foundation is. We also cover whether the CFTC would consider collateralized debt positions to be derivatives and therefore under its purview, how Dai is being used and how much education is required for people to use the system. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Episode links: MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/ Rune Christensen: https://twitter.com/RuneKek Previous Unchained episode on stablecoins with Rune and Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/ Unconfirmed episode with Rune on Andreessen Horowitz’s $15 million investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/ Part 1 of my interview with Rune: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Digital Asset Research report on MakerDAO: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/our-products/#in-depth-research CFTC smart contracts primer prohibiting derivatives contracts that are traded on exchanges that are supposed to be registered with the CFTC and are not. https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/LabCFTC_PrimerSmartContracts112718.pdf Nice recap of how Dai has performed as ETH has dropped in price: https://medium.com/@mikeraymcdonald/single-collateral-dai-9-months-in-review-b9d9fbe45ab MKR Tools website: https://mkr.tools/tokens/dai Description of Maker Tools: https://medium.com/@mikeraymcdonald/announcing-the-new-mkr-tools-e32466f1c3db Maintaining its peg as ETH dropped: https://medium.com/makerdao/volatile-times-dai-as-a-safe-haven-2f017453e9f1 MakerDAO and Wyre partnership: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/makerdao-and-wyre-give-businesses-immediate-access-to-dai-stablecoin-in-over-thirty-countries-including-usa-300696400.html ETH in DeFi projects: https://mikemcdonald.github.io/eth-defi/ Placeholder VC blog post: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2019/1/23/maker-investment-thesis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rune Christensen, CEO and cofounder of MakerDAO, explains the intricacies of the MakerDAO system, which includes the stablecoin Dai, which is pegged to $1, backed by collateral, and whose governance is managed by holders of the MKR token. He describes how the current version of "single-collateral" Dai, is backed by ether, how Dai is created with a collateralized debt position and what happens when the value of the collateral falls too low. He also talks about the roles of various players in the system, such as keepers, oracles and MKR token holders. We also cover how the system handles black swan events or other emergencies. The MakerDAO system is so complex, however, that we will reconvene for a part 2 to describe the rest of the system and how a multi-collateral Dai will function. Thank you to our sponsors! Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/ Rune Christensen: https://twitter.com/RuneKek Previous Unchained episode on stablecoins with Rune and Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/ Unconfirmed episode with Rune on Andreessen Horowitz's $15 million investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/ MakerDAO white paper: https://makerdao.com/en/whitepaper/ Decreasing the stability fee: https://medium.com/makerdao/decreasing-the-stability-fee-1f9fe50cf582 Unchained episode on generalized mining with Jake Brukhman and Tushar Jain: https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinfunds-jake-brukhman-and-multicoins-tushar-jain-on-generalized-mining-ep-92/ Laura's TEDx talk: https://unchainedpodcast.com/lauras-tedx-talk-how-crypto-could-allow-more-people-to-be-their-own-boss-ep-047/ USD Coin's banking partners: https://support.usdc.circle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015278272-Who-are-the-banking-and-financial-partners-you-are-using-for-USDC- TrueUSD's trust companies and their correspondent banks: https://blog.trusttoken.com/who-are-the-correspondent-banks-and-trustee-partners-for-trueusd-e12508f0d5a2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gemini's Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who serve as chief executive and president, respectively, discuss their new ad campaign -- what they mean when they say crypto needs rules, why they agree in certain respects with some of their critics, and what the general reaction has been. They discuss why they launched a stablecoin, why they chose the stablecoin structure of dollar reserves and GUSD's role in an arbitrage involving a Chinese exchange and a competing stablecoin. They also explain how they intend to make a Bitcoin ETF a reality, what they think of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce's dissent and what they intend for the Virtual Commodity Association. Plus, the brothers talk about why their goal is to be "the fastest tortoise in the race." Thank you to our sponsors! Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Gemini's new ad campaign: https://www.wsj.com/articles/winklevosses-cryptocurrency-exchange-says-the-revolution-needs-rules-11546599600 Negative reaction to Gemini ad campaign from crypto community: Erik Voorhees: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1081204430857416706 Gemini USD gets approval of New York Department of Financial Services: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-10/controversial-crypto-coin-tether-to-get-regulated-competitors Past episodes with other stablecoin projects: USDC/Circle: https://unchainedpodcast.com/circles-jeremy-allaire-and-sean-neville-on-why-crypto-will-be-bigger-than-the-web-ep-71/ TrueUSD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/ MakerDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/ Bloomberg reporter Matt Leising on Tether: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bloombergs-matt-leising-on-why-it-appears-tether-has-sufficient-dollar-reserves-ep-052/ Trading of GUSD for Pax and cashing out via Huobi: https://medium.com/paxos/regulation-in-the-crypto-world-part-i-leading-the-way-into-the-light-11e54d16b035 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/04/gemini-gave-trading-firms-a-stablecoin-discount-and-it-caused-big-headaches-for-one-of-its-rivals/ GUSD distribution on Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/token/tokenholderchart/0x056fd409e1d7a124bd7017459dfea2f387b6d5cd Cameron and Tyler's AMA on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/adk0ua/we_are_cameron_and_tyler_winklevoss_cofounders_of/edhlb3b/ SEC commissioner Hester Peirce's dissent on Bitcoin ETF decision: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723 Bitcoin Cash launch on Gemini: https://medium.com/gemini/bitcoin-cash-is-now-available-on-gemini-cc75299d892f The 51% attack on Ethereum Classic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-ethereum-classic-51-attack-how-it-happened-and-why-the-price-didnt-crash-ep-055/ Gemini year in review https://medium.com/gemini/geminis-2018-year-in-review-1cd0815dd45e Virtual Commodity Association: https://medium.com/gemini/joining-the-virtual-commodity-association-8bdf3b2f803e Gemini's new mobile app: https://medium.com/gemini/introducing-the-gemini-mobile-app-crypto-on-the-go-1448d2ae74fa USD Coin's banking partners: https://support.usdc.circle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015278272-Who-are-the-banking-and-financial-partners-you-are-using-for-USDC- TrueUSD's trust companies and their correspondent banks: https://blog.trusttoken.com/who-are-the-correspondent-banks-and-trustee-partners-for-trueusd-e12508f0d5a2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this wide-ranging episode, Eric Meltzer and Dovey Wan of Primitive Ventures describe how Asia is weathering the crypto downturn: how have the low prices affected miners, how has this affected Bitmain's prospects for an IPO and how, despite a ban on crypto exchanges, Chinese crypto users have been trading. We also discuss more broadly how crypto projects and startups differ between China and the U.S., how crypto is upending Silicon Valley's dominance, and how differences in regulation are affecting entrepreneurship in the space. Plus, Eric and Dovey address whether or not the surveillance state is motivating Chinese interest in crypto. Thank you to our sponsors! Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Primitive Ventures: http://primitive.ventures Eric Meltzer: https://twitter.com/wheatpond Dovey Wan: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan Binance was more profitable than Deutsche Bank in quarter 1 of 2018: https://www.ccn.com/binance-surpassed-germanys-biggest-bank-deutsche-in-profitability/ Bitmain and Huobi layoffs: https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/2179513/chinas-cryptocurrency-giants-bitmain-and-huobi-plan-lay-offs-amid Hong Kong regulators reluctant to allow crypto firms to IPO: https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2178747/hong-kong-regulators-say-ipos-cryptocurrency-businesses-are Report that China wants an "orderly exit" from crypto mining: https://qz.com/1174091/china-wants-an-orderly-exit-from-bitcoin-mining/ Chinese op-ed on why the People’s Bank of China should consider a yuan-pegged cryptocurrency: https://www.coindesk.com/pboc-op-ed-pushes-use-case-for-yuan-pegged-crypto-stablecoins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Larcheveque, cofounder and CEO of Ledger, and Demetrios Skalkotos, global head of Ledger Vault, describe the company's three main offerings: its hardware wallets, the new software-as-a-service product for institutions, and an Internet of Things offering for transactions involving physical assets. They also describe how the company scaled for a massive increase in demand in 2017, who their customers are and how the company has responded to vulnerabilities found in its products. Plus, they explain why they don't put tamper-proof packaging on their hardware wallets. Thank you to our sponsors! TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Ledger: https://www.ledger.com Eric Larcheveque: https://twitter.com/EricLarch Demetrios Skalkotos: https://twitter.com/DemoSkalkotos Introduction of Ledger Vault: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-vault-nyc-office-brings-crypto-security-to-institutional-investors-ec9ee3445850 Three part-series on hardware wallets: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-101-part-1-do-you-really-need-a-hardware-wallet-7f5abbadd945 Ledger's description of BOLOS: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/a-closer-look-into-ledger-security-our-custom-operating-system-bolos-ab608bcb0839 Blog post from Saleem Rashid: https://saleemrashid.com/2018/03/20/breaking-ledger-security-model/ Demonstration of attacks on hardware wallets at 35c3: https://wallet.fail Ledger's response: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/chaos-communication-congress-in-response-to-wallet-fails-presentation-17bcd166a052 Ledger Donjon: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-donjon-3e04e0ce49a9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate the 100th episode of Unchained, I talk a little about what this podcast means to me and thank everyone who's helped me with it. Then I let past guests and listeners take it away with their comments and predictions for 2019. Thank you to everyone who sent in submissions -- and to the listeners and sources who've helped me along the way! Thank you to our sponsors! TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: My TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Ew7PW4LCo Facebook working on a stablecoin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-21/facebook-is-said-to-develop-stablecoin-for-whatsapp-transfers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up in Argentina, Wences Casares saw his family lose all their money three times due to actions by the government. The so-called "patient zero" of Bitcoin in Silicon Valley explains why he believes that experience predisposed him to seeing the potential in Bitcoin earlier than most people, why it's so hard to explain Bitcoin to Americans and why the company he founded, Xapo, isn't just a Bitcoin vault and wallet company but his best effort at helping to ensure that Bitcoin succeeds. He talks about why he isn't scared of all the new competitors to his service, including Coinbase Custody, why Xapo hasn't branched out into any other crypto assets, and why he believes there's a more than 50% chance that Bitcoin is worth $1 million in five to ten years. Additionally, he still believes the attempt to accommodate more transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain with the SegWit2x fork, which he backed, was wrong -- even though the fees after its failure skyrocketed to as high as $60. Plus -- he reveals what it would look like if Bitcoin became a global standard of value, and why that vision doesn't threaten governments. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain Episode links: Wences Casares: https://twitter.com/wences Xapo: https://xapo.com/ Wences's Facebook Live with Dan Schulman of PayPal: https://www.facebook.com/DanSchulmanPayPal/videos/1419329821528449/ To learn more about Wences, read New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper's book, Digital Gold: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062362506/digital-gold/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, describes the company's services and products, why it's launching a credit offering, and why he pivoted from his original intention to launch a crypto hedge fund and then pivoted again from working with ICOs to serving institutional players. He talks about why, if he had the chance to go public again, he wouldn't do it, why Galaxy's stock fell so precipitously one day that trading was halted, and why he thinks the SEC has made it clear the ICO markets are closed. He also talks about why, on the way to democratizing finance, the crypto markets need to "take a step back" and start with institutions, why decentralization is important, and why he thinks the launch of Bakkt is the most important news in the crypto space this year. Plus, Mike surmises as to how consumers will start using crypto, but believes it won’t replace fiat in the Western world. Thank you to our sponsors! Microsoft: aka.ms/unchained CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: Galaxy Digital: https://www.galaxydigital.io Galaxy Digital's losses so far this year: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-28/novogratz-s-crypto-trading-desk-lost-136-million-in-nine-months https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-26/novogratz-s-galaxy-digital-sees-134-million-loss-on-crypto-drop Unchained episode about security tokens: http://unchainedpodcast.co/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep77 Unchained interview with Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable Unconfirmed episode with Tom Jessop of Fidelity Digital Assets: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043 Unchained podcast with Arthur Hayes of Bitmex: http://unchainedpodcast.co/arthur-hayes-of-bitmex-on-why-countries-will-turn-to-digital-cash-ep63 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special episode of Unchained from the CME Global Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida. There, I spoke with Arthur Hayes, CoFounder and CEO of Bitmex, Dan O’Prey, chief marketing officer of Digital Asset, and Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Reddit and Co-Founder of Initialized Capital. We cover how public and permissioned chains will compete or complement each other, how blockchain technology will affect incumbent financial services, and how it has already proven itself (hint: as a store of value is one answer). We discuss whether or not crypto represents a new asset class, why the crypto winter is helping to improve the space, and what the launch of Bakkt and Fidelity Digital Assets could mean going forward. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain Episode links CME's Global Financial Leadership Conference: https://www.gflc.com Arthur Hayes: https://twitter.com/cryptohayes Bitmex: https://www.bitmex.com Dan O'Prey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danoprey/ Digital Asset: https://www.digitalasset.com Alexis Ohanian: https://twitter.com/alexisohanian Initialized Capital: https://initialized.com Unconfirmed episode with Tom Jessop's Fidelity Digital Assets: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coinbase has departed from its conservative roots and begun adding many more coins. Dan Romero, vice president of Coinbase, explains how its listing process works, how it tries to prevent insider trading, and why it's listed coins that had ICOs, even though the SEC has indicated all coins that were offered in ICOs at least started off as securities. He also talks about Coinbase's international expansion, how regulations around crypto differ in Japan vs. the U.S., and the importance of banking relationships for crypto companies. Plus, we dive into how Coinbase plans to weather competition on multiple fronts -- from Robinhood, Square and Binance on its consumer side, and from Fidelity and Bakkt on the institutional side -- how its decentralized projects could affect its current revenues and how it is staffing now for any future hype cycles that could increase crypto adoption by an order of magnitude. Thank you to our sponsors! Microsoft: aka.ms/unchained CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Altlending: https://altlending.com Episode links: Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/ Dan: https://twitter.com/dwr Coinbase Listing: https://listing.coinbase.com Digital Asset Framework: https://listing.coinbase.com Coinbase's new listing process: https://blog.coinbase.com/new-asset-listing-process-a83ef296a0f3 Announcement that they were exploring adding Cardano, Basica Attention Token, Stellar Lumens, Zcash and 0x: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-is-exploring-cardano-basic-attention-token-stellar-zcash-and-0x-9e44f0eb823f News announced after we recorded: Coinbase considering offering 31 new assets: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-continues-to-explore-support-for-new-digital-assets-92ba4ab7f465 Interview with Will Warren of decentralized exchange 0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future Coinbase investigates insider trading of Bitcoin Cash: http://fortune.com/2017/12/20/coinbase-bitcoin-insider-trading/ Coinbase finds no insider trading of Bitcoin Cash: http://fortune.com/2018/07/24/coinbase-insider-trading/ Unchained episode on Coinbase/IRS case: http://unchainedpodcast.co/is-the-irs-justified-in-demanding-information-on-millions-of-bitcoin-users Link to Alistair Milne's tracking of total Coinbase customer base: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NgvD2kFT69mSXuJPzPDu-Qv9SS1ck2iPt6Kw9a55z0k/edit#gid=0 Coinbase adding USDC: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-and-circle-announce-the-launch-of-usdc-a-digital-dollar-2cd6548d237 Unchained episode with Circle: http://unchainedpodcast.co/circles-jeremy-allaire-and-sean-neville-on-why-crypto-will-be-bigger-than-the-web-ep71 Unchained episode with Rune Christensen of MakerDAO: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable Unconfirmed episode with Rune: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep039 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Paul, CIO of BlockTower Capital, explains why he likes how short-term trades concentrate risk in investment, why, "no matter what," he thinks Bitcoin is a good-value buy today, and how big university endowments investing in crypto now could eventually lead institutions to go from having a fear-of-loss attitude about crypto to having FOMO. He also dives into why he's not as excited about generalized mining as some of BlockTower's crypto fund peers and who he thinks is really well-poised in that space. We also discuss why Bitcoin futures didn't have a positive impact on the price and what effect Bakkt and Fidelity launching their crypto products could have. Plus, he responds to people who accused him of insider trading when a private conversation in which he mentioned Stellar was acquiring enterprise blockchain startup Chain was released. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained Altlending: https://altlending.com Episode links: Ari Paul: https://twitter.com/AriDavidPaul BlockTower Capital: https://www.blocktower.com Harvard, Stanford, MIT endowments invest in crypto: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/harvard-stanford-mit-endowments-invest-in-crypto-funds Yale endowment invests in a16z and Paradigm: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/yale-investment-chief-david-swensen-jumps-into-crypto-with-bets-on-two-silicon-valley-funds.html Bitcoin Cash hard fork recap: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/week-2-how-bitcoin-cash-hash-war-came-and-went-and-not-much-happened/ Unconfirmed episode on Bitcoin Cash hard fork with Aaron Van Wirdum: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/the-bitcoin-cash-hard-fork-bitcoin-abc-vs-bitcoin-sv-ep046 Unchained episode with Riccardo Spagni of Monero: http://unchainedpodcast.co/coinfunds-jake-brukhman-and-multicoins-tushar-jain-on-generalized-mining-ep92 Unchained episode with Jake Brukhman and Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital: http://unchainedpodcast.co/coinfunds-jake-brukhman-and-multicoins-tushar-jain-on-generalized-mining-ep92 Unconfirmed episode with Fidelity's Tom Jessop: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043 Ari's private conversation in which he mentioned Stellar was acquiring Chain: https://hackernoon.com/ten-questions-for-ari-david-paul-of-blocktower-capital-dcd8d81ef27e IMF managing director Christine Lagarde's talk on the case for central bank digital currencies: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/11/13/sp111418-winds-of-change-the-case-for-new-digital-currency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Connie Gallippi, the founder and executive director for BitGive, and Joe Waltman, the executive director of GiveCrypto.org, discuss charitable giving in crypto -- what problems in philanthropy it solves, what level of transparency they can achieve and how they measure impact. Connie explains why she has chosen to work with existing non-profits and Joe, why GiveCrypto is working on its own initiatives, and why its working thesis is that crypto will be especially helpful in places with broken money or broken government. They also dive into the tax implications of donating crypto directly -- namely that donors can offset taxes on gains, particularly by donating their oldest coins before the end of the calendar year. Connie talks about how BitGive needs to ensure it doesn't hold or convert money in order to avoid money transmitter regulations, and Joe, how GiveCrypto has to ensure it's not giving money to bad people, such as money launderers or people or entities under economic sanctions. Plus, the two discuss why a space that so often espouses the ideals of democratization of finance gives so little and what it will take for it to donate more. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained Episode links: Bitgive: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveTrack: https://www.givetrack.org BitGive Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitGiveOrg GiveCrypto: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveCrypto Twitter - https://twitter.com/givecrypto?lang=en BitGive's five-year report: https://d1i1964a5wuyjt.cloudfront.net/2018/11/5-year-deck-021118_compressed-1.pdf Joe's work trial for GiveCrypto: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecrypto-work-trial-a-new-financial-system-a-new-opportunity-7f564b65aff5 GiveCrypto's October report: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecryptos-october-monthly-report-5c191bc03b56 Unconfirmed episode with Robert Opp of the UN World Food Programme: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/the-un-world-food-programmes-blockchain-based-food-vouchers-for-syrian-refugees-with-robert-opp-ep017 Episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of Bitpesa: http://unchainedpodcast.co/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices