Unchained

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder at Lumida, talks about the ongoing dispute between Gemini and Digital Currency Group (DCG), specifically focusing on the actions and statements of DCG CEO Barry Silbert and Gemini’s cofounder Cameron Winklevoss. Ram discusses various aspects of the conflict, including the potential commingling of assets between DCG and its subsidiary Genesis and the options available to Gemini if DCG does not cooperate. Show highlights: how Cameron Winklevoss’s tweets attempt to put Barry Silbert in the same class of actors as Celsius and BlockFi whether the assets of DCG and Genesis are commingled what Gemini’s options are if DCG does not commit to cooperate whether Gemini will file an involuntary petition for Genesis to enter chapter 11 bankruptcy why Barry's statement that DCG didn't borrow $1.675 billion from Genesis is "very surprising" to Ram why it is relevant whether Genesis has a liquidity issue or an insolvency one whether a class-action lawsuit alleging Gemini's earn product is an unregistered security has any merit the essential role of the $1.1 billion promissory note and whether Genesis will drag DCG into bankruptcy if DCG goes under, what would happen to Grayscale whether Valkyrie is going to become the hero and save GBTC why DCG needs to accept the credit committee terms, according to Ram Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Ram: Twitter Ram Ahluwalia’s thread on Fir Tree and Valkyrie Previous appearances on Unchained: Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Previous coverage of Unchained on DCG and Genesis: ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Genesis: Unchained: ​​Gemini Co-Founder Accuses DCG’s Barry Silbert of ‘Bad Faith Stall Tactics’ Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report Protos: Scoop: Larry Summers gives up advisory role at crypto firm DCG amid criticism Forbes: Gemini Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Unregistered Interest-Bearing Accounts WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Grayscale Ethereum Trust Trades at Record 60% Low Against Ethereum - Decrypt The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger' FT: Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucas Nuzzi, head of R&D at CoinMetrics, and Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, discuss the current state of the crypto market, including the potential for contagion effects and the challenges faced by VC companies. They also delve into the mining industry and the issues surrounding MEV and Ethereum. The conversation also touches on stablecoins, DeFi activity and NFT trading, and the potential dangers of Binance's dominance in the industry. Show highlights: how the collapse in 2022 of FTX and other behemoths will affect the industry in 2023 why there's been a lot of forced selling in the markets recently why the industry could still be headed to more contagion effects the characteristics of the current bear market, how it differs from previous ones, and the role of the macroeconomic environment why it's very hard to predict how prices will behave in 2023 why VC firms will have to focus on long-term projects rather than speculation what's going to happen in the Bitcoin mining industry in 2023 considering the current tough situation why Lucas thinks that Bitcoin "drastically overpays for security" why MEV is a concerning issue and how it represents a single point of failure for Ethereum how the narrative of alternative layer 1s has changed and why the focus will shift to layer 2s whether there is a need to develop better blockchain monitoring tools why stablecoin issuers have a very good business model given the interest rate environment what are the problems of stablecoins and how they will be regulated why DeFi activity and NFT trading were down so heavily in 2022 and whether the downtrend will change how Binance's dominance is "terrifying" and whether it could hurt the industry Lucas' concerns about the lack of transparency around Binance's BNB token Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver Links Guests: Lucas : Twitter CoinMetrics Larry: Twitter The Block Research Previous appearances on Unchained: Larry Cermak of The Block on What 90% of Bitcoin Trading Is For The year in crypto: FTX Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: Why Martin Shkreli Thinks SBF’s New Judge Could Still Be Lenient – Ep. 438 The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC NFTs: The Block: From CryptoPunks to Redditors — and a Trump card: The year in NFT charts CoinDesk: Over $30B of NFT Trading Volume on Ethereum Is Wash Trading, Research Suggests NFT Market Overview MEV: MEV Watch Flashbots dashboard Unchained: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate BTC Mining: The Block: Bitcoin mining companies close out year $4 billion in debt: Report Unchained: Bitcoin Miners Going Bankrupt? Here's How Crypto Winter Is Impacting the Industry Contagion: Genesis/DCG: Unchained: ​​Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Genesis Owes Creditors At Least $1.8B: Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur, investor and convicted white-collar criminal, talks about the new judge assigned to the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, whether Sam’s going to plead guilty or not, and the potential involvement of his family in the lawsuit. Show highlights: whether Sam Bankman-Fried truly did not have money to post bail why the government did not restrict Sam's usage of the internet and social media why Martin thinks the new judge assigned to the case, Judge Lewis Kaplan, is good for SBF how many years Judge Kaplan could sentence SBF to, given his unusual work experience whether there's still a chance that Sam could paint this case as a business failure how defense attorneys will likely try to exploit the romantic relationship between Ellison and SBF in their favor why it is unlikely that SBF will plead guilty on the January 3rd arraignment date what a telemarketing fraudster case has to do with FTX how the prosecutors could indict SBF's family if he doesn't plead guilty how a jury would be selected whether Sam has enough funds to pay for a decent lawyer and how that's going to affect the case how Martin learned about crypto while he was in prison how prisoners engage with crypto while incarcerated whether Sam could run a business from prison Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Martin: Socials Previous appearances of Martin on Unchained: Martin Shkreli Explains Why Sam Bankman-Fried Got Lucky With His Judge - Ep. 435 Videos on SBF: Which Gang Will Sam Bankman Join In Prison? | Martin Shkreli Gives Prison Advice to FTX CEO My Boy Sam Bankman Is Facing Life in Jail for Sure | Martin Shkreli Predicts the FTX Court Hearing Episode Links Reuters: Sam Bankman-Fried to enter plea in FTX fraud case Unchained: SBF Released on $250M Bond Secured by Parents Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang Plead Guilty and Are Cooperating in FTX Investigation SBF Signs Extradition Papers After 8 Nights in Bahamas Jail With AC and Cable TV CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bloomberg: Bankman-Fried Judge Recused Because Husband’s Firm Advised FTX FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the year 2022 in the crypto industry and share their biggest winners and losers of the year, what were the best mechanisms, the biggest surprises and the best memes, and their predictions for the upcoming year. Show topics: why stablecoin bulls performed so well in 2022, as well as journalism, DeFi, and the EVM how the reputation of the industry suffered tremendously in 2022 how Solana had to endure multiple hacks and challenges and whether it’s having its “ETH moment” whether ETH is the only crypto with good tokenomics why MEV has seen such a massive adoption, even if it’s technically not good for crypto why the investment landscape changed so much in June whether Arbitrum is the winner among layer 2s on Ethereum and the role of retroactive airdrops why so many lending companies went bust this year whether proof of reserves is a useful concept whether developers will go back to build on Ethereum rather than alternative layers 1s Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Links Last year's episode: The Chopping Block... 2021 in Crypto: The Biggest Winners, Biggest Losers, and Best Memes - Unchained Podcast FTX: The Chopping Block: Can Exchange CEOs Like SBF Be Crypto True Believers? The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? Tornado Cash The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Solana The Chopping Block: Anatoly Yakovenko on Why Solana Is Building the SAGA Phone The Chopping Block: Why Solana’s Frequent Downtime Doesn't Bother Kyle Samani Terra: The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? Others: The Chopping Block: Here’s What Was So Bad About Three Arrows Capital The Chopping Block: SBF on a Crazy Week of Bitfinex, Wormhole and ENS Drama The Chopping Block: Do Kwon Pitches a Decentralized NFT Publishing Service The Chopping Block: Did Andre Cronje Pull an Epic Crypto Rug Pull? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of Unchained looks back on a tumultuous year for the cryptocurrency industry in 2022. Significant events such as the bankruptcies of FTX, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, and the collapse of Terra/LUNA, led to billions being lost due to market plunges and also due to numerous hacks. This year also brought the Ethereum Merge, one of the most awaited events in crypto's short history. Amidst the turmoil, true believers like Chris Burniske saw a silver lining, while the crypto community watched for the further fallout of this year’s crypto contagion to play out. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver DAO attacker revealed: Exclusive: Crypto’s Biggest Whodunnit: Who Was Behind the 2016 DAO Attack on Ethereum? Exclusive: Austrian Programmer And Ex Crypto CEO Likely Stole $11 Billion Of Ether Ukraine War: How Ukraine Is Leveraging Crypto in Its Fight Against Russia - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: In 'the First Crypto War,' How Should the Money Be Spent? - Unchained Podcast Ukraine Has Received $150 Million in Crypto. Here’s How It Is Being Used - Unchained Podcast Hacks and exploits: Bridge Hacks Have Caused ~$1 Billion in Losses. Here’s Why Bridge Security Is Tricky - Unchained Podcast Terra collapse: Did Someone Deliberately Attack Terra/Luna to Kick off a Death Spiral? - Unchained Podcast Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash - Unchained Podcast The 5 Biggest Lessons From Terra/Luna's Collapse, According to Tascha Che - Unchained Podcast Bankruptcies - 3AC, Celsius and Voyager: Why Possible Insolvencies by Celsius and 3AC Could Spell Disaster for Crypto - Ep. 364 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Here’s What Was So Bad About Three Arrows Capital - Ep. 368 - Unchained Podcast Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now?- Ep. 374 - Unchained Podcast Tornado Cash: Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? - Ep. 384 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? - Ep. 386 - Unchained Podcast Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No - Ep.387 - Unchained Podcast Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? - Ep. 390 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions - Ep. 392 - Unchained Podcast The Merge: With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? - Ep. 389 - Unchained Podcast Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH - Ep. 393 - Unchained Podcast Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury- Ep.394 - Unchained Podcast Did the Merge Make Ethereum ‘the Most Secure Blockchain in the World’? – Ep. 397 Do Kwon comes on Unchained: Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’ – Ep. 408 NFT royalties: The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! - Ep. 409 - Unchained Podcast Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy - Ep. 414 - Unchained Podcast FTX Collapse: The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? - Ep. 418 - Unchained Podcast Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets - Ep. 419 - Unchained Podcast Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In - Ep. 420 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater - Ep. 421 - Unchained Podcast Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? - Ep. 422 - Unchained Podcast Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion - Ep. 423 - Unchained Podcast The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'? - Ep. 424 - Unchained Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur and investor, talks about what Sam Bankman-Fried’s potential life in prison could look like. As a former white-collar criminal, Martin had a lot to say about prison culture, how judge selection affects sentencing, and more. Show highlights: why Martin says that the prosecution part of the case is the most difficult to endure why he thought Sam had "no chance at bail" (although shortly after we recorded, news broke that Sam had been released on what is believed to be the largest bail bond ever – $250 million) whether SBF should plead guilty and hope to be favored by his cooperation what jails in New York are like and how the other inmates might treat SBF whether SBF will be in danger if he goes to prison and Martin's suggestions for him if he wants to survive why the FTX's case is so unprecedented, especially considering the current sentencing guidelines Martin's take on Ronnie Abrams, the judge in charge of the case, and why her selection will be good for SBF whether Caroline Ellison made a mistake by pleading guilty to so many counts why Gary Wang would likely face a tough time in prison for ratting out SBF Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Martin: Socials Videos on SBF: Which Gang Will Sam Bankman Join In Prison? | Martin Shkreli Gives Prison Advice to FTX CEO My Boy Sam Bankman Is Facing Life in Jail for Sure | Martin Shkreli Predicts the FTX Court Hearing Episode Links CNBC: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bail, will live with his parents Unchained: Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang Plead Guilty and Are Cooperating in FTX Investigation SBF Signs Extradition Papers After 8 Nights in Bahamas Jail With AC and Cable TV CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a year. Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, sift through 2022’s rubble for clues as to what lies ahead in 2023. The two bright lights of Crypto Twitter weigh in on SBF’s fraud, how to succeed through the bear market, and what remains promising despite the gloom and doom. Show highlights: why 2022 is “the hangover of 2021” why this year’s big meltdowns were different and dispiriting why it was actually a year to remind us of why we’re all here how the underlying protocols didn’t skip a beat how to survive the bear market what Chris feels guilty about in the wake of Alameda’s collapse why Cobie hopes SBF spends life in jail whether people will actually use decentralized alternatives – or if banking-like relationships will prevail what Chris sees as the 2023 version of proof-of-stake in 2017 why Cobie thinks bitcoin is an area of opportunity over the next few years whether the multichain thesis (“Solunavax”) will ever rise again whether the contagion is over if disgraced figureheads deserve a second chance a lightning round lookback on 2022 Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver Guests: Cobie: Twitter Substack UpOnly Previous appearances on Unchained: Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market Chris: Twitter Placeholder VC Previous appearances on Unchained: Chris Burniske: A Blank Slate of State Chris Burniske of Placeholder on the Downsides of ICOs The year in crypto: FTX Unchained: CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Terra: CoinDesk: The Fall of Terra: A Timeline of the Meteoric Rise and Crash of UST and LUNA Three Arrows Capital CNBC’s full interview with Three Arrows Capital’s Kyle Davies on the downfall of the defunct crypto hedge fund CoinDesk: Three Arrows Capital Files for Bankruptcy in New York Tied to British Virgin Islands Proceeding DeCrypt: Bankrupt Three Arrows Capital Owes $3.5B to Creditors, Including $2.3B to Genesis Binance Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony Silvergate The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom Genesis/DCG: Unchained: Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news. Show topics: the details of the SEC and CFTC complaints how crypto traders have always speculated about Alameda's preferential treatment whether many people knew about the mismanagement of funds and alleged fraud why Haseeb thinks SBF was a "f*cking psycho" how helpful Tarun believes a testimony from Sam Trabucco, former co-CEO of Alameda, would be why Alameda and FTX lost billions of dollars, and the poor diligence of SBF's venture investments Sam's "ineffective altruism" why a bull market wouldn't have solved the insolvency problems of FTX whether SBF will fight extradition and how long it would take how Sam's consistent use of Facebook and his anti-Maker stand shows he was not a crypto-native why Laura thinks that The Block CEO's undisclosed loans represent a "total betrayal" Robert's take on the ineffectiveness of the government's control of information why Binance is under scrutiny and whether it's the "next FTX" Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Guest: Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained Episode Links FTX: Unchained:CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX SBF Denied Bail in The Bahamas, Will Remain in Fox Hill Prison Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bahamas Asked SBF to Mint Hundreds of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of New Tokens After Collapse, Say FTX Liquidators SBF Directed $8B Alameda Liabilities to an FTX Account He Called ‘Weird Korean,’ Says CFTC Forbes: Despite Boasting Of Big Profits, FTX And Alameda Lost $3.7 Billion Before 2022 Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Binance: Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony The Block Unchained: The Block CEO Steps Down After Revealing He Was Secretly Funded By SBF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discusses all the charges that Sam Bankman-Fried is facing and their potential outcomes. Show highlights: the charges against SBF and why the criminal indictment is the most important whether SBF testifying in Congress would have complicated the DOJ's criminal case against him why it is complicated to state how much prison time Sam is facing the ways in which Bankman-Fried can reduce his sentence by cooperating with authorities why it's so unprecedented that the indictment came only one month after the collapse of FTX whether other senior FTX executives are providing prosecutors with information to reduce their charges the reasons why SBF is being held in The Bahamas and the likelihood of him being extradited how much the case will be delayed if SBF's lawyers fight the extradition Ari's thoughts on whether this case will go to trial Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Ari: Twitter Previous appearances on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No Episode Links Unchained: CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX SBF Denied Bail in The Bahamas, Will Remain in Fox Hill Prison Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment Bahamas Asked SBF to Mint Hundreds of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of New Tokens After Collapse, Say FTX Liquidators SBF Directed $8B Alameda Liabilities to an FTX Account He Called ‘Weird Korean,’ Says CFTC Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials The Enron Trial: A Chronology Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Marc Cohodes, individual investor and former hedge fund manager, have a heated debate about Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that plays a key role in integrating crypto with traditional finance and is currently under scrutiny due to its ties with FTX and Alameda. Both Marc and Ram have a vested interest in Silvergate. Marc is shorting the stock, while Ram is longing it. Show highlights: why Silvergate plays such a vital role in the movement of money within the crypto industry whether Silvergate runs proper KYC and AML practices whether Silvergate has a $1 billion hole in its balance sheet whether regulators will go after Silvergate as they are doing with FTX why Marc thinks the FTX collapse wouldn't have happened without Silvergate whether Silvergate was complicit with FTX’s activities or simply negligent why Ram believes this case is different from JPMorgan's involvement with Madoff what regulatory actions might come in the near future for Silvergate why Ram thinks regulators will go to "great lengths" to avoid a bank failure what would it take for Ram and Marc to change their minds Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima DeFi Saver Guests: Ram: Twitter Ram’s thread on Silvergate Ram’s previous appearances on Unchained: Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Marc: Twitter Episode links: Class action lawsuit against Silvergate The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion Letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren, John Kennedy, and Roger Marshall The Guardian: JP Morgan Chase to pay more than $2bn in penalties for Madoff ties The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom WSJ: Crypto Is Taking a Few Small Banks on a Wild Ride Bloomberg: These Banks Were Left Holding the Bag in Crypto Implosion An Obscure Bank Found Its Key to Success. Then FTX Collapsed CoinDesk: Crypto Bank Silvergate Says Its BlockFi Digital-Asset Deposit Exposure Totals Less Than $20M New York Post: Crypto ‘smart’ money? Big traders fell for Sam Bankman-Fried NBC: Sen. Warren demands answers from Silvergate Bank about its business dealings with FTX Dylan LeClair’s Twitter thread Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory & policy at Bain Capital Crypto, discusses how the legal process for Sam Bankman-Fried in the wake of the FTX scandal could play out. Show highlights: the allegations that Bankman-Fried manipulated the market during the Terra crash the motivations for Bankman-Fried's media appearances what the selection of Mark Cohen as a lawyer says about the potential charges and the case why SBF hasn't been arrested yet how the US investigating the potential involvement of Bahamian government officials could complicate cooperation of an arrest of SBF in the Bahamas why this case is very different from Bernie Madoff's what evidence would be needed to say, legally, that SBF committed fraud the potential outcomes of the legal case for SBF and how many years of prison time he could face Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com TuongVy : Twitter Episode Links FTX: Unchained: Regulators Investigate Sam Bankman-Fried for Terra-Related Market Manipulation Sam Bankman-Fried Hires Ghislaine Maxwell’s Defense Lawyer: Report Investigations: Reuters: U.S. authorities probe FTX collapse, executives' involvement -sources CoinDesk: California Financial Regulator Announces FTX Investigation Others: CNBC: Former OpenSea employee charged in first-ever NFT insider trading case NYT: Ex-Coinbase Employee and 2 Others Charged With Insider Trading of Crypto Assets Two former Deutsche Bank traders win their appeal in a Libor manipulation case Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The collapse of FTX has dealt crypto lender Genesis another major blow, with the firm halting withdrawals and DCG stepping in to help. Now the two face a range of suboptimal outcomes in the face of massive debts. Ahluwalia and Andrew discuss what could come next, and what should be learned from the recent debacles. Show highlights: why Genesis and DCG are so important for the crypto sector Ram's explanation of the "Grayscale trade" and why it is relevant to understand the current crisis the ghost of Three Arrows Capital and the origins of Genesis' problems why Sam thinks Genesis was "reckless" in its loan underwriting what a spot Bitcoin ETF would mean for Grayscale's revenue what options Genesis and DCG have to weather the storm whether it makes sense for Genesis to file for bankruptcy why Ram thinks Genesis lending product needs to be be shut down why Gemini and its Earn program loom large in the Genesis situation the risks of enforcement action from regulators what the most likely outcome is for Genesis and DCG and whether creditors will be made whole whether there will be broader contagion stemming from Genesis and what other crypto companies could be in trouble the problems of leverage and why crypto's "shadow banks" need regulation Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Ram: Twitter Ram’s thread on GBTC Previous Unchained episodes: Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Sam: Twitter Substack Episode Links Genesis: Unchained: Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger' Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis: ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? FT: Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn WSJ: Rising Tether Loans Add Risk to Stablecoin, Crypto World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. Show topics: highlights of Sam Bankman-Fried's interview with the New York Times whether SBF knew what was going on in his companies, and how that impacts potential prosecution why Genesis and DCG are in financial trouble whether Genesis will file for bankruptcy or go through a restructuring process revelations from BlockFi's bankruptcy filing new info on why FTX bailed out BlockFi last summer what is going on with Binance’s recovery fund how Avi Eisenberg tried to pull off an attack on Aave how the banking industry works and whether Changpeng Zhao is the closest thing to a central bank in crypto how DeFi responds in a crisis, and how it contrasts with CeFi’s recent implosions Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links FTX: Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen NYT: Sam Bankman-Fried’s interview Bill Ackman’s tweet Interview with Tiffany Fong Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC BlockFi: Unchained: Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX’s Contagion Effects Continue Decrypt: FTX, Alameda Owe BlockFi More Than $1 Billion: Court Hearing Genesis: Ryan Selkis’ tweet on Genesis Unchained: Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis: Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis DeFi Pancakeswap flipped Uniswap in TVL Unchained: Mango Markets Exploiter Gets Liquidated But Leaves Aave With ‘Excess Debt’ Aave Freezes 17 Low-Liquidity V2 Pools and Votes to Migrate 26 Assets to Ethereum V3 Compound Finance Slashes Borrow Caps for 10 Markets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, talks about the collapses suffered during this year, their impacts on big traditional finance players, and what’s coming in the crypto markets in the near future. Show highlights: whether Sam Bankman-Fried lied during his interview at the Deal Book Summit why SBF kept the number of FTX's engineers at such a low number why Adam is optimistic about Genesis and DCG what options Genesis have to raise liquidity the significance of a potential meltdown of DCG in the crypto industry why Adam is worried about Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) what lessons can be learned from this crypto winter Adam's prognosis for crypto lending and for the crypto markets in general the impact of the bankruptcy of BlockFi and all the other centralized lenders Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors!Crypto.com Adam: Twitter Thread on community buyout Previous Unchained episodes: Why 3AC’s Collapse Could Spell the Start of a Crypto Credit Crunch Episode Links BlockFi: Unchained: Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX’s Contagion Effects Continue Decrypt: FTX, Alameda Owe BlockFi More Than $1 Billion: Court Hearing Genesis: Bloomberg: Genesis Creditors Seek Options to Keep Crypto Brokerage Out of Bankruptcy Semafor: Online news site CoinDesk attracts suitors amid crypto crash Unchained: Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger' Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis: Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis FTX: Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Jordan, founder at DBA and former co-head of investments at Galaxy Digital, and Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC, talk about the potential insolvency of Genesis and DCG, the cycle of credit expansion, and the importance of DeFi to prevent these situations. Show highlights: what will happen with Genesis and its parent company DCG where the insolvency of Genesis might have come from how the expansion of crypto lending in 2021 is impacting the markets and the role the Fed played in this expansion how the Terra collapse kickstarted a ton of contagion effects in crypto companies Alex's story of why he did not invest in Alameda in 2018 whether it is possible to prevent the "FTXs of the future" the importance of assessing the quality of collateral assets the story of when SBF called DeFi a "Ponzi black box" the mystery of where FTX Ventures got the $2 billion it planned to invest Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Michael: Twitter Previous Unchained episodes: Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Alex: Twitter Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis and FTX: Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Genesis: Unchained: Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger' FTX Collapse: First declaration document Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Bloomberg: Transcript: Sam Bankman-Fried and Matt Levine on How to Make Money in Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabriel Haines, a crypto content creator, comes on this 2022 Thanksgiving edition of Unchained to talk about his videos and leave a positive message for these holidays. Show highlights: how Gabriel started doing his very unique type of videos Gabriel's hummus eating competition how Gabriel's videos are "quite not professional" how Gabriel is monetizing some of his videos with NFTs whether NFTs are a solution for content creators how Lee, Gabriel's wife, has also started creating some funny videos how Web3 is going to change the traditional version of media in the Internet Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Gabriel: Twitter Gabriel’s video with a machete Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news concerning the collapse of FTX. Show topics: the statements of newly appointed CEO John Ray in the first day declaration why Tarun, Robert and Haseeb think SBF is possibly delusional or at least in denial whether the assets of FTX and Alameda were commingled from the beginning or whether they had been separate and at a certain point, FTX loaned money to Alameda whether the Bahamian government was the 'FTX' hacker the theories of why Alameda started falling how regulators and legislators are assessing the failure of FTX whether SBF will get a pardon like Mark Rich and the chances of him being charged criminally whether Genesis will go insolvent and its potential contagion effects Take Unchained's 2022 survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2022 Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting? Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: First declaration document Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Unchained: Bahamas Regulator Directed SBF to Transfer FTX Assets to Government Wallet SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection WSJ: FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Cashed Out $300 Million During Funding Spree Vox interview with SBF: Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself NYT: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed Arthur Hayes’s article on SBF: ‘White Boy’ NYT: Elizabeth Holmes Is Sentenced to More Than 11 Years for Fraud Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhou, cofounder of Galois Capital, and Jesse Powell, cofounder of Kraken, talk about why FTX collapsed, the warning signs, and whether it’s a catalyst for self-custodial adoption. Show highlights: the root causes of the FTX collapse, according to Jesse and Kevin whether there were warning signs of all the risks that were to come the importance of learning from mistakes, even for new people in the space Kevin's response to the stuck funds in FTX the debate about utilitarianism and SBF's effective altruism whether the philosophy behind founders matters Kevin's and Jesse's theories of how FTX and Alameda lost billions of dollars how Alameda and FTX's books were commingled whether people will start using self-custodial wallets whether the fall of FTX vindicates BTC maximalism whether regulation has been beneficial or harmful for American customers the role of venture capital firms and their "mixed incentives" Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Kevin: Twitter Previous Unchained episodes: How Traders Are Thinking About the Merge — and a Potential ETHPoW Chain Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge. The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash Jesse: Twitter Previous Unchained episodes: Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, on Drawing a Line With Regulators Episode Links Previous coverage on Unchained of FTX: Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? – Ep. 422 The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: First declaration document Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen Unchained: Bahamas Regulator Directed SBF to Transfer FTX Assets to Government Wallet SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Vox interview with SBF: Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself NYT: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed Bloomberg: Crypto Hedge Fund Galois Confirms $40 Million Exposure to FTX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, explains the first declaration from new FTX CEO John Ray in the company’s bankruptcy case. Show highlights: why CEO Ray said there's been a complete failure of corporate controls in FTX how there was no separation of accounts between Alameda and FTX whether FTX US customers are in a better position to recuperate their assets why FTX's Bahamas unit is seeking protection under chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code why there's a jurisdictional battle, according to Wassie whether the Bahamian government is responsible for letting deposits out of the platform how former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to save the company Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors!Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Wassielawyer: Twitter Thread on community buyout Previous Unchained episodes: Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now? Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: First declaration document FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. FTX Wasn’t Authorized to File for US Bankruptcy: Bahamas Liquidators Vox interview with SBF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about the collapse of FTX. Show topics: Haseeb's explanation of the blowup of FTX whether FTX was a Ponzi scheme Sam Bankman-Fried's strategy to become a billionaire the weird sale of Serum, a project backed by SBF the lack of proper accounting practices in FTX and Alameda whether FTX did not have a proper and large enough security team the likelihood that FTX’s volume numbers are fake why Haseeb thinks this is one of the biggest catastrophes in venture history the role of media in building SBF's character and the revindication of journalism whether venture capital firms run propaganda for their portfolio companies whether VC culture enabled this collapse to happen the story of how Sam convinced Tom Brady to invest in FTX the debate about effective altruism and whether SBF's EA caused his mistakes whether FTX's failure will set the crypto industry back Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Guests Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained: The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? The Chopping Block: SBF on a Crazy Week of Bitfinex, Wormhole and ENS Drama Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection NYT’s “How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed” Sam Bankman-Fried built a "backdoor" to his FTX exchange to change financial records and move funds without alerting others. $600 million hack Unchained coverage: Could FTX’s Bankruptcy Trigger a Domino Effect? FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, and Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of 507 Capital, talk about the bankruptcy of FTX. Show highlights: what the bankruptcy process of FTX is expected to look like why FTX got to the the point of filing for bankruptcy protection why Wassie thinks Alameda is dead why FTX filed for bankruptcy in the US given that it's a Bahamian company how FTX's balance sheet is composed and whether it includes Alameda whether Justin Sun will be dragged into the bankruptcy how FTX's terms of service differ from Celsius’s and Voyager’s how the $600 million hack affects the bankruptcy proceeding whether it's worth it to spend millions of dollars in law firms to go after the hacked money what's the impact of the 192 million FTT tokens that were printed Saturday night what will happen with the fork of Serum and the forked tokens the consequences for all the projects that FTX invested in why Wassie thinks that tokenizing the liabilities could be a good potential solution how the FTX's bankruptcy affects Voyager's proceedings and customers whether FTX’s bankruptcy has put BlockFi in trouble Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Wassielawyer: Twitter Thread on community buyout Previous Unchained episodes: Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now? Thomas: Twitter 507 Capital Previous Unchained episodes: Will Celsius Survive the Bankruptcy Process? Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX: Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC FTX Collapse: FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sam Bankman-Fried built a "backdoor" to his FTX exchange to change financial records and move funds without alerting others. $600 million hack Unchained coverage: The Bahamas Loophole: FTX Users Buy KYC Accounts to Withdraw Crypto Could FTX’s Bankruptcy Trigger a Domino Effect? FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero Contagion: Serum Fork in the Works Amid Fears That FTX-Owned Upgrade Keys Are Compromised BlockFi Halts Withdrawals Amid FTX Crisis Voyager had to reopen the bidding process for its assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, and Jordan Fish, aka Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, talk about the collapse of FTX. Show highlights: the links between FTX and Alameda what kickstarted the blowup of FTX why Erik and Cobie think that Bankman-Fried's behavior was “sociopathic” why the $10 billion hole is so shocking to Cobie considering the advantages that FTX had as a company whether this would have ever happened if the prices hadn’t plummeted in the bear market the tension between advocates of privacy and those who want to limit criminal activity why Erik believes that SBF’s donations to both political parties are bribery whether regulators can prevent an exchange from collapsing whether Changpeng Zhao did a better job at investigating FTX than anyone at the SEC the likelihood that this will result in criminal charges how blockchain technology is the solution to the problem of centralized exchanges doing things in the dark Tether’s decision to freeze USDT owned by FTX Erik’s response to Bitcoin maximalists who say FTX was caused by altcoins whether it is a mistake for exchanges to issue their own tokens how big the contagion could be in the industry why nobody should leave a significant amount of their net worth in a centralized exchange Erik’s message to regulators whether SBF was aligned with the values and the ethos of crypto Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Erik: Twitter ShapeShift Previous Unchained episodes: Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State Cobie: Twitter Substack UpOnly Previous Unchained episodes: Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained: Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? FTX Collapse: FTX Tapped Into Customer Accounts to Fund Risky Bets, Setting Up Its Downfall SBF’s video talking to regulators Unchained coverage: FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero Binance’s dropped deal with FTX CZ’s announcement SBF’s announcement Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves Unchained coverage: Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2 Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Crypto regulation Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt were joined by Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi, and Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about Binance’s buyout of FTX. Show topics: Haseeb's tl;dr of Binance's possible acquisition of FTX whether Alameda is the new Three Arrows Capital the implications of FTX's collapse for regulators and lawmakers what will happen to all the companies that lent money to Alameda Sam Bankman-Fried's emergency effort to raise billions of dollars whether there could be criminal charges against FTX why FTX was not as profitable as other derivative exchanges what the probabilities are of Binance actually buying FTX whether the enterprise value of FTX is negative Tom's concerns about the concentration in the industry how FTX's implosion will impact crypto venture capital firms whether Solana can survive without SBF's support how the lack of transparency kicked off this situation and how blockchains help solve this issue Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Guests Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi Nic’s proof of reserves Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained:Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC Acquisition of FTX CZ’s announcement SBF’s announcement Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves Unchained coverage: Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2 Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Crypto regulation Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, talk about Bitcoin Maximalism, how Bitcoin is developing, and what’s the future of Bitcoin’s security model. Show highlights: What the definition of Bitcoin maximalism is whether BTC maximalism is toxic whether Vitalik Buterin is still a bitcoiner and how Bitcoiners became the 'token police', according to Udi why Lyn thinks Bitcoin has been attacked by the media since the beginning the attacks by Bitcoin maximalists on Nic Carter and Andreas Antonopoulos how adoption kicked in during previous cycles and why it benefitted BTC what the different types of Bitcoiners are what developments are being made around Bitcoin the importance of Bitcoin being permissionless what the use cases for Bitcoin are and whether it’s still a highly speculative asset whether people care about using decentralized payment tools how Lyn defines ‘ultra sound money’ and why she thinks that Bitcoin is better at that than ETH whether Bitcoin’s security model needs to be fixed why being able to run a node is essential for censorship resistance Take Unchained's 2022 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Udi: Twitter Substack Previous Unchained episodes: Why Bitcoin Maximalism Is ‘Like a Shitcoin Community’ Lyn: Twitter Website Previous Unchained episodes: How Will Inflation Impact Crypto? Is Ethereum a Good Investment? Why Bitcoin Now: Meltem Demirors and Lyn Alden on the Perfect Conditions for Bitcoin Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained: Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Bitcoin’s culture and security Bitcoin Maximalism Is Dead, Long Live Bitcoin Maximalism by Pete Rizo Setting the record straight by Nic Carter The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd Justin Bons’ thread on BTC security model A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin by John Blocke Ultra sound money Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter – and its effect on DOGE the irony that people working in centralized companies want to decentralize Twitter whether Twitter is going to become like Facebook why Twitter has been the most pro-crypto among big tech companies why Tarun thinks Binance Pay is an impressive product whether it is possible to run a decentralized social media for billions of users the debate between Sam Bankman-Fried and Erik Voorhees about crypto regulation whether crypto exchange CEOs are true believers in the philosophy of crypto why Haseeb believes Sam Bankman-Fried is a very honest person how Reddit used a simple strategy to gain massive adoption whether it is necessary to rebrand NFTs Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links Twitter acquisition What Are the Potential Impacts of Musk’s Twitter Purchase? Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, will receive between $50 million and $100 million from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter. Vitalik Buterin said Musk’s idea of charging $8 a month for a blue check on Twitter could “damage the blue check's anti-scam role.” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said he would join Twitter’s board if Elon Musk asked him to. Crypto regulation Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Trojan Horse of NFTs? Reddit Onboards 3M Wallets as Trading Volume Soars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Hansen, cofounder and CEO of Luxor Technologies, talks about the Bitcoin mining industry, why some miners are struggling while others are succeeding, and the next steps for the industry. Show highlights: the current state of the Bitcoin mining industry why miners have the lowest margin environment ever why there are so many mining rigs sitting latent how to calculate the profitability of mining cryptocurrency why miners are not moving to other countries for lower energy prices what the impact of a Core Scientific bankruptcy would be whether finance pools to aid struggling miners are helpful why some miners are succeeding in this environment whether Bitcoin miners can adopt renewable resources and help with the transition to green energy how the mining industry is going to change in the following years Take the Unchained Podcast survey for 2022! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you to our sponsors!Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Nick Twitter Luxor Technologies Episode links Troubled miners: Bondholders of Troubled Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Said to Be Working With Lawyers A Huge Glut of Bitcoin Mining Rigs Is Sitting Unused in Boxes Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Says Some Machines Aren't Covering Financing Costs Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Fears Negative Cash Flow as $27M Raise Fails Bitcoin mining hosting company Compute North filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Miners currently weathering the storm: Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark Spends Millions on Equipment as Others Struggle Amid Market Conditions Bitcoin Miner Stronghold Digital Completes Debt Restructuring Digihost Bucks Bearish Trend Among Bitcoin Miners, Remains Cash-Flow Positive Crypto Miner Marathon Digital Mines Record 615 Bitcoin in October Green energy:Solar-Powered Bitcoin Miner Aspen Creek Raises $8M Despite Bear Market Finance Pools: DeFi Platform Maple Finance Aims to Help Struggling Bitcoin Miners With $300M Lending Pool Binance Pool To Support BTC Mining Industry With a $500M Miner Lending Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sterling Crispin, artist and software developer and Holly Herndon, host of the Interdependence podcast, talk about the problems that creators face, some potential solutions, and the debate over creator royalties. Show highlights: how Holly and Sterling got into crypto how Holly used the Holly Plus Project to pay royalties how NFTs change the economic experience of being a creator how creators make money and why it is so difficult for most of them whether NFT royalties are necessary for artists why creators are the ones that should decide to charge royalties or not how the enforcement of royalties also occurs in the traditional art world whether NFT royalties only benefit big players vs. smaller creators what shifts could make paying royalties a norm, the way paying for music streaming became a norm over piracy other solutions to helping creators earn from their work besides NFT royalties whether NFT creators should use blocklists whether people objecting to blocklists can be hypocritical about decentralization whether creators can build their own marketplaces how a profit-sharing model among creators could work Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis Minima Sterling: Twitter Website Blog post: NFTs and Crypto Art: The Sky Is not Falling Holly: Twitter Podcast Holly's AI Video Episode Links Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? NFT Royalties Magic Eden Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate MetaShield Solana Could Get Enforceable NFT Royalties Via New Metaplex Standard Why NFT royalties are almost impossible to enforce on-chain Galaxy Digital report showing that Nike and Yuga Labs earned the most in NFT royalties. Royalties in NFTs: Yes, no, and why? Royalties Chaos Shows Ethereum NFT Market 'More Serious' Than Solana: Fidenza Artist Tyler Hobbs Artists’ Royalties by BlackBox.art On Royalties by foobar Kyle Samani thread on verticalization Potential solutions Collector Royalties Collector Royalties Eligibility Expansion — Aug ‘21 How do they work Profit Sharing Cardinal Labs Metaplex Standard Exchange Royalties Guarantee NFTs for n00bs: A brief history of tokens and tulips, NFT aesthetics, energy dramas, fan brigades, social tokens and the metaverse with Daniel Keller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Avraham Eisenberg, blogger at DeepFi Value – more commonly known as the Mango Markets attacker – shared his insights about the exploitation of code, his personal story, and why there’s hatred directed towards profitable traders. Show highlights: Laura’s description of the Mango Markets exploit the way in which code gets used in a different way from the original intention why Avi decided to return part of the funds he got from exploiting Mango Markets Avi’s clarification of a misconception regarding the bad debt of Mango Markets the difference between arbitrage trades and exploits why people making profitable strategies are hated, according to Avi how Avi got into crypto and the story of his failed online business whether it is possible to run non-zero-sum games what he thinks of Compound’s decision to pause activity on illiquid assets Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs Avi Twitter DeepFi Value Mango Markets exploit Explanation of the exploit “Highly profitable trading strategy” Twitter thread Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit Previous discussion of Mango Markets on Unchained: The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever' Avi’s online business storyCompound Votes to Pause Activity for Illiquid Crypto Assets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Wall, crypto blogger and investor, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, discuss everything about Bitcoin Maximalism, whether BTC can survive, and whether Ethereum constitutes a threat for Bitcoin. Show highlights: how Eric and Udi got involved with Bitcoin what Bitcoin was like in the first days how Bitcoin maxis appear to have a script to engage in discussions the philosophy behind Bitcoin maximalism why Eric believes Bitcoin maximalism is like a “weird cult” how Eric thinks that the BTC community has an unspoken rule forbidding criticisms whether Bitcoin has lost intellectual power why people have recently been turning away from Bitcoin maximalism why the poor Bitcoin culture doesn't mean it's the end for Bitcoin, according to Eric the perception of the Lightning network and how people are not interested in faster blockchains whether Bitcoin should increase the use cases of the blockchain, like DeFi, NFTs, and stablecoins El Salvador's adoption of BTC and whether it had an impact what happens to internet subcultures and how the behavior of Bitcoiners could be predicted whether Ethereum is a threat to Bitcoin Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis web3 with a16z Udi: Twitter Eric: Twitter Medium Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained: Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Bitcoin Culture and Security The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd Justin Bond’s thread on BTC security model A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin Ultra sound money El Salvador: Previous Coverage of Unchained: Bitcoin in El Salvador: Why Would Cypherpunks Support Government-Mandated Bitcoin Adoption? El Salvador’s Bitcoin Paradise Is a Mirage by Nelson Rauda Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Everyone’s impression of Laura’s interview with Do Kwon The importance to differentiate failure and fraud The Mango Markets hack and whether code is law What happened with the BNB hack and the concerns it raised about decentralization Magic Eden’s decision to enable optional royalties and the debate about NFT royalties How creators are going to find a way around the royalties, according to Robert Whether NFTs should be treated as securities Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links Laura’s interview with Do Kwon:Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’ Hacks Mango Markets Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit BNB BNB Smart Chain Plans Hard Fork In Response to $100M Exploit Binance Chain Was Halted Amid Hack Rumors NFT Royalties Magic Eden Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate TCB Debate Tom’s tweet: “turns out people don’t want to pay royalties” Robert’s request for a startup Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fat Man Terra, the anonymous Twitter account dedicated to bringing Do Kwon to justice, reacts to my recent interview with Do Kwon and says what he thinks it revealed about his personality. Show highlights: why Fat Man Terra created the Twitter account whether Terra was used to enrich insiders how Fat Man believes Do Kwon evaded questions in the interview with Laura whether Do lied about Chai to misrepresent the success of UST and LUNA why Fat Man believes some people will never admit wrongdoing what he thinks of Do’s response to the stories of people losing everything and whether he is actually sorry what he calls Do’s lack of transparency about his history what he believes is the need to make an example out of the collapse of Terra and Do’s failure Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Fat Man Terra Twitter Laura’s Interview with Do Kwon Other Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra: How Will the Legal Case Against Do Kwon Play Out in South Korea? Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed Fat Man Terra’s thread with several devastating stories related to the collapse of Terra SDT pre-mine CoinDesk Korea article Chai WSJ article Do’s tweets about Chai: 2.5 million users Tweet in May 2021 Tweet in May 2021 #2 Tweet in January 2021 Abracadabra Degenbox $2.7 billion cash out TFL Exit Liquidity dashboard on Dune Basis Cash CoinDesk article Luna Foundation Guard Ergo-BTC on-chain evidence of more than 313 BTC Dumps BTC LFG postpones compensation Allegations against Do Kwon SBS news reporting Do moved funds to the Virgin Islands Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash Class action against Do Kwon Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Host Haseeb Qureshi partnered with Zhuoxun Yin, cofounder of Magic Eden, to debate Unchained host Laura Shin and Li Jin, cofounder at Variant Fund, on the topic of NFT Royalties. Show highlights: What NFT royalties are Why Laura believes zero NFT royalties is a bad business decision prioritizing short-term needs over long-term ones and that it will turn creators off from the industry How charging royalties is not sustainable, according to Haseeb Why royalties are the best mechanism to align incentives between creators and holders, according to Li The technical limitations of NFT royalties on a general-purpose blockchain like Ethereum or Solana How to align incentives between NFT creators and holders Why the prices of NFTs would go up if royalties are not enforced Whether the NFT market will change in the future Whether it is possible to create a standard that enforces royalties in a smart contract The creators’ reaction to Magic Eden moving to optional royalties The possibility of a bifurcation of the NFT market Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Guests Laura Shin, author, and host of Unchained Zhuoxun Yin, cofounder of Magic Eden Li Jin, cofounder of Variant Episode Links Magic Eden Optional Royalties - Unchained Coverage Post-debate poll Tool Metashield The standards innovation paradox by Li Jin X2y2 flexible royalties Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties The Chopping Block - Ep. 405 The Chopping Block - Ep. 386 Article: Why NFT Creators and Collectors Can’t Stop Talking About Artist Royalties Article: NFT Royalties: Why artists love them, and traders don’t Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do Kwon, cofounder of Terraform Labs, discusses the charges against him, gives a message to Terra victims, answers allegations about potential fraud and non-transparent business practices, and much more. Show highlights: whether Do finds the charges based on the Capital Markets Act legitimate why he doesn’t want to discuss his location whether the South Korean government is lying about the accusations against him what happened with the BTC held by the Luna Foundation Guard whether Do regrets being so arrogant in his tweets what he would say to the people who lost huge amounts of money in Terra or family members of people who committed suicide due to its collapse the decision to set Anchor’s yield near 20% why Terra had a large SDT pre-mine that was not proactively disclosed whether Do’s actions show he didn’t think that the algorithmic mechanism was sufficient to keep UST pegged to the dollar whether Terraform Labs cashed out $2.7 billion using Degenbox why there were no disclosures about Chai terminating its agreement with Terra why the Terra blockchain went through a hard fork without a public discussion the failure of the basis cash stablecoin, also worked on by Do Kwon whether an algorithmic stablecoin can work the week of the UST depeg and what happened to the funds held by LFG where the 3 million Luna unlocked per month by Project Dawn went when the LFG will return funds to UST holders what Do would do differently if he had the chance to go back * Quick correction* At 7min 18sec, I misspoke, the Korean government posted a pdf for Do Kwon’s passport revocation, not his arrest warrant. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis web3 with a16z Episode Links Do Kwon: Twitter Previous Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra: How Will the Legal Case Against Do Kwon Play Out in South Korea? Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed Devastating Stories One man commits suicide Fat Man Terra’s thread with several stories SDT pre-mine CoinDesk Korea article Anchor yield JTBC article reporting core devs wanted a lower yield Chai WSJ article Do’s tweets about Chai: 2.5 million users Tweet in May 2021 Tweet in May 2021 #2 Tweet in January 2021 Abracadabra Degenbox $2.7 billion cash out TFL Exit Liquidity dashboard on Dune Project Dawn Launch The Defiant article Basis Cash CoinDesk article Luna Foundation Guard Ergo-BTC on-chain evidence of more than 313 BTC Dumps BTC LFG postpones compensation Allegations against Do Kwon SBS news reporting Do moved funds to the Virgin Islands. Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash Class action against Do Kwon Was LUNA a Security? Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport SEC Actions Against Terra SEC Investigating UST Stablecoin Blowup in Fresh Threat to Terra Terraform Labs Loses US Appeal over SEC Subpoena Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash. Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash. Show highlights: whether there’s an over-reliance on the Howey Test and how a token being non-fungible doesn’t mean it’s not a security what constitutes an investment contract and how it works in the Metaverse the consequences for NFT holders and issuers if the NFTs are considered securities why Coin Center is suing the US Treasury over the Tornado Cash sanctions Who the plaintiffs are whether this lawsuit differs from the one Coinbase is supporting how to solve the issue of bad actors like North Korea using tools such as Tornado Cash to launder money the remedy Coin Center is looking for in the lawsuit against the Treasury how long the lawsuit could take to be resolved Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Peter Twitter SEC probe into Yuga Labs Unchained article CrypTones thread on land sales Coin Center lawsuit over Tornado Cash sanctions Coin Center lawsuit and statement Unchained article Coinbase Backs Tornado Cash Lawsuit Against U.S. Treasury North Korean hacks Treasury Press release on the sanctions Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zaki Manian, cofounder of Sommelier Protocol and cofounder of Iqlusion and Jack Zampolin, founder of Strangelove Ventures, discuss everything about Cosmos, the new white paper, and how to improve MEV capture for ATOM holders. Show highlights: how Jack and Zaki got involved with crypto and Cosmos what the Sommelier protocol is, the role of Iqlusion, and what Strange Love does the basics of Cosmos and application-specific blockchains (ASB) why would a project choose to be an ASB rather than an application on a blockchain whether Cosmos can achieve network effects the reasons behind launching a new white paper for Cosmos why the team decided to pursue interchain security whether there would be an increase in fees with so many chains relying on the Cosmos Hub for security how much economic value the Cosmos Hub will end up securing if the proposal gets passed how the Cosmos Treasury could be used to fund development the role of the Interchain Scheduler to capture MEV whether centralized exchanges are going to start trading against the customers the new issuance model proposed for ATOM the role of an active governance community to make Cosmos more decentralized what problems Liquid staking solves how USDC will launch on a consumer chain Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Chainalysis web3 with a16z Jack: Twitter Zaki: Twitter Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained on Cosmos: How Osmosis Is Trying to Improve the Crypto User Experience New white paper Document Proposal Interchain security Paper The Block article The DeFi investor thread ATOM 2.0 Thread by Route 2 DeFi Youseff Amrain’s thread Charlie Morris’ thread Other articles Vaneck’s article: Why we are bullish on Atom Alex Valaitis article: A deep dive into Cosmos Liquid Staking Native USDC on Cosmos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Whether crypto optimism is different in Asia than in the United States How Sam Bankman-Fried has been doing some work with US regulators How the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO changed people’s perspectives about the regulator Whether the lawsuit could make all DeFi illegal and the role of DAOs to coordinate governance The SEC settlement with Kim Kardashian for $1.26 million, Gensler’s video explaining the case and whether it was a publicity stunt Why Tarun would fire almost everyone at the CFTC and the SEC to hire more technical people How the NFT QQL collection censored a marketplace in its code What the whole purpose of NFTs is, according to Haseeb The debate around NFT royalties and their enforcement How a huge portion of the blocks in Ethereum are generated by Flashbots and whether it represents a centralizing force Whether MEV should be stopped or accelerated Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Guest Laura Shin, author, and host of Unchained Episode Links The lawsuit against Ooki DAO Previous Coverage of Unchained on Ooki DAO: Why the Ooki DAO Case Could Hurt Participation in DAOs Kristin Smith on Why Crypto Legislation Could Be Passed by Year’s End CFTC Filing $250,000 fine Nik’s article CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger’s dissenting statement CFTC serving the members of the Ooki DAO via their forum Tim Copeland’s article on what’s next for DAOs A federal court ruled that the CFTC legally served Ooki DAO through a website help bot. The LeXpunK Army filed a motion for amicus status in the SEC case against bZx/Ooki DAO. Crypto group DeFi Education Fund argued that the CFTC should properly serve Ooki DAO’s actual members, not just the DAO at large. NFT Royalties Tyler Hobbs’ QQL $17 million collection QQL blacklist explanation NFT platform hits back Previous episode of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties Article: Why NFT Creators and Collectors Can’t Stop Talking About Artist Royalties Article: NFT Royalties: Why artists love them, and traders don’t SEC charges against Kim Kardashian The SEC fined reality TV star Kim Kardashian $1.26 million for promoting a crypto security without proper disclosure. Fortune article on the Kim Kardashian settlement as publicity stunt eMax price spiked Gary Gensler’s video Flashbots and MEV Post-merge relay drama What is MEV Proposer-Builder separation: MEV Boost Flashbots auctions Previous Coverage of Unchained on MEV: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Smith, Executive Director of the Blockchain Association, comes to talk about Tornado Cash, the lawsuit against Ooki DAO, the SEC charges against Kim Kardashian, and crypto legislation. Show highlights: whether regulators did not understand the implications of sanctioning smart contracts the necessity of having a conversation around financial privacy whether the government wants sanctions compliance at the base layer the reasons behind the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO why the SEC settled charges with Kim Kardashian and whether it was a publicity stunt the chances of the different crypto bills becoming law why Kristin thinks stablecoin legislation won’t come this year whether the CFTC being the main regulator of crypto settles the question of crypto being securities or commodities Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch Crypto.com Kristin Twitter The lawsuit against Ooki DAO Previous coverage of Unchained on Ooki DAO: Why the Ooki DAO Case Could Hurt Participation in DAOs CFTC Filing $250,000 fine CoinDesk’s Nik De’s analysis CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger’s dissenting statement Jake Chervinsky’s opinion Ooki DAO’s options CFTC serving the members of the Ooki DAO via their forum Tim Copeland’s article on what’s next for DAOs A federal court ruled that the CFTC legally served Ooki DAO through a website help bot. The LeXpunK Army filed a motion for amicus status in the SEC case against bZx/Ooki DAO. Crypto group DeFi Education Fund argued that the CFTC should properly serve Ooki DAO’s actual members, not just the DAO at large. Tornado Cash Treasury Press release Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Legislation Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 Europe’s MiCa bill Previous coverage of Unchained on legislation: Why Senator Pat Toomey Thinks SEC Chair Gary Gensler Is Wrong About Crypto Congressman Ro Khanna: How to Get More Democrats into Web3 Why the Crypto Industry Believes SEC Regulation by Enforcement Hurts US Consumers SEC charges against Kim Kardashian The SEC fined reality TV star Kim Kardashian $1.26 million for promoting a crypto security without proper disclosure. Fortune article: The SEC’s Kardashian fine was a dumb publicity stunt Stablecoins Stablecoin Draft Bill Bloomberg article: Senator Pat Toomey Still Sees Chance of Stablecoin Legislation This Year Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, discusses his views on crypto regulation, macroeconomics, and the role of FTX in a decentralized industry. Show highlights: whether the market has already bottomed and the influence of macroeconomics why Sam thinks regulation could have a significant impact on the crypto industry the impact of the Terra collapse, Sam’s thoughts on stablecoins, and the importance of disclaimers what the industry can do to prevent high leverage from crypto companies like Three Arrows Capital how crypto lenders should manage risk in a sustainable way whether the crypto collapses affected the opinion of lawmakers and regulators the topics and proposals that Sam is discussing with regulators and his philosophy on financial regulation what Sam thinks about building a centralized entity in a decentralized space what it would take for FTX to move back to the United States why Sam’s political donations more commonly support Democrats, among which are some prominent critics of crypto whether he makes political donations based solely on candidates’ crypto stances the role of FTX in the TradFi market and whether crypto and TradFi will evolve toward or away from each other concerns about potential conflict of interests between FTX and Alameda Research the impact of the Merge, the value proposition of Ethereum and whether it affects the narrative of Bitcoin as digital gold how FTX is positioning itself in this macroeconomic environment the type of acquisitions FTX is interested in Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com a16z Chainalysis Episode Links Sam: Twitter Bailouts and Acquisitions FTX raising $1 billion in funding FTX’s acquisitions had ‘mixed results’ Voyager Digital Auction Celsius Possible Acquisition Stablecoins and Regulation Bankman-Fried Says He’s ‘Surprisingly Optimistic’ U.S. Will Devise Crypto Rules Within A Year Stablecoin Draft Bill Yellen cites UST stablecoin risk after it loses its dollar peg Previous Coverage of Unchained on Stablecoins and Regulation: Why Senator Pat Toomey Thinks SEC Chair Gary Gensler Is Wrong About Crypto Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed Donations and Politics Giant crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried promises to give away most of his $21 billion fortune Political donations Sam Bankman-Fried is Democrats' largest donor in May Alameda Research Concerns Crypto Quant Shop With Ties to FTX Powers Bankman-Fried's Empire Collapse of Crypto Companies Celsius bankruptcy filing Voyager Digital bankruptcy filing Three Arrows Capital bankruptcy filing FTX proposal to clear derivatives New method of clearing Previous coverage on Unchained: FTX Wants to Compete with CME – Here’s Why It’s a Big Deal Interest in buying Twitter Text messages reveal Sam Bankman-Fried's guru told Elon Musk the crypto billionaire was 'potentially interested' in buying Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nikhilesh De, CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation, comes to talk about the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO and the potential consequences across the crypto industry. Show highlights: the enforcement action against Ooki DAO and the CFTC’s arguments behind it whether bZx’s statements that the DAO would be beyond the reach of regulators made it a target for the CFTC whether the broader implication of these charges could mean that all DeFi is illegal whether the hacks of bZx made it a high-profile target the CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger's dissenting statement and her concerns who the targets of the CFTC enforcement action are the consequences of the lawsuit for token holders and how to determine which token holders are liable why the CFTC chose to post a notice in the Ooki DAO forum and whether that is sufficient notice what the next steps for DAO members are and whether there will be wide community support Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch Crypto.com Nik Twitter Previous Coverage of Unchained on regulation: Why Senator Pat Toomey Thinks SEC Chair Gary Gensler Is Wrong About Crypto Congressman Ro Khanna: How to Get More Democrats into Web3 Why the Crypto Industry Believes SEC Regulation by Enforcement Hurts US Consumers The lawsuit against Ooki DAO CFTC Filing $250,000 fine Nik’s article CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger’s dissenting statement Jake Chervinsky’s opinion Ooki DAO’s options CFTC serving the members of the Ooki DAO via their forum Tim Copeland’s article on what’s next for DAOs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zack Guzman, journalist and Coinage host, and Jongbaek Park, partner specializing in blockchain and crypto assets at Bae, Kim & Lee, discuss how the case in South Korea against Do Kwon and TerraForm Labs will likely go, whether Do Kwon is on the run, and what his sentence could be. Show highlights: Jongbaek’s and Zack’s disclosures regarding Terra how big the Terra phenomenon was in South Korea and how Do Kwon was perceived in the country whether Do Kwon posed any conditions for his interview with Zack what Do Kwon is being charged with the colliding opinions on which tokens are considered securities whether the collapse of Terra had any negative impact on the South Korean President’s image whether Do Kwon feels like a charge for violating the capital markets law is unfair whether Do Kwon is “on the run,” despite his denials how the potential revocation of Kwon’s passport could make him go back to Korea whether Terra was a failure or a fraud, and how prosecutors are looking into it whether Terra was centralized the chance of prosecutors going after other people from Terraform Labs and the probability of the entity’s assets being frozen how much jail time Kwon could be facing and whether he is prepared to go to prison Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com a16z Chainalysis Guests: Jongbaek Zack: Twitter Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra: Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed SEC Actions Against Terra SEC Investigating UST Stablecoin Blowup in Fresh Threat to Terra Terraform Labs Loses US Appeal over SEC Subpoena Allegations against Do Kwon Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash Class action against Do Kwon Was LUNA a Security? Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra Do Kwon Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport Stablecoin Regulation Stablecoin Draft Bill Yellen cites UST stablecoin risk after it loses its dollar peg Haseeb Qureshi’s summary of the Terra collapse: Zack’s Interview with Kwon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Why the ETH price slumped after the Merge even though it was successful Whether the BTC security model is flawed and why Robert thinks Bitcoin will change Why Tarun thinks Bitcoin won’t change and why he’s bearish on Bitcoin development Whether the Lightning Network can succeed with so many competitors getting better more quickly ETHPoW’s performance after the Merge, whether it’s dead and why Robert wouldn’t rule out the PoW fork Why Haseeb thinks the criminalization of the collapse of Terra is a bad precedent The broader impacts of the Terra meltdown and whether Do Kwon not disclosing the fact that he had been involved with Basis Cash, which failed, is problematic The House’s draft bill on stablecoins and whether it is necessary to study algo stablecoins What happened with the Wintermute hack Why Tarun thinks the Wintermute team is incompetent Whether there is any positive news in crypto lately Who would be a better pick for deploying treasury funds between Three Arrows Capital and Wintermute What Haseeb, Tom, Robert and Tarun are excited about Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital Episode Links Post Merge ETHPoW ETH issuance Do Kwon and Terra Red Notice “Not on the run” Kwon’s Passport Wintermute hack House’s Draft Bill on Stablecoins Bloomberg’s Article Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pat Toomey, U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania, talks about legislation in the crypto industry, how to determine if something is a security, the future of CBDCs, and much more. Show highlights: the structural differences between crypto tokens and securities why Sen. Toomey is demanding crypto legislation why “regulation by enforcement” does not provide clarity how to determine if a token is decentralized whether proof of stake consensus turns tokens into securities Sen. Toomey’s take on the new framework for stablecoin regulation whether it is appropriate to ban algorithmic stablecoins the importance to make disclosures so that regular users understand the risks of crypto how the collapse of Terra and other crypto companies like Voyager and Celsius affected lawmakers’ perception of crypto whether the US Treasury made a mistake with the Tornado Cash sanctions what the government should take into account in regards to a central bank digital currency (CBDC) why he believes the White House reports on crypto are not helpful and whether entrepreneurial talent is migrating to other countries the likelihood of any of the crypto bills passing soon Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch Crypto.com Messari Sen. Toomey Twitter Previous Coverage of Unchained on regulation: Congressman Ro Khanna: How to Get More Democrats into Web3 The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay? Why the Crypto Industry Believes SEC Regulation by Enforcement Hurts US Consumers SEC Views Gary Gensler’s comments on PoS tokens Sen. Toomey’s opinion White House Reports Stablecoins Stablecoin Draft Bill Bloomberg article: Senator Pat Toomey Still Sees Chance of Stablecoin Legislation This Year Sen. Toomey’s framework for payment stablecoins that he released last spring Tornado Cash Treasury Press release Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash Sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Ian Balina charges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a heated debate, Eric Wall, crypto blogger and investor, and Justin Bons, founder and chief investment officer of Cyber Capital, discuss Bitcoin’s security model, whether there are fundamental flaws in its design, and which is the best consensus mechanism. Show highlights: why Justin stopped believing in Bitcoin and why he calls it “technically one of the worst cryptocurrencies” how Eric’s views on Bitcoin changed over time the problems they see with Bitcoin’s security why Eric attacks BTC maximalism, even when he is a Bitcoiner how the Bitcoin community will change in the next decades, and why the security problem is a challenge that could be solved whether BTC should increase its inflation and whether that would break the store of value proposition why Justin thinks that BTC fails as money and won’t play a relevant role in the future what happened around the time of the blocksize debate back in 2015-2017 whether there’s something wrong with Bitcoin’s culture and why Eric compares it to a doomsday cult why Ethereum has external dependencies that can impose systemic risks, according to Eric whether proof of stake or proof of work is a better consensus mechanism whether Ethereum is more censorship resistant than Bitcoin why BTC is a speculative asset and what Justin believes is needed for crypto to finally flourish Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs a16z Justin: Twitter Eric: Twitter Medium Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained: Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Bitcoin’s Security, Blocksize and Culture Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd Justin’s thread that kicked off the debate A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin Theory On Bitcoin Governance; Three Stage Model by Justin Bons Centralization: Ethereum Post-Merge Centralization Lido’s validators BTC Centralization Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Drake, researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, talks about the Merge, how this transition affects Bitcoin, where Ethereum’s road map is going, and more. Show highlights: how Justin was feeling prior to and during the Merge whether the upgrade is complete or there are other things to watch out for why Ethereum has slashing and why it is a better form of removing any attackers the concern about centralization due to liquid staking derivatives providers, like Lido or Coinbase how the Merge affects MEV and the long-term vision of proposer-builder separation whether the Merge puts pressure on BTC to also transition to proof of stake what impact ETH’s more deflationary nature will have on BTC’s narrative as digital gold why Ethereum is the settlement layer for the internet of value whether there is a winner take all dynamic in the blockchain industry why Ethereum is more secure than Bitcoin, according to Justin what Justin thinks about the ETHPoW fork and its team and the risks of interacting with the ETHPoW fork the next steps in Ethereum’s roadmap Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch Crypto.com Messari Justin Twitter Previous Coverage of Unchained on the Merge: How Traders Are Thinking About the Merge -- and a Potential ETHPoW Chain Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? The Merge: Vitalik announcement of the Merge Ethereum carbon emission reductions A guide on the Merge by Dan Chen from Sequoia Capital ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Ultra sound money ETH issuance and burn Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge The triple point asset Post Merge MEV: PMCGoohan’s tweet Pintail on post-Merge MEV ETH Proof of Work Poloniex announces a different token ETHPoW team Mainnet announcement Ethereum’s roadmap: ETH Vision Haym on Ethereum’s roadmap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Emin Gün Sirer, the emperor of Avalanche, also joined the conversation Show topics: Gün’s take on the Ava Labs conspiracy story and whether there was any truth in the videos The impact of the Merge on ETH issuance and energy usage What’s going on with the ETHPoW fork, and how the team has been messing up The TL;DR of the technical side of Ethereum scaling, explained by Tarun How, in the beginning, proof of stake was designed to resemble proof of work What Ethereum miners are going to do after the Merge Whether increasing hash rates spike prices of PoW coins How the Basic Attention Token is like the Stanford prison experiment Whether the fights between Gün and other founders were positive or negative How an exchange delisted every privacy coin Whether Coinbase's support of the lawsuit against the US Treasury over Tornado Cash was a PR move How this moment in history resembles the 90s and the rise of the internet Whether there are blockchain-haters and what the crypto industry can do better How there can’t be a single chain to meet every need How FTX and Coinbase have different approaches to regulation How would everyone celebrate a successful Merge and whether there’s a chance of it failing Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Guest Emin Gün Sirer, Founder and CEO of Ava Labs Episode Links Ava Labs Accusations: Emin Gün Sirer’s statement CoinDesk article Crypto Leaks article Tornado Cash Treasury Press release Coinbase supports lawsuit against US Treasury Huobi delisting privacy coins Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash Sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury ETH Proof of Work and Miners: ChainID missing; the request from Coinbase CoinDesk article The ETHPoW team said the fork will be deployed within 24 hours of the Merge ETHPoW team’s promise to abolish EIP-1559 ETHPoW first blocks The Merge: Ethereum Foundation Merge announcement. Ethereum carbon emission reductions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhou, co-founder of Galois Capital, and Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of Wintermute, discuss how to trade the Ethereum Proof of Work fork, what the market is telling about the Merge, and whether the Merge affects Bitcoin. Show highlights: what will happen at the time of the Merge according to Kevin and whether there’s uncertainty when the ETH Proof of Work chain will emerge and how that affects trading opportunities the mistakes of the ETHPoW team, like repealing EIP-1559 what percentage of ETH market cap ETHPoW will accrue what the first few blocks of ETHPoW will be like what the strategies are to earn the ETHPoW airdrop and what the on-chain activity looks like whether there is an “up-only” monoculture in Ethereum what stETH is, how it should be priced and what the futures market indicates where the value of a chain comes from and the likelihood of ETHPoW failing catastrophically how to protect from replay attacks the price action of ETH after the Merge how ETH becoming deflationary affects Bitcoin’s narrative as digital gold how the ESG-friendly image of Proof of Stake could affect the narratives of ETH and BTC Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs a16z Kevin: Twitter Evgeny: Twitter Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained on the Merge: Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? ETH Proof of Work: ChainID missing; and the request from Coinbase Kevin’s analogy CoinDesk article ETHPow Token Summary of Kevin’s thoughts ETHPoW team’s promise to abolish EIP-1559 ETHPoW first blocks Tether supports PoS Circle (USDC) supports PoS ETH Trade Ether’s backwardation Eth-Flexive by Arthur Hayes Whether Ethereum’s Merge is priced in Gauntlet’s view on the Merge BTC correlation with stocks ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Onchain Wizard post Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Preston Van Loon, cofounder and Ethereum core developer at Prysmatic Labs, talks about the Merge, its impact on an environmental level, and why he is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Treasury Department over Tornado Cash. Show highlights: what the Merge is on a technical level and what its impact will be whether the proof of stake consensus mechanism makes the network more decentralized and secure what happens if the Merge fails and whether there’s a contingency plan why Preston founded Prysmatic Labs and how Prysm works what the next steps are for Ethereum and what the community is working on whether Preston thinks a proof of work Ethereum fork would succeed when and how Ethereum’s high fees and scaling issues are going to be resolved why Preston joined the lawsuit against the US Treasury over the Tornado Cash sanctions how Preston would celebrate a successful Ethereum Merge Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch Crypto.com Messari Preston Twitter Episode Links Previous Coverage of Unchained on the Merge: Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? Lawsuit against the US Treasury: Coinbase is supporting a lawsuit against the Treasury Department by six users of Tornado Cash. Fortune article on the lawsuit Why Preston joined the lawsuit. The Merge: Ethereum Foundation Merge announcement. Ethereum carbon emission reductions. ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge The triple point asset Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arthur Hayes, cofounder of BitMex, discusses how he’s trading the Merge, the impact of macroeconomic policy in the markets, his career as a writer, and much more. Show highlights: how crypto is reconfiguring how humans do finance over the internet why Arthur initially thought Ethereum was worthless how NFTs allow users to trade human culture and will unlock trillions of dollars of value why Ethereum doesn’t even need to be deflationary whether other layer 1s can take some market cap from Ethereum why Arthur thinks that a successful Merge is understated and why this is a valid reason for hedging why he thinks an Ethereum proof of work chain won’t succeed and how Arthur will trade ETHPoW why LDO, Lido’s token, is a riskier bet but has more potential gains how he believes the Shanghai upgrade will impact ETH’s price whether the Merge affects BTC’s narrative as digital gold and whether the inflation hedge theory of Bitcoin still holds why Bitcoin is a measure of USD liquidity and why the Fed rates don’t matter as much as everyone thinks whether hedge funds and institutional investors would want to invest in crypto given the high correlation with traditional markets what Arthur believes the impact of a potential US recession would be on the crypto markets why he believes the real economy is not relevant to the financial markets whether algorithmic stablecoins are doomed to fail how the credit cycle works and how it repeats again and again Arthur’s method for identifying good projects to invest in how Arthur became such a good writer whether BTC is money and the religious aspect of the Bitcoin culture Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs a16z Arthur: Twitter Medium Episode Links Previous Coverage on Unchained: With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge Post-Merge, If Lido Becomes Dominant, What Does That Mean for Ethereum? Arthur’s posts discussed during the show: Eth-Flexive Ether, a double digit shitcoin Teach me Daddy (on USD liquidity and Macroeconomics) Macroeconomics: Adam Cochran on the Fed’s QT Pantera Capital’s newsletter ETH Trade: Whether Ethereum’s Merge is priced in Gauntlet’s view on the Merge BTC correlation with stocks ETH Post-Merge Dynamics: Cumberland on the Ethereum dynamics after the merge Miles Suter on the implications of the Merge The triple point asset Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Jill Gunter, the empress of Espresso, also joined the conversation. Show topics: Whether product management is the new consulting What is going to happen with macroeconomics and whether monetary policy is data-driven Why Jill’s faith is getting renewed, especially after listening to Fed authorities The TL;DR on the Ava Labs conspiracy story Why the industry needs a decentralized RPC The role of Flashbots and Ethermine in censoring transactions Potential over-compliance from the biggest crypto projects on how to deal with sanctioned addresses Whether social slashing allows Ethereum to stay uncensored The importance of educating regulators on crypto What Haseeb thinks lawyers would recommend to Coinbase about validating transactions from sanctioned addresses The significance of both transactional and application-layer privacy How stablecoin providers need to implement some basic levels of privacy Why corporations do not run Ethereum and whether users are pro-OFAC restrictions Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/hosseeb Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Guest Jill Gunter Twitter: https://twitter.com/jillrgunter Episode Links Tornado Cash Treasury Press release Tornado Cash developer arrested Circle freezes USDC in sanctioned wallets Crypto exchange dYdX blocked accounts that received funds from Tornado Cash What the sanctions mean for privacy coins Celebrities get dusted Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash Sanctions on Unchained: Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? Ava Labs Accusations: CoinDesk article Crypto Leaks article Social Slashing and Censorship on ETH Axios summary of the situation BitMex research on how the sanctions affect Ethereum Ethermine banning transactions Nic Carter’s article Eric Wall’s article on social slashing Hetzner banning Ethereum users Previous Coverage on Unchained Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miles Jennings, general counsel at a16z crypto, talks about its new “can’t be evil” NFT licenses and how they help to solve many problems within the NFT industry. Show highlights: what “can’t be evil” NFT licenses are and what problems they solve what can these licenses achieve for content creators which are the five rights that the licenses address whether the NFT licenses help resolve hate speech issues for creators why a16z described its licenses as “can’t be evil” how these licenses will be enforced how anyone buying NFTs should now be able to understand what they are buying why previous attempts to create standardized NFT license didn’t succeed why Miles thinks these new NFT licenses are going to succeed Thank you to our sponsors! 1inch: https://1inch.io/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 Messari: https://mainnet.events/ Guest Miles Twitter: https://twitter.com/milesjennings “Can’t be evil” NFT licenses: a16z article: https://a16zcrypto.com/introducing-nft-licenses/ Miles’ thread: https://twitter.com/milesjennings/status/1564991860824674305?s=20&t=pJEE9HfA9DnC_9PlsGelEw Wiki article: https://www.nftstandards.wtf/NFT/NFT+License Previous coverage on Unchained: What legal rights NFTs come with: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-exactly-do-you-get-when-you-buy-an-nft-three-lawyers-discuss/ Understanding intellectual property rights with NFTs: https://unchainedpodcast.com/excited-about-your-bored-ape-or-crypto-punk-make-sure-you-understand-your-ip-rights/ Punk 6529 on how rights helped Bored Apes succeed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/punk6529-on-the-significance-of-bored-ape-yacht-club-and-cryptopunks/ IP issues around prominent NFT collections: Galaxy Digital report on NFT owners being misled about rights: https://decrypt.co/107827/bored-apes-moonbirds-misled-buyers-nft-ip-rights-galaxy-digita CryptoPunks gets IP rights: https://decrypt.co/107184/as-cryptopunks-nft-owners-get-commercial-rights-yuga-hopes-to-secure-their-legacy-as-artwork Bored Apes’ more permissive license helps it become more valuable than Crypto Punks: https://www.thedefiant.io/bored-apes-yacht-club-cryptopunks-copyright-fight Moonbirds controversy ignites after move to CC0 license: https://www.thedefiant.io/moonbirds-cc0-license-nfts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices