Unconfirmed

Noelle Acheson, director of research at CoinDesk, discusses the effect that coronavirus has been having on the traditional financial markets, Bitcoin and why Bitcoin is not turning out to be the uncorrelated asset it was touted to be. We also talk about why Bitcoin had a safe haven to begin with, the role traders played in changing how Bitcoin behaves as an asset, and why we can expect Bitcoin to become even more volatile in the short term. We cover how this could affect Bitcoin miners' ability to survive the upcoming halving, and whether Bitcoin will start to decouple from the other crypto assets. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://kelman.law Episode links: Noelle Acheson: https://twitter.com/NoelleInMadrid CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-uncertainty-and-the-ultimate-narrative https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-bonds-and-gold-why-markets-are-upended-in-a-time-of-fear https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-investment-research/is-bitcoin-a-safe-haven Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/our-only-good-option/

Brady Dale, senior reporter at CoinDesk, walks through the last few weeks of drama in Steemit this week, staring with when Justin Sun bought Steemit, what that meant for the network, and how the validators (aka "witnesses") responded and how exchanges got involved. We talk about why it's significant that the exchanges were Poloniex, Huobi and Binance, and why they seem to have walked back their support of new witnesses. We also cover the lessons in this drama for blockchains that use delegated proof of stake, and where the Steemit community might go from here. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://kelman.law Episode links: Brady Dale: https://twitter.com/BradyDale Steemit: https://steemit.com Justin Sun: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron Sun acquires Steemit: https://www.coindesk.com/steemit-sets-up-shop-on-tron-network Crypto exchanges get involved: https://www.coindesk.com/why-crypto-should-care-about-justin-suns-steem-drama Blog post from Steemit: https://steemit.com/tron/@steemitblog/an-open-letter-to-the-community-hf22-5 Steemit community fights back: https://www.coindesk.com/steem-community-mobilizes-popular-vote-in-battle-with-justin-sun Exchanges walk back: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/57607/justin-sun-stands-by-trons-decision-to-overturn-community-governance-rule Lessons from the Steemit battle: https://twitter.com/DavidVorick/status/1235064633016242176 Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/he-giggles-snorts-and-waves-his-arms/

Caitlin Long talks about her new venture, Avanti Bank, which will be a Wyoming special-purpose depository institution, what that means, and how that could bypass the New York Bitlicense. She covers why that's better than trust companies for certain types of customers, which type of institutions Avanti will target, and how this status will protect investors in a bankruptcy situation. Plus, she explains how Avanti will be a bank and yet have the “not your keys, not your coins” ethos, and how it will handle things like airdrops, forks and staking rewards, and why in the Ethereum hard fork, the bank would have needed permission from customers to follow the fork that became Ethereum. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://kelman.law Episode links: Caitlin Long: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_ Avanti Bank: https://avantibank.com Caitlin’s announcement on Avanti: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1231958552790482950 Tweet storm on SPDIs: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1194022779730968577 Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-is-big-on-cash-app/

Lev Livnev, a formal verification researcher at dapp.org and a founding partner at Symbolic Capital Partners, talks about the two attacks on bZx in the last week. He describes what the attackers did, why he thinks flash lending is not the culprit and how much he thinks bZx is to blame. Plus, we talk about what this means for DeFi in general and where the space goes from here. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://kelman.law Episode links: Lev Livnev: https://lev.liv.nev.org.uk CoinDesk explanation of both attacks: https://www.coindesk.com/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-defi-flash-loan-attack The first attack: https://www.coindesk.com/exploit-during-ethdenver-reveals-experimental-nature-of-decentralized-finance Peckshield analysis on the hack step by step: https://medium.com/@peckshield/bzx-hack-full-disclosure-with-detailed-profit-analysis-e6b1fa9b18fc BZx's post-mortem on the first attack: https://bzx.network/blog/postmortem-ethdenver Unchained interview with Compound: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/ Unchained interview with dYdX: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep-86/ Unconfirmed interview with Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/ The second attack: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/56207/bzx-attacked-again-645k-in-eth-estimated-to-be-lost Sam Czsun blog post: https://samczsun.com/taking-undercollateralized-loans-for-fun-and-for-profit/ What all this means for bZx: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/56330/money-2-0-stuff-unus-sed-bzx Unchained interview with Synthetix: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-synthetix-became-the-second-largest-defi-platform/ Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/omg-bzx-wth/

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce discusses her proposal for a three-year safe harbor period for token sales. We talk about what problems she hopes to solve with this suggestion, the conditions that token issuers would have to meet to qualify for it, such as achieving a decentralized network or functional token within three years, and how she defines those terms. We also cover how the other commissioners have received her proposal and what the next steps are to her proposal potentially being adopted. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://kelman.law Episode links: Hester Peirce: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce The SEC: https://www.sec.gov/ Full speech and proposal: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-remarks-blockress-2020-02-06 Fortune article on the proposal: https://fortune.com/2020/02/06/ico-sec-cryptocurrency-proposal-investing/ Critique that proposal will only enable scammers: https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2020/02/08/sec-commissioner-hester-peirces-safe-harbor-proposal-for-icos-will-only-enable-scammers/ CoinDesk article on crypto community reaction: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-safe-harbor-proposal-lauded-by-token-fans-defi-builders-at-0x-conference Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/indications-the-market-is-heating-up/

Elizabeth Stark, cofounder and CEO of Lightning Labs, talks about her company's two big announcements this week: the beta launch of its first paid product, Lightning Loop, and the company's Series A $10 million fundraise. We discuss how Lightning Loop works, what kinds of companies are already using it, and how Lightning Labs will make money from it. She also talks about the investors in this round, how several of them come from traditional finance and what their views are on Bitcoin and Lightning. Thank you to our sponsors! Kelman Law: https://kelman.law eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Episode links: Elizabeth Stark: https://twitter.com/starkness Lightning Labs: https://lightning.engineering Lightning Labs announcement: https://medium.com/@lightning_labs/entering-the-decade-of-lightning-8c4a4d31167f Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/02/05/jack-dorsey-backed-lightning-labs-raises-10-million-to-build-visa-network-for-bitcoin/#2f88e7e95ede Bitcoin Magazine on the announcement: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lightning-labs-announces-10-million-raise-as-lightning-loop-enters-beta The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/54963/lightning-labs-10-million-series-a-bitcoin-beta Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-safe-harbor-for-token-sales/

Frank Chaparro of The Block discusses the report released by his firm and the Blockchain Association on employment trends in the blockchain industry. He covers how the demand for such jobs is growing, who the biggest employers are in the space, and what types of companies are hiring. We talk about how token launches are moving primarily to Asia, why there's still significant hiring demand in the US and what kinds of jobs are being sought. Plus, we look at the recent LinkedIn study showing "blockchain" was the most in-demand hard skill on LinkedIn in 2019 and how a few projected crypto IPOs in the next few years could affect the job market. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kelman Law: http://kelman.law Episode links: Frank Chaparro: https://twitter.com/fintechfrank The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com The Block’s and the Blockchain Association’s Digital Assets Human Capital Report: https://www.scribd.com/document/444039395/Digital-Asset-Human-Capital-Trends-Report Frank discussing the report with Kristin Smith of the Blockchain Association, which approached The Block about conducting the report: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/51135/kristin-smith-executive-director-at-the-blockchain-association-breaks-down-2019s-biggest-crypto-stories-on-capitol-hill LinkedIn on blockchain being the most in-demand hard skill: https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/blog/trends-and-research/2020/most-in-demand-hard-and-soft-skills https://www.beseen.com/blog/talent/bitcoin-job-market-2019-beyond/ Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-far-from-being-a-unit-of-account/

Tom Schmidt, junior partner at Dragonfly Capital, talks about how liquidators are making money in DeFi — on which protocols, how liquidations work, and how much money they're making. He also discusses how liquidators do their work, how easy it is to create a bot to watch for liquidation opportunities, and how competitive the space is. We also discuss the growing competitive pressures, both from other liquidators as well as savvier borrowers. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Kelman Law: https://kelman.law Episode links: Tom Schmidt: https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt Dragonfly Capital: https://www.dcp.capital Tom's post on Liquidations in DeFi: https://medium.com/dragonfly-research/liquidators-the-secret-whales-helping-defi-function-acf132fbea5e Unchained interview on Compound: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/ Unchained interview on MakerDAO, pt. 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ Unchained interview on MakerDAO, pt. 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ Unchained interview on dYdX: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep-86/ The links from this week's news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/games-that-look-like-finance/

Leighton Cusack, CEO and cofounder of PoolTogether, describes how the Ethereum-based no-loss lottery applies the psychology of winning a prize to the action of saving money, to get more people to save, why this is better than a typical lottery, and how blockchain technology makes it even better than a typical no-loss lottery. He also talks about how PoolTogether works, why it currently uses Dai and Compound and whether it would use other stablecoins and interest-bearing platforms. We also discuss who is using it, why many non-crypto people are interested, and how they plan to reach more of their target audience. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kelman Law: https://kelman.law Episode links: Pool Together: https://www.pooltogether.com/ Leighton Cusack: https://twitter.com/lay2000lbs CoinDesk on PoolTogether: https://www.coindesk.com/this-ethereum-lottery-perfectly-explains-how-facebooks-corporate-backers-will-profit-from-libra Decrypto story: https://decrypt.co/9072/pooltogethers-ethereum-based-no-loss-lottery-is-back-with-a-twist MakerDAO grant: https://blog.makerdao.com/maker-foundation-community-grants-provide-funding-for-blockchain-projects/ News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/please-slather-this-on-your-face/

Nate Maddrey, senior research analyst of Coin Metrics, gives an overview of how the major crypto networks ended 2019. We discuss how Bitcoin outperformed most other crypto assets last year, how it has been somewhat correlated with gold this year, whereas other crypto assets are not, and how the price movement of Bitcoin and Ethereum is starting to uncouple. We also talk about "realized cap," which is when each individual coin last moved on chain, and "market cap to realized cap" (MVRV), which is a way of looking at when the current holders will obtain profits if they sell, and how Bitcoin's investors are in the black, or that perhaps Ethereum is undervalued. Another topic was stablecoins, and how Tether on Ethereum has overtaken Tether on Omni and why, plus which other stablecoins are seeing growth. He also covers which four networks have seen their number of active addresses drop, how all those also saw their prices decrease and how only Bitcoin and Ethereum had a substantial amount of daily fees, and why that's significant. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://www.etoro.com Kelman Law: http://kelman.law Episode links: Nate Maddrey: https://twitter.com/natemaddrey Coinmetrics: https://coinmetrics.io/ State of the Network 2019 post: https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-2019-year-in This week in crypto: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-halving-→-price/

Kyle Samani, managing partner of Multicoin Capital looks ahead to 2020 based on how the space changed from 2018 to 2019. He talks about how the space has matured and become more heterogeneous, when developers choose to build on platforms other than Ethereum and when they stick with it, and how the uncertainties about Ethereum 2.0 are affecting developers' choices. We discuss which chains he's most excited about now, why there's such a huge amount of competition in the smart contract space, and how the competition will shake out between the projects such as Cosmos and Polkadot that aim to connect other chains. He also covers why he isn't that excited about work being done in Bitcoin, why 2019 wasn't the year of Lightning and why 2020 will be the year of lots of small success stories. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com/ Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Kelman Law: https://kelman.law/ Episode links: Kyle Samani: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital/ Web3 Stack, 2019 edition: https://multicoin.capital/2019/12/13/the-web3-stack-2019-edition/ Unbundling of Ethereum: https://multicoin.capital/2019/05/24/the-unbundling-of-ethereum/ Near protocol: https://nearprotocol.com/ Solana: https://solana.com/ Kadena: https://www.kadena.io/ On Value Capture at Layer 1 and Layer 2: https://multicoin.capital/2019/03/14/on-value-capture-at-layers-1-and-2/ Arweave: https://www.arweave.org/ Livepeer: https://livepeer.org/

Laura recounts the tale of how she got SIM swapped, what mistakes she made, and what she did to secure her accounts and get her phone number back. She also reveals how, despite having shored up her security years before, she actually was still vulnerable. She also reveals the results of an investigation her mobile carrier did into what happened and what steps the mobile carrier is taking to deal with phone hijackings. Plus, she gives tips on how you can protect your cryptocurrency, financial accounts, data and more from SIM swapping attacks. Due to the holidays, there's no news recap this week, but if you are with friends and family whose digital lives need some securing, then follow the tips in this episode together. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Episode links: My tweet about being SIM Swapped: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1182855237020901377?s=20 Unchained episode on protecting yourself from SIM swapping: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-keep-your-crypto-from-being-stolen-via-your-phone/ Forbes article on phone hijackings — sadly, despite being published in 2016, it's not that outdated: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/ Detailed SIM Swapping Bible from MyCrypto and CipherBlade: https://medium.com/mycrypto/what-to-do-when-sim-swapping-happens-to-you-1367f296ef4d

Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer of Coinshares, talks about how the emergence of Bitcoin fits within the larger technological and financial shifts of the last decade, how crypto can integrate privacy into our digital lives and how political shifts, ideology and meme culture have helped drive adoption. We also cover her stance on shitcoin minimalism/Bitcoin maximalism, what other areas of crypto development are interesting to her, and why she thinks the development of Libra is different from the trajectory of crypto. She also discusses what she thinks the effects of the Bitcoin halving will be in 2020, and makes a few predictions for 2020 and beyond. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed eToro: https://etoro.com/ Episode links: Meltem Demirors: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem CoinShares: https://coinsharesgroup.com/ CoinDesk on Meltem as one of 2019's Most Influential: https://www.coindesk.com/most-influential/2019/meltem-demirors Coinshares mining report: https://coinsharesgroup.com/research/bitcoin-mining-network-december-2019#mailmunch-pop-849406 News recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-price-blows-past-all-time-high/

Larry Cermak, director of research at The Block, looks at the macro trends in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, including what can be gleaned from derivative data, why many hedge funds are shorting Bitcoin and what has happened to trading volume since the summer. We also cover how the exchanges vary in terms of liquidity and target customer, which types of traders are active now, and which exchanges other than the Bitwise 10 also have real volume. Finally, Larry talks about what amount of real value is being settled on the Bitcoin blockchain and how this compares to gold and other cryptocurrencies. Be sure not to miss the Unchained shop! https://shop.unchainedpodcast.com/ Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Episode links: Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/ Hedge funds short Bitcoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/48268/hedge-funds-were-short-bitcoin-going-into-this-downturn-cftc-reports-show Per-website visits to exchanges: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/46235/crypto-exchanges-experiencing-a-steady-drop-in-traffic-since-june-suggesting-declining-retail-interest Depth of order book on exchanges: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/49546/when-evaluating-spot-exchanges-based-on-order-book-depth-bitfinex-appears-the-most-liquid Analysis of value settled on Bitcoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/50100/close-correlation-between-value-settled-and-traded-volume-shows-cryptocurrencies-are-still-mainly-used-for-speculation Weekly news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-most-important-crypto-podcast-of-2019/

Writer Nathaniel Rich discusses his recent long-form Vanity Fair article diving into what really happened with the Quadriga exchange debacle, what Gerald Cotten’s past really was, his relationship to his business partner Michael Patryn and who Patryn really was. He talks about their history with so-called high-yield investment programs, their falling out at Quadriga, what Cotten really did with the funds on the exchange, and the three main theories for what Cotten did, including a scam that ended in death, what Rich calls the “royal fuckup” and the final one, the Mastermind Theory. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ eToro: https://etoro.com/ Episode links: Nathaniel Rich: https://twitter.com/NathanielRich Vanity Fair article: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten Bloomberg on Michael Patryn’s identity: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-19/from-fraud-to-fintech-quadriga-co-founder-s-past-crimes-emerge Weekly news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/unicorns-rainbows-and-north-korea/

For Black Friday, Alex Adelman, cofounder and CEO of Lolli, talks about how, with the Lolli browser extension, shoppers can earn back, on average 7%, but as much as 45%, of their purchases in Bitcoin at over 750 merchants, including Walmart, Bloomingdales, Gap, Barnes & Noble, Postmates, Sephora, Sonos, Hotels.com and more. He talks about how about 50% of Lolli users appear to be new to Bitcoin, how 30% are women, which is likely much higher compared to other crypto companies, and how Lolli makes its money (hint: not off your data). He also covers where people can use Lolli, whether it will offer other cryptocurrencies and the announcement of their partnership with Alibaba, which the Chinese company later denied. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ eToro: https://www.etoro.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Lolli: https://www.lolli.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/trylolli Alex Adelman: https://twitter.com/alexadelman Lolli announcement: https://medium.com/@alexadelman/lolli-bitcoin-for-everyone-aa8f52e0ffa Who is using Lolli: https://twitter.com/YahooFinance/status/1154400724563836929 CoinDesk on partnership with Alibaba: https://www.coindesk.com/alibaba-offers-bitcoin-rewards-through-lolli-shopping-app-for-singles-day Clarification on partnership with Alibaba: https://www.coindesk.com/alibaba-denies-partnership-with-lolli-highlighting-crypto-industry-pitfalls Weekly news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/an-easy-way-to-earn-bitcoin/

Steven Becker, president and chief operating officer of the Maker Foundation, discusses the MakerDAO system's transition to multi-collateral Dai, what benefits it gets from having multiple collateral types, why it started with Brave's BAT, and how the Dai savings rate can lower risk for users. We also talk about what incentives current users have to transition to Dai, given that the Dai savings rate is just 2% while Sai holders can enjoy interest rates over 5% in Compound and dYdX, and how the MakerDAO system plans to try to incentivize people to move over. Plus, we talk about how to manage such a transition in a decentralized project and how the system might someday add tokenized real-world assets. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed eToro: https://www.etoro.com/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Episode links: MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/ The launch: https://blog.makerdao.com/multi-collateral-dai-is-live/ Steven Becker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-becker/ MCD roadmap: https://makerdao.com/en/roadmap/ Upgrade process depending on how you use MakerDAO: https://blog.makerdao.com/looking-ahead-how-to-upgrade-to-multi-collateral-dai/ Stats on the transition: https://sai2dai.xyz Stats on Dai: https://daistats.com Dai Savings Rate: https://blog.makerdao.com/an-update-on-the-dai-savings-rate-in-multi-collateral-dai/ The Block on the MCD transition: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/47367/makerdao-multi-collateral-dai The Defiant on MCD: https://thedefiant.substack.com/p/defis-central-bank-is-becoming-much Weekly News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereum-nvtv-ratio-near-all-time-low/

This episode features an email interview with Kuma, the pseudonymous administrator of HKmap.live, a site showing a real-time crowd-sourced map of protests in Hong Kong, which Kuma believes is the first Hong Kong protest organization to accept cryptocurrency. Although I read his answers, Kuma talks about the controversy around the rejection of the app from the Apple App Store, why HKmap.live started accepting cryptocurrencies, why they chose those particular cryptocurrencies, and what the site does with the funds. We also discuss decentralization and how the Hong Kong protesters use this as a guiding philosophy, what practices he follows in terms of communication and finances to be able to keep protesting, and what improvements he thinks crypto businesses and entrepreneurs need to make. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ eToro: http://etoro.com/ Episode links: HKmap.live: https://hkmap.live/ HKmap.live on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hkmaplive Where HKmap accepts cryptocurrency donations: https://hkmap.live/crypto.html Quartz article: https://qz.com/1700205/real-time-maps-warn-hong-kong-protesters-of-poliec/ Article about university clashes: https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/11/12/hong-kong-police-protesters-battle-night-cuhk-campus-university-head-among-tear-gassed/ HKmap.live tweet storm I referenced in the show: https://twitter.com/hkmaplive/status/1182154372563836928 Apple App Store kerfuffle: https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-pulls-hong-kong-cop-tracking-map-app-after-china-uproar-11570681464 https://www.ft.com/content/47ceb216-ea55-11e9-a240-3b065ef5fc55 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-factbox/factbox-global-firms-take-action-after-china-criticism-over-hong-kong-protests-idUSKBN1WP2EW China’s revenue by geographical region, according to Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/382175/quarterly-revenue-of-apple-by-geograhical-region/ News recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/centralized-decentralized-centralized-decentralized/

Wolfie Zhao, Asia editor at CoinDesk, details how Jihan Wu ousted his cofounder Micree Zhan at the Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain last week, how he justified the coup at a staff meeting the next day, and how these tensions have actually been brewing for quite a while. He also discusses how Wu was able to remove Zhan despite the fact that Zhan was a larger shareholder, whether or not the other shareholders were aware of Wu's plans, and how Zhan plans to take some unspecified legal actions next. We also cover the general company reaction to the coup, how some compared it to Steve Jobs returning to Apple, and the competitive pressures Bitmain faces as it and a competitor attempt to IPO in the U.S. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ eToro: https://www.etoro.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Jihan ousts Micree: https://www.coindesk.com/bitmain-turmoil-co-founder-and-director-micree-zhan-ousted-from-management Transcript of Bitmain meeting after Micree’s ouster: https://www.coindesk.com/leaked-transcript-details-power-struggle-inside-bitcoin-mining-giant-bitmain Micree’s plans to use legal means to get back into the company: https://twitter.com/Excellion/status/1192261566437023744?s=20 FT articles: https://www.ft.com/content/35c34156-0150-11ea-b7bc-f3fa4e77dd47 https://www.ft.com/content/906c9322-fa44-11e9-a354-36acbbb0d9b6 Canaan’s filing for $400 million IPO in the US: https://www.coindesk.com/avalon-bitcoin-miner-maker-canaan-officially-files-for-400-million-us-ipo Theory that the IPO brought tensions to a head: https://twitter.com/btcking555/status/1189522260702441472?s=20 News recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/dont-miss-this-long-awaited-interview/

Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer of the Human Rights Foundation, explains why he believes China's new pro-blockchain stance could turn out to be a blunder for the country and why this could lead to a red pill/blue pill moment that gets Chinese citizens interested in Bitcoin. He also talks about how the country could use a digital yuan as financial leverage in other countries, and why he's skeptical of the Chinese government's claims that anonymous transactions will be possible in the currency, called DCEP. We also talk about how wary citizens around the world should be as more societies go cashless, how corporations are starting to self-censor due to China's financial leverage and what the connection is between financial freedom and free speech. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Alex Gladstein: https://twitter.com/gladstein Human Rights Foundation: https://twitter.com/HRF China’s enterprise blockchain projects: https://www.coindesk.com/from-banking-giants-to-tech-darlings-china-reveals-over-500-enterprise-blockchain-projects China’s push to support cryptography: https://www.coindesk.com/chinas-congress-passes-cryptography-law-effective-jan-1-2020 Articles saying DCEP can be used like cash, does not require bank account: https://www.coindesk.com/new-head-of-chinas-digital-currency-says-it-beats-facebook-libra-on-tech-features http://news.cnstock.com/news,yw-201909-4427378.htm A Chinese dissident's view on the country's blockchain push https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-dissident-sees-dark-warnings-in-chinas-blockchain-push News recap To see the links in this week's news recap, go to https://unchainedpodcast.com/only-we-chinese-pump-with-real-money/

James Ferguson, CEO of Immutable, the creators of Gods Unchained, talks about how the video game recently doubled its number of users. In early October, after a winner of a Hearthstone tournament said, "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!" in an interview, had his winnings revoked and was banned from the game for a year, Gods Unchained offered to pay the player, Blitzchung, the amount of his winnings, plus invited him to play in its first tournament next year. Ferguson describes what happened next, ranging from a DDOS attack on Immutable's servers to some American University students making a similar pro-Hong Kong message, getting banned by Blizzard and switching to Gods Unchained. He talks about the benefits of decentralization and how the incident has gotten more true gamers (not crypto enthusiasts) interested in Gods Unchained. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ eToro: https://www.etoro.com Episode links: Immutable: https://immutable.com James Ferguson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesanthonyferguson/ Gods Unchained: https://twitter.com/GodsUnchained Blitzchung: https://twitter.com/blitzchungHS Quote from interview: https://twitter.com/Slasher/status/1181065339230130181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1181442535962632193&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Fnews%2Fblizzard-pulls-blitzchung-from-hearthstone-esports-tournament-over-support-for-hong-kong-protests%2F Article summarizing what happened with Blizzard, Blitzchung and Gods Unchained: https://www.cnet.com/news/blizzard-pulls-blitzchung-from-hearthstone-esports-tournament-over-support-for-hong-kong-protests/ More on the ensuing controversy: https://esportsobserver.com/blizzard-criticism-hong-kong/ Gods Unchained tweet offering Blitzchung payment for his lost winnings and a ticket to its $500k tournament: https://twitter.com/GodsUnchained/status/1181487505180258304?s=20 Blizzard subreddit set to private after Blitzchung was banned and stripped of his winnings: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-10-08-blizzard-punishes-hearthstone-pro-for-voicing-hong-kong-support Now open Blizzard subreddit still awash in pro-Hong Kong memes: https://www.reddit.com/r/Blizzard/ DDOS attack on Gods Unchained: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-10-09-blizzard-backlash-escalates-following-hong-kong-supporter-ban https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/sydney-startup-under-fire-online-for-supporting-pro-hong-kong-protest-gamer-20191009-p52z2g.html https://decrypt.co/10154/coinbase-backed-gods-unchained-cyberattacks-chinese-censorship American University students who protested Blizzard also banned, now playing Gods Unchained: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3akzz/three-college-hearthstone-protesters-banned-for-six-months Gods Unchained also offered donations to Electronic Frontier Foundation per viewer watching Gods Unchained on Twitch: https://twitter.com/GodsUnchained/status/1182589990850584576 Blizzard allegedly preventing people from deleting their accounts by deactivating four methods of authentication: https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/10/gods-unchained-hit-with-cyber-attacks-while-mei-becomes-mascot-of-free-hong-kong-movement/94841/ Why Ethereum: https://hackernoon.com/the-blockchain-gaming-revolution-why-ethereum-will-revolutionise-a-100-billion-dollar-market-148badaecb2a Chris Clay, previously of Magic the Gathering, joins Gods Unchained: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2019/08/08/magic-the-gathering-executive-leaves-for-blockchain-based-gods-unchained/#7557a9b8419f Weekly News Recap: To see the links in this week's news recap, go to https://unchainedpodcast.com/congress-in-the-news-and-on-the-pod/

Jonathan Levin, the cofounder and chief strategy officer of Chainalysis, describes how the blockchain analytics firm helped the IRS identify the administrator of the largest child porn website in the world, which ultimately led to the arrest of the administrator, Jong Woo Son, and 337 site users across 38 countries. The work also led to the rescue of 23 minors from their abusers. He describes how the site used Bitcoin, how they used Bitcoin transactions to identify the users of the site, and how law enforcement worked with exchanges. We also discuss what impact privacy technologies could have on similar investigations going forward, as well as Levin's perspective on the overall utility of Bitcoin despite it being used for illicit activity. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com: http://crypto.com eToro: http://etoro.com Newsletter: Get Laura’s newsletter on the top crypto stories of the week’s plus a preview of exclusive podcast content! Signup Here: http://eepurl.com/ga8ub5 Episode links: Chainalysis: https://www.chainalysis.com/ Jonathan Levin: https://twitter.com/jony_levin DOJ press release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/south-korean-national-and-hundreds-others-charged-worldwide-takedown-largest-darknet-child Chainalysis blog post: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/chainalysis-doj-welcome-to-video-shutdown Indictment against Jong Woo Son, the administrator of Welcome to Video: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210441/download Bitcoin laundering: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210461/download Bitcoin exchanges Welcome to Video recommended + screenshots: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210451/download Screenshot of the site seized: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210446/download Joe Weisenthal’s column about how Bitcoin ETFs would make it easier for people to make illicit Bitcoin transactions: https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1184786875262885890 Weekly news recap links: Bloomberg article summarizing overall race to create a global coin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-16/fed-drags-feet-as-digital-money-revolution-tests-central-banks FT on why Libra members dropped out: https://www.ft.com/content/6e29a1f0-ef1e-11e9-ad1e-4367d8281195 Libra Association signs charter: https://libra.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Libra-Association-Charter-Press-Release-.pdf CNBC article on China’s race to release digital currency: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/china-races-to-launch-a-cryptocurrency-that-could-rival-facebooks.html?__source=sharebar%7Ctwitter&par=sharebar Fortune article further describing race between Chinese digital currency and alternatives: https://fortune.com/2019/10/16/if-libra-fails-china-wins-the-ledger/ Fed official saying US actively debating digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/top-fed-official-says-us-central-bank-actively-debating-digital-dollar Christopher Giancarlo’s op-ed in WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-sent-a-man-to-the-moon-we-can-send-the-dollar-to-cyberspace-11571179923 IRS tax form: https://www.coindesk.com/the-irs-will-now-ask-if-you-own-crypto-in-the-1040-tax-form

From DevCon 5 in Osaka, Japan, Deborah Simpier, COO and cofounder of Althea Network, describes how this decentralized internet service provider works, what problem it's trying to solve, and how it uses Ethereum. She describes how neighbors provide each other with internet access, and how they pay each other automatically on pay-as-you-go plans using a stablecoin. She also covers how she came to found Althea, what challenges she faced in explaining how it worked to her non-crypto neighbors, and Althea's plans to expand to other areas, including urban areas and Nigeria. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ eToro: https://crypto.com/en/index.html CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Althea Network: https://althea.net/ Deborah Simpier: https://twitter.com/DeborahSimpier Case study on Clatskanie: https://althea.net/clatskanie-case-study Deborah’s talk at ETH Berlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD1tB0UFx78 https://breakermag.com/how-mesh-networks-and-crypto-can-fill-the-rural-broadband-gap/ Weekly news recap links: IRS Guidance IRS press release: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/virtual-currency-irs-issues-additional-guidance-on-tax-treatment-and-reminds-taxpayers-of-reporting-obligations Guidance on hard forks and airdrops: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-19-24.pdf Coin Center response: https://coincenter.org/entry/irs-cryptocurrency-guidance-answers-some-questions-while-raising-messy-new-ones IRS scenario that never happened: https://twitter.com/valkenburgh/status/1182022188343418880?s=20 Marco Santori take: https://twitter.com/msantoriESQ/status/1181975909567475713?s=20 Patrick Murck take: https://twitter.com/virtuallylaw/status/1181997761811628038?s=20 Ethereum 2.0 The transition from Ethereum 1.0 to 2.0: https://ethresear.ch/t/the-eth1-eth2-transition/6265 Ethereum 2.0 cross-sharding composability: https://ethresear.ch/t/cross-shard-defi-composability/6268 Wired article on Facebook/Libra connections: https://www.wired.com/story/ties-bind-facebooks-libra/ Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Rejection: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/42711/bitwises-bitcoin-etf-the-last-hope-has-been-denied https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/nysearca/2019/34-87267.pdf https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitwise-comments-on-the-secs-order-regarding-the-bitwise-bitcoin-etf-trust-300935107.html https://twitter.com/BitwiseInvest/status/1182115344510402560?s=20 https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1182149164177608704?s=20 MakerDAO: https://blog.makerdao.com/breaking-launch-date-of-multi-collateral-dai-announced-at-devcon-5/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-10-05/crypto-rebels-trip-over-each-other-en-route-to-financial-utopia https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ Placeholder on protocols: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2019/10/6/protocols-as-minimally-extractive-coordinators Ali Yahya on why there will be multiple dominant blockchains: https://twitter.com/ali01/status/1181161407406071808?s=20 QuadrigaCX widow to pay $9 million to affected users: https://www.coindesk.com/quadrigacx-founders-widow-will-cough-up-9-million-to-repay-users

Heads up, everybody! We are launching a weekly news recap, so stay tuned after the interview to find out about the top stories in crypto this week! (Links below.) Zachary Fallon, principal at Blakemore Fallon and former SEC staffer, explains why the SEC penalty against Block.One, which raised $4 billion in a yearlong ICO, got a penalty of just $24 million and didn't have to register EOS tokens as securities. He also discusses how this differs from the Kik case, what we can learn from another SEC order this week against Nebulous and what other gray areas remain for potential token issuers who may want to sell to U.S. citizens. We also go over the Crypto Rating Council, and what significance those ratings could have on the way they are regulated, if any. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com Crypto.com: https://crypto.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: SEC press release about the Block.One settlement: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-202 SEC Order re. Block.One: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2019/33-10714.pdf Cooley letter on Block.one: https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/cf-noaction/2019/block.one-093019-506.pdf Katherine Wu’s annotated settlement: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac136ed12b13f7c187bdf21/t/5d92c33d937a3466c0c723a9/1569899329538/33-10714.pdf SEC action on Nebulous: https://www.sec.gov/enforce/33-10715-s Jake Chervinsky tweet storm on the settlement: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1179162527541993472?s=20 Marco Santori tweet storm on the settlement: https://twitter.com/msantoriESQ/status/1178811671621591040?s=20 Crypto Rating Council: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-exchanges-including-coinbase-to-rate-digital-assets-11569835801 CRC ratings thus far: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1178627290676301824?s=20 Articles from this week’s news recap: Paypal to Back Out of Libra Association: https://www.ft.com/content/6af11092-e5fd-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc Visa, Mastercard, Other Libra Association Members Jittery: https://www.wsj.com/articles/visa-mastercard-others-reconsider-involvement-in-facebook-s-libra-network-11569967023 Federal Advisory Doesn’t Like Libra: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-30/bankers-advising-fed-board-describe-libra-as-a-monetary-threat SEC press release about the order: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-202 The order itself: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2019/33-10714.pdf Larry Cermak of The Block on the order: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/41612/dont-ask-for-permission-hire-good-lawyers-and-then-ask-for-forgiveness Letter from House Reps re digital dollar: https://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Foster-Hill-US-Crypto.pdf Crypto Rating Council: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-exchanges-including-coinbase-to-rate-digital-assets-11569835801 Cermak tweet storm: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1178622451451867136?s=20 Blockchain executive departures: http://thein.fo/9a4fd2f9cab44d7d LedgerX-CFTC dispute: https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-claims-personal-animus-drove-ex-cftc-chair-to-stall-approvals

Nick Tomaino, general partner of 1confirmation, discusses his firm's second fund of $45 million, announced this week, how prospective LPs have changed from 2017 to 2019, and what types of projects 1confirmation is interested in. He also reveals why he doesn't believe Libra will be meaningful in the long-term, what he thinks the top DeFi trends are, what impact Ethereum's scaling issues could have, and what other protocols the fund has invested in. Plus, he explains how the firm decides whether to invest in companies or tokens when there is a choice. Thank you to our sponsors! eToro: https://www.etoro.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: 1confirmation: https://www.1confirmation.com Nick Tomaino: https://twitter.com/NTmoney https://thecontrol.co/1confirmation-fund-ii-f42192a9646b https://fortune.com/2019/09/25/1confirmation-crypto-investing/ https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-venture-firm-1confirmation-announces-new-45-million-fund https://thecontrol.co/thoughts-on-facebook-coin-c5804e97e7e1 Unchained interview with Compound: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/ Unchained interview with dYdX: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep-86/ Unconfirmed interview with Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/ Systemic risk in DeFi due to Ethereum scaling issues: https://twitter.com/evabeylin/status/1176861299076059136?s=20

Jacob Franek, cofounder and COO of Coin Metrics, discusses why daily transaction fees on Ethereum have surpassed those on Bitcoin, what daily transaction fees reflect generally about a blockchain, why this change appears to be driven by demand for Tether on Ethereum, and what types of transactions people are using Tether for on Ethereum. We also cover Bitcoin vs. its forks — Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi's Vision — and whether or not the latter two are becoming medium-of-exchange coins as they hoped to be, why they're being used more for data storage and what kind of data is being stored there. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode notes: Coin Metrics: https://coinmetrics.io Jacob Franek: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-franek-b9865039/ ETH daily transaction fees surpassed those of Bitcoin: https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92cbb3e2-4e28-4cd7-8557-db7eea1656c5_1200x742.png For a few months in 2018, ETH daily transaction fees were higher than BTC's: https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2e5e596-39da-4c3a-a6ec-6c4277e1d210_1420x878.png Demand for Tether on Ethereum skyrocketing: https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F632ba7b5-de3e-4a9d-b34c-d30a32486070_1200x742.png Ethereum processes more than 2x transactions per day than Bitcoin: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QD82uclQKUQXp1WT12LMuqTVobkvNKEq/view ETH locked in DeFi rising: https://twitter.com/spencernoon/status/1174048582204309505 Gas per transactions rising on Ethereum, indicating transactions are becoming more complex: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q53YFSgwSgtvvd346ARdbFV2ejwX8ZLX/view Non-ETH/ERC-20/ERC-721/Tether transactions are also growing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q4lFfW002Q_L9geNall8E5JSznnzVHZd/view Ethereum miners have been voting up the gas limit: https://www.etherchain.org/tools/gasLimitVoting Increasing the gas limit effectively increases the block size: https://etherscan.io/chart/gaslimit Coin Metrics' comparison of Bitcoin forks: https://coinmetrics.io/a-comparative-analysis-of-bitcoin-forks/#more-1865 Comparison of medium of exchange metrics for BTC, BCH and BSV: https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7af691e0-7ee9-4dab-aad3-9e0a8a651542_1048x876.png BSV being used for data storage: https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff9d22b7a-c133-4086-a553-f7fbecb02227_1200x742.png Almost all BSV transactions come from weathersv app: https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85817c8b-69a2-42ff-9174-ab4bb81c29e6_1200x742.png Comparison of hash rate on BTC, BCH and BSV: https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e16275d-80aa-48ca-bb84-0ddf7929be49_1387x833.png

Nic Carter, partner at Castle Island Ventures, discusses the ways in which cryptocurrencies could weaken the state, how they're already providing an alternative to central bank currencies for people in economies undergoing hyper-inflation. He describes why Bitcoin is inherently political, which other coins he views as legitimate and whether coins should always aim to be money or other types can exist. Plus, he explains why he isn't optimistic about Libra and why Facebook should have pegged the value of it to the USD. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Nic Carter's recent Medium post on Bitcoin as a revolutionary currency: https://medium.com/@nic__carter/a-most-peaceful-revolution-8b63b64c203e Nic Carter: https://twitter.com/nic__carter LocalBitcoins interview on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/localbitcoins-on-how-bitcoin-trading-compares-across-the-world/ Unconfirmed interview with Dante Disparte of the Libra Association: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Michael Casey on why it would be good if Libra rivaled the USD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/ Coin Center's Peter Van Valkenburgh on why the Congressional hearings on Facebook's Libra were good for Bitcoin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-congressional-hearings-on-facebooks-libra-were-good-for-bitcoin/ Unchained interview with the IMF on how to design central bank digital currencies: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-imf-on-how-to-design-central-bank-digital-currencies/

Yan Liberman, cofounder at Delphi Digital, explains why Bitcoin dominance is back up at 70%, more than double its low at 33% at the height of the crypto bubble in early 2018, why a crypto bear market has a positive effect on Bitcoin and who is putting money into the space now. He also discusses how metrics involving Bitcoin's unspent transaction outputs, or UTXOs, affect price moves, why scaling isn't necessarily so important for bitcoin's price — but is for ether's price — and why the number of developers isn't always correlated to price. Plus, we cover how developments like the launch of Libra will likely affect Bitcoin. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Delphi Digital: https://www.delphidigital.io Yan Liberman: https://twitter.com/YanLiberman Fred Wilson blog post on crypto: https://avc.com/2019/09/some-thoughts-on-crypto/ Pushback on Fred’s post: https://twitter.com/fredwilson/status/1169322053008314368 Electric Capital report on developer activity in crypto: https://medium.com/@ElectricCapital/electric-capital-developer-report-h1-2019-7d836d68fecb Unconfirmed episode with Maria Shen: https://unchainedpodcast.com/electric-capital-on-the-coins-punching-below-their-weight/ Unconfirmed interview with the Libra Association's Dante Disparte: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Reid Hoffman's crypto rap battle between Hamilton and Satoshi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaMJi1_1tkA&feature=youtu.be

Ryan Zurrer, formerly chief commercial officer and director at the Web 3 foundation and former principal and partner at Polychain Capital, discusses his recent proposal for a new DAO, reviving one of the most notorious experiments in crypto history. Zurrer explains the way it works, some of the new technologies, such as SourceCred, that he thinks could make a new DAO better than the original, what problem he wants to solve with the DAO, and how it would work. He also talks about why he believes that if the DAO had survived, that the due diligence in the space would be far higher than it was during the ICO craze, and why he thinks that the architecture of the DAO he's proposed will not violate U.S. securities law. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: The DAO white paper: https://github.com/the-dao/whitepaper Ryan Zurrer: https://twitter.com/rzurrer SourceCred: https://sourcecred.io/ CoinDesk article on the recently proposed DAO: https://www.coindesk.com/former-polychain-partner-ryan-zurrer-is-leaving-web3-to-start-his-own-dao The SEC's report on the 2016 DAO: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/investreport/34-81207.pdf Comprehensive Bloomberg feature on the 2016 DAO: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-the-ether-thief/

Joerg Platzer, owner of Room77, a bar in Berlin that has accepted Bitcoin since 2011, describes how patrons who wanted to pay with Bitcoin originally had to type long Bitcoin addresses into their laptops, how people's interest in Bitcoin correlates with the markets and how the demographics of the Bitcoin users have changed over time. He discusses why the bar discourages users from sending their Bitcoins from Coinbase, Circle and BitPay, how crypto companies can surveil their companies more than banks do, and how they impose U.S, laws on other jurisdictions. He also talks about the Lightning Network point-of-sale device that they're using, how what he believes to be the first routed Lightning Network payment occurred at Room77, and how surprised he by the number of people eager to pay via Lightning. Plus, he reveals which other coins he is open to, and which ones he is not. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Room77: http://room77.de/ Joerg Platzer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j%C3%B6rg-platzer/ 2014 CoinDesk article on Room77: https://www.coindesk.com/evolution-bitcoin-behind-berlin-bar The Room77 Bitcoin Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Bitcoin-Lab-Berlin/events/qbbwmhyzjbjb/ Photos of some of the Bitcoin-related signs I saw at Room77:

Maria Shen, head of data science at Electric Capital, dives into the details of the firm's report on crypto developer activity, which analyzed 27,000 code repositories to find that a recent decrease in crypto developer activity came from a drop-off in one-time-per-month and part-time developers, while full-time developers increased 13%. She explains how this breaks out among coins, how developer activity in Bitcoin and Ethereum have consolidated, what mid-tier coins are also seeing a lot of activity, and which ones appear to be punching below their weight price-wise. She also explains her metric of "active ecosystems," which ones are most active or gaining and gives us projections for further crypto development based on the data thus far. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Electric Capital: https://www.electriccapital.com Maria Shen: https://twitter.com/mariashen?lang=en Full deck of report: https://www.slideshare.net/MariaXinheShen/developer-report-published-august-2019-163234235 Blocktivity: https://www.blocktivity.info Unchained episode with Chris Dixon: https://unchainedpodcast.com/chris-dixon-on-how-trust-is-the-best-lego-block-ep-70/ Most recent Unchained episode with Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-whether-or-not-ethereum-is-blowing-it/ Unchained episode on Monero: https://unchainedpodcast.com/moneros-riccardo-spagni-aka-fluffypony-on-how-he-feels-about-monero-being-used-for-crime-ep-93/ Unchained episode on Grin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/grin-a-more-private-lighter-bitcoin/ Unchained episode on MakerDAO, part 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/grin-a-more-private-lighter-bitcoin/ MakerDAO, part 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/ Litecoin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/charlie-lee-on-how-litecoin-can-be-truly-successful/ Unconfirmed episode on the Bitcoin Cash hard fork: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-bitcoin-cash-hard-fork-bitcoin-abc-vs-bitcoin-sv-ep-046/

Rebecca Rettig, partner at FisherBroyles, talks about Kik's answer this week to the SEC's complaint, why she predicted they would make this move as opposed to filing a motion to dismiss as many had expected and what their main arguments were. We discuss the key points of their answer, such as the distinction they make between their SAFT sale to accredited investors vs. the token sale to the general public, how we could get new law applied to tokens as well as how the SEC took quotes out of context to make it appear that Kik and/or its board members and other associates said the opposite of what they meant. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Rebecca Rettig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-rettig-8b90a284/ FisherBroyles: https://www.fisherbroyles.com Kik's response to the SEC: https://www.scribd.com/document/420998937/Kik-Response-to-SEC#from_embed Katherine Wu's annotations on the response: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac136ed12b13f7c187bdf21/t/5d4a3cfcfe4cc000019dff3b/1565146371923/KIK_SEC_+Answer+to+Complaint_3.pdf CoinDesk article summarizing Kik's answer: https://www.coindesk.com/kik-says-sec-twisted-facts-about-100-million-token-sale CoinDesk interviews with Kik CEO Ted Livingston, and blockchain lawyers Joshua Klayman, Rebecca Rettig and Nelson Rosario on this week's news: https://www.coindesk.com/watch-join-coindesk-live-with-ted-livingston-ceo-of-kik

Chandan Lohda, the cofounder and CEO of CoinTracker, talks about the 10,000 letters the IRS sent to cryptocurrency holders last week, what kinds of letters were sent, what recipients should do depending on what type of letter they received and how the IRS even knew who to write to in the first place. Plus, we discuss which types of transactions are taxable events, where the tax laws still need further clarification, and which types of changes he believes should be made to tax law. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: CoinTracker: https://www.cointracker.io/ Chandan Lodha: https://mobile.twitter.com/cglodha IRS sending letters to 10,000 crypto holders: https://www.wsj.com/articles/irs-sending-warning-letters-to-more-than-10-000-cryptocurrency-holders-11564159523 https://blog.cointracker.io/irs-sends-letter-6173-6174-6174-a-cryptocurrency-warnings-what-to-do/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2019/07/26/irs-sending-warning-letters-to-more-than-10000-taxpayers-about-cryptocurrency-reporting/#553158e35d3b IRS press release: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-has-begun-sending-letters-to-virtual-currency-owners-advising-them-to-pay-back-taxes-file-amended-returns-part-of-agencys-larger-efforts CoinTracker guide to filing crypto taxes: https://www.cointracker.io/bitcoin-taxes

Jeremy Allaire, cofounder and CEO of Circle, explains why the company has opened a new subsidiary in Bermuda, obtained a full Digital Assets Business Act license there and how it plans to create separate offerings for the US market vs. non-US. He discusses why Circle chose Bermuda out of the many jurisdictions that have created crypto-friendly regulations, why Circle believes the SEC's April guidance on digital assets expanded the scope on which digital assets are securities and why regulators should have a new definition for digital assets rather than putting them into existing categories like commodity, security, currency, etc. We cover how much of Poloniex's struggles have to do with restrictive regulations in the US vs. poor business choices on the exchange's part, and why some other US-based crypto exchanges are not having the same struggles. He also reveals what it is that he'll be telling the Senate next week when he testifies in a hearing on regulation for digital assets and blockchain technology. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Circle: https://www.circle.com/en/ Poloniex: https://poloniex.com Jeremy Allaire: https://twitter.com/jerallaire New Bermuda entity and license: https://medium.com/circle-blog/circle-expands-international-offerings-with-new-bermuda-operations-and-digital-assets-business-ff4509ed76b9 https://www.coindesk.com/circle-moves-non-us-poloniex-customers-to-new-bermuda-entity https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/07/22/circle-is-opening-up-shop-in-bermuda-seeking-clearer-regulatory-framework-and-it-could-be-its-last-hope/ BTC trade volume: https://www.bitcointradevolume.com Trollbox: https://medium.com/circle-trader/trollbox-is-back-a458e3ec58df Next week's Senate hearing on crypto legislation: https://medium.com/circle-blog/circle-ceo-to-testify-before-senate-on-crypto-regulation-dbaeaeba3a3b https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/examining-regulatory-frameworks-for-digital-currencies-and-blockchain The Bermuda rig: https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2015-01-26/dress-code-how-to-wear-bermuda-shorts

Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, explains the significance of all the governmental activity around crypto in the last week -- the President's tweets, the Treasury Secretary's and Fed Chair's remarks and of course the Congressional hearings about Libra. We discuss whether Facebook's baggage could harm regulation of the space broadly, just what Libra is and who controls it (especially compared to decentralized networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum), and how that might require different regulatory approaches. We also covered how the lack of partisanship in the line of questioning could affect Libra's prospects, the odds that the draft bill to keep tech out of finance will go through and whether the idea of a Facebook-created digital currency could spur interest in central bank digital currencies. Plus, we talk about what we thought were the most memorable moments of the Congressional hearings, and why we both felt that, amazingly, the hearings seemed to teach Congress about the merits of decentralized networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Coin Center: https://coincenter.org Peter Van Valkenburgh: https://twitter.com/valkenburgh President Donald Trump's tweets about Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and Libra: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192?s=20 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony about Libra: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/technology/fed-chair-facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's news briefing on cryptocurrencies: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/15/treasury-secretary-mnuchin-will-hold-a-news-conference-on-cryptocurrencies-at-2-pm-et.html Senate hearings on Libra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUQpmEjgFAU House hearings on Libra: https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency-hearings-with-congress-day-2-watch-here-live/ Rep. Sean Duffy questioning David Marcus about who can transact in Libras: https://twitter.com/crypto/status/1151531255550230529 Rep. Warren Davidson bringing up a term that has not yet been heard in the halls of Congress — "sh*tcoin": https://twitter.com/bitstein/status/1151586640307064833

Lawson Baker, head of operations and general counsel at TokenSoft (disclosure: a previous sponsor of the podcast), explains the significance of this week's SEC statement on broker-dealer custody if digital asset securities, what issues it outlines, what problems remain to be resolved, what impact it could have on the overall industry — and why this, and other regulatory guidance, could push the industry in a more cypherpunk direction. Plus, we discuss Blockstack's Reg A+ initial coin offering, which was finally approved by the SEC, whether it's too onerous for startups and how this will affect the initial coin offering phenomenon. And finally, we talk about what we'll be watching out for in next week's Senate and House hearings on Facebook's Libra, and what the odds are that the regulators quash the project. Don't forget about the Crypto weekend retreat at Omega Institute: Sign up here! https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Lawson Baker: https://twitter.com/lwsnbaker TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io/ SEC statement on broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/joint-staff-statement-broker-dealer-custody-digital-asset-securities Blockstack's Reg A+ offering approved: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-clears-blockstack-to-hold-first-regulated-token-offering-11562794848 Details on Blockstack's token sale: https://blog.blockstack.org/blockstack-sec-qualified-token-sale-open/ Fed raises concerns about Libra: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/technology/fed-chair-facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html Unconfirmed episode with Dante Disparte, head of policy and communications for Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Unconfirmed episode with Michael Casey on why it would be good if Libra rivaled the US dollar: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/

Michael Casey, chairman of the advisory board at CoinDesk, CEO of Streambed Media and a former Wall Street Journal reporter who covered global financial and economic affairs, discusses the regulatory response to Libra, in particular the letter from the US. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services to Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and the head of Calibra, David Marcus, calling on them to halt development of Libra. Casey explains why he think it would be good if the House's concern that Libra becomes "an entirely new global financial system that is based out of Switzerland and intended to rival US monetary policy and the dollar,” as the letter put it. We also discuss the likelihood that Libra actually achieves its goal of financial inclusion for the two billion unbanked, how Facebook's track record with privacy factors in and what smart regulation would look like. Last chance to participate in the Unchained Survey 2019! Last week to participate in the survey and enter to win a free Casa Bitcoin LIghtning node! Go to surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 to give us your thoughts what you like about the show, what we could do better and who you’d like to see as a guest. Those who answer the survey can enter to win one of five free Casa Bitcoin lightning nodes, plus a free year of Casa's Gold membership -- including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! Those of you interested in learning more about Casa, or about protecting your Bitcoin investment generally, should check out my interview with CEO Jeremy Welch. Thank you to Casa for donating! Again, go to surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 now to give us your thoughts and enter to win. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Michael Casey: https://twitter.com/mikejcasey CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com Michael’s CoinDesk column on how smart, not heavy-handed regulation of Libra is necessary: https://www.coindesk.com/a-monumental-fight-over-facebooks-cryptocurrency-is-coming Michael’s CoinDesk column on understanding Libra and the Bitcoin price swings in the global economic context: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-facebook-and-the-end-of-20th-century-money House Financial Services Committee letter to Facebook executives: https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/07.02.2019_-_fb_ltr.pdf David Marcus's blog post on Libra, published after Michael and I recorded: https://www.facebook.com/notes/david-marcus/libra-2-weeks-in/10158616513819148/

Ben Mezrich, author of the Accidental Billionaires, which formed the basis of the movie The Social Network, and the author of the recently published Bitcoin Billionaires about the Winklevoss twins' rise in the cryptocurrency industry, discusses what he initially got wrong about Cameron and Tyler. He also talks about Facebook's Libra, how he thinks personal animus against the is part of Mark Zuckerberg's motivation behind this new cryptocurrency, and what Facebook and Libra would have to do to assuage concerns over privacy issues. Plus, we cover his writing process and who can expect to be on the big screen, playing the Winklevoss twins and Charlie Shrem in the upcoming movie. Take the Unchained/Unconfirmed survey! Help make Unchained and Unconfirmed better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Ben Mezrich: http://www.benmezrich.com/ https://twitter.com/benmezrich Bitcoin Billionaires: http://www.benmezrich.com/books/bitcoin-billionaires/ Accidental Billionaires: http://www.benmezrich.com/books/accidental-billionaires/ The Unconfirmed interview with the Libra Association's Dante Disparte: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/ Unchained with Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss in January 2019: https://unchainedpodcast.com/tyler-and-cameron-winklevoss-on-being-the-fastest-tortoise-in-the-race/ Unchained with Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss in September 2016: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-tyler-and-cameron-winklevoss-fell-in-love-with-bitcoin/ The NYT on the Winklevoss Bitcoin fortune: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/technology/bitcoin-winklevoss-twins.html

Dante Disparte, head of policy and communications for the Libra Association, describes the roles of the various entities that make up the Libra ecosystem and how he came to be in this position. He addresses the most common concern being expressed: why people should trust a financial system designed by Facebook, which has lost public trust over privacy breaches. Plus, we discuss how Facebook will handle the financial information of Calibra's users, how the Libra Association will deal with the regulatory headwinds and why he believes that it's better if the project succeeds. We also discuss what impact this currency could have on the currencies of developing countries, what an identity system based on Libra might look like, and how it plans to get banks on board. Plus, we discuss what its social impact goals are. Take the Unchained/Unconfirmed survey: Help make Unchained and Unconfirmed better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019 Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Dante Disparte: https://twitter.com/ddisparte The Libra Association: https://libra.org/en-US/association/ Libra: https://libra.org/en-US/ More details on the Libra Association: https://libra.org/en-US/association-council-principles/#overview Security and privacy on the Libra network: https://libra.org/en-US/security-privacy/#overview Commitment to compliance and consumer protection: https://libra.org/en-US/compliance-consumer-protection/#overview France calls for central bank review of Libra: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-18/france-calls-for-central-bank-review-of-facebook-cryptocurrency Senate banking hearing on Libra is scheduled: https://twitter.com/ElleBeyoud/status/1141429557846781960 (link to webcast: https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings) Europe working around US sanctions: https://www.apnews.com/b7fbb9c4b97b41c98d625cea0529386b

Dillon Chen, CEO of Edgeware, talks about how the network is distributing its tokens via a "lockdrop" in which people can lock up ether for certain time periods in order to obtain Edgeware tokens, why it chose to do so and how that could affect the distribution of the tokens. We also discuss how even people with ether frozen in the Parity multi-sig wallet can still use those funds to obtain Edgeware tokens. Plus, he describes what Edgeware tokens will be used for and how it fits in the Polkadot ecosystem. Take the Unchained Survey! How do you think we can make the show better? How would you like to see Unchained and Unconfirmed expand? Take our survey at surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019. Those who answer the survey can enter to win one of five free Casa Bitcoin lightning nodes, plus a free year of Casa's Gold membership -- including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! Those of you interested in learning more about Casa, or about protecting your Bitcoin investment generally, should check out my interview with CEO Jeremy Welch. Thank you to Casa for donating! Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Edgeware: https://edgewa.re Dillon Chen: https://twitter.com/dillchen Edgeware lockdrop: https://edgewa.re/lockdrop/ Edgeware blog post on lockdrops: https://medium.com/commonwealth-labs/whats-in-a-lockdrop-194218a180ca CoinDesk article on the lockdrop: https://www.coindesk.com/1confirmation-canaan-partners-back-startup-pushing-new-spin-on-airdrops Frozen funds: https://www.parity.io/a-postmortem-on-the-parity-multi-sig-library-self-destruct/amp/

In this conversation, conducted at the Oslo Freedom Forum, Vera Xavier, LocalBitcoins' Community Manager and Elena Tonoyan, Chief Customer Success Officer, describe what the Helsinki-based company does, how it got started, how its escrow system works and why the company typically keeps a low profile. We also cover who their typical users are (hint: it's a broad swath), how usage differs across geographically and types of economies, and how LocalBitcoins can be used in countries with authoritarian regimes. We also cover some regulatory issues such as why it had to stop service in Iran recently. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: LocalBitcoins: https://localbitcoins.com LocalBitcoins bans trading in Iran: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-bans-bitcoin-buying-in-iran-in-blow-to-rising-crypto-commerce FinCen guidance indicating LocalBitcoins sellers in the US are money transmitters: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/2019-05/FinCEN%20Guidance%20CVC%20FINAL%20508.pdf Removal of Local Cash Ads: https://twitter.com/LocalBitcoins/status/1135872083962081281

At Ethereal, I spoke with Austin Griffiths, director of research at Gitcoin and founder of Burner Wallet, and Arjun Bhuptani, cofounder of Connext Network, about how they think about getting everyday usage. In this discussion, Austin talked about how he started Burner Wallet and how he did user testing at bars, and Arjun described Connext, how people are using it now. Plus, they both explain why they're using Dai, how they can compete when a company like Facebook has 2 billion users, and how the uncertain regulatory atmosphere in the US affects the way they work. Omega Institute crypto workshop retreat: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Austin Griffith: https://twitter.com/austingriffith Burner Wallet: https://xdai.io Arjun Bhuptani: https://twitter.com/arjun_bhuptani?lang=en Connext Network: http://connext.network Video from Ethereal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkOI7166fmI Hester Peirce speech: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-how-we-howey-050919

How Polychain is faring during the crypto winter, where we are in the tech cycle, whether he thinks Ethereum 2.0 will deliver and how he views the competition in the smart contract space. We discuss the upcoming Facebook coin, what that might look like, and how his portfolio projects could compete against a token issued by a large company. We cover how regulatory uncertainty is affecting the development of crypto projects, what he thinks of the fact that some trends in the DeFi movement seem to mimic the risks leading up to the financial contract, why he's so excited about MakerDAO, what he makes of its difficulties keeping its USD peg, and why Tether hasn't lost its dollar peg despite being only 74% backed. Plus, we talked about how decentralized autonomous corporations could someday come into being, and what he thinks of on-chain governance systems today. Join us at the Oslo Freedom Forum! On May 27th I will be hosting a conversation about the future of finance and human rights at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. As the world continues to move toward a cashless society, paper currency is disappearing. Companies like Facebook, Apple, and TenCent are becoming increasingly influential in the digital payment space. We'll discuss how individuals and companies can preserve and protect financial freedoms in the digital age. I'll be joined by Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Casa chief technology officer Alena Vranova; and CoinCenter founder Jerry Brito. To register to attend, you can visit oslofreedomforum.com today -- use a discount code “unconfirmed25” to get 25% off your ticket price! Join us at Omega Institute in New York in September! Sign up for our crypto weekend retreat today! https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Watch the full video on CoinDesk ("To the Moon and Back" under Main Stage): https://www.coindesk.com/events/consensus-2019/videos Polychain: https://polychain.capital WSJ article on Olaf: https://www.wsj.com/articles/olaf-carlson-wee-rode-the-bitcoin-boom-to-silicon-valley-riches-can-he-survive-the-crash-1536681364 WSJ on Polychain's assets dropping: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crypto-fund-polychains-assets-drop-40-from-1-billion-mark-11554843471?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3 Facebook coin: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/technology/cryptocurrency-facebook-telegram.html?searchResultPosition=9 Tether only 74% backed: https://www.coindesk.com/tether-lawyer-confirms-stablecoin-74-percent-backed-by-cash-and-equivalents MakerDAO stability fee at 20%: https://www.coindesk.com/dai-stablecoins-stability-fee-nears-20-after-latest-makerdao-vote Aragon vote being swung at the last moment: https://www.evanvanness.com/post/184616403861/aragon-vote-shows-the-perils-of-onchain-governance

Phil Chen, decentralized chief officer of HTC, discusses the upcoming model of the Exodus, why it will feature a full Bitcoin node, what's in it for the user, whether or not it will affect the performance of other apps on the phone and whether HTC would ever add mining capabilities for the phone. We cover how the phone also functions as a hardware wallet, how private keys are kept safe, and how they are recovered if the user loses their phone. Plus, he describes who the ideal user is and how having so many crypto features built into the phone could change how people interact with their devices. On May 27th I will be hosting a conversation about the future of finance and human rights at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. As the world continues to move toward a cashless society, paper currency is disappearing. Companies like Facebook, Apple, and TenCent are becoming increasingly influential in the digital payment space. We'll discuss how individuals and companies can preserve and protect financial freedoms in the digital age. I'll be joined by Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Casa chief technology officer Alena Vranova; CoinCenter founder Jerry Brito; and Bitfury Group vice chairman George Kikvadze. To register to attend, visit oslofreedomforum.com today -- use a discount code "unconfirmed25” to get 25% off your ticket price! Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: HTC: https://www.htc.com/us/ The Exodus: http://www.htcexodus.com and https://twitter.com/htcexodus Phil Chen: https://twitter.com/philchen913 HTC Exodus to feature full Bitcoin node: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2019/05/11/htc-integrates-full-bitcoin-node-into-surprise-smartphone-for-the-masses/#430979983ec4 Phil's announcement at Magical Crypto Conference: https://www.coindesk.com/htc-says-its-next-smartphone-will-run-a-full-bitcoin-node Bitcoin Magazine story: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/htc-launch-exodus-1s-smartphone-full-node-capacity/ Crypto swaps via Kyber on Exodus: https://www.coindesk.com/htc-has-added-in-wallet-crypto-swaps-to-its-exodus-phone

Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital discusses how hackers likely obtained $40 million worth of Bitcoin in a hack on Binance, how the leading crypto exchange could have incentivized miners to reorganize the blocks, and what the possibility says about the game theory of Bitcoin. We talk about why Binance ultimately decided against trying to go this route, and whether or not exchanges should, in the future, try to use reorgs immediately after exchange hacks in order to both undo the hack as well as deter future hackers. Plus, we discuss how this idea would have differed from the Ethereum hard fork after the DAO and whether or not this suggests that fast finality is preferable to probabilistic finality. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Tushar Jain: https://twitter.com/tusharjain_?lang=en Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital Binance's announcement about the hack: https://binance.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028031711 Bitcoin core contributor Jeremy Rubin's suggestion to attempt the reorg: https://twitter.com/JeremyRubin/status/1125919526485254144 CZ's Periscope AMA after the hack: https://twitter.com/binance/status/1125959459782553600 CZ's decision not to do the reorg: https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1125996194734399488 CZ tweeting about the controversy that resulted: https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1126088279261007875?s=20 Jeremy's statement after the controversy over his suggestion of a reorg: https://twitter.com/JeremyRubin/status/1126391126619971585?s=20

Robert-Jan Den Haan, a contributor to the Block who has been researching the Bitfinex/Tether situation for over a year, talks about how Bitfinex found itself without access to $850 million of its own money, how the trouble crypto companies have maintaining banking relationships played into that, and the company — or, rather, group of related companies — that is the source of its woes. We also cover where at least a portion of the money is now, and why it likely won't be made available soon, how a case involving Reginald Fowler and Ravid Yosef is related, and why Bitfinex will likely be conducting an initial exchange offering of $1 billion. Plus, we discuss why the price of Tether has barely budged despite being only 74% backed. Crypto workshop at Omega Institute! https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution Thank you to our sponsors! CoinDesk: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Original story about NYAG court order against iFinex: https://www.coindesk.com/bitfinex-ny-prosecutors-tether-850-million-allege Why at least part of the $850 million was seized (paywall): https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/04/30/no-bitfinexs-seized-850-million-is-not-likely-to-be-unfrozen-within-weeks/ Original indictment revealing involvement of Reginald Fowler and Ravid Yosef: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/05/01/indictment-reveals-new-clues-to-the-crypto-capital-situation/ Tether backed by 74% cash and cash equivalents: https://www.coindesk.com/tether-lawyer-confirms-stablecoin-74-percent-backed-by-cash-and-equivalents https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/04/30/bitfinex-reveals-stablecoin-is-only-74-backed-by-cash-says-its-simultaneously-addressing-requests-from-nyag-doj-and-cftc/ Bitfinex and Tether General Counsel Stuart Hoegner's statement to the NY Supreme Court regarding the OAG's preliminary injunction: https://www.scribd.com/document/408190972/Stuart-Hoegner-Affidavit-4-30#from_embed Indictment from Southern District of New York against Reginald Fowler and Ravid . Yosef: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1158991/download Reginald Fowler's Master US Workbook and $345 million sitting in banks: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/05/02/us-government-requests-detention-for-defendant-at-center-of-bitfinex-imbroglio-describes-master-us-workbook/ https://www.coindesk.com/u-s-doj-moves-to-detain-defendant-in-crypto-shadow-banking-case Reginald Fowler and Ravid Yosef charged with providing shadow banking services to cryptocurrency exchanges: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/arizona-man-and-israeli-woman-charged-connection-providing-shadow-banking-services Bitfinex's IEO: https://www.coindesk.com/bitfinex-is-planning-to-issue-an-exchange-token-shareholder-says Already $500 million subscribed: https://www.coindesk.com/bitfinex-shareholder-provides-more-details-about-potential-1-billion-token-sale Meltem Demirors and Jill Carlson discussing Tether on What Grinds My Gears: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-18-tarred-and-tethered/id1450518746?i=1000436884557 Absolutely hilarious satire on the whole saga: https://coinjazeera.news/federal-reserve-conspiracy-and-phil-potters-tether-scam/

At the Subzero conference in Berlin, Ashley Tyson, the cofounder of the Web 3 Foundation, talks about how it plans to support the Polkadot protocol, plus bring together protocols to create a decentralized web, including other projects outside the Polkadot network. We discuss how the recent disaffection with Facebook and other social media platforms is affecting the movement toward decentralization, how they plan to get mainstream adoption of decentralized apps and whether or not enough people care about privacy to grow that movement. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed CoinDesk: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don't miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass. Episode links: Web3 Foundation: https://web3.foundation Ashley Tyson: https://twitter.com/AsherT Facebook fine: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/technology/facebook-ftc-fine-privacy.html?module=inline Sri Lankan government shutting down all social media: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/world/asia/sri-lanka-social-media.html?searchResultPosition=1

Zachary Fallon, a former SEC staffer and author of the Reg A JOBS Act crowdfunding rules and a principal at Blakemore Fallon, discusses Blockstack's filing for a token offering under Reg A+, what that means for the security status of the tokens and what types of investors the company can raise from. We also talk about several of the particulars of the Blockstack filing, such as the time-lock on the tokens, the ability to raise money in bitcoin and ether, and the cap on the dollar amount of tokens any single investor can purchase. Zach also covers how much they must have worked with the SEC until this point, how long it might take the SEC to offer a response and what the filing means for token offerings going forward. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode Links Zach Fallon: https://twitter.com/ZacharyFallon Blakemore Fallon: https://blakemorefallon.com Blockstack: https://blockstack.org Stackstoken: https://www.stackstoken.com App mining for Stacks: https://app.co/mining Blockstack's Reg A+ filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1719379/000110465919020748/a18-15736_1partiiandiii.htm Wired story on the filing: https://www.wired.com/story/startup-sell-you-crypto-tokens-with-sec-backing/

Sam McIngvale, head of product for Coinbase Custody, describes its new staking service. He explains how Coinbase Custody plans to allow its customers to participate in crypto networks while keeping those funds offline, what Coinbase had to build from an engineering and product perspective in order to keep funds secure and how insurance works for these assets. We also discuss its plans to enable its customers to participate in governance, whether or not Coinbase.com will move in the same direction, which other blockchains it may offer staking services for. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Coinbase blog post about staking with Coinbase Custody: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-custody-launches-staking-support-for-tezos-makerdao-governance-to-follow-68f7bc51bc53 Sam McIngvale: https://twitter.com/sammcingvale?lang=en WSJ article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coinbases-new-customer-incentive-interest-payments-with-a-crypto-twist-11553855400 Fortune article: http://fortune.com/2019/03/29/coinbase-crypto-dividend-staking/ CoinDesk article: https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-leads-wall-street-to-brave-new-world-of-crypto-staking

Marco Santori, the president and chief legal officer of Blockchain, discusses this week's big regulatory news — the SEC's guidance on initial coin offerings and its first no-action letter. We talk about what guidance actually means and how much weight it has in court, how much clarity this guidance actually brought, and how the framework could affect also future attempts at future fundraising/token distribution events and airdrops. We also cover the no-action letter and the ways in which the token of TurnKey Jet, which received the no-action letter, is quite different from most other crypto-tokens and how helpful that example is for crypto projects. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode links: SEC guidance: https://www.sec.gov/files/dlt-framework.pdf No-action letter: https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/cf-noaction/2019/turnkey-jet-040219-2a1.htm Marco Santori: https://twitter.com/msantoriesq Marco's tweet storm on the guidance and no-action letter: https://twitter.com/msantoriESQ/status/1113458502264074246 Coin Center's analysis: https://coincenter.org/entry/coin-center-analysis-of-sec-cryptocurrency-guidance Jake Chervinksy tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1113672285595086848 Skeptic Preston Byrne tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/prestonjbyrne/status/1113463999591518209 Meltem Demirors tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/melt_dem/status/1113457795792293889 Katherine Wu tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu/status/1113452950041649157 Gabriel Shapiro tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1113461396593713152 SAFT white paper: http://saftproject.com/#saft-whitepaper Article on SAFT white paper: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/10/02/are-icos-for-utility-tokens-selling-securities-prominent-crypto-players-say-yes/ More on the no-action letter: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-issues-first-ever-no-action-letter-clearing-ico-to-sell-tokens-under-us-law https://www.coindesk.com/secs-first-crypto-no-action-letter-took-11-months-to-secure Letter from TurnKey Jet prompting the no-action letter: https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/cf-noaction/2019/turnkey-jet-040219-2a1-incoming.pdf Unchained episode with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/