This is episode 100 of the Bloomberg Crypto podcast. When we launched, in June, Bitcoin was trading around $30,000. Celsius and Three Arrows Capital hadn’t yet filed for bankruptcy. People knew where Do Kwon was. Celebrities cared about NFTs. It was a different time. When we launched, we knew what we wanted to do: every day, we’d take a look at all things digital assets. And we’d talk to reporters, editors, analysts, investors, industry experts, academics, policymakers - all in service of helpin...
Oct 21, 2022•16 min
It might seem like the conversation about the metaverse right now is a combination of jokes about Mark Zuckerberg’s digital legs, snark about the cost of virtual reality headsets, and a real lack of clarity on why any corporation might want to be in the space. So we asked Matthew Boyle, a Bloomberg reporter who’s written a lot about the future of work, to help explain what’s going on here. Specifically, what’s happening with businesses hiring Chief Metaverse Officers - and what these folks do al...
Oct 20, 2022•16 min
Wealthy crypto investors are dumping a bunch of money into US politics, especially ahead of November’s congressional elections. Over the past 15 or so months, crypto-affiliated donors have sent roughly $70 million to political causes - topping what traditional players like defense and big pharma are spending. One of the most prolific donors in the space is Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire co-founder of FTX. Bankman-Fried has said that he could spend up to $1 billion on the 2024 presidential el...
Oct 19, 2022•17 min
Bankruptcies can be chaotic times for companies, and for their creditors. Investors, vendors, and former customers often end up jostling in court to get their share of what they lost from what remains of the firm. In the crypto space, bankruptcies can bring even more questions. Some restructuring lawyers say the U.S. bankruptcy code still does not adequately address how to handle crypto assets. But just like other bankruptcy cases, there will be winners and losers. To explain what happens to cry...
Oct 18, 2022•15 min
It’s October 2021. Crypto prices are rocketing. Celebrities can’t stop talking about NFTs. There’s packed conferences in glitzy venues attended by people wearing t-shirts with cartoon monkeys on them. If you’re an executive at a big gaming studio, you might be forgiven - maybe - for sending one of those emails with the subject line: NFT strategy question mark. And several executives at these gaming companies did indeed send those emails. And some of their companies even announced plans to make b...
Oct 17, 2022•20 min
Our colleagues on QuickTake, Tim Stenovec and Katie Greifeld, host a weekly video series called QuickTake IRL. Just for listeners of the Bloomberg Crypto podcast, we’ve got an audio version of their latest episode. For the full video experience, find them on the web at https://www.bloomberg.com/qt/series/crypto-irl , on Bloomberg TV or over on YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 15, 2022•26 min
It’s been (another) busy week for digital assets. And now that we’re well into October, we have a better idea of whether the month will deliver a boost to crypto value as it has in years past. Guest-host and senior crypto editor Anna Irrera reviews some regulatory actions that took place this week and considers what smoke signals it may be sending to investors and to companies. Plus, a look at how China’s crypto ban has played out - spoiler alert: it’s not unfolding like many expected it would. ...
Oct 14, 2022•19 min
It seems that the Securities and Exchange Commission has finally found a way to keep up with the Kardashians. The US Markets regulator announced last week that Kim Kardashian had agreed to pay $1.26 million to settle allegations that she broke US rules by touting a crypto token. The SEC alleges Kardashian did not disclose that she was paid $250,000 to post on her Instagram account about EMAX token, a crypto asset offered by Ethereum Max. Kardashian settled without admitting or denying the SEC al...
Oct 13, 2022•17 min
What do Michael Saylor, Jesse Powell, Michael Moro, Sam Trabucco, Brett Harrison and Alex Mashinsky have in common? If you said they’re dudes who used to be crypto CEOs and suddenly weren’t anymore, you’d also be correct. This crypto winter has seen a string of high-profile exits from the C-suite. But what’s driving all this activity? Is it Bitcoin prices falling more than 50%? Is it the bankruptcy filings? Is it the SEC breathing down your neck? Is it the wanting to spend more time with your ya...
Oct 12, 2022•20 min
Back in March, President Biden issued an Executive Order that directed every relevant federal agency to work on guidance related to crypto - and then to report back. We’re now into that “time to report back” window, and the White House, along with other agencies, have started providing updates on their findings. On the White House end, the policy recommendations included better suggestions focused on better consumer and investor protections. But what about agencies like the Securities and Exchan...
Oct 11, 2022•19 min
The cooling crypto atmosphere and the subsequent downturn in trading has had a domino effect for people who work in the sector. In the wake of plummeting prices, a flurry of crypto firms reduced their numbers with significant layoffs. Coinbase announced an 18% reduction of it’s workforce, BlockFi cut their headcount by 20% and Crypto.com by 5% . So, what happens to these former crypto employees? An increasing number of them are getting snatched up by traditional financial firms or Trad-Fi. The s...
Oct 10, 2022•18 min
Our colleagues on QuickTake, Tim Stenovec and Katie Greifeld, host a weekly video series called QuickTake IRL. Just for listeners of the Bloomberg Crypto podcast, we’ve got an audio version of their latest episode. For the full video experience, find them on the web at https://www.bloomberg.com/qt/series/crypto-irl , on Bloomberg TV or over on YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 08, 2022•27 min
It’s been (another) busy week in digital assets. What’s the latest in the markets? Are there any crypto CEOs left? Regulation: will it ever happen? Unclear! Bloomberg crypto editor Beth Williams and Bloomberg reporter Allyson Versprille join this episode to help break down this weeks’ news. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 07, 2022•19 min
How do you go from video game studio to major crypto VC in the space of a few short years? That’s exactly the path that Animoca Brands has been on. Since its founding in 2014, Animoca has expanded well beyond making games to come to own and operate a portfolio of investments and acquisitions that includes more than 300 different finance, gaming, and social media companies. Yat Siu, Animoca’s co-founder, has become one of the most influential people in technology. Bloomberg reporter Zheping Huang...
Oct 06, 2022•18 min
Do you remember Adam Neumann? The WeWork co-founder and former CEO who stepped down in 2019 in a cloud of accusations about eccentric behavior, sky-high expenses, and general extravagance? The one with an Apple TV miniseries about his rise and fall starring Jared Leto? Well, Adam Neumann is back. Now, with bonus crypto , and an exceptionally large $350 million dollar check from the venture capitalists over at Andresseen Horowitz. To discuss these projects (and why the word ‘Flow’ is the new ‘We’...
Oct 05, 2022•20 min
For many of us, the pandemic has meant getting to know what it’s like to work remotely and in most cases from home But in crypto, remote working had already been the norm for some time, with many workers roaming the world all year round and logging in from dreamy locations like the sandy beaches of the Caribbean or the palm-lined promenades of Miami Beach When crypto prices were high, these roving crypto workers enjoyed the benefits of being a digital nomad, moving from country to country in an ...
Oct 04, 2022•16 min
Perhaps you’ve heard of Molly White. The software engineer and crypto skeptic has been profiled in numerous publications. She has more than 80,000 followers on her personal Twitter, and more than 100,000 on an account called ‘web3 is going just great’. It is, as you might guess, a chronicle of all the ways that Web 3 is not going so great. Molly White joins this episode to talk through her skepticism of digital assets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 03, 2022•20 min
This special bonus episode features Bloomberg QuickTake’s Katie Griefeld and Tim Stenovec. The pair have created a new video series called Crypto IRL. It takes us behind the scenes of this current crypto winter, and features interesting perspectives from special guests. You can catch the new series on a range of platforms including Bloomberg TV and YouTube. For more information, go to Bloomberg.com/QT See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 01, 2022•28 min
With apologies to TS Eliot - in finance, September is commonly held to be the cruelest month of the trading calendar. This extends to the crypto markets, too: Almost every year since 2013, Bitcoin prices struggle come September. And market conditions have been especially unforgiving this year. So what’s the outlook for crypto asset prices as we leave September behind? Joining this episode from Sydney is Jamie Coutts, crypto market analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. See omnystudio.com/listener f...
Sep 30, 2022•19 min
On Tuesday September 27th, Bloomberg reporters Allyson Versprille and David Pan participated in a Twitter Spaces with Costa Samaras . Samaras is the White House’s chief advisor for energy policy in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. They spoke about the office’s crypto climate report and what’s next for US efforts. This episode features highlights from that conversation. Read more here See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 29, 2022•16 min
If you’ve ever found yourself on Crypto Twitter, you’ll be familiar with the hype machine that keeps the industry’s thousands of projects going. Rallying cries of “WAGMI” — an acronym for We Are All Going To Make It — and “To the Moon!” abound, found in tweets from accounts with colorful, graphic profile pictures and usually a hashtag or two. But there are always two sides to a coin, and if you’ve come across a Twitter display name featuring the Tulip emoji, you might find a crypto skeptic inste...
Sep 28, 2022•14 min
You may have heard of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and you may have heard of its CEO and Founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. But have you heard of Alameda Research? It’s not a Silicon Valley robotics lab but it is one of the largest and most influential cryptocurrency trading firms in the world. Founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and operating with a modest team of 30 employees, Alameda pocketed over $1 billion dollars in profit last year. The firm and its employees have, for the most part, preferred not to dr...
Sep 27, 2022•16 min
For investors trying to get exposure to crypto, there are many different options available these days. Products like crypto ETFs, or exchange traded funds, are one of the most popular alternatives to owning tokens directly. What are crypto ETFs and how do they work? And what does it mean that many of the products pitched as ways to diversify your crypto portfolio are actually pretty similar to each other? Katie Greifeld joins this episode to tackle these questions. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...
Sep 26, 2022•15 min
This September marks the one-year anniversary of China declaring that crypto transactions were effectively illegal. The decision wasn't entirely unexpected: China has been trying to crack down on crypto in one form or another since at least 2013. The 2021 declaration prompted some pretty swift and significant changes, including the uprooting of a Chinese Bitcoin mining community. This episode features Bloomberg reporters Yueqi Yang and David Pan , as well as Winston Ma, a Managing Partner & ...
Sep 23, 2022•20 min
So, ‘The Merge’ happened. After years of anticipation, multiple false starts and delays, the biggest ever software upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain is complete. And now the question is: what’s next? What are the other major milestones for the future of Ethereum’s ecosystem and the Ether token itself? In this episode, you’ll hear from Bloomberg reporter Olga Kharif and from Dave Liedtka , senior editor for crypto. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 22, 2022•18 min
Losses from this year's crypto winter have affected the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem, from hedge funds, to lenders, to countless individual retail investors. By most calculations, $2 trillion worth of value has been wiped out. Before the big chill, the estimated total market value of crypto assets worldwide stood around $3 trillion in November 2021. But how is market value calculated? And how representative is it of crypto’s actual economic value? Did the digital asset boom ever even happen? ...
Sep 21, 2022•19 min
Miners are on the move again , forever chasing that combination of abundant electricity for relatively low prices. This time, they’re heading north of the Arctic Circle. Sweden and Norway are home to some of the most abundant energy sources in the world: geothermal, wind, and hydro electricity. These countries have increasingly become attractive to Bitcoin miners. But the combination of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with rising inflation and environmental factors like drought, are curbing the ava...
Sep 20, 2022•18 min
This episode explores a sector of the crypto universe that’s actually booming. Companies that specialize in finding vulnerabilities in crypto’s software infrastructure are flourishing. Why? Because crypto hacks and frauds are booming, with some estimates as high as $2bn in losses stemming from these attacks. Bloomberg reporter Olga Kharif and senior editor Anna Irrera join me now for more about these crypto sleuths. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 19, 2022•16 min
By now you’ve probably heard that El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September of 2021. Did you know the Central African Republic made a similar move in April, becoming the first country in Africa to welcome a cryptocurrency to its sovereign ranks? Cue almost immediate expressions of skepticism and concern from organizations like the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, to say nothing of internal disagreement and confusion within the...
Sep 16, 2022•19 min
You might not have heard of Twitch, but it’s one of the most popular places on the internet. Millions of people every day use the app to watch their favorite live streams do everything from play videogames to solving math problems in real-time. Videogames are still the biggest category of live streams people tune into on Twitch, and the biggest games - like Grand Theft Auto and Fortnite - still dominate time spent on the platform. Recently however, there’s been a new addition to the top ten: gam...
Sep 15, 2022•18 min
