Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: Nic's viral Tweet The Fed competes with crypto startups for talent TikTok influences the crypto markets Why supply metrics should be reexamined Why we wrote our cryptodollar whitepaper Chainalysis raises another round Coinbase IPO rumors USDC funds are frozen for the first time Can the stablecoin 'blacklist model' survive? Our FATF 101 and what their new guidance means for the industry What the 'travel rule' actually means why the ...
Jul 10, 2020•35 min•Ep. 100
Tim Rice, Coin Metrics CEO, and Ben Celermajer, index manager at Coin Metrics join the show to discuss a new supply measure for cryptoassets which takes into account their "free float." This is designed to take into account coins which are immobilized or illiquid, and brings a systematic approach to the issue inherited from traditional capital markets. In this episode: Why Coin Metrics developed a "free float" measure of supply and why it's informative to investors How CM borrowed from index wei...
Jul 06, 2020•38 min•Ep. 99
Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: The MPC custody debate NYDIG raises $190m for a Bitcoin fund Zimbabwe bans all mobile money services and contemplates redollarization 4% of the UK population owns cryptocurrency, according to the securities regulator What a long-defunct exchange has to do with Bitcoin's GINI coefficient Why the 'market cap' of BCH and BSV is significantly overstated Why 'market cap' remains a problematic measure to compare cryptoassets Ark Invest's...
Jul 03, 2020•40 min•Ep. 98
Dave Balter, the cofounder and CEO of Flipside Crypto , a business intelligence company focused on public blockchains, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dave's new book, The Humility Imperative , and the lessons he has learned from seven startups His POV on leadership in an emerging market like cryptoassets/blockchain Reflections on fundraising, remote working, personal relationships and more. To learn more about Flipside Crypto visit their website and follow Dave @DaveBalter...
Jun 30, 2020•38 min•Ep. 97
We host Lyn Alden, equity research and investment strategist focusing on global macro and commodities, to talk about the debt overhang, the effect of the dollar as the reserve currency, QE, the likelihood of inflation, and the prospects for Bitcoin. In this episode: How the Bretton Woods system broke down and gave way to the Nixon shock The genesis of the petrodollar system with Saudi Arabia Alternatives to the dollar reserve that were mooted prior to Bretton Woods II Why the dollar reserve syst...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 96
Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: More Proof of Reserve chatter OmiseGo's parent company raises $80m Bitmex backs a new options exchange Paypal plans to roll out crypto products KPMG announces Chain Fusion USDC goes multi-chain We explain the COMP situation Telegram finally settles with the SEC Jay Clayton eyes the SNDY job An explanation of Bitcoin as a synthetic commodity money Our favorite and least favorite regional Fed branches Why a US CBDC has troubling priv...
Jun 26, 2020•42 min•Ep. 95
Pat Larsen, cofounder and CEO of ZenLedger joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Pat's entrepreneurial journey and the path that led him to start Zenledger The current state of cryptoasset tax regulation Perspectives on emerging consumer use cases and new applications for cryptoassets To learn more about ZenLedger visit their website and to receive a 15% discount on your tax prep this year use the coupon code "Castle15"...
Jun 24, 2020•39 min•Ep. 94
Noah Buxton, director and co-lead of Armanino's blockchain practice and Jeremy Nau, senior manager of the practice join the show. Armanino LLP is an accounting and audit firm that has developed proof of reserve tools for exchanges and custodians, as well as real time attestation tools for stablecoins. In this episode, we cover: How Armanino came to engage with crypto financial companies Why Proof of Reserve matters to the industry How a modern Proof of Reserve process is mechanically carried out...
Jun 22, 2020•57 min•Ep. 93
Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode: An update on our office plant River Financial raises a seed round, and our thesis on Bitcoin financial institutions Microsoft ION launches on mainnet Private keys as private property Wisdomtree's commodity ETF... feat. Bitcoin Another ICO bites the dust Former CFTC chairman Giancarlo says Ripple isn't a security XRP... was it created or discovered? What cryptodollars mean for utility tokens...
Jun 19, 2020•29 min•Ep. 92
David Nage, Principal and Head of Strategic Relations at Arca joins the show. In this episode we discuss: David's experience in the family office channel and his path to the crypto industry His upcoming FO256 family office virtual conference on June 24th Podcasting and content creation as a complement to investing in the blockchain industry To learn more about David check out his Base Layer podcast and follow him @DavidJNage...
Jun 17, 2020•53 min•Ep. 91
Ryan Rabaglia has had a colorful career trading forex, equity, and oil before making his way into the cryptocurrency markets. He's witnessed crypto develop from a niche, uninvestable curiosity to a liquid and financialized global asset. Now Managing Director and Global Head of Trading at OSL , one of the largest digital asset brokerages in the world, Ryan has a unique view of crypto markets. We invited Ryan on the show to talk his personal journey to crypto, how he established himself at a leadi...
Jun 15, 2020•45 min
Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Christine Sandler, head of Sales and Marketing at Fidelity Digital assets. Christine joins the show to discuss Fidelity's newly-released survey of institutional investor attitudes on digital assets. We talk about what FDAS is up to, client enthusiasm for the asset class, and how institutions are thinking about it today. Also covered in the episode: The Web3 dream – does it require blockchains? Bank Frick adds support for USDC R...
Jun 12, 2020•53 min•Ep. 89
Mark Casady, cofounder and General Partner at Vestigo Ventures, and former Chairman and CEO of LPL Financial joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mark's career in financial services and the path that led him to becoming CEO of the world's largest independent broker-dealer The evolution of the financial advice industry Mark's thesis on Fintech and founding Vestigo Ventures Blockchain and cryptoassets in the broader world of fintech To learn more about Vestigo Ventures visit their website ,...
Jun 10, 2020•48 min
So far on the crypto-dollarization miniseries, we've covered Tether's stability mechanics, we've heard from traders and OTC desks using the asset, but we haven't heard from the issuers of the stablecoin itself. To give us insight into how they run the system, Paolo Ardoino , the CTO of Tether and Bitfinex, joins the show. In this episode: The factors behind the outflow of BTC and inflow of ETH to Bitfinex Fork futures for ETH 2.0? Bitfinex' policy on staking on behalf of users The principal-agen...
Jun 08, 2020•58 min•Ep. 87
Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. In today's episode: Avanti Bank's raise and Wyoming's Special Purpose Depository Institution regulation GBTC eating up the new supply Bloomberg's commentary on Bitcoin Hester Pierce is re-nominated to the SEC The prospects for blockchain games The Section 230 debate, and how that intersects with Web3 Social media and digital property rights The continued normalization of Bitcoin as a global macro asset...
Jun 05, 2020•37 min•Ep. 86
Apolline Blandin, cryptocurrency research lead at the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, joins the show. In this episode: The Cambridge AltFin research agenda The motivation behind the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index How they determine Bitcoin's electricity consumption How Bitcoin's energy usage can be understood in context The genesis of their new geographical mining estimates Why high granularity estimates of mining location are so important to determine its energy mix H...
Jun 01, 2020•44 min•Ep. 85
Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry, featuring special guest Matt Hougan, global head of research at Bitwise. In today's episode: Tagomi is acquired by Coinbase Matt Hougan's response to Goldman's bearish note What wealth managers are saying about Bitcoin today Light at the end of the tunnel in the CSW saga? BitClave's punishing SEC settlement Calibra rebrands A new paper on Bitcoin Vaults...
May 29, 2020•50 min•Ep. 84
Dan Matuszewski, Principal and Co-Founder of CMS Holdings joins the show once again. Since he last appeared , the market has been through some gut-wrenching turmoil, and Tether (one of the subjects of the first episode) has tacked on a casual $5B in market cap. Dan, alongside his colleagues at CMS, has also joined the Crypto Twitter fray. In this episode: Why Dan relented and started a twitter account Dan's explanation for the massive growth of Tether since March Whether there is non-crypto busi...
May 25, 2020•44 min
Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. In this week's episode: The story behind bitcoin pizza day The impact of hashrate futures Genesis Capital's acquisition of Vo1t and what that means for their business Why the DTCC should get into crypto Brian Brooks becoming acting Comptroller of the currency Our analysis of the coins from feb. 2009 reawakening Our theory for why those ancient coins might be moving now The great Bitcoin energy consumption debate Nic get...
May 22, 2020•41 min
Tim Kelly, founder and CEO of BitOoda joins the show. BitOoda is a financial services firm that is innovating in the field of structured products based on Bitcoin hashrate and difficulty. In this show we discuss: Tim's career background and the similarities he sees with cryptoassets vs. other asset classes he has traded The mining ecosystem and how derivative contracts solve real business needs The evolving market structure for cryptoasset derivatives and Tim's view on the regulatory landscape T...
May 18, 2020•43 min•Ep. 81
Nic and Matt cover the week's deals and news. In this episode: Bitcoin full node count Celo and the viability of seigniorage shares stablecoins Telegram winding down their TON project Why we think the SAFT window of opportunity is closed Why the SAFT is just ICOs in a suit Why the next global monetary asset will never be massively premined and disproportionately owned by VC funds How the success of Bitcoin drove VC funds crazy Stablecoins pass $10B ErisX announces Ethereum physically settled fut...
May 15, 2020•47 min
Peer to peer marketplaces are a wealth of data on genuine demand for Bitcoin – but not in the way you might think. As it turns out, a large fraction of the volume in these markets relates to complex, multi-step trades designed to use Bitcoin as a bridge currency to move fiat-denominated remittances, especially into countries like Venezuela. Matt Ahlborg, data scientist and creator of UsefulTulips.org, has done great work compiling this data and engaging with these traders to determine what exact...
May 13, 2020•54 min
In this episode, we talk to Patrick Dugan, coiner of the term 'crypto-dollarization'. Patrick has a wealth of knowledge regarding stablecoins and the prospects for public blockchains to carry fiat-denominated value. Covered in this episode: His formative experiences living under capital controls in Argentina How Patrick's time in LatAm taught him about dollarization Political drivers of the dollar's predominance in LATAM How Patrick realized that crypto-dollarization would be important Patrick's...
May 11, 2020•50 min
Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week's topics include: Renowned commodities investor Paul Tudor Jones announces his intent to trade Bitcoin and releases a Bitcoin thesis NEAR protocol gets funded Are fair launches dead? The under-appreciated merit of PoW issuance Libra's new CEO hire Wyoming's Special-Purpose Depository Institution legislation The privacy-auditability tradeoff in blockchains Whether the growth of stablecoins threatens the securit...
May 08, 2020•52 min
The question of Tether's influence on crypto markets has long vexed practitioners and academics. In a widely-publicized 2018 paper, academics Griffin and Shams allege that Tether was being issued collusively, effectively increasing the price of Bitcoin beyond its natural level. To learn how Tether behaves like a currency board, and to assess the veracity of the Griffin & Shams hypothesis in light of new data, we brought Ganesh Viswanath-Natra j on to the show. Ganesh is an Assistant Professo...
May 06, 2020•56 min
Marcos Veremis, Managing Director at Evanston Capital Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Marcos' time at Cambridge Associates and how he came to lead cryptoasset research at the firm His perspectives on the various investment theses that are gaining traction with institutional allocators Fund structure, strategy and other crypto-fund considerations To learn more about Evanston Capital Management visit their website...
May 04, 2020•42 min•Ep. 75
Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week's topics include: Deals of the week The SEC's court battle against the SAFT on two fronts Ebang's IPO announcement a16z Crypto's new fund FTX's entry into the US Telegram's new offer to investors Brian Quintenz leaves the CFTC
May 01, 2020•37 min
Moiz Kohari, the co-founder and CEO of Manetu, a company building a Consumer Privacy Management (CPM) platform for enterprises to manage personally identifiable information (PII) joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Moiz's recent experience contracting COVID-19 His motivation to start Manetu after holding high profile roles at State Street, London Stock Exchange and Novell Data privacy and the challenges enterprises face complying with upcoming regulations The state of blockchain and cryp...
Apr 28, 2020•50 min•Ep. 73
Peter Johnson, Head of Fintech and Crypto Investing at Jump Capital joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Peter's fintech thesis and the categories that he is most excited about Jump Trading's crypto journey and how Jump Capital works with the core trading business Cryptoasset market infrastructure and the categories that need to exist in order for this industry to thrive Learn more about Jump Capital at www.jumpcap.com and follow Peter @TheChicagoVC...
Apr 27, 2020•51 min•Ep. 72
Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week's topics include: Deals of the week Our changing view of the halving Renaissance Technologies' announcement that they have the capacity to trade Bitcoin Our reaction to Mark Andreessen's "It's Time To Build" The dForce hack Ripple's lawsuit against Youtube Nic's defense of Coors Light
Apr 24, 2020•31 min
