Matt and Nic return for deals and the news of the week. In this episode: The OCC clarifies that banks can custody dollars for stablecoin issuers Maker's flippening in collateral types, and what that means for the system Tether falls below 80% of stablecoin market share Two congressional bills propose to federally regulate crypto exchanges and tokens "Stablecoins" or "cryptodollars"? Cambridge AltFin releases their long-awaited cryptoasset benchmarking report The prospects for big tech antritrust...
Sep 25, 2020•43 min•Ep. 130
Jeff Dorman is the CIO at Arca, which is currently engaged in a fascinating standoff with Gnosis, a token project in which they have a position. Arca is asserting that Gnosis has delivered little value to tokenholders and has proposed that they perform a tender offer for GNO tokens with the assets held on their balance sheet (which exceed the capitalization of GNO). Covered in this episode: The original purpose of Gnosis as laid out in the whitepaper Why Gnosis only sold 5% of their tokens in th...
Sep 23, 2020•49 min•Ep. 129
Tom Lombardi, Managing Director at 3iQ Corp, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Tom's path from traditional finance to the cryptoasset industry The enterprise blockchain era: lessons learned and the second order effects of the hype cycle The state of institutional exchange infrastructure The crypto-asset-management segment and how 3iQ is positioned to capture this opportunity To learn more visit www.3iq.ca and follow Tom on Twitter @tomlombardi...
Sep 21, 2020•47 min•Ep. 128
Matt and Nic return to cover news of the week. In this episode: Our review of NFL week 1 Whether or not securities law topics come up at parties Why we're so excited about Kraken getting the Wyoming SPDI Why the SPDI being full reserve is so important – and why it eliminates certain regulators from the picture How Kraken's bank charter is reminiscent of a classic scene in There Will Be Blood Why Wyoming's SPDI is a long-awaited rebuke to Operation Choke Point Michael Saylor stacks MORE sats How ...
Sep 18, 2020•39 min•Ep. 127
Today, Kraken Financial, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kraken, became the first financial institution to receive the Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter from the State of Wyoming. To celebrate this major milestone, David Kinitsky , CEO of Kraken Financial, and Marco Santori , Kraken CLO, joined us on the show. In this episode: Why Kraken decided to open an office in Wyoming and pursue the SPDI Why David and Marco chose to join Kraken and work on this project Kraken's journey to ...
Sep 16, 2020•45 min•Ep. 126
Gabriel Shapiro , partner at BSV Law (no relationship to the coin), joins the show to chat securities law, tokenized securities, and the nature of industry regulation. In this episode: Gabriel's introduction to the crypto industry and Nick Szabo's influence Gabriel's view on what public blockchains are for, most fundamentally Why there is an inherent tension between blockchains and the law Can public blockchains be made compatible with the law, and to what extent? The best opportunities for syne...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 125
Matt and Nic return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: the NFL is BACK Matt's predictions for the Patriots season New data on countries where crypto penetration is highest Mastercard launches a CBDC testing platform USDC launches on Algorand Past is prologue for stablecoins moving chains DCG continues to grow into a juggernaut Our Sushiswap explainer Can DeFi projects maintain sustainable moats? What distinguishes DeFi tokens from ICOs? Why you can't apply traditional equity earnin...
Sep 11, 2020•49 min•Ep. 124
Ruben Galindo , cofounder and CEO of Airtm , joins the show. Recently, Airtm has been in the news as it was reported that Juan Guaidó, Venezuela's would-be President, was using the app to coordinate the disbursement of funds seized from the Maduro regime to healthcare workers in Venezuela. In this episode: Why Ruben cofounded Airtm How Airtm creates local liquidity for dollars against any local currency How Airtm manages their reserve How Bitcoin and Ethereum intersect with AirUSD How Airtm crea...
Sep 09, 2020•54 min•Ep. 123
Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer, founding partners of Electric Capital, join the show. In this episode we discuss: Their path from entrepreneurship to starting Electric Capital The experience of raising a $110M fund II from institutional limited partners The current state of play for layer one smart contract platforms Framing decentralized finance for the non-crypto native The geopolitical chess match for the USA and China vis a vis cryptoasset regulation The outlook for privacy coins To learn m...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 122
Nic and Matt return with deals and news of the weak. In this episode: Nic and Matt happen to buy the same book Nic's article on why the US should embrace stablecoins and credibly neutral crypto-financial infrastructure Our theory on why NYDFS went after Tether Can the US successfully disrupt itself as the administrator of financial infrastructure? Coinbase IPO prospects Coinshares adds transparency to their Bitcoin ETN and the prospects for Proofs of Reserves How Proofs of Reserves can ward off ...
Sep 04, 2020•39 min•Ep. 121
Kyle Davies, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Kyle's perspectives on layer one blockchain protocols and how smart contract platforms are evolving The decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape, and where Kyle sees the biggest opportunities The blurring of the lines between centralized and decentralized finance platforms Learn more about Three Arrows Capital: https://www.threearrowscap.com/ Follow Kyle on Twitter @kyled116...
Sep 02, 2020•39 min•Ep. 120
Aditya Palepu and Frédéric Fortier , the cofounders of DerivaDEX , join the show to talk about DEXes and prospects for their future development, and to introduce their own project. In this episode: How Adi and Fred chose to build a Dex Why traders tend to love Dexes despite their shortcomings Dexes versus noncustodial exchanges Adi and Fred's Dex taxonomy and where they fit into that How Derivadex plans to decentralize the operation of their orderbook Are today's AMM-style Dexes sufficient? How ...
Aug 31, 2020•52 min•Ep. 119
Nic and Matt cover news and deals of the week. In this episode: FTX acquires Blockfolio for $150m DCG announces a $100m investment in Foundry, a mining subsidiary Fidelity files with the SEC for a Bitcoin fund – and what this means for other asset managers Why large asset managers have not built products around Bitcoin just yet The INX situation explained Why security tokens might actually make sense The Boston Fed is evaluating 30 different blockchains for their digital dollar project Do exchan...
Aug 28, 2020•34 min•Ep. 118
Zachary Kelman , managing partner at Kelman Law PLLC, joins the show to shed light on the FATF – it's origins and its current mandate – the travel rule, and what the industry can expect from these developments. Covered in this episode: Zach's prior career in bank compliance and how he decided to focus on Bitcoin How Zach noticed the blurring of lines between stopping crime and politics for bank AML Why overseas payments in the correspondent bank system are expensive What the Travel Rule actually...
Aug 26, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 117
Dick Bove, senior research analyst at Odeon Capital Group joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dick's 52 year career as a research analyst and his path to covering the banking sector The 2008 financial crisis, the measures that were taken, and how this has impacted the banking industry The future of dollar dominance and the rise of China on the geopolitical stage The role of cryptocurrency and the state of awareness in the institutional world Dick's favorite books and his perspective on t...
Aug 24, 2020•51 min•Ep. 116
Nic and Matt cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode: Hawaii announces the Digital Currency Innovation Lab Wyoming's Senate nominee Cynthia Lummis is a Bitcoiner Why Bitcoin values are American values How Bitcoin is mutualistic with the US dollar Evidence that Tether is used for capital outflows from China Kraken creates Kraken Financial to pursue the SPDI in Wyoming Warren Buffett buys gold Our explanation of a new breed of ponzis Where DeFi is and is not compelling to us...
Aug 21, 2020•32 min•Ep. 115
Zac Prince , CEO and Founder of crypto lender BlockFi , joins the show once again to talk their recent growth and milestones. Today, BlockFi announced a $50m Series C round of financing, capitalizing on their recent growth. We dive into the fundraise, BlockFi's eye-popping growth, and what is driving interest in the crypto lending space today. In this episode: Blockfi announces a $50m Series C fundraising round What it was like raising a Series C during covid BlockFi's insane traction and what i...
Aug 20, 2020•40 min•Ep. 114
Kyle Powers is the cofounder and CEO of LibertyPay , a Boston business that powers remittances to Brazil and Mexico – settling on Bitcoin, rather than traditional financial rails. LibertyPay has settled nine figures worth of value in its history – and most users never know their transactions are settling via Bitcoin. In this episode: How LibertyX began with the cofounders standing beside a Bitcoin ATM in South Station in 2014 The origins of LibertyPay and how the cofounders realized that Bitcoin...
Aug 17, 2020•41 min•Ep. 113
Coin Metrics network data product lead Lucas Nuzzi joins the show to help explain how to audit the supply of Ethereum – and other, even more challenging blockchains. Also covered in this episode: Does the Winklevoss gold asteroid mining talking point have any merit? Are the Winklevii being ironic or sincere The Boston Fed is hiring crypto engineers Why DeFi tokens remind us of PoW launches from 2014 Why we need a new taxonomy for autonomous fair launched DeFi tokens Why DeFi might not herald a r...
Aug 14, 2020•57 min•Ep. 112
James Lovejoy , recent MEng MIT grad and former graduate researcher at the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, joins the show to talk about his masters thesis and associated project focusing on detecting double-spends in proof of work cryptocurrencies. Previously, little data was collected in a systematic way to detect double-spends and reorganizations across many cryptocurrencies. James' project sheds light on previously unknown security properties of PoW. In this episode: How James came to work o...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 111
Nic and Matt cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode: Are we in a bull run or is fiat devaluating? Africa volumes growing on Paxful BCH contemplating redirecting block rewards to fund developers Electric Capital raises 110m Casa adds a direct buy bitcoin feature Dapper labs raises $12m with participation from multiple NBA players Matt's scoop about the Microstrategy Bitcoin position Grayscale files a form 10 for their Ethereum Investment Trust Whether Bitcoiners should try to appea...
Aug 07, 2020•37 min•Ep. 110
Ray Youssef , founder and CEO of Paxful , joins the show to talk his journey with Paxful and his mission to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Paxful is a wholly bootstrapped startup that has recently taken the crown as the largest Bitcoin p2p marketplace in the world with $2.1B in annualized volume. Ray is from Egypt and has always sought to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Today, Africa is the 2nd most active region by volume on the platform (behind North America). In this episode: Why Bitcoin p2p is so popular...
Aug 05, 2020•53 min•Ep. 109
Michael Graham and Pat McEvoy of Canaccord Genuity join the podcast to discuss how their firm has approached the blockchain/cryptoasset sector. In this episode we discuss: Michael's perspective on blockchain/cryptoassets from his role as Head of Equity Research at the firm. We discuss how blockchain technology could alter the landscape of the dominant internet companies of our era Pat's perspective on the maturation of cryptoassets and the increased participation of institutional participants in...
Aug 03, 2020•51 min•Ep. 108
Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring John Collins, partner and cofounder of FS Vector , to cover the OCC letter and its implications. Covered in this episode: Our Plustoken conspiracy Nic's bird situation USDC raises $25m from DCG Avanti's dollar-coin Avit Why Pats players keep declaring their intention to sit out the season Bitcoin Suisse raises $48.6m Polkadot raises $43m What tokensales and desert real estate have in common FTX is building a DEX on Solana Paradigm sponsors a...
Jul 31, 2020•58 min•Ep. 107
Jesse Walden, founder of Variant joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jesse's journey in the crypto industry, from founding Mediachain, to being an investor at A16Z, to founding Variant The crypto ownership economy and how Jesse sees the evolution of consumer software Crypto projects through the lens of contract theory Learn more and follow Jesse at www.variant.fund and follow him on Twitter @Jessewldn...
Jul 27, 2020•50 min•Ep. 106
Matt and Nic review the stories of the week. Covered in this episode: Why holding Bitcoin in banks isn't necessarily contrary to the nature of Bitcoin VALR, a South African exchange, raises $3.45m from 100x Group and others The OCC's bombshell letter saying that banks can custody cryptocurrency What this means for established crypto custodians Follow-up questions we have for the OCC Hester Pierce expresses her disappointment with the outcome of the Telegram case Standard Chartered working on cry...
Jul 24, 2020•33 min•Ep. 105
Sam Wyner and Sal Ternullo, cryptoasset services co-leads at KPMG, join the show to talk about KPMG's newly-released analytics capabilities dubbed Chain Fusion . Chain Fusion is a patent pending suite of advanced analytics capabilities built on leading cryptoasset data and infrastructure products, to streamline the ability for financial services companies, FinTechs, and organizations across industries to deliver institutional quality cryptoasset capabilities and services. In this episode: KPMG's...
Jul 22, 2020•41 min•Ep. 104
Nate Maddrey , senior research analyst at Coin Metrics , joins the show to discuss a recent report published by CM in collaboration with Bitstamp, The Rise of Stablecoins . We talk through the report and analyse some of the charts in depth. In this episode: Why the auditability of public blockchains is so useful for evaluating stablecoins Why fiat backed stablecoins have different price dynamics from 'native crypto collateral' backed ones How the arbitrage growth cycle works for fiat-backed stab...
Jul 20, 2020•45 min•Ep. 103
Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Alex Treece, president and cofounder of Zabo . Alex joins the show to discuss his report covering the intersection of fintech and cryptocurrency. Also in this episode: We gripe about the SaaSification of the world and the loss of genuine ownership Whether the Bitcoin hero's journey requires a private blockchain digression The boys argue about the merit of soccer We talk Twitter hack scenarios Why the Twitter hackers had to use ...
Jul 17, 2020•48 min•Ep. 102
Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, joins the show. Caitlin is a thinker and writer we admire a huge amount and she has done a monumental job with her advocacy for responsible custody practices among crypto depository institutions. She is one of the key architects of the Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution legislation which establishes a new form of crypto bank in Wyoming. In in no small part thanks to her efforts that Wyoming is the most progressive state in term...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 101
