Matt and Nic return for more deals and news of the week. In this episode: Matt loses the podcast audio New Turkey drama Rep Emmer introduces a bill banning a retail focused CBDC Nic releases a song with Gramatik The story behind the Scribbler song We investigate Fan Controlled Football Paypal looks to build a stablecoin Several banks issue the USDF stablecoin Crypto-dollarization in Turkey Why dollarization fails Jack Dorsey starts a Bitcoin developer legal defense fund Justin Sun is a Grenadan ...
Jan 14, 2022•39 min•Ep. 277
House Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) joins the show to share thoughts on his crypto policy agenda for 2022, as well as his views on inflation, MMT, stablecoins, and CBDCs. In this episode: How Rep. Emmer came to be interested in public blockchains Rep. Emmer's interest in Austrian economics How Rep. Emmer stays up to date with the industry Are MMTers the establishment or an outsider group? Is Washington dominated by covert MMT ideology? Is fiscal conservatism dead in Washington? Why Rep. Emmer ...
Jan 10, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 276
Matt and Nic return for more news and deals of the week. In this episode: Everything is selling off Is the US losing its status as global reserve? We announce our policy miniseries Sen. Lummis will reportedly propose a crypto bill Opensea raising $300m at a $13b valuation Illicit activity in 2021 was only 0.15% of total crypto volume The Boston Fed CBDC pilot program rumbles on Kazakhstan turns off the internet, and dims Bitcoin hashrate by 12% NY State reproposes their bill to ban mining in the...
Jan 07, 2022•38 min•Ep. 274
Luxor COO and CPO Ethan Vera and Guzman Pintos join the show to talk about their relaunched data product, Hashrate Index and other trends in mining. In this episode: The history of the firm Why Luxor created the hashrate index How Luxor gathers data on ASIC pricing and creates their time series charts ASIC pricing dynamics Are sell side analysts correctly pricing ASICs on the balance sheets of public miners? Why different efficiencies of miners have traded differently in the last 2 months How co...
Jan 03, 2022•49 min•Ep. 274
Nic and Matt return for the last episode of 2021. In this episode: Someone makes an unauthorized Nic NFT Microstrategy buys more BTC Blake Masters sells a political NFT Why do gamers and artists hate NFTs? We look back at our 2021 crystal ball predictions Best predictions of 2021 Our outlook for crypto policy in 2022 Our favorite OTB episodes of the year We look back at the Token Daily 2019 crystal ball predictions What it's like to be in crypto for an entire decade Midterm implications for the ...
Dec 31, 2021•55 min•Ep. 273
Gabe Frank and Robert Masiello, the founders of Arcade , a financial services platform for NFTs join the show. In this episode we discuss: Gabe and Robert's origin stories in the crypto industry and the path that led them to founded Arcade The similarities in the market structures for bitcoin in the early years and NFTs today The role of MPC custody in the crypto markets How they think about the various L1 chains that will host NFTs The OTC trading landscape for NFTs Peer to peer vs. peer to poo...
Dec 27, 2021•41 min•Ep. 272
Matt and Nic return for a festive Christmas eve roundup. In this episode: Reevaluating our intro song Jack Dorsey's web3 beef What's on our Christmas list Is PoW inherently high-fee? We steelman the Jack Dorsey and the pro web3 arguments Is there a paradox in web3? We advance a model of tapered token issuance for web3 The downsides of token issuance to early adopters Is Liz Warren right about corporate greed causing inflation? Radioshake releases a defi token Is Bitcoin ownership too concentrate...
Dec 24, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 271
Anders Larson, head of strategic finance at U.S. Bitcoin Corp , joins us to talk about how miners make decisions and allocate capital. In this episode: The Wharton class of 2018 Are Bitcoin miners clogging up the chip supply chain? Why Bitcoin miners are 'tier 2' customers at foundries The scale of US BTC operations in terms of hashrate Why US BTC has been so quiet historically How US BTC targets renewable energy Which renewables are easiest to find Is there any truth to the story of Bitcoin imp...
Dec 20, 2021•48 min•Ep. 270
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: A glitch in the CoinMarketCap data feed causes disturbances in the crypto industry AscendEX is hacked last week to the tune of $77 million Coinbase urges the SEC to approve NYSE Arca's application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund Bitwise launches a blue-chip NFT fund A bipartisan group of Senators write a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding the crypto provisions in the infr...
Dec 17, 2021•42 min•Ep. 269
Alex Wilson, co-founder and CEO of The Giving Block joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Alex's path in the blockchain space, from consulting to founding The Giving Block The landscape of charitable giving, and how the company is assisting charitable organizations The pain points that charities face when accepting donations Perspectives from the donor's perspective and why donating cryptocurrency is so compelling How the company came to launch its campaigns To learn more about The Giving ...
Dec 13, 2021•39 min•Ep. 268
Matt and Nic return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: Are cubes a suitable holiday gift? Best crypto Xmas gifts Bitcoin purchases we regret The House Financial Services committee holds a hearing Our Congressional hearing MVP Brian Brooks' evolution SBF kicks off shoegate Takeaways from the House hearing EOS holders reject a payment to Block One Block One's weird pivot to Bitcoin Greyscale says 26% of American adults own Bitcoin Governance difficulties in Dfinity Will SWIFT survive...
Dec 10, 2021•48 min•Ep. 267
Matt Cutler, the founder and CEO of Blocknative joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Matt's entrepreneurial history and path to founding Blocknative How he came to see blockchain transaction data as a big opportunity for his company How blockchain mempools work and why they are important The types of customers that are monitoring blockchain network data and how this data is actionable Matt's views on blockchain scalability across L1s and Ethereum L2s What is on the horizon for Blocknative...
Dec 06, 2021•47 min•Ep. 266
Matt and Nic return for deals and news. In this episode: Art Basel is now a crypto event Is the crypto industry culturally relevant? Jack Dorsey leaves Twitter Will Twitter become more censored Square renames itself Block Celcius CFO is arrested Fidelity launches a Bitcoin ETF in Canada David Marcus is leaving Facebook Regulatory projections from Cowen BadgerDAO hacked Content mentioned: Cowen's analysis of the regulatory headwinds in crypto Sponsor notes: This show supported by Coinbase Prime ,...
Dec 03, 2021•30 min•Ep. 265
Galaxy Digital Mining Associate Brandon Bailey and Research Associate Karim Helmy join the show to cover a new accounting methodology for Bitcoin miners. In this episode: Galaxy's new miner margins accounting methodology Brandon and Karim origin stories in mining How the randomness-based miner fingerprinting works How Karim thinks about miner depreciation schedules Why the Bitcoin e-waste paper understates the expected lifetime of Bitcoin ASICs S9s are still a quarter of the Bitcoin network Why ...
Nov 29, 2021•51 min•Ep. 264
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Coinbase acquires Breadwallet El Salvador's Bitcoin City Is El Salvador's Bitcoin Bond worth buying? New merch on the website Midwest tungsten releases a new shape Is India banning crypto again? Miners coming back online in China The OCC, FDIC, and Fed will release cryptoasset guidance in 2022 Saule Omarova's nomination to run the OCC has fallen through Jerome Powell will keep helming the Fed Elizabeth Warren blames inflati...
Nov 26, 2021•42 min•Ep. 263
We sit down with James McGinniss , CEO and Cofounder of David Energy to talk about Bitcoin's role in the energy transition and how Bitcoin mining is a useful source of flexible load for increasingly renewable grids. In this episode: The fundamental change happening in the US grid today What distributed energy resources are and why they are important Why DERs are catching on in California Why bitcoin allows load to move to supply Why better metering improves the prospects for demand response How ...
Nov 22, 2021•47 min•Ep. 262
Nic and Matt return for more news and deals of the week. In this episode: ConstitutionDAO Why you can't smelt tungsten Breaking down the Keep Innovation in America Act The SEC denies the Vaneck Bitcoin Trust Crypto.com buys the naming rights to the Lakers arena The US Marshalls are auctioning BTC seized from Bitconnect Is Gerald Cotten deceased? Load ze quantum FUD Is David Chaum right about Bitcoin's quantum FUD? What fraction of Bitcoins are quantum vulnerable? Can stablecoins be rendered run-...
Nov 19, 2021•37 min•Ep. 261
Nic and Sean sit down with Kevin Anetsberger, General Manager at Midwest Tungsten , to cover their journey as a business and their entry into the crypto industry In this episode: The history of Midwest Tungsten How Midwest got its start making metal steam Industrial applications of tungsten Tungsten's physical properties and how that makes it suitable for industrial applications Military applications of tungsten Where Midwest Tungsten sits in the supply chain How Tungsten is actually refined and...
Nov 15, 2021•45 min•Ep. 260
Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Circle launches an early stage venture fund SEC targets American CryptoFed DAO LLC The SEC references Nic's paper on DeFi risks Should DeFi teams be more aggressive in disclosing admin key risks? What would a DeFi disclosure regime look like? BlockFi files for a spot Bitcoin ETF Bitwise withdraws its futures-based ETF NYC mayor Eric Adams says NYC schools should teach about cryptocurrency Miami will airdrop BTC to residents Inf...
Nov 12, 2021•37 min•Ep. 259
Core Weave cofounder and CSO Brannin McBee joins the show to talk GPU mining and high performance computation. In this episode: Details on the Core Weave's latest fundraise Core Weave's hybrid data center model which combines Ethereum mining and generalized computation Transitioning from just crypto mining to the specialized compute market Why the hyperscale cloud providers aren't always suitable for firms with specialized computation needs The nature and size of Core Weave's GPU and CPU fleet H...
Nov 10, 2021•53 min•Ep. 258
Nic and Matt return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: The President's Working Group report on Stablecoins comes out Should stablecoins really require a bank charter? Would a red wave in the midterms be good for the crypto industry Two congressmen ask the SEC to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF The TungstenDAO buys the Midwest Tungsten 14 inch cube Where was the Neeraj kitchen photo taken Tarantino is auctioning off uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction as NFTs Miami Mayor Francis Suarez will t...
Nov 05, 2021•43 min•Ep. 257
Nikos Andrikogiannopoulos. the founder of Metrika joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Nikos' journey to the blockchain industry and how we came to see the opportunity to found Metrika How Metrika thinks about monitoring public blockchains for reliability and downtime Perspectives on the common reasons that blockchains go down Nikos's perspective on the use cases that are driving blockchain adoption How Metrika prioritizes the blockchain networks that it covers To learn more about Metrika...
Nov 01, 2021•33 min•Ep. 256
Matt and Nic return for another week of deals and news. In this episode: The SEC wants to regulate stablecoins El Salvador buys 420 BTC River launches a mining product Direxion wants to launch a short BTC ETF The FATF guidance isn't as bad as we thought it might be Facebook is now Meta Is 'the metaverse' going to stick around? We unretire China FUD Content mentioned: The NFT Tax Guide Coin Center, The long-awaited FATF crypto guidance is not as bad as it could have been, but still flawed Nic in ...
Oct 29, 2021•42 min•Ep. 255
Ray Cline, Lancium CTO, and Shaun Connell , EVP Power at Lancium , join the show. We cover the changing Texas grid, several models for renewable based mining, and how miners can serve as a controllable load. In this episode: Personal backgrounds and crossing the threshold from energy to Bitcoin Origins of Lancium Features of Texas grid Why Texas is so suitable for renewables How Texas is the 'Saudi Arabia' of renewable generation Why renewables grew so fast in Texas Two reasons why prices reach ...
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 254
Matt and Nic are back for a monster week of deals and news. In this episode: CBOE acquires ErisX FTX raises a monster round Worldcoin launches with their eyeball scanner The Proshares futures-based ETF goes live and sets a record Why are futures-based ETFs expensive? the Proshares ETF starts to max out its futures exposure What will be the fate of GBTC? Grayscale announces a $1b buyback of GBTC Hester Peirce delivers another great talk Tether settles with the CFTC The academia-press complex Diem...
Oct 22, 2021•45 min•Ep. 253
Tom Chippas, the CEO of ErisX and Chris Isaacson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Cboe Global Markets join the show. In this episode we discuss: CBOE's acquisition of ErisX Details of the acquisition and the rationale for the deal CBOE's current and future plans in the digital assets industry The market structure implications for the broader digital assets ecosystem and why this combination provides for a catalyst for broader institutional adoption Views on the regulatory...
Oct 20, 2021•44 min•Ep. 252
We had the pleasure of hosting NFT collector, Gmoney , on the show. He is a former equities trader turned NFT collector, educator, and expert. In this episode, we unpack the community, stories, and experiences Gmoney has amassed during his time in the NFT space and discuss the following: Gmoney's "aha" moment about the massive supercycle taking place in digital goods The shift in ownership and value accrual from the hands of a few investors to everyone interacting with crypto networks Gmoney's f...
Oct 18, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 251
Nic and Matt are back for our 250th episode! We discuss: ETF chatter heats up Where the Tungsten memes come from Why tungsten is good Coinbase launches an NFT platform Ribbon airdrop controversy How DeFi airdrops are like the McDonalds monopoly game Does the token industry need a disclosure framework? Miami plans to pay employees in Bitcoin Stripe is getting back into crypto Jamie Dimon wants to know how it ends at 21 million China's hashrate goes to virtually 0 The USA is the center of hash We ...
Oct 15, 2021•40 min•Ep. 250
Mark Coe, the founder and CIO of Intrinsic Edge Capital Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mark's professional career and path to founding Intrinsic How he came to see blockchain/crypto as an investable category His personal journey on understanding the various blockchain thesis areas How he thinks about the taxonomy of publicly traded companies in the blockchain space How Intrinsic thinks about their research and investment process for long/short equity investing The compari...
Oct 11, 2021•29 min•Ep. 249
Nic and Matt are back for more deals and news. In this episode: Our podcast SNAFU Can you wear a suit with sneakers How to offset your Bitcoin emissions (without buying offsets) Soc Gen asks Maker for a loan Bloomberg's Tether bombshell Are stablecoins like money market funds? Sponsor notes: This show supported by Coinbase Prime , an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime This show ...
Oct 08, 2021•33 min•Ep. 248
