Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Why USDC is suffering redemptions but not USDT Some new 3AC shenanigans are unearthed The SEC and CFTC are investigating 3AC Details from the Voyager bankruptcy filing Avraham Eisenburg is crypto's hottest new villain Is the Mango exploit against the law? Is there a vigilante group out to get Do Kwon? SBF is criticized for his regulatory draft proposal The Texas securities regulators are investigating FTX FTX shareholders at od...
Oct 21, 2022•51 min•Ep. 363
For another episode of the mining miniseries, Nic sits down with Blake King , power markets engineer at Galaxy Digital, for his second OTB appearance. In this episode: Blake reacts to the White House OSTP report on crypto mining Does mining actually reduce the incentive for utilities to build additional transmission? How transmission building decisions get made How are ERCOT planners taking the price of Bitcoin into account? The merits of proactive transmission construction Why the existence of ...
Oct 17, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 362
Matt and Nic are back for another week of deals and news. In this episode: What is XEN and why is it driving up ETH fees? Bittrex settles with OFAC SEC is investigating Yuga labs Mango and Binance Smart Chain are hacked The FASB settles on fair value accounting for cryptoassets Warren writes a letter to Texas about mining Coin Center is suing OFAC Sponsor notes: Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferre...
Oct 14, 2022•41 min•Ep. 361
Rob Behnke, co-founder and CEO of Halborn joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Rob's career journey in the cryptocurrency industry and the insights that led him to founding Halborn. The 2017 ICO era and the security issues that plagued many projects. How Halborn approaches engagements with DeFi ecosystem participants. How centralized financial services companies are engaging with DeFi and how these firms think about cybersecurity. How Rob and his co-founder Steven Walbroehl approached the...
Oct 12, 2022•40 min•Ep. 360
In this episode, Ria sits down with Jon Charbonneau from Delphi Digital to discuss layers of potential censorship on Ethereum post merge and proposed solutions. We dive into: The supply chain of block production The importance of proposer builder separation Options for avoiding de facto censorship by builders The road to scaling Ethereum via danksharding Comparing approaches to data availability Further reading: Jon on Substack, Censorship, What Do? Follow Jon on Substack and on Twitter Cover im...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 359
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Kim Kardashian settles with the SEC Gensler's promotional campaign ruffles feathers at the SEC Was the SEC indirectly throwing shade at Jake Paul with their video? Is Gensler cracking down on crypto as part of a bid for Treasury secretary? Can the industry outlast the SEC? CBOE signs on to Pyth Hamilton Lane is tokenizing three funds GoldenTree invests in Sushi Should DAOs pursue an LLC wrapper? Maker is buying Treasuries...
Oct 07, 2022•30 min•Ep. 358
Vivek Raman , Head of Proof of Stake at BitOoda joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Vivek's career journey from traditional financial services to the world of public blockchains. Views on the impact of Ethereum's transition to proof of stake, including his perspective on the new financial products on the horizon. The path of CeFi as it relates to DeFi and where Vivek sees overlap. How BitOoda is working with bitcoin miners to manage risk. The smart contract platform category and how Vive...
Oct 05, 2022•39 min•Ep. 357
Alexandra DaCosta (CEO) and David Yi (Chief Commercial Officer) join the show to talk about Aspen Creek Digital Corp .'s fundraise and their model for additive renewable mining. In this episode: What was it like raising for a mining firm in this environment David and Alexandra's backgrounds and how the came to cofound ACDC Why ACDC is pursuing a 'power first' model and what that means ACDC's wind, solar, and battery approach to energy Why ACDC focuses on additional, new renewable generation How ...
Oct 03, 2022•52 min•Ep. 356
Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: What caused the Pound Sterling to sell off? Deglobalization picks up Stirrings of a sovereign debt crisis emerge Explaining Deribit's insider-led down round Can the market recover before Do Kwon, Machinsky, and 3AC are dealt with? Celcius' Machinsky steps down Brett Harrison leaves FTX US 7 states issue C&Ds against Nexo The CFTC goes after Ooki DAO and DAO members The CFTC serves Ooki through a chatbox and a forum post How...
Sep 30, 2022•41 min•Ep. 355
Sergey Gorbunov , co-founder of Axelar joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Sergey's path to founding Axelar His views on blockchain interoperability and the design decisions of Axelar The different approaches to interoperability that are being attempted in the industry Views on DeFi composability and the role of privacy on public blockchains The L1/L2 landscape and how Axelar is positioned To learn more about Axelar visit axelar.network/...
Sep 28, 2022•38 min•Ep. 354
In this episode, Christine Kim from Galaxy Research joins us to discuss the Ethereum Merge and prospects for future protocol development: Reactions to the merge and network changes that flew under the radar Finding a focus area in core protocol development on Ethereum EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals) on the near-term horizon Threats to decentralization and censorship resistance and potential solutions Intro and outro music: Daniel Allan's Collage #344...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 353
Nic and Matt sit down for a special live recording of OTB in front of an audience at the Boston Blockchain Week. In this episode: Ian Balina is dinged by the SEC for Sparkster The SEC's weird argument for standing over all of Ethereum Is XRP a prediction market on Ripple's case against the SEC Wintermute is hacked for $160m via a bad vanity generator Several Senators file an amicus brief to support Custodia's lawsuit against the Fed What the Congressional crypto agenda should look like Europe fi...
Sep 23, 2022•41 min•Ep. 352
Steven Goldfeder is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Offchain Labs , the team building Arbitrum. In this episode we discuss: Steven's academic background, and his work at Princeton University. BlockSci, an early blockchain forensics/search product that Steven co-founded. The evolution of MPC custody and the exciting developments in that category. The Flash Boys 2.0 paper and the current state of MEV. Steven's views on the evolution of L1 smart contract platforms and how L2 scaling is sh...
Sep 19, 2022•49 min•Ep. 351
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: The Merge takes place without incident Will the Merge silence Ethereum critics on the left? Will the ESG narrative around crypto get louder? FTX takes a stake in Skybridge Castle Island is not an island If you make an NFT of a diamond and destroy the diamond, do you still have a diamond? CME launches Ether options Starbucks launches an NFT loyalty platform Tungsten cubes are selling off South Korea issues an arrest warrant ...
Sep 16, 2022•49 min•Ep. 350
Dan Mottice , CEO and Co-Founder of Ansible Labs , joins the show to talk about a new payment gateway for web3. Dan's personal background and how he ended up in financial services The Visa Network, Visa Direct Payouts and Visa Crypto Ansible Labs' raise and what's ahead Off-ramps and why they matter North stars in fintech The consumer experience in a b2b sales cycle Navigating turbulent markets and how to build to win Learn more about Ansible here....
Sep 14, 2022•33 min•Ep. 348
Bankless' David Hoffman joins Matt and Nic for a special episode to cover Ethereum's highly-anticipated Merge. In this episode: How David came to Ethereum and the Bankless origin story The story behind the Bankless DAO Whether David would ever consider focusing on other blockchains What could cause David to abandon Ethereum The Coinbase OFAC filtering debate Why proposer-builder separation might make validator-driven censorship harder Filtering transactions at the pool layer versus undertaking a...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 349
Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Nic's shoe problem Web3 merch for OTB? The White House releases a report on crypto asset energy usage Why the US should encourage mining within its borders Coinbase is funding a lawsuit against OFAC Binance is converting USDC into BUSD on their platform Poolin is having liquidity problems Russia considers crypto for cross border payments The US Government recovers $30m from the Axie hack Gensler keeps firing barbs Nic doesn't b...
Sep 09, 2022•39 min•Ep. 347
Ria and Nic from Castle Island sit down with Stephanie Howard and Bennett Collen , cofounders of Endstate , a web3 footwear and fashion brand. We cover the merits of the redeem-and-retain NFT model and the vision for Endstate. Bennett's prior crypto startup and how he decided to unite his passion for sneakers with web3 How Bennett and Stephanie met and cofounded Endstate Stephanie's career in sneaker design to date Why creators and athletes are jumping at the opportunity to issue merchandise-lin...
Sep 06, 2022•51 min•Ep. 346
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: What happens to the GPUs post merge? Will the gamers finally get cheap GPUs back? Is the merge like superbowl sunday or Y2K? Does the success of the merge undo a long-term Bitcoin talking point? Are NFTs going to cc0 screwing over their users? DC sues Michael Saylor and Microstrategy for allegedly skipping taxes in DC The SEC questions whether the certain assets in Grayscale trusts are securities What's going on with the Ro...
Sep 02, 2022•58 min•Ep. 345
Obi Nwosu, CEO and Founder of Fedi joins the show to cover a new model for shared Bitcoin custody in Fedimint . In this episode: Obi's experience with Coinfloor and how that informed his views on custody Why third party custody with Proof of Reserves isn't sufficient Why 'credible centralized' custody shouldn't be the default Why state level attacks on custodians are ramping up Obi's early prediction that Nigeria would be the heartland of Bitcoin adoption Why messaging apps are actually the most...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 344
Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Matt's prior radio career The boys consider reinvesting in the podcast How to avoid audience capture We puzzle over metaverse advertising How do you value metaverse real estate? Rep. Tom Emmer writes a letter to OFAC questioning their sanctioning of Tornado Cash Tether and BUSD (Paxos) don't blacklist Tornado Cash addresses The FDIC reprimands crypto companies Web3 hoodies Best podcast listening speeds Are security tokens and r...
Aug 26, 2022•43 min•Ep. 343
Brooke Pollack , the founder of Hutt Capital joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Brooke's career journey and path to founding Hutt Capital The events that led him to seeing that crypto/blockchain was going to be an industry with dedicated venture managers The institutional limited partner landscape The narratives that have captured the most institutional mindshare Views on the optimal fund structure for crypto/blockchain managers The DeFi landscape Views on NFTs as a foundational buildin...
Aug 22, 2022•42 min•Ep. 342
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: NYMag writes a long piece on 3AC Is OTB a 'crypto fanboy podcast'? Are we up against the nation state 'final boss'? 3AC boat name reveal The Toyota Century rumors are true Revelations about 3ACs FX days Did 3AC actually owe the Mafia money? The 3AC Deribit deal A new 3AC supporter dials in to the show Machinsky was trading Celsius customer deposits The Galaxy BitGo acquisition falls through Dragonchain settles with the SEC ...
Aug 19, 2022•42 min•Ep. 341
In this episode, Uddhav Marwaha , co-founder and CEO of Friktion Labs , joins us to discuss Friktion's approach to a full stack portfolio management platform in defi. We cover a plethora of topics, including: The opacity surrounding defi yields and distinguishing fleeting opportunities from sustainable sources of income Using options overwriting and basis strategies to generate more durable returns and provide portfolio protection across market conditions In-housing core tooling such as Friktion...
Aug 15, 2022•58 min•Ep. 340
Matt and Nic return for another week of deals and news. In this episode: Underwhelming Taproot adoption Tornado Cash gets sanctioned by OFAC Is Tornado a better mixer than coinjoin Why the Tornado Cash sanctioning is the first of its kind How much of the liquidity in Tornado Cash was illicit? Are we at a turning point in financial privacy? Why was Tornado Cash specifically targeted and not other mixers Account-based versus UTXO systems and their effect on your ability to segregate funds Can you ...
Aug 12, 2022•45 min•Ep. 339
Matt and Nic return for another week of deals and news. In this episode: Is there any hope for ETH PoW forks? Is Ethereum unforkeable? More 3AC shenanigans of the week The 3AC Toyota Century situation The 3AC boys have some unexpected supporters A bipartisan bill proposes giving the CFTC oversight over the spot market What's up with the croissant diet NYDFS fines Robinhood Crypto Michael Saylor steps down from this CEO role at Microstrategy The SEC charges 11 individuals involved in the Forsage ...
Aug 05, 2022•49 min•Ep. 338
Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Damien Hirst's physical NFT project Why you need a bridge between the physical and the digital world for certain NFTs Why physical NFTs provide advantages to collectors and brands Libra/Diem spawns Aptos and Sui Coinbase is under SEC investigation Pat Toomey criticizes the SEC What is in the bipartisan stablecoin bill? Squabbles over Voyager's Chapter 11 plan The UK inches towards recognizing cryptocurrency as property More 3AC...
Jul 29, 2022•54 min•Ep. 337
Itai Turbahn and Yoni Goldberg , the founders of Dynamic join the show. In this episode we discuss: Itai and Yoni's professional journey to starting Dynamic How Dynamic is addressing wallet based authentication Views on how standards will evolve in the blockchain ID category The evolution of decentralized identifiers The types of businesses that are early adopters for wallet-based logins To learn more about Dynamic visit their website and follow them on Twitter ....
Jul 28, 2022•37 min•Ep. 336
(Reuploaded, fixed audio) Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Inert ETH from the crowdsale? Why the credit crunch is like the European panic of 1772 Should we bring back full-liability banks? Are Bitcoiners wrong to reject fractional reserve banking? 1000 pages of 3AC intrigue Genesis had 2.6b gross exposure to 3ac The 3AC blockchain .com transcripts More 3AC shenanigans are revealed Secret exchange insolvencies Coinbase insider trading scandal The SEC regulates ...
Jul 22, 2022•43 min•Ep. 335
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Stablecoin actives outpace blue chip crypto Why is Tether on Tron so popular? Is H E Justin Sun willing to deploy $5b in acquisitions Celsius files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection KeyFi is suing Celsius Are DeFi business models going to have to change? Where do tokenholders fall in the capital stack? Three Arrows are not cooperating with liquidation 3AC liquidators reportedly fail to exercise the Starkware token warran...
Jul 15, 2022•34 min•Ep. 334
