Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: Updates on South Shore Bar Pie The CIV boys consider new sponsors Regional banks keep failing Is the turmoil in the bank sector deflationary or inflationary? How does the Fed end the banking crisis? McHenry's stablecoin bill Biden proposes a 30% tax on Bitcoin miners Why Biden's DAME tax is counterproductive RFK Jr's pro-crypto takes Nic throws his hat in the ring for RFK Jr Gensler running for Senate in Maryland/ Where ...
May 05, 2023•38 min•Ep. 422
Simon Forster and Duncan Trenholme of TP ICAP join the show. In this episode we discuss: - TP ICAP's journey in the crypto / blockchain space. - The market structure for institutional cryptoasset trading. - The future of tokenization and the types of assets that are likely to be represented on chain. - The regulatory landscape and how this will shape the pace of building in the industry. To learn more about TP ICAP and their strategy visit: www.tpicap.com/digitalassets...
May 02, 2023•42 min•Ep. 421
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: What's the deal with south shore bar pie? We review Consensus in Austin Nic's 2022 Coin Center dinner incident Nic's gas siphoning incident First Republic appears heading for collapse Why was First Republic given time to save itself but not Signature? Block partners with Yellowcard for cross-border African payments Open Exchange's purported investors deny investing in the business Coinbase is setting up operations in Bermud...
Apr 28, 2023•43 min•Ep. 420
Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: We debate some curious new sponsors The Miami gas shortage Nic's impressions of NFT NYC We review Eric's Orb When do Harberger taxes work? CIV is hiring The SEC is suing Bittrex and alleges that Algorand and Dash are unregistered securities Gensler is skewered by Republican lawmakers in the House Financial Services hearing Gensler refuses to answer whether Ethereum is a security We review the House hearing on stablecoins...
Apr 21, 2023•34 min•Ep. 419
Dan Tapiero , the founder of 10T Holdings and 1 Round Table Partners joins the show. In this episode we discuss: The performance of Bitcoin as a macro asset over the past year. The current regulatory environment and how the USA is losing its lead versus other countries in the digital asset ecosystem. The prospect of U.S. companies going public in non-U.S. jurisdictions. How Dan and his team approach growth stage investing. The secondary market and how Dan thinks about building ownership via seco...
Apr 19, 2023•42 min•Ep. 418
Eric Wall is a cryptocurrency researcher, analyst, critic, and investor. In this episode we sit down to discuss the creation and premise of his new project, the Orb . What is the orb? How did the orb come about? How to bet on the human capital and reputational growth of individuals Why previous social tokens failed What does the orb entitle you to? Why the orb is not a security Harberger taxes and their implementations so far How harberger taxes create better allocative efficiency Harberger taxe...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 417
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Is Ethereum going through a 'bullish unlock'? Did the SEC decicion around staking help decentralize Ethereum? What is a commodity? We pitch futures for restaurant bookings The problem with 'phygitals' What's going on with DWF labs? Twitter users will be able to trade crypto through the app Is FedNow a CBDC? Does FedNow introduce risks to the banking system? A relaunch of FTX gets more likely How the DOJ caught the Silk Road...
Apr 14, 2023•46 min•Ep. 416
Dennison Bertram , the co-founder and CEO of Tally , returns to the show. In this episode we discuss: Dennison's career in the crypto industry from exchange founder to founding Tally. How to frame DAOs from a total addressable market perspective. What types of companies and industry categories would be better served as DAOs. Best practices in managing DAOs. The regulatory landscape for DAOs and how state LLC regulations could factor into future legislation. How Tally works with leading DAOs. To ...
Apr 12, 2023•37 min•Ep. 415
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: What are the prospects for dealing with OCP 2.0? Creditors are considering relaunching FTX int'l The boundary between being a visionary and a scammer Nic's feud against NPR What's the deal with the bug eating meme? Are lobsters bugs? What happened to the tungsten cube NFTs? Singapore banks might be warming up to crypto Hong Kong is red hot as a crypto zone A new paper alleges the Fed has overstepped its discretionary author...
Apr 07, 2023•42 min•Ep. 414
Lorien Gabel and Benjamin Thalman of Figment join the show. In this episode we discuss: The founding story of Figment and the focus of the firm. The evolution of proof of stake blockchains and how Figment helps their customers with staking. Ethereum, the Shanghai upgrade and the likely impacts of withdrawal functionality on the network. Views on the current regulatory environment and how that impacts proof of stake participants. To learn more about Figment visit their website and follow Lorien a...
Apr 05, 2023•37 min•Ep. 413
In this episode I sit down with David Thompson , managing partner at Cooper & Kirk. We cover the emergence of Operation Choke Point 2.0 and what recourse can be sought by the industry. In this episode: Cooper & Kirk's track record and reputation The story of Choke Point 1.0 and how Cooper & Kirk helped end it How was OCP 1.0 resolved? Why Cooper & Kirk wrote their recent white paper on OCP 2.0 Differences between Choke Point 1.0 and 2.0 Inconsistencies in FDIC Chair Gruenberg's C...
Apr 03, 2023•40 min•Ep. 412
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. Cooper and Kirk's white paper on Operation Choke Point 2.0 How bank regulators put crypto-facing banks in a catch-22 SBF charged with bribing a Chinese official Is Sam funding his legal defense with funds purloined from FTX users? The CFTC charges Binance with operating an unlicensed derivatives exchange Binance execs haz no confidence in their geofencing How did the CFTC get their hands on CZ's Signal history The SEC shuts down Beaxy Micro...
Mar 31, 2023•42 min•Ep. 411
Matt Hougan, the Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: The banking crisis and Operation Chokepoint 2.0 The decisions facing the Fed and the second order impacts of Fed policy How the cryptocurrency industry has evolved post FTX Prospects for stablecoin and market structure regulation in the digital asset industry The bitcoin futures market The launch of the Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy Optimum Roll ETF ( BITC ) To learn more about Bitwise vi...
Mar 28, 2023•33 min•Ep. 410
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Matt's turkey trouble continues Nic's vespa problem Nic's latest Choke Point 2.0 article Did the government destroy Signature on purpose? Who is the main architect of Choke Point 2.0? Why was Signature closed when PacWest and First Republic were given time? The Catch-22 in NY banking law Who has recourse in the Signature situation? Why we won't be going offshore The SEC announces charges against Justin Sun and celebrity end...
Mar 24, 2023•48 min•Ep. 409
Jamil and Nick, co-founders of Gamma.io , join us on the show to discuss: Lowering the barrier to inscribing NFTs on Bitcoin Why creators and collectors are excited about NFTs on Bitcoin Designing a trustless Ordinals marketplace that aligns with its unique culture The emerging collecting and trading culture on Bitcoin and it's key differences
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 408
Nick Hansen is the cofounder and CEO of Luxor, a Bitcoin mining pool. He joins to talk to us about his excitement around ordinals and inscriptions, and how Luxor is thinking about the opportunity. The history of ordinals and how Luxor got started in the space How Luxor mined the first 4MB block in Bitcoin Luxor's decision to acquire Ordinalhub and their intentions with the project Risks Luxor incurred by mining the first 4MB block Transaction standardness versus validity How ordinals increase th...
Mar 20, 2023•55 min•Ep. 407
Matt and Nic are back to cover a dramatic week in crypto. Galaxy Digital's Alex Thorn also joins to provide market color. In this episode: Bitcoin's price action in response to the bank runs USDC recovers its peg FTX crime family news Signature bank is shut down somewhat arbitrarily What happened with Silvergate? Is Operation Choke Point 2.0 real? Blockchain Association FOIA's federal banking regulators Are macro funds dipping their toes back into Bitcoin? Crypto Banks are gutted Was Signature s...
Mar 17, 2023•45 min•Ep. 406
Matt and Nic are back for another tumultuous week of news and deals. In this episode: Nic's Vespa crisis FTX crime family update Grayscale's oral arguments go well against the SEC in the GBTC case Binance.US wins the right to buy the Voyager assets in court NYAG sues Kucoin and alleges that ETH is a security Silvergate is undergoing an orderly wind-down of the bank Why did Silvergate really collapse? Why are regulators trying to precipitate bank runs? Structural issues explaining why Silvergate'...
Mar 10, 2023•34 min•Ep. 405
Matt and Nic are back for another tumultuous week of news and deals. In this episode: Nic's Vespa crisis FTX crime family update Grayscale's oral arguments go well against the SEC in the GBTC case Binance.US wins the right to buy the Voyager assets in court NYAG sues Kucoin and alleges that ETH is a security Silvergate is undergoing an orderly wind-down of the bank Why did Silvergate really collapse? Why are regulators trying to precipitate bank runs? Structural issues explaining why Silvergate'...
Mar 10, 2023•34 min•Ep. 405
Rob Hamilton , the founder and CEO of AnchorWatch joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Rob's career journey and path to finding Bitcoin. The origins of miniscript and how Rob started to build in this area. The potential applicability for miniscript to the custody market. The current state of bitcoin core development. Ordinals and how Rob started to get involved in this project. The future applicability of ordinals and inscriptions. Links: AnchorWatch , Rob's Twitter ....
Mar 08, 2023•50 min•Ep. 404
Chainalysis CEO and co-founder Michael Gronager joins us for an episode chronicling the rise of the blockchain analytics firm. In this episode: Michael's origin story and how he went from helping build Kraken to founding Chainalysis Responding to early market pull from the public sector when building products Responding to criticism around privacy vs. anonymity Building the Crypto Adoption Index for content marketing around what is actually happening on the blockchain Perspective on how long it ...
Mar 06, 2023•39 min•Ep. 403
Matt and Nic are back for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Is Yuga Labs' NFT collection on Bitcoin genuine? Will the environmentalist attacks on PoW move to other industries? FTX' Nishad Singh pleads guilty Ramnik Aurora maxed out donations to George Santos Silvergate is in trouble Why concentration risk makes it difficult for smaller banks to bank crypto firms UK banks are curtailing their crypto exposures Oasis returns $140m stolen from Wormhole to Jump NY Mag's piece on Arthur Hay...
Mar 03, 2023•32 min•Ep. 402
We host Matt Cutler, CEO and co-founder of Blocknative, in this episode to discuss the intricacies of block building and his thoughts on the future of MEV. We cover: The phenomenon of certain block builders subsidizing transactions The requirements for operating a competitive block builder Margins required for sustainable block building MEV redistribution and balancing interests of users vs. validators. You can follow Matt @mcutler on Twitter and learn more about Blocknative here ....
Feb 27, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 401
Matt and Nic are back for the 400th episode of OTB! In this roundup: Nic's Vespa story More on Ordinals Is embedding non-economic data in Bitcoin Satoshi's vision? How Ordinals accelerates efficiency improvements in Bitcoin More FTX crime family news SBF is hit with four new criminal charges Augustin Cartens claims that crypto has lost the battle against fiat NYAG vs Coinex The SEC alleges that UST is a security - does this implicate other stables? What can Congress do about Choke Point 2.0 or S...
Feb 24, 2023•39 min•Ep. 400
Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor joins us to talk ordinals, inscriptions, and digital collectibles on Bitcoin. In this episode: What is an ordinal? Why the name? The history of ordinals and inscriptions How does ordinal theory work exactly? How to participate in ordinals and do you need Ord The interaction between inscriptions and Bitcoin fees Should inscriptions be compressed? How should this happen? Why did Casey not use Counterparty? How Bitcoin is the most premium blockspace for NFTs Inscrib...
Feb 22, 2023•53 min•Ep. 399
Ray Hindi and Jake Lynch of L1 Digital join the show. In this episode we discuss: L1 Digital's origin story and early path into the crypto ecosystem. The firm's approach to investing in managers and making direct investment. The evolution of crypto funds including views on structure, strategy, focus. The fundraising landscape – how pensions/larger pools of capital think about crypto investing. Views on the impact of FTX. Thoughts on the current regulatory landscape. Real World Assets (RWAs) and ...
Feb 20, 2023•45 min•Ep. 398
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Is peak FUD in? Is this the 'custody rule rally'? OTB is keeping the deals of the week House is probing the connections between FTX and the SEC SBF is banned from using a VPN Is SBF a secret sports fan? SBF's bail cosigners are unmasked SBF VC investors are hit with a class action lawsuit SEC sends Paxos a Wells notice Circle dispells Wells notice rumors Is the SEC going after all stablecoins or just BUSD? What does Reves s...
Feb 17, 2023•40 min•Ep. 397
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Kraken winds down their staking as a service product The SEC asks all staking as a service providers to register Does 3rd party staking pass all of the prongs of Howey? The FT's article on the final days of FTX Did the FTX executives leave the labradoodles in the Bahamas? Ordinals are bringing NFT enthusiasts to Bitcoin Matt has had a tough week Kyle and Su launch OPNX So what's the deal with the crypto-focused Chokepoint 2...
Feb 10, 2023•49 min•Ep. 396
In this episode, we were joined by Josh Benaron, founder of Bundlr, a scaling protocol built on top of Arweave. Josh shares his views on: Censorship resistant and permanent storage The importance of provenance in attributing and distributing value Why Arweave's approach to decentralized storage is elegant How Bundlr addresses trade offs in Arweave and makes it more usable Follow Josh Benaron here. Learn more about Bundlr here ....
Feb 06, 2023•59 min•Ep. 395
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Nic's Proof of Reserves for Policymakers Charlie Munger attacks crypto The academic Tether truthers are back We unveil a new bad boy New allegations about Celsius surface The problem with exchange tokens How do you retire a token? The paradox of issuing tokens via an offshore foundation SBF is allegedly tampering with witnesses Did Sam really believe in EA? We review Mel Gibson's Apocalypto Were the Maya really that bad? Wh...
Feb 03, 2023•54 min•Ep. 394
