While the crypto market may seem chaotic to the outside observer, game theory can be used to analyze the underlying dynamics that lead to volatile price action. Jordi Alexander , Founder & CIO of Selini Capital, has a track record for utilizing game theory to predict crypto market events — including the collapse of the TerraUSD 'stablecoin' last year. In this episode of The Scoop, Alexander unpacks how individual cryptocurrencies derive their value, and explains how game theory can be used t...
Feb 01, 2023•42 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., newly elected House GOP whip and a member of the House Financial Services Committee, has long been at the forefront of shaping the conversation regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies and digital assets in the United States. In this episode of The Scoop, Rep. Emmer provides an overview of how Congressional attitudes towards crypto are shifting in light of the tumultuous events of 2022, and how the new asset class is gaining support across the political spectrum. Acc...
Jan 30, 2023•47 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Nabil Manji, Worldpay's head of crypto and web3, describes his firm as "one of the largest companies that most people have never heard of," since Worldpay plays a relatively behind-the-scenes role facilitating the "plumbing" of different aspects of the global financial system. In this episode of The Scoop, Manji discusses how Worldpay is positioning itself to expand its digital asset infrastructure and the ways that traditional financial institutions have adjusted their digital asset strategies ...
Jan 27, 2023•44 min•Season 5Ep. 3
The crypto bull market in 2017 inspired journalist Camila Russo to tell the story behind the creation of Ethereum. Russo's book, "The Infinite Machine," has caught the attention of Ridley Scott, whose production company Scott Free Productions has signed on to co-produce the film adaption. Ridley Scott is best known for helming such blockbusters as "Gladiator", "Alien", "Blade Runner", "Thelma & Louise", among many others. In this episode of The Scoop, Camila Russo recounts how her personal e...
Jan 25, 2023•39 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Since its beginnings as a skunkworks intern project in late 2015, Jump Crypto has developed a multifaceted crypto strategy that spans proprietary trading, venture investing, and infrastructure development. Although Jump had some exposure to FTX, the firm says it remains well capitalized. In this episode of The Scoop, Jump Crypto President Kanav Kariya reflects on lessons learned during 2022 and analyzes the current state of the industry's capital markets. According to Kariya, many crypto market ...
Jan 23, 2023•52 min•Season 5Ep. 1
For The Scoop’s final episode of 2022, Larry Cermak, vice president of Research at The Block, joins host Frank Chaparro to unpack highlights from The Block Research’s 2023 Digital Assets Outlook Report and to break down some of the major events that shaped the crypto market in 2022. The Block Research’s 2023 Digital Assets Outlook Report offers a deep look into the state of the crypto markets today and analysis on trends that could emerge in the year ahead. Generally speaking, Cermak says instit...
Dec 26, 2022•44 min•Season 4Ep. 129
Founded in 2013, GSR is one of the oldest crypto market makers and is also an active venture investor. In this episode of The Scoop, GSR CEO Jakob Palmstierna discusses how his firm is responding to the collapse of FTX and shares his forecast for what a crypto recovery might look like. According to Palmstierna, GSR covered the losses of all of its customers who had funds stuck on FTX: “We announced that customers of ours that had funds locked in FTX, we would reimburse them so they didn't have t...
Dec 23, 2022•32 min•Season 4Ep. 128
Founded in 2011, Bitstamp has navigated the ups and downs of multiple crypto market cycles over the years. In this episode of The Scoop, Bitstamp USA CEO Bobby Zagotta discusses Bitstamp’s resilience, and explains how centralized exchanges can restore user confidence in the wake of FTX’s collapse. According to Zagotta, "proof-of-reserves" is an important step towards giving customers more visibility into how centralized exchanges manage customer assets: "On the one hand, the way many exchanges o...
Dec 21, 2022•36 min•Season 4Ep. 127
To date, Silicon Valley-based VC firm a16z has raised over $7.6 billion to invest in crypto and web3. In this episode of The Scoop, a16z General Partner Chris Dixon shares some of the guiding principles that determine a16z’s investments in the crypto space and explains why the time is ripe for decentralized networks to replace centralized, corporate networks. According to Dixon, both a16z and other VC firms have begun to shy away from investing in projects building on top of corporate networks: ...
Dec 19, 2022•58 min•Season 4Ep. 126
Solana co-founder Raj Gokal has referred to the FTX crisis as a "crucible moment" for Solana's ecosystem. The amount of value moved on Solana has decreased dramatically since Alameda declared bankruptcy in November, data from The Block shows. In this episode of The Scoop, Solana co-founders Raj Gokal and Anatoly Yakovenko discuss how Solana initially became intertwined with FTX, and when they first started to notice that Sam Bankman-Fried’s ambitions diverged from the crypto ethos. While Bankman...
Dec 16, 2022•32 min•Season 4Ep. 125
Six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen is making his mark on the metaverse with a digital sneaker collection featuring 1,000 unique ‘SP33’ NFTs. For the launch, Pippen partnered with Orange Comet — the company that recently helped Sir Anthony Hopkins launch his own NFT collection . In this episode of The Scoop, Scottie Pippen and Orange Comet CEO Dave Broome discuss how Web3 is creating new ways for celebrities and fans to connect, and share the story behind the upcoming ‘SP33’ NFT collection. Acc...
Dec 14, 2022•57 min•Season 4Ep. 124
A DeFi protocol known as Cryptex offers a permissionless way to speculate on the total crypto market capitalization through its novel index token, TCAP. Now, Cryptex is on the verge of releasing its newest index token, JPEGz, which will allow holders to track the total market cap of NFTs on Ethereum. In this episode of The Scoop, Cryptex co-founder Joe Sticco shares the details behind the upcoming JPEGz NFT index token, including why the index token is a good way to speculate on the future growt...
Dec 09, 2022•37 min•Season 4Ep. 123
In this month's 'Market Pulse' episode of The Scoop, The Block Vice President of Research Larry Cermak and Loomdart, a founding member of crypto-native venture firm eGirl Capital, reflect on FTX’s collapse and speculate on what comes next for the crypto industry. According to Cermak, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is remaining in the Bahamas to stay engaged with local regulators: “Sam still has connections in the Bahamas and the government is still standing by him … He just made them loo...
Dec 07, 2022•56 min•Season 4Ep. 122
In this episode of The Scoop, Sam Bankman-Fried describes how a legacy payment system linked FTX’s future to Alameda Research’s fate, and explores why regulators and auditors alike failed to discover this relationship. According to Bankman-Fried, many FTX customers would fund their accounts via direct wire transfers to Alameda Research bank accounts: “What that flow I think looked like was basically: Bob wires $100 straight to Alameda Research, and then Alameda effectively ledger transfers $100 ...
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr 46 min•Season 4Ep. 121
In 2020, Cowen Digital formed to allow institutional customers of the investment bank Cowen to trade digital assets. The digital arm has been growing steadily in its eight months of existence, despite the onset of crypto winter. In this episode of The Scoop, Cowen Digital managing director and head Drew Forman explains how the crypto industry can rebuild in the wake of FTX’s meltdown, as well as what it will take to repair trust in the space among institutional investors. According to Forman, ma...
Dec 02, 2022•22 min•Season 4Ep. 120
As the crypto market struggles to gain its footing in the wake of FTX’s demise , sweeping layoffs have thinned the ranks of many companies. In this episode of The Scoop, Rob Paone, founder and CEO of crypto recruiting firm Proof of Talent, shares his perspective on how the crypto hiring landscape has changed during the bear market. According to Paone, the current dynamic between job seekers and prospective employers is much more balanced than it was last year: “It's not 100% a company market rig...
Nov 30, 2022•42 min•Season 4Ep. 119
In the fourth installment of The Scoop’s continued coverage of FTX's demise, host Frank Chaparro examines the legal underpinnings of FTX’s bankruptcy and restructuring process with Dan Besikof, a partner at the law firm Loeb & Loeb, and Mark Shapiro, Chair of the Financial Restructuring Group and a partner at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling. In 2008, Shapiro served as the Head of Restructuring for Lehman Brothers, where he guided the sale of the firm's U.S. assets in chapter 11. Acco...
Nov 28, 2022•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 118
Web3 investment firm CoinFund recently launched a $300 million fund targeting early-stage crypto and web3 startups. In this episode of The Scoop, CoinFund Managing Partner David Pakman shares how this fund fits into CoinFund’s broader investment thesis for crypto and web3, including why the fund is specifically targeting early-stage startups. The new fund is intended for new crypto startups already showing signs of success. As Pakman explains, “We saw a lot of seed-stage companies graduating to ...
Nov 25, 2022•56 min•Season 4Ep. 117
Aptos, a new Layer 1 blockchain originating from the Facebook blockchain initiative Libra (later renamed 'Diem'), recently launched its mainnet. The architecture behind Aptos was designed to serve millions of people at scale and uses the Move programming language originally intended for Libra. In this episode of The Scoop, Aptos Co-Founders Mohammed Shaikh and Avery Ching explain why they believe Aptos empowers developers to build faster, more secure applications, and why applications built on A...
Nov 23, 2022•55 min•Season 4Ep. 116
In this venture capital-focused segment of The Scoop, CoinShare Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors and Aglaé Ventures Managing Partner Vanessa Grellet explain which crypto verticals are oversaturated, and examine how market dynamics have changed since last year. Although the crypto industry has experienced many boom-and-bust cycles before, Demirors says “2021 will be one of the worst years for crypto venture returns.” Demirors explains that one of the reasons for this is a mismatch in block ...
Nov 21, 2022•36 min•Season 4Ep. 115
Part one of this two-part special on Nouriel Roubini’s new book, Megathreats , examines how the economy is facing a combination of interconnected phenomena that Roubini believes will result in a severe economic crisis. Roubini discusses some alternative assets that could gain prominence in the event of a global financial meltdown and explains why he prefers gold over bitcoin in such a situation, among other topics in his book Megathreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to ...
Nov 18, 2022•37 min•Season 4Ep. 114
Nouriel Roubini, the economist and professor who forecasted the housing collapse of 2008, is back with a new prediction for the global economy. In his new book, Megathreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to Survive Them , Roubini examines a series of interconnected phenomena that he believes could lead to disaster if left unchecked. In the first part of this two-part macro special of The Scoop, Roubini lays out the thesis for his new book and explains why he believes the ...
Nov 16, 2022•39 min•Season 4Ep. 113
In this breaking news episode of The Scoop, we continue our coverage of FTX’s demise with Jim Greco, a general partner at F9 Research, and Douglas Colkitt, founder of Crocodile Labs. According to Greco, many market participants knew about the relationship between Alameda and FTX. Still, few thought former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried would risk jeopardizing the success of his exchange: “Most professionals knew of the Alameda connection, but we all thought that this exchange is so valuable — it's wo...
Nov 15, 2022•40 min•Season 4Ep. 112
Cosmos contributors recently released a new whitepaper that proposes major upgrades to the Cosmos Hub, the central blockchain of the Cosmos ecosystem. A community vote to determine whether or not the proposed changes are integrated into the Hub concludes on Monday, Nov. 14th. In this episode of The Scoop, Cosmos Co-Founder and Interchain Foundation President Ethan Buchman explains what will change if Atom 2.0 passes, as well as how these changes fit into his overall vision for how Cosmos’s app-c...
Nov 11, 2022•51 min•Season 4Ep. 111
In part one of The Scoop’s coverage of the on-going controversy surrounding FTX and Alameda, Framework Venture co-founder Vance Spence suggested that FTX must have a very large hole in their balance sheet to be forced to turn to their biggest competitor for a buyout. We now know that FTX likely has upwards of an $8 billion hole in its balance sheet, which CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is attempting to fill through fundraising efforts. In part two of this breaking news episode of The Scoop, Evgeny Gaevoy...
Nov 10, 2022•23 min•Season 4Ep. 110
In response to the unexpected collapse of FTX, billions of dollars in crypto have been flowing out of exchanges over the past 24 hours as market participants rush to self-custody their funds. In this breaking news edition of The Scoop, Frank Chaparro and Framework Ventures Co-Founder Vance Spencer analyze the factors that contributed to FTX’s rapid downfall, as well as speculate on the comingled relationship between Alameda and FTX. According to Spencer, a Coindesk report on Alameda’s balance sh...
Nov 09, 2022•39 min•Season 4Ep. 109
Crypto-native venture firm eGirl Capital is a syndicate of pseudonymous individuals who invest in early-stage web3 projects, and provide colorful market commentary on Twitter. In this special segment of The Scoop, Frank Chaparro is joined by The Block’s VP of Research, Larry Cermak, and eGirl Capital’s Co-Founder, Hedgehog, to discuss how this crypto bear market compares to previous cycles, and to explain how investors can spend this drawdown building an edge for the next bull market. According ...
Nov 07, 2022•44 min•Season 4Ep. 108
Full-service crypto platform Abra announced plans in September to establish the first fully regulated bank for digital assets in the U.S. Abra Bank is expected to go live in early 2023 and it will enable U.S. citizens to deposit their digital assets in a U.S.-regulated manner similar to traditional banking. In this episode of The Scoop, Abra Co-Founder and CEO Bill Barhydt explains the advantage crypto banks have over traditional banks and how Abra Bank will enable fully regulated, interest-bear...
Nov 04, 2022•43 min•Season 4Ep. 107
Earlier this year, Binance.US became the first U.S.-based exchange to cut bitcoin trading fees to zero. Since the announcement, Binance.US has consistently ranked in the top three of North America-based exchanges by volume, according to data from The Block. In this episode of The Scoop, Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder examines how Binance.US is attempting to distinguish itself from the competition, including the impact cutting bitcoin trading fees had on bringing in new business. According to Shrod...
Nov 02, 2022•52 min•Season 4Ep. 106
A project called ‘HomeCoin’ is tapping into the trillion dollar real estate industry with a mortgage-backed stablecoin called $HOME. In this episode of The Scoop, HomeCoin Founder Karl Jacob unpacks the mechanics behind HomeCoin’s mortgage-backed stablecoin, and shares why he believes the best way to move the real estate industry on-chain is incrementally over time. According to Jacobs, $HOME is over-collateralized by mortgages and yield is paid to holders of $HOME from payments made on those mo...
Oct 31, 2022•32 min•Season 4Ep. 105
