TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory & policy at Bain Capital Crypto, discusses how the legal process for Sam Bankman-Fried in the wake of the FTX scandal could play out. Show highlights: the allegations that Bankman-Fried manipulated the market during the Terra crash the motivations for Bankman-Fried's media appearances what the selection of Mark Cohen as a lawyer says about the potential charges and the case why SBF hasn't been arrested yet how the US investigating the potential involvem...
Dec 09, 2022•47 min•Ep. 430
Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The collapse of FTX has dealt crypto lender Genesis another major blow, with the firm halting withdrawals and DCG stepping in to help. Now the two face a range of suboptimal outcomes in the face of massive debts. Ahluwalia and Andrew discuss what could come next, and what should b...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 429
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. Show topics: highlights of Sam Bankman-Fried's interview with the New York Times whether SBF knew what was going on in his companies, and how that impacts potential prosecution why Genesis and DCG are in financial trouble whether Genesis will file for bankruptcy or go through a restructuring process revelations from BlockFi's bankruptcy filing new info on...
Dec 03, 2022•52 min•Ep. 428
Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, talks about the collapses suffered during this year, their impacts on big traditional finance players, and what’s coming in the crypto markets in the near future. Show highlights: whether Sam Bankman-Fried lied during his interview at the Deal Book Summit why SBF kept the number of FTX's engineers at such a low number why Adam is optimistic about Genesis and DCG what options Genesis have to raise liquidity the significance of a potential meltdown of...
Dec 02, 2022•38 min•Ep. 427
Michael Jordan, founder at DBA and former co-head of investments at Galaxy Digital, and Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC, talk about the potential insolvency of Genesis and DCG, the cycle of credit expansion, and the importance of DeFi to prevent these situations. Show highlights: what will happen with Genesis and its parent company DCG where the insolvency of Genesis might have come from how the expansion of crypto lending in 2021 is impacting the markets and the role the Fed played in th...
Nov 29, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 426
Gabriel Haines, a crypto content creator, comes on this 2022 Thanksgiving edition of Unchained to talk about his videos and leave a positive message for these holidays. Show highlights: how Gabriel started doing his very unique type of videos Gabriel's hummus eating competition how Gabriel's videos are "quite not professional" how Gabriel is monetizing some of his videos with NFTs whether NFTs are a solution for content creators how Lee, Gabriel's wife, has also started creating some funny video...
Nov 25, 2022•24 min•Ep. 425
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news concerning the collapse of FTX. Show topics: the statements of newly appointed CEO John Ray in the first day declaration why Tarun, Robert and Haseeb think SBF is possibly delusional or at least in denial whether the assets of FTX and Alameda were commingled from the beginning or whether they had been separate and at a certain point, FTX loaned money to Al...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 424
Kevin Zhou, cofounder of Galois Capital, and Jesse Powell, cofounder of Kraken, talk about why FTX collapsed, the warning signs, and whether it’s a catalyst for self-custodial adoption. Show highlights: the root causes of the FTX collapse, according to Jesse and Kevin whether there were warning signs of all the risks that were to come the importance of learning from mistakes, even for new people in the space Kevin's response to the stuck funds in FTX the debate about utilitarianism and SBF's eff...
Nov 21, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 423
Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, explains the first declaration from new FTX CEO John Ray in the company’s bankruptcy case. Show highlights: why CEO Ray said there's been a complete failure of corporate controls in FTX how there was no separation of accounts between Alameda and FTX whether FTX US customers are in a better position to recuperate their assets why FTX's Bahamas unit is seeking protection under chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code why there's a ju...
Nov 18, 2022•41 min•Ep. 422
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about the collapse of FTX. Show topics: Haseeb's explanation of the blowup of FTX whether FTX was a Ponzi scheme Sam Bankman-Fried's strategy to become a billionaire the weird sale of Serum, a project backed by SBF the lack of proper accounting practices in FTX and Alameda whether FTX did not have a proper and large enough security team the likeli...
Nov 16, 2022•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 421
Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, and Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of 507 Capital, talk about the bankruptcy of FTX. Show highlights: what the bankruptcy process of FTX is expected to look like why FTX got to the the point of filing for bankruptcy protection why Wassie thinks Alameda is dead why FTX filed for bankruptcy in the US given that it's a Bahamian company how FTX's balance sheet is composed and whether it includes Alameda whether Justin Sun will be ...
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 420
Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, and Jordan Fish, aka Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, talk about the collapse of FTX. Show highlights: the links between FTX and Alameda what kickstarted the blowup of FTX why Erik and Cobie think that Bankman-Fried's behavior was “sociopathic” why the $10 billion hole is so shocking to Cobie considering the advantages that FTX had as a company whether this would have ever happened if the prices hadn’t plummeted in the bear market the tension betwe...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 419
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt were joined by Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi, and Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about Binance’s buyout of FTX. Show topics: Haseeb's tl;dr of Binance's possible acquisition of FTX whether Alameda is the new Three Arrows Capital the implications of FTX's collapse for regulators and lawmakers what will happen to all the companies that lent money to Alameda Sam Bankman-Fried's emergency effort to raise bi...
Nov 09, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 418
Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, talk about Bitcoin Maximalism, how Bitcoin is developing, and what’s the future of Bitcoin’s security model. Show highlights: What the definition of Bitcoin maximalism is whether BTC maximalism is toxic whether Vitalik Buterin is still a bitcoiner and how Bitcoiners became the 'token police', according to Udi why Lyn thinks Bitcoin has been attacked by the media since the beginning the attacks by ...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 417
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter – and its effect on DOGE the irony that people working in centralized companies want to decentralize Twitter whether Twitter is going to become like Facebook why Twitter has been the most pro-crypto among big tech companies why Tarun thinks Binance Pay is an impressive product w...
Nov 05, 2022•59 min•Ep. 416
Nick Hansen, cofounder and CEO of Luxor Technologies, talks about the Bitcoin mining industry, why some miners are struggling while others are succeeding, and the next steps for the industry. Show highlights: the current state of the Bitcoin mining industry why miners have the lowest margin environment ever why there are so many mining rigs sitting latent how to calculate the profitability of mining cryptocurrency why miners are not moving to other countries for lower energy prices what the impa...
Nov 04, 2022•36 min•Ep. 415
Sterling Crispin, artist and software developer and Holly Herndon, host of the Interdependence podcast, talk about the problems that creators face, some potential solutions, and the debate over creator royalties. Show highlights: how Holly and Sterling got into crypto how Holly used the Holly Plus Project to pay royalties how NFTs change the economic experience of being a creator how creators make money and why it is so difficult for most of them whether NFT royalties are necessary for artists w...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 414
Avraham Eisenberg, blogger at DeepFi Value – more commonly known as the Mango Markets attacker – shared his insights about the exploitation of code, his personal story, and why there’s hatred directed towards profitable traders. Show highlights: Laura’s description of the Mango Markets exploit the way in which code gets used in a different way from the original intention why Avi decided to return part of the funds he got from exploiting Mango Markets Avi’s clarification of a misconception regard...
Oct 28, 2022•35 min•Ep. 413
Eric Wall, crypto blogger and investor, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, discuss everything about Bitcoin Maximalism, whether BTC can survive, and whether Ethereum constitutes a threat for Bitcoin. Show highlights: how Eric and Udi got involved with Bitcoin what Bitcoin was like in the first days how Bitcoin maxis appear to have a script to engage in discussions the philosophy behind Bitcoin maximalism why Eric believes Bitcoin maximalism is like a “weird cult” how Eric thinks that...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 412
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Everyone’s impression of Laura’s interview with Do Kwon The importance to differentiate failure and fraud The Mango Markets hack and whether code is law What happened with the BNB hack and the concerns it raised about decentralization Magic Eden’s decision to enable optional royalties and the debate about NFT roy...
Oct 22, 2022•56 min•Ep. 411
Fat Man Terra, the anonymous Twitter account dedicated to bringing Do Kwon to justice, reacts to my recent interview with Do Kwon and says what he thinks it revealed about his personality. Show highlights: why Fat Man Terra created the Twitter account whether Terra was used to enrich insiders how Fat Man believes Do Kwon evaded questions in the interview with Laura whether Do lied about Chai to misrepresent the success of UST and LUNA why Fat Man believes some people will never admit wrongdoing ...
Oct 21, 2022•40 min•Ep. 410
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Host Haseeb Qureshi partnered with Zhuoxun Yin, cofounder of Magic Eden, to debate Unchained host Laura Shin and Li Jin, cofounder at Variant Fund, on the topic of NFT Royalties. Show highlights: What NFT royalties are Why Laura believes zero NFT royalties is a bad business decision prioritizing short-term needs over long-term ones and that it will turn creators off from the industry How charging royalties is not sustainable, according to Haseeb Why royalties are t...
Oct 19, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 409
Do Kwon, cofounder of Terraform Labs, discusses the charges against him, gives a message to Terra victims, answers allegations about potential fraud and non-transparent business practices, and much more. Show highlights: whether Do finds the charges based on the Capital Markets Act legitimate why he doesn’t want to discuss his location whether the South Korean government is lying about the accusations against him what happened with the BTC held by the Luna Foundation Guard whether Do regrets bei...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 408
Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash. Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash. Show hig...
Oct 14, 2022•41 min•Ep. 407
Zaki Manian, cofounder of Sommelier Protocol and cofounder of Iqlusion and Jack Zampolin, founder of Strangelove Ventures, discuss everything about Cosmos, the new white paper, and how to improve MEV capture for ATOM holders. Show highlights: how Jack and Zaki got involved with crypto and Cosmos what the Sommelier protocol is, the role of Iqlusion, and what Strange Love does the basics of Cosmos and application-specific blockchains (ASB) why would a project choose to be an ASB rather than an app...
Oct 11, 2022•59 min•Ep. 406
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics: Whether crypto optimism is different in Asia than in the United States How Sam Bankman-Fried has been doing some work with US regulators How the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO changed people’s perspectives about the regulator Whether the lawsuit could make all DeFi illegal and the role of DAOs to coor...
Oct 08, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 405
Kristin Smith, Executive Director of the Blockchain Association, comes to talk about Tornado Cash, the lawsuit against Ooki DAO, the SEC charges against Kim Kardashian, and crypto legislation. Show highlights: whether regulators did not understand the implications of sanctioning smart contracts the necessity of having a conversation around financial privacy whether the government wants sanctions compliance at the base layer the reasons behind the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO why the SEC settled...
Oct 07, 2022•38 min•Ep. 404
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, discusses his views on crypto regulation, macroeconomics, and the role of FTX in a decentralized industry. Show highlights: whether the market has already bottomed and the influence of macroeconomics why Sam thinks regulation could have a significant impact on the crypto industry the impact of the Terra collapse, Sam’s thoughts on stablecoins, and the importance of disclaimers what the industry can do to prevent high leverage from crypto companies like ...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 403
Nikhilesh De, CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation, comes to talk about the CFTC lawsuit against Ooki DAO and the potential consequences across the crypto industry. Show highlights: the enforcement action against Ooki DAO and the CFTC’s arguments behind it whether bZx’s statements that the DAO would be beyond the reach of regulators made it a target for the CFTC whether the broader implication of these charges could mean that all DeFi is illegal whether the hacks of bZx ma...
Sep 30, 2022•38 min•Ep. 402
Zack Guzman, journalist and Coinage host, and Jongbaek Park, partner specializing in blockchain and crypto assets at Bae, Kim & Lee, discuss how the case in South Korea against Do Kwon and TerraForm Labs will likely go, whether Do Kwon is on the run, and what his sentence could be. Show highlights: Jongbaek’s and Zack’s disclosures regarding Terra how big the Terra phenomenon was in South Korea and how Do Kwon was perceived in the country whether Do Kwon posed any conditions for his interview wi...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 401
