On June 1, Hong Kong implemented new crypto regulations to license exchanges. Two experts – Angelina Kwan, CEO of Stratford Finance (and former COO of BitMEX), and Adrian Lai, founder and managing partner of Newman Capital – weigh in on the new rules in Hong Kong, which tokens can be listed, recent reports that China may be sanctioning this activity, and how the crypto community is responding so far. Plus, they dissect the latest developments of the digital yuan, whether China will ever embrace ...
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 505
On Monday, it was Binance. On Tuesday, Coinbase. Electric Capital General Counsel Emily Meyers joins the show to read between the lines of an action-packed week for Gary Gensler’s SEC. Meyers lends her lawyerly eye to the key differences between the two lawsuits, the SEC’s potential strategy, and whether federal legislation will beat the courts in providing clarity. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneI...
Jun 09, 2023•47 min•Ep. 504
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, the Blockchain Association’s Jake Chervinsky breaks down the cases against Binance and Coinbase – and how they are different from FTX – what it means for the crypto industry, and who may be next. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, ...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 503
Wallet security was in the spotlight after the announcement of Ledger Recover, but the crypto community doesn’t need to “freak out,” according to Itai Turbahn, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Labs, and Ouriel Ohayon, CEO of ZenGo. The two CEOs join the show to talk about the challenges of bringing self-custody to the masses. For many, “not your keys, not your coins” is actually “your keys, your problem.” Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stit...
Jun 06, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 502
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, the gang answers audience questions, digs into the discourse around rollups, and debates whether modular blockchains will vanquish existing monoliths. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast pla...
Jun 03, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 501
If a year in crypto is like a decade in other industries, then Laura Shin has seen a lot. To commemorate the 500th episode of “Unchained” (actually, there’s about 150 more under a different brand name), Laura hops on the other side of the microphone to field questions from Unchained Contributing Editor Zack Seward about standout moments dating back to 2018. From the early rise of Binance to a charged interview with Terra founder Do Kwon, Shin takes you behind the scenes for rare insights into he...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 500
“Lack of regulatory clarity” is the catchall complaint levied against U.S. regulators by most major players in the crypto industry. But the founders of Bosonic and Prometheum disagree. Both firms have spent years chasing the necessary regulatory approvals to compliantly trade digital assets, including those seen as securities. Last week, Prometheum secured a potentially landmark approval to operate as a special purpose broker-dealer for digital asset securities. Prometheum co-founder Aaron Kapla...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 499
It’s in the name: mint.fun. Co-founder Luke Miles joins the show to talk about his platform’s efforts to make NFTs more discoverable, accessible and fun. He also shares his on-the-ground perspectives on emerging trends in the NFT space – everything from Bitcoin Ordinals to the rise of Ethereum L2s as NFT hot spots. With last cycle’s NFT mania in the rearview, what’s next? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts,...
May 26, 2023•43 min•Ep. 498
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan explains his vision for providing “decentralized trust” to new projects on Ethereum. Was Vitalik Buterin’s recent “re-staking” post a shot across EigenLayer’s bow? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn...
May 25, 2023•58 min•Ep. 497
In the SEC’s push to rein in the crypto sector, one question looms large: Is ETH a security? Dan Berkovitz, a former CFTC commissioner and SEC general counsel, and Colin Lloyd, a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, assess the current state of the regulatory turf war in the U.S., shedding light on some of Washington’s unanswered questions. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on ...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 496
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner, chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, Taproot Wizards instigator Eric Wall joins the show to discuss the rise of Ordinals and what it means for the future of Bitcoin. Will inscriptions and BRC-20 tokens bring a slew of Ethereum-style problems to the original blockchain? Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Go...
May 20, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 495
Ledger, the crypto industry’s leading hardware wallet manufacturer, rolled out a new recovery feature this month that caused an uproar. The recovery service has dangerous implications for crypto self-custody, says Foundation Devices Head of Content “Seth For Privacy.” He joins the show to discuss the downsides of closed-source code and the security risks that come with compromising for mainstream adoption. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, ...
May 19, 2023•41 min•Ep. 494
Ordinal theory has unleashed a new wave of NFTs, memecoins and innovation on Bitcoin — but not without controversy. Bitcoin educator Dan Held and Bitcoin Frontier Fund Managing Partner Trevor Owens join the show to discuss the breakneck rise of BRC-20s and why they’re both bullish on what memecoins mean for the original blockchain. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorit...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 493
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they talk about the recent issues surrounding the Aragon Foundation, the likelihood of Montenegro becoming an ETH hub, the BRC-20s mania, and much more! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast pl...
May 14, 2023•55 min•Ep. 492
News emerged this week that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) placed $44 billion in claims on the FTX bankruptcy estate. Now creditors of the defunct crypto exchange are worried that the taxman is going to gobble up funds that would otherwise be used to make users partially whole. Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, joins the show to explain what’s going on, how that huge number is even possible, and why the so-called “trust argument” is not going to be the...
May 12, 2023•42 min•Ep. 491
Longtime crypto reporter Brady Dale has beat Michael Lewis to market with the first book on the dramatic collapse of FTX. In stores today, “SBF: How the FTX Bankruptcy Unwound Crypto’s Very Bad Good Guy,” tells the tale of the outsized role that Sam Bankman-Fried played in the FTX-Alameda death spiral. Drawing on years of reporting and interviews with SBF himself, the book charts the rise and fall of the one-time crypto wunderkind. “It became clear to me that Sam got really addicted to fame,” sa...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 490
The Genesis bankruptcy is about to take a high-stakes turn with a $630 million payment from Digital Currency Group (DCG) due by May 11. Barry Silbert’s DCG, the parent company of Genesis, is on the hook for the massive payment, but doubts are swirling as to whether the crypto conglomerate can cover it. Lumida Wealth CEO Ram Ahluwalia joins the show to unpack what could happen to Genesis creditors, Gemini Earn users, and the markets should DCG fail to cover its debt obligations. Listen to the epi...
May 05, 2023•46 min•Ep. 489
In this episode, Sreeram Kannan, founder of EigenLayer, and Konstantin Lomashuk, cofounder of Lido Finance, discuss the complex world of staking in Ethereum's post-Shanghai ecosystem. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the staking ecosystem in Ethereum looks after the full completion of the Merge what EigenLayer is and why it'...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 488
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in digital assets. In this live episode from Consensus 2023, they are joined by Avery Ching, chief architect of Aptos, to discuss the latest SEC enforcement actions, an embarrasing admission by audit firm Certik, and crypto’s impact on the coming election. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox,...
Apr 29, 2023•46 min•Ep. 487
Major crypto exchange Coinbase has decided to take action to get an answer from the Securities and Exchange Commission: this week, they filed a court action seeking to compel Gary Gensler’s agency to give specific rulemaking on crypto assets. J.W. Verret, associate professor of law at George Mason Law School, talks about how both parties are playing this game, how it could change the Howey test, and much more. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Cas...
Apr 28, 2023•39 min•Ep. 486
Two lawyers, Josh Klayman, head of digital assets at Linklaters, and Marc Boiron, chief legal officer at Polygon Labs, offer their takes on the SEC’s recent crypto crackdown. They share what they heard from SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s Congressional testimony, whether this crackdown was inevitable or sparked by FTX, and why a proposed change to the definition of an exchange could be an existential threat for DeFi in the U.S. Show highlights: what Gary Gensler’s approach to crypto was when he took of...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 485
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, the gang plays “guess the chart” and takes a deep dive into the booming world of Ethereum Layer 2s. Show highlights: how much Layer 2s are spending to post data to Ethereum whether L2s suck up all the value of ETH the challenge of providing a good user experience across multiple rollups how the underlying technology of security i...
Apr 22, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 484
It got heated this week on Capitol Hill with SEC Chair Gary Gensler testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on his agency’s efforts to rein in the U.S. crypto industry. Jason Gottlieb, partner at Morrison Cohen, unpacks what was said and whether we’ll continue to see more crackdowns from the U.S. securities regulator. Show highlights: Whether ETH is a security and what would be the impact if it was declared as such by the SEC Whether the SEC is harming investors What the potenti...
Apr 21, 2023•40 min•Ep. 483
Maximal extractable value, or MEV, is a mainstay of the Ethereum landscape. But the process of validators reaping profits from handling new blocks is not without controversy. Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake and bloXroute Labs CEO Uri Klarman assess the current state of MEV. Hear them disagree about the path forward for making Ethereum fairer for all its economic actors. Show highlights: what MEV is and how it has evolved over time the nuances of the newly proposed MEV Blocker and why...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 482
Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they’re joined by Unchained’s Laura Shin to debate FTX revival rumors, what the U.S. Treasury got wrong about DeFi, and whether VCs are antithetical to crypto’s core principles. Show highlights: how much ETH is getting unstaked and deposited after Shapella the market reaction following the successful implementation of the upgrade whether FTX c...
Apr 15, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 481
Laura’s 10-Year Anniversary of Self-Employment: A Personal Message Laura Shin, the host of Unchained, celebrated her 10-year anniversary of self-employment on Wednesday, April 12. She tells her story and has a message that she hopes will help others on their journeys. Links: Original Twitter thread Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 15, 2023•15 min
This week’s major Ethereum upgrade, Shapella (it was really two upgrades, Shanghai and Capella, in one), brings the network’s multi-year journey to proof-of-stake to a close. With validator withdrawals now live, the Ethereum Foundation’s Tim Beiko explains Shapella’s significance, why EIP-4844 is the next big thing, and what else is on Ethereum’s roadmap. Show highlights: how Ethereum transitioned from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake what the concerns about enabling withdra...
Apr 14, 2023•43 min•Ep. 480
How can decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) be more resilient? Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, and Fatemeh Fannizadeh, lawyer and researcher at Geneva-legal.ch, survey the landscape and offer their insights on what will fuel the next wave of DAO innovation. Are new rules from U.S. states like Wyoming and Utah a boon for DAO creation? Or will the proceedings against Ooki DAO by U.S. regulators cast a pall on this emerging segment of the Web3 world? Show highlights: how ...
Apr 11, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 479
Amidst a wide-ranging crackdown on all kinds of crypto players, Representative Tom Emmer talks about recent enforcement actions, the classification of cryptocurrencies as securities or commodities, the potential impact of US regulatory actions on the country’s global economic power, and the Federal Reserve's upcoming payment system. He touches on the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in the crypto industry and the role of government in fostering these developments. Show highlights: w...
Apr 07, 2023•40 min•Ep. 478
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. In this episode, they are joined by Laura Shin, author, journalist, and host of Unchained, to discuss the drama around the Arbitrum governance’s proposal, the MEV attack on Ethereum, the Shanghai upgrade… and much more! Show highlights: what the intentions behind Arbitrum Foundation's ratification poll were why Tarun says that it was suggested by a crypto lawyer w...
Apr 06, 2023•56 min•Ep. 477
