The Chopping Block: Are VCs Bad for Crypto? - Ep. 481

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 could reopen after its massive collapse
• why Robert thinks rebooting the exchange is a “terrible” idea
• whether FTX could do the same thing as Bitfinex and issue a debt token for creditors
• how the U.S. government misunderstands decentralized finance, in stark contrast with regulators from other parts of the world
• whether DeFi front-ends should be subject to the Bank Secrecy Act
• whether VCs go against the principles of crypto
• the difference between democratizing finance and democratizing fundraising

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly

• Laura Shin, author, and CEO of Unchained

Shapella:

• Previous coverage of Unchained on the upgrade:
• Shapella in the Rearview: After Major Upgrade, What’s Next for Ethereum?
• Ethereum's Shapella Upgrade - What to Expect?
• How Will ETH React to Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade?
• Unchained: 
• Staked Ethereum Withdrawals Enabled As Shanghai Upgrade Goes Live
• Ethereum Surges Past $2,000 Post-Shanghai, $2 Billion Staked Withdrawals Pending
• Nansen: The Shanghai Upgrade Dashboard
• CoinDesk: What’s Next After the Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Known as Shapella

FTX:

• Unchained: FTX Could Reopen Crypto Exchange, Recovers $7.3 Billion in Assets

Treasury Report:

• Unchained: Poor DeFi Cybersecurity Presents Risks for National Security, Says U.S. Treasury

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