On The Brink with Castle Island
548 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 272 ratingsHosts Matt Walsh and Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures explore the political, ethical, and economic significance of Bitcoin and other public blockchains and talk to some of the leading experts in the industry. Learn more and stay up to date at CastleIsland.vc and follow on twitter @CastleIslandVC
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Episodes
Weekly Roundup 09/24/21 (Regulators keep talking about Free Banking, Twitter rolls out LN support, Biden's new OCC nominee) (EP.243)
September 24, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 52.7 MBNic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Latest on the infrastructure bill The latest on the platinum coin Zany things that financial regulators said this week Gensler continues to misrepresent the free banking era How bad was the wildcat banking era really? Why are financial regulators so interested in free banking? The SEC and CFTC are nearing the end of their fiscal year The prospects for 'pipe to crypto' Why miners are participating in 'd...
Weekly Roundup 09/17/21 (Fidelity's spot ETF plea, Solana goes down, Are Bitcoiners cosplayers?) (EP.242)
September 17, 2021 10:00 - 49 minutes - 68.1 MBMatt and Nic return to recap a tumultuous week. In this episode: Matt's ongoing war against the turkeys Fidelity thinks the SEC should approve a spot ETF The Futures based Bitcoin ETFs are nearing approval The SEC stonewalling an ETF is a political choice The OpenSea insider scandal Elizabeth Warren's critiques of the industry get more and more specific and niche Do we event want to know which tokens are securities according to the SEC? Ripple is asking the SEC to compare the...
Weekly Roundup 09/10/21 (Bukele buys the dip, oil majors are mining, SEC v Coinbase) (EP.241)
September 10, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 56.1 MBMatt and Nic are back for another week. In this episode: El Salvador's bitcoin launch Was the Chivo rollout really that bad? Bukele buys the dip Did El Salvador's bitcoin day cause a 20% selloff? McDonalds supports lightning in El Salvador SEC v Coinbase Introducing the Reves test Takeaways from the Miami Bitmain conference What is the NFL planning with NFTs? Oil majors are getting into bitcoin mining Is flare gas the future? Sponsor notes This episode is brought to y...
Alex Svanevik (Nansen) on extracting signal from on-chain noise (EP.240)
September 06, 2021 10:00 - 52 minutes - 36 MBWe welcome Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen.ai to On the Brink to provide color on Nansen's unique approach to on-chain data and analysis. We discuss: The evolution of Nansen from a wallet labelling tool to an end-to-end analytics platform How Nansen provides actionable insights from its analysis of individual addresses, transactions, and contracts Nansen's process to scale the collection of individual wallet level data over time Specific ways end-users are leveraging Nansen to make data-dri...
Weekly Roundup 09/03/21 (Two years of OTB, Matt's NFT strategy, Square's Bitcoin DEX) (EP.239)
September 03, 2021 10:00 - 47 minutes - 64.8 MBNic and Matt are back for another week. Patriots choose Mac Jones Kanye releases Donda Two year anniversary of OTB The fate of the OTB lost episode Matt's peculiar NFT acquisition strategy What the hell is Loot Punks weren't the first NFTs Square is making a Bitcoin DEX The SEC sues Bitconnect Sponsor notes This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit with...
Weekly Roundup 08/27/21 (Celeb NFT buys, Visa's cryptopunk, Choke Point 2.0?) (EP.238)
August 27, 2021 13:44 - 42 minutes - 57.9 MBMatt and Nic return for another week. In this episode: Nic sells an NFT to Von Miller OnlyFans and financial inclusion Visa buys a cryptopunk Do stablecoins have a future outside of the banking sector? The history of Choke Point and what it means today Our merch supply chain issues Tungsten talk Content mentioned Iain Murray's OTB appearance on Choke Point Nic in Coindesk, OnlyFans Shows How the Banking System Is Politicized Sponsor notes This episode is brought to ...
Weekly Roundup 08/20/21 (Uniswap governance wars, Bitcoin adoption in EM, OnlyFans gets Choke Pointed) (EP.237)
August 20, 2021 10:00 - 36 minutes - 49.7 MBNic and Matt are back for news and deals. In this episode: Our current sentiment on the Senate infrastructure bill The controversial Flipside/Uniswap portfolio MIT's 2014 Bitcoin airdrop Chainalysis' new data on Bitcoin adoption shows that it's a developing markets phenomenon Is there a conflict between good stablecoins and a competitive market for stablecoins? Are lossmaking stablecoins anti-competitive? Gensler makes more noise about DeFi The problem with futures-based ETFs...
Weekly Roundup 08/13/21 (More Infra Bill Chaos, an emerging Bitcoin Bloc, the crypto lobby shows up) (EP.236)
August 13, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 49.2 MBNic and Matt return for more deals and news of the week. In this episode: Where we stand on the Senate infrastructure bill Is Bitcoin a bipartisan issue? What the prospects for the House to change the language in the infrastructure bill? The crypto lobby shows its teeth Why is Bitcoin rallying in the presence of this bill? What is Gensler cooking up for the crypto industry? The Economist publishes a pair of critical articles on Bitcoin Should stablecoins be regulated like ban...
Weekly Roundup 08/06/21 (Infra Bill Chaos, Gensler's Speech, BSV 51% attack) (EP.235)
August 06, 2021 14:42 - 39 minutes - 54.3 MBNic and Matt return for another week. In this episode: Gensler makes a landmark speech Gensler asks for a futures-based ETF Will the crypto taxation in the infrastructure bill be sufficient to pay for the new spending? What explains the 11th hour language in the infra bill? When does the Bitcoin lobby become a meaningful voter bloc? BSV gets 51% attacked Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blo...
George Selgin (Cato Institute) on Stablecoins, Bitcoin, and Free Banking (EP.234)
August 02, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 98.4 MBGeorge Selgin, director of the Center of Monetary Alternatives at the Cato Institute joins the show to discuss Bitcoin, Free Banking, and stablecoins. In this episode: Why George refers to Bitcoin as a synthetic commodity money Why George was excited by the possibility for synthetic commodity money What conditions would have to hold for Bitcoin to be considered money Why money is a spectrum rather than binary Are stablecoins prone to bank runs? Is Tether's melange of underlying c...
Weekly Roundup 07/30/21 (Shadowy super coders, Goldman's DeFi ETF, is TVL overrated?) (EP.233)
July 30, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 49.3 MBMatt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Warren's shadowy super coders Was Digicash the first stablecoin? Is TVL overrated? Castle Island adds a new partner An anti crypto rider inserted into the Congress infrastructure bill Does taxation pay for government spending? Goldman applies for a 'DeFi ETF' Exxon looking at flare gas? China's crackdown on big tech Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm w...
Michel Rauchs (Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance) on quantifying Bitcoin's energy use (EP.232)
July 26, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 85.2 MBWe welcome Michel Rauchs, research affiliate and longtime contributor to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance which just released an update its Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index featuring new mining location data. Covered in this episode: Why Michel returned to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance The evolution of the CCAF's miner benchmarking efforts The original motivation for the Bitcoin Energy Index The relationship between the CCAF and Cambridge University ...
Weekly Roundup 07/22/21 (The B Word, SpaceX owns Bitcoin, Stablecoins and Wildcats) (EP.231)
July 23, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 55.9 MBNic and Matt are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: We debate the merits of the Merritt parkway We reflect on the B Word conference SpaceX owns Bitcoin We cover the Elonfolio Gensler covers tokens giving synthetic exposure to underlying securities Are stablecoins appropriately regulated? Can stablecoins learn from the free banking era in the 1830s? Is there a future for Ripple or Stellar as a bridge currency? What's next for US CBDCs? Content mention...
Weekly Roundup 07/16/21 (New mining data, Shapeshift decentralizes, are clay tablets proto blockchains?) (EP.230)
July 16, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 63 MBNic and Matt are back for a sideways week. In this episode: BlockFi's credit card comes out How mesopotamian clay tablets are blockchains Cambridge releases new data regarding bitcoin mining distribution Shapeshift decentralizes itself Can corporations successfully decentralize? Elizabeth Warren writes a letter to the SEC Larry Fink sees little demand for crypto Sponsor notes: This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Curr...
Weekly Roundup 07/09/21 (Circle is going public, SEC targets exchanges, the Bullish SPAC, good takes on stables from the Fed) (EP.229)
July 09, 2021 13:48 - 37 minutes - 51.8 MBNic and Matt are back. In this episode: Circle's SPAC filing Circle's evolution over the year The business model behind stablecoins Circle's risk factor slides The SEC is targeting centralized exchanges for trading unregistered securities Senator Pat Toomey buys BTC and ETH Matt tries out the Blockfi credit card GBTC unlocks wrapping up this summer Why are congresspeople allowed to trade financial assets? Warren grumbles about crypto markets once again Bullish exchange ...
Anton Katz and Ethan Feldman on Trading Infrastructure in Cryptoassets (EP.228)
July 05, 2021 11:59 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBAnton Katz and Ethan Feldman, the cofounders of Talos join the show. In this episode we discuss: Anton and Ethan’s path from roles at AQR and Broadway Technologies and into the world of cryptoassets The problem they are seeking to solve for market participants How the exchange and OTC liquidity landscape is evolving How custodians and exchanges have evolved their offerings The challenges of capital efficiency in the cryptoasset markets What it was like to fundraise in a bear marke...
Weekly Roundup 07/02/21 (Eyeball based coins, why airdrops don't work, the Mining Council shares data) (EP.227)
July 02, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 58.2 MBNic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: A new twist in the turkey tale Why airdrops historically haven't work Sam Altman's eyeball-based cryptocurrency Brady partners up with FTX The FCA tangles with Binance Nic's paper on DeFi risks NYDIG deepens their bank partnerships Mexico's bitcoin rebuke Coinbase's aggressive new strategy The Bitcoin Mining Council shares Q2 data This episode supported by: Eventus, the leading global provider of ...
Kinjal Shah (Blockchain Capital) and Manasi Vora (Skynet Labs) on DAOs as a New Investing Paradigm (EP.226)
June 28, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 31.1 MBKinjal Shah of Blockchain Capital and Manasi Vora of Skynet Labs join us to discuss their recently launched investment DAO, KomorebiCollective. We discuss: 1) The motivation behind Komorebi and its mission to fund female and non-binary founders 2) The decision to structure the collective as a DAO 3) The cost, transparency, and speed benefits DAOs provide 4) What use cases DAOs are serving well today and could serve as they mature To learn more about Komorebi, you can visit their web...
Weekly Roundup 06/25/21 (China's Hashrate Migration, holding BTC in your bank, Taleb's bitcoin paper) (EP.225)
June 25, 2021 10:00 - 48 minutes - 67 MBMatt and Nic are back for another rocky week in the markets. In this episode: Our thoughts on the Chinese mining situation Is Sichuan being spared the crackdown? Why Bitcoin's hashrate may not recover for a while Why China is cracking down on mining now How China's ultra-high voltage transmission is affecting mining policy How is miner selling influencing price? Our remaining China grey swans Our theories on the relationship between price and hashrate The SEC settles anothe...
Hunter Horsley (Bitwise) on the State of Crypto Asset Management (EP.224)
June 21, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 25.8 MBHunter Horsley, the co-founder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Bitwise’s recent $70M Series B fundraise and how he approached building a roster of unique investors Views on what is driving interest in cryptoasset products Decentralized Finance and how Bitwise is approaching constructing products to enable exposure to this part of the market NFTs and how Hunter contextualizes this segment of the market To learn more about Bitwise visit w...
Weekly Roundup 06/18/21 (Bukele's Bitcoin ambitions, the World Bank spurns El Salvador, DeFi risks) (EP. 223)
June 18, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 47.2 MBNic and Matt return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: What's the biggest story with Bukele that isn't being covered? Is Bukele motivated by a sanctions threat from the US? Will Salvadorians use the Lightning Network? How Bitcoin elevates heads of state in the popular consciousness Nic's paper on DeFi protocol risks The SEC's year-ahead agenda has no mention of Bitcoin The NY anti-mining bill fails The World Bank joins the IMF in spurning El Salvador Is the Sa...
Ask Me Anything 2.0 with Matt, Nic, and Ria (EP.222)
June 14, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 59.9 MBIn our second OTB AMA, we field questions from Brink Nation. In this episode: What other countries are good candidates to ratify Bitcoin next? What are the prospects for DeFi on Bitcoin? Is price to hashrate a viable ratio to use to value bitcoin? Will other countries follow El Salvador's lead in light of the pushback from the IMF? Who will win Euro2020? Are ransomware attacks good because they will get directors to add Bitcoin to corporate balance sheets "just in case"? Will u...
Weekly Roundup 06/11/21 (Bitcoinización in LatAm, volcano mining, El Salvador turns orange) (EP.221)
June 11, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 54.8 MBNic and Matt are back and recovered from an insane Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. In this episode: Our lost roundup from last week Our reflections on Bitcoin 2021 Nic reacts to his spaces with President Bukele El Salvador accepts Bitcoin The story behind the 25k attendee Twitter space Does the Salvadorian law change the accounting treatment for Bitcoin in the US? President Bukele's geothermal Where else is the Bitcoinización likely to happen? A new non-aligned movement ...
Chris Blec (DeFi Watch) on the Pursuit of Transparency in DeFi (EP.220)
June 07, 2021 18:59 - 48 minutes - 66.8 MBChris Blec is a researcher and the founder of DeFi Watch, a project dedicated to identifying points of centralization and risk factors in DeFi, in particular the presence of admin keys. In this episode: How Chris got interested in DeFi How he first noticed the risk of admin key usage The changing nature of admin keys and multisigs Whether project multisigs reduce dependence on trust Why worry about Admin keys in the first place? Have DeFi projects improved their key manageme...
Jeff Kirt and Ted Rogers on the Story Behind the Greenidge Plant (EP.219)
June 02, 2021 20:11 - 52 minutes - 71.9 MBJeff Kirt and Ted Rogers, CEO and board director of Greenidge Generation LLC respectively, join the show to discuss the Greenidge plant and Bitcoin mining operation in upstate New York. In this episode: The origins of Greenidge Why Ted Rogers chose to join the Greenidge board How Atlas/Greenidge converted their NY plant from coal to natural gas Ted's retrospective on the Segwit 2x drama in the context of the Crypto Mining Council How US-based mining has a lower carbon intensity tha...
Matteo Leibowitz and Eric Stone on Uniswap V3 (EP.218)
May 31, 2021 10:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBMatteo Leibowitz of Uniswap and Eric Stone of Flipside Crypto join the show. In this episode we discuss: Uniswap v3 and how it differs from v2 and other AMMs Broader implications of Uniswap v3 for DeFi Uniswap v3 metrics and how the system is being used today Uniswap treasury and grant program How Flipside is engaging with Uniswap and other DeFi communities Follow Teo on Twitter @teo_leibowitz and learn more about Uniswap at Uniswap.org. Follow Eric on Twitter @theericstone and lea...
Weekly Roundup 05/26/21 (The Mining Council, Lael Brainard's Free Banking mistake, Kazakh FUD) (EP.217)
May 27, 2021 10:00 - 48 minutes - 66.2 MBMatt and Nic are back for another roundup. In this episode: Elon is back Our take on the mining council Is Twitter Spaces killing Clubhouse? Prepare yourself for Kazakh FUD Is Chia driving up hard drive prices? OneRiver's green Bitcoin ETF The SEC asks for help regulating crypto The key catalysts we're watching in China Lael Brainard spreads historical fake news about free banking The Fed is concern trolling stablecoins Why neo Free Banking can work today Content menti...
Hass McCook on Bitcoin's energy use in context (EP.216)
May 24, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 85.6 MBHass McCook is a civil engineer who has been delivering estimates of Bitcoin's energy use and CO2 emissions since 2014, as well as alternatives like gold or finance. In this episode: Hass's background in civil engineering and how it prepared him for the energy debate The conflation between energy generation and electricity generation Why you can't just generalize energy consumption to carbon emissions Hass breaks down the varying carbon intensities of different sources of generati...
Weekly Roundup 05/21/21(Taproot edges closer to activation, IRS demands reports for $10k txns, OCC reversal on Bitcoin?) (EP.215)
May 21, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 59.3 MBMatt and Nic are back for another volatile week. In this episode: Nic's 72h fast Nic explains the Moscow time joke on Bloomberg Coinbase sells off Our explanations for the selloff Tax selling or Fed discussion of tapering? Taproot edges towards activation Eth monetary hardening - improving or impairing its monetary credibility? IRS demands cash transaction reports for transactions over $10k FinCEN doesn't inflation-index their reporting thresholds OCC reviews Brian Brooks...
Alex Thorn (Galaxy Digital) on Dogecoin and Monetizing Memes (EP.214)
May 17, 2021 10:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBAlex Thorn, the head of research at Galaxy Digital joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Alex’s career path and the insights that led him to diving into the crypto space Perspectives on Dogecoin and whether this is an enduring phenomenon Considerations for Doge market infrastructure and the status of the network from a technical standpoint The state of the crypto venture market and how Alex sees this evolving To learn more about Galaxy Digital visit their website. Follow Alex o...
Weekly Roundup 05/14/21 (Tom Brady is a Bitcoiner, Elon betrays us, Tether's questionable reserves) (EP.213)
May 14, 2021 10:00 - 55 minutes - 76.2 MBNic and Matt are back for an insane week. In this episode: Tom Brady is a Bitcoiner Elon betrays us Do virgin coins exist? Binance under investigation by the DOJ Bitwise launches the BITQ ETF Palantir thinks about buying Bitcoin Diem partners with Silvergate We break down Tether's questionable reserves 46 million Americans own BTC Elon's bad tweet New FUD dice just dropped The changing Bitcoin energy mix landscape Content mentioned in this episode: Nic Carter in Co...
Katie Chase on the maturation of cryptoasset data (EP.212)
May 10, 2021 10:00 - 30 minutes - 20.6 MBKatie Chase, the Chief Operating Officer of Coin Metrics joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Katie’s time leading blockchain initiatives at Fidelity and how the firm approached early R&D efforts Her point of view on the historical barriers to institutional adoption of cryptoassets and how that is changing How Coin Metrics is addressing the data needs of large financial institutions Why risk management is an overlooked area and how CM’s Farum product addresses the needs of exch...
Weekly Roundup 05/07/21 (PoR is back, NY considers a mining ban, NYDIG's FIS partnership) (EP.211)
May 07, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 53.9 MBNic and Matt return for another huge week of deals and news. In this episode: The Chamber of Digital Commerce publishes a Proof of Reserve whitepaper Why Proof of Reserves matter Popular critiques of PoR Coin Metrics raises a Series B from Goldman Sachs Galaxy acquires BitGo How do you pronounce 3LAU? NYDIG brings Bitcoin to banks through FIS global NYDIG continues their ascent Paypal considers a stablecoin DCG commits to another GBTC repurchase NY state explores a Bitc...
Noah Buxton and Jeremy Nau (Armanino LLP) on the Proof of Reserve Restoration (EP.212)
May 04, 2021 12:00 - 49 minutes - 68.2 MBNoah Buxton and Jeremy Nau from accounting firm Armanino LLP join the show once again to discuss the launch of the Chamber of Digital Commerce's new whitepaper on Proof of Reserves, which they contributed to. In this episode: What was the purpose of the paper by the Chamber? What problems does it solve? History of PoR and Armanino When did Armanino first get into it? why? What's involved in a PoR? Why include an audit firm? Why exchanges are so reluctant to do PoR How trustless a...
Nicholas Gregory (CommerceBlock) on statechains for scalability and privacy (EP.211)
May 03, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 60.1 MBNicholas Gregory, CEO of CommerceBlock, joins the show to talk about their new statechain implementation, Mercury. In this episode: Origins of CommerceBlock Nicholas' prior career in martial arts Nicholas' underground MMA club in NY Did Roger Ver take the most expensive BJJ lesson ever? The purpose of CommerceBlock's Mainstay system The difference between OpenTimestamps and Mainstay How sidechains evolved from the original vision and where they are today What can Bitcoin lea...
Weekly Roundup 04/30/21(Matt's Turkey Jerky, Elon 'proves' Bitcoin liquidity, Nexon's BTC buy) (EP.210)
April 30, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 49.4 MBMatt and Nic return for deals of the week, joined for the first time by new member of CIV Ria Bhutoria. In this episode: An update on Matt's Turkey problem Will Matt create OTB Turkey Jerky? Will Matt tase the Turkeys? Is monetizing stranded natural gas good for the environment? Elon 'proves Bitcoin's liquidity' Elon admits to having a personal Bitcoin position Nexon announces a $100m Bitcoin buy Is US Bank getting into Bitcoin custody? German regulators warn about Binance'...
Andrew Steinwold on Investing in the Metaverse (EP.210)
April 26, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 29.3 MBAndrew Steinwold, the founder of Sfermion, an investment fund focused on investing in themes surrounding the metaverse joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Andrew’s journey in the cryptoasset industry and how we came to see the Metaverse as an investable theme How NFTs are a critical infrastructure component for the metaverse Views on the evolution of digital property rights How Andrew views investing in cryptocurrencies vs. NFTs vs. equity The companies that are best positio...
Weekly Roundup 04/23/21 (Estimating hashrate, mining Bitcoin with solar, capital gains hike?) (EP.209)
April 23, 2021 10:00 - 33 minutes - 45.5 MBMatt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: 43% capital gains taxes? Are decentralized storage networks reaching fruition Binance US hires ex-Comptroller Brian Brooks Matt's Turkey problem A Turkish exchange apparently exit scams Scott Minerd has a new target for Bitcoin Bernstein isn't worried about Bitcoin's energy consumption Ark Invest thinks Bitcoin is an incentive for renewables How much did Bitcoin hashrate really collapse? What did we lear...
Nick Neuman (Casa) on resilient self-custody with multisig (EP.208)
April 19, 2021 10:00 - 54 minutes - 74.5 MBNick Neuman, the CEO of multisig software provider Casa, joins the show to discuss how to harden your Bitcoin custody setup. In this episode: Nick's own journey to Bitcoin and to becoming CEO of Casa Casa's design philosophy The merits of native multisig on Bitcoin Casa's decision to stay Bitcoin-only Nick's experience raising capital as a Bitcoin-only startup Is it easier to be a Bitcoin-only startup today? How complicated is multisig? Why Casa recommends the usage of multip...
Weekly Roundup 04/16/21 ($COIN lists, NYT FUD, Hester's Safe Harbor 2.0, Gensler confirmed) (EP.207)
April 16, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 48.2 MBNic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Nic's feud with the NYT How Lysenkoism fits in Issues with the contemporary press Coinbase does the biggest direct listing of all time Is COIN a trojan horse for Bitcoin? Coinbase mafia? The best thing about Coinbase being public Gary Gensler finally confirmed as SEC chairman Our thoughts on Hester Pierce's token safe harbor 2.0 How do you do disclosures in token land? The former CIA director point...
Dmitry Tokarev (Copper) on building crypto settlement infrastructure (EP.206)
April 14, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 23.6 MBDmitry Tokarev, the cofounder and CEO of Copper joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dmitry’s path to crypto and the pain points that led him to starting Copper How Dmitry sees the competitive landscape and how legacy financial firms are reacting How MPC enables Copper to quickly add support for new blockchain platforms Views on what it’s like to hire in a rapidly growing startup Outlook for settlement and custody services in the years to come To learn more about Copper and ...
Larry Cermak and Mike Rogers (The Block) on the Stablecoin Market (EP.205)
April 12, 2021 10:00 - 52 minutes - 72.7 MBThe Block's Director of Research Larry Cermak and Research Analyst Mike Rogers join the show to talk through their latest report on stablecoins. In this episode: Why the Block chose to focus on stablecoins for this report Larry and Mike's opinion on why stablecoins are so disproportionately dollar-based China's influence in the Tether market The history of Tether and why it attained so much traction initially How you can determine the location of stablecoin users The Tetherificat...
Weekly Roundup 04/09/21 (Coinbase Q1 Earnings, TB12 gets into NFTs, GBTC ETF update) (EP.204)
April 09, 2021 10:00 - 33 minutes - 45.7 MBMatt and Nic are back for deals and news of the week. In this episode: Nic 'debates' Steve Hanke Update on the FUD Dice Nic attempts to send a wire to Poland NYDIG raises more capital and adds more insurance companies to their roster Coinbase Q1 earnings are out Grayscale wants to roll GBTC into an ETF Tom Brady is launching an NFT platform Peter Thiel's comments on Bitcoin The DC/EP may come with expiration dates Content mentioned in the episode: Nic vs Steve Hanke deba...
Matthew Mežinskis (Crypto Voices) on How to Compare Bitcoin with Fiat (EP.203)
April 07, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 103 MBMatthew Mežinskis, creator of the Crypto Voices Global Monetary Base project joins the show to discuss how Bitcoin stacks up against sovereign currencies. In this episode: The difference between base money and broad money Why Bitcoin should be compared to base money and not the broad money supply How exchanges are serving as proto free banks – and why they might end up becoming transparent fractional reserve institutions How free banking actually worked Why unrestricted banking act...
Jeth Soetoyo (Pintu) on building a cryptoasset brokerage in a frontier market (EP.202)
April 05, 2021 10:00 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBJeth Soetoyo, the founder and CEO of Pintu, a cryptoasset brokerage based on Indonesia joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jeth’s path to the cryptoasset industry and his journey from Consensys to business school to founding Pintu Views on stablecoin adoption and how Jeth and team are approaching this with their Rupiah Token project The Indonesian market and how Pintu is approaching this market opportunity View on DeFi and how centralized infrastructure companies are positione...
Weekly Roundup 04/02/21 (Our Dice Crisis, Paypal opens Bitcoin to Merchants, USA Retail CBDC?) (EP.201)
April 02, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 52.9 MBNic and Matt return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: A crisis with our dice manufacturers Visa will enable USDC settlements on their payment network Paypal turns on Bitcoin payments for 29m merchants Are Paypal transactions actual Bitcoin expenditures? Sillvergate working with Fidelity to provide Bitcoin-backed loans SEC charges LBRY with securities law violations Are founders taking the wrong lessons from SEC inaction? Jay Clayton is now advising OneRiver on ...
Rafael Cosman (TrustToken) on Uncollateralized On-Chain Lending (EP.200)
March 31, 2021 10:00 - 44 minutes - 61.4 MBRafael Cosman, cofounder and CEO of TrustToken, joins the show to talk stablecoins and TrueFi, their non-fully collateralized lending protocol. In this episode: TrustToken's various stablecoins that they administer The real-time stablecoin attestations TrustToken has done with Armanino How a real time attestation works Why the USD is so disproportionate in market share among stablecoins Why DeFi is potentially the killer app for stablecoins today Why Trust Token built a global fx...
James Davolos (Horizon Kinetics) on Betting on Inflation (EP.199)
March 29, 2021 10:00 - 50 minutes - 69.8 MBJames Davolos, VP and portfolio manager at Horizon Kinetics, joins the show to make the case for inflation and to explain their Inflation Beneficiaries ETF, ticker $INFL. In this episode: How Horizon and Murray Stahl were one of the earliest asset managers to put client assets in GBTC How Horizon's value approach landed them at a Bitcoin allocation James' reaction when Horizon first made the Bitcoin allocation Whether Bitcoin is a growth or a value asset, and how to reason about it fr...
Weekly Roundup 03/26/21 (The most violent people on earth, Fidelity's Wise Origin ETF, can GBTC be saved?) (EP.198)
March 26, 2021 10:00 - 41 minutes - 57.2 MBNic and Matt are back for another blockbuster week. In this episode: How Nic ended up being labeled the most violent person on Earth Fidelity files for their Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF The significance of Fidelity's filing today Can the GBTC product actually be redeemed by a majority of shareholders? Amendments to the GBTC charter Odds of the SEC finally seeing the light on the ETF Why an ETF approval is more urgent than ever The toppiest top signal ever making us nervous FATF...
Dan Tapiero (10T Holdings) on Macro, Crypto and Growth Equity (EP.197)
March 24, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MBDan Tapiero, the Managing Partner or 10T Holdings joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dan’s pre-crypto career as a macro manager and entrepreneur and the path that led him to founding 10T Holdings The institutional narrative for Bitcoin and cryptoassets and how this thesis interplays with gold Views on layer one smart contract platforms and how to think about value accrual on these networks How Dan is approaching growth stage opportunities in this industry To learn more about...