Zac Prince on growing BlockFi through a pandemic (EP. 114)
Zac Prince, CEO and Founder of crypto lender BlockFi, joins the show once again to talk their recent growth and milestones. Today, BlockFi announced a $50m Series C round of financing, capitalizing on their recent growth. We dive into the fundraise, BlockFi’s eye-popping growth, and what is driving interest in the crypto lending space today. […]
Dick Bove (Odeon Capital) on the banking sector and the future of dollar dominance (EP.116)
Dick Bove, senior research analyst at Odeon Capital Group joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dick’s 52 year career as a research analyst and his path to covering the banking sector The 2008 financial crisis, the measures that were taken, and how this has impacted the banking industry The future of dollar dominance […]
Zachary Kelman (Kelman Law) on the FATF, Bitcoin, and the International Order (EP.117)
Zachary Kelman, managing partner at Kelman Law PLLC, joins the show to shed light on the FATF – it’s origins and its current mandate – the travel rule, and what the industry can expect from these developments. Covered in this episode: Zach’s prior career in bank compliance and how he decided to focus on Bitcoin […]
Weekly News Roundup 08/28/20 (Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund, is whisky a SoV, do security tokens make sense?) (EP.118)
Nic and Matt cover news and deals of the week. In this episode: FTX acquires Blockfolio for $150m DCG announces a $100m investment in Foundry, a mining subsidiary Fidelity files with the SEC for a Bitcoin fund – and what this means for other asset managers Why large asset managers have not built products around […]
Aditya Palepu and Frédéric Fortier (DerivaDEX) on aspiring to a fully decentralized exchange (EP.119)
Aditya Palepu and Frédéric Fortier, the cofounders of DerivaDEX, join the show to talk about DEXes and prospects for their future development, and to introduce their own project. In this episode: How Adi and Fred chose to build a Dex Why traders tend to love Dexes despite their shortcomings Dexes versus noncustodial exchanges Adi and […]
Weekly News Roundup 09/04/20 (Armageddon II, Activist token investors, emergent effects of high fees) (EP.121)
Nic and Matt return with deals and news of the weak. In this episode: Nic and Matt happen to buy the same book Nic’s article on why the US should embrace stablecoins and credibly neutral crypto-financial infrastructure Our theory on why NYDFS went after Tether Can the US successfully disrupt itself as the administrator of […]
Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer (Electric Capital) on developer communities, raising institutional capital and more (EP.122)
Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer, founding partners of Electric Capital, join the show. In this episode we discuss: Their path from entrepreneurship to starting Electric Capital The experience of raising a $110M fund II from institutional limited partners The current state of play for layer one smart contract platforms Framing decentralized finance for the non-crypto […]
Ruben Galindo (Airtm) on distributing USD to Venezuelan healthcare workers (EP.123)
Ruben Galindo, cofounder and CEO of Airtm, joins the show. Recently, Airtm has been in the news as it was reported that Juan Guaidó, Venezuela’s would-be President, was using the app to coordinate the disbursement of funds seized from the Maduro regime to healthcare workers in Venezuela. In this episode: Why Ruben cofounded Airtm How […]
Gabriel Shapiro (BSV Law) on compatibility between blockchains and the law (EP.125)
Gabriel Shapiro, partner at BSV Law (no relationship to the coin), joins the show to chat securities law, tokenized securities, and the nature of industry regulation. In this episode: Gabriel’s introduction to the crypto industry and Nick Szabo’s influence Gabriel’s view on what public blockchains are for, most fundamentally Why there is an inherent tension […]
Weekly News Roundup 09/11/20 (Crypto penetration by country, DeFi moats and valuations, how DeFi reminds us of PoW launches) (EP.124)
Matt and Nic return for deals and news of the week. In this episode: the NFL is BACK Matt’s predictions for the Patriots season New data on countries where crypto penetration is highest Mastercard launches a CBDC testing platform USDC launches on Algorand Past is prologue for stablecoins moving chains DCG continues to grow into […]