Weekly Roundup 11/27/20 (What we are thankful for, USDC in Venezuela, is GBTC behind the rally?) (EP.151)
Nic and Matt return with a special Thanksgiving issue of OTB. In this episode: How Castle Island VC was almost Brink VC The difference between financialized walled-garden gold and its Bitcoin equivalent How USDC is being used in Venezuela via AirTM How stablecoins are now tools of geopolitical power projection Vaneck lanches an ETN on […]
Pelle Brændgaard (Notabene) on how crypto service providers are dealing with the Travel Rule (EP.152)
Pelle Brændgaard, the cofounder and CEO of Notabene, an enterprise software company building compliance tools to enable trusted cryptoasset transactions between financial services firms, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Pelle’s early work in distributed systems and pre-bitcoin cyber-cash projects His path to cofounding Uport and his views on decentralized identity systems The […]
Mathias Imbach (Sygnum Bank) on the importance of crypto banking (EP.153)
Mathias Imbach, cofounder and CEO of Sygnum Singapore, joins the show. In this episode: How Mathias came to cofound Sygnum The state of affairs in Crypto Valley in Switzerland today Why crypto banks are necessary and useful Why the company is split – cofounders, offices, and investors – between Zurich and Singapore Why Switzerland and […]
Weekly Roundup 12/04/20 (The Dastardly STABLE Act, USDC partners with Visa, Larry Fink evolves on Bitcoin) (EP.154)
In this week’s episode, Nic and Matt torch the STABLE Act cosponsored by their local representative Stephen Lynch (MA-8). Also covered: Stephen Lynch and Rashida Tlaib’s STABLE Act What the STABLE Act requires of fintech providers hosting user balances What stablecoin issuers are not like banks Why the STABLE Act would be disastrous for competition […]
Mustafa Yilham (Bixin) on the industrial Bitcoin miner perspective (EP.155)
Mustafa Yilham, VP of global business development at Bixin, joins the show. Bixin is an early Asia-based Bitcoin miner; they operate a popular wallet app, and they run a Bitcoin-denominated quant fund of funds. We cover prevailing myths around industrial Bitcoin mining and the reality of sourcing energy at competitive prices for mining. In this […]
Weekly Roundup 12/11/20 (What’s Treasury up to?, MSTR’s bond offering, would the STABLE act kill Dunkin?) EP.157
Nic and Matt return to cover an avalanche of news and deals. In this episode: Blockstack’s transmutation Bitso raises $62m Matt breaks down the Microstrategy bond offering Mass Mutual buys $100m worth of Bitcoin through NYDIG A bipartisan group of Representatives asked Jay Clayton for clarity on broker dealer custody for cryptoassets The looming crackdown […]
Muneeb Ali (Blockstack) on Bitcoin-based Smart Contracts (EP.156)
Muneeb Ali, cofounder of Blockstack, joins the show to talk about the launch of Stacks 2.0 and its evolution from a securities offering to a freely tradable instrument in the U.S. New developments with Stacks and a novel legal opinion What constitutes sufficient decentralization and how Blockstack took cues from regulators Why Blockstack felt empowered […]
Weekly Roundup 12/18/20 feat. a pseudonymous fixed income trader (Our MSTR mea culpa, are CME futs cursed, what isn’t a commodity?) (EP.159)
Matt and Nic return to cover a blockbuster week of ATHs. We invite a pseudonymous bond trader to give a rebuttal to our somewhat misguided take on the Microstrategy bond offering on last week’s episode. Also in this episode: Our take on the STABLE Act (again) Are balances on the Dunkin and Starbucks apps stablecoins […]
Amber Scott (Outlier Canada) on crypto-bank relationships in Canada (EP.158)
Compliance expert Amber Scott joins the show to explain why crypto-firms are systematically excluded from the bank sector in Canada. In this episode: Our objective in launching a series on bank suppression of the crypto industry The current bank landscape in Canada Why crypto firms struggle to get access to banking in Canada Why money […]
Matt Hougan (Bitwise) on the prospects for a Bitcoin ETF in 2021 (EP.160)
Matt Hougan, the Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Bitwise’s new OTC trust product “BITW” The state of play for cryptoasset adoption in the RIA channel The evolving thesis for Bitcoin and other cryptoassets Prospects for a Bitcoin ETF in 2021 To learn more visit Bitwise […]