Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• Monad Madness
• CZ is released from jail
• Roman Storm’s motion to dismiss is denied
• Mango settles with the SEC
• Swift is piloting digital asset transactions
• Bitwise submits and S-1 for a Ripple ETF
• Visa announces their Tokenized Assets Platform
• Franklin moves to Aptos
• The SEC’s Gurbir Grewal steps down

Sponsor notes

• Coin Metrics, State of the Network’s Q3 2024 Wrap-Up: A data-driven overview of events shaping crypto markets in Q3–2024
• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto

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Stephen Novenstern, the founder of Kintsu joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Stephen’s path to the cryptocurrency industry and the vision for Kintsu, a liquid staking project in the Monad ecosystem.
• The history of DeFi and the LST category.
• Why Monad and views on the net new primitives that are enabled by this new layer one blockchain.
• The future of layer one blockchains.
• Central limit orderbooks in decentralized finance.

To learn more about Kintsu visit their website and follow the project on X.  

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Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• Gensler denies knowledge of Operation Choke Point 2.0
• We recap the Silvergate collapse
• Why did the MSM ignore the new Silvergate revelations?
• Trump’s fair banking access rule
• Looking back at the Signature closure
• Gensler appears in front of the House
• Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison
• Options approved for Bitcoin ETFs
• SEC versus TUSD
• What’s going on with the port strike?
• Nic’s panda moon moon situation

Sponsor notes:

• Coin Metrics, Real World Assets (RWAs) & Tokenization Report. Exploring the RWA landscape, sectors and networks gaining adoption, regulatory implications and market opportunities.
• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto

Content mentioned:

• Ross Stevens, Bitcoin’s Protection under the First Amendment

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Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• Nic’s Singapore Zyn problem
• Nic’s Token 2049 keynote
• The Iggy Azalea Eric Wall debate
• Trump make an appearance at Pubkey in NYC
• World Liberty Financial continues to be insane
• SEC versus Flyfish club
• Are airdrops done for?
• Is JPM really the “largest user of blockchain”?
• Bhutan has a ton of Bitcoin
• Listening to podcasts with AI
• Interest rates fell
• The exploding pagers and what it means for crypto

Sponsor notes:

• Coin Metrics, The Crypto Universe Through the Lens of datonomy™
• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto

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Alex Leishman, founder and CEO of River, joins us to talk about River’s Proof of Reserve initiative. In this episode: 

• River business update
• Building their own custodian
• Why Alex decided to do PoR now?
• River’s PoR mechanics
• Proof of Reserve versus traditional audit
• What kind of assurances PoR gives users
• How does River handle privacy for PoR?
• Responding to various PoR critiques
• Boxing
• What’s on the horizon for River

Content mentioned:

• Alex’s previous appearance on OTB
• River PoR on Github
• River PoR: river.com/reserves

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• We review the Trump-Harris debate
• Matt’s new wildlife problems
• Nic’s birthday party
• Trump doubles down on World Liberty Financial
• The Castle Island stablecoins whitepaper is out!
• Our reactions to the emerging markets stablecoin report
• TZero gets approval to trade tokenized securities
• Coinbase’s cbBTC
• North Carolina bans CBDCs
• Something is happening to Friend Tech
• Circle is moving their HQ to NYC

Content mentioned:

• Castle Island, Visa, and BH Digital, Stablecoins: The Emerging Market Story

Sponsor notes:

• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto
• Coin Metrics state of the network: A Primer on Blockchain Network Health: Exploring key metrics to gauge network health and centralization in PoW and PoS blockchains

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• SEC fiscal year ending in September
• How to get accurate transfer volume figures for stablecoins
• How much volume do stablecoins really settle?
• Do SEC rules stop registered venture firms from voting in governance or staking?
• CFTC settles with Uniswap
• Robinhood settles with the California DoJ
• Choke Point 2.0 is still happening
• What’s the latest with World Liberty Financial?
• John Deaton wins his primary in MA
• What’s the deal with Polymarket versus the polls?

Sponsor notes:

• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto
• Coin Metrics: An Update on Layer–1 Networks

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Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• Has cryptodollarization occured?
• Tigran Gambaryan is still detained in Nigeria
• Durov of Telegram was detained in France
• Should major tech companies leave the EU?
• The SEC settles with Abra
• Sony is launching an ETH L2
• The mythical Harris reset
• VCs for Harris support Harris
• Trump’s weird World Liberty Financial DeFi thing is looking ominous

Sponsor notes:

• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto
• Coin Metrics Stablecoin Dashboard; State of Stablecoins: Sector Expansion & A Changing Interest Rate Environment

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Scott Fletcher, founder of Intersection Growth Partners joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Scott’s professional background and the events that led him to launching Intersection Growth Partners.
• The Intersection Growth Partners business model and how they also became investors in a number of their clients’ businesses.
• The current state of the Executive Search market for digital asset/blockchain companies.
• How the best founders run structured recruiting and interview processes.
• What job candidates should be thinking about when evaluating digital asset / blockchain roles.
• The categories of roles that are the most in demand in today’s environment.
• The impact of legislation on the future of the industry.

To learn more about Intersection Growth Partners, visit their website.

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Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• SALT Wyoming review
• Nic’s next fight 
• How Bitcoin miners have a procyclical effect on the Bitcoin price
• Hunting Hill is launching a credit fund seeded by Kraken
• Wyoming is launching a stable token in Q1 of 2025
• The SEC rejects CBOE’s filings for SOL ETFs
• Is Gensler actually being slated to run Treasury under Harris?
• Tether is launching a UAE Dirham stablecoin
• Our upcoming Emerging Markets Stablecoin Report
• Our Bozo of the Week
• Babylon is launching
• Ron Conway defects from Fairshake PAC
• Chuck Schumer is evolving on crypto
• Would a CBDC actually be private for users?

Sponsor notes: 

• Unwrapping Wrapped Assets & wBTC: In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 273, we understand wrapped bitcoin’s (wBTC) custody transition, BitGo’s business model and usage of WBTC in DeFi
• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• Fairshake is getting active in Senate Races
• What’s going on with the Harris pivot?
• Chuck Schumer promises crypto legislation by end of year
• What’s happening with WBTC?
• The SEC is subpoenaing VC funds over Uniswap
• Don Jr is launching a crypto project
• Will CBDCs destroy the stablecoin sector?
• Will stablecoins have to KYC all holders?

Sponsor notes:

• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto
• Futures Falter, Funding Flips: In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 272, we explore the robustness of decentralized systems and the stability of synthetic financial products within the crypto ecosystem.

Check out this episode!

Michael Bentley, Co-Founder & CEO of Euler joins the show to talk about crypto lending and the launch of Euler v2. In this episode: 

• The evolution of lending/borrowing in crypto/defi
• Euler’s history and the upcoming launch of Euler v2
• How crypto allows for market discovery of financial primitives
• Building programmable finance around blue chip and long tail assets alike

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Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• What happened with the rate-based turmoil in Japan?
• VP Harris announces Tim Walz as her VP pick
• Ripple settles with the SEC for $125m
• Is Jump quitting crypto? (again)
• Are Plustoken ETH on the move?
• Does the Harris reset with crypto have legs?
• Does Trump’s promise to end Choke Point have legs?
• Adeyemo for treasury secretary?
• The Fed issues an enforcement action against Customers Bank, one of the most active pro-crypto banks
• Our Olympics recap
• Nic’s airsoft misadventures
• Austin Campbell’s thread on Customer’s bank

Sponsor notes:

• An Update on Crypto Markets & Coinbase Q2 2024 Earnings: In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 271, we provide an update on crypto markets amid the unfolding global market sell-off and break down Coinbase’s Q2 2024 earnings.
• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• We react to Trump’s speech on Bitcoin in Nashville
• Is Bitcoin a proxy for Trump’s electoral chances?
• Will there be a “crypto reset” from the Harris campaign?
• Lummis’ Bitcoin Act
• The US government moves some Bitcoin
• Should the US government hold on to the coins from the Bitfinex hack?
• Is the new Bitcoin law civil asset forfeiture?
• Tether’s big Q2
• Where are the Tether Truthers?
• Howard Lutnick’s claim about SBF and Tether
• Bitclout founder Nader Al Naji is charged by the SEC and SDNY
• California DMV partners up with the Avalanche network

Content mentioned:

• Adams, Ibert, and Liao, What Drives Crypto Asset Prices?

Sponsor notes:

• Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. – withum.com/crypto

• The Story of Ethereum Staking So Far: In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 270, we uncover Ethereum’s staking ecosystem, from “The Merge” to “Shapella”, the rise of LSTs and beyond.

Check out this episode!

Luke Hoersten, the founder and CEO of Bitnomial joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Luke’s background and the path that led him to start Bitnomial.
• An overview of Bitnomial and the products that the firm has launched to date.
• Perspectives on the market participants that are engaging in the digital asset derivatives market today.
• The future of digital asset market structure in the United States.
• The regulatory landscape and what is potentially ahead for the industry.
• How Bitnomial’s licensing strategy is unlocking new product opportunities.

To learn more about Bitnomial visit their website.

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Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• Nic recaps his Karate fight
• The Bitcoin Nashville conference
• Kamala’s crypto posture
• A new pension fund is buying Bitcoin
• Did we get a soft landing?

Content mentioned:

• BVNK, The decade of digital dollars

Sponsor notes:

• The Launch of Ether ETFs
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 269, we look into ETH ETF fees, Grayscale funds and demand & supply dynamics heading into Ether ETF Launch

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Representative French Hill (R-AR) join the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Representative Hill’s perspective on the blockchain/digital asset ecosystem and why he initially became interested in this technology.
• The status of SAB 121 repeal.
• FIT 21 and the future of market structure clarity in the United States.
• The prospects of stablecoin legislation and the issues that are being discussed in Congress.
• Tigran Gambaryan’s unlawful detainment in Nigeria.

To learn more about Representative Hill’s efforts please visit his website.

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Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• Nate Silver joins Polymarket
• JD Vance is Trump’s VP nominee
• Ethereum ETFs get the final go ahead
• Should crypto users be single issue voters?
• JD Vance’s crypto platform
• Does a Trump Vance admin imply a devaluation of the dollar?
• JD Vance and seed oils
• State Street is exploring their own stablecoin
• Possible SAB121 carveouts
• Germany is done selling their Bitcoin
• The CSW story is finally over
• Jamie Dimon for Treasury secretary?
• Trump is due to speak at Bitcoin Nashville
• Update on how voting works in Congress
• Was Trabs a whistleblower?

Sponsor notes:

• Charting the Course to Mt. Gox Repayments
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 268, we trace Mt. Gox’s journey, analyzing BTC wallet flows and liquidity in the wake of Mt. Gox repayments.

Check out this episode!