Ray Hindi and Jake Lynch of L1 Digital join the show. In this episode we discuss:

• L1 Digital’s origin story and early path into the crypto ecosystem.
• The firm’s approach to investing in managers and making direct investment.
• The evolution of crypto funds including views on structure, strategy, focus.
• The fundraising landscape – how pensions/larger pools of capital think about crypto investing.
• Views on the impact of FTX.
• Thoughts on the current regulatory landscape.
• Real World Assets (RWAs) and how L1D is exploring this thematic area.
• DAOs and how this framework is evolving.

To learn more about L1 Digital visit L1.Digital.

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

• Is peak FUD in?
• Is this the ‘custody rule rally’?
• OTB is keeping the deals of the week
• House is probing the connections between FTX and the SEC
• SBF is banned from using a VPN
• Is SBF a secret sports fan?
• SBF’s bail cosigners are unmasked
• SBF VC investors are hit with a class action lawsuit
• SEC sends Paxos a Wells notice
• Circle dispells Wells notice rumors
• Is the SEC going after all stablecoins or just BUSD?
• What does Reves say about stablecoins being securities?
• Tether is the beneficiary of the crackdowns in the US
• Can US regulators really go after Tether?
• How Paypal deposits are like stablecoins
• What’s in the SEC’s custody rules?
• Changes to market structure if the SEC’s custody rules go through
• Binance suggests that they are ready to settle up with US regulators

Check out this episode!

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

• Kraken winds down their staking as a service product
• The SEC asks all staking as a service providers to register
• Does 3rd party staking pass all of the prongs of Howey?
• The FT’s article on the final days of FTX
• Did the FTX executives leave the labradoodles in the Bahamas?
• Ordinals are bringing NFT enthusiasts to Bitcoin
• Matt has had a tough week
• Kyle and Su launch OPNX
• So what’s the deal with the crypto-focused Chokepoint 2.0?
• Major crypto-facing banks are cutting back their crypto practice
• What will be the fate of the Wyoming SPDIs?
• The boys review Bad Boys
• We discuss Colombia’s hippo problem
• DCG reaches a provisional agreement with creditors
• Our Storybook Brawl conspiracy

Content mentioned: 

• Nic in Pirate Wires, Operation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, And Crypto Is In Its Crosshairs

Sponsor notes:

• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Check out this episode!

Check out this episode!

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

• Nic’s Proof of Reserves for Policymakers
• Charlie Munger attacks crypto
• The academic Tether truthers are back
• We unveil a new bad boy
• New allegations about Celsius surface
• The problem with exchange tokens
• How do you retire a token?
• The paradox of issuing tokens via an offshore foundation
• SBF is allegedly tampering with witnesses
• Did Sam really believe in EA?
• We review Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto
• Were the Maya really that bad?
• What on earth is going on with Ordinals?
• Are Bitcoin NFTs a DOS attack? 
• A conflict of visions in Bitcoin reemerges 
• Matt keeps tearing his shirts
• VC dress codes 

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Ark Invest Big Ideas 2023 Report
• Coin Metrics‘ report on MEV
• Dennis Porteaux, Illegitimate Bitcoin Transactions
• Nic Carter, Proof of Reserves for Policymakers

Check out this episode!

Check out this episode!

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

• Is there a socially optimal level of vigilantism 
• What’s the deal with Modulo Capital? 
• SBF’s mother and brothers are now in the crosshairs
• Matt and Nic hash our VR vs AR
• Ted Cruz asks cafeterias in the Capitol to accept bitcoin 
• Texas introduces Proof of Reserve legislation 
• What’s North Korea’s endgame with all their hacked crypto?
• Tucker Carlson’s theory that the airline outage was due to Bitcoin randomware 
• Matt’s Bell’s Palsy story
• Roger Ver owes Genesis $20m 
• Tungsten cubes are making a comeback
• Our Super Bowl picks

Content mentioned in this episode: 

• Fidelity Digital Assets, “2023 Look Ahead: Refocusing and Building on Digital Assets’ Core Principles.“
• Galaxy Digital mining, “Surviving the Perfect Storm – 2022 End of Year Mining Report“
• Former Senator Phil Gramm and current SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce in the WSJ, “The SEC Seeks to Supplant the Market. Its mandate doesn’t include telling CEOs how to run their companies and investors how to invest“
• Texas Bill HB-1666
• NYDFS new virtual currency guidance for custodial institutions

Check out this episode!

Maneesh Gandhi and Michael Liddy of Evanston Capital join the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Evanston Capital’s history and thoughts on the blockchain ecosystem
• Their views on the current market environment and how this crypto cycle compares to others
• The evolution of the crypto venture landscape and how Evanston Capital thinks about crypto venture structures
• Thoughts on the FTX collapse and its impact on the market
• How institutional limited partners are thinking about the crypto/blockchain ecosystem
• Potential areas of opportunity in the current market environment

To learn more about Evanston Capital visit www.evanstoncap.com

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Tony Scuderi, the founder of Imperii Partners joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• The investment banking landscape for crypto/blockchain companies.
• How the fundraising environment is evolving in 2023.
• The impact of FTX on the broader market.
• How companies backed by FTX are taking action.
• The M&A landscape.
• Common pitfalls that founders make when selling their business.

To learn more about Imperii Partners visit imperiipartners.com

Check out this episode!

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

• What’s going on with our merch?
• Nic’s pitch for pickleball
• What’s the deal with the leaked GTX pitch deck?
• What happened at CoinFLEX?
• Our conspiracy about GTX
• What’s the latest with the FTX crime family
• Will FTX or FTX.US be relaunched?
• SBF says FTX.US is still solvent
• DOJ takes down Bizlato
• Genesis is exploring a bankruptcy process
• Coinbase is pulling out of Japan
• What was the deal with NEM?
• What happened with Veritaseum
• Corporate loyalty programs are getting debased
• Peter Thiel liquidates his BTC

Sponsor notes:

• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

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Deribit Chief Commercial Officer Luuk Strijers joins the show to talk about their new Proof of Reserve rollout. In this episode: 

• Why Deribit decided to do a PoR 
• What were the considerations going into it? What made Deribit cautious about the procedure?
• Which PoRs did Deribit look at for inspiration?
• Has Deribit received client feedback from the procedure so far?
• How does Deribit demonstrate asset ownership?
• Unique among exchanges, Deribit was able to do a PoR for all of your assets, and on a daily basis. How did they manage this? 
• Why Deribit chose to release the full list of liabilities 
• How does Deribit achieve end user privacy given the full liability dump?
• What data, if any, is leaked by the attestation?
• Did you look at audit firms in terms of supervising the PoR? Why did you go the auditless approach?
• Does Luuk anticipate moving to ZK proofs for liabilities eventually?
• How can PoR be improved? 

Related episodes: 

• OTB 180, The Auditor view of PoR 
• OTB 212, The Proof of Reserve Restoration 
• OTB 283, Jeremy Welch (Kraken) on Contemporary Proofs of Reserve

Related content: 

• Nic Carter on Medium, The Status of Proof of Reserve as of Year End 2022

Check out this episode!

Arch cofounders Dhruv Patel and Himanshu Sahay 

• Arch coming out of stealth
• Key lessons learned from the crypto lending crisis
• Arch’s differentiated offering within crypto and other alternative assets
• Leveraging crypto rails to build a lender of the future
• Using experience at top technology companies to build a superior consumer product

Learn more at Archlending.com and on Twitter

Check out this episode!

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

• What’s happening with Proof of Reserves?
• Will BTC and ETH have another fee crisis?
• Nishad Singh has met with the SDNY in a proffer session
• The SEC is investigating VC funds that invested in FTX
• FTX debtors and the Bahamas announced a cooperation agreement
• FTX announced that it has recovered over $5 billion in assets thus far
• Gemini and DCG continue to face off
• Cameron Winklevoss’ letter to DCG
• Nexo is raided in Bulgaria for alleged money laundering
• Robinhood is dropping support for Bitcoin SV
• DCG is under investigation from the SEC
• Mike Novogratz wants to punch disgraced crypto titans in the face
• Crypto charity boxing
• We review Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
• SBF starts a Substack
• Japanese retail sours on crypto
• Should there be more charity boxing in crypto?
• The state of crypto podcast sponsors

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Ria on Mirror, Reviving Trust in Crypto
• Coinbase, 2023 Crypto Market Outlook

Sponsor notes:

• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Check out this episode!

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

• A call for on-chain archeology
• Nic’s scuppered NYE plans
• More news from the FTX crime family
• Who is SBF’s mystery bail benefactor?
• SBF pleads not guilty
• SBF is prohibited from moving further FTX/Alameda assets
• SBF had four meetings with White House staffers regarding pandemic preparedness
• New inductees into the Bad Boys club
• Nic’s pickleball confession
• We revisit the 42 yard field goal challenge
• The Bahamas regulators wrangle with Jon Ray regarding FTX assets
• The SEC steps in to stop the voyager deal
• The House fails to elect a speaker
• NYDFS fines Coinbase $50m for deficient compliance
• DCG and Gemini’s wrangle
• India’s new crypto framework
• What’s happening with the institutionalization of crypto?

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Sean Judge on Medium, Reasons to remain bullish after a year in crypto hell

Sponsor notes:

• Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Check out this episode!

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

• Galaxy acquires the Helios miner facility from Argo
• Consolidating in the miner space 
• A new bad boy bursts onto the scene 
• Avraham Eisenberg is arrested in Puerto Rico 
• Should it be illegal to exploit defi contracts, even if you reach an agreement with the DAO?
• Craig Wright’s case against Peter McCormack
• SBF is slated to enter a plea 
• What’s the deal with IEX and FTX?
• Nic’s Michael Lewis conspiracy
• The FTX blockfolio acquisition was mostly financed with FTT
• The cold snap causes Bitcoin hashrate to decline around 40% in a week 
• Exchanges are unbundling custody and order matching 
• Our predictions for 2023

Sponsor notes:

• Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Check out this episode!

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

• Are stablecoins still a priority in DC?
• The rise of the FUDfluencer
• Sam agrees to be extradited
• Did the SDNY wait for Sam to be extradited to release Caroline’s plea deal?
• Alameda was siphoning FTX funds from day 1
• What’s the deal with Modulo Capital?
• Is Gerald Cotten back from the dead?
• Does Flashboys need a new chapter?
• What is going on with IEX?
• How did Michael Lewis not figure out something was up at FTX?
• Sen. Pat Toomey’s stablecoin legislation
• Core Scientific files for bankruptcy
• Why the mining shakeout might lead to consolidation
• The Fed’s stablecoin blog
• Visa’s autopayments for non-custodial wallets
• Stablecoins are having a great year
• Where are the remaining FTX execs?

Content mentioned: 

• Coinbase, Regulating Crypto: How we move forward as an industry from here
• Visa, Auto Payments for Self-Custodial Wallets

Sponsor notes:

• Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Check out this episode!

Minnesota Representative and newly elected House Whip Tom Emmer joins the show for a discussion of the FTX fallout, the House hearings, the SEC’s behavior throughout the process, and developments in the House looking ahead to 2023.

• Rep. Emmer’s thoughts on the House hearing with John Ray
• How the FTX collapse was about a failure of centralization
• How the timing of the SBF arrest was not coincidental – and who had an incentive to stop SBF testifying
• Why the Bahamian authorities may not have wanted SBF to testify
• The meaning of Rep. Emmer’s march letter to Gensler and the SEC
• Chairman Gensler’s role in the FTX scandal
• Has Gensler been concealing his calendar from the public?
• Gensler’s poor track record over the crypto crisis
• Oddly close links between SEC Chair Gensler, FTX, and subsidiary exchange IEX
• House Republicans will gain the subpoena authority in the next legislative session and what they will do with it
• What are some of Emmer’s responsibilities in his new role as Majority Whip? The importance of Rep. McHenry taking charge of the House financial services committee
• What are the prospects for stablecoin legislation?
• McHenry’s likely crypto agenda for the new session
• Rep. Emmer’s commitment to financial privacy
• Senator Warren’s draft legislation and risks to the crypto ecosystem
• The importance of Rep. Emmer’s Securities Clarity Act
• Modernizing a securities regulation regime for crypto
• How are Rep. Emmer’s colleagues reacting to the FTX crisis
• The role of journalists in assessing the FTX situation

Content mentioned in the episode

• Rep. Emmer & colleagues original March ’22 letter to SEC Chair Gensler
• Rep. Emmer’s annotations of the March letter in response to Gensler’s criticisms

Check out this episode!

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

• Is SBF currently interned in a top 5 prison on earth?
• SBF is finally arrested
• We enumerate the charges from the SEC, CFTC, and DOJ
• What kind of sentence could Sam be looking at here?
• The CFTC’s interesting argument for standing over FTX
• SBF is charged is campaign finance violations Confirming that Alameda did have latency and other advantages trading on FTX
• SBF’s parents face growing scrutiny
• What’s the deal with Gensler’s calendar?
• Gensler comes under more scrunity for his FTX/IEX meetings
• Mr. John Ray is a new star of CT
• We have a new possible category for bad boys
• McCaffrey resigns from The Block after revealing loans from SBF
• Elizabeth Warren proposed a hostile anti-crypto bill
• Do Kwon is reportedly in Serbia
• The DOJ is reportedly split over charging Binance
• What’s the deal with the Binance ‘bank run’?

Sponsor notes:

• Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Check out this episode!

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

• Brink Nation’s surprising fan club in Bali
• We investigate FTX’s leaked private equity portfolio
• FTX employees were raising LP money for funds from FTX
• Why was FTX acting as a fund of funds?
• What is modulo capital
• The Michael Lewis – IEX – FTX troika
• Why did FTX invest $1b+ in Genesis Digital Assets?
• SBF’s possible incentive to invest heavily in a BTC miner
• How FTX’s mining investment disadvantaged other BTC miners
• Who has the size to buy up FTX’s private equity portfolio?
• Sam and Caroline secure high powered attorneys
• The Boston Globe’s Caroline Ellison article
• We correct the record on BlockFi
• Restating the core issues with 3AC
• Democrats are criticizing Gensler for his inaction on FTX
• What’s the deal with Sam’s subpoena?
• What’s the deal with the Coindesk most influential
• Does PoS make Ethereum a security?
• What’s the deal with the Castle Island merch store?

Sponsor notes:

• Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
• Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Check out this episode!

In this episode, Ria is joined by Robert Miller, Steward at Flashbots, which is a research and development organization with the aim to reduce the negative externalities and risks posed by MEV, or maximal extractable value.

We cover:

• The MEV supply chain and how it’s evolved as Ethereum transitioned from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake
• The new challenges and risk vectors that have emerged as a result of the transition, notably around decentralization and censorship resistance
• The tools Flashbots has proposed and implemented in response, such as Flashbots Auction, MEV Geth, MEV Boost, and the open sourcing of these tools to foster a competitive market
• The risk posed by exclusive order flow and cross domain MEV in centralizing block building
• The latest endeavor of the organization to decentralize block building using a new network – SUAVE (the single unifying auction for value expression)

Research mentioned: 

• Order flow, auctions and centralisation – Quintus 
• Flashbots – The Good, Bad and the Ugly of MEV

Check out this episode!