Steven Walbroehl, the co-founder and CTO of Halborn joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Steven’s crypto origin story and how he began tinkering with public blockchains.
• How Halborn’s work differs across traditional financial services customers versus decentralized organization customers.
• Basic recommendations for companies entering the public blockchain ecosystem.
• Halborn’s recent discovery of a zero-day exploit impacting 280 public blockchains.
• Views on market manipulation and game theory exploits.
• Halborn’s Seraph digital notary product and how it is keeping DeFi protocols safe.

To learn more about Halborn visit www.halborn.com

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

• BRC20 PEPE versus ERC20 PEPE
• Is PEPE an alt right coin?
• What’s driving up fees on Bitcoin?
• The relationship between HEX, XEN, and VPMX
• Bitcoin’s circular firing squad
• The upside of high fees in Bitcoin
• Why the White House’s DAME mining tax is counterproductive
• What is the $18b tax loophole the Biden admin thinks crypto investors are taking advantage of?
• What’s the deal with blue checks?
• The difficulty of bootstrapping new social networks
• Bittrex is filing for bankruptcy in the US
• The Democratic messaging on the crypto hearing
• The US chamber of Congress files an amicus brief in the Coinbase v SEC case
• Texas passes a bill to support flare gas mining
• The Wyoming Stable Token gets closer to becoming a reality
• The US Chamber of Commerce amicus brief in the Coinbase v SEC case
• Can the US government afford these interest rates? 
• Matt and Nic solve the debt crisis

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Reuters, Cryptoverse: Digital coins lure inflation-weary Argentines and Turks
• Nic Carter in Coindesk, The White House’s Bitcoin Mining Tax Undermines Itself
• Two Ocean Trust, Revisiting the Case for Bitcoin
• Nick Neumann at Casa, Hands Off our Self-Custody

Sponsor notes:

• Coin Metrics State of the Network – Bidding on Bytes: A Bitcoin & Ethereum Fee Market Update
• In this week’s report, the Coin Metrics team examines the underlying causes of the recent surge in transaction fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum and explore the implications of this development for the future.

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Simon Forster and Duncan Trenholme of TP ICAP join the show. In this episode we discuss: 

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

• Updates on South Shore Bar Pie
• The CIV boys consider new sponsors
• Regional banks keep failing
• Is the turmoil in the bank sector deflationary or inflationary?
• How does the Fed end the banking crisis?
• McHenry’s stablecoin bill
• Biden proposes a 30% tax on Bitcoin miners
• Why Biden’s DAME tax is counterproductive
• RFK Jr’s pro-crypto takes
• Nic throws his hat in the ring for RFK Jr
• Gensler running for Senate in Maryland/
• Where in the world are the FTX executives
• FTX attempts to claw back funds from Genesis
• FTX debtors stumble on Mysten Labs
• Is summary judgment in the Ripple SEC case almost due?
• Nate Chastain is found guilty of insider trading
• Poloniex settles with OFAC
• OpenX is reprimanded by Dubai for not registering
• Coinbase launches in Bermuda
• Bhutan has been mining Bitcoin since 2020
• NYMAG spills the beans about Protego
• CIV is throwing a pickleball event at BTC Miami

Content mentioned in this episode: 

• Jen Wieczner in NYMAG, Is the Federal Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto?

Sponsor notes: 

• Coin Metrics State of the Network – MakerDAO’s Dai Dilemma: As one of the longest-standing DeFi protocols, Maker has held strong as the maintainer of the decentralized stablecoin Dai. Still, the protocol faces headwinds, and MakerDAO stakeholders must make major decisions about governance and risk management.

Check out this episode!

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

What’s the deal with south shore bar pie?

• We review Consensus in Austin
• Nic’s 2022 Coin Center dinner incident
• Nic’s gas siphoning incident
• First Republic appears heading for collapse
• Why was First Republic given time to save itself but not Signature?
• Block partners with Yellowcard for cross-border African payments
• Open Exchange’s purported investors deny investing in the business
• Coinbase is setting up operations in Bermuda
• Coinbase is suing the SEC for clarity
• Hong Kong embraces banking for crypto firms
• NYDFS Superintendent Harris denies that crypto caused the Signature collapse
• The Biden admin is backpedaling on whether crypto contributed to the banking crisis
• House Republicans probe financial regulators for info on de-banking of crypto
• The FBI has searched the home of FTX’s Ryan Salame
• We reminisce on FTX’ Crypto Bahamas conference
• Why is flare gas mining better than the alternative?
• Nic’s music royalties situation
• Nic resolves his differences with the Bitcoin 2023 conference

Content mentioned: 

• The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Embracing new opportunities and accessing banking services
• Letter from Reps Hill, Huizenga, and McHenry to key financial regulators
• TVP, The Emerging Bitcoin-Native Venture Capital Landscape

Sponsor notes: 

• Coin Metrics presents State of the Network Foundations: Blockchain Addresses: This week’s State of the Network kicked off the new Foundations series, which looks to present various technical aspects of blockchain technology in an approachable way. In the first report, Coin Metrics breaks down the concept of an ‘address,’ the fundamental unit of identity in the world of crypto.

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

• We debate some curious new sponsors
• The Miami gas shortage
• Nic’s impressions of NFT NYC
• We review Eric’s Orb
• When do Harberger taxes work?
• CIV is hiring
• The SEC is suing Bittrex and alleges that Algorand and Dash are unregistered securities
• Gensler is skewered by Republican lawmakers in the House Financial Services hearing
• Gensler refuses to answer whether Ethereum is a security
• We review the House hearing on stablecoins
• The McHenry Waters stablecoin bill appears to be dead
• Does FedNow make stablecoins obsolete?
• Should stablecoin issuance be limited to banks?
• A stablecoin catch-22
• Hester Peirce dissents on the proposed SEC exchange rule

Content mentioned:

• CIV is hiring
• Austin Campbell’s written testimony to the House financial services committee
• Hester Peirce, Rendering Innovation Kaput: Statement on Amending the Definition of Exchange
   

Check out this episode!

Dan Tapiero, the founder of 10T Holdings and 1 Round Table Partners joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• The performance of Bitcoin as a macro asset over the past year.
• The current regulatory environment and how the USA is losing its lead versus other countries in the digital asset ecosystem.
• The prospect of U.S. companies going public in non-U.S. jurisdictions.
• How Dan and his team approach growth stage investing.
• The secondary market and how Dan thinks about building ownership via secondary transactions.
• The LP landscape and how allocators are thinking about digital asset ecosystem managers.

To learn more about Dan visit the 1RT website and follow Dan on Twitter

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back for the 400th episode of OTB! In this roundup: 

• Nic’s Vespa story
• More on Ordinals
• Is embedding non-economic data in Bitcoin Satoshi’s vision?
• How Ordinals accelerates efficiency improvements in Bitcoin
• More FTX crime family news
• SBF is hit with four new criminal charges
• Augustin Cartens claims that crypto has lost the battle against fiat
• NYAG vs Coinex
• The SEC alleges that UST is a security – does this implicate other stables?
• What can Congress do about Choke Point 2.0 or SEC overreach
• Rep. Emmer introduces an anti-CBDC bill
• Matt’s baseball card collection
• Silvergate is the most shorted stock right now
• The SEC blocks Binance.US‘ purchase of Voyager assets

Check out this episode!

Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor joins us to talk ordinals, inscriptions, and digital collectibles on Bitcoin. In this episode:

• What is an ordinal? Why the name?
• The history of ordinals and inscriptions
• How does ordinal theory work exactly?
• How to participate in ordinals and do you need Ord
• The interaction between inscriptions and Bitcoin fees
• Should inscriptions be compressed? How should this happen?
• Why did Casey not use Counterparty?
• How Bitcoin is the most premium blockspace for NFTs
• Inscribed content property rights on Bitcoin versus Ethereum
• Will Bitcoin state just be pruned?
• Who will store inscription data?
• How bitcoin data availability might be improving over time
• How ordinals affect Bitcoin’s security budget
• Why NFT traders are looking at Bitcoin for the first time
• Where the inscription 400kb limit comes from
• ‘Ripping a 4 megger’
• Is Casey concerned about out of band transactions
• Do ordinals actually increase the possible efficiency of operating a full node?
• The primary bottlenecks in running Bitcoin Core and how inscriptions affect that
• Will ordinals catalyze more pruning in Bitcoin Core?
• Might ordinals make rollups more likely on Bitcoin?
• Do inscriptions dilute Bitcoin’s primary purpose as a monetary system?
• Transporting other NFTs to Bitcoin with teleburns
• What Casey is most excited about with ordinals

Further reading: 

• Ordinals.com
• Rodarmor.com
• Casey’s twitter

Check out this episode!

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.

Check out this episode!

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

Check out this episode!

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!