Weekly Roundup 02/19/21 (MSTR’s speculative attack, Coinbase trading at $77b, The Tulip Bubble Myth?) (EP.182)

Nic and Matt break down the headlines in yet another week of ATHs. In this episode: 

  • Our cured meat scandal
  • We dissect crypto mafias
  • Necessary conditions for a corporate mafia to form
  • Microstrategy’s speculative attack on the dollar
  • How the corporate adoption story took us by surprise
  • Is there a goodwill dividend for buying bitcoin?
  • Is buying bitcoin a bitcoin strategy?
  • Nic’s 50k road trip to Tahanis in Ontario
  • Coin Metrics’ partnership with Bitgo and KPMG
  • Verge has a year-long reorg
  • Is Coinbase fairly priced at $77b pre-IPO?
  • Should Coinbase be worth more than Goldman?
  • OFAC reminds us that it exists
  • The implications of OFAC compliant mining
  • How the tulip bubble is a Calvinist conspiracy

Content mentioned in this episode: 

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Rene Van Kesteren (BlockFi) on how BlockFi handles risk (EP.180)

BlockFi Chief Risk Officer Rene Van Kesteren joins the show to explain how crypto lender and brokerage BlockFi engages in risk management. In this episode:

  • Rene’s career trajectory and the path that led him to joining BlockFi
  • The mechanics of how BlockFi offers interest bearing accounts
  • The borrowing and lending market structure
  • How BlockFi thinks about counterparty risk
  • The reason why rates on U.S. Dollars are higher for stablecoins vs. dollars in a bank account
  • How margin calls work
  • Differences and similarities in market structure in ‘traditional’ vs. cryptoasset markets
  • The biggest misconceptions about BlockFi and crypto lending in general

To learn more about risk management at Blockfi visit:

https://blockfi.com/how-blockfi-handles-risk-and-security

To learn more about BlockFi’s products visit: www.blockfi.com

 

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Teddy Fusaro (Bitwise) on the Bitwise DeFi Index Fund (EP.181)

Teddy Fusaro, the President of Bitwise Asset Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

  • The new Bitwise DeFi Index Fund
  • The decentralized finance opportunity set and the narratives driving the space
  • Teddy’s career path to cryptoassets and joining Bitwise
  • The prospects of a Bitcoin ETFs
  • Cured meats

To learn more about Bitwise visit their website.

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Zachary Kelman (Kelman Law) on the lingering effects of Choke Point (EP.179)

Repeat guest Zach Kelman joins the show to break down the contemporary effects of Operation Choke Point from his perspective as a lawyer having worked in compliance and regulatory for large financial institutions. In this episode: 

  • The (pre)history of Choke Point – and how it wasn’t a bolt from the blue 
  • How Choke Point was mechanically enforced against the banks 
  • Why industry-wide politicization of financial services is a poor policy to pursue 
  • How Choke Point lasted far beyond its original mandate
  • Have banks been permanently politicized as a result of OCP? 
  • How Choke Point’s effects are being felt in the crypto industry
  • What to expect on an ongoing basis

Prior episodes in the Choke Point 2.0 series 

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Weekly Roundup 02/12/21 (BNY Mellon supports Bitcoin, the Bitcoin energy debate, Elon Day) (EP.178)

Nic and Matt return for one of the most explosive weeks in the history of the podcast. In this episode: 

  • How Nic ended up at war with the Dogecoin fans
  • CIV closes a $50m fund
  • Tom Brady wins the Super Bowl
  • Should responsible CFOs own Bitcoin on their corporate balance sheets?
  • Bitcoin on the balance sheet as a signaling mechanism
  • BNY Mellon announces support for Bitcoin
  • The St Louis Fed is writing articles about DeFi
  • Nic orangepills Central Bankers
  • Our guesses for the first central banks to adopt Bitcoin
  • Nigeria contemplates a Bitcoin ban
  • Mastercard is supporting cryptocurrency on their networks – what does this mean?
  • The Bitcoin energy debate
  • Can you compare Bitcoin to Visa?
  • Are Christmas lights wasteful

Content mentioned in this episode: 

 

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Edan Yago (Sovryn) on Bitcoin-Native DeFi (EP.177)

Edan Yago, product lead at Sovryn, talks us through the prospects for DeFi on Bitcoin. In this episode: 

  • Edan Yago’s origin story
  • How Edan became disenchanted with the Bitcoin community’s ambition
  • Did Bitcoiners compromise on an original vision of adopting successful alternative technologies?
  • Is Bitcoin sufficiently expressive to be a functional base layer for smart contracting?
  • Was the original vision of sidechains abandoned?
  • The state of the art in trustless sidechains
  • Is the perfect the enemy of the good with Bitcoin?
  • Is Lightning “worse is better”?
  • Is Bitcoin hamstrung by the pursuit of perfection?
  • Why compromising on trust assurances has been a boon for Ethereum
  • Why native smart contracting on Bitcoin is superior to using wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum
  • Do rollups break composability for DeFi?
  • Is DeFi subsidized by token issuance and liquidity mining?
  • What can Bitcoiners learn from Ethereum?
  • Thoughts on other Bitcoin L2s like Blockstack
  • Update on Rootstock/RSK and why Sovryn is building on it
  • What Sovryn is and what you can do with it
  • Does Sovryn require any changes to Bitcoin itself?

 

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Galen Wolfe-Pauly (Tlon) on Urbit and the Architecture of the Internet (EP.176)

Galen Wolfe-Pauly, cofounder of Tlon, joins the show to give us an update on Urbit in light of the politicization of internet infrastructure. In this episode: 

  • The purpose of Urbit
  • How the power of internet oligopolies has been recently revealed in the last few months
  • Does the internet of today resemble the internet of 1994?
  • The problem with having a single ToS/legal system for major internet platforms
  • What’s new with Urbit since our last Urbit episode in 2019
  • How hosting makes Urbit much more user friendly
  • Urbit’s governance system and how it contrasts from the feudal model on Twitter
  • Galen’s political taxonomy for Urbit – and where galaxies and stars fit in to this
  • How internet platforms are like living in Vegas
  • Whether users literally own their handles on internet platforms
  • The politicization of internet infrastructure
  • How resistant is Urbit itself to deplatforming at the infrastructure level
  • Whether there is any irony in Urbit offering hosting for users
  • Galen’s view on data portability legislation
  • The near term roadmap for Urbit
  • The distinction between Tlon and Urbit
  • How to get started with Urbit

Apply to Urbit hosting here.

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Weekly Roundup 02/05/21 (Saylor Day reflections, IBM jettisons ‘Blockchain’, India Bitcoin ban) (EP.175)

Nic and Matt return for another jam packed week. In this episode: 

  • Our reflections on Saylor day
  • Is Ross Stephens the 2021 Bitcoin MVP?
  • NYDIG bursts onto the scene
  • Visa’s overlooked crypto API pilot for banks
  • Is hashrate moving to the US?
  • Nic’s ongoing spat with the Wall Street Journal
  • Bitcoiin 2gen gets taken down by the SEC
  • Soulja Boy’s ENS name gets lost in Coinbase’s vaullts
  • IBM finally abandons ‘enterprise blockchain’
  • How will public markets treat Coinbase equity?
  • India contemplates a crypto ban

Content mentioned in this episode: 

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Amanda Fabiano (Galaxy Digital) on the North American Mining Ecosystem (EP.174)

Amanda Fabiano, the Head of Mining at Galaxy Digital joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

  • Amanda’s path to finding her passion in the mining sector
  • Her role in leading Fidelity’s mining initiatives
  • Her views on the Bitcoin mining value chain and the categories that are most compelling
  • Thoughts on the future of off-grid mining in the USA

To learn more follow Amanda on Twitter or visit www.galaxydigital.io

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Matthew Gould (Unstoppable Domains) on the blockchain domain name opportunity (EP.167)

Matthew Gould, co-founder and CEO of Unstoppable Domains joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

  • Matthew’s path into the cryptocurrency industry and the insight behind launching Unstoppable Domains.
  • How Matthew sees the opportunity for blockchain-based domain systems.
  • Tradeoffs between the various layer-one blockchains that are addressing this opportunity.
  • Views on single sign-on and potential future adjacent use-cases.

To learn more about Unstoppable Domains visit their website.

Sponsor notes:

Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today’s complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

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Weekly Roundup 01/29/21 (Reflections on the debate, the Robinhood affair, Ray Dalio warms to Bitcoin) (EP.172)

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

  • Our view on the Robinhood/Gamestop affair
  • Why ‘rebuilding the financial system from scratch’ is a good idea, actually
  • Could the brokerages deplatform Bitcoin financial products too?
  • Will FTX be the last Gamestop market standing?
  • Nic’s reflections on the Mike Green / Grant Williams debate
  • We correct the record on certain claims made in the debate
  • We settle the question of inflation in the 40s
  • We declare a truce between bitcoiners and goldbugs
  • Another ETF filing
  • Ray Dalio starts to come around on Bitcoin

Content mentioned: 

Sponsor notes:

Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today’s complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

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Prof. Ladislav Krištoufek (Charles University) on the market effects of stablecoin issuance (EP.171)

Economics professor at Charles University Ladislav Krištoufek joins us for a discussion centered on his new paper, On the Role of Stablecoins in Cryptoasset Pricing Dynamics. In this episode: 

  • How Ladislav began covering crypto markets in 2013
  • Ladislav’s research agenda as it pertains to the crypto markets
  • Why the quality of so much Bitcoin academia is dubious
  • The academic-practitioner gap and how to close it
  • How Ladislav came to write his newest paper
  • Methodological details
  • How to interpret the findings in the paper
  • Whether issuance of stablecoins affects the price of bitcoin
  • Ladislav’s critiques of the Griffin and Shams paper
  • Key takeaways from Ladislav’s paper
  • Ladislav’s ultimate explanation for stablecoin issuance
  • Other papers Ladislav recommends on stablecoins

Also mentioned: 

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Weekly Roundup 01/22/21 (Bitcoin’s ‘double spend’, our Tether perspective, Bitcoin as an escape valve) (EP.170)

Nic and Matt cover an insane week of deals and market turmoil. In this episode: 

  • The Biden admin freezes the Treasury guidance on unhosted wallets
  • Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expresses her concern about cryptocurrency for terrorist financing
  • Bitcoin as a monetary escape valve
  • The real reasons behind Treasury’s concern about Bitcoin
  • The prospects for monetary repression in the US
  • Prospects for Chris Brummer as the new head of the CFTC
  • Blackrock warms to Bitcoin
  • Our point by point ‘debunking’ of the anonymous blog post on Tether
  • Why Tether critiques are so popular
  • Why a Tether implosion would emphasize Bitcoin’s value proposition
  • We explain the Bitcoin ‘double spend’
  • How Bitcoin settlement is probabilistic

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Iain Murray (Competitive Enterprise Institute) on the history of Operation Choke Point (EP.169)

Iain Murray, VP of Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joins the show to discuss the history of Operation Choke Point, a 2011-2015 program used to exclude legal businesses from banking led by the DoJ and FDIC. In this episode: 

  • How Iain Murray came to be one of the main historians of Operation Choke Point
  • The roots of Choke Point in the crackdown on poker sites in 2011
  • How Choke Point was started on a whim by two midlevel DoJ lawyers in 2011
  • How OCP targeted completely legal but politically disfavored industries
  • How mechanically the DoJ was able to get banks to comply with their informal guidance
  • Why the closed nature of banking means that alternatives financial service providers for these industries couldn’t be created
  • How bank consolidation meant that OCP was easier to instrumentalize
  • How successful was Choke Point in marginalizing targeted industries?
  • Did OCP have buy-in from the highest levels of the Obama administration?
  • How regulations should have implemented the rules they sought to create with Choke Point – and why they chose not to
  • How OCP was an end-around the administrative procedure act, and why it was done covertly
  • Was there any accountability for the individuals behind OCP? Was anyone fired?
  • Why individuals on any side of the political spectrum should be concerned about OCP
  • Did Choke Point ever really end?
  • The long term enduring effects of OCP
  • How the Wyoming SPDI is a reaction to Choke Point
  • Whether Iain agrees with the OCC’s ‘Fair Access’ rule

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Weekly Roundup 01/15/21 (Gensler in at SEC, the Spakkt, a new OCC charter) (EP.168)

Nic and Matt return for another explosive week. In this episode:

  • The bike saga enters its final chapter
  • Sci Hub tries Handshake
  • Is Choke Point returning?
  • We break down the Bakkt SPAC
  • FinCEN extends the comment period for its notice of proposed rulemaking
  • Gemini announces a credit card with crypto rewards
  • What Gary Gensler as SEC Chairman means for the industry
  • Prospects for a Bitcoin ETF under a Gensler SEC
  • The OCC creates a national crypto bank charter
  • One reason why Miami could make it as a tech hub
  • We discuss the latest NYT article on losing coins

Content mentioned in this article

 

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Weekly Roundup 01/08/21 (Banks can use blockchains, best FinCEN comment letters) (EP.166)

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

  • Coindesk acquires Tradeblock
  • The OCC says that banks can use public blockchains and stablecoins
  • We digest the OCC letter
  • Potential drawbacks to the new OCC guidance
  • Has Brian Brooks had the most successful regulatory term in recent memory?
  • The Treasury’s comment period expires
  • Does the Treasury even have the authority to pass these new rules?
  • Our favorite comment letters in response to the Treasury rules
  • Does JPM’s price call make them hypocrites on the topic of Bitcoin?
  • Ripple’s series C lead investor is suing Ripple
  • Strike announces Strike Global
  • How crypto-based fiat-to-fiat remittances work
  • Our favorite quarterly investor letters

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Travis Schwab (Eventus) on trade surveillance, Bitcoin ETFs and 2021 predictions (EP.165)

Travis Schwab, the founder and CEO of Eventus Systems, a company specializing in trade surveillance, joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

  • Travis’ entrepreneurial journey and path to starting Eventus Systems
  • How he came to see cryptoassets as a market opportunity
  • Thoughts on current market structure, the role of exchanges, and the institutional readiness of this market
  • How trade surveillance directly impacts the prospects of a Bitcoin ETF
  • 2021 predictions

To learn more about Eventus visit their website.

Sponsor notes:

Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today’s complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

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Weekly Roundup 01/01/21 (XRP delistings, OFAC fines BitGo, 2021 ETF prospects) (EP.164)

Matt and Nic return for the first roundup of 2021. In this episode: 

  • Why some funds might be buying Bitcoin at year end
  • Are Ripple fans buying Bitcoin?
  • Are fair launches obsolete?
  • Vaneck files for a new Bitcoin ETF
  • CME futures are officially the most liquid futures market
  • BitGo pays a fine to OFAC
  • Exchanges start delisting XRP
  • Will exchanges face repercussions for listing securities?
  • Why being a security dooms the cross-border settlement use case for XRP
  • Which Bitcoin skeptic we’d like to flip the most

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Craig Warmke (N. Illinois University) on what Bitcoin is, and other philosophical questions (EP.162)

Craig Warmke is an assistant professor of philosophy at Northern Illinois University. He has written several papers on the subject of Bitcoin, both pertaining to the question of what Bitcoin actually is. We cover Craig’s papers (linked below) and explore the role for philosophers in Bitcoin.

  • How Craig realized there was an opportunity for philosophy in Bitcoin
  • Other philosophers writing about Bitcoin
  • Why philosophers don’t take Bitcoin seriously
  • The Bitcoin-related questions where philosophers can weigh in
  • The risk of epistemic trespassing
  • Why Satoshi may have been wrong when they defined an electronic coin as a ‘chain of digital signatures’
  • How Satoshi made a critical engineering decision which differentiated Bitcoin from prior e-cash systems
  • Why units of Bitcoin cannot be tracked over time through the ledger – and why this matters
  • Why Bitcoin tracks quantities of a substance, rather than discrete, individual units of Bitcoin
  • Craig’s stylized model of Bitcoin
  • Why Craig describes Bitcoin as ‘fictional substance in an ongoing and massively coauthored book’
  • Why Bitcoin being ‘fictional’ does not delegitimize it at all
  • How Craig’s model extends to stablecoins
  • Why Bitcoin’s liability-freeness is so important, and distinguishes it from other monetary assets
  • The practical significance of determining what Bitcoin is
  • How Craig’s analysis helps demystify chain splits
  • How ETH 2.0 sheds light on the debate over Bitcoin’s identity
  • The greatest threat to Bitcoin
  • Is Bitcoin the protocol a democratic phenomenon?
  • Are there knowable facts about what the nature of Bitcoin is?

Referenced in this episode:

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Brian Venturo (CoreWeave) on the journey from mining crypto to the cloud (EP.163)

Brian Venturo is the CTO of CoreWeave, the largest North American GPU miner, which also doubles as a cloud infrastructure firm for general computation. In this episode: 

  • How Brian went from hobbyist Ethereum mining to wielding a fleet of 50,000 GPUs
  • How Core Weave was able to cheaply acquire GPUs from insolvent mining farms
  • The implications of the Ethereum DAG file growing beyond 4 GB and its effect on miners
  • The effect of the looming PoS transition on miner decision-making
  • Why Core Weave specifically limited their GPU fleet to NVIDIAs with more memory
  • Brian’s stance on Ethereum’s transition to Proof of Stake
  • Are miners pro-cyclical or counter-cyclical?
  • Does Core Weave hold inventory in the coins they mine or do they divest them immediately?
  • Brian’s options based model for pricing hardware
  • The mini gold rush happening in publicly traded mining firms
  • Brian’s opinion on hashrate swaps or derivatives
  • How Core Weave is transitioning from purely mining based to public cloud services
  • The feasibility of GPU miners moving into cloud computing
  • Core Weave’s plans to train an open source version of GPT-3
  • Brian’s view of the role of miners in the Ethereum ecosystem
  • The motivations behind monetary-related EIPs in Ethereum
  • Brian’s analysis of incentives to make Ethereum deflationary
  • Why Proof of Work is an underrated distribution method
  • Brian’s position on increasing the gas limit
  • Why tinkering with the fee market is counterproductive in terms of transactional efficiency
  • The relationship between blockspace and fee revenue for miners
  • Brian’s thoughts on EIP 1559 and whether it increases Ethereum’s security
  • Brian’s view on the pace of ethereum development
  • Why Proof of Work launches are preferable to liquidity mining launches
  • The current state of the ASIC v GPU debate
  • Brian’s retrospective on the Grin launch
  • Why Core Weave is not interested in miner-extractable value (MEV)

Sponsor notes: 

Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm committed to helping our clients be more profitable, efficient and productive in today’s complex business environment. Our Digital Currency group is proud to partner with members of the cryptocurrency community. Get to know us at withum.com/crypto.

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