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Matthew Le Merle (Blockchain Coinvestors) on investment opportunities in the blockchain industry (EP.49)

Matthew Le Merle, the co-founder and Managing Partner of Fifth Era, Keiretsu Capital and Blockchain Coinvestors joins the podcast. In this episode we discuss: 

– Matthew’s career arc and how he came to understand the potential impact of blockchain technology

– Building Blockchain Coinvestors, and the investment strategy of investing in blockchain venture capital funds

– Predictions and analysis on institutional custody, stablecoins, Bitcoin adoption in emerging markets and more

Learn more about Matthew and Blockchain Coinvestors at: 

https://www.blockchaincoinvestors.com/

 

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Weekly News Roundup 3/6/20 (Zabo, India and South Korea positive developments) (EP.48)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– Deals of the week

– India’s Supreme Court Ruling

– South Korea regulation

– OFAC issues

– Treasury meeting with industry leaders

and much more news of the week

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Joseph Jacks (OSS Capital) on the monetization of open source (EP.47)

Joseph Jacks of OSS Capital joins the show. In this episode we discuss: 

– What constitutes commercial open source, and how this differs from regular open source projects
– the history of the open source software movement
– why programmers contribute unpaid to open source projects
– whether tokens are required to monetize open source

OSS Capital: https://oss.capital/
The COSS Index: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17nKMpi_Dh5slCqzLSFBoWMxNvWiwt2R-t4e_l7LPLhU/edit#gid=0
Joseph’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/asynchio

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Weekly News Roundup 2/28/20 (Steven Seagal’s Bitcoin2Gen, Ripple pays Moneygram, Deals and more) (EP.46)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– Deals of the week

– SEC denies another Bitcoin ETF

– SEC whacks Steven Seagal

– Ripple Moneygram payments

– Central Bank Digital Currency

– Binance jurisdiction shopping

and much more news of the week

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Sunayna Tuteja (TD Ameritrade) on crafting an institutional digital asset strategy (EP.45)

Sunayna Tuteja, the Head of Digital Assets and DLT at TD Ameritrade, appears on the show. On this episode we discuss:

– What guides TD’s decision making in this asset class
– How they think about blockchain/DLT versus Bitcoin
– Crypto ideology versus crypto agnosticism
– Her career trajectory to date
– Lessons from being a pilot

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Weekly News Roundup 2/21/20 (Enigma SEC action, Fcoin, Tim Draper buy 2.5% of Aragon and more) (EP.44)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– Deals of the week

– Enigma settles with the SEC

– Fcoin lost user funds

– Tim Draper bought 2.5% of Aragon

– DeFi infrastructure

– Neel Kashkari’s thoughts on crypto

and much more news of the week

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Balaji Srinivasan on building digital commonwealths (EP.43)

Balaji Srinivasan is an angel investor and entrepreneur. He was formerly the CTO of Coinbase, a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and the co-founder of Earn.com, Counsyl, Teleport and Coin Center. In this episode we discuss:  

– the 100x’ crypto has delivered over traditional finance
– how Balaji’s views of what Bitcoin is good for have changed over time
– the ‘sovereign collective’ versus the sovereign individual
– whether Twitter is a functioning digital commonwealth and the prospects for Bluesky
– why handles on social media might more closely resemble property than a platform
– what Balaji is trying to achieve with nakamoto.com

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Weekly News Roundup 2/14/20 (BlockFi raise, JPM spinout, Iota is the gift that keeps on giving, and more ) (EP.42)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– BlockFi raise

– Other deals

– JPM spinout?

– USDC

and much more news of the week

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Jake Chervinsky (Compound) on straddling crypto-anarchy and regulation (EP.41)

Jake Chervinsky the General Counsel of Compound joins the podcast. In this episode we discuss: 

– The history of securities markets in the US
– The Howey test in plain language
– Whether commodities can transmute to securities, and vice versa
– Why markets function best with regulation
– The purpose of open finance
– Being a bitcoiner at an ethereum-focused company 

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Weekly News Roundup 2/7/20 (Mastercard backs out of Libra, US Marshall Auction and more) (EP.40)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– Deals of the week

– U.S. Marshalls auction

– ICE eyes Ebay

– Crypto safe harbor?

and much more news of the week

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Alex Leishman (River Financial) on running a Bitcoin financial institution (EP.39)

Alex Leishman, the cofounder and CEO of River Financial joins the show. In this episode we discuss: 

– Why Alex started River Financial

– Why they are Bitcoin only

– Why other exchanges were so quick to list tokens

– The role of banks in Bitcoin

– Practical issues with implementing Proof of Reserves

To learn more about River Financial visit: www.river.com

 

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Weekly News Roundup 1/31/20 (Proof of Stake Tax Policy, Popper on Bitcoin and Nic’s Presidential Endorsement) (EP.38)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– Nic’s Presidential Endorsement

– Proof of Stake Tax Policy

– Popper’s NYT Article

– Ripple IPO?

– Super Bowl Picks

and much more news of the week

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Mike Moro (Genesis Capital) on building cryptoasset market infrastructure for institutions (EP.37)

Mike Moro, the CEO of Genesis Capital/Genesis Trading joins the show. In this episode we discuss: 

– Mike’s pre-Bitcoin career and his path to Second Market and then Genesis

– POV on Bitcoin ETF viability 

– The state of play for cryptoasset market infrastructure

– Cryptoasset lending 

…and much more

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Weekly News Roundup 1/24/20 (Ray Dalio, Bcash, DigixDAO and more) (EP.36)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– new SPAC for Blockchain Co’s

– DigixDAO treasury liquidation

– Bitcoin Investment Trust is now an SEC reporting company

– Bcash dev funding proposal

and much more news of the week

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Hunter Merghart (Bitstamp) (EP.35)

Hunter Merghart, the Head of USA Operations for Bitstamp joins the show. In this episode we discuss: 

– Bitstamp’s history and USA roadmap

– Hunter’s career path in trading and how he came to enter the cryptoasset market

– Market infrastructure: where we are as an industry, and what needs to be built in order to support institutional adoption

…and much more

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Weekly News Roundup 1/17/20 (8% of RIAs think Bitcoin is going to zero!?) (EP.34)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– SEC Actions

– Bitwise RIA report

– Canada’s Guidance on Exchanges

– GBTC Q4 Report

– Digital Dollar Think Tank

and much more news of the week

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Ryan Selkis (Messari) (EP.33)

Ryan Selkis, co-founder and CEO of Messari joins the show. In this episode we discuss: 

– Ryan’s Bitcoin origin story, including his early days blogging under the Two-Bit-Idiot handle

– His experience at DCG / CoinDesk

– Messari’s mission to bring transparency to investors and participants in the public blockchain ecosystem

– His 2020 Crypto Theses including M&A predictions

Learn more about Messari at: https://messari.io/

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Weekly News Roundup 1/10/20 (AMA Fallout, Telegram, Deribit, SEC news and more) (EP.32)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– AMA predictions fallout

– Deribit moves to Panama

– Telegram blog post

and much more news of the week

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AMA Episode (thoughts on custody, proof of stake, career choices, bad football picks and more) (EP.31)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures answer listener questions on a range of topics

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Weekly News Roundup 1/3/20 (Alternative Launch Ideas, Token-economic flops, Crypto Banks, and more) (EP.30)

Matt and Nic from Castle Island Ventures review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. This week’s topics include: 

– Hedera Hashgraph Tokeneconomics Proposal

– Iota goes down for 15 hours 

– Nic’s Alternative Launch Blog Post

– Crypto Banks

and more

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