Matt and Nic are back for more news and deals. In this episode: 

• Matt get’s 2nd in Jeopardy at ETH Boston
• We reminisce over Nic’s 2020 holiday quiz
• Ian Cain’s Senate candidacy in MA
• CZ get 4 months in prison
• The significance of ‘4’
• Did CZ deserve his sentence?
• Roger Ver arrested for tax fraud
• Tough week of outflows from the ETFs
• The chilling effects of the DoJ Samourai case
• Coinbase reports earnings

Content mentioned:

• Nic’s 2020 Bitcoin Esoterica Compendium

Sponsor notes:

• Measuring Exchange Quality & ‘Fake Volume’
• Trusted Exchange Framework
• In Coin Metrics’ State of the Network issue 257, we delve into our framework to assess exchange quality in digital asset markets

Check out this episode!

Ian Cain, republican candidate for U.S. Senate in the state of Massachusetts against Elizabeth Warren joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Ian’s personal background and path to politics.
• How he became interested in emerging / blockchain technology.
• Qubic Labs and fostering a startup ecosystem in Massachusetts.
• The on-chain municipal bond project in Quincy, MA.
• The key issues that MA voters care about.
• Elizabeth Warren’s posture on crypto and whether the “anti-crypto army” is a real thing or a political stunt.
• Stablecoins
• Digital asset market infrastructure and why it is important to prioritize this effort.
• Ian’s message for Massachusetts voters.

Links:

• To support Ian Cain please visit www.cainforus.com
• To learn more about Qubic Labs visit www.qubiclabs.com
• Qubic’s Impact Report
• More on the Quincy Municipal Bond effort.

Check out this episode!

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

• CIV’s new stablecoin survey
• What happened with Runes?
• Lawsuit against the SEC’s dealer rule
• New capital gains tax proposal
• How would taxing unrealized gains work?
• Two SEC lawyers leave in connection with the DEBT Box scandal
• The founders of Samourai wallet are arrested and charged by the DoJ
• Morgan Stanley close to permitting Bitcoin ETF to be solicited by their brokers
• Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs go live
• Block is building Bitcoin mining hardware
• Visa’s stablecoin analytics dashboard
• Bitcoin Sign Guy sells his sign
• TikTok ban reactions
• Choke Point 2.0 moves to fintechs

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Visa’s stablecoin dashboard
• IMF, A Primer on Cross-Border Bitcoin Flows
• FDAS Q1 Signals Report

Sponsor notes:

• Layer-1 Landscape
• In Coin Metrics’ State of the Network issue 256, we explore the diverse landscape of Layer-1 blockchains

Check out this episode!

Chris Harmse, co-founder and VP of Revenue at BVNK joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Chris’ career and the path to founding BVNK.
• The origin story of BVNK and how the company has evolved over time.
• The key drivers behind the adoption of stablecoins.
• Segmenting the stablecoin market.
• Interest bearing stablecoins and the impact that this category will have on the overall market.
• Tokenized money funds and the future of securities settlement.
• How stablecoins will refactor the global FX market.
• The regulatory landscape and how stablecoin adoption is evolving in various regions.

To learn more about BVNK visit their website.

Check out this episode!

In this episode we sit down with Alexei Zamyatin, the founder of  Build On Bitcoin (BOB). Topics covered: 

• Why EVM-compatibility is important for Bitcoin and Bitcoin L2s
• Merge mining and fostering adoption of Bitcoin L2’s
• Why now for the Bitcoin Renaissance
• BitVM, use cases, and unlocks for Bitcoin

Check out this episode!

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

• Dubai is underwater
• The Lummis Gillebrand stablecoin bill and its prospects
• Do stablecoins affect the US’ ability to make sanctions?
• Avraham Eisenberg has been found guilty for the Mango markets hack
• Stablecoins as proto CBDCs
• Do stablecoins disintermediate commercial banks? 
• What do the 13F filings tell us about ETF flows? 

Sponsor notes:

• Bitcoin’s 4th Halving
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 255, we understand the significance of the Bitcoin halving, its impact on miners and potential effects on BTC’s price as the 4th Bitcoin halving nears.

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Timothy Massad, Stablecoins and national security: Learning the lessons of Eurodollars

Check out this episode!

Cynthia Lo Bessette and Matt Horne of Fidelity Digital Asset Management join the show. In this episode we discuss:

• The history of digital asset innovation at Fidelity.
• The decision to operationalize a digital asset-management capability under Fidelity‘s Asset Management business unit.
• The launch of the Fidelity Bitcoin ETF and the path to getting this product to market.
• How Bitcoin ETFs are currently being consumed and the distribution of these products to various investor types and platforms.
• How Fidelity is approaching the tokenization of real world assets.
• Broader views on the future of public blockchain assets and the types of opportunities for asset managers.

Learn more about Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund

Check out this episode!

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

• Our reactions to the CPI print
• The SEC announces its intention to sue Uniswap
• Sen Warren doesn’t like the stablecoin bill
• Howard Lutnick weighs in on stablecoins again
• Saylor’s core dev funding controversy

Sponsor notes:

• An Introduction to the Solana Network
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 254, we provide a data-driven overview of the Solana blockchain, exploring its architecture, ecosystem, network usage and adoption metrics

Check out this episode!

Quinn Thompson, founder and CIO of Lekker Capital, joins the show. In this episode: 

• Launching Lekker Capital
• Quinn’s investment strategy with Lekker
• Using crypto instruments to take a view on macro trends
• The significance of the move in the 10year
• How unusual is it to cut rates when inflation is running hot
• Is inflation the lesser of two evils?
• Why an inflationary reset is the only way out of our fiscal position
• Is Bitcoin more analogous to gold or NASDAQ?
• What are memecoins telling us about the crypto cycle?
• Institutional participation in Bitcoin dampening volatility?
• Quinn’s views on the halving
• Will Microstrategy shares ever converge to the value of their BTC?
• Why it is often mechanically difficult to bring meme stocks back to earth
• Quinn’s views on GBTC selling and the US govt’s seized Silk Road coins

Further reading: 

• Follow Quinn on Twitter
• Fortune on Lekker Capital

Check out this episode!

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

• How risky is Eigenlayer?
• The SEC is asking for public comment on ETH ETFs
• Is the US government about to liquidate $2b worth of Silk Road Bitcoin?
• Goldman wealth management CIO doesn’t like Bitcoin
• WSJ is back with a Tether hitpiece
• Fed Governor Chris Waller says crypto is good for the dollar
• Nic and David Hoffman are fighting at Karate Combat at Consensus

Sponsor notes:

• State of the Network’s Q1 2024 Wrap-Up
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 253, we take a data-driven look at the most important events that impacted the digital assets industry in Q1 2024.

Check out this episode!

David Hoffman of Bankless and Bankless Ventures returns to the show. In this episode we discuss:

• What Bankless Ventures has been focusing on, including Bitcoin Layer Twos.
• Eigenlayer – what originally attracted David to the project.  
• The Eigenlayer value chain and the emerging categories of projects building in this ecosystem.
• Liquid Restaking Tokens, Actively Validated Services and how these primitives work in the Eigenlayer ecosystem.
• Views on risk management and leverage in the context of Eigenlayer.

To learn more:

• Bankless
• Bankless Ventures
• Eigenlayer Risk FAQ

Check out this episode!

Miller Whitehouse-Levine and Amanda Tuminelli of the DeFi Education Fund join the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Beba, an American apparel company based in Waco, TX and the DeFi Education fund have filed a complaint against the SEC, challenging the agency’s pattern of regulation via enforcement.
• The specific’s of Beba’s airdrop campaign.
• The Debt Box case and the pattern of behavior that the case highlights.
• The status of Congressional action on market structure, stablecoins and SAB 121.
• How the DeFi Education Fund prioritizes key initiatives.
• How to get involved in this case and support the broader mission of the organization.

To learn more about the Beba case: https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/it-s-our-time-def-goes-on-offense-against-the-sec

To learn more about the DeFi Education Fund: https://www.defieducationfund.org/

Check out this episode!

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

• Was SBF’s 25-year sentence too lenient?
• Beba vs SEC
• Coinbase motion to dismiss is dismissed
• Coinbase notches a win vs the SEC over their Wallet product
• SDNY v Kucoin
• Ripple vs SEC
• Will MSTR ever converge to the fair value of their Bitcoin?
• North Korea allegedly hacks Blast’s Munchables farm
• How did Blast persuade the hackers to give the money back?
• What’s going on with ETH blobspace?
• Bitwise’s ETH vs ETH futs correlation analysis

Content mentioned:

• Bitwise thread on ETH/futs correlation

Sponsor notes:

• State of the Network’s Q1 2024 Mining Data Special
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 252, we zoom in on the impressive recovery of miner profitability amid improving market conditions

Check out this episode!

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

• Nic’s Columbia scandal
• Stablecoin growth
• ETH Foundation subpoena from the SEC
• ETH ETF prospects
• Blackrock releases their tokenized Treasury product with Securitize
• Are private blockchains obsolete?
• Fidelity amends their ETH ETF prospectus to add staking
• Japan’s pension fund is learning about Bitcoin
• More GBTC outflows
• More bad boys
• Kyle Davies wants a debate

Content mentioned: 

• Brian Armstrong, What is crypto good for, anyway?
• Bitwise, 12 Real-World Stories of How Millions of People Are Using Crypto Services Today

Sponsor notes:

• Appraising Growth in Digital Asset Markets
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 251, we leverage market data and datonomy™ sector classification to understand recent shifts in digital asset markets.

Check out this episode!

Jeff Lunglhofer, the Chief Information Security Officer at Coinbase joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Jeff’s background and what attracted him to joining Coinbase.
• How Coinbase approaches cybersecurity risk.
• The impact of the Bitcoin ETF and the custodial business at Coinbase.
• How users should protect themselves via multi-factor authentication.
• Phishing and how to protect oneself from this attack vector.
• Passkeys and how this is improving the log-in flow at Coinbase.
• How Coinbase uses bug bounty programs.

To learn more about cybersecurity at Coinbase visit coinbase.com/security

Check out this episode!

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

• ETH’s Dencun upgrade goes live
• Is ETH stuck between two different stakeholder groups?
• Is Traeger going to hold Bitcoin?
• Saylor is still buying Bitcoin
• Nigeria holds two Binance executives for a $10b ransom
• A UK judge in the COPA case has determined that Craig Wright is not Satoshi
• Why the COPA v CSW case matters
• Blackrock will buy Bitcoin ETFs in their global allocation fund
• Greyscale filed for a low-fee spinoff of GBTC, ticker BTC
• John Griffin of Griffin and Shams is back with another terrible paper
• A new paper alleges that crypto finances slavery

Sponsor notes:

• Market Dynamics & Risks of Liquid Staking Tokens 
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 250, we explore the market dynamics and risks of liquid staking tokens (LST’s)

Check out this episode!

Nic and Matt return for a week of blockbuster price action and new ATHs. In this episode: 

• ETF flows recap
• Warren favorite Katie Porter loses her primary in CA
• Super Tuesday recap 
• Are crypto PACs working? 
• Why the Ohio senate race matters for crypto 
• State AGs amicus brief in Kraken v SEC
• The WSJ is accused of defamation in their Tether coverage
• Were Signature and Silvergate wrongly accused? 
• Arizona state Senate considers adding Bitcoin to state reserves
• Saylor buys Bitcoin 
• SEC comissioners Pierce and Uyeda write an entertaining dissent in the Shapeshift case 
• Is Prometheum the SEC’s patsy? 
• Nic reviews ETH Denver
• How priced in in the Halving? 

Sponsor notes: 

• Following Flows V: Pool Cross-Pollination
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 249, we examine fund flows among mining pools and miners, revealing hidden connections to gauge mining decentralization

Join the conversation on Farcaster

Check out this episode!

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

• Funding rates in crypto
• Blockbuster ETF flows
• Bitcoin Renaissance
• BitVM opening the overton window
• Remembering PlusToken
• SBF is “too autistic” to go to jail
• The 3ac boys have another fake fundraise announcement
• Genesis reaches a settlement proposal
• The DOE’s demand for information from miners has been halted for now
• Should the Bahamas be a state
• Marathon is launching their own L2

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Alex Thorn, Why we aren’t Stopping
• Fidelity Digital Assets, Addressing Ethereum Risks

Sponsor notes:

• In the Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 248, we provide an overview of the paper—Breaking BFT—and examine the importance of network security

Check out this episode!

Guy Young, the founder of Ethena, rejoins the show to give us an update on Ethena and to discuss the nature of crypto interest rates.

In this episode:

• Reflections on the Ethena launch
• ETH funding rates versus ETH ETF expectations
• Funding rates on crypto native exchanges versus CME
• Why Ethena versus doing the cash and carry trade
• At what point does Ethena start to drive down funding rates
• The history of the cash and carry trade in crypto
• Did yield farming represent a real form of yield?
• Why is yield farming less viable today?
• The ultimate convergence between tradfi and crypto yields
• Where risk premia come from for Ethena versus the risk free rate
• ETH taking yields and their development
• Guy’s concerns about Eigenlayer and its effect on DeFi
• Interactions between real rates and crypto rates
• Stablecoin supply versus tradfi interest rates
• Crypto yields versus RWA supply
• The share of stablecoins that is speculative in nature
• Guy’s expectations for the medium term future of crypto rates

Check out this episode!

Crusoe CEO and Co-Founder Chase Lochmiller joins us for an episode sharing an update on improving the efficiency of power production with on-site digital infrastructure. In this episode:

• Solving the broken links between supply (flaring, renewables) and demand for energy (BTC, high performance compute)
• Engineering a portfolio of applications to pair with different sources of energy
• Aligning economic incentives with climate solutions
• New hardware coming online and the impact to AI inference and training
• Decentralized Airbnb for GPU networks – what works and what doesn’t
• Halvening impact on BTC Miners
• Crusoe’s climate impact

Check out this episode!