Vivek Ramaswamy is a Republican candidate for President in 2024. In this episode we sit down to dig into his crypto policy proposals: 

• Vivek’s keynote in Ft Worth
• Vivek’s crypto platform and how that derives from his convictions
• Vivek’s view on Bitcoin mining
• Is Choke Point 2.0 real?
• Is banking a utility?
• ‘Choke Point 6.0’ and how it goes beyond just crypto and banking
• Does the suppression of speech have a technological solution?
• Can public blockchains actually be supportive of the US Dollar?

Further resources:

• Vivek2024.com
• Vivek’s Speech in Ft. Worth: “Three Freedoms of Crypto Policy”

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic return for a Thanksgiving episode. In this edition: 

• Fidelity files for an ETH spot ETF
• The SEC sues Kraken
• Javier Milei wins – and prospects for dollarization
• Stablecoins versus dollar liabilities in emerging markets
• Prediction markets do well in the Argentine election
• We digest the OpenAI scandal and reflect on corporate governance
• Do we need a new McCarthyism directed at effective altruists?
• CZ settles with the DoJ and the CFTC over BSA and OFAC violations
• Binance appears to be solvent thanks to their Proof of Reserve
• Where the Binance settlement leaves the industry
• Tether supply hits $88b
• Bhutan is mining bitcoin

Sponsor notes:

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK— Checking On-Chain Indicators for Green Shoots in the Digital Assets Market
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 234 we present a selection of indicators that offer us insights against the backdrop of a recent surge in valuations within the digital assets ecosystem.

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We sit down with Mike Cahill, CEO of Douro labs, to talk Pyth’s retroactive airdrop and launch. In this episode:

• A brief history of Pyth
• What was the problem with legacy oracles before Pyth
• How is Pyth is technically differentiated from other oracles
• The importance of introducing confidence intervals into prices
• How does Pyth achieves cross chain data delivery
• Disintermediation in the oracle market
• Major proof points that convinced Mike that Pyth could work
• Pyth’s traction on various chains
• Which blockchains Pyth does particularly well on
• Mike addresses the ‘collusion FUD’?
• Why Pyth oracles are not like LIBOR
• How the Pyth retrospective airdrop works
• What’s happening with Pyth governance on a go forward basis?

Further reading: 

• Pyth, How the Retrospective Airdrop works
• On The Brink ep. 364, Solving The Oracle Problem

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

• Tail risks with the Bitcoin ETF
• Are SBF’s parents off the hook?
• The FDIC is embroiled in scandal
• Should Marty Gruenberg step down?
• Tokenized bank deposits versus stablecoins
• What’s wrong with the third party doctrine
• SAB121 under pressure

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Fidelity Digital Assets, Understanding Proof of Work
• The WSJ, Strip Clubs, Lewd Photos and a Boozy Hotel: The Toxic Atmosphere at Bank Regulator FDIC
• Whip Emmer Letter to Treasury regarding Hamas crypto financing

Sponsor notes:

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK—November Rally Reaches New Corners of the Digital Asset Market
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 233, we delve into the primary beneficiaries of the recent market rally and explore diverse avenues channelling this momentum

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Anthony DeMartino, the co-founder and CEO of Trident Digital joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Anthony’s background in the banking industry and his path to founding Trident Digital.
• Digital asset lending markets and how Trident is innovating in this category.
• Trident’s US Treasury product and how he is going to market.
• The state of the U.S. banking system and the status of the FDIC insurance fund.
• The potential impact of Commercial Real Estate on the banking sector.
• Chokepoint 2.0 and the regulatory landscape in the USA.

To learn more about Trident Digital visit their website.

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

• WSJ bounty updates
• Will Euro stablecoins take off?
• SBI and Standard Chartered start a crypto infrastructure fund
• SEC opens talks with Grayscale over the GBTC conversion
• Kraken is exploring the creation of an L2
• SEC staff can’t own crypto
• FTX 2.0 prospects
• CME OI flippens Binance
• Nouriel Roubini is launching a token

Sponsor notes: 

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Ethereum Staking through the Lens of Lido 
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 232, we dive into Lido—the largest player within the staking economy—and understand the state of its liquid staking token (stETH), governance token (LDO) and underlying node-operator composition.

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The boys join forces with Alex Thorn of Galaxy Brains for a special live episode at the Pubkey bar in NYC.

In this episode: 

• Galaxy’s Beimnet Abebe joins for market color
• Bloomberg’s James Seyffart opinions on Bitcoin ETF prospects 
• The WSJ/Hamas affair
• Audience Q&A 

With special thanks to the Galaxy team for organizing and Thomas Pacchia for hosting

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Adam Guren, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Hunting Hill joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Adam’s career journey and the path that led him to found Hunting Hill in his late 20s.
• How he discovered cryptocurrency and the initial digital asset products that he traded.
• The initial market structure for trading closed end digital asset products and the challenges that it presented.
• Views on the prospects of a Bitcoin ETF and the impact that it will have on the market when approved.
• The prospects of a spot ETH ETF.
• An overview of Hunting Hill today, including a deep dive on Hunting Hill Digital.
• The opportunities for distressed investors in today’s market.
• Hunting Hill’s efforts with Versifi and Base Layer Ventures.

To learn more about Hunting Hill visit their website.

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

• What happened to mimblewimble
• Where Nic’s bounty program stands
• What’s the deal with Binance’s proof of reserve?
• The SEC takes down Safemoon
• Hester Pierce criticizes the SEC’s approach to LBRY
• Did the SEC violate the administrative procedures act by issuing SAB121?
• The SEC comes from Paypal
• How will MSTR fare post Bitcoin ETF?
• Did Do Kwon commit fraud or did he really believe in UST?
• We would like to buy the FTX tungsten cube

Sponsor notes:

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Unpacking the Forces Behind the Market Rally
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 231, we focus on both spot and derivatives markets to explore forces driving the recent market rally

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Brandon Mulvihill the co-founder and CEO of Crossover Markets joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Brandon’s career in the FX industry and the path to founding Crossover Markets
• ECNs and how this market structure came to evolve in the FX market
• The opportunity to bring ECNs to the digital asset market
• The CrossX platform and how this product is impacting the digital asset trading landscape
• Crossover’s partnership with Hidden Road in launching Route 28
• The evolution of the digital asset market structure and how non-custodial trading is evolving
• The regulatory landscape and the jurisdictional decisions that went into establishing Crossover Markets

To learn more about Crossover Markets visit their website and follow the company on X.

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Hong Fang, President of OKX, joins the show to to announce their twelfth consecutive monthly Proof of Reserve attestation and to discuss how their PoR implementation has changed over time. Covered in this episode:

• OKX’s brand refresh
• Why OKX chose to launch their monthly PoR attestations a year ago
• The importance of PoR today and who is asking for it
• Which PoRs they looked at for inspiration
• How OKX evolved the procedure from inception to now
• The move from merkle liabilities to ZK PoL
• The PoR security model and how many users need to check for it to be valid
• Handling issues like margin, leverage, and negative balances in their attestation
• The relationship between Proof of Reserve and conventional audits
• Future directions in PoR and ways to improve
• Technical PoR versus audit-enhanced PoR and the role of an auditor
• Attacks on PoR and mitigations
• Common criticisms of PoR
• Why numerous exchanges need to do PoR for it to work overall

Content mentioned:

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

Check out this episode!

Seth Priebatsch, the founder and CEO of Groma joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Seth’s entrepreneurial journey, including the founding story of LevelUp.
• His ambitions with the founding of Groma, a company building a real-estate backed cryptocurrency.
• The tokenization of real-world assets, including the steps that Groma is taking to launch a REIT security that will be represented on-chain.
• The choice to focus on multi-family-residential property as the initial backing of the Groma REIT.
• The regulatory landscape for digital asset securities in the United States.
• The prospects of other categories of real-world-assets and their eventual representation on-chain.

To learn more about Groma, visit their website or follow Groma on X.

Links mentioned: Groma on Republic. For a preview of the Groma whitepaper email whitepaper@groma.com

Check out this episode!

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

• Has there been a vibe shift? 
• Sen Tillis and Hickenlooper introduce the PROOF Act
• Is there a lack of crypto-native auditors? 
• Liz Warren’s plan to interfere with crypto audits 
• What’s going on with the WSJ, Warren’s letter, and Hamas’ crypto donations? 
• The WSJ is refusing to update their claims 
• ETF momentum is picking up 
• What explains the move in Bitcoin this week? 
• SBF is going to testify 

Content mentioned: 

• Sen. Tillis’ office, The PROOF Act introduced
• Jeff John Roberts in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and Liz Warren double down on the Hamas crypto canard
• Nic’s WSJ/Hamas bounty campaign
• Elliptic, Setting the record straight on crypto crowdfunding by Hamas
• Elizabeth Warren letter to the White House

Check out this episode!

Nic travels to Bermuda to sit down with the Premier, Hon. E. David Burt to discuss digital asset policy and the emerging crypto ecosystem on the island. In this episode:

• The origins of the Digital Asset Regulation in Bermuda
• Catalysts that have led crypto firms to take Bermuda seriously as a domicile
• Premier Burt’s evangelization of Bermuda regulation on the crypto circuit
• Why Bermuda is a good place for a crypto firm to do business
• The “bermuda triangle” (government, industry, and regulator)
• How Bermuda straddles the risk of digital assets with the potential for innovation
• How the Premier aims to incorporate local residents into the tech industry here
• What the Premier is happy about regarding Bermuda’s regulatory strategy for digital assets
• Which sectors within the crypto space the Premier is focusing on at the moment How Bermuda is situated relative to other financial regulators
• Premier Burt’s view on regulatory passporting

Thanks to Penrose Partners.

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Mike Higgins of Hidden Road joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Mike’s career and the path to joining Hidden Road
• Overview of Hidden Road and the prime brokerage category
• The market structure for digital asset trading and settlement
• The launch of Route28 and the value proposition for institutional customers
• The regulatory landscape and the path that Hidden Road has pursued for licensing across the world
• Institutional adoption in 2024

Further reading: 

• Learn more about Hidden Road 
• Learn more about Route28

Check out this episode!

Amanda Tuminelli of The DeFi Education Fund joins the podcast. In this episode we discuss:

• Amanda’s background and path to joining The DeFi Education Fund
• The IRS “broker” rulemaking process and its potential impact on DeFi
• The SEC’s “Exchange” rulemaking process
• DEF’s amicus briefs on SEC vs. Coinbase
• Patent trolls in the DeFi ecosystem

Links to content discussed on this episode:

• protectdefi.org
• IPR Petition (Patent Case)
• “Exchange” Rulemaking Comment Letter
•  DEF’s Amicus Brief in SEC v. Coinbase

To learn more about The DeFi Education Fund visit: defieducationfund.org/

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

• The Cointelegraph SNAFU 
• The NYAG sues Gemini, Genesis, and DCG 
• The FTX trial isn’t going well for Sam 
• The latest with FTX clawbacks
• Elon files an amicus brief in a case against SEC
• Sen Warren’s latest anti-crypto letter 
• Chainalysis debunks the WSJ’s false narrative about crypto financing for Hamas
• Larry Fink supports Bitcoin now 
• We profile the Silk Road hacker

Content mentioned in this episode: 

• Nic interview with Bermuda Premier David Burt
• Chainalysis, Correcting the Record: Inaccurate Methodologies for Estimating Cryptocurrency’s Role in Terrorism Financing
• CNBC, The secret life of Jimmy Zhong, who stole – and lost – more than $3 billion

Sponsor notes: 

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Exploring Supply Transparency 
• In this joint report by Coin Metrics & Bitcoin Suisse, we explore token supply and ownership dynamics in digital asset markets

Check out this episode!

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

• Holland versus the Netherlands 
• The end of Pax Americana
• Ditching the ‘stablecoin’ term
• Why synthetic USD is not the next Luna
• Caroline Ellison testifies
• SBF wanted to be president
• How Teneo worked with Singapore to apprehend Su Zhu
• Will criminal charges ever be leveled against the 3AC principals?
• Lightning is getting more efficient 

Content mentioned in the episode: 

• Nic and Martin join the Empire podcast
• Do we need a TARP 2.0? 

Sponsor notes: 

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Q3 2023 Wrap-Up
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 228, we set out to analyze USDC’s supply loss and its impact on Circle

Check out this episode!

Guy Young, the founder and CEO of Ethena, joins the show to talk crypto-backed stablecoins. 

• How Ethena began with an Arthur Hayes blog post
• The origins of synthetic stablecoins on Bitmex
• The difference between Hayes’ Nakadollar and the Ethena design
• Why synthetic stablecoins have failed in the past and how Ethena addresses this
• How staked ETH as the underlying collateral opens up a new design space
• How Ethena mitigates their exposure to exchanges with off-exchange custody
• Guy’s backstory and entrance into crypto
• Why the circumstances are favorable for the success of a synthetic stable today
• Why the short leg of the Ethena position has to rely on CeFi for now
• Where the yield from ETH positive funding ultimately comes from
• Limits to scale on Ethena on the short leg of the trade and ETH staking
• Guy’s explanation for where the yield from being long ETH comes from
• Correlation dynamics between the ETH yield and the funding rate
• Why it’s important that crypto yields are somewhat negatively correlated with tradfi yields
• What protects the system when funding flips negative?
• How the system can react to constraints in ETH funding and ETH staking
• The possibility of adding Bitcoin as a collateral type
• Why Ethena distinguished the stablecoin and the yield-bearing component
• Rebasing versus accruing yield tokens
• How they think about different stETH derivatives
• Ethena versus stETH-backed overcollat stablecoins
• Why the supply of stablecoins is shrinking
• Will major stablecoin issuers become interest bearing?
• Ethena’s regulatory strategy
• The BUSD security analysis from the SEC and how interest bearing affects that
• Why end users deserve yield in exchange for taking on the counterparty risk of holding a stable
• Why Guy is excited by Paypal USD
• Guy’s prediction for stablecoin interest-bearing market cap

Further reading:

• Arthur Hayes, Dust on Crust

Check out this episode!