Rob Hamilton (AnchorWatch) on Ordinals and Miniscript (EP.404)

Rob Hamilton, the founder and CEO of AnchorWatch joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

  • Rob’s career journey and path to finding Bitcoin.
  • The origins of miniscript and how Rob started to build in this area.
  • The potential applicability for miniscript to the custody market.
  • The current state of bitcoin core development.
  • Ordinals and how Rob started to get involved in this project.
  • The future applicability of ordinals and inscriptions.

Links: AnchorWatch, Rob’s Twitter.

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Michael Gronager (Chainalysis) on Building a Blockchain Analytics Juggernaut (EP.403)

Chainalysis CEO and co-founder Michael Gronager joins us for an episode chronicling the rise of the blockchain analytics firm. In this episode: 

  • Michael’s origin story and how he went from helping build Kraken to founding Chainalysis
  • Responding to early market pull from the public sector when building products
  • Responding to criticism around privacy vs. anonymity 
  • Building the Crypto Adoption Index for content marketing around what is actually happening on the blockchain
  • Perspective on how long it can take to change an industry online

Content mentioned:

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Weekly Roundup 03/03/23 (Silvergate in trouble, Oasis hacks back, Regulation by Blog Post) (EP.402)

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

  • Is Yuga Labs’ NFT collection on Bitcoin genuine?
  • Will the environmentalist attacks on PoW move to other industries?
  • FTX’ Nishad Singh pleads guilty
  • Ramnik Aurora maxed out donations to George Santos
  • Silvergate is in trouble
  • Why concentration risk makes it difficult for smaller banks to bank crypto firms
  • UK banks are curtailing their crypto exposures
  • Oasis returns $140m stolen from Wormhole to Jump
  • NY Mag’s piece on Arthur Hayes
  • Gensler continues to make vague threats against the crypto space
  • Gensler’s regulation by blog post
  • Greyscale’s case against the SEC is moving to oral arguments
  • Can Bitcoin just change the code and move to PoS?

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Weekly Roundup 09/08/23 (The Bitcoin security budget, Visa onboards stables, 2 years of El Salvador law) (EP.449)

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

  • Ryan Salame pleads guilty
  • Our thoughts on the latest turn of the Bitcoin security budget debate
  • What are the prospects for fees to develop on Bitcoin long term?
  • Is blockcspace a race to the bottom?
  • Visa adds merchant settlement tools for USDC on Solana
  • The significance of Visa’s move toward merchant settlement with stablecoins
  • CBOE files for spot Ether ETFs
  • We reflect on El Salvador’s Bitcoin law
  • The FASB moves to fair value accounting for Bitcoin
  • Greenpeace files a comment letter on the GlobalX Bitcoin trust
  • Are the ESG tides turning for Bitcoin mining?
  • Has El Salvador’s Bitcoin project been a failure? 

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Martin Carrica (Mountain Protocol) on creating an interest-bearing stablecoin (EP. 450)

Martin Carrica, cofounder of Mountain Protocol, joins us to discuss their launch of their USDM, permissionless interest-bearing stablecoin. In this episode: 

  • Martin’s story and origins of his desire to create a stablecoin
  • Obtaining a registered digital assets company in Bermuda
  • Martin’s review of regulatory options worldwide and how they ended up in Bermuda
  • How Bermuda has distinguished itself from other financial hubs in the Atlantic
  • How reinsurance is like stablecoins
  • What it takes to get licensed as a digital asset business in Bermuda
  • How Mountain Protocol’s USDM stablecoin works
  • How rebasing stablecoins work – and how they integrate in DeFi
  • How USDM differs from on-chain T bills and other interest bearing stable products
  • How USDM was able to achieve a permissionless structure
  • How Mountain avoids US clients
  • Why the market for stablecoins is mostly ex-US
  • Stablecoins as a backend for emerging market fintechs
  • Different exchange rates in Argentina
  • How Argentine firms use Argentine ADR stocks to manage their corporate cash
  • How street moneychangers on the street in Argentina work
  • Milei and the prospects for dollarization in Argentina
  • The importance of a stablecoin being issued out of a bankruptcy remote structure

Disclaimer:

  • USDM and other Mountain Protocol products and services are not available for U.S. persons as well as other restrictied jurisctions. 
  • For more information and disclosures on Mountain Protocol, please refer to the Terms and Conditions.

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Weekly Roundup 09/01/23 (SEC loses vs Grayscale, Impact Theory implications) (EP.447)

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

  • Tether is actually the most interventionist stablecoin when it comes to freezing
  • Should we be bullish on PYUSD? 
  • Why stablecoin data shows meaningful utility for public blockchains 
  • Is the idea of a ‘crypto generalist’ dead? 
  • The meaning of the SEC’s loss in court to Grayscale
  • Why the SEC was ‘arbitrary and capricious’
  • The SEC’s blunder over their approval of Futs ETFs
  • The SEC’s possible options 
  • Our guesses for how the SEC reacts to their loss
  • The SEC delays other pending spot ETFs
  • The SEC wins against Impact Theory
  •  Why the case against Impact Theory could implicate a lot of other NFT projects 
  • Uniswap wins a class action case 
  • What does the SEC’s case against Binance being under seal mean? 

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Lee Bratcher (Texas Blockchain Council) on PoR legislation in TX (EP.448)

We sit down with Lee Bratcher, President and Founder of the Texas Blockchain Council. Lee is one of the primary architects of Texas’ Proof of Reserve bill, now in effect. In this episode: 

  • The origin of the TBC
  • Why Lee is moving their Summit to Ft Worth
  • Notable legislative successes by the TBC in Texas
  • The importance of getting the UCC to recognize digital assets
  • The importance of Bitcoin mining
  • The origins of HB1666
  • Why PoR legislation benefited from the industry spontaneously adopting the standard
  • How the TX PoR bill emerged as a compromise
  • How Lee expects this to become model legislation in other states
  • Comparing PoR to established financial statement audits
  • The importance of frequency in Proof of Reserve
  • The lack of accounting firms that are willing to supervise PoR
  • How would PoR dealt with issues at Gox, Quadriga, FTX, or Prime Trust?
  • How are companies operating in Texas reacting to the bill?
  • Future legistlative directions
  • The role of stablecoins in upholding the role of the dollar
  • The lost authority of the states in chartering banks

Further reading on PoR: 

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Weekly Roundup 08/25/23 (Coinbase v Circle, Tornado Cash indictment, chat app tokens) (EP.446)

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

  • The Bitcoin halving is coming up
  • We review the Republican Presidential debate
  • We review the state of New Jersey
  • Coinbase takes a stake in Circle
  • Hidden tensions between Coinbase and Circle
  • BH Digital releases a stablecoin report
  • USDC is challenged due to their inability to pay interest
  • The DoJ charges the founders of Tornado Cash with AML and sanctions violations
  • Did the Tornado Cash token hurt the founders’ case?
  • The problem with chat apps creating their own tokens
  • FTX is working with Galaxy to liquidate some crypto
  • SBF isn’t happy with his prison meals
  • Prime Trust was up to some shenanigans

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Weekly Roundup 08/18/23 (Stablecoins offshoring, Better Markets oddity, more Prometheum) (EP.444)

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

  • Geographic distribution for USDC v USDT
  • Blockchains have become dollarized
  • What’s the deal with Helium’s phone plan?
  • SBF heads to jail
  • We inaugurate a new member of the bad boys
  • Dubai regulators fines OPNX
  • What’s up with Argentina’s Libertarian presidential candidate?
  • We need a new theme song for the SEC
  • The Prometheum saga rumbles on
  • What’s going on with Better Markets?
  • Coinbase can now offer Bitcoin and ETH futures
  • FTX and Genesis reach a settlement

Content mentioned in this episode: 

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Darshan Vaidya (Credora) on Risk Management and Credit Markets (EP.445)

Darshan Vaidya, the founder of Credora joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

  • The crypto credit markets, what went wrong in the last cycle and how the market functions today
  • Thoughts on Real-World-Assets on chain
  • Comparisons of risk management approaches in tradfi versus crypto markets
  • How Credora is working with firms to protect customers from idiosyncratic risk
  • The capital raising environment

To learn more about Credora visit www.credora.io

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Weekly Roundup 08/11/23 (PayPal’s stablecoin, the Fed’s oversight program, Ryan Salame emerges) (EP.443)

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

  • Matt’s op-ed in Coindesk
  • SAB121 is still bad
  • SEC scope creep
  • We investigate PayPal’s stablecoin 
  • Why would PayPal want to issue a stablecoin? 
  • What does PYUSD mean for Operation Choke Point for 2.0? 
  • Why PYUSD is being launched on Ethereum
  • Crypto as a flashpoint for state versus federal banking oversight
  • The Fed’s new crypto oversight program
  • Banks still can’t issue stablecoins in the US
  • Ryan Salame reemerges
  • What will become of Ryan Salame’s restaurant empire? 
  • SBF will indeed be prosecuted on campaign finance violations
  • SBF’s trial will not be televised
  • LK-99 did NOT replicate

 

Content mentioned in this episode: 

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Weekly Roundup 08/04/23 (SEC vs HEX, Base and BALD, Curve hacked) (EP.442)

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

  • Nic’s early Do Kwon experience
  • Reflecting back on Terra/Luna 
  • The SEC charges Richard Heart and HEX 
  • Is the SEC’s case against Richard Heart flimsy? 
  • Does the SEC deserve praise for coming after HEX? 
  • Kyle Davies thinks he’s immune from prosecution because he gave up his US citizenship
  • Who’s behind the BALD rugpull? 
  • Implications of the Curve hack 
  • We look at Tether’s asset portfolio 
  • Kenya suspends Worldcoin operations in the country
  • Is there an account firm choke point? 
  • Ethereum future ETFs are filed
  • Judge Rakoff dissents from the Torres doctrine 

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Weekly Roundup 07/07/23 (Taylor Swift’s FTX secret, XRP vs glazed donuts, ETF seeding) (EP.436)

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

  • Matt’s plover rivalry
  • Matt’s struggles against animals
  • Taylor Swift actually did sign that partnership with FTX
  • Are Eras tour tickets securities?
  • Lightning in emerging markets
  • Could we build the SR-71 today?
  • How Ripple was 90% right about XRP being the bridge currency for remittances
  • ETF applications hiccup
  • More SAB121 issues
  • Matt’s cigar snafu
  • Why ETF seeding will be a source of buy pressure

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Weekly Roundup 07/28/23 (Market Structure bill advances, stablecoin catch-22, debanking in the UK) (EP.441)

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

  • Nic’s issues editing the show
  • Why Washington is attacking PoR 
  • Why Big 4 audit firms aren’t working on PoR 
  • The Financial Innovation and Technology in the 21st Century bill (FIT) passes out of committee in the House 
  • Six Democrats defect and support the bill
  • The Stablecoin bill reaches an impasse because the White House 
  • Why stablecoins being limited to the banks is a paradox 
  • The SEC settles with Quantstamp
  • SBF gets a gag order because he released Caroline Ellison’s diaries 
  • SBF did actually pay for his legal defense with stolen FTX customer money 
  • The UK gets embroiled in a banking scandal due to Nigel Farage 
  • We digest the room temperature ambient pressure superconductor news 
  • Nic’s pickleball injury

 

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Richard Meissner (Safe) on Account Abstraction Adoption and Barriers (EP.440)

In this episode, we hosted Richard Meissner, CTO of Safe, to illuminate the state of adoption of smart contract wallets following the roll out of ERC-4337 (an effort to standardize account abstraction on Ethereum). Our conversation covers:
  • The limitations of smart contract wallets in a multi-chain universe
  • Account recovery and hybrid custody using traditional institutions
  • Combining account abstraction with intents and AI
  • Worldcoin’s use of Safes and adoption of smart contract accounts
Find additional content by Safe on account abstraction here.

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Weekly Roundup 07/21/23 (Nasdaq reconsiders custody, the Torres doctrine) (EP.439)

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

  • Was XRP discovered or created?
  • The saga of Otter 841
  • Matt’s wildlife trouble
  • More SAB121 chaos
  • Rep Ritchie Torres sends Gensler a tough letter
  • What is the Torres Doctrine?
  • Terraform labs has a new CEO
  • Our theories for why Nasdaq pulled the plug on their crypto custody business
  • The IRS is auditing the crypto rich in PR
  • We bring back our triple threat segment

Content mentioned

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Weekly Roundup 07/14/23 (Ripple gets a W, Machinsky arrested, PoR in federal legislation) (EP.438)

Matt and Nic are back with a huge week in the markets. In this episode: 

  • Ripple gets a key win in their summary judgment versus the SEC
  • Implications for XRP holders
  • Implications for exchanges and other tokens
  • Prometheum’s denials about their ties to the CCP don’t hold water How Prometheum is a Potemkin platform
  • Alex Machinsky has been arrested
  • Arkham’s tokensale and doxing snafu
  • The Lummis Gillebrand bill gets a facelift and incorporates PoR
  • The prospects for the Lummis Gillebrand bill
  • Updates on the piping plovers
  • Why Threads isn’t going to make it

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Amir Haleem (Nova Labs) on Helium, DEPIN, and DeWi (EP.437)

Amir Haleem, the founder of Nova Labs (formerly named Helium, Inc) joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

  • The origin of Helium and the Helium network
  • Amir’s views on L1 blockchains and the path that the company took in evaluating building its own chain versus building on an existing L1.
  • Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DEPIN) and Decentralized Wireless (DEWI) as emerging categories demonstrating real-world applicability of public blockchains.
  • The various tokens in the Helium ecosystem and how they interact.
  • MVNOs and how Helium Mobile is positioned.
  • The regulatory landscape in the United States and how Helium has navigated these waters.

To learn more about Helium visit: helium.com/

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Jose Lemus (IBEX Mercado) on Lightning adoption in Emerging Markets (EP.435)

Jose Lemus, CEO and cofounder at IBEX Mercado, joins the show to talk Lightning and its growing usage in emerging markets. In this episode:

  • The origins of IBEX
  • How IBEX clients are using LN in emerging markets
  • How Lightning as a settlement layer for cross-border interbank payments
  • Lightning as a bridge currency
  • Why stablecoins make sense on Lightning
  • Why EM firms have an affinity for Lightning
  • IBEX’s partnership with Grupo Salinas and how they are introducing Lightning to Mexican households
  • Lightning as an emerging remittance tool
  • Why Mexico is a good fight for Lightning adoption
  • Is Jose satisfied with Lightning’s maturity as a protocol
  • How Bitcoin’s market cap is the ultimate bandwidth for Lightning
  • Why Lightning reimagines the established batched payments model
  • Jose’s answer to the biggest critique of Lightning at present

Further reading: 

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Weekly Roundup 06/30/23 (ETF frenzy continues, Prime Trust insolvency, how Stablecoins are like Eurodollars) (EP.434)

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

  • The problem with SEC SAB 121
  • Pickleball is driving up American healthcare costs
  • Microstrategy buys some more Bitcoin
  • Fidelity refiles their Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF
  • Why the Prime Trust insolvency is so bad
  • Will there be Prime Trust clawbacks?
  • The SEC is slacking with their document retention policies
  • How stablecoins are mirroring the development of eurodollars
  • How Prometheum’s listing strategy might pose a risk to certain cryptoassets
  • The UK law commission determines that digital assets are a new kind of “thing”

Content mentioned in this episode:

Sponsor notes: 

  • Coin Metrics’ State of the Network: Bitcoin & the Rest 
  • In this issue of State of the Network, we assess Bitcoin’s resurgence and gauge market sentiment amidst a rapidly evolving digital asset landscape marked by regulatory ambiguity and external macro events.

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