Unconfirmed

Lea Thompson, aka Girl Gone Crypto, talks about what goes into producing her popular “The Crypto Minute” vlog, what initially got her into crypto, and her recent decision to quit her day job and go full time crypto. In this episode we discuss: what “The Crypto Minute” is all about, and all the crypto video content she produces (2:37) how Lea comes up with creative content such as wearing a whale costume to portray Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor (5:04) how long it actually takes to create “The Crypto Minute” (6:36) what goes into producing “The Crypto Minute” and which family member is behind the camera (7:05) the biggest challenges Lea faces when creating her videos and how she decides which stories make the final cut (8:56) Lea’s favorite bloopers including, but not limited to, rug pulls, sushi, an Amazon money printer, and a few fake $100 bills (10:28) how Girl Gone Crypto fell down the crypto rabbit hole and why her ukulele skills were instrumental to her crypto journey (12:54) the time when JK Rowling tweeted about Bitcoin, resulting in Lea’s viral “A Muggle’s Guide to Bitcoin” video (17:31) what type of crypto content works best on different social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok (20:00) when Girl Gone Crypto stopped being a hobby and how it is going now that Lea is full-time crypto (21:46) how Lea is trying to educate people about crypto in a simple and approachable way… one ninja suit at time (22:34) Crypto News Recap (26:12) Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://bit.ly/3jzkTAD Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla The Sun Exchange: http://thesunexchange.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Lea Thompson: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto Her YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GirlGoneCrypto Her TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlgone_crypto?source=h5_m Lea's personal website: https://www.lealovescrypto.com/ Video Examples 2020 Year in Review… News Vlog Style: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto/status/1344384717466914817?s=20 A Muggle’s Guide to Bitcoin: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto/status/1261445010832015361?s=20 Hardware Wallets Explained: https://twitter.com/girlgone_crypto/status/1329580439820849153?s=20 Miscellaneous Information Fair Use: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html Money Printer: https://www.amazon.com/Printing-Machine-Magician-Close-Up-Accessories/dp/B07XRBDCL8 Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-300k-btc-by-eoy/

Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis Global, discusses Tesla’s purchase of $1.5 billion in bitcoin and Genesis’s new unit: Genesis Treasury. He also talks about how demand has shaped Genesis’ bitcoin and crypto offerings over the years, which events have acted as catalysts for institutional demand, and what Genesis is expecting in 2021. In this episode Michael covers: The significance of Tesla allocating $1.5 billion to BTC (1:08) How Tesla’s purchase is a result of the evolution of the asset class and why this is just the beginning How Genesis got its start as a regulated BTC trading desk in 2013 (2:56) What new products and services Genesis has launched since 2018 to meet institutional demand (6:11) How Genesis came to launch Genesis Treasury and what this unit does (8:00) Understanding the idea of bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset and how the stock market is rewarding companies for getting into crypto What the catalysts were in creating corporate demand for bitcoin and where corporate demand for bitcoin is coming from (10:52) How corporate interest in bitcoin correlated with Microstrategy’s Bitcoin for Corporations event (13:16) Why institutions have been interested in Bitcoin as collateral, and why that narrative is new How the conversation with institutions interested in buying bitcoin would be different in a bear market (16:00) How GAAP accounting rules affect the quarterly earnings reports of publicly traded companies that hold bitcoin (19:03 ) His projections for how 2021 in crypto will play out (21:44) Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com The Sun Exchange: http://thesunexchange.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Michael Moro: https://twitter.com/michaelmoro Genesis: https://genesis.global/ Genesis Treasury: https://genesistrading.com/treasury/ Recent institutional purchasing news: Tesla’s BTC purchase: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/02/08/bitcoin-surges-above-43000-to-a-record-after-elon-musks-tesla-buys-1point5-billion.html Twitter’s CFO considers Bitcoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/94459/twitter-cfo-bitcoin-btc-balance-sheet-comments Microstrategy’s Bitcoin for Corporations event: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/bitcoin/videos/bitcoin-macro-strategy Michael Saylor’s Unchained interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-michael-saylor-on-the-best-way-for-companies-to-buy-bitcoin/ Companies holding bitcoin: https://bitcointreasuries.org/ Genesis information: Michael Moro’s presentation at Microstrategy’s event: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/bitcoin/videos/genesis Genesis Global background: https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/6024551/About%20-%20Genesis%20Global/About%20Genesis%20Global%20-%20Full%20Overview.pdf Prime Brokerage Services: https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/6024551/About%20-%20Genesis%20Prime/About%20Genesis%20Prime%20-%20Full%20Overview.pdf Q4 market observations: https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/6024551/About%20-%20Genesis%20Prime/About%20Genesis%20Prime%20-%20Full%20Overview.pdf Miscellaneous: Crypto and GAAP accounting : https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2020/05/21/how-are-cryptocurrencies-classified-in-gaap-financials/?sh=40ed4f9865b2 Coin Metrics report on institutional investing: https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/coin-metrics-state-of-the-network-330 Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/41-trillion-in-aum/

Mira Christanto, research analyst at Messari, recently wrote a comprehensive report on the crypto scene in Asia. In this episode, she covers cultural differences in crypto trading between East and West, plus gives us the latest on the diverse regulatory landscape within this large region. Some topics covered in this show include: why Asia is an important geography in crypto why Asia dominates the crypto futures trading markets why DeFi fits better with Western culture, and centralized services are more respected in the East the state of regulation across the region what makes crypto regulation in Hong Kong unique how the Chinese are approaching regulation, and how bitcoin is exchanged there how Japan's crypto industry differs from that of other companies and why penetration is still somewhat low why and how Korea is distinct from other crypto trading cultures why Singapore's regulatory framework for crypto is the most sophisticated what's happening in Southeast Asia and India the status of crypto mining in China — and why the Western view of it is quite different from what it's like on the ground Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Sun Exchange: http://sunexchange.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Mira Christanto: https://twitter.com/asiahodl Messari: https://messari.io Messari's Asia Crypto Landscape report: https://messari.io/asia-crypto-landscape Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/25-billion-in-institutional-bitcoin-by-eoy/

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and founder of FTX, describes what happened between the Subreddit Wall Street Bets and hedge funds around the stock of GameStop this week. In this episode, he covers: what happened with the stock of video game retailer GameStop this week what that says about how to value a stock how the traditional financial establishment reacted how the events in GameStop this week are similar to the way crypto markets operate how a crypto financial system could affect the ability of investors to do what the hedge funds did with GameStop — shorting more shares of the stock than actually exist what led to FTX listing for tokenized versions of GameStop, Blackberry, AMC and Nokia, as well as a tokenized index fund of Wall Street Bets stocks how the tokenized stocks and index work on the back end why Robinhood restricted customers from purchasing shares in GameStop on Thursday what the inspiration was for FTX Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com The Sun Exchange: http://sunexchange.com Episode links: Sam Bankman-Fried: https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda FTX: https://ftx.com Roundups of what happened with Gamestop: NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/business/gamestop-wall-street-bets.html Vox: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22249458/gamestop-stock-wallstreetbets-reddit-citron Early Wired story: https://www.wired.com/story/gamestop-stock-wall-street-bets-short-squeeze/ NYT analysis: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/technology/gamestop-stock.html Sam on what can determine an asset’s price: https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda/status/1354790766313234432?s=20 Chamath Palihapitiya on CNBC discussing Gamestop — defending individual investors: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/chamath-palihapitiya-closes-gamestop-position-but-defends-individual-investors-right-to.html Videos: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/01/27/investor-chamath-palihapitiya-the-gamestop-story-is-pushback-against-wall-street-establishment.html https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/01/27/billionaire-investor-chamath-palihapitiya-on-gamestop-surge-and-rise-of-retail-investors.html Gamestop price gyrations: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/gamestop-reverses-losses-and-surges-another-30percent-in-the-premarket-to-450-as-mania-continues.html How many shares of GME are shorted: https://isthesqueezesquoze.com FTX lists GME for tokenized spot and futures trading: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/92756/ftx-lists-gme-stock-for-tokenized-spot-futures-trading FTX’s Wall Street Bets tokenized index fund: https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda/status/1354790817060143114?s=20 Robinhood customers only being able to sell, not buy GME when Robinhood’s revenue biggest revenue source is sending order flow to hedge funds: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/robinhood-interactive-brokers-restrict-trading-in-gamestop-s.html Matt Levine of Bloomberg on GameStop: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-28/knowing-when-to-sell-gamestop-stock-at-the-top-is-impossible?sref=m9L277rN Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-gamestop-is-like-crypto/

Gregory Pepin, deputy CEO of Deltec Bank and Trust, responds to allegations in a blog post by the pseudonymous Crypto Anonymous, that Tether is a "highly probably fraud." In this episode, he covers: how Deltec accounts for its reserves, and why they didn't show up on Crypto Anonymous's blog post where the dollars backing Tethers are held how Tethers get created where Tether Ltd. keeps its cash equivalents why there's more demand for trading with USDT than with USD partially because of the arbitrage opportunity between East and West how Tethers get created using Deltec why USDT gets minted in very round numbers as opposed to very specific numbers that USDC is minted in where the cash equivalents backing Tethers are held what type of due diligence Deltec conducted when it took on Tether Ltd. as a customer why the perception that Tether is unregulated compared to other stablecoins is false what Deltec thinks about the New York Attorney General office's investigation in to Tether why Deltec has a "large position in bitcoin" Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Gregory Pepin: https://twitter.com/dzrgreg Deltec Bank: https://www.deltecbank.com/?locale=en Crypto Anonymous’s Medium post: https://crypto-anonymous-2021.medium.com/the-bit-short-inside-cryptos-doomsday-machine-f8dcf78a64d3 Deltec having large position in bitcoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/91353/deltec-bitcoin-position-tether Original video in which Deltec mentions its “large position in bitcoin”: https://www.deltecbank.com/2021/01/14/a-covid-year-in-review/ Deltec banking Tether: https://www.coindesk.com/deltec-chairman-says-tether-letter-on-bank-relationship-is-authentic Tether not audited: https://www.coindesk.com/tether-review-claims-crypto-asset-fully-backed-theres-catch Tether says it is fully backed: https://www.coindesk.com/tether-says-its-stablecoin-is-fully-backed-again Tether current balances: https://wallet.tether.to/transparency?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=c035d054dd287020b16d6dbb4b70398ca7a99dcb-1611253376-0-AcOsT0Zqpd8Muzw5gnkSz6KKmTrN3WAssxGX8K-p_PkeZ2SUfW9EsAr-a2EkIojYzm5-3RA_1DHxpoK579d0YgtnxMYevlVRSS7RIAKh0sgk-ORzOZUDNgg_AvZjugdrxWVjTA9dCBf1hX4X83oU3-RTjQYn_qYukdRFJUq9a89BXyyDovL3bu4ohxSSVdworOR-cdxEiPURe4ZJrGIvuW3Ej2qJLJt3RDXfX6BfDANdpkVrU6O2KB4V0Or-HJjItS0uAu-L7KrTomXNv9anUv34_An8cH3VHYfB_OD-iyIvkgOh7RHd-Xafe-SJwPnUYg What Tether is backed by: https://wallet.tether.to/transparency?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=c035d054dd287020b16d6dbb4b70398ca7a99dcb-1611253376-0-AcOsT0Zqpd8Muzw5gnkSz6KKmTrN3WAssxGX8K-p_PkeZ2SUfW9EsAr-a2EkIojYzm5-3RA_1DHxpoK579d0YgtnxMYevlVRSS7RIAKh0sgk-ORzOZUDNgg_AvZjugdrxWVjTA9dCBf1hX4X83oU3-RTjQYn_qYukdRFJUq9a89BXyyDovL3bu4ohxSSVdworOR-cdxEiPURe4ZJrGIvuW3Ej2qJLJt3RDXfX6BfDANdpkVrU6O2KB4V0Or-HJjItS0uAu-L7KrTomXNv9anUv34_An8cH3VHYfB_OD-iyIvkgOh7RHd-Xafe-SJwPnUYg New York Attorney General’s office press release on investigation into iFinex: https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/attorney-general-james-announces-court-order-against-crypto-currency-company CoinDesk on NYAG investigation: https://www.coindesk.com/bitfinex-ny-prosecutors-tether-850-million-allege Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-8-trillion-could-do-in-bitcoin/

Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at Coinshares, and Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures, join me at the Stacks conference to discuss Bitcoin layer 2s. In this episode, they cover: why layers 2s exist how layer 2s, such as payment channels like Lightning, work what kind of throughput layer 2s have how moving Bitcoin to layer 2 affects the price why people having moved $5 billion worth of Bitcoin to Ethereum how Bitcoin moving to Ethereum affects the price the most popular Bitcoin layer 2s Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Meltem Demirors: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem Nic Carter: https://twitter.com/nic__carter Stacks: https://twitter.com/Stacks Total value locked in Lightning: https://www.defipulse.com/lightning-network Bitcoin on Ethereum: https://www.defipulse.com/btc Stats on Lightning: https://bitcoinvisuals.com/lightning What layer 2s mean for altcoins and base chain assets like Bitcoin: https://www.coindesk.com/rise-of-layer-2s-altcoins-like-ethereum Sovryn: https://sovryn.app RSK: https://www.rsk.co Liquid network: https://blockstream.com/liquid/ Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/stupid-bitcoin-rich/

Frank Chaparro, director of news at The Block, gives his predictions for what will happen in crypto in 2021. In this episode, we discuss: the big stories in crypto in 2020 how the market has changed in 2020 how the market differs from the 2017-2018 bubble what big traditional financial services firms and investment banks will do in crypto in 2021 how crypto exchanges will experiment with their fee structures how regulatory actions, such as the lawsuit against Ripple, will affect exchanges what might happen to privacy coins as regulators become more active what he expects to see from the upcoming Coinbase IPO and how that will affect the broader market Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Blocknative: http://blocknative.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Frank Chaparro: https://twitter.com/fintechfrank The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com The Block's 2020 year in review: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/promotions/2020-in-review/ Predictions from The Block's analysts: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/89788/2021-predictions-from-the-blocks-analysts Unchained interview with Raoul Pal and Michael Novogratz: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-mike-novogratz-and-raoul-pal-on-the-single-greatest-brand-of-the-last-10-years/ Bittrex delisting privacy coins: https://twitter.com/BittrexExchange/status/1345056010981892096?s=20 Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/1t-40k-1200/

For the holidays, I'm doing two AMAs. In the second of two, I cover: privacy blockchains my thoughts on the STABLE Act whether or not Facebook's Diem will have a positive or negative impact on crypto what I miss from pre-COVID about the crypto community how we can use blockchain and crypto to weed our propaganda and fake news the best pick and shovel plays in crypto what distinguishes a journalist from an entertainer my thoughts on the state of media and journalism in the US Thank you to our sponsors! Blocknative: http://blocknative.com/unconfirmed Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Meltem Demirors on privacy in 2021: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-meltem-demirors-and-lyn-alden-on-the-perfect-conditions-for-bitcoin/ Jessie Liu episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-dojs-cryptocurrency-enforcement-framework/ Brian Brooks episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/acting-comptroller-of-the-currency-brian-brooks-on-crypto-banks/ STABLE Act episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-rohan-grey-believes-stablecoin-issuers-need-to-be-banks/ Episodes on Coinbase: https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-coinbase-do-a-token-offering-when-it-goes-public/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinbase-in-turmoil-why-employees-walked-out/ Episode with Chad Cascarilla of Paxos: https://unchainedpodcast.com/chad-cascarilla-on-paxoss-partnership-with-paypal/

For the holidays, I'm doing two AMAs. In this first of two, I cover: how my book is going tips for aspiring podcasters what it's like being an independent journalist how I spent my time outside crypto if I send bitcoin to North Korea whether I own any crypto if I expect bitcoin will lose its weirdness as it becomes more widely adopted how much blockchain technology can disintermediate banks what black swans I see on the horizon for 2021 what trends I see for 2021 Thank you to our sponsors! Blocknative: http://blocknative.com/unconfirmed Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Links: My previous AMA: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ama-with-laura-the-greatest-innovation-in-the-industry-right-now/ Whether North Koreans can benefit from bitcoin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/yeonmi-park-on-why-doing-business-with-north-korea-is-like-buying-a-ticket-to-a-concentration-camp/ Why North Korea is interested in cryptocurrency: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-north-korea-is-interested-in-cryptocurrency/ Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-on-a-world-without-bitcoin/ DeFi hacks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/defi-security-with-so-many-hacks-will-it-ever-be-safe/ Why yield farming is risky: https://unchainedpodcast.com/defi-yield-farming-why-its-all-the-rage-but-risky/ Regulation: https://unchainedpodcast.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-looming-battle-over-privacy-in-crypto/ https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-travel-rule-is-one-of-the-most-significant-regulations-in-crypto/ Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/laura-eoy-ama-pt-1/

Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist also known as Beeple who has made an artwork every day for over 13 years, talks about the NFT auctions he held last weekend, after learning about crypto two months ago. In the show, he discusses: how he got into crypto two months ago, and made $3.5 million in NFT auctions last weekend how the objects on sale were more than just jpegs and what physical objects came with the NFTs what types of auctions he had, and why some pieces were available for $1 apiece how he previously made money as a digital artist how he believes digital artists will be able to make money in the future why people would pay to own an NFT if they can just get a digital file of the art why he incorporated physical objects into his sale whether or not this model would work for artists with smaller followings than he has, with his 1.7 million Instagram followers what his relationship was with the collector who paid $777,777 for the final piece sold in the auction why he chose Nifty Gateway among all the NFT sites how NFTs could also change business models for other types of creators besides visual artists Thank you to our sponsors! Blocknative: Blocknative.com/unconfirmed Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Mike Winkelmann: https://twitter.com/beeple Video for auction: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIlNe6MAwVX/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet Instagram video showing the digital art displays: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CIrMctwgfJ1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Coverage of auctions: https://www.delphidigital.io/reports/beeple-shatters-crypto-art-records-across-the-board/ https://cryptobriefing.com/digital-art-auction-raises-record-million/ https://decrypt.co/51270/beeple-nft-sale https://twitter.com/niftygateway/status/1338268375156482050?s=20 Rapper Lil Yachty's NFT sale: https://www.coindesk.com/lil-yachty-collectible-fetches-16k-in-latest-string-of-high-profile-nft-auctions Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/3-btc-price-targets/

Rohan Grey, assistant professor at Willamette Law, talks about the STABLE Act, which would require stable coin issuers to obtain a banking charter, require approval from the Federal Reserve and require issuers to have FDIC insurance. In this episode, Grey, an advisor to the bill, discusses: how the past history of financial innovation and events that have posed systemic risks necessitates the STABLE Act how he, not being a staff member of Congress, became involved in the bill how the bill would prevent stablecoin issuers from committing crimes that banks have perpetrated by requiring them to become banks why he believes open source smart contracts enforcing rules and public audit-able blockchains are not a fundamentally new way to prevent the type of events that pose systemic risks that the STABLE Act aims to prevent why existing regulatory and licensing regimes are insufficient how he would answer people from countries like Argentina who have had their currency devalued by their government the STABLE Act, and who might say this bill exposes them to a different type of risk how much the rollout of Facebook's Diem, as opposed to existing stablecoins such as Tether, USDC or Dai, was a motivation for this bill whether, by focusing narrowly on systemic risk, this bill could squash crypto and fintech innovation that could help the un- and under-banked whether he sees any path forward for this bill to be passed Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Blocknative: https://www.blocknative.com/unconfirmed Episode links: Rohan Grey: https://twitter.com/rohangrey STABLE Act: https://tlaib.house.gov/media/press-releases/tlaib-garcia-and-lynch-stableact Introduction of bill: https://www.coindesk.com/us-lawmakers-introduce-bill-that-would-require-stablecoin-issuers-to-obtain-bank-charters Implications of the bill for running an Ethereum node: https://www.coindesk.com/stable-act-ethereum-node-illegal https://www.coincenter.org/the-unintended-consequences-of-the-stable-act/ https://www.coindesk.com/stable-act-ethereum-node-illegal Rohan Grey and Jeremy Allaire interviews on The Block Live: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1OwxWVgmqyMJQ Unchained interview with acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/acting-comptroller-of-the-currency-brian-brooks-on-crypto-banks/ Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-mass-mutuals-btc-buy-is-so-significant/

James Slazas, founder and CEO of LiquidStake and DARMA Capital, describes their retail and institutional offerings for customers who want to stake on Ethereum 2.0 but still access the locked-up capital. In this episode, we discuss: what problem LiquidStake solves and how what happens if the dollar value of someone’s stake drops below the amount that they’ve borrowed who keeps the ETH in a liquidation how LiquidStake makes money how they determine the price of ETH to make the loan and what it does in the event of a flash crash on an exchange how LiquidStake and DARMA Capital are also serving institutional clients how total return swap agreements with DARMA work why they offer more tax and regulatory clarity why LiquidStake currently offers USDC for its stablecoin the pros and cons of a centralized loans on staked ETH 2 over decentralized ones the other crypto systems LiquidStake is partnering with how LiquidStake and DARMA Capital are able to make these loans from a regulatory perspective Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/ Episode links: James Slazas: https://twitter.com/DARMA_Slazas Liquidstake: https://liquidstake.com DARMA Capital: https://darma.capital LiquidStake announcements: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-heavyweights-launch-liquidstake-loans-to-ease-eth-2-0-lockup https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/84277/eth2-liquidstake-borrow-eth-validators LiquidStake blog post: https://liquidstake.com/blog/1 Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-is-pushing-up-the-price-of-bitcoin/

This episode is a discussion from Stellar's Meridian conference, in which I moderated the panel, Crypto on Every Corner: Driving Adoption, featuring Jeremy Allaire, cofounder, chairman and CEO of Circle, and Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinShares. In this discussion, we cover: what adoption means and looks like why cryptocurrency is at a particularly interesting inflection point how central bank digital currencies could affect that how blockchains will recede into the background how existing fintech payment apps will use blockchains and/or crypto where on the road to adoption the industry currently is the significance of Crypto Twitter as a marketing tool what the crypto industry needs to do in the next year to grow the industry why it would have been easier to start a bank than a crypto business why the separation of money and state is one of the most interesting experiments in history how we'll see new corporate-like organizations without any connections to any existing legal or financial systems driven by tokens what their favorite crypto adoption success story is Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Jeremy Allaire: https://twitter.com/jerallaire Circle: https://www.circle.com/en/ Meltem Demirors: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem Coinshares: https://coinshares.com PayPal offering crypto: https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/12/paypal-says-all-users-in-u-s-can-now-buy-hold-and-sell-cryptocurrencies/ Revolut offering crypto: https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/15/revolut-partners-with-paxos-to-bring-cryptocurrency-trading-to-the-us/

Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures, and cofounder and chairman of Coin Metrics, explains why the Bitcoin price has been rising without the retail bubble seen in 2017-2018. In this episode he covers: how this Bitcoin rally differs from the ones in 2017-2018 and why the market is much more mature how much the pandemic and other macro forces this year have helped propel Bitcoin what it says that the number of Bitcoin addresses with $10 or more worth of bitcoin are is at 18 million now, compared to 2014 in the 2017-2018 bubble the significance of realized cap, and why there's less pressure to sell now since the current cost basis of all bitcoins is much higher than in the bubble the significance of the fact that open interest in CME Bitcoin futures hit $1 billion this week — and why, even though they're cash-settled, they do impact the Bitcoin price what the appreciation of the Bitcoin price in other countries' currencies such as Turkish lira means what it means that the stablecoin free float has grown from $1.5 billion in the last bubble to $23 billion during this rally what he makes of the theory that Chinese miners are having difficulty to sell their BTC being a driver of the price rise Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Nic Carter: https://twitter.com/nic__carter Castle Island VC: https://www.castleisland.vc Coin Metrics: https://coinmetrics.io Nic’s post: https://medium.com/@nic__carter/nine-bitcoin-charts-already-at-all-time-highs-78abbfe82804 Chinese miners unable to sell BTC: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-rally-supply-crunch-in-china Dispute with this report: https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/1328893579515682816?s=20 CME Bitcoin open futures surpasses $1 billion: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/85045/cme-bitcoin-futures-1-billion-open-interest Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-info-will-come-out-in-the-binance-lawsuit/

Paxos CEO and cofounder Chad Cascarilla discusses his company's partnership with PayPal, which just opened up its crypto purchase and selling product to all its US customers. In this episode, he covers: how Paxos enables PayPal's crypto product the regulatory steps Paxos took to make this happen why $200 billion company like PayPal would partner with a small company like Paxos how Paxos Crypto Brokerage works how Paxos provides the regulatory cover that PayPal needs for this offering, along with custodial and liquidity services why this product sources its coins on Paxos's ItBit exchange how the four crypto assets available on PayPal — bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash — were chosen what other tokens one might expect to be offered through Paxos Crypto Brokerage, and possibly by extension by PayPal how PayPal gets around the scaling issues on Bitcoin and Ethereum whether Paxos's stablecoin business might be used by PayPal if PayPal does acquire BitGo, what that would mean for Paxos offering custody for PayPal through its brokerage how Paxos's equity settlement platform is going, and where it could go over time how and why Paxos is applying to the SEC to become one of three clearing agents Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Chad Cascarilla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescascarilla/ Paxos: https://www.paxos.com PayPal now offers crypto purchases to all its customers: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/84398/paypal-opening-up-app-crypto-users Original announcements about PayPal offering crypto purchases with Paxos: https://www.coindesk.com/paypal-new-york-conditional-bitlicense-paxos-cryptocurrency https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/81794/paypal-to-enable-crypto-purchases-with-the-help-of-paxos Paxos announcement: https://www.paxos.com/paypal-paxos-bring-crypto-to-millions-of-users/ Paxos Crypto Brokerage: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paxos-introduces-paxos-crypto-brokerage-service-to-power-digital-asset-buying-and-selling-in-any-product-301093761.html PayPal approved for conditional BitLicense: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202010211 Paxos’s stablecoin business: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/54254/a-deep-dive-into-the-paxos-stablecoin-ecosystem PayPal rumored to be in talks to acquire BitGo: https://www.coindesk.com/paypal-said-to-be-in-talks-to-buy-crypto-firms-including-bitgo-bloomberg Paxos working with Revolut: https://www.coindesk.com/uk-fintech-firm-revolut-brings-bitcoin-ether-trading-to-us-customers Paxos equity settlement business: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/56494/paxos-equity-settlement-business-goes-live-with-credit-suisse-and-nomuras-instinet-as-first-clients https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/44901/paxos-looking-to-upend-a-massive-corner-of-wall-street-credit-suisse-on-board-for-pilot Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/1st-paxos-interview-since-paypal-news/

Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association and a board member of HODLpac, discusses how advocating for crypto will change under what is likely to be a new presidential administration. In this episode she talks about: what crypto advocacy typically entails how the approach will change under a Biden administration compared to what it was under Trump what appointments by Biden could most affect the crypto industry which issues are at the top of the agendas for both the Blockchain Association and HODLpac why regulators are particularly interested in stablecoins how a potentially Democratic-controlled Senate under a Biden administration might affect crypto what she's watching for from Cynthia Lummis, a Bitcoiner who won her Wyoming Senate race how anti-trust sentiment in Congress could affect crypto, and whether legislators see Web3 as an antidote to monopoly problems the divisions within the crypto industry around how to approach regulators, and how to resolve them the potential for a de minimus tax exemption, in light of PayPal integrating cryptocurrencies and how HODLpac used quadratic voting to decide which candidates to support Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/ Episode links: Kristin Smith: https://twitter.com/KMSmithDC Blockchain Association: https://theblockchainassociation.org HODLpac: https://www.hodlpac.org Interview with acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/acting-comptroller-of-the-currency-brian-brooks-on-crypto-banks/ Likely second runoff election in Georgia to determine control of Senate: https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1324360112190951424?s=20 Cynthia Lummis to become first US Senator who is also a Bitcoiner https://fortune.com/2020/11/04/wyoming-bitcoin-cynthia-lummis-u-s-senate/ Brad Sherman wanting to ban cryptocurrency: https://www.coindesk.com/congressmans-call-for-crypto-ban-sparks-social-uproar Leaked Binance doc about whether Binance.US is a decoy: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/29/leaked-tai-chi-document-reveals-binances-elaborate-scheme-to-evade-bitcoin-regulators/?sh=1d759bd2a926 More on quadratic voting: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/ Link to the Crypto News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-a-potential-biden-administration-could-mean-for-crypto/

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, discusses a milestone Bitwise reached this week -- hitting $100 million in assets under management. He also covered what has been driving interest in Bitwise products the two types of customers who have been especially interested in purchasing crypto assets this year and why what this says about the maturation of the industry compared to during the 2017 bubble how conversations with Bitwise customers have changed since then what impact this week's bullish JPMorgan research note about Bitcoin could have on investors and why it was so significant what the significance will be of the integration of bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies by PayPal next year how Microstrategy and Square putting Bitcoin on their balance sheets will pave the way for other corporations to do so how the new Fed policy of targeting an average 2% inflation rate could affect Bitcoin how recent regulatory actions, such as with BitMEX, affect the likelihood of a Bitcoin ETF being approved in the next few years how a company like Bitwise, which interfaces with traditional investors, creates viable investment vehicles around DeFi for its clientele what a Trump win vs. a Biden win could mean for the crypto industry Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Matt Hougan: https://twitter.com/Matt_Hougan Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com Bitwise reaches $100 million in AUM: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitwise-surpasses-100-million-in-assets-under-management-due-to-rising-demand-for-crypto-from-hedge-funds-and-financial-advisors-301161317.html?tc=eml_cleartime JPMorgan research note on Bitcoin: https://fortune.com/2020/10/26/jp-morgan-chase-bitcoin-predictions-analyst-jpm-cryptocurrency/ https://twitter.com/DTAPCAP/status/1319703750450302980?s=20 Matt's piece on the significance of the OCC letter giving banks the authority to custody crypto assets: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthougan/2020/07/27/the-occs-notice-on-crypto-is-a-really-big-deal/ Matt's essay on how the Fed's new approach to inflation could affect Bitcoin: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthougan/2020/09/22/this-new-fed-policy-could-be-a-game-changer-for-bitcoin/ Matt's post on DeFi: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthougan/2020/07/13/why-ethereum-has-valuethe--opportunity-in-programmable-money--defi/#67e88a364818 News Recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-binance-decoy-for-us-regulators/

Willy Woo, on-chain Bitcoin analyst and writer of “The Bitcoin Forecast,” a market intelligence newsletter, discusses how the Bitcoin markets have been changing amidst what may be a forthcoming ebbing of derivatives exchanges and a revival of the importance of spot exchanges. In this episode, he covers: what the PayPal news means when there are currently only 23.4 million holders on chain, and only 101 million active unique accounts at centralized exchanges why "old hands" in Bitcoin have been changing their behaviors recently, selling at bottoms, rather than tops how derivatives exchanges have influenced Bitcoin price action why price moves in Bitcoin are likely to be less volatile going forward how he's detecting the purchase of Bitcoin off spot exchanges by whales and corporate treasuries how these shifts are affecting crypto infrastructure players how the price of Bitcoin moves for every dollar invested and what his projection is based on that why, as the price of BTC rises, he's currently seeing HODLers holding tighter than ever by when he believes we'll see sovereign wealth funds investing in Bitcoin by when he says we'll see a $50,000 Bitcoin why the Bitcoin NVT ratio indicates it's an "extremely great time to buy Bitcoin" why he doesn't focus much on ether, how he thinks it will perform under Ethereum 2.0 and why things could change if Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559 is implemented and transaction fees end up being burned Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Willy Woo: https://twitter.com/woonomic The Bitcoin Forecast: https://willywoo.substack.com His charts and models: http://charts.woobull.com PayPal news: https://www.reuters.com/article/paypal-cryptocurrency/update-1-paypal-to-open-up-network-to-cryptocurrencies-idUSL1N2HC0PL Willy's tweet about dormancy: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1318154088635224065 Willy on how coins on spot exchanges are dropping: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1313798080236380160?s=20 Willy on NVT ratio: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1315839269148086272 Willy on ETH: https://twitter.com/woonomic/status/1313099814041653248?s=20

Jessie Liu, partner at Skadden and the former US attorney for the District of Columbia, headed up the team that has prosecuted what some believe is the greatest number of cryptocurrency crimes worldwide — Welcome to Video, Dark Scandals, Helix, North Korea, Hamas/Al Qaeda and ISIS. In this episode, she discusses: how she came to create a Threat Finance Unit that focuses on the intersection of cybercrime that threatened national security what the DOJ's new cryptocurrency enforcement framework means and what the significance is of the framework what parts of the framework crypto startups should pay attention to whether the DOJ will continue to act in concert with other agencies, as it did recently with its indictment of four executives at cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX in conjunction with an enforcement action by the CFTC against the same exchange how DOJ can claim jurisdiction over exchanges located outside the US, on a practical level, go after entities located outside how the FATF global standards will affect enforcement in the US the DOJ's stance toward "anonymity-enhanced" cryptocurrencies, or privacy-preserving coins the DOJ's disagreement that EU's privacy law, GDPR, can be used by some crypto exchanges to keep the DOJ from obtaining data from those exchanges how willing foreign countries are to coordinate with US law enforcement and whether cryptocurrency criminals could engage in jurisdictional arbitrage Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: http://crypto.com Episode links: Jessie Liu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-k-liu/ Skadden bio: https://www.skadden.com/professionals/l/liu-jessie Press release about cryptocurrency enforcement framework: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-william-p-barr-announces-publication-cryptocurrency-enforcement-framework Cryptocurrency enforcement framework: https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1326061/download Unchained podcast about FATF rules: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-travel-rule-is-one-of-the-most-significant-regulations-in-crypto/ CoinDesk on how the enforcement framework is a warning shot to offshore exchanges: https://www.coindesk.com/doj-crypto-framework-warning Links from news recap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-whale-rocket-chart