A Bit Cryptic

As video games and superhero movies flourish worldwide, the most famous artifacts of geek culture are drawing price tags worthy of the great artists. One startup, run by fans, wants to help other geeks take ownership of the things they love. In this episode we interview founder Joe Mahavuthivanij and discuss: • How losing $1 million worth of Magic: The Gathering cards inspired a collectables-based investment startup • How non-fungible tokens (the system crypto art was using) and collectables...

This is our central banking perspective, with guest Paul Brassil, technology solutions at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Brassil is an industry veteran who switched to a career with the Federal Reserve System. Having been involved with blockchain projects since early days, Paul is familiar with ins-and-outs of tech experimentations, shaping its technical roadmap. His team also evaluates automation, including AI, and other emerging tech. Paul sees software eating the world (e.g. Uber,...

Rizqi Rachmat, an international hip hop artist and visual designer, stars in the Amazon film documentary: “Rizqi Presents Blockchain.” Rizqi's world is mixed with economic think tanks and creative arts. He attributes the forces that shape him today: martial arts, Wayang (Indonesian puppet theatre), his mother's dancing, and an education that emphasizes free markets. Rizqi talks to us about fascinating aspects of his film production, including a visit to the Bitcoin mining center in Montana...

In our first coverage of Latin America, George Donnelly from Dash describes his work with merchants and businesses across the region. Particularly in Venezuela, there are growing pains and discontent as many households are living in poverty in an economy spiraling out of control. In the U.S., cryptocurrencies are treated more like speculative investments whereas in markets like Venezuela there are pressing needs for alternative ways to manage and use money. Hernando De Soto, the Peruvian...

After a long hiatus, we’re back! In today’s episode Jeff interviews Joseph Weinberg, co-founder of Shyft network which wants to shake up the world of identity verification for blockchain. He also advises on blockchain to governments (G20 and G7). In this episode we discuss: -How cryptocurrency went from being super uncool 2010-2014 to now being pretty cool. It’s to the point to where an iced tea company had their stock jump because they added crypto to the name. -What it was like living with...

Alain and Jeff interview Calvin Tran, director of the Amazon documentary “Rizqi Presents: Blockchain.” In today’s episode we discuss: - A lot of people still think cryptocurrency and blockchain are the same thing (why haven’t people gotten this by now?) - How blockchain can dramatically stimulate developing economies by creating secure systems for real estate and land titles - How Blockstack, a blockchain name system to replace DNS, aims to create a decentralized internet - How alternative...

This is our central banking perspectives, featuring guest Jim Cunha, SVP of the Treasury and Financial Services Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Cunha is a lifetime central banker, but not your typical one. For several decades at the Fed, his job has been overseeing financial rails that allow massive transactions to take place on a given day. In our exchange, he explains how the Fed may have missed the boat on the first dot.com boom-and-bust and how it led to giant networks like...

This is part 2 in our coverage of Blossom, a St. Louis energy startup, cofounded by Washington University alumni Joe Gardner and Chris Mertens, two tinkerers who want to rethink the current energy business model. We spoke with the two following their partnership announcement with iNeighborhoods to allow city residents to exchange renewable energy. This is part of a smart cities initiative aimed to make urban centers more sustainable, economic viable, and inclusive. They call it: "Smart City...

This is part 1 in our coverage of Blossom, a St. Louis energy startup, cofounded by Washington University alumni Joe Gardner and Chris Mertens, two tinkerers who want to rethink the current energy business model. They also want to restore power and control back to the consumer while preparing society for a renewable energy future. They talk us through: -how not getting the college internships led them to experiment and build smart gadget solutions for businesses and customers. -their fateful...

On today’s episode we interview the YouTube personality That Guy T, aka Taleed who is known for discussing crypto and classical liberalism on his channel. In the episode we discuss: -How classical liberalism / libertarianism means staying out of people’s bedrooms and wallets, as well as not punishing crimes with no victim (sex workers or people using drugs) -Trump’s election was fun for a nihilist like him to watch -Best ways to whet your crypto appetite -Practical aspects of being a...

After Basel Art Miami, we feature Rachel Wolfson, 10 year tech journalist, host of The Crypto Chick podcast show and Forbes contributor. Rachel has a knack for spotting tech and social movements. She shares with us the following: - why we're seeing more real world blockchain solutions this year and why that matters for adoption -her recent interesting coverage: IBM partnering with Walmart on supply chain traceability; Propy making real estate property deals using smart contracts in a...

An up close and personal interview with award winning crypto artists Maria Tokareva and Sergey Gordienko, after Basel Art in Miami Beach. Their artwork has been featured by Forbes and lights up new tech events. Check out their story: -trial and tribulation of starting out as an artist -where blockchain can contribute to art ownership, attribution, and sharing artwork both in the physical realm and online. -channeling their crypto obsession into paintings -finding inspiration from others;...

If you like our podcast and want to continue hearing new episodes, please support us through our affiliates (or donation) -- If you don't have a Coinbase account, it’s a convenient way to buy, sell, and store smaller cryptocurrency online (it's FDIC insured to $250k). Use our link to get $10 free BTC after you buy $100 worth of crypto: https://www.coinbase.com/join/52dbff1652e0669dd500002d If you want extra security for storing your crypto i.e. if you have more than 1 month earnings in...

If you like our podcast and want to continue hearing new episodes, please support us through our affiliates (or donation) -- If you still don't have a Coinbase account, it's the best way to store smaller cryptocurrency online (it's FDIC insured to $250k). Use our link to get $10 free BTC after you buy $100 worth of crypto: https://www.coinbase.com/join/52dbff1652e0669dd500002d If you want extra security for storing your crypto i.e. if you have more than 1 month earnings in crypto, you NEED...

If you like our podcast and want to continue hearing new episodes, please support us through our affiliates (or donation) -- If you want extra security for storing your crypto i.e. if you have more than 1 month earnings in crypto, you NEED to be using something secure like a Hardware wallet: https://www.ledger.com/?r=b2a701a48333 ----- We interview Darryll DiPietro, President and CEO of Coincierge Club, a FinTech point-of-service solution for blockchain transactions, aka anyone with a brick...

CEO and Founder of cryptocurrencynewsfeed.com which is a professional news agency that specializes in getting you cryptocurrency information as fast and accurately as possible. In this episode we talk about how they do quality control, how to spot BS articles, how news websites use the “high-low” strategy to survive the era of low page views, how the government could come after you if you’ve been in a pump-and-dump group, and how Aaron would invest in no other coin other than Bitcoin....

In this episode we speak with business and blockchain expert Brian Dixon, who is CEO of Off the Chain Capital, a company that manages blockchain assets portfolios. Brian is also COO of Capital Innovators, which is a tech accelerator helps startups being their ideas to market (invests in energy, consumer products, and tech). Brian has written two books on crypto: "Bitcoin Basics 101," which breaks down blockchain into laymen terms, and "Blockparty on the Blockchain," which is about the...

Antonio Mañueco CTO of BetaBlocks, which helps decision makers and startups navigate the blockchain space with its education, co-building and acceleration platform. Antonio also brings together South Florida techies with his group Wynwood tech. In today’s episode we discuss: -How to build a better pitch competition -Why education is so important with a new technology like blockchain -How people still don’t get the difference between blockchain and cryptocurrency -Why enterprise blockchains...

News media and role of the free press face many headwinds in the digital era. When tech empires Facebook and Google upend the economic model of traditional news outlets, can they turn to blockchain to bring new life to the declining news market? Dan Kinsley, head of tech at Civil, shares how the team of tech nerds and news wonks plan to launch a network of newsrooms for the people and governed by the community. In today's episode we cover: -What's causing the rapid decline of traditional...

New York based Alexandra Karpova is Founder and CEO of Crypto PR Lab&Advisory, a boutique PR and advisory agency focused on blockchain startups. She is also a venture partner at Andra Capital, a tokenized late-stage technology growth fund with its “Silicon Valley Coin”, a regulatory compliant and asset-backed security token. In today's episode we discuss: -What a crypto PR agency actually does -How blockchain is going to dramatically change mergers and acquisitions of companies, and change...