On The Brink with Castle Island

Gabriel Shapiro, partner at BSV Law (no relationship to the coin), joins the show to chat securities law, tokenized securities, and the nature of industry regulation. In this episode:  Gabriel's introduction to the crypto industry and Nick Szabo's influence Gabriel's view on what public blockchains are for, most fundamentally Why there is an inherent tension between blockchains and the law Can public blockchains be made compatible with the law, and to what extent? The best opportunities for synergy between the law and crypto Gabriel's case for real tokenized securities How stock certificates are held and organized in legacy markets Domains where tokenized securities could outperform the current state of affairs A mistake investors make when interpreting SEC behavior Why the SEC will often let private litigation play out before imposing a fine The contrast between the EOS/Block One and Sia/ Nebulous Gabriel's critique of Hester Pierce's safe harbor for tokens - and her response Precedents to consider when loo

Matt and Nic return for deals and news of the week. In this episode:  the NFL is BACK Matt's predictions for the Patriots season New data on countries where crypto penetration is highest Mastercard launches a CBDC testing platform USDC launches on Algorand Past is prologue for stablecoins moving chains DCG continues to grow into a juggernaut Our Sushiswap explainer Can DeFi projects maintain sustainable moats? What distinguishes DeFi tokens from ICOs? Why you can't apply traditional equity earnings multiples to DeFi valuations How Sushi reminds us of Monero's origins How Curve reminds us of Dash's launch Why communities often stick with botched 'fair launches' Content mentioned in this episode:  Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer on On The Brink Ruben Galindo appears on the show Jump Capital's mid-2020 crypto theses Chainalysis' 2020 global crypto adoption index Bitcoin: A Novel Economic Institution from Ark Invest

Ruben Galindo, cofounder and CEO of Airtm, joins the show. Recently, Airtm has been in the news as it was reported that Juan Guaidó, Venezuela's would-be President, was using the app to coordinate the disbursement of funds seized from the Maduro regime to healthcare workers in Venezuela. In this episode: Why Ruben cofounded Airtm  How Airtm creates local liquidity for dollars against any local currency How Airtm manages their reserve How Bitcoin and Ethereum intersect with AirUSD How Airtm creates local liquidity on their platform The size of Airtm's userbase globally and in Venezuela Why international freelancers gravitate towards AirTM The genesis of Airdrop Venezuela How Airtm linked up with Venezuelan president Juan Guaido to distribute payments to Venezuelans The genesis of the plan to distribute seized funds to Venezuelan healthcare workers How Airtm is planning to route around Maduro's attempts at censorship How Airtm manages the physical risks of running a grey market business in Venezuela Read mor

Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer, founding partners of Electric Capital, join the show. In this episode we discuss: Their path from entrepreneurship to starting Electric Capital The experience of raising a $110M fund II from institutional limited partners The current state of play for layer one smart contract platforms Framing decentralized finance for the non-crypto native The geopolitical chess match for the USA and China vis a vis cryptoasset regulation The outlook for privacy coins   To learn more about Electric Capital visit their website and follow Avichal and Curtis on Twitter

Nic and Matt return with deals and news of the weak. In this episode:  Nic and Matt happen to buy the same book Nic's article on why the US should embrace stablecoins and credibly neutral crypto-financial infrastructure Our theory on why NYDFS went after Tether Can the US successfully disrupt itself as the administrator of financial infrastructure? Coinbase IPO prospects Coinshares adds transparency to their Bitcoin ETN and the prospects for Proofs of Reserves How Proofs of Reserves can ward off regulation Arca takes an activist stance towards Gnosis What recourse do jilted tokenholders have? Publicly traded energy companies are mining Bitcoin with stranded natural gas Matt's suggestion for a Bitcoin-themed sequel to Armageddon The single most impactful way you can help Bitcoin Nic's theory about the effect of a fee-transaction count oscillation on Ethereum How fees are a regressive tax on users Content mentioned in this episode:  Nic in Coindesk, The Crypto-dollar Surge and the American Opportunity Larry

Kyle Davies, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Kyle’s perspectives on layer one blockchain protocols and how smart contract platforms are evolving The decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape, and where Kyle sees the biggest opportunities The blurring of the lines between centralized and decentralized finance platforms Learn more about Three Arrows Capital: https://www.threearrowscap.com/ Follow Kyle on Twitter @kyled116

Aditya Palepu and Frédéric Fortier, the cofounders of DerivaDEX, join the show to talk about DEXes and prospects for their future development, and to introduce their own project. In this episode:  How Adi and Fred chose to build a Dex Why traders tend to love Dexes despite their shortcomings Dexes versus noncustodial exchanges Adi and Fred's Dex taxonomy and where they fit into that How Derivadex plans to decentralize the operation of their orderbook Are today's AMM-style Dexes sufficient? How the Derivadex team is thinking about the shape of the liquidity mining distribution curve How the distribution curve actually affects which users end up owning a piece of the DAO Why Derivadex struck a more pragmatic approach than certain other Dexes – and how they're going after CeFi users Why the team opted for USDT as the default collateral type The lessons Derivadex took from the MakerDAO exploit Their approach to capitalizing an insurance fund For more, see this introduction to DerivaDEX.

Nic and Matt cover news and deals of the week. In this episode:  FTX acquires Blockfolio for $150m DCG announces a $100m investment in Foundry, a mining subsidiary Fidelity files with the SEC for a Bitcoin fund – and what this means for other asset managers Why large asset managers have not built products around Bitcoin just yet The INX situation explained Why security tokens might actually make sense The Boston Fed is evaluating 30 different blockchains for their digital dollar project Do exchanges owe depositors their forked coins? How will NYDFS react to the Wyoming SPDI? The Fed signals a more inflationary environment Can you use whisky as a SoV?

Zachary Kelman, managing partner at Kelman Law PLLC, joins the show to shed light on the FATF – it's origins and its current mandate – the travel rule, and what the industry can expect from these developments. Covered in this episode: Zach's prior career in bank compliance and how he decided to focus on Bitcoin How Zach noticed the blurring of lines between stopping crime and politics for bank AML Why overseas payments in the correspondent bank system are expensive What the Travel Rule actually means Why Zach thinks Bitcoin compares favorably with the default correspondent banking system Why banks freeze out certain sectors even without a specific ban or prohibition How Coins.ph moved the needle for financial inclusion in the Philippines The history of the FATF and its original mandate and intent Why the FATF's recommendation could possibly bifurcate the bitcoin market How the end of the Cold War might have influenced the creation of the FATF What Fukuyama's End of History has to do with financial crimes enf

Dick Bove, senior research analyst at Odeon Capital Group joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dick’s 52 year career as a research analyst and his path to covering the banking sector The 2008 financial crisis, the measures that were taken, and how this has impacted the banking industry The future of dollar dominance and the rise of China on the geopolitical stage The role of cryptocurrency and the state of awareness in the institutional world Dick’s favorite books and his perspective on the research industry To learn more about Odeon Capital and to access Dick’s research visit www.odeoncap.com

Nic and Matt cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode:  Hawaii announces the Digital Currency Innovation Lab Wyoming's Senate nominee Cynthia Lummis is a Bitcoiner Why Bitcoin values are American values How Bitcoin is mutualistic with the US dollar Evidence that Tether is used for capital outflows from China Kraken creates Kraken Financial to pursue the SPDI in Wyoming Warren Buffett buys gold Our explanation of a new breed of ponzis Where DeFi is and is not compelling to us

Zac Prince, CEO and Founder of crypto lender BlockFi, joins the show once again to talk their recent growth and milestones. Today, BlockFi announced a $50m Series C round of financing, capitalizing on their recent growth. We dive into the fundraise, BlockFi's eye-popping growth, and what is driving interest in the crypto lending space today. In this episode:  Blockfi announces a $50m Series C fundraising round What it was like raising a Series C during covid BlockFi's insane traction and what is driving that growth Zac's big picture vision for the company as a global bank The growth that BlockFi has seen in stablecoins on the platform and the role they play What is really behind the high yields that BlockFi is able to offer The risk profile of lending BTC with BlockFi Zac's taxonomy of stablecoins BlockFi's plan for Tether – and why Zac decided to support it Zac's view of current institutional participation in the lending market How Zac thinks about DeFi and the rise of decentralized lending – and whether it

Kyle Powers is the cofounder and CEO of LibertyPay, a Boston business that powers remittances to Brazil and Mexico – settling on Bitcoin, rather than traditional financial rails. LibertyPay has settled nine figures worth of value in its history – and most users never know their transactions are settling via Bitcoin. In this episode:  How LibertyX began with the cofounders standing beside a Bitcoin ATM in South Station in 2014 The origins of LibertyPay and how the cofounders realized that Bitcoin-based remittances were a viable product How LibertyPay determined the most viable channels for their Bitcoin remittance product Why Brazil is a goldilocks zone for Bitcoin-powered remittances In which domains Bitcoin-based remittances outmatch the traditional system Why LibertyPay uses Bitcoin as their bridge currency and not another asset Why obtaining banking in 2014 was such a challenge Whether there was a coordinated attempt to unbank crypto companies in 2014-15 Whether Kyle is optimistic about the future of digi

Coin Metrics network data product lead Lucas Nuzzi joins the show to help explain how to audit the supply of Ethereum – and other, even more challenging blockchains. Also covered in this episode:  Does the Winklevoss gold asteroid mining talking point have any merit? Are the Winklevii being ironic or sincere The Boston Fed is hiring crypto engineers Why DeFi tokens remind us of PoW launches from 2014 Why we need a new taxonomy for autonomous fair launched DeFi tokens Why DeFi might not herald a resurgence of the ICO phenomenon Microstrategy surprises to the upside Facebook focuses on payments ETH supplygate explained

James Lovejoy, recent MEng MIT grad and former graduate researcher at the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, joins the show to talk about his masters thesis and associated project focusing on detecting double-spends in proof of work cryptocurrencies. Previously, little data was collected in a systematic way to detect double-spends and reorganizations across many cryptocurrencies. James' project sheds light on previously unknown security properties of PoW. In this episode:  How James came to work on Vertcoin Why James thinks ASIC resistance is valuable James' blockchain monitoring project and why it matters Why reorgs are challenging to detect Why investigating the economic damage of reorgs is difficult How James noticed a 51% attack in progress on Vertcoin and intervened to save Bittrex money – and how this can be replicated Why understanding Nicehash is critical to detecting and dealing with 51% attacks James' critiques of dominant theoretical models of PoW security How James found reorgs and counterattacks h

Nic and Matt cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode: Are we in a bull run or is fiat devaluating? Africa volumes growing on Paxful BCH contemplating redirecting block rewards to fund developers Electric Capital raises 110m Casa adds a direct buy bitcoin feature Dapper labs raises $12m with participation from multiple NBA players Matt's scoop about the Microstrategy Bitcoin position Grayscale files a form 10 for their Ethereum Investment Trust Whether Bitcoiners should try to appeal to goldbugs Why the world needs Bitcoin hardware that demonstrates UTXOs held Is DGC the biggest company in the crypto industry? Square's monster Q2 for Bitcoin Goldman has a new digital assets lead ETC keeps getting 51% attacked

Ray Youssef, founder and CEO of Paxful, joins the show to talk his journey with Paxful and his mission to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Paxful is a wholly bootstrapped startup that has recently taken the crown as the largest Bitcoin p2p marketplace in the world with $2.1B in annualized volume. Ray is from Egypt and has always sought to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Today, Africa is the 2nd most active region by volume on the platform (behind North America). In this episode: Why Bitcoin p2p is so popular in Africa Why interstate settlements in Africa are so challenging today Ray's predictions about p2p volume versus centralized volume Why p2p exchange data is more reliable than centralized exchange volume How Ray went from being homeless to founding the largest p2p Bitcoin exchange Why KYC in emerging markets is so challenging How Ray went through 11 failed startups before starting Paxful The downside of taking venture financing and why Paxful is better off without it Why western startups fail when they try and get inv

Michael Graham and Pat McEvoy of Canaccord Genuity join the podcast to discuss how their firm has approached the blockchain/cryptoasset sector. In this episode we discuss: Michael’s perspective on blockchain/cryptoassets from his role as Head of Equity Research at the firm. We discuss how blockchain technology could alter the landscape of the dominant internet companies of our era Pat’s perspective on the maturation of cryptoassets and the increased participation of institutional participants in the trading of these assets Where Pat and Michael see the biggest opportunities and how Canaccord is positioning their blockchain strategy To learn more about Canaccord visit their website.

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring John Collins, partner and cofounder of FS Vector, to cover the OCC letter and its implications. Covered in this episode: Our Plustoken conspiracy Nic's bird situation USDC raises $25m from DCG Avanti's dollar-coin Avit Why Pats players keep declaring their intention to sit out the season Bitcoin Suisse raises $48.6m Polkadot raises $43m What tokensales and desert real estate have in common FTX is building a DEX on Solana Paradigm sponsors a Bitcoin developer Why Bitcoin's patronage system is a competitive advantage relative to other blockchains Our predictions on whether this rally will last The circular logic inherent in valuations of certain DeFi tokens Why distinguishing pseudo equity from cryptocurrency is so important  

Jesse Walden, founder of Variant joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jesse’s journey in the crypto industry, from founding Mediachain, to being an investor at A16Z, to founding Variant The crypto ownership economy and how Jesse sees the evolution of consumer software Crypto projects through the lens of contract theory   Learn more and follow Jesse at www.variant.fund and follow him on Twitter @Jessewldn