On The Brink with Castle Island

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week. Covered in this episode: Why holding Bitcoin in banks isn't necessarily contrary to the nature of Bitcoin VALR, a South African exchange, raises $3.45m from 100x Group and others The OCC's bombshell letter saying that banks can custody cryptocurrency What this means for established crypto custodians Follow-up questions we have for the OCC Hester Pierce expresses her disappointment with the outcome of the Telegram case Standard Chartered working on cryptoasset custody Paypal partnering with Paxos Coinbase blacklists the Twitter hacker addresses Our explanation of what's going on with Ampleforth The potential pro-Bitcoin regulatory troika in the US

Sam Wyner and Sal Ternullo, cryptoasset services co-leads at KPMG, join the show to talk about KPMG's newly-released analytics capabilities dubbed Chain Fusion. Chain Fusion is a patent pending suite of advanced analytics capabilities built on leading cryptoasset data and infrastructure products, to streamline the ability for financial services companies, FinTechs, and organizations across industries to deliver institutional quality cryptoasset capabilities and services. In this episode: KPMG's historical engagement with the crypto industry How audit/consulting firms are engaging with crypto financial institutions  The choice to have a crypto specific team at KPMG (rather than simply focusing on blockchain) The reason why formal financial statement audits for crypto companies are not occuring in the US today Why an asset taxonomy from regulators matters to auditors What Chain Fusion is and what it's designed to solve The intersection of Chain Fusion and Proofs of Reserves for exchanges Why audit standards st

Nate Maddrey, senior research analyst at Coin Metrics, joins the show to discuss a recent report published by CM in collaboration with Bitstamp, The Rise of Stablecoins. We talk through the report and analyse some of the charts in depth. In this episode:  Why the auditability of public blockchains is so useful for evaluating stablecoins Why fiat backed stablecoins have different price dynamics from 'native crypto collateral' backed ones How the arbitrage growth cycle works for fiat-backed stablecoins What the distribution of ownership and addresses for USDT tells us Liquidity for USDT versus USDC and BUSD Distinguishing stablecoins based on median transfer value Stablecoins as wholesale rather than retail value transfer networks What velocity of stablecoins relative to bitcoin and ether tells us

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Alex Treece, president and cofounder of Zabo. Alex joins the show to discuss his report covering the intersection of fintech and cryptocurrency. Also in this episode:  We gripe about the SaaSification of the world and the loss of genuine ownership Whether the Bitcoin hero's journey requires a private blockchain digression The boys argue about the merit of soccer We talk Twitter hack scenarios Why the Twitter hackers had to use Bitcoin Social media handles as property Grayscale's blockbuster quarter Abra settles with the SEC We cover the theory that individual bitcoins don't actually exist    

Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, joins the show. Caitlin is a thinker and writer we admire a huge amount and she has done a monumental job with her advocacy for responsible custody practices among crypto depository institutions. She is one of the key architects of the Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution legislation which establishes a new form of crypto bank in Wyoming. In in no small part thanks to her efforts that Wyoming is the most progressive state in terms of defining and regulating digital assets and the institutions that custody them. We share Caitlin's enthusiasm for clarifying depositor exchange relationships and for public-facing proofs of reserve, so we were very excited have her on the show. Covered in this episode: Risks involved in complying with the FATF's travel rule How the FATF enforces its recommendations Why compliance burdens freeze out small and community banks How the $10k limit for disclosure for cash transactions increases the scope of transactions

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  Nic's viral Tweet  The Fed competes with crypto startups for talent TikTok influences the crypto markets Why supply metrics should be reexamined Why we wrote our cryptodollar whitepaper Chainalysis raises another round Coinbase IPO rumors USDC funds are frozen for the first time Can the stablecoin 'blacklist model' survive? Our FATF 101 and what their new guidance means for the industry What the 'travel rule' actually means why the FATF is worried about stablecoins The FATF fires a shot at decentralized stablecoins

Tim Rice, Coin Metrics CEO, and Ben Celermajer, index manager at Coin Metrics join the show to discuss a new supply measure for cryptoassets which takes into account their "free float." This is designed to take into account coins which are immobilized or illiquid, and brings a systematic approach to the issue inherited from traditional capital markets. In this episode:  Why Coin Metrics developed a "free float" measure of supply and why it's informative to investors How CM borrowed from index weighting strategies in equity markets to devise a free methodology for cryptoassets Why the highly auditable nature of cryptocurrencies allows for extremely informative assessments of supply The lack of standards in how supply is assessed among existing data providers Which assets saw the greatest reduction in supply due to the free float adjustment How market capitalization in equities in indexes went through a historical transition from total supply to float-adjusted supply For more on free float supply, see CM's in

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  The MPC custody debate NYDIG raises $190m for a Bitcoin fund Zimbabwe bans all mobile money services and contemplates redollarization 4% of the UK population owns cryptocurrency, according to the securities regulator What a long-defunct exchange has to do with Bitcoin's GINI coefficient Why the 'market cap' of BCH and BSV is significantly overstated Why 'market cap' remains a problematic measure to compare cryptoassets Ark Invest's rebuttal to Goldman Nic gets a paper published in an antitrust law journal The looming antitrust wave against big tech

Dave Balter, the cofounder and CEO of Flipside Crypto, a business intelligence company focused on public blockchains, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dave’s new book, The Humility Imperative, and the lessons he has learned from seven startups His POV on leadership in an emerging market like cryptoassets/blockchain Reflections on fundraising, remote working, personal relationships and more. To learn more about Flipside Crypto visit their website and follow Dave @DaveBalter

We host Lyn Alden, equity research and investment strategist focusing on global macro and commodities, to talk about the debt overhang, the effect of the dollar as the reserve currency, QE, the likelihood of inflation, and the prospects for Bitcoin.  In this episode:  How the Bretton Woods system broke down and gave way to the Nixon shock The genesis of the petrodollar system with Saudi Arabia Alternatives to the dollar reserve that were mooted prior to Bretton Woods II Why the dollar reserve system has begun to impose a cost on americans rather than being a net benefit How the US became a debtor nation and what that means for the middle class Why the US dollar can't find a natural equilibrium The relationship between dollar strength and emerging markets Why the US government is caught between remaining strategic power through dollar centrality versus re-onshoring supply chains Can the world transition past a dollar standard? Why global commodities being priced in a single currency is a historical aberration

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  More Proof of Reserve chatter OmiseGo's parent company raises $80m Bitmex backs a new options exchange Paypal plans to roll out crypto products KPMG announces Chain Fusion USDC goes multi-chain We explain the COMP situation Telegram finally settles with the SEC Jay Clayton eyes the SNDY job An explanation of Bitcoin as a synthetic commodity money Our favorite and least favorite regional Fed branches Why a US CBDC has troubling privacy implications Our breakdown of the Compound situation

Pat Larsen, cofounder and CEO of ZenLedger joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Pat’s entrepreneurial journey and the path that led him to start Zenledger The current state of cryptoasset tax regulation Perspectives on emerging consumer use cases and new applications for cryptoassets To learn more about ZenLedger visit their website and to receive a 15% discount on your tax prep this year use the coupon code “Castle15”  

Noah Buxton, director and co-lead of Armanino's blockchain practice and Jeremy Nau, senior manager of the practice join the show. Armanino LLP is an accounting and audit firm that has developed proof of reserve tools for exchanges and custodians, as well as real time attestation tools for stablecoins. In this episode, we cover:  How Armanino came to engage with crypto financial companies Why Proof of Reserve matters to the industry How a modern Proof of Reserve process is mechanically carried out Why exchanges are looking to adopt PoR today Why the first round of PoR didn't stick Why the Liability side is so tricky Why involve an auditor in a PoR process Whether PoR inherently requires an audit or accounting firm Proof of Reserve as a way to avoid onerous regulation Armanino's real time assurance tool for Trust Token

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  An update on our office plant River Financial raises a seed round, and our thesis on Bitcoin financial institutions Microsoft ION launches on mainnet Private keys as private property Wisdomtree's commodity ETF... feat. Bitcoin Another ICO bites the dust Former CFTC chairman Giancarlo says Ripple isn't a security XRP... was it created or discovered? What cryptodollars mean for utility tokens

David Nage, Principal and Head of Strategic Relations at Arca joins the show. In this episode we discuss: David’s experience in the family office channel and his path to the crypto industry His upcoming FO256 family office virtual conference on June 24th Podcasting and content creation as a complement to investing in the blockchain industry To learn more about David check out his Base Layer podcast and follow him @DavidJNage  

Ryan Rabaglia has had a colorful career trading forex, equity, and oil before making his way into the cryptocurrency markets. He's witnessed crypto develop from a niche, uninvestable curiosity to a liquid and financialized global asset. Now Managing Director and Global Head of Trading at OSL, one of the largest digital asset brokerages in the world, Ryan has a unique view of crypto markets. We invited Ryan on the show to talk his personal journey to crypto, how he established himself at a leading digital asset platform in Hong Kong, and of course his market color on the dollarization of crypto markets, and how Tether is understood and used in Asia. In this episode:  Ryan's journey from commodity trading to Bitcoin Ryan's explanation for Tether's explosive growth since March How funds play the Tether arbitrage game The compression of margins in OTC desks Where Tether's accumulated credibility derives from Whether there is a perception that Tether would resist regulators if it came to a fight Whether cryptodol

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Christine Sandler, head of Sales and Marketing at Fidelity Digital assets. Christine joins the show to discuss Fidelity's newly-released survey of institutional investor attitudes on digital assets. We talk about what FDAS is up to, client enthusiasm for the asset class, and how institutions are thinking about it today. Also covered in the episode:  The Web3 dream – does it require blockchains? Bank Frick adds support for USDC Rebranding stablecoins to cryptodollars Bitcoin Billionaires is greenlit for a movie Other events in Bitcoin history which are movie worthy Three Arrows owns 6.26% of GBTC The fate of the GBTC 'premium trade' and the in-kind contribution Stephanie Kelton's NYT op-ed and unspoken constraints on MMT Coinbase is at a crossroads  

Mark Casady, cofounder and General Partner at Vestigo Ventures, and former Chairman and CEO of LPL Financial joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mark’s career in financial services and the path that led him to becoming CEO of the world’s largest independent broker-dealer The evolution of the financial advice industry Mark’s thesis on Fintech and founding Vestigo Ventures Blockchain and cryptoassets in the broader world of fintech To learn more about Vestigo Ventures visit their website, and follow Mark on Twitter @MSCasady

So far on the crypto-dollarization miniseries, we've covered Tether's stability mechanics, we've heard from traders and OTC desks using the asset, but we haven't heard from the issuers of the stablecoin itself. To give us insight into how they run the system, Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Tether and Bitfinex, joins the show. In this episode:  The factors behind the outflow of BTC and inflow of ETH to Bitfinex Fork futures for ETH 2.0? Bitfinex' policy on staking on behalf of users The principal-agent problem inherent in exchange staking Whether the growth of crypto dollars threatens native collateral like BTC and ETH Paolo's explanation for the growth of tether after March 12th 2020 The advantages of cryptodollars over the current financial system Why Tether opted to list on 7 different blockchains (note: this was recorded before Tether listed on OmiseGo) Paolo's view on the claims that Tether is clogging Ethereum How Tether Gold works Could Tether go from $9b to $100b – what the constraints to scaling are Tethe

Matt and Nic review the top stories of the week in the cryptoasset industry. In today's episode: Avanti Bank's raise and Wyoming's Special Purpose Depository Institution regulation GBTC eating up the new supply Bloomberg's commentary on Bitcoin Hester Pierce is re-nominated to the SEC The prospects for blockchain games The Section 230 debate, and how that intersects with Web3 Social media and digital property rights The continued normalization of Bitcoin as a global macro asset