Unchained

From 3AC to FTX (and possibly more to come), it’s boom times for those trading crypto bankruptcy claims. Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of 507 Capital, gives a crash course on bankruptcy law, offering the latest updates on the FTX, Celsius, and Three Arrows Capital cases. Plus, insight on how 2023 could finally be the year Mt. Gox creditors get (some) closure.

• how Tom got into crypto with the Mt. Gox bankruptcy and whether "crypto distressed" is an emerging asset class
• how buying bankruptcy claims is also a way to buy crypto assets at a discount
• how to determine how much value creditors are owed in a crypto bankruptcy
• what the marketplaces for buying and selling claims are like
• whether it's possible to tokenize bankruptcy claims
• whether crypto tokens should be treated as property
• what is likely to happen when Mt. Gox creditors are returned their BTC
• the importance of Celsius' separation of custodial assets vs. assets in interest-bearing accounts
• the likelihood of Celsius being acquired
• why the fact that FTX recovered $5 billion in assets is "amazing"
• why so many stakeholders disputed the ownership of the $450 million in Robinhood shares
• why there's so much difference in the prices of FTX, Voyager, BlockFi and Celsius claims
• whether the customer list of FTX should be kept private
• what type of creditors are Gemini Earn customers

Crypto.com

DeFi Saver

Links

Guests:

Thomas:

• Twitter
• 507 Capital
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In
• Will Celsius Survive the Bankruptcy Process?

Episode Links: 

Celsius

• Reuters:
• U.S. judge says Celsius Network owns most customer crypto deposits
• Celsius bankruptcy judge orders return of some crypto assets to customers
• Bloomberg: Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius Receives Multiple Bids for Retail and Mining Assets

FTX

• Unchained: 
• DOJ Seizes $450M in Robinhood Shares from FTX
• Bankrupt FTX Recovers Over $5B Worth of Assets: Report

• CoinDesk: 
• FTX Creditor Claims Going for 13 Cents on the Dollar on Bankruptcy Marketplace Xclaim
• After Bankruptcy, FTX User Claims Pay Cents on the Dollar
• Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers just filed a claim to keep his $450 million in Robinhood shares
• Reuters: U.S. Trustee files objection to FTX's planned asset sales
• Thomas Braziel’s prediction on the FTX claims
• Connor Grogan’s take on the $5 billion in assets 

DCG/Gemini:

• Unchained: Gemini Ends Its Earn Program and Calls for Barry Silbert’s Ouster

3AC

• Kyle Davies’ comments

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Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news.

• Haseeb’s TL;DR of the ongoing situation between DCG, Genesis and Gemini
• whether DCG committed fraud because of a misrepresentation of its financials
• why DCG did Genesis a favor by absorbing the losses from exposure to Three Arrows Capital
• what's required to force an entity into bankruptcy 
• why Cameron Winklevoss would request Barry Silbert to step down as DCG CEO
• the SEC’s probe into the investors of FTX and whether the regulators will fine them
• whether there will be on-chain assets for trading FTX bankruptcy claims
• what Tarun thinks of the future of NFTs and what needs to be built for them to thrive
• why Robert thinks most NFTs are “hot garbage”
• what the value behind NFTs is and whether they need a utility 
• whether the massive layoffs are good for the industry and how many companies over-hired during the bull market

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital

Links

DCG/Gemini:

• Unchained: 
• Gemini Ends Its Earn Program and Calls for Barry Silbert’s Ouster
• DCG Under Investigation by DOJ and SEC: Report
• Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution
• Previous coverage of Unchained on DCG and Genesis: 
• Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy?
• ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis
• Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It?
• Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid

FTX:

• Unchained: 
• DOJ Seizes $450M in Robinhood Shares from FTX
• Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty to All Charges

• Decrypt: FTX Restructuring Team Has Clawed Back $5B in Lost Assets
• Previous episodes of The Chopping Block on FTX:
• The Chopping Block: Can Exchange CEOs Like SBF Be Crypto True Believers?
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater
• The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'?
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?

Layoffs: 

• Unchained: 
• Coinbase Lays Off 950 Employees Amid Market Conditions
• Genesis Considers Bankruptcy and Cuts Another 30% of Staff: Report - Unchained Podcast
• Bloomberg: Silvergate (SI) Tumbles After FTX Implosion Prompts $8.1 Billion Bank Run

Why We Missed On Inflation, and Implications for Monetary Policy Going Forward | by Neel Kashkari

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Gemini has accused Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert of fraud after allegedly misrepresenting the financials of his company. The accusations follow a dispute over the return of $900 million in assets owed to Gemini Earn’s users. Karim Dandashy, CFA and portfolio manager at XBTO Group, discusses everything about the ongoing drama between Genesis, its parent company DCG, and Gemini. 

Show highlights:

• the fraud accusations against DCG CEO Barry Silbert
• all the details disclosed in Barry's response
• whether Genesis will file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• the meaning of the $1.1 billion promissory note being not callable
• the EDNY and SEC investigation on transfers between DCG and a subsidiary – potentially Genesis
• whether the 1% interest rate charged for the loan was suitable considering the nature of Genesis' business
• whether DCG could sell its venture investments to plug the hole
• why Bitvavo rejected an offer from DCG to return 70% of the $300 million owed to them
• what Karim would do if he was leading DCG 

Crypto.com

Guest

Karim:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Previous coverage of Unchained on DCG and Genesis: 

• Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy?
• ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis
• Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?

Genesis/Gemini:

• Unchained: 
• Gemini Ends Its Earn Program and Calls for Barry Silbert’s Ouster
• DCG Under Investigation by DOJ and SEC: Report
• Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution
• ​​Gemini Co-Founder Accuses DCG’s Barry Silbert of ‘Bad Faith and Stall Tactics’ 
• Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
• Financial Times: DCG’s crypto broker Genesis owes creditors more than $3bn
• Protos: Scoop: Larry Summers gives up advisory role at crypto firm DCG amid criticism
• CNBC: Crypto firms Genesis and Gemini charged by SEC with selling unregistered securities
• Forbes: Gemini Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Unregistered Interest-Bearing Accounts
• Decrypt:
• Dutch Bitcoin Exchange Bitvavo Says DCG’s Payback Plan ‘Not Acceptable’ 
• Sam Andrew’s thread
• Ram Ahluwalia on DCG CEO’s update to shareholders
• Ryan Selkis on the definition of the current assets

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Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, and Collins Belton, managing partner at Brookwood P.C., dive into the controversial case of Avi Eisenberg, the self-described “applied game theorist” who was arrested in Puerto Rico on Dec. 26 on market manipulation and fraud charges. The two crypto lawyers discuss the case’s potential impact on DeFi and DAO governance — and whether “code is law” stands a chance in the courtroom.

Show highlights:

• whether Avi’s manipulation of the markets constitutes fraud 
• debating the crypto maxim “code is law”
• whether it’s wrong to use DeFi code in a “smarter way”
• how the Mango Markets exploit happened due to poor governance management
• whether crypto should be regulated from the securities angle or the commodities angle
• the consequences of Avi’s arrest for the DeFi space
• whether MEV could constitute market manipulation, even if it’s democratized for everybody
• the role of DAOs and whether early-stage projects should maintain some level of centralization
• how DAOs could be designed to have better mechanisms in order to deal with potential issues
• whether members of the Mango Markets DAO are liable because of their role in designing the system
• how Avi was “naive” to think he could avoid legal liability by returning the funds
• why Gabe thinks credit protocols are socially positive and why he hopes that prosecutors won’t “throw everyone in jail”

Crypto.com

DeFi Saver

Links

Guests:

Gabriel:

• Twitter
• Delphi Labs
• Gabriel’s Twitter thread on the case
• Previous appearances on Unchained: 
• The SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple and 2 Execs: What You Need to Know

Collins:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• How the Greatest Decentralizing Force for Crypto Projects Is the SEC

Episode Links: 

Previous coverage of Unchained on Avi Eisenberg and the Mango Markets exploit: 

• The Mango Markets Attacker on Whether His 'Trade' Was Ethical or Not - Ep. 413
• The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever'
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? - Ep. 428

Mango Markets exploit

• Explanation
• Avi’s “Highly profitable trading strategy” Twitter thread
• Unchained: 
• Mango Markets Exploiter Arrested on Market Manipulation Charges
• Mango Markets Exploiter Gets Liquidated But Leaves Aave With ‘Excess Debt’
• Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes
• Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity
• Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty
• Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit
• Chaindebrief: How Manipulation On AAVE And CURVE Went Wrong, Attacker Got Rekted Instead
• The Defiant: Another Fork Bites the Dust: The Looming Fall of Fortress DAO and the Perils of Off-Chain Governance
• Karlstack: EXCLUSIVE: The Man Who May Have Milked $100+ Million from Mango Markets
• CoinDesk:
• The Impact of Avraham Eisenberg’s Case on the Future of Crypto
• Mango Markets Exploiter Eisenberg Arrested in Puerto Rico
• Mango Exploiter's Funds Get Liquidated After Roiling Aave Using $20M of Borrowed Curve Tokens
• Complaint
• CNBC: Decoding The Avraham Eisenberg Arrest And Its Impact On Crypto Bug Bounties, White Hat Hackers
• Decrypt: Mango Markets Attacker Avraham Eisenberg Arrested, Charged With 'Market-Manipulation Offenses'
• Protos: Who is Avraham Eisenberg and why is he all over Crypto Twitter?
• Crypto Briefing: Curve Whipsaws 75% as DeFi Degens Squeeze Avraham Eisenberg
• New Filing: CFTC charges Avi Eisenberg

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Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder at Lumida, talks about the ongoing dispute between Gemini and Digital Currency Group (DCG), specifically focusing on the actions and statements of DCG CEO Barry Silbert and Gemini’s cofounder Cameron Winklevoss. Ram discusses various aspects of the conflict, including the potential commingling of assets between DCG and its subsidiary Genesis and the options available to Gemini if DCG does not cooperate.

Show highlights:

• how Cameron Winklevoss’s tweets attempt to put Barry Silbert in the same class of actors as Celsius and BlockFi
• whether the assets of DCG and Genesis are commingled
• what Gemini’s options are if DCG does not commit to cooperate
• whether Gemini will file an involuntary petition for Genesis to enter chapter 11 bankruptcy
• why Barry's statement that DCG didn't borrow $1.675 billion from Genesis is "very surprising" to Ram
• why it is relevant whether Genesis has a liquidity issue or an insolvency one
• whether a class-action lawsuit alleging Gemini's earn product is an unregistered security has any merit
• the essential role of the $1.1 billion promissory note and whether Genesis will drag DCG into bankruptcy
• if DCG goes under, what would happen to Grayscale
• whether Valkyrie is going to become the hero and save GBTC
• why DCG needs to accept the credit committee terms, according to Ram

Crypto.com

Guest

Ram:

• Twitter
• Ram Ahluwalia’s thread on Fir Tree and Valkyrie
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It?
• Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid

Previous coverage of Unchained on DCG and Genesis: 

• ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis
• Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?

Genesis:

• Unchained: 
• ​​Gemini Co-Founder Accuses DCG’s Barry Silbert of ‘Bad Faith Stall Tactics’ 
• Genesis CEO Says Firm Needs More Time to Find a Solution
• Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
• Protos: Scoop: Larry Summers gives up advisory role at crypto firm DCG amid criticism
• Forbes: Gemini Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Unregistered Interest-Bearing Accounts
• WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash
• Decrypt:
• Grayscale Ethereum Trust Trades at Record 60% Low Against Ethereum - Decrypt
• The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger'
• FT: Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn

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Lucas Nuzzi, head of R&D at CoinMetrics, and Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, discuss the current state of the crypto market, including the potential for contagion effects and the challenges faced by VC companies. They also delve into the mining industry and the issues surrounding MEV and Ethereum. The conversation also touches on stablecoins, DeFi activity and NFT trading, and the potential dangers of Binance's dominance in the industry.

• how the collapse in 2022 of FTX and other behemoths will affect the industry in 2023
• why there's been a lot of forced selling in the markets recently
• why the industry could still be headed to more contagion effects
• the characteristics of the current bear market, how it differs from previous ones, and the role of the macroeconomic environment
• why it's very hard to predict how prices will behave in 2023
• why VC firms will have to focus on long-term projects rather than speculation
• what's going to happen in the Bitcoin mining industry in 2023 considering the current tough situation
• why Lucas thinks that Bitcoin "drastically overpays for security"
• why MEV is a concerning issue and how it represents a single point of failure for Ethereum
• how the narrative of alternative layer 1s has changed and why the focus will shift to layer 2s
• whether there is a need to develop better blockchain monitoring tools
• why stablecoin issuers have a very good business model given the interest rate environment
• what are the problems of stablecoins and how they will be regulated
• why DeFi activity and NFT trading were down so heavily in 2022 and whether the downtrend will change 
• how Binance's dominance is "terrifying" and whether it could hurt the industry
• Lucas' concerns about the lack of transparency around Binance's BNB token

Crypto.com

Chainalysis

Minima

DeFi Saver

Links

Guests:

Lucas :

• Twitter
• CoinMetrics

Larry:

• Twitter
• The Block Research
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Larry Cermak of The Block on What 90% of Bitcoin Trading Is For

The year in crypto:

FTX

Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:

• Why Martin Shkreli Thinks SBF’s New Judge Could Still Be Lenient – Ep. 438
• The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? 
• How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? 
• Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

NFTs:

• The Block: From CryptoPunks to Redditors — and a Trump card: The year in NFT charts
• CoinDesk: Over $30B of NFT Trading Volume on Ethereum Is Wash Trading, Research Suggests
• NFT Market Overview

MEV: 

• MEV Watch
• Flashbots dashboard
• Unchained: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate

BTC Mining:

• The Block: Bitcoin mining companies close out year $4 billion in debt: Report
• Unchained: Bitcoin Miners Going Bankrupt? Here's How Crypto Winter Is Impacting the Industry

Contagion: 

• Genesis/DCG: 
• Unchained: 
• ​​Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? 
• Genesis Owes Creditors At Least $1.8B: Report

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Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur, investor and convicted white-collar criminal, talks about the new judge assigned to the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, whether Sam’s going to plead guilty or not, and the potential involvement of his family in the lawsuit.

• whether Sam Bankman-Fried truly did not have money to post bail
• why the government did not restrict Sam's usage of the internet and social media
• why Martin thinks the new judge assigned to the case, Judge Lewis Kaplan, is good for SBF
• how many years Judge Kaplan could sentence SBF to, given his unusual work experience
• whether there's still a chance that Sam could paint this case as a business failure
• how defense attorneys will likely try to exploit the romantic relationship between Ellison and SBF in their favor
• why it is unlikely that SBF will plead guilty on the January 3rd arraignment date
• what a telemarketing fraudster case has to do with FTX
• how the prosecutors could indict SBF's family if he doesn't plead guilty
• how a jury would be selected 
• whether Sam has enough funds to pay for a decent lawyer and how that's going to affect the case
• how Martin learned about crypto while he was in prison
• how prisoners engage with crypto while incarcerated
• whether Sam could run a business from prison

Crypto.com

Guest

Martin:

• Socials
• Previous appearances of Martin on Unchained:
• Martin Shkreli Explains Why Sam Bankman-Fried Got Lucky With His Judge - Ep. 435
• Videos on SBF:
• Which Gang Will Sam Bankman Join In Prison? | Martin Shkreli Gives Prison Advice to FTX CEO
• My Boy Sam Bankman Is Facing Life in Jail for Sure | Martin Shkreli Predicts the FTX Court Hearing

Episode Links

• Reuters: Sam Bankman-Fried to enter plea in FTX fraud case
• Unchained:
• SBF Released on $250M Bond Secured by Parents
• Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang Plead Guilty and Are Cooperating in FTX Investigation
• SBF Signs Extradition Papers After 8 Nights in Bahamas Jail With AC and Cable TV
• CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX
• Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment
• Bloomberg:
• Bankman-Fried Judge Recused Because Husband’s Firm Advised FTX
• FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case
• Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials

Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:

• The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? 
• How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? 
• Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the year 2022 in the crypto industry and share their biggest winners and losers of the year, what were the best mechanisms, the biggest surprises and the best memes, and their predictions for the upcoming year.

• why stablecoin bulls performed so well in 2022, as well as journalism, DeFi, and the EVM
• how the reputation of the industry suffered tremendously in 2022
• how Solana had to endure multiple hacks and challenges and whether it’s having its “ETH moment” 
• whether ETH is the only crypto with good tokenomics
• why MEV has seen such a massive adoption, even if it’s technically not good for crypto 
• why the investment landscape changed so much in June
• whether Arbitrum is the winner among layer 2s on Ethereum and the role of retroactive airdrops
• why so many lending companies went bust this year
• whether proof of reserves is a useful concept
• whether developers will go back to build on Ethereum rather than alternative layers 1s

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital

Last year's episode:

The Chopping Block... 2021 in Crypto: The Biggest Winners, Biggest Losers, and Best Memes - Unchained Podcast

FTX:

• The Chopping Block: Can Exchange CEOs Like SBF Be Crypto True Believers?
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater
• The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'?
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?

Tornado Cash

• The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions
• The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?

Solana

• The Chopping Block: Anatoly Yakovenko on Why Solana Is Building the SAGA Phone
• The Chopping Block: Why Solana’s Frequent Downtime Doesn't Bother Kyle Samani

Terra:

• The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash 
• The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance? 

Others:

• The Chopping Block: Here’s What Was So Bad About Three Arrows Capital 
• The Chopping Block: SBF on a Crazy Week of Bitfinex, Wormhole and ENS Drama 
• The Chopping Block: Do Kwon Pitches a Decentralized NFT Publishing Service
• The Chopping Block: Did Andre Cronje Pull an Epic Crypto Rug Pull? 

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This episode of Unchained looks back on a tumultuous year for the cryptocurrency industry in 2022. Significant events such as the bankruptcies of FTX, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, and the collapse of Terra/LUNA, led to billions being lost due to market plunges and also due to numerous hacks. 

This year also brought the Ethereum Merge, one of the most awaited events in crypto's short history. Amidst the turmoil, true believers like Chris Burniske saw a silver lining, while the crypto community watched for the further fallout of this year’s crypto contagion to play out. 

Crypto.com

Chainalysis

Minima

DeFi Saver

• Exclusive: Crypto’s Biggest Whodunnit: Who Was Behind the 2016 DAO Attack on Ethereum?
• Exclusive: Austrian Programmer And Ex Crypto CEO Likely Stole $11 Billion Of Ether

• How Ukraine Is Leveraging Crypto in Its Fight Against Russia - Unchained Podcast
• The Chopping Block: In 'the First Crypto War,' How Should the Money Be Spent? - Unchained Podcast
• Ukraine Has Received $150 Million in Crypto. Here’s How It Is Being Used - Unchained Podcast

Hacks and exploits:

• Bridge Hacks Have Caused ~$1 Billion in Losses. Here’s Why Bridge Security Is Tricky - Unchained Podcast

Terra collapse:

• Did Someone Deliberately Attack Terra/Luna to Kick off a Death Spiral? - Unchained Podcast
• Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed - Unchained Podcast
• The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash - Unchained Podcast
• The 5 Biggest Lessons From Terra/Luna's Collapse, According to Tascha Che - Unchained Podcast

Bankruptcies - 3AC, Celsius and Voyager: 

• Why Possible Insolvencies by Celsius and 3AC Could Spell Disaster for Crypto - Ep. 364 - Unchained Podcast
• The Chopping Block: Here’s What Was So Bad About Three Arrows Capital - Ep. 368 - Unchained Podcast
• Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now?- Ep. 374 - Unchained Podcast

Tornado Cash:

• Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? - Ep. 384 - Unchained Podcast
• The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash? - Ep. 386 - Unchained Podcast
• Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No - Ep.387 - Unchained Podcast
• Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? - Ep. 390 - Unchained Podcast
• The Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions - Ep. 392 - Unchained Podcast

The Merge:

• With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold? - Ep. 389 - Unchained Podcast
• Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH - Ep. 393 - Unchained Podcast
• Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury- Ep.394 - Unchained Podcast
• Did the Merge Make Ethereum ‘the Most Secure Blockchain in the World’? – Ep. 397

Do Kwon comes on Unchained: 

• Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’ – Ep. 408

NFT royalties:

• The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! - Ep. 409 - Unchained Podcast
• Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy - Ep. 414 - Unchained Podcast

FTX Collapse:

• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? - Ep. 418 - Unchained Podcast
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets - Ep. 419 - Unchained Podcast
• Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In - Ep. 420 - Unchained Podcast
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn't Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater - Ep. 421 - Unchained Podcast
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? - Ep. 422 - Unchained Podcast
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion - Ep. 423 - Unchained Podcast
• The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'? - Ep. 424 - Unchained Podcast

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Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur and investor, talks about what Sam Bankman-Fried’s potential life in prison could look like. As a former white-collar criminal, Martin had a lot to say about prison culture, how judge selection affects sentencing, and more.

• why Martin says that the prosecution part of the case is the most difficult to endure
• why he thought Sam had "no chance at bail" (although shortly after we recorded, news broke that Sam had been released on what is believed to be the largest bail bond ever – $250 million)
• whether SBF should plead guilty and hope to be favored by his cooperation
• what jails in New York are like and how the other inmates might treat SBF 
• whether SBF will be in danger if he goes to prison and Martin's suggestions for him if he wants to survive
• why the FTX's case is so unprecedented, especially considering the current sentencing guidelines
• Martin's take on Ronnie Abrams, the judge in charge of the case, and why her selection will be good for SBF
• whether Caroline Ellison made a mistake by pleading guilty to so many counts
• why Gary Wang would likely face a tough time in prison for ratting out SBF

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Guest

Martin:

• Socials
• Videos on SBF:
• Which Gang Will Sam Bankman Join In Prison? | Martin Shkreli Gives Prison Advice to FTX CEO
• My Boy Sam Bankman Is Facing Life in Jail for Sure | Martin Shkreli Predicts the FTX Court Hearing

• CNBC: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bail, will live with his parents
• Unchained:
• Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang Plead Guilty and Are Cooperating in FTX Investigation
• SBF Signs Extradition Papers After 8 Nights in Bahamas Jail With AC and Cable TV
• CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX
• Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment
• Bloomberg:
•  FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case
• Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition
• Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials

Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:

• The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? 
• How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? 
• Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

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What a year. Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, sift through 2022’s rubble for clues as to what lies ahead in 2023. The two bright lights of Crypto Twitter weigh in on SBF’s fraud, how to succeed through the bear market, and what remains promising despite the gloom and doom.

• why 2022 is “the hangover of 2021”
• why this year’s big meltdowns were different and dispiriting
• why it was actually a year to remind us of why we’re all here
• how the underlying protocols didn’t skip a beat
• how to survive the bear market
• what Chris feels guilty about in the wake of Alameda’s collapse
• why Cobie hopes SBF spends life in jail
• whether people will actually use decentralized alternatives – or if banking-like relationships will prevail
• what Chris sees as the 2023 version of proof-of-stake in 2017
• why Cobie thinks bitcoin is an area of opportunity over the next few years
• whether the multichain thesis (“Solunavax”) will ever rise again
• whether the contagion is over
• if disgraced figureheads deserve a second chance
• a lightning round lookback on 2022

Crypto.com

Chainalysis

Minima

DeFi Saver

Guests:

Cobie:

• Twitter
• Substack
• UpOnly
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market

Chris:

• Twitter
• Placeholder VC
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Chris Burniske: A Blank Slate of State
• Chris Burniske of Placeholder on the Downsides of ICOs

The year in crypto:

• FTX
• Unchained:
• CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX
• Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment
• FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
• Terra:
• CoinDesk: The Fall of Terra: A Timeline of the Meteoric Rise and Crash of UST and LUNA
• 
  
• Three Arrows Capital
• CNBC’s full interview with Three Arrows Capital’s Kyle Davies on the downfall of the defunct crypto hedge fund
• CoinDesk: Three Arrows Capital Files for Bankruptcy in New York Tied to British Virgin Islands Proceeding
• DeCrypt: Bankrupt Three Arrows Capital Owes $3.5B to Creditors, Including $2.3B to Genesis
• Binance
• Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows
• Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony
• Silvergate
• The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion
• The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom
• Genesis/DCG: 
• Unchained: 
• Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
• On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news.

Show topics:

• the details of the SEC and CFTC complaints
• how crypto traders have always speculated about Alameda's preferential treatment
• whether many people knew about the mismanagement of funds and alleged fraud
• why Haseeb thinks SBF was a "f*cking psycho"
• how helpful Tarun believes a testimony from Sam Trabucco, former co-CEO of Alameda, would be
• why Alameda and FTX lost billions of dollars, and the poor diligence of SBF's venture investments
• Sam's "ineffective altruism" 
• why a bull market wouldn't have solved the insolvency problems of FTX
• whether SBF will fight extradition and how long it would take
• how Sam's consistent use of Facebook and his anti-Maker stand shows he was not a crypto-native
• why Laura thinks that The Block CEO's undisclosed loans represent a "total betrayal"
• Robert's take on the ineffectiveness of the government's control of information
• why Binance is under scrutiny and whether it's the "next FTX"

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 

Guest:

• Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained

Episode Links

FTX:

• Unchained:CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX
• SBF Denied Bail in The Bahamas, Will Remain in Fox Hill Prison
• Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment
• Bahamas Asked SBF to Mint Hundreds of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of New Tokens After Collapse, Say FTX Liquidators
• SBF Directed $8B Alameda Liabilities to an FTX Account He Called ‘Weird Korean,’ Says CFTC
• Forbes: Despite Boasting Of Big Profits, FTX And Alameda Lost $3.7 Billion Before 2022
• Bloomberg: FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case
• Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition
• Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials
• Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?
• Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

Binance:

• Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows
• Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony

The Block

• Unchained: The Block CEO Steps Down After Revealing He Was Secretly Funded By SBF

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Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discusses all the charges that Sam Bankman-Fried is facing and their potential outcomes. 

• the charges against SBF and why the criminal indictment is the most important
• whether SBF testifying in Congress would have complicated the DOJ's criminal case against him
• why it is complicated to state how much prison time Sam is facing
• the ways in which Bankman-Fried can reduce his sentence by cooperating with authorities
• why it's so unprecedented that the indictment came only one month after the collapse of FTX
• whether other senior FTX executives are providing prosecutors with information to reduce their charges
• the reasons why SBF is being held in The Bahamas and the likelihood of him being extradited
• how much the case will be delayed if SBF's lawyers fight the extradition
• Ari's thoughts on whether this case will go to trial

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

Crypto.com

Guest

Ari:

• Twitter
• Previous appearances on Unchained: 
• Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No 

Episode Links

• Unchained:
• CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX
• SBF Denied Bail in The Bahamas, Will Remain in Fox Hill Prison
• Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment
• Bahamas Asked SBF to Mint Hundreds of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of New Tokens After Collapse, Say FTX Liquidators
• SBF Directed $8B Alameda Liabilities to an FTX Account He Called ‘Weird Korean,’ Says CFTC
• Bloomberg:
• FTX Bankruptcy Standoff Heats Up as Bahamas Challenges US Case
• Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition
• Fortune: Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on multiple conspiracy and fraud charges by U.S. officials
• The Enron Trial: A Chronology

• Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:
• Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

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Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Marc Cohodes, individual investor and former hedge fund manager, have a heated debate about Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that plays a key role in integrating crypto with traditional finance and is currently under scrutiny due to its ties with FTX and Alameda. Both Marc and Ram have a vested interest in Silvergate. Marc is shorting the stock, while Ram is longing it.

• why Silvergate plays such a vital role in the movement of money within the crypto industry
• whether Silvergate runs proper KYC and AML practices
• whether Silvergate has a $1 billion hole in its balance sheet
• whether regulators will go after Silvergate as they are doing with FTX
• why Marc thinks the FTX collapse wouldn't have happened without Silvergate 
• whether Silvergate was complicit with FTX’s activities or simply negligent 
• why Ram believes this case is different from JPMorgan's involvement with Madoff 
• what regulatory actions might come in the near future for Silvergate 
• why Ram thinks regulators will go to "great lengths" to avoid a bank failure
• what would it take for Ram and Marc to change their minds

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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Chainalysis

Minima

DeFi Saver

Ram:

• Twitter
• Ram’s thread on Silvergate
• Ram’s previous appearances on Unchained:
• Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It?
• Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid

Marc:

• Twitter

• Class action lawsuit against Silvergate
• The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion
• Letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren, John Kennedy, and Roger Marshall
• The Guardian: JP Morgan Chase to pay more than $2bn in penalties for Madoff ties
• The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom
• WSJ: Crypto Is Taking a Few Small Banks on a Wild Ride
• Bloomberg: 
• These Banks Were Left Holding the Bag in Crypto Implosion
• An Obscure Bank Found Its Key to Success. Then FTX Collapsed
• CoinDesk: Crypto Bank Silvergate Says Its BlockFi Digital-Asset Deposit Exposure Totals Less Than $20M
• New York Post: Crypto ‘smart’ money? Big traders fell for Sam Bankman-Fried
• NBC: Sen. Warren demands answers from Silvergate Bank about its business dealings with FTX
• Dylan LeClair’s Twitter thread

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TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory & policy at Bain Capital Crypto, discusses how the legal process for Sam Bankman-Fried in the wake of the FTX scandal could play out. 

• the allegations that Bankman-Fried manipulated the market during the Terra crash
• the motivations for Bankman-Fried's media appearances
• what the selection of Mark Cohen as a lawyer says about the potential charges and the case
• why SBF hasn't been arrested yet
• how the US investigating the potential involvement of Bahamian government officials could complicate cooperation of an arrest of SBF in the Bahamas
• why this case is very different from Bernie Madoff's
• what evidence would be needed to say, legally, that SBF committed fraud
• the potential outcomes of the legal case for SBF and how many years of prison time he could face

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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TuongVy :

• Twitter

FTX:

• Unchained:
• Regulators Investigate Sam Bankman-Fried for Terra-Related Market Manipulation
• Sam Bankman-Fried Hires Ghislaine Maxwell’s Defense Lawyer: Report

Investigations: 

• Reuters: U.S. authorities probe FTX collapse, executives' involvement -sources
• CoinDesk: California Financial Regulator Announces FTX Investigation

Others:

• CNBC: Former OpenSea employee charged in first-ever NFT insider trading case
• NYT: 
• Ex-Coinbase Employee and 2 Others Charged With Insider Trading of Crypto Assets
• Two former Deutsche Bank traders win their appeal in a Libor manipulation case

• Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX:
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

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Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The collapse of FTX has dealt crypto lender Genesis another major blow, with the firm halting withdrawals and DCG stepping in to help. Now the two face a range of suboptimal outcomes in the face of massive debts. Ahluwalia and Andrew discuss what could come next, and what should be learned from the recent debacles. 

• why Genesis and DCG are so important for the crypto sector
• Ram's explanation of the "Grayscale trade" and why it is relevant to understand the current crisis
• the ghost of Three Arrows Capital and the origins of Genesis' problems
• why Sam thinks Genesis was "reckless" in its loan underwriting
• what a spot Bitcoin ETF would mean for Grayscale's revenue
• what options Genesis and DCG have to weather the storm
• whether it makes sense for Genesis to file for bankruptcy
• why Ram thinks Genesis lending product needs to be be shut down
• why Gemini and its Earn program loom large in the Genesis situation
• the risks of enforcement action from regulators
• what the most likely outcome is for Genesis and DCG and whether creditors will be made whole
• whether there will be broader contagion stemming from Genesis and what other crypto companies could be in trouble
• the problems of leverage and why crypto's "shadow banks" need regulation

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

Crypto.com

Chainalysis

Minima

Ram:

• Twitter
• Ram’s thread on GBTC
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid

Sam:

• Twitter
• Substack

Episode Links

Genesis:

• Unchained: 
• Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
• On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves
• WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash
• Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M
• The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger'
• Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis:
• ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis
• Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?

FT: Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn

WSJ: Rising Tether Loans Add Risk to Stablecoin, Crypto World

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. 

• highlights of Sam Bankman-Fried's interview with the New York Times
• whether SBF knew what was going on in his companies, and how that impacts potential prosecution
• why Genesis and DCG are in financial trouble
• whether Genesis will file for bankruptcy or go through a restructuring process
• revelations from BlockFi's bankruptcy filing
• new info on why FTX bailed out BlockFi last summer
• what is going on with Binance’s recovery fund 
• how Avi Eisenberg tried to pull off an attack on Aave 
• how the banking industry works and whether Changpeng Zhao is the closest thing to a central bank in crypto
• how DeFi responds in a crisis, and how it contrasts with CeFi’s recent implosions

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital

Episode Links

FTX:

• Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
• NYT: Sam Bankman-Fried’s interview
• Bill Ackman’s tweet
• Interview with Tiffany Fong
• Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX:
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

BlockFi: 

• Unchained: Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX’s Contagion Effects Continue
• Decrypt: FTX, Alameda Owe BlockFi More Than $1 Billion: Court Hearing

Genesis:

• Ryan Selkis’ tweet on Genesis
• Unchained: 
• Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
• On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves
• WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash
• Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M
• Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis:
• Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid
• ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis

DeFi

• Pancakeswap flipped Uniswap in TVL
• Unchained: 
• Mango Markets Exploiter Gets Liquidated But Leaves Aave With ‘Excess Debt’
• Aave Freezes 17 Low-Liquidity V2 Pools and Votes to Migrate 26 Assets to Ethereum V3
• Compound Finance Slashes Borrow Caps for 10 Markets

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Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, talks about the collapses suffered during this year, their impacts on big traditional finance players, and what’s coming in the crypto markets in the near future. 

• whether Sam Bankman-Fried lied during his interview at the Deal Book Summit
• why SBF kept the number of FTX's engineers at such a low number
• why Adam is optimistic about Genesis and DCG
• what options Genesis have to raise liquidity
• the significance of a potential meltdown of DCG in the crypto industry
• why Adam is worried about Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
• what lessons can be learned from this crypto winter
• Adam's prognosis for crypto lending and for the crypto markets in general
• the impact of the bankruptcy of BlockFi and all the other centralized lenders

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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Adam:

• Twitter
• Thread on community buyout
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Why 3AC’s Collapse Could Spell the Start of a Crypto Credit Crunch

BlockFi: 

• Unchained: Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX’s Contagion Effects Continue
• Decrypt: FTX, Alameda Owe BlockFi More Than $1 Billion: Court Hearing

Genesis:

• Bloomberg: Genesis Creditors Seek Options to Keep Crypto Brokerage Out of Bankruptcy
• Semafor: Online news site CoinDesk attracts suitors amid crypto crash
• Unchained: 
• Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
• On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves
• WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash
• Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M
• The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger'
• Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis:
• Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid
• ‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis

FTX:

• Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen

• Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX:
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

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Michael Jordan, founder at DBA and former co-head of investments at Galaxy Digital, and Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC, talk about the potential insolvency of Genesis and DCG, the cycle of credit expansion, and the importance of DeFi to prevent these situations. 

• what will happen with Genesis and its parent company DCG
• where the insolvency of Genesis might have come from
• how the expansion of crypto lending in 2021 is impacting the markets and the role the Fed played in this expansion
• how the Terra collapse kickstarted a ton of contagion effects in crypto companies
• Alex's story of why he did not invest in Alameda in 2018
• whether it is possible to prevent the "FTXs of the future"
• the importance of assessing the quality of collateral assets
• the story of when SBF called DeFi a "Ponzi black box"
• the mystery of where FTX Ventures got the $2 billion it planned to invest

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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Minima

Michael:

• Twitter
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?

Alex:

• Twitter

Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis and FTX:

• Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid
• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

Genesis:

• Unchained: 
• Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
• On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves
• WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash
• Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M
• The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger'

FTX Collapse:

• First declaration document
• Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
• SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• Bloomberg: Transcript: Sam Bankman-Fried and Matt Levine on How to Make Money in Crypto

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Gabriel Haines, a crypto content creator, comes on this 2022 Thanksgiving edition of Unchained to talk about his videos and leave a positive message for these holidays. 

• how Gabriel started doing his very unique type of videos
• Gabriel's hummus eating competition
• how Gabriel's videos are "quite not professional"
• how Gabriel is monetizing some of his videos with NFTs
• whether NFTs are a solution for content creators
• how Lee, Gabriel's wife, has also started creating some funny videos
• how Web3 is going to change the traditional version of media in the Internet

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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Ava Labs

DeFi Saver

Gabriel:

• Twitter
• Gabriel’s video with a machete

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news concerning the collapse of FTX. 

• the statements of newly appointed CEO John Ray in the first day declaration
• why Tarun, Robert and Haseeb think SBF is possibly delusional or at least in denial
• whether the assets of FTX and Alameda were commingled from the beginning or whether they had been separate and at a certain point, FTX loaned money to Alameda
• whether the Bahamian government was the 'FTX' hacker
• the theories of why Alameda started falling
• how regulators and legislators are assessing the failure of FTX
• whether SBF will get a pardon like Mark Rich and the chances of him being charged criminally
• whether Genesis will go insolvent and its potential contagion effects

Take Unchained's 2022 survey!  

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2022

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital

Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX:

• Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
• Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

FTX Collapse:

• First declaration document
• Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
• Unchained: Bahamas Regulator Directed SBF to Transfer FTX Assets to Government Wallet
• SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• WSJ: FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Cashed Out $300 Million During Funding Spree
• Vox interview with SBF: Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself
• NYT: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed
• Arthur Hayes’s article on SBF: ‘White Boy’

NYT: Elizabeth Holmes Is Sentenced to More Than 11 Years for Fraud

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Kevin Zhou, cofounder of Galois Capital, and Jesse Powell, cofounder of Kraken, talk about why FTX collapsed, the warning signs, and whether it’s a catalyst for self-custodial adoption. 

• the root causes of the FTX collapse, according to Jesse and Kevin
• whether there were warning signs of all the risks that were to come
• the importance of learning from mistakes, even for new people in the space
• Kevin's response to the stuck funds in FTX
• the debate about utilitarianism and SBF's effective altruism
• whether the philosophy behind founders matters
• Kevin's and Jesse's theories of how FTX and Alameda lost billions of dollars
• how Alameda and FTX's books were commingled 
• whether people will start using self-custodial wallets
• whether the fall of FTX vindicates BTC maximalism
• whether regulation has been beneficial or harmful for American customers
• the role of venture capital firms and their "mixed incentives"

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Kevin:

• Twitter
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• How Traders Are Thinking About the Merge — and a Potential ETHPoW Chain
• Why Kevin Zhou Believes Ethereum Will Have 3 Forks After the Merge.
• The Chopping Block: Kevin Zhou on Why He Knew Terra Would Crash

Jesse:

• Twitter
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, on Drawing a Line With Regulators

Previous coverage on Unchained of FTX:

• Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX? – Ep. 422
• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

FTX Collapse:

• First declaration document
• Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
• Unchained: Bahamas Regulator Directed SBF to Transfer FTX Assets to Government Wallet
• SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• Vox interview with SBF: Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself
• NYT: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed
• Bloomberg: Crypto Hedge Fund Galois Confirms $40 Million Exposure to FTX

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Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, explains the first declaration from new FTX CEO John Ray in the company’s bankruptcy case. 

• why CEO Ray said there's been a complete failure of corporate controls in FTX
• how there was no separation of accounts between Alameda and FTX
• whether FTX US customers are in a better position to recuperate their assets
• why FTX's Bahamas unit is seeking protection under chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code
• why there's a jurisdictional battle, according to Wassie
• whether the Bahamian government is responsible for letting deposits out of the platform
• how former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to save the company 

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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DeFi Saver

• Twitter
• Thread on community buyout
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Will FTX Customers Ever Recover Their Assets? Two Insolvency Experts Weigh In
• Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years
• Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now?

• The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater 
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

• First declaration document
• FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• FTX Wasn’t Authorized to File for US Bankruptcy: Bahamas Liquidators
• Vox interview with SBF

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about the collapse of FTX. 

• Haseeb's explanation of the blowup of FTX
• whether FTX was a Ponzi scheme
• Sam Bankman-Fried's strategy to become a billionaire
• the weird sale of Serum, a project backed by SBF
• the lack of proper accounting practices in FTX and Alameda
• whether FTX did not have a proper and large enough security team 
• the likelihood that FTX’s volume numbers are fake 
• why Haseeb thinks this is one of the biggest catastrophes in venture history
• the role of media in building SBF's character and the revindication of journalism
• whether venture capital firms run propaganda for their portfolio companies
• whether VC culture enabled this collapse to happen
• the story of how Sam convinced Tom Brady to invest in FTX
• the debate about effective altruism and whether SBF's EA caused his mistakes
• whether FTX's failure will set the crypto industry back

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Guests

• Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained

Previous coverage of Unchained:

• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• The Chopping Block: SBF on a Crazy Week of Bitfinex, Wormhole and ENS Drama
• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

FTX Collapse:

• FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• NYT’s “How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed”
• Sam Bankman-Fried built a "backdoor" to his FTX exchange to change financial records and move funds without alerting others.
• $600 million hack
• Unchained coverage:
• Could FTX’s Bankruptcy Trigger a Domino Effect?
• FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal
• FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report
• Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution
• US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX
• FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator
• Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero
• Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis
• SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report
• Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days
• Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy

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Wassielawyer, a lawyer specializing in restructuring and insolvency, and Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of 507 Capital, talk about the bankruptcy of FTX. 

• what the bankruptcy process of FTX is expected to look like
• why FTX got to the the point of filing for bankruptcy protection
• why Wassie thinks Alameda is dead
• why FTX filed for bankruptcy in the US given that it's a Bahamian company
• how FTX's balance sheet is composed and whether it includes Alameda
• whether Justin Sun will be dragged into the bankruptcy
• how FTX's terms of service differ from Celsius’s and Voyager’s
• how the $600 million hack affects the bankruptcy proceeding
• whether it's worth it to spend millions of dollars in law firms to go after the hacked money
• what's the impact of the 192 million FTT tokens that were printed Saturday night
• what will happen with the fork of Serum and the forked tokens
• the consequences for all the projects that FTX invested in
• why Wassie thinks that tokenizing the liabilities could be a good potential solution
• how the FTX's bankruptcy affects Voyager's proceedings and customers
• whether FTX’s bankruptcy has put BlockFi in trouble

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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• Twitter
• Thread on community buyout
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Why the Messy 3AC, Celsius, and Voyager Bankruptcies Will Drag on for Years
• Three Crypto Bankruptcies: 3AC, Celsius and Voyager. What Happens Now?

• Twitter
• 507 Capital
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Will Celsius Survive the Bankruptcy Process?

• Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

• FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• Sam Bankman-Fried built a "backdoor" to his FTX exchange to change financial records and move funds without alerting others.
• $600 million hack
• Unchained coverage:
• The Bahamas Loophole: FTX Users Buy KYC Accounts to Withdraw Crypto
• Could FTX’s Bankruptcy Trigger a Domino Effect?
• FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal
• FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report
• Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution
• US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX
• FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator
• Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero

• Serum Fork in the Works Amid Fears That FTX-Owned Upgrade Keys Are Compromised
• BlockFi Halts Withdrawals Amid FTX Crisis
• Voyager had to reopen the bidding process for its assets

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 Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, and Jordan Fish, aka Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, talk about the collapse of FTX. 

• the links between FTX and Alameda
• what kickstarted the blowup of FTX
• why Erik and Cobie think that Bankman-Fried's behavior was “sociopathic”
• why the $10 billion hole is so shocking to Cobie considering the advantages that FTX had as a company
• whether this would have ever happened if the prices hadn’t plummeted in the bear market
• the tension between advocates of privacy and those who want to limit criminal activity
• why Erik believes that SBF’s donations to both political parties are bribery
• whether regulators can prevent an exchange from collapsing
• whether Changpeng Zhao did a better job at investigating FTX than anyone at the SEC
• the likelihood that this will result in criminal charges
• how blockchain technology is the solution to the problem of centralized exchanges doing things in the dark
• Tether’s decision to freeze USDT owned by FTX
• Erik’s response to Bitcoin maximalists who say FTX was caused by altcoins
• whether it is a mistake for exchanges to issue their own tokens
• how big the contagion could be in the industry
• why nobody should leave a significant amount of their net worth in a centralized exchange
• Erik’s message to regulators
• whether SBF was aligned with the values and the ethos of crypto

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Erik:

• Twitter
• ShapeShift
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit
• Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State

Cobie:

• Twitter
• Substack
• UpOnly
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market

Previous coverage of Unchained:

• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC
• The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?

FTX Collapse:

• FTX Tapped Into Customer Accounts to Fund Risky Bets, Setting Up Its Downfall
• SBF’s video talking to regulators
• Unchained coverage:
• FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal
• FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report
• Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution
• US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX
• FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator
• Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero

Binance’s dropped deal with FTX

• CZ’s announcement
• SBF’s announcement
• Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves
• Unchained coverage:
• Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis
• SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report
• There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2
• Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt
• Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX 
• Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days
• Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings
• FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low
• Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy

Crypto regulation

• Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi
• Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees 

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt were joined by Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi, and Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about Binance’s buyout of FTX. 

• Haseeb's tl;dr of Binance's possible acquisition of FTX
• whether Alameda is the new Three Arrows Capital
• the implications of FTX's collapse for regulators and lawmakers
• what will happen to all the companies that lent money to Alameda
• Sam Bankman-Fried's emergency effort to raise billions of dollars
• whether there could be criminal charges against FTX
• why FTX was not as profitable as other derivative exchanges
• what the probabilities are of Binance actually buying FTX
• whether the enterprise value of FTX is negative
• Tom's concerns about the concentration in the industry
• how FTX's implosion will impact crypto venture capital firms
• whether Solana can survive without SBF's support
• how the lack of transparency kicked off this situation and how blockchains help solve this issue

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital

• Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi
• Nic’s proof of reserves
• Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained

• Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

• CZ’s announcement
• SBF’s announcement
• Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves
• Unchained coverage:
• Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis
• SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report
• There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2
• Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt
• Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX 
• Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days
• Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings
• FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low
• Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy

• Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi
• Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees 

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Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, talk about Bitcoin Maximalism, how Bitcoin is developing, and what’s the future of Bitcoin’s security model. 

• What the definition of Bitcoin maximalism is
• whether BTC maximalism is toxic
• whether Vitalik Buterin is still a bitcoiner and how Bitcoiners became the 'token police', according to Udi
• why Lyn thinks Bitcoin has been attacked by the media since the beginning
• the attacks by Bitcoin maximalists on Nic Carter and Andreas Antonopoulos
• how adoption kicked in during previous cycles and why it benefitted BTC
• what the different types of Bitcoiners are
• what developments are being made around Bitcoin
• the importance of Bitcoin being permissionless
• what the use cases for Bitcoin are and whether it’s still a highly speculative asset
• whether people care about using decentralized payment tools
• how Lyn defines ‘ultra sound money’ and why she thinks that Bitcoin is better at that than ETH
• whether Bitcoin’s security model needs to be fixed 
• why being able to run a node is essential for censorship resistance

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Udi:

• Twitter
• Substack
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• Why Bitcoin Maximalism Is ‘Like a Shitcoin Community’

Lyn:

• Twitter
• Website
• Previous Unchained episodes:
• How Will Inflation Impact Crypto?
• Is Ethereum a Good Investment? 
• Why Bitcoin Now: Meltem Demirors and Lyn Alden on the Perfect Conditions for Bitcoin

• Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off
• Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH 
• With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold?

• Bitcoin Maximalism Is Dead, Long Live Bitcoin Maximalism by Pete Rizo
• Setting the record straight by Nic Carter
• The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis
• Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman
• Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd
• Justin Bons’ thread on BTC security model
• A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin by John Blocke

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 Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. 

• Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter – and its effect on DOGE
• the irony that people working in centralized companies want to decentralize Twitter
• whether Twitter is going to become like Facebook
• why Twitter has been the most pro-crypto among big tech companies
• why Tarun thinks Binance Pay is an impressive product
• whether it is possible to run a decentralized social media for billions of users
• the debate between Sam Bankman-Fried and Erik Voorhees about crypto regulation
• whether crypto exchange CEOs are true believers in the philosophy of crypto
• why Haseeb believes Sam Bankman-Fried is a very honest person
• how Reddit used a simple strategy to gain massive adoption
• whether it is necessary to rebrand NFTs

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital

• What Are the Potential Impacts of Musk’s Twitter Purchase?
• Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, will receive between $50 million and $100 million from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter.
• Vitalik Buterin said Musk’s idea of charging $8 a month for a blue check on Twitter could “damage the blue check's anti-scam role.”
• Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said he would join Twitter’s board if Elon Musk asked him to. 

• Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi
• Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees 

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Nick Hansen, cofounder and CEO of Luxor Technologies, talks about the Bitcoin mining industry, why some miners are struggling while others are succeeding, and the next steps for the industry. 

• the current state of the Bitcoin mining industry
• why miners have the lowest margin environment ever
• why there are so many mining rigs sitting latent
• how to calculate the profitability of mining cryptocurrency
• why miners are not moving to other countries for lower energy prices
• what the impact of a Core Scientific bankruptcy would be
• whether finance pools to aid struggling miners are helpful
• why some miners are succeeding in this environment
• whether Bitcoin miners can adopt renewable resources and help with the transition to green energy 
• how the mining industry is going to change in the following years

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

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DeFi Saver

• Twitter
• Luxor Technologies

• Bondholders of Troubled Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Said to Be Working With Lawyers
• A Huge Glut of Bitcoin Mining Rigs Is Sitting Unused in Boxes
• Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Says Some Machines Aren't Covering Financing Costs
• Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Fears Negative Cash Flow as $27M Raise Fails
• Bitcoin mining hosting company Compute North filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

• Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark Spends Millions on Equipment as Others Struggle Amid Market Conditions
• Bitcoin Miner Stronghold Digital Completes Debt Restructuring
• Digihost Bucks Bearish Trend Among Bitcoin Miners, Remains Cash-Flow Positive
• Crypto Miner Marathon Digital Mines Record 615 Bitcoin in October

• Solar-Powered Bitcoin Miner Aspen Creek Raises $8M Despite Bear Market

• DeFi Platform Maple Finance Aims to Help Struggling Bitcoin Miners With $300M Lending Pool
• Binance Pool To Support BTC Mining Industry With a $500M Miner Lending Project

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Sterling Crispin, artist and software developer and Holly Herndon, host of the Interdependence podcast, talk about the problems that creators face, some potential solutions, and the debate over creator royalties. 

• how Holly and Sterling got into crypto
• how Holly used the Holly Plus Project to pay royalties
• how NFTs change the economic experience of being a creator
• how creators make money and why it is so difficult for most of them
• whether NFT royalties are necessary for artists
• why creators are the ones that should decide to charge royalties or not
• how the enforcement of royalties also occurs in the traditional art world
• whether NFT royalties only benefit big players vs. smaller creators
• what shifts could make paying royalties a norm, the way paying for music streaming became a norm over piracy
• other solutions to helping creators earn from their work besides NFT royalties
• whether NFT creators should use blocklists
• whether people objecting to blocklists can be hypocritical about decentralization 
• whether creators can build their own marketplaces
• how a profit-sharing model among creators could work

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Sterling:

• Twitter
• Website
• Blog post: NFTs and Crypto Art: The Sky Is not Falling

Holly:

• Twitter
• Podcast
• Holly's AI Video

• Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties:
• The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown!
• The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet?
• The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?

NFT Royalties

• Magic Eden
• Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate
• MetaShield
• Solana Could Get Enforceable NFT Royalties Via New Metaplex Standard
• Why NFT royalties are almost impossible to enforce on-chain
• Galaxy Digital report showing that Nike and Yuga Labs earned the most in NFT royalties.
• Royalties in NFTs: Yes, no, and why?
• Royalties Chaos Shows Ethereum NFT Market 'More Serious' Than Solana: Fidenza Artist Tyler Hobbs
• Artists’ Royalties by BlackBox.art
• On Royalties by foobar
• Kyle Samani thread on verticalization

Potential solutions

• Collector Royalties
• Collector Royalties Eligibility Expansion — Aug ‘21
• How do they work
• Profit Sharing
• Cardinal Labs
• Metaplex Standard
• Exchange Royalties Guarantee

NFTs for n00bs: A brief history of tokens and tulips, NFT aesthetics, energy dramas, fan 

brigades, social tokens and the metaverse with Daniel Keller

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Avraham Eisenberg, blogger at DeepFi Value – more commonly known as the Mango Markets attacker – shared his insights about the exploitation of code, his personal story, and why there’s hatred directed towards profitable traders. 

• Laura’s description of the Mango Markets exploit
• the way in which code gets used in a different way from the original intention
• why Avi decided to return part of the funds he got from exploiting Mango Markets
• Avi’s clarification of a misconception regarding the bad debt of Mango Markets
• the difference between arbitrage trades and exploits
• why people making profitable strategies are hated, according to Avi
• how Avi got into crypto and the story of his failed online business 
• whether it is possible to run non-zero-sum games
• what he thinks of Compound’s decision to pause activity on illiquid assets

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Avi

• Twitter
• DeepFi Value 

Mango Markets exploit

• Explanation of the exploit
• “Highly profitable trading strategy” Twitter thread
• Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes
• Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity
• Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty
• Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit
• Previous discussion of Mango Markets on Unchained:
• The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever'

Avi’s online business storyCompound Votes to Pause Activity for Illiquid Crypto Assets

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Eric Wall, crypto blogger and investor, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, discuss everything about Bitcoin Maximalism, whether BTC can survive, and whether Ethereum constitutes a threat for Bitcoin. 

• how Eric and Udi got involved with Bitcoin
• what Bitcoin was like in the first days
• how Bitcoin maxis appear to have a script to engage in discussions
• the philosophy behind Bitcoin maximalism
• why Eric believes Bitcoin maximalism is like a “weird cult”
• how Eric thinks that the BTC community has an unspoken rule forbidding criticisms
• whether Bitcoin has lost intellectual power
• why people have recently been turning away from Bitcoin maximalism
• why the poor Bitcoin culture doesn't mean it's the end for Bitcoin, according to Eric
• the perception of the Lightning network and how people are not interested in faster blockchains
• whether Bitcoin should increase the use cases of the blockchain, like DeFi, NFTs, and stablecoins
• El Salvador's adoption of BTC and whether it had an impact
• what happens to internet subcultures and how the behavior of Bitcoiners could be predicted
• whether Ethereum is a threat to Bitcoin

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Udi:

• Twitter

Eric:

• Twitter
• Medium

Previous Coverage of Unchained:

• Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off
• Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH 
• With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold?

Bitcoin Culture and Security

• The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis
• Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman
• Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd
• Justin Bond’s thread on BTC security model
• A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin

Ultra sound money

El Salvador:

• Previous Coverage of Unchained: Bitcoin in El Salvador: Why Would Cypherpunks Support Government-Mandated Bitcoin Adoption?
• El Salvador’s Bitcoin Paradise Is a Mirage by Nelson Rauda

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. 

• Everyone’s impression of Laura’s interview with Do Kwon
• The importance to differentiate failure and fraud
• The Mango Markets hack and whether code is law
• What happened with the BNB hack and the concerns it raised about decentralization
• Magic Eden’s decision to enable optional royalties and the debate about NFT royalties
• How creators are going to find a way around the royalties, according to Robert
• Whether NFTs should be treated as securities

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital

Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’

• Mango Markets
• Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes
• Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity
• Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty
• Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit

• BNB
• BNB Smart Chain Plans Hard Fork In Response to $100M Exploit
• Binance Chain Was Halted Amid Hack Rumors

• Magic Eden
• Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate
• TCB Debate
• Tom’s tweet: “turns out people don’t want to pay royalties”
• Robert’s request for a startup
• Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties:
• The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet?
• The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?

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Fat Man Terra, the anonymous Twitter account dedicated to bringing Do Kwon to justice, reacts to my recent interview with Do Kwon and says what he thinks it revealed about his personality. 

• why Fat Man Terra created the Twitter account
• whether Terra was used to enrich insiders
• how Fat Man believes Do Kwon evaded questions in the interview with Laura
• whether Do lied about Chai to misrepresent the success of UST and LUNA
• why Fat Man believes some people will never admit wrongdoing
• what he thinks of Do’s response to the stories of people losing everything and whether he is actually sorry
• what he calls Do’s lack of transparency about his history
• what he believes is the need to make an example out of the collapse of Terra and Do’s failure

Crypto.com

Fat Man Terra

Twitter 

Laura’s Interview with Do Kwon

Other Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra:

• How Will the Legal Case Against Do Kwon Play Out in South Korea?
• Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building
• The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay?
• The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance?
• Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF
• Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed

Fat Man Terra’s thread with several devastating stories related to the collapse of Terra

SDT pre-mine

• CoinDesk Korea article

Chai 

• WSJ article
• Do’s tweets about Chai:
• 2.5 million users
• Tweet in May 2021
• Tweet in May 2021 #2
• Tweet in January 2021

Abracadabra Degenbox

• $2.7 billion cash out
• TFL Exit Liquidity dashboard on Dune

Basis Cash

• CoinDesk article

Luna Foundation Guard

• Ergo-BTC on-chain evidence of more than 313 BTC
• Dumps BTC
• LFG postpones compensation

Allegations against Do Kwon

• SBS news reporting Do moved funds to the Virgin Islands
• Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff
• South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash
• Class action against Do Kwon
• Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra
• Red Notice
• “Not on the run”

Kwon’s Passport

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Host Haseeb Qureshi partnered with Zhuoxun Yin, cofounder of Magic Eden, to debate Unchained host Laura Shin and Li Jin, cofounder at Variant Fund, on the topic of NFT Royalties. 

• What NFT royalties are
• Why Laura believes zero NFT royalties is a bad business decision prioritizing short-term needs over long-term ones and that it will turn creators off from the industry
• How charging royalties is not sustainable, according to Haseeb
• Why royalties are the best mechanism to align incentives between creators and holders, according to Li
• The technical limitations of NFT royalties on a general-purpose blockchain like Ethereum or Solana
• How to align incentives between NFT creators and holders
• Why the prices of NFTs would go up if royalties are not enforced
• Whether the NFT market will change in the future
• Whether it is possible to create a standard that enforces royalties in a smart contract
• The creators’ reaction to Magic Eden moving to optional royalties
• The possibility of a bifurcation of the NFT market

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly 

Guests

Laura Shin, author, and host of Unchained

Zhuoxun Yin, cofounder of Magic Eden

Li Jin, cofounder of Variant

• Magic Eden Optional Royalties - Unchained Coverage 
• Post-debate poll
• Tool Metashield 
• The standards innovation paradox by Li Jin
• X2y2 flexible royalties
• Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties
• The Chopping Block - Ep. 405
• The Chopping Block - Ep. 386
• Article: Why NFT Creators and Collectors Can’t Stop Talking About Artist Royalties
• Article: NFT Royalties: Why artists love them, and traders don’t

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• whether Do finds the charges based on the Capital Markets Act legitimate 
• why he doesn’t want to discuss his location
• whether the South Korean government is lying about the accusations against him
• what happened with the BTC held by the Luna Foundation Guard
• whether Do regrets being so arrogant in his tweets
• what he would say to the people who lost huge amounts of money in Terra or family members of people who committed suicide due to its collapse
• the decision to set Anchor’s yield near 20% 
• why Terra had a large SDT pre-mine that was not proactively disclosed
• whether Do’s actions show he didn’t think that the algorithmic mechanism was sufficient to keep UST pegged to the dollar
• whether Terraform Labs cashed out $2.7 billion using Degenbox
• why there were no disclosures about Chai terminating its agreement with Terra
• why the Terra blockchain went through a hard fork without a public discussion
• the failure of the basis cash stablecoin, also worked on by Do Kwon
• whether an algorithmic stablecoin can work
• the week of the UST depeg and what happened to the funds held by LFG
• where the 3 million Luna unlocked per month by Project Dawn went
• when the LFG will return funds to UST holders
• what Do would do differently if he had the chance to go back

 * Quick correction*

 At 7min 18sec, I misspoke, the Korean government posted a pdf for Do Kwon’s passport revocation, not his arrest warrant. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Do Kwon:

• Twitter

Previous Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra:

• How Will the Legal Case Against Do Kwon Play Out in South Korea?
• Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building
• The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay?
• The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance?
• Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF
• Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed

Devastating Stories

• One man commits suicide
• Fat Man Terra’s thread with several stories

SDT pre-mine

• CoinDesk Korea article

Anchor yield

• JTBC article reporting core devs wanted a lower yield

Chai 

• WSJ article
• Do’s tweets about Chai:
• 2.5 million users
• Tweet in May 2021
• Tweet in May 2021 #2
• Tweet in January 2021

Abracadabra Degenbox

• $2.7 billion cash out
• TFL Exit Liquidity dashboard on Dune

Project Dawn

• Launch
• The Defiant article

Basis Cash

• CoinDesk article

Luna Foundation Guard

• Ergo-BTC on-chain evidence of more than 313 BTC
• Dumps BTC
• LFG postpones compensation

Allegations against Do Kwon

• SBS news reporting Do moved funds to the Virgin Islands.
• Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff
• South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash
• Class action against Do Kwon
• Was LUNA a Security?
• Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra
• Red Notice
• “Not on the run”
• Kwon’s Passport

SEC Actions Against Terra

• SEC Investigating UST Stablecoin Blowup in Fresh Threat to Terra
• Terraform Labs Loses US Appeal over SEC Subpoena

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Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash. 

Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, comes to talk about the SEC probe into Yuga Labs, how to determine whether something is a security, and Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over the sanctions on Tornado Cash. 

• whether there’s an over-reliance on the Howey Test and how a token being non-fungible doesn’t mean it’s not a security
• what constitutes an investment contract and how it works in the Metaverse
• the consequences for NFT holders and issuers if the NFTs are considered securities
• why Coin Center is suing the US Treasury over the Tornado Cash sanctions
• Who the plaintiffs are
• whether this lawsuit differs from the one Coinbase is supporting
• how to solve the issue of bad actors like North Korea using tools such as Tornado Cash to launder money
• the remedy Coin Center is looking for in the lawsuit against the Treasury 
• how long the lawsuit could take to be resolved

Crypto.com

Twitter 

SEC probe into Yuga Labs

• Unchained article
• CrypTones thread on land sales

Coin Center lawsuit over Tornado Cash sanctions

• Coin Center lawsuit and statement
• Unchained article 
• Coinbase Backs Tornado Cash Lawsuit Against U.S. Treasury
• North Korean hacks
• Treasury Press release on the sanctions
• Previous coverage of the Tornado Cash sanctions on Unchained:
• Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No 
• Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds?
• The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?
• Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant?
• Preston Van Loon on Ethereum's Merge and His Lawsuit Against Treasury

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Zaki Manian, cofounder of Sommelier Protocol and cofounder of Iqlusion and Jack Zampolin, founder of Strangelove Ventures, discuss everything about Cosmos, the new white paper, and how to improve MEV capture for ATOM holders.

• how Jack and Zaki got involved with crypto and Cosmos
• what the Sommelier protocol is, the role of Iqlusion, and what Strange Love does
• the basics of Cosmos and application-specific blockchains (ASB)
• why would a project choose to be an ASB rather than an application on a blockchain
• whether Cosmos can achieve network effects
• the reasons behind launching a new white paper for Cosmos
• why the team decided to pursue interchain security
• whether there would be an increase in fees with so many chains relying on the Cosmos Hub for security
• how much economic value the Cosmos Hub will end up securing if the proposal gets passed
• how the Cosmos Treasury could be used to fund development
• the role of the Interchain Scheduler to capture MEV
• whether centralized exchanges are going to start trading against the customers
• the new issuance model proposed for ATOM
• the role of an active governance community to make Cosmos more decentralized
• what problems Liquid staking solves
• how USDC will launch on a consumer chain

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Jack:

• Twitter

Zaki:

• Twitter

Previous Coverage of Unchained on Cosmos:

• How Osmosis Is Trying to Improve the Crypto User Experience

New white paper

• Document
• Proposal

Interchain security

• Paper
• The Block article
• The DeFi investor thread

ATOM 2.0

• Thread by Route 2 DeFi
• Youseff Amrain’s thread
• Charlie Morris’ thread

Other articles

• Vaneck’s article: Why we are bullish on Atom
• Alex Valaitis article: A deep dive into Cosmos
• Liquid Staking
• Native USDC on Cosmos

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