Unchained

Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, discusses a proposed rule by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that has massive implications for the free-speech rights of crypto software developers in the US. Show highlights:

• why an SEC proposal changing the definition of “exchange” could violate the right to free speech of US crypto developers
• whether the SEC is going after DeFi on purpose – as its 200+ page proposal never mentions crypto or DeFi
• what precedent Peter has found that should prohibit the SEC from taking away software developers’ right to free speech
• how Peter and Coin Center structured their recent letter of comment to the SEC
• what the next steps (such as a lawsuit?) should be for the crypto community if the rule goes into effect 
• why writing software is part of someone's right to free speech
• what implications the proposed rule could have on AMMs
• what happens next: when could the rule be put into place?

Unchained is hiring! 

Find out information on the three openings at Unchained and how to apply here: 

• part-time remote social media marketing manager: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-social-media-and-marketing-manager/
• part-time remote editorial assistant: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/
• part-time remote video/audio producer: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-video-audio-producer/

Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs!

On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests. 

The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   

OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/ 

Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/

Episode Links

Peter Van Valkenburgh

• Coin Center profile: https://www.coincenter.org/people/peter-van-valkenburgh/
• Twitter:  ​https://twitter.com/valkenburgh 

The SEC Proposal

• Proposal: ​https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-10# 
• Comments on the proposal: https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-02-22/s70222.htm 
• Coin Center’s/Peter’s comment: https://www.coincenter.org/a-new-sec-proposal-has-a-serious-change-hidden-within-its-complex-language/
• Coin Center blog on its comment: https://www.coincenter.org/a-new-sec-proposal-has-a-serious-change-hidden-within-its-complex-language/ 
• Gabriel Shapiro’s comment: https://twitter.com/lex_node/status/1516079145213739013 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this episode, Laura Shin, the host of Unchained and author of The Cryptopians, also joined the conversation. Show topics:

• how people have responded to The Cryptopians
• why traditional publishers were reticent to publish the story revealing the alleged DAO attacker’s identity
• what lessons can be learned from North Korea’s alleged involvement in the Ronin bridge exploit
• what zero-knowledge proofs work and how a miscalculation in a whitepaper almost caused major issues in the crypto world this week
• how math proofs and reporting specifications work in the crypto space
• why security engineers, like samczsun, are so hard to come by
• how an attacker was able to steal ~$80 million from Beanstalk in a governance attack 
• @hosseeb vs. @haseeb 
• the difference between being in crypto and covering it as a journalist – and why Laura sees herself as more a “referee” than a participant in the crypto space
• whether DeFi hackers can actually cash out of their positions
• why Tarun is worried about Ethereum’s security in the wake of the merge being delayed even further
• what staking derivatives are, and how traditional are using Lido to lever up
• why traditional funds getting into crypto has Tarun worried about Anchor 
• why the guys think Cosmos is more popular than Polkadot

Episode Links

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 
• Laura Shin, the crypto referee
• • https://twitter.com/laurashin 

Helpful Information

• North Korea’s interest in crypto: 
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-north-korea-is-interested-in-cryptocurrency/ 
• The Merge delayed
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ethereums-merge-was-delayed-and-why-it-wont-reduce-gas-fees-much/ 
  • https://bitcoinist.com/ethereum-merge-headed-for-another-delay/
  • https://twitter.com/korpi87/status/1513459657381068812

• Beanstalk rekt for $180M
• • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/142272/ethereum-based-stablecoin-protocol-beanstalk-loses-more-than-80-million-to-exploit
  • Crazy attack using flash loans to insta-ship governance proposals: https://rekt.news/beanstalk-rekt/

• https://twitter.com/kelvinfichter/status/1515735718840184835 

• The Cryptopians

• http://bit.ly/cryptopians 

• UST and Anchor worries

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-de-pegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/

• Lido and centralization

• https://www.suresats.com/post/ethereum-s-centralization-dilemma-through-lido-staking

• Cosmos vs. Polkadot

• https://medium.com/coinmonks/polkadot-vs-cosmos-which-one-is-the-best-246e67b25d6c 

• MakerDAO technical docs

• https://docs.makerdao.com/

• Zero-Knowledge explainer

• https://www.notboring.co/p/zero-knowledge

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two policy experts, Chris Lehane, chief strategy officer at Haun Ventures, and Niki Christoff, the founder of Christoff and Co., discuss how the crypto industry has performed in Washington and how it can better educate more regulators and politicians about the technology. Show highlights: 

• Niki and Chris’ background
• how Niki and Chris would grade the performance of crypto companies in Washington
• what parallels Chris can draw between crypto in the 2020s and FAANG in the mid-90s
• whether having a plethora of crypto policy groups helps or hurts crypto in Washington
• whether calling politicians and regulators names and making memes of them helps or hurts the crypto industry
• an effective way crypto companies can prompt lawmakers and regulators to prioritize crypto policy
• why it can be strategically smarter to try to convince incumbents to adopt pro-crypto policy over supporting challengers
• why Chris thinks crypto could be a bipartisan topic
• what Chris and Niki think about the fact that Democratic candidates received more donations from people working in the crypto industry than Republicans did
• the three types of crypto users that are valuable to political candidates
• what Niki and Chris would tell Senator Elizabeth Warren about crypto if they were to meet with her today
• what effect crypto might have on midterms
• why the terminology native to crypto may have to change

Unchained is hiring! 

Find out information on the three openings at Unchained and how to apply here: 

• part-time remote social media marketing manager: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-social-media-and-marketing-manager/
• part-time remote editorial assistant: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/
• part-time remote video/audio producer: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-part-time-remote-video-audio-producer/

Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs!

On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests. 

The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created

Here is the schedule: 

• Monday May 2, at 8pm ET/5pm PT with Laura Shin
• Tuesday, May 3, at 7pm CET/1pm ET/10am PT with guests Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, and Griff Green 
• Thursday, May 5, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with Laura Shin
• Monday, May 9, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with guest Andrey Ternovskiy
• Tuesday, May 10, at 9pm CET/3pm ET/12pm PT with Laura Shin

If you'd like to participate, be sure to mark your calendars for the sale time on April 26th. Hope to see you in one of the book clubs!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/

Episode Links

Chris Lehane

• LinkedIn: ​https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lehane-2562535/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrislehane 
• Joining Haun Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/chrislehane/status/1506395461187354624 

Niki Christoff

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikichristoff/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikiChristoff 

Miscellaneous Links

• Overview of crypto and politics
• • https://www.citizen.org/article/capitol-coin-cryptocurrency-lobbying-revolving-door-report/ 
• Biden’s executive order
• • Thread of official statements: https://twitter.com/crypto_council/status/1501606327621197835
  • Fact sheet: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/09/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-innovation-in-digital-assets/ 
  • Overview: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/09/heres-whats-in-bidens-executive-order-on-crypto.html 
• New bill from Senator Warren to crack down on sanctions evasion:
• • https://www.coincenter.org/new-crypto-sanctions-bill-targets-publishing-code-facilitating-transactions/
• DeFi Education Fund 
• • https://medium.com/@defieducationfund
• Blockchain Association
• • https://theblockchainassociation.org/news/ 
• Crypto Council for Innovation
• • https://twitter.com/crypto_council/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Beiko, the Ethereum Foundation coordinator for core developers, discusses his recent estimation that Ethereum’s merge, where the network transitions from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, will be delayed until the second half of 2022. Show topics:

• what the Ethereum merge is 
• why an upcoming difficulty bomb could force developers to delay the merge
• what shadow forks are and how they affect the decision to go forward with the merge
• how network difficulty is used in Ethereum to keep a balance between the blockchain and miners
• Tim’s (purposefully vague) timeline for the merge
• how the merge could increase Ethereum’s throughput by 9% – and thus potentially reduce gas fees slightly
• how the Ethereum Foundation plans to address gas fees and scaling issues post-merge

Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs!

On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests. 

The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created

Here is the schedule: 

• Monday May 2, at 8pm ET/5pm PT with Laura Shin
• Tuesday, May 3, at a time TBD with guests Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, and Griff Green 
• Thursday, May 5, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with Laura Shin
• Monday, May 9, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with guest Andrey Ternovskiy
• Tuesday, May 10, at 9pm CET/3pm ET/12pm PT with Laura Shin

If you'd like to participate, be sure to mark your calendars for the sale time on April 26th. Hope to see you in one of the book clubs!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   

OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/ 

Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/

Episode Links

Tim Beiko

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimBeiko 

Related Content

• Tim’s post on the merge FAQs:
• • https://github.com/timbeiko/eth-roadmap-faq#merge-timelines
• Tim’s tweets from this week:
• • https://twitter.com/TimBeiko/status/1514423985517203458 
  • https://twitter.com/TimBeiko/status/1514010098145759232
• Previous Unchained appearance discussing the merge and EIP 1559:
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereums-eip-1559-will-solve-some-problems-but-big-ones-will-remain/ 
• Shadow fork threads
• • https://twitter.com/parithosh_j/status/1513129893235769346?s=20&t=w63Iw2RPkldNMnRS4PJdjA
  • https://twitter.com/vdWijden/status/1513540976438091779 
• Unchained episode about how Ethereum 2.0 will work:
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereum-2-0-what-you-need-to-know/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart Levi, co-head of the Technology Transaction and Intellectual Property Group at Skadden Arps, and Marta Belcher, general counsel and Head of Policy at Protocol Labs, break down the legal issues surrounding NFTs specifically in the context of Yuga Labs’ recent purchase of CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights. Show highlights:

• the definitions and differences between copyrights, trademarks, and rights of publicity (name, image, likeness)
• how NFT projects have evolved in the past 12-18 months and what that means for the rights of NFT holders
• why NBA Top Shot’s licensing model is the best model for famous brands entering the NFT space
• how the popularity of PFPs and the open-source ethos of crypto has led to confusion regarding the commercial rights of NFT holders
• what you are getting when you buy an NFT (hint, it’s not copyright)
• the misconceptions surrounding Yuga Labs’ acquisition of Crypto Punks and Meebits
• why Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders most likely cannot use the Bored Ape Yacht Club brand or logo
• what issues web3 projects face in getting NFT holders to accept terms and conditions
• why web3 projects should protect their trademark
• what a Creative Commons license is, and how it can be used in the NFT space
• what sort of licenses exist in the NFT space
• why secondary sales and transfers of NFTs pose such massive problems for copyright and trademark owners
• how marketplaces are handling terms and conditions
• what NFT projects can do to help the transfer of copyrights and trademarks

Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs!

On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests. 

The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT,  and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created

Here is the schedule: 

• Monday May 2, at 8pm ET/5pm PT with Laura Shin
• Tuesday, May 3, at a time TBD with guests Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, and Griff Green 
• Thursday, May 5, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with Laura Shin
• Monday, May 9, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with guest Andrey Ternovskiy
• Tuesday, May 10, at 9pm CET/3pm ET/12pm PT with Laura Shin

If you'd like to participate, be sure to mark your calendars for the sale time on April 26th. Hope to see you in one of the book clubs!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/

Episode Link:

Marta Belcher

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/martabelcher 
• https://twitter.com/MartaBelcher 

Stuart Levi

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartlevi/

Content on NFT IP/Legal Issues

• Josh Durham on IP rights and NFTs
• • https://lexdao.substack.com/p/protecting-your-nft-personal-property-rights?s=r
• Punk 6529 on CryptoPunks and Yuga Labs
• • https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502595586960367617.html
• Decrypt on stolen IP
• • https://decrypt.co/96637/nfts-have-a-problem-with-copyright-theft
• Why IP rights are meaningless
• • https://twitter.com/nftlawguy/status/1509233036369416192
• IP questions from DC Investor
• • https://twitter.com/iamDCinvestor/status/1509187304027529222
• The Copyright NFT bible
• • https://medium.com/initc3org/copyright-vulnerabilities-in-nfts-317e02d8ae26 
• What Exactly Do You Get When You Buy an NFT? Three Lawyers Discuss
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-exactly-do-you-get-when-you-buy-an-nft-three-lawyers-discuss/

Difference between copyright and trademark

• ​​https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/trademark-vs-copyright

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Zhou, co-founder of Galois Capital, discusses a crazy week in the world of algorithmic stablecoins that saw USDN de-peg from the dollar and Terra unveil plans to create a new liquidity pool on Curve to strengthen UST. Show highlights:

• how USDN and Waves works
• what made USD de-peg
• why Kevin thinks algorithmic stablecoins fail so often
• what Kevin thinks about backing UST with BTC
• how 4pool works in the context of Curve Finance, 3pool, UST, Frax Finance, and Redacted Cartel
• why Kevin believes Anchor is the reason UST could de-peg
• what might happen to Terra and the crypto market writ large if UST were to de-peg
• why lowering yields on Anchor could depress LUNA’s price by 8x
• how UST and LUNA redemptions work

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   

OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/ 

Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/

Episode Links

Kevin Zhou

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-zhou-82938324/ 

• Galois Capital: https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital 

UST

• Proposal

• https://agora.terra.money/t/ust-goes-interchain-the-4pool-and-redacted-cartel/5648

• Why Terra would want to implement 4pool (in the context of the curve wars)
• • https://twitter.com/CryptoHarry_/status/1510244225304117252 
• Do Kwon on trying to make DAI less relevant
• • https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1511017532764803078 
• FXS price jump
• • https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/04/04/frax-finances-fxs-jumps-as-terra-introduces-stablecoin-pool-4pool/ 
• Galois Twitter threads
• • https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1511455703642394628 
  • https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1511198930951938049 
• UST vs LUNA market cap risk
• • https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1506372692005593090 
  • https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1511198930951938049 
  • https://twitter.com/Galois_Capital/status/1507651829366145030 
• Why curve wars matter
• • https://twitter.com/JackNiewold/status/1511484763630194699 
• Terraform Labs’ CEO Do Kwon’s appearance on Unchained
• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMRbP_b4JXM 
• Anchor
• • https://medium.com/@_0xfr/anchor-protocol-how-the-dev-team-rigged-liquidations-a188fb87a99f 

USDN

• Recap of Waves x Alameda Drama
• • https://thedefiant.io/waves-ftx-ponzi-accusations/ 
• OG thread pointing out Waves market manipulation
• • https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1509581295621451779 
  • https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1502381061925261312 
• Waves founder blaming Alameda
• • https://twitter.com/sasha35625/status/1510589983920656385
• Governance proposal to kill Alameda’s short
• • ​​https://unchainedpodcast.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0085a41334b3edf854fd51f9b&id=2fb7761d5b&e=3c1178619e

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• how social engineering was used in the $600 million+ Ronin bridge hack
• what bridge infrastructure needs to be built (note: if someone wants to build a cross-chain Etherscan, it sounds like Tarun would fund it)
• why the Inverse Finance hack impressed Tom
• how Open Zeppelin found and patched a $15 billion vulnerability for Convex Finance
• why transitioning to token governance might be an issue for Convex
• what made USDN de-peg
• why Tarun think algorithmic stablecoin creators are a little crazy
• the elegance of the Bitcoin whitepaper
• what their biggest takeaways from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter are
• why Tarun thinks FTX investing in IEX is actually a huge deal

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner 

Topics Covered

• Ronin hack
• • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-29/hackers-steal-590-million-from-ronin-in-latest-bridge-attack
  • https://decrypt.co/96811/nearly-7m-hacked-ronin-funds-sent-privacy-mixer-tornado-cash
  • https://roninblockchain.substack.com/p/community-alert-ronin-validators?s=w
• More hacks: Inverse Finance, Convex Rugpull disclosure
• • https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/04/02/defi-lender-inverse-finance-exploited-for-156-million/
  • https://twitter.com/bertcmiller/status/1510284763332071427
  • https://blog.openzeppelin.com/15-billion-rugpull-vulnerability-in-convex-finance-protocol-uncovered-and-resolved/
• USDN Peg broken, drama ensues
• • ​​https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/140475/drama-erupts-around-the-waves-blockchain-project-and-trading-firm-alameda 
  • https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/neutrino-usd
• Why is Elon taking a stake in Twitter?
• • https://decrypt.co/96809/dogecoin-cheerleader-elon-musk-takes-9-2-stake-in-twitter
  • https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-to-name-elon-musk-to-its-board-of-directors-11649162614?mod=article_inline
• FTX purchasing a stake in IEX
• • https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftx-us-and-iex-join-forces-to-help-shape-market-structure-for-digital-assets-301517550.html
• Lightning Labs' $70 million raise
• • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/140560/lightning-labs-taro-protocol-stablecoins-fundraise 
• Gauntlet raises $23.8M led by Ribbit, now a Unicorn - congrats Tarun!

• https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-quant-firm-gauntlet-valued-at-1b-following-series-b

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Brock, general manager of TBD at Block, discusses how TBD’s yet-to-be-released DEX is structured, explains why he thinks decentralized solutions do not necessarily need blockchains, and tells the humorous story about how Jack Dorsey convinced him to start working on a Bitcoin project. Show highlights:

• what TBD is and what its relation to Block (formerly Square) is
• how TBD differs from Spiral, another Block-based Bitcoin firm
• how tbDEX works and why building on-ramps and off-ramps to crypto is so important
• who will be supplying the liquidity for tbDEX
• why Mike is passionate about creating digital identity infrastructure
• how tbDEX will incorporate digital identity tooling into its protocol
• what Mike thinks about Vitalik Buterin’s misgivings concerning tbDEX’s design
• why Mike fell down the rabbit hole (thanks Jack Dorsey)
• what lessons Mike learned at CashApp that he is using at TBD
• which stablecoin TBD will be working with
• why Mike is not a believer in DeFi
• why tbDEX (or, seemingly, other TBD products) will not utilize tokens

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/

Episode Links

Mike Brock

• Twitter; https://twitter.com/brockm 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-brock-9030813/ 
• Introduction to TBD: https://twitter.com/brockm/status/1415795490914856961 

TBD

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbd54566975?lang=en 
• GitHub: https://github.com/TBD54566975/tbdex-whitepaper 
• Whitepaper
• • https://tbd54566975.ghost.io/introducing-tbdex/ 
  • https://tbdex.io/whitepaper.pdf 
• Careers: https://block.xyz/careers?search=tbd 
• Other
• • Origin of name: https://twitter.com/TBD54566975/status/1424818221652324355 
  • Vitalik’s reticence: https://cryptopotato.com/vitalik-buterin-tells-how-jack-dorseys-tbd-might-build-the-bitcoin-dex/ 

Other Topics

• Spiral (lightning development). Brock helped set up Spiral. 
• • Twitter: https://twitter.com/spiralbtc 
  • Website: https://spiral.xyz/ 
• CashApp
• • Impressive BTC revenue: https://decrypt.co/93793/block-bitcoin-earnings-cash-app-hit-nearly-2-billion-q4 
  • Lightning network: https://blockworks.co/cash-app-integrates-lightning-network-for-bitcoin-payments/
• Aaron Levie
• • https://twitter.com/levie 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arjun Bhuptani, founder of Connext and bridging expert, breaks down the Ronin bridge exploit that led to a hacker stealing $600 million+ and discusses different bridge designs that could limit future attacks. Show highlights:

• how a hacker was able to drain more than $600 million from Ronin bridge
• the difference between DeFi hacks and the Ronin bridge exploit, which was a social-engineering based attack
• why multisig bridges are susceptible to social engineering attacks
• why Arjun believes the Ronin hacker is a sophisticated entity
• whether Sky Mavis will be able to reimburse users
• the different attack vectors for cross-chain bridges
• what Arjun thinks about different bridge designs

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   

OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/ 

Episode Links

Arjun Bhuptani

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani 

Ronin Hack

• Latest update from Ronin
• • https://twitter.com/Ronin_Network/status/1509284549020188672 
  • https://twitter.com/Psycheout86/status/1509134627319033863 
• Community alert explaining the hack:
• • https://roninblockchain.substack.com/p/community-alert-ronin-validators?s=w
• Etherscan of the hack taking place
• • https://etherscan.io/address/0x098b716b8aaf21512996dc57eb0615e2383e2f96
• Reactions
• • Mudit Gupta – the hacker is sophisticated
  • • https://twitter.com/Mudit__Gupta/status/1508868214075310091
  • Arjun Bhuptani – why multisig bridges are vulnerable
  • • https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani/status/1508861771595059205
    • https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani/status/1508861771595059205 
  • Ed Zitron – social engineering
  • • https://ez.substack.com/p/the-infinite-exploitation-of-cryptocurrency
• Information on Ronin
• • https://twitter.com/joel_john95/status/1486809221962289154 
• Why bridging is hard
• • https://blog.connext.network/the-interoperability-trilemma-657c2cf69f17 
• Arjun’s latest article on Optimistic bridges
• • https://twitter.com/arjunbhuptani/status/1509582024104939523?t=4HCssiWfO5v65ehXRnWL3A&s=19 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do Kwon is the CEO of Terraform Labs and a director at Luna Foundation Guard. On Unchained, he explains why LFG is spearheading a plan to partially back Terra’s $15 billion stablecoin UST with Bitcoin. He also dives into another project idea that would transform developer salaries into financial assets that, as far as I can tell, he has not yet spoken about publicly.

Part 1: Everything you need to know about Terra, UST, and BTC.

• how Terra works and why Do thinks UST will soon be the third-largest stablecoin
• why Do and LFG decided to back UST with bitcoin
• why Do thinks LUNA’s price will continue to appreciate despite UST’s new dependence on bitcoin
• how UST might perform if the price of a bitcoin were to crash
• why diversifying UST with different types of collateral could help Terra politically
• how LFG plans to use bridges, smart contracts, and an AMM reserve pool to secure its bitcoin
• why Do thinks Terra is now a Layer 2 project for Bitcoin
• who is deciding to purchase bitcoin and who determines what other assets to purchase as collateral for UST
• how a bitcoin reserve pool would help UST not de-peg from the dollar
• whether Do thinks Anchor’s 19%+ yield is sustainable and why Anchor is moving to other chains

Part 2: Do, the self-described “toymaker” of DeFi.

• why Do is fascinated with creating a fungible labor market
• how developer working hours could become a token traded on an AMM and used to take out loans
• why Do thinks developer salaries in crypto should be cyclical
• how on-chain identity and history will be similar to credit scores
• why Do is a personal fan of Thorchain – but is reticent to use it as a bridge for LFG
• why Do is interested in Prism Protocol
• what Do thinks the impact of a pro-crypto president will have on South Korea

Book events

Keep up on all the latest events here! 

https://www.laurashin.com/book/#tour-dates

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Upcoming Book Events

Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited!

Tuesday, April 5: I will be doing a reading and signing hosted by the City of Miami Beach and Future Perfect Ventures at Sky Yard from 6-8 pm. Jalak Jobanputra, CEO of Future Perfect Ventures will be interviewing me. You need to RSVP by April 1 to dianafontani@miamibeachfl.gov.  

Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am. 

Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD). 

May 4-7: I will be in conversation with author Jimmy Soni at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7. 

May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD. 

Episode Links

Do Kwon

• https://twitter.com/stablekwon
• Previous Unchained appearance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=683fXfedOZY 

Terra

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money 
• Luna Foundation Guard: https://lfg.org/team/

LFG Purchases

• Pomp – the $10B Bitcoin Bet on Stablecoins
• • https://pomp.substack.com/p/the-10-billion-bitcoin-bet-on-stablecoins?s=w
• 3/10 BTC purchase
• • https://twitter.com/LFG_org/status/1503680315969060864 
• $1 BTC billion purchase
• • https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1496162889085902856 
• TFL x LFG relationship
• • https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1502225674840555523 

Terraform Labs proposal to make Terra inter-chain

• https://agora.terra.money/t/ust-goes-interchain-reasonable-strats-part-five/5024 
• Anchor Going Cross Chain to Avalanche

• https://twitter.com/CryptoHarry_/status/1504309092411920387 

Jump’s BTC reserve proposal

• https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1506736478449127425 

Recent worries about Anchor APY being sustainable 

• Do said Anchor yield shouldn't be sustainable (marketing scheme)
• • https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1503154137420079107 

• Arca + Polychain proposal: https://twitter.com/jdorman81/status/1502024302526304262 

South Korea’s new President

• https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Cryptocurrencies/South-Korea-s-incoming-president-vows-big-cryptocurrency-push 

SEC subpoena

• https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/12/10/most-influential-2021-do-kwon/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Beal, head of ecosystem development at Forta and author of the 30,000 Feet newsletter, discusses the dramatic governance proposal on Juno Network, a Cosmos-based project, where Juno holders are voting to confiscate millions of dollars in tokens from a whale who allegedly gamed the Juno airdrop. Show topics:

• how the Juno airdrop worked 
• how the whale was able to amass more JUNO tokens than the team wanted
• why the Juno Network community feels threatened by an entity holding so many JUNO tokens
• what the whale did to invoke the ire of the Juno Network community
• the community’s vote on whether to confiscate up to 98.5% of the whale’s tokens
• what three courses of action the community is considering to confiscate the whale’s JUNO
• what Andy’s biggest takeaways are from the dramatic governance moment

Come to an Event on Laura's Book Tour!

https://www.laurashin.com/book/#tour-dates

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   

OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/ 

Episode Links

Andy Beal

• https://twitter.com/ajbeal 
• Andy's newsletter: https://30000feet.substack.com

Juno Network drama

• Andy’s write-up
• • https://30000feet.substack.com/p/issue-60-juno-whale?s=r 
• Decrypt coverage
• • https://decrypt.co/95435/juno-network-dao-proposal-16-voted-to-revoke-tokens-from-whale
• Coindesk coverage
• • https://www.coindesk.com/video/recent-videos/why-junos-vote-to-confiscate-a-whales-funds-is-a-watershed-for-blockchain-governance/
  • https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/03/16/junos-proposal-16-vote-is-a-watershed-for-blockchain-governance-for-better-or-worse/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this week’s episode, Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs, also dropped by. Show topics:

• why Do decided to make millions of dollars in bets that LUNA will appreciate in value next year
• what Robert and Do, as crypto/DeFi founders, think about Crypto Twitter
• how the difficulty of building payment systems led to Do launching Terra
• Gauntlet’s recent funding round (and what it does)
• takeaways from Yuga Labs purchasing CryptoPunk and Meebits IP, ApeCoin, Otherside, and more
• how NFTs could change the game for publishing and content IP industries
• whether an NFT collection’s cultural relevance is similar to an L1’s TVL
• Bored Ape Yacht Club as the first NFT franchise
• why Haseeb is so disappointed with Axie Infinity, VCs, and other P2E games
• what Facebook’s foray into NFTs might look like

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner 

Guest

• Do Kwon, founder of Terra
• • https://twitter.com/stablekwon 

Episode Topics

• Gauntlet raises $23.8M led by Ribbit, now a Unicorn - congrats Tarun!
• • https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-quant-firm-gauntlet-valued-at-1b-following-series-b
• Do Kwon on a Terra betting spree ($1M, then $10M)
• • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/137832/terraform-labs-ceo-do-kwon-seals-10-million-bet-over-luna-price

• Yuga Labs launches Apecoin, Apes buy Punks, teases metaverse, plans land sales, closes $450M raise led by a16z
• • https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/03/18/what-is-apecoin-and-who-is-behind-it/
  • https://twitter.com/yugalabs/status/1505014986556551172
  • https://twitter.com/yugalabs/status/1502420714527334406?s=11

• NFTs coming to Instagram? Minting + PFPs?
• • https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/03/15/mark-zuckerberg-says-nfts-are-coming-soon-to-instagram/
• Info on Axie Infinity
• • https://research.thetie.io/axie-infinity/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder NEAR Protocol, and George Kikvadze, executive vice chairman at BitFury Group, both of whom have called Ukraine “home” at one point in their lives, discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the role crypto is playing in the war, and the various avenues crypto users can donate to. Show topics:

• George and Illia’s background in crypto
• George and Ilia’s connection to Ukraine
• why crypto is so popular in Ukraine
• what supplies are being purchased with donated crypto
• how to donate crypto to Ukraine
• why Patreon blocked donations to Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO
• George and Illia’s estimation of the amount of crypto donations received by Ukraine
• what department of Ukraine’s government spearheaded its adoption of crypto
• what happened with the canceled airdrop 
• the different organizations accepting crypto donations in Ukraine

Upcoming Book Events

Friday, March 25: I’ll be on the Harvard campus at HBS Aldrich 011 from 4 pm ET - 5 pm ET. This is *not* open to the general public, but we have a few spots we can give away, first come, first serve. Email hello@unchainedpodcast.com, subject line "Harvard reading."

Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited!

Tuesday, April 5: I will be doing a reading and signing hosted by the City of Miami Beach and Future Perfect Ventures at Sky Yard from 6-8 pm. Jalak Jobanputra, CEO of Future Perfect Ventures will be interviewing me. You need to RSVP by April 1 to dianafontani@miamibeachfl.gov.  

Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am. 

Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD). 

May 4-7: I will be at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7. 

May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Episode Links

George Kikvadze, executive vice chairman at BitFury Group

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitfuryGeorge
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-kikvadze-6256175/

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder NEAR Protocol

• Twitter: ​https://twitter.com/ilblackdragon 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/illia-polosukhin-77b6538/ 
• Raising $ for Ukraine via Unchain Fund
• • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-09/ukraine-s-crypto-community-sends-donation-support-after-russia-invasion 
  • https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/03/01/absolutely-surreal-inside-a-fund-raising-millions-in-crypto-for-besieged-ukraine/ 
  • https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/26/22952357/ukraine-bitcoin-ethereum-donation-vitalik-buterin
  • https://thedefiant.io/ukraine-blockchain-development-teams/ 

Unchain Fund: https://unchain.fund/ 

Come Back Alive: https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/

Government Website for Crypto Donations: ​​https://donate.thedigital.gov.ua/ 

Ukraine x Crypto

• Ukraine purchasing supplies
• • https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/03/07/ukraine-is-buying-bulletproof-vests-and-night-vision-goggles-using-crypto/ 
  • https://twitter.com/abornyakov/status/1502231351273172992?s=21
• Live update from on Ukrainian crypto funds received
• • https://www.elliptic.co/blog/live-updates-millions-in-crypto-crowdfunded-for-the-ukrainian-military 
• Ukraine accepting crypto: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282 
• Ukraine NFT launch to reflect history
• • https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/13/ukraine-nft-history-of-russian-invasion-war

Unchained Coverage

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-ukraine-is-leveraging-crypto-in-its-fight-against-russia/
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-in-the-first-crypto-war-how-should-the-money-be-spent/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his first podcast appearance ever, Punk6529, known for writing massive threads on Crypto Twitter, discusses the cultural and historical significance of Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs purchasing the intellectual property rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs. Topics:

• how CryptoPunks set the industry standard for PFP projects
• how Bored Ape Yacht Club distinguished itself from CryptoPunks – and other NFT projects
• why 6529 is bullish on the utility of intellectual property rights and commercial use being granted to NFT holders by Yuga Labs
• why 6529 believes Yuga Labs will be good stewards of CryptoPunks
• how NFTs (and Bitcoin) are leveraging memes and social construction to go mainstream 
• what 6529 thinks Larva Labs’ legacy will be in the NFT space
• how royalty revenue streams led to the Yuga Labs purchase of Meebits and CryptoPunk IP
• why 6529 is unsure about the significance of metaverse real estate
• what 6529 thinks about ApeCoin

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io  

OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/

Upcoming Book Events

Friday, March 26: I’ll be on the Harvard campus at HBS Aldrich 011 from 4 pm ET - 5 pm ET. I’ll be interviewed about my book by NF Castle’s Michelle Choi and will also do a signing. 

Saturday, March 27: I’ll be moderating a panel at the Harvard Blockchain conference from 3-3:45 pm. The panel will include NFT artist Pplpleasr, NF Castle’s Will Lobkowicz and Michele Choi, and Nifty Gateway COO Patrick McLaren. 

Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited!

Tuesday, April 5: I will be doing a reading and signing hosted by the City of Miami Beach and Future Perfect Ventures at Sky Yard from 6-8 pm. Jalak Jobanputra, CEO of Future Perfect Ventures will be interviewing me. You need to RSVP by April 1 to dianafontani@miamibeachfl.gov.  

Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am. 

Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD). 

May 4-7: I will be at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7. 

May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD. 

Episode Links

6529

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/punk6529 
• Threads: https://threadreaderapp.com/user/punk6529

Miscellaneous

• Yuga Labs purchase of Larva Labs IP: https://decrypt.co/94898/bored-ape-yacht-club-yuga-labs-cryptopunks-larva-labs 
• Yuga Labs metaverse land plans: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/137829/bored-ape-yacht-club-yuga-labs-virtual-land-sales-metaverse
• ApeCoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/138156/apecoin-tied-to-bored-ape-nft-ecosystem-debuts-with-planned-community-airdrop 
• Punk 6529 on the Yuga Labs purchase: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502595586960367617.html 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jack of all metaverse-trades Chase Chapman discusses her experience working for DAOs, how DAO tooling and governance can improve, and drops a hot take about Discord. Chase brings a unique perspective to Unchained as a co-founder and advisor at Decentology, host of On the Other Side podcast, and active DAO contributor at Orca, Index Coop, and Rabbit Hole. Show topics:

• how Chase got into crypto
• new avenues for bringing more women into crypto
• how DAOs change the nature of work
• how Chase gets paid – and why her accountants might start ducking her calls
• why Chase is passionate about DAOs having a core set of values
• why Chase thinks terms like “permissionless” and “decentralized” should not be used to describe DAOs
• what DAOs can learn from corporate structures
• why Chase is coming around to the idea that DAOs might not need a single HR department
• how DAOs are dealing with inactive whale token holders versus DAO contributors (who own smaller amounts of token)
• what suggestions Chase has for some of the recent big DAO controversies involving Ethereum Name Service and SushiSwap
• the role of anonymity in DAOs
• which DAO tools Chase is impressed with and what SnapShot has in common with Wikipedia
• why Discord is not that bad for DAO management
• how Chase envisions DAOs and NFTs intersecting in the future
• what DAO trends Chase is looking forward to in the coming months

Sponsors

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Episode Links

Chase Chapman

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaserchapman
• Jobs
• • Decentology: https://www.decentology.com/ 
  • On the Other Side: https://www.othersidepod.xyz/ 
  • Index Coop: ​​https://twitter.com/indexcoop
  • Orca Protocol: https://twitter.com/OrcaProtocol
  • RabbitHole: https://twitter.com/rabbithole_gg 

Interesting tweets/blogs/podcasts from Chase on DAOs

• https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1460257486888448003
• https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1500136746301992961 
• https://mirror.xyz/chappy.eth/Rw4sMBofUrVGj3QjzErkWkP9UNP1JYhcyX7CLOwgUD4 
• https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1483124528679211022 
• ​​https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1494359483958636550 
• https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1491856996819247111
• https://twitter.com/chaserchapman/status/1492210731789520897 

Miscellaneous Mentions

• she256: https://twitter.com/she_256 
• Snapshot: https://twitter.com/SnapshotLabs 
• Brantly Millegan is staying at ENS Foundation: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/07/brantly-millegan-remains-a-director-of-ens-foundation-after-failed-attempt-to-boot-him/ 
• SushiSwap leadership drama: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/12/08/sushi-cto-joseph-delong-resigns-after-reports-of-project-infighting/ 
• Wonderland drama: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/131931/avalanche-defi-wonderland-time-0xsifu-quadrigacx-patryn 
• Coordinape: https://coordinape.com/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Harland-Dunaway, a freelance reporter for The Verge, talks about his most recent investigative story on Tron founder Justin Sun, which details a long string of questionable decisions and actions by Sun. Show topics:

• why Justin Sun fled China after the Tron ICO
• why Chris’s 15 sources were granted anonymity for this story
• why Chris believes that Tron’s market-making team was performing insider trading
• how Justin Sun has tried to evade US securities law
• what “Operation Couch Cushions” was and how it led to 300 BTC being sent to Poloniex
• where Justin Sun is looking for citizenship
• what Chris knows about a grand jury investigation into Justin Sun
• what Justin Sun had to say about Chris’ allegations

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io  

Episode links: 

Christopher Harland-Dunaway: https://twitter.com/ChrisHDeee 

Justin Sun: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron 

Chris’ articles on Justin in The Verge:

• March 2022: https://www.theverge.com/c/22947663/justin-sun-tron-cryptocurrency-poloniex 
• September 2020: https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/21459906/bittorrent-tron-acquisition-justin-sun-us-china 

Justin Sun’s rebuttal

• https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1501626464596201472 

Chris’ previous Unchained appearance

• ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/abuse-and-ethical-lapses-what-happened-when-justin-sun-acquired-bittorrent/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While researching for The Cryptopians, I discovered that Andrey Ternovskiy, the founder of internet sensation Chatroulette, was heavily involved in The DAO back in 2016. In this episode, we skirt around revealing major spoilers from The Cryptopians and discuss Andrey’s experience founding Chatroulette, how he fell down the crypto rabbit hole, whether hacking smart contracts is ethical, and more. Show topics:

• Andrey’s background 
• how Andrey’s struggles with PayPal at Chatroulette led him to quickly understand the need for crypto 
• what Andrey’s involvement at Chatroulette is
• the different ways Andrey thinks crypto can disrupt middlemen
• why Andrey became infatuated with the narrative behind the “crypto” movement
• why Andrey became a fan of Ethereum
• why Andrey decided to tell me about his previously undisclosed involvement in The DAO and early Ethereum
• whether hacking smart contracts is ethical (or legal)
• what Andrey thinks about how Ukraine has used crypto in its fight against Russia’s invasion
• why Andrey will most likely not decentralize Chatroulette 
• what Andrey’s perspective is on decentralization in terms of DeFi and DAOs

Upcoming Book Events

For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto 

Episode Links

• Andrey Ternovskiy: ​​https://www.crunchbase.com/person/andrey-ternovskiy 
• Chatroulette: https://chatroulette.com/ 

The Cryptopians

• http://bit.ly/cryptopians 
• On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2
• On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012 
• On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012
• Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-writing-the-cryptopians-shaped-my-views-on-ethereum/ 

DAO Hacker Reveal: 

• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/
• Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/exclusive-cryptos-biggest-whodunnit-who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum/ 
• Medium: https://medium.com/@laurashin/who-hacked-the-dao-on-ethereum-heres-how-we-jumped-past-one-critical-step-60aec489a127
• Bulletin: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum-the-backstory-to-my-investigation
• Forbes on YouTube: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuICbAucfn0 
• Daily Tech News Show: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1306972988 

The DAO Hack

• https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/
• https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tomicah Tillemann, the global chief policy officer of Katie Haun's new firm, analyzes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and explains how crypto is being used in an unprecedented manner to render aid to civilians, move money across the world, and potentially document war crimes. Show highlights:

• Tomicah’s background, which includes stints working for the State Department and a16z 
• recap of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
• what Tomicah thinks of the decision to boot certain Russian banks from SWIFT
• why Tomicah believes that it would be very difficult for Russia to use crypto at a large scale to evade sanctions
• why ruble/BTC volume is spiking
• how Ukraine’s usage of web3 tools could change humanitarian aid forever
• what lessons to take away from Ukraine’s almost-airdrop
• the four real-world crypto use cases governments should take notice of

Upcoming Book Events

For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained   

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io 

Episode Links

Tomicah Tilllemann

• https://twitter.com/TomicahTD 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomicah/

Topics Covered

• Ukraine accepting crypto: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282 
• Cutting Russia out of SWIFT: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_22_1423 
• UkraineDAO: https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO 
• Ukraine asking for a blanket ban on Russians from crypto exchanges: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/26/ukraine-mounts-effort-to-surveil-russian-politicians-crypto-wallets/ 
• Why crypto won’t help Russia avoid sanctions: 
• • https://jerrybrito.com/2022-02-28
  • https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1498786025438650369 
• Ruble/BTC trading: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/135888/ruble-trading-pair-volumes-surge-on-binance-after-russias-invasion-of-ukraine 
• Ukraine Airdrop: 
• • https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/02/ukraine-says-airdrop-confirmed-after-receiving-33m-crypto-donations/ 
  • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/136211/ukraine-cancels-crypto-airdrop-plans-to-sell-nfts-instead 
• Arweave x Ukraine
• • https://cryptoslate.com/decentralized-data-storage-solution-arweave-archives-millions-of-documents-from-ukraine/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During my research for The Cryptopians, I found information that I believe identifies the perpetrator behind The DAO hack on Ethereum. Three founding members of The DAO and Slock.it (Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, Griff Green) discuss how and why they created The DAO, how they helped save the funds being siphoned off by black hat hackers, their personal feelings about The DAO, along with their reaction to the news about who I believe was The DAO attacker. Show topics:

Part 1: Background on The DAO

• Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s background and how they came to Slock.it
• what Slock.it was and why the Slock.it team decided to create The DAO
• what The DAO has to do with venture capital funding
• why the Slock.it team did not cap The DAO sale
• what made The DAO such a popular investment vehicle
• why The DAO developers were scared at the amount of money they raised

Part 2: 

• what Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s initial reaction to The DAO was
• saving funds from The DAO via a hard fork versus white hat hacking
• whether they thought Ethereum Classic would survive a hard fork
• how the Ethereum community has treated Christoph, Griff, and Lefteris in the wake of The DAO attack

Part 3:

• why they disagree on whether code is law
• their reaction to my naming Toby Hoenisch as The DAO attacker
• which actor would play them in a movie about The DAO attack

Come to My In-Person Book Signings and Events!

New York: 

Wednesday, March 2, at 7pm

At The Strand Bookstore

Moderated by CoinDesk’s Christine Lee

https://www.strandbooks.com/events/event403?title=laura_shin_the_cryptopians_idealism_greed_lies_and_the_making_of_the_first_big_cryptocurrency_craze

Bay Area: 

Tuesday March 8, 6pm

San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club 

Moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark

https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

Seattle: 

Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm

The Forum

Moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. 

https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto 

Episode Links

Guests

• Christoph Jentzsch

• ​​https://twitter.com/ChrJentzsch

• Griff Green

• https://twitter.com/thegrifft 

• Lefteris Karapetsas

• https://mobile.twitter.com/LefterisJP 

DAO Hacker Reveal: 

• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/
• Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/exclusive-cryptos-biggest-whodunnit-who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum/ 
• Medium: https://medium.com/@laurashin/who-hacked-the-dao-on-ethereum-heres-how-we-jumped-past-one-critical-step-60aec489a127
• Bulletin: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum-the-backstory-to-my-investigation
• Forbes on YouTube: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuICbAucfn0 
• Daily Tech News Show: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1306972988 

The Cryptopians

• http://bit.ly/cryptopians 
• On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2
• On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012 
• On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012
• Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-writing-the-cryptopians-shaped-my-views-on-ethereum/ 

The DAO Hack

• https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/
• https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a fun change of pace, Steven Ehrlich, editor of Forbes Cryptoasset and Blockchain Advisor, joins Unchained to interview me about my book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, which came out this week. We discuss…

• where the inspiration for “The Cryptopians” title came from
• why I wanted to write a book about Ethereum
• how Vitalik’s role changed over the course of Ethereum’s founding
• who the main characters in The Cryptopians are
• the biggest challenges Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation faced in its early days
• Ethereum’s “red wedding” day
• what issues with crowdfunding and US securities laws were faced by early Ethereum founders
• how The DAO hack, along with the Shanghai attacks and Parity drama, shaped Ethereum
• what I discovered about Ming Chan’s time as the Ethereum Foundation director
• my biggest takeaways from researching ICOs
• why I think DAOs could be the next big thing
• whether or not I have an idea for a new book…

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained   

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io 

Laura Shin

• https://twitter.com/laurashin

The Cryptopians

• http://bit.ly/cryptopians 
• On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2
• On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012 
• On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012

The Cryptopians content:

• CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/video/coindesk-spotlight/laura-shin-on-the-cryptopians-and-what-she-discovered-investigating-the-ethereum-origin-story
• Alexis Garcia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOzujORW7fI 
• NFT Notes: https://shows.acast.com/ipse-dixit/episodes/nft-notes-21-laura-shin-on-the-story-of-ethereum 
• NYT Book Review: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/books/review/new-this-week.html 

DAO Hacker Reveal: 

• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/
• Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/exclusive-cryptos-biggest-whodunnit-who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum/ 
• Medium: https://medium.com/@laurashin/who-hacked-the-dao-on-ethereum-heres-how-we-jumped-past-one-critical-step-60aec489a127
• Bulletin: https://laurashin.bulletin.com/who-was-behind-the-2016-dao-attack-on-ethereum-the-backstory-to-my-investigation
• Forbes on YouTube: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuICbAucfn0 
• Daily Tech News Show: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1306972988 

Steven Ehrlich

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/?sh=fb976542ce44 
• https://twitter.com/Steven_Ehrlich 
• https://www.forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• their thoughts on The DAO hacker reveal
• the importance of The DAO and why it made Robert fall in love with crypto
• how the alleged attacker was found (feat. a deep dive into the Morden testnet and Wasabi)
• dumb DAOs: why the guys are unimpressed with DAOs seeking to purchase, among other things, the Denver Broncos and fast-food restaurants
• how to fix price discovery for DAO mergers and acquisitions
• whether Anchor’s 20% yield on UST is sustainable in light of Luna Foundation Guard’s decision to backstop its reserves with $1 billion in BTC
• why deploying funds from a large treasury is difficult
• why the BlockFi fine was not a surprise
• what lessons the BlockFi settlement taught crypto companies
• why Tarun still loves Olympus DAO and OHM
• how EthDenver has changed since the NFT boom

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner 

Show Topics:

• The DAO attacker revealed
• • https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/
• DAO trying to buy the Denver Broncos
• • https://www.buythebroncos.com/
• Fries DAO
• • https://fries.fund/
• BlockFi Agrees to Pay $100 Million in Penalties and Pursue Registration of its Crypto Lending Product
• • https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-26

• Terra and UST receiving backstopped funds
• • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/134871/luna-founation-guard-token-sale 

• OHM bonds as Vol-reduction strategy
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra/status/1495807277978341385

• Eth Denver
• • https://thedefiant.io/ethdenver-scene-cryptopunks-community/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While researching for my book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, I found evidence that I believe resolves the biggest whodunnit in crypto: who hacked The DAO? This podcast is coming out in conjunction with an article in Forbes revealing the prime suspect’s identity. 

Part 1: Who Attacked the DAO? Here’s the Evidence

To document the process of finding the alleged attacker, I wrote an article for Forbes, with which I opened the podcast. In it, I reveal 

• who, evidence indicates, attacked the DAO
• how my sources and I uncovered this person’s identity
• how a previously undisclosed technical capability by Chainalysis helped my sources and I identify the alleged hacker 

Part 2: Contextualizing the DAO Attack

Forbes’s Steven Ehrlich comes onto the pod to interview me about finding the DAO attacker. Topics

• what is The DAO, and why is it important? 
• who are the key players in The DAO’s story
• how the attacker pulled off the hack
• what legal questions surrounded the hack
• why finding the attacker is important
• the legal implications of identifying the attacker
• what Laura’s interactions have been with the suspect
• what the future of DAOs may hold

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021          

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance  

Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/

Episode Links

Laura Shin

• https://twitter.com/laurashin

The Cryptopians

• http://bit.ly/cryptopians 
• On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency/dp/1541763017/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645037311&sr=8-2
• On Barnes. &. Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cryptopians-laura-shin/1138980345?ean=9781541763012 
• On Bookshop.org:  https://bookshop.org/books/the-cryptopians-idealism-greed-lies-and-the-making-of-the-first-big-cryptocurrency-craze/9781541763012

Steven Ehrlich

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/?sh=fb976542ce44 
• https://twitter.com/Steven_Ehrlich 
• https://www.forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor/ 

The DAO Hack

• https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/
• https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressman Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, discusses crypto and decentralization, his new book, Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us, and how to regulate the crypto industry. Show highlights:

• what Silicon Valley had to do with Congressman Khanna’s journey down the crypto rabbit hole
• why Congressman Khanna is so passionate about decentralization
• why Congressman Khanna thinks crypto could bring tech jobs across the country and world (rather than staying in hubs like Silicon Valley)
• why Congressman Khanna thinks a new regulatory regime is necessary for crypto assets, like stablecoins
• what Congressman Khanna would like vocal crypto opponents like Congressman Brad Sherman or Senator Elizabeth Warren to know about the crypto space
• Congressman Khanna explains the difference between determining if an asset is a security and regulating an asset
• what Congressman Khanna is doing to bring predictability to crypto regulation
• how regulators could incentivize Bitcoin miners to use less energy
• what Congressman Khanna thinks about know-your-customer/anti-money-laundering mechanisms in the DeFi world
• how Congressman Khanna believes crypto taxes should be treated
• what actions Congressman Khanna recommends for bringing more Democrats to the crypto side
• whether Congressman Khanna thinks crypto is a bipartisan issue 

Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access to:

• a premium-only Discord group
• premium-only interviews
• the opportunity to ask questions
• the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained
• and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix

Join today for $4.99/mo or $49.99/year! 

Get a Signed Book Plate!

Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how:

1. Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians.
2. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians, or to the book on any bookseller of your choice.
3. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.”
4. In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to.

If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates.

Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained 

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io

Ro Khanna

• Website: https://khanna.house.gov/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna 

Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09842C2RG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 

Miscellaneous

• Questions for Congressman Khanna from Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1491587026344366088
• Congressman Brad Sherman thinks crypto hurts people of color: https://decrypt.co/92776/crypto-race-and-democrats-brad-sherman 
• President’s Working Group report on stablecoins: https://www.scribd.com/document/536522482/PWG-Stablecoin-Report
• Congressman Khanna’s attempt to fix the infrastructure bill: https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/khanna-mchenry-lead-bipartisan-legislative-fix-new-digital-asset-reporting

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two crypto tax experts, Shehan Chandrasekera, certified public accountant and head of strategy, Tax, at Cointracker, and John Cardone, senior director of Washington National Tax at RSM US LLP, explain everything crypto traders need to understand when filing taxes for 2021. Show topics:

-the five types of transactions that constitute a taxable crypto event -how NFT taxes should be reported -why the sale of collectibles (NFTs) is taxed differently than the sale of crypto property (tokens) -what type of forms you might receive from crypto exchanges and why this information is usually incomplete -why the crypto provision in the infrastructure bill most likely won’t affect retail traders -why John wants a digital asset-specific 1099 form -how staking income will be taxed this year (and why this might change soon) -how to report taxes for… airdrops like ENS and SOS income earned via a play-to-earn game like Axie Infinity the sale of virtual land wrapping Bitcoin onto Ethereum rewards received via a crypto credit card -how to save money on taxes going forward -how Shehan and John think crypto taxes will evolve  -why the IRS listed a job posting for someone who could exploit crypto wallets

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance  

Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/

Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org

Become a Premium Bulletin Subscriber!

Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access   to:

 a premium-only Discord group  premium-only interviews the opportunity to ask questions ️ the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix

Join today for $4.99/mo or $49.99/year! 

Join now!

Get a Signed Book Plate!

Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how:

Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians, or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to.

If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates.

Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP.

Episode Links

John Cardone

​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-cardone-436412b1/  

Shehan Chandrasekera

https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA

Helpful Links

Shehan’s tax guide: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2022/01/24/quick-guide-to-filing-your-2021-cryptocurrency--nft-taxes/?sh=d5c00f765f9d Staking rewards case: https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA/status/1489268205877035016  US Gov. job posting: https://sam.gov/opp/799a1650bd5349b6af4f646842999187/view 

2022 Crypto Tax Guides

CoinTracker: https://www.cointracker.io/blog/crypto-tax-guide CryptoTrader.Tax: https://cryptotrader.tax/blog/the-traders-guide-to-cryptocurrency-taxes Koinly: https://koinly.io/cryptocurrency-taxes/  ZenLedger: https://www.zenledger.io/guides/crypto-tax-us 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, the US government seized $3.6 billion in bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex hack and arrested two individuals, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, on charges of money laundering. Tom Robinson, cofounder and chief scientist at the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, breaks down how law enforcement was able to seize the BTC, what techniques the alleged money launderers used to avoid capture, and who could have pulled off the initial hack. Show highlights:

background on the 2016 Bitfinex hack who was arrested this week and why  how the US government gained access to the private keys in Lichtenstein’s and Morgan’s control why AlphaBay, a now-defunct darknet website, was crucial to law enforcement’s effort to track down the stolen Bitfinex funds what money laundering techniques were used to cash out the stolen Bitfinex funds before this week’s arrests whether, as blockchain analytics technology advances, it will always catch up to be able to trace the movements of crypto as its laundered  why using Monero, a privacy coin, to cash out stolen funds is a red flag why Tom does not think the two individuals arrested this week for money laundering the stolen Bitfinex funds were the original hackers

Become a Premium Bulletin Subscriber! Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access  to:

 a premium-only Discord group   premium-only interviews   the opportunity to ask questions ️  the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix The special launch price until February 14 $2.99/mo or $29.99/year. Starting on February 15, the price increases to $4.99/mo or $49.99/year.

Join now!

Get a Signed Book Plate! Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how:

Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the nameof who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to. If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates.

Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Episode Links

Tom Robinson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomarobinson?originalSubdomain=uk  Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomrobin 

Information on the Bitfinex hack + arrest:

DOJ Information: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-alleged-conspiracy-launder-45-billion-stolen-cryptocurrency  https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1470211/download  Elliptic Coverage: https://www.elliptic.co/blog/elliptic-analysis-new-york-husband-and-wife-arrested-for-laundering-5-billion-in-bitcoin-stolen-from-bitfinex-in-2016  Unchained Coverage: https://unchainedpodcast.com/feds-seize-3-6-billion-in-btc-connected-to-bitfinex-hack/ CoinDesk coverage https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/08/us-officials-seize-bitcoin-from-2016-bitfinex-hack/  Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/92529/bitfinex-billion-bitcoin-who-keeps-it  The Defiant: https://thedefiant.io/bitfinex-leo-surge/ Bitfinex statement:  https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/766 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. On this week’s episode, Sam Bankman-Friend (SBF), CEO and founder of FTX, also dropped by. Show topics:

• Robert and SBF’s takeaways from previous experiences speaking to regulators
• what happened during the Wormhole hack and why building decentralized systems is difficult 
• whether AssangeDAO is a good use of money and how it showcases the power of DAOs + NFTs
• why GameStop dumping IMX tokens might have been Immutable X’s fault
• ENS drama, cancel culture, and whether or not the guys would have fired Brantly Millegan if it had been their company making the decision
• how the US was able to recover funds from the Bitfinex hack (and how Tarun knows one of the individuals arrested for allegedly using the stolen BTC via money laundering)
• Shape rotators versus wordcels: what is the meme, how does SBF identify, and Arthur Hayes? 

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner 

Guest

• Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and founder of FTX
• • https://twitter.com/SBF_Alameda

Links

• Wormhole hack
• • https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/3/22916111/wormhole-hack-github-error-325-million-theft-ethereum-solana
• AssangeDAO raises ~$41M on Juicebox, larger than ConstitutionDAO
• • https://juicebox.money/#/p/assangedao
• ENS drama
• • https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/02/07/ethereum-name-service-removes-brantly-millegan-as-steward-over-2016-tweet/
  • https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-big-4-firm-added-btc-and-eth-to-its-balance-sheet/ 
• Gamestop and ImmutableX
• • https://twitter.com/polarply/status/1489572631649083394
  • https://unchainedpodcast.com/another-gamestop-pump-and-dump/ 
• Bitfinex Hack
• • https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-arrests-couple-allegedly-laundering-45-bln-crypto-tied-bitfinex-hack-2022-02-08/
  • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra/status/1491104365683552256?s=20&t=7KkfnSsGjDz-MxJjYWBB6A 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmahJCWJ8iM&t=1s 
  • https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/08/us-officials-seize-bitcoin-from-2016-bitfinex-hack/ 
• Wordcels vs. Shape Rotators
• • https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1489998900438077441 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Variant Fund is a venture capital firm that describes itself as “a first-check crypto fund investing in the ownership economy.” Jesse Walden and Li Jin, co-founders and general partners at Variant, join Unchained to discuss the ownership economy, issues with web2 and web3, NFTs, the future of work, and more. Highlights:

• where Li and Jesse met and how their backgrounds as investors + founders led them to the crypto space
• how Li’s investing niche, which she describes as the passion economy, ended up intersecting with crypto
• why Li believes that web3 platforms will be better for creators than the current web2 ecosystem
• why Jesse was so inspired by Bitcoin after working in the music industry for so many years
• why Jesse believes that NFTs are the “port of entry” for the mainstream adoption of crypto
• what other use-cases exist for NFTs outside of the JPEG or PNG meme (and why Jesse is so excited about music NFTs)
• why Li believes that web3 tools can help fix the issues inherent to the “gig economy”
• Li and Jesse respond to criticisms of web3 coming from Jack Dorsey and Moxie Marlinspike
• how Variant Fund thinks about investing in crypto projects
• what token allocation Variant Fund targets when investing in crypto projects
• why mainstream platforms are experiencing backlash for integrating with NFTs and crypto
• what trends in NFTs, DAOs, and the ownership economy Jesse and Li think will pop in 2022

Get Access to Premium Content

Sign up for a premium Bulletin subscription!

For becoming a premium subscriber, you'll get access to:

• a premium-only Discord group

• premium-only interviews

• the opportunity to ask questions

• the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained

• and whatever other future offerings we add to the mix

The special launch price until February 14 $2.99/mo or $29.99/year. Starting on February 15, the price increases to $4.99/mo or $49.99/year.

Join now!

Get a Signed Book Plate!

Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how:

1. Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians.

2. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians or to the book on any bookseller of your choice.

3. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.”

4. In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to.

If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates.

Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP.

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021          
• Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance  
• Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/
• Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org

Episode links

Li Jin

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ljin18 
• Substack: https://li.substack.com/
• Li Jin on the creator economy
  • The future of the creator economy
    • https://drive.google.com/file/u/1/d/1C3fBfPgWxf-zqezGlPFr7VXIetlHlnaZ/view 
    • https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1454096370281943041 
  • What the creator economy is doing wrong
    • https://li.substack.com/p/legitimacy-lost 
  • How to fix the “gig” style economy for creators
    • https://li.substack.com/p/the-creator-economy-is-in-crisis
  • How the creator economy could power universal basic income
    • https://li.substack.com/p/the-case-for-universal-creative-income
  • What labor should look like in Web3
    • https://li.substack.com/p/a-labor-movement-for-the-platform
  • Building the middle class of the creator economy
    • https://li.substack.com/p/building-the-middle-class-of-the
• Other
  • Web3 is the “golden age” of content
    • https://every.mirror.xyz/y_WLA-Tk3VF5uPqHi-glDLVVfHxLUbjXakRI7SMISas 
  • Transitioning to Web3 from a non-tech perspective
    • https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1479111931977867275 

Jesse Walden

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessewldn 
• Website (no blogs since 2020): https://jessewalden.com/ 
• Random Tweets
  • DAOs
    • https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1459014962207244290
    • https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1470406564582498315 
  • NFTs
    • https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1473641606951669767 
  • Music NFTs x Sound XYZ
    • https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1471148257892044812
  • Commoditizing a compliment
    • https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1465713306363117578 
• Writing
  • NFTs make the internet ownable
    • https://variant.mirror.xyz/T8kdtZRIgy_srXB5B06L8vBqFHYlEBcv6ae2zR6Y_eo
  • Product vs. Protocol
    • https://variant.fund/writing/balance-product-protocol-web3
  • Leadership in the ownership economy
    • https://variant.fund/writing/leadership-in-the-ownership-economyscaling-decision 
  • How DeFi crosses the chasm
    • https://variant.fund/writing/how-does-defi-cross-the-chasm
  • Crypto’s Business Model is Familiar. What Isn’t is Who Benefits
    • https://variant.fund/writing/cryptos-business-model-is-familiar.-what-isnt-is 
  • Narrative Economics
    • https://variant.fund/writing/narrative-economics 
  • Progressive decentralization
    • https://variant.fund/writing/progressive-decentralization-a-playbook-for-building
  • Layers of blockchain computing
    • https://variant.fund/writing/layers-not-eras-of-blockchain-computing

Variant Fund

• Variant Fund Twitter
  • https://twitter.com/variantfund
• Variant Fund website
  • https://variant.fund/
• Writing: 
  • https://variant.fund/writing 
• Mirror Blog (Feb 2021 article on NFTs)
  • https://variant.mirror.xyz/ 
• Variant Fund + Atelier joining forces
  • https://variant.fund/writing/atelier-ventures-and-variant-fund-are-joining-forces 
  • https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/19/variant-debuts-a-new-110m-fund-for-crypto-startups-announces-li-jin-has-joined-as-a-general-partner/
  • Variant Fund team
    • https://twitter.com/spencernoon/status/1450500555961507844

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shrina Kurani, a Democrat running for a House seat in California, and Morgan Harper, a Democratic candidate running to represent Ohio in the US Senate, explain why they are running pro-crypto campaigns. They discuss how crypto will affect the 2022 midterms, justify being both pro-crypto and pro-environment, and talk about the importance of educating regulators about Web3. On this episode of Unchained, they highlight:

• how Morgan’s work at the American Economic Liberties Project and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau led her to run for Senate on a pro-crypto platform
• why Shrina chose to mint NFTs on Solana to help fundraise for her campaign
• what issues Morgan and Shrina have with the current financial system (and how they believe crypto could help solve such issues)
• why both Shrina and Morgan stress that education is the key to making effective crypto policy in the US
• what message Shrina and Morgan want to send to fellow Democrats about the crypto industry
• why Morgan believes that single-issue voting for crypto candidates could be dangerous

Thank you to our sponsor!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Morgan Harper

• Campaign Website: https://morganharper.org/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mh4oh 

Shrina Kurani

• Campaign Website: https://www.shrinakurani.com/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shrinakurani 

Additional Reading

• Information on Shrina’s NFT drop
• • https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/12/16/congressional-candidate-kurani-dropping-2022-solana-nfts-as-part-of-campaign/ 
• Why Shrina is advocating for web3
• • ​​https://medium.com/@shrinakuraniforcongress/im-running-for-congress-here-s-why-i-m-advocating-for-web3-50409ffdd11
• Morgan’s thoughts on web3 versus traditional finance
• • https://twitter.com/mh4oh/status/1463219384776806402?s=21
• 9 pro-crypto congressional candidates
• • https://laurashin.bulletin.com/want-to-support-a-pro-crypto-congressional-candidate-check-out-these-9 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dapper Collectives CEO and Friends With Benefits founder Trevor McFedries joins Unchained to discuss social tokens, NFTs, the creator economy, $FWB, VC snacks, DAOs, Cooper Turley, and more. Show highlights:

• Trevor’s past, which includes a top 10 album, working at Spotify, founding Brud, creating Lil Miquela, and, of course, falling down the crypto rabbit hole
• what Trevor’s vision for Dapper Collectives is
• what type of activities DAOs will facilitate in the future
• why Trevor is so excited to be working with Dapper Labs and Flow
• what Friends With Benefits is and how the $FWB token works
• what sort of tokens make up the Friends With Benefits treasury
• why venture capitalists who want to be involved with Friends With Benefits need to have a good snack game
• why Trevor is not worried about $FWB becoming a security
• what plans Friends With Benefits has in store for 2022
• Trevor’s response to Friends With Benefits suspending co-founder Cooper Turley regarding 10-year old racist and homophobic tweets
• what can be done to onboard a more diverse demographic to crypto
• how Trevor defines the passion/creator economy
• what Trevor is looking forward to in 2022 regarding NFTs, DAOs, and social tokens

Join the Unchained With Laura Shin discussion group on Facebook! 

Laura is launching a paid Facebook discussion group where you and other listeners of the show can discuss recent episodes, ask questions in advance, get access to special AMAs with myself and show guests and more. Those who join now and for the next two weeks will get a special introductory price of $2.99 a month or $29.99 annually. Those who join from February 15 and on will be charged the regular rate of $4.99 a month or $49.99 annually. We will open up the group on the 15th, one week ahead of my book launch. If you’re interested in subscribing, head to  https://laurashin.bulletin.com/subscribe. 

Check out my new author website!

Keep up to date on all things I'm up to at the newly launched laurashin.com. There, you can find out all the latest on my book, all my writing, and press and speaking appearances. Enjoy!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021          

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance  

Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/

Episode Links

Trevor Mcfedries

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatdotcd 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-mcfedries-0a5285a8/ 

Work

• CEO - Dapper Collectives
• • Decrypt write-up: https://decrypt.co/82517/dapper-labs-nfts-daos-collectives-brud 
  • Announcement: https://medium.com/dapperlabs/the-future-of-x-is-decentralized-bb3245faf1b1 
  •  
• Founder → Brud
• • Twitter: https://twitter.com/makebrud
  • Website: https://www.brud.fyi/ 
  • Lil Miquela: https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/
  • Acquisition by Dapper Labs: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/04/nft-startup-dapper-labs-acquires-virtual-influencer-startup-brud/ 
  • AI Influencers: https://mailchimp.com/courier/article/ai-influencers/ 

Friends With Benefits

• Basics
• • FWB website: https://www.fwb.help/ 
  • Mirror: https://fwb.mirror.xyz/ 
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/fwbtweets 
  • FWB Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/token/0x35bd01fc9d6d5d81ca9e055db88dc49aa2c699a8 
  • CoinMarketCap: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/friends-with-benefits-pro/ 

• Background Reads
• • Trevor’s role: https://consensys.net/blog/codefi/friends-with-benefits-a-new-model-for-social-tokens-on-ethereum/ 
  • a16z investment: https://a16z.com/2021/10/27/investing-in-friends-with-benefits-a-dao/ 
  • FWB deep dive: https://ra.co/features/3914
  • Intelligencer write up: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/whats-a-dao-why-your-group-chat-could-be-worth-millions.html 
  • Coindesk write up: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/09/the-social-token-network-rally-friends-with-benefits-and-the-future-of-branding/ 

• Cooper Turley removed from DAO
• • https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/15/crypto-influencer-cooper-turley-removed-from-fwb-over-2013-bigoted-tweets/ 
  • • Backlash to removal: 

• https://twitter.com/mewn21/status/1482202603563798530

• WHALE treasury tokens
• • https://snapshot.org/#/friendswithbenefits.eth/proposal/QmWnifY3KD5ECJNtQ23m9GHt2oQ1McA3T4DEEpFarPy9jW 

Additional Links

• Sound.xyz
• • https://www.sound.xyz/ 
• Catalog
• • https://beta.catalog.works/
• Daily Ape on DAOs: https://thedailyape.notion.site/DAOs-95332c7ab79c49dc89f9a72c628dfeb8
• Social Tokens: 
• • Cooper Turley:
  • • https://coopahtroopa.mirror.xyz/DYSs-mhdJi1uXZTaiyJfwiFZYAF9kRK6yBsAplk6A68

• Linda Xie:
• • https://linda.mirror.xyz/4PDBWBMpFFPVEsP5EGgg5to2AyEpEHEXasq_K0b-yYk 
• Forefront: https://forefront.market/learn/social-tokens 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• Analyzing the market drawdown
• Twitter-native NFTs + Crypto Coven
• LooksRare — real or BS?
• Solana’s disappointing network performance
• What broke during the market downturn: OHM, Solend, and MakerDAO
• Predictions for market action going forward

Episode Links

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner 

Background on certain topics covered:

• Twitter NFTs
• • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/131052/twitter-begins-rolling-out-access-to-nft-profile-pictures
• Loot adding royalties
• • https://twitter.com/DappRadar/status/1486005954520907778
• LooksRare versus OpenSea
• • https://dune.xyz/hildobby/LooksRare-VS-OpenSea
• Tom’s issue w/ Dune queries
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt/status/1485721279663534082
• Robert and his Crypto Coven NFT
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner 
• Rune’s tweet about MakerDAO
• • https://twitter.com/RuneKek/status/1484663000443371520 
• Solana’s poor performance
• • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/131278/traders-are-complaining-about-solanas-performance-raising-questions-about-its-status-as-a-wall-street-darling
  • https://twitter.com/solendprotocol/status/1485315186797936646?s=21
• Block’s DEX
• • https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/19/square-releases-white-paper-detailing-protocol-for-a-decentralized-bitcoin-exchange/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Papper and Ian Lee, the two co-founders of Syndicate, join Unchained to announce the release of Syndicate’s new product: Web3 Investment Clubs, an innovation they believe could end up disrupting the web2 investment world, along with the entire venture capital industry. For example, with Web3 Investment Clubs, users will be able to turn an Ethereum wallet address into an investing DAO with just a few clicks, transfer funds without going through banks, and manage a cap-table directly on-chain. Show topics:

• what differentiates a Web3 Investment Club club from a normal investment club
• what on-chain tools Syndicate has built for Web3 Investment Clubs
• how Web3 Investment Clubs work within existing regulations
• how Ian and Will met and what inspired them to create Syndicate
• whether Syndicate plans to decentralize
• why Will and Ian believe investment DAOs will disrupt the venture capital industry
• why venture capital firms invested in Syndicate, a company built to disrupt them
• what Will learned from building Adventure Gold (AGLD), the governance token for Loot
• what plans Syndicate has for 2022

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021         

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance

Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org

Episode Links

Will Papper

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/WillPapper 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wpapper

Ian Lee

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iandaos 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrianlee/ 

Syndicate:

• Twitter: ​https://twitter.com/SyndicateDAO 
• Website: https://twitter.com/SyndicateDAO

Miscellaneous

• History of AGLD
• • https://twitter.com/WillPapper/status/1484215805478797312
• Will Papper’s previous Unchained appearance
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/constitutiondao-did-not-win-the-auction-but-it-demonstrated-the-power-of-daos/
• Will DAOs disrupt crypto venture capital?
• • ​https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/06/will-daos-replace-crypto-venture-capital/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fais Khan, author of the Startups and Econ newsletter, dives into his recently published research report, "You Don't Own Web3": A Coinbase Curse and How VCs Sell Crypto to Retail. Show highlights:

• whether tokens perform better before or after being listed on Coinbase
• what relationship a16z, a venture capital firm, has to Coinbase
• why Fais believes that the poor performance of VC-backed tokens after being listed could be the result of insiders dumping
• other reasons for a token’s poor performance after being listed on Coinbase besides insiders dumping
• what type of coin/token went up 1,800% in 2020
• why Fais is suspicious of how quickly certain VC-backed tokens were listed on Coinbase
• whether Fais believes Coinbase or a16z is actually doing something nefarious 
• what sort of regulatory actions he believes would improve crypto
• what advice Fais has for token investors

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  

Episode Links

Fais Khan

• https://twitter.com/Faktastic11 

Article

• https://startupsandecon.substack.com/p/you-dont-own-web3-a-coinbase-curse

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Binance Smart Chain is the third largest chain by TVL and its token, BNB, is the third-largest token by market capitalization. However, there are questions about hacks, centralization, lack of developer support, and sketch MEV transactions. On Unchained, Gwendolyn Regina, investment director of the Binance Smart Chain Growth Fund, and Samy Karim, ecosystem coordinator at Binance Smart Chain, give a candid interview discussing BSC, from its amazing growth in 2021 to some of the toughest questions surrounding the chain. Topics covered include:

• how and why BSC grew from 50,000 daily active users to about 7 million over the course of 2021
• what differentiates Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain
• why Binance Smart Chain decided to design its blockchain with only 21 validators
• how Gwen and Samy envision BSC fitting into a multichain future
• what plans BSC has to scale its throughput 
• why blockchain gaming is so important to BSC and how it will use its $1 billion growth fund to grow the gaming aspect of the chain
• how BSC’s relationship between Binance and BNB works 
•  

In the second half of the show, Sam and Gwendolyn respond to a few critiques, such as:

• is BSC really innovating, or is it just a copy and paste blockchain of Ethereum?

• why are there so many failed transactions on BSC?
• how is BSC addressing the numerous hacks on the blockchain?
• why has BSC’s share of total value locked among smart contract blockchains fallen from 20% in May to 6%? 
• how is BSC attempting to help developers, who, according to some critical posts, are struggling to work with BSC?
• why does it appear that some validators are front running without risk?
• does BSC have a future if Ethereum scales? 
• what does BSC have planned for 2022?

Thank you to our sponsor!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021         

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance

Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org 

Episode Links

Gwendolyn Regina

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gwendolynregina?lang=en
• Website: https://www.gwendolynregina.com/

Samy Karim

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samsulkarim/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cryp7omaxi 

Binance Smart Chain

• Website: https://www.binance.org/en 
• Documentation: https://docs.binance.org/index.html 
• Binance Validator Reqs: https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/a-quick-guide-to-bnb-staking-on-binance-smart-chain-bsc

• Whitepaper: https://dex-bin.bnbstatic.com/static/Whitepaper_%20Binance%20Smart%20Chain.pdf 

Binance 2021 Recap

• https://twitter.com/gwendolynregina/status/1476089910498971648

Misc

• Top BSC apps: https://dappradar.com/rankings/protocol/binance-smart-chain 

Criticisms

• “Stoned teenager:” https://github.com/binance-chain/bsc/issues/553 
• NullQubit: https://github.com/binance-chain/bsc/issues/658 
• Other
• • Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1359426876440207361 
  • Wilson Withiam: https://twitter.com/WilsonWithiam/status/1381420702918664194 
  • Ryan Watkins: https://twitter.com/RyanWatkins_/status/1381421858675953665 

BSC Research

• Nansen: https://www.nansen.ai/research/the-binance-smart-chain-scalability-in-action
• Bison Trails: https://bisontrails.co/guide-to-bsc/ 
• Decrypt: 
• • https://decrypt.co/58654/how-binance-put-the-smarts-in-its-smart-chain 
  • https://decrypt.co/57420/binance-smart-chain-is-starting-to-rival-ethereum-heres-why 
• Messari (Pro): https://messari.io/article/exploring-the-binance-smart-chain-ecosystem 
• Galaxy Digital: https://docsend.com/view/tdgbf4sfmyd7sr3m 

Twitter questions I received about Binance Smart Chain

• https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1480582386677133313 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Avid NFT collector Aftab Hossain (aka @iamDCinvestor on Crypto Twitter) discusses why OpenSea and NFT volumes are popping to start 2022, how LooksRare’s vampire attack is a good thing for the NFT market, and how royalties affect a project’s trading potential. Show topics:

• why Aftab thinks NFT floor prices are rising and what role NFT “flippers” have to do with his theory
• whether the NFT industry could continue growing even if fungible crypto assets enter a bear market
• how the LooksRare vampire attack on OpenSea works
• why people are wash trading NFTs on LooksRare
• why Aftab would choose to list NFTs on LooksRare over OpenSea
• whether LooksRare’s vampire attack will force OpenSea to decentralize and/or tokenize
• what sort of NFT projects should have royalties… and which projects shouldn’t 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Avado: ava.do

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Episode Links

Aftab Hossain

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamDCinvestor

LooksRare

• LooksRare vampire attack + wash trading: 
• • https://decrypt.co/90317/ethereum-nft-market-looksrare-wash-trading
  • https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/01/11/one-day-after-launch-opensea-competitor-looksrare-sells-over-100m-in-nfts/ 
• LooksRare: https://twitter.com/LooksRareNFT 
• LooksRare vs OpenSea data: https://dune.xyz/hildobby/LooksRare-VS-OpenSea

Background Links

• NFT volume to start the year: https://cryptopotato.com/opensea-records-over-2-billion-in-trading-volume-early-in-2022/ 
• OpenSea metrics: https://dune.xyz/rchen8/opensea 
• Fred Ehrsam tweet: https://twitter.com/FEhrsam/status/1370414944265572353

• The Chopping Block: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-chopping-block-why-the-crypto-markets-have-been-down-this-week/ 
• Nas NFTs: 
• • ​https://decrypt.co/89881/rap-legend-nas-sells-2-songs-as-nfts-on-dj-3laus-royal-platform 
  • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/130123/3lau-backed-platform-royal-crashes-during-first-music-nft-drop-mint-delayed 
• OpenSea IPO rumors: https://decrypt.co/87701/opensea-ipo-criticism-crypto-ethereum-token 
• SushiSwap vampire attack: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/76419/uniswap-fork-sushiswap-700-million-total-value-locked

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Chopping Block is back! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics:

• why crypto assets experienced a drawdown after last week’s FOMC meeting that hinted at accelerated rate hikes
• which emerging assets Tarun, Haseeb, and Tom envision weathering a bear market
• which assets could be further hurt by a continued bear market
• the significance of Paradigm and Sequoia investing in Citadel Securities
• what aspects of Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike’s web3 article Haseeb, Tom, and Tarun take umbrage with
• whether Cryptoland is crypto’s Fyre Festival or whether it’s the metaverse
• what the heck is going on with the Pudgy Penguins community
• the lessons from the CFTC’s fine of Polymarket (disclosure: a former sponsor of my shows)

Episode Links

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 

Topics

• FOMC = Crypto assets dip
• • https://www.ar.ca/blog/debunking-more-overreactions-to-macro-a-ronin-case-study
• Paradigm + Sequoia invest in Citadel Securities
• • https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/11/paradigm-sequoia-to-invest-115b-in-citadel-securities-bringing-trading-firm-closer-to-crypto/
• Cryptoland
• • https://thenextweb.com/news/welcome-to-cryptoland-real-island-cryptocurrency-fans-analysis
• Moxie Marlinspike’s first impressions of web3
• • https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html
• Pudgy Penguins drama
• • https://thedefiant.io/fire-on-the-iceberg-pudgy-penguin-holders-eye-coup-amid-acquisition-talks/
• Polymarket fined by CFTC
• • ​​https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/01/03/cftc-fines-crypto-betting-service-polymarket-14m-for-unregistered-swaps/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Smith, executive director at Blockchain Association, and Jake Chervinsky, head of Policy at Blockchain Association, discuss the current state of crypto regulation. Show topics:

• why 2021 was a watershed year for crypto regulation and lobbying
• why Jake decided to move from Compound Labs to Blockchain Association
• what Kristin and Jake think about the current state of regulation in the crypto industry
• how crypto education will play a significant role in Blockchain Association efforts going forward
• how crypto will affect midterm elections
• why Kristin thinks crypto will not be a partisan issue long term
• what sort of budget Blockchain Association functions on
• what Kristin and Jake think about the President’s Working Group report on stablecoins
• why Jake does not think the US should issue a CBDC
• what Blockchain Association’s take is on SEC commissioner Hester Peirce’s “safe harbor” proposal
• why Kristin and Jake believes the idea of a “crypto czar” is not feasible
• how regulators are treating DeFi going into 2022
• how crypto tax guidelines could be improved for centralized exchanges
• how Blockchain Association thinks tax code 6050I should be applied
• what issues could arise from DAOs in 2022+
• what listeners can do to address the different regulatory topics discussed in this podcast

Thank you to our sponsor!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021        

Show Links

Guests

• Jake Chervinsky: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky 
• Kristin Smith: https://twitter.com/kmsmithdc
• Previous Unchained appearances:
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-looming-battle-over-privacy-in-crypto/
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/ 
• ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-is-the-proposed-fincen-rule-for-unhosted-wallets-being-pushed-so-quickly/
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-the-crypto-industry-could-see-under-a-biden-administration/
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/when-is-a-token-decentralized-enough-to-not-be-a-security-ep-056/  

The Blockchain Association

• Website: https://theblockchainassociation.org/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn 
• 2021 growth: ​​https://theblockchainassociation.org/crypto-industrys-leading-trade-association-more-than-doubles-membership-in-2021/
• Jake joining the team: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2021/11/09/blockchain-association-fills-out-its-washington-team-with-seasoned-hands-798774

Regulatory Topics Discussed:

• a16z 
• https://a16z.com/2021/10/13/an-agenda-for-the-future-of-the-internet/
• Tax Code 6050i
• https://www.coincenter.org/congress-takes-its-war-on-cash-to-digital-assets/
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/not-reporting-info-on-some-transaction-partners-could-soon-be-a-felony/ 
• Infrastructure Bill
• https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/1461317078175072263
• President’s Working Group stablecoin report
• https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/11/01/biden-administration-to-congress-put-stablecoins-under-federal-supervision-or-we-will/
• FATF Guidance
• https://twitter.com/coincenter/status/1453700485484097537 

Articles Jake Mentioned

• Jake on CBDCs: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2021/12/21/secure-americas-financial-strength-with-stablecoins-not-central-banks/ 
• Gabriel Shapiro on DAOs: https://lexnode.substack.com/p/wyomings-legal-dao-saster 
• Morgan Harper thread: https://twitter.com/mh4oh/status/1463219384776806402 
•  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Electric Capital’s Maria Shen dives into her company’s recently published research report about Web3 open-source development in 2021 and shares her thoughts and insights on how developers are flocking to Web3 in a manner that goes far beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum. Show topics:

• Maria’s biggest takeaways from the Electric Capital Developer Report
• how developer growth is affected by asset price
• which ecosystems are growing fastest
• why Maria thinks the growth in Bitcoin development has slowed down
• why Maria is so impressed by Ethereum’s performance in terms of retaining developers
• how closed-source development on, for example, Solana or Flow could affect the report’s findings
• the significance of Polkadot, Solana, NEAR, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Terra growing faster than Ethereum did at similar points in its history
• developer growth in DeFi during 2021
• why Electric Capital did not study developer growth for NFTs, DAOs, or gaming
• why Maria is so interested in studying community growth going forward
• what Maria will be watching for in 2022

Thank you to our sponsors!

Avado: ava.do

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Episode Links

Maria Shen

• https://twitter.com/MariaShen 
• Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/electric-capital-on-the-coins-punching-below-their-weight/ 

Electric Capital

• https://www.electriccapital.com/

Electric Capital Developer Report (2021)

• https://medium.com/electric-capital/electric-capital-developer-report-2021-f37874efea6d 
• Previous reports: https://medium.com/electric-capital 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, and Igor Igamberdiev, director of research and data at The Block, recap the most significant trends of 2021 (BTC mining, L1s, NFTs, DeFi, venture funding) and discuss what might happen in 2022. Show topics:

• why 2021 was so significant for the crypto industry
• why the crypto markets didn’t see a blow-off top at the end of the calendar year the way they typically do about a year after a Bitcoin halving
• what Larry thinks about whether the crypto market is in a supercycle
• how the state of BTC and ETH mining changed in the past year
• why Igor thinks multichain technology was key to a record-breaking year for venture capital entering the crypto space in 2021
• how the layer 1 (L1) ecosystem wars played out in 2021 and what it could look like in 2022
• what Larry and Igor think of Ethereum layer 2s (L2s)
• how Ethereum’s shift to 2.0 could affect the L1 race
• what Larry thinks about DeFi tokens going into 2022
• how DeFi trends, like decentralized exchange volume and lending, played out in 2021
• why Igor thinks KYC-DeFi (know-your-customer decentralized finance) is inevitable
• what Larry thinks about NFTs going in 2022 and why he thinks PFPs are dead
• Larry and Igor’s outlook on the metaverse going into the new year

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021       

Episode Links

Guests

• Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster 
• Igor Igamberdiev: https://twitter.com/FrankResearcher

The Block’s 2022 Digital Asset Outlook Report

• https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/127723/the-block-research-2021-digital-asset-outlook-report

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Mann has published a song a day for 13 years. On Unchained, he talks about his writing process, how he came up with the idea of publishing his songs as NFTs, his plans for a DAO he created called SongADAO, and more. Show topics:

• the significance and process of making a song a day for 13 years straight
• how Jonathan monetized his content in the early days (2009) of the internet
• what crypto event sent Jonathan down the rabbit hole and how Vitalik Buterin was involved
• why CryptoPunks piqued Jonathan’s interest in monetizing his content on-chain
• how being in the crypto world has changed Jonathan’s creative process
• where his song data is being uploaded in the context of web2 and web3 
• how SongADAO will work and how it could change the paradigm of the music industry
• the characteristics of his 12/31/2021 NFT drop, which will see over 3,000 songs minted 
• Jonathan plays “Mongoose Coin” for the Unchained audience, a song he made about Senator Brad Sherman’s comments about cryptocurrency in a recent hearing. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Avado: ava.do

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ 

Episode Links:

Jonathan Mann

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/songadaymann 
• Website: https://www.jonathanmann.net/ 
• Instagram: ​​https://www.instagram.com/jonathanmann/

Song A Day:

• YouTube: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanmann/
• Minting website: https://songaday.world/ 
• OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/song-a-day 

Tweet Thread on Song A Day + SongADAO (must read if you are interested in Jonathan’s work)

•  ​https://twitter.com/songadaymann/status/1475210923124178951 

Jonathan at Devcon

• https://www.jonathanmann.net/devcon 

Mongoose Coin

• https://decrypt.co/87904/congressional-hearing-spawns-mob-mongoose-based-meme-coins 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Chopping Block, a new show on Unchained hosted by Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra, in which they discuss the latest juicy topics in crypto. This week, the four crypto heavyweights take a look back at 2021. Show topics:

• Biggest winners and losers
• Best mechanism 
• Biggest surprise
• Best meme
• Predictions for 2022

Without revealing too much, Haseeb, Robert, Tom, and Tarun cover a lot of ground, diving into “esoteric” subjects like Luna tokenomics, the Tezos NFT marketplace HEN, the origins of web3, the Grayscale arbitrage opportunity, OHM, Convex Finance, single-basis point liquidity pools on Uniswap, and Empty Set Dollar. They also tackle more popular topics like BTC, Dogecoin, NFT marketplaces, L1s, and more. 

Episode Links

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Robert Leshner, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 

Biggest Winners:

• L1 performance in 2021: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/128603/in-2021-l1-blockchains-took-the-spotlight-thanks-to-defi 
• Coinbase IPO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-coinbase-stock-a-good-buy-this-analyst-says-yes/ 
• Solana: https://www.notboring.co/p/solana-summer 
• OpenSea: https://www.readthegeneralist.com/briefing/opensea 
• Lido: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/is-lido-undervalued 
• Dogecoin: https://docsend.com/view/vutymtgqjf99yrpu 
• Solana early investors:  ​https://www.theinformation.com/articles/solana-generates-1-billion-in-returns-for-early-backers 

Mechanisms

• Uniswap V3: https://uniswap.org/blog/launch-uniswap-v3  
• Convex Finance (+ Curve): https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/11/curve-wars-heat-up-emergency-dao-invoked-after-clear-governance-attack/ 
• OHM: https://www.coingecko.com/buzz/what-is-olympusdao-and-how-does-it-work 
• ESD: https://medium.com/@lewisfreiberg/empty-set-dollar-esd-a0abbfc5ecdb  

Biggest Losers:

• Grayscale: https://dcresearch.medium.com/interpreting-grayscale-premiums-gbtc-ethe-a7261dd8cfca 
• Bitcoin: https://www.coindesk.com/price/bitcoin/
• HEN: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/news+/126688/tezos-art-marketplace-hen 
• EOS: https://cryptonews.com/news/eos-down-as-community-forks-out-blockone.htm 

Biggest Surprises

• Uniswap pool analytics:https://info.uniswap.org/#/pools 
• NFTs: https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/11/22325054/beeple-christies-nft-sale-cost-everydays-69-million + https://decrypt.co/89060/bored-ape-yacht-club-nfts-flip-cryptopunks-floor-price-in-ethereum 
• Luna: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/11/10/terra-passes-highly-anticipated-proposal-to-burn-nearly-89m-luna/ 

Best Memes

• Dog coins: https://nypost.com/2021/12/27/santa-floki-cryptocurrency-surges-3500-after-elon-musk-tweet/  

• SBF shoes: https://twitter.com/zackseward/status/1468641558346059777 
• Grimes tweet: https://twitter.com/grimezsz/status/1449528005966000129 
• Web3: https://www.coindesk.com/learn/what-is-web-3-and-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it/   

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mitchell F. Chan, who released one of the first NFT projects on Ethereum back in 2017, discusses his projects, making art on a blockchain, how NFTs are transforming the traditional art world, and more. Show topics:

• Mitchell’s art career before NFTs
• how Mitchell was inspired by Yves Klein’s 1950's work 'Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility’
• the story behind Mitchell’s OG NFT art project: ‘Digital Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility’ 
• what the traditional world thinks about NFTs
• who is collecting NFT art
• the story behind Mitchell’s 2021 NFT project: ‘LeWitt Generator Generator’
• why Mitchell has not minted any more NFTs this year – even though the market has been on fire
• whether Mitchell thinks NFTs are changing the art world (hint: he thinks yes)
• NFTs and the financialization of art
• why Mitchell can empathize with some of the backlash about NFTs coming from the traditional art and gaming industries

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021       

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ        

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained  

Episode Links

Mitchell Chan

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mitchellfchan
• Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4QdtdZWMpN 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchellfchan/ 
• Gallery: https://chan.gallery/ 

Content:

• DIGITAL ZONES OF IMMATERIAL PICTORIAL SENSIBILITY (Sotheby’s NFT - $1M+)
• • Sotheby’s Sale: https://metaverse.sothebys.com/natively-digital/lots/digital_zone_of_immaterial_pictorial_sensibility 
  • 33 Page Essay: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmcdKPjcJgYX2k7weqZLoKjHqB9tWxEV5oKBcPV6L8b5dD
  • • https://twitter.com/mitchellfchan/status/1465699544436330496 
  • OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/ikb-cachet-de-garantie-1 
  • TL;DR: https://twitter.com/LeonidasNFT/status/1470397221548052480 
• Video Essays on NFTs (super interesting)
• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtUGpOe-zE4&list=PLVRveZVaYYqHZKN_5oH8wC5QBRMMlXdBT&t=25s 
• Sol Lewitt Generator Generator
• • https://medium.com/@mitchellfchan/nfts-generative-art-and-sol-lewitt-e99a5fa2b0cb 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas (Eve)! For this special episode of Unchained, three other crypto journalists and I discuss their favorite stories from the past twelve months, how they would grade crypto journalism in 2021, and what they are looking forward to covering in 2022. Show highlights:

• what stories Michael, Michael, Jeff, and I will remember from a ~busy~ 2021 
• why 2021 is “clearly the biggest year” yet for the industry
• how CoinDesk, Forbes, and Decrypt can improve their news coverage in 2022
• what Michael, Michael, Jeff, and I think about all the negative energy directed at journalists from the crypto and tech space
• how mainstream media can do a better job covering crypto
• predictions for what the biggest stories of 2022 will be

Thank you to our sponsors!

Avado: ava.do

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ 

Michael Casey 

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikejcasey
• CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/
• Unchained Appearances
• • ​​Why Bitcoin Now: Michael Casey and Niall Ferguson on How Bitcoin Fits in the History of Money
  • • https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-michael-casey-and-niall-ferguson-on-how-bitcoin-fits-in-the-history-of-money/
  • Live from SXSW: Michael Casey and Paul Vigna, Co-Authors of The Truth Machine, on Why the SEC Has Issued Subpoenas to ICOs
  • • https://unchainedpodcast.com/live-from-sxsw-michael-casey-and-paul-vigna-co-authors-of-the-truth-machine-on-why-the-sec-has-issued-subpoenas-to-icos/

Michael del Castillo

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/delRayMan
• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/

Jeff Roberts

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeffjohnroberts
• Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/ 
• Unchained Appearances
• • Will Coinbase Do a Token Offering When It Goes Public?
  • • https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-coinbase-do-a-token-offering-when-it-goes-public/
  • Coinbase’s S-1: The Number That May Make the Exchange Nervous
  • • https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinbases-s-1-the-number-that-may-make-the-exchange-nervous/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jess Symington, research lead at Elliptic, a blockchain forensics company, discusses the massive upswing in DeFi hacks during 2021, resulting in over $10 billion of DeFi value lost. Show topics:

• the state of crime in DeFi
• how much value has been lost to exploits
• whether the majority of hacks are the result of user or developer error
• the various types of exploits
• how to confirm when a project did, in fact, rug pull
• which blockchains are most susceptible to having exploits
• what has been happening recently in ransomware
• how DeFi hackers cash out
• why ransomware attackers, who usually request payment in Bitcoin, have a tougher time cashing out than DeFi hackers 
• whether hackers trend towards a specific profile/demographics 
• how easy it is for law enforcement to find hackers 
• whether blockchain’s transparency is proving to be a helpful tool for regulators
• Jess’s advice on how to prevent hacks for both protocols and users

Thank you to our sponsors!

Avado: ava.do

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ   

Episode Links

Elliptic

• Website: https://www.elliptic.co/ 
• Blog: https://www.elliptic.co/blog 

Hack Coverage

• Elliptic Research
• • DeFi: Risk, Regulation and the Rise of DeCrime: https://www.elliptic.co/resources/defi-risk-regulation-and-the-rise-of-decrime
  • https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/14/common-defi-crypto-related-scams-and-how-to-protect-your-wallet.html 
  • https://cryptobriefing.com/elliptic-estimates-12b-lost-to-defi-exploits/ 
• Rekt Leaderboard (giving a dollar figure for recent hacks along with a summary of what happened)
• • https://rekt.news/leaderboard/ 

Unchained Podcast on Ransomware

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-ransomware-evolved-into-a-big-business/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabby Dizon, cofounder of Yield Guild Games, discusses his background in gaming, why he started Yield Guild Games, the performance of Axie Infinity, and more. Show topics:

• how Gabby fell down the crypto rabbit hole
• what inspired Gabby to co-found Yield Guild Games
• what Yield Guild Games does
• how blockchain games improve upon games in the traditional world
• a real-life story of Yield Guild Games improving a player’s life
• why it’s difficult for Yield Guild Games players to cash out earnings and how Yield Guild Games is trying to solve this issue via a partnership with XLD
• why Gabby thinks the value of $SLP in Axie Infinity is dropping
• what sort of game and tokenization mechanisms work best for blockchain games
• why Gabby wants a new Ethereum token standard
• what Gabby thinks makes an in-game NFT valuable
• why Axie Infinity is popular in the Philippines and Venezuela 
• where Yield Guild Games is attempting to expand next
• how Yield Guild Games built out the tokenomics for YGG, the guild’s native token
• what Gabby thinks about P2E games on chains outside of Ethereum
• how Yield Guild Games is decentralizing 
• how blockchain games are changing the nature of work 
• what sort of jobs exist in the metaverse
• why Gabby buys NFTs
• Gabby’s crypto prediction for 2022

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021     

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ     

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained  

Episode Notes

Gabby Dizon -- cofounder at Yield Guild Games

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabusch 
• Website: https://y.at/%F0%9F%95%B9%F0%9F%A5%8A%F0%9F%96%BC%F0%9F%A5%83 
•  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabbydizon/ 
• Cointelegraph profile
• • https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/2021/04/15/gabby-dizon-making-computer-games-real 
• Metaverse job board
• • https://twitter.com/gabusch/status/1416682528090460160

Yield Guild Games

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/YieldGuild 
• Discord: https://discord.com/invite/ygg
• Blog: https://medium.com/yield-guild-games 
• Primer: ​​https://cryptobriefing.com/defi-project-spotlight-yield-guild-games-dao-titan/ 
• A16z investment into YGG
• • https://a16z.com/2021/08/19/investing-in-yield-guild-games/ 
• YGG whitepaper
• • https://yieldguild.io/YGG-Whitepaper-English.pdf 
• Scholarships
• • https://medium.com/yield-guild-games/yield-guild-explains-play-to-earn-and-scholarships-bb1e097c2a61 
• Summary of 8 new YGG games:
• • https://coinyuppie.com/a-three-minute-overview-of-yggs-latest-8-games-included-in-the-investment-landscape/ 

Miscellaneous

• Axie Infinity documentary:
• •  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo-BrASMHU4 
• XLD Token = “real-world use case”
• • https://twitter.com/gabusch/status/1467763722257301507
  • https://xld.medium.com/xld-finance-and-yield-guild-games-partner-to-enable-play-to-earn-gamers-to-pay-bills-with-crypto-d35c80d29a0d
• Play to Earn token economics
• • https://twitter.com/mikojava/status/1459041371289841666 
• Axie Infinity + Filipino Workers
• • Good: 
  • • https://twitter.com/kookoocryptotv/status/1461164984117784576
  • Declining wages: 
  • • https://twitter.com/larsiusprime/status/1459191090100244483 

Unchained Episodes on Axie Infinity

• Axie Infinity’s July Revenue Tops $200 Million. Here’s How Filipinos Drove It (Leah Callon-Butler)
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/axie-infinitys-july-revenue-tops-200-million-heres-how-filipinos-drove-it/
• How Axie Infinity Boosted Revenue 400%+ in 30 Days (Aleksander Larsen, Axie Infinity COO)
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-axie-infinity-boosted-revenue-400-in-30-days/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at Arca, discusses the recent events surrounding SushiSwap, including CTO Joseph Delong’s departure this week, Arca’s proposal to create a hierarchical management structure for SushiSwap, and why Jeff is still excited about Arca’s investment in SushiSwap. Show topics:

• what SushiSwap is and how it has performed since its inception
• how Jeff views SushiSwap’s performance from an investor’s perspective
• how the departure of 0xMaki affected SushiSwap
• what Jeff thinks about the decentralization versus centralization 
• why Jeff thinks SushiSwap is in a fantastic position in which to receive investment
• what happened with the controversy around Joseph Delong leading to his resignation this week 
• what Jeff thinks about how Joseph handled his departure
• what three factors SushiSwap needs to figure out in order to function
• why SushiSwap could benefit from creating a legal entity
• why Jeff is in favor of hierarchical governance structures versus flat governance structures
• how SushiSwap could become a trendsetter for DAOs in general

Thank you to our sponsors!

Avado: ava.do

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ  

Episode Links: 

Jeff Dorman

• Twitter
• • https://twitter.com/jdorman81 
• Arca
• https://www.ar.ca/ 

Joseph Delong’s Departure

• The Block’s coverage: 
• • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/126411/sushiswap-cto-threatens-to-quit-as-infighting-escalates
  • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/126879/sushiswaps-cto-resigns-amid-infighting
• The Defiant:
• • https://thedefiant.io/sushiswap-leadership-crisis/

Sushi Bickering on Twitter

• Screenshot of 0xMaki being ousted:
• • https://twitter.com/makibacknow/status/1463078678724632576/photo/1
• Joseph Delong on SushiSwap drama:
• • https://twitter.com/josephdelong/status/1467498481573052427 
• Joseph Delong’s resignation:
• • https://twitter.com/josephdelong/status/1468689021530427395 
• Boring Crypto on SushiSwap drama:
• • https://twitter.com/Boring_Crypto/status/1467162233905893379 

SushiSwap Proposals

• Arca
• • https://forum.sushi.com/t/sushi-dao-restructure-proposal/6282 
• Bridge compensation
• • https://forum.sushi.com/t/bridge-compensation-for-sushi-core/6217/3 

Miscellaneous

• 0xMaki transitioning to an advisory role
• • https://forum.sushi.com/t/transition-into-advisor/5533 
• SushiSwap on leadership tumult
• • https://hackmd.io/ipJtfxhuQmqW9B8igew_AA?view 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the biggest names in the crypto industry discuss their personal giving philosophies, how blockchain technology could change the dynamics of giving to charity, and which crypto projects are making a lasting real-world impact. Guests include Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital; Caroline Ellison, co-CEO of Alameda Research; and Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos. Show topics:

• the definition of effective altruism 
• why Haseeb thinks crypto is the best industry for effective altruism
• how Haseeb and Arthur differ in their philosophy of doing good
• why blockchain technology is less important than liquidity when donating money across borders
• whether Axie Infinity is making a real-world impact
• why Arthur thinks Axie’s impact will be short-term and not sustainable
• whether people should donate now versus later
• Haseeb’s and Arthur’s thoughts on how giving changes people
• what people working in crypto can do to give back

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ    

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained 

Episode Links

GiveDirectly

• https://www.givedirectly.org/unchained — all donations made here will be matched! There are $50,000 in matching funds available!   
• https://www.givedirectly.org/crypto-for-good-2021/

Guests

• Caroline Ellison
• • https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-ellison-309216a7
• Haseeb Qureshi
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb 
• Arthur Breitman
• • https://twitter.com/ArthurB 

Miscellaneous

• Effective Altruism
• • https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/introduction-to-effective-altruism/
• Code to Inspire
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-actually-fixes-this-how-code-to-inspire-uses-crypto-in-afghanistan/ 
• Pineapple Fund
• • https://pineapplefund.org/
• BitGive
• • https://www.bitgivefoundation.org/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Zurrer, founder of Dialectic, a crypto wealth multi-family office, discusses his recent $29 million purchase of Beeple’s Human One and his experience at Art Basel in Miami, along with his thoughts on the NFT space in general. Show highlights:

• what Human One is and why Ryan purchased it
• how Ryan and Beeple’s personal relationship factored into the purchase of Human One
• why Human One is important to the metaverse
• how Ryan defied the odds in purchasing Human One
• how Miami’s Art Basel conference missed out by not capitalizing enough on NFTs
• what Ryan thinks about the NFT industry being described as a bubble
• how Ryan uses “proof-of-artwork” to determine which NFTs to buy
• Ryan’s experience visiting Beeple’s art studio/campus
• where Ryan thinks NFTs will go from here, and why he is so bullish on music NFTs in particular 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Avado: ava.do

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ 

Episode Links:

Ryan Zurrer

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kukulabanze
• Previous Unchained appearances:
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ryan-zurrer-would-like-to-see-a-new-dao/
  • https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-cryptoeconomics-pt-1-with-olaf-carlson-wee-and-ryan-zurrer-of-polychain-capital/ 

Human One

• Beeple x Christie’s interview:
• • https://www.christies.com/features/Beeple-gets-real-with-human-one-11940-7.aspx
• Barron’s on Human One purchase:
• • https://www.barrons.com/articles/beeples-human-one-video-sculpture-and-nft-sells-for-nearly-29-million-01636506472 
• Ryan Zurrer purchase:
• • https://twitter.com/kukulabanze/status/1458236032818819075?s=20 
• Proof-of-Artwork:
• • ​​https://www.decential.io/features/proof-of-artwork-ryan-zurer-on-his-29-million-purchase-of-beeples-human-one

Art Basel Miami

• https://artbasel.com/miami-beach 

Beeple saying NFTs are a “bubble:”

• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-21/prices-in-a-bubble-beeple-says-after-his-69-million-nft-sale 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices