Unchained

Christian Catalini, co-creator of Libra and chief economist at Calibra, explains why Facebook made the design choices it made for Libra, reveals whether the team was prepared for the regulatory blowback it received after publishing the white paper, and talks about what it means for Libra now that nearly all the initial payment company members have left the Association. He describes how Facebook defined stability for Libra, whether the Chinese renminbi could ever be added to the reserve the way it is part of the IMF special drawing rights basket, and if so, what the Libra or Calibra would do if the Chinese government tried to censor individuals or transactions in the system. We also cover the tension between the desire to have strong know-your-customer and anti-money laundering processes on the platform but then also to bank the unbanked, who often don't have strong government identification. We also discuss how Facebook will make money from Calibra, what it would take for Facebook to let the Libra Association go forward without it, and why Facebook, which not too long ago was trying to woo China to enter the Chinese market, now says it is the best counterweight to a Chinese digital yuan. Plus, he answers how Facebook and Calibra will handle privacy. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

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Episode links: 

Christian Catalini: https://twitter.com/ccatalini

Libra: https://libra.org/en-US/

Calibra: https://calibra.com/

Libra white paper: https://libra.org/en-US/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/06/LibraWhitePaper_en_US.pdf

Letters to payment companies from Congress: https://www.schatz.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Signed%20Letters%20re%20Libra%20to%20Patrick%20Collison,%20Ajaypal%20Banga,%20and%20Alfred%20Kelly.pdf

Mark Zuckerberg's testimony in front of Congress: https://www.c-span.org/video/?465293-1/facebook-ceo-testimony-house-financial-services-committee

Reported breakdown of the Libra reserve: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-libra-basket/u-s-dollar-to-be-main-currency-underpinning-facebooks-libra-spiegel-idUSKBN1W522K

Calibra — can send money at low to no cost: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/06/coming-in-2020-calibra/

Chargebacks in Libra: https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/18/18682838/facebook-digital-wallet-calibra-libra-cryptocurrency-kevin-weil-david-marcus-interview

Asian central banks not too open to Libra: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-22/facebook-scaling-back-libra-will-please-asian-central-banks

Unconfirmed interview about UN work with blockchain-based vouchers: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-un-world-food-programmes-blockchain-based-food-vouchers-for-syrian-refugees-with-robert-opp/

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Hunter Horsley, cofounder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, and Matt Hougan, global head of research at Bitwise, describe their vision for Bitwise, its current funds and indices, as well as how it handles things like forks and airdrops. Then they give their reaction to and interpretation of the SEC disapproval of their Bitcoin ETF proposal, as well as what their focus will be now to try to get a Bitcoin ETF approved. We also discuss their general thesis around how the crypto space will develop, whether or not indices and funds around the top 100 assets will ever make sense, their ideas on how to value these networks and whether or not the company would ever try to compete in the DeFi space. Plus, don't miss our conversation on Bitcoin IRAs. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/

Kraken: https://kraken.com

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/

Hunter Horsley: https://twitter.com/HHorsley

Matt Hougan: https://twitter.com/Matt_Hougan

Unchained interview with Spencer Bogart: https://unchainedpodcast.com/spencer-bogart-on-the-20-trillion-in-store-of-value-assets/

Bitwise 10 Private Fund fact sheet: https://static.bitwiseinvestments.com/FactSheet/bitwise10/Bitwise-10-Private-Index-Fund-Investor-Class-Fact-Sheet.pdf 

Bitwise 10 Offshore Index Fund: https://static.bitwiseinvestments.com/FactSheet/bitwise10-offshore/Bitwise-10-Index-Offshore-Fund-Investor-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust: https://grayscale.co/bitcoin-trust/

Bitwise Ethereum Fund: https://static.bitwiseinvestments.com/FactSheet/ethereumFund/Bitwise-Ethereum-Fund-Investor-Class-Fact-Sheet.pdf 

SEC order disapproving the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF proposal: https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/nysearca/2019/34-87267.pdf

Matt on CNBC discussing the Bitcoin ETF proposal: https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1181309471349526530?s=20

Bitstamp/BitMEX trading manipulation: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1129246233917382656

Jake Chervinsky’s tweet about how the SEC is unlikely to approve a Bitcoin ETF under Chair Jay Clayton: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1182149164177608704?s=20 

Unchained interview with Jake: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/

SEC commissioner Hester Peirce’s dissent to the disapproval of the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723

Van Eck’s withdrawal of the Bitcoin ETF proposal: https://www.coindesk.com/vaneck-solidx-withdraw-bitcoin-etf-proposal-from-sec-review

Chris Burniske on how to value these networks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-value-a-crypto-asset/

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Congressman Patrick McHenry, or 'Mr. Fintech' to his peers in the House, is announcing the reintroduction of the Financial Services Innovation Act, a bill that would create what he calls "permanent beta testing," or many jurisdictions call "regulatory sandboxes," in which entrepreneurs can apply for regulatory approval to conduct innovative experiments. The bill is intended to get regulators into a position where their default leans more toward yes than no. He describes how this would affect teams that want to conduct ICOs, how it would square with the phenomenon of some token teams trying to raise through Reg A+, and whether it would allow exchanges without BitLicenses to operate in New York. He also discusses what type of digital currency he believes is best suited to compete against a Chinese digital yuan, and says the government is currently looking into whether or not the Federal Reserve has the authority to issue a digital dollar.

Thank you to our sponsors! 

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

Episode links: 

Congressman McHenry: https://mchenry.house.gov/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PatrickMcHenry

The House Libra hearings from July 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-ZTkCNW0w8

Financial Services Innovation Act explainer: https://www.alta.org/file.cfm?name=McHenry-Bill-Explainer

Introduction of the bill in 2016: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-house-bill-aims-to-set-up-sandbox-for-fintech-innovation-1474539893

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/financial-services-innovation-act-us-wants-sandbox-too

Congressman McHenry’s interest in fintech: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/09/patrick-henry-mr-fintech-interview-000214

CNBC article on how Libra is being slowed by regulation while China’s central bank digital currency speeds ahead: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/china-races-to-launch-a-cryptocurrency-that-could-rival-facebooks.html

Fortune article: https://fortune.com/2019/10/16/if-libra-fails-china-wins-the-ledger/

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Mariano Conti, the head of smart contracts for MakerDAO and creator of SelloutDAO, and Peter Pan, the summoner for Metacartel DAO, discuss all things DAOs, including how Peter started Metacartel DAO after being rejected from MolochDAO, and why Mariano initially voted against Peter joining. (Peter eventually joined.) They also discuss how they came to form YangDAO, why Mariano almost rage quit MolochDAO after the YangDAO formed, and how other MolochDAO members felt about SelloutDAO, which Mariano describes as an experiment in "on-chain corruption." We discuss how DAOs are actually heavily built on trust and why they require a lot of social coordination off-chain. They also discuss funding for LAOs, which have a legal entity such as an LLC affiliated with them, why Metacartel is launching a LAO, and which types of projects should be funded by DAOs vs traditional corporate structures. We also cover governance issues at MakerDAO, why it has a CEO, and what role leadership in general plays in a DAO. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

Mariano Conti: https://twitter.com/nanexcool

Peter Pan: https://twitter.com/pet3rpan_

MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/

https://chat.makerdao.com

Metacartel DAO: https://www.metacartel.org/

https://twitter.com/meta_cartel

SelloutDAO: https://selloutdao.com/

Unchained interview with Ameen Soleimani of MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/

Unchained interview with Santiago Siri: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/

DAO Revival: https://www.coindesk.com/in-berlin-a-dao-renaissance-begins

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-10-05/crypto-rebels-trip-over-each-other-en-route-to-financial-utopia

Andy Milenius’s account of MakerDAO’s change from a decentralized to a centralized project: https://www.scribd.com/document/407743542/Zandy-s-Story

CoinDesk story on the rift: https://www.coindesk.com/darkest-days-yet-purple-pill-tell-all-details-years-long-rift-at-heart-of-makerdao-stablecoin-project

Two most recent MakerDAO votes:  https://vote.makerdao.com/executive-proposal/keep-the-stability-fee-set-to-a-total-of-105-per-year

https://vote.makerdao.com/executive-proposal/lower-the-stability-fee-by-2-to-a-total-of-85-per-year

https://vote.makerdao.com/polling-proposal/qmpem83sxjjwe1jvn2csdtetn4r3j95ejuzpbmtxef4lu5

Unchained interviews with Rune Christensen of MakerDAO: Part 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/

Part 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/

MakerDAO vulnerabilities: 

ETH could have been stolen: https://hackerone.com/reports/684092

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/10/03/makerdao-security-vulnerability-ethereum-dai-stablecoin-collapse-theft-cryptocurrency/ 

The LAO: https://medium.com/openlawofficial/the-lao-a-for-profit-limited-liability-autonomous-organization-9eae89c9669c

Critique of the LAO: https://prestonbyrne.com/2019/09/03/the-lao-demystified/

MakerDAO launching multi-collateral Dai: https://www.coindesk.com/makerdaos-multi-collateral-dai-token-is-launching-nov-18

https://blog.makerdao.com/breaking-launch-date-of-multi-collateral-dai-announced-at-devcon-5/

Are DAO’s legal? https://www.coindesk.com/new-interest-in-daos-prompts-old-question-are-they-legal

Unconfirmed interview with Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/

Unconfirmed episode with Ryan Zurrer about resurrecting the DAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-ryan-zurrer-would-like-to-see-a-new-dao/

Unchained interview with Aragon: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-aragon-hopes-to-improve-on-democracy/

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David Andolfatto, senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, gives his thoughts on Facebook's Libra, including why regulatory issues will make it hard to compete with the US dollar, and why Bitcoin wouldn't have such issues. He also says, "who cares?" about the US dollar losing global reserve status, pointing out that many prosperous countries have currencies that don't function as global reserves. He tells us how he would design a central bank digital currency, and why, even if central banks enabled citizens to open accounts with them, thus bypassing commercial banks, it wouldn't drive banks out of business. We also cover how that could affect fractional reserve banking and credit creation, the People's Bank of China's soon-to-be-issued digital yuan, and why blockchains haven't yet substantially helped the unbanked, as they were originally touted to do.

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Crypto.com:  https://crypto.com

Episode links: 

St. Louis Federal Reserve: https://www.stlouisfed.org

David Andolfatto: https://research.stlouisfed.org/econ/andolfatto/sel/

David's blog: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com

Letter from House Reps to Fed Chair Jerome Powell: https://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Foster-Hill-US-Crypto.pdf

Talk on blockchain, cryptocurrency and central banks: https://www.stlouisfed.org/dialogue-with-the-fed/blockchain

https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/files/pdfs/dwtf/blockchain_082918.pdf?la=en

Blog post on cost efficiency of a centrally managed ledger: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2017/12/fedcoin-and-blockchain.html?spref=tw

David’s paper on the impact of central bank digital currency private banks: https://s3.amazonaws.com/real.stlouisfed.org/wp/2018/2018-026.pdf

Raskin and Yermack paper: https://ccl.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Raskin_Max_and_Yermack_David_The%20Future%20of%20Central%20Banking.pdf

David on FedCoin: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2015/02/fedcoin-on-desirability-of-government.html 

Philadelphia Federal Reserve banker Patrick Harker on a G20 CBDC being inevitable: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-harker-digital/feds-harker-digital-central-bank-currency-inevitable-idUSKBN1WH1L4

Related Unchained interview: Dong He and Yan Liu on central bank digital currencies: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-imf-on-how-to-design-central-bank-digital-currencies/

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Emily Parker, cofounder of Longhash, describes what the company, which has an Asia-focused incubator and data media site does, how she ended up launching an Asia-focused company, why she’s seeing US crypto teams and ICOs going to Singapore, why the Chinese government cracked down on crypto, and what misconceptions she sees about crypto in China. She explains how the Chinese still trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies despite the ban, why Tether plays a big role, how the China ban has affected crypto entrepreneurship and how the upcoming People's Bank of China digital currency could impact crypto. We also discuss how the attitude toward crypto has changed in Japan over time, why so many crypto teams are settling in Singapore, and whether or not the philosophies of censorship-resistance or decentralization resonate in China. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

Longhash: LongHash.com

Longhash's Twitter: https://twitter.com/longhashdata

Emily Parker: Emilyparkerwrites.com

Emily Parker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilydparker

Emily Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-parker-738034142/

Longhash's incubator: https://incubator.longhash.com

BTC trading by US EST and PST vs. China: https://www.longhash.com/news/american-traders-lead-on-bitcoin-rally-while-asian-traders-not-so-bullish

Bitcoin metrics on Longhash: https://www.longhash.com/livecharts/bitcoin-social-metrics

Emily's interview with SEC commissioner Hester Peirce: https://www.longhash.com/news/in-cryptocurrency-will-asia-surpass-the-us-exclusive-interview-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce

Unchained interview with commissioner Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/

Longhash article showing more ICOs in Singapore than in US in Q1 2018: https://www.longhash.com/news/how-singapore-became-asias-ico-hub

Longhash's graphic showing money transmitter laws in the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/is-cryptocurrency-money-depends-on-your-state

Longhash on ICOs fleeing the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/after-years-of-regulatory-uncertainty-icos-are-fleeing-the-united-states

Unchained interview with Primitive Ventures: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/

Unchained interview with Da Hongfei and Patrick Dai (not Lai!): https://unchainedpodcast.com/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban/

Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/

Emily's interview with Coincheck's president: https://www.longhash.com/news/lessons-from-the-largest-crypto-hack-in-history-exclusive-interview-with-coincheck-president-toshihiko-katsuya

Longhash deck of cards of crypto players: https://www.longhash.com/news/fiftyfour-players-in-the-blockchain-industry-transformed-into-a-real-deck-of-cards

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Spencer Bogart, general partner at Blockchain Capital, the first VC firm to tokenize one of its funds, talks about how well offering tokenized shares has worked out, why it didn't do so for the following fund, the appeal of security tokens generally and what advantages tokenized securities offer over non-blockchain platforms like Second Market, in which investors can trade shares in private companies. He also explains what entrepreneurs are looking for from VCs now that they have more ways to raise from the crowd, how Blockchain Capital decides between investing in equity vs. tokens when there is an option, and why the firm believes there will only be five or fewer dominant blockchains. He describes why he thinks it's likely Bitcoin will take the lion's share of the market, noting its $200 billion market cap vs. the $20 trillion in other store-of-value assets such as gold, real estate and art, and whether or not it's possible to invest in Lightning, the second layer built on top of Bitcoin. We also cover the Bitcoin ETF proposals, stablecoins, how crypto might take off in video games and its 66x return within two years on its investment in Block.One. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Simbachain: https://simbachain.com

Kraken: https://kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

Blockchain Capital: https://blockchain.capital/

Spencer Bogart: https://twitter.com/CremeDeLaCrypto

Unchained interview with Brock Pierce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-vc-is-sure-venture-capital-is-about-to-be-disrupted/

BCAP Q2 Nav: https://blockchainloop.com/blockchain-capital-releases-q2-2019-bcap-token-nav/

Upgrading of BCAP to Securitize platform: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/09/04/1565117/0/en/BCAP-Tokens-to-be-Upgraded-Utilizing-Securitize-Platform.html

Funding of Securitize: https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-backs-security-token-startups-12-75-million-funding-round

Blockchain Capital’s fourth fund: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blockchain-capital-closes-fund-iv-at-150-million-300617495.html

Story about Blockchain Capital trying to separate itself from Brock Pierce: https://decrypt.co/6876/is-blockchain-capital-trying-to-scrub-co-founder-and-mighty-ducks-star-brock-pierce-from-its-history

Interview with Brock Pierce in which he describes leaving Blockchain Capital: https://hackernoon.com/brock-pierce-interview-tales-from-the-bitcoin-floor-e479693a49bd

Lightning Network statistics: https://bitcoinvisuals.com/lightning

Tweets from LNBig on how they earned $0.10-$0.30 a day on Lightning fees: https://twitter.com/lnbig_com/status/1163055682964348934?s=20

https://twitter.com/lnbig_com/status/1159538637597487104?s=20

LNBig on how they spent $1,000 or so to open their Lightning channels: https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/bxh0ny/lightning_network_capacity_takes_a_sudden_dive/eq9x4i9/

Profitability of running a lightning node: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/a9dmzw/how_profitable_is_running_a_lightning_node/

Letter to the SEC: https://blockchain.capital/examining-bitcoins-valued-attributes-a-letter-to-the-sec/

Blog post about Bitcoin’s likely dominance: https://blockchain.capital/the-past-future-of-blockchain-where-were-going-and-why/

Spencer's Reddit post with questions/concerns about MakerDAO: https://www.reddit.com/r/MakerDAO/comments/asb9n6/a_couple_questions_concerns_about_maker_and_mkr/

+ tweetstorm: https://twitter.com/cremedelacrypto/status/1103428046621618178

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Olga Feldmeier, CEO of SmartValor, describes how her upbringing in Ukraine when it was undergoing 10,000% and 5,000% annual inflation helped her understand the potential in Bitcoin years later, and helped her connect with Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo. She also talks about how Xapo was able to get regulated in Switzerland, without having to get a banking license, and why she believes Switzerland has been open to the crypto industry. She explains why she is now focused on security tokens and tokenizing other real-world assets with her venture SmartValor, why it is also licensed in Lichtenstein, why it is aiming to make South Korea its second home, and what her view is on Facebook's Libra. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Simbachain: https://simbachain.com

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

Smart Valor: https://smartvalor.com/en/

Olga Feldmeier: https://twitter.com/OlgaFeldmeier

Forbes interview with Olga: https://www.forbes.com/sites/montymunford/2018/07/30/qa-with-olga-feldmeier-cryptoqueen-and-ceo-smart-valor/#e3a3c9f3bcd1

Untold Stories interview with Olga (episode 14): https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/untoldstories?selected=BWG5775450315

Xapo receives approval to operate as a financial intermediary in Switzerland: https://blog.xapo.com/xapo-regulatory-status-in-switzerland/

SmartValor white paper: https://res.smartvalor.com/public/SMART-VALOR-WhitePaper.pdf

SmartValor launches in Switzerland: https://www.coindesk.com/smart-valor-launches-regulated-crypto-exchange-in-switzerlandBusiness Insider interview on tokenizing physical objects: 

https://www.businessinsider.com/smart-valor-ceo-tokenization-of-everything-icos-bitcoin-future-value-2018-1

Smart Valor makes South Korea its second home: https://news.smartvalor.com/korea-update/

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Sebastian Sonntag, the new CEO of LocalBitcoins, and Mika Impola, software developer at LocalBitcoins, explain why the peer-to-peer bitcoin trading company has a new CEO, why it stopped cash trades and what kind of response they've received from the community about it. They describe how the service works, how it has changed over time, the range of payment options available amongst sellers on the site, and how peer-to-peer trading differs from country to country. Plus, we cover why it suspended buying in Iran, how regulation is changing the site in general, how it handles forks and what Sonngtag's plans are for the company.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Simbachain: https://simbachain.com/

Kraken: https://kraken.com/

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

LocalBitcoins: https://localbitcoins.com/

LocalBitcoins blog: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/

LocalBitcoins names a new CEO: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/localbitcoins-names-a-new-ceo/

LocalBitcoins stops cash trades: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-removes-cash-for-crypto-trading-option

New Finnish AML regulations: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/aml-features-update/ 

LocalBitcoins’ new ID verification system: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/id-verification-update/ 

LocalBitcoins trading volume across countries: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins

LocalBitcoins trading in Venezuela: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins/VES/BTC

LocalBitcoins suspends buying in Iran: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-bans-bitcoin-buying-in-iran-in-blow-to-rising-crypto-commerce

Bitcoin Cash hard fork decision: https://localbitcoins.com/blog/bitcoin-bcash/

Bitcoin Maven: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bitcoin-sentencing-20180709-story.html

Hack on LocalBitcoins forums: https://www.coindesk.com/localbitcoins-reveals-security-breach-with-some-crypto-wallets-affected

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Luis Cuende, the CEO of Aragon One, describes the Aragon Network, how it aims to create new systems better for human coordination and the roles of the various parts of the ecosystem, such as Aragon One, the Aragon Association, the Aragon Court, Aragon Nest and the Aragon Network token. He describes the various parts of the Aragon Network, such as a finance app and voting app, how the network can be used both by decentralized organizations as well as centralized companies, and how he thinks decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) interact with real-world legal jurisdictions. We discuss how disputes are handled in Aragon, what the token, ANT, is used for, and why Aragon is contemplating building its own blockchain instead of sitting atop Ethereum, as it currently does. We also talk about how Aragon is governed, how it hopes to someday decentralize its governance and other ways Aragon can reach Cuende's ideal governance. Plus, we cover a few controversial votes in Aragon and the role of whales in such systems. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Simbachain: https://simbachain.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Aragon Network: https://aragon.org/network/

Luis Cuende: https://twitter.com/licuende?lang=en

Aragon white paper: https://github.com/aragon/whitepaper

Breaker Mag article about Aragon: https://breakermag.com/can-aragon-make-decentralized-autonomous-governance-work/

Vitalik Buterin's proposals on DAICOs: https://ethresear.ch/t/explanation-of-daicos/465

Aragon Governance Proposals (AGP): https://github.com/aragon/AGPs/blob/master/AGPs/AGP-1.md

Vote against funding Polkadot: https://www.coindesk.com/voters-on-ethereum-app-veto-proposal-to-fund-polkadot-blockchain

Unchained episode about Polkadot: https://unchainedpodcast.com/paritys-jutta-steiner-and-gavin-wood-on-polkadot-substrate-and-the-frozen-funds/

Unchained episode about Ethereum 2.0: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-on-whether-or-not-ethereum-is-blowing-it/

Unchained episode with Ameen Soleimani of MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/

Stats on Aragon: https://scout.cool/aragon/mainnet

Unchained episode about Melon protocol: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-melon-could-make-asset-management-easier/

Autark, the decentralized SpaceX: https://www.autark.xyz

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Jonathan Zeppettini, international ops lead and chief evangelist for Decred, aka "Decred Jesus," announces the launch of the coin's privacy feature. He first describes how Decred came out of some developers' frustrations of trying to work with Bitcoin Core developers, and how that led them to realize a couple of issues with Bitcoin's governance around the funding of development and giving other stakeholders a say in the development of the coin. He explains how Decred addresses those issues, how governance in Decred works, what tickets are used for in the system and why it uses a hybrid POW/POS system. We discuss the comparatively high participation rates in Decred, how it's resistant to contentious hard forks, and what Politeia is. Plus, he gives the scoop on Decred's new privacy feature, how it works, why it was developed in secret, and how the plan to make it more decentralized in the future. Plus, he talks about how Decred plans to decentralize its own governance. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Decred: https://decred.org

Jonathan Zeppettini: https://twitter.com/jz_bz

Decred in brief: https://decred.org/brief/

Jacob’s 2015 post on the challenges with Bitcoin: https://blog.companyzero.com/2015/11/bitcoins-biggest-challenges/

Placeholder VC on why it invested in Decred: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2018/5/12/decred-investment-thesis?rq=decred

Smith and Crown's Decred report: https://sci.smithandcrown.com/research/decred-report

Voting in Decred: https://storage.googleapis.com/smithandcrown-asset-engine-prod/images/voting-cycle.original.png

Politeia: https://blog.decred.org/2017/10/25/Politeia/

CoinDesk article on Politeia: https://www.coindesk.com/one-of-investors-favorite-governance-blockchains-is-handing-over-20-million

DiceMix “paper”: https://www.ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ndss201701-4ruffingSlides.pdf 

Brave New Coin post: https://bravenewcoin.com/insights/decred-price-analysis-a-sustained-increase-in-mining-activity-2 

Coinbase may list Decred: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-continues-to-explore-support-for-new-digital-assets-4d2ecbcbd38c 

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Sandra Ro, the CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council and former head of digitization at CME, explains what the GBBC does, how it chooses partners, and what level of involvement they have with projects under the GBBC umbrella. We discuss some of the more controversial projects, such as the Voatz pilot that conducted election voting using blockchain technology, as well as how she responds to people saying many "blockchain" projects could instead use a database. She also reveals why she believes that the US will eventually lead the world on crypto regulation, why she thinks that there's strength in the fragmentation in US regulations and what she thinks is the best way forward on the BitLicense. Plus, she gives us the inside scoop on what it took for her to get CME to launch Bitcoin futures. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Sandra Ro: https://twitter.com/srolondon

GBBC: https://gbbcouncil.org/

Previous Unchained interview with Sandra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-derivatives-exchanges-doing-with-bitcoin/ 

Controversy over Voatz: https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/west-virginia-blockchain-voting-voatz.html

Episode with Jake Chervinsky: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-things-crypto-regulation-with-jake-chervinsky/

Jeremy Allaire on Unconfirmed on why the US needs a new category for digital assets: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jeremy-allaire-on-why-the-us-government-needs-a-new-category-for-digital-assets/

Fred Wilson on crypto regulation in the US: https://avc.com/2019/05/defendcrypto-org/

Ted Livingston on why Kik set up DefendCrypto.org: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/

Unchained interview with Juthica Chou: https://unchainedpodcast.com/ledgerx-on-the-reasons-to-trade-bitcoin-options/

Patent for physically settled cryptocurrency derivatives contracts: https://www.coindesk.com/cme-explores-cryptocurrency-derivatives-contracts-in-patent-filing

Ro named to New York State Digital Currency Task Force: https://www.coindesk.com/new-york-legislature-names-initial-members-to-crypto-task-force

The Libra Association's Dante Disparte on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/

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Dong He, deputy director of the monetary and capital markets department of the IMF, and Yan Liu, Assistant General Counsel at the legal department of the IMF, talk about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs): the current level of interest among central banks in issuing them, what concerns they need to address when designing them, and how commercial banks might be affected, depending on the design of the CBDC. We discuss how privacy could be built into such a currency while also fulfilling anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financial regulations and how a CBDC could affect the IMF's ability to achieve its goal of financial inclusion. Plus, we also cover how crypto assets being widely adopted could influence economies, as well as Facebook's Libra.  

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

IMF: https://www.imf.org/ 

Dong He: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donghe

Yan Liu: https://blogs.imf.org/bloggers/yan-liu/ 

Speech by IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on the case for new digital currency: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/11/13/sp111418-winds-of-change-the-case-for-new-digital-currency 

He’s speech on monetary policy in the digital age: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/06/central-bank-monetary-policy-and-cryptocurrencies/he.htm

Article on how crypto assets could reduce the demand for central bank money: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/06/central-bank-monetary-policy-and-cryptocurrencies/he.pdf  

The IMF on Libra: https://www.imf.org/~/media/Files/Publications/FTN063/2019/English/FTNEA2019001.ashx

Unconfirmed episode with Michael Casey on why it would be good if Libra rivaled the US dollar: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/

Also check out this Unchained episode from the Oslo Freedom Forum, which dived deeply into the issues around privacy vs. keeping out bad actors: https://unchainedpodcast.com/oslo-freedom-forum-2019-protecting-financial-freedoms-in-the-digital-age/

And this Unchained episode with Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation, which covered similar issues: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/

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Jake Chervinsky, general counsel at Compound, goes over a plethora of crypto regulatory issues, such as those related to securities law such as the SEC vs. Kik case, Ripple, stablecoins, no-action letters, Blockstack and more. We also discuss whether there should be one regulator for crypto matters in the US, whether it makes sense to create a new category for digital assets instead of applying laws for securities, commodities, etc., to digital tokens, and why he thinks Libra will likely not launch in its proposed form. He also gives his odds on a Bitcoin ETF being approved soon, talks about the tension between privacy and financial regulation and  reveals what he thinks is the biggest regulatory issue in DeFi that no one's talking about.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

Jake Chervinsky: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky

Compound: https://compound.finance/

Unchained interview with Compound CEO Robert Leshner: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/ 

Unchained with Ted Livingston of Kik about its intention to fight the SEC in court: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/

Kik's Wells response: https://www.kin.org/wells_response.pdf 

SEC no-action letter to Quarters: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-clears-blockchain-gaming-startup-to-sell-quarters-tokens 

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on the first no-action letter for a token: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-how-we-howey-050919 

Unconfirmed episode on Blockstack’s Reg A+ filing: https://unchainedpodcast.com/blockstacks-reg-a-filing-and-the-future-of-token-offerings%e2%80%8b/  

Decrypt article on issues with issuing a token under Reg A+: https://decrypt.co/7839/blockstack-token-offering-historic-but-dance-with-sec-far-from-over 

How much Ripple has sold recently: https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1154276254775947264?s=20

Jake’s tweet storm on the Libra hearings in Congress: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1151875713903005697?s=20

Jeremy Allaire’s testimony to Congress: https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Allaire%20Testimony%207-30-19.pdf

Unchained interview with Jeremy Allaire on regulations: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jeremy-allaire-on-why-the-us-government-needs-a-new-category-for-digital-assets/

Push for new crypto regulations:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-push-for-new-bitcoin-rules-11562405401

Tax issues: https://fortune.com/2019/07/29/here-comes-the-irs-the-ledger/

Bitcoin ETF: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1111734963798458369?s=20 

Jake’s tweet storm on Bakkt: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1059828623471972354?fbclid=IwAR259I8Q2NSNmQ_PEb6l__XatWhmqj9U8gocHRoeb-JXizviI9T62rMuQC8

The latest on Bakkt: https://www.coindesk.com/bakkt-is-supposed-to-start-testing-its-bitcoin-futures-contracts-today

Sanctions coming to crypto: https://www.coindesk.com/get-ready-for-crypto-sanctions-enforcement 

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Juthica Chou, chief operating officer of LedgerX, talks about the company's new license to offer its derivatives to retail investors and the resulting platform, Omni. She walks through what call and put options are, how they work and why people and companies purchase them as opposed to just buying or selling bitcoin directly. We discuss why LedgerX believes physically settled bitcoin options are superior to cash-settled ones, how LedgerX handles hard forks, and other contracts focused on the technicals of crypto networks it could offer such as its halving contract. Plus, she describes what it was like to be building a Bitcoin-centered company during the "blockchain not Bitcoin" era. 

Sign up for the Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute!!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

LedgerX: https://www.ledgerx.com

Juthica Chou: https://twitter.com/juthica 

LedgerX blog posts introducing Omni: https://blog.ledgerx.com/the-long-game/

https://blog.ledgerx.com/introducing-omni-powered-by-ledgerx/

https://www.coindesk.com/cftc-approves-ledgerx-to-settle-futures-in-real-bitcoin

https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-reveals-bid-to-beat-bakkt-to-physical-bitcoin-futures-launch

CNBC interview with Ari Paul about why he bought $50,000 Bitcoin call option: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/12/26/man-behind-massive-bet-that-bitcoin-could-hit-50000.html

Cheddar interview: more opportunity with the retail market: 

https://cheddar.com/media/ledgerx-wins-u-s-regulatory-approval-to-trade-bitcoin-futures

Bitcoin halving contract: https://blog.ledgerx.com/a-new-type-of-contract-for-a-new-type-of-asset/

https://www.coindesk.com/ledgerx-unveils-betting-market-for-2020s-bitcoin-block-reward-halving

Ledger on how to it would handle the Bitcoin Gold hard fork: https://www.ledgerx.com/s/LedgerX-LLC-Notice-to-Participants-2017-10.pdf

Call option for $100k Bitcoin by December 2020: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-16/anybody-can-now-bet-on-bitcoin-100-000-with-new-call-options

Unchained interview with Dan Morehead of Pantera Capital: https://unchainedpodcast.com/pantera-capital-how-bitcoin-could-reach-356000-in-a-few-years/

Cboe stops listing Bitcoin fuures:

https://www.coindesk.com/cboe-puts-brakes-on-bitcoin-futures-listing

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cboe-abandons-bitcoin-futures-11552914001

Why CME’s futures saw more volume than Cboe’s: https://www.coindesk.com/cme-cboe-bitcoin-futures

How Bitcoin futures will be taxed: https://blog.ledgerx.com/less-taxation-with-digitization/

Doomschain clock/attitude toward private blockchains: https://blog.ledgerx.com/updating-the-doomschain-clock/

Oracle blog post: https://blog.ledgerx.com/how-to-talk-to-the-oracle/

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Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of Pantera Capital, and Joey Krug, co-chief investment officer of Pantera and founder of Augur, discuss where we are in the development cycle of blockchain technology, how Bitcoin, if stays on past trend lines, could hit $42,000 by year's end and $356,000 a couple years after that, and why the biggest challenges now are around scaling and onboarding. We also cover what the adoption of the technology will mean long-term — how creating assets and markets will no longer be the realm of a privileged view — but why payments may be one of the last areas to be disrupted. Morehead and Krug also talk about how Libra walks the line between decentralized and centralized, and it's unclear how Libra will become decentralized. Plus, hear how they respond to questions about the SEC vs. Kik. 

Sign up for the Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute!! 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Pantera Capital: https://www.panteracapital.com

Dan Morehead: https://twitter.com/dan_pantera

Joey Krug: https://twitter.com/joeykrug

Dan Morehead on Unconfirmed: https://unchainedpodcast.com/dan-morehead-of-pantera-capital-on-why-this-crypto-winter-is-different/

Unchained with Joey Krug: https://unchainedpodcast.com/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep-79/

A Crypto Thesis: https://medium.com/@PanteraCapital/a-crypto-thesis-47eaacf861ca

Unconfirmed about Congressional hearings on Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-congressional-hearings-on-facebooks-libra-were-good-for-bitcoin/

Unconfirmed about why it would be good if Libra rivaled the USD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/

Unconfirmed with Dante Disparte of the Libra Association: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/

Some crypto industry players fed up with US regulators: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/29/crypto-companies-and-investors-fed-up-with-the-sec/#3f348ad7701c

The SEC vs. Kik: https://unchainedpodcast.com/kin-sets-up-5-million-defendcrypto-org-to-take-on-the-sec/

Bitcoin ETF: https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2018/10/pantera-capital-ceo-sec-doesnt-want-widows-and-orphans-buying-bitcoin-etfs-i-think-an-etf-is-years-away/

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Rich Sanders, cofounder and chief security officer of CipherBlade, and Harry Denley, director of security of MyCrypto.com, discuss the phone porting phenomenon: who's behind these thefts, how they perpetrate them, who is targeted, how to recognize the signs you're a victim and how to the hackers are adapting to people protecting themselves. They cover how you can protect yourself, which accounts to protect, what kinds of email addresses and numbers to set up, how to set them up, how to separate them from anything valuable, and which two-factor authentication methods could work instead. Plus, they go over how to report a theft, to whom you should report, and what information to include.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Kraken: https://kraken.com

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links: 

MyCrypto: https://mycrypto.com/

https://twitter.com/MyCrypto

https://medium.com/mycrypto

CipherBlade: https://cipherblade.com

The SIM Swapping Bible: https://medium.com/mycrypto/what-to-do-when-sim-swapping-happens-to-you-1367f296ef4d

My Forbes story covering the phone hijacking phenomenon: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#1964ddb738ba

Michael Terpin, awarded $75 million in case after losing $24 million in crypto: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-investor-awarded-over-75-million-in-sim-swapping-hack-case

Cody Brown who lost $8,000 on Coinbase due to a phone hijacking: https://medium.com/@CodyBrown/how-to-lose-8k-worth-of-bitcoin-in-15-minutes-with-verizon-and-coinbase-com-ba75fb8d0bac

BitGo engineer losing his money via SIM porting: https://medium.com/coinmonks/the-most-expensive-lesson-of-my-life-details-of-sim-port-hack-35de11517124

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Gabriel Abed, founder of Bitt.com and Vice President of the board of directors, describes how he went from mining Bitcoin to persuading governors of central banks to not quash Bitt's goal to create central bank digital currencies in the Caribbean and getting the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to pilot one starting next year. He tells the tale of how Overstock came to invest in Bitt, how he brought on a new CEO to take over the company he founded, and how he teamed up with Polymath to create a new company that became the single largest shareholder of the Barbados Stock Exchange. He also describes Digital Asset Capital Management, an investment firm he launched, and why he's still a Bitcoin maximalist despite working on and investing in other types of cryptocurrencies. 

Virtues of the Crypto Revolution retreat with Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Bitt.com: https://www.bitt.com/

Gabriel Abed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielabed/

mMoney in Barbados: https://www.mmoneybb.com/

Digital Asset Capital Management: https://dacm.io/

Overstock announces $4 million investment in Bitt.com, to total $16 million over time: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/overstock-invests-in-bitt-to-launch-official-digital-currencies-in-the-caribbean-islands-1459961581

Second Overstock investment in Bitt.com of $3 million: https://www.coindesk.com/overstock-venture-arm-invests-3-million-in-blockchain-payments-startup

CoinDesk on the meaning of Bitt's work with the Barbadian digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/how-a-tiny-island-could-give-cryptocurrency-a-big-boost

Bitt’s pilot with Eastern Caribbean Central Bank:

https://www.coindesk.com/eastern-caribbean-central-bank-takes-step-toward-digital-currency-roll-out

Partnership with Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) to look into issuing a central bank-backed digital currency for Curaçao and Sint Maarten:

https://www.coindesk.com/bitt-partners-with-dutch-caribbean-islands-to-explore-central-bank-crypto

Bitt's identity work: https://www.coindesk.com/bitt-reveals-big-plans-blockchain-powered-caribbean-settlement-network

Crypto activity in Bermuda and the Caribbean: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/technology/cryptocurrency-bermuda-malta-gibraltar.html

Bermuda's crypto regulatory framework: 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-bermuda-is-going-crypto-with-new-regulatory-framework-130512103.html

Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/

Unchained interview with Bitfury: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitfury-on-the-ways-it-collaborates-with-governments-and-why-its-partnered-with-a-public-company/

Unchained interview with Sandra Ro: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-is-one-of-the-worlds-largest-derivatives-exchanges-doing-with-bitcoin/

Unconfirmed interview with Dante Disparte: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/

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Luis Buenaventura, founder of Bloom Solutions, and Leo Weese, president of Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, discuss the crypto scene in Asia — how it differs from that of the West, and how it differs within the region. We also cover the regulatory climate there, how Korean traders occasionally stuff their pockets with cash and hop flights to Hong Kong, and whether the Hong Kong protests have had any impact on interest in BItcoin. Leo and Luis also talk about Binance and what they think are the top crypto projects in the region. Plus, they reveal Asia's perception of Tron.

LAST WEEK to take the Unchained Podcast survey!

Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019

Thank you to our sponsors!

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Luis Buenaventura: https://twitter.com/helloluis

Bloom: https://www.bloom.solutions/

Leo Weese: https://twitter.com/LeoAW

The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong: https://www.bitcoin.org.hk/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinorghk?lang=en

Panel from the Oslo Freedom Forum, where I met Leo and Luis: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-3-reasons-bitcoin-matters/

Previous Asia scene episode: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/

Crypto Garage: https://cryptogarage.co.jp/en

Bitspark: https://www.bitspark.io

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In recent years, the Human Rights Foundation and Alex Gladstein, its chief strategy officer, have become forces in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency community. In this episode, he discusses why Bitcoin is important for human rights, its three most important characteristics, and why Facebook's Libra project should be helpful to the adoption of the technology, at least in the short-term. He also describes how Bitcoin is just part of other movements that have become more open, such as governments shifting toward democracies and information becoming freer via the internet. He talks about how he thinks the technology can get wider adoption, why HRF supports the Open Money Initiative, and whether or not Bitcoin can help the North Korean people, rather than enriching its government, which has been the case so far. 

Read the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/25/how-bitcoin-can-help-in-the-fight-for-human-rights/

Take the Unchained Podcast survey!

Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019

Thank you to our sponsors!

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

The Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/

Alex Gladstein: https://twitter.com/gladstein

Last year's Unconfirmed episode with Alex: https://unchainedpodcast.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep-021/

This year's panel discussion on finances and freedom from the Oslo Freedom Forum: https://unchainedpodcast.com/oslo-freedom-forum-2019-protecting-financial-freedoms-in-the-digital-age/

Alex's essay for Time on why Bitcoin matters for freedom: https://time.com/5486673/bitcoin-venezuela-authoritarian/

Alex's response to Bitcoin critics: https://medium.com/@alexgladstein/a-human-rights-activists-response-to-bitcoin-critics-d50e6760ee80

The Open Money Initiative: https://www.openmoneyinitiative.org/

https://www.coindesk.com/whats-holding-back-bitcoin-in-venezuela-this-group-is-investigating

How Bitcoin could help improve foreign aid: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/23/perspectives/bitcoin-foreign-aid/index.html

Unchained episode with Bill Tai: 

https://unchainedpodcast.com/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology/

Eric Wall's posts on Bitcoin privacy and wallets: https://medium.com/human-rights-foundation-hrf/privacy-and-cryptocurrency-part-i-how-private-is-bitcoin-e3a4071f8fff

https://medium.com/human-rights-foundation-hrf/privacy-and-cryptocurrency-part-ii-bitcoin-wallets-2f68099b055f

What Bitcoin Did episode with Mahsa Alimardani: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/wbd-live-bitcoin-around-the-world-panel-at-the-oslo-freedom-forum

Thae Yong Ho, the highest-ranking North Korean defector, at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2019: https://youtu.be/HmnBvsHl0qY?t=2662

Unchained episode with Jimmy Song: https://unchainedpodcast.com/jimmy-song-on-why-bitcoin-will-be-the-winning-cryptocurrency-ep-69/

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Tarun Chitra, cofounder and CEO of Gauntlet, describes how his company enables crypto teams to run through simulations to see how their design choices will affect the project once it is trading. Using the cofounders' background in quantitative finance and high-frequency trading, Gauntlet uses tools from behavioral economics as well as game theory, plus real-world information such as exchange data to model outcomes after 100,000 blocks. We discuss how it makes its assumptions, how proof of stake differs from proof of work, and how the initial token distribution can affect the eventual concentration of tokens. He also reveals what design choice tends to have the greatest impact, as well as what main factor crypto teams aren't  thinking about that they should be. Plus, he talks about his involvement in the launch of Facebook's Libra project, and gives us his thoughts on the design choices Facebook made regarding the consensus algorithm, programming language and the structure of the coin.

See the full show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/18/how-to-make-cryptoeconomics-work-in-live-trading/

Take the Unchained Podcast survey!

Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, — including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019

Thank you to our sponsors!

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode Links:

Gauntlet: https://gauntlet.network

Tarun Chitra: https://twitter.com/tarunchitra?lang=en

Gauntlet blog posts: https://medium.com/gauntlet-networks?source=logo-23cfbaf25c9a

Unchained episode with Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain from Consensus 2019: https://unchainedpodcast.com/to-the-moon-and-back-with-polychains-olaf-carlson-wee/

Zero Knowledge podcast episode with Tarun Chitra: https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/61

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In this panel, recorded at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2019, I moderated what an attendee described as a "lively" discussion on the relationship between finances and freedom with Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Alena Vranova, Head of Strategy at Casa; and Coin Center founder Jerry Brito. We talked about what it's like to live under a regime where people don’t have a lot of financial freedom, how the move to a cashless society is leading to a surveillance state, and how we're seeing the emergence of a corporate surveillance state. We talked about how cryptocurrency could bring us more financial freedom, how crypto is/should be regulated, privacy coins and the imminent Financial Action Task Forces rules that require crypto exchanges and other services send each other information on customers for each transaction. Plus, we discuss bad state actors using crypto.

Read the show notes on Forbes!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/11/how-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrencies-can-further-financial-freedom/

Help make Unchained better! Take our survey and enter the giveaway for a free Bitcoin lightning node and a yearlong Casa Gold membership, -- including a multisig security app for iPhone and Android, a Trezor hardware wallet, a Casa faraday bag, and 24/7 support! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchainedsurvey2019

Those of you interested in learning more about Casa, or about protecting your Bitcoin investment generally, should check out my interview with CEO Jeremy Welch. https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-casa-makes-it-harder-for-someone-to-steal-your-bitcoins/ Thank you to Casa for donating!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Oslo Freedom Forum: https://oslofreedomforum.com

Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org

Jimmy Song: https://twitter.com/jimmysong

Alena Vranova: https://twitter.com/AlenaSatoshi

Jerry Brito: https://twitter.com/jerrybrito

Programming Blockchain: https://programmingblockchain.com

Casa: https://keys.casa

Coin Center: https://coincenter.org

FATF rules: https://www.coindesk.com/beyond-kyc-global-regulators-appear-set-to-adopt-tough-new-rules-for-crypto-exchanges

How regulation could spur the development of technology in the crypto space toward more P2P:

Vitalik blog post on this: https://vitalik.ca/general/2019/05/09/control_as_liability.html

Michael Casey on the topic: https://www.coindesk.com/the-cat-and-mouse-game-of-crypto-regulation-enters-a-new-phase

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Peter Smith, the CEO of Blockchain, discusses how the company got started, why the company is focused on users owning their own private keys and how that is what enables all the most interesting applications of blockchain technology. He talks about the full range of customers and markets they serve, their lending business and their dark pool. We also discuss regulation, SegWit, nation-states getting involved in crypto and why Blockchain plans to go public.

Read more on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/06/04/everything-interesting-in-crypto-relies-on-having-a-private-key/

Thank you to our sponsors!

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Peter Smith: https://twitter.com/OneMorePeter

Blockchain: https://www.blockchain.com

Wired article on the short period when cofounder Ben Reeves worked with Brian Armstrong: https://www.wired.com/2014/03/what-is-bitcoin/

Dovey Wan tweet on manipulative trade on Bitstamp/Bitmex: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1129246233917382656

Fortune article on Blockchain launching an exchange: http://fortune.com/2018/02/15/blockchain-google-coinbase/

SEC guidance mentioning airdrops: https://www.sec.gov/files/dlt-framework.pdf

FinCen guidance mentioning hosted vs. unheated wallets: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/2019-05/FinCEN%20Guidance%20CVC%20FINAL%20508.pdf

Blockchain's Airdrop of XLM: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2018/11/06/stellar-is-airdropping-125-million-to-blockchain-wallet-users/

The Wall Street exodus from crypto: https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2019/01/143834-is-the-exodus-from-wall-street-to-crypto-reversing-jamie-selway-leaves-blockchain/

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Ted Livingston, CEO of Kik and the founder of the Kin Foundation, and Patrick Gibbs, partner at Cooley, announce the formation of the $5 million DefendCrypto.org fund at Coinbase Custody to fight the SEC in court. Kik and Kin are hoping that a lawsuit would eventually result in a new Howey test for crypto tokens, to determine which ones are a security. In this episode, they explain has happened so far between them and the SEC to bring them to this point and what their main arguments are. Plus they defend themselves against some of the evidence against their case and we discuss what they can expect going forward.

Read the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/28/kin-launches-5-million-defendcrypto-fund-to-take-on-the-sec/

Thank you to our sponsors!

Kraken: Https://www.kraken.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

DefendCrypto: https://www.defendcrypto.org

Kik: https://www.kik.com

Kin: https://www.kin.org

Ted Livingston: https://twitter.com/ted_livingston

Patrick Gibbs of Cooley: https://www.cooley.com/people/patrick-gibbs

Kik’s Wells response: https://www.kin.org/wells_response.pdf

Kin white paper: https://www.kin.org/static/files/Kin_Whitepaper_V1_English.pdf

The DAO report: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/investreport/34-81207.pdf

Kathryn Haun of A16z Crypto's blog post: https://a16z.com/2019/05/15/kik-and-the-sec-whats-going-on-and-what-does-it-mean-for-crypto/

Importance of the Kik and Kin Foundation case by the Blockchain Association:  https://medium.com/@BlockchainAssoc/the-potential-kik-and-the-kin-foundation-case-has-major-consequences-for-the-open-blockchain-de8ed616a1c

Breaker Mag on Kik's fight with the SEC: https://breakermag.com/how-kiks-looming-sec-fight-could-unfold-and-why-it-will-define-blockchains-future/

Video of Ted at the San Francisco Meetup: https://youtu.be/rqN7srwqRf8

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/31/video-shows-kik-ceo-discussing-ico-pre-sale-it-will-become-super-valuable/

Kik chooses Stellar: https://www.coindesk.com/two-chains-no-more-kik-selects-stellar-over-ethereum-for-crypto-token-launch

Kik chooses Stellar and Ethereum: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-and-stellar-mobile-messenger-kik-embraces-two-blockchains

Next Web story: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/12/06/kik-kin-cryptocurrency-blockchain-2/

Kik pre-sale: https://www.coindesk.com/mobile-messenger-kik-raises-50-million-ahead-75-million-ico

https://www.coindesk.com/why-big-investors-are-betting-real-money-on-a-kik-cryptocurrency

SEC Framework: https://www.sec.gov/corpfin/framework-investment-contract-analysis-digital-assets

Token Taxonomy Act: https://medium.com/@BlockchainAssoc/the-token-taxonomy-act-is-back-and-we-need-it-more-than-ever-d2cbf0154776

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Sharon Goldberg, CEO of Arwen and Boston University computer science professor, describes how the protocol enables people to trade on crypto exchanges without making their coins vulnerable to exchange hacks, how this differs from trading on a decentralized exchange, and how Arwen would function if the exchange you were using on was hacked during a trade. She also discusses how Arwen works with any custody solution, how they choose which coins to support and what other features they are considering adding in the future.

Read the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/21/how-to-trade-on-crypto-exchanges-without-your-coins-getting-hacked/

On May 27th I will be hosting a conversation about the future of finance and human rights at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. As the world continues to move toward a cashless society, paper currency is disappearing. Companies like Facebook, Apple, and TenCent are becoming increasingly influential in the digital payment space. We'll discuss how individuals and companies can preserve and protect financial freedoms in the digital age. I'll be joined by Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Casa chief technology officer Alena Vranova; and CoinCenter founder Jerry Brito. To register to attend, you can visit oslofreedomforum.com today -- use discount code "unchained25" to get 25% off your ticket price!

Thank you to our sponsor:

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Arwen: https://www.arwen.io

Sharon Goldberg: https://twitter.com/goldbe

How Arwen prevents exit scams: https://medium.com/arwensecure/how-arwen-prevents-exit-scams-55d1a9de32b

How Arwen protects traders from a hacked exchange: https://medium.com/arwensecure/unleashing-mt-fox-4e8b20a11dea

Forbes article on Arwen: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2019/01/28/this-startup-is-fixing-the-biggest-security-hole-in-bitcoin-exchanges/#5f68d5905812

The Block on Arwen: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/02/05/a-startup-is-launching-a-solution-that-protects-users-from-exchange-hacks/

https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-startup-wants-you-to-trade-on-exchanges-without-trusting-them

Kucoin launching Arwen: https://www.coindesk.com/kucoin-exchange-traders-can-now-self-custody-their-crypto-assets

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Jutta Steiner, CEO of Parity, and Gavin Wood, who goes by the title "chief white space officer," describe the network Parity plans to launch later this year, Polkadot, how it aims to solve scalability, interoperability and security and when a developer would choose to build a dapp on Ethereum vs. a parachain on Polkadot. We also discuss another one of their products, Substrate, which enables developers to easily customize blockchains, and perceived competition between Ethereum and Polkadot. Plus, we talk about the frozen funds of Parity and other crypto teams, and why Jutta and Gavin think the community should upgrade in a way that would enable the funds to be unlocked.

Be sure to check out the full show notes on Forbes! http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/12/how-polkadot-hopes-to-help-blockchains-scale/

Thank you to our sponsors!

CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass.

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Parity: https://www.parity.io

Jutta Steiner: https://twitter.com/jutta_steiner

Gavin Wood: https://twitter.com/gavofyork

Polkadot light paper: https://polkadot.network/Polkadot-lightpaper.pdf

Polkadot Wiki: http://wiki.polkadot.network/en/latest/

Gavin's 2014 blog post on Web 3: https://gavwood.com/dappsweb3.html

Gav’s keynote on the journey to Web 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1pEE0W3ug

Chain Fibers article in the Ethereum Wiki: https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Chain-Fibers-Redux

Web 3.0 vision:

https://medium.com/@gavofyork/why-we-need-web-3-0-5da4f2bf95ab

More explanation of Polkadot, Substrate, Consensus, Governance, etc.: http://wiki.polkadot.network/en/latest/polkadot/learn/relevant-links/

Upgradeability without hard forks via Substrate

https://medium.com/polkadot-network/never-fork-again-438c5e985cd8

Controversy around Afri Schoedon’s tweet:

https://breakermag.com/exclusive-afri-schoedon-on-his-contentious-split-from-ethereum/

Dothereum: https://twitter.com/dothereum?lang=en

https://www.reddit.com/r/dothereum/

Gavin and Vitalik Buterin discussing competition between Ethereum and Polkadot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=vRqJK16t4-I

Why not to fork for the frozen funds:

https://medium.com/@avsa/avoid-evil-twins-every-ethereum-app-pays-the-price-of-a-chain-split-e04c2a560ba8

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Jennifer Campbell and Kevin Johnson, cofounder and COO, respectively, of Tagomi, describe how Tagomi helps institutional players make larger crypto trades more efficiently and at the best price possible, plus analyze how that was executed. They contrast it with the pre-Tagomi process for doing large crypto trades, how their software, which functions as a sort of "Kayak.com" for crypto trading, works on the backend, and how they keep funds held on exchanges secure. Plus, we compare today's crypto trading infrastructure to the early days of electronic trading in traditional financial markets, and look down the road at how they'll accommodate trends such as staking and decentralized exchanges.

For more, check out the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/05/07/how-to-make-large-crypto-trades-without-moving-the-market/

Thank you to our sponsors!

ConsenSys/Ethereal: Head to Etherealsummit.com with my discount code LAURA20 to get 20% off tickets to Ethereal Summit New York, May 10th to 11th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn.

CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass.

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Tagomi: https://tagomi.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tagomisystems

Forbes article on Tagomi: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2019/02/15/crypto-finance-grows-up-tagomis-new-tools-could-draw-institutions-into-the-crypto-market/#6c9bf98c13a0

Bloomberg video featuring Jennifer and Greg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-03-04/meet-tagomi-the-end-to-end-crypto-solution-video

Bloomberg article on comparisons to early days of electronic trading in equities: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-17/former-goldman-electronic-trading-head-sees-parallels-in-crypto

WSJ Article on Tagomi: https://www.wsj.com/articles/peter-thiel-backed-venture-to-help-big-investors-bet-on-bitcoin-1525176121

Tagomi receiving BitLicense: http://fortune.com/2019/03/27/bitcoin-peter-thiel-tagomi-bitlicense/

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Jae Kwon, founder and CEO of Tendermint and president of the Interchain Foundation, and Ethan Buchman, cofounder of Tendermint and Cosmos and technical director of the Interchain Foundation, discuss the various technologies that form the Cosmos/Tendermint system. When the Cosmos network launched on March 13, it was built on what is the blockchain equivalent of an operating system, a consensus algorithm called Tendermint, Cosmos is like the world wide web (for blockchains) built on top, and the Cosmos Hub is a specific blockchain that exists in the system that can be used to connect other blockchains. We discuss all the above, as well as how secure the chain is, and how governance works in the system.

Check out the full show notes on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/30/cosmos-a-world-wide-web-for-blockchains/

Thank you to our sponsors!

CoinDesk/Consensus: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don’t miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass.

ConsenSys/Ethereal: Head to Etherealsummit.com with my discount code LAURA20 to get 20% off tickets to Ethereal Summit New York, May 10th to 11th at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn.

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Cosmos: Cosmos.network

Cosmos.network/launch

Luni: Luni.io

Tendermint: Tendermint.com - company and product

Interchain Foundation: Interchain.io

Cosmos intro/FAQ: https://cosmos.network/intro

Cosmos white paper: https://cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper

Chart showing number of transactions vs. validators: https://medium.com/paradigm-fund/cosmos-network-the-internet-of-blockchains-is-coming-9ce956c7b78

The Control on Cosmos: https://thecontrol.co/into-the-cøsmos-433586b82865

Paradigm’s description of Cosmos: https://medium.com/paradigm-fund/cosmos-network-the-internet-of-blockchains-is-coming-9ce956c7b78

Bitfish’s response to Game of Stakes, in which it grew to 55% of the network: https://medium.com/bitfishlabs/bitfish-response-to-gos-5-24eaeeea9876

CoinDesk on Cosmos launch: https://www.coindesk.com/a-blockchain-to-connect-all-blockchains-cosmos-is-now-officially-live

Cosmos vs. Polkadot: https://tokeneconomy.co/the-state-of-crypto-interoperability-explained-in-pictures-654cfe4cc167

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Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin and aka SatoshiLite, discusses how he came to launch Litecoin, how the "fair" launch may have helped its success, why he didn't work on it for a stretch, and what inspired him to devote all of his time to it — but not own any litecoins. We also discuss his vision for Litecoin, why he believes stablecoins aren't superior, why he's considering enabling private Litecoin payments, and how he feels about the perception that he sold his litecoins near the all-time high, leaving others holding the bag.

Read the full show notes on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/23/charlie-lee-on-why-litecoins-goal-is-to-be-used-for-payments/

Read Charlie’s additional answers: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-cutting-room-floor-charlie-lee/

Thank you to our sponsors!

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

CoinDesk: Since 2015, Consensus has been recognized as the most influential blockchain and digital assets event of the year. Hot-button topics such as adoption challenges, privacy,blockchain innovation, capital formation and more take centerstage as experts and pioneers give voice to the new developments and innovations occurring around the globe. Don't miss this three-day experience! Register today: www.consensus2019.com. Use promo: UNCHAINED300 to save $300 on your pass.

Episode links:

Litecoin: http://litecoin.org

Charlie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite

Charlie on Unconfirmed, discussing the 10th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper: https://unchainedpodcast.com/charlie-lee-aka-satoshi-lite-on-the-10-year-anniversary-of-the-bitcoin-white-paper-ep-044/

Charlie on Unconfirmed, discussing the Ethereum Classic 51% attack: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-ethereum-classic-51-attack-how-it-happened-and-why-the-price-didnt-crash-ep-055/

Unchained interview with Charlie's brother, Bobby Lee:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/bobby-lee-ceo-of-btcc-on-why-the-chinese-probably-arent-using-bitcoin-to-evade-capital-controls/

CoinDesk on Charlie’s work after Coinbase:

https://www.coindesk.com/life-coinbase-can-charlie-lee-keep-litecoins-revival-alive

CoinDesk profile: https://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-most-influential-2017-3-charlie-lee

Charlie selling his LTC: https://www.reddit.com/r/litecoin/comments/7kzw6q/litecoin_price_tweets_and_conflict_of_interest/

WSJ article on selling his LTC: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-founder-tries-a-new-play-sell-it-all-1513873355?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3

Multicoin Capital report on Litecoin: https://multicoin.capital/2018/09/14/debunking-market-narratives-litecoin-ltc-edition/

Magical Crypto Friends: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVDsIYJBQ_C7Bh_aI3ZMxQ

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Alexander Zaidelson, the CEO of Beam, a cryptocurrency being built on the MimbleWimble protocol, talks about how he came to start Beam, how it differs from Grin, another cryptocurrency being built on MimbleWimble and what types of users the cryptocurrency is targeting. See the full show notes at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/16/how-businesses-might-one-day-use-cryptocurrency/

Interested in a weekend of yoga, nature, healthy food and talking crypto? Then join me, Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, from September 20-22. Sign up today! https://www.eomega.org/workshops/virtues-of-the-crypto-revolution

Thank you to our sponsor!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Beam: https://www.beam.mw

Medium: https://medium.com/beam-mw

Overviews of Grin vs. Beam:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/battle-privacycoins-what-we-know-about-grin-and-beams-mimblewimble/

https://www.coindesk.com/grin-and-beam-a-tale-of-two-coins-being-built-on-mimblewimble

Comparisons of Beam to Zcash and Monero:

https://medium.com/beam-mw/whats-the-difference-between-monero-zcash-and-beam-953eafd89354

Beam Roadmap: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-beam-roadmap-2019-b2c7f38fc106

Beam emission schedule: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-emission-schedule-215551948259

Beam FAQ: https://www.beam.mw/faq

The Block on Mimblewimble: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/08/mimblewimble-history-technology-and-the-mining-industry/

Wallet vulnerability: https://medium.com/beam-mw/mimblewimble-wallet-vulnerability-report-7b8e88dc7e

Blockchain stoppage: https://www.coindesk.com/beam-cryptocurrency-experiences-brief-blockchain-stoppage

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Daniel Lehnberg and Michael Cordner, core team members of Grin, discuss the first implementation of the MimbleWimble protocol, named after a tongue-tying curse in Harry Potter. We discuss the many ways in which Grin is similar to Bitcoin: its origin story, its goal to be "digital cash," as Satoshi's paper was subtitled, and even its emission schedule. We discuss how Grin is private, how it is lighter weight than the Bitcoin blockchain, and the philosophy behind Grin, which stands in stark contrast to the many ICOs.

For the full show notes, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/09/a-nimbler-more-private-version-of-bitcoin/

Thank you to our sponsor!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Grin: https://grin-tech.org

Grin newsletter: https://grinnews.substack.com

Daniel Lehnberg: https://twitter.com/lehnberg?lang=en

Michael Cordner: https://twitter.com/yeastplume?lang=en

MimbleWimble white paper: https://scalingbitcoin.org/papers/mimblewimble.txt

Grin Intros:

https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin/blob/master/doc/intro.md

https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin/blob/master/doc/grin4bitcoiners.md

Circle Research report on MimbleWimble technology:

https://research.circle.com/crypto-reports/mimblewimble

Grin's monetary policy — visually, easier to see how its similar in effect to Bitcoin's: https://github.com/mimblewimble/docs/wiki/Monetary-Policy

https://www.tokendaily.co/blog/on-grin-mimblewimble-and-monetary-policy

Questions about whether Grin got the incentives right: https://twitter.com/nlw/status/1091319888562532355

https://twitter.com/TusharJain_/status/1091316903346429952

Tracking YeastPlume’s funding: https://grin-tech.org/yeastplume

Ignotus Peverell post noting his disappointment in funding for YeastPlume: https://www.grin-forum.org/t/solved-early-disappointments/3682

Interview with Ignotus Peverell: https://breakermag.com/grin-founder-ignotus-peverell-on-life-after-launch-and-the-path-forward/

Conversation with Grin developers: https://medium.com/@BHEXOfficial/bhex-original-ignotus-grin-as-bitcoins-younger-more-nimble-brother-612efadd0478

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In a fireside chat I moderated with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce held by the Blockchain Digital Asset Forum, in conjunction with the NYU Stern Executive MBA program, on March 26, 2019, she explained where her reputation as 'Crypto Mom' comes from — a desire to look at the world with fresh eyes and say, are there things we can do things better? We also discussed a Bitcoin ETF and the prospects for one after Bitwise released a report showing a health legitimate market, as well as initial coin offerings and what will happen to the hundreds of ICO issuers that had initial coin offerings that look much like the ICOs that have already had enforcement actions against them. She described the process that occurs when something like an application for a Bitcoin ETF is submitted to the SEC, whether or not there's a lot of disagreement amongst the commissioners about how to regulate crypto, how much they work to persuade each other to come over to their side and whether Chairman Jay Clayton's opinion overrules everyone else's or whether majority rules. Plus, we covered dexes, stablecoins and security tokens.

View the full show notes on my Forbes page: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/04/02/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-on-why-you-shouldnt-have-to-be-rich-to-get-rich/

Thank you to our sponsor!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce

SEC: https://www.sec.gov

Event link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fireside-chat-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-and-laura-shin-tickets-58327939437

Hester's dissent to the Bitcoin ETF disapproval: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723

Bitwise's report: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nysearca-2019-01/srnysearca201901-5164833-183434.pdf

SEC enforcement action against Munchee: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2017/33-10445.pdf

SEC enforcement action against Paragon: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/33-10574.pdf

SEC enforcement action against Airfox: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/33-10575.pdf

SEC enforcement action against Gladius: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2019/33-10608.pdf

Speech by William Hinman, SEC director of the Division of Corporate Finance, on ether not being a security: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/speech-hinman-061418

Token Taxonomy Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/7356

Unchained episode with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/

SEC enforcement action against Zachary Coburn of EtherDelta: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2018/34-84553.pdf

DTC report on blockchains for securities: http://www.dtcc.com/news/2019/march/13/dtcc-outlines-guiding-principles-for-post-trade-processing-of-tokenized-securities

Thank you to Lawson Baker at TokenSoft (disclosure: a previous sponsor) for helping me think through some of the issues for this episode.

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At the first Unchained Live, Vitalik explained why he thought it was "inevitable" Ethereum would lose some of its lead, when he would be upset if Ethereum were overtaken by a competitor, and whether the Ethereum 2.0 road map was too long. We also discussed why a strain of Ethereum maximalism is emerging, how the foundation sets its funding priorities, whether or not the community should adopt inflation funding for development of the blockchain and why he thinks the MolochDAO experiment likely won't garner much investment. For the full summary, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/03/26/vitalik-buterin-on-why-ethereum-has-lost-some-of-its-lead/.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Quantstamp, the venue sponsor for Unchained Live: http://quantstamp.com/unchained

Columbia School of Professional Studies, the networking sponsor: http://sps.columbia.edu/podcast

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Previous Unchained interview with Vitalik Buterin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/vitalik-buterin-creator-of-ethereum-on-the-big-guy-vs-the-little-guy/

Unchained episode about MolochDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/molochdao-could-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization-help-ethereum-scale-faster/

Zcash interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/zcashs-zooko-wilcox-on-why-he-believes-privacy-coins-will-be-used-more-for-good-than-bad/

Unchained interview with Glen Weyl and Santiago Siri referencing radical markets: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-blockchains-can-help-create-little-democracies-everywhere/

0x interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future/

Augur interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep-79/

Dharma interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep-80/

Compound interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep-82/

dYdX interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep-86/

Unchained episode on MakerDAO, part 1: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/

Part 2: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-2-how-dai-stayed-at-1-while-eth-crashed-from-1400-to-85/

Unconfirmed episode about superfluid collateral and echoes of the 2008 financial crisis: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-earn-money-on-collateral-in-defi-and-why-thats-risky/

Unconfirmed episode about Uniswap: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-uniswap-quickly-became-one-of-the-most-popular-dexes/

Dfinity interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/dfinitys-dominic-williams-on-how-its-blockchain-nervous-system-is-not-an-ai-ep-78/

100th episode of Unchained featuring a poem about crypto and the podcast: https://unchainedpodcast.com/100th-episode-past-guests-and-listeners-take-over-the-show-ep-100/

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Ameen Soleimani, CEO of Spankchain, comes on the show to discuss his latest effort to fund Ethereum development through the decentralized autonomous organization MolochDAO. He describes how it works, plus we cover competition in the smart contract space and whether we're seeing the emergence of Ethereum maximalism.

Full show notes are back on Forbes.com! See the full recap of this week's recap of the episode at http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2019/03/18/how-could-ethereum-development-be-funded-perhaps-through-this-decentralized-autonomous-organization/.

Thank you to our sponsor!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

MolochDAO website: MolochDAO.com

MolochDAO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MolochDAO

MolochDAO white paper: https://github.com/MolochVentures/Whitepaper/blob/master/Whitepaper.pdf

Moloch Github: https://github.com/molochventures/moloch

State of Ethereum 2.0 report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PS0k9MaKPdPwEw3Uh9rq7USjq7LcSpT6ICQUXRij4YE/edit#heading=h.kdbgcss2wsc

Ameen's tweet storm on MolochDAO: https://twitter.com/ameensol/status/1084652403889065989?s=19

MolochDAO tweetstorm with update on members, etc.: https://twitter.com/MolochDAO/status/1100516720563806209?s=19

MolochDAO presentation at ETHDenver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abTRJZcmPwI

 Post by Dino Mark, Vlad Zamfir and Emin Gun Sirer, A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on the DAO: http://hackingdistributed.com/2016/05/27/dao-call-for-moratorium/

Ameen on the importance of ETH price: https://twitter.com/ameensol/status/1090319128810815489

Ryan Zurrer's position on ether fund recovery: https://medium.com/@rzurrer/evolution-dogma-a-proposed-path-towards-ether-fund-recovery-9810f213e8ee

r/Ethereum decision on moderators: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/azyqdu/a_statement_call_for_discussion_from_some_of_the/

Ameen on the timeframe for developing Ethereum 2.0 relative to development on potentially competitive chains like Polkadot: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/ajc9ip/ama_we_are_the_eth_20_research_team/eewscyf/

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Tushar Jain and Kyle Samani, managing partners of Multicoin Capital, discuss Binance, Binance Chain and BNB token, and why they believe Binance will become the first centralized company to successfully decentralize itself and migrate the value in itself to its token. We cover what Binance, the centralized company has so far achieved in terms of trading volume, fiat on-ramps, and regulatory arbitrage, and whether the company has any more regulatory risk than any other exchange. We also look at the features of Binance Chain, how they compare to other decentralized exchanges such as 0x, and why Multicoin believes that it will have more liquidity than previous dexes. We then explore BNB token — how it works now, the regulatory risk for BNB token, and how it will function on the dex. Finally, we touch on Binance's decentralization strategy overall and how it could fail.

Thank you to our sponsor!

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital

Kyle Samani: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani

Tushar Jain: https://twitter.com/TusharJain_

Multicoin Capital BNB report: https://multicoin.capital/2019/02/19/binance-coin-analysis-and-valuation/

Unchained episode with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/

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Get your tickets now for Unchained Live with Vitalik Buterin! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176   It will take place March 20th at 6pm at Columbia Journalism School in the Joseph D. Jamail Lecture Hall. Hope to see you there!

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Mona El-Isa, the cofounder and CEO of Melonport, explains how Melon, the asset management protocol which recently launched on Ethereum, makes launching a fund easier and less expensive, plus gives investors even more transparency into the manager's decisions. She describes who will be using Melon, how the funds using Melon access liquidity if the protocol only connects to decentralized exchanges, what happens if bugs are found in the protocol's smart contracts, and how know-your-customer processes are handled. Noting that the company Melonport will now be winding down, she talks about how the protocol will be managed going forward. Plus, we dive into the MLN token.

Thank you to our sponsor!

http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Melonport: https://melonport.com

Launch of Melon 1.0: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melon-v1-0-zahreddino-60105f51988d

Front and back office functions in a traditional fund vs. a Melon-based fund: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/what-is-melon-2018-edition-3437f3d064d8

Management fees in Melon: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/management-and-performance-fees-in-a-melon-fund-f1df2a26abd9

Integration with Kyber: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/kyber-network-melon-3f6bcfa2d328

Melonport will not exist by DevCon V: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTLSnS4DTak&t=882s

Melon governance: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/introduction-to-the-melon-governance-system-f6ff73c70eb0

MLN token: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-melon-but-were-too-afraid-to-ask-9ea3fda6d71f

Melonomics 1: https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-1-aligning-interests-through-token-unification-d0b98a02de46

Melonomics 2:  https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-2-the-melon-engine-48bcb0dae65

Melonomics 3:  https://medium.com/melonport-blog/melonomics-part-3-counting-melons-7632afad844c

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Glen Weyl, a political economist and social technologist, the coauthor of Radical Markets and a principal researcher at Microsoft, and Santiago Siri, the founder of Democracy Earth, discuss how blockchains can be used to create borderless democracies that can reach any citizen on earth and can be used not just by nation-states but in all kinds of communities such as the workplace, church or a social network like Facebook. We cover concepts such as quadratic finance and quadratic voting, and look at how forcing voters to have a budget for their votes changes voting behavior. We also dive into what needs to be put in place for blockchain-based voting systems to work, why identity solutions are crucial but also so hard to get right, and how we can prevent token-based governance systems from becoming plutocracies. Plus, we surmise that blockchain-based governance might be the 21st century political experiment and that someday, we may all be citizens of multiple communities.

Thank you to our sponsors!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained

Episode links:

Democracy Earth:  https://www.democracy.earth

Santiago Siri: https://twitter.com/santisiri

Radical Xchange: https://twitter.com/RadxChange

Glen Weyl: https://twitter.com/glenweyl

Radical Xchange conference in March: radicalxchange.org

Radical Markets: https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11222.html

Democracy Earth white paper: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sifogl4zimwkkei/Democracy%20Earth%20-%20Social%20Smart%20Contract%20-%20Paper%20v0.2.pdf?dl=0

Democracy Earth cofounder Pia Mancini on early work with digital democracy: https://www.ted.com/talks/pia_mancini_how_to_upgrade_democracy_for_the_internet_era?language=en

Santi on how blockchains could revolutionize democracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UajbQTHnTfM

Wired article on Democracy Earth: https://www.wired.com/story/santiago-siri-radical-plan-for-blockchain-voting/

CoinDesk feature on Glen Weyl: https://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-most-influential-blockchain-2018-glen-weyl

Vitalik Buterin blog post on Radical Markets: https://vitalik.ca/general/2018/04/20/radical_markets.html

Paper by Vitalik, Zoe Hitzig and Glen on quadratic financing: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243656

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In case you haven’t heard, I’m doing a live podcast recording with Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum. What is a live podcast recording? It's a podcast performed by me and the guest on a stage, in front of an audience. 

Vitalik and I will be discussing Ethereum 2.0, Polka Dot, Substrate, what happened with Afri this week and more. And you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions. 

It’ll be in New York City the evening of March 20th, which is one month from today. The doors open at 6, the show starts at 7. We will be announcing the venue soon. 

Get your tickets here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176

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Jalak Jobanputra, founder and managing partner of Future Perfect Ventures, talks about how, in 2014, her experience as an investment bank and VC, her global background, and her observation that new streams of data were becoming available led her to launch her first fund, which ended up being 70% invested in blockchain. She describes what it was like selling LPs on the nascent technology in 2014, how her latest fund, which will be more than $50 million, is different and how it's drawing LPs who thought they could make money through liquid hedge funds invested in tokens. She talks about why she thinks early-stage technologies can't be IPO'ed -- and why FPV shied away from ICOs -- but why her second fund is capable of investing in tokens. She also explains how the space is still lacking in early-stage VCs with knowledge of the blockchain sector, why New York launched the New York Blockchain Center and whether crypto is becoming more diverse.

Come See Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin!

Wednesday, March 20th, doors at 6, show at 7, venue TBD

Get your tickets now!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176

Thank you to our sponsors!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained

Episode links:

Future Perfect Ventures: Futureperfectventures.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jalak

Blog: Thebarefootvc.com

Jalak op-ed on Bitcoin at $10,000 in Recode: https://www.recode.net/2017/11/29/16716014/bitcoin-price-10k-ethereum-blockchain-cryptocurrency-value-creation-global

Profile of Jalak in Breaker Mag: https://breakermag.com/why-one-of-blockchains-first-vcs-thinks-the-developing-world-will-lead-the-way/

Jalak on the 10th birthday of the Bitcoin white paper: https://breakermag.com/remembering-the-bitcoin-whitepaper-part-3-the-thinkers/

New York Blockchain Center: https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/nycedc-open-nyc-s-public-private-blockchain-center

Wired story on the Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/

Unconfirmed episode with Bill Barhydt of portfolio company Abra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-abra-enables-you-to-buy-5-of-an-etf-like-token-of-the-top-10-cryptos-ep-040/

Unchained episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of portfolio company Bitpesa: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island/

Unchained episode with Vinny Lingham of portfolio company Civic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/civics-vinny-lingham-on-when-crypto-demand-will-catch-up-with-the-technology/

Unchained episode with Josh Stein of portfolio company Harbor: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/

Unchained episode with Riccardo Spagni of portfolio company Tari: https://unchainedpodcast.com/moneros-riccardo-spagni-aka-fluffypony-on-how-he-feels-about-monero-being-used-for-crime-ep-93/

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Jeremy Welch of personal key security system Casa describes the company's various services and products, including its $10,000-a-year premium service for HODLers of at least $500,000 worth of cryptocurrency and the Casa node. He explains how he came to start Casa, why using seed phrases for managing security of crypto hardware devices is so problematic, and how customers should set up the keys in their possession for the company's multi-signature solution, in which any transaction requires the use of three of five keys. We go on at length at about potential ways in which an attacker could still force a target, say, at gunpoint, to move money to the hacker's wallet. We also discuss why the company doesn't offer a multi-sig solution for ether, why people choose to run Casa's Bitcoin/Lightning node and where people are using Lightning.

Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin in New York City: Get your tickets here!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176

Thank you to our sponsors!

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained

TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Episode links:

Casa: https://keys.casa

Jeremy Welch: https://twitter.com/jeremyrwelch

The Cutting Room Floor: Jeremy Welch of Casa, in which Jeremy answers by email the remaining questions we didn't get to:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-cutting-room-floor-jeremy-welch-of-casa/

Casa blog post on the evolution of Bitcoin key management: https://blog.keys.casa/the-evolution-of-bitcoin-key-management/

Ways to store your crypto: https://blog.keys.casa/crypto-101-storing-your-cryptocurrency/

Forbes on Casa's $2 million seed funding: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2018/03/02/bitcoin-thieves-beware-super-secure-wallet-maker-casa-raises-2-million/#4c5b2e544230

Casa's seven guiding principles: https://medium.com/casa/seven-guiding-principles-at-casa-92f43e5e546a

Announced after we recorded: Casa's new browser extension: https://blog.keys.casa/casa-browser-extension/

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Rune Christensen, CEO and cofounder of MakerDAO, explains how multicollateral Dai will work, what happens if one type of collateral fails, and what happens when someone's collateralized debt position with multicollateral Dai needs to be liquidated. He also discusses who gets to participate in the various levels of governance with the MKR token, who owns those tokens and what the purpose of the Maker Foundation is. We also cover whether the CFTC would consider collateralized debt positions to be derivatives and therefore under its purview, how Dai is being used and how much education is required for people to use the system.

Thank you to our sponsors!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Episode links:

MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/

Rune Christensen: https://twitter.com/RuneKek

Previous Unchained episode on stablecoins with Rune and Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/

Unconfirmed episode with Rune on Andreessen Horowitz’s $15 million investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/

Part 1 of my interview with Rune: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-part-1-how-to-keep-a-crypto-collateralized-stablecoin-afloat/

Digital Asset Research report on MakerDAO: https://www.digitalassetresearch.com/our-products/#in-depth-research

CFTC smart contracts primer prohibiting derivatives contracts that are traded on exchanges that are supposed to be registered with the CFTC and are not.  https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/LabCFTC_PrimerSmartContracts112718.pdf

Nice recap of how Dai has performed as ETH has dropped in price: https://medium.com/@mikeraymcdonald/single-collateral-dai-9-months-in-review-b9d9fbe45ab

MKR Tools website: https://mkr.tools/tokens/dai

Description of Maker Tools: https://medium.com/@mikeraymcdonald/announcing-the-new-mkr-tools-e32466f1c3db

Maintaining its peg as ETH dropped:

https://medium.com/makerdao/volatile-times-dai-as-a-safe-haven-2f017453e9f1

MakerDAO and Wyre partnership: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/makerdao-and-wyre-give-businesses-immediate-access-to-dai-stablecoin-in-over-thirty-countries-including-usa-300696400.html

ETH in DeFi projects: https://mikemcdonald.github.io/eth-defi/

Placeholder VC blog post: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2019/1/23/maker-investment-thesis

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Rune Christensen, CEO and cofounder of MakerDAO, explains the intricacies of the MakerDAO system, which includes the stablecoin Dai, which is pegged to $1, backed by collateral, and whose governance is managed by holders of the MKR token. He describes how the current version of "single-collateral" Dai, is backed by ether, how Dai is created with a collateralized debt position and what happens when the value of the collateral falls too low. He also talks about the roles of various players in the system, such as keepers, oracles and MKR token holders. We also cover how the system handles black swan events or other emergencies. The MakerDAO system is so complex, however, that we will reconvene for a part 2 to describe the rest of the system and how a multi-collateral Dai will function.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/en/

Rune Christensen: https://twitter.com/RuneKek

Previous Unchained episode on stablecoins with Rune and Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/

Unconfirmed episode with Rune on Andreessen Horowitz's $15 million investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/

MakerDAO white paper: https://makerdao.com/en/whitepaper/

Decreasing the stability fee: https://medium.com/makerdao/decreasing-the-stability-fee-1f9fe50cf582

Unchained episode on generalized mining with Jake Brukhman and Tushar Jain: https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinfunds-jake-brukhman-and-multicoins-tushar-jain-on-generalized-mining-ep-92/

Laura's TEDx talk: https://unchainedpodcast.com/lauras-tedx-talk-how-crypto-could-allow-more-people-to-be-their-own-boss-ep-047/

USD Coin's banking partners: https://support.usdc.circle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015278272-Who-are-the-banking-and-financial-partners-you-are-using-for-USDC-

TrueUSD's trust companies and their correspondent banks: https://blog.trusttoken.com/who-are-the-correspondent-banks-and-trustee-partners-for-trueusd-e12508f0d5a2

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Gemini's Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who serve as chief executive and president, respectively, discuss their new ad campaign -- what they mean when they say crypto needs rules, why they agree in certain respects with some of their critics, and what the general reaction has been. They discuss why they launched a stablecoin, why they chose the stablecoin structure of dollar reserves and GUSD's role in an arbitrage involving a Chinese exchange and a competing stablecoin. They also explain how they intend to make a Bitcoin ETF a reality, what they think of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce's dissent and what they intend for the Virtual Commodity Association. Plus, the brothers talk about why their goal is to be "the fastest tortoise in the race."

Thank you to our sponsors!

Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Gemini's new ad campaign: https://www.wsj.com/articles/winklevosses-cryptocurrency-exchange-says-the-revolution-needs-rules-11546599600

Negative reaction to Gemini ad campaign from crypto community:

Erik Voorhees: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1081204430857416706

Gemini USD gets approval of New York Department of Financial Services: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-10/controversial-crypto-coin-tether-to-get-regulated-competitors

Past episodes with other stablecoin projects:

USDC/Circle: https://unchainedpodcast.com/circles-jeremy-allaire-and-sean-neville-on-why-crypto-will-be-bigger-than-the-web-ep-71/

TrueUSD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/

MakerDAO: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable/

https://unchainedpodcast.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep-039/

Bloomberg reporter Matt Leising on Tether: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bloombergs-matt-leising-on-why-it-appears-tether-has-sufficient-dollar-reserves-ep-052/

Trading of GUSD for Pax and cashing out via Huobi:

https://medium.com/paxos/regulation-in-the-crypto-world-part-i-leading-the-way-into-the-light-11e54d16b035

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/01/04/gemini-gave-trading-firms-a-stablecoin-discount-and-it-caused-big-headaches-for-one-of-its-rivals/

GUSD distribution on Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/token/tokenholderchart/0x056fd409e1d7a124bd7017459dfea2f387b6d5cd

Cameron and Tyler's AMA on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/adk0ua/we_are_cameron_and_tyler_winklevoss_cofounders_of/edhlb3b/

SEC commissioner Hester Peirce's dissent on Bitcoin ETF decision: https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723

Bitcoin Cash launch on Gemini: https://medium.com/gemini/bitcoin-cash-is-now-available-on-gemini-cc75299d892f

The 51% attack on Ethereum Classic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-ethereum-classic-51-attack-how-it-happened-and-why-the-price-didnt-crash-ep-055/

Gemini year in review

https://medium.com/gemini/geminis-2018-year-in-review-1cd0815dd45e

Virtual Commodity Association: https://medium.com/gemini/joining-the-virtual-commodity-association-8bdf3b2f803e

Gemini's new mobile app:

https://medium.com/gemini/introducing-the-gemini-mobile-app-crypto-on-the-go-1448d2ae74fa

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In this wide-ranging episode, Eric Meltzer and Dovey Wan of Primitive Ventures describe how Asia is weathering the crypto downturn: how have the low prices affected miners, how has this affected Bitmain's prospects for an IPO and how, despite a ban on crypto exchanges, Chinese crypto users have been trading. We also discuss more broadly how crypto projects and startups differ between China and the U.S., how crypto is upending Silicon Valley's dominance, and how differences in regulation are affecting entrepreneurship in the space. Plus, Eric and Dovey address whether or not the surveillance state is motivating Chinese interest in crypto.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Primitive Ventures: http://primitive.ventures

Eric Meltzer: https://twitter.com/wheatpond

Dovey Wan: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan

Binance was more profitable than Deutsche Bank in quarter 1 of 2018: https://www.ccn.com/binance-surpassed-germanys-biggest-bank-deutsche-in-profitability/

Bitmain and Huobi layoffs: https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/2179513/chinas-cryptocurrency-giants-bitmain-and-huobi-plan-lay-offs-amid

Hong Kong regulators reluctant to allow crypto firms to IPO:

https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2178747/hong-kong-regulators-say-ipos-cryptocurrency-businesses-are

Report that China wants an "orderly exit" from crypto mining: https://qz.com/1174091/china-wants-an-orderly-exit-from-bitcoin-mining/

Chinese op-ed on why the People’s Bank of China should consider a yuan-pegged cryptocurrency: https://www.coindesk.com/pboc-op-ed-pushes-use-case-for-yuan-pegged-crypto-stablecoins

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Eric Larcheveque, cofounder and CEO of Ledger, and Demetrios Skalkotos, global head of Ledger Vault, describe the company's three main offerings: its hardware wallets, the new software-as-a-service product for institutions, and an Internet of Things offering for transactions involving physical assets. They also describe how the company scaled for a massive increase in demand in 2017, who their customers are and how the company has responded to vulnerabilities found in its products. Plus, they explain why they don't put tamper-proof packaging on their hardware wallets.

Thank you to our sponsors!

TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Ledger: https://www.ledger.com

Eric Larcheveque: https://twitter.com/EricLarch

Demetrios Skalkotos: https://twitter.com/DemoSkalkotos

Introduction of Ledger Vault: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-vault-nyc-office-brings-crypto-security-to-institutional-investors-ec9ee3445850

Three part-series on hardware wallets: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-101-part-1-do-you-really-need-a-hardware-wallet-7f5abbadd945

Ledger's description of BOLOS: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/a-closer-look-into-ledger-security-our-custom-operating-system-bolos-ab608bcb0839

Blog post from Saleem Rashid: https://saleemrashid.com/2018/03/20/breaking-ledger-security-model/

Demonstration of attacks on hardware wallets at 35c3: https://wallet.fail

Ledger's response: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/chaos-communication-congress-in-response-to-wallet-fails-presentation-17bcd166a052

Ledger Donjon: https://medium.com/ledger-on-security-and-blockchain/ledger-donjon-3e04e0ce49a9

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To celebrate the 100th episode of Unchained, I talk a little about what this podcast means to me and thank everyone who's helped me with it. Then I let past guests and listeners take it away with their comments and predictions for 2019. Thank you to everyone who sent in submissions -- and to the listeners and sources who've helped me along the way!

Thank you to our sponsors!

TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

My TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Ew7PW4LCo

Facebook working on a stablecoin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-21/facebook-is-said-to-develop-stablecoin-for-whatsapp-transfers

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Growing up in Argentina, Wences Casares saw his family lose all their money three times due to actions by the government. The so-called "patient zero" of Bitcoin in Silicon Valley explains why he believes that experience predisposed him to seeing the potential in Bitcoin earlier than most people, why it's so hard to explain Bitcoin to Americans and why the company he founded, Xapo, isn't just a Bitcoin vault and wallet company but his best effort at helping to ensure that Bitcoin succeeds. He talks about why he isn't scared of all the new competitors to his service, including Coinbase Custody, why Xapo hasn't branched out into any other crypto assets, and why he believes there's a more than 50% chance that Bitcoin is worth $1 million in five to ten years. Additionally, he still believes the attempt to accommodate more transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain with the SegWit2x fork, which he backed, was wrong -- even though the fees after its failure skyrocketed to as high as $60. Plus -- he reveals what it would look like if Bitcoin became a global standard of value, and why that vision doesn't threaten governments.

Thank you to our sponsors!

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

Episode links:

Wences Casares: https://twitter.com/wences

Xapo: https://xapo.com/

Wences's Facebook Live with Dan Schulman of PayPal: https://www.facebook.com/DanSchulmanPayPal/videos/1419329821528449/

To learn more about Wences, read New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper's book, Digital Gold: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062362506/digital-gold/

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Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, describes the company's services and products, why it's launching a credit offering, and why he pivoted from his original intention to launch a crypto hedge fund and then pivoted again from working with ICOs to serving institutional players. He talks about why, if he had the chance to go public again, he wouldn't do it, why Galaxy's stock fell so precipitously one day that trading was halted, and why he thinks the SEC has made it clear the ICO markets are closed. He also talks about why, on the way to democratizing finance, the crypto markets need to "take a step back" and start with institutions, why decentralization is important, and why he thinks the launch of Bakkt is the most important news in the crypto space this year. Plus, Mike surmises as to how consumers will start using crypto, but believes it won’t replace fiat in the Western world.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Microsoft: aka.ms/unchained

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Episode links:

Galaxy Digital: https://www.galaxydigital.io

Galaxy Digital's losses so far this year: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-28/novogratz-s-crypto-trading-desk-lost-136-million-in-nine-months

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-26/novogratz-s-galaxy-digital-sees-134-million-loss-on-crypto-drop

Unchained episode about security tokens: http://unchainedpodcast.co/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep77

Unchained interview with Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable

Unconfirmed episode with Tom Jessop of Fidelity Digital Assets: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043

Unchained podcast with Arthur Hayes of Bitmex: http://unchainedpodcast.co/arthur-hayes-of-bitmex-on-why-countries-will-turn-to-digital-cash-ep63

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This is a special episode of Unchained from the CME Global Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida. There, I spoke with Arthur Hayes, CoFounder and CEO of Bitmex, Dan O’Prey, chief marketing officer of Digital Asset, and Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Reddit and Co-Founder of Initialized Capital. We cover how public and permissioned chains will compete or complement each other, how blockchain technology will affect incumbent financial services, and how it has already proven itself (hint: as a store of value is one answer). We discuss whether or not crypto represents a new asset class, why the crypto winter is helping to improve the space, and what the launch of Bakkt and Fidelity Digital Assets could mean going forward.

Thank you to our sponsors!

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained

Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain

Episode links

CME's Global Financial Leadership Conference: https://www.gflc.com

Arthur Hayes: https://twitter.com/cryptohayes

Bitmex: https://www.bitmex.com

Dan O'Prey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danoprey/

Digital Asset: https://www.digitalasset.com

Alexis Ohanian: https://twitter.com/alexisohanian

Initialized Capital: https://initialized.com

Unconfirmed episode with Tom Jessop's Fidelity Digital Assets: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/fidelity-digital-asset-services-tom-jessop-on-why-its-serving-institutional-clients-first-ep043

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