Block Party

By Blockchain.comTechnology

Block Party episodes

September 02, 2021 Q&A: Decentralizing ShapeShift with Erik Voorhees
Blockchain.com's monthly discussion about the crypto market. During the call we’ll cover asset price movements, potential key drivers, developments in the news, and updates from Blockchain.com.
This month, we were joined by Erik Voorhees, CEO and Founder of ShapeShift to discuss the decentralization of ShapeShift and the future of the organization.
Enjoy!
35 min
August 06, 2021 Q&A: Peter Mauric on the Polkadot network
This month's Market Outlook event, we were joined by Peter Mauric, Head of Public Affairs at Parity, the team focused on building the technology for Polkadot.
Our Co-Founder, Nicolas Cary, and Head of Research, Garrick Hileman, sat down with Peter to discuss the Polkadot network, parachains, how Polkadot is different from other blockchains like Ethereum, and much more.
Enjoy!
47 min
July 29, 2021Q&A: Ben Rhodes on China and Crypto
On today's episode of the Blockchain.com Podcast, our VP of Marketing, Jason Karsh, and Head of Research, Garrick Hileman sit down with Ben Rhodes, advisor and speech writer for former US President Barrack Obama. He is author of the bestseller, The World as It Is and cohost of the Pod Save the World podcast. His new book, After the Fall, explores the rise of authoritarianism around the world.
Their conversation covered many topics including:
Ben's experience writing thousands of speeches for President Obama

In depth discussion around China, ranging from the risk of conflict with the US over Taiwan to why the Chinese government's need for control seemingly overrides their own economic and and geopolitical interest

Ben's thoughts on Bitcoin, including the latest crypto crackdown in China and how different political regimes, from Russia to the US, view crypto and how it should be regulated
Enjoy!
58 min
July 19, 2021Q&A: A Look at Stablecoins and PAX with Mike Dudas
On today's episode of The Blockchain.com Podcast, our Head of Research, Garrick Hileman welcomes Mike Dudas, former CEO and founder of The Block and current Head of Stablecoin Business Development at Paxos. The Paxos US dollar backed stablecoin was the first stablecoin made available on the Blockchain.com Wallet and Exchange.
During their conversation, they dig into the PAX stablecoin and discuss:
What motivated Mike to leave The Block and join a B2B enterprise company in the crypto space?

Stablecoin 101: how the PAX stablecoin is different from crypto-collateralized and algorithmic stablecoins?

How and why Paxos provides a white label stablecoin system, including for the 3rd largest stablecoin by market value, Binance USD stablecoin (BUSD)

The incredible success PAXOS has had securing deals to provide blockchain services to some of the the largest fastest growing financial institutions, including PayPal and Revolut

The future of stablecoins. How Mike expects to see stablecoins used in the years to come and how big this space can be.
Blockchain.com's USD PAX Research Primer
38 min
July 14, 2021 Q&A: UK Founders Panel with Itamar Lesuisse of Argent and Tom Robinson of Elliptic
This month's Market Outlook event, we hosted a UK Founders Panel and were joined by Tom Robinson, Chief Scientist and Co-Founder of Elliptic, and Itamar Lesuisse, Co-Founder and CEO of Argent.
Our VP of Finance, Jason Karsh and Co-Founder, Nicolas Cary discussed with them about the market, their companies and the path to growth.
Enjoy!
32 min
June 24, 2021Q&A: Bitcoin vs. the Real Digital Gold
On today's episode of The Blockchain.com Podcast, we're joined by Charlie McGarraugh, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Markets here at Blockchain.com.
While crypto prices plummeted in May, gold had its best month since July of last year, up 8% for the month. Garrick Hileman - Blockchain.com's Head of Research - and Charlie discussed what's happening with gold, crypto prices, and tokenized gold like Blockchain.com's own DGLD token.
In this episode, we discuss:
Charlie’s background as a gold trader at Goldman Sachs and the structure of global gold markets

why tokenizing traditional assets like gold is useful, and what functionality and advantages tokenization brings

Are gold and bitcoin more competitive or complementary?

Blockchain.com’s tokenized gold product called DGLD - how it is constructed, where the gold is stored, and its new wrapped version called wDGLD that can be stored and transacted in the Blockchain.com wallet
Enjoy!
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Previous podcasts with Charlie McGarraugh - Episode 10: The Crypto Markets with Charlie McGarraugh and Episode 27: Is the crypto bull market still intact?
Blockchain.com's Gold Token Primer and Going for Gold? A Research Primer on Gold-Backed Crypto Tokens.
More reading - November Markets: Bitcoin sets a new all time high while gold plunged, A Classic, Now Digital. DGLD Now Exclusively Available on the Blockchain.com Exchange, and Wrapped-DGLD brings Swiss vault held Gold to Ethereum.
Even more reading - What is wrapped-DGLD (wDGLD)? and Why do I need ETH to send wDGLD?
25 min
June 15, 2021Q&A: Niall Ferguson on the COVID Pandemic, Inflation and Crypto
On today's episode of The Blockchain.com Podcast our CEO, Peter Smith, and Head of Research, Garrick Hileman, host Niall Ferguson. Niall is currently a Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and the author of 16 books, including a new book titled Doom.
During their conversation, the three discussed a range of topics including,
What historical period may be most relevant to understanding if the current inflationary price pressures are transitory or something more troubling

What impact inflation could have on markets

The significance of El Salvador making Bitcoin legal tender and what's happening with crypto adoption throughout Latin America

The latest of China's crypto crackdown and why policymakers around the world are struggling to develop a grand strategy for regulating crypto

And why many macro economists keep getting crypto wrong
41 min
June 08, 2021 Q&A: Building DeFi on the Bitcoin Network with Muneeb Ali
This month's Market Outlook event, we were joined by Muneeb Ali, Stacks Founder and CEO of Hiro.
Our Head of Research, Garrick Hileman, and Co-founder, Nicolas Cary, discussed with Muneeb Stacks' work to build DeFi on Bitcoin - how that's possible and the advantages of building on Bitcoin as opposed to Ethereum and other blockchains - how you can earn 10% yield by using Stacks, and Muneeb's outlook on how smart contracts and other blockchain powered applications will eventually collapse back to being built on top of bitcoin.
Enjoy!
47 min
May 28, 2021Q&A: Is the Crypto Bull Market Still Intact?
On today's episode of The Blockchain.com Podcast, Garrick Hileman - visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Head of Research at Blockchain.com - sits down with Charlie McGarraugh - Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Markets - to discuss the current state of the crypto markets.
In this episode, we get Charlie's take on:
Whether the crypto bull run market is still intact

Is bitcoin's status as the reserve asset intact in light of growing environmental concerns

Why measures like bitcoin dominance are poor measures to watch and what you should really be watching

The evolving China regulatory situation and why there is some upside to a crackdown in China

DeFi, Ethereum, and what key upside and downside catalysts Charlie is keeping an eye out for over the coming months
Enjoy!
15 min
May 17, 2021Q&A: Navigating Crypto Taxes pt 3 with Austin Woodward
Crypto taxes are gaining attention, and not just because assets like bitcoin and ethereum continue to make new all-time highs. Policymakers around the world have been debating the issue of crypto taxes and with relatively new types of crypto activity it can all be a bit confusing.
Today's episode of The Blockchain.com Podcast covers part 3 of our Navigating Crypto Taxes series. Blockchain.com's Head of Research, Garrick Hileman, is joined by Austin Woodward, Co-Founder and CEO of TaxBit to discuss a range of topics, including...
How TaxBit is both similar and different from traditional tax software firms and products

Austin's view on where US and International crypto tax policy is heading in regards to compliance

Why the automation of tax compliance at the protocol level for DeFi is something we're likely to see in the future
Enjoy!
Blockchain.com's 2020 Guide to US Crypto Taxes
35 min