CoinDesk Podcast Network

Crypto tokens weren’t the only thing that saw a major pump yesterday. The total value locked in DeFi ascended to new heights. While part of this can be explained simply by the rise in ETH price, it also reflected traders turning to DeFi platforms as a way to get more exposure to the market action without selling their core assets. 

For all the exciting price action, not everything is pointing in a positive direction. These market moves don’t seem to reflect new market participants, for example, and anecdotally, times remain tough for projects trying to fundraise. 

In our final segment, we look at a blockchain conference in North Korea that the UN suggests simply attending may violate international sanctions, an Iran-focused hedge fund that uses cryptocurrency to work around international restrictions, and ask whether this sort of activity presents a narrative risk to the industry as a whole?

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Bitcoin is up more than 8% in the last 24 hours. BSV, meanwhile, is up nearly a whopping 100%. The question is, of course, why? Is it some larger macro context? A pump-and-dump? Or just the crypto markets being as crazy as they are. The Breakdown invited guest Mati Greenspan, former e-Toro analyst and now founder of Quantum Economics to give his take. 

We also look at two stories around the growing crypto derivative markets: the launch of the CME’s options on bitcoin futures and CFTC Chair Heath Tarbert’s comments yesterday that regulated derivatives will bring legitimacy to the space. Finally, we look at a just-released Investor Alert from the SEC on IEOs.

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Starting today, accredited investors will be able to part of $13.5m in tokenized bonds connected to the contract of Brooklyn Nets Point Guard Spencer Dinwiddie. The first-of-its-kind offering took months of negotiation with the NBA but marks a seminal moment for both crypto and the larger idea of Income Share Agreements. 

In this podcast, we discuss how big a deal Dinwiddie’s offering is and whether Income Share Agreements could be a breakout use case for crypto. We also discuss other contenders for “crypto killer app,” including undercollateralized DeFi loans and NFT-based games. Finally, we discuss whether crypto’s actual killer app has already arrived - in the form of using bitcoin to escape local political and economic controls. 

Topics Discussed:

Spencer Dinwiddie tokenizes $13.5m NBA contract

What Income Share Agreements have to do with crypto 

Bitcoin’s mainstream use case isn’t mainstream

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The best Sundays are for long reads and deep conversations. Earlier this week, the Let's Talk Bitcoin! show enlisted CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen and early cypherpunk Zooko Wilcox for a conversation on the history, challenges and long term development path of early, formative technologies. which we often hear modern blockchain movements compared against. 

From the pre-internet days, through the free/open source movement, linux's successes and challenges on the desktop, the peer-to-peer movement, cypherpunks, linux maximalism, fundamentalism as a concept as well as some brief excursions through some history and politics of the time... Later, we'll discuss how AI and lawyers have more in common than you'd think, and what kind of protections we may need as autonomous agents become ubiquitous.

This episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin! is sponsored by Brave.com, eToro.com, and Purse.io   Original Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash. This episode featured CoinDesk Reporter Leigh Cuen and Zooko Wilcox. Music for todays episode was provided by Jared Rubens, and general fuzz, with editing by Jonas.  Have any questions or comments? Email [email protected]  - And with luck we’ll be back next week with full host discussions.

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China’s digital currency project continues to move ahead aggressively, with a new paper from the People’s Bank of China suggesting that a core design is complete. Whatever stage of development the currency actually is, it’s clear that China wants the world to see it as ahead of the curve in the digital currency race. 

In other parts of the world, crypto companies face a never-ending game of regulatory arbitrage. Derebit has moved from the Netherlands to Panama, citing a new burden from AMLD5 compliance. In the U.S., New York wants to give its crypto regulators (even) more teeth while Illinois recognizes the legality of blockchain-based contracts. 

Topics Discussed:

PBoC paper claims “top-level” design of crypto currency complete. https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/52616/chinas-central-bank-says-it-has-completed-top-level-design-of-digital-currency

Zuck leaves out Libra in Faceboook 2030 vision

https://www.coindesk.com/facebooks-zuckerberg-highlights-digital-commerce-but-not-libra-in-2030-vision

Derebit leaves the Netherlands for Panama due to AMLD5 compliance concerns 

https://www.coindesk.com/dutch-derivatives-exchange-deribit-to-move-to-crypto-friendly-panama

Gov Cuomo wants to give NYFDS more teeth

https://www.coindesk.com/new-york-governor-proposes-giving-financial-watchdog-more-teeth

Illinois recognizes legality of blockchain-based contracts

https://www.coindesk.com/illinois-legalizes-blockchain-contracts

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The aftershock of the 2016 The DAO hack meant that DAOs weren’t nearly as hyped as ICOs and later some other aspects of the web3 movement. In 2019, however, DAOs came roaring back and start 2020 with the wind at their sails. 

In this episode, we look at the 2019 DAO tale of the tape - what people thought would happen and what actually did happen, including the launch of Moloch, MetaCartel, Ethereum’s MarketingDAO and more than 1000 DAOs on Aragon. We also hear from Aragon founder Luis Cuende who discusses 1) why the newly launched Aragon courts expand what DAOs can do; 2) examples of the need for subjective human intervention in DAOs; and 3) why 2020 is poised to be DAOs best year yet.

RELATED STORY: Aragon courts begin recruiting jurors 

DAO Platform Aragon Begins Recruiting Jurors for Tokenized 'Court'

RELATED STORY: Ryan Zurrer’s new for profit DAO

Former Polychain Partner Ryan Zurrer Is Leaving Web3 to Start a DAO

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The conversation about whether bitcoin is a safe haven asset continues in the wake of Iranian missile strikes, which saw the price of BTC both surge and retrace in parallel with crude and gold. To help explain what’s going on, we feature comments from Ikigai Asset Management’s Travis Kling. 

Also in today’s episode, we look at newly published priorities from the SEC around crypto including investor suitability, trading practices, and compliance program effectiveness. We also discuss former Bakkt CEO and now Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler’s appointment to the committee that oversees the CFTC. Is it a conflict of interest, something good for the crypto industry, or both? 

Topics discussed:

Bitcoin as a safe haven asset as it follows crude and gold after Iran missile strikes

Related Story: Bitcoin Hits New 2020 High Above $8,400 After Iranian Missile Attack

SEC publishes 2020 crypto priorities 

Related Story: Former Bakkt CEO to Help Oversee CFTC in Congress

Kelly Loefller appointed to committee overseeing CFTC

Related Story: SEC Examination Office Gets Specific About Crypto Priorities in 2020

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In their annual transparency report, Kraken reported seeing a 50% increase in regulatory inquiries as compared to 2018, which CEO Jesse Powell later revealed cost the exchange more than $1m. Between this and stories like the $2m it cost Blockstack to raise $23m in an SEC compliant token sale (8.7% of the raise), it begs the question: will compliance costs fundamentally limit innovation by demanding big war chests to play? Will the most successful companies be those who (like Block One) simply raise enough to pay off the regulators on the back end? 

We also look at new mining interests in Texas and what it means for American mining and bitcoin mining in the lead up to the halving more broadly, as well as dissect an op-ed from the IMF’s chief economist on the strength of the dollar over digital alternatives. 

Topics discussed 

Kraken annual transparency report shows off growing regulatory inquiries and increasing cost of compliance

Related Article: Law Enforcement Data Requests Rose by Almost 50 Percent in 2019, Says Kraken

New global interests in giant Texas-based bitcoin mining operation

Related Article: SBI, GMO to Rent Capacity at Massive Bitcoin Mine in Texas: Report

The IMF’s chief economist on why digital currencies don’t threaten the dollar’s global reserve currency status

Related Article: Digital Currencies Won't Replace US Dollar Any Time Soon: IMF Chief Economist

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Last week, the US government took out a key Iranian military leader. As the world - and the markets - reacts to the news, some are asking what happens with bitcoin. With global instability on the rise, will more people turn to bitcoin as a safe haven asset? Will speculators drive the price up on that narrative even if it doesn’t bear out in reality? If Iranians use crypto, will that draw the attention and ire of regulators? 

In a different area of the industry, Telegram has released updated information about their forthcoming crypto token TON. Most notable was the bombshell that the token would not be integrated into Telegram Messenger - which was, of course, the predominant logic behind the more than $1.7B that was invested in the TON presale. 

Finally, we discuss the dust up around Nakamoto.com, a new crypto journal that was almost immediately accused of affinity scamming and censorship. Is it a case of overzealous bitcoin defenders or does the critique hold merit? 

Topics discussed:

The implications of Iran and geopolitical instability for bitcoin 

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-eyes-price-breakout-amid-us-iran-tensions

Telegram updates expectations around TON ahead of SEC deposition 

https://www.coindesk.com/telegram-tries-to-clarify-gram-crypto-project-amid-ongoing-sec-fight

New crypto journal Nakamoto.com stirs controversy

https://messari.io/article/naka-naka-naka-work-anymore

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The past few weeks have seen multiple instances of large, centralized tech giants censoring crypto related content and activity. Noticed in the context of the Coinbase Wallet, Apple is pushing back against apps that have anything to do with Dapps. YouTube caused even more of a stir when it took down hundreds of crypto-related videos from prominent influencers without any warning. It later reversed the action, claiming an error, but it was enough to get many to ask: are decentralized alternatives possible? 

As if on cue, Justin Sun popped up to announce that TRON had struck a deal through which decentralized Twitch competitor and streaming service DLive would be moving to the TRON Blockchain and integrating with BitTorrent’s BLive streaming service. For many, however, TRON’s involvement makes DLive more likely to end up a centralized tool than a disruptive decentralized social network alternative.

Episode Topics and Links

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