Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

In this episode we are joined by David Hoffman, Chief of Operations at RealT, a company which tokenizes realestate assets into security tokens. He is also well known for numerous pieces he has written on Ethereum and DeFi and is co-host of the POV Crypto podcast. Hear us as we talk about his writings, how tokenizing real estate assets works, Bitcoin on Ethereum, the feedback loop problem and effects of the USD in DeFi, and a debate on whether Ether is an asset.

Topics covered in this episode:

• What RealT is and how tokenizing real estate assets works
• Using the Uniswap protocol for trading
• The thesis behind David's “Defining Ether as an Asset” post
• The crypto-economics economics of Bitcoin on Ethereum (tBTC, wBTC)
• The feedback loop problem in DeFi
• The effects of the USD price on volatility in DeFi
• The argument that Ether is a ”triple-point asset”
• The utility value of Ethereum
• Rebutting the argument the Ethereum will eat all of the world's value

Episode links:

• RealT
• Defining Ether as an Asset
• Ethereum is an Emergent Structure
• Ether Is Equity
• Ether: A New Model for Money
• POV Crypto Podcast
• Reset Everything Event
• RealT Twitter
• David Hoffman Twitter
• POC Crypto Podcast Twitter

Sponsors:

• Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/332

This week we have a special episode on the entire globe's most talked about topic, the Corona Virus. We are joined by guest Ryan Selkis, CEO of Messari. Ryan was one of the first people in the space to start talking about Covid19 and has been very vocal on this subject on Twitter and his newsletter since the crisis began in January. We discuss how this virus has become so deadly and the current health and economic conditions, containment and protecting yourself, how the markets, crypto and startups have been affected, and what is yet to come.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Ryan become so interested in the Corona Virus
• The current global health and economic impact of Covid19
• The provisions Ryan is making personally and on a company level
• Messari's plans for virtual events over the coming weeks
• A deeper look into the global financial impact of Covid19
• What does this all have in store for startups
• The stimulus being put in place in the US and its monetary effects
• The current state of the markets
• The long term effects from a societal perspective
• Ryan's prediction on what happens next

Episode links:

• Ryan Selkis Twitter
• Ryan's List of Must Follow Expert Accounts on Twitter
• TBI/Messari 2019-nCoV Tracking
• Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now
• RIP Moon Times
• Messari Corona Coverage & Resources
• Mainnet Events, by Messari
• Donald G. McNeil Jr.
• Google Sheets - create and edit spreadsheets online, for free.
• Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

Sponsors:

• Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/
• ShapeShift: ShapeShift is the leading crypto platform offering zero-commission trading - https://shapeshift.com/

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/331

This episode was recorded at the third annual Ethereum Community Conference in Paris last week and we were joined by Gonçalo Sá, Co-founder of ConsenSys Diligence, Jérôme de Tychey, President of Ethereum France, and Cassidy Daly, Token Designer at Centrifuge. We discussed the issues surrounding centralization and DeFi in token governance, the security complexities of composability attacks like the ones we saw recently which leveraged flash loans, and of course, the coronavirus.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Gonçalo and Cassidy discuss their talks at the EthCC event
• The current points of interest around centralization in DeFi
• Defining ecosystem decentralization guidelines
• Issues with token governance in DAOs
• Security complexities of comparability attacks and the recent flash loans
• How the Ethereum community is improving response times to attacks
• EthCC, hugs and coronavirus

Episode links:

• Ethereum Community Conference 3
• EthCC - Twitter
• Jérôme de Tychey: “Opening Speech” at EthCC
• Jérôme de Tychey: “Closing Speech” at EthCC
• Friederike Ernst: “Prediction Markets” at EthCC
• Cassidy Daly & Abbey Titcomb: “Putting the 'De' back in 'DeFi'” at EthCC
• Cassidy Daly: “The Gateway for Real-World Assets into the Blockchain Multiverse” at EthCC
• Gonçalo Sá Twitter
• Jérôme de Tychey Twitter
• Cassidy Daly Twitter

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/episodes/bonus-ethcc-3

We are joined by founder of TQ Tezos, Jacob Arluck. TQ Tezos is a company that works to advance the Tezos ecosystem by creating open source software and other public goods. It's been over two years since we last did an episode about Tezos and this was a good refresher on how that project is shaping up. We hear about the decentralized and permissionless nature of the Tezos infrastructure, the protocol development of Tezos, and how TQ is working to make Tezos more accessible.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Decentralized nature of Tezos development and the teams that make up the ecosystem
• Who is funding Tezos protocol development
• Permissionless nature of the Tezos architecture and governance mechanism
• How TQ is working to make Tezos more accessible
• The impressive number of development languages and issues around interoperability and comparability
• Michelson – the stack-based DSL (domain-specific language) and the shift towards Michelson 2.0
• The types of applications being built on Tezos
• The role of the Tezos Foundation and the Breitmans today
• A look back on Tezos governance two years in, and the future of the protocol

Episode links:

• Amending Tezos
• Reflecting on Athens, the first self-amendment of Tezos
• Jacob Arluck Medium
• Jacob Arluck Twitter
• TQ Tezos Twitter
• Tezos Twitter
• Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

Sponsors:

• Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/330

Joe Lallouz is the CEO of Bison Trails, who provide staking infrastructure for a variety of PoS blockchains. They have built a really impressive system for deploying nodes across multiple cloud services. In light of the $25m recently raised by Bison Trails, Joe shares their vision to build a better PoS ecosystem for everyone, the types of customer they run validators for, and the cutting edge stuff they're working on in terms of deployment, redundancy and key storage. We also hear their view on infrastructure centralization in PoS, protocol improvements, and Bison Trails' role with Libra Association.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Bison Trails got started and their vision to build a better proof of stake ecosystem for everyone
• The types of customer they run validators for and their approach to improving the product
• The networks they support and their approach to adding new networks
• Bison Trail’s technical infrastructure design and the cutting edge stuff they're working on in terms of deployment, redundancy and key storage
• How the company thinks about infrastructure centralization in PoS
• The company’s involvement in different crypto communities and discussions around protocol improvements
• Bison Trail’s role with Libra Association and how they are participating in the technical design of the protocol

Episode links:

• Bison Trails Website
• Bison Trails Raises $25M in Funding Round Led by Blockchain Capital
• Bison Trails - Libra
• Bison Trails - Blockchain Capital Blog
• Bison Trails Twitter
• Joe Lallous Twitter

Sponsors:

• ShapeShift: ShapeShift is the leading crypto platform offering zero-commission trading - https://shapeshift.com/
• Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/329

Income tax. Not a particularly exciting topic, especially when it comes to paying them. But something we all need to deal with nevertheless. We are all (or at least should be) aware of what our personal tax returns entail. But are you fully aware of the implications holding crypto can have on your tax filing?

Clinton Donnelly, Founder of CryptoTaxAudit has done hundreds of tax returns for US citizens, both domestic and expatriated, and is an expert when dealing with filing crypto and Bitcoin taxes. He is also an Enrolled Agent, which means he meets the requirements of the IRS to represent taxpayers. Clinton has seen it all, and there's no situation too complicated.

In our interview with Clinton, we explored the ins and outs of crypto taxes for US citizens – it was an information-rich conversation. US taxpayers who hold crypto will learn what they need to report to the IRS, as well as the practical, concrete actions one can take to make sure they are complying with the Tax Code of the United States of America.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Your tax obligations are as a cryptocurrency holder
• What you need to report and how you can prepare a Bullet Proof tax return
• How to put yourself in ths shoes of a IRS tax auditor
• What to do if you get an IRS audit letter (hint don't panic)
• The biggest mistakes people make when filing their tax return and the risks they face
• What to do if your crypto transaction history is messy
• What proactive steps you can take to improve your situation

Episode links:

• CryptoTaxAudit
• Donnelly Tax Law
• IRS Refused to Clarify Its Crypto Tax Guidance Isn’t Binding, US Watchdog Says
• IRS Explains What Crypto Owners Must Know to File Taxes This Year
• Clinton Donnelly, Twitter
• Clinton Donnelly, Linkedin

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. This podcast episode was sponsored by CryptoTaxAudit.com.

Gabriel Shapiro is an independent attorney who has spent the last two years focusing on the tokens and crypto. He has published several pieces diving deep into US Securities Law, in which he shares his vision and philosophy for how Tokenized Networks should be regulated. In light of the recent “safe harbor” framework proposed by SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, Gabriel offers his thoughts and suggests how these measures could be improved in a way that would benefit the entire industry.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Gabriel’s background and how he got into the blockchain space
• What motivated Gabriel to write his series of posts
• Why Securities Laws in the US appear more complex than other countries
• The classifications we give tokens - commodities, currencies
• The Howey Test and how it applies in the crypto space
• What the Exchange Act 1984 is and the impact this has on companies that issue securities
• Why crypto networks not complying with the Securities Law aren’t being punished
• What is wrong in the blockchain industry and what it has to do with Securities Law
• Gabriel’s philosophy and how Securities Law should be applied when issuing tokens and launching networks
• The Safe Harbor proposal - what it is, how it defines things like decentralization and network maturity
• Gabriel’s thoughts on how things can be improved

Episode links:

• ZeroLaw Website
• Tokenizing Corporate Capital Stock
• An open letter to SEC Commissioner Peirce on token safe harbors
• Size Does Matter — Part 1, Gabriel Shapiro
• Size Does Matter — Part 2, Gabriel Shapiro
• Size Does Matter — Part 3, Gabriel Shapiro
• Size Does Matter — Part 4, Gabriel Shapiro
• Ethereum’s ‘Bazaar’ Development Model Will Pay Off in 2020
• Hester Peirce: Tell Me How to Improve My Safe Harbor Proposal
• Preston Byrne: Peirce’s Safe Harbor Proposal Would Be Hilarious if It Weren’t so Serious
• ZeroLaw Twitter
• Gabriel Shapiro Twitter
• Epicenter Meetup at EthCC
• Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

Sponsors:

• Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter
• Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/328

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is continuing on its remarkable path to the broad adoption of permissionless financial services. While many people celebrated passing $1 billion locked in DeFi products at the start of February 2020, only a week later, an additional $200 million had entered the ecosystem.

DeFi products thus far have proven useful to early adopters with the resilience and knowhow required to navigate the often clunky user experience of Web 3.0. Companies like Argent are building the interface and user experience essential for the masses, with a vision to bring a billion people into the future of finance.

Itamar Lesuisse, Co-founder and CEO of Argent, joins us to discuss his vision of the future of DeFi, and the necessity to build products that enable intuitive, secure, and permissionless access to finance for anyone with a smartphone.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Itamar's background and journey to crypto
• Creating a Web 3.0 product for mass adoption
• Restoring a wallet with Argent Guardians
• The DeFi products accessible in Argent today
• Accommodating DeFi products on protocols other than Ethereum
• Building a business model for wallet products
• Who Argent's users are, and the DeFi products they use
• Solving mass adoption of crypto with a frictionless on- and off-ramp
• Itamar's vision of the future of DeFi and the role Argent will play

Episode links:

• Argent
• Earning interest has never been easier - Medium
• Itamar Lesuisse - Twitter
• Argent - Twitter
• Argent - Medium
• Download Argent and skip the waitlist
• Epicenter Meetup at EthCC
• Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

Sponsors:

• Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter
• Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/327

While recent blockchain launches seem to leverage various Proof of Stake consensus mechanisms, some believe Satoshi’s consensus mechanism is optimal for distributed protocols. As decentralized ledgers jockey to become the chain of choice for enterprises looking to leverage blockchain technology, projects are looking to offer a solution that maximizes security, decentralization, and transaction throughput.

Kevin Wang, a Co-founder of Nervos, joins us to discuss why Proof of Work was implemented as the consensus mechanism for the network. To enable greater flexibility for application developers, Nervos created a Common Knowledge Base (CKB) to focus on the security of assets, enabling a complementary layer of Virtual Machines (VM) to scale and facilitate computation.

Kevin also discusses the active initiatives underway with the Nervos Grants Program to foster ecosystem development and encourage developers to evolve the permissionless network.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Kevin’s background at IBM, his open source development, and journey to crypto
• What the blockchain scene is like in Hangzhou, China
• What’s unique about Nervos, and the importance of each layer within the network
• Introducing Nervos’ consensus mechanism, NC-Max
• Why Nervos decided to implement Proof of Work
• Explaining the Common Knowledge Base (CKB), and its significance in the Nervos network
• How developer experience is in the Nervos ecosystem
• The economic model of CKB, Nervos’ native token
• Progress of the network, and a call for developers to consider the recently announced Nervos Grants Program

Episode links:

• The Nervos Network homepage
• Nervos Network on Twitter
• Why We Love Nakamoto Consensus - Nervos Blog
• Nervos CKB in a Nutshell - Nervos Blog
• Nervos developer resources
• Nervos Telegram channel
• Nervos grant information

Sponsors:

• Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/326

Like previous crypto winters, those actually building the ecosystem have been working diligently to create applications with industry-changing potential. The year 2020 may prove to be the year of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), with many exciting projects re-creating financial products common to the world of traditional finance, in the open and permissionless blockchain space.

Synthetic assets enable exposure to the price action of an asset without actually holding the underlying asset. Kain Warick is the Founder of Synthetix, a company creating synthetic assets for DeFi, enabling exposure to fiat currencies, commodities (gold and silver), and cryptocurrencies. They have large aspirations to create synthetic assets for many more things, including traditional equities.

Synthetic equities in DeFi is a massive opportunity that demands everyone's attention. Once traditional equities become accessible in DeFi, anyone in the world with internet access will be able to gain exposure to financial products currently only available to the privileged few with access to markets like the Nasdaq or NYSE.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Kain’s eclectic background and his path to crypto
• Why the world needs synthetic assets
• Retrospection on the Synthetix crowdsale
• How Synthetix works
• The SNX token and its governance
• Price stability and the collateralization ratio
• The price oracle, and a battle with front-running bots
• The long-term vision of Synthetix
• How Kain believes DEXs will compete with centralized exchanges in the future

Episode links:

• Synthetix Website
• Synthetix on Twitter
• The Synthetix Blog
• Synthetix Dashboard
• Synthetix on Discord
• Synthetix on ViewBase
• Synthetix 2020 Roadmap
• Bending Metal on Amazon (Kain's sci-fi book)

Sponsors:

• Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants
• Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter
• Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/325