Matt and Nic return for a big week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• Has there been a vibe shift? 
• Sen Tillis and Hickenlooper introduce the PROOF Act
• Is there a lack of crypto-native auditors? 
• Liz Warren's plan to interfere with crypto audits 
• What's going on with the WSJ, Warren's letter, and Hamas' crypto donations? 
• The WSJ is refusing to update their claims 
• ETF momentum is picking up 
• What explains the move in Bitcoin this week? 
• SBF is going to testify 

Content mentioned: 

• Sen. Tillis' office, The PROOF Act introduced
• Jeff John Roberts in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and Liz Warren double down on the Hamas crypto canard
• Nic's WSJ/Hamas bounty campaign
• Elliptic, Setting the record straight on crypto crowdfunding by Hamas
• Elizabeth Warren letter to the White House

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Navigating the Liquidity Landscape: Insights into Digital Asset Markets 
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 230, we examine trends in liquidity and volume across centralized and decentralized exchanges

Mike Higgins of Hidden Road joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• Mike’s career and the path to joining Hidden Road
• Overview of Hidden Road and the prime brokerage category
• The market structure for digital asset trading and settlement
• The launch of Route28 and the value proposition for institutional customers
• The regulatory landscape and the path that Hidden Road has pursued for licensing across the world
• Institutional adoption in 2024

Further reading: 

• Learn more about Hidden Road 
• Learn more about Route28

Amanda Tuminelli of The DeFi Education Fund joins the podcast. In this episode we discuss:

• Amanda’s background and path to joining The DeFi Education Fund
• The IRS “broker” rulemaking process and its potential impact on DeFi
• The SEC’s “Exchange” rulemaking process
• DEF’s amicus briefs on SEC vs. Coinbase
• Patent trolls in the DeFi ecosystem

Links to content discussed on this episode:

• protectdefi.org
• IPR Petition (Patent Case)
• "Exchange" Rulemaking Comment Letter
•  DEF's Amicus Brief in SEC v. Coinbase

To learn more about The DeFi Education Fund visit: defieducationfund.org/

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• The Cointelegraph SNAFU 
• The NYAG sues Gemini, Genesis, and DCG 
• The FTX trial isn't going well for Sam 
• The latest with FTX clawbacks
• Elon files an amicus brief in a case against SEC
• Sen Warren's latest anti-crypto letter 
• Chainalysis debunks the WSJ's false narrative about crypto financing for Hamas
• Larry Fink supports Bitcoin now 
• We profile the Silk Road hacker

Content mentioned in this episode: 

• Nic interview with Bermuda Premier David Burt
• Chainalysis, Correcting the Record: Inaccurate Methodologies for Estimating Cryptocurrency’s Role in Terrorism Financing
• CNBC, The secret life of Jimmy Zhong, who stole – and lost – more than $3 billion

Sponsor notes: 

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Exploring Supply Transparency 
• In this joint report by Coin Metrics & Bitcoin Suisse, we explore token supply and ownership dynamics in digital asset markets

Nic travels to Bermuda to sit down with the Premier, Hon. E. David Burt to discuss digital asset policy and the emerging crypto ecosystem on the island. In this episode:

• The origins of the Digital Asset Regulation in Bermuda
• Catalysts that have led crypto firms to take Bermuda seriously as a domicile
• Premier Burt’s evangelization of Bermuda regulation on the crypto circuit
• Why Bermuda is a good place for a crypto firm to do business
• The “bermuda triangle” (government, industry, and regulator)
• How Bermuda straddles the risk of digital assets with the potential for innovation
• How the Premier aims to incorporate local residents into the tech industry here
• What the Premier is happy about regarding Bermuda’s regulatory strategy for digital assets
• Which sectors within the crypto space the Premier is focusing on at the moment How Bermuda is situated relative to other financial regulators
• Premier Burt’s view on regulatory passporting

Thanks to Penrose Partners.

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• Holland versus the Netherlands 
• The end of Pax Americana
• Ditching the 'stablecoin' term
• Why synthetic USD is not the next Luna
• Caroline Ellison testifies
• SBF wanted to be president
• How Teneo worked with Singapore to apprehend Su Zhu
• Will criminal charges ever be leveled against the 3AC principals?
• Lightning is getting more efficient 

Content mentioned in the episode: 

• Nic and Martin join the Empire podcast
• Do we need a TARP 2.0? 

Sponsor notes: 

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Q3 2023 Wrap-Up
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 228, we set out to analyze USDC's supply loss and its impact on Circle

Guy Young, the founder and CEO of Ethena, joins the show to talk crypto-backed stablecoins. 

• How Ethena began with an Arthur Hayes blog post
• The origins of synthetic stablecoins on Bitmex
• The difference between Hayes’ Nakadollar and the Ethena design
• Why synthetic stablecoins have failed in the past and how Ethena addresses this
• How staked ETH as the underlying collateral opens up a new design space
• How Ethena mitigates their exposure to exchanges with off-exchange custody
• Guy’s backstory and entrance into crypto
• Why the circumstances are favorable for the success of a synthetic stable today
• Why the short leg of the Ethena position has to rely on CeFi for now
• Where the yield from ETH positive funding ultimately comes from
• Limits to scale on Ethena on the short leg of the trade and ETH staking
• Guy’s explanation for where the yield from being long ETH comes from
• Correlation dynamics between the ETH yield and the funding rate
• Why it’s important that crypto yields are somewhat negatively correlated with tradfi yields
• What protects the system when funding flips negative?
• How the system can react to constraints in ETH funding and ETH staking
• The possibility of adding Bitcoin as a collateral type
• Why Ethena distinguished the stablecoin and the yield-bearing component
• Rebasing versus accruing yield tokens
• How they think about different stETH derivatives
• Ethena versus stETH-backed overcollat stablecoins
• Why the supply of stablecoins is shrinking
• Will major stablecoin issuers become interest bearing?
• Ethena’s regulatory strategy
• The BUSD security analysis from the SEC and how interest bearing affects that
• Why end users deserve yield in exchange for taking on the counterparty risk of holding a stable
• Why Guy is excited by Paypal USD
• Guy’s prediction for stablecoin interest-bearing market cap

Further reading:

• Arthur Hayes, Dust on Crust

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• OTB gets some critical feedback
• The boys cover Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk biography
• Is Elon going to turn around the Twitter acquisition?
• Bourgeous capitalism
• We review Lewis’ Going Infinite
• SBF was tungsten pilled
• Su Zhu is jailed for contempt of court in Singapore
• Is FTX solvent again thanks to Anthropic?
• Does ETH futs ETFs mean that ETH isn’t a security?
• Bharat Ramamurti, one of the architects of OCP 2.0, leaves the White House
• The Economist covers the Bitcoin lab leak hypothesis
• Coinbase gets a license in Singapore

Content mentioned in this episode:

• The Economist, Did bitcoin leak from an American spy lab?

Sponsor notes:

• Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Q3 2023 Wrap-Up
• In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 227, we take a data-driven look at the most important events that impacted the digital assets industry from Q3 2023

Matt Hougan, the Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• The SEC’s approval of Ethereum Futures ETFs
• Bitwise’s launch of AETH, The Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF and BTOP, the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ether Equal Weight Strategy ETF.
• The current state of play as it relates to Bitcoin spot ETF filings.
• The SEC’s approach and posture given the Grayscale court case.
• The current lay of the land in the institutional market as it relates to digital asset products.

To learn more about Bitwise visit bitwiseinvestments.com

David Phelps is the co-founder and CEO of jokerace and a prolific writer. He joins the podcast to discuss:

•  Why tokens are not optimal for effective governance
•  Alternative ways to incentivize users and distribute decision making power
•  How we solve for retaining users versus just attracting them
•  Composability and evolving from user generated content to user generated apps