The Coin Bureau Podcast: Crypto Without the Hype

It feels like Season One of FTX: Trouble in Paradise has drawn to a close. SBF narrowly avoided jail thanks to a last-minute $250 million bond and is now chilling at home with his parents. Season Two will see him fighting for his freedom in court as his former friends, colleagues and lovers queue up to spill the beans. Everyone just wants to get the lightest sentence possible.

SBF’s next court appearance is scheduled for the 3rd of January, so it won’t be long before Season Two is up and running. In the meantime however, it feels like a good opportunity to pause and try to make sense of what has happened in the last few weeks. How on earth was it possible for this disaster to happen? When did everything start going wrong? And, how did a bunch of maths geeks who clearly weren’t very good traders manage to mislead the whole industry for so long?

To answer these questions and many others, I got together with Ram Ahluwalia, the co-founder and CEO of Lumida - an investment advisory firm that focuses on digital assets. Ram has worked in finance for most of his career and has a level of knowledge and experience that few can match. He recently published some intriguing threads on Twitter that delved into the FTX/Alameda debacle and, having read them, I knew I had to talk with him in depth. 

In our discussion we drilled down into Ram’s thoughts on the disaster and why he believes it was a long time coming - longer perhaps than many people believe. He also talked through some of the mysteries of high finance that seem to have helped thwart SBF and his cronies and explained how those who were able to play the game better were able to profit at FTX and Alameda’s expense. 

This was a fascinating conversation to have and I’m grateful to Ram for taking the time to talk to me. A few developments - including the arrest and extradition of SBF - have taken place since we talked, but what we discuss here is still hugely relevant to the situation and how things may play out in the coming months.

Follow Ram on Twitter: @ramahluwahlia  

Follow Lumida on Twitter: @lumidawealth or visit https://www.lumida.co/ 

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s time to check in again with our friends at the Federal Reserve, whose every move is being scrutinised by investors everywhere for signs of what might be on their minds. Are they going to keep raising interest rates as aggressively as they have been in previous months? Will they slow the pace, or maybe even ease off the rate rises completely? The decisions made inside Fed HQ have huge ramifications for the US economy and beyond.

We recently got a glimpse inside the Fed’s thinking with the release of the minutes of its latest meeting, which was held just before Jerome and co decided to hike rates by yet another 75 basis points last month. So, have a listen to our analysis of the minutes and what they might mean for the crypto market and beyond. It may have been hard to focus on much besides the FTX disaster in recent weeks, but the rest of the world doesn’t stand still when crypto has one of its periodic meltdowns. 

Next up, you’ll hear about some of the catalysts that could yet drive the bear market down to new lows. Many are speculating that we may be at or near the bottom by now and it certainly feels like that sometimes. Problem is, there are still a number of factors that need to be considered and hurdles to be overcome before the path to higher prices is revealed. 

From retail investors finally throwing in the towel, to miners giving up the ghost and energy prices going through the roof, there’s still lots to watch out for. With luck, the bottom is already in and 2023 will be a year of growing gains, but then again, luck seems to have been in pretty short supply of late. 

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s back to FTX this week sadly, as the exchange’s collapse continues to dominate the crypto headlines. 

Today, you’ll hear about the company’s recent bankruptcy filing, which revealed just how terribly it and its sister company Alameda Research were being run behind the scenes, by people who were unfit to be running anything bigger than a lemonade stand. 

The filing makes for some pretty extraordinary reading and reveals just how much work needs to be done to try and clear up the mess that Sam Bankman-Fried and his idiotic colleagues left in their wake. This clearing up will take a long time and that means it will take an even longer time for anyone to get their money back - assuming enough money can be found, that is. Have a listen to get the lowdown.

Another consequence of the FTX fiasco is that other crypto exchanges are rushing to provide proof of reserves or PoR. This is designed to reassure their users that they do indeed have enough crypto on hand to honour any and all withdrawals, should they be required to. After FTX, people want to know they’re using an exchange which is solvent and can prove itself to be so, hence why the second part of today’s episode is also well worth your time. This is a look at what proof of reserves actually means and to what extent the top exchanges out there are providing it. There’s also the question to consider of whether the time for decentralised exchanges may be nigh.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FTX is still making the headlines and the contagion continues to spread. Companies and projects across the industry are reeling and much of the talk is about which could be the next domino to fall. Welcome to crypto winter.

One project that many are concerned about is Solana, which was heavily backed by FTX and Alameda Research. SOL’s price has tumbled in the wake of FTX’s collapse as a result of this exposure, and the road ahead looks rocky. In the first part of today’s episode, you’ll hear a bit of background about Solana, as well as some significant developments it has undergone in recent months. You’ll also hear the details of its relationship with FTX and Alameda, as well as how the projects in its ecosystem are also under threat. Can Solana survive, or is the sun about to set on one of crypto’s biggest projects?

Next up, something a little different. There’s enough bad news floating around the cryptoverse at the moment, so let’s take a look at a fascinating geopolitical issue instead. 

Africa is poised to become an economic powerhouse in the coming decades, thanks in large part to its high birth rate and abundance of natural resources. As populations across much of the rest of the world decline and grow steadily older, African nations are set to reap the benefits of having younger and more productive workforces. They’ll need them to get all those metals and minerals out of the ground.

Other nations are slowly waking up to this fact, but Western ones are lagging behind. China however is well aware of Africa’s potential and has invested heavily across the continent in recent years. As a result, Chinese power and influence have increased, making it arguably the pre-eminent foreign power across much of Africa.

But, as countries like Sri Lanka have found to their cost, Chinese money doesn’t necessarily come cheap. Defaulting on debts owed to the world’s second-largest economy can be ruinous and China hasn’t been shy of appropriating collateral in such situations. As African nations look to develop further in order to harness their future potential, is China the best business partner to have? Have a listen to our deep dive on this issue and see what you think.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crypto has been rocked over the last few days by the biggest disaster ever to hit the industry. While it has experienced its fair share of crises over its short history, the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research is the gravest challenge crypto has faced thus far and the true extent of the damage may not become apparent for some time.

In today’s episode, Mike and Guy sit down to talk through what happened and what may come next. Many of the details are still unclear and new information is coming to light every day, so much of what’s discussed here will be focused on the background to this whole debacle. 

You’ll hear about the origins of Alameda Research and FTX, as well as the story of the man who founded them both and is ultimately responsible for their collapse. You’ll also hear about how concerns about Alameda started to bubble up at the beginning of November and how both it and the world’s second-largest crypto exchange were essentially brought down by a single tweet.

We’ll update you with more information on this extraordinary, tragic story next week. New twists and turns occur daily, while rumour, speculation, vitriol and despair swirl around the crypto community. Make no mistake, this is crypto history unfolding before our eyes. 

We hope you enjoy the show.

Executive Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Sam Moult

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ok, you can probably guess what’s going to be covered today. The crypto industry is reeling from the collapse of the FTX exchange and everyone has questions. What happened? Who is responsible? How could such a disaster have been possible? Where next for crypto? And many, many others besides.

So, in the first part of today’s episode, you’ll hear our initial assessment of what went down with FTX and get some crucial background info about the people and the entities involved. This is about much more than just an exchange going under - it’s about the continued fallout from Terra’s collapse earlier this year, systemic human failings, corruption, greed, incompetence and lies. It’s also about the failure of yet another centralised crypto company that seemed to have the world at its feet but, in retrospect, should never have had access to anyone’s money.

FTX may be dominating the crypto headlines, but elsewhere the world continues to turn, regardless of the existential crisis gripping the industry. A good example of this is the Federal Reserve and its continued efforts to battle inflation. The Fed’s latest interest rate hike of 75 basis points feels like a long time ago now and the focus has turned to what its next one might look like. 

That’s why Jerome Powell’s most recent press conference that followed the FOMC meeting in early November was so consequential. His comments shed light on the Fed’s future plans and markets everywhere were paying close attention. So, in part two of today’s episode, you’ll hear what Jerome said, what it all means and why there’s still a lot of fire to walk through before we emerge into the light.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s turmoil in the crypto market at the moment and we’ll tackle what’s been going on with FTX next week when the picture will - we hope - be a bit clearer. But for this week’s episode, we have something a bit different to take everyone’s mind off all the bad news and instead focus on the future. 

Robin Schmidt is one of the most insanely creative minds in the crypto space. Following a successful career in film and TV production, he began pushing the boundaries of content creation as host of The Defiant - one of the best crypto channels out there. 

In two short years, Robin and his team produced some of the most extraordinary videos on DeFi and crypto that you could hope to see. Opinionated, funny, impeccably produced and - crucially - full of vital information, they are a must-watch on so many levels. 

But there’s a lot more to Robin than awesome film-making. His ideas and opinions on DeFi and web3 more broadly are some of the clearest and most insightful in the industry. While many both inside and outside of crypto remain cynical about the likes of the metaverse and NFTs, Robin is refreshingly optimistic about their potential. 

We were saddened to hear a few weeks ago that Robin was leaving The Defiant for pastures new. After becoming hooked on his content, the thought of him not gracing our screens anymore was hard to bear. Fortunately, he’s got some exciting stuff up his sleeve and, even more fortunately, he was able to find some time to come on the podcast and talk to Guy about it. 

So, in this episode, Robin and Guy discuss how Robin got into crypto and where he’s heading next, as well as talking about the weirdness of being crypto YouTubers, the highs and lows of content creation, how the metaverse is set to change the world in ways we can’t yet imagine and much more besides. 

Robin on Twitter: @IamSuperMassive

Robin’s new project: @we_are_basedaf / www.based-af.com 

The Defiant (still awesome, even without Robin): https://www.youtube.com/thedefiant

If you want some of Robin’s finest work to get you started, then some of his Defiant videos on NFTs have to be seen to be believed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY9lM73ie0Q&t=636s 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kjMbScb75Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv-Kl2R4Vj4 

And the Ethereum merge video Robin discusses in the episode can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn1WlunVFts (warning, contains tomatoes)

We hope you enjoy the show.

Executive Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Sam Moult

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s picks from our YouTube channel feature a look at the housing bubbles that are looking increasingly shaky in a number of countries and a little tale of what happened when Instagram fact-checked a meme I posted about CBDCs. 

A home of one’s own is a big deal for many people, especially in my native UK and elsewhere. This fact, coupled with years of near-zero interest rates, have meant that housing prices in many countries have been rising for a long time. The so-called ‘race for space’ triggered by the pandemic lockdowns only exacerbated this upward trend, but this may now be about to change.

In short, inflation and the rising interest rates deployed against it mean that the era of cheap money is coming to an end. Mortgages are going to become more expensive, meaning fewer people are going to be buying homes. Rising prices mean many people will be less able to save for a deposit. And, as many current homeowners who aren’t on fixed-rate mortgages find themselves unable to make their monthly payments, they may be forced to sell. All of which will put heavy downward pressure on home prices. In countries like the UK, USA and Canada, where housing markets have long been overheated, this could spell yet more economic pain.

Next up, find out what happened when a meme I recently posted on Instagram got fact-checked. The meme in question related to central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, which are going to become a reality for many countries very soon. The meme highlighted how the convenience of CDBCs will blind many to their failings and it seemed this fact was a little too close to the truth for some people’s liking.

So, listen in and find out why what the meme says is in fact correct, and why it seemed to trigger the fact-checkers. Make no mistake, CBDCs pose an enormous threat to financial freedom and the more people who know about this, the better. They may be inevitable, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be resisted.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After being parted for over a month, Mike and Guy have managed to get together again to talk crypto once again. Thankfully, our editor has managed to cut out the very long and rambling catch-up chat they had and generally keep in the important stuff. Some waffle may remain though, so please exercise caution. 

Today’s topic is a crypto niche which has attracted a lot of attention recently and could prove to have staying power in the long run. Move to earn is incentivizes users to get active by rewarding them with crypto when they do so. The thinking being that, by getting up and taking exercise, you can not only improve your health, but your finances as well. 

So, join Mike and Guy as they break down what move to earn is all about, look at two of the biggest projects in this category of crypto project and ask whether the whole exercise is worth getting out of bed for. How does it all work and can you really earn some extra income just by being active? 

We hope you enjoy the show.

Executive Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Sam Moult

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike and Guy are reunited this Friday for another in-depth discussion with plenty of lame jokes thrown in, but before all that we have another couple of recent hits from our YouTube channel for you to enjoy.

First up is a look at some recent recommendations for crypto regulations from Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF as he’s better known, the CEO of the FTX exchange. These were unleashed upon the world just a couple of weeks ago and the fallout from them has been pronounced. Put mildly, many in the industry were not happy with what he was proposing.

To be fair, SBF was at pains to point out that these recommendations were intended to spark debate over how possible future regulations should look and they more than succeeded in doing just that. In the first part of today’s episode, we take a look at what exactly was proposed and whether or not SBF was on the right track. This is an important conversation to have because regulations are heading towards the crypto industry and anything that we can do to influence how they might look could make all the difference to crypto’s future.

Then, that rarest of beasts these days, a new layer-one blockchain project to review. Aptos launched its mainnet a couple of weeks ago and its APT coin was listed on all major exchanges around the same time - this despite a lack of available tokenomics. Those were only published after APT had listed and this is unfortunately just one of many gripes we have with the project.

There’s no denying that Aptos has some top tech and heavy investment backing it up, as well as an experienced team. But, the more we dug into the project, the less we found to like about it. So, have a listen to our review of it and, if it piques your interest, consider looking into Aptos for yourself too - because doing your own research is vital for anyone interested in learning more about crypto. 

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.