Secret Network is a privacy-first, permissionless layer 1 blockchain built for computational privacy. Tor Bair, founder of Secret Foundation, a developer of Secret Network, discusses what makes Secret Network unique, including smart contract privacy, private metadata for NFTs, and how regulators should treat privacy tech in blockchain. Show highlights:

• how Tor fell down the crypto rabbit hole
• what the Secret Network is and how it is bringing privacy to blockchain
• why public blockchains are problematic
• what makes Secret Network different from Monero or Zcash
• how Secret Network works from a technical perspective
• what type of applications Secret Network can support that public blockchains cannot
• why blockchain voting is probably a bad idea (for now)
• what attack vectors exist regarding Secret Network
• how Secret Network nodes work and why there are only 50 of them
• how Secret Network fixes miner extractable value (MEV)
• what DeFi applications are possible on Secret Network
• how NFTs on Secret Network are different from public blockchain NFTs
• how regulators should treat Secret Network

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Episode Links

Tor Bair

• Twitter

Secret Network

• Primers
• • Messari: 
  • • https://messari.io/asset/secret-network/profile

Enigma 

• Original ICO
• • `https://icodrops.com/enigma/ 
• Research

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Do Kwon, cofounder of Terraform Labs, was recently served subpoenas by the US Securities and Exchange Commission during Messari’s mainnet event, leading Kwon and Terraform to preemptively sue the SEC. On Unconfirmed, Kwon discusses:

• what Terraform Labs does and how it is building its DeFi ecosystem around TerraUSD ($UST)
• why Terraform Labs created its synthetics protocol, Mirror, and how it works
• what Do thinks about the SEC’s investigation into Mirror
• what happened to Do at Messari’s mainnet event
• why the SEC’s approach to crypto regulation does not impact Do very much
• what Do thinks about how US regulators are treating crypto companies
• how Do would regulate the crypto industry
• why he believes the current state of crypto regulation doesn’t work in a global context
• why he says the SEC couldn’t do anything to TerraUSD -- even if it wanted to
• what two characteristics are critical in building a decentralized protocol
• how the crypto industry could improve security in light of the $130 million Cream Finance hack

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Episode Links

Do Kwon

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stablekwon 

Terra

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money 
• Website: https://www.terra.money/ 
• Terra ecosystem: https://docs.terra.money/Reference/ecosystem.html 

SEC Lawsuit

• CoinDesk

Messari Mainnet Serving

Miscellaneous

• SEC charging Abra
• • https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-153
• Stablecoin market cap comparison
• • ​​https://coinmarketcap.com/view/stablecoin/ 

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Remember the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which caused considerable backlash from the crypto community due to the language regarding “brokers?” Abe Sutherland, an adjunct professor at University of Virginia School of Law, believes another provision tucked inside the bill could end up being a far more significant issue for anyone transacting in digital assets. Show highlights:

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Episode links

Abe Sutherland

• https://twitter.com/abesutherland

Medium Post: https://medium.com/@laurashin/why-not-reporting-info-on-your-crypto-trading-partner-could-become-a-felony-c6399998f113

Information on 6050I

Unchained coverage of the infrastructure bill

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PlanB, a former institutional investor with 25 years of experience in financial markets turned anon Bitcoin analyst, discusses Bitcoin’s price action, from the macroeconomic drivers to what his models predict for the rest of 2021. Show highlights:

• PlanB’s background and how he got into Bitcoin
• what a stock-to-flow model is and how PlanB uses it to predict Bitcoin’s price
• why PlanB called for a $1 trillion market cap when Bitcoin was priced at sub $4K
• how the approval of a bitcoin futures ETF has affected Bitcoin’s price
• why institutions are more comfortable with bitcoin futures, rather than the underlying asset
• how to properly calculate gold’s stock-to-flow model
• why he believes the stock-to-flow models works -- even when detractors say it is flawed
• how the pandemic has affected Bitcoin’s price
• what PlanB thinks about China’s decision to effectively ban Bitcoin
• the three charts PlanB uses to model Bitcoin
• what the price floor for Bitcoin will be in October, November, and December
• whether PlanB thinks we are in a supercycle

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Episode Links

PlanB:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/100trillionUSD

Topics Covered

• Stock-to-flow modeling

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Andrew Steinwold, managing partner at Sfermion, and John Egan, CEO at L'Atelier BNP Paribas, discuss NFTs and debate the characteristics of the metaverse. Show highlights: 

• their backgrounds and how they got into NFTs
• how they each define the metaverse
• what NFTs have to do with the metaverse
• how John and Andrew’s depiction of the metaverse differs
• what John thinks about Facebook’s entrance into the metaverse
• whether Second Life is a metaverse game
• how blockchain technology allows for an open metaverse (and why Web2 is “communist”)
• what NFTs currently unlock for the metaverse
• whether the metaverse will necessarily have to be experienced through augmented reality
• whether there will be multiple metaverses across different blockchain platforms
• why John thinks NFT maxis and crypto maxis are destined to clash
• how the metaverse is changing how people generate income 
• how to make the metaverse more accessible
• whether regulators will force the metaverse to be siloed
• how the metaverse will handle jurisdictional disputes
• what happens when someone’s Web3 avatar/identity is stolen in the metaverse
• what John and Andrew predict will happen in the metaverse over the next 6-12 months. 

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NFT Research

John Egan

• Twitter: 

L’Atelier 

• NFT Content
• • How NFTs are changing ownership
  • • https://atelier.net/insights/nfts-art-ownership-collecting
  • The Virtual economy
  • • https://atelier.net/virtual-economy
  • Real estate NFTs

Andrew Steinwold

• Twitter
• • https://twitter.com/AndrewSteinwold
• LinkedIn
• • https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-steinwold/
• Blog must-reads
• • A quick overview of the NFT ecosystem 

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Four investors talk about the decentralized web, explain how the crypto industry is improving upon Web 2, and discuss what can be done to increase diversity and financial inclusion within Web 3. Featuring Rik Willard, founder of Agentic Group, Thomas France, co-founder of Cygni Capital, Dylan Hixon, president of Arden Road Investments, and Nick Grossman,general partner at Union Square Ventures . Show highlights:

• how funding rounds for decentralized protocols differ from investing in traditional companies
• what VC investors can do to 1) participate in the protocols they invest in, and 2) not take advantage of whale holdings in governance voting
• how Web 3 has the potential to displace the “plantation economy”
• the difference between crypto idealism (i.e., banking the unbanked) versus what has actually played out (i.e., Salvadorans being mandated to accept BTC)
• what area of blockchain is delivering on the promise of financial inclusion
• how to bring diversity to the blockchain + crypto industry
• what can be done to solve the gender imbalance in crypto
• how investors are navigating the murky waters of US regulations regarding crypto projects
• how institutions fit into the Web 3 landscape
• what I think about the state of sexism within the crypto industry

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Episode Links

Original Link: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8884996/video/614236078

Rik Willard

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rik_willard?lang=en

Nick Grossman

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickgrossman?lang=en

Dylan Hixon

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-hixon-1887803

Thomas France

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/totofrance?lang=en

Topics mentioned

• Fereshteh Forough on Unchained
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-actually-fixes-this-how-code-to-inspire-uses-crypto-in-afghanistan/
• Discussing crypto’s gender disparity on Unchained
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/cryptos-gender-disparity-what-can-be-done-about-it-4-women-weigh-in/
• she256
• https://she256.org/
• El Salvador and BTC
• https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/24/why-el-salvador-is-botching-its-bitcoin-experiment/

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Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, discusses Visa’s crypto game plan, stablecoin regulation, NFTs, and more. Show highlights:

• Cuy’s background and his journey down the crypto rabbit hole
• how Visa and cryptocurrency can coexist
• why crypto companies and fintech companies are similar
• what Visa is trying to solve for consumers regarding cryptocurrencies
• how cross-chain payment infrastructure would work
• why Visa requires enhanced diligence for crypto companies
• what countries can learn from stablecoins when building CBDCs
• why Visa is creating a universal payment channel for CBDCs and other cryptocurrencies
• why Visa chose USDC to begin making payments with
• the two main reasons why stablecoins are used (hint: it’s not for buying cups of coffee)
• how cryptocurrency is changing financial education and inclusion
• how crypto’s open-source ethos is helping underserved and emerging markets build financial infrastructure
• why NFTs are Cuy’s favorite topic
• how NFTs level the playing field for black artists (and artists in general)
• why Visa purchased a CryptoPunk and how other businesses could leverage NFTs

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Cuy Sheffield

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cuysheffield

Content:

• Medium

Visa Crypto Plays

• CryptoPunk purchase

• Visa + USDC

• Digital currency whitepaper

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Ryan Gentry, business development lead at Lightning Labs, discusses the latest updates on the Lightning Network, the layer 2 solution for Bitcoin. Highlights:

• how Lightning Network is bringing Bitcoin to the masses through partnerships with Twitter, Substack, and Paxful
• what the significance of El Salvador adopting Bitcoin means for the Lightning Network
• how many nodes are running Lightning Network nodes
• why the capacity on the Lightning Network has grown rapidly
• how Ryan has seen interest in Lightning has changed since the El Salvador announcement earlier this year
• what stage of adoption Ryan thinks the Lightning Network is
• why Lightning Network total-value-locked should not be compared to Ethereum L2s or other DeFi protocols 
• how Lightning Network differs from DeFi
• what metric Ryan believes is the best way to measure adoption on Lightning Network
• how El Salvador has changed the types of transactions being made on Lightning Network
• what’s next for Lightning Network and how Lightning micropayments could affect how podcasts (like Unchained!) are distributed

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Episode Links

Ryan Gentry

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanthegentry

The Summer of Lightning: Reaching the Tipping Point

Lightning Labs

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lightning

Lightning Enabled Tips

• Twitter:

Paxful Integration

Arcane Research Paper

• Paper:
• • https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60377b34e7791c1277aaae97/t/615cb9aeaab8c63e1a732771/1633466815710/The+State+of+Lightning.pdf
• Tweet thread:
• • https://twitter.com/ArcaneResearch/status/1445749299703205894

Lightning Network stats

• https://studio.glassnode.com/metrics?a=BTC&c=native&category=Lightning&chartStyle=column&contractExpiration=1640908800&ema=0&m=lightning.NetworkCapacitySum&mAvg=0&mMedian=0&resolution=24h&zoom=all
• https://1ml.com/statistics

Lightning Network Resources

Preston Pysh episode with BTC Sessions

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How does the SEC determine if a token is a security? Why is DeFi particularly hard to regulate? What will regulators do about stablecoins? On Unchained, Greg Xethalis, chief compliance officer at Multicoin Capital, and Collins Belton, founding partner at Brookwood P.C., dive into crypto regulation, discussing securities laws, DeFi regulation, and why the US should be promoting stablecoins rather than trying to shut them down. Highlights:

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Episode Links

Greg Xethalis

Collins Belton

Cases Mentioned

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Stephen Palley, partner at Anderson Kill, discusses a few hot-button crypto regulatory issues like lending products, whether DeFi protocols fall under the SEC’s purview, and more. Show highlights:

• why Stephen thinks the SEC and CFTC did not announce more extensive crypto enforcement news this week
• what areas the SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the SEC as a whole are focused on regulating
• what Stephen has heard about whether stablecoins that are not fully-backed are securities
• why Coinbase decided to drop its Lend product
• why Stephen is skeptical that decentralized protocols should be regulated under existing securities laws
• how securities law is contrary to consumer protection in light of DeFi protocols and airdrops
• why DeFi AMMs should be regulated differently than centralized market books
• whether companies running a front-end for a DeFi protocol should be considered an exchange
• why crypto devs are “going Satoshi” because of US securities laws

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Episode Links

Stephen Palley

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephendpalley

Topics Covered

Lending Products

• Coinbase blogs regarding Lend

• Brian Armstrong angry tweet storm
• • https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1435439291715358721
• BlockFi and Celsius overview

SEC + Gary Gensler

• How SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s Views on Crypto Have Changed Since His MIT Days
• • https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-sec-chair-gary-genslers-views-on-crypto-have-changed-since-his-mit-days/
• SEC Chair Gary Gensler Washington Post Q&A

Other

• Uniswap delisting certain tokens through its front end

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