Last week, Tesla announced they will no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for vehicles. In a timely episode, Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, and James McGinniss, CEO and co-founder of David Energy, come onto the show to discuss Bitcoin, the petrodollar, and how to contextualize the energy usage of the first cryptocurrency (BTC) versus the leading fiat currency (USD). Show highlights:

• their backgrounds and how they became interested in the intersection of currency and energy usage
• why Alex and James really think Tesla stopped accepting BTC as payment
• why James thinks Bitcoin’s energy intensity is a “feature, not a bug” 
• Alex on the history of the petrodollar and how the USD in recent decades has been tied to fossil fuel production
• comparing the carbon cost of a dollar to Bitcoin’s energy consumption
• what both James and Alex think of the Square and Ark Invest research paper saying renewable energy production could be tied with Bitcoin mining
• why measuring Bitcoin’s energy usage is difficult
• how Bitcoin mining in China is changing for the better
• how the Biden administration might impact Bitcoin
• where to find more information on Bitcoin and energy consumption

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Episode Links

People:

• Alex Gladstein
• • Twitter: https://twitter.com/gladstein

Recommended Reads:

• “Uncovering the Hidden Cost of the Petrodollar” by Alex Gladstein

• Elisabeth Steyn thread on Tesla and energy credits
• • https://twitter.com/Elisabeth_Steyn/status/1392799067986554880
• “Tesla seeks entry into U.S. renewable fuel credit market” by Reuters
• • https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-tesla-seeks-entry-into-us-renewable-fuel-credit-market-sources-2021-05-12/
• “Debt” by David Graeber

Alex Gladstein’s Recommended Follows:

• Nic Carter
  • https://twitter.com/nic__carter
• Lyn Alden
  • https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact
• Susan Su
  • https://twitter.com/susanfsu
• Luke Gromen
  • https://twitter.com/LukeGromen
• Michael Hudson
  • https://twitter.com/michaelwhudson

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Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at Arca, comes on the show to give a macro perspective on the crypto environment. In this episode, he discusses:

• how economic data and real-world events have affected digital assets
• how Jeff classifies the different types of assets within crypto
• what market forces have pushed ETH to new all-time highs above $4k
• whether EIP 1559 will have the same effect on ether price as the Bitcoin halving has on BTC price
• what is happening with Dogecoin and other meme-coins
• why the market’s reaction to Tesla’s halt of BTC vehicle purchases was healthy
• whether environmental concerns surrounding Bitcoin will have long-term consequences on crypto as an asset class

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021 

Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero 

NEAR: https://near.org 

Episode Links

Jeff Dorman

• Twitter
• •  https://twitter.com/jdorman81

Miscellaneous Links

• Dogecoin SNL clip
• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5RCfQyTDFI
• SHIB token + dog meme-coins
• • https://decrypt.co/70587/shiba-inu-shib-what-why-price-dogecoin

Link to the Crypto News Recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-an-elon-tweet-sent-bitcoin-below-50k/

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In this discussion I moderated for Paxos, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla discuss GameStop, the broken traditional financial infrastructure, and how blockchain technology may change the future of settlements. Show highlights:

• why Robinhood stopped trading on GameStop and AMC stock earlier this year
• what both Charles and Vlad think the feasibility of T+0 settlements versus Citadel’s and the DTCC’s aim of T+1 settlements 
• how the GameStop scenario would have been different in a T+0 environment 
• what it would look like if certain markets used T+0 settlements while others still settled on T+1
• why Robinhood decided to add crypto back in early 2018
• how Robinhood’s crypto operations work on the back end
• why Robinhood does not allow users to move crypto off-platform
• whether securities trading or crypto will be a larger portion of both Paxos’ and Robinhood’s business model
• what Paxos and Robinhood have planned for the near future

Thank you to our sponsors!

E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  

Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange  

Episode Links:

People:

Charles Cascarilla

Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescascarilla/ 

Coindesk Profile

https://www.coindesk.com/charles-cascarilla-most-influential-2020 

Previous interview with Laura

https://unchainedpodcast.com/chad-cascarilla-on-paxoss-partnership-with-paypal/ 

Blog post on the GameStop saga 

https://www.paxos.com/what-lehman-brothers-gamestop-and-the-next-financial-crisis-have-in-common/ 

Vlad Tenev

Twitter

https://twitter.com/vladtenev 

CNN Article

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/01/investing/robinhood-gamestop-vlad-tenev/index.html 

Tweet Thread on T+2

https://twitter.com/vladtenev/status/1356687248746455041 

Companies:

Paxos

Twitter

https://twitter.com/PaxosGlobal

Paxos Settlement Service

https://www.paxos.com/securities/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-paxos/paxos-to-launch-settlement-of-u-s-listed-equities-after-secs-no-action-letter-idUSKBN1X727M

Wall Street Journal write-up

https://www.wsj.com/articles/blockchain-makes-inroads-into-the-stock-markets-1-trillion-plumbing-system-11573131600 

Robinhood

Twitter

https://twitter.com/RobinhoodApp

Robinhood Crypto

https://robinhood.com/us/en/about/crypto/

Public offering

https://blog.robinhood.com/news/2021/3/23/robinhood-markets-inc-confidentially-submits-draft-registration-statement 

Miscellaneous Links

Citadel on settlements

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/95326/citadel-robinhood-shorter-settlements-congress

DTCC on settlements

https://www.dtcc.com/news/2021/february/24/dtcc-proposes-approach-to-shortening-us-settlement-cycle-to-t1-within-two-years 

Other:

Caitlin Long Unchained episode:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/caitlin-long-why-avanti-will-be-a-new-kind-of-crypto-bank/ 

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Reshma Patel, a Democratic candidate for New York City’s Comptroller position, talks about her “future proof” plan for the city, which centers on investing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. In this episode, she discusses:

• what duties the New York City Controller performs
• how Reshma thinks crypto and blockchain tech can help New York City, which she calls her “future proof” plan
• how a city comptroller would go about investing 1%-3% of the city’s pension funds into crypto
• what type of crypto investment vehicles would be appropriate for the city to invest in 
• why Reshma became interested in crypto in the first place 
• what sort of real-world issues blockchain technology could solve in NYC, particularly in its procurement system
• whether Reshma envisions an NYC blockchain solution for its procurement system being on a private or public blockchain 
• how the Comptroller could influence the state of New York to make the BitLicense more accessible for entrepreneurs 
• why NYC must compete in the blockchain/crypto space with Miami and Wyoming 
• how crypto could help NYC recover post-COVID 
• what comes next for Reshma’s campaign and why she is not allowed to receive crypto donations 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021 

Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero 

NEAR: https://near.org 

Episode Links

Reshma Patel

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/reshmapatelnyc?lang=en 
• Blockchain campaign: https://www.reshma2021.com/blockchain 
• CoinDesk profile: https://www.coindesk.com/city-comptroller-candidate-says-blockchain-is-in-new-yorks-future 
• The Block article: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/102122/candidate-nyc-comptroller-crypto-blockchain

Miscellaneous Links

• BitLicense
• • https://ciphertrace.com/new-york-bitlicense/

Link to the Crypto News Recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/doge-up-13000-ytd/

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Crypto sits at the intersection of two male-dominated industries: tech and finance. I was asked to moderate a panel for the Amber Group with four leading women in crypto to discuss the role of gender in the crypto industry and what can be done to bring more women into the space. Panelists include Mia Deng, partner at Dragonfly Capital; Amy Zhang, vice president of sales at Fireblocks; Alexis Gauba, cofounder at Opyn; and Annabelle Huang, partner at Amber Group. Show highlights:

• how each panelist got into crypto, what it is they do, and which company they work for
• why women have been somewhat reluctant to speak on crypto gender disparity in public
• what the main obstacles to bringing about better gender diversity in crypto
• whether the crypto space is harder to break into than traditional finance for women
• how gender issues in the U.S. are different than in Asia
• why more women have begun trading cryptocurrencies and how to increase that interest
• which crypto explanations are most effective for female friends
• why there are so few female crypto co-founders
• good hiring practices for bringing more women into the space
• advice for women trying to break into crypto 

Thank you to our sponsors!

E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2 

Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange 

Episode Links

Panelists

Mia Deng

• Crypto career
• • cofounder at TR Lab ---- NFT Platform (2021)
  • partner at Dragonfly Capital - https://medium.com/dragonfly-research 
  • Head of biz Development + Venture partner @ Amber Group - https://www.ambergroup.io/about 
• Social link
• • https://twitter.com/miagegedeng?lang=en

Amy Zhang

• Crypto career
• • vice president of sales at Fireblocks - https://www.fireblocks.com/ 
  • head of sales/investor relations at Diginex - https://www.diginex.com/ 
• Social link

Alexis Gauba

• Crypto career
• • cofounder at Opyn - https://www.opyn.co/#/ 
  • cofounder at she256 - https://she256.org/ 
• Social link
• • https://twitter.com/AlexisGauba

Annabelle Huang

• Crypto career
• • partner at Amber Group  - https://www.ambergroup.io/about 
  • founding member at KeeperDAO - https://twitter.com/Keeper_DAO 
  • risk lead at AirSwap - https://www.airswap.io/ 

• Social Link

https://twitter.com/_annabellehuang?lang=en

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Dan Finlay, co-founder of MetaMask, talks about the meteoric growth of monthly active users of the crypto wallet, which has quintupled in the past seven months. In this episode, he discusses:

• which crypto use case drove MetaMask’s active user base to grow 5x in under a year
• what types of scaling solutions are drawing users to MetaMask
• how MetaMask works
• what kind of customers are using MetaMask 
• how MetaMask has grown without targeted marketing 
• whether the type of crypto usage in developing nations differed from developed nations
• which feature MetaMask released in 2020 that is bringing in revenue
• what pivotal moments in crypto over the past six years have brought new users to MetaMask
• why scalability and security are the most important challenges facing MetaMask in the short term 
• how MetaMask is trying to make online wallets more secure 
• how much volume users have traded via MetaMask's new swap feature 
• what new features are coming up for MetaMask wallets 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021 

InterPop: https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop 

NEAR: https://near.org 

Episode Links

MetaMask

Dan Finlay: https://twitter.com/danfinlay

MetaMask: https://metamask.io/

$5 Million Monthly Active Users: https://consensys.net/blog/metamask/metamask-surpasses-5-million-monthly-active-users/

MetaMask in Emerging Markets: https://twitter.com/MetaMask/status/1387114770923466755

Filecoin in MetaMask: https://medium.com/metamask/developer-preview-metamask-snap-for-filecoin-c28b01dfdcb 

Miscellaneous

Robbie Ferguson on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-layer-2-solution-processed-more-nft-trades-in-24-hours-than-ethereum-did-in-1-week/

Marguerite deCourcelle on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/all-the-ways-crypto-can-make-gaming-more-fun/

Charles Cascarilla + Vlad Tenev conversation: https://t.co/2AG0y5j36B?amp=1

Link to the Crypto News Recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-bitcoin-standard/

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Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of NFT marketplace OpenSea, talks all things non-fungible. Check out the whole show to hear Devin answer the following questions:

First Half: Breaking Down NFTs

• Why did he become so interested in NFTs ? 
• What is an NFT? Why have NFTs become so popular recently? 
• Who is creating NFTs? Who is purchasing NFTs? 
• Are we in an NFT bubble? 
• How is the NFT ecosystem going to evolve over the next few years? 
• What are people purchasing when they buy an NFT? 

Second Half: OpenSea Q+A

• What is OpenSea? 
• How will OpenSea maintain its competitive advantage in the open-source blockchain ecosystem? 
• How does OpenSea make money? 
• Are artists making money on OpenSea? 
• How is OpenSea planning on integrating with layer 2 solutions on Ethereum and other blockchains? 
• How do royalties work on OpenSea? Why are they hard to enforce? 
• What can be done about content being minted on OpenSea without an artist’s permission? 
• What issues in the NFT world still need to be resolved? 
• How is OpenSea handling the environmental concerns surrounding NFTs? 
• What’s next for OpenSea? 

Thank you to our sponsors!

E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2 

Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange

Episode Links

Basic Links

• Devin’s Twitter

Devin Finzer

Content

• Podcast appearances

• Blockchain gaming (2018)

OpenSea

• Profiles
• • Fortune
  • • https://fortune.com/2021/03/18/nft-art-crypto-marketplace-opensea-amazon/
  • CoinDesk 50 for 2020 (#47)

Other

• Terms of service talk
• • https://www.reddit.com/r/opensea/comments/m12uh4/do_i_keep_the_rights_to_any_nft_i_sell_on_opensea/
• Stats

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Robbie Ferguson, co-founder and president of Immutable, talks about how Immutable is transforming the NFT industry through its layer 2 solution, Immutable X, which just launched April 8. In this episode, he discusses: 

• what sort of problems Immutable is solving by creating a layer 2 solution (1:21)
• why scalability is especially an issue for NFTs in gaming (1:59)
• how Immutable X, built with partner Starkware, addresses the problems with scaling NFTs (3:28)
• how Immutable is scaling Ethereum and the definition of a layer 2 solution (5:46)
• the Immutable business model and how the company makes money (6:40)
• how validity proofs like ZK-rollups differ from fraud proofs like Optimistic rollups (7:52)
• how Gods Unchained has performed since the April 8th launch of Immutable X (8:27)
• why building on Ethereum is so important to Immutable (10:54)
• why Immutable is obsessed with bringing liquidity to NFTs (14:54)
• what sort of partners Immutable is looking to attract and how Immutable X is different from a traditional marketplace (18:00)
• why Immutable decided to purchase carbon credits to offset the gas the protocol consumes on Ethereum (21:33)
• what we might see from Gods Unchained, Immutable X, and NFT gaming in general by the end of this  year (23:32 )
• weekly news recap (26:22)

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021 

InterPop: https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop 

NEAR: https://near.org 

Episode Links

Robbie Ferguson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieferguson/?originalSubdomain=au

Immutable

• Twitter: 

Miscellaneous Links

• Hearthstone link

Link to the Crypto News Recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/2600-eth/

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In a fun change of pace, I was interviewed by the On Deck Podcaster Fellowship about the origins of Unchained pod, how my background as a journalist prepared me for podcasting, and tips for aspiring creators. Episode highlights:

• why I believe the Unchained podcast has been successful and how my penchant for asking tough questions came about (1:48)
• how my background in journalism prepared me for hosting a podcast (6:35)
• how I choose guests for the show and how they feel about being asked difficult questions (9:10)
• why I feel my background in traditional media is so important (15:46)
• whether my podcast helped me land a book deal (20:35)
• the Unchained podcast origin story (26:37)
• how I’ve brought my sense of journalistic integrity and ethics to podcasting (33:56)
• the top tips for choosing a good podcast title (41:58)
• advice for aspiring podcasters on sifting through BS answers and warming up shy guests (48:19)
• who I look up to in the podcast space (53:25)
• what future creators and podcasters from underrepresented backgrounds can learn from my experience breaking into the world of finance and technology (57:33)

Thank you to our sponsors:

E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2 

Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange

Episode Links

On Deck:

https://www.beondeck.com/ 

Laura Shin:

https://twitter.com/laurashin 

Unchained Podcast:

https://twitter.com/Unchained_pod

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Gil Luria, director of research at D.A. Davidson, talks about Coinbase’s performance on its first day as a public company. In this episode, Gil discusses:

• the significance of Coinbase going public (1:05)
• why doing a direct listing was a risky move (1:31)
• why he revised his price target for COIN from $440 to $650 (3:17)
• how investing in COIN as a “pure play” crypto company compares to buying stock in companies like MicroStrategy and Square (5:06)
• why some people are disrupting Coinbase’s actual market cap (7:11)
• whether Coinbase can smooth out revenue over the long term and not be so correlated to the crypto markets themselves(10:45)
• what sort of statistics Gil is looking for in valuing Coinbase (13:08)
• why Gil thinks Coinbase can meet its goal of growing non-transaction revenue from 4% to 50% in five to ten years (15:32)
• how Coinbase could navigate the compression of fees that will occur as competition increases among exchanges (17:33)
• whether Coinbase’s stance as an apolitical company could affect the stock price in an era in which companies are getting involved in issues like voting rights (19:45)
• whether the Bitcoin price and COIN stock price will always be highly correlated (21:18)
• which other crypto companies are good candidates for going public as well (22:35)
• weekly news recap (24:03)

Thank you to our sponsors!

Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”: 

https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021 

Check out InterPop, a superteam redefining the future of NFTs and fandom!

https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop 

Episode links:

Gil Luria

• Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/gilluria  
• Introducing Crypto’s Amazon Moment (written by Gil): https://unchainedpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DA-Davidson-Coinbase-Initiation-20210302.pdf 
• 2013 Quote from Gil on Bitcoin: https://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/Bitcoin+Could+Be+Worth+10-100x+Current+Price+-+Analyst/8936836.html

Related Content

• Ellie Frost Blog:

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