Unchained

Dan Elitzer, investor at IDEO CoLab Ventures, and Will Price, data scientist at Flipside Crypto, discuss the yield farming craze. In this episode, we cover:

• the goals of protocols offering liquidity mining
• the goals of users yield farming right now
• whether users of Compound will have much awareness of COMP in the future
• how Compound is trying to dampen inorganic activity and properly align incentives 
• how incentives in one DeFi protocol can screw up another's such as changes in Compound's liquidity mining program causing Dai to lose its peg
• whether the activity created by liquidity mining is sustainable and how
• whether Compound is overvalued and how to determine valuations for DeFi tokens
• the security risks that come with trying yield farming
• how teams can keep their protocols safe given the composability of DeFi and the growing number of developments in the space
• whether the yield farming craze will cause the price of ETH to rise and why the prevalence of stablecoins might prevent that
• whether new DeFi tokens could push flagging layer 1s out of the top 10
• what will happen if even more Bitcoin comes to DeFi
• how the next big thing in DeFi might be trying to stack yield across protocols and eventually prime brokerage protocols

Thank you to our sponsor!

Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com

Episode links: 

Dan Elitzer: https://twitter.com/delitzer

IDEO CoLab Ventures: https://www.ideocolab.com/ventures/

Will Price: https://twitter.com/will__price

Flipside Crypto: https://flipsidecrypto.com

Total value locked in Compound: https://defipulse.com/compound

What liquidity bootstrapping pools are: https://medium.com/balancer-protocol/building-liquidity-into-token-distribution-a49d4286e0d4 

Dan on earning more from borrowing USDT than lending it on Compound: https://twitter.com/delitzer/status/1272642107128164354 

Tony Sheng on how yield farming works and how much you can earn from it: https://twitter.com/tonysheng/status/1274393189231689728

And his followup on the risks of yield farming: https://twitter.com/tonysheng/status/1274780457729617920

The purpose of COMP for governance: https://medium.com/compound-finance/compound-community-ownership-ee0ed1252cc3 

https://medium.com/compound-finance/expanding-compound-governance-ce13fcd4fe36

Risks of so much BAT being held in Compound: https://twitter.com/spencernoon/status/1276897377446776832?s=20

https://twitter.com/defiprime/status/1277026665952980992?s=20

https://twitter.com/devops199fan/status/1274732220192829441?s=20

Cyrus of MakerDAO concerned about the risks COMP poses to the Dai peg: https://forum.makerdao.com/t/upcoming-comp-farming-change-could-impact-the-dai-peg/2965

Dan Guido and Taylor Monahan on Unchained discussing DeFi security: https://unchainedpodcast.com/defi-security-with-so-many-hacks-will-it-ever-be-safe/

Twitter discussion on whether ETH price will rise due to yield farming: https://twitter.com/RyanSAdams/status/1274781676875452421

What will happen to other Layer 1s? https://twitter.com/Shaughnessy119/status/1274376237239189504?s=20 

Aquaponic yield farming: https://bankless.substack.com/p/aquaponic-yield-farming

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This episode is the first in a series, Why Bitcoin Now, that takes a deeper dive into Bitcoin and the history of money in the macroeconomic environment of the coronavirus. Mike Novogratz, founder, CEO and chairman of Galaxy Digital, and Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor and Real Vision Group, tell us where they think Bitcoin is going amidst this macro uncertainty and the global crisis due to the coronavirus. We discuss: 

• why Bitcoin’s price hasn't risen in price due to the global turmoil, and instead fell with the rest of the market on Black Thursday 
• why quantitative easing is the catalyst for institutional investors to turn to Bitcoin, but why that takes time, and why registered investment advisors may be on the cusp
• why they think retail investors will continue to buy Bitcoin despite record unemployment
• why Bitcoin will benefit from social unrest
• why any particular country's success in dealing with the coronavirus won’t really lessen the economic impact there
• whether China's first-mover advantage with the DCEP and its comprehensive enterprise blockchain initiatives will undermine the global dominance of the US dollar 
• why they believe there will ultimately be a dollar-based stablecoin 
• why they believe Libra will be a strong player in the future of stablecoins 
• how election outcomes, and in particular a potential movement to break up Big Tech, could affect Bitcoin and the vision for Web3
• whether Ethereum, and staking, will see more adoption from institutional investors 
• why they believe yield farming is ultimately not sustainable, but still profitable
• the impact the Bitcoin halving will have in this macroeconomic environment

Unchained is hiring! 

Check out our job listing for a remote editorial assistant here!

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Kelman Law: https://crypto.law 

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org 

Episode links: 

Mike Novogratz: https://twitter.com/novogratz

Galaxy Digital: https://www.galaxydigital.io

Raoul Pal: https://twitter.com/RaoulGMI

Real Vision: https://www.realvision.com

Unchained interview with Kyle Samani on what happened in the crypto markets on Black Thursday: https://unchainedpodcast.com/teetering-on-the-edge-how-black-thursday-exposed-the-flaws-in-the-crypto-markets/

Unconfirmed interview with Antoine Le Calvez on what happened on BitMEX during Black thursday: https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-happened-on-bitmex-during-black-thursday/

Unchained interview with Chamath Palihapitiya on Bitcoin: https://unchainedpodcast.com/chamath-palihapitiya-why-bitcoin-will-be-the-category-winner/

Brian Armstrong tweet about deposits to Coinbase the same size as the $1,200 stimulus check: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1250907110730170370?s=20

China's DCEP and blockchain initiative: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/

Unchained interview on Libra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-libra-co-creator-on-how-facebook-will-make-money-from-calibra/

Unconfirmed interview with the Libra Association's Dante Disparte: https://unchainedpodcast.com/libras-dante-disparte-on-why-we-should-trust-a-financial-system-designed-by-facebook/

Unconfirmed interview with Michael Casey on why it would it would be good if Libra rivaled the USD: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-it-would-be-good-if-libra-rivaled-the-us-dollar/

Christopher Giancarlo's digital dollar project: https://unchainedpodcast.com/christopher-giancarlo-why-the-us-needs-to-have-a-digital-dollar/

Ethereum 2.0 staking: https://www.coindesk.com/3-ways-staking-will-upend-the-economics-of-ethereum

Unconfirmed with Kain Warwick on COMP's launch: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-comp-5xed-on-day-1-and-what-this-means-for-a-defi-bull-market/

Unconfirmed interview with Tony Sheng on yield farming: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-you-can-double-your-money-or-lose-everything/

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Chamath Palihapitiya, the CEO of Social Capital and chairman of Virgin Galactic, talks about a wide range of issues, including Bitcoin, COVID, civil unrest, and broad economic trends and forecasts. We discuss:

• Whether his economic forecasts have shifted throughout COVID
• Why he believes a debt crisis will occur
• How he views the success of BTC as a hedge against the ruling class
• How the economic pendulum will swing back toward consumers
• Why he doesn't mind if big corporations and hedge funds get wiped out
• Whether he subscribes to the thesis that Bitcoin is uncorrelated 
• Why the pandemic has not spurred institutional adoption of crypto
• Why he sees no merit in Ethereum
• How the economy will become more decentralized in the future and whether blockchain will be a part of it 
• Why he prefers SPACs over ICOs
• Why he started capital as a service 
• Why he believes the government should bust up large corporations

Unchained is hiring!

I'm looking for a remote editorial assistant. If you love crypto and have journalism experience, get in touch! https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org 

Kelman Law: https://www.kelman.law 

Episode links: 

Chamath Palihapitiya: https://twitter.com/chamath

Social Capital: https://www.socialcapital.com/

Turmoil at Social Capital: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/social-capital-founder-gives-his-account-of-turmoil-at-firm

https://observer.com/2018/09/chamath-palihapitiya-social-capital-turmoil/

https://medium.com/@chamath/the-reports-of-our-death-have-been-greatly-exaggerated-11bcc80ee4ab

2019 interview with Kara Swisher: https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2019/3/4/18247010/chamath-palihapitiya-social-capital-happiness-identity-crisis-kara-swisher-teddy-schleifer-podcast

Chamath on Recode Decode in 2020: https://podcastnotes.org/recode-decode/chamath-palihapitiya-kara-swisher-investing/

Fed buying up to $250 billion in individual corporate bonds: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/federal-reserve-begins-individual-corporate-bond-purchases-secondary-market-relief-2020-6-1029309910

CNBC interview where he says Bitcoin is an uncorrelated hedge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2gDmcU8bDw 

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/12/12/social-capitals-palihapitiya-bitcoin-is-going-to-1-million-in-the-next-20-years.html

SPAC: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-modern-ipo-is-useless-lets-reinvent-it-1506361770?mod=searchresults&page=2&pos=13

China’s blockchain efforts: https://www.coindesk.com/from-banking-giants-to-tech-darlings-china-reveals-over-500-enterprise-blockchain-projects

Capital as a service: 

https://caas.socialcapital.com 

https://medium.com/social-capital/from-experiment-to-product-capital-as-a-service-one-year-later-6d8b4b9c038b

2019 investor letter: https://www.socialcapital.com/annual-letters/2019

At Stanford GSB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMotykw0SIk

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At an event at the NYU Stern School of Business, Christopher Giancarlo, former CFTC Chairman and co-founder of the Digital Dollar Foundation, discusses his proposal for a US central bank digital currency (CBDC), and how that fits into the broader geopolitical environment. We cover:

• Why he has focused on pushing for a US digital dollar after leaving the CFTC
• How a US CBDC would be different from other stablecoins
• How the proposal is designed to build off of the traditional banking infrastructure
• What pilot programs would look like
• How a digital dollar would foster economic inclusion even though using the digital dollar requires owning a smartphone
• How it would handle privacy
• How the network would be secured
• Whether the US is falling behind China in terms of central bank digital currencies and blockchain exploration
• Whether Libra will be a proxy for the digital dollar
• How COVID-19 has affected the discourse around a digital dollar
• Whether the election will affect the future of the digital dollar

Unchained is hiring!

Check out our job listing for a remote editorial assistant here! https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Kelman Law: https://crypto.law  

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org

Episode links: 

Chris Giancarlo: https://twitter.com/giancarlo

Digital Dollar Project : https://www.digitaldollarproject.org

Previous Unchained interview with Chris: https://unchainedpodcast.com/christopher-giancarlo-on-the-craziness-of-becoming-crypto-dad/ 

Chris and Daniel Gorfine’s WSJ op-ed advocating for a digital dollar: https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-sent-a-man-to-the-moon-we-can-send-the-dollar-to-cyberspace-11571179923

Digital dollars in stimulus bills — March: https://www.coindesk.com/house-stimulus-bills-envision-digital-dollar-to-ease-coronavirus-recession 

April: https://www.coindesk.com/digital-dollar-reintroduced-by-us-lawmakers-in-latest-stimulus-bill

Pew Research on smartphone adoption: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/

FDIC survey on the unbanked and underbanked: https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/2017/2017execsumm.pdf

Banks keeping some of customers’ stimulus money: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/business/stimulus-paychecks-garnish-banks.html

Why a digital dollar is politically more feasible at this moment than before: https://www.coindesk.com/the-overton-window-opens-for-a-digital-dollar

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown also proposes digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/us-senate-floats-digital-dollar-bill-after-house-scrubs-term-from-coronavirus-relief-plan 

Philadelphia Fed paper: https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/research-and-data/publications/working-papers/2020/wp20-19.pdf

Receptivity in Congress to the idea of a digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/how-a-flurry-of-digital-dollar-proposals-made-it-to-congress

Libra white paper: https://libra.org/en-US/white-paper/#cover-letter

Congressional hearing on using FedAccounts and for stimulus: https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=406612

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U.S. House Representative, Warren Davidson, contextualizes the state of crypto legislation in terms of widespread civil unrest, COVID-19, and global shifts in power. He explains where crypto plays a role in these paradigm shifts and talks about:

• Why he believes in crypto, and how he came into the space
• How his Token Taxonomy Act creates regulatory clarity for token issuers
• What four conditions tokens would have to meet to not be considered securities
• Other features of the Token Taxonomy Act, including a de minimus exemption for taxes and no taxation of crypto-to-crypto trades
• How the pandemic and coronavirus-related fiscal stimulus affects the prospects for the Token Taxonomy Act
• What he thinks about China's blockchain push and its DCEP digital yuan
• Whether and how that creates a credible threat to US dominance in global markets
• Whether Libra could be a counterweight
• How a shift toward digital currencies could undermine the global reserve status of the USD and whether that affects the US's ability to enforce sanctions
• How outcomes of the upcoming election will affect the potential passage of crypto-friendly regulation
• Why it is easier for crypto legislation to be more bi-partisan than other bills  
• What help he needs from the industry right now to push along crypto-friendly bills

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Kelman Law: https://crypto.law  

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org

Episode links: 

Rep. Warren Davidson: https://twitter.com/WarrenDavidson

His House page: https://davidson.house.gov

Press release on the Token Taxonomy Act: https://davidson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/token-taxonomy-act-address-blockchain-innovation-flight-america

Token Taxonomy Act on GovTrack: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2144

Text of the Token Taxonomy Act: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2144/text

Letter requesting IRS clarify some crypto tax policies: https://www.coindesk.com/us-lawmakers-ask-irs-to-clarify-crypto-tax-rules-around-airdrops-forks-in-new-letter

Congressman Patrick McHenry on Unchained discussing his “permanent beta testing” idea for crypto: https://unchainedpodcast.com/congressman-patrick-mchenry-bitcoin-will-be-of-enormous-value/

Unchained interview on the DCEP: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/

Unchained interview with Libra co-creator Christian Catalini: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-libra-co-creator-on-how-facebook-will-make-money-from-calibra/

Unchained with Christopher Giancarlo on his proposal for a digital dollar: https://unchainedpodcast.com/christopher-giancarlo-on-the-craziness-of-becoming-crypto-dad/

Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Libra and a digital dollar: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-05/mnuchin-powell-see-no-need-for-fed-to-issue-digital-currency

Video in which Rep. Davidson says “shitcoin”: https://www.coindesk.com/lawmakers-amp-up-pressure-on-facebook-to-halt-libra-cryptocurrency-development

Meltem Demirors and Jill Carlson on the Shitcoin Waterfall on Unchained: https://unchainedpodcast.com/meltem-demirors-and-jill-carlson-on-the-shitcoin-waterfall-ep-74/taxes

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Jesse Walden of Variant Fund, and Robert Leshner of Compound explain all of the problems associated with the decentralizing process in terms of governance and compliance, pulling from their own lessons and their commentary on other projects. We cover:

• Why projects must start with some level centralization
• How projects can both monetize and not put their code at risk of being forked
• How they can decentralize while also maintaining security, especially for composable DeFi projects that may become vulnerable as new technology and new protocols are introduced
• How and when to distribute the token so as not to attract only speculators and also not trip regulatory wires 
• How Compound’s current governance works, how it is decentralizing, why they decided to use a governance token, and what Compound (the company) will do after full decentralization 
• Why open-sourced projects are still able to extract profits, even after a fork
• Whether or not teams should have admin keys, such as what was used in response to the bZx attacks
• Whether or not projects should be upgrade-able
• What Block.One, which raised $4 billion in an ICO, did right to only pay a $24 million fine to the SEC 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com

Kelman Law: https://crypto.law  

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org

Episode links: 

Jesse Walden: https://twitter.com/jessewldn

Robert Leshner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rleshner/

A16z Crypto startup school: https://a16z.com/crypto-startup-school/

Compound: https://compound.finance

Progressive Decentralization playbook: https://jessewalden.com/progressive-decentralization-a-playbook-for-building-crypto-applications/

What recent moves by the SEC say about mutability when it comes to crypto networks: https://a16z.com/2019/10/22/mutability-sec-recent-cases/

Compound’s $COMP token: https://medium.com/compound-finance/compound-governance-5531f524cf68

More on Compound’s governance token: https://www.coindesk.com/compound-extends-defi-ethos-to-itself-launches-governance-token

Unchained discussion about bZx attacks: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-bzx-attacks-unethical-or-illegal-2-experts-weigh-in/

Eric Wall tweet storm on admin keys: https://twitter.com/ercwl/status/1229198599264907264?s=20

tBTC shutting down: https://twitter.com/keep_project/status/1262483526437556228

More on tBTC: https://www.coindesk.com/bug-forces-shutdown-of-bitcoin-backed-ethereum-token-tbtc

Unchained interview about tBTC in which Matt Luongo explains the admin key: https://unchainedpodcast.com/tbtc-what-happens-when-the-most-liquid-crypto-asset-hits-defi/

Is the SEC trying to kill the SAFT? https://www.coindesk.com/with-kik-and-telegram-cases-the-sec-tries-to-kill-the-saft 

Block.One settlement with SEC: https://www.coindesk.com/eos-maker-block-one-settles-with-sec-over-unregistered-securities-sale

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This week’s Unchained is my panel at Ready Layer One! We talk everything layer one with four key players and projects -- Illia Polosukhin of NEARprotocol, Zaki Manian of Cosmos, Rob Habermeier of Polkadot, and Arthur Breitman of Tezos — to find out how these projects plan to compete with Ethereum and attract developers and users. We discuss: 

• What platforms they are building and at which stage in development they are 
• How they differentiate themselves from Ethereum, and what problems they believe need to be solved 
• How they plan to attract devs in an industry of network effects 
• Whether or not Bitcoin and Ethereum are direct competitors
• Whether, in the long run, crypto will be more winner-take-all or there will be multiple, interoperable chains  
• How they plan to bring new users into the space
• How they think the transition to ETH2.0 will shake up the existing blockchain space

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Tell us what would you like to see from Unchained! Please take a moment to fill out the survey to let us know what you'd like from the show: surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020.

Crypto.com has offered our survey respondents a chance to win a metal MCO Visa card -- and Crypto.com will stake these cards indefinitely! Ten lucky winners will enjoy card benefits including free Spotify, free Netflix and 3% back on all spending, and they’ll earn extra interest on their crypto deposit and more!  Thanks, Crypto.com! Again, take the survey now: surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020.

Unchained is hiring!

Come work at Unchained! We have an opening for a remote editorial assistant — find out more about the gig and apply here: https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org/

Episode links: 

Illia Polosukhin: https://twitter.com/ilblackdragon

Near protocol: https://near.org

Zaki Manian: https://twitter.com/zmanian

Cosmos: https://cosmos.network

Rob Habermeier: https://twitter.com/rphmeier

Polkadot: https://polkadot.network

Arthur Breitman: https://twitter.com/ArthurB

Tezos: https://tezos.com

Near protocol on mainnet: https://near.org/blog/near-mainnet-genesis/

Electric Capital report on the number of developers in Ethereum: https://unchainedpodcast.com/electric-capital-on-the-coins-punching-below-their-weight/

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Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, cofounder and CEO of Binance, and I kicked off the Ethereal Virtual Summit with a fun fireside chat! He talked about Binance’s current operations, its plans for the future, and the crypto industry as a whole. He explains: 

• Why he thought the questions I asked him in our first interview were misleading
• Whether Libra’s new plans are affecting Binance’s strategy for Venus
• What impact China’s DCEP will have on crypto
• Why the confluence of circumstances caused by COVID are a “perfect storm” for crypto, and how this will affect crypto in the long-term
• Whether the Binance Smart Chain will leech away Ethereum developers and users
• Why he thinks competition in the industry only grows it
• How Binance can own CoinMarketCap without affecting its objectivity 
• What he says to the class-action lawsuit against Binance, him and the other cofounders of Binance accusing them of offering unregistered securities
• How he views the role of Binance in governance in delegated proof-of-state systems, such as when Binance flip-flopped on a contentious hard fork in Steem
• Where Binance is headquartered

Unchained is hiring! Check out the job posting here! https://unchainedpodcast.com/seeking-remote-editorial-assistant/

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org/

Episode links:

CZ: https://twitter.com/cz_binance

Binance: https://www.binance.com/en

My first interview with CZ: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/

Details on BUSD: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/38607/binance-launching-its-own-usd-pegged-stablecoin-busd-with-paxos-as-custodian

Binance announcement about BUSD: https://binance.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032604131-Binance-Announces-Open-Blockchain-Project-Venus- 

BUSD marketshare: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-stablecoin-busd-tops-100m-but-lags-behind-rivals

Venus as the One Belt, One Road initiative of Libra: https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1163364542233006082?s=20 

Venus focusing on developing countries: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-is-pitching-its-stablecoin-as-a-government-friendly-libra-competitor

Binance’s acquisition of CoinMarketCap: https://www.coindesk.com/binances-coinmarketcap-acquisition-is-a-bet-that-crypto-really-is-for-the-masses

125x leverage: https://www.binance.com/en/blog/393707200802271232/5-Things-You-Need-to-Know-About-Binance-Futures-125x-Leverage

The Block report on BNB’s latest token burn: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/62306/a-closer-look-at-binances-bnb-burns

Lee et al. vs. Binance: https://www.scribd.com/document/455203877/Lee-et-al-vs-Binance

Estimate that Binance earned $46 million in profit in 2018: 

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/10491/analysis-binance-brought-in-446-million-in-profits-in-2018-despite-the-bear-market

Binance used Steem tokens on its exchange to help vote out Steem validators: https://steempeak.com/witness/@ura-soul/ura-soul-witness-update-anarchy-vs-empire-tron-replaces-top-witnesses-and-takes-over-the-steem-blockchain 

CZ’s initial tweet about the how Binance handled the Steemit fork: https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1234565384327585792?s=20

Binance reverses course: https://www.coindesk.com/steem-will-hard-fork-in-just-hours-over-community-fears-of-justin-sun-power-grab

Binance not authorized to operate in Malta: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/56603/binance-is-not-authorised-to-operate-in-malta-says-the-countrys-financial-regulator 

CZ on Binance not being based in Malta and decentralized: https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1230860647086338048

Binance shut down Shanghai offices: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/47922/binances-shanghai-office-shut-down-following-police-raid-sources-say

Links to topics we did not have time to cover:

Binance removes all references to Visa from its credit card: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/60886/binance-quietly-scrubs-visa-mentions-from-its-payment-card-website

Opening mining pool: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-crypto-exchange-is-launching-its-first-bitcoin-mining-pool

Investment in startups in Africa: https://www.coindesk.com/binance-backed-crypto-payments-app-as-race-for-africa-heats-up

In-browser trading: https://www.coindesk.com/brave-partners-with-binance-to-develop-in-browser-crypto-trading

https://brave.com/binance/

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Amanda Fabiano, director of Bitcoin mining at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, and Christopher Bendiksen, head of research at CoinShares, discuss the third Bitcoin halving, which occurred hours before the publication of this episode. They discuss:

• the significance of the halving
• what effect it could have on price and what Amanda and Christopher think of Dan Morehead's projection that it could reach $115,000 next year
• how macroeconomic events like the coronavirus and quantitative easing could impact uptake of Bitcoin
• how the halving could affect miners and hash rate
• how the halving could influence the environmental impact of Bitcoin
• why mining was the first activity Fidelity pursued with Bitcoin
• what they think needs to happen in Bitcoin to foster more adoption
• why hash rate derivatives will be a crucial step
• what the outlook is for institutional adoption of Bitcoin
• plus, is it halving or halvening?

Take the 2020 Unchained Podcast survey! 

I'm doing another survey to find out what you want from the podcasts and how I can make them better! Please take a moment to fill it out here and to tell us at Unchained what you'd like from the show: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020

Plus, Crypto.com has offered our survey respondents a chance to win a metal MCO Visa card -- Crypto.com will stake these cards indefinitely! Ten lucky winners will enjoy card benefits including free Spotify, free Netflix, 3% back on all spending, earn extra interest on their crypto deposit and more!  Thanks, Crypto.com! Again, take the survey now! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2020

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com

Stellar: https://www.stellar.org/

Episode links: 

Amanda Fabiano: https://twitter.com/_amanda_fab

Fidelity Center for Applied Technology: https://www.fidelitylabs.com

Christopher Bendiksen: https://twitter.com/C_Bendiksen

Coinshares: https://coinshares.com

Coinshares’ 5 Popular Bitcoin Halving Theories: https://coinshares.com/research/5-popular-btc-halving-theories

Coinshares’ December 2019 Bitcoin Mining Report: https://coinshares.com/assets/resources/Research/bitcoin-mining-network-december-2019.pdf

Unconfirmed episode with Dan Morehead: https://unchainedpodcast.com/a-bitcoin-price-of-115000-next-year/

Bitcoin stock-to-flow ratio: https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-with-scarcity-91fa0fc03e25

Fidelity opens trading to institutional customers: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-06/fidelity-said-to-offer-cryptocurrency-trading-within-a-few-weeks

Fidelity Digital Assets signs first exchange: https://www.coindesk.com/fidelity-digital-assets-to-sign-up-its-first-crypto-exchange-by-end-of-the-year

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Hi everyone, this is an essay by Mariano Conti of MakerDAO that was so popular, personal and relatable, especially to those living in Latin America, that we decided to have Mariano translate it and read it in Spanish. Share it with your Spanish-speaking friends who still don’t understand what crypto is about, to show how it solved real-world problems for at least one person. 

Mariano Conti, jefe de contratos inteligentes de MakerDAO, nos lee su ensayo sobre su experiencia personal con criptomonedas, desde el punto de vista de un Argentino cuya familia ha experimentado períodos de hiperinflación, y de un freelancer que recibe pagos por su trabajo desde varios países. Mariano describe la evolución de Maker desde Dai de Colateral Único (ahora Sai) hasta Dai Multi Colateral, y también brinda su perspectiva de los eventos del Jueves Negro y las subastas de deuda subsecuentes que el protocolo debió llevar a cabo para regularizar su situación.

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