Unchained

Riccardo Spagni, the lead maintainer for Monero, describes the four pillars of Monero's privacy, makes the case for why it would still be valuable even if BItcoin were to adopt privacy, and explains the ways in which its privacy is stronger and weaker than Zcash's. He also discusses his new project, Tari, and how it could enable a new world of natively digital assets such as tickets, loyalty points and in-game assets, and how it will relate to Monero. He also explains his view on the fact that Monero is one of the top currencies used on the dark web and appears to have been in demand by bad state actors such as North Korea. Plus, he gives us his backstory, which includes gel-based nail polish and bikinis, and the origin of his nickname, Fluffypony.

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Episode links:

Riccardo Spagni: https://twitter.com/fluffypony?lang=en

Monero: https://getmonero.org

Tari: https://www.tari.com

Wired article on Monero's traceability: https://www.wired.com/story/monero-privacy/

Laura's listener mail episode: http://unchainedpodcast.co/listener-mail-laura-answers-your-questions-on-the-markets-velocity-privacy-and-more-ep88

Unchained episode with Zooko Wilcox of Zcash: http://unchainedpodcast.co/zcashs-zooko-wilcox-on-why-he-believes-privacy-coins-will-be-used-more-for-good-than-bad

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Jake Brukhman of CoinFund and Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital discuss a new trend among crypto funds: generalized mining, also called mining 2.0, in which investors participate in the networks in order to seed activity on them. For instance, an investor might offer disk space on a file storage network or provide capital on a decentralized lending network. They explain why it makes more sense to do this in the early days of a network than when it's matured, whether this will lead away from a peer-to-peer vision for crypto toward more professionalization and how this affects the basic premise of the fat protocols thesis. We also discuss how this impacts how crypto funds hire, do their accounting and reporting and structure their LP agreements.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Abra: Click this special link for a free $25 in Bitcoin! https://www.abra.com/unchained

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WeTrust: WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained

Episode links:

Jake Brukhman: https://twitter.com/jbrukh?lang=en

CoinFund: https://coinfund.io

Tushar Jain: https://twitter.com/TusharJain_

Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital

Jake's post on crypto borrowing: https://blog.coinfund.io/crypto-borrowing-and-staking-networks-e7d2d64a81a4

Tushar's post on generalized mining: https://multicoin.capital/2018/10/23/the-evolving-role-of-crypto-investors/

Jake on LivePeer as a case study: https://blog.coinfund.io/livepeer-cryptoeconomics-as-a-case-study-of-active-participation-in-decentralized-networks-19a932415e0e

Unchained episode with MakerDAO: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable

Unconfirmed episode with Rune Christensen of MakerDAO: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/rune-christensen-of-makerdao-on-its-15-million-from-andreessen-horowitz-ep039

Initial witness offerings, by Jake's partner Alexsandr Bulkin: https://blog.coinfund.io/iwos-with-adapt-a-creative-technological-solution-to-a-regulatory-problem-513b0bc811ff

Jake's post on fat protocols not being an investment thesis: https://blog.coinfund.io/fat-protocols-are-not-an-investment-thesis-17c8837c2734

Unchained interview with Joel Monegro, the author of the fat protocols thesis: http://unchainedpodcast.co/placeholders-joel-monegro-on-the-fat-protocols-thesis-today-ep65

Videos that Jake mentions at the end of the show:

Generalized Mining, An Introduction & Primer by Jake Brukhman, CEO of CoinFund: https://youtu.be/ceex9CN2YZU

Panel #1: Supply Side Services | Generalized Mining and The Third-Party Economy: https://youtu.be/Cr6H2FcidjY

Panel # 2: New Role of Crypto Investors | Generalized Mining and The Third-Party Economy:  https://youtu.be/zakQc07GRXA

Panel #3: Staking Economic Design |  Generalized Mining and The Third-Party Economy:  https://youtu.be/ydViUpTZens

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After the ICO craze of 2017, such offerings have raised extremely little so far this fall, with total sales in October down 94% since February, according to Token Data. Why? And where to next? Andy Bromberg, president of CoinList, and Marco Santori, president and chief legal officer of Blockchain, discuss the changing nature of token sales. Andy reveals how the projects approaching CoinList have changed over the last year, how investors are changing their approach to due diligence in the space, and how CoinList complies with various regulations. Marco explains the origin of the SAFT framework, what laws would apply outside of securities regulation and why rulings in civil lawsuits and no-action letter are likely the next way we'll get regulatory clarity. We also discuss why the Civil token sale failed, why airdrops could be a better than ICOs for seeding usage on networks and how to figure out which wallets to target in an airdrop. Plus: Marco and Andy disagree on one aspect or how regulation could apply to airdrops.

Thank you to our sponsors!

WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained

Abra: Click this special link for a free $25 in Bitcoin! https://www.abra.com/unchained

Episode Links

Andy Bromberg: https://twitter.com/andy_bromberg

CoinList: https://coinlist.co

Marco Santori: https://twitter.com/msantoriESQ

Blockchain: https://www.blockchain.com

Autonomous Next data on September ICOs down 90% since January: https://next.autonomous.com/thoughts/crypto-september-icos-90-down-from-january-but-venture-funding-is-ray-of-hope

Token Data on October ICOs down 94% since February: https://twitter.com/TokenData/status/1057953301440983040

SAFT project: https://saftproject.com

Previous episode with Marco and Joshua Ashley Klayman including her concerns about the SAFT framework: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-crypto-and-blockchain-technology-should-be-regulated

SEC Director of Finance Bill Hinman's comments that ether is not a security (5:25): https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-announces-ether-not-security-162658147.html

Jay Clayton's comments that every ICO he's seen is a security: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-chief-clayton-every-ico-ive-seen-security/

Civil token sale: https://tokenfoundry.com/projects/civil

Blockchain's Airdrop program: https://www.blockchain.com/airdrop

CoinList's Airdrops program: https://airdrops.coinlist.co

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For this episode on the eve of the Bitcoin white paper's 10-year anniversary, Nathaniel Popper and Paul Vigna, reporters who cover Bitcoin and crypto for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, respectively, and who have written books about it, discuss wide-ranging questions regarding the first cryptocurrency. We explore why it succeeded where previous digital currencies failed, what role the financial crisis and Satoshi's disappearance played in its success and how it compares to the development of the internet. We also look at the "blockchain, not Bitcoin" debate, the scaling debate and the merits of on-chain governance, and how scandals involving centralized services such as the Equifax hack and the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica breach will affect its development. Finally, we discuss its potential as a global reserve currency, potential abuse of crypto assets by bad state actors, and whether and how regulators can regulate decentralized technologies. Plus, Paul and Nathaniel give their thoughts on the next 10 years.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Abra: Click this special link for a free $25 in Bitcoin! https://www.abra.com/unchained

Onramp: http://www.thinkonramp.com

WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained

Episode links:

Bitcoin white paper: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Nathaniel Popper: https://twitter.com/nathanielpopper

https://www.nytimes.com/by/nathaniel-popper?8qa

Digital Gold: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062572066/digital-gold/

Paul Vigna: https://twitter.com/paulvigna

https://www.wsj.com/news/author/7296

Age of Cryptocurrency: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250081551

The Truth Machine: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250114570

Edward Bernays' Propaganda: http://www.igpub.com/propaganda/

CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz's speech discussing how they would prosecute illegal prediction markets: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaquintenz16

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While many companies like to use buzzwords like crypto, blockchain, AI and encryption, Numerai actually combines all these technologies in a novel way. Founder Richard Craib discusses how his hedge fund started off crowdsourcing good financial models from data scientists to optimize its trading strategies in global equities. He then explains how it airdropped a token, the Numeraire, to those data scientists, giving them the option to stake some Numeraire for models they were especially confident in, and how staked models have higher returns. He also describes Numerai's new Erasure protocol, which helps build a marketplace for predictions for sellers who could profit more from selling their predictions than trading on them, and for buyers who can now use the signal of staking to filter between good and bad data. We dive into the protocol's "griefing" process, in which buyers can punish sellers, as well as the thorny issue of whether selling predictions based on proprietary information could constitute insider trading. Plus, we explore whether or not other hedge funds would really want to buy a token created by another hedge fund, and what Numerai's plans are to become more decentralized.

Thank you to our sponsor!

Onramp: http://www.thinkonramp.com

Episode links:

Numerai: https://numer.ai

Richard Craib: https://twitter.com/richardcraib

My Forbes article on the Numeraire: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/02/21/this-is-the-worlds-first-cryptocurrency-issued-by-a-hedge-fund/#3cda45f360b6

Erasure: https://erasure.xxx

Announcement about Erasure: https://medium.com/numerai/numerai-reveals-erasure-unstoppable-peer-to-peer-data-feeds-4fbb8d92820a

Unchained episode with Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain Capital: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-the-first-employee-of-coinbase-launched-a-hedge-fund

Unchained episode with Joey Krug of Augur: http://unchainedpodcast.co/joey-krug-on-how-augur-is-like-any-other-tool-ep79

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This week, because I was busy with my TEDx talk and my book, I decided to do an episode in which I answer your questions. Thank you to everyone who submitted one, and I'm so sorry I didn't get to all your questions. In this episode, I talk about what's necessary to gain wider adoption, how I think the next bull run will manifest and how Bitcoin would behave in a serious financial crisis. Plus, I reveal which areas of the industry I think will blossom, and which areas I'm less optimistic about. I also answer what people who are just getting into the technology can do in the space, why the oracle problem is so challenging and how it can be resolved, and what the velocity problem is, and whether it applies especially to Ethereum. I also delve into privacy coins, whether or not the lower overall crypto market volatility we're seeing now will continue, and where this trend with stablecoins is going. There are a LOT of episode links -- be sure to check them out!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Altlending: https://altlending.com

Blockdaemon: http://blockdaemon.com/unchained/

Episode links:

Senate hearing on cryptocurrencies: https://www.c-span.org/video/?452837-1/senate-banking-panel-explores-cryptocurrencies-blockchains

Tweets with me, Nouriel and Vitalik: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1050782831859752960

My conversation with Soona Amhaz of Token Daily about Nouriel Roubini on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/how-were-misusing-the-word-decentralization-ep041

Milken Institute panel featuring Nouriel Roubini: http://www.milkeninstitute.org/videos/view/cryptocurrencies-irrational-exuberance-or-brave-new-world

Skeptics' Episodes:

Preston Byrne & Angela Walch: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-skeptics-episode-preston-byrne-and-angela-walch-on-what-the-industry-and-regulators-get-wrong-in-crypto

Meltem Demirors & Jill Carlson: http://unchainedpodcast.co/episode-74

Singularity University episode discussing usbaility: http://unchainedpodcast.co/singularity-university-global-summit-how-do-we-get-consumer-adoption-ep83

My Forbes article on phone hijacking: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#2ada233b38ba

USV blog post on apps and infrastructure: https://www.usv.com/blog/the-myth-of-the-infrastructure-phase

CryptoKitties episode: http://unchainedpodcast.co/what-makes-a-cryptokitty-worth-140000-ep75

Token Foundry standards: https://blog.tokenfoundry.com/token-foundry-standards/

Civil: https://civil.co

Forbes magazine feature on blockchain not Bitcoin, featuring Chain: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/09/09/bitcoins-shared-ledger-technology-moneys-new-operating-system/#66bb2f4c7dd1

Recent episode with Barry Silbert: http://unchainedpodcast.co/barry-silbert-on-what-wall-street-says-privately-about-crypto-vs-what-it-says-publicly-ep87

Decentralized Finance series:

0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future

Dharma: http://unchainedpodcast.co/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep80

Compound: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep82

dYdX: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-dydx-allows-you-to-take-a-short-position-in-one-token-ep86

Institutional money:

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Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, which has invested in 130 crypto ventures worldwide, describes his company, its strategy for investing in the crypto space, and how his perspective on the development of the space has changed since he first launched in 2014. He also explains why he's not a big believer in decentralization, like many others in the space, why he's not bullish on ICOs, and why he also is a bigger proponent of Ethereum Classic than Ethereum. We also touch on regulation and how he thinks that will affect the development of crypto, why Grayscale launched an investment vehicle for a little-known cryptocurrency, and why he's excited about Decentraland. Plus, he reveals what Wall Street says publicly about crypto vs. what it says privately and reflects on his role in the New York Agreement -- a failed attempt to bridge a divide in the Bitcoin community.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Altlending: https://altlending.com

Blockdaemon: http://blockdaemon.com/unchained/

If you're interested in sponsoring Unchained or Unconfirmed, email Raelene at [email protected].

Episode Links:

DCG: https://dcg.co

Barry Silbert: https://twitter.com/barrysilbert

Grayscale: https://grayscale.co

Genesis: https://genesistrading.com

CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com

New York state Bitlicense: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/legal/regulations/bitlicense_reg_framework.htm

Decentraland: https://decentraland.org

GBTC: https://grayscale.co/bitcoin-investment-trust/

Radar Relay: https://www.radarrelay.com

The Unchained interview with 0x, the decentralized exchange with which Radar Relay works: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future

Blog post announcing the New York Agreement: https://medium.com/@DCGco/bitcoin-scaling-agreement-at-consensus-2017-133521fe9a77

Unchained podcast on the failure of the compromise: http://unchainedpodcast.co/what-bitcoins-history-says-about-its-future

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Antonio Juliano, founder of dYdX, explains how this protocol for derivatives will enable you to take a short position in a single token, why they are starting with protocols shorting and margin lending and how these protocols work vs. how shorting and margin lending work today. The former employee of Coinbase also discusses how the protocol determines the prices of the assets involved, how low liquidity affects the trading of the derivatives and who dYdX's users will be. He also talks about how the company, which has raised money from Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital and others, plans to make money despite not currently having a token. Plus, we discuss dYdX's plans to create protocols for derivatives that are not fully collateralized and the risks that come with that.

Thank you to our sponsor!

Blockdaemon: http://blockdaemon.com/unchained/

Interested in sponsoring Unchained or Unconfirmed? Reach out to Raelene at [email protected].

Episode links:

dYdX: https://dydx.exchange

Antonio Juliano: https://twitter.com/antoniomjuliano

dYdX white paper: https://whitepaper.dydx.exchange

Expo: https://www.expotrading.com

https://medium.com/dydxderivatives/introducing-expo-ffe74a328f85

Investments in dYdX: https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/03/short-ethereum/

Unchained episode about decentralized exchange protocol 0x: http://unchainedpodcast.co/will-warren-of-0x-on-why-decentralized-exchanges-are-the-future

Unchained episode about decentralized debt protocol Dharma: http://unchainedpodcast.co/nadav-hollander-on-how-dharma-could-create-new-forms-of-debt-ep80

Unchained episode about decentralized money market protocol Compound: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-youll-earn-interest-on-your-crypto-with-compound-ep82

Unchained interview with Josh Stein of Harbor: http://unchainedpodcast.co/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep77

Unchained interview with CryptoKitties: http://unchainedpodcast.co/what-makes-a-cryptokitty-worth-140000-ep75

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In this fascinating and compelling panel on Why Decentralization Matters at the Oslo Freedom Forum in New York, I spoke with Alejandro Machado, a researcher at Zcash; Amber Baldet, founder and CEO of Clovyr, a decentralized software and developer tools company; Andy Bromberg, cofounder and president of CoinList, a compliant token offering platform; and Megha Rajagopalan, correspondent for Buzzfeed and former China bureau chief.

In this discussion, we cover what is happening in authoritarian regimes like China and Venezuela that highlight the importance of decentralized technologies, how people in those countries are using crypto assets, and how technologists think about decentralization and censorship-resistance. We also talk about the usability issues of decentralized technologies and how people in authoritarian regimes can even get access to them. Plus, we also look at how bad state actors are also using the same technology to oppress people or evade sanctions.

Thank you to our sponsors!

StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com

Episode links:

PC Mag story on how cryptocurrency is both "an oppressor and a lifeline" in Venezuela: https://www.pcmag.com/feature/362486/in-venezuela-cryptocurrency-is-an-oppressor-and-a-lifeline

Naval on Unchained talking about how money is now speech: http://unchainedpodcast.co/naval-ravikant-on-how-crypto-is-squeezing-vcs-hindering-regulators-and-bringing-users-choice

Google's Dragonfly project: https://theintercept.com/2018/09/14/google-china-prototype-links-searches-to-phone-numbers/

For more on how decentralization and blockchain technology can help Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/alex-gladstein-of-the-human-rights-foundation-on-the-first-crypto-war-ep021

A previous interview with Amber Baldet on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/sxsw-episode-amber-baldet-blockchain-program-lead-at-jpmorgan-on-the-potential-clash-between-blockchains-and-the-right-to-be-forgotten

A previous interview with Andy Bromberg on Unconfirmed: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/coinlists-andy-bromberg-on-the-one-big-regulatory-issue-facing-crypto-ep030

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In this fast-paced and exhilarating conversation, Changpeng Zhao, aka "CZ," tells the pivotal business decisions that led users to flock to the brand-new Binance in the summer and fall of 2017, catapulting it from obscurity to become the world's most popular crypto exchange within five months. He also describes his regulatory stance, why he focuses on small jurisdictions and why he lets token teams hire their own lawyers to determine whether their coins are securities or not.  He explains the company's insider trading and market manipulation policies and how BNB coin works. Plus, he disputes the notion that stocks have better information due to disclosure rules, lays out Binance's current mission and delineates the differences in the crypto communities in North America, Europe and Asia.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Altlending: https://altlending.com

Blockdaemon: https://blockdaemon.com/unchained/

If you're interested in sponsoring Unchained or Unconfirmed, reach out to Raelene at [email protected].

Episode links:

Binance: https://www.binance.com

CZ: https://twitter.com/cz_binance

Binance white paper: https://www.binance.com/resources/ico/Binance_WhitePaper_en.pdf

Unchained interview with Bobby Lee: http://unchainedpodcast.co/bobby-lee-ceo-of-btcc-on-why-the-chinese-probably-arent-using-bitcoin-to-evade-capital-controls

Unchained interview with Da Hongfei on China bad on ICOs: http://unchainedpodcast.co/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban

Epicenter BTC's interview with CZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEaxQneanIY

Binance's "creative" approach to regulation: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-28/crypto-s-billionaire-trading-king-has-suddenly-run-into-problems

Unchained interview on crypto regulation in the US: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-chamber-of-digital-commerces-perianne-boring-and-amy-kim-on-why-us-crypto-regulation-is-complicated-and-confusing

Unchained interview with Coin Center: http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-coin-center-is-helping-define-the-big-fuzzy-gray-area-of-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-law

Binance's purchase of TrustWallet: http://fortune.com/2018/07/31/binance-trust-wallet-acquistion/

Binance's $1 billion investment fund: https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/01/binance-1-billion-investment-fund/

Forbes cover story on CZ: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamelaambler/2018/02/07/changpeng-zhao-binance-exchange-crypto-cryptocurrency/

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