Unchained

Arthur Hayes, CEO of Bitmex, describes how traders on his platform can make great gains but experience limited losses, how Asia's crypto markets differ from those in the U.S., and why he makes money whether or not crypto prices go up or down. He also describes why ICOs are crap now but why he fully supports the idea in theory and how they should get back to their roots. He also explains why he believes governments will issue digital cash, and why he believes everyday people will be surveilled through these transactions, but will give up this privacy for the sake of convenience. And where does he see this leaving cryptocurrencies? To become needed to transact privately.

Bitmex: https://www.bitmex.com/

Arthur Hayes: https://www.bitmex.com/app/aboutUs

Bitmex blog, with detailed research reports: https://blog.bitmex.com/

Arthur's Crypto Trader Digest: https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=db45c09bdf20e1866bb32123f&id=ac43da8d18

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Jonathan Levin, cofounder and chief operating officer for blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, describes how the company was born out of questions he had while a grad student, how they began mapping the Bitcoin blockchain to certain entities, and how their customers, which include government agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS, Europol and others, use Chainalysis to help solve Bitcoin crimes. He also reveals what level of detail the software tracks, how privacy coins could affect their work, and what new developments in the technology could decrease current crimes, such as physical extortion of crypto holders. Plus, he answers the question of whether or not Chainalysis's work destroys the fungibility of Bitcoin.

Chainalysis: http://chainalysis.com/

Jonathan Levin: https://twitter.com/jony_levin

Chainalysis report on the changing nature of crypto crime: https://www.chainalysis.com/static/Cryptocrime_Report_V2.pdf

Forbes article on Chainalysis: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/04/05/snooping-on-bitcoin-is-big-business/#234e6792d198

Usage of Chainalysis by IRS: https://www.thedailybeast.com/irs-now-has-a-tool-to-unmask-bitcoin-tax-cheats

Threats of violence against bitcoin and other crypto holders: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/technology/virtual-currency-extortion.html

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Jesse Powell, CEO of crypto asset exchange Kraken, explains why he publicly rejected then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's request for information from crypto exchanges, why he felt it was a publicity stunt and why Kraken, which stopped serving New York customers after New York's Bitlicense was introduced, doesn't see the market as a top priority. He also talks about why Kraken decided to stop operations in Japan after further regulations were imposed and discusses Kraken's $1 million donation to Coin Center (and its $1 million match). Plus, he gets into why he named the exchange after a Norse sea monster, the dangers of the exchange's margin trading product, and what steps he recommends everyone in crypto take to keep their tokens safe.

Jesse Powell: https://twitter.com/jespow

Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/

Past Unchained episode with Brock Pierce who also had a pre-Bitcoin career involving video game currency (Jesse and Brock were competitors): http://unchainedpodcast.co/this-vc-is-sure-venture-capital-is-about-to-be-disrupted

Kraken's position on regulation (discussion of New York AG request and Japan + guidance for regulators): https://blog.kraken.com/post/1561/krakens-position-on-regulation/

Kraken donation to Coin Center: https://blog.kraken.com/post/1591/kraken-donates-1m-to-coin-center-with-an-additional-1m-matching-during-may/

Kraken down for 40 hours: http://fortune.com/2018/01/12/bitcoin-price-ripple-kraken-down/

Past Unchained episode on taxation of crypto: http://unchainedpodcast.co/the-tax-rules-that-have-crypto-users-aghast

Kraken blog post on phone numbers being hijacked: https://blog.kraken.com/post/219/security-advisory-mobile-phones/

My article on the same topic: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#1d79923338ba

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This recording of a panel I moderated at Ethereal with Ethereum researcher Vlad Zamfir and GovernX founder Nick Dodson covered the topic that it seems everyone in crypto is discussing these days: governance. We talk about how the community should decide whether or not to unlock the funds frozen by bugs, on-chain governance, what role the Ethereum Foundation plays and what it means that nearly all the people who write Ethereum's code are men.

Nick Dodson: https://twitter.com/iamnickdodson

Vlad Zamfir: https://twitter.com/VladZamfir

If you liked this discussion, also be sure to check out my recent episode with Aya Miyaguchi, executive director of the Ethereum Foundation: http://unchainedpodcast.co/aya-miyaguchi-of-the-ethereum-foundation-on-who-makes-the-final-call-ep59

And this Unconfirmed episode on blockchain ethics with Cara LaPointe of Georgetown: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/from-the-bellagio-blockchain-summit-blockchain-ethics-with-georgetowns-cara-lapointe-ep016

Thank you to Ethereal for hosting a great event! https://etherealsummit.com/

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The newly appointed head of the Ethereum Foundation, Aya Miyaguchi, talks about her background as a teacher, at Kraken, helping the Mt. Gox trustee unwind that mess, and the closed process by which she was plucked for her current role. She also describes her goals with the Ethereum Foundation, how the EF believes the Ethereum community should make decisions, how it defines community and more. She also talks about how she hopes to push more financial inclusion with Ethereum, and what she thinks needs to be done to get more women involved in crypto.

Aya Miyaguchi: https://twitter.com/mi_ayako

Ethereum Foundation: https://www.ethereum.org/foundation

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In this show, recorded without the participation of Ripple (explanation included in the show), Ryan Selkis, CEO and founder of Messari and Matt Leising, Bloomberg reporter, discuss Ripple's XRP, the third-largest coin by market cap. We go over whether or not it plays an essential role in Ripple's products, why banks are unlikely to adopt it, and why it's centralized. We also discuss whether or not it's an unregistered security (although the class-action lawsuit alleging XRP is an unregistered security being sold in a "never-ending ICO" came out after we recorded -- link below). We also discuss recent attempts by XRP to get it listed on top crypto exchanges, and how, as Selkis puts it, there's a fine line between some of its business activity and bribes. We also ponder the question: If XRP is meant for banks and financial institutions, why should everyday people own XRP?

Ryan Selkis: https://messari.io/

https://twitter.com/twobitidiot

Matt Leising: https://twitter.com/mattleising

https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AGfq0QVqo0I/matthew-leising

Full text of class-action lawsuit against Ripple: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5938711a9de4bb74f63b4059/t/5aebc4112b6a28e0ef4a0381/1525400594617/Coffey+v+Ripple+Labs+Complaint.pdf

Bloomberg article on lawsuit: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-04/ripple-hit-with-class-action-suit-over-never-ending-ico

Matt's article on why big banks have no interest in using XRP: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/ripple-wants-xrp-to-be-bitcoin-for-banks-if-only-the-banks-wanted-it

How Ripple tried to buy its way onto crypto exchanges: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-04/ripple-is-said-to-struggle-to-buy-u-s-listing-for-popular-coin

Ryan's post on XRP: https://medium.com/@twobitidiot/i-still-see-you-xrp-815369a539ea

Izabella Kaminska's article on XRP: https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/01/05/2197220/the-ripple-effect/

CoinDesk article on XRP: https://www.coindesk.com/ripples-xrp-giving-third-largest-cryptocurrency-second-look/

XRP chat post by David Schwartz: https://www.xrpchat.com/topic/5280-valuation-models-xrp-the-digital-currency-vs-ripple-the-company/?tab=comments#comment-50182 

Another post by David Schwartz on how XRP is not required: https://www.quora.com/Is-XRP-not-required-for-the-Ripple-Swift-replacement/answer/David-Schwartz-9

Bitmex post on XRP: https://blog.bitmex.com/the-ripple-story/

The dueling lawsuits between Ripple and R3 over XRP: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/09/08/blockchain-enterprise-firms-r3-and-ripple-sue-each-other-over-1-billion-of-cryptocurrency/

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Here is the second special episode from the Time Summit, a Bridge Alternatives event, on how institutional investors can do operational due diligence. Suna Said, founder and CEO of family office Nima Capital, Eddie Duszlak of Texas Children's Hospital, and Joel Gantcher of Gantcher Family Partners discuss how they invest in the nascent Web 3.0. They discuss why a year of experience in crypto is so valuable, how they determine who the serious players are in the space and why the speed of disruption from the internet revolution gives them motivation to get into the crypto markets.

Thank you to the Time Summit, a Bridge Alternatives event! https://timesummit.org/

http://bridgealternatives.com/

Suna Said: https://timesummit.org/2018/04/18/suna-said/

Eddie Duszlak: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/06/eddie-duszlak/

Joel Gantcher: https://timesummit.org/2018/04/19/joel-gantcher/

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Ethereal Summit: https://etherealsummit.com/ Use code Unchained10 for 10% off!

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This talk is from a panel I led on infrastructure in the crypto space at the Time Summit, by Bridge Alternatives, featuring Kayvon Pirestani of director of institutional sales at GDAX, Tim McCourt, CME Group’s managing director and global head of equity products and alternative investments, Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis Trading and Genesis Capital, and Hu Liang, founder and CEO of Omniex. We discussed what infrastructure tools need to be built to get institutional players comfortable with the space, how custodying a digital asset differs from custodying a traditional asset, why they can see institutional players dealing in stablecoins and trading on decentralized exchanges at some point in the future, and what needs to be built out in terms of trading infrastructure for institutional players. (Hint: it turns out Excel and Google Sheets are the biggest competitors for crypto trading infrastructure services.) We also talk about the challenges of building out infrastructure for trading that can suddenly double or quadruple in volume and for a market that runs 24/7/365.

Thank you to Bridge Alternatives and the Time Summit for the panel!

https://www.bridgealternatives.com/

https://timesummit.org/

Kayvon Pirestani: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/19/kayvon-pirestani/

Michael Moro: https://timesummit.org/2018/04/21/michael-moro/

Tim McCourt: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/15/tim-mccourt/

Hu Liang: https://timesummit.org/2018/03/23/hu-liang/

The episode with Mike Belshe where we discuss custodying digital assets and qualified custodians: http://unchainedpodcast.co/mike-belshe-on-what-bitgos-kingdom-trust-acquisition-means-for-crypto-and-how-security-will-develop-in-the-future

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Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain, cofounders of Multicoin Capital, dive deeply into their sometimes controversial and unpopular opinions on how the crypto revolution will play out. They describe why they don't think the technology that a team develops early on will play nearly as big a role as some think, why there will be a spectrum of blockchains offering different features with different tradeoffs, and why they're bearish on stablecoins. They discuss why they disagree on whether or not the Lightning Network is revolutionary (and therefore why they disagree on whether Bitcoin is failing). Samani and Jain also explain how they decide whether or not to invest in a token, their strategies for trading and why they don't have to be invested in a project to help out.

Multicoin: https://multicoin.capital/

Kyle Samani: @KyleSamani

Tushar Jain: @TusharJain_

A blog post that came out after we recorded in which Kyle expands on his contention that technical features will matter less in the long-term success of a network than people think: https://multicoin.capital/2018/04/25/good-artists-copy-great-artists-steal/

Kyle's post on the outlook for coins for store of value, utility tokens and stablecoins: https://multicoin.capital/2018/03/15/paths-to-tens-of-trillions/

More Multicoin thinking around stablecoins: https://multicoin.capital/2018/01/17/an-overview-of-stablecoins/

Previous Unchained episode: Why It's So Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable: http://unchainedpodcast.co/why-its-so-hard-to-keep-stablecoins-stable

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Paul Walsh had long ago predicted that internet scams would migrate from email to private messaging platforms, but it wasn't until crypto mania took off that his thesis was proved right -- in a big way. In the summer of 2017, the founder and CEO of MetaCert discovered many crypto Slack channels were being overrun by scammers capitalizing on FOMO to get people to inadvertently give them their ether and other tokens. Now, the company has several products to help prevent crypto enthusiasts from being scammed and it also decentralizing its work so the whole world can help classify bad links and proven others from being scammed. In this talk, he describes how the scams work, how Metacert tries to keep people from falling victim, and how best you can protect your own crypto.

MetaCert the company: https://metacert.com

MetaCert the protocol: http://metacertprotocol.com/ 

Story on phone hijackings:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/#7125f2f738ba

Link to episode where Mike Belshe and I discuss physical crimes against crypto people: http://unchainedpodcast.co/mike-belshe-on-what-bitgos-kingdom-trust-acquisition-means-for-crypto-and-how-security-will-develop-in-the-future

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