Unchained

By Laura ShinNews Business News Tech News

Unchained episodes

November 11, 2022Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets - Ep. 419
Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, and Jordan Fish, aka Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, talk about the collapse of FTX.

Show highlights:
the links between FTX and Alameda
what kickstarted the blowup of FTX
why Erik and Cobie think that Bankman-Fried's behavior was “sociopathic”
why the $10 billion hole is so shocking to Cobie considering the advantages that FTX had as a company
whether this would have ever happened if the prices hadn’t plummeted in the bear market
the tension between advocates of privacy and those who want to limit criminal activity
why Erik believes that SBF’s donations to both political parties are bribery
whether regulators can prevent an exchange from collapsing
whether Changpeng Zhao did a better job at investigating FTX than anyone at the SEC
the likelihood that this will result in criminal charges
how blockchain technology is the solution to the problem of centralized exchanges doing things in the dark
Tether’s decision to freeze USDT owned by FTX
Erik’s response to Bitcoin maximalists who say FTX was caused by altcoins
whether it is a mistake for exchanges to issue their own tokens
how big the contagion could be in the industry
why nobody should leave a significant amount of their net worth in a centralized exchange
Erik’s message to regulators
whether SBF was aligned with the values and the ethos of crypto
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Erik:
Twitter
ShapeShift
Previous Unchained episodes:
Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit
Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State
Cobie:
Twitter
Substack
UpOnly
Previous Unchained episodes:
Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market
Episode Links
Previous coverage of Unchained:
Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC
The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
FTX Collapse:
FTX Tapped Into Customer Accounts to Fund Risky Bets, Setting Up Its Downfall
SBF’s video talking to regulators
Unchained coverage:
FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal
FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report
Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution
US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX
FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator
Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero
Binance’s dropped deal with FTX
CZ’s announcement
SBF’s announcement
Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves
Unchained coverage:
Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis
SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report
There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2
Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt
Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX
Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days
Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings
FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low
Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy
Crypto regulation
Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi
Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees

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1 hr 7 min
November 09, 2022The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? - Ep. 418
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt were joined by Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi, and Laura Shin, CEO of the show, to chop it up about Binance’s buyout of FTX.

Show topics:
Haseeb's tl;dr of Binance's possible acquisition of FTX
whether Alameda is the new Three Arrows Capital
the implications of FTX's collapse for regulators and lawmakers
what will happen to all the companies that lent money to Alameda
Sam Bankman-Fried's emergency effort to raise billions of dollars
whether there could be criminal charges against FTX
why FTX was not as profitable as other derivative exchanges
what the probabilities are of Binance actually buying FTX
whether the enterprise value of FTX is negative
Tom's concerns about the concentration in the industry
how FTX's implosion will impact crypto venture capital firms
whether Solana can survive without SBF's support
how the lack of transparency kicked off this situation and how blockchains help solve this issue
Hosts
Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
Guests
Nic Carter, reformed Bitcoin Maxi
Nic’s proof of reserves
Laura Shin, author, host of Unchained
Episode Links

Previous coverage of Unchained:
Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

Acquisition of FTX
CZ’s announcement
SBF’s announcement
Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves
Unchained coverage:
Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis
SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report
There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2
Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt
Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX
Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days
Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings
FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low
Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy
Crypto regulation
Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi
Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees

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1 hr 5 min
November 08, 2022Does Maximalism Help or Hurt Bitcoin? Lyn Alden and Udi Wertheimer Debate - Ep. 417
Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, talk about Bitcoin Maximalism, how Bitcoin is developing, and what’s the future of Bitcoin’s security model.

Show highlights:
What the definition of Bitcoin maximalism is
whether BTC maximalism is toxic
whether Vitalik Buterin is still a bitcoiner and how Bitcoiners became the 'token police', according to Udi
why Lyn thinks Bitcoin has been attacked by the media since the beginning
the attacks by Bitcoin maximalists on Nic Carter and Andreas Antonopoulos
how adoption kicked in during previous cycles and why it benefitted BTC
what the different types of Bitcoiners are
what developments are being made around Bitcoin
the importance of Bitcoin being permissionless
what the use cases for Bitcoin are and whether it’s still a highly speculative asset
whether people care about using decentralized payment tools
how Lyn defines ‘ultra sound money’ and why she thinks that Bitcoin is better at that than ETH
whether Bitcoin’s security model needs to be fixed
why being able to run a node is essential for censorship resistance
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Udi:
Twitter
Substack
Previous Unchained episodes:
Why Bitcoin Maximalism Is ‘Like a Shitcoin Community’
Lyn:
Twitter
Website
Previous Unchained episodes:
How Will Inflation Impact Crypto?
Is Ethereum a Good Investment?
Why Bitcoin Now: Meltem Demirors and Lyn Alden on the Perfect Conditions for Bitcoin
Episode LinksPrevious Coverage of Unchained:
Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off
Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH
With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold?
Bitcoin’s culture and security
Bitcoin Maximalism Is Dead, Long Live Bitcoin Maximalism by Pete Rizo
Setting the record straight by Nic Carter
The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis
Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman
Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd
Justin Bons’ thread on BTC security model
A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin by John Blocke
Ultra sound money

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1 hr 31 min
November 05, 2022The Chopping Block: Can Exchange CEOs Like SBF Be Crypto True Believers? - Ep. 416
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry.

Show topics:
Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter – and its effect on DOGE
the irony that people working in centralized companies want to decentralize Twitter
whether Twitter is going to become like Facebook
why Twitter has been the most pro-crypto among big tech companies
why Tarun thinks Binance Pay is an impressive product
whether it is possible to run a decentralized social media for billions of users
the debate between Sam Bankman-Fried and Erik Voorhees about crypto regulation
whether crypto exchange CEOs are true believers in the philosophy of crypto
why Haseeb believes Sam Bankman-Fried is a very honest person
how Reddit used a simple strategy to gain massive adoption
whether it is necessary to rebrand NFTs
Hosts
Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
Robert Leshner, founder of Compound
Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
Episode Links

Twitter acquisition
What Are the Potential Impacts of Musk’s Twitter Purchase?
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, will receive between $50 million and $100 million from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter.
Vitalik Buterin said Musk’s idea of charging $8 a month for a blue check on Twitter could “damage the blue check's anti-scam role.”
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said he would join Twitter’s board if Elon Musk asked him to.
Crypto regulation
Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi
Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees

Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy

Trojan Horse of NFTs? Reddit Onboards 3M Wallets as Trading Volume Soars

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59 min
November 04, 2022Bitcoin Miners Going Bankrupt? Here's How Crypto Winter Is Impacting the Industry - Ep. 415
Nick Hansen, cofounder and CEO of Luxor Technologies, talks about the Bitcoin mining industry, why some miners are struggling while others are succeeding, and the next steps for the industry.

Show highlights:
the current state of the Bitcoin mining industry
why miners have the lowest margin environment ever
why there are so many mining rigs sitting latent
how to calculate the profitability of mining cryptocurrency
why miners are not moving to other countries for lower energy prices
what the impact of a Core Scientific bankruptcy would be
whether finance pools to aid struggling miners are helpful
why some miners are succeeding in this environment
whether Bitcoin miners can adopt renewable resources and help with the transition to green energy
how the mining industry is going to change in the following years
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Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thank you to our sponsors!
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Nick
Twitter
Luxor Technologies
Episode links

Troubled miners:
Bondholders of Troubled Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Said to Be Working With Lawyers
A Huge Glut of Bitcoin Mining Rigs Is Sitting Unused in Boxes
Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Says Some Machines Aren't Covering Financing Costs
Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Fears Negative Cash Flow as $27M Raise Fails
Bitcoin mining hosting company Compute North filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Miners currently weathering the storm:
Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark Spends Millions on Equipment as Others Struggle Amid Market Conditions
Bitcoin Miner Stronghold Digital Completes Debt Restructuring
Digihost Bucks Bearish Trend Among Bitcoin Miners, Remains Cash-Flow Positive
Crypto Miner Marathon Digital Mines Record 615 Bitcoin in October
Green energy:
Solar-Powered Bitcoin Miner Aspen Creek Raises $8M Despite Bear Market

Finance Pools:
DeFi Platform Maple Finance Aims to Help Struggling Bitcoin Miners With $300M Lending Pool
Binance Pool To Support BTC Mining Industry With a $500M Miner Lending Project

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37 min
November 01, 2022Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy - Ep. 414
Sterling Crispin, artist and software developer and Holly Herndon, host of the Interdependence podcast, talk about the problems that creators face, some potential solutions, and the debate over creator royalties.

Show highlights:
how Holly and Sterling got into crypto
how Holly used the Holly Plus Project to pay royalties
how NFTs change the economic experience of being a creator
how creators make money and why it is so difficult for most of them
whether NFT royalties are necessary for artists
why creators are the ones that should decide to charge royalties or not
how the enforcement of royalties also occurs in the traditional art world
whether NFT royalties only benefit big players vs. smaller creators
what shifts could make paying royalties a norm, the way paying for music streaming became a norm over piracy
other solutions to helping creators earn from their work besides NFT royalties
whether NFT creators should use blocklists
whether people objecting to blocklists can be hypocritical about decentralization
whether creators can build their own marketplaces
how a profit-sharing model among creators could work
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com
Chainalysis
Minima

Sterling:
Twitter
Website
Blog post: NFTs and Crypto Art: The Sky Is not Falling
Holly:
Twitter
Podcast
Holly's AI Video
Episode Links
Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties:
The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown!
The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet?
The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?
NFT Royalties
Magic Eden
Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate
MetaShield
Solana Could Get Enforceable NFT Royalties Via New Metaplex Standard
Why NFT royalties are almost impossible to enforce on-chain
Galaxy Digital report showing that Nike and Yuga Labs earned the most in NFT royalties.
Royalties in NFTs: Yes, no, and why?
Royalties Chaos Shows Ethereum NFT Market 'More Serious' Than Solana: Fidenza Artist Tyler Hobbs
Artists’ Royalties by BlackBox.art
On Royalties by foobar
Kyle Samani thread on verticalization
Potential solutions
Collector Royalties
Collector Royalties Eligibility Expansion — Aug ‘21
How do they work
Profit Sharing
Cardinal Labs
Metaplex Standard
Exchange Royalties Guarantee

NFTs for n00bs: A brief history of tokens and tulips, NFT aesthetics, energy dramas, fan

brigades, social tokens and the metaverse with Daniel Keller

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1 hr 11 min
October 28, 2022The Mango Markets Attacker on Whether His 'Trade' Was Ethical or Not - Ep. 413
Avraham Eisenberg, blogger at DeepFi Value – more commonly known as the Mango Markets attacker – shared his insights about the exploitation of code, his personal story, and why there’s hatred directed towards profitable traders.

Show highlights:
Laura’s description of the Mango Markets exploit
the way in which code gets used in a different way from the original intention
why Avi decided to return part of the funds he got from exploiting Mango Markets
Avi’s clarification of a misconception regarding the bad debt of Mango Markets
the difference between arbitrage trades and exploits
why people making profitable strategies are hated, according to Avi
how Avi got into crypto and the story of his failed online business
whether it is possible to run non-zero-sum games
what he thinks of Compound’s decision to pause activity on illiquid assets
Thank you to our sponsors!
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Ava Labs

Avi
Twitter
DeepFi Value
Mango Markets exploit
Explanation of the exploit
“Highly profitable trading strategy” Twitter thread
Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes
Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity
Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty
Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit
Previous discussion of Mango Markets on Unchained:
The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever'

Avi’s online business storyCompound Votes to Pause Activity for Illiquid Crypto Assets

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35 min
October 25, 2022Eric Wall and Udi Wertheimer on Why Bitcoin Maximalism Is 'Like a Shitcoin Community' - Ep. 412
Eric Wall, crypto blogger and investor, and Udi Wertheimer, a recovering Bitcoin maxi, discuss everything about Bitcoin Maximalism, whether BTC can survive, and whether Ethereum constitutes a threat for Bitcoin.

Show highlights:
how Eric and Udi got involved with Bitcoin
what Bitcoin was like in the first days
how Bitcoin maxis appear to have a script to engage in discussions
the philosophy behind Bitcoin maximalism
why Eric believes Bitcoin maximalism is like a “weird cult”
how Eric thinks that the BTC community has an unspoken rule forbidding criticisms
whether Bitcoin has lost intellectual power
why people have recently been turning away from Bitcoin maximalism
why the poor Bitcoin culture doesn't mean it's the end for Bitcoin, according to Eric
the perception of the Lightning network and how people are not interested in faster blockchains
whether Bitcoin should increase the use cases of the blockchain, like DeFi, NFTs, and stablecoins
El Salvador's adoption of BTC and whether it had an impact
what happens to internet subcultures and how the behavior of Bitcoiners could be predicted
whether Ethereum is a threat to Bitcoin
Thank you to our sponsors!
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Chainalysis
web3 with a16z

Udi:
Twitter
Eric:
Twitter
Medium
Episode Links

Previous Coverage of Unchained:
Is Bitcoin Doomed to Fail? Eric Wall and Justin Bons Face Off
Arthur Hayes, Former Ethereum Skeptic, on Why the Merge Makes Him Bullish on ETH
With the Merge, Will Ethereum Take Over Bitcoin’s Title as Digital Gold?
Bitcoin Culture and Security
The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Culture by Paul J. Dylan-Ennis
Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution by David Chapman
Surprisingly, Tail Emission Is Not Inflationary by Peter Todd
Justin Bond’s thread on BTC security model
A (brief and incomplete) history of censorship in /r/Bitcoin
Ultra sound money

El Salvador:
Previous Coverage of Unchained: Bitcoin in El Salvador: Why Would Cypherpunks Support Government-Mandated Bitcoin Adoption?
El Salvador’s Bitcoin Paradise Is a Mirage by Nelson Rauda

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1 hr 25 min
October 22, 2022The Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever' - Ep. 411
Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry.
Show topics:
Everyone’s impression of Laura’s interview with Do Kwon
The importance to differentiate failure and fraud
The Mango Markets hack and whether code is law
What happened with the BNB hack and the concerns it raised about decentralization
Magic Eden’s decision to enable optional royalties and the debate about NFT royalties
How creators are going to find a way around the royalties, according to Robert
Whether NFTs should be treated as securities
Hosts
Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
Robert Leshner, founder of Compound
Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
Episode Links

Laura’s interview with Do Kwon:
Do Kwon of Terra: ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’

Hacks
Mango Markets
Mango Markets $42M Reimbursement Proposal Passes
Mango Markets Exploiter Returns $67M After Revealing His Identity
Mango Markets Hacker Proposes Keeping $70M ‘Bad Debt’ As Bounty
Solana’s Mango Markets Sees $100M Drained in DeFi Exploit
BNB
BNB Smart Chain Plans Hard Fork In Response to $100M Exploit
Binance Chain Was Halted Amid Hack Rumors
NFT Royalties
Magic Eden
Magic Eden Moves to Optional Royalties and Heats Up the Debate
TCB Debate
Tom’s tweet: “turns out people don’t want to pay royalties”
Robert’s request for a startup
Previous episodes of The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties:
The Chopping Block: Was This Gary Gensler’s Most Liked Tweet?
The Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?

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56 min
October 21, 2022Fat Man Terra Speaks: Do Kwon Is a ‘Sociopath’ and a ‘Charismatic Manipulator’ - Ep. 410
Fat Man Terra, the anonymous Twitter account dedicated to bringing Do Kwon to justice, reacts to my recent interview with Do Kwon and says what he thinks it revealed about his personality.

Show highlights:
why Fat Man Terra created the Twitter account
whether Terra was used to enrich insiders
how Fat Man believes Do Kwon evaded questions in the interview with Laura
whether Do lied about Chai to misrepresent the success of UST and LUNA
why Fat Man believes some people will never admit wrongdoing
what he thinks of Do’s response to the stories of people losing everything and whether he is actually sorry
what he calls Do’s lack of transparency about his history
what he believes is the need to make an example out of the collapse of Terra and Do’s failure
Thank you to our sponsors!
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Fat Man Terra
Twitter

Laura’s Interview with Do Kwon

Other Coverage of Unchained on Do Kwon and Terra:
How Will the Legal Case Against Do Kwon Play Out in South Korea?
Do Kwon Is Backing UST With Bitcoin – And Here’s What Else He Is Building
The Legal and Regulatory Fallout From Terra’s Collapse: Who Will Pay?
The Chopping Block: Does the New Terra Have Any Chance?
Hester Peirce’s Former Counsel on Terra 2.0, XRP and a Bitcoin Spot ETF
Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed
Fat Man Terra’s thread with several devastating stories related to the collapse of Terra

SDT pre-mine
CoinDesk Korea article
Chai
WSJ article
Do’s tweets about Chai:
2.5 million users
Tweet in May 2021
Tweet in May 2021 #2
Tweet in January 2021
Abracadabra Degenbox
$2.7 billion cash out
TFL Exit Liquidity dashboard on Dune
Basis Cash
CoinDesk article
Luna Foundation Guard
Ergo-BTC on-chain evidence of more than 313 BTC
Dumps BTC
LFG postpones compensation
Allegations against Do Kwon
SBS news reporting Do moved funds to the Virgin Islands
Seoul Police Probe Allegation of Embezzlement by Terraform Staff
South Korea Launches Investigation into Company Behind Luna Crypto Crash
Class action against Do Kwon
Korean prosecutors are looking into Terra
Red Notice
“Not on the run”
Kwon’s Passport

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39 min

About Unchained

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Crypto assets and blockchain technology are about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity to the Internet of Things. In this podcast, host Laura…

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