Unchained

Chris Harland-Dunaway, a freelance reporter for The Verge, talks about his most recent investigative story on Tron founder Justin Sun, which details a long string of questionable decisions and actions by Sun. Show topics:

• why Justin Sun fled China after the Tron ICO
• why Chris’s 15 sources were granted anonymity for this story
• why Chris believes that Tron’s market-making team was performing insider trading
• how Justin Sun has tried to evade US securities law
• what “Operation Couch Cushions” was and how it led to 300 BTC being sent to Poloniex
• where Justin Sun is looking for citizenship
• what Chris knows about a grand jury investigation into Justin Sun
• what Justin Sun had to say about Chris’ allegations

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021   

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io  

Episode links: 

Christopher Harland-Dunaway: https://twitter.com/ChrisHDeee 

Justin Sun: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron 

Chris’ articles on Justin in The Verge:

• March 2022: https://www.theverge.com/c/22947663/justin-sun-tron-cryptocurrency-poloniex 
• September 2020: https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/21459906/bittorrent-tron-acquisition-justin-sun-us-china 

Justin Sun’s rebuttal

Chris’ previous Unchained appearance

• ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/abuse-and-ethical-lapses-what-happened-when-justin-sun-acquired-bittorrent/ 

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While researching for The Cryptopians, I discovered that Andrey Ternovskiy, the founder of internet sensation Chatroulette, was heavily involved in The DAO back in 2016. In this episode, we skirt around revealing major spoilers from The Cryptopians and discuss Andrey’s experience founding Chatroulette, how he fell down the crypto rabbit hole, whether hacking smart contracts is ethical, and more. Show topics:

• Andrey’s background 
• how Andrey’s struggles with PayPal at Chatroulette led him to quickly understand the need for crypto 
• what Andrey’s involvement at Chatroulette is
• the different ways Andrey thinks crypto can disrupt middlemen
• why Andrey became infatuated with the narrative behind the “crypto” movement
• why Andrey became a fan of Ethereum
• why Andrey decided to tell me about his previously undisclosed involvement in The DAO and early Ethereum
• whether hacking smart contracts is ethical (or legal)
• what Andrey thinks about how Ukraine has used crypto in its fight against Russia’s invasion
• why Andrey will most likely not decentralize Chatroulette 
• what Andrey’s perspective is on decentralization in terms of DeFi and DAOs

Upcoming Book Events

For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto 

Episode Links

• Andrey Ternovskiy: ​​https://www.crunchbase.com/person/andrey-ternovskiy 
• Chatroulette: https://chatroulette.com/ 

The Cryptopians

DAO Hacker Reveal: 

• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/

The DAO Hack

• https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/
• https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/

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Tomicah Tillemann, the global chief policy officer of Katie Haun's new firm, analyzes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and explains how crypto is being used in an unprecedented manner to render aid to civilians, move money across the world, and potentially document war crimes. Show highlights:

• Tomicah’s background, which includes stints working for the State Department and a16z 
• recap of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
• what Tomicah thinks of the decision to boot certain Russian banks from SWIFT
• why Tomicah believes that it would be very difficult for Russia to use crypto at a large scale to evade sanctions
• why ruble/BTC volume is spiking
• how Ukraine’s usage of web3 tools could change humanitarian aid forever
• what lessons to take away from Ukraine’s almost-airdrop
• the four real-world crypto use cases governments should take notice of

Upcoming Book Events

For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating. 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained   

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io 

Episode Links

Tomicah Tilllemann

Topics Covered

• Ukraine accepting crypto: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282 
• Cutting Russia out of SWIFT: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_22_1423 
• UkraineDAO: https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO 
• Ukraine asking for a blanket ban on Russians from crypto exchanges: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/26/ukraine-mounts-effort-to-surveil-russian-politicians-crypto-wallets/ 
• Why crypto won’t help Russia avoid sanctions: 
• • https://jerrybrito.com/2022-02-28

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During my research for The Cryptopians, I found information that I believe identifies the perpetrator behind The DAO hack on Ethereum. Three founding members of The DAO and Slock.it (Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, Griff Green) discuss how and why they created The DAO, how they helped save the funds being siphoned off by black hat hackers, their personal feelings about The DAO, along with their reaction to the news about who I believe was The DAO attacker. Show topics:

Part 1: Background on The DAO

• Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s background and how they came to Slock.it

Part 2: 

• what Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s initial reaction to The DAO was
• saving funds from The DAO via a hard fork versus white hat hacking
• whether they thought Ethereum Classic would survive a hard fork
• how the Ethereum community has treated Christoph, Griff, and Lefteris in the wake of The DAO attack

Part 3:

• why they disagree on whether code is law
• their reaction to my naming Toby Hoenisch as The DAO attacker
• which actor would play them in a movie about The DAO attack

Come to My In-Person Book Signings and Events!

New York: 

Wednesday, March 2, at 7pm

At The Strand Bookstore

Moderated by CoinDesk’s Christine Lee

https://www.strandbooks.com/events/event403?title=laura_shin_the_cryptopians_idealism_greed_lies_and_the_making_of_the_first_big_cryptocurrency_craze

Bay Area: 

Tuesday March 8, 6pm

San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club 

Moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark

https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

Seattle: 

Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm

The Forum

Moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. 

https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021           

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance    

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto 

Episode Links

Guests

• Christoph Jentzsch

• ​​https://twitter.com/ChrJentzsch

• Griff Green

• Lefteris Karapetsas

DAO Hacker Reveal: 

• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/

The Cryptopians

The DAO Hack

• https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/
• https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/

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In a fun change of pace, Steven Ehrlich, editor of Forbes Cryptoasset and Blockchain Advisor, joins Unchained to interview me about my book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, which came out this week. We discuss…

• where the inspiration for “The Cryptopians” title came from
• why I wanted to write a book about Ethereum
• how Vitalik’s role changed over the course of Ethereum’s founding
• who the main characters in The Cryptopians are
• the biggest challenges Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation faced in its early days
• Ethereum’s “red wedding” day
• what issues with crowdfunding and US securities laws were faced by early Ethereum founders
• how The DAO hack, along with the Shanghai attacks and Parity drama, shaped Ethereum
• what I discovered about Ming Chan’s time as the Ethereum Foundation director
• my biggest takeaways from researching ICOs
• why I think DAOs could be the next big thing
• whether or not I have an idea for a new book…

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained   

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io 

Laura Shin

• https://twitter.com/laurashin

The Cryptopians

The Cryptopians content:

• CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/video/coindesk-spotlight/laura-shin-on-the-cryptopians-and-what-she-discovered-investigating-the-ethereum-origin-story

DAO Hacker Reveal: 

• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/

Steven Ehrlich

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Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics:

• their thoughts on The DAO hacker reveal
• the importance of The DAO and why it made Robert fall in love with crypto
• how the alleged attacker was found (feat. a deep dive into the Morden testnet and Wasabi)
• dumb DAOs: why the guys are unimpressed with DAOs seeking to purchase, among other things, the Denver Broncos and fast-food restaurants
• how to fix price discovery for DAO mergers and acquisitions
• whether Anchor’s 20% yield on UST is sustainable in light of Luna Foundation Guard’s decision to backstop its reserves with $1 billion in BTC
• why deploying funds from a large treasury is difficult
• why the BlockFi fine was not a surprise
• what lessons the BlockFi settlement taught crypto companies
• why Tarun still loves Olympus DAO and OHM
• how EthDenver has changed since the NFT boom

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Show Topics:

• The DAO attacker revealed
• • https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/
• DAO trying to buy the Denver Broncos
• • https://www.buythebroncos.com/
• Fries DAO
• • https://fries.fund/
• BlockFi Agrees to Pay $100 Million in Penalties and Pursue Registration of its Crypto Lending Product
• • https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-26

• Terra and UST receiving backstopped funds

• OHM bonds as Vol-reduction strategy
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra/status/1495807277978341385

• Eth Denver

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While researching for my book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, I found evidence that I believe resolves the biggest whodunnit in crypto: who hacked The DAO? This podcast is coming out in conjunction with an article in Forbes revealing the prime suspect’s identity. 

Part 1: Who Attacked the DAO? Here’s the Evidence

To document the process of finding the alleged attacker, I wrote an article for Forbes, with which I opened the podcast. In it, I reveal 

• who, evidence indicates, attacked the DAO
• how my sources and I uncovered this person’s identity
• how a previously undisclosed technical capability by Chainalysis helped my sources and I identify the alleged hacker 

Part 2: Contextualizing the DAO Attack

Forbes’s Steven Ehrlich comes onto the pod to interview me about finding the DAO attacker. Topics

• what is The DAO, and why is it important? 
• who are the key players in The DAO’s story
• how the attacker pulled off the hack
• what legal questions surrounded the hack
• why finding the attacker is important
• the legal implications of identifying the attacker
• what Laura’s interactions have been with the suspect
• what the future of DAOs may hold

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021          

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance  

Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/

Episode Links

Laura Shin

• https://twitter.com/laurashin

The Cryptopians

Steven Ehrlich

The DAO Hack

• https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2016/06/25/understanding-the-dao-attack/
• https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao
• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-matthew-leising-confronted-his-suspects-in-the-dao-attacks/

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Congressman Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, discusses crypto and decentralization, his new book, Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us, and how to regulate the crypto industry. Show highlights:

• what Silicon Valley had to do with Congressman Khanna’s journey down the crypto rabbit hole
• why Congressman Khanna is so passionate about decentralization
• why Congressman Khanna thinks crypto could bring tech jobs across the country and world (rather than staying in hubs like Silicon Valley)
• why Congressman Khanna thinks a new regulatory regime is necessary for crypto assets, like stablecoins
• what Congressman Khanna would like vocal crypto opponents like Congressman Brad Sherman or Senator Elizabeth Warren to know about the crypto space
• Congressman Khanna explains the difference between determining if an asset is a security and regulating an asset
• what Congressman Khanna is doing to bring predictability to crypto regulation
• how regulators could incentivize Bitcoin miners to use less energy
• what Congressman Khanna thinks about know-your-customer/anti-money-laundering mechanisms in the DeFi world
• how Congressman Khanna believes crypto taxes should be treated
• what actions Congressman Khanna recommends for bringing more Democrats to the crypto side
• whether Congressman Khanna thinks crypto is a bipartisan issue 

Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access to:

• a premium-only Discord group
• premium-only interviews
• the opportunity to ask questions
• the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained
• and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix

Join today for $4.99/mo or $49.99/year! 

Get a Signed Book Plate!

Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how:

1. Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians.
2. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians, or to the book on any bookseller of your choice.
3. Send a copy of your receipt to [email protected] with the subject line, “signed book plate.”
4. In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to.

If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates.

Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021 

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained 

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io

Ro Khanna

• Website: https://khanna.house.gov/

Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us

Miscellaneous

• Questions for Congressman Khanna from Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1491587026344366088

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Two crypto tax experts, Shehan Chandrasekera, certified public accountant and head of strategy, Tax, at Cointracker, and John Cardone, senior director of Washington National Tax at RSM US LLP, explain everything crypto traders need to understand when filing taxes for 2021. Show topics:

-the five types of transactions that constitute a taxable crypto event -how NFT taxes should be reported -why the sale of collectibles (NFTs) is taxed differently than the sale of crypto property (tokens) -what type of forms you might receive from crypto exchanges and why this information is usually incomplete -why the crypto provision in the infrastructure bill most likely won’t affect retail traders -why John wants a digital asset-specific 1099 form -how staking income will be taxed this year (and why this might change soon) -how to report taxes for… airdrops like ENS and SOS income earned via a play-to-earn game like Axie Infinity the sale of virtual land wrapping Bitcoin onto Ethereum rewards received via a crypto credit card -how to save money on taxes going forward -how Shehan and John think crypto taxes will evolve  -why the IRS listed a job posting for someone who could exploit crypto wallets

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance  

Bosonic: https://bosonic.digital/

Alchemy Pay:  https://alchemypay.org

Become a Premium Bulletin Subscriber!

Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access   to:

 a premium-only Discord group  premium-only interviews the opportunity to ask questions ️ the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix

Join today for $4.99/mo or $49.99/year! 

Join now!

Get a Signed Book Plate!

Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how:

Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians, or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to [email protected] with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the name of who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to.

If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates.

Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP.

Episode Links

John Cardone

​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-cardone-436412b1/  

Shehan Chandrasekera

https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA

Helpful Links

Shehan’s tax guide: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2022/01/24/quick-guide-to-filing-your-2021-cryptocurrency--nft-taxes/?sh=d5c00f765f9d Staking rewards case: https://twitter.com/TheCryptoCPA/status/1489268205877035016  US Gov. job posting: https://sam.gov/opp/799a1650bd5349b6af4f646842999187/view 

2022 Crypto Tax Guides

CoinTracker: https://www.cointracker.io/blog/crypto-tax-guide CryptoTrader.Tax: https://cryptotrader.tax/blog/the-traders-guide-to-cryptocurrency-taxes Koinly: https://koinly.io/cryptocurrency-taxes/  ZenLedger: https://www.zenledger.io/guides/crypto-tax-us 

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