Kyle Samani, managing partner of Multicoin Capital looks ahead to 2020 based on how the space changed from 2018 to 2019. He talks about how the space has matured and become more heterogeneous, when developers choose to build on platforms other than Ethereum and when they stick with it, and how the uncertainties about Ethereum 2.0 are affecting developers' choices. We discuss which chains he's most excited about now, why there's such a huge amount of competition in the smart contract space, and how the competition will shake out between the projects such as Cosmos and Polkadot that aim to connect other chains. He also covers why he isn't that excited about work being done in Bitcoin, why 2019 wasn't the year of Lightning and why 2020 will be the year of lots of small success stories.

Thank you to our sponsors! 

eToro: https://www.etoro.com/

Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/

Kelman Law: https://kelman.law/

Episode links: 

Kyle Samani: https://twitter.com/KyleSamani

Multicoin Capital: https://multicoin.capital/

Web3 Stack, 2019 edition: https://multicoin.capital/2019/12/13/the-web3-stack-2019-edition/

Unbundling of Ethereum: https://multicoin.capital/2019/05/24/the-unbundling-of-ethereum/

Near protocol: https://nearprotocol.com/

Solana: https://solana.com/

Kadena: https://www.kadena.io/

On Value Capture at Layer 1 and Layer 2: https://multicoin.capital/2019/03/14/on-value-capture-at-layers-1-and-2/

Arweave: https://www.arweave.org/

Livepeer: https://livepeer.org/

Laura recounts the tale of how she got SIM swapped, what mistakes she made, and what she did to secure her accounts and get her phone number back. She also reveals how, despite having shored up her security years before, she actually was still vulnerable. She also reveals the results of an investigation her mobile carrier did into what happened and what steps the mobile carrier is taking to deal with phone hijackings. Plus, she gives tips on how you can protect your cryptocurrency, financial accounts, data and more from SIM swapping attacks.

Due to the holidays, there's no news recap this week, but if you are with friends and family whose digital lives need some securing, then follow the tips in this episode together.

Thank you to our sponsors! 

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed 

eToro: https://www.etoro.com

Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/

Episode links: 

My tweet about being SIM Swapped: https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1182855237020901377?s=20

Unchained episode on protecting yourself from SIM swapping: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-keep-your-crypto-from-being-stolen-via-your-phone/

Forbes article on phone hijackings — sadly, despite being published in 2016, it's not that outdated: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/20/hackers-have-stolen-millions-of-dollars-in-bitcoin-using-only-phone-numbers/

Detailed SIM Swapping Bible from MyCrypto and CipherBlade: https://medium.com/mycrypto/what-to-do-when-sim-swapping-happens-to-you-1367f296ef4d

Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer of Coinshares, talks about how the emergence of Bitcoin fits within the larger technological and financial shifts of the last decade, how crypto can integrate privacy into our digital lives and how political shifts, ideology and meme culture have helped drive adoption. We also cover her stance on shitcoin minimalism/Bitcoin maximalism, what other areas of crypto development are interesting to her, and why she thinks the development of Libra is different from the trajectory of crypto. She also discusses what she thinks the effects of the Bitcoin halving will be in 2020, and makes a few predictions for 2020 and beyond. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed 

eToro: https://etoro.com/

Episode links: 

Meltem Demirors: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem

CoinShares: https://coinsharesgroup.com/

CoinDesk on Meltem as one of 2019's Most Influential: https://www.coindesk.com/most-influential/2019/meltem-demirors

Coinshares mining report: https://coinsharesgroup.com/research/bitcoin-mining-network-december-2019#mailmunch-pop-849406

News recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-price-blows-past-all-time-high/

Larry Cermak, director of research at The Block, looks at the macro trends in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, including what can be gleaned from derivative data, why many hedge funds are shorting Bitcoin and what has happened to trading volume since the summer. We also cover how the exchanges vary in terms of liquidity and target customer, which types of traders are active now, and which exchanges other than the Bitwise 10 also have real volume.  Finally, Larry talks about what amount of real value is being settled on the Bitcoin blockchain and how this compares to gold and other cryptocurrencies.  

Be sure not to miss the Unchained shop! https://shop.unchainedpodcast.com/

Thank you to our sponsors! 

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed

eToro: https://www.etoro.com

Crypto.com: http://crypto.com/

Episode links: 

Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster

The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/

Hedge funds short Bitcoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/48268/hedge-funds-were-short-bitcoin-going-into-this-downturn-cftc-reports-show

Per-website visits to exchanges:

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/46235/crypto-exchanges-experiencing-a-steady-drop-in-traffic-since-june-suggesting-declining-retail-interest

Depth of order book on exchanges: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/49546/when-evaluating-spot-exchanges-based-on-order-book-depth-bitfinex-appears-the-most-liquid

Analysis of value settled on Bitcoin: 

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/50100/close-correlation-between-value-settled-and-traded-volume-shows-cryptocurrencies-are-still-mainly-used-for-speculation

Weekly news recap:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-most-important-crypto-podcast-of-2019/

Writer Nathaniel Rich discusses his recent long-form Vanity Fair article diving into what really happened with the Quadriga exchange debacle, what Gerald Cotten’s past really was, his relationship to his business partner Michael Patryn and who Patryn really was. He talks about their history with so-called high-yield investment programs, their falling out at Quadriga, what Cotten really did with the funds on the exchange, and the three main theories for what Cotten did, including a scam that ended in death, what Rich calls the “royal fuckup” and the final one, the Mastermind Theory. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed

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

eToro: https://etoro.com/

Episode links: 

Nathaniel Rich: https://twitter.com/NathanielRich

Vanity Fair article: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten

Bloomberg on Michael Patryn’s identity: 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-19/from-fraud-to-fintech-quadriga-co-founder-s-past-crimes-emerge

Weekly news recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/unicorns-rainbows-and-north-korea/

For Black Friday, Alex Adelman, cofounder and CEO of Lolli, talks about how, with the Lolli browser extension, shoppers can earn back, on average 7%, but as much as 45%, of their purchases in Bitcoin at over 750 merchants, including Walmart, Bloomingdales, Gap, Barnes & Noble, Postmates, Sephora, Sonos, Hotels.com and more. He talks about how about 50% of Lolli users appear to be new to Bitcoin, how 30% are women, which is likely much higher compared to other crypto companies, and how Lolli makes its money (hint: not off your data). He also covers where people can use Lolli, whether it will offer other cryptocurrencies and the announcement of their partnership with Alibaba, which the Chinese company later denied. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

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

eToro: https://www.etoro.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed

Episode links: 

Lolli: https://www.lolli.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/trylolli

Alex Adelman: https://twitter.com/alexadelman

Lolli announcement: https://medium.com/@alexadelman/lolli-bitcoin-for-everyone-aa8f52e0ffa

Who is using Lolli: https://twitter.com/YahooFinance/status/1154400724563836929

CoinDesk on partnership with Alibaba: https://www.coindesk.com/alibaba-offers-bitcoin-rewards-through-lolli-shopping-app-for-singles-day 

Clarification on partnership with Alibaba: https://www.coindesk.com/alibaba-denies-partnership-with-lolli-highlighting-crypto-industry-pitfalls

Weekly news recap: 

https://unchainedpodcast.com/an-easy-way-to-earn-bitcoin/

Steven Becker, president and chief operating officer of the Maker Foundation, discusses the MakerDAO system's transition to multi-collateral Dai, what benefits it gets from having multiple collateral types, why it started with Brave's BAT, and how the Dai savings rate can lower risk for users. We also talk about what incentives current users have to transition to Dai, given that the Dai savings rate is just 2% while Sai holders can enjoy interest rates over 5% in Compound and dYdX, and how the MakerDAO system plans to try to incentivize people to move over. Plus, we talk about how to manage such a transition in a decentralized project and how the system might someday add tokenized real-world assets. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed

eToro: https://www.etoro.com/

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

Episode links: 

MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/

The launch: https://blog.makerdao.com/multi-collateral-dai-is-live/

Steven Becker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-becker/

MCD roadmap: https://makerdao.com/en/roadmap/

Upgrade process depending on how you use MakerDAO: https://blog.makerdao.com/looking-ahead-how-to-upgrade-to-multi-collateral-dai/

Stats on the transition: https://sai2dai.xyz

Stats on Dai: https://daistats.com

Dai Savings Rate: https://blog.makerdao.com/an-update-on-the-dai-savings-rate-in-multi-collateral-dai/

The Block on the MCD transition: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/47367/makerdao-multi-collateral-dai

The Defiant on MCD: https://thedefiant.substack.com/p/defis-central-bank-is-becoming-much

Weekly News Recap: 

https://unchainedpodcast.com/ethereum-nvtv-ratio-near-all-time-low/

This episode features an email interview with Kuma, the pseudonymous administrator of HKmap.live, a site showing a real-time crowd-sourced map of protests in Hong Kong, which Kuma believes is the first Hong Kong protest organization to accept cryptocurrency. Although I read his answers, Kuma talks about the controversy around the rejection of the app from the Apple App Store, why HKmap.live started accepting cryptocurrencies, why they chose those particular cryptocurrencies, and what the site does with the funds. We also discuss decentralization and how the Hong Kong protesters use this as a guiding philosophy, what practices he follows in terms of communication and finances to be able to keep protesting, and what improvements he thinks crypto businesses and entrepreneurs need to make.

Thank you to our sponsors! 

CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed

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

eToro: http://etoro.com/

Episode links: 

HKmap.live: https://hkmap.live/ 

HKmap.live on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hkmaplive

Where HKmap accepts cryptocurrency donations: https://hkmap.live/crypto.html

Quartz article: https://qz.com/1700205/real-time-maps-warn-hong-kong-protesters-of-poliec/

Article about university clashes: https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/11/12/hong-kong-police-protesters-battle-night-cuhk-campus-university-head-among-tear-gassed/

HKmap.live tweet storm I referenced in the show: https://twitter.com/hkmaplive/status/1182154372563836928

Apple App Store kerfuffle: https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-pulls-hong-kong-cop-tracking-map-app-after-china-uproar-11570681464

https://www.ft.com/content/47ceb216-ea55-11e9-a240-3b065ef5fc55

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-factbox/factbox-global-firms-take-action-after-china-criticism-over-hong-kong-protests-idUSKBN1WP2EW

China’s revenue by geographical region, according to Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/382175/quarterly-revenue-of-apple-by-geograhical-region/

News recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/centralized-decentralized-centralized-decentralized/

Wolfie Zhao, Asia editor at CoinDesk, details how Jihan Wu ousted his cofounder Micree Zhan at the Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain last week, how he justified the coup at a staff meeting the next day, and how these tensions have actually been brewing for quite a while. He also discusses how Wu was able to remove Zhan despite the fact that Zhan was a larger shareholder, whether or not the other shareholders were aware of Wu's plans, and how Zhan plans to take some unspecified legal actions next. We also cover the general company reaction to the coup, how some compared it to Steve Jobs returning to Apple, and the competitive pressures Bitmain faces as it and a competitor attempt to IPO in the U.S.

Thank you to our sponsors! 

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

eToro: https://www.etoro.com

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed

Episode links: 

Jihan ousts Micree: https://www.coindesk.com/bitmain-turmoil-co-founder-and-director-micree-zhan-ousted-from-management

Transcript of Bitmain meeting after Micree’s ouster: https://www.coindesk.com/leaked-transcript-details-power-struggle-inside-bitcoin-mining-giant-bitmain

Micree’s plans to use legal means to get back into the company: https://twitter.com/Excellion/status/1192261566437023744?s=20

FT articles: https://www.ft.com/content/35c34156-0150-11ea-b7bc-f3fa4e77dd47 

https://www.ft.com/content/906c9322-fa44-11e9-a354-36acbbb0d9b6

Canaan’s filing for $400 million IPO in the US: https://www.coindesk.com/avalon-bitcoin-miner-maker-canaan-officially-files-for-400-million-us-ipo

Theory that the IPO brought tensions to a head: https://twitter.com/btcking555/status/1189522260702441472?s=20

News recap: 

https://unchainedpodcast.com/dont-miss-this-long-awaited-interview/

Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer of the Human Rights Foundation, explains why he believes China's new pro-blockchain stance could turn out to be a blunder for the country and why this could lead to a red pill/blue pill moment that gets Chinese citizens interested in Bitcoin. He also talks about how the country could use a digital yuan as financial leverage in other countries, and why he's skeptical of the Chinese government's claims that anonymous transactions will be possible in the currency, called DCEP. We also talk about how wary citizens around the world should be as more societies go cashless, how corporations are starting to self-censor due to China's financial leverage and what the connection is between financial freedom and free speech. 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

eToro: https://www.etoro.com

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

CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed

Episode links: 

Alex Gladstein: https://twitter.com/gladstein

Human Rights Foundation: https://twitter.com/HRF

China’s enterprise blockchain projects: 

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

China’s push to support cryptography: https://www.coindesk.com/chinas-congress-passes-cryptography-law-effective-jan-1-2020

Articles saying DCEP can be used like cash, does not require bank account: https://www.coindesk.com/new-head-of-chinas-digital-currency-says-it-beats-facebook-libra-on-tech-features 

http://news.cnstock.com/news,yw-201909-4427378.htm

A Chinese dissident's view on the country's blockchain push 

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-dissident-sees-dark-warnings-in-chinas-blockchain-push

News recap

To see the links in this week's news recap, go to https://unchainedpodcast.com/only-we-chinese-pump-with-real-money/