Episodes
Matt and Nic return for another week in the markets. In this episode:
How is the DOGE going to work? Bitcoin is heading to 100k Gary Gensler announces his resignation as SEC chair We look back at Gensler’s awful term 18 state AGs file a lawsuit against the SEC The SEC’s dealer rule is tossed by a judge Trump is mulling the creation of a crypto czar Microstrategy is trading at a massive premium The latest on OCP 2.0 FDIC Gruenberg chair testifies in the House and potentially perjures himself...
Published 11/22/24
Aaron McDonald, the founder of Futureverse joins the show. In this episode we discuss:
Aaron’s professional career and the path that led him to founding Futureverse. How he has built the company through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions. How blockchains and digital currency interact with Metaverse technologies. The future of virtual worlds and gaming technologies. The L1 and L2 blockchain ecosystem and how Futureverse has built their platform. To learn more about Futureverse visit...
Published 11/21/24
Matt and Nic return for news and deals. In this episode:
Nic recaps his trip to Congress Vibes in Congress post election The likelihood for stablecoin and market structure bills What are the prospects for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve What’s happening in Devcon? 18 state AGs are suing Gensler and the SEC Gensler is hinting at retirement FTX sues Binance and CZ Sam Trabucco forfeits $70m in assets to the FTX estate Polymarket’s Shayne Coplan raided by the FBI Doodles partnership with...
Published 11/15/24
David Low, CEO and cofounder of Hata joins the show. In this episode,
In this episode, Wyatt and David discuss:
Crypto adoption in Southeast Asia Regulatory attitudes Operating a centralized exchange Bitcoin interest vs other cryptoassets in the region
Published 11/13/24
Nic and Matt are back with more news and deals. In this episode:
Trump resoundingly wins the election A demographic realignment Polymarket versus the polls Podcasts and twitter versus the legacy media How did the pro-crypto candidates do? Trump promises to fire Gensler on day 1 How did the Fairshake PAC do? Review of key Senate races Will Trump execute on his crypto promises? Moreno defeats Brown in Ohio Will OCP2.0 finally end? What’s the deal with Trump’s Bitcoin reserve? How would the...
Published 11/08/24
Hadley Stern, the Chief Commercial Officer of Marinade joins the show. In this episode we discuss:
Hadley’s career in the blockchain industry. The early days of researching and building blockchain products at Fidelity. The landscape for banks in the United States as it relates to digital asset product development. The evolving regulatory landscape and the prospects of pro-innovation legislation. The staking landscape and how Marinade is going to market with its products and services. To...
Published 11/04/24
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
We check in on the presidential odds State races to watch As part of their quarterly earnings release, Microstrategy announced a plan to raise $42 billion in the next 3 years in order to buy more Bitcoin. The raise will be evenly split between equity offerings and sales of fixed-income securities. Coinbase pledged a future donation of $25 million to Fairshake to be used for the 2026 midterm elections. Nishad Singh, the...
Published 11/01/24
Pat Larsen, the founder and CEO of Zenledger joins the show. In this episode we discuss:
The latest developments in the tax and compliance categories within digital assets. How asset managers and large financial institutions are increasingly adopting digital assets. The compliance obligations of financial services firms as it relates to digital asset trading. The venture capital landscape for digital asset startups. The use cases that are currently driving adoption in the blockchain...
Published 10/29/24
Matt and Nic are back for more news and deals. In this episode:
The Polymarket whale is identified BTCUSD predictions for the election Election models versus prediction markets Stripe acquires Bridge for $1.1b Did the Bridge deal make sense for Stripe? Stablecoins as Fintech 3.0 Nigeria frees Tigran Gambaryan Kraken is launching the Ink blockchain Buenos Aires is launching a blockchain-based identity solution Opera launches the minipay wallet A new paper from the Fed gives us new insight...
Published 10/25/24
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
Nic’s Dutch misadventures Federal versus State regulation of Stablecoins TD Bank filed $3b for money laundering Are stake rewards property or income? Italy hikes capital gains taxes on Bitcoin Is Polymarket manipulated? Has the first AI bot millionaire been minted? The World Liberty Financial tokensale flopped Sponsor notes:
Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets,...
Published 10/18/24
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
Are shipping regulations making the oceans hotter? Is Satoshi Peter Todd? Is the identity of Satoshi the best mystery of all time? The SEC comes after Cumberland Crypto.com sues the SEC World Liberty Financial is doing a tokensale Uniswap announces Unichain Is Polymarket manipulated? Ryan Salame appears on Tucker Sponsor notes:
Coin Metrics, State of the Network’s Q3 2024 Mining Data Special: In Coin Metrics'...
Published 10/11/24
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
Monad Madness CZ is released from jail Roman Storm’s motion to dismiss is denied Mango settles with the SEC Swift is piloting digital asset transactions Bitwise submits and S-1 for a Ripple ETF Visa announces their Tokenized Assets Platform Franklin moves to Aptos The SEC’s Gurbir Grewal steps down Sponsor notes
Coin Metrics, State of the Network’s Q3 2024 Wrap-Up: A data-driven overview of events shaping crypto...
Published 10/04/24
Stephen Novenstern, the founder of Kintsu joins the show. In this episode we discuss:
Stephen’s path to the cryptocurrency industry and the vision for Kintsu, a liquid staking project in the Monad ecosystem. The history of DeFi and the LST category. Why Monad and views on the net new primitives that are enabled by this new layer one blockchain. The future of layer one blockchains. Central limit orderbooks in decentralized finance. To learn more about Kintsu visit their website and follow...
Published 10/03/24
Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode:
Gensler denies knowledge of Operation Choke Point 2.0 We recap the Silvergate collapse Why did the MSM ignore the new Silvergate revelations? Trump’s fair banking access rule Looking back at the Signature closure Gensler appears in front of the House Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison Options approved for Bitcoin ETFs SEC versus TUSD What’s going on with the port strike? Nic’s panda moon moon situation ...
Published 09/27/24
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
Nic’s Singapore Zyn problem Nic’s Token 2049 keynote The Iggy Azalea Eric Wall debate Trump make an appearance at Pubkey in NYC World Liberty Financial continues to be insane SEC versus Flyfish club Are airdrops done for? Is JPM really the “largest user of blockchain”? Bhutan has a ton of Bitcoin Listening to podcasts with AI Interest rates fell The exploding pagers and what it means for crypto Sponsor notes:
Coin...
Published 09/20/24
Alex Leishman, founder and CEO of River, joins us to talk about River's Proof of Reserve initiative. In this episode:
River business update Building their own custodian Why Alex decided to do PoR now? River’s PoR mechanics Proof of Reserve versus traditional audit What kind of assurances PoR gives users How does River handle privacy for PoR? Responding to various PoR critiques Boxing What’s on the horizon for River Content mentioned:
Alex’s previous appearance on OTB River PoR on...
Published 09/19/24
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
We review the Trump-Harris debate Matt’s new wildlife problems Nic’s birthday party Trump doubles down on World Liberty Financial The Castle Island stablecoins whitepaper is out! Our reactions to the emerging markets stablecoin report TZero gets approval to trade tokenized securities Coinbase’s cbBTC North Carolina bans CBDCs Something is happening to Friend Tech Circle is moving their HQ to NYC Content mentioned:
...
Published 09/13/24
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
SEC fiscal year ending in September How to get accurate transfer volume figures for stablecoins How much volume do stablecoins really settle? Do SEC rules stop registered venture firms from voting in governance or staking? CFTC settles with Uniswap Robinhood settles with the California DoJ Choke Point 2.0 is still happening What’s the latest with World Liberty Financial? John Deaton wins his primary in MA What’s the...
Published 09/06/24
Dan Burke, CEO of Nirvana Labs, joins the show. In the episode we discuss:
Dan’s background and journey into the crypto space The role of nodes in a blockchain network and the complexities of running one independently Challenges with existing node infrastructure providers as companies in the space scale Nirvana’s product offerings including managed nodes and web3 cloud and the benefits of leveraging bare metal servers Dan’s long term view on how the node operation landscape evolves
Published 09/04/24
Mark Eckerle, Partner at Withum joins the show. In this episode we discuss:
Mark’s journey into the digital asset/blockchain industry. Withum’s history in digital assets and how the firm came to prioritize working with clients in this category. The rise of stablecoins and the impact that these assets are having on corporate accounting and operations. How startups should evaluate tax, audit and advisory services in the digital assets context. Where Withum is seeing the most engagement in the...
Published 09/02/24
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
Has cryptodollarization occured? Tigran Gambaryan is still detained in Nigeria Durov of Telegram was detained in France Should major tech companies leave the EU? The SEC settles with Abra Sony is launching an ETH L2 The mythical Harris reset VCs for Harris support Harris Trump’s weird World Liberty Financial DeFi thing is looking ominous Sponsor notes:
Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team...
Published 08/30/24
Scott Fletcher, founder of Intersection Growth Partners joins the show. In this episode we discuss:
Scott’s professional background and the events that led him to launching Intersection Growth Partners. The Intersection Growth Partners business model and how they also became investors in a number of their clients’ businesses. The current state of the Executive Search market for digital asset/blockchain companies. How the best founders run structured recruiting and interview processes. What...
Published 08/28/24
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
SALT Wyoming review Nic’s next fight How Bitcoin miners have a procyclical effect on the Bitcoin price Hunting Hill is launching a credit fund seeded by Kraken Wyoming is launching a stable token in Q1 of 2025 The SEC rejects CBOE’s filings for SOL ETFs Is Gensler actually being slated to run Treasury under Harris? Tether is launching a UAE Dirham stablecoin Our upcoming Emerging Markets Stablecoin Report Our Bozo...
Published 08/23/24
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:
Fairshake is getting active in Senate Races What’s going on with the Harris pivot? Chuck Schumer promises crypto legislation by end of year What’s happening with WBTC? The SEC is subpoenaing VC funds over Uniswap Don Jr is launching a crypto project Will CBDCs destroy the stablecoin sector? Will stablecoins have to KYC all holders? Sponsor notes:
Withum’s Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes...
Published 08/16/24