Unchained: Big Ideas From The Worlds Of Blockchain And Cryptocurrency

Bobby Lee, CEO of BTCC, one of the world's longest-running cryptocurrency exchanges, talks about whether Chinese people are using bitcoin to evade capital controls, how bitcoin trading in China has changed since a government crackdown in early January, and how he came up with the idea for no-fee trading in the early days of bitcoin. Read the show notes. Other links: BTCC Mobi Bitcoin Foundation This episode was sponsored by OnRamp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olaf Carlson-Wee is the founder of Polychain Capital, a hedge fund that has invested $15 million into digital assets and has gotten backing from storied venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures. In this episode, Carlson-Wee recounts war stories from the early days of bitcoin, including how he learned about bitcoin before his computer science professors, bought bitcoins with cash and created “the Bitcoin SAT” to make hires at Coinbase. He also describes how to separate cryptocurrency scams from legitimate ventures, how he plays blackjack against a smart contract and why launching a digital asset hedge fund means he can no longer earn and spend mostly in bitcoin. Read the show notes.  Other links: Polychain Capital Coinbase Golem Tezos This episode was sponsored by Onramp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fredrik Voss, Nasdaq's head of blockchain initiatives, discusses what the company has accomplished with the technology and how his firm evaluates whether potential projects could benefit from a blockchain solution. He also reveals what is likely to really slow adoption of distributed ledgers (hint: not the tech itself) and gives advice to other companies looking to incorporate it. Read the show notes and my magazine story on Chain and its work with Nasdaq.  This episode was sponsored by Onramp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The SEC will make a decision on a proposed bitcoin ETF by March 11. Will it approve? An optimist and pessimist weigh in, touching upon bitcoin’s liquidity, the impact recent events in China have had on its trading, as well as proposals for bitcoin ETFs by other companies. Plus, they reveal what impact an ETF could have on the bitcoin market. Read the show notes. Other links:  Needham & Company Global Advisors Gemini This episode was sponsored by Onramp.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IRS found three entities using bitcoin to evade taxes and has now demanded the records of millions of users at Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange. An accountant and an attorney specializing in cryptocurrency discuss whether the IRS is overreaching, how this "unprecedented" case differs from previous ones pursued by the IRS, and what they think the ultimate outcome will be. Read the show notes. Other links: Coinbase Berns Weiss LLP Global Tax Accountants Brian Armstrong's response on Medium My magazine feature on Coinbase This episode was sponsored by Onramp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CME Group handles three billion contracts worth about $1 quadrillion annually. So why is it making a foray into bitcoin, whose market capitalization is a mere $16 billion? Sandra Ro, CME's head of digitization, explains its first cryptocurrency products, the Bitcoin Reference Rate and the Bitcoin Real-Time Index, as well as a forthcoming blockchain-based product, Royal Mint Gold. She also reveals which other cryptocurrencies have piqued her interest and which other physical world assets she thinks could be traded by blockchain.   Read the show notes.   Other links: CME's Bitcoin Reference Rate Bitcoin Real-Time Index Royal Mint Gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathryn Haun put away the DEA and Secret Service agents who tried to make off with more than $800,000 in stolen bitcoin while investigating the darknet Silk Road marketplace. She talks about how the blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin made it possible to uncover their theft, why she believes blockchain will create a lot of good, and what she does when the very people behind tumblers and mixers -- technology that makes her work more difficult -- turn to her when they are the victims of crimes. Along the way, we learn about the habits of cryptocurrency criminals and get a fascinating view into the world of "breeder documents." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As blockchains and cryptocurrencies evolve, there are times when the technology outpaces the law. That's when Coin Center steps in. The non-profit, which represents the technology, not the industry, and aims for regulators to keep a mostly hands-off attitude, has already helped shape questions around which types of Bitcoin wallet providers are financial institutions and whether new coins being offered represent securities. And answering these questions has drawn it back into previous cases involving everything from Florida orange groves to Manhattan co-ops to golf club memberships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cornell University computer science professor Emin Gun Sirer, an influential figure in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, describes his ideas for improving security in the space, his skepticism about how to scale these networks, and how the last time financial institutions invested in their systems appears to be for Y2K. He also tells us how growing up in an environment where he saw a lot of scams helps him find problems in code, explains why Bitcoin is the “universal bug bounty,” and reveals how two high school students saved burgeoning cryptocurrency network Ethereum “like in the movies — just before the clock was going to expire.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Casey, senior advisor at MIT's Media Lab and author of the Age of Cryptocurrency, spent 18 years at the Wall Street Journal -- a good portion of that covering currency markets. But he says it wasn't until he learned about Bitcoin that he really understood what money was. In this episode of Unchained, he explains why, plus discusses why he thinks China will play a key role in moving the world to a cryptocurrency- or blockchain-based trade settlement system, what that could mean for the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency and what he thinks is the most cutting-edge work being done in blockchain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, CEO and President, respectively, of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, talk about the importance of regulation in a sector once associated in popular culture with illicit activity. The twin brothers, who were the first to file with the SEC for a Bitcoin ETF, recount how they went from competing in the Olympics to launching a cryptocurrency company, explain why they believe private blockchains are really just distributed databases, and discuss why we've seen so many hacks of Bitcoin exchanges. They also touch on an emerging trend, app-coins or new cryptographic tokens being used to run, say, peer-to-peer versions of Dropbox or Reddit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Shifting from a perspective of 'only humans control money' to 'machines and software control money' is really radical and it changes a lot of things,” says the popular blockchain and Bitcoin author and speaker Andreas Antonopoulos. Antonopoulos discusses why the real magic of blockchain is decentralization, why criticisms that Bitcoin is a waste of energy are wrong, and why he now charges a 20% premium to be paid by wire transfer instead of bitcoin. And if you're amazed by the idea of a self-driving car, wait until you hear his description of how the taxis of the future might operate.   Read the show notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Weinstein and Alan Cohn, partner and of counsel, respectively at law firm Steptoe & Johnson, discuss their work with the Blockchain Alliance, a coalition of both blockchain and cryptocurrency companies as well as law enforcement agencies including Interpol, the FBI, the SEC, Europol and others. Find out how crime in Bitcoin is similar to all types of crime, what genuinely new questions are being raised, and how various law enforcement agencies might think about even recent developments like the emergence of the DAO and the subsequent DAO hack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As blockchain technology remakes financial services, some companies will be better positioned than others, says Adam Ludwin, CEO of Chain, which has partnered with incumbents like Visa, Citi and Nasdaq. Ludwin describes which types of firms will emerge winners and the mindset of the executives who really get it. He also explains why he is certain central banks will one day issue digital currency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Invest in oil and gold? In this episode, the co-authors of a compelling white paper explain the four reasons why they believe you may soon be investing in digital oil and digital gold instead. Find out why their analysis prompted Burniske to say of bitcoin, "That's an investor's dream," why White mentioned the saying, "On the blockchain, no one knows you're a refrigerator," and how well ARK's investment in bitcoin has performed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bill Tai, a venture capitalist who got his start as a computer chip designer in the 1980s, places blockchain in the context of the broader technological revolution of the last three decades. He also reveals how Bitfury, a company in which he's an investor and board member, built a more efficient chip though the designers had never been formally trained; what blockchain advocacy group was founded in Sir Richard Branson's hot tub; and how he formed MaiTai Global, a series of kiteboarding-and-tech events in some of the most glamorous destinations around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Roszak, a venture capitalist for 20 years, discusses how his new company Bloq, cofounded with former Bitcoin core developer Jeff Garzik (from talks they began on Necker Island last year), serves enterprise clients and envisions a multi-chain future in which different blockchains can connect with each other. He also gives his thoughts on business models in a decentralized future and the influence China will play on the development of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Plus, we find out what happened in his tennis game against Sir Richard Branson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Rossiello talks about how she went from being a credit ratings analyst for microfinance investors to heading up an "international mobile money" company for sub-Saharan Africa that uses Bitcoin's rails. Along the way she reveals how convoluted, expensive and unreliable the movement of money into and out of Africa can be -- many people sending money in envelopes via regional buses and even traditional banks having to send money from Africa to Asia via North America. With BitPesa's fast and inexpensive international solution, companies are opening up new markets and people sending remittances no longer have to pay exorbitant charges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices