Opinionated: Recent Episodes
CoinDesk
This is Coindesk's Opinionated, a roundtable debate that fascinates with each new thought provoking guest. It's the place to convey strong ideas, and at times share in the latest casual controversy.
Join Features editor Ben Schiller and reporters Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson as they push the conversation further with their own criticisms and reactions to the latest bitcoin and crypto news from around the world.
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Jonathan Martin has spent the last few months traveling across El Salvador, speaking with locals, developers, expats and merchants about the country’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson dive into the latest crypto news.
- [3:32] Inside the Desk: CoinDesk courtroom reporter Elizabeth Napolitano recaps what’s been going on inside Sam Bankman Fried’s court hearings ahead of his October trial. Notably, SBF is back in jail.
- [13:40] Jonathan Martin has been traveling across El Salvador, checking in on the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Are locals buying it? His latest focus is on Lightning's role in bitcoin adoption.
- [22:46] Things We Are Freaking Out About: The potato boon moves from Idaho to Washington state. Ben’s worried about weather.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
CoinDesk layoffs. Plus, DeFi fails to live up to its promises and a look at Coinbase’s recent flurry of announcements.
On today’s “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson dive into the latest crypto news.
- [0:35] Inside the Desk: Ben and Danny discuss CoinDesk’s recent layoffs, which “Carpe Consensus” cohost Cam Thompson was affected by. Crypto’s bear (or as some say, “crab”) market has not been particularly kind to crypto media.
- [4:20] Decentralized Finance (DeFi) promised a new take on governance. It’s unclear what we got instead. The hosts discuss Camila Russo’s piece, “Crypto’s Theater Is Becoming More Surreal.”
- [15:48] Coinbase launched Base blockchain, a layer 2 network. It’s also formed a crypto lobbying agency, all while it’s in the middle of a battle with the SEC.
This one’s for Cam – you’re the best. “Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
PayPal’s announcement is a big deal for crypto. But what’s the business model behind this decision, and why launch a stablecoin now?
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller and Cam Thompson dive into the latest crypto news alongside CoinDesk Chief Insights Columnist David Z. Morris.
- [1:24] Inside the Desk: PayPal’s entry into the stablecoin game has wide ramifications to the crypto industry. David Z. Morris gives his first takes, analyzing what the announcement means for crypto adoption, other stablecoin issuers and privacy.
- [18:22] Cam’s Corner: Cam recaps the latest data reports from the world of NFTs, showing that although NFT trading volume is sinking, it's not stopping developers from entering Web3.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Plus, details on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Richard Heart, Hex and PulseChain.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson dive into the latest crypto news.
- [0:23] Inside the Desk: Danny explains how the Curve Finance exploit unfolded and what could have prevented it, while Ben checks in on the SEC’s lawsuit against crypto personality Richard Heart.
- [15:39] Cam’s Corner: Web3 wallet Suku is attempting to remove barriers to entry by integrating crypto wallets with X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Will Foxley dives into the state of bitcoin mining, from Bitcoin’s fourth “halving” to the politicization of the mining industry.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson take on the latest crypto news alongside guest Will Foxley.
- [5:46] Inside the Desk: Will Foxley joins to discuss the state of bitcoin mining and his op-ed for Consensus Magazine’s Mining Week, “It’s Time for Publicly-Traded Miners to Stop With the Gimmicks.”
- [23:49] Danny’s Dungeon: In another edition of “Dumb DAOs,” DeFi project Parrot votes on the fate of its remaining treasury. The redemption plan for the protocol appears to heavily favor employees and Parrot’s venture investors, leading some to cry “Rug Pull!”
- [29:00] Cam’s Corner: Solana-based NFT marketplace Exchange.art expands into Ethereum. Are NFTs done on Sol?
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson recap the latest in crypto news.
- [1:26] Inside the Desk: It’s been a busy news cycle. “Carpe Consensus” takes a look at the latest, from Ripple’s partial victory against the SEC to the arrest of Celsius Network’s Alex Mashinsky.
- [12:36] Danny’s Dungeon: When a bridge fails, it also brings down those just trying to cross it. In this case, the point of failure was when Multichain’s CEO was detained, eventually leading to the liquidation of Hector DAO. And here’s the infamous Multichain tweet mentioned in the show.
- [19:49] Cam’s Corner: In an uplifting note, Art Blocks CEO Erick Calderon has set aside 81 Chromie Squiggle NFTs to be gifted across the crypto and Web3 space.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jeff Wilser joins to explain how artificial intelligence may kill traditional trading, but the advantage may not last long. Plus, news on Justin Bieber’s Bored Ape NFT and Arkham Intelligence.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson dive into the latest crypto news.
- [4:12] Inside the Desk: Everyone’s searching for AI integrations across all industries. What happens when AI meets crypto day-trading? Jeff Wilser explains how AI might be the new ‘edge’ – for now.
- [18:00] Danny’s Dungeon: On-chain data provider Arkham Intelligence launched a bounty marketplace, featuring a native token. Danny argues the marketplace itself is enough of a business model and there’s no need for a token.
- [24:22] Cam’s Corner: Justin Bieber’s Bored Ape NFT might be worth just $59,000. Why? Cam investigates what factors go into NFT appraisals.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Featuring Mauricio Magaldi, global strategy director of crypto at 11:FS and host of “Blockchain Insider” podcast.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson tackle the latest news in crypto.
- [1:34] Mauricio Magaldi and the hosts navigate through a wide-ranging conversation including the internet of ownership, the use of blockchain in AI training data, global crypto hubs and CBDCs.
- [27:50] Cam’s Corner: Popular NFT brand Azuki botched its latest mint. This mishap is yet another reminder of the precarious state of the NFT market.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, CEO of BCB Group, discusses what U.K. and EU regulation might teach us about the future of global crypto policy.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson dive into the latest crypto news.
- [2:46] Inside the Desk: Nik De joins to recap when CoinDesk put crypto’s motto of “Don’t Trust, Verify” to practice. CoinDesk received documents in response to a New York state Freedom of Information Law request about the details of Tether’s reserves. These documents were released two years after the original filing in 2021 and only after a full-blown legal fight with Tether.
- [11:28] Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, CEO of BCB Group, discusses the tenuous balance of trust and compliance in the world of U.K. and European Union (EU) regulation, and what it might teach us about the future of global crypto policy.
- [29:47] Crypto Hubs: Crypto is on the move to find the best locales to put down roots, get licensed, register or just be. CoinDesk’s ranking of the top 15 global crypto hubs is a good place to start.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
It’s time to prove that the crypto industry has a right and a reason to exist, says David Z. Morris.
Today’s episode of “Carpe Consensus” breaks away from the usual format to do a deep dive into the latest news with Binance, Coinbase, the SEC and more. Host Ben Schiller and David Z. Morris, CoinDesk’s chief insights columnist, thread a narrative between the news of the past two weeks to try to answer the biggest questions about crypto regulation in the U.S.
See also: “The New Crypto Bill Gary Gensler Doesn't Want You to Know About”
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The back-to-back lawsuits present new questions about the future viability of crypto exchanges in the U.S.
“Carpe Consensus” hosts Ben Schiller and Cam Thompson are joined by Nik De, CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation, to recap the wild week in regulation.
- [2:57] Inside the Desk: Monday morning, Binance was sued by the SEC. Tuesday, the same fate befell Coinbase. Nik De breaks down the technicalities and what these regulatory actions mean for the broader industry.
- [18:53] Consensus @ Consensus: CoinDesk published its inaugural Consensus @ Consensus Report, detailing insights and recommendations gathered from Consensus 2023.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tim Tully of Zelcore explains what challenges crypto companies are facing this year as funding for tech tips away from blockchain and into AI.
On “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson tackle the latest crypto debates, from the politicization of crypto to the future of NFTs.
- [2:18] Inside the Desk: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke about Bitcoin in announcing his 2024 presidential campaign. Does this mark a tipping point into the crypto industry’s politicization in the U.S.?
- [11:10] Tim Tully, CEO of wallet company Zelcore, analyzes the current narrative cycle for wallet security and adoption, and whether AI funding might be eating crypto’s dwindling venture capital.
- [28:37] Cam’s Corner: The legendary Formula 1 is the latest to step into NFTs, this time with an NFT-based ticketing experience.
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
“Carpe Consensus” dives into crypto’s biggest story of the year, analyzing the latest developments and lessons learned from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.
To kick off the inaugural episode of “Carpe Consensus,” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson tackle crypto’s biggest story of the year: the fall of FTX.
- [2:05] Crypto Catchup: BlockFi the latest to tumble in FTX contagion
- [12:00] How a story gets told, as mainstream media and trade publications present varied accounts of FTX’s downfall
- [30:10] Teaser: CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2022
- [34:10] Cam’s Corner: A Thanksgiving parade in the metaverse
What’s “Carpe Consensus?” CoinDesk’s newest podcast is for crypto fans and fiends, DeFi degens and non-fungible enthusiasts, while welcoming the crypto curious. Each week, hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Cam Thompson thread together the biggest themes in crypto. Consensus speakers and guest experts join the hosts to pull back the curtain on all things crypto and Web3, providing listeners with a balanced look at the state of the industry. Tune in weekly on Thursdays on the CoinDesk Podcast Network.
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“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
On this final episode, the hosts discuss standout moments in crypto history over the course of the show’s run.
Every week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova have taken an in-depth look at the biggest topics in the crypto industry, discussing topics from policy to tech and sharing the latest casual controversy alongside special guests.
As the series comes to a close, the hosts recount how crypto has played into the biggest narratives, sometimes in unexpected ways. The hosts interpret the past battles in crypto regulation, failures in governance and proliferation of memes as lessons for what the industry can and should prepare itself for next.
But as one podcast ends, another begins: Coming in December to the CoinDesk Podcast Network is “Carpe Consensus,” a fast-paced, entertaining yet always informative podcast bringing the latest thought-provoking discussions, debates and coverage of crypto news to your favorite podcast app. Stay subscribed to this feed and you can listen to “Carpe Consensus” after it launches. Or, head to the CoinDesk Podcast Network for the new podcast and more.
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And finally, an ode to “Opinionated”:
There once was a boisterous trio,
Who grabbed their mics to chat as friends.
And a mighty show it was so,
Though all good things must end.
Oh, “Opinionated” has spent its last breath,
The recording light finally dim
As the show has come to a rest.
But, alas, this story is far from grim
Just you wait, and see what comes next!
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The CoinDesk Podcasts team, along with “Opinionated” hosts Ben, Danny and Anna, extend thanks to the listeners for their support of the show.
– “Opinionated” Producer Eleanor Pahl
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Insights into the realities of hiring during a bear market.
The 2022 bear market has left many of the industry’s workers in the cold of crypto winter as rounds of layoffs are continually announced. Today’s episode explores a recruiter’s perspective of hiring in a bear market.
Dani Schlarmann, senior recruiter at Ava Labs, joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova to discuss trends in the recruiting space throughout the market downturn. Plus: Schlarmann tells the hosts some of his experiences of the early days of the industry.
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
NFTs brought culture to crypto. But with floor prices dropping, are crypto and culture doomed to remain separate?
“Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova break down CoinDesk contributing writer Jeff Wilser’s article “Investing in Web3: Culture and Entertainment,” which categorizes potential investment opportunities in crypto. The hosts debate how the biggest culture-focused crypto projects – non-fungible tokens, decentralized autonomous organizations, gaming, sports and more – have fared to date, and how they might take off or fizzle out in the future.
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Details on the SEC’s million-dollar fine for the influencer’s promotion of a token without disclosing payment.
Celebrities regularly accept promotional deals, hyping products from swimsuits to weight loss tea on social media to their hordes of followers. Trouble arrived when a crypto token deemed by regulators a security entered the mix.
“Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova are joined by writer and Assistant Opinion Editor Daniel Kuhn to dissect the bull market trend of celebrity crypto endorsements, and particularly Kim Kardashian’s shilling of the ethereumMax token.
Kardashian was fined $1.26 million this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for her promotion of a security without disclosing the payment she received in return. Was Kardashian an unlucky scapegoat, or is this penalty a harbinger of broader enforcement action to come?
See also:
- What Is EthereumMax? Inside the Crypto Kim Kardashian Lost $1.2M Promoting
- Kim Kardashian, EthereumMax and the SEC's Publicity Grab
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The latest in Craig Wright’s series of lawsuits against those who question that he is Satoshi Nakomoto.
The identity of Satoshi Nakomoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, has been an ongoing mystery since the figure’s retreat from the public eye over a decade ago. Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has asserted he is Satoshi, and has fought those who say otherwise in courts around the world. Few in the crypto community believe his claim.
Cheyenne Ligon, CoinDesk regulatory reporter, joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova to discuss the latest lawsuit involving Craig Wright, this time in Norway. The group assesses new, and at times dubious, evidence put forth by Wright’s lawyers. After many unsuccessful attempts, does Wright still believe he can convince the world he is Satoshi?
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A discussion on the future of layer 2 blockchains in a post-Merge era.
Ethereum’s long-awaited Merge, the transition from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, successfully occurred last week.
“Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson look to the future on this week’s episode with a discussion about the Merge’s impact on decentralization, Ethereum adoption, energy consumption and planned network updates with StarkWare co-founders Eli Ben-Sasson and Uri Kolodny. The guests provide insights from their perspective as longtime developers in the Ethereum ecosystem.
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Is crypto still bullish on play-to-earn?
Play-to-earn cryptocurrency game Axie Infinity skyrocketed in popularity in 2020, with many of the newly onboarded users residing in the Philippines and Venezuela. The game provided a unique – though ultimately temporary – economic model that allowed users to earn an income while at home in lockdown.
In the time since then, Axie suffered an exploit ultimately attributed to the North Korean Lazarus group and its users dropped off as the game lost its early profitability.
CoinDesk columnist Leah Callon-Butler joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova to chart Axie’s recovery and predict what the future of the game might look like. Will the play-to-earn model continue in the years to come, or will it fall off as a short-lived experiment?
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What happens when a crypto bro walks into a Wall Street bar?
CoinDesk reporter Cameron Thompson’s piece, “A Crypto Bro Walked Into a Wall Street Bar, and It Went Just Fine,” details the physical intermingling of both crypto and traditional finance (TradFi) industry professionals at a networking event.
Thompson joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson as the trio discuss the ways in which crypto culture differs from the rules of the traditional financial world, often by design. As institutional adoption of crypto continues, will the two industries’ cultures begin to merge together?
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Crass Kitty, founder of adult content platform Proof of Peach, describes how Web3 tools can make porn creation and consumption more ethical.
For CoinDesk’s Sin Week, “Opinionated” explores where the crypto and sex work industries intersect.
Crass Kitty joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova to discuss the intersection of porn and crypto. Kitty’s newly launched site Proof of Peach takes advantage of Web3 tools and blockchain technology to create a more fair, safe and ethical platform for sex workers to publish their content.
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Open source development, free speech and privacy are all under fire with the arrest of an alleged Tornado Cash developer. Plus: interviews from the #FreeAlex protest.
“The message you got from U.S. authorities is, if your privacy-enhancing tool as a side issue also enables money laundering, then we’d rather not have it.”
Jack Schickler, regulatory reporter at CoinDesk, joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova to discuss the developing story of cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Tornado Cash protocol for its use by North Korean hackers to launder stolen funds. Two days later, an alleged Tornado Cash developer, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested in the Netherlands.
The local decentralized finance (DeFi) community gathered to draw attention to Pertsev’s case and ensure a fair trial. Schickler captured interviews from some of the attendees of the protest, many expressing concerns about the implications of Pertsev’s arrest to the right of privacy and the future of open source development. Listen to hear the voices of Buzko Krasnov, Eléonore Blanc, Naomi Schettini, James Murdza, Rinke and two individuals who wished to remain anonymous.
Schickler also wrote a follow-up after a closed-door hearing in Pertsev’s case.
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
After debate about the role of politics in the workplace erupted surrounding cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, CEO Jesse Powell offered a severance package to employees who weren’t ready to leave politics at the door. More than a month after the offer, less than 1% of employees have accepted.
“Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova are joined by CoinDesk reporter Cheyenne Ligon to discuss her piece “In Crypto Winter, Jesse Powell’s Pirate-King Leadership Style Might Be the New Normal” detailing the workplace culture war waging at Kraken, and how a crypto winter might be altering employees’ decisions. Are Kraken’s new standards for workplace culture going to become standard across the crypto industry?
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
“If DeFi is going to work without being subject to the rules of the old systems, then there has to be some sort of accountability. Even in systems where there’s anonymity,” Danny Nelson says.
Danny Nelson breaks down his recent investigative story, “Master of Anons: How a Crypto Developer Faked a DeFi Ecosystem,” with “Opinionated” Ben Schiller and Anna Baydakova. Nelson’s investigative piece uncovered how one Solana ecosystem was largely faked by a pair of brothers and their “anon army,” or their 11 faked anonymous identities. What does this cautionary tale say about allowing the right to pseudonymity, a right deeply ingrained in crypto culture?
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk is the place to see your idea for the next big thing through – meet with leading investors, vet service providers and meet fellow visionaries. Learn more and apply to become a presenter today: coindesk.com/ideas
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
“It’s about labels, it’s about people having fun fighting each other… Nothing regarding technology is at stake here,” says host Anna Baydakova of the bitcoin maximalism debate.
“Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Anna Baydakova discuss the long-running and fundamental debate at the center of crypto subculture that pits bitcoin maximalists, those who believe bitcoin is the best and only cryptocurrency that should exist, against the broader crypto community.
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
“Elon rugged you. He said they had diamond hands, he said that they were committed for the long term. This was actually another accounting play by Tesla that benefited them, and they don't really care about bitcoin.” - David Z. Morris
Morris, chief insights columnist at CoinDesk, joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova to discuss Tesla’s recent sale of 75% of its bitcoin holdings. Tesla first purchased bitcoin 18 months ago and arguably contributed to the bull run at that time. Now, markets have hardly reacted to Tesla’s sale. Are the paths of Musk and the crypto industry diverging?
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Crypto needs to optimize for mobile. Anatoly Yakovenko believes the way to accomplish this is not by developing better Web3 apps for mobile phones, but to rethink the mobile phone from the ground up with a complete operating system that optimizes crypto applications for mobile.
Yakovenko joins “Opinionated” with hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson to discuss Solana Lab’s newest endeavor: building a mobile phone geared towards Web3 use cases. Yakovenko’s experience with mobile phone development dates back to his time at Qualcomm, where he worked on operating systems.
Solana’s mobile experiment might just determine whether the grand vision of crypto’s use in everyday life is attainable. But is a crypto-native phone something the world needs?
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
OneCoin was the promise of a hot new cryptocurrency that was sold to millions of people across hundreds of countries under a multilevel marketing strategy. But when the founder disappeared, the pyramid scheme collapsed, and victims were left with empty pockets.
Jamie Bartlett joins “Opinionated” with hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova to discuss his new book “The Missing Cryptoqueen: The Billion Dollar Cryptocurrency Con and the Woman Who Got Away with It.” The group reflects on the scam’s impact in the early days of crypto and how the fear of missing out contributed to a multibillion-dollar scam.
This show is produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl with additional production support and announcements by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has faced many trials in this crypto bear market: firms collapsing, withdrawals halted and many users are left wondering what will happen to their money entrusted to these DeFi companies.
One of the latest crises occurred on Solend, a lending and borrowing protocol on the Solana Network. “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova discuss Solend and the larger problems facing DeFi with Teddy Woodward, co-founder and CEO of borrowing and lending platform Notional Finance.
This show is produced, and announced by Michele Musso with additional production support and editing from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elison.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
How can NFTs be used for social good?
Metagood Chief Operating Officer Amanda Terry and Chairman Bill Tai join Danny Nelson on “Opinionated” to discuss their platform and how it connects communities to social causes with NFTs.
This show is produced, edited and announced by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elison.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Nolan Bauerle, previous director of research at CoinDesk, and Norm Nelson, join “Opinionated” with Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson to discuss the growth of conferences, especially leaving the pandemic, and the impact of macroeconomics on the crypto space.
This show is produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What’s been going on in Austin, Texas?
“Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson are joined by Adam B. Levine to discuss the many panels and experiences underway at Consensus 2022. From the prevalence of the phrase “It’s time to build” to discourse on preserving evidence of war crimes on the blockchain, Consensus has ignited conversations in all aspects of the crypto industry.
This show is produced, and announced by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl and edited by Mike McCarthy. Our theme song is by Elison.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Amidst numerous other scandals, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) has added a crypto one: The U.S. House of Representatives House Committee on Ethics has announced an investigation into Cawthorn’s promotion of the “Let’s Go Brandon '' meme coin.
“Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson dive into the story, explaining the inspiration of the “Let’s Go Brandon” coin and Cawthorn’s involvement in the coin. Nelson’s reporting included an investigation into Cawthorn’s wallet address, revealing a better timeline of Cawthorn’s investing, along with some unique trading behavior.
See also: Rep. Cawthorn’s Crypto Wallet Reveals Undisclosed Trades Amid House Ethics Investigation
This show is produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
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Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9-12 in Austin, Texas. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code OPINIONATED15 to get 15% off your GA and Pro pass at coindesk.com/consensus2022.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The recent collapse of Terra has left many people wondering if crypto projects can be trusted. And who holds the burden of keeping crypto projects honest? In this episode, hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson are joined by Nansen researcher Andrew Thurman for a discussion on what is wrong with systems in today's blockchain world that cause these devastating outcomes when they fail.
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Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9-12 in Austin, Texas. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code OPINIONATED15 to get 15% off your GA and Pro pass at coindesk.com/consensus2022.
This show is produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso.Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Small-scale bitcoin mining – think machines whirring away in basements, eating up home electricity bills – have become more popular in recent weeks.
Colin Harper, head of content and research at Luxor Mining, joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson to explore why the mining community has recently gained a new cohort of at-home miners. The influx goes back to China’s mining ban and is influenced by the economics of a bear market, but Harper explains the less tangible factors drawing those to mining, including a sense of community and partaking in securing the network.
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Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9-12 in Austin, Texas. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code OPINIONATED15 to get 15% off your GA and Pro pass at coindesk.com/consensus2022.
This show is produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Bitcoin 2022 drew masses of bitcoin (BTC) enthusiasts to Miami Beach last week, where attendees congregated to discuss the future of the cryptocurrency.
Joining “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson is George Kaloudis, research analyst at CoinDesk. The trio recap their experiences at Bitcoin 2022 in Miami Beach, from encounters with Bitcoin Maxis to promising announcements in the future of the Lighting Network.
Last year’s Bitcoin conference came with the explosive news from El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele that he would introduce legislation to make cryptocurrency legal tender in his country. This year, the nation-state adoption narrative stalled slightly. What might this indicate about bitcoin’s future on the global stage?
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Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9-12 in Austin, Texas. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code OPINIONATED15 to get 15% off your GA and Pro pass at coindesk.com/consensus2022.
This show is produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) led sports leagues into the non-fungible token (NFT) space with the successful Top Shot collection. But how much further will it explore Web 3 technologies?
Magdalena Kala joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson to discuss her recent opinion piece, “The NBA’s Web 3 Innovation Dilemma.” Kala expands upon her research and analysis of the NBA’s many ventures into the Web 3 space, and what technologies the NBA is likely to explore in the future.
Beyond just fan engagement, crypto technology presents new ways for fans to interact with the teams they love. Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) are the next logical step for the NBA, as Kala explains, where fans could own an entire team through a DAO. But would the NBA ever allow such an ownership structure?
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Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9-12 in Austin, Texas. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code ONPURPOSE15 to get 15% off your pass at coindesk.com/consensus2022.
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This show is produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Ukrainian government kicked off an impressive crypto donation campaign, receiving over $50 million in cryptocurrency contributions in just a few weeks.
Kim Bazak of blockchain PR and marketing firm Market Across has an inside perspective on the campaign. Bazak joins “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Danny Nelson to explain the story of how Market Across worked with the Ukrainian government to organize some of the first and largest crypto donations, including Polkadot founder Gavin Wood’s $5 million contribution.
The donation campaign has spotlighted the power of borderless money. Ukraine continues to support the proliferation of crypto assets in the country with the decision to make Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchanges as legal as banks. How will crypto continue to develop in Ukraine?
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Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9–12 in Austin, TX. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code Opinionated15 to get 15% off your pass at www.coindesk.com/consensus2022.
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This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Will Gottsegen, CoinDesk’s media and culture reporter, joins “Opinionated” hosts Danny Nelson and Ben Schiller to discuss what recent events in the Ethereum Name Service Foundation (ENS) say about the limitations of DAO governance.
When homophobic and transphobic posts from ENS director Brantly Millegan were uncovered, Millegan was promptly fired from his role at the nonprofit that operates the ENS. However, the ENS put the decision to remove Millegan from the organization as a whole to a DAO vote, but it failed to pass.
Millegan himself was able to sway the vote. Without his voting power, obtained through tokens and delegations, the vote would not have failed. Additionally, almost a fifth of the total votes cast were abstentions.
What does the ENS voting outcome tell us about the effectiveness, ethics and future of DAOs?
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Rev Miller, co-founder of Unchain, a decentralized fundraising crypto for humanitarian needs in war-besieged Ukraine.
The situation in the war theater in Ukraine is getting more and more bleak, but people are bracing to fight on, and the crypto community is ramping up its own arsenal, too. Over the past week, multiple crypto fundraising efforts have been launched in Ukraine by both the government and various activists, including the Russian art collective Pussy Riot.
Unchain is a fund that unites multiple crypto projects in an attempt to raise funds in a decentralized and transparent way that the blockchain technology can offer. Each donation wallet will be configured as a multisig, so that Unchain’s team of key holders, distributed across Ukraine and other countries, can have access to funds at all times.
Listen to Anna and Danny talk to Rev about how the Ukrainians are holding up amid the war, what are the plans of Unchain and how things are going with the crypto fundraising.
Check out the CoinDesk story about Unchain: https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/03/01/absolutely-surreal-inside-a-fund-raising-millions-in-crypto-for-besieged-ukraine/
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Does the future of media companies lie in decentralized models?
“Even successful magazines right now are rethinking their model… One of the ways you give power to your readers is to give them the direct ability to allocate funds.”
Former CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen joins Anna Baydakova and Ben Schiller on “Opinionated” to discuss Des Femmes, the magazine for women in finance and tech. Cuen co-founded the magazine to address a lack of representation and voice for women entrepreneurs, especially in the crypto industry.
Des Femmes is printed and managed by a DAO-inspired structure. Cuen discusses Des Femmes’ decision to pursue a bitcoin multisig structure to manage the funds the publication generated from an Ethereum crowdfunding campaign, and its plans for further decentralization in the future. Converting a media organization into a decentralized autonomous organization presents unique opportunities to get the community more involved in the co-creation of the publication.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Will AI be coming to DeFi anytime soon?
Joining Anna Baydakova and Ben Schiller on “Opinionated,” is Jesus Rodriguez, CEO of analytics platform IntoTheBlock. Rodriguez explores a future where artificial intelligence merges with decentralized finance (DeFi) to create an even smarter, more automated and possibly better regulated DeFi.
Machine learning and AI are rapidly becoming innovative solutions to software problems across a variety of applications, and Rodriguez sees AI in DeFi as the next logical step. Integrating AI solutions and analysis into DeFi protocols could have vast impacts to user protection, contract efficiency and market dynamics.
AI integration could be used to predict major market moves, prevent undesirable usage of contracts and even potentially in financial regulation of DeFi platforms. While the possibilities sound endless, are they practical?
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The cypherpunks dreamed of a world where a person’s information would be revealed only if that individual so desired. A legendary group of cryptographers who came together in the 1990s, they fought back against government attempts to create backdoors to encryption and enforce key escrow.
The cypherpunks laid the groundwork for the crypto revolution we see today. But, arguably, says the futurist Dan Jeffries, theirs is a dream deferred. Today, we’re more watched and surveilled than ever and the dominant internet business models are based on a quid pro quo of “your data, their free-services.”
Where do we go from here?
In an interview for CoinDesk’s “Opinionated” podcast, Jeffries argues that we need to get away from political messaging around privacy. That doesn’t work: Not enough people care about privacy to pay for it and ensure it. Most of us don’t care until intrusions of privacy become material to our well-being.
Instead, we have to make privacy a part of the design of products, whether that’s money transactions or informational ones. “Make privacy the plumbing, not the marketing tagline,” Jeffries says.
Relatedly, the “Opinionated” team – Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson – also discuss the failure of the Libra/Diem Facebook/Meta stablecoin project and look at what it means for the future of digital currency.
Does its demise indicate that governments hold the cards when it comes to issuing currencies, or that open-source projects like Bitcoin or Ethereum are more likely to succeed than closed systems like Facebook’s?
Tune in to listen to the discussion.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
The Trojan Horse of Privacy by Dan Jeffries
Reflecting on Facebook’s Hilarious, Well Deserved Crypto Failure by David Z. Morris
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Crypto has deep roots in the privacy space. But today’s bitcoiners aren’t quite as skittish about sharing their ID as the maximalists of yesteryear were. This week on “Opinionated,” Lili Rhodes of Foundation Devices argues why they should. Keeping one’s identity hidden – away from the government, from companies, from counterparties – is a table-stakes demand in the privacy game.
Does it have to be? Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Ben Schiller spar over the nature of modern-day privacy, where and why it's necessary, and whether bitcoin has been “corrupted” by those who link trades with names. For those who think it has, buying beyond the banks and exchanges is a must. Check out CoinDesk’s “Privacy Week” package for an inside look.
You scanned your ID at the bitcoin checkout, anon? Anna wrote a guide to help you do better next time ;)
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week on “Opinionated,” the gang dives deep into some big news out of Russia, looks at the issue of rampant intellectual-property theft with NFTs and examines Vitalik Buterin’s idea for synthetic wombs.
(Yes, you read that last one right. The founder of Ethereum thinks babies should be made in Cosmic Cocoons.)
Could Russia ban crypto? That’s a possibility raised by a highly critical Bank of Russia report this week. It said cryptocurrencies are volatile and widely used in illegal activities, such as fraud. The report called for the Kremlin to outlaw mining and issuance, if not the holding of crypto.
Anna Baydakova said banning bitcoin would be a “nightmare” if the West imposes further financial sanctions should Russia invade Ukraine.
Next up, we spoke with Sam Ewen, head of CoinDesk Studios, about an op-ed he wrote this week (“The Balance Between Art and IP Theft in NFT Culture”). Unauthorized NFT projects like MetaBirkins, The Squid NFT and Non-Fungible Olive Gardens have been making thousands of dollars. Ewen expects Web 3 to change the norms around IP online, posing headaches for brands and platforms like OpenSea.
Finally, the gang unpacked Buterin’s baby pod idea, which he floated as a means of female empowerment:
“Disparities in economic success between men and women are far larger once marriage+children enter the picture. Synthetic wombs would remove the high burden of pregnancy, significantly reducing the inequality,” he wrote on Twitter.
While it might be admirable for a tech leader to care about gender inequality (everyone should care more about that!), the team didn’t rate the idea too highly. It smacks of techno-Utopianism.
As we wait for pods to arrive, there may be more practical solutions, noted Baydakova. Like, say, paid maternity leave.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
2022 has just begun. What will the hot topics in crypto be this year?
On this episode of “Opinionated,” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson kick off the new year with a discussion on the future and purpose of emerging technologies such as Web 3 and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Though both include egalitarian philosophical interests like freedom, democracy, self-custody and decentralization, many worry the ideals will fall as well-funded companies and individuals step in.
How will the ideals of Web 3 and DAOs pan out as the technology develops further?
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking about the most exciting and most annoying things that happened in crypto this year.
For Ben, the crypto hearings in the U.S. Senate – a whole bunch of them, actually! – really marked this year. Now it’s clear cryptocurrencies have some prominent opponents on Capitol Hill including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). What will the crypto politics be in 2022? Ben has some ideas.
On another regulatory note, this year the U.S. started an offensive on illegal crypto use, and also demonstrated that the seemingly decentralized and global world of blockchains is not above sanctions policies. That offensive might expand in 2022, Anna believes.
And, of course, NFTs! What would characterize this year better? Whether the hype will die down or the NFT wave will keep engulfing the world in 2022 is up in the air, but Ben, Anna and Danny have theories to share.
Also in this episode: Ben singing and Danny as the Crypto Grinch. Enjoy your holidays!
Mentioned in this episode:
- Robert Reich: The crypto-congressional complex
- Senate Banking Committee Bashes Bitcoin's 'Phony' Populism
- This Imprisoned Russian Artist Is Selling NFTs to Support His Family and Fellow Inmates
- ConsenSys Suddenly Bars Iranian Students From Ethereum Coding Class
- Chatex Users Ask US Treasury to Release Crypto Frozen by Sanctions
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our Holiday theme music is by Hill and Dresden.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week on “Opinionated,” we sit down with David Z. Morris, CoinDesk’s chief insights columnist.
DZM gives us the highlights and lowlights from 2021, and looks ahead to 2022.
His highlight? El Salvador.
“For me, the bitcoin policy in El Salvador was the landmark moment of the year,” he says.
El Salvador has been buying bitcoin at a rapid clip, attracting bitcoin entrepreneurs. It has issued a “Bitcoin Bond” that’s available to nationals through the Chivo bitcoin wallet.
This points to how bitcoin may point to an opportunity for indebted nations that are often excluded from traditional credit markets to find new ways to grow.
“It potentially gets El Salvador and other countries out of the yoke of the [International Monetary Fund] and World Bank, which maybe do some good work but by and large have not been great actors over the last 30 years,” Morris said.
DZM’s lowlight?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the man who needs no introduction.
“Elon Musk has to be top of that list of things that annoyed me this year. He’s a guy with a ton of influence who decided he was curious about crypto and didn’t want to bother learning anything about it, and then came in and created a lot of disruption in the market and confused a lot of people.
“I don’t think there’s anywhere to go for his reputation other than down from here,” Morris said.
“You’ve got to be not just nuts but somewhere on the not-caring-about-other-people spectrum to have a million of followers and tweet #baby doge with no context or explanation or consideration of how people are going to respond to that.”
“He’s financially abusing people who support him and it’s irresponsible. He’s been fined by the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] before in reference to tweets about his own company. So imagine how responsible he’s going to act when he’s giving financial advice when he's talking about things he’s not responsible for.”
Morris also looked ahead to 2022, offering three predictions. Top of the list:wars between the likes of layer 1 (base) chains Avalanche and Solana and longer-standing chains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“Given the issue with fees that Ethereum has had, it became a real opportunity for people to stand up new layer 1s that have had genuine adoption,” Morris said.
Listen in for more insights from David Morris and “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Danny Nelson and Anna Baydakova.
Articles mentioned in this podcast:
David Z. Morris: Behind the Scenes of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Bond With the Man Who Designed It
David Z. Morris: CoinDesk Most Influential 2021: Jack Mallers
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A Florida jury kinda sorta ruled in Craig Wright’s favor: The man who claims to be Satoshi won’t need to cough up half his multi-billion-dollar bitcoin stash. But he does owe $100 million to the estate of his former business partner. So who won? The gang discusses ramifications of a high-stakes trial and its often-misleading coverage in the press.
Also on the table are 2021’s big crypto influencers. CoinDesk's “Most Influential” dropped this week and featured Elon Musk, Cynthia Lummis, Do Kwon and others who made a difference this year. But who got snubbed? Who got rugged? Listen to find out.
Finally, Danny and Ben look back on NFT week in Miami, where crypto culture and mainstream art converged. It was one big party, to be sure. But it was also a cultural coming out and reflected how “crypto” means more than the “future of money” these days. It’s art, entertainment, the media; it means culture.
CoinDesk coverage discussed in this episode:
Most Influential 2021 – The 50 people who defined the year in crypto.
There Was No ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ Lawsuit – Be careful what you read and where you read it.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking about Art Basel Miami Beach, the annual international art fair that took place in Florida last week.
Danny was reporting from the ground: This year, a new kind of art made its way to Miami, under the picky gaze of art collectors, curators and, yes, artists themselves. And yes, it’s NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
NFTs used to be seen as merely cute funny antics of the crypto world (remember Crypto Kitties?) back in 2017, but now, they go for millions of dollars in the world’s most prestigious auction houses, like Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
The auction houses are aggressively hiring, fashion brands and music labels are signing up international stars to do exclusive NFTs, and artists are learning how to store files on IPFS and use MetaMask – are NFTs here to stay and become a necessary fixture of the future?
Listen to Ben, Danny and Anna discuss Danny’s impressions from Art Basel Miami Beach – and learn what Tina Turner high heels have to do with it!
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Last week a ramshackle group of crypto investors tried (and failed) to buy the U.S. Constitution. This week on “Opinionated,” Ben, Anna and Danny talk about why. Recorded one day prior to the auction, this week’s episode explores the tough questions decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) face in the wake of ConstitutionDAO.
For starters, how should DAOs organize themselves? Should it be one wallet, one vote or should larger contributors get a bigger share of the pie? Most projects follow the latter, but ConstitutionDAO’s unique focus on an important document in the history of democracy forces the question, Danny thinks.
This could prove to be an inflection point for DAOs as a whole, no matter the outcome. Media attention is rampant, new wallets are joining the movement. It may not have worked out for ConstitutionDAO but, as the gang points out, this form of flash crowdfunding is only just getting started.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Gurvais Grigg, global public sector chief technology officer at Chainalysis, a blockchain investigative firm.
Grigg spent 23 years at the FBI, rising from a trainee to assistant director. But this April, he took a career turn and joined a private sector company, which is often helping law enforcement agencies investigate crypto-related crimes.
In his intro blog post, Grigg said crypto becomes a tool of global economic influence, and it’s important for the U.S. to keep up to speed with the technology, unless it wants rivals like China or Russia to outpace it. But do we think the U.S. is the world’s best possible crypto cop? Gurvais have some ideas to share about this.
2020 and 2021, indeed, became years of a ransomware pandemic, with cybercriminal groups hitting vast numbers of companies in the U.S. and Europe. In response, the U.S. government started a massive campaign against the hackers, or rather, against people and entities who helped those hackers cash out ransom crypto.
Two Russian crypto services have been sanctioned already, the over-the-counter (OTC) trading firm Suex and crypto trading bot Chatex, and another OTC founder, Denis Dubnikov, was arrested in Amsterdam last two weeks ago, allegedly for helping launder proceeds from the Ryuk ransomware attacks.
Chainalysis has been involved in some of these investigations, and Grigg said he expects there will be more indictments, sanctions and arrests. Also, there will probably be more ransomware attacks in the future. What is the role of companies like Chainlaysis in all that?
Listen to Anna, Ben and Danny to talk to Gurvais about all that, and more.
Gurvais Grigg’s Twitter handle is @gurvais
Mentioned in this episode:
- US Sanctions Enforcer Blacklists a Crypto Exchange for First Time
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are discussing Anna’s investigative piece on the black market of “verified” accounts on crypto exchanges and payment apps.
Know-Your-Customer (KYC) at crypto exchanges might be a painstaking process for users but there is a way to avoid all the troubles by simply buying a verified account in someone else’s name, Anna’s investigation found.
Online forums and Telegram groups where people buy and sell accounts registered to other people count thousands of members and thrive all over the world. Accounts on virtually any exchange, from Huobi to Coinbase Pro, services from Paxful to BlockFi and apps like CashApp, Wirex and Revolut – the offerings are abundant.
The price tag, somewhere between $50 and $500 for an account, makes such accounts a cheap and disposable tool for taxation avoidance, money laundering and getting around sanctions and other restrictions.
How does the black market of KYC work, what it takes to fool video-verification and what crypto exchanges and payment services are doing about this all? Listen to Ben, Danny and Anna dive into the life of underground black markets and read Anna's piece, For $200, You Can Trade Crypto With a Fake ID.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to PaperImperium, the first and only pseudonymous crypto advocate, lobbying on behalf of MakerDAO in the corridors of power.
PaperImperium, or Paper, or Chris (his real name, but he’s not keen to publicize his full name), is advocating for a clear regulation for DAOs, or decentralized autonomous organisations.
DAOs are a brainchild of the crypto-anarchist culture, and the concept implies that communities can make decisions and solve problems by common voting, using their crypto tokens as voting mandates.
Interestingly, Chris is not a huge fan of this idea itself, and he’s still on the fence on whether the concept is viable. Also, not everybody shares a belief that decentralized finance (DeFi) needs regulation at all, and recently the DAO members voted down the proposal to compensate Chris for his work.
Why then is he so passionate about educating congressmen and regulators about MakerDAO and everything around it? What got him into crypto in the first place, and why is he so excited about Maker?
Listen to Anna, Ben and Danny talk to Chris about his observations about the moods towards crypto in Washington, D.C., his hopes for DeFi and other things.
PaperImperium’s handle on Twitter is @ImperiumPaper.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Meet the DeFi Delegate Knocking on the Doors of Congress
What Is a DAO?
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The first bitcoin-linked ETF to ever hit U.S. markets has finally arrived. But what does that mean for bitcoin as an investment?
For starters, hundreds of millions of dollars in speculative bets from traders whose brokerage accounts have never tasted crypto before. But are they betting on bitcoin? Not exactly…. They’re betting on bitcoin futures contracts. And it’s not quite the same.
Karan Sood joins the “Opinionated” squad to break down crypto’s hot new investment trend. His investment company, Cboe Vest, was one of the first to wrap bitcoin futures in a traditional finance shell. It's no wonder that he believes products linked to futures contracts are mainstream investors’ best way into crypto.
Ben, Anna and Danny don’t completely agree.
Listen to this week’s “Opinionated” for a contrarian take on the big bitcoin news.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support by Adrian Blust. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
It’s Policy Week here at CoinDesk!
We’re diving deep into Washington, D.C., lobbying, DeFi regulation, how non-fungible tokens (NFT) could be seen as securities, and much more through a series of feature stories, op-eds, interviews, research and video.
For the “Opinionated” podcast, co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson discuss some regulatory hot topics.
First up: Is crypto a threat to financial stability?
A senior Bank of England official recently suggested as much, comparing crypto to the subprime mortgage securities that blew up the world economy in 2008.
Similarly, the International Monetary Fund said the other day that digital assets could cause as much disruption as COVID-19 and climate change.
If the high priests and priestesses of finance once ignored crypto, no longer! This once-insignificant industry is now firmly on the agenda.
Next: The SEC is looking at NFTs.
Non-fungible tokens have been one of the big stories of 2021. Artworks and collectibles have sold for many millions and the NFTs have served to bring many new faces into the crypto sector.
But will 2022 raise compliance issues for NFT platforms and makers as regulators step in?
That’s the belief of many lawyers and NFT execs. Fractionalization, where works are split into pieces and sold off to investors, seems particularly likely to interest our overseers.
Finally: Will Russia embrace crypto as a way around the dollar’s domination of international oil markets?
Recent comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin have raised hopes on this one. But, speaking from Moscow, Anna says it’s not likely, at least in the short term.
Listen to the episode for more on the big policy questions of the moment. And subscribe to the podcast via your favorite podcast service.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish became personally infatuated with non-fungible tokens (NFT) earlier this year. He’s now helping his sports betting giant navigate digital collectibles. It's one of the few publicly traded companies with an on-platform NFT marketplace. This week on “Opinionated,” Danny, Ben and Anna learn more about the Bored Ape Yacht Club-owning president of DraftKings.
In a wide-ranging conversation, the hosts spar over what makes an NFT valuable, whether fundamental tech specs matter, and why it's important to see big names like DraftKings jumping in. Non-fungible tokens are more than a phase, Kalish says: They’re a new way of trading and owning goods online.
Kalish, who has long loved sports collectibles, thinks NFTs are a natural evolution of the baseball card era. His platform is primed to take a hefty cut. It has signed up a long line of A-list athletes in some of their first NFT deals. That includes Tom Brady, the five-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who sat through multiple sessions of digital autograph signing for DraftKings’ NFT debut.
The gang learns more about Kalish’s philosophy and DraftKings’ crypto plans. Is this a one-off act by the lucrative gaming outfit? Or is crypto here to stay, with NFTs only the vanguard? Listen to the latest edition of the “Opinionated” NFT series to find out.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Art Blocks CEO Erick Calderon has turned generative NFT squiggles into a digital art behemoth. This week on “Opinionated,” we speak with “Snowfro” about the artists whose algorithms power one of the hottest corners of the metaverse. Their NFT sales recently helpedArt Blocks raise $6 million from equity investors, Snowfro told “Opinionated.”
Ben and Danny (Anna’s out this week) sort through the term sheets to find what makes Art Blocks tick. Their conversation begins with its cap table. Galaxy’s an investor; so is FlamingoDAO, the crypto-native community of NFT investors. Believe it or not, the DAO apes into equity rounds, too.
Snowfro helps demystify the philosophy underpinning the digital art scene. He doesn’t define success by making it to the MoMA – though that would be cool, he admits – or by billion-dollar transaction volumes – a milestone Art Blocks already crossed. He’s more interested in providing an outlet for really cool and unique art.
Speaking from his home in Houston, Snowfro walks “Opinionated” through his entrepreneurial history, which began with a college snow cone stand and evolved into an artisanal tile import business. His NFT side-hustle, Art Blocks, is less than a year old. And it’s not quite a side-hustle anymore.
This episode is produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our Theme Music is by Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Ben Schiller address an emerging global trend: an increasing frequency of clashes between state and private money. Three recent stories bring these clashes front-and-center, through surveillance programs, regulator biases and crypto as a single-issue campaign.
Leaked documents show Chainalysis has a hush-hush advantage in the analytics race: its scraping of suspects’ IP addresses from walletexplorer.com. As CoinDesk reported, the honeypot preys on those wary of exchanges who might log their data, allowing the world’s largest crypto tracer to capture their IP address instead. As Chainalysis expressed in the documents, it’s providing “meaningful” leads for law enforcement. What are the ethical implications of such a scheme?
Next: whiz-kid Gary Gensler is not the hero crypto hoped for; the SEC chair has become a persona non-grata for bitcoiners and altcoiners alike. Gensler’s campaign against fraud, waste and abuse should not surprise insiders. Anna, Ben and Danny parse through the intricacies of a regulatory chief with his sights set on crypto.
Finally, we debate crypto and politics. With Messari CEO Ryan Selkis potentially running for senate (in 2024), how important has crypto regulation become to voters? To Selkis, it's a single-issue campaign. How effective could that messaging be against a fractured voting field?
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is from Elision.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
“I don't think you're going to replace the stock market with the blockchain just because it's better. I think they can coexist. Take all the benefits that you have from blockchain and figure out a way to adapt it."
Jaime Rogozinski is the founder and ousted chief of Reddit’s infamous trading community: WallStreetBets. He spent years watching crypto from the sidelines as a die-hard “stonks only” investor. This week on “Opinionated,” he tells Ben, Danny and Anna how he finally came around.
Now, Jaime is playing a leading role in WSBDapp.com, a project he says mixes global equities, smart contracts and borderless finance. The idea is to give investors a crypto token whose value is linked to trades they might not otherwise make. Jaime says it’s an innovative evolution of TradFi and DeFi.
The project is in its early stages, but the gang still has plenty of questions for Jaime. For example: Why would regulators allow tokenized stocks? How do tokenized ETPs differ from ETFs? Is this really going to be a boon for retail investors?
Listen to this week of “Opinionated” to find out.
This episode was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso with additional production support by Eleanor Pahl.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Ben Schiller are talking to Eric Wall, chief investment officer at a Swedish hedge fund Arcane Crypto – and one of Crypto Twitter’s favorite trouble stirrers.
“I spent my entire 20s in bitcoin. What the f*ck,” Eric tweeted in July on the day of his 30th birthday, and that decade did not pass in vain for him: He’s been trading bitcoin since Mt. Gox (and lost his money there), he worked as a crypto guy in the legacy fintech firm Cinnober, and now he’s advising a hedge fund on crypto investments. Throughout crypto and mainstream. Eric saw a lot and has a lot to say.
You might be surprised to learn he doesn’t believe in technical analysis as a basis for trading decisions. Why, and what is he using instead? Just wait and listen.
From bitcoin trading basics, we’re going right into the wild world of DeFi. Are there better protocols for DeFi than Ethereum? Is it better to invest in totally decentralized projects, or those that can freeze their coins? Will the regulators clamp down on DeFi and destroy it?
And, last but not least, what is the “digital condom” Eric thinks beginning traders might want to use when they jump into the dangerous world of DeFi? Listen to and learn from Eric together with Anna, Ben and Danny!
Eric Wall’s Twitter handle is @ercwl.
Mentioned on this episode:
- CoinDesk: Thorchain's RUNE Token Tumbles After 2nd Exploit in 2 Weeks
- CoinDesk: Poly Network Hacker Releases Private Key for Remaining Looted $141M
- U.Today: Arcane Assets CIO Ridicules Charles Hoskinson And Cardano For Bitcoin Criticism On TV
This was produced, announced and edited by Michele Musso.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Ben Schiller are getting a bit more light-hearted, discussing the hottest topics of this summer, which (sigh!) is officially over.
First, let’s get it clear: We’re not crazy about all those central bank digital currency (CBDC) announcements the central banks did throughout this year and summer. To Ben Schiller, they pretty much remind him of the 2018 hype around enterprise blockchains, which mostly came to nothing.
The reason we are talking about it now? Nigeria announced it would work with a crypto startup, Bitt Inc., on a future launch of the eNaira, one of the rare instances of a central bank named a partner in the industry. Will the central banks of the world do something meaningful with all these CBDC plans in the end?
On the other side of the stablecoin agenda, Tether is resisting the full disclosure of its reserves with teeth and nails. Last week, the company appealed CoinDesk’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request on information about Tether’s reserves composition, which the company provided to the New York Attorney General as part of the investigation into iFinex settled earlier this year.
Turned out, at least part of the crypto community is sympathetic with Tether, arguing the company has the same right to privacy as any individual. We’re discussing this point of view.
Last but not least, we couldn’t miss the latest Udi Wertheimer trolling campaign on Twitter where he stated that “bitcoin is the digital real estate.” Crypto Twitter gleefully picked the punch, and we did, too! But with the narrative ever shifting, what is bitcoin for you? Let us know in replies, and give the podcast some love wherever you’re listening to it!
Happy autumn, subscribe for more great guests and discussions in September!
Mentioned in this episode:
- Nigeria’s Central Bank Taps Bitt to Launch CBDC by Year’s End
- Tether Asks Court to Block NYAG From Releasing Documents to CoinDesk
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week on “Opinionated,” the hosts dive deep into the non-fungible token (NFT) boom with guest Andrew Steinwold, managing partner at Sfermion, an NFT fund. Andrew works with wealthy clients from around the world who want a piece of the digital art boom.
Our biggest question for Andrew was last week’s biggest news: Visa bought a CryptoPunk.
By Andrew’s telling, paying $150,000 for a pixelated head is a relative bargain, especially as an advertising tool. It’s good for CryptoPunks, too: Its narrative firepower only grows stronger with a name brand such as Visa buying in.
But what of the wacky NFT world beyond? Do other digital art pieces carry the same gravitas? Could Danny, who blew $150 on an NFT of a duck, ever recoup his cash? Andrew dredges up the ugly truth: Not all projects are going to make it.
He’s more bullish on the burgeoning internet economy that NFTs could support, things like digital land rights, digital clothing, digital games. His bets – and his clients’ bets – are that NFTs can create a new rail in online commerce and ownership.
Andrew provides the gang with some insight into the current NFT boom and debates what makes something valuable, even if it doesn't physically exist.
Mentioned in this episode:
Andrew’s podcast: Zima Red
Andrew’s NFT fund: Sfermion
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson talk to Angela Walch, a professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio and a research associate at the Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London.
This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network.
An original and independently minded commentator on the crypto industry, Walch was a key voice in the recent debate over the infrastructure bill and its cryptocurrency-related tax-reporting provision. Walch testified before the U.S. Senate about the increasingly systemic role played by cryptocurrencies and why the legislation shouldn’t be rushed.
She wrote an op-ed for CoinDesk saying the “process being used to regulate crypto through an unrelated bill on infrastructure is deeply flawed and risks increasing rather than reducing harms to the public.”
On our show, Walch shared her experience talking to the legislators and why the most controversial part of the bill may not have been as unfair as the industry has claimed. The bill suggests that anyone who facilitates crypto transactions should be considered a broker for the legal and tax purposes.
Should crypto miners actually be considered brokers? Are large crypto celebrity investors doing the industry a favor in their advocacy? What is the best way forward for crypto regulation in the U.S.?
Listen to Ben, Anna and Danny discuss these and some other burning questions with Angela Walch and watch out for her new coming op-eds on CoinDesk.
Angela Walch handle in Twitter: @angela_walch
Mentioned in this episode:
Angela Walch’s op-ed for CoinDesk: Congress, Don’t Rush Regulating Crypto
Angela Welch’s testimony in Congress, July 27, 2021: Cryptocurrencies: What are they good for?
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Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network’s crosschain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.
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This week, “Opinionated” hosts Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Ben Schiller, are talking to Anita Posch, an Austria-based bitcoin educator, advocate and bilingual podcaster. Anita has just published a book about the leading cryptocurrency basics entitled “(L)earn Bitcoin.”
This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network.
We invited Anita to talk about the topic she knows so well – cryptocurrencies in Africa.
LocalBitcoins said that Africa delivered 12% of its $600 million in global volume between January and March and that demand is growing. Countries like Nigeria are seeing an increased interest in crypto even as the banks block crypto-related transactions in the country.
Anita traveled Africa and interviewed crypto influencers there like no other bitcoiner has. She knows what people think about bitcoin in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Eritrea, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, and is keen to share her insights.
What can crypto do in a country where less than a half of the population has access to the internet? Why is it easier for Africans abroad to send money back home via crypto? The KYC/AML (know-your-customer/anti-money-laundering) policies in crypto around the world are getting stricter – how will that affect people in Africa, where personal IDs aren’t widespread?
Anita shares her thoughts on how crypto use in Africa is different from that in Europe and the U.S., and a possible future for African central bank digital currencies under China’s influence, and she gets into a heated debate with Ben on bitcoin’s viability as a form of payment given its volatility.
Listen to Anita, Ben, Anna and Danny discuss the optimistic – and disturbing things about crypto in Africa.
Anita Posch’s Twitter handle is @AnitaPosch
Mentioned in this episode:
Anita’s podcast “The Anita Posch Show”
Anita’s book “(L)earn Bitcoin”
Anita’s YouTube channel
LocalBitcoins: Bitcoin in Africa: Top 5 Countries
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Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network’s crosschain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.
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This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Grant Gulovsen, a private attorney specializing in crypto space.
This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network.
Grant is fascinated by the story of Tether, and so are we. Tether is the $62 billion stablecoin powering much of the liquidity in the crypto markets. What would happen if that mammoth project went belly-up?
Grant has been watching Tether for years and has a few thoughts on the checkered history and unclear future of crypto’s favorite controversy. Why is tether’s backed/unbacked status so contentious? Why are so many in the crypto space skeptical of its centralized issuer? Why aren’t so many others?
Listen to Grant sharing his thoughts on Tether’s recent (and long awaited) treasury disclosure, how it looks compared to other stablecoins, rumors about bank fraud allegations, what actually can happen if USDT loses its peg to the U.S. dollar, and more.
Mentioned in this episode:
CoinDesk: Tether’s First Reserve Breakdown Shows Token 49% Backed by Unspecified Commercial Paper
CoinDesk: Tether Executives Facing Criminal Bank Fraud Charges: Report
Unchained podcast: Is Tether a Fraud? Its Bank Says It's Not
CoinDesk: Tether Confirms Its Relationship With Auditor Has 'Dissolved'
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Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network’s crosschain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.
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This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller and Anna Baydakova are talking to Sebastian Serrano, who is the CEO of Ripio, a popular crypto wallet and exchange in Latin America.
This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network.
Ripio was founded in 2013 and since then has been expanding in the region with offices in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay as well as Mexico and Spain. Ripio bought Brazil’s second-largest exchange, BitcoinTrade, in January. (Full disclosure: One of Ripio’s early investors was Digital Currency Group, CoinDesk’s parent company.)
Latin America has been in the middle of the crypto community’s attention after El Salvador adopted bitcoin as a legal tender. But is it actually a good thing for bitcoin and for El Salvador, and will it benefit the country’s citizens? Serrano has his own take on this.
Listen as Ben and Anna talk to Sebatian about crypto use cases in Latin America, his thoughts on whether other countries would follow El Salvador’s lead and accept bitcoin as money, and what Latin American nations should do about bitcoin.
Sebastian Serrano’s Twitter handle: @sserrano44
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Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network’s crosschain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Jameson Lopp, developer and chief technology officer of Casa, a bitcoin custodian.
This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network and Mimo.
Lopp is a vocal bitcoin advocate and one of those people you probably think about when you hear “bitcoin maximalist.” In this conversation, Jameson explains his attitude toward non-bitcoin projects, DeFi projects and how he, himself, likes to kick the tires of various new projects to see what they are worth.
Lopp is a hardcore crypto anarchist. He believes that bitcoin is the kind of “F-you money” that allows financial autonomy unparalleled by any other financial tools. But are there many people ready to take the risks and responsibility of bitcoin self-custody for the sake of this freedom? For Lopp, it’s a “billion-dollar question” and a matter of constant work and improvement.
Listen to Ben, Anna and Danny talk to Lopp about his views on the challenges of bitcoin adoption, the quality of the DeFi projects he’s involved in and the most exciting project he is working on now.
Jameson Lopp’s Twitter handle: @lopp
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Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network’s cross chain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.
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Mimo is home of the world’s #1 euro-algorithmically pegged token minted at an interest rate of just 2%. Lock in your crypto assets, access their liquidity, and stabilize your portfolio by hedging against inflating coins. Open a Vault and experience the power of Mimo today at mimo.capital.
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This week on “Opinionated,” Ben Schiller and co-host Anna Baydakova are joined by Paul Brody, head of blockchain at consulting powerhouse EY.
This episode is sponsored by Unique One Network and Mimo.
If you read CoinDesk in 2017 and 2018, you’d have come across many stories like this:
Big Company joins Big Industry Blockchain Consortium to work on technology set to shake up Everything.
These days, many of those consortia are closed, others are barely issuing press releases, and “enterprise blockchain” is often struggling to take off.
In recent months, IBM has laid off most of its blockchain services staff and Microsoft has shuttered its Azure-based blockchain-as-a-service platform.
What happened?
Blockchain industry veteran Paul Brody unpacks why many corporate blockchain projects fail, and what works and doesn’t work when companies adopt decentralized technology.
He pinpoints where blockchain is having a dramatic impact, the validation that comes from DeFi and how blockchains can re-engineer enterprises in the years ahead.
Brody’s Twitter is: @pbrody
CoinDesk stories mentioned in this episode:
Brody: Web 3.0 Is Coming for the Sharing Economy
Brody: Public Blockchains Are Set to Reshape Global Commerce
IBM Blockchain Is a Shell of Its Former Self After Revenue Misses, Job Cuts: Sources
Microsoft to Shutter its Azure Blockchain Service This Autumn
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Unique One Network is an interoperable Platform for DeFi enabled NFT Marketplaces, in a variety of sectors, built on Polkadot Parity Substrate. Unique One Network’s cross chain NFT hub facilitates transfers between a variety of blockchains and ecosystems, unleashing the power of NFTs with myriad innovative capabilities. Find out more at Unique One Network.
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Mimo is home of the world’s #1 euro-algorithmically pegged token minted at an interest rate of just 2%. Lock in your crypto assets, access their liquidity, and stabilize your portfolio by hedging against inflating coins. Open a Vault and experience the power of Mimo today at mimo.capital.
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller and Anna Baydakova are talking to Dovey Wan, partner at San-Francisco-based VC Primitive Ventures.
This episode is sponsored by PumaPay.io.
China is getting serious about banning crypto. In a fresh onslaught on the industry this month, the country has blocked bank transfers related to crypto, and five regions, including the key hydropower province of Sichuan, have shut down the local miners. OTC desk operators are getting arrested en masse and mentions of crypto exchanges are getting censored on social media.
The market responded with another downfall starting June 21, Chinese miners are reportedly relocating to other countries, including the U.S., and crypto firms are looking for ways to survive in China without serving Chinese clients.
Dovey Wan has a good grasp of the way things operate in China, and she aptly unpacks the intricacies of the country’s power structure and the main forces behind the political and economic events.
Listen to the “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller and Anna Baydakova talking with Dovey about this latest crackdown, what it might be driven by and why it should be taken very seriously. Is China letting its crypto dominance go? How can this change the global crypto market, for good or bad?
Dovey Wan’s Twitter handle is: @DoveyWan.
CoinDesk stories mentioned in this episode:
- China Says Banks Must Block Crypto Transactions; Market Falls
- Sichuan Becomes Latest Chinese Province to Order Bitcoin Miner Shutdown
- Chinese Police Arrest 1.1K People on Crypto-Related Money Laundering Charges
- Chinese Internet Services Are Censoring Binance, Huobi and OKEx-Related Keywords
- Ether Drops Below $2K, Bitcoin Wilts as China Tells Banks to Cut Off Crypto Transactions
- Chinese Logistics Firm Airlifting Bitcoin Mining Machines to Maryland: Report
- Chinese Brokerages Look Overseas to Offer Crypto Trading: Report
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750,000,000 PMA tokens are now up for grabs. By depositing today, you will become part of the next evolution of DeFi payments. Go to PumaPay.io.
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This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Jonathan Koomey, researcher and book author.
This episode is sponsored by PumaPay.io.
Koomey, the author of “Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving” and “Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs,” spent a lot of time studying and debunking the current narrative around bitcoin’s impact on the environment.
In 2019, he conducted a study for CoinCenter, titled “Estimating Bitcoin Electricity Use: A Beginner’s Guide,” where he separates real numbers from baseless assumptions. Koomey likes to run numbers and he’s indifferent to bitcoin, so he stays cool above the raging fire of the bitcoin climate debates.
How much electricity does bitcoin actually consume? Is it a lot, and compared to what? What are the most reliable sources of actual numbers? Is buying carbon offsets a good way to make your bitcoin “green”?
Listen as Anna, Ben and Danny discuss these complicated topics with Jonathan.
Jonathan Koomey’s Twitter handle is: @jgkoomey.
Materials mentioned in this episodes:
- Jonathan Koomey’s research for CoinCenter: “Estimating Bitcoin Electricity Use: A Beginner’s Guide”
- Jonathan Koomey’s books: “Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving” and “Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs”
- Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI)
- Danny Cullenward and David G. Victor, Making Climate Policy Work
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750,000,000 PMA tokens are now up for grabs. By depositing today, you will become part of the next evolution of DeFi payments. Go to PumaPay.io.
Image credit: D-Keine /iStock/Getty Images Plus/ modified by Coindesk
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson dig deep into two of the biggest storylines in crypto: the proliferation of ransomware (and what crypto’s got to do with it) and El Salvador’s upstart bid to become a global bitcoin capital.
This episode is sponsored by PumaPay.io.
Just over a month after ransomware group DarkSide held gas company Colonial Pipeline hostage for $4.4 million in bitcoin, there’s been a major development. The feds say they’ve gotten most of the payment back – an almost unheard of feat, and one shrouded in mystery.
How did they pull it off? The gang runs through some of the most popular theories, from FBI honeypot mixing services to good old police work. Then, they hash out what it might take to pull off the perfect crypto crime.
Even as the U.S. is moving to (possibly) crack down on bitcoin, another nation, El Salvador, is racing to embrace it. President Nayib Bukele closed out Miami’s crazed bitcoin conference with the blockbuster news that he’d make bitcoin legal tender. It's being framed as a means to give El Salvador’s majority unbanked population access to financial services – but is that really the case?
Ben, Anna and Danny discuss these and other topics, plus an update on where the ESG movement stands.
Ben Schiller’s Twitter handle is: @btschiller
Anna: @baidakova
Danny: @realDannyNelson
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This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are discussing one of the most interesting topics raised during CoinDesk’s Consensus 2021 virtual conference – bitcoin’s ESG (environmental, social and governance) moment.
This episode is sponsored by PumaPay.io.
The question of bitcoin’s impact on the environment has been hovering over the industry for years, but recently, it got a real momentum after Elon Musk first sent bitcoin prices surging, then plunging, then going up again, by tweeting about bitcoin’s environmental impact.
After showing disapproval of bitcoin’s ecological impact, Musk soon returned with a new message: he met with the North American bitcoin miners to get them to adopt greener standards of work.
Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Investment Management, believes the move was dictated by some very pragmatic reasons, as she said in a Consensus interview with Nathaniel Whittemore:
“Elon probably got a few calls from institutions,” Wood said. “I noticed that BlackRock is [Tesla]’s number three shareholder and Larry Fink is the CEO. He is focused on ESG and especially on climate change. I’m sure BlackRock registered some complaints and perhaps there are some very large holders in Europe who are extremely sensitive to this.”
In setting up the Bitcoin Mining Council, some wondered if Musk and his fellow founder-whale Michael Saylor wanted to centralize bitcoin mining. This is hardly possible (for now). However attempts to create various white lists and black lists for bitcoin, depending on how green or dirty, sanctioned or politically clean they are, and so on, might harm bitcoin’s core value: borderless money with no rulers to control it.
Ben, Anna and Danny discuss these and other topics related to the heavily controversial bitcoin environmental agenda.
Ben Schiller’s Twitter handle is: @btschiller
Anna: @baidakova
Danny: @reaDannyNelson
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750,000,000 PMA tokens are now up for grabs. By depositing today, you will become part of the next evolution of DeFi payments. Go to PumaPay.io.
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This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Aaron Lammer, author of a podcast series about the now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX.
This episode is sponsored by hellointerpop.io and The Sun Exchange.
The QuadrigaCX saga, first broken by our colleague Nik De and still not finished, could be a dark detective novel: Gerald Cotten, a CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, reportedly dies in India, the crypto wallets are empty and his widow inherits a mind-blowing fortune, while users are trying to get their money back in court for years (the case is still ongoing).
Aaron Lammer, an experienced crypto podcaster, took on a tricky task to tell the QuadrigaCX story to people who might not know about crypto but definitely can learn a thing or two from this thriller story. Aaron told us how he was investigating the QuadrigaCX story and trying to explain the basics of crypto to a non-crypto audience. The first episodes of his show, “Exit Scam,” are now available for listening.
Aaron interviews a very diverse group of people who have insight into what could have happened at QuadrigaCX, from a private detective specializing in fake deaths to Michael Perklin, chief information security officer at ShapeShift, who knew Gerald Cotten personally. He walks us through what we know and don’t know about QuadrigaCX and its founders, and how the centuries-old history of scams and financial fraud got a new life in crypto.
Enjoy the conversation, as we did, and definitely check out the podcast, an arresting detective story with elements of Crypto 101 course for everyone.
Aaron’s Twitter handle is: @aaronlammer.
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This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Steven E. Russell, Esq., portfolio manager for Emerald Banking and Finance Fund.
This episode is sponsored by hellointerpop.io and The Sun Exchange.
Emerald is an asset manager that previously focused on community banks but, unlike many of its peers, could not stay away from the lucrative business of crypto. Since 2019, Emerald has been investing in companies serving the crypto industry, including Silvergate Bank, Galaxy Digital and Grayscale’s ether and bitcoin trusts. (Grayscale is a CoinDesk sister company.)
This seemingly progressive move got Emerald downgraded by the professional investment analytics source Morningstar from Bronze to Neutral. “Emerald Banking & Finance has moved outside its circle of competence,” Morningstar analyst Eric Schultz wrote, adding that “a big shift into cryptocurrencies in late 2020 and early 2021 calls the discipline of the approach into question.”
Steven E. Russell, however, doesn’t think he moved anywhere beyond his competence: He got into crypto in 2017 by starting with bitcoin, then adding ether and getting into altcoins. “Now I look back and think, well, that was really stupid,” he says of some of his altcoin investments.
However, the experience demonstrated that crypto is the future not only of investments but of financial services as a whole, Russell believes. Now that Emerald is in crypto, more and more clients and even rival funds are approaching Russell asking about that “crypto thing,” what is DOGE, etc.
Russell walks us through his thinking on how the capital markets will have to evolve because of the impact of crypto. “We think [decentralized finance] is really going to change the industry,” Russell said. Listen to Ben, Anna and Danny discuss Emerald’s approach to crypto investments and its vision of asset management of the future.
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This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Christopher Giancarlo, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and David Treat, senior managing director at Accenture, the co-founders of the Digital Dollar Project .
This episode is sponsored by hellointerpop.io, and The Sun Exchange.
The Digital Dollar Project recently announced plans for a slew of pilot projects that will show what the tokenized U.S. dollar can and can’t do. It’s not clear yet exactly what those pilots will be.
The global race for leadership in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) started with China charging forward with its digital yuan project and all other nations rushing to catch up. Giancarlo believes the U.S. shouldn’t miss a chance to set the standards for CBDCs globally. But is it enough to issue another CBDC to stop the digital yuan’s expansion?
Another important concern regarding CBDCs is privacy. Giancarlo and Treat believe the U.S. government will ensure the privacy of citizens’ transactions, in keeping with the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. But what if the government is not the best guardian of personal information? We discuss the privacy concerns of CBDCs at length during this episode.
Finally, who needs CBDCs if we already have dollar-pegged stablecoins, some of which are regularly audited and regulated by the U.S.? Giancarlo does not fully trust the stablecoin issuers on the market now: “Who is the holder of a reserve bank account? What if the holder of that account absconds with the money?” he asked.
We discuss central bank digital currencies, and ask if we need this new form of money and how they will compete and integrate with private-sector initiatives, including USD-backed stablecoins.
Find Christopher Giancarlo and David Treat on Twitter: @giancarloMKTS and @DBTreat.
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This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Nik Bhatia, an Adjunct Professor of Finance and Business Economics at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
This episode is sponsored by hellointerpop.io and The Sun Exchange.
His book, "Layered Money: From Gold and Dollars to Bitcoin and Central Bank Digital Currencies" is freshly in print this year, and Nik has plenty of bold and controversial ideas to share.
Nik recently wrote two thought-provoking op-eds for CoinDesk about the future of bitcoin. One of them, “Why $1 Million Bitcoin Is Coming” is a projection of forces affecting bitcoin’s upcoming growth. In particular, Nik believes MicroStrategy’s and Tesla’s bitcoin purchases resulted in big increases in bitcoin’s price – increases that he sees continuing as new companies and even central banks start buying in.
If we expected more big enterprises to join the party, are we looking at $1 million bitcoin? Or is it too bullish? Nik guided us through his journey of understanding bitcoin and why he thinks it will be a base layer to the future financial system.
Bitcoin’s volatility is not going anywhere in the future, Nik believes. But that shouldn’t stop traditional asset managers from buying it, because they are buying a share in the world’s financial future. And in this future, the national currencies might become central bank digital currencies (CBDC), and bitcoin will be a global standard to weigh against those national
We discuss these and more bold ideas, how people should invest in bitcoin and how the world will treat bitcoin in the years to come. Enjoy the conversation and definitely check out Nik’s pieces, “Why $1 Million Bitcoin Is Coming” and “Asset Managers, Owning Bitcoin Is Now Your Fiduciary Duty.”
Nik Bhatia’s Twitter handle is: @timevalueofbtc.
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This week, we’re shaking up “Opinionated’s” format and adding two more co-hosts, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson. And we’re joined by another CoinDesker, our managing editor of podcasts, Adam B. Levine.
This episode is sponsored by hellointerpop.io and The Sun Exchange.
Last week he wrote a column on the rise of dogecoin, “Dogecoin Is Not the Next Bitcoin – But Here Are the Similarities.” Dogecoin was created in 2013 on litecoin’s infrastructure, and didn’t command much attention until last year.
Adam has been in crypto for ages and has seen the rise and fall of many projects. Is he seriously hopeful for DOGE’s bright future, or just trolling? In any case, on this podcast Adam, Ben, Anna and Danny are doing their best to take DOGE as seriously as they can.
Adam’s point is clear: Crypto is all about consensus, and if a consensus forms around the idea that dogecoin is a good asset/digital money, why can’t it become really big and notable on the global financial scene?
Dogecoin already surpassed bitcoin in investment returns over the last seven years, as Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal ironically (?) noted in his recent newsletter.
People want predictable digital money that other people use as well. Can dogecoin become this one day?
Can DOGE evolve into some kind of reliable money system not pegged to any particular state and government? Or will crypto influencers and companies like Slim Jim just have fun with it for a while and then forget about it for another eternity?
Listen to Ben, Adam, Anna and Danny discuss both fun and serious things about dogecoin, all while having fun staying DOGE-poor.
And check out Adam’s op-ed here: Dogecoin Is Not the Next Bitcoin – But Here Are the Similarities.
Adam B Levine’s Twitter handle is @AdamBLevine.
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This week on the Opinionated podcast we’re joined by Brett Scott, the author of “The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money.”
Scott is a former derivatives broker who became a financial market reformer in the wake of the 2007-2008 crisis.
Many such reformers became big fans of Bitcoin. But Scott’s views on cryptocurrency are mixed and nuanced. He appreciates some aspects of the technology, but also criticizes people in the space for over-indulging certain arguments about it.
As he wrote recently in our op-ed pages, Scott believes that Bitcoin advocates often conflate points of attack that don’t belong together, namely that bitcoin can be a new form of money and a tradable asset simultaneously.
Check out that op-ed here:
How to Win a Bitcoin Street Fight (Without Mortal Combat)
And then listen in to my conversation with Scott on the podcast.
He has fascinating insights into the nature and future of money and how we can talk about bitcoin more usefully.
Brett Scott’s Twitter handle is: @Suitpossum.
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Preston Byrne is a partner in Anderson Kill's Technology, Media and Distributed Systems Group, and a CoinDesk columnist.
He joins CoinDesk Features Editor Ben Schiller to discuss his recent op-ed about GameStop, Robinhood and the rise of online mobs.
See the article here:
‘The Squeezening’: How the GameStop Backlash Will Curtail Freedom
Schiller spoke to Byrne about:
- The rise of online mobs from GameStop to Capitol Hill and how the internet is impacting real life in an increasingly tangible way
- What policymakers can do to prevent mobs doing damage to decent companies
- Why it’s likely the WallStreetBets Reddit contained some pump-and-dumpers
- How the regulatory reaction to the WallStreetBets could impact cryptocurrencies
- How the backlash from “elites” impacted by GameStop could harm free speech
- Why Preston Byrne supports marmots (which are like squirrels or groundhogs)
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What impact will crypto have on the nature of organizations? Will experiments in crypto’s governance lab lead to lasting trends in how companies are orchestrated?
This week on the “Opinionated” podcast we discussed this big topic with Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at Arca, a crypto hedge fund.
Dorman, a CoinDesk columnist, argues that “community tokens” (like LINK or SUSHI) will inevitably outpace “VC tokens” (like COMP, ATOM) because of the preferable incentives at play.
And he believes the trend of community ownership in crypto will meld with the wider shift towards companies doing right by a range of stakeholders as well as just their shareholders.
Dorman contrasts a decentralized finance (DeFi) project like Uniswap with Airbnb and DoorDash, which are now heading for initial public offerings. The former rewards liquidity providers (and soon token holders) who share in the system’s success. The latter companies were built on the work of homeowners and delivery guys, but all the gains from a public listing will go to stock holders.
“With digital assets, you’re starting to democratize access to these companies and you’re starting to spread out income inequality,” he says.
Incentives are key to make more democratic governance work. “Nobody cares about governance until it affects their bottom line. Twitter isn’t going to change its governance for the sake of ideology. If there’s governance for the sake of cash flows, that is another story.”
A sharp thinker with two decades of investing experience, Dorman had plenty of insights in our conversation covering bitcoin, nonfungible tokens (NFT) and Twitter in the wake of the Capitol attack this week.
Check out the episode now and read Dorman’s CoinDesk columns here.
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This week on the Opinionated podcast, we’re joined by PwC’s Henri Arslanian, the consultancy’s very smart global crypto hand.
Arslanian wrote a 2021 look-ahead op-ed for CoinDesk giving 10 Predictions for 2021: China, Bitcoin, Taxes, Stablecoins and More
He thinks next year will see a number of big trends in crypto come to fruition.
“2020 has been a terrible year for pretty much the entire world but when we look at it from a fintech and crypto perspective, it has been a game-changing year,” Arslanian tells me.
“COVID-19 really acted as a catalyst.”
Take bank notes. We’ve been using them less for years but the pandemic has really stopped us using them. At the same time, people are hoarding bank notes (because it’s a crisis), leading central banks to think more seriously about issuing their own digital currencies.
Next year, Arslanian expects to see the first retail digital currencies. All eyes will be on China’s advanced project.
Arslanian also discusses bitcoin, derivatives and taxes. He expects lots of M&A activity as crypto unicorns become “crypto octopuses.”
Listen in for one of the smartest consultants in the crypto space.
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With PayPal recently announcing crypto services for millions of customers, it seems the crypto industry has passed another acceptance milestone.
But, with that acceptance comes greater responsibility, says Ajit Tripathi, a long-time consultant working at the top of the industry.
Going forward, crypto can expect greater regulatory scrutiny and higher compliance costs. Times ten, says Tripathi.
On the Opinionated podcast this week, Tripathi discusses his recent op-ed “Bitcoin Is Good for PayPal, but Is PayPal Good for Bitcoin?” where he compares the costs of setting up a neobank in the U.K. (like Monzo) with creating a DeFi protocol this summer.
At the moment, the former comes with millions in compliance costs and the latter comes with none, and customers are not protected, he says.
As mainstream players, like PayPal, enter the market, Tripathi argues it’s inevitable that regulators will intervene. After the last financial crisis and following the ICO run-up, they feel obliged to take notice.
Listen in as Tripathi describes the regulatory challenges facing the industry as it becomes more popular.
Find Ajit online: twitter.com/chainyoda
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This week on the Opinionated podcast, we welcome two Londoners: Lex Sokolin and Frances Coppola.
Lex Sokolin is the global fintech co-head at ConsenSys, the Ethereum development studio, as well as a CoinDesk columnist.
Lex discusses his recent piece How DeFi Can Avoid the Irrelevance of P2P Lending and Crowdfunding, where he compares DeFi to once-hot financial ideas, like equity crowdfunding.
He explores how DeFi can avoid the fate of those trends. DeFi has global scale, he says, a thoroughly open source nature that spurs innovation, and it offers built-in tokenized incentives for participation, among other advantages.
“DeFi is displaying the evidence of traction with something between 500,000 and 1 million people using DeFi protocols,” Sokolin says. “There’s a magic in DeFi that wasn’t in P2P lending and crowdfunding.”
Frances Coppola is a veteran writer on banking, finance and economics and the author of “The Case for People’s Quantitative Easing.”
She discusses her recent opinion piece about the state of the banking system called “Banks Are Toast but Crypto Has Lost Its Soul.”
“The nature of the business is changing so fundamentally that what we think of as big banks and what they do will be very different in the future,” she tells us.
But while some see stablecoins as a helpful way to move currencies around the world, Coppola believes that the industry has sold out its values by adopting fiat-backed coins like tether.
“This game has been played from time immemorial. [It’s] creating fake things to represent real things. I think the fact that you put it on a blockchain makes any difference really,” she says.
Tune in to hear two bold thinkers with big ideas about the future of finance.
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Coinbase’s recent decision to take no position on political and social issues has divided the cryptocurrency industry.
Some see it as a wise move in a no-win hyper-sensitive political environment.
Others say CEO Brian Armstrong is tone-deaf to cultural forces sweeping the United States and the world.
This week, the debate got material within Coinbase itself, with about 5% of employees choosing to quit and take a severance package, rather than work for a company with a crypto-only mission statement.
This week on Opinionated – our new podcast featuring CoinDesk’s best columnists and contributors – we are joined by Jill Carlson and Emily Parker to discuss the Coinbase controversy and its meaning for the industry and Silicon Valley.
Carlson is an investor with Slow Ventures and co-founder of the Open Money Initiative.
She writes this week that Armstrong, far from creating an environment in which people can work free of distractions, is creating an environment where difficult issues remain unaddressed and people feel not-heard.
Carlson sees Coinbase’s stance cutting off useful debate. “The backlash against cancel culture is not manifesting as advocacy for dialogue, free speech, nuance and tolerance. Rather, the backlash is only driving discourse deeper underground, breeding an even more intense culture of fear and further entrenching intolerance,” she writes.
Parker is CoinDesk’s Global Macro Editor. Her op-ed “Coinbase’s ‘Mission’ Violates the Spirit of Bitcoin” points to what she calls the hypocrisy of Armstrong going apolitical while espousing the values of Bitcoin (including economic freedom and censorship resistance).
“Armstrong would like to have it both ways. He wants to be apolitical about the disruptions that make him uncomfortable, but political about Bitcoin’s mission to disrupt the world,” she writes.
Join us for a lively discussion with two bold and original thinkers.
Opinions featured in this week’s podcast:
Emily Parker – Coinbase’s ‘Mission’ Violates the Spirit of Bitcoin
Jill Carlson – Reading Between the Lines of Brian Armstrong’s Mission Memo
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Nic Carter discusses the $20 billion stablecoin phenomenon and its implications for the global financial system.
Welcome to Opinionated, a new podcast featuring CoinDesk's leading columnists and contributors. I'm your host, Ben Schiller, CoinDesk's opinion editor.
On this week's show, we're joined by Nic Carter, cofounder of Coin Metrics and partner at Castle Island Ventures.
Nic discusses this year's $20 billion surge in USD-backed stablecoins (what he calls "crypto-dollars") and the potentially enormous implications of an offshore dollarization system based on blockchain.
Fiat-backed stablecoins are "not what Satoshi intended," Carter says, but their "preposterous" growth this year is the "the most important phenomenon in the industry."
"It not only tells us about he maturation of the crypto financial infrastructure. It also tells us a lot about current geopolitics, too," he says.
Nic has written two op-eds for CoinDesk about crypto-dollars:
"Policymakers Shouldn't Fear Digital Money: So Far It's Maintaining the Dollar's Status" (from February)
and
"The Crypto-Dollar Surge and the American Opportunity" (this month).
U.S. policymakers fear losing power as dollar-flows increasingly shift to stablecoins.
Central bankers may have less ability to set interest rates. And the corresponding banking infrastructure, based largely in New York, will process fewer transactions as people move into assets like tether and USDC instead.
Nonetheless, Carter says the U.S. should embrace this new form of money technology.
One, it's mostly, for now, a U.S. industry, and overwhelming pegged to dollars. More dollars in circulation, while not necessarily good for American workers, is good for the dollar's reserve currency status.
Two, blockchains are inherently neutral – "equal opportunity databases" that don't exclude people and represent financial freedom. That ought to accord with American values.
And third, if the U.S. doesn't sanction stablecoin transactions, some other country or company will, inviting in the threat of surveillance and a loss of power anyway.
"The U.S. should consider embracing a neutral alternative to the highly politicized New York corresponding banking system before it's too late and whole tranches of its allies defect to a Chinese or a Russian system," Carter says.
Nic had a lot more to say about stablecoins, the future of money and great power rivalry. Check it out here, and please subscribe to CoinDesk's new podcast feed.
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