137. Can central banks kill crypto?

Apr 16, 2020

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Simon Taylor is back this week to talk about the latest and greatest news in blockchain, Bitcoin and crypto. Of course, he is not alone, and in this episode, Simon is joined remotely by Blockchain Insider returners:

Lex Sokolin - Fintech Co-head at ConsenSys
Olivia Vinden - Head of Fintech and Innovation UK at Alpha FMC

It's a big week for cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin Cash sees it's first halving, resulting in each new transaction block being reduced from 12.5 BCH to 6.25 BCH. On the other side of the crypto spectrum, Ether is on a high with prices rising by 20% ahead of their upgrade. Whilst France experiments with a digital Euro, we also get into a discussion about how CBDCs might be moving us further away from the goals of cryptocurrencies. A lot can happen in a few weeks, and in this episode, we continue to dig into the latest blockchain and crypto news including:

Programmable fintech payments startup Sila raises $7.7M seed to wipe out ACH (01:55)
Bitcoin Cash just went through its first halving (08:23)
Ether Rises to 28-Day High Amid Positive Sentiment for Coming ‘Eth 2.0’ Upgrade (14:33)
France's central bank begins experimenting with digital euro (23:01)
Paxful launches peer-to-peer trading between gold and Bitcoin (35:22)

The Tweet of the Week comes from @Melt_Dem about the future of CBDCs. Why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show!

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Special Guests: Lex Sokolin and Olivia Vinden.

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