Blockchain Insider Podcast by 11:FS

Happy New Year's Eve to all of our listeners. To give you one last blockchain laugh before the end of the year we've got a quick collection of the stumbles, fumbles and absurdly mispronounced names from all the recordings this year. Lots of mispronounced names, it's Simon after all. This is the stuff that doesn't usually make it in. We hope you have a great celebration tonight and enjoy our blockchain bloopers! Produced by Petrit Berisha. Edited by Alex Woodhouse.

Simon's in the studio with Teana Baker-Taylor of GDF and John Detrixhe, Future of Finance Reporter at Quartz. First up, Mike Novogratz Explains Why He’s Still All-In on Crypto. We look at what’s next for cryptocurrencies, how strategy for Galaxy evolved as crypto imploded and if there's still a sense of inevitability around crypto. This Brazilian Bank Is Using Ethereum to Issue a Stablecoin. State owned, Brazilian national social development bank will launch pilot in Jan 2019. Since the bank has a history of corruption scandals involving misallocated funds and alleged bribes, creators hope public BNDES blockchain data will help bolster trust in state-owned banks. A company trying to solve one of the biggest pain points in cryptocurrency just raised $8 million, and it could help lure big Wall Street funds to the burgeoning industry. Venture firm Two Sigma and blockchain company ConsenSys have invested $8 million into digital-asset-custody provider Trustology. The startup tackles one of the key challenges in cryptocurrencies: safely holding digital assets in a way that protects them from thieves but also allows the rightful owner to get quick and easy access. The funds will be used to develop new products, move into additional asset classes, and expand internationally. Gazprombank Switzerland to Launch Crypto Services Next Year. Gazprombank ahs partnered with fintech startup Avaloq and crypto firm Metaco to offer clients crypto services. The system is meant “for the management of client portfolios across all asset classes, including cryptocurrencies.” Coinbase U.S. Customers Get Instant Paypal Withdrawals. As part of the 12 days of Coinbase program, the popular US based exchange announced the support of instant withdrawals through PayPal for their U.S. customers. Limited PayPal to withdrawals as their partnership does not support the depositing of funds to Coinbase accounts. Ethereum Unique Addresses Break 50 Million, Active Wallet Number Keeps Dropping. On Saturday, the Ethereum network saw a daily increase of 168,506 unique crypto wallets. The highest historical daily growth of unique Ethereum addresses took place on Jan. 4, 2018, with 352,888 new addresses created on the Ethereum network. Razer Wants Gamers to Mine Cryptocurrency for Store Credit. Gaming hardware manufacturer Razer wants gamers to download software that mines cryptocurrency with their idle computers. But users won’t get to keep the digital coins they generate with their machines, and neither will Razer. Why we are forking 0x? Our perspective of what’s most urgent diverged. Being on the front-lines, it is painfully apparent that most DEXs today still are plagued by rudimentary problems such as order collision, front-running, and poor liquidity. We also have a great Tweet of the Week from Stephen Palley on Bitcoin. To finish off the episode we've got an interview from Colin with Antony Lewis, Director of Research at r3 to talk all about his new book ‘The Basics of Bitcoins & Blockchains’. All this and so much more on this week's episode of Blockchain Insider. And if you enjoyed our tweet of the week why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Alex Woodhouse.Special Guests: Antony Lewis, John Detrixhe, and Teana Baker-Taylor.

Simon's in the studio...and Colin's coming to us from a field. In our first interview from our new offices in Devonshire Square we're talking to Vitalik Buterin about blockchain and Ethereum. We dive deep into a wide array of topics, so don't be afraid to rewind when you need to. Our hosts ask the founder of Ethereum some interesting questions on the blockchain as a whole, smart contracts, gatekeeping partcipants and the uses of blockchain outside of financial incentives. We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Alex Woodhouse.Special Guest: Vitalik Buterin.

Simon's in the studio with Sara Feenan. First up, Bitfinex Raises Fiat Withdrawal Fee, New Hardware Wallet Announced. The Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange now charges at least $60/€60, or 0.1 percent of the withdrawn amount. Users who want 24-hour money transfers on working days will have to pay a 1 percent fee. Bitmain Faces $5 Million Lawsuit Over Alleged Unauthorized Crypto Mining. On Nov. 19, lead plaintiff Los Angeles County resident Gor Gevorkyan Bitmain, alleging that the firm’s devices use customers’ resources to mine cryptos for its own benefit prior to full setup. The Complaint read: “Bitmain’s ASIC devices are preconfigured to use its customers’ electricity to generate crypto currency for the benefit of Bitmain rather than its customers”. The SEC’s Recent Rulings Are More About Exchanges Than ICOs. Earlier this month, an SEC director revealed that the agency plans to release “plain English” guidance for when a token is and is not a security. Don’t Force Public Blockchains ‘Down Enterprises’ Throats’. Amber Baldet thinks it’s too soon for enterprise to meet open, decentralised blockchains: “We want to build those bridges out to the public networks, but I don’t think you get there by shoving public chains down enterprises’ throats before they are ready”. She believes that a gradual process of bridge-building between public chains and the private kind favored by corporations is needed. Overstock surges 26% after CEO says it will sell retail business by February to focus on crypto. CEO Patrick Byrne plans to sell the retail arm of Overstock by February. Shares of Overstock surged as much as 26 percent Friday but the stock is down 66 percent this year. Ohio ‘Appears’ to Be First US State to Accept Bitcoin for Taxes. The move initially applies only to businesses, with plans to extend the offering to individual taxpayers in future. The payments are reportedly set to be processed via crypto payments service BitPay. SpankChain Has Paid Camgirls $70,000 Worth of Crypto in 6 Months. SpankChain boasted 6,136 active users as of October, and has paid roughly $72,422 in cryptocurrency to 31 webcam models since the site launched in April. Fellow performer Molly Mae Meow, who has been camming for more than six years, said she makes much more money on SpankChain, which only charges performers 5 percent of their earnings compared to the standard 50 percent across the industry. We also have a great Tweet of the Week on Bitcoin regrets. Plus a sneaky, if explicit, contender from Colin G. Platt. All this and so much more on this week's episode of Blockchain Insider. And if you enjoyed our tweet of the week why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Alex Woodhouse.

Simon's in the studio with Adi Ben Ari, Founder of Applied Blockchain. First up, the SEC settles Securities Registration charges against 2 ICO startups. The SEC’s announcement centred on two firms: CarrierEQ Inc., also known as Airfox, and Paragon Coin Inc., both of which conducted token sales last year. Airfox raised $15 million through its sale, while Paragon raised $12 million. After Friday’s SEC actions, experts say ICO party ‘Is truly over’. U.S. regulator stated that “there is a path to compliance with the federal securities laws” for startups issuing tokens, even if “issuers have conducted an illegal unregistered offering of digital asset securities” already. Firm tied to cryptocurrency entrepreneur faces SEC investigation. Securities regulators are investigating Salt Lending Holdings $50 million cryptocurrency sale. The company, which loans money to people using their cryptocurrency as collateral, received a subpoena from the SEC in February seeking records related to a $50 million digital-token sale it held last year, the people familiar with the matter said. Crypto’s Too Expensive? Binance Sent $600 Million in Bitcoin for Just $7. The transaction in block 550211 was a transfer of just over $1 million. For this transaction, Binance paid just over $8 in fees. Another transaction, $600 million at the time it was sent, made it the largest unspent transaction output existing to date. Shell and BP back blockchain platform to modernise commodities trading. Oil industry giants Shell and BP are among a group of firms planning to launch a blockchain platform to automate post-trade processes in the energy industry by the end of 2018, consortium building the platform is called VAKT Global. Deloitte Blockchain Chief: Bad Crypto Headlines Making Clients ‘Nervous’. "Can we stop talking about my bad brother?” That’s how Linda Pawczuk, leader of Deloitte Consulting’s financial services industry blockchain group, describes the conversations she often has these days with executives and board members of client companies. Kraken credits clients with Bitcoin SV (BSV) and launches BSV Trading. The recent Bitcoin Cash hard fork resulted in two (for now) viable chains: Bitcoin Cash (following the Bitcoin Cash ABC protocol and roadmap published by bitcoincash.org) Bitcoin SV (following the Bitcoin Cash SV protocol and roadmap published by nChain) WARNING: Bitcoin SV does NOT meet Kraken’s usual listing requirements. It should be seen as an extremely high risk investment. There are many red flags that traders should be aware of. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Alex Woodhouse.Special Guest: Adi Ben-Ari.Links: SEC Settles Securities Registration Charges Against 2 ICO Startups - CoinDesk After Friday's SEC Actions, Experts Say ICO Party 'Is Truly Over' - CoinDesk Firm Tied to Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur Faces SEC Investigation - WSJ Crypto's Too Expensive? Binance Sent $600 Million in Bitcoin for Just $7 Shell, BP Back Blockchain Platform to Modernise Commodities Trading IBM and Maersk Struggle to Sign Partners to Shipping Blockchain - CoinDesk Deloitte Blockchain Chief: Bad Crypto Headlines Making Clients ‘Nervous’ - CoinDesk Kraken Credits Clients with Bitcoin SV (BSV) and Launches BSV Trading | Kraken Blog

Simon's in the studio with Teana Baker-Taylor from the GDF and Patrick Mang, Innovation Lead for Global Markets at HSBC. First up, China Lifts Bitcoin Ban; Individuals and Businesses Can Now Own Cryptocurrencies Legally. Bitcoin (BTC) is now recognized as a legal asset to be owned, transferred and utilized as a medium of payment for goods and services in China as decreed by the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration after ordering the Bitcoin ban in 2017. Fake News: China Did Not End its Cryptocurrency Ban. Stories claiming that the ban was lifted were based on ‘outdated information that carries no weight’. China are still not a fan of crypto...The country is also going after hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls, as well. None of them can host marketing events involving cryptocurrencies any longer. SEC Charges EtherDelta Founder Over ‘Unregistered Securities Exchange’. The regulator said Thursday that EtherDelta, which acts as a secondary market for trading ERC-20 tokens, had been providing a marketplace for buyers and sellers to trade ethereum tokens that the SEC deemed to be "digital asset securities." It used an order book, an order display website and a smart contract built on ethereum, the agency said. CFTC Fines Bitcoin Trader $1.1 Million for Crypto Fraud. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has jailed a bitcoin trader and fined him over $1 million for running a fraudulent bitcoin and litecoin scheme. Arizona resident Joseph Kim, admitted to defrauding investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars after misappropriating more than $600,000 of his previous employer's funds. Why Centralized Cryptocurrency Exchanges Make Terrible Custodians For Crypto Assets. Centralized exchanges are subject to a tremendous number of problems simply because they contravene one of the cardinal laws of cryptocurrency - the owner of the private key is also the owner of the asset. The biggest exchanges like Binance, OKEx and Huobi take control of user funds and use them for market manipulation. Instead of having the custodian working for the customer, they have their own interests at heart. Custodial exchanges are like the fox guarding the henhouse. A storm is brewing over the largest Bitcoin exchange. BitMEX is based in the Seychelles and doesn’t submit to any regulator. Crypto Token Airdrops Are a Marketing Ploy (and That's OK). Coinbase Offers $5k Egg-Freezing Benefit in Bid to Retain Talent. Silicon Valley cryptocurrency unicorn Coinbase has taken an unusual and expensive step to recruit and retain diverse employees. "With possibilities for egg freezing, IVF [in vitro fertilization], fertility preservation, surrogacy, and more, our fertility benefits can serve a wide range of use cases for our diverse group of employees," Nat McGrath, Coinbase's VP of people, told CoinDesk. We also have a great Tweet of the Week on Bitcoin, PoW, Miners and PoSM. We finish off the show with a great interview with Dash Core Group CEO Ryan Taylor to talk about forks, payment networks and userbases in emerging markets. All this and so much more on this week's episode of Blockchain Insider. And if you enjoyed our tweet of the week why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Michael Bailey.Special Guests: Patrick Mang, Ryan Taylor, and Teana Baker-Taylor.

Simon and Colin are in the studio with Alex Batlin, Founder and CEO of Trustology. First up, Bitcoin turns 10. Halloween 2008 Bitcoin was born, although it wasn't traded until a couple of years later we take a look at what BTC has given us in the last 10 years, if it's here to stay and what's in store for the future of Bitcoin. Why “the Institutionalization of Cryptocurrency” is a paradox. Jackson Palmer writes that If you stay up-to-date with the cryptocurrency news cycle, a recent trend you may have observed is the widespread excitement at the prospect of large, traditional financial institutions entering the space. We’ve seen a wave of institutional news lately, and many cryptocurrency enthusiasts express blind enthusiasm at the notion of positive price impact associated with this money flowing in. We look at censorship resistance, trustless transactions, verifiable history and what comes next. Initiative Q: an elementary pyramid scheme with grandiose ideas. The Q token is a centralised private currency issued by Initiative Q. It’s presently worthless, and not exchangeable even on Initiative Q’s own servers but they aspire to it being used in their nonexistent future payment network. At that point, they intend it to be freely exchangeable with dollars. Pragmatic decentralization: How IDEX will approach industry regulations. Decentralization exists on a spectrum, and unless your system or application lacks any centralized parts it can be subject to regulation. Aurora is working to create a fully-decentralized financial system, but the path to getting there requires significantly more control and centralization than the end state. In addition to IP blocking, IDEX will be implementing KYC/AML policies in order to comply with sanctions and money laundering laws. How much have ICOs raised in 2018? Depends on who you ask. Lack of rules, transparency leaves issuance amounts murky. More digital tokens are being issued through direct sales. It remains hard to ascertain the amount of funds a issuer claims it’s raised when no one has to submit any regulated filings or even reveal their identities. Bitcoin Cash hard fork set for November 15th. After the decision to implement a 'pre-consensus' protocol in a long scheduled software upgrade to Bitcoin Cash on November the 15th, its community is split and a hard fork that will see the digital currency split into two separate chains should occur on that date. In July, Bitcoin Cash developer Amaury Sechet published a post announcing the decision to include a new software alteration to a planned upgrade. We also have a great Tweet of the Week on statistical dishonesty. All this and so much more on this week's episode of Blockchain Insider. And if you enjoyed our tweet of the week why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Michael Bailey.Special Guest: Alex Batlin.Links: Bitcoin turns 10 years old Volume 2 Issue 44 – Diar Initiative Q: an elementary pyramid scheme with grandiose ideas [Update] | FT Alphaville Coinbase cuts remote customer support staff - The Block Pragmatic Decentralization: How IDEX Will Approach Industry Regulations How Much Have ICOs Raised in 2018? Depends on Who You Ask - Bloomberg Bitcoin Cash hard fork set for November 15th » Brave New Coin

Live from Money20/20 USA, we start this episode with an in-depth interview with Marco Santori on where the crypto industry is right now. We also have a panel on the relationship between crypto investors and regulators. Regulation is evolving but remains patchy, with uncertainty on issues ranging from exchanges and ICOs to securities laws. As institutional players move into crypto, these issues have taken on a new urgency. Tanaya Macheel from Cheddar, Marco Santori, the "Dean of Blockchain lawyers," and Brent McIntosh, General Counsel at The U.S. Department of the Treasury, provide insight into the future of regulation and how investors should respond to this uncertainty. All this and so much more on this week's episode of Blockchain Insider. And if you enjoyed our tweet of the week why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Michael Bailey.Special Guests: Brent McIntosh, Marco Santori, and Tanaya Macheel.

Sara is in the studio with Noelle Acheson, Editor at Coindesk, Vinay Gupta, CEO at Mattereum, Teana Baker-Taylor, on the Advisory Board at GDF. First up, Two-thirds fail cryptocurrency agents exam. Under the Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Act coming into force in November, financial services practitioners looking to act as agents in the field, which includes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, had to undergo a short training course and sit for an exam, the first of which took place in September. Sources said about 250 lawyers, accountants and auditors sat for the exam, the exam consisted of a series of multiple choice questions to be graded with a negative marking scheme. Australian Securities Watchdog Halts ICO Seeking to Raise $50 Million. An Australian initial coin offering (ICO) project planning to raise as much as US$50 million has announced its token sale has been halted by the country's securities regulator. The project initially gained public attention in August ahead of its public token sale, thanks to an endorsement by well-known cricket player Michael Clarke, who announced his involvement in the project in a tweet at the time. Ticketmaster Buys into Blockchain With Upgraded Acquisition. San-Francisco-based ticketing start-up Upgraded, which converts traditional tickets into secure, interactive digital assets protected by blockchain technology. Protection against fraud. Security Company G4S To Offer Crypto Custody Service. Multinational security services company G4S is stepping into the world of crypto by offering offline storage to protect digital assets from criminals and hackers. G4S said that it has started working with an unnamed cryptocurrency exchange. Goldman Sachs invests in BitGo. Goldman Sachs and an investment firm set up by billionaire Michael Novogratz have invested in BitGo, a startup promising to help institutional investors securely store their cryptocurrency. DTCC Announces Study Results Demonstrating that DLT Can Support Trading Volumes in the US Equity Markets. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced the results of a benchmark study which demonstrated for the first time ever that distributed ledger technology (DLT) is capable of supporting average daily trading volumes in the US equity market of more than 100 million trades per day. Cardano (ADA) Co-Founder Charles Hoskinson Dissatisfied with Cardano Foundation Performance. An Open Letter to the Cardano Community from IOHK and Emurgo – Charles Hoskinson [in lead of IOHK] and Ken Kodama [Emurgo] publicly pointed out the lack of performance coming from the third entity that forms the project: Cardano Foundation. We also have a great Tweet of the Week on Bitcoin as a stablecoin. All this and so much more on this week's episode of Blockchain Insider. And if you enjoyed our tweet of the week why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Michael Bailey.Special Guests: Noelle Acheson, Teana Baker-Taylor, and Vinay Gupta.Links: Two-thirds fail cryptocurrency agents exam Australian Securities Watchdog Halts ICO Seeking to Raise $50 Million - CoinDesk Ticketmaster buys into blockchain with Upgraded acquisition | IQ Magazine Security Company G4S To Offer Crypto Custody Service Goldman Sachs invests in BitGo DTCC Announces Study Results Demonstrating that DLT Can Support Trading Volumes in the US Equity Markets Cardano (ADA) Co-Founder Charles Hoskinson Dissatisfied with Cardano Foundation Performance - Ethereum World News

Simon and Sara are in the studio with Hugh Karp, Founder of Nexus Mutual. First up, Fidelity launches company to facilitate crypto trading. Fidelity has launched a company to facilitate cryptocurrency trading for hedge funds, endowments and family offices. The Boston-based investment giant said it would offer institutional investors access to “enterprise-quality custody and trade execution services” for cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin or ethereum, as a first step towards creating a full platform for the nascent industry. Why crypto traders are so worried about Tether. Blockchain isn't about democracy and decentralisation – it's about greed. A controversial article by Nouriel Roubini. SpankChain loses $40k in hack due to smart contract bug. A cryptocurrency project focused on the adult industry, has suffered a breach that saw almost $40,000 in ethereum (ETH) stolen. The intrusion, which the post said was made possible by a bug in the network's payment channel smart contract, also caused $4,000 in SpankChain's BOOTY token to be frozen. Barclays halts work on cryptocurrency trading project. The investment bank put together a senior team earlier this year to look at how it could incorporate the trading of digital assets into its markets business. The initiative, however, has been put “on ice”. Chris Tyrer, the bank’s former head of energy trading, moved into a full time role leading the so-called ‘digital assets project’ earlier this year but left the bank in September after the decision was taken to shelve the cryptocurrency trading project. Liquid Goes Live: Blockstream's first Bitcoin sidechain has finally arrived. Three years in the making, bitcoin's first sidechain "Liquid" is now live. Liquid is arguably the most advanced implementation of a technology called sidechains that's long been a holy grail for bitcoin coders (though what's being launched today may be a watered-down version of the original "trustless" vision). Liquid will now be used to carry large volumes of transactions at a higher speed for several of bitcoin's largest companies. CFTC Chair Giancarlo says institutional investors will help crypto 'mature'. An influx of institutional investors to the cryptocurrency markets may help the space "mature," U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair J. Christopher Giancarlo said last week. We also have a great Tweet of the Week from 'Elon Musk'. Hmm.. Tying up the show, we have a great fireside chat with Blythe Masters from Blockchain Live. All this and so much more on this week's episode of Blockchain Insider. And if you enjoyed our tweet of the week why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. This week's episode of Blockchain Insider was produced by Laura Watkins and Petrit Berisha. Edited by Michael Bailey.Special Guests: Blythe Masters and Hugh Karp.Links: Fidelity launches company to facilitate crypto trading | Financial Times Why Crypto Traders Are So Worried About Tether - Bloomberg Blockchain isn't about democracy and decentralisation – it's about greed | Nouriel Roubini | Technology | The Guardian SpankChain Loses $40K in Hack Due to Smart Contract Bug - CoinDesk SpankChain Says Hacker Returned Stolen Crypto Funds - CoinDesk Barclays halts work on cryptocurrency trading project - BusinessTelegraph Liquid Goes Live: Blockstream's First Bitcoin Sidechain Has Finally Arrived - CoinDesk CFTC Chair Giancarlo Says Institutional Investors Will Help Crypto 'Mature' - CoinDesk