On The Brink with Castle Island

Hong Fang, President of OKX, joins the show to to announce their twelfth consecutive monthly Proof of Reserve attestation and to discuss how their PoR implementation has changed over time. Covered in this episode: OKX’s brand refresh Why OKX chose to launch their monthly PoR attestations a year ago The importance of PoR today and who is asking for it Which PoRs they looked at for inspiration How OKX evolved the procedure from inception to now The move from merkle liabilities to ZK PoL The PoR security model and how many users need to check for it to be valid Handling issues like margin, leverage, and negative balances in their attestation The relationship between Proof of Reserve and conventional audits Future directions in PoR and ways to improve Technical PoR versus audit-enhanced PoR and the role of an auditor Attacks on PoR and mitigations Common criticisms of PoR Why numerous exchanges need to do PoR for it to work overall Content mentioned: Nic Carter on Medium, The Status of Proof of Reserve as of Year End 2022 OKX Proof of Reserve Dashboard

Seth Priebatsch, founder and CEO of Groma, talks about his entrepreneurial journey and the founding of Groma, a company building a real-estate backed cryptocurrency. They discuss the tokenization of real-world assets and the steps Groma is taking to launch a REIT security on-chain. The regulatory landscape for digital asset securities in the US is explored, as well as the prospects of other categories of real-world assets being represented on-chain.

Matt and Nic return for a big week of news and deals. In this episode:  Has there been a vibe shift?  Sen Tillis and Hickenlooper introduce the PROOF Act Is there a lack of crypto-native auditors?  Liz Warren's plan to interfere with crypto audits  What's going on with the WSJ, Warren's letter, and Hamas' crypto donations?  The WSJ is refusing to update their claims  ETF momentum is picking up  What explains the move in Bitcoin this week?  SBF is going to testify  Content mentioned:  Sen. Tillis' office, The PROOF Act introduced Jeff John Roberts in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and Liz Warren double down on the Hamas crypto canard Nic's WSJ/Hamas bounty campaign Elliptic, Setting the record straight on crypto crowdfunding by Hamas Elizabeth Warren letter to the White House   Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Navigating the Liquidity Landscape: Insights into Digital Asset Markets  In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 230, we examine trends in liquidity and volume across centralized and decentralized exchanges

Mike Higgins of Hidden Road joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mike’s career and the path to joining Hidden Road Overview of Hidden Road and the prime brokerage category The market structure for digital asset trading and settlement The launch of Route28 and the value proposition for institutional customers The regulatory landscape and the path that Hidden Road has pursued for licensing across the world Institutional adoption in 2024 Further reading:  Learn more about Hidden Road  Learn more about Route28

Amanda Tuminelli of The DeFi Education Fund joins the podcast. In this episode we discuss: Amanda’s background and path to joining The DeFi Education Fund The IRS “broker” rulemaking process and its potential impact on DeFi The SEC’s “Exchange” rulemaking process DEF’s amicus briefs on SEC vs. Coinbase Patent trolls in the DeFi ecosystem Links to content discussed on this episode: protectdefi.org IPR Petition (Patent Case) "Exchange" Rulemaking Comment Letter  DEF's Amicus Brief in SEC v. Coinbase To learn more about The DeFi Education Fund visit: defieducationfund.org/

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  The Cointelegraph SNAFU  The NYAG sues Gemini, Genesis, and DCG  The FTX trial isn't going well for Sam  The latest with FTX clawbacks Elon files an amicus brief in a case against SEC Sen Warren's latest anti-crypto letter  Chainalysis debunks the WSJ's false narrative about crypto financing for Hamas Larry Fink supports Bitcoin now  We profile the Silk Road hacker Content mentioned in this episode:  Nic interview with Bermuda Premier David Burt Chainalysis, Correcting the Record: Inaccurate Methodologies for Estimating Cryptocurrency’s Role in Terrorism Financing CNBC, The secret life of Jimmy Zhong, who stole – and lost – more than $3 billion Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Exploring Supply Transparency  In this joint report by Coin Metrics & Bitcoin Suisse, we explore token supply and ownership dynamics in digital asset markets

Nic travels to Bermuda to sit down with the Premier, Hon. E. David Burt to discuss digital asset policy and the emerging crypto ecosystem on the island. In this episode: The origins of the Digital Asset Regulation in Bermuda Catalysts that have led crypto firms to take Bermuda seriously as a domicile Premier Burt’s evangelization of Bermuda regulation on the crypto circuit Why Bermuda is a good place for a crypto firm to do business The “bermuda triangle” (government, industry, and regulator) How Bermuda straddles the risk of digital assets with the potential for innovation How the Premier aims to incorporate local residents into the tech industry here What the Premier is happy about regarding Bermuda’s regulatory strategy for digital assets Which sectors within the crypto space the Premier is focusing on at the moment How Bermuda is situated relative to other financial regulators Premier Burt’s view on regulatory passporting Thanks to Penrose Partners.

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Holland versus the Netherlands  The end of Pax Americana Ditching the 'stablecoin' term Why synthetic USD is not the next Luna Caroline Ellison testifies SBF wanted to be president How Teneo worked with Singapore to apprehend Su Zhu Will criminal charges ever be leveled against the 3AC principals? Lightning is getting more efficient  Content mentioned in the episode:  Nic and Martin join the Empire podcast Do we need a TARP 2.0?  Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Q3 2023 Wrap-Up In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 228, we set out to analyze USDC's supply loss and its impact on Circle

Guy Young, founder and CEO of Ethena, talks about the design of synthetic stablecoins and their use of staked ETH as collateral. They discuss the challenges faced by previous stablecoins, the correlation dynamics between ETH yield and funding rates, and the possibility of adding Bitcoin as collateral. They also explore the shrinking supply of stablecoins, the impact of traditional finance yield, and the differences between PayPal's stablecoin and their traditional product.

Walter Isaacson, biographer of Elon Musk, Lewis, author of Going Infinite, Su Zhu jailed in Singapore, and Bharat Ramamurti discuss topics like Elon Musk's potential Twitter acquisition, tungsten obsession, FTX solvency, Ethereum's security, OCP 2.0 architect departing White House, and Bitcoin lab leak. Coinbase gets a license in Singapore.