On The Brink with Castle Island

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode.  We review Singapore and Token 2049 Singapore food reviews Is crypto pivoting to Asia? Singapore bans the 3ac boys from the Securities industry for 9 years The offshoring of dollar stablecoins Stablecoins are becoming interest bearing Fortress is hacked and acquired by Ripple SEC versus Stoner Cats Sentiment is turning against John Ray III We review Arthur Hayes’ party in Singapore How involved was Joe Bankman in FTX? Genesis is ceasing trading operations 19 hour flights Content mentioned in this episode: Nic’s Token 2049 Keynote (slides) Bloomberg, How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Elite Parents Enabled His Crypto Empire

Peter Johnson, Co-head of Venture at Brevan Howard Digital, discusses stablecoins, their rise, predictions, and the advantages of transacting in stable currencies. They explore the role of blockchains like Tron, the similarities between stablecoins and offshore US dollars, and the potential impact of CBDCs on stablecoins. They also discuss Tether's dominance and speculate on the potential runner-up to the US dollar.

Martin Carrica, cofounder of Mountain Protocol, discusses creating a permissionless interest-bearing stablecoin, regulatory options in Bermuda, reinsurance similarities to stablecoins, how USDM differs from on-chain T bills, USDM's permissionless structure, and the use of stablecoins in emerging market fintechs.

Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Ryan Salame pleads guilty Our thoughts on the latest turn of the Bitcoin security budget debate What are the prospects for fees to develop on Bitcoin long term? Is blockcspace a race to the bottom? Visa adds merchant settlement tools for USDC on Solana The significance of Visa’s move toward merchant settlement with stablecoins CBOE files for spot Ether ETFs We reflect on El Salvador’s Bitcoin law The FASB moves to fair value accounting for Bitcoin Greenpeace files a comment letter on the GlobalX Bitcoin trust Are the ESG tides turning for Bitcoin mining? Has El Salvador's Bitcoin project been a failure?  Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK — Evaluating the Market Quality of DeFi collateral In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 223, we explore predominant collateral types in DeFi lending protocols and evaluate their liquidity & volatility characteristics to determine their desirability as collateral

We sit down with Lee Bratcher, President and Founder of the Texas Blockchain Council. Lee is one of the primary architects of Texas' Proof of Reserve bill, now in effect. In this episode:  The origin of the TBC Why Lee is moving their Summit to Ft Worth Notable legislative successes by the TBC in Texas The importance of getting the UCC to recognize digital assets The importance of Bitcoin mining The origins of HB1666 Why PoR legislation benefited from the industry spontaneously adopting the standard How the TX PoR bill emerged as a compromise How Lee expects this to become model legislation in other states Comparing PoR to established financial statement audits The importance of frequency in Proof of Reserve The lack of accounting firms that are willing to supervise PoR How would PoR dealt with issues at Gox, Quadriga, FTX, or Prime Trust? How are companies operating in Texas reacting to the bill? Future legistlative directions The role of stablecoins in upholding the role of the dollar The lost authority of the states in chartering banks Further reading on PoR:  Nic in Forbes, The crypto industry is embracing self regulation. It’s time Washington gets on board Texas HB1666 TBC, Texas 'Proof of Reserves' Bill

Tether's interventionist actions and regulatory immunity, SEC's court loss to Grayscale and its future implications, lack of reported deals in cryptocurrency industry and SEC's ongoing litigation with Binance

Topics discussed include: Bitcoin halving, Republican Presidential debate, Coinbase and Circle relationship, challenges faced by USDC, Tornado Cash founders charged, defense strategy in the case, and Adderall debate in prison.

Darshan Vaidya, founder of Credora, discusses the crypto credit markets, risk management in tradfi versus crypto markets, and Credora's approach to protect customers from idiosyncratic risk. They also talk about the challenges and solutions in accessing credit in the crypto market, scalability and transparency in capital deployment, the need for more banks and regulatory clarity in the industry, and the profit motive for banks in the crypto market.

In this episode, Matt and Nic discuss the geographic distribution of USDC and USDT, the dollarization of blockchains, Helium's phone plan, SBF heading to jail, the fine imposed by Dubai regulators on OPNX, Argentina's Libertarian presidential candidate, the need for a new theme song for the SEC, the ongoing Prometheum saga, Better Market's situation, Coinbase's approval to offer Bitcoin and ETH futures, and the settlement between FTX and Genesis.

Matt and Nic are back with more news and deals. In this episode:  Matt's op-ed in Coindesk SAB121 is still bad SEC scope creep We investigate PayPal's stablecoin  Why would PayPal want to issue a stablecoin?  What does PYUSD mean for Operation Choke Point for 2.0?  Why PYUSD is being launched on Ethereum Crypto as a flashpoint for state versus federal banking oversight The Fed's new crypto oversight program Banks still can't issue stablecoins in the US Ryan Salame reemerges What will become of Ryan Salame's restaurant empire?  SBF will indeed be prosecuted on campaign finance violations SBF's trial will not be televised LK-99 did NOT replicate   Content mentioned in this episode:  Matt in Coindesk, Congress, Not the SEC, Should Set U.S. Digital Asset Policy Zach Wong, A comprehensive explanation of SAB 121 and how it prevents safe crypto custody Sponsor notes: Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK: DeFi’s Double Edged Sword - Unpacking the Features & Risks of DeFi Lending  In our new special insights report, we utilize a balance sheet like methodology to contextualize the health of DeFi lending protocols through the lens of two recent exploits on Aave and Curve Finance