On The Brink with Castle Island

Wyoming state senator and Minority Floor Leader in the Wyoming Senate, Chris Rothfuss joins the show. We cover Wyoming’s crypto efforts to date to create a stable and secure digital asset ecosystem. In this episode: Senator’s Rothfuss’ pre-politics career and how he came to grapple with the crypto space Why Wyoming has an opportunity in digital asset policy The origins of Wyoming’s blockchain select committee How the NY Bitlicense inspired Wyoming’s efforts Why crypto policy isn’t politically polarized in Wyoming Wyoming’s foundational move to recognize digital assets under the uniform commercial code The origin of the SPDI charter Is there a future for the SPDI given that the Fed is denying master accounts? How Wyoming’s SPDI emerged as a consequence of Chokepoint 1.0 Is the Fed blocking state charters unconstitutional? Wyoming’s Stable Token Act and the prospects for that product How the WY Stable Token could be a huge windfall for Wyoming – and where the revenues would be directed How Wyoming is thinking about the permissionless qualities of the stable token  Further reading:  More about Chris Rothfuss More on the Blockchain Select Committee The Wyoming Stable Token Act 

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Coin Metrics derives new estimates of Bitcoin’s electricity consumption Nic reviews his Lasik experience  Matt takes Prometheum to task Is Prometheum a patsy for the SEC? Why is vaporware being elevated by the SEC and major exchanges being stymied? We digest the Hinman emails and what they mean for ETH and XRP What do the Hinman emails mean for the SEC’s The SEC attempts to make DeFi protocols register as exchanges Blackrock is about to file a renewed application for a Bitcoin ETF Reps Davidson and Emmer’s SEC Stabilization Act Hong Kong is pressuring banks to service crypto firms Coindesk gets their hands on the NYAG’s Tether reports Abra is in trouble Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK - The Signal & the Nonce, Re-imagined In this issue of State of the Network, we showcase a novel analysis that sheds light on Bitcoins energy consumption, efficiency and e-waste

Matt and Nic return for another week of deals and news. In this episode: Token disclosure practices Matt tries pickleball Sequoia is breaking up into parts Will Chinese and American capital markets be severed? What’s in the proposed House market structure bill? Coinbase sues Coinbase and Binance How does the SEC think BUSD is a security? The SEC approves Prometheum as a crypto broker dealer Prometheum’s CCP ties Did Gensler solicit Binance to advice them before he ran the SEC? What’s going on with Prime Trust? Content mentioned: Tommy Tuberville in the WSJ, Crypto communism has a new meaning Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK - Token Unlocks & Free Float Supply Shocks in Digital Asset Markets  In this issue of Coin Metrics’ State of the Network, we analyze the impact of token unlocks and free float supply shocks through the lens of various unlock events to explore the behavior of participants under different market conditions

In this episode, we sat down with Lili Infante, Founder and CEO of CAT Labs. Lili shared: Her experience spearheading the formation of the crypto taskforce at the DOJ How the crypto-enabled crime landscape has evolved and become more sophisticated Investigating cases where crypto is used and the unique challenges in establishing a chain of custody Products CAT Labs is building to more effectively recover digital assets and protect against situations where assets are compromised in the first place Learn more about Cat Labs in Fortune and on their website.

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  The debt ceiling debate is resolved What happened to Paxos’ / Paypal’s stablecoin? Offshore dollar stablecoins are growing while onshore stablecoins are shrinking Stablecoin policy in the US is backfiring USD stables issued out of Hong Kong Tether reaches a new all time high The bad boys are back SBF’s defense will reportedly claim he got bad advice from Fenwick Farenheit wins the bid for the Celcius assets Why Celcius’ mining operation was a big red flag What does CZ mean by 4? Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK - Zooming Out: A datonomy update In this issue of Coin Metrics’ State of the Network, we leverage datonomy—a classification system for digital assets to zoom out and gauge the ecosystem and its underlying trends from a broader lens. Despite a slew of challenges over years, we explore how the market has shown resilience through an analysis of market returns, volatility and volumes across sectors.

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Validators sign up to stake ETH post merge Will there be MEV on Bitcoin?  What's the deal with Worldcoin?  Is the wash sale tax loophole stalling the debt ceiling negotiations?  Have ordinals changed Bitcoin culture?  The Fed releases new data on crypto adoption in the U.S.  Paradigm adds AI to their mandate  Whip Tom Emmer and Rep Darren Soto introduce the Securities Clarity Act The NYT reports that prosecutors have a mountain of evidence against SBF Greenidge is vindicated regarding activist claims  Ripple vs the SEC Content mentioned:  The Federal Reserve, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2022 Coindesk, The Bitcoin Mining Debate Is Ignoring the People Most Affected Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK - A Claim in the Ether: Tracking the Soaring Demand for Ethereum Staking In this week’s issue of State of the Network, we examine essential data and metrics highlighting the current state of the Ethereum staking ecosystem. The transition to Proof of Stake and the successful launch of the Shapella upgrade have bolstered confidence in the Ethereum ecosystem, but a variety of regulatory and technical risk factors still pose challenges.

Nic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Nic and Matt reminisce on the Bitcoin Miami conference Ripple wins a key victory over the SEC in the Hinman test Texas passes a proof of reserve bill The SEC alleges that Filecoin is a security  What's the deal with Worldcoin?  How biometrics and blockchain can help with AI  Regulating AI Tether is buying Bitcoin John Ray is trying to claw back more funds Is Michael Lewis an innocent bystander in the FTX situation? Sponsor notes:  Coin Metrics STATE OF THE NETWORK - Market Liquidity Review The current market environment for digital assets is characterized by complexity, owing to the presence of regulatory uncertainty, an onslaught of exogenous macro events, and continued shifts in the preferred exchange venues among traders. In this edition of State of the Network, the Coin Metrics team zooms in on essential trading volume & market data trends to contextualize the current crypto market environment.

Chris Ellis, Head of Strategic Initiatives at FactSet and Tim Rice, founder of Coin Metrics join the show. In this episode we discuss: The partnership between FactSet and Coin Metrics how the companies are jointly going to market. How FactSet thinks about partnerships and how digital assets has evolved as an area of focus at the company. The features and functionality that FactSet users are asking for as it relates to crypto/digital asset data. The future of asset tokenization and the regulatory landscape in the United States. On-chain data and how Coin Metrics sees this category evolving. To learn more about the FactSet/Coin Metrics partnership visit: https://investor.factset.com/news-releases/news-release-details/factset-and-coin-metrics-collaborate-deliver-digital-assets-data To learn more about Coin Metrics visit www.coinmetrics.io  

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  BRC20 PEPE versus ERC20 PEPE Is PEPE an alt right coin? What’s driving up fees on Bitcoin? The relationship between HEX, XEN, and VPMX Bitcoin’s circular firing squad The upside of high fees in Bitcoin Why the White House’s DAME mining tax is counterproductive What is the $18b tax loophole the Biden admin thinks crypto investors are taking advantage of? What’s the deal with blue checks? The difficulty of bootstrapping new social networks Bittrex is filing for bankruptcy in the US The Democratic messaging on the crypto hearing The US chamber of Congress files an amicus brief in the Coinbase v SEC case Texas passes a bill to support flare gas mining The Wyoming Stable Token gets closer to becoming a reality The US Chamber of Commerce amicus brief in the Coinbase v SEC case Can the US government afford these interest rates?  Matt and Nic solve the debt crisis Content mentioned in this episode: Reuters, Cryptoverse: Digital coins lure inflation-weary Argentines and Turks Nic Carter in Coindesk, The White House’s Bitcoin Mining Tax Undermines Itself Two Ocean Trust, Revisiting the Case for Bitcoin Nick Neumann at Casa, Hands Off our Self-Custody Sponsor notes: Coin Metrics State of the Network - Bidding on Bytes: A Bitcoin & Ethereum Fee Market Update In this week’s report, the Coin Metrics team examines the underlying causes of the recent surge in transaction fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum and explore the implications of this development for the future.

Steven Walbroehl, the co-founder and CTO of Halborn joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Steven’s crypto origin story and how he began tinkering with public blockchains. How Halborn’s work differs across traditional financial services customers versus decentralized organization customers. Basic recommendations for companies entering the public blockchain ecosystem. Halborn’s recent discovery of a zero-day exploit impacting 280 public blockchains. Views on market manipulation and game theory exploits. Halborn’s Seraph digital notary product and how it is keeping DeFi protocols safe. To learn more about Halborn visit www.halborn.com