On The Brink with Castle Island

 Matt and Nic return for another week of deals and news. In this episode:  Underwhelming Taproot adoption Tornado Cash gets sanctioned by OFAC Is Tornado a better mixer than coinjoin Why the Tornado Cash sanctioning is the first of its kind How much of the liquidity in Tornado Cash was illicit? Are we at a turning point in financial privacy? Why was Tornado Cash specifically targeted and not other mixers Account-based versus UTXO systems and their effect on your ability to segregate funds Can you really sanction a blockchain or smart contract? The crypto wars of the 90s continue Is Ethereum the biggest crypto platform for privacy today? Is Dai at risk from USDC? The Merge finally gets a launch date BlackRock launches a Bitcoin spot trust Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Matt and Nic return for another week of deals and news. In this episode:  Is there any hope for ETH PoW forks? Is Ethereum unforkeable? More 3AC shenanigans of the week The 3AC Toyota Century situation The 3AC boys have some unexpected supporters  A bipartisan bill proposes giving the CFTC oversight over the spot market What’s up with the croissant diet NYDFS fines Robinhood Crypto Michael Saylor steps down from this CEO role at Microstrategy The SEC charges 11 individuals involved in the Forsage ponzi The other Nick Carter is in trouble for endorsing Safemoon Another cross chain bridge is hacked What happened with this Solana wallet hack? Matt loses the tip of his finger Coinbase partners up with Blackrock Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode:  Damien Hirst's physical NFT project  Why you need a bridge between the physical and the digital world for certain NFTs  Why physical NFTs provide advantages to collectors and brands Libra/Diem spawns Aptos and Sui Coinbase is under SEC investigation  Pat Toomey criticizes the SEC What is in the bipartisan stablecoin bill?  Squabbles over Voyager's Chapter 11 plan  The UK inches towards recognizing cryptocurrency as property More 3AC shenanigans  How 3AC was and wasn't like LTCM  3AC liquidators will try to force cooperation  Tether reduces their commercial paper holdings  Matt starts a Tether conspiracy  Harmony mulls a post-hack bailout Content mentioned in this episode:  Coin Metrics state of the network 165 Nic on Medium, Redeem-and-retain NFTs are the future of luxury goods FS Vector, Stablecoin Legislation Update  UK Law Commission: Digital Assets Consultation Paper Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Itai Turbahn and Yoni Goldberg, the founders of Dynamic join the show. In this episode we discuss: Itai and Yoni’s professional journey to starting Dynamic How Dynamic is addressing wallet based authentication Views on how standards will evolve in the blockchain ID category The evolution of decentralized identifiers The types of businesses that are early adopters for wallet-based logins To learn more about Dynamic visit their website and follow them on Twitter.

(Reuploaded, fixed audio) Matt and Nic return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Inert ETH from the crowdsale? Why the credit crunch is like the European panic of 1772 Should we bring back full-liability banks? Are Bitcoiners wrong to reject fractional reserve banking? 1000 pages of 3AC intrigue  Genesis had 2.6b gross exposure to 3ac The 3AC blockchain .com transcripts More 3AC shenanigans are revealed Secret exchange insolvencies Coinbase insider trading scandal The SEC regulates by enforcement Gensler is getting a lot of heat Is the bottom in? What is MVRV telling us right now? What is the issue with ETH yield being related to MEV? Can MEV be addressed? Paul Krugman admits he was wrong about inflation Christie's launches a venture arm Content mentioned: Nic in Coindesk, The Credit Crunch is not the End of Crypto Lending SEC insider trading complaint Coinbase blog post on the SEC Paul Krugman, I was wrong about inflation Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Stablecoin actives outpace blue chip crypto Why is Tether on Tron so popular? Is H E Justin Sun willing to deploy $5b in acquisitions Celsius files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection KeyFi is suing Celsius Are DeFi business models going to have to change? Where do tokenholders fall in the capital stack? Three Arrows are not cooperating with liquidation 3AC liquidators reportedly fail to exercise the Starkware token warrant Blockchain.com report a loss from 3AC New lenders admit losses from 3AC Circle further clarifies their reserve assets Was Taibbi’s USDC FUD legit? Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  USDC gains ground on USDT Stable liquidity is sticky Why fiat-backed stables are still more censor resistant than bank deposits Do stablecoins make L1s unforkable Will the emergence of crypto prime brokers pressure crypto yields? Voyager files for Chapter 11 Should investors also be clients of lending firms they invest in? Circle’s origins as a spot crypto broker 3AC files for Chapter 15 Genesis confirms they had 3AC exposure and DCG absorbed the losses EU agrees on tentative MiCA regulation MiCA avoids the PoW ban Did the EU write model stablecoin regulation? The WSJ pushes back at Gary Gensler on the spot BTC ETF The SEC’s double standard in metal ETFs versus a BTC ETF Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Dave Balter and Jim Myers, the founders of Flipside Crypto join the show. In this episode we discuss: The early insights that led to the launch of Flipside Crypto Current market conditions and how Dave compares that to the dot com era The proliferation of NFTs and how the SaaS market will change as a result of this technology How Flipside prioritizes new blockchains ShroomDK, Flipside’s latest product release   To learn more visit www.flipsidecrypto.xyz

Matt and Nic return for the news and deals in another tumultuous week.  Matt is snubbed by Coin Metrics Nic gets sort of cancelled on Twitter by the Bitcoin hardliners Nic is not a Bitcoin Maximalist Is there a positive, non-maximalist vision of Bitcoin? BlockFi update Our case for wallet-based passwordless authentication CIV’s 3AC takes from last week start to be independently confirmed What trade kicked off 3AC’s issues? We reminisce over the stolen bike saga BVI and Singapore regulators act on 3AC Coinflex loses money on Roger Ver’s BCH trades Matt’s Roger Ver story Matt’s prior Up In the Air career Grayscale’s GBTC ETF application is denied Grayscale sues the SEC Compass mining leadership departs Solana launches a phone North Korean hackers allegedly hack the Harmony bridge for $100m Razzlekhan may have actually hacked Bitfinex The Crypto Queen is on the FBI most wanted Content mentioned:  Nic on Medium, Setting the Record Straight Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Blake King, power markets engineer at Galaxy, formerly of Oak Ridge national lab and ERCOT, joins us to talk about how changing grids are accommodating an influx of load from Bitcoin miners. In this episode:  Why the grid is undergoing a radical transformation today Blake’s background in electrical engineering, power system modeling, and renewable development The origin of Blake’s papers on bitcoin mining and the grid Bitcoiner misconceptions about mining? Why Bitcoin is not a battery Why you can’t just arbitrarily add load to the grid Why Bitcoin mining does not generally increase energy prices during scarcity or peak load Why rational actors curtail or sell power during scarcity events Are grid planning models correctly estimating the risk of furloughing thermal generation? Is it possible to make the green energy transition as currently envisioned? Why renewable generation requires more transmission How renewable generation costs are increasingly upfront as compared to thermal generation Are bitcoiners overrating the importance of controllable load? Why Bitcoin miners may be over ambitious in terms of modeling ancillary service payments Are ancillary markets going to increase in size with more renewable generation? Economic demand response versus formal ancillary services Different types of ancillary services products Why load resources are able to bid out thermal generation in ancillary services markets How exactly Bitcoin miners get signals to curtail their load during scarcity events Does being a load resource imply ‘voluntary’ curtailment? Why miners owe it to the grid operator to be transparent in their breakeven price and operating plans How weather in Texas could affect block arrival times in Bitcoin Why the commodification of ASICs would increase the integration of the renewable energy sector and bitcoin mining Why ERCOT hit the pause button on the addition of new mining loads ERCOTs level of sophistication around Bitcoin mining Will miners toggle between Bitcoin, green hydrogen, and other location-agnostic uses of power? Do the economics of green hydrogen make sense relative to BTC mining? Content mentioned in this episode:  Bitcoin Mining and the Grid, Part I and Part II Intro and outro used with permission: Ocarina #968