On The Brink with Castle Island

Andrew Cahill and Saurabh Deshpande of The Block join the show. In this episode we discuss: The Ethereum L2 ecosystem The varying scaling solutions and views on the communities with traction Views on native tokens being launched on these platforms in 2022 Optimistic rollups ZK rollups Learn more by reading the report, "Layer-2 Scaling Solutions: A Framework for Comparison"

Matt returns with CMS Holdings' Dan Matuszewski, filling in for Nic, covering deals and news of the week. In this episode: Bitcoiners brief Norwegian policymakers History of the BitLicense Circle's physical BitLicense a16z raises a massive $4.5b fund The effect of VC dry powder on crypto startups Can crypto catch a bid until macro calms down Adam Neumann is back with a blockchain startup FTX attends a heated CFTC roundtable Arthur Hayes gets house arrest and probation Why certain Tether holders will never redeem An unlikely winner from Tether concerns Does shorting Tether make sense? Fallout from Terra's collapse Are algostables going to exist forever CMS's Super Pac and reflections on conversations in Washington SBF announces his intention to spend $1B on the 2024 election Scott Minerd is very bearish on Bitcoin What on earth is HEX ETH Merge concerns Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Ric Edelman, the founder of Edelman Financial Services and the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Ric's new book The Truth About Crypto His journey in the digital assets industry The current macro backdrop and how cryptoassets should be considered in a portfolio Views on the RIA market and how the crypto discussion is evolving The regulatory landscape, including views on the DoL, SEC and Elizabeth Warren How the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals is evolving Links mentioned on the show: The Truth About Crypto on Amazon DACFP Twitter: @ricedelman (Ric); @thedacfp (DACFP);

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Was UST/Terra a ponzi or not? Fintech apps put client deposits into Anchor Tradfi yields are competitive with DeFi yields The GBTC discount reaches its highest ever level at -31% MSM crypto hate reaches a fever pitch The World Bank publishes a new paper on crypto adoption The Warren staff have a dossier of mean tweets Will generalist VCs lose interest in web3? El Salvador hosts a Bitcoin summit for a number of central banks Nic's secret origin story Is eSwatini a dark horse candidate for the next Bitcoin Nation? The Biden admin suggests segregating client deposits at exchanges TradFi thinks Tether is about to collapse Why no stablecoins are able to secure audits Tether receives a new assurance opinion showing $39b of treasuries How many outflows can Tether accommodate? Differences in redemption between USDC and USDT What does a crackdown in offshore assets by the CCP have to do with Tether? Cloudflare's wall of lava lamps Is it time for a new batch of FUD dice? We assess the quality of the Terra mea culpas Content mentioned in this episode: World Bank, The ascent of crypto assets: Evolution and macro-financial drivers Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Jon Kol and Asa Oines, cofounders of Abacus join the show to talk about the state of the art in cross chain interoperability. In this episode: Career trajectories and why Jon and Asa decided to start Abacus The three eras of interoperability Asset interoperability vs app based interoperability Why asset interoperability might just be a transitional phase Why asset interoperability is more about the creation of derivatives than true portability Application parallelization or duplication versus native cross chain applications Why duplicating applications across chain is inefficient The advantages of building natively cross chain for developers How blockchains can be made to communicate with each other Key assumptions you need to rely on to trust that Abacus will work How Abacus is distinguished from other interoperability protocols Why speed matters in cross chain How Abacus differs from Layer0 and Axelar Which blockchains Abacus is linking together Learn more about Abacus

Matt and Nic cover news and deals of the week. In this episode: The CIV hat snafu Was synthetic USD on Bitmex the first stablecoin? Remembering Mastercoin and seigniorage shares stablecoins Does the Fed have a shadow third mandate? We break down the Luna situation and why it was destined to fail Why the subsidized yields on Anchor were the biggest mistake Likely fallout from the Luna collapse The Terra blockchain is halted Do we actually need algorithmic stablecoins? SBF acquires a stake in Robinhood Is the Twitter sale to Elon under threat? Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Mark Lamb, co-founder and CEO of CoinFLEX joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mark's entrepreneurial path in the cryptocurrency industry and the insight behind starting CoinFLEX The history and market landscape for crypto derivatives platforms The state of the stablecoin market and how flexUSD is positioning for USA launch The regulatory environment and how this is impacting trading venues and stablecoin issuers. To learn more visit coinflex.com and follow Mark on Twitter

Nic and Matt return for news and deals of the week. In this episode: Matt's takeaways from the Medici conference The rapid growth of ZKPs We review Brink Nation posts on GM We look back at the history of the FUD dice Are tungsten dice possible? Big thunderstorm in Miami Is the crypto industry sitting out the recession? We consider the merits of virtual real estate Does proximity matter in the metaverse? Metaverse land rights and NIMBYism The Bitcoin Mining Council letter to the EPA and what motivated it Ohio's primary yields an entirely pro-crypto field CBOE acquires ErisX Goldman takes out a Bitcoin-collateralized USD loan Jane Street dives into DeFi The SEC doubles the size of its cyber unit CA issues an EO on the crypto industry The Dept. of Labor criticizes Fidelity for their Bitcoin 401k product The IMF criticizes the Central African Republic's adoption of Bitcoin The divergence between public and private valuations in crypto and equities, and why they can't always be arbitraged away Content mentioned: Prominent Bitcoiners' letter to the EPA to respond to Rep. Huffman's letter Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

TeraWulf cofounder and CEO Paul Prager joins us to talk about his experience building a vertically-integrated, zero carbon Bitcoin miner. In this installment of the mining miniseries we cover: Paul's career trajectory from coal trading to energy infrastructure to Bitcoin Beowulf's deal with Marathon and their entry into Bitcoin How TeraWulf distinguishes itself from other Bitcoin miners Why TeraWulf has an explicit ESG focus Zero carbon and how that differs from 'carbon neutral' The importance of being vertically integrated How Paul thinks about the halvings and how that affects their business TeraWulf's facility in upstate NY Paul's views on NY State's approach to Bitcoin mining How the Bitcoin mining industry struggles with proactive messaging TeraWulf's 300 MW nuclear-powered facility in Pennsylvania Why Bitcoin is synergistic with nuclear power The prospects for nuclear bitcoin mining TeraWulf's zero-carbon approach and how that manages risk TeraWulf's plans for growing their hashrate under management The characteristics that TeraWulf looks for in new sites Will Bitcoin miners develop better transparency around emissions data? Why mining is so useful for decarbonization through curtailment programs The convergence between the energy sector and Bitcoin mining Why vertical integration and zero carbon will prevail in Bitcoin mining long term Trends in consolidation Paul expects Why vertical integration allows you to manage your risk better than a hosting model What public market analysts should be doing when they evaluate miners Follow Paul on Twitter and learn more about TeraWulf.

Matt and Nic are back with news and deals of the week, joined by Dave Gray, Head of Workplace Retirement Offerings and Platforms at Fidelity Investments, who joins us to talk about Fidelity's new Bitcoin 401(k) product. In this episode: Are airdrops taxable? CheckTemplateVerify drama in Bitcoin Central African Republic apparently adopts Bitcoin as legal tender NY State Assembly passes a bill banning Bitcoin mining with fossil fuels Fidelity adds Bitcoin to 401ks Will deep deplatforming on the internet influence Twitter? Can you actually open source the Twitter algorithm? Is the Twitter purchase an indirect way for Musk to liquidate his Tesla position? Learn more about Fidelity's 401(k) plans here Sponsor notes: Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter