On The Brink with Castle Island

Nic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Nic's feud with the NYT How Lysenkoism fits in Issues with the contemporary press Coinbase does the biggest direct listing of all time Is COIN a trojan horse for Bitcoin? Coinbase mafia? The best thing about Coinbase being public Gary Gensler finally confirmed as SEC chairman Our thoughts on Hester Pierce's token safe harbor 2.0 How do you do disclosures in token land? The former CIA director points out that Bitcoin has less illicit usage then believed Content mentioned:  SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce's Safe Harbor 2.0 Nic Carter, On Bitcoin, the Gray Lady Embraces Climate Lysenkoism This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.

Dmitry Tokarev, the cofounder and CEO of Copper joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dmitry’s path to crypto and the pain points that led him to starting Copper How Dmitry sees the competitive landscape and how legacy financial firms are reacting How MPC enables Copper to quickly add support for new blockchain platforms Views on what it’s like to hire in a rapidly growing startup Outlook for settlement and custody services in the years to come To learn more about Copper and Clearloop visit: www.copper.co    

The Block's Director of Research Larry Cermak and Research Analyst Mike Rogers join the show to talk through their latest report on stablecoins. In this episode:  Why the Block chose to focus on stablecoins for this report Larry and Mike's opinion on why stablecoins are so disproportionately dollar-based China's influence in the Tether market The history of Tether and why it attained so much traction initially How you can determine the location of stablecoin users The Tetherification for offshore exchanges – and how it displaced Bitcoin as the reserve asset The influence of USDC in DeFi and whether it represents a systemic risk to the sector Dai's transition to non-native collateral types Mike and Larry's view of algorithmic stablecoins Why stablecoins are so divisive between economists and crypto entrepreneurs Why Tether's dominance is declining Where the NYAG settlement leaves Tether now What Larry makes of USDT on TRON stealing some market share from Ethereum Why investors are settling deals in stablecoin terms The prospects for Libra/Diem Mike and Larry's expectations for the next decade in stablecoins Related content:  The Block's report on Stablecoins  The OTB Crypto-dollarization series Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Matt and Nic are back for deals and news of the week. In this episode:  Nic 'debates' Steve Hanke Update on the FUD Dice Nic attempts to send a wire to Poland NYDIG raises more capital and adds more insurance companies to their roster Coinbase Q1 earnings are out Grayscale wants to roll GBTC into an ETF Tom Brady is launching an NFT platform Peter Thiel's comments on Bitcoin The DC/EP may come with expiration dates Content mentioned in the episode: Nic vs Steve Hanke debate This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.

Matthew Mežinskis, creator of the Crypto Voices Global Monetary Base project joins the show to discuss how Bitcoin stacks up against sovereign currencies. In this episode:  The difference between base money and broad money Why Bitcoin should be compared to base money and not the broad money supply How exchanges are serving as proto free banks – and why they might end up becoming transparent fractional reserve institutions How free banking actually worked Why unrestricted banking activity tends to equilibrate with single digit reserve ratios How the Scottish free banking system was stable despite fractional reserve How Bitcoin improves upon gold in a free banking system The role of Proof of Reserve in a neo free banking system The bankruptcy of the Ayr Bank and what it tells us about the Scottish banking system Why 'free banking' in the US wasn't really free Bitcoin passes the Swiss Franc Where Bitcoin stacks up relative to all the major sovereign base monies Follow Matthew on Twitter and check out the Monetary Base project.  Sponsor notes: Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.

Jeth Soetoyo, the founder and CEO of Pintu, a cryptoasset brokerage based on Indonesia joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jeth’s path to the cryptoasset industry and his journey from Consensys to business school to founding Pintu Views on stablecoin adoption and how Jeth and team are approaching this with their Rupiah Token project The Indonesian market and how Pintu is approaching this market opportunity View on DeFi and how centralized infrastructure companies are positioned To learn more about Pintu visit www.pintu.co.id and follow Jeth @Jeth_Soetoyo This episode is brought to you by: Aave is a decentralized, open source, and non-custodial protocol where users can deposits and borrow digital assets, and earn interest on those assets. Head over to aave.com to experience and learn more about DeFi.   Copper is transforming how institutional investors engage with digital assets by developing award-winning custody and next-gen trading infrastructure. Headquartered in London, the firm is scaling rapidly across Asia and North America to bring its suite of products to a wider pool of institutional investors. To learn more visit copper.co or reach out on Twitter, @CopperHQ      

Nic and Matt return for news and deals of the week. In this episode:  A crisis with our dice manufacturers Visa will enable USDC settlements on their payment network Paypal turns on Bitcoin payments for 29m merchants Are Paypal transactions actual Bitcoin expenditures? Sillvergate working with Fidelity to provide Bitcoin-backed loans SEC charges LBRY with securities law violations Are founders taking the wrong lessons from SEC inaction? Jay Clayton is now advising OneRiver on their digital asset strategy Tether publishes a new attestation The merit of real time attestations for stablecoins The CME launches a Bitcoin microfutures The Boston Fed will be open sourcing some of their CBDC code Will we ever get a retail CBDC in the USA? NFTs make it to SNL A new pasta shape just dropped Nic syncs his Umbel node Content mentioned in this episode: Nic on Medium, Noahbjectivity on Bitcoin Mining Nic on the Lex Fridman podcast NFT skit on SNL This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.

Rafael Cosman, cofounder and CEO of TrustToken, joins the show to talk stablecoins and TrueFi, their non-fully collateralized lending protocol. In this episode:  TrustToken's various stablecoins that they administer The real-time stablecoin attestations TrustToken has done with Armanino How a real time attestation works Why the USD is so disproportionate in market share among stablecoins Why DeFi is potentially the killer app for stablecoins today Why Trust Token built a global fx currency basket Why overcollateralized lending doesn't necessarily constitute lending in the traditional sense How TrueFi introduces uncollateralized lending into DeFi How underwriting and credit creation works in a public blockchain context How legal contracts are introduced into DeFi Howo the TrueFi system incorporates revisions in creditworthiness How on-chain credit scores could proliferate and be used on a cross-platform basis How privacy is compatible with on-chain credit scoring Rafael's explanation for structurally high interest rates in DeFi The contrast between crypto yields and legacy yields

James Davolos, VP and portfolio manager at Horizon Kinetics, joins the show to make the case for inflation and to explain their Inflation Beneficiaries ETF, ticker $INFL. In this episode:  How Horizon and Murray Stahl were one of the earliest asset managers to put client assets in GBTC How Horizon's value approach landed them at a Bitcoin allocation James' reaction when Horizon first made the Bitcoin allocation Whether Bitcoin is a growth or a value asset, and how to reason about it from either perspective James' reaction to Jerome Powell's announcement on rates The genesis of the idea to create an inflation beneficiaries ETF James' case for inflation Should the disinflationists be taking victory laps? Why the Fed is calling inflation 'transitory' Why we didn't get inflation from 2010-20 What crystallized the case for inflation for Horizon Kinetics? The importance of the 'taper tantrum' Why historical parallels are so hard to find – and why we have no historical precedent for our current moment How the dollar is the 'least rotten apple' The prospects for a non-dollar monetary system The effect of ESG on commodity cycles How fiscal spending and the political anti-capital movement represents a structural shift The constant battle between capital and labor Why equities may suffer from higher labor costs Why Horizon focuses on asset light companies James' answer to the equity-inflation return puzzle Horizon's specific allocations to benefit from inflation The early success of the Inflation Beneficiaries ETF Why the inflation beneficiaries ETF does not contain Bitcoin How this ETF sets itself apart from other ways to play inflation – and why TIPS aren't the best bet Is the thesis playing out so far? Why the Fed has to remain subtle with their debasement James' pitch to Bitcoiners 

Nic and Matt are back for another blockbuster week. In this episode:  How Nic ended up being labeled the most violent person on Earth Fidelity files for their Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF The significance of Fidelity's filing today Can the GBTC product actually be redeemed by a majority of shareholders? Amendments to the GBTC charter Odds of the SEC finally seeing the light on the ETF Why an ETF approval is more urgent than ever The toppiest top signal ever making us nervous FATF is back with a vengeance Jack Dorsey includes a Blockclock in his Congressional testimony Is Bitcoin a battery? Content mentioned:  Peter Johnson, Crypto Credit Market Breakdown Nic Carter, The Frustrating, Maddening, All-Consuming Bitcoin Energy Debate Nick Grossman, Bitcoin as a Battery This episode is brought to you by Sovryn, DeFi on Bitcoin.