The Scoop

Policy and regulation in the U.S. is top of mind in the industry of crypto and digital assets. The Scoop's Frank Chaparro sat down with The Block's policy reporter Stephanie Murray and broke down the biggest stories and trends from Gary Gensler's big bet against crypto to CBDCs and who takes Sam Bankman-Fried's place in Washington, DC.From the collapse of FTX, Blockfi, Voyager, Celsius and others, to the aggressive stance regulators are displaying, it's been busy in Washington."We went from big bull market to the collapse of some of the biggest crypto firms that sent ripples through the entire industry," Murray said. "It's definitely impacted me. And Stephanie, I mean, most of the companies I wrote about are now bankrupt or are out of business, about 50% from Blockfi to FTX to Celsius," Chaparro said. "I'm gonna have to hope on the policy beat, I don't really have much to do these days!"Who's Bankman-Fried's Washington replacement?For all his faults, Chaparro noted that Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of bankrupt FTX, stepped up to represent the industry in Washington, DC, to agitate for change. Chaparro cited Coinbase's Brian Armstrong and Kraken's Jesse Powell as leaders who, while not running apparent frauds, are antagonistic to politicians and may not be great replacements."Whereas Sam was not antagonistic to regulators, but ran a fraud. So what we need is someone who doesn't operate a fraud, and who is not antagonistic to regulators. So there's a Venn diagram there, and somewhere there is a CEO or a figurehead who can fill the gap," Chaparro said. This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle and CleanSpark.About CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit circle.com/Scoop to learn more.About CleanSparkCleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.

Jeffrey Zirlin is a Co-Founder & Growth Lead at Sky Mavis — the studio behind the popular blockchain game, Axie Infinity.In this episode, Zirlin explains why the first wave of game studios building on Ethereum's Ronin sidechain have easy access to a "golden cohort" of initial users, and how a recent network upgrade puts Ronin's destiny in the hands of gamers worldwide. During this episode, Chaparro and Zirlin also discuss: Web3 gaming and the Metaverse Blockchain as a medium Mobile gaming in the developing world This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle and CleanSpark.About CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit circle.com/Scoop to learn more.About CleanSparkCleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.

Sandy Carter is the Chief Operating Officer at Unstoppable Domains — a platform that allows users to create and manage digital identities that live on public blockchains.In this episode, Carter explores why more brands are turning to web3 digital profiles for authenticity and how user-owned digital identities are poised to disrupt existing industries.During this episode Carter and Chaparro also discuss: How AI refines the 'Metaverse' Experimenting with loyalty and rewards The empowering nature of web3 This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle and CleanSpark.About CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit circle.com/Scoop to learn more.About CleanSparkCleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.

Samantha Bohbot is the Chief Growth Officer and investor at RockawayX — a web3 VC firm headquartered in London, Zurich, and Prague.In this episode, Bohbot breaks down RockawayX's recent report on the state of crypto funding in Europe, and explains why there are "more VC-baked crypto startups in Europe than in any other geography."During this episode, Chaparro and Bohbot also discuss: Connecting crypto with the real world How VCs can help founders the most Europe's regulatory landscape This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle and CleanSpark.About CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit Circle.com/Scoop to learn more.About CleanSparkCleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.

Vincent Gusdorf, SVP at Moody's and a blockchain expert, dives into the transformative power of blockchain in finance. He sheds light on the credit risks of stablecoins versus CBDCs, emphasizing the challenges in assessing their creditworthiness. The discussion also explores the potential of tokenizing illiquid assets and integrating digital bonds into traditional markets. Additionally, Gusdorf highlights the importance of privacy in decentralized finance and how innovations like Railgun can enhance anonymity for users.

In this episode, Wintermute Founder and CEO Evegeny Gaevoy and The Block VP of Research Larry Cermak examine how the recent regulatory crackdowns and bank failures have impacted crypto's market structure.During this episode, Chaparro, Cermak, and Gaevoy also discuss: Balaji's Bitcoin bet The CFTC's suit again Binance How Wintermute played the USDC de-peg This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle, Railgun, Flare NetworkAbout CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit Circle.com/Scoop to learn more.About RailgunRailgun is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let Railgun’s zero-knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with Railgun SDK, and be sure to check out Railgun with partner project Railway Wallet, also available on iOS and Android. Visit Railgun.org to find out more.About FlareFlare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at Flare.Network.

In this episode — recorded at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 — Matthew Savarese, VP, Global Head of Strategy at Nasdaq, lays out his company's plan for entering the digital asset space. As Savarese explains, Nasdaq hopes to soon offer crypto custody solutions, which is the first of many steps on the exchange operator's roadmap for digital assets.During this episode, Chaparro and Savarese also discuss: Nasdaq's expertise in traditional finance Institutional interest in digital assets Tokenized carbon credits This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle, Railgun, Flare NetworkAbout CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit Circle.com to learn more.About RailgunRailgun is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let Railgun’s zero-knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with Railgun SDK, and be sure to check out Railgun with partner project Railway Wallet, also available on iOS and Android. Visit Railgun.org to find out more.About FlareFlare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at Flare.Network.

In this episode — recorded at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 — Google Cloud's Web3 Head of Strategy Rich Widmann, and Web3 Engineering Director James Tromans break down Google's crypto strategy and how Google Cloud's Blockchain Node Engine is making it easier for web3 developers to focus solely on building their products.During this episode, Chaparro, Widmann, and Tromans also discuss: Google Cloud's partnership with Coinbase How big brands are entering web3 Google's infrastructure expertise This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle, Railgun, Flare NetworkAbout CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit Circle.com to learn more.About RailgunRailgun is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let Railgun’s zero-knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with Railgun SDK, and be sure to check out Railgun with partner project Railway Wallet, also available on iOS and Android. Visit Railgun.org to find out more.About FlareFlare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at Flare.Network.

Jesse Walden and Li Jin are General Partners at the crypto venture firm, Variant.In this episode, Walden and Jin announce the launch of Variant's new Founder Fellowship — a three-month educational program for crypto founders at the earliest stages of their startup journey.During this episode, Chaparro, Jin, and Walden also discuss: Developments in web3 social networking How token models can be more effective Why bear markets are better for building This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle, Railgun, Flare NetworkAbout CircleCircle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit Circle.com to learn more.About RailgunRailgun is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let Railgun’s zero-knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with Railgun SDK, and be sure to check out Railgun with partner project Railway Wallet, also available on iOS and Android. Visit Railgun.org to find out more.About FlareFlare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at Flare.Network.

David Wells is the CEO of Enclave Markets — a development team whose first product, Enclave Cross, essentially creates on-chain OTC dark pools for digital assets.In this episode, Wells explains why OTC traders benefit from maintaining confidentiality via Enclave's Fully Encrypted Exchange ('FEX'), and how Enclave aims to combine the best elements of centralized and decentralized exchanges in its products.During this episode, Chaparro and Wells also discuss: How Enclave Cross eliminates MEV Why crypto needs crossing networks The 'giga-FUD' in the market This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Railgun, and Flare NetworkAbout RailgunRailgun is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let Railgun’s zero-knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with Railgun SDK, and be sure to check out Railgun with partner project Railway Wallet, also available on iOS and Android. Visit Railgun.org to find out more.About FlareFlare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at Flare.Network.