The Breakdown

The DeFi world continues to dissect the recent attacks on bZx. To most, the amount lost in the attacks is far less relevant than what the attacks suggest about how DeFi applications need to be designed.  Within that, one key topic of conversation is the role of price oracles - the systems by which DeFi applications check the prices of assets that dictate what happens in a given smart contract. Since asset price manipulation was at the core of the recent attacks, this is a particularly pertinent area of inquiry.  Yesterday, Chainlink announced that it would be helping bZx upgrade their systems taking advantage of Chainlink’s recently-launched “meta oracle.” On this episode of The Breakdown, Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov discusses: The role of price oracles in DeFi How price oracles were targeted in the recent attacks What the DeFi industry can learn from early crypto exchange hacks

Part of what makes DeFi interesting to people is how it takes advantage of open source protocols to enable types of transactions never before available. The problem, however, is that financial structures mean new financial vulnerabilities.  In the last few days, two attacks on bZx have used a similar strategy of manipulating the price of synthetic assets in the context of a new instrument called “flashloans.” On this episode of @nlw breaks down exactly  How the attacks were carried out  How the community is responding  What the larger ramifications for DeFi might be

The full week's shows as one long episode, featuring guests including Travis Kling (Ikigai), Muneeb Ali (Blockstack), Coinlist (Andy Bromberg)  Monday | On the Frontlines of the SEC Safe Harbor Proposal With CoinList President Andy Bromberg Tuesday | Muneeb Ali Explains Blockstack’s Big Bet on Bitcoin Wednesday | Why Crypto Sentiment and Prices Are Soaring: Puppets, Pundits, Partnerships Thursday | The US Government Sends Mixed Signals on Digital Currency Privacy Friday | The Top Narratives Driving Crypto Market Growth feat. Travis Kling

There’s no denying that 2020 is off to a roaring start. From prices to volume to social media, sentiment is up up up.  But what’s driving it? On this special Valentine’s Day episode, @nlw reacts to listeners votes about which narratives are most driving the shift in energy, discussing:  The BTC halving Coronavirus and volatility Fed action Central bank digital currency intrigue Ethereum and DeFi Price reflexivity and Lindy effects  The episode finishes up with some hot takes on what is driving the markets and what we should be most concerned about and most excited for with Ikigai Asset Management’s Travis Kling.

To look at the US Government, it is the best of times and the worst of times for personal financial privacy.  On the one hand, in comments before the Senate Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says that FINCEN is planning more strict regulations around anti-money laundering and crypto.  At the same time, the CEO of DropBit was arrested on money laundering charges around a bitcoin mixing service he ran between 2014 and 2017.  In this new enforcement regime, one of the government’s major partners is Chainalysis, who have seen more than $10m in Federal agency contracts since 2015.  Yet privacy advocates are also surprisingly enthused by comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell, who suggested in testimony to Congress that any potential US digital dollar would need to be privacy preserving.

After Monday’s quick retrace, bitcoin and the rest of the market went green again. In this episode, @nlw breaks down the shifting sentiment, looking at: How a partnership between Hedara Hashgraph and Google Cloud pumped HBAR more than 50% - featuring commentary from Hedara CEO Mance Harmon  Why Figure is launching a TV campaign to educate people about blockchain CNBC Fast Money actively (and convincingly) promoting the narrative of bitcoin as a safe haven asset.

Last week, Blockstack announced a new proposal through which node operators would be rewarded in bitcoin. The concept behind Proof of Transfer is that, for the cryptoasset ecosystem to run, electricity should only have to be converted into digital scarcity once.  In this interview with @nlw, Blockstack CEO Muneeb Ali explains how, by tying the security of Blockstack’s Stacks blockchain to bitcoin, and allowing miners to be rewarded with BTC, Blockstack might be setting a new precedent for how the crypto ecosystem looks to bitcoin as a base layer.

Last week, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce proposed Rule 195 to give token projects a 3 year safe harbor. This proposed period would allow them to distribute tokens without fear of violating securities law so long as they achieve certain standards of decentralization in that time. Coinlist is a platform for compliant token sales. On this episode of The Breakdown, Coinlist CoFounder & President Andy Bromberg and @nlw discuss: The cost of regulatory clarity in the US, including projects leaving US shores Historic approaches to “compliant” token sales and what problems they still leave What Commissioner Hester Peirce’s proposed Rule 195 includes  The potential implications for the US crypto markets  The chances that Rule 195 comes to pass

The week's full episode run in one long-run, long-drive ready podcast. Monday | Deplatforming, Ethereum Marketing and Whether Brexit Matters for Crypto feat. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier Tuesday | Are Uncensorable Web Domains Blockchain's Next Killer App? Feat Namebase CEO Tieshun Roquerre Wednesday | What All This VC and M&A Activity Tells Us About The State Of The Crypto Markets Thursday | The Federal Reserve Has Its 'Come to Satoshi' Moment Friday | Kraken's Dan Held on What's Different About Bitcoin At $10k This Time 

Bitcoin is on a 7 week upward trend. Having already smashed through its $9,000 Vegeta memes, it is now inching closer towards $10k.    On this episode, @nlw is joined by Kraken’s Dan Held to discuss how bitcoin has changed in a number of ways since the last time we were at the $10,000 price level last year. They look at: Narrative - Speculation around bitcoin as a safe haven and the role of the halvening continue to shape the conversation Infrastructure - The tools for how people can interact with bitcoin - from lending to derivatives - have never been broader  Audience - Institutions are no longer just around the corner but actively participating in the market