Raoul Pal: The Journey Man

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), co-founder and former CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, has been arrested in the Bahamas after U.S. federal prosecutors and regulators filed criminal and civil charges respectively against him. The charges were unsealed on the same day SBF was expected to testify in Congress as hearings about FTX's collapse begin. Ram Ahluwalia, the CEO and co-founder of Lumida Wealth Management, joins Nico Brugge and Ash Bennington to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A report prepared for Binance by French accounting firm Mazars was meant to reassure investors that the crypto exchange’s reserves are what it claims they are. But now it’s raising some red flags, including at the Wall Street Journal. At the top of this Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing, Jeremy Varlow and Ash Bennington discuss the glaring holes in the report. They also talk about the bombshell that hit crypto news outlet The Block and led to the immediate resignation of its CEO, and why Coinbase is taking an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ash and Jeremy will be joined by John Deaton, owner of Deaton Law Firm and founder of CryptoLaw to hear his take on the biggest ongoing cases in cryptoland, including SEC vs Ripple. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is urging publicly traded companies to come clean about any sort of exposure or vulnerability they may have to the current crypto market turmoil. At the top of this Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing, Nico Brugge and Ash Bennington analyze the new guidelines. Later, they're joined by Ethereum investor and community member Ryan Berckmans to talk about Shanghai, Ethereum's next major upgrade which now also has a date. Plus, a new chapter in the ongoing stablecoin wars in the form of Coinbase dropping fees on USDT/USDC swaps, and U.S. regulator issuing a sobering message about institutional interest in crypto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A U.S. bankruptcy judge has authorized the return of funds to some users of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network - but there are big caveats. At the top of this Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing, Jeremy Varlow and Ash Bennington analyze who would be getting their money back and how much. They also discuss a couple of stories around the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Gary Gensler, and a New York Times report about an investigation probing allegations of a potential market manipulation of TerraUSD and Luna by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Plus, Jeremy and Ash are joined by Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, to discuss one of the most pressing issues in crypto right now: proof of reserves and how to do them right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hedge fund Fir Tree Capital Management is suing Grayscale Investments, the operator of the world's largest Bitcoin fund, for "potential mismanagement and conflicts of interest," according to a complaint filed Tuesday in Delaware Chancery Court. Separately, a federal judge authorized the issuance of subpoenas to former leadership of bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital covering any "recorded information, including books, documents, records, and papers" related to its finances and assets. Jeremy Varlow and guest host Luke Franks of the Welcome to the Metaverse podcast discuss the latest developments on the legal front at the top of today’s Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing. Later, DappRadar CEO Skirmantas Januskas joins Jeremy and Luke live to talk about the latest trends in Web3 gaming, the metaverse, and NFTs, including Animoca Brands' acquisition of PIXELYNX. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

USDC issuer Circle has abandoned its plan to go public via a “special purpose acquisition company” merger with Concorde Acquisition Corp, which is led by former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond. At the top of today’s Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing, Elaine Ly and Ash Bennington talk about why Circle and Concorde are walking away from a deal that valued the stablecoin group at up to $9 billion. Later, Diogo Mónica, the co-founder and president of digital assets custodian Anchorage Digital, joins Ash and Elaine to discuss lessons institutional investors can learn about crypto custody from the unfolding FTX meltdown. Diogo, Ash, and Elaine also take up Nexo’s phase-out of its U.S. products, Rep. Maxine Waters’s insistence that Sam Bankman-Fried attend a hearing next week on Capitol Hill, and the Federal Trade Commission’s investigations of multiple crypto companies over allegations of false advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prominent among the casualties of FTX’s collapse is Genesis Global Capital, a lending arm of crypto empire Digital Currency Group. And, when Genesis halted redemptions in November, one of its victims was Gemini's Earn program. Recent reports by the Financial Times and CoinDesk reveal how much money Gemini other customers are trying to recover from Genesis. At the top of today’s Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing, Nico Brugge and Ash Bennington discuss what we know about the scale of the problem so far. Later, David Maria, the head of litigation and regulatory affairs at crypto exchange Bittrex, joins Nico and Ash to discuss the regulatory landscape, FTX hearings in the U.S. Congress (to which SBF sent an unusual RVSP), and the landmark SEC vs Ripple case that's finally nearing its conclusion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tether is discovering that, once asked, questions about its financial position will persist. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the largest stablecoin by market capitalization is “lending its own coins to customers rather than selling them for hard currency upfront.” Tether denies this characterization of its lending practices. At the top of today’s Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing, Jeremy Varlow and Ash Bennington discuss the validity of the WSJ’s report. Later, Jeremy and Ash welcome Framework Ventures co-founders Michael Anderson and Vance Spencer to talk about the crypto market in the aftermath of the FTX meltdown, including what venture capitalists are thinking right now and how regulation might be shaped by recent events. We also assess Magic Eden’s decision to offer enforced royalties on NFT sales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a long-booked interview barely anyone believed would actually happen. But Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder and former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, did show up via remote video for The New York Times’ DealBook Summit. And he did sit for questioning by Andrew Ross Sorkin. Elaine Ly and Santiago Velez, a co-founder and the R&D Division Lead at Block Digital, talk about what did and what did not come out of the conversation at the top of today’s Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing. Andrew Keys, a co-founder of DARMA Capital and an Ethereum bull, joins Elaine and Santiago to share his take on the FTX debacle. Elaine, Santiago, and Andrew also discuss the current state of the crypto market, LBRY's fatal battle with the SEC, and Telegram's plan to launch a wallet and a decentralized exchange. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After an abundance of bankruptcies, multiple market crashes, proliferating scams, and a lot of plain old bad news, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little despondent about crypto right now. So we're happy to share some good stuff at the top of today’s Real Vision Crypto Daily Briefing: Paul Guerra and Elaine Ly talk about Brazil legalizing crypto payments, Binance entering Japan, and Animoca Brands earmarking huge investment in the metaverse. Later, Ethereum Name Service co-founder and lead developer Nick Johnson and Coinbase head of identity product management Alex Reeve join Paul and Elaine to explain how CeFi and DeFi players are teaming up to make Web3 an easier, more secure, generally better experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices