Raoul Pal: The Journey Man

Bitcoin (and cryptocurrency generally) often has been called a long-term inflation hedge. Over the last few months, however, soaring inflation (and central banks’ efforts to counter it) has been a major driver of broad losses across the crypto market. Indeed, the U.S. dollar’s purchasing power against Bitcoin has been in an uptrend for the better part of 2022, inviting skepticism of the “inflation hedge” narrative. Joe Zhao, a former economist at the Federal Reserve and a current partner at venture fund Millennia Capital, joins Real Vision Senior Crypto Editor Ash Bennington to share insights into how the Fed makes policy and to explain why he believes all asset prices are correlated. Zhao also forecasts the stock market’s performance for the balance of 2022 and into 2023 – noting that stock-market performance will be a good gauge of Bitcoin’s trajectory. The Fed’s efforts to control inflation mean this year and next are for recovery. But, according to Zhao, we’ll start to see growth again in 2024. Recorded on July 1, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Voyager Digital has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York, blaming "volatility and contagion" in the market. The cryptocurrency brokerage previously revealed that it lost $650 million due to the collapse of Three Arrows Capital. In its court filing, Voyager reported it has more than 100,000 creditors and between $1 billion and $10 billion in liabilities. It’s the latest high-profile crypto firm to suffer the ultimate consequence amid the most significant downturn in the industry’s brief history, joining 3AC as well as Terra and Celsius. Sergio Silva, sales director at Fireblocks, joins Real Vision's Marco Olivera and Moritz Seibert to talk about Voyager and the crypto industry shakeout, a potentially groundbreaking DAO vote, and sweeping new crypto regulation in the EU. We want to hear from you! Please drop your questions right here on the Exchange: https://exchange.realvision.com/discussion/12028/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The cryptographic protocol of proving and validating information without the prover revealing any additional information – known as zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) – is the key to securing and growing Web3 and the metaverse. That’s according to Thomas Walton-Pocock, the founder of Geometry, a research and investment firm focused on projects that leverage deep mathematics, cryptography, and engineering to drive Web3’s growth. Walton-Pocock joins Santiago Velez, co-founder and division lead of R&D at Block Digital, to talk about why privacy and scalability are the top considerations right now. He explains the longer-term, bigger-picture implications of its widespread deployment. And he notes that more crypto developers, users, and traders than ever are paying attention to ZKP right now. Recorded on June 28, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Where is the yield coming from?” is what Tania Reif wants people to ask themselves before they invest. Reif, the chief investment officer at Senda Digital Assets, says the recent drama in the crypto market is not unlike episodes she’s seen in “traditional markets for the longest time.” She spent years in old-school finance, studying currencies and running portfolios for Soros Fund Management. Now, Reif has her own digital asset fund. Recorded on June 27, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When CoinFLEX halted customer redemptions on June 23, it became the latest casualty of a crypto correction that’s dragged multiple companies into fights for survival. Unlike many that fell before it, CoinFLEX says it wasn’t a direct victim of liquidity issues at Celsius or the default by Three Arrows Capital. Rather, according to CEO Mark Lamb, “extreme market conditions” and a single account holder – identified by Lamb on Twitter as early Bitcoin investor Roger Ver – brought CoinFlex down. Lamb said Ver owes CoinFLEX $47 million worth of USDC and that his account had gone into default. Lamb’s tweets followed shortly after Ver tweeted that "rumors…I have defaulted on a debt to a counterparty...are false," without naming CoinFLEX. Now, CoinFLEX is struggling to stay afloat, hoping a new token release will buoy the ship. The planned resumption of customer withdrawals, scheduled for June 30, still hasn’t taken place. In this special Crypto Seismic, CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb joins Real Vision's Ash Bennington LIVE to discuss the state of the company, what went wrong, and whether there’s a way back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rekt Capital, a technical analyst and a crypto trader, joins Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to study Bitcoin’s history via charts and to develop a better picture of when and how a bottom might be forming. Indeed, although Rekt says Bitcoin is currently oversold from a technical perspective, the bottom may still be weeks if not months out. This is one you won't want to miss for all that juicy price-action analysis. Recorded on June 28, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Regulating a complex ecosystem like cryptocurrency involves questions of status within the existing financial and monetary infrastructure, market stability, and state sovereignty. Eva Kaili, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, joins Michael Nicoletos, a macro investor and the co-founder of AppleTree Capital, for an in-depth conversation about the framework for regulation and oversight of cryptocurrency in the European Union. Among issues left to be resolved are whether to include NFTs in the proposed rules; how to regulate stablecoins; the supervision of large crypto-asset service providers; anti-money laundering clauses; and the environmental impact of blockchain technology. Recorded on June 24, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bitcoin has what seems like a tenuous hold on $20,000 in the immediate aftermath of a British Virgin Islands court ordering Singapore-based crypto fund Three Arrows Capital to liquidate. The plunge in asset prices has caused a domino effect in the industry, with Three Arrows joining Celsius, Terra LUNA, and others on the casualty list. And Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of crypto exchange FTX, said in an interview with Forbes that there will be more failures, warning of dire financial circumstances for multiple unnamed companies. Tascha Che, the founder of Tascha Labs, and Katie Talati, the director of research at crypto asset management company Arca, join Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to talk about Three Arrows, SBF’s recent activity, a very public spat between CoinFLEX and one of its account holders, and the general condition of the crypto space right now. Want to ask questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://exchange.realvision.com/discussion/12007/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How does an artist who got into NFTs only a year ago get featured on OpenSea twice and land a spot on the NFT NYC billboard? Step into the mind of up-and-coming NFT artist Camille Chiang as she talks about how she bootstrapped her way to success in the industry. Her collection, "WACK!," is an homage to her childhood in Hong Kong and is inspired by the everyday people she meets. In conversation with Matthew Kotek, Camille shares her plan to expand the "WACK!" brand into a fashion line. The recent bear market has not affected her timeline. Camille views this downturn as necessary to weed out artists simply riding the hype wave, and she hopes only creators driven by long-term vision will remain. Recorded on June 21, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What on earth is a “DAO”? And how might the “decentralized autonomous organization” lead the next phase of crypto innovation? StakeBorg CEO Vlad Mercori joins Real Vision's Elaine Ly to talk about all things DAO, how they work, why they’re proliferating, and what they mean for the future. Mercori says DAOs can transform the way communities organize, enhance teamwork and creativity, and help people solve problems in new ways. This wide-ranging conversation also covers the bear market, investor contempt for staking in the aftermath of multiple platforms collapsing, and the prospect of regulation. With signs we’ve entered the final stages of maximum pain and total capitulation, Mercori is hopeful a crypto market recovery is around the corner. Recorded on June 17, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices