Raoul Pal: The Journey Man

Bitcoin and Ethereum are teetering at levels not seen since early 2021, as several high-profile cryptocurrency companies have taken drastic measures to cut headcounts ahead of what could be a prolonged industry downturn. Moritz Seibert, co-head of digital innovation strategy at Real Vision and CIO at Exponential Age Asset Management, and Leslie Lamb, CMO at CoinFlex and the host of the the Crypto Unstacked podcast, join Real Vision Managing Editor Samuel Burke to assess the fallout from multiple platform freezes and layoffs. The panel also talks about why Ether is the center of attention right now. Send us your questions on the Exchange: https://exchange.realvision.com/discussion/11952. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How does Bitcoin provide value to investors? According to Andy Edstrom, the "clearest case is digital gold." Edstrom, CFA®, CFP®, managing director of Swan Advisor Services, and a financial advisor at Wescap Group, went down the Bitcoin rabbit hole in 2017 – when a bear market happened to be right around the corner and Bitcoin dropped from $20,000 to $3,000. Questioning his conviction, Andy put pen to paper and wrote “Why Buy Bitcoin,” the first and only book about Bitcoin published by a financial advisor. Writing the book was an exercise in testing his decision and his long-term forecast. Andy breaks down his Bitcoin thesis for Real Vision’s Ash Bennington. He also shares the 14 characteristics that define hard money, comparing Bitcoin to gold and other, similar assets. Where’s the risk for the world’s No. 1 cryptocurrency? And what kind of long-term price targets are realistic? Andy answers these questions and more. Recorded on June 7, 2022. Follow Andy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/edstromandrew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So much happens so fast in the rapidly emerging cryptocurrency market that on-the-ground observations by leading investors in the space are just about indispensable. With that said, Marissa Kim, general partner at Abra Capital Management, joins Wendy Diamond, the founder and CEO of LDP Ventures and head of the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization, to share details of her investing philosophy and her perspective on the present and future of the space. Wendy and Marissa also talk about the Terra LUNA collapse, investing in early stage crypto projects, and how women are building and holding greater power in the industry. Recorded on June 6, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

 DAOs are capturing the imagination of creators and entrepreneurs the world over. Jess Sloss, instigator at Seed Club, joins Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Delphi Digital, to discuss how they guide and invest in startup communities as well as explain how social tokens can play an important role delivering value to those communities' members. In this deep dive, Sloss explains who DAOs will work for and why Seed Club is discerning who is in this journey for the long haul. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anders Brownworth and his team of researchers are working on a potentially ground-breaking project, a central bank digital currency. Brownworth, the principal software architect at The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, joins Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to discuss the high-speed transaction processor he and his team are developing and the benefits of open-source software. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the Federal Reserve shrinking its balance sheet and hiking interest rates, investors in all markets – including crypto – must deal with the reality of reduced liquidity. Dean Carr, founder of C The Light Trading, sees “no reason to be long anything weak,” but he’s looking for volume to bounce back and prices to recover some ground before jumping back in. Carr joins Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to talk about key technical levels that can help us understand price action in the crypto market. When it comes to Bitcoin, for example, clearing $32,500 to the upside would be a sign of renewed momentum; downside risk is “the $20,000 to $22,000 area.” Dean walks Ash through technical profiles of Ethereum and other altcoins on his watch list, with an emphasis on relative strength, and shares his thoughts on when the recovery will begin and how high prices will go when it happens. Recorded on June 6, 2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What’s going to make crypto go mainstream? Slava Rubin is the founder of alternative investment platform Vincent. He believes alternative investment wrappers are the way to make crypto investing accessible to everyone. He joins Real Vision's Ash Bennington to talk about Vincent's new product, which exposes investors to a range of alternatives – real estate, venture capital, art, crypto, and crypto collectibles – through a single investment vehicle. Slava and Ash explore the potential risks and rewards of such a product as well as issues of compliance. Slava also shares fascinating insights based on data collected at Vincent, including how the company uses such information to make decisions. Recorded on June 2, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The U.S. Congress is getting closer to passing long-promised and highly anticipated legislation to regulate cryptocurrency, a step many industry insiders see as critical to the goal of widespread adoption. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, have introduced a bill that would establish a regulatory framework for most digital assets, treating them as commodities within the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Santiago Velez, co-founder and head of R&D at Block Digital, joins Real Vision’s Nico Brugge and Ash Bennington to break down the bill and its potential impact on the industry. Santiago, Nico, and Ash also talk about the fresh Binance controversy and the Bored Ape Yacht Club hack. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://exchange.realvision.com/discussion/11935. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bitcoin-native DeFi apps are emerging with the aim to provide next-generation financial services built on the world’s best-known blockchain. Dr. Chiente Hsu, an expert in the field of quantitative investments, is using Stacks to build ALEX (that’s short for “Automated Liquidity Exchange”), the first full-service DeFi platform on Bitcoin. A one-stop shop, ALEX enables the launch of tokens, fixed-rate and fixed-term lending and borrowing, decentralized exchange operations with both automated market-maker and off chain order-book protocols, the deposit of tokens to earn interest, and yield farming. Dr. Hsu, a co-founder and the CEO of ALEX, joins Real Vision’s Ash Bennington for an in-depth discussion about a future where what today we call “DeFi” is just “finance.” Recorded on May 31, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jake Udell’s decades-long career in music, marketing, and activation is built on bringing together community and culture. Now, the founder and CEO of Metalink is building a hub for NFT communities to communicate effectively, a comprehensive space for NFT owners to connect, view their collection and get access to Alpha via a real-time transaction feed. Channels are token-gated, so proof of ownership of an NFT or a social token is required to access the content. That’s a solid step toward preventing fraud and fostering a positive space for NFT owners. Udell joins Real Vision’s Ash Bennington for a thoughtful discussion about the evolution of technology, adoption curves, and the future of the metaverse. Recorded on June 1, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices