Raoul Pal: The Journey Man

A reformed lawyer, Liquity founder Robert Lauko met Vitalik Buterin in 2015 in Switzerland. After that fateful encounter, Lauko decided to dedicate his professional time to developing crypto projects. His first venture is a decentralized borrowing protocol with DNA similar to MakerDAO’s but with the Ethereum blockchain as its base layer. Among its intriguing set of incentives, Liquity offers borrowers the opportunity to pay an up-front fee rather than an interest rate over time. Its ability to operate with lower collateralization requirements compared to other protocols is ensured by an efficient liquidation mechanism. This mechanism is based on a stability pool underpinned by its proprietary stablecoin, LUSD. Lauko breaks down LUSD’s functionality, focusing on its different incentives for borrowers and lenders, and explains why Ether backing and redeemability make it special. Recorded on April 11, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does inflation being at a 40-year high mean for crypto? After the gas war, is Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Otherside metaverse really going to move chains? And what does Elon’s latest Twitter troll mean for the BAYC and NFTs in general? The Defiant’s Robin Schmidt joins Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to break down all that and more. Robin and Ash also touch on Solana, Bitcoin, and whether we’re in crypto’s version of the dot-com bust. Recorded on May 4, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris Sullivan and Rishi Narang of digital asset manager Hyperion Decimus join Real Vision's Ash Bennington for a wide-ranging conversation about quant trading in the crypto space, with an emphasis on how their respective backgrounds have influenced their approach to markets. Narang says there are no new strategies in alpha land, noting, "I've looked under the hoods of 3,000 to 5,000 quant funds… there's nothing new under the sun." However, there are new ways to determine valuations for cryptos, such as on-chain data. And machine learning is getting better and better at using that data to create predictive models. Sullivan and Narang also talk about market inefficiencies, inflation's effects on crypto, and the emergence of "dark pools," which enable chosen institutions to post orders only the bank can see to avoid other firms front-running their trades. Recorded on April 25, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, has introduced a number of bills on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, including the Securities Clarity Act, which would provide a clearer definition of digital assets under current laws. An advocate for the technology, he’s also co-chaired the Congressional Blockchain Caucus since 2018. Rep. Emmer understands its potential, both as an intermediary in traditional finance and in its ability to empower people. In conversation with Real Vision’s Ash Bennington, Rep. Emmer identifies the major regulatory challenges the crypto industry faces and explains how he’s educating his colleagues in Congress about this disruptive technology’s benefits. Recorded on April 27, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Whitby, who oversees strategic partnerships and regulatory affairs at Qredo, welcomes Lex Sokolin, the head economist at Consensys, for a high-level discussion about the legal issues that could affect the growth of DeFi as well as the larger themes and core beliefs shaping the industry's future. The world is gravitating toward populism, according to Sokolin, and away from the centralized control of sovereigns, and this ideological shift reverberates in our software. What might this mean for legislation, surveillance, and privacy protection? Sokolin and Whitby also discuss Neuralink, the rapid pace of technological development worldwide, and much more. Recorded on April 21, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wondered why the crypto industry seems to promise much higher yield than TradFi institutions? Alex Mashinsky, CEO of the Celsius Network, gives us an inside look. Traditional yield generation methods like lending, arbitrage, and market making work in tandem with new innovations like coin staking and are further exploitable due to the immense demand and volatility of the crypto industry. Mashinsky shares his journey growing up in several different countries and his experiences that led him to found Celsius. He describes how the Celsius Network has been taking advantage of this environment and how their proprietary CEL token factors in. Mashinsky also weighs in on broader topics such as DeFi, stablecoins, and regulation, specifically addressing the controversial rumors that the SEC issued Celsius with a cease and desist letter. Interviewed by Ash Bennington on October 21, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marshall Hayner and his company, Metallicus, are making it easier than ever to buy, sell, and trade crypto. Marshall joins Ash to break down how Metal is building their infrastructure and touches on the future of Web 3.0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"I had been making far more money trading crypto,” explains Dr. Ray Ng, Alt-Tab Capital co-founder and CIO, “than I ever did in the medical profession." In conversation with Exponential Age Asset Management CIO Moritz Seibert, Ng talks about why he transitioned from medical doctor to full-time crypto trader. He lays out Alt-Tab Capital's multi-strategy approach to investing in digital assets, including its use of DeFi yield farming and dynamic dollar-cost averaging as well as its risk mitigation approach through on-chain and technical analysis. Ng also breaks down a recent successful Avalanche (AVAX) trade, explaining how his team discovered it early. Recorded on April 25, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s almost as if he tweeted it into reality: Elon Musk's $44 billion, $54.20 per share takeover bid has been approved by Twitter’s board of directors. And, of course, everyone had something to say. The Defiant’s Camila Russo and Robin Schmidt join Real Vision’s Ash Bennington to talk about the crypto community’s reaction to the free speech champion’s big deal. Other hot topics up for discussion during this week’s episode include Akutars’ flawed NFT launch that locked up $34 million of ETH and Optimism’s incoming airdrop of the $OP token for early adopters. Recorded on April 27, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"For altcoins to do well, we need Bitcoin to go parabolic or… through a bear market," says Ben Cowen, CEO of Into The Cryptoverse. “The best strategy [in those cases]... is just to be heavy Bitcoin." In a wide-ranging discussion with Real Vision's Ash Bennington, Cowen assesses Bitcoin's technical profile using Bitcoin dominance, logarithmic regression analysis, and on-chain data. He also explains how to determine the market cycle phase by watching fair value and the lower bound level of regression bands. Markets breaching certain levels on these measures can indicate the start of a new bear cycle. But Ben remains optimistic because "the undervaluation territory is where all the real money is made." Recorded on April 25, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices