Raoul Pal: The Journey Man

Most people agree Ethereum is too expensive. Many different tokens and companies have formed around the hype of being the next “Ethereum killer”. However, scaling solutions and the accompanied trade-offs differ from project to project. Solana utilizes the more traditional blockchain model while StarkWare exploits the process of “Zero-Knowledge Proofs” to boost efficiency. Kyle Davies, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, and Real Vision’s Ash Bennington moderate a healthy discussion between Anatoly Yakovenko, CEO and co-founder of Solana, and his competitors, Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and president of StarkWare, and Avihu Levy, head of product at StarkWare, to discuss varying solutions to scalability issues fundamental to DeFi. Join them for a technical discussion into the world of DeFi from some of the top experts in the space. Recorded on November 29, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Fabian Schär, Professor for Distributed Ledger Technologies and Fintech and the Managing Director of the Center for Innovative Finance at the University of Basel, is a heavyweight when it comes to the academic study of cryptocurrency. His research has been published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, among other distinguished outlets. Dr. Schär shares with Mathias Imbach, co-founder and CEO of Sygnum Bank, his deep knowledge derived from exhaustive research into blockchain technology and DeFi protocols. Dr. Schär sees a major migration of DeFi protocols to Layer 2 blockchains on the horizon as well as an expansion of the current utilization of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure. Although NFTs and the metaverse are in a price bubble, Dr. Schär believes their potential is just beginning to be unlocked. A consultant for several financial regulatory bodies, Dr. Schär also offers compelling insight on potential hiccups with regard to coming legislation. Recorded on March 17, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the few women in crypto, Medha Parlikar, co-founder and CTO of CasperLabs, joins Wendy Diamond, founder and CEO of LDP Ventures and Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization, to talk about her exciting journey in a game-changing industry. Parlikar dissects the dynamics of being among the small number of female leaders in tech and shares advice with other women hoping to follow her path. Parlikar sees big things on the horizon for CasperLabs in its mission to help scale enterprise-level private blockchains solutions. As many of its clients are realizing, there are numerous potential use cases for immutable ledgers and information within a corporate structure. CasperLabs was able to mint an NFT in space as a proof-of-concept for transmitting and verifying vital data about container ships while they’re in the middle of the ocean. Diamond and Parlikar also discuss how blockchain can help disabled persons thrive in today’s world. Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation about blockchain. Recorded on March 14, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With confirmation that Raoul Pal finally bought himself a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, The Defiant’s Robin Schmidt sits down with Real Vision’s founder and CEO to talk about his decision. Raoul and Robin discuss both the good and the (possible) bad of Yuga Labs’ and Bored Ape Yacht Club’s expansion, the recent ApeCoin airdrop, and how NFTs (and social tokens) can democratize the space. Tune in for a fascinating debate on the future of the metaverse. Recorded on March 23, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All cryptocurrency trading and investing activity is available on a public ledger. And all that activity can be extracted and studied. This is what’s called “on-chain analysis.” Indeed, one of the remarkable things about trading and investing in crypto is the easy availability of rich data streams that allow traders and investors to see things traditional technical analysis does not make visible. Benjamin Cowen, CEO of Into The Cryptoverse, joins Real Vision's Ash Bennington to talk about new ways of understanding price action using on-chain data to analyze consumer behavior through indicators like "HODL Waves." Cowen also describes how social metrics complement on-chain data to complete the macro picture. These new methods, combined with traditional technical analysis, can help traders make sense of market cycles, prevailing risks, and future price direction. Recorded on March 18, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clinical trials are a crucial part of the development of new medicines. But existing processes are antiquated, and it can take as many as 10 years before a new drug is approved. As demonstrated during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, efficient influx of vaccines and other innovative solutions is critical for society’s current and future medical needs. Triall is leading the deployment of blockchain-integrated software solutions to accelerate delivery of new drugs to patients. Triall co-founder and CEO Hadil Es-Sbai and co-founder and head of marketing Raymond van der Waal join Santiago Velez, co-founder and division lead of R&D at Block Digital, to talk about the world’s first digital ecosystem for clinical trials and how it will improve reliability and efficiency in the drug-development process. Recorded on March 7, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Persistent deflationary forces in Japan have puzzled economists for decades. Takaaki Kato, the Japan-based executive director and head of sales/trading for BitFlyer, doesn’know how long into the future present conditions will sustain. But he does see potential instability for the Japanese yen. Also a fiat currency bear, Kato perceives in Japan’s set of problems major tailwinds for crypto adoption. Kato tells Real Vision’s Ash Bennington that President Joe Biden’s executive order directing a “whole of government” approach to U.S. crypto policy will usher in a bifurcated era of the regulated and the unregulated. Those crypto platforms that navigate uncertainty and earn sanction by the U.S. government will have a head start on success in this new era. Recorded on March 9, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Interest rates on DeFi platforms are often as opaque as they are impressive, to the point where they seem too good to be true, especially in a world of near-zero TradFi yields. Sudhu Arumugam, co-founder of crypto derivatives exchange and yield platform CoinFLEX, offers a peek behind the curtain of his firm’s operations. Arumugam walks Real Vision’s Ash Bennington through the arbitrage strategies deployed by CoinFLEX, noting that his team’s edge comes from working with large pools of capital and enjoying privileged international access. Arumugam also discusses the evolving regulatory environment in light of the Biden administration’s new “whole of government” approach to crypto. Ultimately, as Arumugam sees it, regulation is bullish because it will catalyze institutional adoption like nothing else before it. Recorded on March 9, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're back, just in time to talk about the biggest NFT news of 2022: Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection, has acquired the brands, copyrights in the art, and other intellectual property of the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections from Larva Labs. BAYC is the most valuable NFT collection; CryptoPunks is the second-most valuable. So, what’s next now that these crown jewels have become one? Real Vision’s Ash Bennington joins The Defiant’s Camila Russo to talk about the deal. Camila and Ash also discuss how the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening cycle will impact digital assets and what President Joe Biden’s executive order means for the crypto space. Recorded on March 16, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marcello Mari is the CEO of SingularityDAO and an expert on the emerging business structure that’s opening new frontiers to individual investors. Mari joins Santiago Velez, co-founder and division lead of R&D at Block Digital, to explain what a decentralized autonomous organization is and to share what he learned when he created his DAO. The DAO governance structure has been criticized as too slow to operate effectively. Mari counters that DAOs afford individuals opportunities to pool capital at levels previously possible only for institutions. Combined with risk-hedging algorithms, this suggests that there’s vast unrealized potential for DAOs as viable structures for individual investors. Mari and Velez dig into the technical aspects of DAOs and their underlying anatomy. This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to learn more about DAOs. Recorded on February 25, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices