The Owl Explains Hootenanny

John Belitsky, Co-founder and Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer at Balcony sheds light on how they’re leveraging blockchain technology for greater transparency and efficiency in real estate, offering a glimpse into the innovative solutions reshaping the industry. Discover more about Balcony here Learn more about blockchain here

Akash Gupta (GM at Ava Labs) shares how transformative crypto wallets can be—from identity verification to the integration of social elements. Gain insights into the decentralized future and the large role of crypto wallets in shaping a secure and user-friendly digital landscape.

This is the second episode from our “trade associations” miniseries for 2024. We are joined by Sandra Ro (Global Blockchain Business Council), Ian Taylor (KPMG and Crypto UK), Alison Mangiero (Proof of Stake Alliance), and Jannah Patchay (Digital Pound Foundation) discussing key blockchain developments, policy updates, and interesting use cases.

Join Marina Markezic (EU Crypto Initiative) , Ron Hammond (Blockchain Association), Tommaso Astazi (Blockchain For Europe), and Cody Carbone (Digital Chamber) as they delve into the complexities of blockchain regulation and its impact on global policy. Explore how trade associations are shaping the future of technology governance.

Professor Carla Reyes (SMU) unpacks the interdisciplinary perspectives on smart contracts, highlighting the unique vantage points each group brings to the table. She explores the divergence between legal definitions of ‘contracts’ and their technical counterparts in smart contract technology, uncovering the potential impacts of this disparity on the regulation and understanding of these innovative digital agreements.Read her full paper here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4380724

Yesha Yadav (Vanderbilt Law School) delves into the complexities of decentralized finance (DeFi), exploring market structures, regulatory challenges, and the pivotal role of smart contracts in shaping the future of financial landscapes.Find out more in our explainer:What is DeFi? 

Chris Giancarlo (Chamber of Digital Commerce and former CFTC commissioner) discusses the Digital Dollar and sheds light on the role of privacy, economic liberty, and leadership in navigating the ever-changing landscape of digital innovation and its impact on global economies.Learn more about CBDCs, stablecoins, blockchain, and more on: Owl Explains. 

Teana Baker-Taylor (Circle) and Ari Redbord (TRM Labs)  delve into the intricate world of crypto regulation, anti-money laundering, and blockchain's transformative potential. They discuss how decentralized finance challenges traditional frameworks, the evolving landscape of policy-making, and the impact of tokenization on established financial systems. Explore the societal and financial shifts instigated by groundbreaking blockchain technology and recent policy developments.Find out more in our explainers at owlexplains.com  

This episode discusses the costs of liquidity provision at Decentralized Exchanges. Ciamac Moallemi (Columbia University) explains that liquidity providers at a Decentralized Exchange always face a loss relative to an asset portfolio that actively rebalances to match the asset weighting of the Decentralized Exchange at all times. This loss, known as Loss-Versus-Rebalancing (LVR, pronounced 'Lever'), is the primary cost of liquidity provision. Design refinements to mitigate this cost are discussed.Paper: Automated Market Making and Loss-Versus-Rebalancing

This episode discusses lending platforms on blockchains. Thomas Rivera (McGill University) and Quentin Vandeweyer (University of Chicago) explain that lending platforms generate sub-optimal welfare due to under-utilization of funds that are lent to the platform. To provide more context, lending platforms are specified in such a way that the level of borrowing (relative to lending) necessarily fluctuates with market conditions, resulting in instances where borrowing is significantly below lending. Importantly, when borrowing is significantly below lending, the total interest accrued from borrowers (relative to lending volume) is necessarily low, yielding low interest rates for lenders and thereby discouraging lending. Potential improvements for lending platforms are discussed.Paper: Equilibrium in a DeFi Lending Market