Blockchain Insider Podcast by 11:FS

Latest Episodes:

203. Insights: Our crypto predictions for 2024 Jan 03, 2024

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Catherine Gu are back this week for a special episode of Blockchain Insider, kicking off the new year by talking about what 2024 might hold for us in the crypto, blockchain and web3 space.

A lot happened in 2023 - can we expect the same, or even more, from 2024?

Mauricio and Catherine reflect on 2023 and speculate on 2024 joined by a fantastic guest:

Balaji Srinivasan, entrepreneur and investor.

Join us while we talk through last year's predictions to see what came true, and what we think will happen with regulation, adoption, payments, infrastructure and the impact of AI - and so much more!

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

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If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guest: Balaji Srinivasan.

Bonus: How to become a digital creator Dec 20, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Catherine Gu bring you this very special bonus episode looking at how blockchains can enable digital artists to have a global reach and bring art and artists together at a global scale.

They are joined by two participants in Visa’s Creator Program. They have both chosen to use blockchain technology as the means to share their art with the world.
Crypto and NFTs allow artists to build communities all over the world, since they are borderless. As part of this conversation we want to understand why artists are turning to NFTs and some of the underlying benefits behind it, the future of payments in this space and what is still to come in the digital creative space.

Our fantastic guests are:

Gus Sarkodee, Visa Creator Program participant & photographer
Violeta Valcheva, Visa Creator Program participant & multimedia artist

To find out more about Visa' Creator Program, visit https://usa.visa.com/global/creator-hub.html and visa.com/creator.

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guests: Gus Sarkodee and Violeta Valcheva.

202. Insights: Tokenised deposits, stablecoins and when best to use them Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Catherine Gu are back this week, talking about tokenized deposits — We’re taking a closer look at what they are, how they intersect with CBDCs, and how bankers are thinking about using these assets.

In general, tokenized deposits have been viewed as an alternative to stablecoins or CBDCs, though payments made with tokenized deposits can be a little more complex. We also take a look at the future of these different assets and the implications they have for banks, the blockchain industry, and the end customers.

To do this, we are joined by a fantastic guest:

Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guest: Haseeb Qureshi.

201. Insights: How to manage your identity on web3 and blockchain Nov 29, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Catherine Gu are back this week, talking about identity on the blockchain

We’ll dive into what identity on blockchain means, how it works, learn about on-chain KYC, important use-cases, and its potential impact on AML checks and safeguarding users against financial crime; as well as the future of identity on the blockchain and how it is giving rise to a whole new generation of applications that redefine how we present ourselves on the internet.

To do this, we are joined by some amazing guests:

Alex Pruden, CEO of Aleo
Heather Dahl, CEO of Indicio and Hyperledger Foundation Governing Board Member_

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guests: Alex Pruden and Heather Dahl.

200. Insights: The future of bitcoin Nov 15, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Catherine Gu are back this week, talking about the future of bitcoin.

We’ll dive into what people in the space are building and ultimately, how do we create more utility around BTC, arguably the most important asset in crypto.

Bitcoin is one of the most important and secure blockchains and assets, but the challenge with transacting BTC has always been its scalability, high cost and slow speed when transacting. Lightning Network is a layer-2 built on top of Bitcoin that enables users to send BTC quickly and cheaply by moving transactions off of the main blockchain. We'll discuss some exciting news surrounding Lightning Network and the main use cases we’ve seen, many of which are efforts to bring BTC to the mainstream as an asset you can transact with.

To do this, we are joined by some amazing guests:

Jasper De Maere, Head of Research at Outlier Ventures
Sveinn Valfells, co-founder and CEO of Monerium

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guests: Jasper De Maere and Sveinn Valfells.

199. Insights: Real world assets on-chain: changing the future of ownership Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Catherine Gu are back this week, talking about real world assets.

On today's episode they dive into real world assets, or RWAs for short. They explain what they are, discuss some of the use cases of tokenized RWA we’re seeing today, the pros and cons of bringing RWA on-chain, and where this emerging market is headed.

To discuss all of this and more they were joined by some amazing guests:

Vanessa Grellet, Aglae Ventures
Justin Schmidt, President and COO at Ondo

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guests: Justin Schmidt and Vanessa Grellet.

198. Insights: How to fix UX in crypto Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and brand new co-host Catherine Gu are here this week, talking all things crypto UX.

Since crypto is still very much in the growth and build stage, a lot of time, effort, and money is spent on technical research, cryptography, software engineering, and getting the structural parts figured out.

But going forward, user experience will need to be prioritized and researched in order for it to be more accessible and usable to encourage mass adoption of blockchain and crypto.
What are the pain points? What are the challenges and what can be made better for thenext generation of crypto users?

To discuss all of this and more they were joined by some amazing guests:

Maika Isogawa, Founder and CEO at Webacy
Riyaz Faizullabhoy, Co-founder of Bastion

Just a quick reminder - nothing we share here is legal, tax or financial advice. Views or opinions expressed by the panel are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the entities they are representing.

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guests: Maika Isogawa and Riyaz Faizullabhoy.

197. Insights: Are US regulation bills changing the future of crypto? Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Cuy Sheffield are back this week, this time talking all things crypto regulation and the positive movement there has been to get some momentum behind some regulation bills.

July was a big month where multiple standalone crypto bills have been advanced to the House of Representatives. This is huge for the future legitimacy of crypto.
Cuy, Mauricio and their guests look at some of the progress made in crypto regulation and recently proposed bills and what the potential impact of these regulations could be: could they change the future of crypto?

We get into that and much more!

We are also joined by some amazing guests:

Tomicah Tilleman, Chief Policy Officer Haun Ventures!
Catherine Gu, Head of CBDC & Protocols, Visa

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guest: Catherine Gu.

196. Insights: Visa's USDC settlement launch and what are the real world use cases for CBDCs? Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Cuy Sheffield are back this week, this time talking all things USDC settlement, CBDCs and the difference between CBDCs and stablecoins.

Following our discussion around the development of stablecoin in our last episode, we thought it would be fitting to dive deeper into another type of digital currency that is closely related to fiat, CBDC, or Central Bank Digital Currency.

Banks are looking to CBDCs as a form of currency that expedites transactions and increases the security of payments between banks, institutions, and individuals and we look at the biggest news stories and developments around the world for CBDCs.

Not only that but Visa has some news of its own:
Just last week, Visa expanded its use of US Dollar Coin (USDC) for digital currency settlement, adding pilot programs globally with WorldPay, Nuvei, and Xapo, modernising large value, cross-border payments, for end-to-end digital currency settlement over blockchain.

We get into that and much more!

We are also joined by some amazing guests:

Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle
Mina Khattak, Senior Director of Crypto, at Worldpay
Catherine Gu, Head of CBDC & Protocols, Visa

This episode is sponsored by Visa.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show at: www.twitter.com/bchaininsider

Special Guests: Catherine Gu, Dante A. Disparte , and Mina Khattak.

195. Insights: The current state of stablecoins Sep 06, 2023

Show notes

gm. Mauricio Magaldi and Cuy Sheffield are back this week, this time talking all things stablecoins.

In this show - we’re taking a look at the latest stablecoin launches and look at what this means for the industry more broadly when big name players like PayPal start getting involved.

With their increasing popularity, can stablecoins become a core financial infrastructure in our world today?

To discuss all of this and more, we are also joined by an amazing guest: