CoinDesk Podcast Network

The top stories and best shows in the blockchain world, delivered daily from the team at CoinDesk.

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LEIGH: BitTorrent Creator Bram Cohen on 'a System That Doesn't Suck' Apr 19, 2020

Show notes

On today’s episode CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen sits down with Bram Cohen, author of the BitTorrent protocol and CEO of Chia. In this wide ranging interview they talk Bram’s early interest in “hard problems”, his unexpected ascent from sketchy to celebrity and much more.

Leigh and Bram discuss:

The real promise and strengths of cryptocurrency
Really interesting problems in cryptocurrency
Getting started in crypto 20 years ago with MojoNation and glorious failure.
The origin of BitTorrent
Speculative investment, the dot com boom and where real wealth comes from
The Bitcoin Wizards IRC channel and Bram’s arrival in crypto
How the Bitcoin Wizards stance on ASIC resistance led to Bram’s creation of ‘Proofs of Time’ and ‘Proofs of Space’
Getting rich as a side effect of making the world a better place
Scaling, sharding and unsophisticated engineering
Why ‘Proof of Stake’ is a step backwards from ‘Proof of Work’
A system that doesn’t suck: how engineers try and fail to improve the finance industry
Unregulated banking crisis, shadow banking and hiring the smartest minds to obfuscate leverage
Why trusted third parties are the problem
Satoshi’s wonderful, horrible idea and the obviousness of proof of work.
What Satoshi did surprisingly well
Why improving proof of work wouldn’t really improve bitcoin.
Coherent goals: more decentralized and less wasteful
Both Proof of Work and Proof of Stake have a scary degree of centralization
Ethereum’s terrifying improvements to the on-chain programming environment
New functionality within Chia that helps cryptocurrency feel less like “carrying around hundred dollar bills”
Limiting opportunities for theft with user controlled rate and recipient limiting
Thinking about ecosystems and adoption
What is your favorite use case for cars? Is it Tires?
Open source software, politics and adoption
What is the role of advocacy in making something useful?
Why bitcoin gets a bad reputation for things it doesn’t have strong associations with.
Why “governance” is such a touchy topic
Why Chia is funded by Venture Capital rather than token offerings
How Bitcoin is different from what’s come after it
“Our technological capacity exceeds our political will to negotiate the terms of that capacity”
Why Bram hates the “Fake it til’ you make it” ethos
Engineering sticker shock
The “everyone uses cryptocurrency for everything” narrative vs. the “How do we get anyone using Cryptocurrency for anything good?” reality
Better metrics for success than “Getting rich”
Great leaders and bullshit artists
Bitcoin’s trajectory and the meritocratic history of technology
Colored coins, distributed identity, timestamps and censorship resistant value
Minimal functionality, subtle cleanups and simplified transaction formats in the Chia programming environment
And more...

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RESEARCH: The Market Impacts of a Bitcoin Halving Explained Apr 18, 2020

Show notes

For more information about the bitcoin halving, download the free CoinDesk Research explainer report which features over 30 different charts and additional commentary from mining industry experts.

“If price performance following the November 2012 and July 2016 halvings are any indicator, bitcoin’s price should increase significantly over the 10 to 12 month period following the [third] halving.”

That’s Ciara Sun, head of global business and markets at cryptocurrency exchange Huobi. Speaking on the third podcast episode of “Bitcoin Halving 2020: Miner Perspectives,” Ciara was joined by Chief Financial Officer at Bitfarm, John Rim. The two shared their insights on the expected market impacts of bitcoin’s third halving event.

Sun noted that many crypto investors are expecting a substantial bitcoin price increase in the months following the 50 percent reduction in bitcoin block subsidy rewards. However, Sun also caveated her statement saying the market dynamics leading up to May’s halving event are “more complicated” this time around due to global events such as the COVID-19 outbreak.

No matter the impact on bitcoin’s market price, Rim affirmed that miner revenue per terahash would likely readjust and normalize to pre-halving levels as a result of mining difficulty adjustments. “The whole network relies on mining for the validation of transactions and for a self-incentivized system like bitcoin, you need miners to be profitable,” Rim said.

To download or stream this episode, you can go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica or RSS. For early access to future episodes, be sure to click subscribe on these channels.

Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash

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BREAKDOWN: Why Money Is Losing Its Meaning, Feat. Jared Dillian Apr 17, 2020

Show notes

Bitcoiners are particularly sensitive to Fed intervention in markets, but the degree to which the Fed is willing to print to backstop basically all risk is drawing the attention of even normal market participants.

On this episode of The Breakdown, NLW is joined by Jared Dillian, market analyst, contrarian, and editor of The Daily Dirt Nap. They discuss:

What ‘safe haven’ means in today’s climate
How Jared became a bitcoin believer after being a skeptic
Why in an MMT world, taxation policy will be driven by ideology not practicality
Why money is losing its meaning

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BREAKDOWN: Libra vs. DCEP? The Battle for the Future of Money Heats Up Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

This week saw the latest salvos in the battle for the future of money.

Libra announced that it would be moving away from a single currency that was backed by a basket of national currency to a model of numerous individual fiat-pegged currencies. While the original model was akin to a disruptive implementation of John Maynard Keynes original concept for a global basket currency (which he called a “bancor”), this model seems more to position Libra to help existing central banks digitize their currencies.

China meanwhile steamed forward with its digital currency and blockchain plans. Screenshots of an app from the Agricultural Bank of China show how the DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment) is currently being tested, giving us insight into functionality, geographies and players involved.

China also announced the 71 members of its National Blockchain Council, as well as went live with their Blockchain Service Network. The BSN in particular has potential significance on a world scale as China tries to build and control a key piece of global digital infrastructure.

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AFRICA: Bitcoin Maximalism, Entrepreneurs and COVID-19 in Zimbabwe (Part 5 of a Six-Part Documentary Podcast Series) Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, we'll join Anita Posch in Zimbabwe as she speaks with Tongayi Choto, a software developer, entrepreneur and a bitcoin maximalist. He founded Afriblocks, a Global Pan-African Freelance platform that connects professionals across the world. They talk about the problems young Zimbabweans are facing and Tongayi's approach to make lives better. Later, Anita answers listener questions about the current use of bitcoin, other methods of payment in Zimbabwe and more.

Topics:

Africa: high potential, but not enough opportunities
Pan-African Freelance network
Payments in cryptocurrencies
The use of smart contracts for releasing funds
Scams like MMM, Onecoin, bitclub
The Volatility of bitcoin being a huge problem for poor people
The impact of the Lightning Network in Africa
Internet bundles

Listener Questions:

What is preventing widespread usage of bitcoin? Tech? Awareness? Laws? Working, cheap alternatives (Ecocash)? Fees?
Are there bitcoin OGs in the community and if so are they still actively supporting the newcomers?
Not sure if M-Pesa is available in Zimbabwe/Botswana. But if so, why would anybody use Bitcoin instead of already available digital payment solutions such as M-Pesa?
Did you hear anything about http://beforward.jp and Bitcoin?
I am interested how well people understand, if their own governments money is good money for them (in terms of purchasing power, inflation etc). What share of people in your impression are asking themselves this question in these countries?
Are Zimbabweans living overseas using bitcoin for remittances? If so, how does this channel work? How do bitcoin remittances compare to alternatives like Western Union?

A note from Anita:

This podcast special and my trip to Africa would not have been possible without my sponsors and supporters. I want to thank my sponsors first: Thank you: LocalBitcoins.com a person-to-person bitcoin trading site, Peter McCormack and the whatbitcoindid podcast, Coinfinity and the Card Wallet, SHIFT Cryptosecurity, manufacturer of the hardware wallet BitBox02 and many thanks to several unknown private donors, who sent me Satoshis over the Lightning Network.

This special is edited by CoinDesk’s Podcasts Editor Adam B. Levine and published first on the CoinDesk Podcast Network. Thank you very much for supporting the Bitcoin in Africa series with your work. Thanks goes also out to stakwork.com - stakwork is a great project that brings bitcoin into the world through earning.

One can do microjobs on stakwork, earning Satoshis and cash them out without even having an understanding about the lightning network or bitcoin. I think we need more projects like that to spread the usage of bitcoin around the world. Thank you also to GoTenna, for donating several GoTenna devices to set up a mesh network in Zimbabwe and to Team Satoshi, the decentralized sports team for supporting my work. This special is also brought to you by the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network.

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BREAKDOWN: What the Economy Will Look Like 6 Months From Now, Feat. Ryan Selkis Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

As week (one million, it seems) of the COVID-19 lockdown plods on, many are wondering what the economy will look like on the other side.

Ryan Selkis is the CEO and founder of Messari. He was one of the earliest voices in crypto to sound the alarm on the potential impact of COVID-19 not only on the health system but on the economy.

In this episode of The Breakdown, Ryan joins @NLW to discuss:

Why the markets right now represent an economic and psychological relief rally
What it takes to reopen the economy
Why voluntary, privacy preserving contact tracing is part of the solution

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BREAKDOWN: The $20,000 Human IPO and 5 Other Crypto Stories That Have Nothing to Do With COVID-19 Apr 14, 2020

Show notes

Even as the market tries to make sense of everything happen (or ignores it, depending on your perspective), crypto keeps on plugging along.

Today on The Breakdown @NLW looks at 5 recent crypto stories that are representative of larger trends, including:

Coinbase Custody enabling staking for Polkadot DOTs
A Telegram-focused exchange shutting down due to regulatory compliance costs
A $20k Human IPO on Ethereum
Shapeshift acquires Portis & other crypto M&A
A G20 report on the threat of Stablecoins

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ANNA: Making Sense of the SEC's Case Against Telegram Apr 12, 2020

Show notes

Telegram, the popular messaging app, has big plans for its blockchain Telegram Open Network, or TON. It also had one of the biggest token sales in history, followed by a huge legal fight over it.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) sued the company to stop its $1.7 billion private token sale, saying the future tokens for TON, called grams, are unregistered securities. Telegram argued grams were a commodity. A federal court judge in New York issued a preliminary injunction agreeing with the SEC, blocking Telegram from issuing tokens.

The court battle has been an interesting one, as is the ruling of the judge. Together with two experienced attorneys, Gabriel Shapiro of BSV Law and Phillip Moustakis of Seward & Kissel, we’re unpacking this process, which is likely to set a precedent for other token sales structured as SAFT, or simple agreement for future tokens – starting with Kik and potentially followed by many more.

SAFTs used to be a popular form of fundraising in crypto – What went wrong for Telegram?
Is there still a chance an ambitious proof-of-stake blockchain will still get launched?
Is there still a safe way to raise money via a token sale or not?
What are the remaining options for Telegram – and for its investors?

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