CryptoNews Podcast

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#288: Harry Halpin, CEO of Nym Technologies, on Privacy, Decentralized Mixnet, VPNs, and The Fall of Fiat Currency Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

Harry Halpin is the CEO and co-founder of Nym Technologies, a startup building a decentralised mixnet to end mass surveillance. Prior to founding Nym, he was a Senior Research Scientist at MIT, where he led the standardisation of the Web Cryptography API across all browsers at W3C, and at Inria de Paris where he led interdisciplinary research on socio-technical systems and privacy. He was the project coordinator of the European Commission project NEXTLEAP on secure messaging at Inria de Paris, where he worked on anonymous communication and mix-networking and joined the Station F Founders programme.

Harry has a Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh and also teaches cryptocurrency at the American University of Beirut.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Lebanese banking scheme
- The fall of fiat currency
- Anti Fiat Social Club
- Importance of privacy
- IP addresses
- Privacy-centric internet
- Nym’s fully decentralized VPN
- VPNs are finite
- Mixnet
- Building on Cosmos blockchain
- Anonymous credentials
- How AI will impact the world moving forward
Nym
Website: nymtech.net
X: @nymproject
Discord: discord.gg/nym
Harry Halpin
X: @harryhalpin
LinkedIn: Harry Halpin

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#287: Kavita Gupta, Founder of Delta Blockchain Fund, on The Crypto VC Landscape and The Role of Institutional Demand Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

Kavita Gupta is the Founder and General Partner of Delta Blockchain Fund. She has over 18 years of investment experience via The World Bank, IFC, and the Eric Schmidt Family office. She started one of the first Blockchain early-stage funds, ConsenSys Ventures and accelerator Tachyon. Kavita has invested first checks into sector-defining companies such as Polygon, Starkware, Quantstamp, and Sorare, to name among over 100 companies - she is also a visiting scholar at Stanford University teaching the Beyond Bitcoin class and an advisor to the Hus Institute, the UNICEF Giga project, the Katapult investment fund, the International Emmys and more. In 2015, Kavita received the UN Innovation Award for being one of the core members of creating green and social impact bonds.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- CZ and Binance news
- The role of institutional demand
- SEC decisions and regulatory hurdles
- The evolving crypto VC landscape
- Bitcoin ETF approval
- The impact of global and geopolitical events on market dynamics
- How a spot Bitcoin ETF approval could reshape the crypto investment landscape
- Fostering a decentralized world
- Life of a crypto VC
Delta Blockchain Fund
Website: deltafund.io
X: @Deltabc_fund
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/delta-blockchain-fund
Kavita Gupta
X: @KavitaGupta19
LinkedIn: Kavita Gupta
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This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.
PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance.

#286: Conor Ryder, Head of Research at Ethena, on Stablecoins, Synthetic Dollars, and Current Market Trends Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

Conor Ryder is CFA, Head of Research & Data at Ethena, the crypto infrastructure company building USDe, the first-ever global internet bond and stablecoin not reliant on existing banking institutions. Prior to joining Ethena, Conor built his career in the traditional finance industry and pivoted into the crypto sector in 2022 as a research analyst at Kaiko, a leading crypto data provider. Conor is CFA-certified and a seasoned expert in crypto markets and industry events, and his industry insights have been featured in CNBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Reuters, CoinDesk, and more.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Solving the stablecoin trilemma
- How stablecoins or synthetic dollars can help maintain US dollar dominance
- Lack of yield incentive is holding back stablecoin adoption
- Difference between 'stablecoins' and 'synthetic dollars’
- Stability and decentralization
- Current crypto market trends
- Stablecoin use cases/adoption around the world
- Internet bonds
- The importance of liquidity in crypto markets
- USDe
Ethena
Website: www.ethena.fi
X: @ethena_labs
Discord: discord.gg/ethena
Connor Ryder
X: @ConorRyder
LinkedIn: Connor Ryder, CFA
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This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.
PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance.

#285: Frederik Gregaard, CEO Cardano Foundation, on Operational Resilience, Making Blockchain Immortal, and Cardano Nov 23, 2023

Show notes

Frederik Gregaard is CEO of the Cardano Foundation. A leader in fintech and blockchain, Fred has a background in banking, wealth management and asset management.

Gregaard joined the Cardano Foundation in 2020 and leads work across the Foundation’s three core focus areas: operational resilience, education, and adoption. These focuses guide all of the Foundation’s activities. Gregaard’s work enables expedited value creation for inclusive and equitable growth using Cardano, with the overall goal of decentralised, efficient, and secure economic empowerment for all.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Intro to Cardano
- Operational resilience
- Education and Adoption
- Georgian wine partnership
- Third Global Impact Challenge
- Policy developments in the blockchain space
- Recent engagement with regulators
- Plans for the coming year
- Helping people without an identity
- Making blockchain immortal
Cardano Foundation
Website: cardanofoundation.org
X: @Cardano_CF
Telegram: t.me/CardanoAnnouncements
Frederik Gregaard
X: @F_Gregaard
LinkedIn: Frederik Gregaard

#284: Charlie Schumacher, VP of Marathon Digital Holdings, on The Future of Bitcoin Mining and The Bitcoin Halving Nov 20, 2023

Show notes

Charlie Schumacher, VP Corporate Communications of Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA), a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. From 2018 to 2021, Charlie worked at Gateway Investor Relations, first as an Analyst and later as an Associate, specializing in investor relations. Then, in 2021, they joined Marathon Digital Holdings as the Director of Corporate Communications before being promoted to VP of Corporate Communications in January 2022. Charlie Schumacher has a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Boston University.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Some changes from the last halving cycle that miners are focused on
- How do miners survive with their revenue being cut in half?
- Macro trends that will affect miners going forward
- Bitcoin ETF - what will this entail?
- How Marathon is preparing for a bull market
- How the Bitcoin ETF will affect miners
- Investor relations and corporate communications
- Utilization of AI
- Using methane to mine bitcoin

Marathon Digital Holdings
Website: www.mara.com
X: @MarathonDH
Instagram: @marathondigitalholdings
Charlie Schumacher
X: @charlieschu
LinkedIn: Charlie Schumacher
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#283: Lars Seier Christensen, Chairman of Concordium, on Bridging the Gap Between DeFi and TradFi Nov 16, 2023

Show notes

Lars Seier Christensen is Chairman of the Swiss non-profit Concordium Foundation. With over 30 years of experience across the banking and financial sector, Seier Christensen is a global pioneer in FX and derivatives trading, having co-founded the online trading and investment platform Saxo Bank in 1992. He served as co-CEO of Saxo Bank for more than 20 years, in which time the bank grew to 1,500 employees across 150 locations serving customers in 170 countries. SaxoTrader, the bank’s flagship online trading offering, was launched in 1998 and was one of the first online FX trading platforms in the world. SaxoTrader has since grown to become one of the world’s most complete multi-asset trading platforms. Seier Christensen is also the founder and sole owner of Seier Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm that specializes in investments in angel, seed, and A-round stage companies. The firm invests in art & fashion, financial services, food and beverages, sports & entertainment, social media, and technology industries.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- DeFi is paving the way for a more inclusive financial future
- Legal clarity is the key to institutionalizing DeFi and will drive adoption at scale
- Bridging the gap between DeFi and TradFi
- Marrying decentralization with regulatory compliance
- Bolstering data security
- 1.4 billion people are currently unbanked
- The future of ID + KYC
- Stories from growing Saxo Bank
- Concordium moving forward
Concordium
Website: www.concordium.com
X: @ConcordiumNet
Discord: discord.gg/GpKGE2hCFx
Lars Seier Christensen
X: @larsseier
LinkedIn: Lars Seier Christensen

#282: Tara Fung, CEO of Co:Create, on How Web3 Loyalty Can Onboard Brands to Web3 Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

Tara Fung is the Co-Founder & CEO of Co:Create. Tara is a growth-oriented leader who enables innovative brands to unlock the power of their community through gamified, self-owned reward programs. With a background as Chief Revenue Officer of Alto, a leading cryptoIRA and digital asset IRA custodian, Tara forged partnerships with institutional crypto asset managers, driving a staggering 25X revenue growth in just 18 months.
She also served as Chief Commercial Officer at a consumer lending FinTech firm, spearheading an advocacy campaign to change the tax treatment of employer-sponsored student loan repayment programs. Her efforts resulted in the passage of this initiative as part of the CARES Act. Tara holds degrees from Harvard Business School and the University of South Carolina.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- How Web3 loyalty is an upgrade on traditional loyalty programs
- How Web3 loyalty can help onboard brands to Web3
- Tattoos on the blockchain
- How can the eCommerce industry benefit from Web3 technologies as a whole
- Why the intersection of web3 and luxury fashion will be one of the most popular use cases
- Co:Create Ink — ten world famous tattoo artists enter web3 loyalty
- Co:Create Studios
- Delta changing their loyalty program
- Owning the experience layer
- The power of APIs
Co:Create
Website: www.usecocreate.io
X: @usecocreate
Discord: discord.gg/AUJbWTw5mS
Tara Fung
X: @nonfungibletara
LinkedIn: Tara Fung
Instagram: @tara_fung

#281: Adam Reeds, CEO of Ledn, on Crypto Lending and Why Bitcoin Makes Great Collateral Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

Adam Reeds is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ledn, a global company regulated in the Cayman Islands that focuses on building financial products to help people save in bitcoin and digital assets. Prior to co-founding Ledn, Adam spent ten years at Dream Asset Management, where he developed, built, and financed a $1.5 billion portfolio of renewable power projects. It was Bitcoin's connection with the energy that brought Adam into Bitcoin mining, where he and his co-founder identified a gap in financing digital assets. Today, Ledn is a broad financial services platform with clients in over 130 countries. Adam is a graduate of the HBA program at the Richard Ivey School of Business and also holds a Bachelor of Engineering Science from the University of Western Ontario.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Crypto loans vs. traditional loans
- The future of crypto lending
- Why Bitcoin Makes Great Collateral
- How Ledn survived the lending crisis of 2022
- Ledn's new products (DCNs and Growth Accounts)
- Investing in the energy sector
- Bitcoin mining in Canada
- Canada’s energy consumption
Ledn
Website: ledn.io
X: @hodlwithLedn
Instagram: @ledn.io
Adam Reeds
X: @adamreeds
LinkedIn: Adam Reeds

#280: Rich Rines, Contributor to Core DAO, on Bitcoin Utility and Cross Chain Functionality Nov 06, 2023

Show notes

Rich Rines is an initial contributor to Core DAO, an independent blockchain combining the decentralization and security of Bitcoin with the scalability and application platform of Ethereum.
Rich focuses on the implementation and growth of Core DAO’s revolutionary decentralized consensus mechanism aimed at unlocking the full potential and promise of blockchain technology by leveraging the complementary qualities of Proof of Stake alongside Proof of Work.
Rich is also the founder and CEO of an outbound contact center software company called AutoReach and led money movements engineering at Coinbase for 3 years. Prior to those roles, Rich was an engineer at LendingHome and Thoughtbot.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Bitcoin miner challenges
- Bitcoin use cases
- Leveraging PoW and PoS
- Core’s impressive global audience and the successful airdrop stats from launch
- Interoperability and cross-chain functionality
- Onboarding communities that need crypto most: developers, Bitcoin miners, and end-users
- Building money movement products
- Onboarding web2 over web3
Core DAO
Website: coredao.org
X: @Coredao_Org
LinkedIn: t.me/CoreDAOTelegram
Rich Rines
X: @richrines
LinkedIn: Rich Rines
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This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.
PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance.

#279: Nihar Neelakanti, CEO of Ecosapiens, on Blockchain-Based Carbon Tracking and Web3 Powering Eco-Conscious Consumerism Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

Nihar Neelakanti is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ecosapiens, a VC-backed platform enabling consumers to fight climate change through the world’s first carbon-backed NFT. Nihar previously worked in venture capital, spending several years at VCs, including Correlation Ventures, Kauffman Fellows, and most recently, at the prestigious Menlo Ventures, where he helped develop the climate thesis that sparked the idea for Ecosapiens. He is deeply fascinated by the opportunity to rethink economics in a way that regenerates the planet rather than extracts from it.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Are we back?
- Crypto VC landscape
- Carbon tracking on the blockchain
- Web3 tech powering eco-conscious consumerism
- Invest in the environment
- How businesses can achieve their climate goals
- Growing in a bear market
- Using NFTs to solve climate problems
- Climate tech
Ecosapiens
Website: ecosapiens.xyz
X: @ecosapiensxyz
Discord: discord.gg/57AszRvpFj
Nihar Neelakanti
X: @NiharNeelakanti
LinkedIn: Nihar Neelakanti
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This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.
PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance.

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