On The Brink with Castle Island

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**On The Brink with Castle Island**

Hosts Matt Walsh and Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures explore news and deals in the public blockchain space and talk to some of the leading experts in the industry. Learn more and stay up to date at CastleIsland.vc and follow on twitter @CastleIslandVC

Latest Episodes:

Weekly Roundup 11/01/24 (US Treasury on Stables, Polymarket volume, Singh Sentenced) (EP.571) Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

We check in on the presidential odds
State races to watch
As part of their quarterly earnings release, Microstrategy announced a plan to raise $42 billion in the next 3 years in order to buy more Bitcoin. The raise will be evenly split between equity offerings and sales of fixed-income securities.
Coinbase pledged a future donation of $25 million to Fairshake to be used for the 2026 midterm elections.
Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering for FTX, avoided prison time following his guilty plea and cooperation in the investigation into the exchange's collapse.
Blackrock's IBIT Bitcoin ETF saw $872 million of net inflows on Wednesday, which marked a new record for the fund since the launch in January.
The US Treasury released a quarterly fiscal report this week that had a section dedicated to digital assets, noting stablecoins growth has caused "a modest increase in demand for short-dated treasuries."
The Bank for International Settlements announced they are no longer working on Project mBridge, a cross-border payment network for CBDCs backed by China, Hong Kong, UAE, Saudia Arabia, among others.

Content mentioned:

Treasury Presentation to TBAC
Fortune, Wash Trading on Polymarket
Blockchain Association, Regulation by Enforcement

Sponsor notes:

Polymarket and the Power of Collective Intelligence: In Coin Metrics' State of the Network issue 283, we dive into how Polymarket's prediction markets operate on Polygon and analyze data behind the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election
Withum's Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. - withum.com/crypto

Pat Larsen (Zenledger) on Digital Asset Tax and Compliance (EP.570) Oct 29, 2024

Show notes

Pat Larsen, the founder and CEO of Zenledger joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

The latest developments in the tax and compliance categories within digital assets.
How asset managers and large financial institutions are increasingly adopting digital assets.
The compliance obligations of financial services firms as it relates to digital asset trading.
The venture capital landscape for digital asset startups.
The use cases that are currently driving adoption in the blockchain industry.

To learn more about Zenledger, visit www.zenledger.io

Weekly Roundup 10/25/24 (Stripe acquires Bridge, Polymarket whale, Stables as Fintech 3.0) (EP.569) Oct 25, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Nic are back for more news and deals. In this episode:

The Polymarket whale is identified
BTCUSD predictions for the election
Election models versus prediction markets
Stripe acquires Bridge for $1.1b
Did the Bridge deal make sense for Stripe?
Stablecoins as Fintech 3.0
Nigeria frees Tigran Gambaryan
Kraken is launching the Ink blockchain
Buenos Aires is launching a blockchain-based identity solution
Opera launches the minipay wallet
A new paper from the Fed gives us new insight into the 2023 bank run
Coinbase FOIAs the regulators behind OCP 2.0

Content mentioned in this episode:

NY Fed, Tracing Bank Runs in Real Time

Sponsor notes:

Introducing Exchange Flow Metrics: In Coin Metrics' State of the Network issue 282, we introduce Coin Metrics' new exchange flow metrics for BTC & ETH
Withum's Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. - withum.com/crypto

Weekly Roundup 10/18/24 (Hagerty's Stablecoin Bill, WLF Launches, GOAT Coin) (EP.568) Oct 18, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

Nic's Dutch misadventures
Federal versus State regulation of Stablecoins
TD Bank filed $3b for money laundering
Are stake rewards property or income?
Italy hikes capital gains taxes on Bitcoin
Is Polymarket manipulated?
Has the first AI bot millionaire been minted?
The World Liberty Financial tokensale flopped

Sponsor notes:

Withum's Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. - withum.com/crypto
An Overview of the Flow Blockchain: In Coin Metrics' State of the Network issue 281, we provide an overview of the Flow Blockchain

Weekly Roundup 10/11/24 (HBO Satoshi Unveil, SEC v Cumberland, World Liberty Fi tokensale) (EP.567) Oct 11, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

Are shipping regulations making the oceans hotter?
Is Satoshi Peter Todd?
Is the identity of Satoshi the best mystery of all time?
The SEC comes after Cumberland
Crypto.com sues the SEC
World Liberty Financial is doing a tokensale
Uniswap announces Unichain
Is Polymarket manipulated?
Ryan Salame appears on Tucker

Sponsor notes:

Coin Metrics, State of the Network's Q3 2024 Mining Data Special: In Coin Metrics' State of the Network issue 280, we provide our quarterly update on Bitcoin mining.
Withum's Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. - withum.com/crypto

Weekly Roundup 10/04/24 (CZ Free, Visa's stablecoin, Satoshi unveiled) (EP.566) Oct 04, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

Monad Madness
CZ is released from jail
Roman Storm's motion to dismiss is denied
Mango settles with the SEC
Swift is piloting digital asset transactions
Bitwise submits and S-1 for a Ripple ETF
Visa announces their Tokenized Assets Platform
Franklin moves to Aptos
The SEC's Gurbir Grewal steps down

Sponsor notes

Coin Metrics, State of the Network's Q3 2024 Wrap-Up: A data-driven overview of events shaping crypto markets in Q3–2024
Withum's Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. - withum.com/crypto

Stephen Novenstern (Kintsu) on Building on Monad (EP.565) Oct 03, 2024

Show notes

Stephen Novenstern, the founder of Kintsu joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

Stephen's path to the cryptocurrency industry and the vision for Kintsu, a liquid staking project in the Monad ecosystem.
The history of DeFi and the LST category.
Why Monad and views on the net new primitives that are enabled by this new layer one blockchain.
The future of layer one blockchains.
Central limit orderbooks in decentralized finance.

To learn more about Kintsu visit their website and follow the project on X.

Weekly Roundup 09/26/24 (Chokepoint 2.0 updates, Gensler's House hearing, Ellison sentenced) (EP.564) Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode:

Gensler denies knowledge of Operation Choke Point 2.0
We recap the Silvergate collapse
Why did the MSM ignore the new Silvergate revelations?
Trump's fair banking access rule
Looking back at the Signature closure
Gensler appears in front of the House
Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison
Options approved for Bitcoin ETFs
SEC versus TUSD
What's going on with the port strike?
Nic's panda moon moon situation

Sponsor notes:

Coin Metrics, Real World Assets (RWAs) & Tokenization Report. Exploring the RWA landscape, sectors and networks gaining adoption, regulatory implications and market opportunities.
Withum's Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. - withum.com/crypto

Content mentioned:

Ross Stevens, Bitcoin's Protection under the First Amendment

Weekly Roundup 09/20/24 (Trump at Pubkey, Token 2049 review, RIP Airdrops) (EP.563) Sep 20, 2024

Show notes

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode:

Nic's Singapore Zyn problem
Nic's Token 2049 keynote
The Iggy Azalea Eric Wall debate
Trump make an appearance at Pubkey in NYC
World Liberty Financial continues to be insane
SEC versus Flyfish club
Are airdrops done for?
Is JPM really the "largest user of blockchain"?
Bhutan has a ton of Bitcoin
Listening to podcasts with AI
Interest rates fell
The exploding pagers and what it means for crypto

Sponsor notes:

Coin Metrics, The Crypto Universe Through the Lens of datonomy™
Withum's Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Team specializes in crypto-assets, offering accounting, tax and advisory solutions to fortify trust in a dynamic industry. Contact them today to get started. - withum.com/crypto