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:

Jeff Lunglhofer on Cybersecurity at Coinbase (EP.511) Mar 18, 2024

Show notes

Jeff Lunglhofer, the Chief Information Security Officer at Coinbase joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

Jeff's background and what attracted him to joining Coinbase.
How Coinbase approaches cybersecurity risk.
The impact of the Bitcoin ETF and the custodial business at Coinbase.
How users should protect themselves via multi-factor authentication.
Phishing and how to protect oneself from this attack vector.
Passkeys and how this is improving the log-in flow at Coinbase.
How Coinbase uses bug bounty programs.

To learn more about cybersecurity at Coinbase visit coinbase.com/security

Weekly Roundup 03/15/24 (CSW is not Satoshi, Nigeria v Binance, Traeger and Bitcoin) (EP.510) Mar 15, 2024

Show notes

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

ETH's Dencun upgrade goes live
Is ETH stuck between two different stakeholder groups?
Is Traeger going to hold Bitcoin?
Saylor is still buying Bitcoin
Nigeria holds two Binance executives for a $10b ransom
A UK judge in the COPA case has determined that Craig Wright is not Satoshi
Why the COPA v CSW case matters
Blackrock will buy Bitcoin ETFs in their global allocation fund
Greyscale filed for a low-fee spinoff of GBTC, ticker BTC
John Griffin of Griffin and Shams is back with another terrible paper
A new paper alleges that crypto finances slavery

Sponsor notes:

Market Dynamics & Risks of Liquid Staking Tokens
In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 250, we explore the market dynamics and risks of liquid staking tokens (LST's)

Weekly Roundup 03/08/24 (New ATH, Katie Porter out, ETH Denver reflections) (EP.509) Mar 08, 2024

Show notes

Nic and Matt return for a week of blockbuster price action and new ATHs. In this episode:

ETF flows recap
Warren favorite Katie Porter loses her primary in CA
Super Tuesday recap
Are crypto PACs working?
Why the Ohio senate race matters for crypto
State AGs amicus brief in Kraken v SEC
The WSJ is accused of defamation in their Tether coverage
Were Signature and Silvergate wrongly accused?
Arizona state Senate considers adding Bitcoin to state reserves
Saylor buys Bitcoin
SEC comissioners Pierce and Uyeda write an entertaining dissent in the Shapeshift case
Is Prometheum the SEC's patsy?
Nic reviews ETH Denver
How priced in in the Halving?

Sponsor notes:

Following Flows V: Pool Cross-Pollination
In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 249, we examine fund flows among mining pools and miners, revealing hidden connections to gauge mining decentralization

Join the conversation on Farcaster

Weekly Roundup 03/01/24 (DOE order stayed, Bitcoin renaissance, SBFs autism plea) (EP.508) Mar 01, 2024

Show notes

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

Funding rates in crypto
Blockbuster ETF flows
Bitcoin Renaissance
BitVM opening the overton window
Remembering PlusToken
SBF is "too autistic" to go to jail
The 3ac boys have another fake fundraise announcement
Genesis reaches a settlement proposal
The DOE's demand for information from miners has been halted for now
Should the Bahamas be a state
Marathon is launching their own L2

Content mentioned in this episode:

Alex Thorn, Why we aren't Stopping
Fidelity Digital Assets, Addressing Ethereum Risks

Sponsor notes:

In the Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 248, we provide an overview of the paper—Breaking BFT—and examine the importance of network security

Guy Young (Ethena) on the Past and Future of Crypto Interest Rates (EP.507) Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

Guy Young, the founder of Ethena, rejoins the show to give us an update on Ethena and to discuss the nature of crypto interest rates.

In this episode:

Reflections on the Ethena launch
ETH funding rates versus ETH ETF expectations
Funding rates on crypto native exchanges versus CME
Why Ethena versus doing the cash and carry trade
At what point does Ethena start to drive down funding rates
The history of the cash and carry trade in crypto
Did yield farming represent a real form of yield?
Why is yield farming less viable today?
The ultimate convergence between tradfi and crypto yields
Where risk premia come from for Ethena versus the risk free rate
ETH taking yields and their development
Guy's concerns about Eigenlayer and its effect on DeFi
Interactions between real rates and crypto rates
Stablecoin supply versus tradfi interest rates
Crypto yields versus RWA supply
The share of stablecoins that is speculative in nature
Guy's expectations for the medium term future of crypto rates

Chase Lochmiller (Crusoe) on Powering the AI Revolution (EP.506) Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

Crusoe CEO and Co-Founder Chase Lochmiller joins us for an episode sharing an update on improving the efficiency of power production with on-site digital infrastructure. In this episode:

Solving the broken links between supply (flaring, renewables) and demand for energy (BTC, high performance compute)
Engineering a portfolio of applications to pair with different sources of energy
Aligning economic incentives with climate solutions
New hardware coming online and the impact to AI inference and training
Decentralized Airbnb for GPU networks – what works and what doesn't
Halvening impact on BTC Miners
Crusoe's climate impact

Weekly Roundup 02/23/24 (ECB's very bad blog, more bad boys, 3ac boys latest) (EP.505) Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

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

Wireless outage in the US
Russia's space weapons and Rods from God
Will the market like the cubes once again?
Brink nation farcaster update
Our ETH ETF skepticism
Circle leaves Tron
Revolving door between SEC and biglaw
Whip Emmer's letter to the OMB
The ECB's very bad, no good Bitcoin blog
Reddit hold Bitcoin and ETH
SBF's photoshoot
Latest on the 3AC boys
The SEC's mysterious ETF correlation analysis

Content mentioned in this episode:

ECB, ETF approval for bitcoin – the naked emperor's new clothes
Rep. Emmer letter to OMB over Bitcoin mining data request
NYMAG, 'They are very comfortable lying' 3AC update

Sponsor notes:

The Coin Metrics Team will be hosting a Data Challenge at ETH Denver! Learn more about the event & register for it here.
At the Crossroads: Bitcoin ETFs & Coinbase
In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 247, we zoom into the latest developments with Bitcoin ETFs and Coinbase Q4 2023 earnings

Weekly Roundup 02/16/24 (Treasury rebukes WSJ, BitVM, Ethereum ETF prospects) (EP.504) Feb 16, 2024

Show notes

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

On The Brink is now on Farcaster
The pitfalls of Web3 social
The boys have problem with seed phrases
Optimistic rollups on Bitcoin are now possible?
ETF flow updates
GBTC and Mt Gox flows
Why the halving may not be bullish
SEC vs Debt Box
Why we think an Ethereum ETF is unlikely
SAB121 update
The Treasury rebukes the WSJ's story on Hamas' use of crypto
Can John Deaton unseat Elizabeth Warren?

Sponsor notes:

Navigating the Avalanche: An Introduction to the Avalanche Network
In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 246, we navigate Avalanche's role in the digital asset ecosystem

Weekly Roundup 02/08/24 (OPNX closes, COPA case, more SAB121) (EP503) Feb 09, 2024

Show notes

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

OPNX is very sadly shutting down
Is jail good for you?
GBTC outflows are declining
Solicited versus unsolicited treatment of ETFs
The Bitcoin L2 space is heating up
The latest on COPA
We revisit the Satoshi is the NSA conspiracy
SAB121 stuff
The DoE's Bitcoin mining data collection emergency
What's happening with Farcaster?
Brink Nation joins Farcaster
Monero delisted from Binance
Solana outage this week

Content mentioned:

Fidelity Digital Assets, Q4 2023 Signals Report

Sponsor notes:

Ethereum's Dencun Upgrade
In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 245, we dive into the details of the Ethereum Dencun upgrade and highlight key indicators to monitor its success

Weekly Roundup 02/02/24 (FTX recovery, Bitcoin Season 2, Tether's Q4) (EP.502) Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

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

Where is the FTX tungsten cube?
FTX will make a 100% recovery for creditors
FTX 2.0 is not happening
The Genesis Digital Assets mystery
Tether's blockbuster quarter
Chris Larsen hacked
New legislative developments on SAB121
Bitcoin Season 2 is underway
The Biden admin is requesting information from Bitcoin miners
How anti-AI energy activism is revealing about the decel agenda
The CSW v COPA case is nearing trial
We reflect on the terrible CSW era
Elizabeth Warren letter watch
The SEC withdraws their case against DebtBox in shame

Content mentioned:

IEEE, Bezos Bucks? Get Ready for Corporate Digital Currency

Sponsor notes:

Conducting the ETH Census
In Coin Metrics State of the Network Issue 244, we highlight the complexities of calculating ETH's total supply and share our method for arriving at an accurate figure

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