On The Brink with Castle Island

Latest Episodes:

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) on FTX, the SEC, and the House Crypto Agenda for 2023 (EP.382) Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

Minnesota Representative and newly elected House Whip Tom Emmer joins the show for a discussion of the FTX fallout, the House hearings, the SEC's behavior throughout the process, and developments in the House looking ahead to 2023.

Rep. Emmer's thoughts on the House hearing with John Ray
How the FTX collapse was about a failure of centralization
How the timing of the SBF arrest was not coincidental - and who had an incentive to stop SBF testifying
Why the Bahamian authorities may not have wanted SBF to testify
The meaning of Rep. Emmer's march letter to Gensler and the SEC
Chairman Gensler's role in the FTX scandal
Has Gensler been concealing his calendar from the public?
Gensler's poor track record over the crypto crisis
Oddly close links between SEC Chair Gensler, FTX, and subsidiary exchange IEX
House Republicans will gain the subpoena authority in the next legislative session and what they will do with it
What are some of Emmer's responsibilities in his new role as Majority Whip? The importance of Rep. McHenry taking charge of the House financial services committee
What are the prospects for stablecoin legislation?
McHenry's likely crypto agenda for the new session
Rep. Emmer's commitment to financial privacy
Senator Warren's draft legislation and risks to the crypto ecosystem
The importance of Rep. Emmer's Securities Clarity Act
Modernizing a securities regulation regime for crypto
How are Rep. Emmer's colleagues reacting to the FTX crisis
The role of journalists in assessing the FTX situation

Content mentioned in the episode

Rep. Emmer & colleagues original March '22 letter to SEC Chair Gensler
Rep. Emmer's annotations of the March letter in response to Gensler's criticisms

Weekly Roundup 12/16/22 (SBF Arrest, Binance's 'Bank run', Gensler, FTX, and IEX) (EP.381) Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

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

Is SBF currently interned in a top 5 prison on earth?
SBF is finally arrested
We enumerate the charges from the SEC, CFTC, and DOJ
What kind of sentence could Sam be looking at here?
The CFTC's interesting argument for standing over FTX
SBF is charged is campaign finance violations Confirming that Alameda did have latency and other advantages trading on FTX
SBF's parents face growing scrutiny
What's the deal with Gensler's calendar?
Gensler comes under more scrunity for his FTX/IEX meetings
Mr. John Ray is a new star of CT
We have a new possible category for bad boys
McCaffrey resigns from The Block after revealing loans from SBF
Elizabeth Warren proposed a hostile anti-crypto bill
Do Kwon is reportedly in Serbia
The DOJ is reportedly split over charging Binance
What's the deal with the Binance 'bank run'?

Sponsor notes:

Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Weekly Roundup 12/08/22 (FTX's Venture Portfolio, SBF's mining investment, BlockFi retrospective) (EP.380) Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

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

Brink Nation's surprising fan club in Bali
We investigate FTX's leaked private equity portfolio
FTX employees were raising LP money for funds from FTX
Why was FTX acting as a fund of funds?
What is modulo capital
The Michael Lewis - IEX - FTX troika
Why did FTX invest $1b+ in Genesis Digital Assets?
SBF's possible incentive to invest heavily in a BTC miner
How FTX's mining investment disadvantaged other BTC miners
Who has the size to buy up FTX's private equity portfolio?
Sam and Caroline secure high powered attorneys
The Boston Globe's Caroline Ellison article
We correct the record on BlockFi
Restating the core issues with 3AC
Democrats are criticizing Gensler for his inaction on FTX
What's the deal with Sam's subpoena?
What's the deal with the Coindesk most influential
Does PoS make Ethereum a security?
What's the deal with the Castle Island merch store?

Sponsor notes:

Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

John Palmer (CBOE Digital) on Regulated Digital Asset Derivatives (EP.379) Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

John Palmer, the CEO of CBOE Digital joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

John's career and the path that led him to CBOE Digital.
The history of CBOE Digital, including the acquisition of ErisX and the company's recent funding round.
CBOE Digital's product approach.
The regulatory landscape in the United States and how CBOE is positioned vs. offshore unregulated venues.
The impact of the FTX fraud on the broader market.
Upcoming product and company plans.

To learn more about CBOE Digital visit CBOEDigital.com

Robert Miller (Flashbots) on Decentralizing Block Building with SUAVE (EP.378) Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Ria is joined by Robert Miller, Steward at Flashbots, which is a research and development organization with the aim to reduce the negative externalities and risks posed by MEV, or maximal extractable value.

We cover:

The MEV supply chain and how it's evolved as Ethereum transitioned from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake
The new challenges and risk vectors that have emerged as a result of the transition, notably around decentralization and censorship resistance
The tools Flashbots has proposed and implemented in response, such as Flashbots Auction, MEV Geth, MEV Boost, and the open sourcing of these tools to foster a competitive market
The risk posed by exclusive order flow and cross domain MEV in centralizing block building
The latest endeavor of the organization to decentralize block building using a new network - SUAVE (the single unifying auction for value expression)

Research mentioned:

Order flow, auctions and centralisation - Quintus
Flashbots – The Good, Bad and the Ugly of MEV

Weekly Roundup 12/01/22 (Is SBF playing the media, more Bad Boys, Binance's Proof of Reserve) (EP.377) Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

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

Tether collapse scenarios
The wrapped Bitcoin issue
Ria and others are named Forbes 30 under 30
Sam is still not in jail
Sam's hidden media strategy
How Sam could be positioning himself for the case
Was FTX really a case of negligence or was it fraud?
Sam is muddying the waters
Sam Trubucco is our bad boy of the week
Should the US really annex the Bahamas?
Members of CT are running around Nassau looking for Sam
Should the US be pressuring the Bahamas for more action here?
Beto returns his FTX donation
The CFTC met with FTX 10 times
The SEC's culpability in the FTX scandal
The Farmington Bank acquisition scandal
Did Sam Trubucco and Caroline really not know about the malfeasance?
SBF is throwing his former colleagues under the bus
Kyle Davies' embarassing attempted comeback
What's the fate of the charity boxing match?
Casa rolls out support for Ethereum
Binance rolls out a Proof of Reserve - but it has issues

Content mentioned:

NYMAG, Interview with SBF

Sponsor notes:

Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Mahesh Ramakrishnan (Escape Velocity) on Decentralized Wireless (EP.376) Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

Mahesh Ramakrishnan of Escape Velocity joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

Mahesh's career in traditional financial services and the path that led him to launching Escape Velocity.
The decentralized wireless market and how it is likely to evolve.
How tokenized protocols and USD stablecoins are likely to play a role in this evolution.
How incumbents are positioned in this emerging category.
Views on FTX and how that impacts the market more broadly.

To learn more about Escape Velocity visit www.EV3.xyz.

Mike Belshe (BitGo) on FTX and the impact on crypto market structure (EP.375) Nov 28, 2022

Show notes

Mike Belshe, co-founder and CEO of BitGo joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

Mike's thoughts on FTX and the unfolding fraud case.
His views on crypto market structure and how it is likely to evolve in the face of the FTX collapse.
The regulatory landscape and the path forward for spot market regulation.
Views on the MPC custody landscape and advances in zero knowledge cryptography.

To learn more about BitGo visit bitgo.com

Weekly Roundup 11/24/22 (SBF is at large, DCG's fate, what we are thankful for) (EP.374) Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

Matt and Nic return for a Thanksgiving episode of OTB. In this episode:

Liz Warren writes her first good letter ever?
SBF is striking a defiant tone
Sam's new letter to employees
Is the Alameda/FTX situation really that complicated?
Sam's parents bought tens of millions worth of Bahamas property
The Bahamas steps in and seizes some funds
Should the US annex the Bahamas?
Should the US use 'extraordinary rendition' on SBF?
Is this the death of meme rounds of financings?
Semafor reports on SBF without disclosing that he was an investor
Was FTX 'just a classic bank run'?
Why don't journalists understand that the FTX situation was fraud?
Where are the Bahamas prosecutors in all this?
Further contagion in the crypto lending market
What is to become of DCG?
Could Grayscale use Reg M to do GBTC redemptions?
NY Governor Kathy Hochul finally signs a moratorium on Bitcoin mining
OkX launches a Proof of Reserve
Who are we thankful for?

Sponsor notes:

Talos powers institutional access to the entire digital assets ecosystem via a single-point of entry. Connect directly to your preferred prime brokers, lenders, investors, custodians, exchanges, OTC desks and more, or meet them on Talos. Get started at Talos.com
Subscribe to the Coin Metrics State of the Network newsletter

Travis Scher on the FTX impact on Crypto VC (EP.373) Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

Travis Scher, co-founder of North Island Ventures joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

Travis' investing career including his tenure at DCG and his path to founded North Island Ventures.
How Travis initially met SBF and his reasons for passing on the deal.
Analysis of the bankruptcy process and the likely second order impacts.
How this event will change the early crypto VC landscape.

To learn more visit northisland.ventures and follow Travis on Twitter.

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