The Crypto Conversation

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Manifold - Enabling digital creative sovereignty Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

Richerd is a professional NFT Degen, a smART contract artist, and the co-founder of Manifold. Manifold enables web3 creators to have true creative ownership, preserve on-chain provenance, and interoperate with all major NFT marketplaces.

Why you should listen:

Manifold Creator includes a powerful extension framework that allows creators to install blockchain "apps" into their creator contract. This allows creators to create products beyond just visual and audio NFTs and support features beyond just minting.

Manifold Studio combines the power of a Manifold Creator Contract with a seamless user interface to mint your own NFTs with zero coding required. Manifold Studio allows creators to mint original high-quality NFTs while retaining true ownership and provenance of their work.

Manifold is advocating for what's called creative sovereignty, the idea that as a creator, you have full ownership over your creative output.

Supporting links:

Manifold

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KIRA - Connecting decentralized Web3 applications Feb 15, 2022

Show notes

Milana Valmont and Mateusz Grzelak are the co-founders of KIRA, a financial hub connecting decentralized Web3 applications.

Why you should listen:

KIRA is a decentralized network secured by both cryptocurrencies and real-world assets at stake thanks to its proprietary Multi-Bonded-Proof-of-Stake (MBPoS) consensus mechanism. Positioned within the Interchain and Web3 ecosystems KIRA makes it safer and easier to gain access to decentralized financial applications and unlock the economic potential of your capital to generate yield.

As part of the Web3 stack, KIRA enables value settlement between dApps and the largest interconnected networks in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Supporting links:

Kira Network

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Earn Yield with NZDS - the New Zealand Dollar stablecoin Feb 15, 2022

Show notes

Fran Strajnar is the co-founder of Techemynt, the issuer of the NZDS, a New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Stable Coin backed 1:1 with physical New Zealand Dollars in a cash and cash equivalent treasury managed by a New Zealand registered financial services provider.

Guest:

Fran Strajnar

Why you should listen:

NZDS was launched in March 2021 by Techemynt, a registered New Zealand Financial Services provider, using the FiatToken framework developed by Centre that is the basis for USD-Coin (USDC).

New Zealand's currency is a leader in adaptability, resilience, and market trustworthiness. NZD is the 10th most traded currency globally. The NZDS stable coin offers cryptocurrency users the stability and utility of the New Zealand Dollar with the versatility of a cryptocurrency.

The NZDS can be used through a variety of Ethereum wallets including Metamask. Once added to an Ethereum wallet, the NZDS token can be used for making payments and interacting with a variety of applications on the Ethereum blockchain network.

An example of a decentralized application where NZDS can be used is on DFX, a stablecoin exchange, and finance platform. High yield is available for liquidity providers. The NZDS/USDC pool on the Automated Market Maker-based decentralized exchange, DFX, offers liquidity providers APYs of 10-25%. This is impressive given the average rate for 1-5 year term deposits in New Zealand is ~3%. The pool currently has US$4.2 million worth of assets locked into it by the DFX community.

Supporting links:

Techemynt

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Bitcoin Jumps - And the markets roar back into life Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

Andy Pickering is here with a weekly crypto market update where we look through the volatile world of Crypto Twitter to tease out the most important narratives and data points.

Bitcoin is back above $44,500 and firmly in an uptrend for the first time since November. Plus, the strange circumstances surrounding the theft of 120,000 Bitcoin from Bitfinex back in 2016. Heather Morgan, one of the two people arrested after the DOJ recovered the Bitcoin is a rapper who describes herself as an expert in social engineering.

Supporting links:

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Lepricon - Accelerating the blockchain gaming revolution Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

Phil Ingram is CMO of Lepricon, a community-governed games platform working to accelerate the blockchain gaming revolution.

Guest:

Phil Ingram

Why you should listen:

Lepricon is a blockchain-driven ecosystem of DeFi, games, and NFTs delivered on their gas-free Ethereum compatible side chain, Leprichain. Lepricon believe that the world of video games, from AAA titles for PC and console to the casual games you play on your phone, will be the first killer on-ramp to blockchain for mainstream audiences. Lepricon's mission is to provide the technology and know-how that enables mainstream game developers to incorporate blockchain into their games to improve player utility and experience.

Key takeaway:

While blockchain gaming and 'Play to Earn', is all the rage, it has limitations and does not appeal to traditional gamers. The real opportunity is when the gaming industry adopts blockchain. This monumental change will lead to player-run economies with tens of millions of players, not tens of thousands. However, for this to happen, the technology has to develop to meet the needs of the consumer. It has to be about the game, not blockchain. It's the experience that matters, not the technology. Technologies that allow AAA game developers to incorporate blockchain utility into their games will need to move beyond the ideology of DeFi, and the complex interplay of wallets and expensive NFT sales that count as the onboarding process. Players should not notice the difference when getting into a new game for the first time from any game they have played before, just the extra things they can do in their new player-owned economy.

Supporting links:

Lepricon

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Signal to Noise - Nansen provides radical transparency of blockchain analytics Feb 08, 2022

Show notes

Alex Svanevik is CEO of Nansen, an analytics platform for smart contract blockchains. Nansen combines on-chain data with a database of millions of wallet addresses. Nansen helps institutional and retail investors surface the signal from the noise.

Guest:

Alex Svanevik

Why you should listen:

Alex Svanevik is the CEO of Nansen. Nansen gives its users better understanding of the activity of different participants on a blockchain network. Using Nansen dashboards users can get unique insights into different sectors of the market such as DeFi and NFTs, such as what the smart money and biggest wallets are doing.

Key takeaway:

Blockchains represent radical transparency. Investors are able to get real-time direct access to what is happening in the markets, something that is not available in the traditional markets. This radical transparency has advantages and disadvantages. On the negative side, some entities would prefer to hide their movements, whether that be purchases, investments or trades, so there is a lack of privacy to some degree. On the positive side, this transparency creates a higher degree of trust, and we can see what other entities are doing on-chain.

Supporting links:

Nansen

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Defactor - The gateway to DeFi Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

Alejandro Gutierrez is Co-Founder and Operations Lead at Defactor, an integration layer and suite of tools for traditional businesses to leverage Defi using the systems they already have in place.

Why you should listen:

Defactor is a bridge between decentralized and traditional finance. Defactor is an integration layer and suite of tools for traditional businesses to leverage Defi using the systems and processes which they already have in place. The platform enables asset originators to digitise their data and plug into the liquidity available through defi lending protocols.

Defactor developed Springpad to help SMEs determine if DeFi is right for them. Springpad runs every quarter.

Supporting links:

Defactor

Springpad

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Beyond VR - Building Fluf Burrows and other metaverses Feb 02, 2022

Show notes

Jessica Manins and Anton Mitchell are co-founders of Beyond a VR studio in Wellington, New Zealand. Beyond has worked with Weta Workshop, and now Flufworld, to create the Burrows, the 3D VR immersive environments for the Flufworld NFTs to live.

Why you should listen:

Concept designer Imery Watson (Lord of the Rings, Batman Begins, Sweeney Todd, and Guardians of the Galaxy) created the concepts for Flufworld Burrows. The Jessica and Anton and the Beyond team used a variety of tooling including the Unrreal Engine to evolve the concepts into 3D environments. iOS and Android apps will be released in February with the full VR experience to follow later this year.

The top tier burrow is a collab with Snoop Dogg that features a nightclub and production studio.

Supporting links:

Beyond

Burrows

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The Bitcoin Bond - El Salvador's Volcano Bond is here Feb 01, 2022

Show notes

Paolo Ardoino is CTO at Bitfinex and Tether. Paolo and the team at Bitfinex Securities have worked with Blockstream and Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador to create the Bitcoin Bond. This is a key component in El Salvador's Bitcoin strategy.

Why you should listen:

Bitfinex Securities is a unique way for the modern trader to access tokenized equities, bonds, and investment funds.

iFinex Inc., the parent company of Bitfinex has entered into an agreement with the Government of El Salvador to create digitized financial instruments to promote the growth of the cryptocurrency sector in El Salvador.

The $1 billion "Bitcoin Bond" will be issued on the Liquid Network. The $1 billion US raised will be split between a $500M allocation of bitcoin (BTC) and a $500M infrastructure spend for building out energy and Bitcoin mining infrastructure in El Salvador.

Plus hear Paolo's favorite science-fiction, his opinions on the importance of the Lightning Network, and whether other nation states are poised to follow El Salvador's lead.

Supporting links:

Bitfinex