Unchained

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The Chopping Block: Crypto’s Best and Worst in 2023 - Ep. 583 Dec 15, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, after an incredibly eventful year for crypto, The Chopping Block crew makes its picks for the best and worst of 2023, including its biggest winners and losers, biggest surprises, best memes, best or worst pivots, biggest flops, best comeback stories, favorite podcast guests and predictions for 2024. Hear why some in the gang consider Solana to be the year’s biggest winner, Circle the biggest loser, MicroStrategy the best and worst pivot, Coinbase the best comeback and a renewed boom in crypto lending one of the top predictions for 2024.

Hosts

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly
Robert Leshner, founder of Compound
Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly
Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Disclosures

Links

Surprises:

Flops:

Winners:

Memes:

Favorite guests:

Others

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Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs - Ep. 582 Dec 15, 2023

Show notes

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The long-awaited approval of a spot bitcoin ETF looks to be mere weeks away, and Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart joins Unchained to discuss the final issues and considerations, especially the battle over whether the new funds will feature in-kind vs. cash creation and redemptions, which appears to be one of the last main sticking points in negotiations between the SEC and fund companies. He also discusses the specific impact of an ETF approval on Grayscale, which runs the $26.6 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and why he thinks the SEC has thrown in the towel on trying to classify Ethereum as a security.

Show highlights:

Why James views the multitude of potential issuers meeting with the SEC as a positive sign for the future of ETFs
When James anticipates the ETFs will actually be listed on exchanges, which differs from their approval dates
The crucial differences between in-kind versus cash creation and redemptions in ETFs and their impact on market dynamics
How the choice of in-kind or cash creation and redemptions influences the overall cost structure of these financial products
Whether the current actions of ETF issuers suggest a "bending the knee" approach to the SEC's preference for cash creations and redemptions
How the selected ETF model will specifically impact Grayscale and the future of its GBTC offering
The potential strategies behind BlackRock's private trust, especially in terms of integrating its Bitcoin holdings into its prospective ETF
Why James holds a more cautious outlook for the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF compared to his confidence in Bitcoin ETFs

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Guest

James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF
Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10

Links

Previous coverage on spot Bitcoin ETFs:
How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection
Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10
Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF
The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF
Unchained:
Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work?
BlackRock Updates Bitcoin ETF Filing to Make Access Easier for Wall Street Banks
Understanding the ETF creation and redemption mechanism
Nate Geraci’s tweet on in-kind/cash
James comments “the people want in-kind”
James: “I think everyone is gonna have to bend the knee to cash creates and redeems.”
Eric Balchunas suggests the SEC is only letting cash-create ETFs launch initially

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How Binance Will Open All Its Activity to the U.S. Government - Ep. 581 Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

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The record $4.3 billion settlement reached between Binance and the U.S. government over charges of money laundering and sanctions violations calls for the world's largest crypto exchange to maintain an independent compliance monitor for the next five years. Michael Dawson, a partner at WilmerHale, and Dorothy DeWitt, founder and CEO of Tolt Strategies, a former director at the CFTC and former general counsel at Coinbase, dissect the intricacies of this arrangement, delving into the roles and responsibilities of the compliance monitor, the potential impact on Binance's operations and the broader implications for the crypto industry.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

what exactly is a compliance monitor, and why it's essential in the Binance settlement
which regulatory agencies the monitors report to and their significance
why the DOJ insisted on including a compliance monitor in its settlement with Binance
how Binance’s compliance monitor is expected to create a “ripple effect across the industry,” according to Michael
why Binance, despite being a non-U.S. entity, is subject to a U.S.-appointed monitor
Dorothy's perspective on why more monitorships might be appointed in the crypto industry going forward
how much the monitorship will cost Binance and the factors influencing their choice of monitor
whether the government will be able to discover other crimes with all this new information, which will be used by other agencies such as the IRS and the FBI
who might be appointed as the compliance monitor for Binance and why Michael favors Patrick McHenry
what constitutes the SAR lookback and AML program consultancy
what could happen when the government gets to look at all past transactions
what happens if the monitor discovers any wrongdoing within Binance
whether the monitorship is likely to impact Binance's business operations
advice from Dorothy and Michael for Binance's new CEO on navigating these challenges
why predicting the future of Changpeng Zhao, Binance's ex-CEO, is complex, according to Dorothy

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guests:

Michael Dawson, partner, Financial Institutions Group at WilmerHale
Dorothy DeWitt, founder and CEO of Tolt Strategies and former Director of the Division of Market Oversight at the CFTC

Links

Settlement

The CFTC’s guidance on monitorships

CFTC Releases Enforcement Advisory on Penalties, Monitors and Admissions

Other monitors at crypto companies

Coinbase (independent monitor): Press Release- January 3, 2023: Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris Announces $100 Million Settlement with Coinbase, Inc. after DFS Investigation Finds Significant Failings in the Company’s Compliance Program | Department of Financial Services
Robinhood Crypto (independent compliance consultant): Press Release- August 2, 2022: DFS Superintendent Harris Announces $30 Million Penalty on Robinhood Crypto for Significant Anti-Money Laundering, Cybersecurity & Consumer Protection Violations | Department of Financial Services (ny.gov)

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Market Forecaster Raoul Pal Says There’s a Good Chance Bitcoin Will Hit $100K-$200K in 2024 - Ep. 580 Dec 08, 2023

Show notes

Unchained is running its annual survey to better serve you.

Please answer our annual survey here.

The likely impending approval of spot bitcoin ETFs has already sparked a major rally in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but will the bull run continue once the funds are up and running? On this episode of Unchained, the founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor, Raoul Pal, describes why a spot bitcoin ETF is such a significant development, likening it to a free trade agreement with the traditional financial world. He also discusses what effect a spot Ether ETF is likely to have on Ether prices, the relative merits of Ether vs. Solana, the usefulness of BRC-20 tokens and why 2024 is likely to be a very good year for crypto and the economy as a whole.

Show highlights:

How Pal sees crypto as creating a new parallel financial system that a spot Bitcoin ETF will soon offer entrée to
what he believes will be the key catalysts for the upcoming bull market in crypto
why Raoul is predicting a "very strong 2024" for the crypto market, including his outlook for the price of Bitcoin
how he thinks investors and institutions will respond to the potential launch of an ETH spot ETF
why Raoul is bullish on both Ethereum and Solana
what developments in the Solana ecosystem are making Raoul particularly optimistic
which network Raoul expects to emerge as the winner in the blockchain space
why he views BRC-20s and Ordinals inscriptions as positive developments for Bitcoin

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest

Raoul Pal, cofounder and CEO of Real Vision

Links

Bitcoin ETF and markets:

Ordinals and BRC-20s

Solana vs. ETH

Unchained: Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans

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The Chopping Block: Top White Hat Hacker Samczsun Discusses the State of Crypto Security - Ep. 579 Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, they are joined by Samczsun, an anonymous security researcher at Paradigm, who delves into the intricacies of crypto security, ethical hacking and the shifting landscape of smart contract vulnerabilities. He also discusses his strong feelings about the “Code Is Law” philosophy and gives tips on how people in crypto can best protect their online security.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

what led Sam to a career in crypto security and his current role at Paradigm
how Sam uncovered one of crypto's most legendary vulnerabilities
why security experts like Sam choose the path of white hat hackers over black hats
The craziness of the KyberSwap hacker's proposal
parallels that Robert draws between this case and Avi Eisenberg's Mango Markets exploit
what advice Sam has for the KyberSwap hacker
whether Sam, as a security expert, trusts storing his money on-chain
how the Platypus hack ruling by a French judge challenges the 'Code Is Law' philosophy
what the Security Alliance aims to achieve and its impact on the industry
how Sam suggests individuals should practice personal crypto security, including the importance of using password managers and hardware wallets, and avoiding SMS two-factor authentication

Hosts

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly
Robert Leshner, founder of Compound and Superstate
Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly

Disclosures

Guest:

Samczsun, security researcher at Paradigm

Links

Hacks

Episode with Ogle: The Chopping Block: How This DeFi Hack Negotiator Gets Hackers to Return Stolen Money
Unchained: $48 Million Drained from KyberSwap in Hack
Kyberswap hacker's latest message
Cointelegraph:
KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for return of $46M loot
Platypus exploiters walk free after claiming to be ‘ethical hackers’

Code is law:

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Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans - Ep. 578 Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

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Please answer our annual survey here.

Solana’s native token SOL has been one of the best-performing cryptos of the year, up more than 500% so far, but you wouldn’t have guessed that would be the case given how closely tied the blockchain was to FTX, which held huge amounts of SOL and was a big supporter of the platform. The blockchain also experienced numerous outages in 2022. But Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana’s co-founder, says the discipline imposed by FTX’s collapse, as well as improvements to the technology, have made Solana stronger.

On this episode of Unchained, Yakovenko talks about the impact of FTX’s collapse, his early impressions of Sam Bankman-Fried, the SEC’s designation of SOL as a security, how entrepreneurs are leaving the U.S. because of the regulatory risk, SOL’s share of the stablecoin market, and why he thinks it’s inevitable that finance will eventually run on something like Solana.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

How the Solana ecosystem weathered the FTX crisis
How FTX’s collapse was like ripping off a band-aid for Solana
Anatoly's initial impression of SBF as a “super genius”
Why, despite SOL's strong 2023 performance, the Solana ecosystem hasn't experienced a corresponding growth in active developers
What factors Anatoly believes contribute to the relatively low number of daily active wallet addresses in Solana
How Solana addressed and rectified the outage issues that were so frequent in previous years
Why Anatoly draws a parallel between Ethereum and Windows 95, and Solana and Windows 2000
Why he's not worried about Jump Crypto building a client for the blockchain
The ongoing debate within Solana on open-source versus closed-source culture, and the potential for future shifts
How the Solana Foundation is handling the SEC's classification of SOL as a security
Whether there's a trend of developers and founders relocating from the United States in search of a more supportive ecosystem
Why Solana holds a low market share of stablecoins across various blockchains, and the implications of this trend
Why Anatoly considers trading volume a more critical metric than Total Value Locked (TVL) in assessing blockchain success
How Web3 gaming has been flourishing on Solana
Why Anatoly is confident that DeFi will find its rightful place on the Solana network
The future plans for the Saga phone after its market challenges
What Anatoly thinks is the number one focus for Solana for the near term

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest:

Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-founder of Solana Labs
Previous appearance on Unchained: Will Solana Be the Execution Layer and Ethereum the Settlement Layer?
Previous appearance on Unchained: Can Solana Seize Marketshare From Ethereum With Serum?
Previous appearance on The Chopping Block: Anatoly Yakovenko on Why Solana Is Building the SAGA

Links

Unchained: Solana Saga review
Decrypt: Mad Lads NFTs Hit All-Time High as Backpack Taps FTX Lawyer for Exchange Launch
Op-ed by Anatoly on Fortune: Solana co-founder: 'To keep the next great American founder in America, Congress must regulate crypto. But first lawmakers should learn how it works'

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The Chopping Block: How This DeFi Hack Negotiator Gets Hackers to Return Stolen Money Ep. 577 Dec 01, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang sits down with Ogle Crypto, a veteran negotiator in crypto hacks, to discuss the recent KyberSwap exploit, which involved an almost $50 million loss across various chains.

Ogle shares how he initially became a negotiator, including his first case in which he tracked down a group of hackers from Hong Kong when they fled to Great Britain after stealing $24 million in funds. Ogle also shares his negotiation tactics, the typical profile of hackers he encounters today and his empathetic approach towards these often young and financially struggling individuals.

Then the group raises concerns around the hype and marketing strategies of Blast, a new Layer 2 on Ethereum offering “native yields” that achieved $620 million of TVL in less than two weeks.

Show highlights:

How KyberSwap's sophisticated security was breached, resulting in an almost $50 million loss across various blockchain networks.
Why Tarun suspects the behind-the-scenes workings of an organized group, rather than a lone attacker, in the KyberSwap incident.
The evolution of crypto hacks towards more systematic and professional negotiations with hackers.
Ogle's journey into the world of crypto hack negotiations, highlighted by a fascinating case of pinpointing hackers who had fled Hong Kong.
Ogle's strategic approach to negotiating with hackers, balancing empathy and tactical communication.
Profiling the typical hackers in these scenarios, focusing on their youth, origins, and backgrounds.
Ogle's perspective on why he often finds a sense of understanding towards these young, misguided hackers.
Assessing the crypto industry's response to white hat hackers: Are they adequately rewarded for safeguarding the digital frontier?
The curious surge of investments into Blast, Ethereum's new Layer 2 contender, amidst swirling concerns and skepticism.
Robert's take on why the Blast phenomenon could signal a troubling trend, surpassing the chaos of 2017, paralleled by Tarun's analogy to a “decentralized Herbalife.”
Were Blast’s marketing tactics misleading or merely overly optimistic?

Hosts

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly
Robert Leshner, founder of Compound
Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly
Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Disclosures

Guest

Ogle Crypto, Crypto sleuth and negotiator

Links

Hacks

Unchained: $48 Million Drained from KyberSwap in Hack
Kyberswap’s hacker latest message
HackerNoon: Mark Cuban's Bane: How Iron Finance's $TITAN Crypto Crashed From $60 to $0
Cointelegraph: KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for return of $46M loot

Blast

Unchained: Blast Surges to $300M TVL, Rapidly Gaining on Top Ethereum L2s Amid Concerns
DefiLlama: Blast TVL

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Why Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Is So Pro-Crypto - Ep. 576 Dec 01, 2023

Show notes

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Please answer our annual survey here.

Vivek Ramaswamy is likely the biggest supporter of crypto among the current crop of presidential candidates. But his enthusiasm comes not from an inherent love of the technology or its principles themselves, but a dissatisfaction with what he calls the “administrative state” that’s stifled innovation in a number of important industries, crypto among them.

On this episode of Unchained, Ramaswamy discusses his radical plan to slash the number of people working at federal agencies; his three-point crypto policy plan based on the freedom to code as a protected form of expression, the freedom of financial self-reliance, and the freedom to innovate free from regulatory overreach; why the current orientation of the U.S. government towards regulation of the crypto industry by enforcement isn’t helping anyone; his plans to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities that could eventually include Bitcoin; why he’s so opposed to central bank digital currencies; and what industries he thinks could benefit from the use of blockchain technology.

Show highlights:

how Vivek, who has a background in biotech, fell down the “crypto rabbit hole”
how the administrative branch of government doesn't work like it's supposed to, according to Vivek
why he believes the government poses a threat to the future of crypto
how he would respond to a situation in which the code of a smart contract is exploited
how Vivek would prevent the use of crypto for illicit ends
why he thinks that the current status quo in terms of crypto regulation is the “worst of all worlds”
Vivek’s plan to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities, potentially including Bitcoin
why he is so against the creation of a central bank digital currency in the U.S.
how blockchain technology can be used to help the U.S. maintain its technological supremacy

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest

Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 U.S. Presidential Candidate
Vivek on The Chopping Block: Why Vivek Ramaswamy Wants Less Crypto Regulation

Links

Original speech unveiling his crypto policy plan at the North American Blockchain Summit 2023
Unchained: GOP Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Makes the Case for Reduced Crypto Regulation
Bloomberg: Ramaswamy’s Crypto Deregulation Plan Is Scaring the Industry
CoinDesk: Ramaswamy Shares Crypto Plan, Making Him the Only GOP Candidate Who Has One

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Why the Crypto Industry Is So Upset About the IRS’ Proposed New Tax Reporting Rules - Ep. 575 Nov 28, 2023

Show notes

The IRS sparked a storm of controversy when it released proposed new rules for crypto transaction reporting earlier this year. The new rules seek to define who is considered a broker, what types of transactions need to get reported, and the kinds of digital assets that need to be included, but many in the industry consider them overly broad and ultimately unworkable.

Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase, and Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at tax software firm CoinTracker, discuss the crypto industry’s specific objections to the proposed new rules, and what might be a better way forward. They also delve into how the regulations would apply to stablecoins and NFTs, potential blockchain-based solutions for the reporting requirements, and what the likely outlook and timeline for the proposals to come into effect are.

Show highlights:

What the newly proposed IRS regulations around crypto are and when they are likely to go into effect
what entities qualify as a broker and why this may pose a problem
what the implications for the industry are if these regulations were passed
the number of additional reports the IRS is expecting to receive if these regulations are adopted
how the regulations would apply to stablecoins and NFTs
what the five types of brokers are under the proposed regulations and the three types that they exclude, according to Shehan
the unprecedented amount of comments submitted
what suggestions Coinbase and CoinTracker have in mind for better tax regulation
why Lawrence thinks that DeFi exchanges should be treated the same as centralized ones
whether people should have privacy concerns about the new proposals
what some blockchain-based solutions for tax reporting are, such as attestation tokens
what the next steps for the IRS proposed regulation are
how long it will take to actually implement these regulations

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guests:

Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker
Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase

Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto taxes, with appearances from Shehan and Lawrence:

Proposed rule:

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Sam Bankman-Fried Whisperer Tiffany Fong Spills Some Tea - Ep. 574 Nov 24, 2023

Show notes

Tiffany Fong has had an unusual route to crypto fame. After losing most of her life savings in the Celsius bankruptcy, she began posting on YouTube about her experiences and eventually received some leaked documents, which she shared with The New York Times and on her channel. The leaks gave her some visibility, and that’s when Sam Bankman-Fried began following her on Twitter.

Fong unexpectedly managed to carve out a relationship with the one-time crypto mogul, and after he was arrested last November, she chatted often and even met with him while he was under house arrest. From there, she became known for posting details of her conversations with Bankman-Fried and documents he shared with her, and went on to attend every day of his trial in person and do videos on them.

On this episode of Unchained, Fong shares why she thinks SBF opened up to her, whether she ever had a romantic relationship with him, her unpleasant encounter with Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother at the trial, why she doesn’t really consider herself a crypto influencer, and what her plans are now that the trial is over.

Show highlights:

what Tiffany did before getting into crypto
how Tiffany lost most of her life savings in the Celsius bankruptcy and how that jumpstarted her journey into the content creation space
how she got in touch with Sam Bankman-Fried and got him to speak with her after FTX’s collapse
the conversations Tiffany had with SBF during his house arrest
Tiffany's response to the rumors about a romantic relationship with SBF
how Tiffany reacted to the DOJ reaching out to her for information before the SBF trial
why she decided to go to the courtroom every day during the SBF trial
Tiffany’s unpleasant encounter with SBF's mom, Barbara Fried
how Tiffany feels about crypto, and why she doesn’t consider herself a "crypto influencer"
what Tiffany’s career plans are now that the SBF trial is over

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Guest

Tiffany Fong, Crypto content creator

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