Unchained

Latest Episodes:

Anita Posch on Why ‘Bitcoin Is a Tool for Freedom’ – Especially in Africa - Ep. 531 Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

Educator Anita Posch has spent months on the ground in Africa onboarding new users into the world of Bitcoin. In the West, bitcoin may seem extraneous; but in her telling, bitcoin in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other African countries is essential. “Bitcoin can be one of the solutions for people who are disempowered, who are outlawed, the misfits,” says Posch. “Bitcoin is for them because no one can take it away from you.”

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:

what Anita does for Bitcoin education and why she was inspired to do this
how people in developing countries are constantly getting scammed
how the Central Bank of Zimbabwe acts as an intermediary in business operations
whether people in these countries use BTC or stablecoins for their day to day expenses
what the differences are between the several Bitcoin communities around the world
how in Zimbabwe people could get arrested for transacting in Bitcoin
why Bitcoin is essential to human rights, according to Anita
whether Bitcoin can help to tackle the issue of discrimination against women, particularly in finance
why Anita is “very sad” about the launch of Worldcoin
why she was against Bitcoin Ordinals in the first place and whether she has changed her mind
what Anita’s new Bitcoin learning program aims to accomplish

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest:

Anita Posch, founder of Bitcoin for Fairness, author of (L)earn Bitcoin, and host of the Anita Posch show.
Online Learning and Scholarship Program
Website
45min Documentary: How Bitcoin Enforces Human Rights
13 min Keynote: Bitcoin empowers Africa and Africans empower Bitcoin

Links

Previous coverage of Unchained mentioned in the episode:
Orb Outrage: Worldcoin Cofounder Defends Project Amid Backlash
Why CoinFund Believes Worldcoin Could Become More Popular Than Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s BRC-20 Mania: Is It Sustainable?

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Will PayPal's PYUSD Steal Market Share From Tether and Circle? - Ep. 530 Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

A major player has entered the stablecoin wars. PayPal went deeper down the crypto rabbithole this week with the launch of its Ethereum-based PYUSD. The dollar-backed stablecoin now puts PayPal in competition with the likes of Tether and Circle for quickly sending value around the world on-chain. José Fernández da Ponte, PayPal’s crypto SVP, joins the show to unpack how the fintech giant is building a long-term strategy around blockchain-based payments.

Show highlights:

why PayPal decided to launch a stablecoin
how long it will take for stablecoins to reach mainstream adoption and what the advantages of stablecoins are
how PYUSD will differentiate from other giants in the stablecoin space such as USDT and USDC
whether the U.S. stablecoin bill influenced the launch of PYUSD
why stablecoins should be regulated at the state level
whether PayPal plans to launch stablecoins pegged to other fiat currencies
how Paxos will provide attestation reports for PYUSD
why Jose thinks gaming is a huge opportunity for stablecoin payments
what the rationale was for launching an ERC-20 on Ethereum
how PayPal plans to monetize the stablecoin
why PayPal’s expectations for PYUSD in the short-term are “moderate”

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest

José Fernández da Ponte, SVP of Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal

Links

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The Chopping Block: Curve Crisis Concludes With a Whimper, PayPal’s PYUSD Raises New Questions - Ep. 529 Aug 10, 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, a quiet conclusion to that Curve thing everyone was animated about. Plus, major developments from Web2 giant PayPal as it continues its journey down the crypto rabbithole. Also, is Maker’s juiced DAI Savings Rate the new Anchor? The gang discusses.

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

Show highlights:

how The Chopping Block got that sweet, sweet Red Bull money
what to make of the Curve hacker’s message after they returned the funds
does Curve trying to dox the hacker proves that Arkham’s model is right?
the lessons from the Curve situation and whether DeFi needs to change
how DeFi protocols could prevent situations where a single entity holds a significant percentage of a token’s total supply
how the enhanced DAI Savings Rate triggered PTSD from other stablecoins (ahem, Anchor)
what the consequences are of increasing the DSR
the gang’s prediction on how much PYUSD will be minted by the end of 2023

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

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Orb Outrage: Worldcoin Cofounder Defends Project Amid Backlash - Ep. 528 Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

Worldcoin is getting hit from all sides. Following a popular launch in late July, critics from the crypto community and public sector alike are coming out in droves with concerns about privacy, data protection, and tokenomics. Worldcoin co-founder Alex Blania joins the show to address the recent criticism and reiterate the project’s lofty goals. “It sounds crazy,” he said, “so you really need to understand the technology to understand why it’s not concerning.

Show highlights:

why Worldcoin believes in the idea of a universal basic income (UBI)
how World ID actually works, from the initial “orb” scan to actually using the app
Alex’s comments on the rise of a black market for World IDs
whether Worldcoin is storing people’s biometric data
how people don’t really understand the nuances of getting their irises scanned and why it’s fine that the “average person will not understand how crypto works,” according to Alex
whether Worldcoin took into consideration the various regulations around the world
what the purpose of the WLD token is
why the project decided to launch the token with a low float
how Alex got convinced to join Worldcoin and become one of its leaders
why Alex believes that Worldcoin will become a “very powerful technology” that will be the main project for onboarding people to crypto

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest:

Alex Blania, cofounder of Worldcoin
Previous appearances on Unchained: Is Sam Altman's Worldcoin the End of People's Privacy?

Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on Worldcoin: Why CoinFund Believes Worldcoin Could Become More Popular Than Bitcoin
Unchained:
Worldcoin Can Be More ‘Widely Distributed’ Than Bitcoin, CoinFund Executives Say
Worldcoin Launches Token on Mainnet, Plans to Deploy 1,500 Eyeball Scanning Orbs
Is Sam Altman's Worldcoin the End of People's Privacy?
CoinDesk:
Worldcoin Could Enable Wider Distribution of Crypto Than Even Bitcoin, Says CoinFund
Worldcoin Releases Tokenomics, Report Geofenced for Some Countries
The Block: German authorities probe Worldcoin project over privacy: Reuters
Reuters: Kenyan government suspends activities of Worldcoin in country
Rest of World:Why are people lining up for Worldcoin eyeball scans? “Easy $50,”
What do I think about biometric proof of personhood? By Vitalik Buterin
MIT Technology Review: Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users
Ouriel Ohayon’s video

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What Does the Curve Crisis Say About DeFi? - Ep. 527 Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

While it’s now mostly contained, the Curve crisis has exposed some of the systemic risks in the world of DeFi. Sam Kazemian, founder of Frax Finance, joins the show to discuss what DeFi needs to do to get better – and what builders should learn from a novel attack that was ultimately about much more than $50 million in drained funds.

Show highlights:

how the Curve exploit occurred and why this hack is different
how the attack triggered a crisis in major lending platforms like Aave, Fraxlend, and Abracadabra
what Curve founder Michael Egorov’s solution was to the potential liquidation of his several loans
whether this situation proves that DeFi is not as good as promised
what can be done to prevent these kinds of issues in the future, particularly with large loans in DeFi that could potentially bring down the ecosystem

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest

Sam Kazemian, founder of Frax Finance

Links

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The Chopping Block: Who’s to Blame for the Curve Hack? - Ep. 526 Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, Laurence Day, smart-contract sleuth and co-founder of Wildcat Finance, joins the show to discuss the ramifications of the Curve Finance exploit that has the DeFi world talking.

Show highlights:

how Curve Finance, one of the most prominent DeFi protocols, got hacked
why maintaining different coding languages and clients is so hard
whether developers are responsible for this kind of attack
whether Curve founder Michael Egorov’s loans in Aave and Fraxlend have put DeFi at risk
how the loan in Fraxlend impacted the liquidation price of the Aave loan
Tarun’s reaction to the situation, given that his firm Gauntlet has tried to mitigate these risks in the past
how people in the community worked together to keep DeFi safe and resilient
why Tarun got canceled on LinkedIn
what happened with the BALD meme coin mania on Base

Hosts

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly
Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly
Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Guest:

Laurence Day, co-founder of Wildcat Finance

Disclosures

Links

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Why CoinFund Believes Worldcoin Could Become More Popular Than Bitcoin - Ep. 525 Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

CoinFund’s Jake Brukhman and Chris Perkins join Unchained to dissect their recent $158 million seed round and the transformation of the investment landscape following the 2022 crypto carnage. As backers of Worldcoin, they confront criticisms about the project's approach of distributing money to individuals who may not fully comprehend the underlying technology. They also delve into why the Coinbase lawsuit could potentially boost the industry, share their perspectives on current crypto legislation, and explore the intersection of AI and crypto.

Show highlights:

how the fundraising crypto environment changed this past year after the 2022 carnage
what the impact of FTX’s alleged fraud has been
why Chris and Jake believe that the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase is bullish for the industry
why Jake believes there's no massive consumer application in web3 yet
how institutions have been building during the bear market
whether Worldcoin solves the sybil resistance problem in crypto and whether it could become more decentralized than Bitcoin
Jake's response to the criticism surrounding the centralization and privacy issues in Worldcoin
the ethical implications of giving free money to people who may not fully understand how their biometric data is being used
what the Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR) is and what are its two main applications
how the foundational web3 + AI intersection is happening in the compute area
why Chris believes that the crypto market structure bill is not perfect
whether creating proper stablecoin legislation is a very important opportunity for the US
how DeFi should be regulated to ensure that privacy gets protected

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guests:

Chris Perkins, President of CoinFund
Jake Brukhman, Founder and CEO of CoinFund

Links

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Rep. Ritchie Torres on Why Congress Should Make Clear Crypto Laws - Ep. 524 Jul 28, 2023

Show notes

Crypto markets are under the gun from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s ‘regulation by enforcement’ policy. Meanwhile, a divided political landscape creates gridlock on Capitol Hill. Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres (NY-15) claims regulators have overstepped their bounds, while generational divide in the Democratic party slows appropriate regulatory legislation from passing.

Show highlights:

Why stablecoins are less dangerous than fractional reserve banking
How the current system fails to protect retail investors
Why Democrats and Republicans have flipped traditional stances on regulation
Increased skepticism after the FTX meltdown
Regulation by enforcement an abuse of power
If and when a digital asset is an investment contract
What he views as Prometheum’s planned political stunt
Resolving crypto’s long term problems responsibly

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest

Ritchie Torres, U.S. representative

Links

Fortune: Ritchie Torres went from crypto ‘newbie’ to key ally in Washington. Now he could shape the industry’s post-FTX future
NY Daily: A liberal case for cryptocurrency
CoinDesk: Rep. Ritchie Torres: We've Seen a 'Weaponization of the SEC' From Gensler Against Crypto Industry
U.S. Financial Service Committee: McHenry, Thompson, Hill, Johnson Release Digital Asset Market Structure Proposal
Bloomberg Law: McHenry Says White House Torpedoed Bipartisan Stablecoin Deal
NBC: Sen. Cynthia Lummis: Crypto regulation bill could prevent another FTX-style crisis
Rep. Torres’s open letter to Gensler following the Ripple decision
Rep. Torres’ speech

Previously on Unchained

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The Chopping Block: NFA for Founders, Worldcoin and UniswapX Launch, Hamster Racing - Ep. 523 Jul 27, 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 debate whether infrastructure is being over-invested in, explore the potential of UniswapX and the controversial launch of Worldcoin’s token, and dive into the curious world of hamster racing in crypto.

Show highlights:

why Tarun thinks EthCC Paris was much better than ETH Denver
whether VCs are overinvesting in infrastructure
why Haseeb believes that founders should focus on building applications rather than infrastructure
whether the WRLD token is a new “Sam coin”
what everyone thinks about Worldoin and the need to develop proof of personhood in crypto
what is going on with hamster racing and whether this is the reason "normies hate crypto"
UniswapX and its benefits (and tradeoffs)
whether there is a shift toward intents-based trading

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

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Two VCs on Why This Is the Perfect Time to Invest in Crypto - Ep. 522 Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Despite the doom and gloom, Placeholder VC partners Chris Burniske and Joel Monegro are highly bullish on the present moment. “We’re all going to look back on this period and remember it as fondly as we remember ‘18 and ‘19,” Monegro tells Laura Shin. The two long-term investors explain why the confluence of macroeconomic factors and crypto-native (and AI) innovations make this the ideal time to invest in a Web3 future. They cut their teeth on Bitcoin, they grew up with Ethereum; hear what they think is next.

Show highlights:

why Chris says crypto’s four-year cycle will likely play out once again
the role of interest rates in asset valuation
whether the crypto industry has learned its lessons from the “crypto carnage” of 2022
whether there’s a future for KYC’d DeFi
when failing in crypto should be considered a crime, as in the Do Kwon case
what could happen with the rate hikes and how the macroeconomic environment affects the markets
how the ruling in the Ripple case impacts the development of new crypto companies and user adoption
whether Joel felt relieved by the ruling, considering Placeholder has invested in many tokens that were named as securities by the SEC
what Joel thinks of the new crypto bill in Congress and how he wishes that smart contracts were used to self-regulate the industry
what Joel and Chris think of the delicate situations of crypto giants such as Binance and DCG
whether the fat protocol thesis still holds up and whether it colors Placeholder’s current investment thesis
why most of the Layer 1s will become rollups, according to Chris
why Chris is bullish on Solana, despite the massive collapse in value following the FTX debacle
how NFTs will play a significant role in “establishing the provenance of content”
whether AI agents will become crypto power users

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guests:

Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder VC
Previous appearance on Unchained:
2022 in Review + How Cobie and Chris Burniske Are Playing the New Year
Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market
How To Value A Crypto Asset
Joel Monegro, partner at Placeholder VC.
Placeholder’s Joel Monegro on the Fat Protocols Thesis

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