Unchained

Latest Episodes:

Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Are Hot and Getting Hotter. What's the Hype About? - Ep. 462 Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks, discusses the Bitcoin trend that has everyone – or at least, many Bitcoiners – buzzing: Bitcoin ordinals. Ali explains why it is that they’ve taken up block space, pushed Bitcoin fees higher, and caused controversy in the community. Plus, he explains why the phenomenon has generated excitement about Stacks.

Show highlights:

how Ordinals technology works to enable NFTs in the Bitcoin blockchain
the difference between NFTs in smart contracts platforms like Ethereum vs. NFTs in Bitcoin
the way in which the Taproot upgrade allowed Ordinals technology to exist
what security measures to take in order to protect one’s Bitcoin NFTs
why the Bitcoin maxi community reacted negatively to Ordinals
why Stacks jumped so much in price after the release of Ordinals
what Muneeb thinks is the significance of Yuga Labs launching NFTs on Bitcoin

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Guest

Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks

Twitter
Previous appearance on Unchained: Blockstack On Getting Independence From Google, Facebook And Amazon

Links

Unchained: BAYC Creator Yuga Labs to Launch Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs
Decrypt:What Are Ordinals? A Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin NFTs
Dune: Ordinals - Inscriptions on Bitcoin

Episodes about Bitcoin mentioned in the show:

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Have Crypto Detectives Killed the Cypherpunk Dream? - Ep. 461 Feb 28, 2023

Show notes

Andy Greenberg, senior writer for WIRED and author of “Tracers in the Dark,” takes us inside the world of crypto-tracing crimebusters and voices the ambivalence of Bitcoin – a cypherpunk creation – eroding financial privacy. Hear how the longtime crypto scribe got law enforcement and sleuthing firms like Chainalysis to open up about their major wins in taking down darknet kingpins.

Show highlights:

why Andy thought early on that Bitcoin would enable crypto anarchy
how blockchain analytics started being used to tackle crime
why the IRS Criminal Investigation unit was more open to discussing its techniques
how Andy learned many new things about already well-known stories when writing about them for the book
the methods used to bring down the “biggest dark-web drug lord” in history
did AlphaBay’s Alexandre Cazes really kill himself in a Thai prison?
how researcher Sarah Meiklejohn developed tools to deanonymize Bitcoin
why she’s now uncomfortable that her techniques were adopted by Chainalysis and sold to law enforcement
what Andy feels about the importance of privacy
how Monero is harder to trace than Bitcoin but not untraceable
what the impact of zero-knowledge technology will be for blockchain analytics firms
whether the cypherpunk ethos is dead
why the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity will never die

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Guest

Andy Greenberg, senior writer for WIRED and author of “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency”

Links:

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Is Asia Going to Lead the Next Bull Run? - Ep. 460 Feb 24, 2023

Show notes

Emily Parker, CoinDesk’s executive director of global content, joins the show to discuss the Asian crypto markets. From Hong Kong to Tokyo, Parker sees bullish signs in recent developments. Hear why she thinks China and Japan are closely watching as the U.S. clamps down on the crypto industry.

Show highlights:

how Hong Kong is trying to create a regulated environment for crypto
whether Beijing and Chinese officials support Hong Kong’s initiative
what was China’s motivation to make it harder to buy and hold crypto
whether Asian countries will lead the next bull run
what the crypto environment looks like in Japan and how it differs from the U.S.
how Japan responded to major crypto hacks and meltdowns
what Japan is doing in terms of stablecoin regulation and adoption
how Japanese authorities are trying to establish guidelines for DAOs
whether people in Asia have different attitudes and views toward crypto and investing in general

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Crypto.com

Railgun DAO

Guest

Emily Parker, executive director of global content at CoinDesk.

Twitter
Previous appearance on Unchained: Crypto in China: What It Really Looks Like

Links

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The Chopping Block: The Inside Story of How Blur Toppled NFT Giant OpenSea - Ep. 459 Feb 22, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, it’s time for a case study: Special guest Pacman, founder of Blur, explains how his upstart NFT marketplace fought OpenSea and won.

Show highlights:

what it’s like to launch a token
why Blur was created and what its strategy was for competing with OpenSea
why royalties remain a lightning rod in the NFT community
how Blur designed its liquidity mining program and the lesson learned from failed designs
the reasons why Blur succeeded in the NFT marketplace environment
Pacman’s reaction to OpenSea’s decision to not enforce royalties
why forking the Blur code won’t work for new marketplace competitors
why the NFT market remained strong in the depths of a bear market
why Pacman thinks AMMs for NFTs won’t work
whether the “death of royalties” is good or bad for the ecosystem

Hosts

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

Guest

Pacman, founder of Blur

Twitter

Disclosures

Previous coverage on NFT royalties:

Links

Dune: Blur VS OpenSea
Blog post: How to earn royalties on Blur
OpenSea’s response
Unchained:
OpenSea Eliminates Marketplace Fee, Makes Creator Royalties Optional
Blur Airdrops 360M Tokens to NFT Traders

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Just a Coincidence? Coinbase and Polygon Lawyers See Bad Omens in SEC Crackdown - Ep. 458 Feb 21, 2023

Show notes

A settlement with Kraken, a proposed custody rule, and lawsuits against Paxos and Terraform Labs. “This week has been a very long year,” said Polygon Labs Chief Policy Officer Rebecca Rettig. She joins Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal to interpret what’s going on with the SEC. Is it just one big push to cripple the crypto industry? “The fact that we’re all … trying to read tea leaves speaks to a failure in the system that relies upon one-off enforcement actions rather than a public rulemaking process,” said Grewal.

Show highlights:

how the implosion of FTX sped up regulatory actions
whether the SEC will go after other staking services
why the statement that crypto firms should just register with the SEC is “disingenuous”
what seems to be behind the decision to target the BUSD stablecoin
whether SEC enforcement actions will be detrimental to innovation in the U.S.
what features would make stablecoins securities
why the SEC is alleging that the UST stablecoin is a security
why “expansion of jurisdiction” is at the heart of the SEC’s proposed crypto custody rules
why Paul thinks that forcing crypto innovation offshore could become a national security issue for the U.S.

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Guests:

Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase:

Twitter

Rebecca Rettig, Chief Policy Officer at Polygon Labs:

Twitter

Links

WIRED:Confusion Spirals in Crypto as the US Cracks Down
Unchained:
Circle Told NYDFS That Paxos-Issued BUSD Wasn’t Fully Backed
SEC Wants Tougher Rules for Crypto Custody
SEC Sues Do Kwon and Terraform Labs
WSJ:
Crypto Firm Paxos Faces SEC Lawsuit Over Binance USD Token
Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin
Bloomberg:US Crackdown Seeks to Push Crypto Back to the Fringes of Finance
SEC:
Pocketful of Quarters, Inc.
Statement on Safeguarding Advisory Client Assets Proposal
CoinDesk: SEC Proposal Could Bar Investment Advisers From Keeping Assets at Crypto Firms
Jesse Powell’s tweet

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Is Gary Gensler on a Mission to Put Crypto Down for Good? - Ep. 457 Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

Mike Selig, counsel at Willkie Farr, has plenty to talk about this week, with a slew of actions from Gary Gensler’s SEC putting the future of crypto in the U.S. in question. From Kraken’s custodial staking settlement to action against BUSD issuer Paxos, the former CFTC law clerk voices concern that coordination among regulators could choke off the industry’s growth. Hear how Selig thinks Gensler’s SEC is working to bring crypto markets “within the regulatory perimeter.”

Show highlights:

whether regulators are using the FTX case to go against crypto as a whole
what likely caused the NYDFS action against Paxos for BUSD
whether there’s a coordinated effort to undermine the crypto markets
how issuers could argue that stablecoins aren’t securities
why there are limited implications for staking as a whole after Kraken’s SEC settlement
how the regulators are “discouraging access and participation in crypto markets at the banking level”
the differences between Gary Gensler’s SEC and that of his predecessor, Jay Clayton
how the Gensler administration is skeptical of governance and DAOs
why the SEC’s crypto custody rule proposal is refreshing, albeit not perfect

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Crypto.com

Guest

Mike Selig, counsel at Willkie Farr

Twitter

Links

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The Chopping Block: The SEC Is Attacking Crypto – Will Gary Gensler Succeed? - Ep. 456 Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, Polygon Chief Legal Officer Marc Boiron joins the show to examine the SEC’s recent enforcement ramp-up.

why Marc thinks NYDFS coming after Paxos is the most interesting thing to analyze in the SEC-BUSD spat
whether the SEC and NYDFS actions against Paxos were coordinated
whether a stablecoin is a security and why the SEC might be inclined to go after Paxos
how a stablecoin could resemble a money market fund
whether the SEC action against BUSD consolidates Tether's dominance
why Robert is nervous about the ramifications of the Paxos situation for all of crypto
the unique characteristics of Kraken's staking services that led to settlement with the SEC
the meaning of the settlement for other custodial staking services and staking in general
why Robert voted in favor of the Uniswap governance proposal
why Haseeb is fine with how a16z voted in the proposal
how on-chain governance should be approached

Hosts

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

Guest

Marc Boiron, chief legal officer at Polygon

Links

Disclosures

BUSD shutdown

SEC vs. Staking

Ethereum ETH Staking Deposits

Kraken to Discontinue Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Staking-As-A-Service Program and Pay $30 Million to Settle SEC Charges

Coinbase’s staking services are not securities. And here's why. - Blog

Uniswap governance drama

Unchained episode on the topic: Chris Blec on Why He Believes a16z’s Uniswap Vote Exposes DeFi as a Farce - Ep. 454
Wormhole vs. LayerZero posts
Wormhole
LayerZero
Explanation video from Unchained

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How This Prosecutor Is Spearheading the Fight Against Crypto ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams - Ep. 455 Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

Erin West, Deputy District Attorney of California’s Santa Clara County, has heard firsthand tales of scammers preying on victims for hundreds of thousands of dollars. She joins the show to explain the scamming technique known as “pig butchering,” how it is estimated to have raked in tens of billions worldwide, and why it has led to suicide in some cases. West makes the case for why victims need empathy and how law enforcement is working with exchanges to claw back scammed funds.

Show highlights:

Erin’s background and how she started investigating crypto crimes
what exactly the “pig butchering” method entails — and why it’s called that
what kind of people scammers are targeting
the devastating stories that have arisen from these crypto scams
fresh intel on where the fraudsters are located
whether the scammers may be connected to foreign governments
how the victims are often turned away by U.S. law enforcement agencies
how Erin’s agency was able to return almost $1 million to victims late last year
what local agencies can do to address these problems
how law enforcement agencies around the U.S. are lacking crypto education
the workshops Erin has been leading to help such agencies get educated
the relatively low number of NFT-related scams her agency has dealt with so far
what Erin recommends for victims of “pig butchering” scams

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Links

SIM Swaps and Pig Butchering scams:

Forbes: Hackers Have Stolen Millions Of Dollars In Bitcoin -- Using Only Phone Numbers

WIRED: What Is a Pig Butchering Scam?

Podcast on Indian telemarketing scams: Chameleon: Scam Likely — Campside Media

Guests:

Erin:

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Chris Blec on Why He Believes a16z’s Uniswap Vote Exposes DeFi as a Farce - Ep. 454 Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

Chris Blec, DeFi researcher and founder of the Blec Report, explains why he believes the involvement of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in a contentious Uniswap governance proposal flies in the face of crypto’s core value: decentralization. He argues that the venture capital firm’s ability to potentially sway the vote in favor of a portfolio company undermines claims that DeFi is “people-powered.” The vote, which is not yet concluded, is the latest venue for people to debate the merits of DeFi governance and whether one token really should equal one vote.

Show highlights:

why a16z decided to vote against a key section of the Uniswap governance proposal
the problem Chris sees with the current design of DAOs
whether there is a parallel to be drawn between TradFi and DAO governance
why Chris says people are mistaken when they think about the goals of crypto VC
whether the fact that some VCs control so much voting power goes against the ethos of decentralization
how Chris thinks VCs are funding lobbyist groups to push for their interests, not those of crypto as a whole
why Chris believes the "one token, one vote" system doesn't work
some alternatives that could be pursued to help the issue of whale token voting
whether regulators will come after DAOs and especially the ones that are using current governance mechanisms

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Crypto.com

Guest

Chris Blec, DeFi researcher and founder of the Blec Report

Related Twitter threads:

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Everything You Need to Know About Filing Your 2022 Crypto Taxes - Ep. 453 Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase, and Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker, give a full accounting of everything U.S. crypto traders should be aware of as we inch closer to April 18. The two tax experts discuss the latest on how the IRS is approaching crypto taxation, going deep on everything from staking rewards to NFT royalties. Just a heads up: This interview is meant for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or tax advice.

Show highlights:

what’s new this year when it comes to reporting crypto transactions
why staking is now firmly on the IRS’s radar
how capital gains tax works for crypto
the types of crypto transactions that are taxable as income
the five situations where a crypto user incurs a taxable event
the types of crypto activity that are not taxable
what crypto holders can do to make tax time easier
the IRS forms you need for various types of crypto transactions
typical mistakes that crypto users make when it comes to filing their taxes
why there’s not much you can do if you have assets stuck in Voyager, Celsius or other bankrupt crypto firms
why you might consider arguing a “theft loss deduction”
what to know about the Ethereum Merge as it relates to taxes
things NFT creators should be aware of during tax time
how the U.S. tax system can or cannot be applied to DeFi
what tax forms you can expect to receive if you’re a Coinbase customer
how corporations holding crypto may soon see favorable changes to current accounting rules
why $5,000 is a key threshold for crypto donations