Unchained

Latest Episodes:

How Much Prison Time Is FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? - Ep. 432 Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discusses all the charges that Sam Bankman-Fried is facing and their potential outcomes.

Show highlights:

the charges against SBF and why the criminal indictment is the most important
whether SBF testifying in Congress would have complicated the DOJ's criminal case against him
why it is complicated to state how much prison time Sam is facing
the ways in which Bankman-Fried can reduce his sentence by cooperating with authorities
why it's so unprecedented that the indictment came only one month after the collapse of FTX
whether other senior FTX executives are providing prosecutors with information to reduce their charges
the reasons why SBF is being held in The Bahamas and the likelihood of him being extradited
how much the case will be delayed if SBF's lawyers fight the extradition
Ari's thoughts on whether this case will go to trial

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Guest

Ari:

Twitter
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Is TRM Labs Blocking Addresses From DeFi Protocols? Ari Redbord Says No

Episode Links

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How Will the FTX Collapse Affect Silvergate? A Bear and a Bull Debate - Ep. 431 Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Marc Cohodes, individual investor and former hedge fund manager, have a heated debate about Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that plays a key role in integrating crypto with traditional finance and is currently under scrutiny due to its ties with FTX and Alameda. Both Marc and Ram have a vested interest in Silvergate. Marc is shorting the stock, while Ram is longing it.

Show highlights:

why Silvergate plays such a vital role in the movement of money within the crypto industry
whether Silvergate runs proper KYC and AML practices
whether Silvergate has a $1 billion hole in its balance sheet
whether regulators will go after Silvergate as they are doing with FTX
why Marc thinks the FTX collapse wouldn't have happened without Silvergate
whether Silvergate was complicit with FTX’s activities or simply negligent
why Ram believes this case is different from JPMorgan's involvement with Madoff
what regulatory actions might come in the near future for Silvergate
why Ram thinks regulators will go to "great lengths" to avoid a bank failure
what would it take for Ram and Marc to change their minds

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Guests:

Ram:

Twitter
Ram’s thread on Silvergate
Ram’s previous appearances on Unchained:
Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It?
Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid

Marc:

Twitter

Episode links:

Class action lawsuit against Silvergate
The Block:Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion
Letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren, John Kennedy, and Roger Marshall
The Guardian:JP Morgan Chase to pay more than $2bn in penalties for Madoff ties
The Financial Times:Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom
WSJ:Crypto Is Taking a Few Small Banks on a Wild Ride
Bloomberg:
These Banks Were Left Holding the Bag in Crypto Implosion
An Obscure Bank Found Its Key to Success. Then FTX Collapsed
CoinDesk: Crypto Bank Silvergate Says Its BlockFi Digital-Asset Deposit Exposure Totals Less Than $20M
New York Post: Crypto ‘smart’ money? Big traders fell for Sam Bankman-Fried
NBC: Sen. Warren demands answers from Silvergate Bank about its business dealings with FTX
Dylan LeClair’s Twitter thread

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Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years - Ep. 430 Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory & policy at Bain Capital Crypto, discusses how the legal process for Sam Bankman-Fried in the wake of the FTX scandal could play out.

Show highlights:

the allegations that Bankman-Fried manipulated the market during the Terra crash
the motivations for Bankman-Fried's media appearances
what the selection of Mark Cohen as a lawyer says about the potential charges and the case
why SBF hasn't been arrested yet
how the US investigating the potential involvement of Bahamian government officials could complicate cooperation of an arrest of SBF in the Bahamas
why this case is very different from Bernie Madoff's
what evidence would be needed to say, legally, that SBF committed fraud
the potential outcomes of the legal case for SBF and how many years of prison time he could face

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TuongVy :

Twitter

Episode Links

FTX:

Investigations:

Others:

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Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? - Ep. 429 Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The collapse of FTX has dealt crypto lender Genesis another major blow, with the firm halting withdrawals and DCG stepping in to help. Now the two face a range of suboptimal outcomes in the face of massive debts. Ahluwalia and Andrew discuss what could come next, and what should be learned from the recent debacles.

Show highlights:

why Genesis and DCG are so important for the crypto sector
Ram's explanation of the "Grayscale trade" and why it is relevant to understand the current crisis
the ghost of Three Arrows Capital and the origins of Genesis' problems
why Sam thinks Genesis was "reckless" in its loan underwriting
what a spot Bitcoin ETF would mean for Grayscale's revenue
what options Genesis and DCG have to weather the storm
whether it makes sense for Genesis to file for bankruptcy
why Ram thinks Genesis lending product needs to be be shut down
why Gemini and its Earn program loom large in the Genesis situation
the risks of enforcement action from regulators
what the most likely outcome is for Genesis and DCG and whether creditors will be made whole
whether there will be broader contagion stemming from Genesis and what other crypto companies could be in trouble
the problems of leverage and why crypto's "shadow banks" need regulation

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Chainalysis

Minima

Ram:

Twitter
Ram’s thread on GBTC
Previous Unchained episodes:
Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid

Sam:

Episode Links

Genesis:

FT: Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn

WSJ: Rising Tether Loans Add Risk to Stablecoin, Crypto World

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The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? - Ep. 428 Dec 03, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news.

Show topics:

highlights of Sam Bankman-Fried's interview with the New York Times
whether SBF knew what was going on in his companies, and how that impacts potential prosecution
why Genesis and DCG are in financial trouble
whether Genesis will file for bankruptcy or go through a restructuring process
revelations from BlockFi's bankruptcy filing
new info on why FTX bailed out BlockFi last summer
what is going on with Binance’s recovery fund
how Avi Eisenberg tried to pull off an attack on Aave
how the banking industry works and whether Changpeng Zhao is the closest thing to a central bank in crypto
how DeFi responds in a crisis, and how it contrasts with CeFi’s recent implosions

Hosts

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

Episode Links

FTX:

Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
NYT: Sam Bankman-Fried’s interview
Bill Ackman’s tweet
Interview with Tiffany Fong
Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX:
Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater
Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC

BlockFi:

Genesis:

Ryan Selkis’ tweet on Genesis
Unchained:
Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves
WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash
Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M
Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis:
Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid
‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis

DeFi

Pancakeswap flipped Uniswap in TVL
Unchained:
Mango Markets Exploiter Gets Liquidated But Leaves Aave With ‘Excess Debt’
Aave Freezes 17 Low-Liquidity V2 Pools and Votes to Migrate 26 Assets to Ethereum V3
Compound Finance Slashes Borrow Caps for 10 Markets

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Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months - Ep. 427 Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, talks about the collapses suffered during this year, their impacts on big traditional finance players, and what’s coming in the crypto markets in the near future.

Show highlights:

whether Sam Bankman-Fried lied during his interview at the Deal Book Summit
why SBF kept the number of FTX's engineers at such a low number
why Adam is optimistic about Genesis and DCG
what options Genesis have to raise liquidity
the significance of a potential meltdown of DCG in the crypto industry
why Adam is worried about Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
what lessons can be learned from this crypto winter
Adam's prognosis for crypto lending and for the crypto markets in general
the impact of the bankruptcy of BlockFi and all the other centralized lenders

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Adam:

Twitter
Thread on community buyout
Previous Unchained episodes:
Why 3AC’s Collapse Could Spell the Start of a Crypto Credit Crunch

Episode Links

BlockFi:

Genesis:

Bloomberg: Genesis Creditors Seek Options to Keep Crypto Brokerage Out of Bankruptcy
Semafor: Online news site CoinDesk attracts suitors amid crypto crash
Unchained:
Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves
WSJ: Crypto Lender Genesis Asks Binance and Apollo for Cash
Decrypt: Digital Currency Group Says No Imminent Threat Despite Owing Genesis $575M
The Block: DCG CEO Barry Silbert updates shareholders, says company will emerge 'stronger'
Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis:
Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid
‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis

FTX:

Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen

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'The Last Big Whale': Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis - Ep. 426 Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

Michael Jordan, founder at DBA and former co-head of investments at Galaxy Digital, and Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC, talk about the potential insolvency of Genesis and DCG, the cycle of credit expansion, and the importance of DeFi to prevent these situations.

Show highlights:

what will happen with Genesis and its parent company DCG
where the insolvency of Genesis might have come from
how the expansion of crypto lending in 2021 is impacting the markets and the role the Fed played in this expansion
how the Terra collapse kickstarted a ton of contagion effects in crypto companies
Alex's story of why he did not invest in Alameda in 2018
whether it is possible to prevent the "FTXs of the future"
the importance of assessing the quality of collateral assets
the story of when SBF called DeFi a "Ponzi black box"
the mystery of where FTX Ventures got the $2 billion it planned to invest

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Thank you to our sponsors!

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Chainalysis

Minima

Michael:

Twitter
Previous Unchained episodes:
Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?

Alex:

Twitter

Episode Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis and FTX:

Genesis:

FTX Collapse:

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Gabriel Haines on How He Came to Make His Hilarious, Yelling Crypto Videos - Ep. 425 Nov 25, 2022

Show notes

Gabriel Haines, a crypto content creator, comes on this 2022 Thanksgiving edition of Unchained to talk about his videos and leave a positive message for these holidays.

Show highlights:

how Gabriel started doing his very unique type of videos
Gabriel's hummus eating competition
how Gabriel's videos are "quite not professional"
how Gabriel is monetizing some of his videos with NFTs
whether NFTs are a solution for content creators
how Lee, Gabriel's wife, has also started creating some funny videos
how Web3 is going to change the traditional version of media in the Internet

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Ava Labs

DeFi Saver

Gabriel:

Twitter
Gabriel’s video with a machete

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The Chopping Block on FTX/Alameda: Is Sam Bankman-Fried 'Crypto Kanye'? - Ep. 424 Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news concerning the collapse of FTX.

Show topics:

the statements of newly appointed CEO John Ray in the first day declaration
why Tarun, Robert and Haseeb think SBF is possibly delusional or at least in denial
whether the assets of FTX and Alameda were commingled from the beginning or whether they had been separate and at a certain point, FTX loaned money to Alameda
whether the Bahamian government was the 'FTX' hacker
the theories of why Alameda started falling
how regulators and legislators are assessing the failure of FTX
whether SBF will get a pardon like Mark Rich and the chances of him being charged criminally
whether Genesis will go insolvent and its potential contagion effects

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Hosts

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

Episode Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on FTX:

FTX Collapse:

First declaration document
Unchained: FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
Unchained: Bahamas Regulator Directed SBF to Transfer FTX Assets to Government Wallet
SBF tweet: FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
WSJ: FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Cashed Out $300 Million During Funding Spree
Vox interview with SBF: Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself
NYT: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Collapsed
Arthur Hayes’s article on SBF: ‘White Boy’

NYT: Elizabeth Holmes Is Sentenced to More Than 11 Years for Fraud

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Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion - Ep. 423 Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

Kevin Zhou, cofounder of Galois Capital, and Jesse Powell, cofounder of Kraken, talk about why FTX collapsed, the warning signs, and whether it’s a catalyst for self-custodial adoption.