Unchained

Latest Episodes:

Ukraine Has Received $150 Million in Crypto. Here’s How It Is Being Used - Ep.332 Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder NEAR Protocol, and George Kikvadze, executive vice chairman at BitFury Group, both of whom have called Ukraine “home” at one point in their lives, discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the role crypto is playing in the war, and the various avenues crypto users can donate to. Show topics:

George and Illia’s background in crypto
George and Ilia’s connection to Ukraine
why crypto is so popular in Ukraine
what supplies are being purchased with donated crypto
how to donate crypto to Ukraine
why Patreon blocked donations to Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO
George and Illia’s estimation of the amount of crypto donations received by Ukraine
what department of Ukraine’s government spearheaded its adoption of crypto
what happened with the canceled airdrop
the different organizations accepting crypto donations in Ukraine

Upcoming Book Events

Friday, March 25: I’ll be on the Harvard campus at HBS Aldrich 011 from 4 pm ET - 5 pm ET. This is *not* open to the general public, but we have a few spots we can give away, first come, first serve. Email hello@unchainedpodcast.com, subject line "Harvard reading."

Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited!

Tuesday, April 5: I will be doing a reading and signing hosted by the City of Miami Beach and Future Perfect Ventures at Sky Yard from 6-8 pm. Jalak Jobanputra, CEO of Future Perfect Ventures will be interviewing me. You need to RSVP by April 1 to dianafontani@miamibeachfl.gov.

Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am.

Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD).

May 4-7: I will be at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7.

May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Episode Links

George Kikvadze, executive vice chairman at BitFury Group

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitfuryGeorge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-kikvadze-6256175/

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder NEAR Protocol

Unchain Fund: https://unchain.fund/

Come Back Alive: https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/

Government Website for Crypto Donations: https://donate.thedigital.gov.ua/

Ukraine x Crypto

Ukraine purchasing supplies
- https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/03/07/ukraine-is-buying-bulletproof-vests-and-night-vision-goggles-using-crypto/
- https://twitter.com/abornyakov/status/1502231351273172992?s=21
Live update from on Ukrainian crypto funds received
- https://www.elliptic.co/blog/live-updates-millions-in-crypto-crowdfunded-for-the-ukrainian-military
Ukraine accepting crypto: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282
Ukraine NFT launch to reflect history
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/13/ukraine-nft-history-of-russian-invasion-war

Unchained Coverage

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Punk6529 on the Significance of Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks - Ep.331 Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

In his first podcast appearance ever, Punk6529, known for writing massive threads on Crypto Twitter, discusses the cultural and historical significance of Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs purchasing the intellectual property rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs. Topics:

how CryptoPunks set the industry standard for PFP projects
how Bored Ape Yacht Club distinguished itself from CryptoPunks – and other NFT projects
why 6529 is bullish on the utility of intellectual property rights and commercial use being granted to NFT holders by Yuga Labs
why 6529 believes Yuga Labs will be good stewards of CryptoPunks
how NFTs (and Bitcoin) are leveraging memes and social construction to go mainstream
what 6529 thinks Larva Labs’ legacy will be in the NFT space
how royalty revenue streams led to the Yuga Labs purchase of Meebits and CryptoPunk IP
why 6529 is unsure about the significance of metaverse real estate
what 6529 thinks about ApeCoin

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io

OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/

Upcoming Book Events

Friday, March 26: I’ll be on the Harvard campus at HBS Aldrich 011 from 4 pm ET - 5 pm ET. I’ll be interviewed about my book by NF Castle’s Michelle Choi and will also do a signing.

Saturday, March 27: I’ll be moderating a panel at the Harvard Blockchain conference from 3-3:45 pm. The panel will include NFT artist Pplpleasr, NF Castle’s Will Lobkowicz and Michele Choi, and Nifty Gateway COO Patrick McLaren.

Wednesday, March 30: I’ll be speaking (remotely) with Six Senses about The Cryptopians at 2 pm ET. Be sure to save your spot soon – space is limited!

Saturday, April 9: I will be on a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival at 11 am.

Tuesday, April 12: I will be at StartupGrind’s global event in Redwood City, which is focused this year on Web3 (time → TBD).

May 4-7: I will be at the PBS Seattle Crosscut Festival, which takes place from May 4-7.

May 23-25: I will be at the Oslo Freedom Forum which takes place from May 23 to 25. Details on these events are TBD.

Episode Links

6529

Twitter: https://twitter.com/punk6529
Threads: https://threadreaderapp.com/user/punk6529

Miscellaneous

Yuga Labs purchase of Larva Labs IP: https://decrypt.co/94898/bored-ape-yacht-club-yuga-labs-cryptopunks-larva-labs
Yuga Labs metaverse land plans: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/137829/bored-ape-yacht-club-yuga-labs-virtual-land-sales-metaverse
ApeCoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/138156/apecoin-tied-to-bored-ape-nft-ecosystem-debuts-with-planned-community-airdrop
Punk 6529 on the Yuga Labs purchase: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502595586960367617.html

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What Is It Like to Only Work for DAOs? Chase Chapman Tells All - Ep.330 Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

Jack of all metaverse-trades Chase Chapman discusses her experience working for DAOs, how DAO tooling and governance can improve, and drops a hot take about Discord. Chase brings a unique perspective to Unchained as a co-founder and advisor at Decentology, host of On the Other Side podcast, and active DAO contributor at Orca, Index Coop, and Rabbit Hole. Show topics:

how Chase got into crypto
new avenues for bringing more women into crypto
how DAOs change the nature of work
how Chase gets paid – and why her accountants might start ducking her calls
why Chase is passionate about DAOs having a core set of values
why Chase thinks terms like “permissionless” and “decentralized” should not be used to describe DAOs
what DAOs can learn from corporate structures
why Chase is coming around to the idea that DAOs might not need a single HR department
how DAOs are dealing with inactive whale token holders versus DAO contributors (who own smaller amounts of token)
what suggestions Chase has for some of the recent big DAO controversies involving Ethereum Name Service and SushiSwap
the role of anonymity in DAOs
which DAO tools Chase is impressed with and what SnapShot has in common with Wikipedia
why Discord is not that bad for DAO management
how Chase envisions DAOs and NFTs intersecting in the future
what DAO trends Chase is looking forward to in the coming months

Sponsors

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Episode Links

Chase Chapman

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaserchapman
Jobs
- Decentology: https://www.decentology.com/
- On the Other Side: https://www.othersidepod.xyz/
- Index Coop: https://twitter.com/indexcoop
- Orca Protocol: https://twitter.com/OrcaProtocol
- RabbitHole: https://twitter.com/rabbithole_gg

Interesting tweets/blogs/podcasts from Chase on DAOs

Miscellaneous Mentions

she256: https://twitter.com/she_256
Snapshot: https://twitter.com/SnapshotLabs
Brantly Millegan is staying at ENS Foundation: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/07/brantly-millegan-remains-a-director-of-ens-foundation-after-failed-attempt-to-boot-him/
SushiSwap leadership drama: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/12/08/sushi-cto-joseph-delong-resigns-after-reports-of-project-infighting/
Wonderland drama: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/131931/avalanche-defi-wonderland-time-0xsifu-quadrigacx-patryn
Coordinape: https://coordinape.com/

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How Justin Sun Has Allegedly Tried to Manipulate Markets and Escape Regulation - Ep.329 Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

Chris Harland-Dunaway, a freelance reporter for The Verge, talks about his most recent investigative story on Tron founder Justin Sun, which details a long string of questionable decisions and actions by Sun. Show topics:

why Justin Sun fled China after the Tron ICO
why Chris’s 15 sources were granted anonymity for this story
why Chris believes that Tron’s market-making team was performing insider trading
how Justin Sun has tried to evade US securities law
what “Operation Couch Cushions” was and how it led to 300 BTC being sent to Poloniex
where Justin Sun is looking for citizenship
what Chris knows about a grand jury investigation into Justin Sun
what Justin Sun had to say about Chris’ allegations

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io

Episode links:

Christopher Harland-Dunaway: https://twitter.com/ChrisHDeee

Justin Sun: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron

Chris’ articles on Justin in The Verge:

March 2022: https://www.theverge.com/c/22947663/justin-sun-tron-cryptocurrency-poloniex
September 2020: https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/21459906/bittorrent-tron-acquisition-justin-sun-us-china

Justin Sun’s rebuttal

https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1501626464596201472

Chris’ previous Unchained appearance

https://unchainedpodcast.com/abuse-and-ethical-lapses-what-happened-when-justin-sun-acquired-bittorrent/

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The Chopping Block: In 'the First Crypto War,' How Should the Money Be Spent? - Ep.328 Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

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Why Chatroulette Founder Andrey Ternovskiy Fell in Love With Crypto - Ep.327 Mar 08, 2022

Show notes

While researching for The Cryptopians, I discovered that Andrey Ternovskiy, the founder of internet sensation Chatroulette, was heavily involved in The DAO back in 2016. In this episode, we skirt around revealing major spoilers from The Cryptopians and discuss Andrey’s experience founding Chatroulette, how he fell down the crypto rabbit hole, whether hacking smart contracts is ethical, and more. Show topics:

Andrey’s background
how Andrey’s struggles with PayPal at Chatroulette led him to quickly understand the need for crypto
what Andrey’s involvement at Chatroulette is
the different ways Andrey thinks crypto can disrupt middlemen
why Andrey became infatuated with the narrative behind the “crypto” movement
why Andrey became a fan of Ethereum
why Andrey decided to tell me about his previously undisclosed involvement in The DAO and early Ethereum
whether hacking smart contracts is ethical (or legal)
what Andrey thinks about how Ukraine has used crypto in its fight against Russia’s invasion
why Andrey will most likely not decentralize Chatroulette
what Andrey’s perspective is on decentralization in terms of DeFi and DAOs

Upcoming Book Events

For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Episode Links

Andrey Ternovskiy: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/andrey-ternovskiy
Chatroulette: https://chatroulette.com/

The Cryptopians

DAO Hacker Reveal:

The DAO Hack

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How Ukraine Is Leveraging Crypto in Its Fight Against Russia - Ep.326 Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Tomicah Tillemann, the global chief policy officer of Katie Haun's new firm, analyzes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and explains how crypto is being used in an unprecedented manner to render aid to civilians, move money across the world, and potentially document war crimes. Show highlights:

Tomicah’s background, which includes stints working for the State Department and a16z
recap of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
what Tomicah thinks of the decision to boot certain Russian banks from SWIFT
why Tomicah believes that it would be very difficult for Russia to use crypto at a large scale to evade sanctions
why ruble/BTC volume is spiking
how Ukraine’s usage of web3 tools could change humanitarian aid forever
what lessons to take away from Ukraine’s almost-airdrop
the four real-world crypto use cases governments should take notice of

Upcoming Book Events

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io

Episode Links

Tomicah Tilllemann

Topics Covered

Ukraine accepting crypto: https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282
Cutting Russia out of SWIFT: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_22_1423
UkraineDAO: https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO
Ukraine asking for a blanket ban on Russians from crypto exchanges: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/26/ukraine-mounts-effort-to-surveil-russian-politicians-crypto-wallets/
Why crypto won’t help Russia avoid sanctions:
- https://jerrybrito.com/2022-02-28
- https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1498786025438650369
Ruble/BTC trading: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/135888/ruble-trading-pair-volumes-surge-on-binance-after-russias-invasion-of-ukraine
Ukraine Airdrop:
- https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/02/ukraine-says-airdrop-confirmed-after-receiving-33m-crypto-donations/
- https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/136211/ukraine-cancels-crypto-airdrop-plans-to-sell-nfts-instead
Arweave x Ukraine
- https://cryptoslate.com/decentralized-data-storage-solution-arweave-archives-millions-of-documents-from-ukraine/

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Is Code Law? Should the Hacker Be Punished? The DAO Creators Disagree - Ep.325 Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

During my research for The Cryptopians, I found information that I believe identifies the perpetrator behind The DAO hack on Ethereum. Three founding members of The DAO and Slock.it (Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, Griff Green) discuss how and why they created The DAO, how they helped save the funds being siphoned off by black hat hackers, their personal feelings about The DAO, along with their reaction to the news about who I believe was The DAO attacker. Show topics:

Part 1: Background on The DAO

Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s background and how they came to Slock.it
what Slock.it was and why the Slock.it team decided to create The DAO
what The DAO has to do with venture capital funding
why the Slock.it team did not cap The DAO sale
what made The DAO such a popular investment vehicle
why The DAO developers were scared at the amount of money they raised

Part 2:

what Christoph, Lefteris, and Griff’s initial reaction to The DAO was
saving funds from The DAO via a hard fork versus white hat hacking
whether they thought Ethereum Classic would survive a hard fork
how the Ethereum community has treated Christoph, Griff, and Lefteris in the wake of The DAO attack

Part 3:

why they disagree on whether code is law
their reaction to my naming Toby Hoenisch as The DAO attacker
which actor would play them in a movie about The DAO attack

Come to My In-Person Book Signings and Events!

New York:

Wednesday, March 2, at 7pm

At The Strand Bookstore

Moderated by CoinDesk’s Christine Lee

https://www.strandbooks.com/events/event403?title=laura_shin_the_cryptopians_idealism_greed_lies_and_the_making_of_the_first_big_cryptocurrency_craze

Bay Area:

Tuesday March 8, 6pm

San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club

Moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark

https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

Seattle:

Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm

The Forum

Moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle.

https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance

Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto

Episode Links

Guests

Christoph Jentzsch

https://twitter.com/ChrJentzsch

Griff Green

https://twitter.com/thegrifft

Lefteris Karapetsas

https://mobile.twitter.com/LefterisJP

DAO Hacker Reveal:

The Cryptopians

The DAO Hack

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How Writing 'The Cryptopians' Shaped My Views on Ethereum - Ep.324 Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

In a fun change of pace, Steven Ehrlich, editor of Forbes Cryptoasset and Blockchain Advisor, joins Unchained to interview me about my book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, which came out this week. We discuss…

where the inspiration for “The Cryptopians” title came from
why I wanted to write a book about Ethereum
how Vitalik’s role changed over the course of Ethereum’s founding
who the main characters in The Cryptopians are
the biggest challenges Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation faced in its early days
Ethereum’s “red wedding” day
what issues with crowdfunding and US securities laws were faced by early Ethereum founders
how The DAO hack, along with the Shanghai attacks and Parity drama, shaped Ethereum
what I discovered about Ming Chan’s time as the Ethereum Foundation director
my biggest takeaways from researching ICOs
why I think DAOs could be the next big thing
whether or not I have an idea for a new book…

Thank you to our sponsors!

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021

Brave: http://brave.com/Unchained

Coinchange: https://coinchange.io

Episode Links

Laura Shin

https://twitter.com/laurashin

The Cryptopians

The Cryptopians content:

DAO Hacker Reveal:

Steven Ehrlich

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The Chopping Block: Why Hacking The DAO Is ‘Something to Be Proud Of’? - Ep.323 Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics:

their thoughts on The DAO hacker reveal
the importance of The DAO and why it made Robert fall in love with crypto
how the alleged attacker was found (feat. a deep dive into the Morden testnet and Wasabi)
dumb DAOs: why the guys are unimpressed with DAOs seeking to purchase, among other things, the Denver Broncos and fast-food restaurants
how to fix price discovery for DAO mergers and acquisitions
whether Anchor’s 20% yield on UST is sustainable in light of Luna Foundation Guard’s decision to backstop its reserves with $1 billion in BTC
why deploying funds from a large treasury is difficult
why the BlockFi fine was not a surprise
what lessons the BlockFi settlement taught crypto companies
why Tarun still loves Olympus DAO and OHM
how EthDenver has changed since the NFT boom