The Scoop

Volt Capital announced in May the launch of its second fund — with backing from the likes of Andreessen Howoritz's Chris Dixon and Marc Andreessen — and despite the ongoing bear market for digital assets, founder Soona Amhaz says there's an opportunity to invest in a new wave of entrepreneurs. Following the launch of a wide range of marketplaces tied to non-fungible tokens and decentralized finance, Amhaz said she is setting her sights on projects and companies that solve the problems facing such organizations, including the breaches and security issues that hang over the space like a cloud. "A trend I'm seeing is second order thinking to primitives that were finally established," Amhaz noted. "So one anecdote of this is just being able to move NFTs between buyers and sellers: having marketplaces established was a huge win for the space this most recent cycle. But now we're already seeing a wave of founders who are building with this second order thinking of, 'Okay, now that NFTs are here and now that we have NFT marketplaces, how are we preventing fraud? How are we thinking about security? How are we thinking about content moderation?'"Indeed, Volt's strategy reflects a shift among venture capitalists in the market more generally, who are now focusing on infrastructure plays rather than token deals. "You're now building where there is demand," she said. "If you look at where the center of gravity is right now for crypto, because retail has largely evaporated… the center of gravity really and the attention and the spotlight are on other founders who are building crypto startups, they're on builders that need developer tools to enhance the DX or developer experience."Episode 104 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded at Circle's Converge in San Francisco with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Volt Capital Managing Partner Soona Amhaz.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Tron, LednAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord | About LednLedn was founded on the unshakeable conviction that digital assets have the power to democratize access to the global economy. We help you to experience the real life benefits of your Bitcoin without having to sell it. Start a savings account, take out a loan, or double your Bitcoin. For more information visit Ledn.io

Joe McCann, former head of systematic and algorithmic trading at Passport Capital and founder of Asymmetric, talks about the challenges traditional venture investors face in crypto. He emphasizes the need to manage downside risk and take profits when necessary. McCann also discusses the potential for on-chain structured product lending and analyzes the successes and failures of DeFi 1.0. He explores the shift from token-based to equity investments in the crypto space and shares a costly mistake he made during the entertainment-driven crypto run last year.

In September, North Island Ventures launched a new $125 million fund to invest in emerging crypto and Web3 companies.In this episode of The Scoop, North Island Ventures Managing Partner Travis Scher unpacks the thesis behind the new fund and explains his firm’s vision for how the crypto industry will evolve over the next couple of decades.According to Scher, the tribalism that currently pits enthusiasts of competing blockchains against each other will fade over time:“I do not think there will be one blockchain to rule them all. I think that when we look back in ten years, we will think that the tribal battles among branded blockchains that we see playing out at conferences like this were really quite silly.”One corner of the market North Island is focusing on in particular is the Cosmos ecosystem, as Cosmos’ interoperable network of blockchains aligns with North Island’s long-term view of the crypto market.As Scher explains, North Island envisions crypto evolving into a seamless network of blockchains:“When we set our thesis in 2020, we said, ‘We believe, in its end state, crypto is an interoperable network of networks that facilitates the seamless exchange of value and data all across the world.”Episode 102 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded at Messari Mainnet 2022 with The Block's Frank Chaparro and North Island Ventures Managing Partner Travis Scher.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |About LednLedn was founded on the unshakeable conviction that digital assets have the power to democratize access to the global economy. We help you to experience the real life benefits of your Bitcoin without having to sell it. Start a savings account, take out a loan, or double your Bitcoin. For more information visit Ledn.io

Back in July, controversy broke out amongst Bitcoiners when Nic Carter — a long-time bitcoin proponent and Founding Partner of Castle Island Ventures — announced that his firm invested in a Web3 authentication company.Even though Castle Island recently launched a $250 million fund explicitly for Web3 investments, Carter’s announcement was met with staunch criticism from some members of the Bitcoin community.In this episode of The Scoop, Nic Carter and host Frank Chaparro discuss some of the philosophical underpinnings of the crypto space, including the similarities between Bitcoin maximalism and religious dogma.Although Carter himself is a vocal supporter of Bitcoin, he does not elevate it to anything beyond a monetary innovation — this, Carter says, is what separates him from the more zealous members of the community:“The one part of the community I distance myself from is the part that confuses bitcoin with religious doctrine. I think religion is religion, money is money, and they're pretty distinct, and they should stay distinct.The day after the controversy broke out on Twitter, Carter addressed the situation in a Medium article titled, ‘Setting the record straight; or: a eulogy for Bitcoin maximalism.’In it, he writes:"I am not pessimistic on Bitcoin. I’m just interested in the world as it actually is, instead of the world of utopias and pleasant delusions."Episode 101 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded at Converge22 with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Castle Island Ventures Founding Partner Nic Carter.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

After a tumultuous first half of the year, the crypto lending market is maturing, according to Ledn Co-Founder and CSO Mauricio Di Bartolomeo.In this episode of The Scoop, Bartolomeo shares his insider perspective on the state of crypto lending, including what types of lending he believes involves the least amount of risk.According to Bartolomeo, the liquidity crisis following the collapse of Three Arrows Capital earlier this year has the surviving lenders thinking more seriously about risk management: “Right now there is a huge focus on risk management — everybody is tightening up their covenants, everybody is trying to ensure that this doesn't happen again — and I think that has brought the space to a more balanced equilibrium.”Out of the various sources of demand for crypto loans, Bartolomeo believes delta-neutral market makers provide some of the best opportunities, given such market making strategies do not rely on the market moving in a particular direction:“The entities that performed the best typically were these high-quality market makers that take non-directional positions… that is the type of activity that we think is best suited to minimize risk.”One sign of increasing market maker activity, Bartolomeo explains, is the tightening of average spread on exchanges:“Today what you are seeing is that the average spread in most exchanges is getting tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter, and I think this is an expression of how many market makers are now coming in to narrow those gaps.”Episode 100 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Ledn Co-Founder and CSO Mauricio Di Bartolomeo.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

BlockTower yesterday unveiled a new $150 million fund, which has been operating in stealth since December of last year.BlockTower also announced a new venture arm, which complements the firm’s long-biased flagship fund, market-neutral fund and credit strategies.In this episode of The Scoop, Thomas Klocanas, BlockTower general partner and the new head of ventures, explains how BlockTower’s new venture fund synergizes with the firm’s existing strategies, and how this is advantageous for early-stage crypto projects.According to Klocanas, BlockTower’s four strategies collectively have more utility than a single specialized fund could have on its own:"If you're a DeFi protocol at seed stage, one of the first things you're calling your investors to solve for following your seed round is how do you bootstrap liquidity?… The benefit within BlockTower, our market-neutral fund, that's a big part of their mandate, that's a big part of how they generate yields — so there are obvious synergies where we can pipe that in.”Given this interoperability between the different facets of the business, Klocanas believes his new fund is more aptly referred to as a "strategic" fund:“We're not just a venture fund, we’re a ‘strategic.’ When folks say ‘strategic,’ they typically think of Coinbase’s investment arm or Gemini’s investment arm, but really I think that category is a little wider, and BlockTower is strategic in that we have multiple funds and strategies that can not just be an investor, but a user of your platform.”For Klocanas, of all the crypto industry's subsectors, “the highest conviction theme right now is definitely credit.”Given the amount of re-hypothecation in crypto that was exposed earlier this year, Klocanas believes there are clear advantages to decentralized lending:“There is a benefit to lending through a smart contract in that in the pecking order, if you're lending with something that has claims on collateral with code, you're going to get paid. Episode 99 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and BlockTower General Partner & Head of Venture, Thomas Klocanas.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

In August, it was reported that asset management firm Brevan Howard raised over $1 billion to invest in the crypto industry.In this episode of The Scoop, Bevan Howard’s Co-Heads of Ventures Peter Johnson and Colleen Sullivan break down their investment thesis and explain what segments of the crypto market they believe are seeing the most interest from existing brands.While traditional financial institutions are slowly moving their way into the crypto ecosystem, Sullivan points out that many traditional brands have already fully entered crypto via NFTs, metaverse experiences, and gaming:“Look at Goldman, JPMorgan, Citi, they're all involved in crypto to a certain extent — not to the degree we would have thought — but the institutions that are here are the Gucci's, the Nike's, the Tiffany's, the Dolce and Gabbana, Balmain, Balenciaga.”Blockchain gaming is one subset of the crypto market that Brevan Howard has recently been allocating to; just last week the firm co-led a $40 million Series A for Web3 gaming startup Horizon Blockchain Games.Outside of gaming, the digital asset opportunities Brevan Howard is looking to invest in relate to practical use cases. As Johnson explains,“What we're really excited about right now is moving beyond just speculative trading and where are the real world use cases that we're seeing crypto start to gain adoption.”Episode 98 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Brevan Howard Co-Heads of Ventures Peter Johnson and Colleen Sullivan.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

The cameras have been rolling over at Coinbase, CEO Brian Armstrong revealed last Friday, when he announced the release of Coin: A Founder’s Story — a feature-length film over three years in the making.In this episode of The Scoop, Brian Armstrong sits down with host Frank Chaparro to share his thoughts on Coinbase’s new film, including his take on how some of the thornier moments of Coinbase’s history are portrayed. As Armstrong explains, he decided to produce the $2 million film because he wanted to “demystify” the ups and downs of taking a company public:“I decided to make this film because I wanted to tell the story of what it really is like to create a tech company — all the way from being on your laptop and writing the first few lines of code, to going and becoming a public company.”The film candidly portrays highlights, such as the moments before Coinbase’s public listing, as well as controversies, such as Armstrong declining to answer a question about the BLM movement at a company all-hands meeting, as well as Coinbase’s controversial acquisition of Neutrino — a market intelligence firm with members linked to selling spyware to countries like Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Venezuela. Ten-time Emmy-award-winning producer Greg Kohs had full creative control over Coin, and Armstrong himself “didn't have the ability to change anything.” With that being said, Armstrong thinks Kohs accurately represented Coinbase’s story, and he’s happy with how it turned out:“He did show people who disagree with us, people who thought that we had made mistakes, but I actually thought it was a very fair take — and so I'm happy with how it turned out.”Episode 97 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

In July, Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs partnered with Improbable — a British company building a network of virtual worlds — to bring to life Yuga’s metaverse project known as ‘Otherside.’In this episode of The Scoop, Improbable’s Founders CEO Herman Narula and Chief Product Officer Rob Whitehead explain how they believe the metaverse creates value, and why developing entirely new experiences is crucial for success.According to Narula, nothing 'metaverse' related will be able to retain value without authentic engagement:“I think what we're always forgetting is it doesn't matter if we're talking about the price of land, the price of an avatar skin, the price of any digital asset; if there's no underlying usage, if there's no underlying people actually doing something because it's fun and fulfilling, none of that can hold value.”Instead of simply trying to recreate the physical world in digital form, Narula thinks metaverse experiences need to be entirely new:“Just porting over a PC or console game has almost never worked on mobile. I think metaverse expenses are like that: you've got to develop new stuff.”For example, “an ad as a billboard is trying to take the real world constraints and apply it to a virtual space,” Whitehead explains, “An ad could be teleporting you to a completely different experience.…”Episode 96 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Improbable's Founders CEO Herman Narula & Chief Product Officer Rob Whitehead.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsors TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

TBD, the crypto focused arm of Jack Dorsey’s Block, is partnering with Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, to unleash the power of stablecoin payments onto the next billion crypto users. In this episode of The Scoop, Circle’s Chief Revenue Officer Kash Razzaghi and TBD’s Chief Operating Officer Emily Chiu discuss their new partnership, and explain how their companies’ synergy is going to make it easier to move value back and forth between crypto and the real world economy. According to Chiu, the crypto industry is lacking a way to exchange crypto for real world items:“The minute you nexus upon the real world and commerce in the real world, you need to solve these really hard problems that haven't yet been solved in the space. That's what TBDex does, and we see USDC and stablecoins as a critical bridge for facilitating these transactions.”One of the first use-cases will be a remittance function that enables payments between the US and Mexico, a corridor that sees billions flow a year. TBD hopes its digital identity solution will put users in control of both their identity and data as well as who they share it with. As Chiu explains, these digital identity solutions will hopefully promote global economic empowerment: “Regardless of what identity you have, you can create a self-sovereign identity wallet regardless of who you are, there's no intermediary and you need permission from in order to start transacting and engaging with the global economy.Episode 95 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded at live at Converge with The Block's Frank Chaparro, Circle's CRO Kash Razzaghi and TBD's Co-Founder & COO Emily Chiu.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.This episode is brought to you by our sponsor TronAbout TronTRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |