The Scoop

On this episode of The Scoop, Nelson Minier, who was once the world's largest Venezuelan bond trader shares his stories about being a trader during the financial crisis, how he built up Kraken's OTC business and straddling the line between the worlds of traditional and emerging financial services.

R. Martin Chavez is perhaps one of the most senior technologists on Wall Street as the global co-head of securities at Goldman Sachs. On this episode of The Scoop Chavez talked about the evolution of banking over the past 20 years, Goldman’s foray into bitcoin and the reason why he thinks the Fed will end up making its own cryptocurrency.Transcript and show notes are available on The Block.

Listen to a preview of this week's The Scoop episode where Frank and Ryan discuss technology adoption, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies at Goldman Sachs with Marty Chavez, Global Co-Head of Securities.

CoinList president Andy Bromberg has witnessed numerous cycles of the token sale market. From the ICO boom in 2017 to the short-lived STO mania the next year. Today, CoinList continues to offer it's platform for firms to conduct token sales for institutional investors, recently facilitating crypto-project Algorand's $60 million offering -- it was one of the largest in recent memory. Bromberg joined The Scoop to discuss how the surge in bitcoin's price has impacted the broader market for token sales, how CoinList's strategy has changed since 2017 and why the once hyped STO market never took off. 

Yoni Assia has been in the bitcoin world since 2012 and his firm eToro has offered a platform for crypto trading for several years but if you're a listener in the U.S. you might not have ever heard of his firm which actually has a $1 billion plus evaluation. The Israeli based company which is popular across Europe has just expanded into the U.S. and it's preparing to go head to head with the likes of Robinhood and Coinbase. Yoni is hoping big marketing dollars and the social network elements of eToro's platform will help it out compete U.S. giants. In this episode of The Scoop Yoni outlined his vision for eToro in the U.S., how the firm has traditionally expanded globally and the plan for it's new cryptocurrency exchange eToroX 

Alex Adelman is CEO and Co-Founder of Lolli, which is a rewards application that gives you bitcoin when you shop at your favorite stores. Frank Chaparro and Steven Zheng discuss e-commerce and crypto, the power of memes in regards to marketing Lolli in the spacehow the firm lures Fortune 500 companies to it’s platform and why it could one day offer services like lending and possibly a credit card.

Zac Prince is CEO of BlockFi, which helps crypto investors manage digital assets and grow their net worth through services such as Bitcoin loans. Frank Chaparro and Ryan Todd discuss the complexity of crypto loans and the future of the industry.Notes and transcript available on The Block.

David Mercer has been building out LMAX Digital, a UK-based institutional exchange venue, which recently clocked in $1 billion in volumes in one trading day. The firm counts dozens of banks and trading firms as its clients. Mercer joins The Scoop with Frank Chaparro and Ryan Todd at the Crypto Evolved event in New York City to talk about LMAX's growth, the 3 things keeping institutions from diving into the nascent market, and what it is like playing Rugby on the North Pole.Show transcript and notes available on The Block.

It's been three months since Yuval Rooz stepped into his new role at Digital Asset as CEO. Rooz, a cofounder of the firm, had a goal of making the firm - which was best known for partnering with large financial institutions on blockchain project - more open. On this episode of The Scoop, Rooz joins Frank Chapparo and Ryan Todd to discuss his transition into the CEO suit, what it's been like to take the reins after the exit of Blythe Masters. We also dove into blockchain strategies across cloud providers like Amazon and the success of Digital Asset's partnership with the Australian Securities Exchange.Show transcript and notes available on The Block.

Frank Chaparro and Matteo Leibowitz interview Joe McCann, the Founder and Chairman of the Board of NodeSource in this week's episode of The Scoop. Frank, Teo, and Joe discuss open source software, how it's changing the banking industry, decentralized financing, and how they're all coming together.View show notes and transcript.