Unchained

Mike Belshe, the founder and CEO of BitGo, talks about one of the biggest problems facing crypto today: security. We discuss some of the ways BitGo has resolved this issue, whether that still leads to single points of failure, and what the company's recent acquisition of Kingdom Trust (a "qualified custodian" as defined by the 1940 Investment Company Act) means for the space -- hint, it may have to do with ETFs. We also discuss the recent violent crimes against people in crypto and how everyday people should go about protecting their funds. Mike Belshe: https://twitter.com/mikebelshe BitGo: https://www.bitgo.com/ A Wired article on the BitGo acquisition of Kingdom Trust: https://www.wired.com/story/why-a-tiny-kentucky-firm-rules-a-corner-of-the-crypto-market/ New York Times article on crimes against crypto holders: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/technology/virtual-currency-extortion.html Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate: https://preciate.org/, which is taking suggestion for new people to recognize at https://preciate.org/recognize/ Bitwise: https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/unchained StartEngine:https://www.startenginesummit.com/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the Founders Organization's Initial Taco Offering, an unofficial SXSW event, the co-authors of the recently released Truth Machine, talked about a wide range of regulatory issues from what the SEC subpoenas mean to whether or not the SEC is investigating the SAFT to whether or not the regulators should address crypto on a federal level. We also discuss central bank cryptocurrencies, how the dollar could be knocked off world reserve currency status, rogue governments issuing cryptocurrencies, the Telegram ICO, ways in which blockchain can be applied to problems such as climate change and how the media is covering crypto.The Truth Machine: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250304964Michael Casey: http://www.michaeljcasey.com/Paul Vigna: https://twitter.com/paulvignaPaul's article on SEC subpoenas: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-launches-cryptocurrency-probe-1519856266Michael's essay on China's desire to end the dollar's global dominance: https://www.coindesk.com/political-china-hates-bitcoin-loves-blockchain/Thank you to our sponsors:Preciate: https://preciate.org/, to recognize someone in a future episode, go to https://preciate.org/recognize/ and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wyoming now has five blockchain-specific laws. Caitlin Long, cofounder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, describes what these laws are, what they mean, and how our least populous state became a crypto leader. The former chairman and president of Symbiont explains what this could mean for any project that aims to launch a utility token, whether or not ICOs held in Wyoming would only be available to Wyoming residents, and what big issue she thinks remains for the SEC to address.Caitlin Long: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-long-/To read the laws: https://legiscan.com/WY/bill/HB0070/2018An op-ed Caitlin co-authored with WY House Rep. Tyler Lindholm: https://www.coindesk.com/haven-blockchain-case-wyoming/Thank you to our sponsors, Onramp http://www.thinkonramp.com/ and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amber Baldet, JPMorgan Chase blockchain program lead, talks about what she was discussing at SXSW with Hyperledger executive director Brian Behlendorf and what themes she heard at the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris. She talks about privacy in financial transactions, how "immutable" blockchains might conflict with a new EU privacy law granting people the "right to be forgotten." And we briefly touch on her work with Jalak Jobanputra's new diversity-focused group Collective Future. Privacy on Ethereum: https://www.coindesk.com/progress-hot-ethereum-privacy-projects-cooling-off/The Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ https://iapp.org/news/a/blockchain-technology-is-on-a-collision-course-with-eu-privacy-law/Thank you to our sponsors: Preciate https://preciate.org/ which is seeking suggestions for who to appreciate at https://preciate.org/recognize/and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a former government official, current board member of Coinbase and professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Kathryn Haun has a unique and varied view of the crypto space. She doesn't necessarily see the SEC subpoenas as a reason to be alarmed and compares it to her work as a federal prosecutor. We also discuss the FinCen letter and why her take is different from the fear we've seen in the marketplace.SEC issues 80 subpoeast: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-launches-cryptocurrency-probe-1519856266?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1The FinCen letter: https://coincenter.org/link/fincen-raises-major-licensing-problem-for-icos-in-new-letter-to-congressThank you to our sponsors: Preciate https://preciate.org/ which is seeking suggestions for who to appreciate at https://preciate.org/recognize/and Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Preston Byrne, an independent consultant and English lawyer, and Angela Walch, an associate professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law who focuses on blockchain technology, both explain their criticisms of the crypto space, give grades to regulators on their job so far, and how they think major players in the space can improve. They discuss what systemic risks they believe crypto could pose to the wider financial system, how the current activity in the space is accruing "legal debt," and what it's like being a critic in a land of believers.Preston Byrne: https://prestonbyrne.com/Angela Walch: https://law.stmarytx.edu/academics/faculty/angela-walch/Sponsored by Preciate: https://preciate.org/ for https://preciate.org/recognize/ and StartEngine: http://startengine.com/ for https://www.startengine.com/pages/summit   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer Bogart, partner at Blockchain Capital, discusses why he think Bitcoin's growing pains are a sign of success, how the SEC regulatory gloom could affect the development of crypto and how a liquidity crunch could affect crypto hedge funds. We also take a peek at the coming platform wars.Blockchain Capital: http://blockchain.capital/New crypto hedge funds: https://hackernoon.com/the-fate-of-crypto-hedge-funds-ca5850e8421c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Warren, cofounder of decentralized exchange protocol 0x, was working on building tokenized derivatives for Ethereum when he and his cofounder realized there would be no place to trade them. They ended up pivoting to create a decentralized exchange protocol, 0x, that enables companies to use that infrastructure to direct fulfill trade orders without worrying about a Mt. Gox- or Bitfinex-type hacking situation, as users would still retain control of their funds. In this conversation, he talks about the problems with centralized exchanges and how decentralized exchanges can overcome some of their own obstacles including liquidity and problems with front running. He also gives answers to some of the criticisms of the 0x project, including why it needs its own token (ZRX) and what the token's purpose is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Future Perfect Ventures' founder and managing partner Jalak Jobanputra and I discuss the New York Times article earlier this week about how few women there are in crypto. We discuss some of the surprising comments we saw from women in the space who wish the story hadn't been written and Jobanputra's new effort to increase diversity in crypto, The Collective Future.The New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/business/cryptocurrency-women-blockchain-bros.htmlJutta Steiner's tweet: https://twitter.com/jutta_steiner/status/968158503096471553Meltem Dermirors' tweet: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem/status/967983438945968130Elizabeth Stark's tweet: https://twitter.com/starkness/status/968307972597272576Wired article about The Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rune Christensen of MakerDAO and Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life and High Fidelity, discuss why stablecoins are called crypto's holy grail, why they may be what's necessary for mainstream adoption, and all the ways a stablecoin can be constructed. Philip brings in his experience with Second Life's Linden dollars, often called the first true virtual currency, to describe how it was constructed and how he's planning to disseminate the cryptocurrency of his new virtual world, High Fidelity. Plus, we talk about why a digital USD wouldn't be a threat to stablecoins and whether collateralized stablecoins resemble fractional reserve banking or not.Maker DAO: https://makerdao.com/High Fidelity: https://highfidelity.com/HFC: https://docs.highfidelity.com/high-fidelity-commerce/basics/hfcMore info on Linden dollars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Second_LifeThe Hacker Noon post by Haseeb Qureshi: https://hackernoon.com/stablecoins-designing-a-price-stable-cryptocurrency-6bf24e2689e5IMF SDRs: http://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2016/08/01/14/51/Special-Drawing-Right-SDREpisode with Bill Tai: http://unchainedpodcast.co/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technologyVitalik's post on collateralized debt obligations for issuer-backed tokens: https://ethresear.ch/t/collateralized-debt-obligations-for-issuer-backed-tokens/525Other stablecoins:Tether: https://tether.to/Basecoin: http://www.getbasecoin.com/Havven: https://havven.io/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices