The Crypto Conversation

The legendary Bitcoin evangelist, educator, and advocate Andreas M. Antonopoulos returns for his second appearance on the Crypto Conversation. Topics of discussion include the Ledger data breach, crypto security, the proposed new FinCEN regulations, techno-optimism, and why decentralized blockchains are a source of hope. Why you should listen: "I'm a techno-optimist," says Antonopoulos. "I believe that technology has freed people from the constraints of the past. It has empowered individuals and improved the lives of billions. The world is a more equitable place as a result. Technology itself is a neutral tool that we can use for good or evil. You have to take the base assumption that the vast majority of human beings are good. There are exceptions, of course, but the exceptions validate this truth. Technologies that are truly decentralized and go directly into the hands of empowering individuals, they will be used by those individuals to do good. And so when I look at a technology that can be used at scale by lots of people and based on my understanding of human nature, I see immense hope. I see immense hope that if you allow people to act on their own impulses and give them power in the form of technology, the outcomes are massive good on a massive scale." Key takeaway: Antonopoulos, never one to mince words, says the proposed FinCEN regulations are an attempt to extend a totalitarian financial surveillance structure over the entire world. "They are acting with complete disregard for the consequences and side effects on billions of innocent people," he says. "This is wrapped up in the self-righteous and easy to sell idea that this prevents crime. Of course, they bundled in all of the worst kinds of crimes, such as terrorism and child pornography. The truth is, however, that for decades now, every study that has ever looked at the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, these kinds of customer regulations prevent a vanishingly small amount of those activities." Supporting links: Aantonop Leverj Andreas on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to Bharath Rao and Swapman from LEVERJ, the world's first scalable decentralized derivatives exchange​. LEVERJ is a trading platform created to perform like traditional financial exchanges while maintaining the critical function of security. Built on Gluon, a Plasma sidechain, LEVERJ is self-custodial by design, meaning that users always control their private keys and funds. Gluon is the first fully operational Ethereum Layer 2 chain, giving LEVERJ the high-transaction throughput to work as fast as centralized exchanges. Why you should listen: LEVERJ is a self-custodial decentralized derivatives exchange that provides up to 100x leverage. High speed, decentralized spot trading went live on mainnet in 2019 while futures trading went live in September. The first tradable futures products are ETH-USD and BTC-USD perpetual swaps with many more products in the pipeline. LEVERJ has partnered with Brave New Coin to roll out a pipeline of innovative exchange traded products. Some examples of these are sub-sector specific tradable products such as a DeFi index, a privacy coin index, volatility indices and more. "Most exchanges self-index, which introduces unnecessary risk," says LEVERJ CEO Bharath Rao. "By partnering with Brave New Coin, we give our users more transparency in the benchmark methodology and instrument design process as well as a greatly expedited product roadmap. It's our goal to bring the best practices of capital markets into the DeFi space, thus attracting new institutions." Key takeaway: Interest in DeFi exploded in 2020. To cater to this demand, LEVERJ has built a high-frequency, multi-currency spot and futures trading platform. The explosion of DeFi in 2020 has seen Ethereum gas prices rise significantly. The huge spike in demand for transaction space on the Ethereum chain has put a strain on the Ethereum and DeFi ecosystems. Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have faced challenges with security and performance, often falling short of the standards set by traditional financial exchanges. LEVERJ solves these challenges with the Gluon sidechain, a mathematically rigorous protocol preventing fraud, compromise, and collusion to provide the benefits of blockchain without the limitations. Gluon is an advanced, fully operational Ethereum Layer 2 chain, giving LEVERJ high-transaction, low-latency throughput similar to centralized exchanges. Other developers can also build decentralized applications using Gluon, including their own decentralized exchanges. Gluon has been in development for over three years and is currently the only Layer 2 solution purpose-built for high-capacity trading, that has instant-finality, strong composability, and conventional APIs for sophisticated traders to feel like they are using a regular centralized exchange without counterparty risk. Supporting links: LEVERJ LEVERJ on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to DJ J-SCRILLA, a critically acclaimed hip-hop producer from Washington DC. DJ J-SCRILLA has released a new hip-hop album called Sound Money that tells the story of Bitcoin. Here it is, the official hip-hop edition of the Crypto Conversation…. Yeah boi! Why you should listen: Sound Money by DJ J-SCRILLA is a body of Bitcoin art combining audio clips, samples, dirty drums and some of the hip-hop underground's best rappers. The album serves as a soundtrack for Bitcoiners and serves up audio inspiration for no-coiners interested in the future of decentralized money. This podcast features music highlights from the album including the new crypto anthem 'Faith In My Money (Money Printer Go Brrr)'. Key takeaway: On the hip-hop edition of the Crypto Conversation podcast, we discuss the lockdown trend that has seen top rappers engage in Instagram battles, such as the recent soundclash between DJ Premier and RZA. DJ J-SCRILLA says "the album is not a foolishly positive take on Bitcoin. It's a rational angle that condemns the abuses of central banking and portrays Satoshi Nakamoto's currency as an alternative." Following the Crypto Conversation hot take round, DJ J-SCRILLA shares his top 5 hip-hop albums. Sound Money is available on major streaming services. Supporting links: Rarescrilla.com Money Printer Go Brrr DJ J-Scrilla on Twitter Sound Money on Spotify Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin LEVERJ If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to Robert Breedlove, one of the deepest and most insightful thinkers on Bitcoin. Robert is the author of The Number Zero and Bitcoin. Robert says Satoshi gave the world Bitcoin, a true "something for nothing." This discovery of absolute scarcity for money is an unstoppable idea that is changing the world tremendously, just like its digital ancestor: the number zero. Guest: Robert Breedlove Why you should listen: Robert says that Satoshi gave the world Bitcoin, a true "something for nothing." This discovery of absolute scarcity for money is an unstoppable idea that is changing the world tremendously, just like its digital ancestor: the number zero. Like the invention of zero, which led to the discovery of "nothing as something" in mathematics and other domains, Bitcoin is the catalyst of a worldwide paradigmatic phase change. What numeral is to number, and zero is to the void for mathematics, Bitcoin is to absolute scarcity for money: each is a symbol that allows mankind to apprehend a latent reality (in the case of money, time). More than just a new monetary technology, Bitcoin is an entirely new economic paradigm: an uncompromisable base money protocol for a global, digital, non-state economy. Key takeaway: Robert says that many believe that Bitcoin is "just one of thousands of crypto assets"—this is true in the same way that the number zero is just one of an infinite series of numbers. In reality, Bitcoin is special, and so is zero: each is an invention which led to a discovery that fundamentally reshaped its overarching system—for Bitcoin, that system is money, and for zero, it is mathematics. Since money and math are mankind's two universal languages, both Bitcoin and zero are critical constructs for civilization. Zero and Bitcoin are unstoppable ideas gifted to mankind; gestures made in the spirit of "something for nothing." In a world run by central banks with zero accountability, a cabal that uses the specious prospects of "infinite cash" to promise us everything (thereby raising the specter of hyperinflation), nothingness may prove to be the greatest gift we could ever receive… Supporting links: The Number Zero and Bitcoin An Open Letter to Ray Dalio Robert's Tweet Storm Sapiens Interstellar The Sovereign Individual Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Leverj

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk with Torsten Hoffmann a documentary filmmaker. His new film Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is now available online. Why you should listen: After writing a research paper on alternative currencies as part of his MBA at Oxford University, Torsten was intrigued by Bitcoin. In 2014 he started working on Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know it, his first documentary. Hoffmann's award-winning first film looks at Bitcoin in the context of the history of money. His new film, Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is a bigger budget, ambitious follow up that takes a 360 wide-angle approach to the technology that may define Web 3.0. "Since the release of the first film, the industry has grown by a factor of 100. Bitcoin has been called one of the most disruptive technologies of our time. However, media coverage is often misinformed and the general public is still confused about the technology and its implications," says Hoffmann. "Can this technology, designed to operate independent of trust and within a decentralized network, really provide a robust alternative? Or are cryptocurrencies just as unfairly distributed, easily manipulated, and dangerous as our current systems? That was my starting point." Key takeaway: Filmed over two years Torsten says the new documentary has three arcs. "First we look at Bitcoin, then we look at the ecosystem, public / private blockchains and ICOs, and then we look forward at the potential of blockchain to unlock Web 3.0." He interviewed some of the ecosystem's biggest brains and biggest egos including Andreas Antonopoulos, Roger Ver, Charlie Lee, Samson Mow, Craig Wright, Preethi Kasireddy, and Wences Casares. While the film has a global feel, with filming taking place on four continents in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Switzerland, and Melbourne, Hoffmann says the highlight of the filming schedule was being granted access to the Xapo vault located in a top secret location buried deep in the Swiss mountains. Founded by Bitcoin entrepreneur Wences Casares, the Xapo vault is a decommissioned military bunker dug into the mountainside in a remote part of Switzerland. Its exact location is secret, and access is protected by a complex series of security measures. "The bunker scene was a highlight and we are the only film crew to be allowed inside. Allegedly up to 10% of all Bitcoin private keys are stored in the Xapo vault. It was a James Bond style adventure to get clearance and film inside the bunker," said Hoffmann. Supporting links: Cryptopia Film Torsten on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Leverj

Bitcoin achieved a new all-time high today of USD $20,800. Bitcoin is now in full price discovery mode and looks set to continue as the bull market heats up. With a reduction in supply following May's halving, increasing demand from institutions, and a strong narrative that Bitcoin is a store of value, Bitcoin's future has never looked brighter. Why you should listen: Josh says "I think that $33k by July 2021 is more viable and possible than ever. I don't think it is likely we'll see a bear market any time soon, we're now in possible multi-year bull market territory. This is good for BTC, this is good for ETH, this is good for all of crypto." Key takeaway: If you're reading this, you are probably a bitcoiner - good for you. Give yourself a pat on the back for believing in and participating in the birth of a brand new asset class, this is just the beginning. Andy and Josh also discuss ETH, DeFi and the growing NFT and collectible digital art scene. Supporting links: Leverj Josh on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Haseeb Awan is a cellphone security expert and the CEO of efani - America's most secure & private cellphone service. Haseeb was the creator of the 1st Bitcoin ATM in the U.S. Why you should listen: Haseeb has a background in Telecom Engineering. After being targeted by a sim swapper he looked at the weaknesses in existing mobile operators. He then designed a secure solution for his personal use. After growing interest from his network, Haseen founded efani, the most secure, private mobile operator in the U.S. The potential ROI for sim-swap attackers is massive. Crypto is an attractive target that can be turned into dollars. The sim-swap attack is easy to execute and doesn't require coding skills. Once an attacker has control of a phone account, they are often able to gain access to a victim's email account, Google Drive, passwords, and more. Key takeaway: With crypto prices tracking up, it's an excellent time to review your security practices. If prices continue to rise more bad actors will be incentivized to target crypto holders. Mobile phone support staff are underpaid and overworked and are not well trained against sophisticated social engineering attacks. All of the information an attacker needs to know to begin a social engineering attack can be purchased on the dark web. efani will transfer your existing number to efani and separate your personal information from your telephone number. Efani enforces 11-layers of military-grade client-side integrity, privacy and authentication protection. Efani is not for everyone, the company is a boutique solution for those who understand the value of privacy and security. Supporting links: Efani Haseeb on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Richard Sanders is a co-founder and lead investigator at CipherBlade, an elite blockchain investigation agency that works closely with top crypto exchanges, blockchain protocols, and the FBI. The agency uses a potent mix of on-chain and off-chain analytics and investigative techniques to track the most sophisticated cybercriminals on the planet. Guest: Richard Sanders Why you should listen: Richard Sanders and his team at CipherBlade are the 911 that the blockchain industry calls for cryptocurrency scam and hack investigations. Richard says "We'd prefer it if people came to us before they get hacked, rather than after they get hacked. We provide security audits for exchanges and high net worth individuals and can provide extensive training for companies and individuals." Blockchain investigators use a variety of tools that allow them to visualize the blockchain. A block explorer does something similar, the difference with professional tools is they take those visualizations to the next level and significantly increases the information and attribution that can be analyzed. Richard says he is also adept at off-chain investigative skills. "Social engineering is a good example of this. I pretended to be a female gamer on Discord and that helped me identify one of the Ian Balina scammers. At the end of the day, the blockchain is the best source of data, if you can follow a set of transactions to a KYCed account on an exchange, that is the best place to start. There are some elements on the psyops side that can come into play. For example, you might look at indicators of behavior. If a person of interest has a history of speeding tickets and gambling, then those would be red flags, just as an example." Key takeaway: Richard describes himself as a Realistic-Libertarian-Contrarian-Cyborg. Despite his intensive military background and strong working relationship with the FBI, Rich is also a cryptocurrency advocate, a staunch supporter of Monero, and a passionate believer in privacy. Richard says "I love the idea of privacy by default. As a realist, I understand that there will be an increase in diligence on people using crypto platforms and if you're making deposits you'll need to explain your source of funds. Monero has never tried to advertise using Monero for nefarious purposes. They don't need to. Privacy is a strong enough use case for adoption in and of itself. The question is, how do we have privacy by default but in the interests of public safety? We need to have this conversation as an industry so we can figure this out before governments are forced to do it for us." The range of scammers and bad actors in the blockchain ecosystem runs the full gamut from the lowest to the highest basket of sophistication. The least sophisticated is Twitter and Telegram impersonation scammers, often based out of Nigeria. Many of these scammers don't use VPNs, they don't always use mixers and sometimes they use direct deposit addresses for exchanges. At the other end of the scale, you have Lazarus, a very sophisticated hacking group out of North Korea that uses sophisticated mixing and crypto hopping techniques. What scammers have in common is they play on human greed, stupidity, and laziness. Richard says a significant portion of the industry is in it for the money. "There's a meme that says I'm in it for the technology but come on. It's fine to want to make money, but it gives people an unrealistic impression that crypto is a way to get rich quick and this makes them more vulnerable to these scams where people promise high returns." It's not just scammers that are having a negative effect on the industry. When considering the broader topic of crypto exchanges - think about what the perception is of our industry is from the outside. Exchanges get hacked left and right, scams abound, and there is a lax level of KYC and AML. Critics of crypto like to say that Bitcoin is only used for illegal activity, and while in the industry we know that is not true, it doesn't help to combat that narrative when exchanges get hacked and don't do enough to stop engaging with transactions from bad actors. In less than half an hour, Richard was able to identify several OKEx deposit addresses that received deposits from addresses associated with darknet markets. Any exchange with a simple compliance tool would pick these transactions up. Compliance professionals at compliant exchanges have access to know your transaction (KYT) tools. These tools show sending and receiving exposures, and break these down by category. If a transaction comes from a darknet market, the tool will identify this. These tools are not expensive for an exchange, they are usually charged by volume, so they are affordable for exchanges but out of the reach of individuals. Supporting links: CipherBlade Richard on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Nansen is an analytics platform for the Ethereum blockchain. Nansen combines on-chain data with a massive database of millions of wallet addresses. Nansen helps crypto investors and product teams surface the signal from blockchain data. Guest: Alex Svanevik Why you should listen: Alex Svanevik and his co-founders have worked in the blockchain data space since 2017 and kept seeing the same problem. There was a need to get a better understanding of who the different participants were on a blockchain network. This challenge of trying to understand the different addresses on the Ethereum blockchain was unsolved. The Nansen team knew that knowledge about network participants would be valuable to crypto product builders and potential investors. Alex says "that was our big idea, to help those two customer profiles better understand Ethereum blockchain activity to inform their decision making. Crypto is information inefficient which means there are opportunities to be gained if you are able to gain an insight into blockchain activity." Alex and his team have been tracking the deposits into the Ethereum 2.0 smart contract and he is excited by the potential of Ethereum 2.0. "I hope that people understand that the transition from Ethereum 1.0 to 2.0 is going to be a long and slow process but many of the challenges that Ethereum has faced will be addressed with 2.0." Alex says DeFi has had a promising year in 2020 and it has a sustainable future, something that wasn't the case with ICOs. Despite the many smart contract exploits, Alex is not concerned and sees these as part of the evolutionary process and a result of early adopters experimenting and taking risks. "Everything is in an experimental learning phase at the moment that is fraught with risk," he said. "Right now DeFi is complex and difficult to use. The future of DeFi will be a mix of centralized exchanges that integrate with DeFi protocols. This will improve the user experience and benefit all participants." Key takeaway: Blockchains represent radical transparency. Investors are able to get real time direct access to what is happening in the markets, something that is not available in the traditional markets. This radical transparency has advantages and disadvantages. On the negative side, some entities would prefer to hide their movements, whether that be purchases, investments, or trades, so there is a lack of privacy to some degree. On the positive side, this transparency creates a higher degree of trust. If you send your money to a centralized exchange, once your assets arrive with them, it is harder to trust that they are safe. However, decentralized on-chain platforms such as Aaave and Compound are inherently transparent and the user can see their transactions and assets on-chain at all times. Supporting links: Nansen Alex on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.

Mark Yusko is the CEO of Morgan Creek Capital. Mark is one of the most insightful investors and most articulate Bitcoin bulls on the planet. Mark's investment thesis is that the greatest wealth is created by being an early investor in innovation. Making that investment requires believing in something before the majority of people understand it. Why you should listen: Mark says that Bitcoin is the most elegant savings technology ever invented. In a world where consumption is emphasized you become a slave to money. In a world where money is working for you, like with Bitcoin, your savings power is strengthened. With Bitcoin back at high prices, anyone who bought Bitcoin any day across the last 11 years, except for 5 days in December 2017, is now in profit. Marks says "What that tells me is that if you're a fiduciary, family office or individual, you don't need to pick a day to buy. It might be easier and less stressful to adopt a dollar cost average strategy. Buy some every day. Or every week. Or every month. Think of Bitcoin as savings technology, so instead of putting all of your money in the bank, put some in the bank, and some into Bitcoin. Key takeaway: Mark says it is not too late for people who have not already taken a position in Bitcoin. "Like Churchill said, this is not the end, this is not the beginning of the end, it may perhaps be the end of the beginning," says Mark. "But people haven't missed anything. The fact that we went from 0.003 cents in 2009 to where we are today, at $18k that's not the miracle. The miracle is that we went from 0.003 cents to one dollar and that Bitcoin survived all the attempts to kill it in those early years. The miracle is that Bitcoin found critical mass and it was elegantly constructed so that it could reach critical mass and then the network effects kicked in from there. Mark says that with prices now close to all time highs, it's important for new investors not to FOMO. "A better idea is to dollar cost average in overtime, have some discipline to it. Allocate some % of your portfolio to Bitcoin over time. The younger you are, the higher that % can be. Just remember that concentration makes you rich and diversification keeps you rich. And Bitcoin is one of the great diversifying assets on the planet so adding a small amount to a portfolio can pay great dividends. You have to embrace technological innovation, and that's what Bitcoin is, and that is why it is time to #GetOffZero." Supporting links: Morgan Creek Mark on Twitter Andy on Twitter Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin Leverj If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.