Crypto assets and blockchain technology are about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity to the Internet of Things. In this podcast, host Laura Shin, an independent journalist covering all things crypto, talks with industry pioneers about how crypto assets and blockchains will change the way we earn, spend and invest our money. Tune in to find out how Web 3.0, the decentralized web, will revolutionize our world. Disclosure: I'm a nocoiner.
Why the Crypto Industry Is So Upset About the I...
A pair of crypto industry tax experts describe the problems with the tax agency’s new reporting proposals and suggest alternatives.
55 min
352
Sam Bankman-Fried Whisperer Tiffany Fong Spills...
Tiffany Fong has had an unusual route to crypto fame. After losing most of her life savings in the Celsius bankruptcy, she began posting on YouTube about her experiences and eventually received some leaked documents, which she shared with The New York Times and on her channel. The leaks gave her some visibility, and that’s when Sam Bankman-Fried began following her on Twitter.
46 min
353
The Chopping Block: What Does Binance’s Record ...
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang breaks down the record $4.3 billion settlement between Binance and the U.S. government — whether it was fair, the chances CEO Changpeng Zhao will face any jail time, whether it was ultimately a good thing for Binance and for the U.S., and what this changes for the industry going forward. They also delve into the SEC’s lawsuit against Kraken, and the drama around Sam Altman’s firing from Open AI and what it says about corporate governance and crypto companies.
62 min
354
Why Financial Advisors Are So Excited About a S...
Financial advisors in the US control $8 trillion in assets. Here’s why 77% are waiting for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
62 min
355
Could the Bank Secrecy Act Harm Crypto? Coin Ce...
Coin Center’s Peter Van Valkenburgh believes that the U.S. Treasury could use the Bank Secrecy Act in a dark way against crypto developers.
38 min
356
How Much Money Are Terrorists Actually Raising ...
The recent Wall Street Journal article that claimed Hamas raised $130 million via cryptocurrency has sparked considerable debate, especially after Sen. Elizabeth Warren used it as her sole source to ask for tighter regulations around crypto. However, the veracity of this claim has come under scrutiny.
69 min
357
The Chopping Block: Why Vivek Ramaswamy Wants L...
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang welcomes Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who discusses his mission to end the U.S. government’s regulatory overreach of the crypto industry, the parallels between crypto and the biotech industry where he came from, whether “code is law” is an appropriate framework for crypto regulation, how Bitcoin could be a check on the Fed, and how less regulation would actually lead to fewer, not more, instances of fraud like FTX.
47 min
358
How Can OpenSea Regain Dominance After Layoffs ...
NFT expert gmoney says that OpenSea “rested on their laurels” far too long. Can the once-leading marketplace rise again?
42 min
359
The Chopping Block: Did Blur Cause a Decline in...
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, they explore the enigmatic 'unhinged scale' metric, consider whether recent layoffs could have been anticipated, and examine the challenges facing the NFT market. They also provide a somewhat critical look at the events of the recent BAYC Apefest and share their takeaways on how Solana survived the Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX fiasco.
66 min
360
A 20+ Year Sentence? Why the Evidence Against S...
In this episode of Unchained, Laura does a detailed unpacking of the historic Sam Bankman-Fried trial and verdict with defense lawyer Sam Enzer and former Southern District of New York prosecutor Rich Cooper. They discuss what a thorough job the government did in presenting its case, whether the government will pursue a second trial on campaign finance charges, why it takes so long for sentencing to occur, what the differences between this case and the Bernie Madoff case are, and what Bankman-Fried’s likely sentence will be.
81 min
361
Two Genesis Creditors Describe Their Frustratio...
Two Genesis creditors, BJ and Branden, who prefer to use pseudonyms for security reasons, spoke with Unchained about the alleged fraud by the crypto lender and its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). The discussion is one of the first times Genesis creditors have spoken with a media organization about the situation.
88 min
362
SBF Trial, Day 18: Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guil...
A Manhattan jury took only a few hours to decide that former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was guilty of defrauding the crypto exchange’s users of billions of dollars.
4 min
363
SBF Trial, Day 17: Closing Arguments Ask: ‘Vil...
SBF Day 17 -Closing arguments offered a tale of 2 SBFs with a prosecutor calling him criminally responsible for a huge balance sheet hole but the defense saying he had been villainized for mistakes.
17 min
364
The Chopping Block: Nic Carter on Hamas’ Crypto...
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang sits down with guest Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures, whose tweet thread pushed the Wall Street Journal to correct its story that Hamas had raised tens of millions in crypto. Carter discusses the challenges in tracking how much crypto Hamas has actually received, the declining prospects for Sam Bankman-Fried’s acquittal, and ongoing dramas surrounding staking protocol Lido and decentralized exchange dYdX.
58 min
365
SBF Trial, Day 16: In Final Cross Examination, ...
Prosecutors again pounded away at SBF’s credibility with the former FTX CEO at one point claiming he didn’t look into why Alameda had spent $8 billion of FTX customer funds.
10 min
366
SBF Trial, Day 15: Prosecutors Hammer Bankman-F...
A packed courtroom watched prosecutors pummel former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, highlighting contradictions between his words and actions and a lack of credibility.
9 min
367
Why SBF's Testimony So Far Has Likely Already D...
Defense lawyer Sam Enzer says Sam Bankman-Fried’s testimony had evasive answers and non sequiturs—but that the defense may now have a good argument for appeal.
51 min
368
SBF Trial, Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Bla...
In his first testimony in front of the jury, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried presented himself as uninformed about key events prior to FTX’s collapse while blaming other members of the inner circle.
11 min
369
How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Her...
In a recent report, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, predicted that inflows to spot bitcoin ETFs would rise above $14 billion in the first year following the potential approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of multiple applications the agency is considering. Thorn called the availability of this product significant because it will give financial advisors and wealth managers accessibility to digital assets in a way that will be acceptable to clients seeking exposure to crypto. He also believes approval of a spot BTC ETF could occur this year before the holidays, and draws comparisons between bitcoin and gold as investment products.
40 min
370
SBF Trial, Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO...
The former FTX founder took the stand in a pre-trial hearing, revealing how he might fare under cross-examination in the actual trial.
8 min
371
The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The 'Low IQ' R...
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the four discuss Bitcoin’s price surge over the past week amid growing optimism that a spot BTC exchange traded fund would win regulatory approval, an erroneous Wall Street Journal story about crypto funding to the terrorist group Hamas and AI, and crypto illiteracy among leading U.S. lawmakers.
35 min
372
Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No ...
James Seyffart, market analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, and Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, feel quite certain a spot Bitcoin ETF will launch in the next few months.
74 min
373
The Chopping Block: A Rough Week 3 for SBF, DCG...
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the four discuss – and disagree about – Uniswap’s new fees, SBF trial week 3, and DCG potentially being taken out by the NY Attorney General.
51 min
374
Another Bad Week for Sam Bankman-Fried in His C...
Sam Enzer, a partner at the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel, told Laura that compelling evidence from Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle had increased the difficulty for the fallen FTX CEO to convince a jury of his innocence. Former FTX head engineer Nishad Singh said that he became suicidal after understanding the full magnitude of FTX’s misuse of customer funds, while ex-chief legal counsel Can Sun helped show how SBF allegedly lied to lawyers.
48 min
375
SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel S...
Former FTX General Counsel Can Sun took the stand, revealing that Sam Bankman-Fried had asked him to find legal justifications for FTX's $7 billion deficit.