Emily Parker, CoinDesk’s executive director of global content, joins the show to discuss the Asian crypto markets. From Hong Kong to Tokyo, Parker sees bullish signs in recent developments. Hear why she thinks China and Japan are closely watching as the U.S. clamps down on the crypto industry.

Welcome to “The Chopping Block” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, it’s time for a case study: Special guest Pacman, founder of Blur, explains how his upstart NFT marketplace fought OpenSea and won.

A settlement with Kraken, a proposed custody rule, and lawsuits against Paxos and Terraform Labs. “This week has been a very long year,” said Polygon Labs Chief Policy Officer Rebecca Rettig. She joins Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewel to interpret what’s going on with the SEC. Is it just one big push to cripple the crypto industry? “The fact that we’re all … trying to read tea leaves speaks to a failure in the system that relies upon one-off enforcement actions rather than a public rulemaking process,” said Grewal.

Mike Selig, counsel at Willkie Farr, has plenty to talk about this week, with a slew of actions from Gary Gensler’s SEC putting the future of crypto in the U.S. in question. From Kraken’s custodial staking settlement to action against BUSD issuer Paxos, the former CFTC law clerk voices concern that coordination among regulators could choke off the industry’s growth. Hear how Selig thinks Gensler’s SEC is working to bring crypto markets “within the regulatory perimeter.”

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, Polygon Chief Legal Officer Marc Boiron joins the show to examine the SEC’s recent enforcement ramp-up.

Erin West, Deputy District Attorney of California’s Santa Clara County, has heard firsthand tales of scammers preying on victims for hundreds of thousands of dollars. She joins the show to explain the scamming technique known as “pig butchering,” how it estimated to have raked in tens of billions worldwide, and why it has led to suicide in some cases. West makes the case for why victims need empathy and how law enforcement is working with exchanges to claw back scammed funds.

Chris Blec, DeFi researcher and founder of the Blec Report, explains why he believes the involvement of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in a contentious Uniswap governance proposal flies in the face of crypto’s core value: decentralization. He argues that the venture capital firm’s ability to potentially sway the vote in favor of a portfolio company undermines claims that DeFi is “people-powered.” The vote, which is not yet concluded, is the latest venue for people to debate the merits of DeFi governance and whether one token really should equal one vote.

Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase, and Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker, give a full accounting of everything U.S. crypto traders should be aware of as we inch closer to April 18. The two tax experts discuss the latest on how the IRS is approaching crypto taxation, going deep on everything from staking rewards to NFT royalties. Just a heads up: This interview is meant for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or tax advice.

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news.

Following the release of Celsius' examiner report, Kadhim Shubber, an investigative reporter at The Financial Times, dives into the controversial business practices of the lender, how the company inflated the CEL token, the use of customers' money, and much more.

Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, and Miller Whitehouse-Levine, Policy Director of the DeFi Education Fund, offer insider takes on how lawmakers and regulators are viewing crypto after FTX’s catastrophic failure. Both expect heightened activity in the U.S. from what they’re calling the “Crypto Congress.” Will this be the year for stablecoin regulation? Is DeFi still in the crosshairs? What about Ripple’s fight with the SEC? The two crypto policy experts look to the U.S. and beyond for what regulatory battles lie ahead in 2023.

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, Flashbots co-founder Phil Daian joins the show to go deep on what maximal extractable value (MEV) means and how it’s shaping the Ethereum ecosystem.

Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, gives an overview of his firm’s case against the SEC, which has denied requests to turn Grayscale’s bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). With oral arguments kicking off March 7, Sonnenshein lays out what a worst-case “tender offer” would entail and whether DCG CEO Barry Silbert has any say over GBTC’s fate.

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news.

James Block, crypto skeptic and author of the Dirty Bubble Media newsletter, rose to prominence with a timely post predicting FTX’s insolvency. The blogger, a doctor by day, explains why he sees crypto as an unregulated morass of would-be securities and outright “Ponzi schemes.” From an early interest in Tether to connecting the dots on Celsius, Block explains why he does what he does and why almost all of crypto is just “regulatory arbitrage.”

Maria Shen, partner at Electric Capital, unpacks the venture firm’s latest Developer Report. Hotly anticipated among crypto observers, the annual report captures which chains developers are building on. Despite 2022’s price carnage, the reports finds developer interest remains strong. Ethereum is the leading chain by far but EVM-compatibility is emerging as a major force in winning developers’ hearts and minds. Shen unpacks Bitcoin’s stability, Terra’s implosion, and many more insights from crypto’s open-source code repos.

From 3AC to FTX (and possibly more to come), it’s boom times for those trading crypto bankruptcy claims. Thomas Braziel, founder and CEO of 507 Capital, gives a crash course on bankruptcy law, offering the latest updates on the FTX, Celsius, and Three Arrows Capital cases. Plus, insight on how 2023 could finally be the year Mt. Gox creditors get (some) closure.

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news.

Gemini has accused Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert of fraud after allegedly misrepresenting the financials of his company. The accusations follow a dispute over the return of $900 million in assets owed to Gemini Earn’s users. Karim Dandashy, CFA and portfolio manager at XBTO Group, discusses everything about the ongoing drama between Genesis, its parent company DCG, and Gemini.

Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, and Collins Belton, managing partner at Brookwood P.C., dive into the controversial case of Avi Eisenberg, the self-described “applied game theorist” who was arrested in Puerto Rico on Dec. 26 on market manipulation and fraud charges. The two crypto lawyers discuss the case’s potential impact on DeFi and DAO governance — and whether “code is law” stands a chance in the courtroom.

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder at Lumida, talks about the ongoing dispute between Gemini and Digital Currency Group (DCG), specifically focusing on the actions and statements of DCG CEO Barry Silbert and Gemini’s cofounder Cameron Winklevoss. Ram discusses various aspects of the conflict, including the potential commingling of assets between DCG and its subsidiary Genesis and the options available to Gemini if DCG does not cooperate.

Lucas Nuzzi, head of R&D at CoinMetrics, and Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, discuss the current state of the crypto market, including the potential for contagion effects and the challenges faced by VC companies. They also delve into the mining industry and the issues surrounding MEV and Ethereum. The conversation also touches on stablecoins, DeFi activity and NFT trading, and the potential dangers of Binance's dominance in the industry.

Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur, investor and convicted white-collar criminal, talks about the new judge assigned to the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, whether Sam’s going to plead guilty or not, and the potential involvement of his family in the lawsuit.

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the year 2022 in the crypto industry and share their biggest winners and losers of the year, what were the best mechanisms, the biggest surprises and the best memes, and their predictions for the upcoming year.

This episode of Unchained looks back on a tumultuous year for the cryptocurrency industry in 2022. Significant events such as the bankruptcies of FTX, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, and the collapse of Terra/LUNA, led to billions being lost due to market plunges and also due to numerous hacks.