Unchained

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, they cover: why Bitcoin maximalists are mad about Bitcoin NFTs why Robert thinks Bitcoin is not a good blockchain on which to build things why Canto, a layer 1 blockchain, surged in price and activity and why Haseeb is anti-Canto how Et...

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. Show highlights: how Celsius used investors’ money to prop up the price of CEL the reasons why Celsius inflated the CEL token where the...

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 c...

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. Show highlights: how Phil started working in MEV and why he believes it resembles 'Alice in Wonderland'...

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.  Show highlights: why Grays...

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, they covered: why the markets were up so much recently how and why Genesis entered into bankruptcy why the hole in DCG's financials are potentially much bigger than previously reported the differences between the bankruptcies of FTX and...

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 almo...

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 report finds developer interest remains strong. Ethereum is the leading chain by far but EVM-compatibility is emerging as a major force in winning developers’ hear...

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. Show highlights: how Tom got into cr...

Welcome to “The Chopping Block!” – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. Show topics: Haseeb’s TL;DR of the ongoing situation between DCG, Genesis and Gemini whether DCG committed fraud because of a misrepresentation of its financials why DCG did Genesis a favor by absorbing the losses from exposure to Three Arrows Cap...

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.  Show hig...

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” st...

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 availab...

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 poten...

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. Show highlights: whether Sam Bankman-Fried truly did not have money to post bail why the government did not restrict Sam's usage of the internet a...

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.   Show topics:   why stablecoin bulls performed so well in 2022...

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.  This year also brought the Ethereum Merge, one of the most awaited events in crypto's...

Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur and investor, talks about what Sam Bankman-Fried’s potential life in prison could look like. As a former white-collar criminal, Martin had a lot to say about prison culture, how judge selection affects sentencing, and more. Show highlights: why Martin says that the prosecution part of the case is the most difficult to endure why he thought Sam had "no chance at bail" (...

What a year. Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, sift through 2022’s rubble for clues as to what lies ahead in 2023. The two bright lights of Crypto Twitter weigh in on SBF’s fraud, how to succeed through the bear market, and what remains promising despite the gloom and doom. Show highlights: why 2022 is “the hangover of 2021” why this ye...

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news. Show topics: the details of the SEC and CFTC complaints how crypto traders have always speculated about Alameda's preferential treatment whether many people knew about the mismanagement of funds and alleged fraud why Haseeb thinks SBF was a...

Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discusses all the charges that Sam Bankman-Fried is facing and their potential outcomes.  Show highlights: the charges against SBF and why the criminal indictment is the most important whether SBF testifying in Congress would have complicated the DOJ's criminal case against him why it is complicated to state how much prison time Sam is...

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Marc Cohodes, individual investor and former hedge fund manager, have a heated debate about Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that plays a key role in integrating crypto with traditional finance and is currently under scrutiny due to its ties with FTX and Alameda. Both Marc and Ram have a vested interest in Silvergat...

TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory & policy at Bain Capital Crypto, discusses how the legal process for Sam Bankman-Fried in the wake of the FTX scandal could play out.  Show highlights: the allegations that Bankman-Fried manipulated the market during the Terra crash the motivations for Bankman-Fried's media appearances what the selection of Mark Cohen as a lawyer says about the potential...

Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The collapse of FTX has dealt crypto lender Genesis another major blow, with the firm halting withdrawals and DCG stepping in to help. Now the two face a range of suboptimal outcome...

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news.  Show topics: highlights of Sam Bankman-Fried's interview with the New York Times whether SBF knew what was going on in his companies, and how that impacts potential prosecution why Genesis and DCG are in financial trouble whether Genesis will file for bank...