Around the Coin

In this interview Mike Townsend interviews Felix Feng, founder of Set Protocol. He previously worked at 21.co (acquired by Coinbase) and Radius, and graduated from UC Berkeley. We learn how Felix came up with the idea for Set Protocol and how how raised money and grew his team. Set Protocol basically allows you to buy and sell crypto management strategies for the average person, similar to how an...

In this interview Mike Townsend interviews Mark Thomas, CEO and founder of ZenSports. ZenSports is a mobile peer-to-peer sports betting marketplace where anyone can create and accept sports bets with anyone else in the world, without the need for a centralized bookmaker. Mike and Mark uncover the history of betting, discuss the future of sports coming out of Coronavirus, and talk about what the st...

In this interview Mike Townsend interviews Chris Maurice, CEO and co-founder of Yellow Card, a cryptocurrency exchange operating across Africa. In high school, Chris started an SEO consulting firm which helped optimize over 140 websites on Google, including Prezi.com. In college, he started a manufacturing and supply chain logistics company producing clothing and shoes out of a factory in Pakistan...

In this interview, Mike Townsend interviews Greg Kolodziejzyk, founder of AlgoLab. In his 20's Greg quit his job at a local oil company based out of Calgary Albert and started his own business as a freelance graphic designer. In 1994 his company, Image Club, was purchased for millions, and Greg became financially independent. With plenty of time on his hands, Greg shifted his focus to enduran...

Today, ARYZE is passionately led by Jack and is successfully establishing itself in the industry. The values ‘inclusivity’, and ‘transparency’ are embedded in the company’s culture and show what ARYZE is truly about. The company is working towards solving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal Numbers 9, 10, and 16. It does so by building a secure financial platform that is accessible to...

In this interview, Mike Townsend interviews Ethan Austin, who oversees all operations at the Techstars & Western Union Accelerator. This Techstars program focuses on investing in startups looking to shape the future of money. Ethan and Mike talk about the history of Western Union, which is now about 170 years old and dominated the American telegraph industry in both the 19th and 20th centuries...

In our latest edition, Nako Mbelle interviews to whom we refer to as the brand ambassador or Bitcoin evangelist: Andreas M. Antonopoulos. Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a critically-acclaimed best-selling author, speaker, educator, and one of the world’s foremost bitcoin and open blockchain experts. Andreas makes complex subjects accessible and easy to understand. He is known for delivering electric t...

You can't seem to pick up any Fintech aka banking & payments magazine or blog without the mention of the word, 'financial inclusion'. Depending on whom you talk to, the number of financially excluded population is anywhere from 2.5 Billion people to 1.5 Billion. World Bank Group defines financial inclusion as individuals (and businesses) that have access to useful and affordable...

In this interview Mike Townsend talks to Kyle Hill, which is a special episode because Kyle and Mike are co-founders of Redeeem (trusted peer-to-peer crypto gift card exchange), and have started 3 startups over the last 8 years together. Previous to Redeeem, they raised $23M for HomeHero, a tech-enabled home care marketplace. They talk about how to work successfully together as a team, the mission...

In this interview Mike Townsend interviews Ethan, who talks about his journey from CTO of VC funded startup, Overnight, to partner of AGE Crypto hedge fund. Learn about the differences between a VC fund and a crypto hedge fund, as well as how many exist what specific methods hedge funds use to provide returns for their LPs. Ethan walks us through a typical day, researching github projects, talking...

In this podcast, Nako Mbelle interviews Yan Pritzker the author of Inventing Bitcoin and I discuss what makes bitcoin a revolutionary tech; and why he left his full-time CTO position at his startup to devote 100% of his time to Bitcoin. Yan’s book Inventing Bitcoin is written for non-technical people who want to better understand bitcoin at a deeper level and go beyond the superficial talking poin...

In this episode Mike Townsend visited the offices of SFOX to interview Founder George Melika and Head of Growth Danny Kim in their offices in Playa Vista, California. SFOX raised $23M in VC from Y Combinator, Social Capital, Tribe Capital among others to build the easiest tool to access the digital cryptocurrency market. We discussed exchange trading, how crypto companies can successfully work wit...

This show focuses on the FATF, the Financial Action Task Force. We discuss why the organization – that remains unknown to many finance and payments professionals and even to AML/CFT compliance specialists, is so powerful and important. We discuss the basics: why was it created? What are FATF’s goals? What are the down sides or unintended consequences of the standards it sets? We discuss the effect...

Nako interviews David Gerard, a Bitcoin critic. They talk about the technological superiority complex of some Bitcoin maximalists; Bitcoin's energy inefficiencies and whether crypto mass adoption is a pipe dream or closer to becoming a reality because of the Lightning Network. Sponsors:Otter Labs www.hireotter.com- Hire great and inexpensive developer with staff augmentation through Otter. Re...

This week Faisal Khan sits down with Dr. Mara Wesseling (our newest co-host) and we discuss the world of compliance. This show offers a first introduction to AML/CFT compliance (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism). It touches upon what compliance stands for and who needs to do it. How big and relevant is today's compliance industry? What to make of the unhappy marr...

In this episode of Around The Coin, Faisal & Nako get on the air to continue with their BTC (Behind The Coin) series. We discuss the very basics of the Lightning Network and what it means for normals folks like you and I (not to mention Bitcoin enthusiasts). We try to cover this without getting technical. Let us know how we did? Sponsors:Otter Labs www.hireotter.com- Hire great and inexpensive...

In this episode, Faisal and Malini discuss financial inclusionbeyond its basic definition, and talk through the fundamentalbuilding blocks required for a more financially 'inclusive'world. Sponsors:Otter Labs www.hireotter.com- Hire great and inexpensive developer with staff augmentation through Otter. Redeeem https://redeeem.click/qdza- Redeeem is a decentralized peer-to-peer exchange t...

This week the trio is back on the air. Brian and Mike discuss what does capitalism and socialism mean in today's world? (Faisal unfortunately, dropped out due to technical reasons). We discuss the role of centralized governments and economic frameworks in areas such as healthcare, education, and much more. A wide-ranging high paced conversation that could have lasted for hours! Sponsors:Otter...

Description: Mike Townsend sits down with Marc Bhargava. Marc is the founder of Tagomi, the first electronic agency prime brokerage in the digital assets space. We discuss why now is the perfect time to be building in crypto, what Marc's most contrarian crypto views are, and other thought-provoking ideas in the space. Tune in and enjoy! Sponsors:Otter Labs www.hireotter.com- Hire great and in...

The Great Depression: How the Great Depression impacted our modern financial world. Mike and Brian dissect events that played a major role in the Great Depression such as the telephone, prohibition, food subsidies, bank closures, wage laws and more. We reflect on how each of these policy changes shaped the world we live in today and how you can predict the future by understanding cycles of the pas...

This week Mike Townsend sits down with Jack Jia of Wyre. Jack is the founding employee at Wyre and in this show we talk about the inspiration for the idea which largely came from a PayPal hackathon in 2015. We talk about how Wyre uses bitcoin behind the scene to enable much faster and cheaper foreign exchange. We also spoke about Jack's experience living and doing business in China and how he...

An in depth look at the history of the credit card companies that run our global financial networks. We touch it all, from the founding of American Express in 1850 to charge coins, money orders, traveler's checks, diners club cards, the first credit card US Patent, and the formation of Visa and MasterCard. The origin stories of the financial industry carry lessons that will inspire anyone wor...

The unbanked are often overlooked due to their inability to integrate into the global economic engine. In this episode, we look at who they are, what their life is like, and what obstacles stand in the way for them to join the financial system. Could blockchain based startups like Bloom, Civic, and Spring Labs provide a reliable decentralized credit infrastructure and unlock the economic potential...

This week Behind The Coin Host Nako Mbelle sits down with Tyrone Ross of NobleBridge Wealth. Tyrone has more than a decade of experience in the financial services industry. Tyrone has worked for large wirehouse firms like Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch where he gained investment management and financial planning experience leading him to break away and become an independent investment advisor. C...

In this episode, we get a change to sit down and have a chat with Andy Bryant, who is the COO of bitFlyer Europe. bitFlyer is a licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Japan and holds additional licenses in Europe and the United States. We talk with Andy where we stand today with respect to crypto exchanges and what might we see in the coming months/years as cryptocurrency trading evolves more into ma...