Crypto Critics' Corner

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey reflect on a fraud that began in the 1980s and ended when the Dot-Com Bubble burst: WorldCom. Are there applicable comparisons to cryptocurrency and securities markets of today? (Hint: Yes.)

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey discuss the history and importance of DRW/Cumerbland Global, one of the top liquidity providers in the cryptocurrency space, and speculate on the influence the company exerts on the industry.

Today Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey talk about the Binance Tai Chi document (which you can read about here https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/29/leaked-tai-chi-document-reveals-binances-elaborate-scheme-to-evade-bitcoin-regulators/?sh=6dbafb302a92). This was recorded *before* Binance introduced full-KYC (know-your-customer) practices, but highlights previous issues with Binan...

Robert Green (@robogreen on Twitter), a marketing consultant who ended up doing contract work for Blockchain Terminal - a company claiming to be "the Bloomberg Terminal," but for cryptocurrencies! - joins us to discuss his time at the bold project. The main problem with the company? One of the biggest fraudsters in Canadian history was running things under a pseudonym, "Shaun MacDonald," and was p...

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey discuss the history, function, positives, negatives, flaws, and potential benefits of Bitcoin.

The second part of the two-part discussion with Frances Coppola. On this episode, Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey ask about algorithmic stablecoins, overcollateralized stablecoins, regulation, and historical precedent for pegged-currency failures.

Frances Coppola - "infamous" nocoiner and author - joins Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey to teach everyone a thing or two about inflation, deflation, hyperinflation, and stablecoin regulation.

Today's episode is guest-less! Just Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey discussing how particularly egregious cryptocurrency-based charities tend to be. Examples include Jacob Kostecki, Binance's Pink Care Token, and Deltec Cares.

Lawyer Preston Byrne joins Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey for a wide-ranging discussion that goes from his own crypto journey (of skeptic to believer) to regulatory and legal risks for stablecoin operators. Visit his Twitter to see more from Preston https://twitter.com/prestonjbyrne

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey are joined by Assistant Professor of Law at Willamette University and one of the authors of the STABLE Act, Rohan Grey. We discuss how stablecoins operate, what he hopes to see from CBDCs and the problems he sees in all kinds of new(er) money markets. Find him on Twitter @rohangrey

Today Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey are joined by David Z. Morris to discuss what happened at Enron, the ramifications of its downfall, and how the climate during Enron relates to today. If you'd like to hear more from David visit his website http://www.davidzmorris.com/  his twitter profile https://twitter.com/davidzmorris or subscribe to his substack http://davidzmorris.substack.com

Today Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey discuss Cas' trip to Hong Kong in search of the ethereal Bitfinex headquarters, how and why exchanges continue to try to get away with existing nowhere, and what it means for consumers.

Today Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey bring on David Canellis, the director of news at Protos Media (https://protos.com) and long time journalist covering cryptocurrency and fintech, to discuss the "decentralized" social media platform BitClout. We'll talk about its odd origin story, why David thinks it's probably destined to fail, and why it reminds us of so many other projects that never made it...

In this episode Bennett and Cas discuss the concepts of regulatory capture and regulatory arbitrage - systemic problems that aren't unique to any particular industry, but have helped dissolve public trust of regulators and enriched some of the worst companies and individuals.

Bennett and Cas try to discuss an intensely complex and controversial topic: what Bitcoin being declared legal tender in El Salvador will mean for the small, Central American country.

In this episode, Bennett and Cas discuss the confusing concept of what a "Tether redemption" would look like: an ever-shifting definition built on a stablecoin with an ever-shifting definition of what 1-1 backed by traditional fiat currency means. Though we haven't seen an actual Tether redemption shown on Twitter, or otherwise, for the world to see, we look forward to someone coming forward with...

In this episode Bennett and Cas discuss what's being termed "shillfluencers," or influencers, celebrities, and other individuals with wealth and power, who use their "influence" to "shill" their investments. There's plenty of people - including billionaires (Elon) and has-beens (Soulja Boy) - who continue to take advantage of their ability to manipulate markets, to the point where it feels like a...

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey discuss how Coinbase plans on creating a media company to confirm its own version of the facts and report its own version of the truth. Is journalism entering its final death spiral or are VC bros just losing their minds? Read more here: https://protos.com/coinbase-crypto-exchange-media-content-marketing-journalism/ https://bennettftomlin.com/2021/05/31/a-rant-about-...

Bennett and Cas dive into what happened at QuadrigaCX - once the largest Canadian Bitcoin exchange. If you'd like to read a more detailed piece you can find "Death Fraud" here: https://medium.com/coinmonks/death-fraud-6920cc93d0a7

Cas and BT discuss Crypto Capital Corp, a defunct, fake, Panamanian money services transmitter that helped service almost every important cryptocurrency exchange, owned and operated by Reginald Fowler, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, and Oz and Ravid Yosef. 

Today Bennett Tomlin and I go over the recent disclosure by Tether of the make up of its reserves. If you'd like to read more, please visit: "For Every $1 in Tether there are $0.03 in Cash" https://bennettftomlin.com/2021/05/13/for-every-1-of-tether-there-are-0-03-in-cash/ or "Inside the Great Pie Chart giving Tether its dollar value" https://protos.com/tether-pie-chart-usdt-dollar-pegged-crypto-s...

This episode, unfortunately, is absent Bennett. Quick summary of why Zhao Dong ended up being sentenced to prison time in China. If you'd like to read more: https://protos.com/renrenbit-zhao-dong-bitcoin-billionaire-pleaded-guilty-money-laundering/ https://medium.com/coinmonks/another-usecase-bites-the-dust-e64ba9b95c6 https://medium.com/coinmonks/zhao-dong-still-matters-heres-why-cff29d6089fd htt...

After going through the history and red flags behind Tether and Bitfinex, Bennett Tomlin and I go through some questions from the listeners.

In this part of our discussion, Bennett Tomlin and I go over the later problems Bitfinex and Tether encountered, why the New York Attorney General filed an injunction, and what the settlement between iFinex and the NYAG means for the companies and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.

In this recorded conversation, Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey discuss the early history of Bitfinex and Tether and why Tether has outpaced Bitfinex as a growing concern. Another discussion concerning the NYAG settlement and ongoing skepticism will be addressed in the next conversation.