On The Brink with Castle Island

Coin Metrics network data product lead Lucas Nuzzi joins the show to help explain how to audit the supply of Ethereum – and other, even more challenging blockchains. Also covered in this episode:  Does the Winklevoss gold asteroid mining talking point have any merit? Are the Winklevii being ironic or sincere The Boston Fed is hiring crypto engineers Why DeFi tokens remind us of PoW launches from 2...

James Lovejoy , recent MEng MIT grad and former graduate researcher at the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, joins the show to talk about his masters thesis and associated project focusing on detecting double-spends in proof of work cryptocurrencies. Previously, little data was collected in a systematic way to detect double-spends and reorganizations across many cryptocurrencies. James' project she...

Nic and Matt cover deals and the news of the week. In this episode: Are we in a bull run or is fiat devaluating? Africa volumes growing on Paxful BCH contemplating redirecting block rewards to fund developers Electric Capital raises 110m Casa adds a direct buy bitcoin feature Dapper labs raises $12m with participation from multiple NBA players Matt's scoop about the Microstrategy Bitcoin position...

Ray Youssef , founder and CEO of Paxful , joins the show to talk his journey with Paxful and his mission to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Paxful is a wholly bootstrapped startup that has recently taken the crown as the largest Bitcoin p2p marketplace in the world with $2.1B in annualized volume. Ray is from Egypt and has always sought to bring Bitcoin to Africa. Today, Africa is the 2nd most active reg...

Michael Graham and Pat McEvoy of Canaccord Genuity join the podcast to discuss how their firm has approached the blockchain/cryptoasset sector. In this episode we discuss: Michael's perspective on blockchain/cryptoassets from his role as Head of Equity Research at the firm. We discuss how blockchain technology could alter the landscape of the dominant internet companies of our era Pat's perspectiv...

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring John Collins, partner and cofounder of FS Vector , to cover the OCC letter and its implications. Covered in this episode: Our Plustoken conspiracy Nic's bird situation USDC raises $25m from DCG Avanti's dollar-coin Avit Why Pats players keep declaring their intention to sit out the season Bitcoin Suisse raises $48.6m Polkadot raises $43m What...

Jesse Walden, founder of Variant joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Jesse's journey in the crypto industry, from founding Mediachain, to being an investor at A16Z, to founding Variant The crypto ownership economy and how Jesse sees the evolution of consumer software Crypto projects through the lens of contract theory   Learn more and follow Jesse at www.variant.fund and follow him on Twit...

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week. Covered in this episode: Why holding Bitcoin in banks isn't necessarily contrary to the nature of Bitcoin VALR, a South African exchange, raises $3.45m from 100x Group and others The OCC's bombshell letter saying that banks can custody cryptocurrency What this means for established crypto custodians Follow-up questions we have for the OCC Hester Pierce...

Sam Wyner and Sal Ternullo, cryptoasset services co-leads at KPMG, join the show to talk about KPMG's newly-released analytics capabilities dubbed Chain Fusion . Chain Fusion is a patent pending suite of advanced analytics capabilities built on leading cryptoasset data and infrastructure products, to streamline the ability for financial services companies, FinTechs, and organizations across indust...

Nate Maddrey , senior research analyst at Coin Metrics , joins the show to discuss a recent report published by CM in collaboration with Bitstamp, The Rise of Stablecoins . We talk through the report and analyse some of the charts in depth. In this episode:  Why the auditability of public blockchains is so useful for evaluating stablecoins Why fiat backed stablecoins have different price dynamics...

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Alex Treece, president and cofounder of Zabo . Alex joins the show to discuss his report covering the intersection of fintech and cryptocurrency. Also in this episode:  We gripe about the SaaSification of the world and the loss of genuine ownership Whether the Bitcoin hero's journey requires a private blockchain digression The bo...

Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, joins the show. Caitlin is a thinker and writer we admire a huge amount and she has done a monumental job with her advocacy for responsible custody practices among crypto depository institutions. She is one of the key architects of the Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution legislation which establishes a new form of crypto bank in W...

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  Nic's viral Tweet  The Fed competes with crypto startups for talent TikTok influences the crypto markets Why supply metrics should be reexamined Why we wrote our cryptodollar whitepaper Chainalysis raises another round Coinbase IPO rumors USDC funds are frozen for the first time Can the stablecoin 'blacklist model' survive? Our FATF...

Tim Rice, Coin Metrics CEO, and Ben Celermajer, index manager at Coin Metrics join the show to discuss a new supply measure for cryptoassets which takes into account their "free float." This is designed to take into account coins which are immobilized or illiquid, and brings a systematic approach to the issue inherited from traditional capital markets. In this episode:  Why Coin Metrics developed...

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  The MPC custody debate NYDIG raises $190m for a Bitcoin fund Zimbabwe bans all mobile money services and contemplates redollarization 4% of the UK population owns cryptocurrency, according to the securities regulator What a long-defunct exchange has to do with Bitcoin's GINI coefficient Why the 'market cap' of BCH and BSV is signifi...

Dave Balter, the cofounder and CEO of Flipside Crypto , a business intelligence company focused on public blockchains, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Dave's new book, The Humility Imperative , and the lessons he has learned from seven startups His POV on leadership in an emerging market like cryptoassets/blockchain Reflections on fundraising, remote working, personal relationships and...

We host Lyn Alden, equity research and investment strategist focusing on global macro and commodities, to talk about the debt overhang, the effect of the dollar as the reserve currency, QE, the likelihood of inflation, and the prospects for Bitcoin.  In this episode:  How the Bretton Woods system broke down and gave way to the Nixon shock The genesis of the petrodollar system with Saudi Arabia Alt...

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  More Proof of Reserve chatter OmiseGo's parent company raises $80m Bitmex backs a new options exchange Paypal plans to roll out crypto products KPMG announces Chain Fusion USDC goes multi-chain We explain the COMP situation Telegram finally settles with the SEC Jay Clayton eyes the SNDY job An explanation of Bitcoin as a synthetic c...

Pat Larsen, cofounder and CEO of ZenLedger joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Pat's entrepreneurial journey and the path that led him to start Zenledger The current state of cryptoasset tax regulation Perspectives on emerging consumer use cases and new applications for cryptoassets To learn more about ZenLedger visit their website and to receive a 15% discount on your tax prep this year u...

Noah Buxton, director and co-lead of Armanino's blockchain practice and Jeremy Nau, senior manager of the practice join the show. Armanino LLP is an accounting and audit firm that has developed proof of reserve tools for exchanges and custodians, as well as real time attestation tools for stablecoins. In this episode, we cover:  How Armanino came to engage with crypto financial companies Why Proof...

Matt and Nic cover the top stories of the week. In this episode:  An update on our office plant River Financial raises a seed round, and our thesis on Bitcoin financial institutions Microsoft ION launches on mainnet Private keys as private property Wisdomtree's commodity ETF... feat. Bitcoin Another ICO bites the dust Former CFTC chairman Giancarlo says Ripple isn't a security XRP... was it create...

David Nage, Principal and Head of Strategic Relations at Arca joins the show. In this episode we discuss: David's experience in the family office channel and his path to the crypto industry His upcoming FO256 family office virtual conference on June 24th Podcasting and content creation as a complement to investing in the blockchain industry To learn more about David check out his Base Layer podcas...

Ryan Rabaglia has had a colorful career trading forex, equity, and oil before making his way into the cryptocurrency markets. He's witnessed crypto develop from a niche, uninvestable curiosity to a liquid and financialized global asset. Now Managing Director and Global Head of Trading at OSL , one of the largest digital asset brokerages in the world, Ryan has a unique view of crypto markets. We in...

Matt and Nic review the stories of the week, featuring special guest Christine Sandler, head of Sales and Marketing at Fidelity Digital assets. Christine joins the show to discuss Fidelity's newly-released survey of institutional investor attitudes on digital assets. We talk about what FDAS is up to, client enthusiasm for the asset class, and how institutions are thinking about it today. Also cove...

Mark Casady, cofounder and General Partner at Vestigo Ventures, and former Chairman and CEO of LPL Financial joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mark's career in financial services and the path that led him to becoming CEO of the world's largest independent broker-dealer The evolution of the financial advice industry Mark's thesis on Fintech and founding Vestigo Ventures Blockchain and cry...