The Crypto Conversation

Axie Infinity is a Pokémon-inspired blockchain-based digital pet universe where players can earn tokens through gaming. Players can battle, collect, breed, and build a kingdom for their pets. Like CryptoKitties, Axies are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represented as cryptographically unique characters that can't be replicated. And like Pokémon, they are born to battle. While Axie can be just a game,...

The legendary Bitcoin evangelist, educator, and advocate Andreas M. Antonopoulos returns for his second appearance on the Crypto Conversation. Topics of discussion include the Ledger data breach, crypto security, the proposed new FinCEN regulations, techno-optimism, and why decentralized blockchains are a source of hope.  Why you should listen: "I'm a techno-optimist," says Antonopoulos. "I believ...

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to Bharath Rao and Swapman from LEVERJ, the world's first scalable decentralized derivatives exchange​. LEVERJ is a trading platform created to perform like traditional financial exchanges while maintaining the critical function of security. Built on Gluon, a Plasma sidechain, LEVERJ is self-cu...

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to DJ J-SCRILLA, a critically acclaimed hip-hop producer from Washington DC. DJ J-SCRILLA has released a new hip-hop album called Sound Money that tells the story of Bitcoin. Here it is, the official hip-hop edition of the Crypto Conversation…. Yeah boi! Why you should listen: Sound Money by DJ...

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk to Robert Breedlove, one of the deepest and most insightful thinkers on Bitcoin. Robert is the author of The Number Zero and Bitcoin. Robert says Satoshi gave the world Bitcoin, a true "something for nothing." This discovery of absolute scarcity for money is an unstoppable idea that is changing...

We're revisiting some of the best Crypto Conversation podcast episodes of 2020. In this episode, we talk with Torsten Hoffmann a documentary filmmaker. His new film Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is now available online.  Why you should listen: After writing a research paper on alternative currencies as part of his MBA at Oxford University, Torsten was intrigued by...

Bitcoin achieved a new all-time high today of USD $20,800. Bitcoin is now in full price discovery mode and looks set to continue as the bull market heats up. With a reduction in supply following May's halving, increasing demand from institutions, and a strong narrative that Bitcoin is a store of value, Bitcoin's future has never looked brighter.  Why you should listen: Josh says "I think that $33k...

Haseeb Awan is a cellphone security expert and the CEO of efani - America's most secure & private cellphone service. Haseeb was the creator of the 1st Bitcoin ATM in the U.S. Why you should listen: Haseeb has a background in Telecom Engineering. After being targeted by a sim swapper he looked at the weaknesses in existing mobile operators. He then designed a secure solution for his personal use. A...

Richard Sanders is a co-founder and lead investigator at CipherBlade, an elite blockchain investigation agency that works closely with top cry pto exchanges, blockchain protocols, and the FBI. The agency uses a potent mix of on-chain and off-chain analytics and investigative techniques to track the most sophisticated cybercriminals on the planet.  Guest: Richard Sanders Why you should listen: Rich...

Nansen is an analytics platform for the Ethereum blockchain. Nansen combines on-chain data with a massive database of millions of wallet addresses. Nansen helps crypto investors and product teams surface the signal from blockchain data.  Guest: Alex Svanevik Why you should listen: Alex Svanevik and his co-founders have worked in the blockchain data space since 2017 and kept seeing the same problem...

Mark Yusko is the CEO of Morgan Creek Capital. Mark is one of the most insightful investors and most articulate Bitcoin bulls on the planet. Mark's investment thesis is that the greatest wealth is created by being an early investor in innovation. Making that investment requires believing in something before the majority of people understand it. Why you should listen: Mark says that Bitcoin is the...

Decred is a hybrid proof-of-work/proof-of-stake store of value crypto asset for the digital age. It has strong governance, good security, privacy, and an innovative incentive alignment. If Bitcoin is about being your own bank, Decred is about being your own bank and having a say in bank policy. Decred has launched a new DEX with no trading fees. Guest: Jake Yocom-Piatt Why you should listen: Decre...

Jed McCaleb is the co-founder and Chief Architect of the Stellar Development Foundation, an open network working to connect the world's financial infrastructure. In 2014, Jed created Stellar, an open-source blockchain network designed to democratize economic participation by making money more fluid, markets more open, and people more empowered.  Why you should listen: Jed's history is the story of...

Rekt Capital, a Forbes featured crypto technical analyst and trader returns for his second appearance on the Crypto Conversation. As Bitcoin surges through $15,000 to hit its highest price since January 2018, Rekt Capital says this bull cycle is just getting started.  Guest: Rekt Capital Why you should listen: Rekt Capital is an astute analyst who specializes in technical analysis and trading psyc...

Trality is building a marketplace where creators can publish crypto trading bots and get paid rent by anyone wanting to piggyback on their trades. The creator's algorithmic secret sauce remains top secret. Guests: Moritz Putzhammer and Christopher Helf Why you should listen: While working as an assistant professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Moritiz Putzhammer was trading c...

Bruce Pon is the founder of Ocean Protocol. Ocean helps developers build marketplaces so that organizations can privately and securely publish, exchange, and consume data. Ocean protocol is building the new data economy. Guest: Bruce Pon Why you should listen: Ocean protocol enables the monetization and tokenization of data. This gives power back to data owners, enabling them to gain value from th...

Josh Olszewicz is a professional crypto trader and analyst. In this episode Josh explains why he thinks a Bitcoin price target of $20K by January is reasonable. Plus Josh gives his views on DeFi, Monero, and announces his new crypto analysis YouTube channel for Brave New Coin. Guest: Josh Olszewicz Why you should listen: As we close out a volatile year, Bitcoin is looking extremely bullish. Josh s...

Fernando Martinelli is the founder and CEO of Balancer, an automated asset management platform for programmable liquidity. Balancer allows anyone to create public or private liquidity pools for up to 8 assets with customizable weighting.  Guest: Fernando Martinelli Why you should listen: Balancer began as a research project in 2018. By exploring multidimensional invariant surfaces, Fernando and hi...

Anton Bukov is the co-founder and CTO of the 1inch exchange. 1inch is a DEX aggregator that executes a swap of tokens at the best price in one single transaction. Anton is a software developer with more than 15 years experience. Why you should listen: The 1inch exchange began life as a hackathon project which was presented at ETHNewYork in 2019. 1inch was created and developed by Sergej Kunz (co-f...

Shayne Coplan is the founder of Polymarket, an information markets platform. Speculators can bet on the world's most highly-debated topics like the upcoming US elections, COVID-19, DeFi, cryptocurrencies, and more.  Guest: Shayne Coplan Why you should listen: In 2014 Coplan was a teenager interested in music, technology, and the peer-to-peer file sharing scene. He had started mining crypto assets...

Steve Kokinos is the CEO at Algorand. Algorand is an open, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol that wants to usher in a new era of serious DeFi. Similar to how AWS (Amazon Web Services) has made cloud computing accessible, Algorand is building an ecosystem to unleash the potential of DeFi. Why you should listen: Led by Turing award-winner Silvio Micali and a team of cryptograph...

Peter McCormack is the host of the popular What Bitcoin Did podcast and the new Defiance podcast. After starting the podcast in late 2017, What Bitcoin Did has grown steadily and recently achieved an impressive 5 million downloads.  Why you should listen: Before the pandemic, Peter traveled regularly preferring to do his interviews in-person. With global travel now on hold, Peter is based out of h...

Piers Ridyard is the CEO of Radix, a layer-one protocol built for DeFi. DeFi applications are currently built on protocols that were not designed to scale. Radix has built a scalable, secure, high-throughput protocol for building applications and tokens. Building on the successes of existing public ledgers, Radix's protocol is a permissionless framework on which DeFi services can be developed and...

Douglas Borthwick is Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at INX. INX is building a regulated cryptocurrency, security token, and derivatives trading platform in the U.S. INX has just launched the world's first fully regulated Security Token based IPO.  Why you should listen: Douglas has a long career in finance including roles with Morgan Stanley, managing foreign exchange derivatives...

The next big thing in DeFi is LEVERJ - the world's first scalable decentralized derivatives exchange​. LEVERJ is a trading platform created to perform like traditional financial exchanges while maintaining the critical function of security. Built on Gluon, a Plasma sidechain, LEVERJ is self-custodial by design, meaning that users always control their private keys and funds. Gluon is a mathematical...