The Scoop

The Scoop's host Frank Chaparro was joined by LMAX Group CEO David Mercer. In this episode, Chaparro and Mercer discussed the accelerating institutional adoption of crypto, with major banks entering the market and driving stability, maturity, and significant capital inflows. They also explored how improved interoperability between tradfi and crypto could increase adoption by enabling more seamless...

The Scoop's host Frank Chaparro was joined by Dragonfly Partner Tom Schmidt. In this episode, Chaparro and Schmidt discussed the cryptocurrency market acting as an institutional asset class moving into 2025, and how this cycle has been different for venture captial operating within the space. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01:39 Crypto as an institutional asset 11:47 Crypto market idiosyncrasies 18:20...

The Scoop's host Frank Chaparro was joined by The Block's CEO Larry Cermak, Editor-in-Chief Tim Copeland, and Foresight Centures Co-Founder Forest Bai for a year-end special. In this episode, Chaparro, Copeland, Bai and Cermak covered a myriad of pertinent topics  in the crypto market, including the factors that lead to a successful ecosystem, underexposure to bitcoin relative to memecoins, AI, an...

Jeff Garzik is the CEO of Hemi Labs, a modular Layer 2 protocol that integrates Bitcoin and Ethereum. In this episode, Garzik and The Block's Frank Chaparro discuss Hemi and its "proof-of-proof" security model, and Garzik shares his views on the future of multi-chain interoperability and the evolution of decentralized governance models. OUTLINE 00:00 - Introduction and Hemi overview 03:17  - The e...

Edan Yago is the co-founder and CEO of BitcoinOS, a Layer 2 platform and "operating system" for Bitcoin. In this episode, Yago and The Block's Frank Chaparro discuss BitcoinOS and how Bitcoin can evolve from being just “digital gold” into a fully programmable, global ledger for ownership and financial innovation. OUTLINE 00:00 – Introduction
 02:17 – Bitcoin and digital property rights
 04:40 – Bi...

Zachary Townsend is the co-founder and CEO of Meanwhile, a life insurance company for the crypto economy. In this episode, Townsend and The Block's Frank Chaparro discuss Meanwhile's model of Bitcoin-denominated life insurance and the advantages of this approach vs. traditional dollar-denominated insurance policies, such as protection against inflation and the ability to borrow against the policy'...

Himanshu Sahay is the Co-Founder and CTO of Arch. In this episode recorded live at Emergence in Prague, Sahay and The Block's Frank Chaparro discuss the evolution of crypto lending after the 2022 market turmoil and Arch's approach to expansion and collateral. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01:16 Intro to Arch  03:15 Shifting collateral standards  07:33 The state of crypto credit 12:48 New administrati...

Samantha Bohbot is the Chief Growth Officer & Partner of RockawayX, a blockchain-focused venture capital fund. In this episode recorded live at Emergence in Prague, Bohbot and The Block's Frank Chaparro discuss discuss challenges facing European firms compared to their American counterparts, and RockawayX's credit fund and developing opportunities in DeFi. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:36 Rock...

David Wells is the founder and CEO of Enclave Markets, an institutional-grade digital asset trading platform that bills itself as the first Fully Encrypted Exchange (FEX). In this episode recorded live at Emergence in Prague, Wells and Chaparro discuss Enclave's model, the maturing crypto market and the potential for more sophisticated trading strategies and liquidity. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 0...

Bill Barhydt is the founder and CEO of Abra, a global platform for digital asset prime services and wealth management. In this episode recorded live at Emergence, Barhydt and Chaparro discuss how building a successful crypto businesses requires careful navigation of complex legal and regulatory hurdles, and how this process might change under the upcoming Trump administration. OUTLINE 00:00 Introd...

Jon Kol is the co-founder of Hyperlane, an interoperability protocol. In this episode, Kol and Chaparro discuss the challenges and progress of blockchain interoperability, and how the industry may now be turning a corner. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 04:24 A year away 08:50 Interchange singularity 10:30 Bridge opportunities 13:32 Balancing speed and security 18:35 Poor UX, Poor DevX 20:11 Who’s the...

Joshua Lim is the co-founder of Arbelos Markets. In this episode, Lim and Chaparro discuss the crypto market surge sparked by Donald Trump's election as U.S. President. Lim sheds light on how the Trump administration's regulatory stance could pave the way for institutional investors to dive deeper ino the crypto space, potentially driving higher trading volumes and boosting liquidity across the ec...

Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and Managing Partner of Skybridge. In this episode, Scaramucci and Chaparro discuss the recent U.S. Presidential election and its implications for the crypto industry. Scaramucci analyzes the factors that led to Kamala Harris's loss, naming crypto as a key factor. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:36 2024 Presidential Election Retrospective 04:16 Trump's Cabinet 07:37...

dYdX founder Antonio Juliano discusses the evolution of dYdX and the broader DeFi landscape, highlighting the need for DeFi to move beyond copying tradfi products and build truly innovative applications made possible by decentralization. OUTLINE 00:00 Intro 01:33 DeFi's Development 04:24 dYdX Mega Vault AMM 05:32 dYdX Prediction Markets 08:47 High-Performance Blockchain Development 10:35 Appchain...

Syncracy Capital co-founder Ryan Watkins sheds light on Ethereum, Solana and finding the next "generational winners" in the crypto market. OUTLINE 00:00 Intro 01:47 Watkins' Crypto Journey 05:22 Syncracy's Liquid Strategy 06:51 Crypto Market Analysis 08:52 Ethereum's Underperformance 13:14 Long-Only 15:34 Picking Winners 20:38 SOL Trade 28:27 Bitcoin vs. Crypto 34:16 Market Cycle Analysis This epi...

Ripple Head of Product Jasmine Cooper and Axelar Co-Founder Sergey Gorbunov discuss advancements in Real World Assets (RWAs), tokenization, and interoperability. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01:12 Interoperable RWAs 04:18 Regulatory Clarity 08:09 RWA Tech Stack 11:37 White Labeling RWAs 13:05 Choosing a Chain 14:43 XRP Ledger RWA Experience 20:35 Asset Issuance 101 22:49 Global Accessibility of RWAs...

Justin Slaughter is the vice president of regulatory affairs at Paradigm. In this episode, Slaughter and Chaparro discuss the Democratic Party's performance leading up to and during the recent election, particularly in relation to the crypto industry. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 03:19 2024 Election Recap 04:47 Harris Campaign 07:50 Single-Issue Crypto Voters 11:13 Democratic Party Policy 22:48 Poli...

Alex Gluchowski is the Co-Founder CEO of Matter Labs, a company focused on scaling Ethereum using zero-knowledge proofs, and Matthias Broner is their Head of Growth for Latin America. In this episode, Gluchowski and Broner discuss the QuarkID project in Buenos Aires, which uses zero-knowledge proofs to give citizens control over their digital identity and serve as a model for decentralized digital...

Robert Leshner is the CEO of Superstate, an asset management firm that tokenizes traditional financial assets like U.S. Treasuries and brings them onchain. In this episode, Leshner explains the advantages of tokenized assets, such as the ability to operate 24/7 and the increased composability with DeFi protocols. He also discusses the regulatory and macroeconomic tailwinds that have made this an o...

Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor are co-founders of Venice, an open-source and uncensored AI chatbot and content generation platform. In this episode, the Venice co-founders discuss the vision and approach of their product in contrast to more restrictive and centralized AI models like ChatGPT. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:43 Origin of Venice AI 02:37 'AI is like Bitcoin but scarier' 07:29 Pro...

Michael Shaulov is the Co-Founder & CEO of Fireblocks. In this episode, Shaulov discusses how Fireblocks' core business has evolved over the past few years, particularly in the area of stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:56 Business at Fireblocks 06:15 Fireblocks & Stablecoins 09:59 RWA TVL Growth 15:36 Institutional Stablecoin Adoption 25:22 TradFi's...

Sam Hallene and Aryan Sheikhalian are analysts at CMT Digital, a subsidiary of the CMT Group. In this episode, Hallene and Sheikhalian unpack the key trends they are observing in crypto's VC market, including the intersection of blockchain and AI and its implication for improving user data ownership, verified inference, and the use of blockchain to govern non-deterministic models. OUTLINE 00:00 In...

Sandy Peng is the co-founder of Scroll. In this episode, Peng discusses scaling Ethereum and particularly emphasizes the importance of business insight and experience outside of crypto in driving application-level innovation. OUTLINE 00:00 Intro 01:07 Peng's Journey to Scroll 04:27 Peng's Regulatory Background 07:52 Industry Headwinds 10:31 Ethereum Scaling Competition 15:00 Consumer Crypto Apps 1...

This episode of The Scoop features Bitget Wallet COO Alvin Kan, and two builders from the TON ecosystem — Catizen co-founder Ricky Wong and Miles, a core team member of Tomarket. The conversation explores how Telegram's large user base is enabling rapid adoption and growth of Telegram 'Mini Apps' on top of the TON blockchain. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01:29 TON Overview 03:06 TON's Advantages 06:...

Vishal Gupta is the co-founder and CEO of TrueX — a new stablecoin-native trading platform. In this episode, Gupta unpacks how TrueX aims to provide a "stablecoin-native" trading experience with segregated custody, primarily targeted at institutional clients in the United States. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 04:50 TrueX Overview 11:13 Exchange Innovation 14:42 Institutional Client Trading Needs 17:5...