The Scoop

Despite Argentina grappling with an annual inflation rate surpassing 100% and enduring strict capital controls, many citizens still opt to trade currency via illicit "cuevas" and maintain bundles of near-worthless cash, rather than embracing the potential benefits of cryptocurrencies. In this episode, The Block's Nathan Crooks breaks down his research into why crypto adoption in Argentina is not m...

Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, an alternative asset manager with more than $2.2 billion in AUM, including $800 million in digital asset-related investments. In this episode, Scaramucci explains how Elizabeth Warren's 2020 endorsement of Joe Biden positioned her as "de facto president for financial services and banking," and why he believes her "sidekic...

Web3 development team Coral raised $20 million in a round co-led by FTX Ventures just weeks before the exchange's collapse. Coral developers hunkered down and continued building. In this episode, Coral co-founder Armani Ferrante tells the story of how the fallout from FTX forced Coral into "cockroach mode" ' and how the startup has managed to stay afloat despite being forced to cut costs. Backpack...

Adam Moskowitz is the managing partner of Moskowitz Law Firm and one of the attorneys spearheading a class action lawsuit against 16 different FTX celebrity ambassadors . In this episode, Moskowitz breaks down the legal argument underpinning the class action lawsuit and explains why he thinks FTX's various celebrity ambassadors could be on the hook for billions of dollars. During this episode, Cha...

In this episode, The Block's Tim Copeland explains how protocol changes introduced during Ethereum's recent Shapella upgrade are leading to a more liquid and harmonious Ethereum. During this episode, Chaparro and Copeland also discuss: What's next for Ethereum The convergence of AI and journalism Rethinking DeFi bug bounties This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle  and CleanSpark . A...

Policy and regulation in the U.S. is top of mind in the industry of crypto and digital assets. The Scoop's Frank Chaparro sat down with The Block's policy reporter Stephanie Murray and broke down the biggest stories and trends from Gary Gensler's big bet against crypto to CBDCs and who takes Sam Bankman-Fried's place in Washington, DC. From the collapse of FTX, Blockfi, Voyager, Celsius and others...

Jeffrey Zirlin is a Co-Founder & Growth Lead at Sky Mavis — the studio behind the popular blockchain game, Axie Infinity. In this episode, Zirlin explains why the first wave of game studios building on Ethereum's Ronin sidechain have easy access to a "golden cohort" of initial users, and how a recent network upgrade puts Ronin's destiny in the hands of gamers worldwide.  During this episode, C...

Sandy Carter is the Chief Operating Officer at Unstoppable Domains — a platform that allows users to create and manage digital identities that live on public blockchains. In this episode, Carter explores why more brands are turning to web3 digital profiles for authenticity and how user-owned digital identities are poised to disrupt existing industries. During this episode Carter and Chaparro also...

Samantha Bohbot is the Chief Growth Officer and investor at RockawayX — a web3 VC firm headquartered in London, Zurich, and Prague. In this episode, Bohbot breaks down RockawayX's recent report on the state of crypto funding in Europe, and explains why there are "more VC-baked crypto startups in Europe than in any other geography." During this episode, Chaparro and Bohbot also discuss: Connecting...

In this episode — recorded at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 — Vincent Gusdorf, SVP and head of DeFi and digital asset analytics at Moody's, breaks down why his company is betting on blockchain technology to transform finance, and how Moody's is thinking about the credit qualities of different stablecoins. During this episode, Chaparro and Gusdorf also discuss: Bringing bonds on-chain Stablecoins vs....

In this episode, Wintermute Founder and CEO Evegeny Gaevoy and The Block VP of Research Larry Cermak examine how the recent regulatory crackdowns and bank failures have impacted crypto's market structure. During this episode, Chaparro, Cermak, and Gaevoy also discuss: Balaji's Bitcoin bet The CFTC's suit again Binance How Wintermute played the USDC de-peg This episode is brought to you by our spon...

In this episode — recorded at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 — Matthew Savarese, VP, Global Head of Strategy at Nasdaq, lays out his company's plan for entering the digital asset space. As Savarese explains, Nasdaq hopes to soon offer crypto custody solutions , which is the first of many steps on the exchange operator's roadmap for digital assets. During this episode, Chaparro and Savarese also discus...

In this episode — recorded at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 — Google Cloud's Web3 Head of Strategy Rich Widmann, and Web3 Engineering Director James Tromans break down Google's crypto strategy and how Google Cloud's Blockchain Node Engine is making it easier for web3 developers to focus solely on building their products. During this episode, Chaparro, Widmann, and Tromans also discuss: Google Cloud's...

Jesse Walden and Li Jin are General Partners at the crypto venture firm, Variant. In this episode, Walden and Jin announce the launch of Variant's new Founder Fellowship — a three-month educational program for crypto founders at the earliest stages of their startup journey. During this episode, Chaparro, Jin, and Walden also discuss: Developments in web3 social networking How token models can be m...

David Wells is the CEO of Enclave Markets — a development team whose first product, Enclave Cross , essentially creates on-chain OTC dark pools for digital assets. In this episode, Wells explains why OTC traders benefit from maintaining confidentiality via Enclave's Fully Encrypted Exchange ('FEX'), and how Enclave aims to combine the best elements of centralized and decentralized exchanges in its...

David Mercer is the CEO of LMAX Group — a leading operator of institutional execution venues for FX and crypto trading. In this episode, Mercer makes the case that embracing regulation is the only way for the crypto industry to mature beyond its "tiny" role in global markets. During this episode, Chaparro and Mercer also discuss: Why bitcoin dominance has been increasing Post-SEN/Signet opportunit...

Dan Finlay is the co-founder of MetaMask — a leading crypto wallet provider that allows users to access decentralized web3 applications. In this episode, Finlay makes the claim that people not feeling safe holding crypto is the "biggest plague" the industry faces and unpacks what MetaMask is doing to address the problem. During this episode, Chaparro and Finlay also discuss: A recent MetaMask all-...

After leaving his role as President of FTX.US late last year, Brett Harrison has moved on to become the Founder and CEO of Architect — a soon-to-be-released trading platform aiming to unify crypto's CeFi and DeFi capital markets. In this episode, Harrison discusses the market opportunities created by Silvergate's and Signature Bank's closures, as well as why his long-term vision is that "the tradi...

Adam Jackson is the Founder and CEO of Freelance Labs — the development company behind the user-owned talent network, BrainTrust . In this episode, Jackson explains how decentralization helps BrainTrust operate more efficiently than traditional staffing firms and how recent tech layoffs have impacted the crypto job market. During this episode, Chaparro and Jackson also discuss: Why contractors are...

Jessica Furr and Bryan Edelman are legal counsels for crypto-focused VC firm Dragonfly Capital. In this episode, Furr and Edelman break down several crypto court cases that are set to answer critical legal questions for the first time and explain why 2023 is becoming a turning point for crypto regulation and legislation in America. During this episode, Chaparro, Edelman, and Furr also discuss: The...

Michael Sonnenshein is the CEO of Grayscale — the digital asset manager embattled in a court case against the Securities and Exchange Commission over the agency's refusal to convert Grayscale's flagship product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), into a spot Bitcoin ETF. In this episode, Sonnenshein explains why a spot Bitcoin ETF could have shielded many U.S. market participants from the crypto...

The Delegate Cash protocol aims to significantly reduce the risk of theft for NFTs and other tokens by allowing users to safely store valuable assets in one wallet and delegate the rights to those assets to another.  In this episode, the Delegate Cash team breaks down how their protocol is making web3 safer and more secure for users, and the far-reaching implications delegation has for crypto gami...

Marco Santori is the Chief Legal Officer for Kraken — the crypto exchange recently charged by the SEC for failing to register the offer and sale of its "crypto asset staking as-a-service program" in the U.S. In this episode, Santori explains how recent regulatory actions in the U.S. have caused banks to become hesitant to accept crypto companies as new clients, and how this favors 'incumbent' cryp...

Casey Rodarmor is the creator of Ordinal Theory — a numbering scheme for Bitcoin's atomic unit, 'satoshis' or 'sats,' which allows individual sats to be inscribed with information, thereby unlocking a new frontier of possibilities and use cases for Bitcoin.  In this episode, Rodarmor explains how Ordinals are causing veteran members of the bitcoin community to confront their own beliefs about what...

Miguel Morel is the Founder and CEO of Arkham Intelligence — an analytics platform that is attempting to de-anonymize the crypto markets. It is backed by high-profile investors including Tim Draper and the founders of Palantir and OpenAI.  In this episode, Morel unpacks how increased on-chain visibility can help traders and investors alike discern the 'truth' behind market activity, and how Arkham...