Shows
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 221: David Nage (me) and Rayne Steinberg (CEO of Arca) about big newsToday, a big show highlights some work we have done at Arca, the firm I have helped build over the last three years. Rayne Steinberg, our CEO, joins me on the show today to navigate the news we are dropping and what it entails for the future. Fascinating stuff - I can't wait for you all to listen!
2021-10-0549 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 170: Richard Byworth, CEO of Diginex on their future Nasdaq Listing & building Institutional grade Capital Markets InfrastructureRichard joins us on Base Layer for a great show! During the later part of a 17 year career at Nomura, Richard began to see the potentiality of Digital Assets and pursued multiple venues to participate, including being an investor in Diginex. He saw the institutional grade infrastructure they were building and their focus on Compliance, Trust and having the best security available for custody that even garnered the highest rating that the Ministry of Defense provides to security companies. We spent time discussing –––EQUOSDiginex is the first company with a cryptocurrency exchange to be...
2020-09-0938 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 169: Camila Russo from The Defiant on the cold hard facts of DeFiCamila joins me on the show for one of the most truthful and sometimes raw takes on what's happening in DeFi. We talk about everything from yield farming and some of the blow up's that have happened to metrics we should be using to evaluate success. We discuss some possible ways that the DeFi community could self govern and what happens if that doesn't happen. This was one of my favorite conversations - unscripted, raw and getting to the nitty gritty on DeFi.
2020-09-0243 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 168: Jed McCaleb & Denelle Dixon on Stellar and it's role in the Digital Assets ecosystemJed and Denelle join us for a full review of Stellar; an open-source payments network that serves as a distributed intermediary blockchain for global financial systems and circulates a native asset, Stellar Lumens (XLM). Before co-founding Stellar, Jed also co-found Ripple -- he has been an integral part of Digital Assets for nearly a decade. Before joining Stellar's Foundation, Denelle spent 8 years at Mozilla and has years of experience in the legal and regulatory landscape. We had a detailed conversation about Stellar and Lumens role in an evolving Digital Asset ecosystem, including how the asset was built to assist...
2020-08-3133 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 167: Garry Tan from Initialized Capital on Paradigm shifts in Tech & Digital Assets role in a new worldGarry Tan is a legend...end of story. Listen why here.No seriously, Garry is a designer, engineer, and investor in early stage startups. Cofounder and managing partner of Initialized Capital, an early stage venture capital fund that was earliest in Coinbase and Instacart. They are a team of 6 investing partners with over $770M in assets under management and our startups have created more than $40 billion in market value in the past 8 years. They focus on pre-product-market-fit seed and seek to be the investor of record at that stage. We spoke about everything from...
2020-08-2836 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 166: Nate Maddrey from Coin Metrics on the Rise of StablecoinsNate joins us for a great conversation on the work he took part in to analyze the stablecoin market (report found here). In this podcast we discuss the rise of stablecoins, their purpose in digital assets, the velocity and growth of them in 2020 as a function of global economic issues and the rise of DeFi and much more. If you're learning about stablecoins or just want to make sure you're up to date on great analysis check this one out!
2020-08-2327 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 165: Hart Lambur, Co-Founder at UMA; Can you create Synthetic Tokens that can Track Anything?Hart joins me on Base Layer to discuss his journey from Goldman to start his company, UMA which is designed to power the financial innovations made possible by permissionless, public blockchains, like Ethereum. Using concepts borrowed from fiat financial derivatives, UMA defines an open-source protocol that allows any two counterparties to design and create their own financial contracts. But unlike traditional derivatives, UMA contracts are secured with economic incentives alone, making them self-enforcing and universally accessible. We learn how this is done, what you can do with it and much more.
2020-08-2023 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 164: Anton Bukov, Co-Founder of 1inch on what DEX aggregation is and it's importance in DeFi's explosionAnton joins me for a great episode of Base Layer as we learn all about 1inch after news of the $2.8M investment round closure with some significant investors in Digital Assets. For those unfamiliar, DEX's are Decentralized Exchanges vs what we call CEX's (Centralized: Coinbase, Kraken, etc). 1inch has recently surpassed the landmark figure of one billion USD! Real-time stats are available here: http://duneanalytics.com/1inch. We talk about how the team met and colloborated at hackathon's and put together the code for 1inch in ~48 hours (unreal!) 1inch is now a leading decentralized exchange aggregator that sources liquidity...
2020-08-1735 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 163: Tom Trowbridge on transitioning from traditional finance to the early day of Hedera HashgraphTom Trowbridge is former President of Hedera Hashgraph, a public distributed ledger based on the Hashgraph consensus algorithm. Mr. Trowbridge has been advising and investing in technology companies since 1996. He started his career in 1996 as an investment banker in the telecom group at Bear Stearns & Co., and subsequently spent three and a half years at the telecom and media private equity firm Alta Communications, where he executed ten deals in technology, telecom, and media and served on two boards. Prior to Hedera, he started and ran the New York office for UK-based Odey Asset Management. Before Odey, he held...
2020-08-1327 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 162: Fernando Martinelli, CEO & Co-Founder of Balancer; is it an inverse ETF, what are Smart Pools & their role in DeFiFernando joins me on Base Layer at such an amazing time in the growth of DeFi, where the total value locked (TVL) was $830M end of April 2020 to almost $5B as this podcast gets released. Balancer is a n-dimensional automated market-maker built on Ethereum so we learn what that means, what's being done via Balancer in platforms such as Smart Pools, what their native token BAL provides participants and how some out there believe Balancer eliminates "“impermanent loss". So much in this one -- check it out! For more about Balancer check out their blog here.
2020-08-1039 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 161: Kain Warwick, Founder @ Synthetix onKain joins me on Base Layer for an amazing chat about Synthetix: a decentralised synthetic asset issuance protocol built on Ethereum. These synthetic assets are collateralized by the Synthetix Network Token (SNX) which when locked in the contract enables the issuance of synthetic assets (Synths). The creation of synthetic assets is not new in the world of finance but the way Kain and his team have forged ahead with the creation of synths leveraging decentralized architecture and governance is highly innovative. For one of the fastest growing projects in Digital Assets in 2020 we learn a lot about what's under...
2020-08-0551 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 160: Jesse Powell, CEO & Co-Founder of Kraken on strategic vision, M&A in Digital Assets and what the future for Kraken may beJesse joins me on Base Layer for an epic conversation from the Co-Founder and CEO of one of the biggest Digital Asset exchanges in the world. We discuss how it evolved and more importantly, what the future entails for Kraken in terms of retail v institutional, new tools coming out, etc. We also spend time talking about M&A as Kraken as been one of the most acquisitive companies in Digital Assets. Lastly we discuss what recent rules like what the OCC proclaimed about banks & custody throughout the US could do for pre-existing companies in this asset class.
2020-08-0340 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 159: Alex Dreyfus, CEO of Socios & Chiliz on giving sports fans a way to participate in their favorite teams like never beforeAlex joins me on Base Layer for an amazing episode discussing Socios and Chiliz; Socios.com, powered by chiliZ ($CHZ), is a Fintech Platform for Fan Engagement & Fan Monetization of Sports teams. It is a Consumer-Facing product using blockchain technology. They have announced some major teams that have already announced partnerships: FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, West Ham, AS Roma, Atletico Madrid. We learn about Fan Token and what it enable fans to do such as voting on team jerseys, intro music and much more. We learn about some of the technology behind this and the relationship between Socios...
2020-07-2949 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 158: Robert Leshner, Founder of Compound on Yield Farming & making Digital Assets more productiveRobert joins us on Base Layer for a great conversation to learn about everything Compound is doing. For those unaware, Compound it is a decentralized protocol which establishes money markets with algorithmically set interest rates based on supply and demand, allowing users to frictionlessly exchange the time value of Ethereum assets. We talk about a wide range of topics, starting more 101 for those unfamiliar with DeFi to more intricate discussions on a new narrative, yield farming. We also discuss Compound's role in a cambrian explosion in DeFi, growing from $830M in total value locked (TVL) at the end of...
2020-07-2733 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 156: Alex Leishman, Founder of River Financial on building one of the best new onramps to BitcoinAlex joins us for a powerhouse episode to discuss the work he and his team have done to build River Financial, a premier Bitcoin financial institution. River's focus is on helping clients accumulate, sell, and manage their Bitcoin holdings. We discuss the UI/UX of competitors, why the focus is just on Bitcoin when other competitors are opening up to other Digital Assets, the "human touch/white glove" service they are getting renown for and much more.
2020-07-2220 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 155: Max Boonen founder at B2C2 discusses going from Goldman to creating a dominant Digital Asset companyMax joins me on Base Layer to discuss what he and his team have built at B2C2; a leading cryptocurrency market maker. Brokers, banks, exchanges, hedge funds and family offices around the world have begun to trust B2C2 to deliver seamless execution in the major cryptocurrencies and fiat currency pairs. Max came from Goldman where he was a Trader on the Global Liquidity Products desk as well as a Swaps trader on the Interest Rates Products desk. He discusses the reason why he left and why so many others in the traditional Institutional side have over the...
2020-07-2030 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 154: Michael Shaulov, Co-Founder of Fireblocks on building security solutions in the Digital Asset landscapeMichael joins us on Base Layer for a very timely conversation about the maturing security solutions Fireblocks is creating in the Digital Asset ecosystem. From his days at Check Point Software Technologies to Fireblocks, we discuss what his company is working on: an enterprise-grade platform for financial institutions that need to streamline digital asset operations – without sacrificing security. They help financial organizations and other enterprise customers that trade and handle blockchain based assets to move them without being hacked. Their product allows clients to set up a secure network of all their accounts and counterparties to transfer cryptocurrencies or ot...
2020-07-1728 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 153: Corey Petty from Status on striving to be a secure communication tool that upholds human rights.Corey joins me on Base Layer to discuss Status which has a mission to "to be a secure communication tool that upholds human rights. Designed to enable the free flow of information, protect the right to private, secure conversations, and promote the sovereignty of individuals." We also discuss "Waku" which is their peer-to-peer (p2p) messaging protocol that removes centralized choke points from your messages. By removing centralized third parties, your messages are your own and more private and secure. We learn how this is different than some P2P messaging platforms like Telegram. We also discuss secure browsing: "...
2020-07-1536 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 152: Dave Hendricks, CEO of Vertalo on the state of tokenizing the world & the future of Digital AssetsDave Hendricks, the CEO of Vertalo stops by Base Layer to discuss the work they are doing to better optimize cap tables, help tokenize assets such as real estate and give us a overview of the state of the state of "tokenizing the world" - there's a tremendous amount of infrastructure needed to get that done and Dave gives a thorough overview of where we are in this.
2020-07-0836 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 151: Mati Greenspan from Quantum Economics discusses USD as reserve currency, CBCD's, Bitcoin and COVIDMati, formerly the Senior Market Analyst at eToro joins me on Base Layer to talk about a multitude of issues in the global markets right now. First, based on some questions from Institutional Investors we discussed USD as reserve currency and if there any issues with that with that in the future. We also discuss role of CBCD's right now like China's DCEP; do they infringe on Bitcoin and other Digital Assets or do they promote their use? We rounded it out with thoughts on how COVID is affecting the market/s around the world. Unreal thoughts from Mati...n...
2020-07-0628 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 150: Raghu Yarlagadda, CEO & Co-Founder at FalconX discusses "State of the Union" in Institutional Digital Asset tradingRaghu joins me on Base Layer and it's a fantastic overview of the infrastructure of the capital markets in Digital Assets. Raghu tells a story of his beginnings which include being brought in by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet to help with Chrome OS and more. He then found his way into Digital Assets and experienced the pitfalls of Digital Asset market fragmentation firsthand while trading his own strategies. His new team identified market structure issues including complex inventory management, price discovery, and unreliable market data. You learn how they are doing what they are doing, the different aspects...
2020-07-0128 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 149: Alex Wilson from the Giving Block on raising millions for non-profits with BitcoinAlex, the Co-Founder of The Giving Block joins me for a special Base Layer. The Giving Block was founded in 2018 after seeing hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin being donated to the few nonprofits that were equipped to accept those donations. Early investors in Digital Assets have done very well for themselves, but a question loomed: how could they donate digital assets to help those in need? Because the IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, these investors had a huge tax incentive to donate Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly to nonprofits, but were nonprofits ready, willing and able to take...
2020-06-2622 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 148: Muneeb Ali from Blockstack and Steve Kokinos from Algorand join to discuss their joint project "Clarity"Muneeb and Steve join me back on Base Layer to talk about a big joint venture. Blockstack and Algorand, have jointly announced an independent open-source project to support a first-of-its-kind smart contract language, Clarity. Recognizing the need for smart contract languages that are more safe, secure, and predictable in order to mature the industry beyond its current state, teams run by Blockstack Founder Dr. Muneeb Ali, a Princeton Ph.D in computer science, and Algorand Founder Dr. Silvio Micali, a computer science professor at MIT, will collaborate on Clarity design and development. We talk about the why, what and...
2020-06-2437 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 147: Josh Wolfe (Lux Capital) on learning from history, Robotics/AR post COVID, Digital Assets & moreJosh Wolfe, co-founder Lux Capital which is one of the most inspiring venture capitalists firms supporting scientists and entrepreneurs who "pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time" came on my show and it was an absolute honor! Josh and I have a similar upbringing which drives us in different ways and having him talk about his drive & inspiration was amazing. We talk about all the work being done at Lux to make this world a better place for our kids and their future kids. One for the ages!
2020-06-2237 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 146: Jenny Q Ta discussing transition from traditional finance to Digital Assets & her new venture CoinlinkedJenny Q. Ta joins me on Base Layer for a great conversation! Jenny is a seasoned entrepreneur with two highly successful early ventures to her credit. As Founder and CEO of Titan Securities, a full-service broker-dealer and investment banking firm, Prior to that venture, Jenny had filled the role of Founder, CEO, and driving force behind Vantage Investments, another full-service broker-dealer and investment banking firm that she started while still in her twenties and quickly grew to a-third-of-a-billion dollars in assets. We discuss her new venture, Coinlinked which is an online social commerce platform powered by a decentralized Blockchain...
2020-06-1828 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 145: Adam Jackson, Founder & CEO of Braintrust: From founder of one of the first Telemedicine co's to helping reinvent talent networksAdam joins me on the show to delve into his very successful past, from co-founding Doctor on Demand which ushered in a whole new world of telemedicine to looking at talent networks like Toptal & Upwork and applying distributed & decentralized architecture to truly empower those in the network in Braintrust Network. We discuss the intricacies of how Braintrust is empowering this new network that just came out of stealth and the parts that are needed to make it work, like a reputation system. Such an interesting chat and a new company to keep an eye on!
2020-06-1728 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 144: Jesse Proudman from Strix LeviathanJesse from Strix Leviathan joins me for a great conversation about the use of technology and systematic approaches to in investing in digital assets. Jesse has over 20 years of experience as a technical entrepreneur. Prior to Strix Leviathan, Jesse founded Blue Box, a cloud computing startup. Jesse raised $22M in venture capital for Blue Box and subsequently sold the company to IBM where Jesse was named as an IBM Distinguished Engineer. At IBM, Jesse spent time researching blockchain and digital assets. Jesse is an active member of the Seattle startup community.
2020-06-1635 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 143: Jeff Morris Jr (ChapterOne) drops in to talk about his predictions on Face ID post COVID, Student Debt, Social 2.0 with Face Checking, Bitcoin and moreJeff joins the show and my goodness is it a good one! Every year Jeff releases about 10 "predictions" in tech that based off his vast experience he feels are close to coming and without fail he has been spot on. We talk about his 2020 predictions which have included the rise of Face ID and biometrics esp in a post COVID/contactless world, Student Debt and the rise of anger among parents and students that are locked out of school and paying hundreds of thousands for MOOC's, Web 2.0 and the recent "fact checking" debate, WFH and how long that may...
2020-06-1545 minBase LayerBase Layer Episode 142 with Cody WillardCody Willard, Hedge Fund Manager and writer, joins me on Base Layer to discuss the equity markets and Digital Asset Landscape. His analysis has been featured on CBS News, ABC’s 20/20, in the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine and many other places. We discuss the recent Robinhood phenomenon in which retail traders have picked up shares of companies like Hertz and outperformed legendary investors like Icahn and Buffett. We also discuss about the Fed's intervention and printing - how this effects Bitcoin and digital assets. Must listen!
2020-06-1229 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 142: CEO of Atari, Fred Chesnais on bringing Atari back from bankruptcy: new vision, new console & their new Litecoin partnershipThe CEO of Atari, Fred Chesnais joins me on Base Layer for an amazing episode from such an iconic brand that inspired me and many others into the world of technology. We discuss Fred and Atari's past - the hard work bringing it back from the brinks of bankruptcy and the new visions he has for it's growth. We discuss the recent news of their partnership with Litecoin and their new console that aims to ship out later this year. Don't miss this!
2020-05-2733 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 141: Andy Edstrom on A Century of Debt, Inflation Storms and Bitcoin's roleAndy Edstrom, CFA, CFP is a financial advisor and a member of the investment committee at WESCAP Group, where he manages wealth and provides financial advice to clients.Andy is the author of the book Why Buy Bitcoin: Investing Today in the Money of Tomorrow. Additionally, his opinions on Bitcoin have been published in The Wall Street Journal, and his opinions on regulation of the Internet monopolies have been published in The Economist.Before joining WESCAP Group, Andy was a professional investor at a private equity fund and a hedge fund. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 he...
2020-05-2230 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 141: Andy Edstrom on A Century of Debt, the Gathering Inflation Storm & Bitcoin's roleAndy Edstrom, CFA, CFP is a financial advisor and a member of the investment committee at WESCAP Group, where he manages wealth and provides financial advice to clients.Andy is the author of the book Why Buy Bitcoin: Investing Today in the Money of Tomorrow. Additionally, his opinions on Bitcoin have been published in The Wall Street Journal, and his opinions on regulation of the Internet monopolies have been published in The Economist.Before joining WESCAP Group, Andy was a professional investor at a private equity fund and a hedge fund. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 he...
2020-05-2230 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 141: Andy Edstrom on A Century of Debt, the Gathering Inflation Storm & Bitcoin's roleAndy Edstrom, CFA, CFP is a financial advisor and a member of the investment committee at WESCAP Group, where he manages wealth and provides financial advice to clients.Andy is the author of the book Why Buy Bitcoin: Investing Today in the Money of Tomorrow. Additionally, his opinions on Bitcoin have been published in The Wall Street Journal, and his opinions on regulation of the Internet monopolies have been published in The Economist.Before joining WESCAP Group, Andy was a professional investor at a private equity fund and a hedge fund. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 he...
2020-05-2230 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 140: Jeff Booth on Technology being Deflationary, Global Inequality, Central Bankers response to COVID, Bitcoin and moreJeff joins me for an amazing chat that covers a wide array of topics. Jeff is the co-founder of BuildDirect, an online marketplace for heavyweight home improvement products that connects buyers with sellers. He has been at the forefront of technology for over 20 years since the dot-com era. Jeff also wrote an amazing book: "The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation Is the Key to an Abundant Future. In a sweeping analysis that draws upon economics, science, innovation, politics, psychology, sociology, and business, Jeff offers an intriguing thesis predicated on the deflationary impact of technological advances. We also spend time discussing...
2020-05-2042 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 138: Yan Pritzker from Swan Bitcoin discusses his book "Inventing Bitcoin" & working on a new onramp to BitcoinYan joins us to discuss his great book "Inventing Bitcoin" which friend of the show Nic Carter from Castle Island Ventures was quoted as saying: "Having read virtually every Bitcoin explainer, I believe it’s the best from-scratch introduction to Bitcoin, requiring no prior knowledge at all." We also discuss his work at Swan Bitcoin which allows weekly, paycheck, or monthly savings options steadily converting your dollars to Bitcoin savings. According to data provided by Swan Bitcoin, Dollars have lost 90% of their purchasing power since 1950 as central bankers printed more of them. According to Yan and the team: "Bitcoin’s fixed...
2020-05-1841 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 137: Adam Pokornicky, COO of DAIM: What has delayed Wall Street from reviewing Bitcoin, the importance of Paul Tudor Jones & Bitcoin and moreAdam joins me on Base Layer for a straight up fire episode of Base Layer! Adam has spent years in the traditional finance world and has a wealth of experience seeing the sausage made in '08-'09 and throughout. We talk about why PM's/Analysts in Wall Street haven't reviewed Bitcoin to date and why Paul Tudor Jones public announcement and investor letter is about to change all that. We talk about the role of Bitcoin in a professional portfolio when public pensions are underperforming and so much more.
2020-05-1442 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 136: Kosala Hemachandra & Brian Norton from MEWKosala Hemachandra & Brian Norton from MEW joins Base Layer for a great chat. MEW offers a nexus point for transacting in the Ethereum ecosystem, providing unprecedented access, a secure wallet, and comprehensive education that allows anyone to quickly take advantage of all the benefits of crypto has to offer since 2015. Kosala built the first version of MEW just weeks after Ethereum’s launch in 2015 to help non-coders gain access to Ethereum at a time when only command line code instructions were available, making it difficult even for seasoned developers to transact in ETH. Since then, MEW has continued a steady stre...
2020-05-1335 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 135: Brian Kelly (BKCM) on the Global Macro backdrop, States Reopening, the role of Bitcoin & Digital Assets in Portfolio's and moreBrian Kelly joins me on Base Layer for a great, comprehensive chat about the global macro investing backdrop and the role Bitcoin and Digital Assets play in modern day, post COVID-19 portfolio construction. Brian, as many know him, has been a trader for ~30 years and has experienced many of the downturns markets have gone through. He is frequently on CNBC discussing the market and digital assets.
2020-05-1128 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 134 - Tyrone Ross from Altruist: How Financial Advisors can & will review Bitcoin & Digital Assets, how FA's roles have changed and moreTyrone Ross Jr, Director of Community at Altruist and Financial Consultant with 401 comes to Base Layer and it's epic. Tyrone is an incredibly lively and passionate person who I've become friends with; we discuss how Gen Z's are changing the Financial Advisor role, how COVID is changing risk & portfolio's and most importantly how and when Bitcoin will be (or not be) adopted by Financial Advisors -- hint: Tyrone drops some news on the episode!
2020-05-0547 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 133 - Michael Anderson, Framework Ventures: DeFi becoming $3B Industry by end of 2020 & how they invest in itMichael joins us on Base Layer from Framework Ventures; venture capital fund Framework Ventures is investing heavily in the decentralized finance industry, also known as DeFi. The San Francisco-based firm believes that the industry is going to become a $3 billion-plus industry shortly, and will bring major financial institutions on board. The firm was built by Michael Anderson, 29, who grew up in the Bay area, and has spent his career working for major tech companies such as Dropbox and Snapchat, along with his co-founder, Vance Spencer, 28, who’s worked for Netflix.
2020-05-0327 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 132 - Piers Ridyard, CEO of Radix: On Cerberus, a sharded Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) solution and morePiers joins us on Base Layer to give a full rundown on Radix and Cerberus, a sharded Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) solution to the state machine replication (SMR) problem. While classical SMR protocols ensure global ordering of commands, Cerberus introducesa partial ordering regime that enables a novel state sharding approach. With this approach, the consensus process for commands may be massively and safely parallelized across many nodes while retaining optimistic responsiveness and linear message complexity. Cerberus is designed as a suitable core for Radix, a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform intended for a variety of deployments including global-scale decentralized public networks.
2020-04-3035 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 131 - Dion Rabouin from Axios: How COVID-19 is affecting Farmers, Dissecting Bankrate Data, Oil and more.Dion joins me on Base Layer to discuss the many narratives affecting our markets and society today.Dion Rabouin is the Axios Markets Editor and author of the Axios Markets newsletter. Prior to Axios, Dion was the anchor of Yahoo Finance's "Midday Movers" and a global financial reporter, coving the bond, equity, and currency markets. He previously covered Treasuries, FX, and emerging markets for Reuters. He is also a regular contributor to Marketplace, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox Business and more.
2020-04-2930 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 130: Stephanie Link from TIAA Investments Discusses Big Market Narratives like Re-Opening, Curve of Recovery, Oil and more.Stephanie Link, known for her regular appearances on CNBC joins us on Base Layer to talk about the multitude of macro issues affecting the broad based markets today. Stephanie is a managing director and head of active equities research for TIAA Investments. Prior to joining TIAA Investments in 2016, she spent 7 years at The Street as Chief Investment Officer and was the co-portfolio manager and director of Research of Action Alerts Plus, Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust. She was responsible for all premium content at The Street and the daily management of the charitable trust which included macro strategy, portfolio construction an...
2020-04-2733 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 129 - Billy Bailey (Saltstone Capital Management)Billy joins us for an epic conversation about the oil markets and breaks down the last few weeks of unprecedented activity.Billy spent over six years analyzing energy companies and commodities for the legendary late T. Boone Pickens’ investment manager, BP Capital. Prior to founding Saltstone, he served as Portfolio Manager & Senior Research Analyst for the private hedge fund and the BP Capital fund advisors family of mutual funds. We discuss oil prices going negative, Russian and Saudi's in a Oil "Cold War" and what potential cascading effects in the market this could all take.
2020-04-2447 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 128: Thibaud Favre, CEO of Fairmint on the Continuous Securities Offering & a new model for Founders and InvestorsThibauld Favre joins us on Base Layer to discuss Fairmint and the CSO; what it means for Founders and Investors. A Continuous Securities Offering (CSO) is a new, updated way for companies to raise funding. The CSO democratizes investing and modernizes it for the digital era. It expands the pool of potential investors, allowing all stakeholders — not just a small group of privileged, wealthy investors — to share in the value created by a company’s success.
2020-04-2026 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 127: Nick Neuman & Jameson Lopp discussing Key Management, Bitcoin for Institutional Investors, the Halving and more.What a show! Nick Neuman, CEO of Casa Inc and the legendary OG Jameson Lopp, CTO at Casa, join Base Layer to discuss the innovations they are working on for key management of Bitcoin, some of the historical issues that have hindered the adoption of Bitcoin ownership and topics such as the halving as it relates to the macro discussions around the asset. Not to miss!
2020-04-1531 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 126 CEO of LGO, Hugo Renaudin: what has been learned from working with Institutional Investors around the world, "Black Thursday" and European vs American views on Digital AssetsHugo Renaudin, the CEO of LGO, a leading digital asset exchange that works with over 40 Institutional Investors around 15 countries, comes on to discuss the problems they are working to address in digital assets, how COVID-19 has been impacting review of Bitcoin and other digital assets, "Black Thursday" and what lessons were learned and much more.
2020-04-1329 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 125 - Mike Maples Jr (Floodgate)The legendary investor Mike Maples Jr joins me on Base Layer. Some of Mike’s investments include being one of the first investors in Twitter & Twitch.tv as well as early investor in Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Okta, and Demandforce. Mike comes on to talk about a whole spectrum of issues relating to pre and post COVID19 world as it relates to venture investing; we also talk extensively about Bitcoin and its role in a world where governments are flooded the economy with liquidity. This is a very special episode and one to send around!
2020-04-0831 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 124 - Reuben Yap (Zcoin)Reuben joins me on Base Layer and we discuss privacy in the time of corona: how is contact tracking, surveillance of those under quarantine, and even the proposed digital dollar impacting privacy? Is the trade-off of individual privacy worthwhile for greater good? How COVID-19 is affecting crypto - While the Feds are "printing money" and considering a “digital dollar” stimulus package, what's happening in crypto? How his life changed due to COVID-19. Reuben's wife is a doctor working at the state hospital, closed down his Airbnb due to a ban on tourists, and closed his Aikido dojo. Has been self-quarantined for so...
2020-04-0336 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 123 - Marco Streng (Genesis Group)Marco joins us on Base Layer and it's a great episode! He started Genesis Group 7 years ago to focus on Bitcoin mining and has seen the evolution through very unique perspective. We discuss some big topics including the recent hash rate decline and why that happened (and provide some great analogies for people to understand it) and also discussed the halving which is happening in about 40 days; what the implications are for the entire space. We also discussed COVID19 and Bitcoin and what it means to be working in this industry during a global pandemic.
2020-03-3138 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 122 - Rene Reinsberg (Celo)Rene, the co-founder of Celo joins me on Base Layer to discuss a multitude of topics including: plans to create finance solutions for the 5.6 billion smartphone owners around the world; the importance of Celo to be utilized for cross border payments and the Alliance for Prosperity and how it’s different from Libra. We also had a significant conversation about how the digital dollar can be used to distribute the government’s stimulus and the effect that COVID-19 is having on Celo.
2020-03-3036 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 121 - Dan Tapiero (DTAP Capital)Dan joins us on Base Layer to give an amazing overview of the global macro environment as it relates to COVID-19, $2T economic packages, $1T in daily repo markets, Bitcoin, Gold and much more. Dan is a veteran Global Macro investor and a co-founder of GBI. In his 20 year career, he has worked as a portfolio manager and analyst with a number of well-known investors such as Stan Druckenmiller (Duquesne Capital), Michael Steinhardt (Steinhardt Capital), Julian Robertson (Tiger Management), Steve Cohen (SAC Capital), and Lord Rothschild (RIT Capital). Dan shares his thoughts daily on Twitter @DTAPCAP
2020-03-2537 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 120 - Mark Yusko (Morgan Creek)An incredibly important episode with Mark Yusko, CEO and CIO at Morgan Creek about the current macro market landscape on what has shown to be a historic day. With the VIX near 2008 levels, with WTI around $30/barrel, with new travel restrictions and a global pandemic causing havoc on the supply chains of the world and now the demand side, this is stuff you'll be reading about in textbooks in a decade. Listen & pay attention.
2020-03-1246 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 119 - Catherine Coley (Binance US)The amazing Catherine Coley joins me on Base Layer to discuss the move from traditional finance, being on an fx trading desk and seeing the carnage in traditional markets, and relating it to the growth of digital assets. We also talk about International Women's Month, her experience as a woman and CEO and the work we all need to do to exponentially increase the financial inclusion of others into digital assets.
2020-03-1133 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 118 - Matt Luongo (Thesis)Matt joins me back on Base Layer to do a thorough explanation of tBTC. The goal of TBTC is to create a trustless system for using Bitcoin on Ethereum-based systems and could be seen as critical infrastructure for the success of the broader ecosystem. The goal of tBTC is the creation an ERC-20 token that maintains the most important property of Bitcoin — its status as “hard money” … The ability to trade scrip for its backing deposit freely is what distinguishes a backed currency from fiat money. The supply of tBTC is always backed by an equal number of reserved BTC. This mea...
2020-03-0628 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 117 - Rebecca Rettig (Fisher Broyles)Rebecca joins me on Base Layer for one of my first discussions on the legal landscape of digital assets. We discuss a range of current cases and issues revolving around Ripple, Telegram and Kik. We also discuss the recent issues with the Wilshire ETF proposal which was denied by the SEC and the ongoing case surrounding Ifinex / Tether. Rebecca is an amazing practitioner and someone who I've had speak on legal issues in digital assets at my FO256 summits prior. Not to be missed!
2020-03-0428 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 116 - Dan Gunsberg (HXRO)Dan from HXRO joins Base Layer and it's a great one! Hxro is a cryptocurrency platform that offers perpetual, time-based digital derivatives products. Hxro offers a simplified way to interact with the market, giving traders an alternative way to express a view on price, hedge risk and trade digital assets. Hxro has taken inspiration from legacy financial markets and merged it with social gaming layers to provide users with an innovative alternative to trading crypto assets. One of Hxro’s unique attributes is that its core products are parimutuel - a system that aggregates all positions into a liquidity pool wit...
2020-03-0240 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 115 - Cedric Dahl (1000x)Cedric joins us on Base Layer and wow it's a fascinating episode with someone consider an "OG" in digital assets. Cedric has been involved in Bitcoin and the overall space for well over 7 years and has seen the whole landscape change in many ways and shapes. This episode we talk a lot about Bitcoin and especially "darknets". We discuss research he and his team are doing at looking at where and what Bitcoin is being used for, what countries if any are becoming more active in in and much more. We also talked about this interesting notion of nation states...
2020-02-2840 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 114 - Evan Kuo (Ampleforth)Evan joins us to discuss Ampleforth and the Ample; the Ample is a commodity-money, like Bitcoin or gold, but with near-perfect supply elasticity, like fiat. It is the first sound money with elastic supply. Evan discusses their opinion that scarce commodity-monies like gold and silver are naturally fair and independent. They are immune to runaway inflation, but cannot efficiently respond to changes in demand—making them vulnerable to economic shocks and runaway deflation. To address this shortcoming, the project's founders designed a synthetic commodity-money that propagates price-information into supply, much like how thermal expansion propagates nearby kinetic energy into a ma...
2020-02-2647 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 113 - Sam Bankman Fried (FTX)Sam joins us on Base Layer to tell us what FTX is and why many people are talking about it. A piece of news that came out after the show recording was that FTX was in the middle of a raise at unicorn status valuation, so for those trying to understand more about FTX and what it does this is a good initial primer. We talk about their three tiered liquidation model, how it's similar in some ways to the '08-'09 financial crisis idea of a "bad bank", we talk about the "Trump token" and how this new market...
2020-02-2431 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 112 - Simon Chamorro (Valiu)Simon joins us on Base Layer to discuss the very important work he and Valiu are doing creating opportunities for people to send and receive money internationally, especially in areas hit by hyperinflation like Venezuela. A lot of people talk about Bitcoin and crypto in Venezuela but executing effective platforms to really help haven't been seen, until now. Their goal is to build trust with their customers through a simple and transparent remittances platform designed for their customer’s financial needs. Utilizing a blockchain platform and an expansive network of locations for customers to deposit and receive cash, Valiu is di...
2020-02-2137 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 111 - Muneeb Ali (Blockstack)Muneeb comes back to Base Layer to talk all about version 2.0 of Blockstack's Stacks blockchain coming out because there's a significant change: miners on the network will need to post BTC to mine a block. That BTC will then get shared with nodes maintaining a copy of the ledger. Muneeb and I talk about how the team acknowledges bitcoin as the most secure blockchain in the world and why. Come listen and learn all about Proof of Transfer and what the implications are.
2020-02-1943 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 110 - Jack O'Holleran (Skale)What an episode with Jack from Skale! The SKALE Network has been designed with the goal of resolving the technical scalability, user experience, and cost issues affiliated with decentralized networks such as Ethereum. We discuss transactions per second and the appropriate measures for evaluating throughput; we talk technicals in terms of using side chains, sharding and much more. We talk about the 35 dApp's in their Innovator program, from DeFi to real estate and much in between. And in terms of important news we talk about this headline: "Blockchain scaling network SKALE chosen as launch partner for ConsenSys Codefi's Activate token...
2020-02-1735 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 109 - Leighton Cusack (PoolTogether)Leighton joins Base Layer to discuss one of the most talked about projects, PoolTogether which is a no loss lottery built on Ethereum. Their mission is to create financial security by offering a healthy alternative to lotteries. PoolTogether is based on the proven concept known as “No Loss Lotteries” or “Prize Linked Savings Accounts”. These products have been shown to divert money from traditional lotteries and increase savings. We talk about how this all works, from using smart contracts to stablecoins and the dramatic growth Leighton and the PoolTogether team have seen in the last few months.
2020-02-1434 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 108 - Loi Luu (Kyber Network)Loi joins us on Base Layer for a full breakdown on Kyber Network and it's a really good one! Kyber is an on-chain liquidity protocol that aggregates liquidity from a wide range of reserves, powering instant and secure token exchange in any decentralized application. We make some analogies to traditional finance like the power of what Bloomberg Terminals would provide, we talk a lot about atomicity, wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and a host of other narratives. Not one to miss!
2020-02-1134 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 107 - Joe Lallouz (Bison Trails)Joe joins us on Base Layer and it's an amazing episode which highlights how important I think Bison Trails is in the overall development and maturation of digital assets and distributed & decentralized platforms. Joe talks about his past before BT and then we launch into how they are creating an interoperability platform that allows one to plug & plug different protocols for file storage, video, search and much more into a more unified operator. We talk about how Bison Trails is also working to minimize slashing of stake in PoS systems and their work with Libra. Don't miss this and pass...
2020-02-1044 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 106 - Jeremy Allaire (Circle)Jeremy joins us on Base Layer and it's a great conversation about everything from his early days in technology and seeing the diffusion of innovation and the curve of adoption; we talk about Web 1.0 to Web 3.0, about stablecoins and USDC, his work with policy makers and politicians to educate them on digital assets, especially during the Libra testimony and so much more.
2020-02-0545 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 105 - Kevin Sekniqi (Ava Labs)Kevin joins us on Base Layer to give us a great breakdown on Ava Labs! AVA's mission is to democratize financial markets and bridges all blockchain platforms together into one interoperable ecosystem; they provide the ability to build your own custom blockchains or to digitize any assets with arbitrarily complex rulesets. Kevin discusses the different consensus algo's from Nakamoto, Classical to Avalanche, their own consensus algo. They tout the ability to get to 5000 transactions per second (TPS) so we discuss how, the use of DAG's and how they could fit in the climate focused investors toolkit these days.
2020-02-0339 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 104 - Stani Kulechov (Aave)Stani joins us on Base Layer to discuss Aave - a project that everyone seems to be talking about right now. Aave is an Open Source and Non-Custodial protocol to earn interest on deposits & borrow assets and has emerged in the DeFi space as a player. We discuss this move from matching lenders & borrowers in digital assets to pooling assets; we discuss the collateral and different digital asset Aave is working with. More importantly we also discuss the underwriting of those different digital assets, the scoring methodologies and why they are working with Chainlink with their smart contract and oracles...
2020-01-2933 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 103 - Jalak Jobanputra (Future Perfect Ventures)Jalak joins us on Base Layer and it's an amazing discussion with an investor who has been active in the digital asset/blockchain world for over 6 years. We discuss the changing narratives from the early days to now, the geographic niche's of certain projects like Bitpesa vs what it takes for global adoption, Libra and DCEP as big stories of 2019 and the work she's doing with local politicians in NYC to make a "public Venmo" and much more.
2020-01-2739 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 102 - Alex Gluchowski (Matter Labs)Alex joins us on Base Layer to talk more about zero knowledge proofs and what they are doing at Matter Labs. Initially found by a tweet from Ari @ BlockTower, Matter Labs recently revealed their vision for ZK Sync: a trustless scaling and privacy solution for Ethereum based on ZK Rollup". We discussed that in heavy detail, including tx receipts but also addressed Matter Labs mission which they discussed in their blog: "A successful solution to the scaling problem in public blockchains is not only a matter of high transaction throughput. It must also be defined as the ability of the...
2020-01-2230 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 101 - Zhuoxun Yin (dydx)Zhuoxun joins us on Base Layer to tell us all about dydx. dydx is building a decentralized exchange for margin trading and eventually derivatives. With dYdX users can trade, borrow, and lend any supported asset. dYdX is powered by smart contracts on the Ethereum Blockchain, which eliminates the need to trust a central exchange while trading. We discuss the overall maturation of DEX's and also spend time discussing how smart contracts & oracles factor in this very exciting aspect of DeFi. Capital markets are also maturing in digital assets; powerful financial products like margin and derivatives are essential. They empower traders...
2020-01-2042 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 100 - Bart Stephens (Blockchain Capital)Bart joins us for the 100th episode of Base Layer and it's truly an amazing conversation to listen to. Bart has a storied career following early stage technology and he talks about how he and his brother, both gamers, found themselves in Bitcoin and blockchains about 7 years ago. Via their family office they wanted to invest via funds that were following the technology but when they couldn't find the right one they started Blockchain Capital. After 80+ investments in the space we had a detailed conversation about the change in narratives, the technology, the people coming in, valuation and much more...
2020-01-1554 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 099 - Alan Curtis (Radar)Alan joins us on Base Layer to give us a great in-depth overview of the happenings at Radar; going from Relay which the team believes is the most secure way to trade ERC20 tokens directly from your Ethereum wallet; to Ion and Redshift which allows users to trustlessly swap assets between chains to Deploy which the team says is the easiest way to spin up and maintain blockchain infrastructure so you can ship faster with less. This was a great chat about the entire ecosystem Radar and the team are working on and you'll learn a lot!
2020-01-1336 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 098 - Angela Dalton (Signum Growth Capital)Angela joins us on Base Layer today and it's one not to miss! We talk a lot about gaming, esports and this thesis about how over 2B people who play games could be the next wave of adopters of digital assets. We discuss the current state of the state of blockchain games, what they are working to build and why it's an important narrative.
2020-01-0935 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 097 - Sergey Nazarov (Chainlink) & Tom Gonser (Docusign)What a show! The founder of Docusign, Tom Gonser, joins Sergey Nazarov for a follow up to our podcast about 2 months ago to further discuss smart contracts, the oracle problem and how Chainlink is addressing it, how enterprises large and small are looking at distributed & decentralized networks and so much more. This is a very special show - hearing from Tom who is an Advisor to Chainlink was amazing.
2020-01-0632 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 096 - Harry Sudock (Griid)Harry joins us on Base Layer for a fun and interesting conversation about everything relating to Bitcoin mining and the work they are doing at Griid; we talk about next generation equipment, valuation and modeling, energy consumption and prices and most importantly the Bitcoin halving and what effect it could have on the mining community.
2019-12-3042 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 095 - Eli Ben Sasson & Uri Kolodny (Starkware)A great episode with Eli and Uri from Starkware! This is a special project focusing on cryptographic proofs using zero-knowledge, succinct, transparent and post-quantum secure processes. We had a really interesting conversation about zk's -- furthering helping listeners understand their impact. We also discussed quantum -- in light of Google's recent announcement - the cause and effect of quantum on encryption in blockchains. Lastly we discussed StarkPay vs Lightning. Must listen!
2019-12-2335 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 094 - Max Demyan & Vadym Nesterenko (Geo Protocol)Max and Vadym join us from Geo Protocol who's mission is to empower the Internet of Value by creating a universal value transfer ecosystem. GEO Protocol is an open-source base layer protocol for cost-efficient, lightweight and infinitely scalable value transfer, merging blockchain and traditional finance worlds together. We talked about this notion of merging blockchain based assets with non-blockchain based assets, atomic swaps and this ability to coordinate among different exchanges in a new way without a lot of the friction from the past iterations. This one gets a bit technical but the team is creating some tech that is very...
2019-12-1837 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 093 - Benny Giang & Brian Flynn (Dapper Labs)Benny & Brian stop by Base Layer to have a great discussion on gaming to digital collectibles in the blockchain space. We touch on the popular rise of Cryptokitties to some digital collectibles going for $1M. Dapper Labs is building out some news games, one especially with the NBA that looks very exciting, so we talked extensively about gaming as it relates to blockchains and how it could be the portal to broad based adoption of digital assets.
2019-12-1631 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 092 - Dave Balter (Flipside Crypto)Dave, the CEO of Flipside Crypto, joins us on Base Layer to tell us all about what Flipside Crypto does. For those not familiar, Flipside provides analysis on project health (on protocols like Ethereum, Tezos, etc) and created a rating system called FCAS. We also discuss how behavioral analysis goes into something called Chainwalkers and much more. Dave has done 7 different start up's and has successfully sold some of them - amazing hearing such a successful founder talk about his entry into digital assets and build key infrastructure in it.
2019-12-1135 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 091 - Luis Cuende (Aragon)Luis, the co-founder of Aragon, joins us on Base Layer to talk all about Governance. Aragon is a project that many in the digital asset ecosystem are starting to look at for their unique governance tools -- a subject area that has show itself to be very difficult for some protocols to see through successfully. We also discussed the ability to create your own organization in 5 minutes and 2020 being the year of the DAO (question mark there). So much good stuff in this chat - def check it out!
2019-12-0928 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 090 - Will Warren (0x)Will joins us on Base Layer to give you great overview of 0x. When I began thinking about starting Base Layer over a year ago 0x was one of the projects that inspired me - helping build key infrastructure for blockchains to interoperate, exchange value and much more. We discuss the 4 product lines they've embarked on esp Governance which is a key feature we will be highlighting on Base Layer going into 2020. We also find interesting metaphors between traditional markets & the world we live in to explain how some of the functionality in 0x works. Must listen!!
2019-12-0447 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 089 - Roneil Rumburg Part II (Audius)Roneil joins us again to bring us up to speed on the beta launch of Audius over the last two months and the numbers they are seeing are very exciting! Thousands of artists joining the platform like Deadmau5 and others; tens of thousands of users on the platform - real usage and adoption!! We talk about that all and also sprinkle in some chats about Taylor Swift and some of the recent narratives of artists and their labels.
2019-12-0229 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 088 - Guido Molinari (Prysm Group)Guido joined us on Base Layer during San Francisco Blockchain Week to discuss the confluence of economics and differing models and blockchains. We discuss token economics and the differing socioeconomic theories associated with the adoption of different blockchains and protocols. Super interesting conversations with someone with such an amazing background in econ.
2019-11-2725 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 087 - Tomer Afek (Spacemesh)Tomer from Spacemesh joins us today to give a great overview of the project. There are 3 problems Spacemesh is trying to solve:to be a fairly mined, permissionless and race free open source" programmable cryptocurrency that has a low barrier to entry. We also discuss what Proof of Space is and how is it different than what people are becoming more familiar with like Proof of Work or Proof of Stake? Additionally we also unpack this: "Spacemesh is designed to be run by home desktop PC owners from around the world. There are tens of millions of such people with su...
2019-11-2544 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 086 - Jake Yocom Piatt (Decred)Jake, project lead for community directed digital asset Decred, joins us for a special Friday episode to discuss why the crypto ecosystem was afire this past week with privacy talk in the wake of the massive exposure on Grin’s Mimblewimble privacy implementation. According to an investor in the ecosystem who performed some testing, a group of users can be identified with a $60/wk spend on AWS, thus there’s no privacy guarantee. The crypto space needs a renewed approach to privacy to avoid this exposure of user addresses. We discuss this and how Decred is addressing the issue of priv...
2019-11-2229 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 085 - Galen Danziger (Mousebelt)Galen from Mousebelt joins us on Base Layer on a live recording during San Francisco Blockchain Week. MouseBelt is the world’s first full-service blockchain accelerator that goes beyond just seed capital, connections, and mentorship. The accelerator is uniquely equipped with more than 25 experienced blockchain developers, project managers, business developers, marketers, and lawyers. We had a great conversation about the world of early stage development and funding of projects and what themes they see prevalent in the space right now.
2019-11-2029 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 084 - Pascal Gauthier (CEO, Ledger)The CEO of Ledger, Pascal Gauthier, joins us on Base Layer to discuss some breaking news and a general overview of the last 5 years of their existence. Pascal discusses the news that the Ledger Vault platform now has a customized crime insurance program insuring crypto assets for up to USD 150 million that was obtained with working with two financial institutions. We also discuss Ledger's 5 year anniversary, the evolution of wallets and how investors custody their assets. A great discussion for those aware of Ledger and not in addition to the big news they discuss.
2019-11-1834 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 083 - Haseeb Qureshi (Dragonfly Capital)An honor to have Haseeb, recorded live from San Francisco Blockchain Week; Haseeb is a highly respected investor in digital assets - we hone in on his past as a professional poker player, how his ability to discern risk and reward from those experiences and the ability to find "tells"; how his experience as AirBnB furthered his interest in distributed and decentralized systems and much more. We delve into what Dragonfly is doing in the space as an investor and what the future looks like in the "protocol wars" and much more.
2019-11-1536 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 082 - Sergey Nazarov (Chainlink)Sergey, the co-founder of Chainlink joins us on Base Layer for an amazing episode from a project that has garnered a lot of attention this year after Google announced a partnership with them. Sergey has many years of experience in blockchains and we spend a lot of time discussing Oracles and the "Oracle problem" as it relates to the efficiency and execution of smart contracts. We talk about some integrations they made this past year and what the future holds for Chainlink in public and enterprise level blockchain development. Amazing episode -- one not to miss!
2019-11-1136 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 081 - Mariano Conti (Maker Foundation)Mariano joins us on Base Layer to give a fantastic overview of MakerDao and it’s stablecoin Dai. We discuss the evolution of stablecoins and their purpose in the digital asset ecosystem. Additionally, as Mariano lives in Argentina we discuss how digital assets are becoming in more focus with inflationary issues.
2019-11-0733 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 080 - Bill Laggner (Bearing Asset Management)Bill joins us on Base Layer during my recent visit to Dallas for the Digital Asset Strategy Summit (DASS) to discuss his time in traditional finance over the last few decades and his most recent focus on Bitcoin and the revolution associated with distributed and decentralized systems. We discuss the what led up to the financial crisis of 2008-2009 and how that effected his opinion in finding an asset that was deflationary and censorship resistant. This is a great chat from an investor to understand how he views this new emerging asset class and technological revolution.
2019-11-0319 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 079 - Claire Belmont (Celo)Claire from Celo joins us on Base Layer to give a great overview of Celo: driven by purpose -- to solve real-world problems such as lack of access to sound currency, or friction for cash-transfer programs aimed to alleviate poverty. Their mission is to build a monetary system that creates the conditions for prosperity for all. We talk about what that means, how they are doing it and much more.
2019-10-3135 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 078 - Tuur Demeester & Dhruv BansalTuur and Dhruv join Base Layer live from the Digital Asset Strategy Summit (DASS) that was recently hosted in Dallas, bringing together Institutional Investors, Family Offices and many great investors and founders in digital assets together to share what they are learning about Bitcoin and other digital assets. Tuur and Dhruv gave a great presentation on Bitcoin and its potential for societal change so we extended that chat about adoption, BIP's and all the things happening in the Bitcoin camp. Enjoy!!
2019-10-2542 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 077 - Zac Prince (BlockFi)Zac joins us on Base Layer today to bring us up to speed on BlockFi, a project I've mentioned many times on the show when I discuss the emergence of Open Finance or #defi. Many participants in digital assets have been shut out of traditional finance (loans, business banking, etc) while they maintain assets like Bitcoin & Ethereum. One of BlockFi's mantra's is "don't sell your crypto if you don't have to" - they have created mechanisms to give participants access to loans by acknowledging that these are assets and have value. We talk about the modeling (LTV, yields, etc) and...
2019-10-2142 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 076 - Thomas Chippas (ErisX)Tom, the CEO of ErisX, joins us on Base Layer to discuss key milestones at ErisX and what role & function it plays in digital assets. This is one not to miss; ErisX has operated a designated contract market for seven years and have used that expertise and applied it to digital assets. We discuss working with the CTFC, how and why it takes some time to get things approved and then all the way to discussions on the processes of listing a new coin or contract to stablecoins and much more. Again, do not miss this one...great conversation with...
2019-10-1446 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 075 - Stephane Gosselin (Numerai)Stephane joins us in another live recording from Voices of Blockchain hosted in Chicago a few weeks back to talk to us about Numerai; a project in existence for a few years working to essentially re-invent the hedge fund. We talk about the tournaments they are hosting with some of the brightest mathematicians and minds of the world, working to create data that can be used to hopefully make exceptional investment decisions. This was a fascinating conversation about governance & how how blockchains can continue to further the evolution of finance.
2019-10-1021 min
Base LayerBase Layer Episode 024 - David Sønstebø & Dominik Schiener (Founders Of IOTA)David and Dominik, the founders of IOTA, join Base Layer to discuss IOTA, a cryptocurrency they designed for use in the internet of things, enabling secure sales and trading data streams, with no need of transaction fees and miners to maintain operations. We discuss the differences of the Bitcoin blockchain to IOTA, scalability issues and much more.
2019-04-2258 min
Base LayerBase Layer Ep 002 - Arianna Simpson, David Grider, Meltem Demirors, Nikhil Kalghatgi & Travis KlingIn our second episode we are lucky enough to air a special one hour discussion with some of the best investors and practitioners in crypto today. We discussed capitulation, macro trends, the regulatory landscape and some thoughts on 2019. Not to be missed!
2018-12-071h 10