If you haven’t had a chance yet, definitely listen to this week’s Unchained, which goes into detail on Arwen, a protocol that could enable people to trade on centralized (but more liquid) exchanges without becoming victim to exchange hacks. This is the kind of technology that could have prevented everything from the Mt. Gox to Binance attacks. Plus, Polychain’s Olaf Carlson-Wee gave us his thoughts in a wide-ranging interview at Consensus — on this week’s Unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, seasoned CEO Jeremy Allaire has had increasingly pointed words for US regulators, culminating in Circle laying off 30 staff, after geo-fencing some assets on Poloniex last week. Paul Vigna of the WSJ goes in-depth on the persistent banking problems for crypto entrepreneurs, and how that led to Bitfinex to the hot water it is in today. Plus, CZ tells all about Sequoia’s lawsuit against him, and why he’s taking them to court again.
But it’s not all bleak: the Ethereum Foundation lays out its plan for allocating $30 million over the next year to support its ecosystem and Dharma’s new product will likely pique the interest of DeFi aficionados.
Come to the Oslo Freedom Forum! On Monday, May 27th I will be hosting a conversation about the future of finance and human rights at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. As the world continues to move toward a cashless society, paper currency is disappearing. Companies like Facebook, Apple, and TenCent are becoming increasingly influential in the digital payment space. We’ll discuss how individuals and companies can preserve and protect financial freedoms in the digital age. I’ll be joined by Bitcoin author and educator Jimmy Song; Casa chief technology officer Alena Vranova; and CoinCenter founder Jerry Brito. To register to attend, you can visit oslofreedomforum.com today — use a discount code “unconfirmed25” to get 25% off your ticket price!
Join us in September at the Omega Institute!
If talking crypto, enjoying nature, yoga and meditation is your cup of tea, sign up for my crypto retreat with Meltem Demirors of CoinShares and Jalak Jobanputra of Future Perfect Ventures at Omega Institute!
This Week’s Crypto News…
Circle Lays Off 30, Declares ‘US Crypto Policy Needs to Change’
After having to delist coins from Poloniex and also lay off 30 staff, Jeremy Allaire seems to be at a boiling point with US regulators. The two most recent Circle blog posts use the phrase “deeply frustrating” to describe the situation — and one is titled “US Crypto Policy Needs to Change.” Even the chief legal officer gets creative with his frustration.
Finally, Some Ethereum Foundation Transparency
The Ethereum Foundation explains its role in the community, plus lays out details around support for Ethereum 2.0, which will receive $19 million over the next 12 months, and 1.x, which will be allocated $8 million. (Related: how one DeFi project thinks about Ethereum and the likelihood that they would switch to another platform.)
Those Pesky Banks
Great story by Paul Vigna of the WSJ on the persistent problem crypto companies have keeping bank accounts (yes, all these years into the industry), and how that led Bitfinex to its troubles with the New York Attorney General’s office.
More IRS Guidance on Crypto Coming!
🙌🏻 This past winter, I thought about doing another Unchained episode on taxes like the comprehensive one I did in the winter of 2018, but not a ton had changed. (We ended up doing a shorter Unconfirmed.) I do think more clarity around some of the new developments in the space is called for and am excited to geek out on what they come up with.
CZ Sues Sequoia Unit 👀
“The injunction order has caused loss to me for which I am entitled to reasonable compensation by Sequoia. In particular, I have suffered i) a loss of chance to raise capital through successive rounds of financing at increasing high valuations; and ii) damage to my reputation,” the Binance CEO stated in the filing. He tweeted about Sequoia’s lawsuit against him: “I won, but the case was very damaging. First, Sequoia took out an injunction against me which prevented me from raising finance for Binance at the end of 2017 which was a critical time in the market and when there was huge interest in Binance from other VCs and investors.”
EOS Returns 6,567% to Earliest Investors
Bloomberg writes of the blockchain, which raised $4 billion in a year-long ICO (and advertised on a billboard in Times Square), “That translates into $6.6 million for a $100,000 stake, a stunning result any time but especially in a market that crashed in 2018.” It’s almost like they have so much money, they don’t know what to do with it.
USDC on Dharma Enables Crypto Lending at 8%
For anyone who’s scratched their head at 0% or even 1% rate savings accounts, the prospects of using a Coinbase stablecoin with DeFi debt protocol Dharma to earn 8% will likely seem enticing.
It Had Such a Promising Name
Let’s just say the HumanityDAO, which dangled out a small UBI and seemed to have a noble goal, descended very quickly into the crypto Twitter version of a junior high cafeteria.
