The Chopping Block: Why ‘One Man’s Bug Is Another Man’s Bounty’

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. Show topics:

• how social engineering was used in the $600 million+ Ronin bridge hack
• what bridge infrastructure needs to be built (note: if someone wants to build a cross-chain Etherscan, it sounds like Tarun would fund it)
• why the Inverse Finance hack impressed Tom
• how Open Zeppelin found and patched a $15 billion vulnerability for Convex Finance
• why transitioning to token governance might be an issue for Convex
• what made USDN de-peg
• why Tarun think algorithmic stablecoin creators are a little crazy
• the elegance of the Bitcoin whitepaper
• what their biggest takeaways from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter are
• why Tarun thinks FTX investing in IEX is actually a huge deal

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
  • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
  • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
  • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
  • https://twitter.com/rleshner 

Topics Covered

• Ronin hack
  • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-29/hackers-steal-590-million-from-ronin-in-latest-bridge-attack
  • https://decrypt.co/96811/nearly-7m-hacked-ronin-funds-sent-privacy-mixer-tornado-cash
  • https://roninblockchain.substack.com/p/community-alert-ronin-validators?s=w
• More hacks: Inverse Finance, Convex Rugpull disclosure
  • https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/04/02/defi-lender-inverse-finance-exploited-for-156-million/
  • https://twitter.com/bertcmiller/status/1510284763332071427
  • https://blog.openzeppelin.com/15-billion-rugpull-vulnerability-in-convex-finance-protocol-uncovered-and-resolved/
• USDN Peg broken, drama ensues
  • ​​https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/140475/drama-erupts-around-the-waves-blockchain-project-and-trading-firm-alameda 
  • https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/neutrino-usd
• Why is Elon taking a stake in Twitter?
  • https://decrypt.co/96809/dogecoin-cheerleader-elon-musk-takes-9-2-stake-in-twitter
  • https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-to-name-elon-musk-to-its-board-of-directors-11649162614?mod=article_inline
• FTX purchasing a stake in IEX
  • https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftx-us-and-iex-join-forces-to-help-shape-market-structure-for-digital-assets-301517550.html
• Lightning Labs’ $70 million raise
  • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/140560/lightning-labs-taro-protocol-stablecoins-fundraise 
• Gauntlet raises $23.8M led by Ribbit, now a Unicorn – congrats Tarun!

• • https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-quant-firm-gauntlet-valued-at-1b-following-series-b