Save the date! Unchained is going live! We’ll be doing a podcast recording on stage in New York City the evening of March 20 with none other than Vitalik Buterin.
Venue TBD. But get your tickets early! I will share the sale page as soon as I have it.
In this week’s podcasts, I continue the exploration of the complex and fascinating MakerDAO system with CEO Rune Christensen. We dive into how multicollateral Dai works and also discuss whether or not the system could run into regulatory issues with the CFTC.
Taylor Monahan, CEO of MyCrypto, and I discuss the far-fetched tale of QuadrigaCX. While there have been a lot of rumors and conspiracy theories about what really happened, Taylor looks at what the Ethereum blockchain tells us.
This week, I also found myself fascinated by various metrics around blockchain usage. Blocktivity indicates that no blockchain is even using more than a minimum of its capacity except for Ethereum, which is completely maxed out. State of the Dapps shows that EOS has many more daily active users and 24-hour transaction volume than Ethereum. As you’ll see below, these may be some of the reasons that some people are wondering whether Ethereum can scale in time.
This Week’s Crypto News…
Kraken Acquires Crypto Facilities
Kraken made a move to vault itself toward the top of the crypto exchange pack with its nine-figure acquisition of Crypto Facilities, putting a crypto spot market, derivatives and index provider under one roof. They also raised $100 million — not bad in the crypto winter.
Ethereum 2.0 Doubts
A group of developers has expressed concerns and criticisms about Ethereum’s 2.0 road map, asserting that expectations and reality are diverging and that there’s a lack of coordination. They recommend not only better management but also a standards process and improved communication. When asked what he thought of it, Vitalik Buterin told Unchained it was “valuable feedback … it’s also a testament to the project’s decentralization that this pressure is coming from the edges.”
Stock Investing Via Bitcoin (and Abra)
Abra launched a neat feature in over 155 countries that enables users to purchase fractions stocks and ETFs. The Next Web had a little explainer on how it works on the backend.
Limitless Zcash No More
Aside from the Quadriga news, another tidbit shows just how early the technology is: Zcash had a vulnerability that would have enabled infinite amounts of Zcash to be created. The team, which also alerted other blockchains that also relied on the cryptography paper that contained the error, patched it up in October.
Speaking of Exchange Reserves…
Although the timing is probably coincidental, in the wake of QuadrigaCX, Blockstream’s idea to revive the idea of proof of reserves for exchanges seems look it should be an industry standard. Their tool is just for Bitcoin, not other crypto assets.
