Tom Chippas, the CEO of ErisX and Chris Isaacson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Cboe Global Markets join the show. In this episode we discuss: CBOE’s acquisition of ErisX Details of the acquisition and the rationale for the deal CBOE’s current and future plans in the digital assets industry The market structure implications for the broader digital assets ecosystem and why this combination provides for a catalyst for broader institutional adoption Views on the regulatory landscape and how CBOE and ErisX are approaching the market Future products that may be on the horizon Broader views on the spot market, and discussion of Matt Trudeau’s, “The Next Leg of The Crypto Trade” The landscape for exchange traded digital asset products    

On The Brink with Castle Island

Tom Chippas (ErisX) and Chris Isaacson (CBOE) on CBOE's Acquisition of ErisX (EP.252)

We had the pleasure of hosting NFT collector, Gmoney, on the show. He is a former equities trader turned NFT collector, educator, and expert. In this episode, we unpack the community, stories, and experiences Gmoney has amassed during his time in the NFT space and discuss the following: Gmoney's "aha" moment about the massive supercycle taking place in digital goods The shift in ownership and value accrual from the hands of a few investors to everyone interacting with crypto networks Gmoney's first NFT experience that allowed him to use NFTs as collateral for, what was at the time, the largest on-chain loan The factors that Gmoney considers in evaluating and investing in NFTs (above all, community) and more This was an enlightening discussion that really opened our eyes to the impact NFTs will have on the industry.   Sponsor notes  This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. 

NFTs as the gateway to mainstream adoption with Gmoney (EP.251)

Nic and Matt are back for our 250th episode! We discuss:  ETF chatter heats up Where the Tungsten memes come from Why tungsten is good Coinbase launches an NFT platform Ribbon airdrop controversy How DeFi airdrops are like the McDonalds monopoly game Does the token industry need a disclosure framework? Miami plans to pay employees in Bitcoin Stripe is getting back into crypto Jamie Dimon wants to know how it ends at 21 million China's hashrate goes to virtually 0 The USA is the center of hash We retire an old FUD Content mentioned:  Jump Capital, Stablecoins: The Impending Rise of a Multi-Trillion Dollar Market Sponsor notes:  This show supported by Coinbase Prime, an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime 

Weekly Roundup (ETF chatter, Tungsten cubes, USA #1 in mining, insider airdropping) (EP.250)

Mark Coe, the founder and CIO of Intrinsic Edge Capital Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Mark’s professional career and path to founding Intrinsic How he came to see blockchain/crypto as an investable category His personal journey on understanding the various blockchain thesis areas How he thinks about the taxonomy of publicly traded companies in the blockchain space How Intrinsic thinks about their research and investment process for long/short equity investing The comparisons of blockchain technology to the early days of the internet Sponsor notes  This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. 

Mark Coe (Intrinsic Edge) on Blockchain Public Equity Investing (EP.249)

Nic and Matt are back for more deals and news. In this episode: Our podcast SNAFU Can you wear a suit with sneakers How to offset your Bitcoin emissions (without buying offsets) Soc Gen asks Maker for a loan Bloomberg's Tether bombshell Are stablecoins like money market funds? Sponsor notes:  This show supported by Coinbase Prime, an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime This show also supported by OurCrowd. Join the fastest growing venture capital investment community at OurCrowd.com/OTB 

Weekly Roundup 10/08/21 (How to offset emissions, SocGen's Maker play, Tether revelations) (EP.248)

Esteban Castaño, the cofounder and CEO of TRM Labs, joins the show. In this episode we discuss: The founding story of TRM Labs and the methodical approach the team took to finding product market fit Esteban’s perspectives on the NFT landscape and the growth potential in this category How regulators and public sector clients are approaching blockchain forensics How TRM is engaging with crypto native businesses and traditional financial services firms Perspectives on building a remote first organization while maintaining a strong culture To learn more about TRM Labs visit www.trmlabs.com Sponsor notes  This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. 

Esteban Castaño (TRM Labs) on Blockchain Forensics (EP.247)

Matt and Nic return for another week. In this episode:  Is fasting lindy? Ripple's 250m NFT fund Kraken reaches a $1.25m settlement with the CFTC Could Ripple win their case against the SEC? Wyoming gives a tax break to flare gas miners Coinbase adds direct deposits to their platform Should stablecoins be issued by banks? China is tapped out of their Bitcoin FUD Compound suffers an exploit Bitcoin miners look at nuclear Sponsor notes:  This show supported by Coinbase Prime, an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime 

Weekly Roundup 10/01/21 (Flare mining in WY, nuclear BTC mines, Compound exploited) (EP.246)

In this episode, Chris Maurice, co-founder and CEO of pan-African crypto platform Yellow Card, joined us to talk about his background, the business, and the state of crypto adoption in Africa. The company's goal is to provide a seamless on and off ramp to anyone in Africa. We also discuss: Yellow Card's recently announced fundraise The diversity in culture, language, history, and economy across the 54 countries in the region and why Yellow Card is on a pan-African journey The popular use cases for crypto in the region, including as a savings and transaction tool for individuals and businesses The challenges Yellow Card faces in driving crypto adoption in the region and what the firm can do to address them The details about Yellow Card's recent raise and the future of the company Based on this conversation with Chris, it's clear that crypto provides fundamental utility beyond speculation in the region that rings true to the ethos on which this industry was built. Sponsor notes  This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. 

Chris Maurice (Yellow Card) on driving fundamental crypto adoption in Africa (EP.243)

Christian Dittmeier, cofounder and CEO of Evaluate Market joins the show. In this episode we discuss: How Christian and his cofounders Alex and Cody came to find themselves spending their free time analyzing NFTs The insight that led them to start Evaluate Market, a platform for discovering, search for, and evaluating NFTs Christian’s perspective on the emerging taxonomy of NFTs and how Evaluate prioritizes the assets that it lists The projects and categories of NFTs that Christian is most excited about To learn more about Evaluate visit evaluate.market  

Christian Dittmeier on NFT analytics (EP.244)

Nic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode:  Latest on the infrastructure bill The latest on the platinum coin Zany things that financial regulators said this week Gensler continues to misrepresent the free banking era How bad was the wildcat banking era really? Why are financial regulators so interested in free banking? The SEC and CFTC are nearing the end of their fiscal year The prospects for 'pipe to crypto' Why miners are participating in 'demand response' programs Matt's 20-year-old cereal Twitter adds lightning tips and NFT authentication Binance is under CFTC investigation Biden's new OCC nominee is anti-bank, anti-crypto FASB takes comment on GAAP treatment of digital assets Content mentioned:  George Selgin on antebellum Free Banking Sponsor notes:  This show supported by Coinbase Prime, an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. 

Weekly Roundup 09/24/21 (Regulators keep talking about Free Banking, Twitter rolls out LN support, Biden's new OCC nominee) (EP.243)

Matt and Nic return to recap a tumultuous week. In this episode:  Matt's ongoing war against the turkeys Fidelity thinks the SEC should approve a spot ETF The Futures based Bitcoin ETFs are nearing approval The SEC stonewalling an ETF is a political choice The OpenSea insider scandal Elizabeth Warren's critiques of the industry get more and more specific and niche Do we event want to know which tokens are securities according to the SEC? Ripple is asking the SEC to compare them to Ethereum Solana goes down for 17h Our interaction with a blockchain fraudster The NYT doesn't understand cryptography Are Bitcoiners cosplayers? The Epic games v Apple case has implications for the crypto industry Content mentioned:  Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF presentation to the SEC on Sep. 8 Sponsor notes This show supported by Coinbase Prime, an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime 

Weekly Roundup 09/17/21 (Fidelity's spot ETF plea, Solana goes down, Are Bitcoiners cosplayers?) (EP.242)

Matt and Nic are back for another week. In this episode:  El Salvador's bitcoin launch Was the Chivo rollout really that bad? Bukele buys the dip Did El Salvador's bitcoin day cause a 20% selloff? McDonalds supports lightning in El Salvador SEC v Coinbase Introducing the Reves test Takeaways from the Miami Bitmain conference What is the NFL planning with NFTs? Oil majors are getting into bitcoin mining Is flare gas the future? Sponsor notes This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. This show supported by Coinbase Prime, an integrated solution that provides advanced multi-venue trading, custody, and prime services for institutions. For more information see coinbase.com/prime 

Weekly Roundup 09/10/21 (Bukele buys the dip, oil majors are mining, SEC v Coinbase) (EP.241)

We welcome Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen.ai to On the Brink to provide color on Nansen's unique approach to on-chain data and analysis. We discuss: The evolution of Nansen from a wallet labelling tool to an end-to-end analytics platform How Nansen provides actionable insights from its analysis of individual addresses, transactions, and contracts Nansen's process to scale the collection of individual wallet level data over time Specific ways end-users are leveraging Nansen to make data-driven NFT investments And more broadly, the application of AI to the analysis of blockchain data You can learn more about the company and its offerings at Nansen.ai and the company's YouTube channel.

Alex Svanevik (Nansen) on extracting signal from on-chain noise (EP.240)

Nic and Matt are back for another week.  Patriots choose Mac Jones Kanye releases Donda Two year anniversary of OTB The fate of the OTB lost episode Matt's peculiar NFT acquisition strategy What the hell is Loot Punks weren't the first NFTs Square is making a Bitcoin DEX The SEC sues Bitconnect Sponsor notes  This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. 

Weekly Roundup 09/03/21 (Two years of OTB, Matt's NFT strategy, Square's Bitcoin DEX) (EP.239)

Matt and Nic return for another week. In this episode:  Nic sells an NFT to Von Miller  OnlyFans and financial inclusion Visa buys a cryptopunk Do stablecoins have a future outside of the banking sector?  The history of Choke Point and what it means today Our merch supply chain issues  Tungsten talk Content mentioned  Iain Murray's OTB appearance on Choke Point Nic in Coindesk, OnlyFans Shows How the Banking System Is Politicized Sponsor notes  This episode is brought to you by Withum, a top 25 accounting firm with a cutting-edge Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology practice. To learn more, visit  withum.com/crypto. 

Weekly Roundup 08/27/21 (Celeb NFT buys, Visa's cryptopunk, Choke Point 2.0?) (EP.238)

Hosts Matt Walsh and Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures explore the political, ethical, and economic significance of Bitcoin and other public blockchains and talk to some of the leading experts in the industry. Learn more and stay up to date at CastleIsland.vc and follow on twitter @CastleIslandVC

hubhopper

On The Brink with Castle Island

hubhopper