State of Crypto

In the final episode of this season of the Amun State of Crypto podcast, the Hany, Hansen, and Lanre from the Amun team talked to Maya Zehavi, a well-known thinker and analyst within the industry, about the term "Dissident Tech". We touch on the role Bitcoin may play in authoritarian regimes, issues with Big Tech, and more! --- This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

In the latest episode of the Amun State of Crypto, Ophelia (Amun's co-founder and president) and Lanre (Amun's researcher) discuss crypto's market microstructure with Noelle Acheson, CoinDesk's Head of Research. The group discusses the differences in the market microstructure between the crypto asset industry and traditional capital markets. The guests drew from their experience within capital markets to understand the intricacies of the crypto market. --- This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

DigixDAO is arguably the world's oldest decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and has been a pioneering innovation in the crypto asset industry since its inception in March 2016. In addition, Digix was the first crowdsale based on Ethereum. It was launched to manage the minting of stablecoins backed by gold through the use of smart contracts on Ethereum. In January 2020, almost four years since the inception of the project, the holders of the DigixDAO token voted to dissolve the DAO and return the 380,000 ETH held by it to the token holders. What happened? Hany Rashwan, Lanre Ige, and Hansen Wang from the Amun team are joined by . Digix co-founder Shaun Djie to discuss Digix's journey from launching the world's first DAO and minting the first gold token to the passing of the vote for the dissolution of the DAO. --- This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

In this episode, the Amun team (Lanre, Hansen, and Rahul) came together to discuss the Bitcoin Halving with one of the leading crypto asset researchers in the industry, Hasu. In this episode we give a detailed explanation of how exactly Bitcoin mining works and what impact the halving will have on the mining industry, Hasu's research on Bitcoin's economic security, and the efficiency of crypto markets. Reading list: A Model for Bitcoin's Security and the Declining Block Subsidy, A Model for Bitcoin's Security and the Declining Block Subsidy, Bitcoin Block Reward Halving Countdown, Bitcoin Wiki — Controlled Supply --- This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

In this episode, the Amun team came together to review the top crypto predictions and theses of 2020 from Coinbase, Messari, and Blockchain Capital. The main predictions that the Amun team review in this episode are: (1) that the number and size of mergers and acquisition activity will increase in the years to come; (2) that general use of blockchain technology will become common; and (3) that the market capitalization of stablecoins will continue to grow rapidly. Have a listen to our first episode of the year! Reading Materials: Messari's Crypto Theses for 2020; Blockchain Capital’s 2019 Year in Review; Brian Armstrong's (Coinbase) "What will happen to cryptocurrency in the 2020s" blog This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

In this episode of the State of Crypto brainstorm, the Amun team came together to discuss the current issues in the crypto asset industry associated with education. The external guest this week is Ria Bhutoria, Director of Research at Fidelity Digital Assets. In this episode the Amun team and Ria discuss the main issues in crypto education such as: a lack of standardisation, issues with metric game-ability, and technical barriers to education. Reading Materials: Ryan Selkis (Messari) — An Open-Source EDGAR Database for Cryptoassets  Coinbase — The Rise of Crypto in Higher Education David Kimberley (Finance Magnates) — eToro Survey Finds Huge Demand for Cryptocurrency Education This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

In this episode of the state of crypto brainstorm, the Amun team (Hany Rashwan, Hansen Wang, and Lanre Ige) came together to discuss the impact crypto and blockchain technology could have across the continent of Africa. The external guest this week was Yele Bademosi — Director and Ambassador of Africa at Binance Labs. It is important to note that it is impossible to develop a coherent thesis for the whole of Africa — the world's most diverse and multi-faceted continent — so instead this episode will mostly focus on Nigeria, where both Yele and Lanre are from. One narrative which has been consistent throughout the history of crypto has been the concept of "Banking the Unbanked" especially with reference to the continent of Africa. There has been the hope that crypto could in some way act as a way to allow for people to store their wealth in a censorship-resistant way — especially in cases where their was a generally lack of faith in their public institutions — or facilitate cross-border payments and remittances payments.  Especially since the rise in prominence of the next generation of stablecoins such as Dai or Celo — or even Facebook's Libra — the argument has been made that these kind of crypto products will help "Bank the Unbanked in Africa". However, a problem with this is that often many of those within the industry have touted crypto as offering solutions (and then created such solutions) without first properly understanding the problems. There's no doubt that Africa — the world's youngest continent — has an almost unbounded potential to grow and countries like Nigeria have begun to show their potential as the new hubs for innovation and financial technology. However, I think it's important first to step back and properly understand, in crypto's case at least, what problems there are to solve for those within the crypto industry and the different modes of thinking we can adopt to create better solutions. In this episode, Yele and the Amun team discuss Yele's thesis for crypto in Africa, touch on the various problems that crypto can actually help solve, and analyze what the main impediments to crypto adoption in Africa are. Stayed tuned. Reading Materials: Binance Podcast — Blockchain Continent is Happening in Africa (w. Yele)  United Nations — Africa Could Be the Next Frontier for Cryptocurrency Africa Digital Asset Framework — An Open-source Map to the Pan-African Blockchain Ecosystem Cointelegraph — Crypto in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, Explained Dether — The State of Crypto in Nigeria  This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

The Amun team (Hany Rashwan, Ophelia Snyder, Laurent Kssis, Hansen Wang, and Lanre Ige) comes together to discuss the impact recent regulatory actions on token sale will have on the market and give an overview of the different economic models for tokens. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has been heating up their enforcement action over the last few months with recent enforcements/settlements actions against companies such as Block.one. The primary contributor to the cool-down of the wider token sale market has been a general fear of action by the SEC and the intricacies of each of the SEC's token sale-related cases thus far will have long-term impacts on the crypto asset market. In addition, the regulatory investigations over the last few years in different tokens has helped further shed a light on the various kinds of economic models different crypto assets use. The differences between each tokens model affects its economic, valuation, and regulatory status and as such is of the utmost importance for anyone interested in the crypto asset industry. Tune in to this week's episode to learn about token sale regulation and crypto asset economic models — two of the most cutting edge topics within the sector. Reading Materials: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — SEC Orders Blockchain Company to Pay $24 Million Penalty for Unregistered ICO; Karen E. Ubell (Special Counsel, Cooley) — In the Matter of Block.one (https://bit.ly/2rQIJRw); Block.one — Block.one Announces Settlement with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Fabric Ventures — The Fabric Ventures Investment Thesis; Kyle Samani (Multicoin Capital) — New Models for Utility Tokens; John Pfeffer — An (Institutional) Investor's Take on Cryptoassets  This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

In this episode of Amun's "State of Crypto" the Amun team (Hany Rashwan, Ophelia Snyder, Laurent Kssis and Hansen Wang) got together to reinvigorate the age-old dilemma between active and passive investing - but instead of looking at traditional markets, we applied the same principles to the crypto markets. As crypto markets are open 24/7, 365 days a year, and with a lack of infrastructure compared to the traditional financial markets, investing in crypto is much different than investing in stocks, bonds or commodities. Historically speaking, actively managed funds have had a hard time beating Bitcoin, the industry benchmark. But is this due to higher fees or lower liquidity? Tune in to find out.  Reading materials: Yossi Hasson — "The passive investor's guide to crypto investing"; Toroso Investments — "The "ETF Rule", Like Crypto, Blockchain, and Active Management, Signals More Industry"; Rayne Steinberg (Arca Investments) — "Standing on the Shoulders of Giant – Active Management and Crypto"; Howard Marks (Oaktree Capital) — Investing Without People (Passive Investing and ETFs). This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io

This week, the Amun team (Ophelia Snyder, Lanre Ige and Hansen Wang) came together to shed some new light on the old problem of Bitcoin’s energy consumption. One of the main arguments of opponents of Bitcoin's use of proof-of-work mining is the excessive amount of electricity needed to secure the Bitcoin system. However, there are arguments to suggest that Bitcoin could also give society significant benefits by helping "bank the unbanked" and give billions of people access to financial markets, which the traditional money system cannot. So does this added benefit outweigh the additional costs? Tune in to hear our views.  Reading from this week: Coinshares Research – "Bitcoin Mining Network Update"; MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research — "The Carbon Footprint of Bitcoin"; Vox — "Bitcoin is an energy hog. Where is all that electricity coming from?" This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: blockworksgroup.io