Beyond the Code

Yitzy Hammer

Welcome to Beyond the Code, the podcast where we dive into the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues surrounding emerging technologies. Each week, we bring you in-depth conversations with industry experts, discussing the latest advancements in technology and their implications on society and the legal system. From artificial intelligence to blockchain, we'll be exploring all the hot topics in the field. Your host, Yitzy Hammer, a lawyer and tech enthusiast, is joined by a diverse group of experts, providing valuable insight into the complex and ever-evolving world of technology.

  1. hace 4 días

    E110: Mark Karpelès on Ledger Implants & the Real Mt. Gox Story

    Mark Karpelès bought a half-price Ledger Nano X, opened it, and found a mass-produced spy implant. The former Mt. Gox CEO explains what he found, and how to check your own wallet. Mark, now CEO of Karpelès Labs in Japan, spotted the implant before the CryptoBillis story broke. He walks through how it uses an LTE antenna to send data back to the attacker, why he's now sharing his findings with Ledger, and the detector he's building to tell you "clean" or "not clean." He also explains how to open a Nano X yourself. Then we go back to 2010: accepting Bitcoin for web hosting, taking over Mt. Gox from Jed McCaleb, growing from about 6,000 customers to 1 million in two years, the Silk Road fallout and the $5M US seizure, years under public suspicion, and how he'd build a secure exchange today with all-cold storage and FROST. We finish with AI and CatCard, his custom firmware for the Coldcard. Chapters00:00 Welcome, Mark Karpelès04:11 Karpelès Labs: "specialized in doing the impossible"06:14 The CryptoBillis Ledger implant story08:03 Finding a mass-produced implant in a half-price Nano X12:22 Ledger's response, and cooperating now14:40 The risk of a broad reseller network15:50 Mark's implant detector19:22 How to check a Nano X yourself, and the warranty catch-2221:17 A cat-and-mouse game with implant makers23:40 Mark's story: from France to Japan30:49 Taking over Mt. Gox from Jed McCaleb34:10 From 6,000 to 1 million customers35:39 Silk Road, banks and the $5M US seizure41:11 BIP32/BIP39: what could have saved Mt. Gox42:24 Living under suspicion45:42 How he'd build an exchange today48:44 Bankruptcy and creditor recoveries51:31 A few months in Israel55:30 Crypto, AI and 20–30 agents at once1:00:49 CatCard: custom Coldcard firmware1:04:00 Where to follow Mark, and a parting warning Guest: Mark Karpelès – X: https://x.com/MagicalTuxHost: Yitzy Hammer – X: https://x.com/ijhammer · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ijhammer · DLT Law: https://www.dltlaw.ioWatch the full video: https://youtu.be/MeG8kFkCPQQMore episodes: https://www.beyondthecode.fm/ Follow Beyond the Code and leave a rating. It helps more people find the show.

    E110: Mark Karpelès on Ledger Implants & the Real Mt. Gox Story
  2. 13 ago

    E107: Geoff White | Inside Ransomware Gangs, Nation-State Hackers, and AI Crime

    Geoff White has spent over a decade at the intersection of technology and organized crime. As Channel 4 News' technology correspondent, he reported on the Snowden leaks, exposed the Talk Talk hack, and dug into fraud across the online dating industry. He's the co-creator of the BBC's Lazarus Heist, a chart-topping podcast on North Korea's hacking operations, and the author of three books — Crime Dot Com, Rinsed, and, for Audible, The Dark Web and AI: Friend or Foe, the latter released back in 2019, well before AI became a household conversation. In this episode, Geoff joins Yitzy to talk about his path from local newspapers to investigative journalism, the difference between writing a book and building a podcast, and how crypto has genuinely changed the mechanics of money laundering — not made it impossible to trace, but made it faster to move. He also breaks down how his team pieced together 350,000 leaked internal messages from the Conti ransomware gang, translation quirks and all, and gives his take on recent AI-driven hacks, including the Hugging Face/OpenAI incident and the Cold Card wallet exploit — plus why he's skeptical of confident claims about how much AI is actually being used in phishing today. This episode is brought to you by FirstRead — the AI-powered contract and document tool built for lawyers. Use code BYNDTHECODE10 for 10% off, or sign up here: https://first-read.com/signup?ref=BEYOND2026 In this episode, we cover: 00:00 – Intro: who is Geoff White04:14 – From balloon modeler to investigative journalist09:25 – Going freelance and the leap into book writing11:05 – How book deals and advances actually work13:39 – Researching and writing Crime.com15:05 – Meeting Brett Johnson, the "OG of hacking"17:36 – Books vs. podcasts: what changes in the storytelling24:00 – What the reader knows and when: crafting a true-crime narrative26:18 – Rinsed: has crypto made money laundering easier, or just different?35:37 – Inside The Conti Files: leaked chats, translation chaos, and "the grandmas"42:30 – Personal safety and the risks of covering hackers directly44:22 – Revisiting AI: Friend or Foe, written in 201948:05 – The Hugging Face/OpenAI hack, the Cold Card exploit, and self-custody risk50:45 – Why Geoff won't say "AI phishing is worse" without the data Connect with Geoff : https://geoffwhite.tech/ (podcast and audiobook links, book purchases and contact details)

    E107: Geoff White | Inside Ransomware Gangs, Nation-State Hackers, and AI Crime
  3. 29 jun

    E105: Reuven Rivlin — Israel's 10th President on Crypto, Regulation & Building Trust in a New Financial System

    In one of the most unique conversations in Beyond the Code history, Yitzy sits down with Reuven "Ruby" Rivlin — the 10th President of the State of Israel — to talk about why, at 86 years old, he's betting on crypto. Rivlin is now Honorary President of Bitcore Capital, a publicly traded Israeli company building regulated digital financial infrastructure — including a shekel-pegged stablecoin, Bitcoin-backed lending, and what could become Israel's first crypto-native digital bank and have recently entered into a very significant partnership with Lava Network. The company has assembled a team of former senior government officials, regulators, and law enforcement leaders specifically to earn the trust of the Israeli public and regulators alike. But before all of that, Rivlin was a trial lawyer, a Jerusalem city councilor under Mayor Teddy Kollek, president of Beitar Jerusalem football club, a 30-year Knesset member, Speaker of the Knesset twice, Israel's Communications Minister, and finally — the President of Israel from 2014 to 2021. In this episode: Why Rivlin joined Bitcore Capital and what they're actually buildingThe regulatory challenges facing crypto adoption in IsraelHow assembling former chiefs of police, ministers, and regulators is a trust-building strategy — not just opticsHis vision for Israel as a leader in the digital financial revolutionStories from his legal career, the Knesset, Beitar Jerusalem, and his relationships with world leadersThis episode is brought to you by FirstRead — your go-to source for crypto legal and regulatory intelligence. Get 10% off with code BYNDTHECODE10 at https://first-read.com/signup?ref=BEYOND2026

    E105: Reuven Rivlin — Israel's 10th President on Crypto, Regulation & Building Trust in a New Financial System

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Welcome to Beyond the Code, the podcast where we dive into the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues surrounding emerging technologies. Each week, we bring you in-depth conversations with industry experts, discussing the latest advancements in technology and their implications on society and the legal system. From artificial intelligence to blockchain, we'll be exploring all the hot topics in the field. Your host, Yitzy Hammer, a lawyer and tech enthusiast, is joined by a diverse group of experts, providing valuable insight into the complex and ever-evolving world of technology.