Castoshi

Zubair Quraishi

Welcome to the Crypto Podcast hosted by Zubair Quraishi and powered by Damex.

  1. 26/03/2023

    Episode 37 - Regulated since 2018, Gibraltar is the best kept secret in crypto. Aaron Payas of Hassans

    In this episode Zubair Quraishi and Mark Rees talk to Aaron Payas, a Crypto Lawyer who works at Hassans in Gibraltar. We discuss "Warm Crypto Wallets", and why Gibraltar is a leading jurisdiction for regulated Crypto Companies 00:00 Introduction: Zubair Quraishi and Mark Rees are the Castoshi show hosts and Aaron Payas is from Hassans, the leading Gibraltar law firm which also has a Crypto department 00:25 Aaron Payas's journey from Mathematician to Crypto lawyer 04:20 Aaron's thoughts on "Warm wallets", which don't hold or show crypto, but allow you to prove ownership of NFTs and other digital assets 09:40 Why Gibraltar has been the world's leader in Crypto Regulation since 2018 13:50 The 3 certainties of crypto in Gibraltar: (1) Legal certainty, (2) Regulatory Certainty (3) Tax Certainty 16:01 Gibraltar is teaching other jurisdictions about how to regulate crypto 17:20 Why Gibraltar chose Principled based crypto regulations instead of Prescriptive based crypto regulations 19:45 How lawyers and the "Vibe Check" are the first line of defence before allowing crypto firms to apply for a crypto license in Gibraltar. Crypto Companies who want a "quick and easy" setup DO NOT come to Gibraltar 21:18 What specific Crypto services does Hassans provide to Crypto companies? 24:50 What does Aaron see for the future of Crypto? 29:40 Closing comments and where to find Aaron (@aaronpayas on twitter) and Hassans at gibraltarlaw.com

    32 min
  2. 03/03/2023

    Episode 36 - Dutch Crypto gaming company BitHotel.io

    01:01 What is BitHotel? It is a Web3 based Metaverse which allows people to interact and play mini games together  01:50 Bithotel has been released over a year ago and has had around 100,000 users   02:10 Bithotel works both with Google Login and crypto wallets like MetaMask, as they are trying to attract non-crypto users as well as crypto users  03:30 How do BitHotel (BTH) tokens work in the game?  04:05 Which blockchains does Bithotel work on? Binance Smart chain, Moonbean and others soon  04:40 Is BitHotel decentralized? No, BitHotel runs on centralized servers and databases, and uses crypto for NFTs and in game items. Also, running everything on chain would be too slow, and a terrible user experience since the user would have to keep signing transactions in MetaMask  06:30 How is BitHotel different from crypto games such as Axie Infinity? BitHotel is 2D, and users don’t just earn tokens, they also have to stake their own tokens in order to play games  07:50 Are people playing BitHotel just to earn crypto/money? Answer, the token is an extra, and not integral to playing BitHotel. BitHotel is about playing fun games  09:05 Will BitHotel have user generated content like Roblox? Yes, but it will be via an API, not via a 3D game designer like Roblox has  11:45 What did Kareem do before crypto? He was a psychologist and did some trading  12:15 How large is the team at BitHotel? Around 30 people, mostly developers, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They are funded with USD 4 million from a token sale in December 2021 13:45 How does BitHotel acquire users? They run TokTok, Youtube, Meta ads, but the best advertising is using a Web2 influencer who has 8 million followers 15:06 What mistakes have most gaming companies made so far in the Web3 space? Companies raised too much cash. Also “Play to Earn” should have been “Play for Fun”  17:25 What does Kareem think of Alex Becker? Even though Kareem doesn't follow Alex anymore, Kareem thinks that Alex probably knows his stuff in the crypto gaming space  18:30 What does the next 3-5 years hold for crypto and gaming? Web3 Games quality should go up and the market should grow a lot, partly because of the increase in regulation  19:30 How is crypto regulation in Netherlands? It is ok, but not as far advanced as regulation in Dubai or Singapore  20:25 Where can people find BitHotel? bithotel.io

    21 min
  3. 01/02/2023

    Episode 35 - Cyberscope helps the FBI with crypto investigations. Thanos Tsavlis of Cyberscope

    Cyberscope Crypto audits: https://www.cyberscope.io/  CoinScope Check out new airdrops here: https://www.coinscope.co/ 00:00 Introduction to Cyberscope. They specialise in Smart Contract audits and Web 3 Security, having done over 750 crypto audits on Ethereum compatible blockchains   01:40 How many people work at Cyberscope. 17 people work at Cyberscope, with the main office in Greece   02:15 What was CoinScope, Thanos's first crypto project, and how it inspired Cyberscope   03:45 Why code is law, and why "Developer KYC" and secure smart contracts are important   04:59 Since the Terra/Luna and Celsius collapse how much building is going on in the crypto community? There is a lot of work going on during this downturn   06:15 What are the different security issues for Etheruem compatible vs non Etheruem compatible projects like Solana? Many Solana developers have moved the Aptos chain (formerly Facebook libre) which is not Ethereum compatible but has a strong developer community 11:05 What is the typical security checklist for a security audit? KYC of the developers and a written audit which is for the benefit of investors in crypto projects   12:50 Who pays to do an audit? The investors pay most of the time, since it is part of their due diligence   14:30 How does Cyberscope deal with scam companies which pass all the crypto audits? This needs manual research, and can't be automated at the moment. There are also blacklists to help tools like Metamask identify bad actors   19:00 What is future of crypto security for the general public using Web3?   22:00 What is the real future of crypto in general? Payments are the killer app as real time international payments with stablecoins are already being used and growing fast   24:01 The FBI, and EU government departments have contacted Cyberscope for help   25:20 How governments are getting very crypto savvy   26:10 How do networks like Cardano differ from Ethereuem when making smart contracts?   27:40 How is Cyberscope's business going to change in the next few years?   29:50 A new feature in CoinScope is to check out new Airdrops. It is a good way to learn about researching crypto projects   31:40 Closing comments and where to find us

    32 min
  4. 19/12/2022

    Episode 33 - "What is web3 Product Market/Fit?", with "KEY Difference Media"

    In this episode Zubair Quraishi talks to Karnika Yashwant of "KEY Difference Media" to understand how traditional companies are moving to Web3: 00:00 Introduction to Dubai based KEY Difference Media  01:15 Introduction to KDM's Low Code "Forward Protocol"  01:57 Karnika's personal journey from Web 2 marketing to crypto  03:50 What are a good/bad examples of projects that could move to Web3/Crypto?  06:45 What should a "go to market strategy" be for a non crypto company?  08:35 How to align incentives when building a Web3 project by holding tokens  09:20 A deep dive in the Low Code "Forward Protocol" and how it helps companies build blockchain apps  11:45 "Forward Protocol" support EVM chain, Solana, and other blockchains  12:20 How "Forward Protocol" can help developer to earn  14:25 Zubair explores which parts of "Forward Protocol" are open source and which parts are proprietary and comparisons to Wordpress  15:40 Which countries are good to be based in for crypto projects? We discuss the crypto community in Dubai  17:40 Why Asset tokenisation and business processes are the next big thing in crypto  19:45 Why transparency means that private blockchains like IBM Hyperledger and Concordium have a future  21:20 Will crypto make enterprise security even more complicated with yet another log in method?  22:20 How people can be paid directly in crypto  23:05 Even banks in crypto friendly Dubai are not totally crypto friendly yet (hint: more friendly with regulated entities)  23:50 Does fiat have a future?  24:50 How crypto and blockchain will take over everything one piece at a time  26:45 Karnika talks about how he wants to own assets, not money  27:40 How crypto and decentralisation will be good for the world by giving people another choice as opposed to the centralised world  28:50 How to contact Karnika or "KEY Difference Media" and ending  Forward Protocol website: Home | Forward Protocol KEY Difference Media  Website: KEY Difference Media | Web3 Incubator & Marketing Partner  Karnika's LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mrkey  Karnika's twitter: Karnika E. Yashwant (Mr. KEY) (@KarnikaYashwant) / Twitter  Karnika's Instagram: Karnika E. Yashwant (@4dmrkey) • Φωτογραφίες και βίντεο στο Instagram  Karnika's Facebook: Karnika E. Yashwant | Facebook

    30 min
  5. 07/12/2022

    Episode 32 - Crypto Premium bonds with Chris Murphy James of Klink Finance

    In this episode Zubair talks to Chris James Murphy of https://www.klinkfinance.com/ about their Cedefi crypto savings platform:   00:00 Introduction to Klink Finance  01:58 How does Klink Finance generate yield? Via Defi protocols and abitrage. Chris also explains how every 25 USDC gives a lottery ticket, just like premium bonds  03:45 Zubair talks about Klink Finance being a USDC only business  04:42 Chris describes how UK Premium Bonds work  06:01 Chris's history and why he started Klink Finance to bring good financial habits to the masses  07:54 Chris talks about how crypto companies were previously generating yields from investor capital   09:15 Why does Klink Finance need centralised KYC to deposit USDC and passing the "mom" test  11:02 How Klink Finance insures that customer funds are secure  11:50 What is the status of Klink Finance (as of Nov, 2022)  13:25 After the FTX crash what does Chris think of the future of the crypto industry? Chris talks about how should companies behave in a responsible way  15:50 Where are Klink Finance based? They are a UK company, with a distributed team, and regulated in UK and Europe  17:55 Will tightening crypto regulation in Europe and USA drive crypto companies away?  20:00 Zubair discusses how European Crypto regulation MICA (which is being translated in 27 languages) could make it irrelavant once it gets released  21:00 Closing

    22 min

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Welcome to the Crypto Podcast hosted by Zubair Quraishi and powered by Damex.