State of Crypto

Blockworks

State of Crypto, a research based podcast from Amun and BlockWorks Group, is a weekly brainstorm discussion with the Amun team about the latest trends and analysis in the crypto world.

  1. 12/11/2019

    A Thesis for Crypto in Africa

    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

    46 min
  2. 12/04/2019

    Understanding Tokens: Regulation and Economic Models

    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

    54 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

State of Crypto, a research based podcast from Amun and BlockWorks Group, is a weekly brainstorm discussion with the Amun team about the latest trends and analysis in the crypto world.