The DeadCaitBounce Experience Planet MicroCap & Caitlin Cook

This week’s guest is Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management, a company focused on bringing crypto education and investment products to professional investors. Not only is Matt at the helm of a large US firm sitting at the intersection of traditional and decentralized finance, he’s also far and away one of the most thoughtful and pragmatic educators in the space. Especially when it comes to crypto for TradFi professionals.

Matt and I discuss crypto market cyclicality, tips for onlookers that want to filter out the noise in a sea of headlines, what crypto-related firms and projects in the US could be doing better to promote positive change, the biggest headlines and US regulatory headwinds of 2023, and what even the biggest of crypto skeptics should be keeping an eye on as the space continues to evolve.

For more information about Bitwise Asset Management, please visit: https://bitwiseinvestments.com/

Show notes:

[0:05] Introduction to Matt Hougan, Bitwise Asset Management

[1:39] Making sense of the Crypto headlines in 2023

[4:37] What is driving the price of bitcoin and other crypto recently

[7:35] Material vs. noise following the various crypto fallouts (FTX, etc...)

[10:12] Flushing out the bad actors in crypto

[12:04] Cutting through all the noise and how to think about portfolio allocation with crypto

[16:50] Crypto education for institutional investors - what’s been the feedback?

[19:15] Any growth from the institutional interest/activity in crypto recently?

[21:16] Hesitation for crypto still tied to regulatory uncertainty?

[24:04] What can folks in crypto do to bridge the gap for folks that are hesitant

[26:17] Main actions that crypto, as a whole, can do when having the conversation around crypto; engaging to have good regulation

[28:25] Do regulators want to engage?

[30:24] What is happening at Coinbase and what it means for crypto (SEC serving the Wells Notice) and timeline following the serving of the Wells Notice

[37:38] Bitcoin spot ETF in the US and how Grayscale working on this

[41:55] Why is the law on the side of crypto?

[44:03] How does Matt see the rest of 2023 going for crypto?

All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcasts guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of the hosts or any of their affiliates. This podcast is for commercial and informational purposes only, is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending any securities or cryptocurrencies, nor is this an offer or sale of a security or cryptocurrency.

This week’s guest is Dan Krewson. As Market President and Director of Specialty Lending at Huntingdon Valley Bank, Krewson is building commercial and specialty lending divisions as well as leading the development of several new products including a crypto stablecoin funded participation facility.

Dan and I discuss how HVB, a now publicly traded company and broker-dealer that has provided traditional consumer and commercial banking services since 1871, facilitated the first ever integration between a decentralized finance protocol and a traditional bank.

MakerDAO, a fully crypto-native “DAO” or, Decentralized Autonomous Organization, and the creators of the $5B marketcap stablecoin DAI which is, in MakerDAO’s words, “The world’s first unbiased currency.” opened a $100M DAI loan to HVB.

We provide an overview of DAO structure for those who are unfamiliar, discuss the rules and guardrails HVB implemented and abided by to make this deal happen, the complex considerations and logistics of working with a, by definition, decentralized organization, and more. This story is an important showcase of the ways in which highly regulated traditional institutions are beginning to test the waters, dipping their toes into the growing world of crypto and decentralized finance.

With that, please enjoy my conversation with Dan. For more information about Huntingdon Valley Bank, please visit: https://www.myhvb.com/

Show notes:

[0:07] Introduction to Dan Krewson

[2:10] Dan Krewson’s and Huntingdon Valley Bank’s backgrounds

[6:07] How did the deal for MakerDAO happen and logistics

[10:11] What is a DAO?

[14:15] How does a firm like HVB able to work with MakerDAO?

[20:02] Transaction with MakerDAO

[23:16] Rules and guardrails for how this deal was structured

[30:45] Fast-forward to 2023, how the MakerDAO/HVB transaction look today

[38:40] View doing more transactions like MakerDAO/HVB in the future?

[41:45] Crypto/blockchain enabling frictionless transactions; how does the MakerDAO/HVB deal reflect that original crypto/blockchain thesis

[44:25] How does Dan see crypto regulation moving forward after deals like this get done + general crypto regulation

[53:50] Biggest opportunity for traditional finance institutions, like HVB, to get more integrated into the up-and-coming DeFi space

All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcasts guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of the hosts or any of their affiliates. This podcast is for commercial and informational purposes only, is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending any securities or cryptocurrencies, nor is this an offer or sale of a security or cryptocurrency.

This week’s guests are Grant and Jerry from Blocmates.com. Blocmates is in the business of education, helping to make cryptocurrency accessible to everyone via their guides, tutorials, reviews, and a free weekly newsletter with the latest crypto analysis. It’s so simple your grandparents could follow it, and let me tell you…the crypto industry needs more of what they’re doing.

As a whole, crypto content creation today is in desperate need of a makeover. There are far too many creators that either don’t know what they are talking about or focus on things like silly thumbnails on YouTube to bring in listeners that are designed for click rather than value.

In short: Unnecessary noise, and FAR too many grifters.

On the other end of the spectrum is blocmates. Value is the key driving force behind everything they do. From deep dives into promising crypto projects to 101 explainers on up-and-coming areas of the market, this team is EVERYWHERE. We discuss important topics including crypto education, the makings of a strong and sustainable crypto project, red flags for investors to look out for, and more. With that, please enjoy my conversation with Grant and Jerri.

For more information about Blocmates, please visit: https://blocmates.com/

You can Follow Blocmates on Twitter @blocmatesdotcom: https://twitter.com/blocmatesdotcom 

Show notes:

[0:05] Introduction

[2:45] For the traditional finance crowd, what is blocmates and how did Grant and Jerri meet

[11:33] Crypto content - how does blocmates create accessible crypto content and where do people go wrong?

[16:18] How do you find good crypto projects?

[25:56] Managing and re-assessing projects in a crypto bear market

[31:57] An active community on Telegram and Discord to ask questions about projects; the crypto sub-culture

[39:11] Education around the crypto sub-culture / so much noise in the space

[50:44] What are the projects that are solving problems (and what problems)?

All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcasts guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of the hosts or any of their affiliates. This podcast is for commercial and informational purposes only, is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending any securities or cryptocurrencies, nor is this an offer or sale of a security or cryptocurrency.

This week’s guest is Simon Grunfeld. Simon is Head of Web3 at Cogni, a banking platform that eliminates the friction between Web2 and Web3 via a seamless on-and-off ramp to help accelerate mass adoption. After all, that’s what this entire podcast is about - bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3.

The key differentiator in what Simon and Cogni are building is access. Unlike major crypto exchanges, Cogni gives users complete control over their assets with a non-custodial wallet that it can’t access, and where only users have access to their private keys.

Simon and I discuss the spectrum of options available today for investors who want to buy crypto, the associated risks of each, how and why non-custodial wallets will be the difference maker in recovering consumer confidence in the crypto industry, and why interoperability is the key to building America’s super wallet. With that, please enjoy my conversation with Simon.

For more information about Cogni, please visit: https://getcogni.com/

You can Follow Simon Grunfeld on Twitter @getcogni: https://twitter.com/getcogni

Show notes:

[0:06] Introduction to Simon Grunfeld

[1:53] Simon Grunfeld’s background and his crypto journey to Cogni

[4:09] What is Cogni and What is their key differentiator

[9:25] How FTX exposed the issue around custody; narrative around self-custody

[14:10] Centralized vs. Decentralized platform

[17:18] Idea of ”Trusting the Code”

[24:50] Interoperability - ability to have fiat and crypto in one place, how that can help with bridging the gap between TradFi and DeFi

[31:05] Tax perspective; tracking your transactions, does Cogni help with data tracking?

[35:22] Ease of use to open an account with Cogni

[38:05] How Crypto and Web3 is maturing; for Simon - Web3 identity tools

[42:12] Regulatory clarity

[47:01] Bull vs. Bear case for Crypto and Blockchain technology

All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcasts guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of the hosts or any of their affiliates. This podcast is for commercial and informational purposes only, is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending any securities or cryptocurrencies, nor is this an offer or sale of a security or cryptocurrency.

Crews Enochs is the Ecosystem Growth Lead at Index Cooperative, where he is responsible for marketing communications & off-chain partnerships for their portfolio of on-chain structured products. Index Cooperative democratizes access to complex crypto strategies, making it simple to create a custom index of tokens using smart contracts. Think of these as, say, the next-generation ETFs. Index Cooperative is an early mover on what i believe will become a high-demand area of the crypto space as mainstream adoption rises. One token to gain diversified exposure, on-chain, making responsible crypto investment easier than ever. But we’re not there yet. Crypto index products are in the early stages of adoption. We discuss the hesitancies many newcomers have when getting started, associated risks, whether crypto indexes truly provide diversification within a historically highly correlated industry, what a “good” crypto project consists of, how recent market events have impacted on-chain index product adoption, and much more. With that, please enjoy my conversation with Crews.

For more information about Index Cooperative, please visit: https://indexcoop.com/

You can Follow Crews Enochs on Twitter @theyoungcrews: https://twitter.com/theyoungcrews

Show notes:

[0:06] Introduction to Crews Enochs
[2:06] What is Index Cooperative and Crews Enochs’ background + role at Index Cooperative
[4:32] Index Cooperative’s products and the idea of Crypto ETFs; buying a basket of tokens
[6:43] Conversations around ”self-custody”
[9:30] Why are indexes not more popular in crypto?
[13:03] Traditional ETF products for Crypto
[15:08] More interest from retail or institutional investors?
[17:38] Who are Index Coop customers trusting when buying one of their products?
[20:50] Are Index Cooperative’s products actually diversified?
[25:31] What does a fundamentally sound project look like in Crypto?
[27:25] Where does yield come from from Index Cooperative products?
[32:38] What is stopping traditional finance from creating ETF-like products in Crypto?
[34:14] How has all the Crypto negative sentiment affected Index Cooperative?
[37:18] Where has Index Cooperative seen the most interest amongst their products?
[40:57] Long-term and short-term trends for bringing traditional assets ”on-chain”
[43:38] Bull and Bear case for Crypto moving forward

All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcasts guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of the hosts or any of their affiliates. This podcast is for commercial and informational purposes only, is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending any securities or cryptocurrencies, nor is this an offer or sale of a security or cryptocurrency.

This week’s guest is George Harrap, Co-Founder of Step Finance. George has been in the crypto world for 12 years having been an early bitcoin miner in 2011 to co- founding the first crypto remittance company in 2014, later going on to cofound Step Finance in early 2021 with the goal of onboarding the next billion people in crypto.

He is passionate about sovereign money systems and the benefits cryptocurrencies can bring to the world and is currently leading the Step Finance team toward highlighting better on-chain data in the Solana ecosystem. Working around the world from Turkey to Hong Kong and beyond, not only does George have a long tenure in the crypto space, he also has a strong understanding of the various real-world use cases for crypto and decentralized finance.

Many of my listeners are within the United States. It’s important to step back every so often and remind ourselves of the many ways in which government, policy, and volatile native currencies can impact countries, businesses, and individuals, as well as the many ways in which crypto and blockchain technology have already been and are continuing to be adopted around the world. We cover all of that and more in this episode. With that, please enjoy my conversation with George.

For more information about George Harrap and Step Finance, please visit: https://www.step.finance/ 

You can Follow George Harrap on Twitter @George_harrap: https://twitter.com/George_harrap

Show notes:

[0:06] Introduction to George Harrap

[2:20] George’s crypto origin story

[6:22] How has the Bitcoin thesis changed since the beginning

[12:16] Use cases for crypto in emerging markets

[20:05] What is the incentive for the US (or any sovereign nation) to change their banking system?

[21:28] Interesting crypto innovations that George has seen around the world

[25:04] What is Step Finance and how the company will ”onboard the next 1 billion people into crypto”?

[31:15] For folks new to crypto, what data should they be looking at to start as they are onboarding into the place

[34:05] Keeping track of crypto transactions

[36:22] Hackathon, Future of crypto and most important things that need to be solved next

[43:46] Regulation and global ecosystem for crypto innovation

[50:10] What would it take for crypto to get to mass adoption, and where does it fail?

All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcasts guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of the hosts or any of their affiliates. This podcast is for commercial and informational purposes only, is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending any securities or cryptocurrencies, nor is this an offer or sale of a security or cryptocurrency.