The Delphi Podcast

Host Tom Shaughnessy talks to Yaniv Tal, project lead at The Graph to discuss how the Graph is a decentralized protocol for querying data from blockchains, starting with Ethereum. We discuss indexing DeFi, Web3 and the decentralized future.  Episode Highlights:   What the graph is and its current status How the graph works, and what an indexing and querying layer for blockchains means.  The Web3 apps The Graph will enable in the future User experience and user interface hurdles for decentralized applications The decentralization spectrum Identity as a core primitive of Web3.  Why the route to Web3 is not attacking Web2 apps, since the latter are fully optimized and have network effects.  Identity is a core primitive of web3 Support The Show ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto investors and accountants. Get a 15% discount when you use code Chain15. https://bit.ly/3bundEl Resources Mentioned:  Chain Reaction Twitter: https://twitter.com/chainpodcast Tom Shaughnessy Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shaughnessy119 The Graph Website: https://thegraph.com/ Yaniv's Twitter: https://twitter.com/yanivgraph Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial decisions. Do not trade or invest in any project, tokens, or securities based upon this podcast episode. The host may personally own tokens that are mentioned on the podcast. Tom Shaughnessy owns tokens in ETH, BTC, STX, SNX, RUNE, sUSD and HNT. Let's Talk Bitcoin is a distribution partner for the Chain Reaction Podcast, and our current show features paid sponsorships which may be featured at the start, middle and/or the end of the episode. These sponsorships are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to use any product or service.    Music Attribution: Cosmos by From The Dust | https://soundcloud.com/ftdmusic Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

9 Mars 202052min

On this exclusive Macro Matters Series, guest host Kevin Kelly talks to Oliver Renick, lead anchor for TD Ameritrade Network, about his outlook for markets and the way Oliver and his team integrate Bitcoin & crypto into their day-to-day coverage. Oliver discusses his philosophy for covering markets and the move away from “momentum news”, the growing importance of bitcoin as a macroeconomic indicator, consensus expectations for monetary policy and the “Fed fulcrum”, what we can expect as the world tries to assess the economic fallout from coronavirus, and much more!   Key Points   Bitcoin’s potential as a high-beta safety play - similar to bonds and gold - with a very specific tie into interest rates and monetary policy trends. The imminent risk of coronavirus and the potential ramifications on the global economy if the situation escalates further. Market consensus for lower rates is at an extreme, implying asymmetric downside risk to the bond trade that’s pushed long-dated Treasury yields to their lowest level in history if the long-term impact of COVID-19 turns out to be less severe than expected.   Quotes   “There is an imminent risk that has no precedent basically and that is coronavirus and the potential economic impact due to China’s supply chain shutting down and the subsequent areas it might crop up in as well.” – Oliver Renick   “I suspect we need to continue to think about the risks associated with this concept of a free lunch, essentially, where the bond market can rally and the Fed will cut behind it.” – Oliver Renick   “If the market and signal being sent by gold and bonds right now are correct then it seems to suggest we’re going to be in a world of trouble because if the Fed has to cut again, after they said they didn’t want to cut, we really have to start giving more credence to the whole ‘bullets in the chamber’ argument.” – Oliver Renick   “There’s too much that’s based on this assumption that we’re only going one direction in rates.” – Oliver Renick   Support The Show ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto investors and accountants. Get a 15% discount when you use code Chain15. https://bit.ly/3bundEl Visit Delta Exchange For A $10 Welcome Bonus! https://www.delta.exchange/Tom To sponsor this top crypto research podcast, email Tom@DelphiDigital.io    Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial decisions. Do not trade or invest in any project, tokens, or securities based upon this podcast episode. The host may personally own tokens that are mentioned on the podcast. Tom Shaughnessy owns tokens in ETH, BTC, STX, SNX, RUNE, sUSD and HNT. Let's Talk Bitcoin is a distribution partner for the Chain Reaction Podcast, and our current show features paid sponsorships which may be featured at the start, middle and/or the end of the episode. These sponsorships are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to use any product or service. Guest host Kevin Kelly hold

4 Mars 20201h 23min

Host Tom Shaughnessy talks to Stan Kladko, Co-Founder and CTO of SKALE Labs. They discuss the evolution of SKALE Labs, the decentralization of finance and social networks, and the current state of artificial intelligence. This builds on our previous episode with SKALE's CEO and Co-founder Jack O'Holleran.  Episode Highlights: Stan Kladko did his PhD in Germany in physics and moved to Stanford and Silicon Valley.  Stan joined a past start-up and raised about $50 million but it wasn’t making money.    Stan Kladko was introduced to Jack O'Holleran, the other co-founder of SKALE  Cryptocurrency is still not totally popular in 2020.  “Crossing the Chasm” is a book by Geoffrey A. Moore about going beyond early adopters with technology.   SKALE Labs is looking to be a competitor with Google and AWS.  Decentralized social networks are increasing in demand from younger users.  We need to get people to utilize decentralized social networks.   Are people going to build out their own data centers eventually?  People don’t realize how vulnerable things are in the crypto space.  Stan Kladko shares his opinions on whether companies can decentralize over time.  You can’t just build a solid system on algorithms.   SKALE has been coding nonstop for about two years with 9000 commits in their source code, with between 10-15 engineers.  They are looking for people to stay and use their service for at least a year.  An effective use of SKALE’s services are inside private enterprises and replacing Oracle.  AI is currently very centralized.  Neural networks are affecting our lives by telling us what to buy or read.  The hardest technical hurdle SKALE has to overcome is fixing bugs.   SKALE is looking for contributors and developers.    Key Points Decentralized finance, decentralized social networks, and gaming are popular in 2020.  People are unfortunately very reactive in their choices regarding security and and not very proactive.  When you understand the structure, you are able to create a secure system.    Quotes “The problem is when you are competing with companies like Google or AWS, these huge giants, it is very hard for a tiny start-up to actually sell things because people may like your product. But the question they ask, are you going to be there like next year?” –Stan Kladko   “As a start-up, it is very important for you to understand what the market needs in a particular year.” –Stan Kladko    “To move the technology from early adopters to the mainstream you need to somehow cross the chasm and in the process of crossing the chasm you kind of change things a bit and make some compromises.” –Stan Kladko Support The Show ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto inves

2 Mars 202057min

Host Tom Shaughnessy sat down to speak on short notice with Eric Feigl-Ding, PhD, an epidemiologist, health economist, and nutrition scientist at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health to discuss the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Eric has been an extremely informative source on the Coronavirus, and we discussed all aspects of the virus from what it is, to transmission rates, to outlook and vaccines and some potential outcomes. I really appreciate Eric taking the time on such short notice to sit down and discuss the virus.  Eric's experience speaks for itself; he was noted for his role as a whistleblower and leader of a key two-year-long investigation into the controversial drug safety and risk data of Vioxx®, Celebrex®, and Bextra® that drew FDA and national attention. He has published in leading journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, and Health Policy. His 150+ publications have received 62,000 citations (H-Index 72). As a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher, He was ranked in 2018 as among the Top 1% of all scientists worldwide. Given the urgency of this episode, I am releasing this outside of our normal programming.  Resources: Eric's Twitter Eric's BIO  Support The Show ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto investors and accountants. Get a 15% discount when you use code Chain15. https://bit.ly/3bundEl Check out eToro to Create Your Perfect Crypto Portfolio www.b.tc/etororeaction  Visit Delta Exchange For A $10 Welcome Bonus! https://www.delta.exchange/Tom   Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial decisions. Do not trade or invest in any project, tokens, or securities based upon this podcast episode. The host may personally own tokens that are mentioned on the podcast. Tom Shaughnessy owns tokens in ETH, BTC, STX, SNX, RUNE, sUSD and HNT. Lets Talk Bitcoin is a distribution partner for the Chain Reaction Podcast, and our current show features paid sponsorships which may be featured at the start, middle and/or the end of the episode. These sponsorships are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to use any product or service.    Music Attribution: Cosmos by From The Dust | https://soundcloud.com/ftdmusic Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

26 Feb 202052min

Host Tom Shaughnessy talks to Brooke Pollack, Founder and Managing Partner of Hutt Capital. They discuss the differences between traditional VC funds and VC within blockchain, how Hutt Capital chooses investments and more.   Episode Highlights: After a lot of work with investing and VC, Brooke steered Greenspring Associates into work with crypto and blockchain before eventually founding Hutt Capital. In his work with very wealthy families as clients, Brooke had trouble convincing them to invest in Bitcoin and digital currencies because they prefer something tangible, so he needed to do a lot of educating. Blockchain is growing its market share of VC deal activity. There were over 600 blockchain deals in 2019. Brooke thinks the tipping point for when larger firms will have to stop ignoring crypto is when they’re forced to pay attention to the returns they see happening that they want to have a part of. Hutt’s goal is to provide diversified exposure to blockchain in a low-risk, low-volatility way. They invest in startup funds and then use that revenue to directly invest in the best companies. When deciding what to invest in, Brooke looks for insight from his network and the reputation of the companies. Hutt has a global outlook. In choosing what to invest in, in the blockchain space, you don’t have the track record or long-term reputation to look at because most of these companies haven’t existed for very long, and if they have, the market has changed massively in that time. All of this decision making is done through relationship building, which can take years. One of the biggest structural changes to venture funds has been the advent of hybrid funds that call themselves venture funds, but are actually just less liquid versions of hedge funds. Most people will simply not invest in your first fund, so take a long view of those relationships. It’s hard to prove your qualifications to invest in this space without having done it.   Key Points: There is a high level of self-educating that is required to enter into the blockchain space. Hutt Capital seeks to provide an entry point to blockchain investing that is low-risk and low-volatility. Choosing funds is all about relationship building.   Quotes “I think it’ll happen sooner than later. I think the education process a lot of these groups are going through over the next year or two will lead to meaningfully more institutional capital coming into the space.” –Brooke Pollack   “Looking at funds in this space versus general venture investing, you don’t have the breadth of a track record to go off of… Most of these funds haven’t been around for more than a couple of years.” –Brooke Pollack    “It’s hard to prove that you can be successful as an investor in this space if you have not yet been an investor in this space.” –Brooke Pollack   Support The Show ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto investors and accountants. Get a 15% discount when you use code Chain15. <li style="font-weight:4

24 Feb 202039min

Host Tom Shaughnessy talks to Omer Ozden and Kevin O’Brien, CEO and Managing Director of Rocktree Capital, respectively. They discuss the China blockchain market versus the US, tech innovation, the move to cashless economies, and more.  Key Points US tech innovation is stifled by regulatory restrictions as compared to China. It’s of the utmost importance to be sure you’re legally compliant from the beginning to avoid huge problems later. China is at the forefront of a global movement towards cashless economies.   Episode Highlights Rocktree Capital’s biggest presence is in China. Presence in China is important for liquidity and capital. If New York is the fastest market in the US, China moves even faster. Rocktree Capital aims to be a bridge to unite the US and China blockchain markets. All Western companies need to have a China strategy. The best innovators come from the US but our regulatory systems are prohibitive and are making us lose to China in tech. Analysts in the US get very little of their research and analysis from China; maybe only 15% is reliable information. Bitcoin is just as important in Asian countries as it is in the US. DCP is the legal digital currency of China with P2P settlement, and Omer doesn’t predict it will take long for widespread adoption because China is already a primarily cashless economy. Other Asian and African countries will move in the cashless direction over the next few years. There will likely be some government investment in blockchain but there will be more private investing. What does coronavirus mean for crypto in China? Quotes “You’re talking about a population unlike the West [that is] fragmented across other channels, whereas in the greater China market, people are unified across one social channel called WeChat, so you have 1.3 billion people across a single social platform.” –Kevin O’Brien   “Everybody focuses on the tech, but if a company doesn’t pay attention to legal compliance, first of all from an investor standpoint, it’s not gonna hit the valuation, there’s a lot of risk and it could even go to zero.” –Omer Ozden   “A day in the life of somebody in crypto is a year for anybody else.” –Omer Ozden   In China, we say 币圈一天，人间一年 or “Bi Quan Yi Tian, Ren Jian Yi Nian” - Which means: “A day in the life of someone in cryptocurrency is a year for anyone  else” - Omer Ozden    In China, RockTree calls this investment theme “Hua Er Jie Er Dian Ling: “Wall Street 2.0” - Omer Ozden   Support The Show   ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto investors and accountants. Get a 15% discount when you use code Chain15. https://bit.ly/3bundEl Check out eToro t

21 Feb 202058min

Host Tom Shaughnessy talks to Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network. Alex discusses the impetus for creating MOIP (Money over IP) and Celsius Network, what has prevented blockchain from becoming mainstream thus far, and his predictions for the future of MOIP technology. Key Points: There is a high barrier to entry for new users of crypto and blockchain technology. The shift for crypto becoming mainstream will be generational. 2020 will be a defining year for crypto adoption. Quotes “The main thing that I think is the killer app is the idea that you can do something that you could not do any other way with any other platform.” –Alex Mashinsky   “We need to grow the crypto community first before there’s enough demand for all of these products to start migrating from the traditional Wall Street and Main Street services to the crypto rails.” –Alex Mashinsky Support The Show ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto investors and accountants. Get a 15% discount when you use code Chain15.  Check out eToro to Create Your Perfect Crypto Portfolio Episode Highlights: Alex has raised over $1 billion in capital for several startups over the past 30 years and is one of the developers of VOIP technology. It’s easy to get people to use VOIP, but much harder to get people to trust you with their money for new banking technology and MOIP. Celsius Network creates interest-bearing accounts for people who hold crypto and lending with crypto. There’s a high bar for involvement with Celsius Network because you have to understand crypto first. The banking industry will not survive as is if crypto becomes mainstream; they would have to evolve their entire business structure dramatically. When VOIP came about, it massively disrupted phone companies, who made most of their money off long distance call charges. Children today don’t see digital currency as foreign because they already play games that use tokens as currency; what’s foreign to them is their parents writing checks. The blockchain community has thus far failed to convince the average person that it’s something more than just a toy for techies. Celsius has now raised the bar for other crypto and blockchain companies and many of them have started to offer interest on deposits, but none has better rates than Celsius does, on every service they offer. What Celsius does is make services that in the mainstream are only available to the top 1%, available to everybody. Celsius created their own token that they treat essentially as airline miles—something that incentivizes them to continue using the platform. You can choose whether you want to earn interest in your stable currency or in the Cel token. Resources Mentioned:  Chain Reaction Twitter: https://twitter.com/chainpodcast Tom Shaughnessy Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shaughnessy119

19 Feb 202043min

Host Tom Shaughnessy talks to Galen Wolfe-Pauly, CEO of Tlon, which is building out Urbit. Galen discusses his vision for Urbit, how developers can work with it, what’s on the horizon for Urbit in the near future, and more. Episode Highlights: Galen learned programming really young and was interested in web and app design. Urbit functions like an operating system rather than an app and provides a better user experience. Urbit is the platform from which you contact the blockchain, and Galen sees them as two systems working cooperatively. Galen’s vision for Urbit is for it to be the ultimate productivity tool. Tom summarizes Urbit as a general-purpose code base that people can use as their own personal cloud computers. Galen hopes this is the technology that you are able to use less because you don’t have to think about it as much and doesn’t incentivize them by mining their data. There will be a finite number of users on the platform to retain its security and value, through address blocks. Developers will own pieces of the system through these address blocks, incentivizing them to improve the system. Urbit is designed for digital communities to shape their own environments. The most important thing with new technologies is their stickiness. Many Bitcoin users have adopted Urbit because it has an authenticated digital identity through which you can communicate with people and transact. As people adopt Urbit, either platforms will develop to run on Urbit or they’ll simply go away, like AOL did when the Internet grew. Galen wants an actual archive of his data that won’t go away when the company folds, which most things will.  Now that the Urbit infrastructure is stable and reliable, they’re now shifting to think about it as a product. Galen most worries about Urbit’s current shift towards wanting users who don’t care about the technology. Key Points A big reason more people haven’t adopted blockchain technology is that it has terrible user experience and is too difficult to operate. The most important thing for new technology’s longevity is its stickiness with a particular population of users. All technology will eventually go away and be replaced by something else. Tweetable Quotes “If you’re a developer it should be easy to build on top of this whole stack. You ship to the network & when people install it, they can easily port their data from one thing to the next. So you have more fluid competition between different alternatives.” –Galen Wolfe-Pauly   “We have the benefit of these early incentives from relatively technical address space holders & honestly just people who think this is really fun. Which I think is bigger than people think. A lot of the internet was built either for fun or on a gov't grant.” –Galen Wolfe-Pauly   Support The Show ZenLedger is the official tax software of Chain Reaction for crypto investors and accountants. Get a 15% discount when you use code Chain15.  <a href='https://www.etoro.com/?dl=30001923&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=81727&utm_content=0&utm_serial=reaction&utm_campaign=reac

18 Feb 202055min