Ethan Vera and Guzman Pintos (Luxor) on Mining Data and Analytics (EP.274)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Release Date: 01/03/2022
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: French Hill wins the nomination to chair the House Financial Services Committee Riot Platforms, a bitcoin mining company, the intention to raise $500 million via a convertible note offering. The proceeds will be used to acquire additional bitcoins, and for general corporate purposes. MicroStrategy another 21,550 bitcoin for roughly $2.1 billion. Circle and Binance a partnership with the goal of expanding the reach of Circle's USDC stablecoin across Binance's trading, saving, and payments platforms....
info_outline Matthew Le Merle and Mitch Mechigian (Blockchain Coinvestors) on Predictions for 2025 (EP.581)On The Brink with Castle Island
Matthew Le Merle and Mitch Mechigian of Blockchain Coinvestors return to the show. In this episode we run through the Blockchain Coinvestors 2025 Predictions for the digital asset industry. To learn more about Blockchain Coinvestors visit their . To view the full Blockchain Coinvestors 2025 Predictions webinar visit this .
info_outline Weekly Roundup 12/06/24 (Bitcoin $100k, Atkins for SEC, more OCP2.0) (EP. 580)On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Bitcoin finally hits $100k Our reflections on 100k BTC Declaring victory Machinsky pleads guilty Rep French Hill pledges to investigate Operation Choke Point Trump nominates Paul Atkins for SEC Chair Hawk Tuah memecoin fiasco Sponsor notes: Coin Metrics State of the Network: Contextualizing staking yields, inflation, and network economics on Ethereum & Solana
info_outline Lorien Gabel (Figment) on the Latest Developments in the Staking Market (EP.579)On The Brink with Castle Island
Lorien Gabel, the founder and CEO of joins the show. In this episode we discuss: The latest developments at Figment. Post-election impact on the general crypto markets and the staking category. How Figment is approaching the institutional staking market opportunity. Staking in the context of investment products. Evolving ecosystems like Eigen Layer, Babylon and Bitcoin Layers 2s. The stablecoin market. To learn more about Figment visit
info_outline Weekly Roundup 11/28/24 (OFAC loses vs Tornado, Cantor owns some Tether, More OCP2.0, Who we’re thankful for) (EP.578)On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another Thanksgiving episode of OTB. In this episode: Fire departments love thanksgiving Who we’re thankful for Eggnog is underrated Justin Sun puts $30m into World Liberty Financial Marc Andreessen appears on Joe Rogan and covers OCP 2.0 Why were non crypto tech peopled shocked by Choke Point revelations? Trump is looking to shift power from the SEC to the CFTC An appeals court rules that OFAC exceeded its authority by sanctioning Tornado Cash Cantor owns a 5% ownership stake in Tether that they acquired at a $12b valuation How prudent is the establishment of a...
info_outline Weekly Roundup 11/22/24 (Bitcoin $100k?, Gensler Resigns, Nocoiner Rankings, Looking Back) (EP.577)On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic return for another week in the markets. In this episode: How is the DOGE going to work? Bitcoin is heading to 100k Gary Gensler announces his resignation as SEC chair We look back at Gensler’s awful term 18 state AGs file a lawsuit against the SEC The SEC’s dealer rule is tossed by a judge Trump is mulling the creation of a crypto czar Microstrategy is trading at a massive premium The latest on OCP 2.0 FDIC Gruenberg chair testifies in the House and potentially perjures himself FTX cofounder Gary Wang given no time in prison Coinbase is delisting wBTC Trump nominates Lutnick...
info_outline Aaron McDonald (Futureverse) on Metaverse Technologies (EP.576)On The Brink with Castle Island
Aaron McDonald, the founder of joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Aaron’s professional career and the path that led him to founding Futureverse. How he has built the company through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions. How blockchains and digital currency interact with Metaverse technologies. The future of virtual worlds and gaming technologies. The L1 and L2 blockchain ecosystem and how Futureverse has built their platform. To learn more about Futureverse visit their .
info_outline Weekly Roundup 11/15/24 (Congressional agenda, FTX vs Binance, Polymarket raid) (EP.575)On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic return for news and deals. In this episode: Nic recaps his trip to Congress Vibes in Congress post election The likelihood for stablecoin and market structure bills What are the prospects for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve What’s happening in Devcon? 18 state AGs are suing Gensler and the SEC Gensler is hinting at retirement FTX sues Binance and CZ Sam Trabucco forfeits $70m in assets to the FTX estate Polymarket’s Shayne Coplan raided by the FBI Doodles partnership with McDonalds The verdict on Fairshake's efforts in the election OCP developments and how Congress...
info_outline David Low (Hata) on Crypto in Southeast Asia (EP.574)On The Brink with Castle Island
, CEO and cofounder of joins the show. In this episode, In this episode, Wyatt and David discuss: Crypto adoption in Southeast Asia Regulatory attitudes Operating a centralized exchange Bitcoin interest vs other cryptoassets in the region
info_outline Weekly Roundup 11/08/24 (Trump wins, crypto candidates win, Election implications) (EP.573)On The Brink with Castle Island
Nic and Matt are back with more news and deals. In this episode: Trump resoundingly wins the election A demographic realignment Polymarket versus the polls Podcasts and twitter versus the legacy media How did the pro-crypto candidates do? Trump promises to fire Gensler on day 1 How did the Fairshake PAC do? Review of key Senate races Will Trump execute on his crypto promises? Moreno defeats Brown in Ohio Will OCP2.0 finally end? What’s the deal with Trump’s Bitcoin reserve? How would the SEC change token issuance rules? How will Trump's election affect DeFi and cashflowing tokens? Why...
info_outlineLuxor COO and CPO Ethan Vera and Guzman Pintos join the show to talk about their relaunched data product, Hashrate Index and other trends in mining. In this episode:
- The history of the firm
- Why Luxor created the hashrate index
- How Luxor gathers data on ASIC pricing and creates their time series charts
- ASIC pricing dynamics
- Are sell side analysts correctly pricing ASICs on the balance sheets of public miners?
- Why different efficiencies of miners have traded differently in the last 2 months
- How constraints on rack space affect the demand for older ASICs
- Why so many ASICs can’t leave China
- Is there still residual black market mining in China?
- Kazakhstan’s under-reported mining crackdown
- Are ASIC development cycles slowing?
- Are miners still front-running their clients with prop mining?
- Are Bitcoin miners trying to acquire Bitcoin or do they want to hedge their exposure
- Are derivatives becoming more popular among miners?
- The maturation of the Bitcoin mining derivatives market
- Why prior hashrate derivatives haven’t worked
- Multiple based analysis for public miners
- Why there is a ‘public market arbitrage’ for miners
- Why incentives exist for public miners to be highly acquisitive
- Do miners care about long term fee budget?
Sponsor notes:
- Compass Mining is the world's first and largest online marketplace for bitcoin mining hardware, hosting, and ASIC reselling. Start mining your own bitcoin by visiting compassmining.io