Paul Sztorc (Drivechain) on Bitcoin Security Budget and the Importance Merge Mining (EP.280)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Release Date: 01/31/2022
Michael Bentley (Euler) on Euler's Comeback (EP.650)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with , the founder of . In this episode: Euler's founding story, infamous security incident, and comeback story How the team and protocol stayed together in the face of immense challenges The value of personal relationships in crypto despite a pseudonymous culture
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Weekly Roundup 07/25/25 (Tether’s GENIUS options, Defending Free Banks, Saylor’s Stretch) (EP.649)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: Defending “Free Banking” from the critics – and why stablecoins are unlike free banks The American Bankers Association doesn’t like new crypto charters Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announces the company’s plan to launch a new US-based stablecoin this year Strategy announced the plans for the fourth preferred stock offering this week, STRC, or "Stretch." Anchorage Digital, which does hold an OCC banking charter, is a new stablecoin issuance platform. The first stablecoin product will...
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Cyrus Shirazi (Haven) on Better Bookkeeping for Crypto Startups & Beyond (EP.648)
On The Brink with Castle Island
CEO of joins the show. In this episode: R&D tax credits and offering an attractive tax product to early stage companies What on-chain finance needs to fulfill becoming a better ledger for accounting What startups should look for in a tax & accounting partner
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Weekly Roundup 07/18/25 (GENIUS is Law, Clarity passes, narrow banking and GENIUS) (EP.647)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: The Coldplay concert incident It’s Crypto Week in Washington Talos acquires Coin Metrics Do you need an MTL to run a fantasy football league? GENIUS Act is law pending Trump’s signature Clarity Act passes the House ICO Fairshake raises $141m Grayscale is preparing for an IPO Adam Back’s Bitcoin access vehicle Polymarket beats the allegations Is GENIUS creating a narrow bank system? Governor Waller's comments on stablecoins and banks
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Nikhil Raghuveera (Predicate) on Policy Engines for Blockchains (EP.646)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with of to talk policy for blockchain applications. In this episode: How Predicate’s “rules for blockchain transactions” are making on-chain finance more scalable and secure Creating more compliant stablecoin transfer systems suitable to mass financial use cases The future of secure money movement How leading software and financial firms can integrate transaction policies in their workflows
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Weekly Roundup 07/11/25 (New BTC ATH, Crypto Week, Zelensky suit scandal) (EP.645)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Bitcoin hits a new ATH and no one is talking about it Grok goes haywire The White House posts chudjak Core Weave looks to buy Core Scientific Stablecoins are going to pay yield anyway Did Zelenskyy wear a suit? How should prediction markets be settled? ICO is coming up Hester Peirce issues a warning on tokenized securities Crypto Week in Congress is coming up Jonathan Gould has been confirmed as Comptroller of the Currency There are new public access vehicles Andreessen wants you to leave Delaware A fundamental...
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Zac Townsend (Meanwhile) on Bitcoin Life Insurance (EP.644)
On The Brink with Castle Island
, the founder and CEO of , joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Zac’s background and the path that led him to start Meanwhile. The mechanics of Bitcoin denominated life insurance. How Meanwhile generates Bitcoin yield. Zac’s views on the evolution of Bitcoin treasury companies. To learn more about Meanwhile visit
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Charles Hamel (Opera MiniPay) on Globalizing Dollar Access (EP.643)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Charles Hamel, Product Director at joins the show. In this episode: Stablecoin habits in emerging markets Prospects for local stablecoins What’s next on the stablecoin horizon
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Weekly Roundup 07/04/25 (Tokenized stocks, Crypto Week, BBB passes) (EP.642)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: EthCC troubles Robinhood has been shipping Figma owns BTC The House GOP has declared "crypto week" in July Circle and Ripple are applying for bank charters AI companies are buying Bitcoin miners Sharia finance The BBB passes America teeters towards default The Sohan Parekh fiasco How do tokenized stocks work? Another architect of OCP2.0 bites the dust Is AI going to usher in a socialist revolution? Ric Edelman wants you to buy crypto Franklin Templeton is worried about...
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Chris Maurice (Yellow Card) on Stablecoin Adoption in Africa (EP.641)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Chris Maurice, founder of , a pan-Africa stablecoin business and exchange, rejoins the show. In this episode: How Chris feels about the crypto space in 2025 as compared to when he started a decade ago How Yellow Card evolved from being a retail BTC exchange to being an enterprise payment platform for stablecoins How Chris realized that stablecoins were all about b2b transfers How businesses in EM use stablecoins, and what the alternatives are Regional differences within Africa in terms of stablecoin adoption Shifting regulatory attitudes in Africa Does Chris worry about crypto-dollarization...
info_outlineVeteran Bitcoin commentator and inventor of Drivechains Paul Sztorc joins the show to talk Bitcoin's sustainability and the role of merged mined side chains. In this episode:
- Why Paul is the ‘Steely Dan’ of Bitcoin
- Revisiting ‘Measuring decentralization’
- Revisiting Paul’s argument on Proof of Stake being veiled PoW
- Why you should roll your own statistics
- Concentration of power in miners and mining pools
- Is PoW worthless if it isn’t challenged?
- How Bitcoin energy FUD is based on neo-malthusianism
- The Julian Simon / Paul Ehrlich wager
- Why none of our resources are finite
- How climate change diplomacy is neo-colonial
- Why and when innovation happens
- Why Paul is a critic of Bitcoin development culture
- Paul’s critique of Stock to Flow
- Why Bitcoin culture is static
- Why Bitcoin needs more satire
- Bitcoin fees are 80-100x less than those of Ethereum
- Why BTC fees are not sustainably high
- Why Bitcoin fees and security budget need to grow over time
- Can you just wait for more confirmations if security spend declines
- Are fees destined to be effectively 0 through the creation of more blockspace?
- The history of Drivechains /BIP300
- Does merge mining make it more expensive to run a node?
- Do we know how to upgrade Bitcoin Core today?
- The relevance of sidechains and merge mining to Bitcoin today
- Was Satoshi into altcoins?
- Would more sidechain development have inhibited the growth of Ethereum?
- Does BIP300 solve the problem of the Bitcoin security budget?
- Why you can’t reduce blockspace to increase security budget?
- Update on Drivechains
Content mentioned in this episode:
- Truthcoin, Security Budget in the Long Run
- Truthcoin, Security Budget II, Low Fees, and Merged Mining
- Truthcoin, Measuring Decentralization
- Truthcoin, Nothing is Cheaper than Proof of Work
- All about Drivechains/ Bip300/301
Sponsor notes:
- Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Learn more at fireblocks.com