LAB Radio

Welcome to LAB Radio! (Learn About Bitcoin and Learn About the Blockchain). This show emerged organically from within the CoinStructive team as a way to document various subject matter, people and companies in the ecosystem around this new technology. LAB Radio covers subject matter like: What is Bitcoin and the Blockchain, Security vs Utility Tokens, Compliance, Smart Contracts, 2 Factor Authentication (2FA), Altcoins, multi-disciplinary use cases, and how this Technology will change society. Guests have included: Rob Viglione of ZenCash, Shawn Owen of SALT, Paul Snow of Factom, Mate Tokay of Bitcoinist, Pamela Morgan of Third Key Solutions, Eric Larcheveque of Ledger, Diego Gutierrez Saldivar of Rootstock.io, and even Paul Puey of Edge. These guests and many many other innovative and bright individuals are doing exceptional work and we are thrilled to help share their story and vision.

Ep 83 Election Authenticity in Latin America and beyond 04/16/2020

Ep 83 Election Authenticity in Latin America and beyond Together let’s count all the votes Carlos Torriellos is changing the political system in Latin America. He is the face of a volunteer group, consisting of concerned citizens in Guatemala, called Fiscal Digital. This translates to, “The Digital Witness”. Their goal is to certify post-election paper ballot results in a corrupt and broken system. Last year, in mid 2019, Guatemala held an election. Everything was going fine, until doubt was cast on the official results through social media. The situation escalated quickly and no one seemed to have a solution. The election officials began searching for a solution. Back in 2018, Carlos and some colleagues built the system that is now being utilized by the Guatemalan government. The platform wasn’t originally built for certifying election results. Their plans to gain traction and revenue diminished and they tabled the project temporarily. Then it happened. Opportunity came a knockin’. The stage was set. The Guatemalan government was in quite a predicament. Unrest was at hand. The election officials were in a tough spot and like a knight in shining armor, Fiscal Digital appeared. Fortunately, their solution was simple. Authenticate election results in real time. Carlos gets into the details around the 07:46 mark. Something as simple as having multiple people check the digital signatures of the images and tally the votes on those images while arriving at the same conclusion is enough to authenticate election results. The system is live now. You can see results and participate yourself on the Fiscal Digital . The US Government needs this tech Governments should consider using Fiscal Digital is an inexpensive process to determine election authenticity in near real time. The code is already available. Instead of UBI, give out election audit jobs. Reward people for doing the audit work and tallying votes. It’s cheaper and builds a more sustainable economy if you pay the citizens to act as the witness. Not to mention giving the people the transparency they so desperately deserve. Their motivation is nearly as impressive as their solution. If you know people in governments who can give this project visibility, please make sure to contact Carlos. His information is below. What they are doing has the ability to bring back the sanctity of democratic elections. Give the power to the people and let them check the results. Quote your favorite moment and tag , , , #Fiscal_Digital & #LABradio. Enjoy! Further Reading and Resources Carlos Torriellos Herrerrias, Volunteer & Champion at Fiscal Digital – – Fiscal Digital – – – – – – Use hashtag #Fiscal_Digital /episode/index/show/labradio/id/14019008

Ep 82 - Darknet Market Research with Cedric Dahl - 1000X Group 03/17/2020

Ep 82 - Darknet Market Research with Cedric Dahl - 1000X Group Darknets Rising The Darknet is powered by cryptocurrency. On episode 82 of LAB Radio we speak with Cedric Dahl of 1000X Group about this controversial place. Most people have heard of the Darknet, but know what really goes on or how it operates. We dispel some myths and provide insight to why crypto is used predominantly on darknet markets. Cedric, like most of us, shrugged off Bitcoin when first told by a friend. The only difference for most us the is when the clock first starts ticking. For Cedric it was 2010. By the time he became a believer, he was farther ahead of the game than most. His first fascination was when he was told that it was being used on the Darknet for drugs and other nefarious activities. His shock came from realizing the power of a non-state controlled medium of exchange. Power to the people. The money use case was interesting, but after the Silk Road trial it was obvious that Bitcoin was not nearly as anonymous as we all thought. So why are the majority of Darknet markets still using Bitcoin? Bitcoin is still the predominant currency used for these markets because its ease to acquire, ease of sending and inability to stop two people from transacting. The casual user is not worried about being traced to Darknet markets, but operators are. Governments use the Darknet too How are they getting around this. Cedric believes the increased anonymity from tools like CoinJoins plays a part. A CoinJoin is the Mixers and Tumblers advanced and distant cousin. Mixers were the first tools people had to combat the deanonymizing blockhain forensics companies. They are simple software that takes bitcoin and breaks it into small pieces, shuffling it around through other transactions and mixing it with other people's bitcoins in hopes of causing ambiguity. There is a lot of good information in this podcast. If you're in Law Enforcement or other types research, they offer a report. You can follow the link to sign up in the section below. Their insights are pretty amazing. Quote your favorite moment and tag & #LABradio. Enjoy. Further Reading and Resources Cedric Dahl, Founder of 1000X Group - - 1000X Group - - - /episode/index/show/labradio/id/13583633

Ep 81 - The Free Republic of Liberland 02/18/2020

Ep 81 - The Free Republic of Liberland The Creation of a New Nation Welcome to the Free Republic of Liberland. Wait you've never heard of this country? "Well, that's a pretty normal response", says Joey Langenbrunner, Deputy Head of Mission to the United States. Liberland is new. The micronation, like Somaliland, will have existed for 5 years on April 13th, 2020. The delegation is planning a big celebration. They are launching they're own blockchain for governance and a cryptocurrency called Merits. Although, they are starting to get recognition internationally, they are still not recognized by the UN. This micronation lies along the Danube river, between Serbia and Croatia. The land lay unclaimed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991. The Danube is an international waterway and lends to many interesting trade and commerce opportunities. is will act as a testing ground for new models of governance. Additionally, they are planning an e-residency program like Estonia. After the launch of their blockchain in April 2020 they will start issuing citizenships too. As a result, these announcements caused them to receive over 600,000 applications for citizenship. We've had over 600K applications for citizenship. There are still many issues to sort out, but Joey is confident the last 5 years of work Liberlanders have put in will pay off. His path to become a citizen is one of perseverance and dedication. All things have led him up to this point. Joey is very passionate about the goals of Liberland and it will be interesting to watch this nation grow. We encourage you to support Liberland. Why, you ask? Experimentation is needed in governance and what better way to accomplish this than by letting a real sovereign and peaceful nation attempt it. Nevertheless, numerous lessons are to be learned. Quote your favorite moment and tag & #LABradio. Enjoy. Further Reading and Resources Joseph Langenbrunner, Deputy Head of Mission to USA, Free Republic of Liberland - - - The Free Republic of Liberland - - /episode/index/show/labradio/id/13202021

Best of 2019 - LAB Radio - Episode 80 01/23/2020

Ep 79 - Creating Effective Blockchain Legislation w/ Caitlin Long 12/04/2019

Ep 79 - Creating Effective Blockchain Legislation w/ Caitlin Long Caitlin Long knows Blockchain Law Caitlin Long joins LAB Radio host Chris Groshong, just days after resigning from the Wyoming Blockchain Taskforce. I had asked her specifically to come on the show to comment on concepts the newly formed California Blockchain Taskforce can glean from her pioneering efforts. We waste no time getting into the issues around the Uniform Law Commission's (ULC) Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currencies Businesses Act or URVCBA. Particularly the supplemental portion which strips the property rights of owners. Ms. Long says if we're not careful we may only recognize people's rights "...in digital assets if you are in a debtor/creditor relationship with your intermediary." This ties in nicely into a discussion of the Uniform Commercial Code(UCC) with respect to Virtual Currencies. Currently, it is being worked on by members of the special subcommittees of the ULC. Meanwhile, the California Lawyers Association is considering creating legislature for Commercial transactions at the state level parallel to the California Blockchain Taskforce. It's important that communication between these two entities needs to take place. The biggest problem is we are still defining the concepts and applications of these new technologies. Without proper definitions, it's nearly impossible to predict the outcomes of future litigations. Judges, like many, just don't understand. I know this from first hand experience while providing expert witness testimony in Federal Court this summer. Banks play an important role in the crypto industry. The major problem Wyoming is trying to solve is to make it easier for crypto businesses to gain access to banking relationships. There are currently 7 banks who've identified themselves as being interested in applying for a Wyoming Banking license. There are still many boundaries at the Federal level. Least of which is receiving a Banking Charter. We still have the SEC and CFTC to consider. The ongoing delays with creating true Federal regulation is an opportunity for the states to take advantage of the situation. Surround yourself with smart, talented and humble people willing to future proof legislation without hindering innovation. Special thanks to , , , , and and many, many more. Some of the other topics I asked Caitlin to discuss with respect to Wyoming law were: Exchanges Crypto ATMs Foundations AML and Compliance Series LLC I wrap up the show with a final question about what she would change about the crypto and blockchain industry if she could wave a magic wand. Tweet your favorite quote and tag & #LABradio Further Reading and Resources Caitlin Long | | | Wyoming Blockchain Taskforce| /episode/index/show/labradio/id/12280409

Ep 78 - The Crypto Curator, Paul McNeal 11/05/2019

Ep 78 - The Crypto Curator, Paul McNeal The Crypto Curator, Paul McNeal The first person I met at the conference was the always smiling, Crypto Curator, Paul McNeal. I had no idea Paul was the host of a crypto news show, but after talking to him, I knew he had the chops and would make a great guest for LAB Radio. Paul's path into crypto took a circuitous route to say the least. Like many, he was able to leverage a previous skillset to help him land where he is today. Initially Paul heard about Bitcoin from the by . This officially made him the "go-to" Bitcoin guy when the monthly Chamber of Commerce Tech Committee Meeting took place in Loudoun County, VA. Back in 2012 it was tough to make a case for its uses, but Paul always spoke about it in a positive light and defended it against its critics. However, the Chamber would not put on a Bitcoin event. Paul's background in the military has helped him in many ways. He was an ROTC Army member in High School and then went into the Navy. He was on a submarine and was doing IT work, which helped him transition after leaving the military. Also, Paul picked up lots of real world skills which was surprising to me. The story of how he actually joined the Navy is quite interesting and worth a listen (@14:02) At this point we transition into the Avantpay19 Conference. Initially he heard about the conference because he knows and , the organizers and founders of the event. It's not every day you see Legislators, Bankers, Payments people, Cannabis Entrepreneurs and Crypto enthusiasts all in one space talking about the same thing. Since this conference is truly one-of-a-kind, I asked Paul for his take on the event and his other thoughts: What was the most eye opening part of the event The difficulties bringing crypto and cannabis together What would he change about the conference What he learned by moderating the Tax panel The SAFE (Secure And Fair Enforcement) Banking Act The quality of the Speakers Finally, we run through the Crypto Curators biggest fears in the industry, as well as what he would change if he had a magic wand. Tweet your favorite quote and tag & #LABradio Further Reading and Resources Paul McNeal , The Crytpo Curator, Founder | | The Crypto Curator| | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/11918054

Ep77 -Lourdes Miranda, Crypto Financial Crimes Analyst 10/29/2019

Ep77 -Lourdes Miranda, Crypto Financial Crimes Analyst Money Launderers Beware Cryptocurrency Analyst and Financial Crimes Investigator, Lourdes Miranda joins us for episode 77 on LAB Radio. Lourdes’ expertise lies in her years working from a compliance and financial crimes angle. Her knowledge of the Bank Secrecy Act led her to a career in the intelligence community, primarily the CIA. She knows the ins and outs of how money launderers operate. So when she was approached to join, admittedly she didnt know much about cryptocurrencies. That didnt bother the Agency one bit. She told their cyber security teams, if they taught her how crypto worked, she’d show them how it was being used to launder illegal proceeds. Lourdes speaks to and teaches both local and federal law enforcement communities across the country. She also consults banks and financial institutions. More recently Lourdes tells us about an interaction with a Bank and a Bitcoin ATM operator. The advice she gives seems obvious to me, but it just goes to show the Banks disparate view of this asset class. We further discussed the future of the crypto and blockchain industry and how it will impact banks. Ultimately, Lourdes feels banks will end up going the route of the newspapers during the proliferation of internet. The small banks react the slowest and are most vulnerable, but also have an advantage the bigger banks don’t. They posses the agility big banks can’t. So if a Credit Union or small bank decides to take a proactive approach they might actually avoid extinction. Sadly, these institutions dont realize they’re eventually going to lose their customers to crypto exchanges as they add more services and products, with lower fees. Lourdes and I also have differing opinions on whether cryptocurrency illegal activity will increase or decrease. Let’s just say, we agree to disagree, but we both might be right. You’ll just have to listen and give us your opinion. Tweet your favorite quote and tag & #LABradio Further Reading and Resources Lourdes C. Miranda, CAMS, CFE, Financial Crimes Investigator and Crytpocurrency Analyst at Miranda FinIntel Consulting, | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/11820341

Ep 76 - Hannah Rosenberg - Chicago's Queen of Crypto 10/25/2019

Ep 76 - Hannah Rosenberg - Chicago's Queen of Crypto Chicago's Queen of Crypto When I noticed the talented Hannah Rosenberg would be speaking at the conference, you have no idea how happy I became. I had recently visited Chicago at the end of August and I was able to sit down with Hannah and record an episode. Unfortunately, the recording had some technical issues and it was unusable. I wasn't going to let a second opportunity slip by. Hannah got started in crypto back in 2014 and is one of the most involved and passionate people in the industry. She is the Managing Director of the Blockchain Institute, the Lead Organizer of the B.O.B. meetup (Bitcoin and Open Blockchain), an adjunct faculty member at UIC (University of Illinois Chicago) and the founder of Velas Commerce. Hannah was representing Velas Commerce at the Avantpay conference. So I asked her what she was hoping to get out of this event. She was really curious to hear the Cannabis Industries thoughts on crypto. Additionally, Hannah shares with us her take on the intersection of cannabis, crypto and payments. She also identifies why it is important to get out of the crypto bubble. As a full time crypto person, Hannah needs to remind herself that obvious solutions to her, are not obvious to others. For the rest of us that don't live in Hannah's bubble, we dig into what the Chicago seen is like. She starts with the B.O.B. meetup group and tells us how thankful she was to have pioneers like and . "I really see crypto as 'Power to the People' via technology." -Hannah Rosenberg Hannah started out holding events and creating trustworthy information during the 2017 crypto rush. After one of her events a woman from her Alma Mater, UIC, reached out to her. They began talking and the next thing she knew, she was creating a curriculum. She loves teaching because she gets to emphasize the potential impact the technology has on the world. Additionally, you'll hear topics like: Crypto Commerce & Lightning Network Gresham's Law Velas Commerce Crypto Payment Integrations What a world with crypto for her children will look like Her thoughts on the trajectory of the industry What she would change about the crypto industry Tweet your favorite quote and tag & #LABradio Further Reading and Resources Hannah Rosenberg , Blockchain Institute, Managing Director | | The Blockchain Institute| | | Velas Commerce - | | | B.O.B. Chicago Meetup - | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/11784731

Ep 75 - Celsius Network - Providing benefit above all else 10/11/2019

Ep 75 - Celsius Network - Providing benefit above all else Celsius Network is changing the game I was thrilled to interview, not only one of the Celsius Network top brass, but two at the same time. We rarely get a duo as dynamic as CEO, Alex Mashinsky and Head of Global Partnerships, Leah Jonas. I knew this was going to be fun and informative. You don’t have to go deep into a search for the name Alex Mashinsky before you uncover a plethora of amazing feats. Not only does Alex have an eye for the future, but he understands what it takes to get there. A big part of “getting there” is surrounding yourself with amazing people and one of those people on this journey with Alex is Leah Jonas. “Are you part of the problem or part of the solution” – Alex Mashinsky With Leah’s energetic and inviting personality it’s no wonder she’s the head of partnerships. Now living in Tel Aviv, she is helping expand the reach of the Celsius Network. As a previous part of the core team in New York, she has a unique perspective on remote teams and how to keep them focused. Celsius’s most well known feature is their ability to for individuals to receive interest on the crypto they deposit. Twenty years ago it was commonplace for the average person to expect to earn interest on their money deposited at a bank. In this day and age, people never have to go into a branch, yet parts of the world are now experiencing negative interest rates. Additionally, there are still entire populations and geographies with access to banking of any kind, let along the concept of earning on your savings. Gain Interest on your Crypto Celsius Network is bringing to the masses a new way to let your money make money. You’ll hear stories from both Leah and Alex reinforcing their beliefs on how blockchain technology can be applied to the world. Additionally, you’ll hear topics like: How providing benefit out weighs education Alex’s position on how blockchain can disrupt the fintech sector Leah’s stance on Venture Capital and the ICO model Why they give 80% back to the depositors How Leah has done a 180 since joining crypto The importance of diversity and taking chances on people Alex’s position on the future for his children What each would change about the crypto industry Tweet your favorite quote and tag and Further Reading and Resources Alex Mashinsky , Celsius Network, Founder & CEO | | Leah Jonas , Celsius Network, Head of Global Partnerships | | Celsius Network – | | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/11600798

Ep 74 - "Where's my Crypto Insurance?" - InsureYourBit 10/04/2019

Ep 74 - "Where's my Crypto Insurance?" - InsureYourBit Our guest on episode 74 of LAB Radio is InsureYourBit’s founder, Doug Moeller. Doug is passionate about providing crypto related insurance to individuals and entities who regularly use uninsured third party custodians as a regular part of their business. Stay in crypto long enough and you will eventually hear of or be a part of an exchange hack. US based residents who are used to traditional financial services, like banking, are familiar depositors insurance. They receive this as part of the banks agreement with the FDIC. However, the FDIC only insures one kind of deposit, US dollars. Many US based exchanges have FDIC insurance for their customers US dollar deposits, but what about all those crypto deposits? This is where InsureYourBit comes in. Doug wants to see a world where users, on exchange platforms, are able to purchase their own insurance for their digital assets. Crypto on an exchange is not insured Doug's passion for insurance comes from his experience of platform failure in the crypto space, but also as a poker player on Full Tilt Poker. The similarities of this centralized failure to the crypto exchange failures is eerily synonymous. It also comes from a deep sense of wanting people to be able to protect their assets or provide for their loved ones. The principles of insurance are to protect people and share risk. Currently, no one offers hot wallet insurance. Exchanges currently have war chests in case they are hacked. However, Doug believes the exchanges could better deploy that capital if it wasn't all tied up in an emergency fund. "Insurance is the oldest Coop" - Doug Moeller In this episode we cover topics like: How insurance works What it takes to launch an Insurance company Regulatory Frameworks Smart Contract Insurance The types of Crypto they plan to cover Insurance "Need vs. Want" According to a recent survey by InsureYourBit, "64 % of people who hold their crypto outside of an exchange would be more likely to keep it there if there was a crypto insurance product available." Lastly, the indemnity to the user will cover the total amount of crypto losses, let's say Bitcoin in this case. If a trader wants to use and insure 10 bitcoins on X platform, once they start paying their premiums, they are covered in the event of an exchange hack. Hope you Enjoy! Tweet your favorite quote and tag and . Further Reading and Resources Doug Moeller, InsureYourBit Founder & CEO | | InsureYourBit - | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/11515802

Ep 73 - Rockstar Developer - Bitcoin Ecosystem Developer 08/28/2019

Ep 73 - Rockstar Developer - Bitcoin Ecosystem Developer Who is Rockstar Developer? On episode 73 of LAB Radio, your host Chris Groshong visits with Rockstar Developer over lunch during a recent visit to Chicago. For those of you who are new to this personality or know little about him, you are going to find out why he is such a Rockstar. And he even gives us some pointers on becoming a Rockstar too. Sometimes it's best to start with the simplest things first. You will hear us visit this topic several times during the episode. Of many themes we cover during lunch they all relate to the human element behind the things we do. Imagine sitting at a corner table on the 15th floor, over looking the fork of the downtown Chicago river. A thunder storm was just finishing up and off in the distance the top of the formerly known Sears Tower could be barely seen as it was dodging in and out of a fog against a dark backdrop of ominous looking cumulus clouds. Rockstar Developer and I had never met, nor spoken by phone. Our only contact came briefly via Twitter(). This didn't stop us from instantly connecting. It turns out we have a lot more in common than we thought. Zoom out, the canvas is bigger than you think In the first few minutes Rockstar's calming presence embraces you and makes you want to listen more. We start out with the basics, like background and origin story. Then we get into what he's been working on lately. BTCPay Server is where he is spending a lot of his time and he is also working with Jack Mallers() on Zap Wallet, a Lightning enabled wallet(). At this point in the interview we start to dive into real world issues and philosophical concepts. We cover topics like: When will the people wake up The US economy User Data & Sovereign Identity Fairness and Monkeys Sports and Business Emotional Intelligence Finally, we come to a close with how you too, can become a Rockstar. There is so much good stuff in this episode it's hard to fathom. Enjoy! Tweet your favorite quote and Tag us and Rockstar Developer. http://traffic.libsyn.com/labradio/Ep_72_Rob_Odell_-_Salt_Lending_mixdown.mp3 Further Reading and Resources Rockstar Developer, Bitcoin Ecosystem Developer | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/11036627

Ep 72 - SALT Lending, Crypto Collateralized Loans 07/21/2019

Ep 72 - SALT Lending, Crypto Collateralized Loans What is SALT Lending? On episode 72 of LAB Radio, we are joined by Rob Odell, VP Product and Marketing from SALT Lending to discuss what's new with SALT. SALT is a lending platform that uses crypto as collateral. It's a simple yet brilliant platform to allow users to leverage their existing crypto portfolio to leverage against a fiat loan. How does it work? For example, you own 5 bitcoins and need $25K to put a new roof on your house. Let's assume 1 Bitcoin is valued at $10K and you believe Bitcoin will rise in value from $10K to $50K in the next 3 years. Instead of selling 2.5 BTC, you could leverage your 5 BTC at a 50% Loan To Value (LTC) ratio. You would receive a $25K interest only loan with minimal interest payments due monthly and the balance due in the last month of the loan. Let's say Bitcoin never reaches $50K, but it does hit $25K at 24 months into the loan. In this scenario you could close out your loan by selling 1 BTC instead of the original 2.5 BTC you were going to have to sell. On the flipside, if Bitcoin never goes up and actually drops to $5K, the value of Bitcoin you have locked up in collateral is now only worth $25K. When the loan was originated it was set up to maintain a 50% LTV ratio, the loan is currently at 100% LTV. This adds significant risk to the lender. To correct the out of range LTV, 3 things can happen. You can add more bitcoin to the collateral to bring the loan back down to a 50% LTV. You can make a one time stablecoin payment or your collateral can start to be liquidated to cover your loan. "SALT is not in the business of liquidating your crypto." -Rob Odell The last part sounds scary, as it should. No one wants to lose their crypto, that's why they are taking a fiat loan in the first place. The pause that it gives to one's decision making should be noted. A loan is not free money. Crypto doesn't always go up. However, if you find yourself in a situation needing cash, owning crypto and not wanting to part with it, SALT Lending is a possible killer solution. Meet Rob Odell. He's been with the company since 2017 and recently promoted to Vice President of Product and Marketing. Rob is very excited about the newest updates to the SALT Lending platform. The most significant of which include more business functionality and multiple users on business accounts. SALT is originating more loans than ever. They actually have a lot of repeat customers. Since the terms of the loans range from 3-36 months, they have seen a lot of people take out test loans. They want to try a loan of a smaller amount before they get into a much higher leveraged position. SALT has also worked very hard to bring insurance to their customers. There was a lot of basic education needed to make the insurance company feel comfortable with their processes. It took about 2 months and they had 2-4 office visits before they were given the insurance policy. "We wear it like a badge of honor," says Rob Odell. How Rob found crypto Rob's crypto journey begins in 2013 when he and his wife moved to Bali so she could pursue her dream as a SCUBA instructor. He became friends with some Ex-Pats and started going to meetups. At one meeting, he was introduced to a man who was purchasing local coffee from farmers, roasting it and selling it for bitcoin on the internet. Rob's curiosity was sparked. Before moving to Bali, he previously taught English in South Korea. He met of and began helping him build his Ads business remotely. This allowed him to gain insights into marketing campaign management and ultimately to where he is today. During this episode, Rob Odell explains: How does SALT approach traditional financial products education? SALT's philosophy on product and process improvements? What crypto means in a relationship? His views on crypto adoption. What would he would change in the crypto and blockchain industry. http://traffic.libsyn.com/labradio/Ep_71_Alex_Adelman_-_Lolli_mixdown.mp3 Further Reading and Resources Rob Odell | | Lolli | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10602038

Ep 71 - Alex Adelman, CEO and Co-Founder of Lolli 07/17/2019

Ep 71 - Alex Adelman, CEO and Co-Founder of Lolli What is Lolli? More coverage from the Bitcoin2019 conference. This time with CEO and Co-Founder of Lolli, Alex Adelman. Lolli is a rewards app that pays you in Bitcoin. Purchase things as you normally would, but instead of proceeding to checkout, use the Lolli browser extension. This enables the user to earn a percentage back on their purchase, which can be redeemed in Bitcoin. Lolli's goal is to onboard as many people into the Bitcoinsphere as possible. They believe most people are more likely to earn bitcoin rewards rather than bitcoin through investing or mining. Lolli just pops up when you're on a partner's website letting you know how much bitcoin you can earn. They want to make it as easy for possible. How does it work? The magic happens in the background. The retailer pays Lolli in dollars for sending paying customers to their site. Then Lolli transfers bitcoin to your Lolli Wallet. It is a custodial solution, but the amounts are usually so small that the user risk is limited. "The biggest challenge Bitcoin has is educating people what money is." Alex Adelman At first, Lolli plans only allow redemption of earnings. In the future, they plan to allow their users to purchase crypto through the Lolli platform. This will give them ability to also transfer funds to each other. Of course, Alex knows this path is very arduous, but is an important piece to their future success. For 40% of all their users, Lolli is the only crypto brand they are connected to. This means they must add functionality for those users to keep them engaged. Eventually, you will be able to buy, sell and send your crypto to anyone within the Lolli ecosystem. "If Bitcoin is the bank of the future, where's the lollipop at the end?" -Alex Adelman Alex's background is quite fascinating. He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina where his father was a psychologist turned banker. He saw first hand the issues with banks and financial institutions. In fact, that's where the name Lolli came from. In his younger days, he would have to go to the bank with his father. The only thing that helped with that dreadful experience for Alex was the lollipop at the end. When he transitioned from developing for fun to doing it as a side business he ran into numerous issues. As you may expect, a 16 year old has trouble opening Bank accounts, Paypal or other payment channels. His curiosity led him to ask questions about why middlemen are needed and aren't there more efficient way to transact? In college he studied economics, both micro and macro. This helped give him insight to his questions and build solutions. His first venture after college was a company called Cosmic, a universal card as a service. It was a grandiose vision to allow people to transact with anyone, anywhere in the world. Alex felt a gateway like this was needed badly. Cosmic was acquired by Pop Sugar to power ShopStyle. After growing 10X post acquisition, Ebates came in and bought both them and ShopStyle. Ebates is the largest cash back company in the US. That helped them form retailer relationships, which has sped up Lolli's on boarding. During this time he had been learning about Bitcoin. After about a year with Ebates, he parted ways and decided he wanted to work in the crypto industry. He felt the solution in Bitcoin that hadn't been solved yet was distribution. He knew with his background, determination to changing the world, and the timing of Bitcoin, he had hit the trifecta with Lolli. During this episode, Alex Adelman explains: How he learned about Bitcoin from . Where does Alex's motivation come from? What happens to user sentiment when price goes down? His pivotal moment about how the world was not a fair place. His views communication and commerce. What would he would change in the crypto and blockchain industry. Further Reading and Resources Alex Adelman | | Lolli | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10560461

Ep 70 – Bitcoin2019 – Chris Wittenborn – Velocity Markets 07/15/2019

Ep 70 – Bitcoin2019 – Chris Wittenborn – Velocity Markets Chris Wittenborn, Business Development and Strategy at Velocity Markets On episode 70 of LAB Radio, Velocity Markets’, Chris Wittenborn chats with your host Chris Groshong from . Chris first heard about Bitcoin back in 2010. He read the whitepaper, but couldn’t get around the fact that he meet someone in parking lot to buy bitcoins. After growing up in Chicago, he moved to Colorado for better winters, great skiing and to pursue a degree at the University of Colorado Boulder. He landed a research job with a little finance firm locally and was given some sage advice to go East. It was in 2011 when Chris headed to New York and where he really dug into the financial world. In 2017 there was lots of rumblings about the Institutional world coming into the crypto space. Being on the Institutional side, he knew that ecosystem was not ready to support Institutional grade customers. Therefore, he left to start providing institutional consulting for Exchanges and Private Equity companies building products. “Shorthop is an institutional caliber exchange technology in the hands of the retail user” -Chris Wittenborn Velocity Markets is the parent company for , an institutional caliber exchange technology in the hands of the retail user. Shorthop aggregates liquidity across several markets to provide its users the best possible price. The user no longer has to worry about which exchange to transact on or moving funds around. The user only has to focus on their desired outcomes, Shorthop does the rest. They have different levels of services for different levels of clients based on their sophistication. They really focus on providing the user, whether its a Hedge Fund or an individual, with the best execution possible across a wide variety of exchanges. Initially, they are launching in California. Over the next several months, as they receive money transmission licenses, they will be opening up their platforms to other jurisdiction within the United States. Recently, Chris Wittenborn has been spending his time working on leveraging their existing Broker/Dealer license to launch a digital securities exchange. This exchange would be separate from Shorthop and only be available to institutions and accredited investors. Creating a secondary market for compliant offerings is the future. The company Circle was recently able to achieve this, which is promising for Chris and the Velocity Markets team. In this episode Chris Wittenborn discusses: Insight to the advice he was giving companies building for institutional clients Bitcoin Volatility and whether aggregating price will reduce volatility. Their efforts to launch a Finra registered digital securities asset exchange component. How he approaches is job and how he stays engaged. How he and his cofounders came together. What he would change about the industry. Further Reading and Resources: Chris Wittenborn, Business Development and Strategy at Velocity Markets | | | Velocity Markets | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10529900

Ep69 - Bitcoin2019 with Jan Čapek, Cofounder and Co-CEO at Braiins 07/11/2019

Ep69 - Bitcoin2019 with Jan Čapek, Cofounder and Co-CEO at Braiins Jan Čapek, Cofounder and Co-CEO at Braiins On episode 69 of LAB Radio, Braiins Cofounder and Co-CEO, Jan Čapek chats with your host Chris Groshong from . We finally got a chance to sit down and talk mining after meeting in January 2019 in Las Vegas. We first get a run down from Jan about the history of mining and what's wrong with the state of things currently. There's no surprise when it comes to understanding the mysteries behind ASIC Boost were just the tip of the iceberg. The problem is now mining has become so commercialized companies go to great lengths to keep firmware proprietary and access to making modifications difficult. Braiins has decided to take a different approach. An open source approach. They feel if you can't audit or make changes to the miners at the root level then you really don't own them. This is why they have released . "Not your firmware, not your miner." -Jan Čapek The Braiins team motivation comes from their desire to have standards around mining. They spent a lot of time reengineering the software because they were tired inferior products being put onto the market. They even named their replacement of 'CGminer' with a symbolic cultural name, 'RURminer'. comes from a 1920's sci-fi play from fellow countryman Karel Čapek about a future with robots. By launching BraiinsOS, the goal is to maintain a repository that stays up to date and helps maintain stable version controls. This allows anyone to download a copy and get started building their own mining rigs. It became obvious to Jan and his team that the level of customization and quality of products being offered were not ready for Enterprise scale. However, the businesses that were trying to operate at Enterprise levels were being thwarted by lack of control and data insights at every turn. This is why Braiins exists and has taken over as the parent company that oversees the development of the open source BraiinsOS and Slush Pool. In this episode Jan Čapek shares with us: What is the current state of the Bitcoin mining scene? Why they choose the name 'RURminer' for their firmware. Why they choose to write their codebase in Rust. The ASIC chip makers and the Foundry chokepoint How attacks on mining pools are much easier to mitigate Further Reading and Resources: Jan Čapek, Co-CEO at Braiins | | Braiins | | | | | | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10480487

Ep 68 Bitcoin2019 with Xan Ditkoff - Blockstack 07/10/2019

Ep 68 Bitcoin2019 with Xan Ditkoff - Blockstack Xan Ditkoff, Growth at Blockstack On episode 68 of LAB Radio, Blockstack's Head of Growth, Xan Ditkoff chats with your host Chris Groshong from . We discuss how great the conference was and what made it special. Blockstack Xan, as I am respectfully dubbing him, has an interesting path that led him into the crypto world. Coming from New York to Silicon Valley in 2015 was a bit of an adjustment. However, he knew the solutions being worked on there were going to help impact more people globally than anything he could do in a world of suits. When he found the Crypto and Bitcoin Community in 2015 he knew this was the industry he was meant to be in. "To me, decentralization is a means to an end." -Xan Ditkoff His motivation stems from wanting to be a part of a transformative technology revolution. When he first learned about Bitcoin he knew how much it could solve and simplify the internet's hodgepodge of technologies with it's securities vulnerabilities and privacy issues. He views Bitcoin and Blockchain technology as a tool that helps people associate features, like opt-out privacy they are used to in the physical world instead of the opt-in privacy we experience in the digital world. Having an understanding of how banking and US capital markets operate helped him connect the dots very quickly. Bringing things full circle, an energy and infrastructure project Xan worked on is adding bitcoin mining and hashing as a service for an additional revenue stream. Blockstack is a decentralized computing platform and app ecosystem. They have a developer toolkit to allow apps built on Blockstack to require the use to give permission to access certain personal data. That personal data is controlled by each user and is never stored by a centralized service. The origins of the project come from Princeton stemming back to 2013-14 and have passed through Y Combinator. When Xan joined they were just starting to onboard projects and over the course of the first year they learned a lot. Currently they have over 140 projects built or being built on Blockstack. A large part for the increase in development is an incentive called App Mining. It rewards developers or teams that have used their technology from a pool of 100 thousand dollars. This is allowing people to test new value propositions or business fundamentals that may not have previously been achievable with current systems. They even audit the apps on their network to make sure they're not misaligned or inappropriately handling user data. In this episode Xan Ditkoff shares with us: Why self sovereign identity is important? How Blockstack approaches its users identity security. A walkthrough of how to use the Blockstack platform What he would change about the industry Xan is most excited about the Blockstack new smart contracting library more of which can be learned by checking out their new . Their library will utilize Rust. In a more perfect world Xan wishes for an increase of cross collaborative efforts. The "" contest. Further Reading and Resources: Xan Ditkoff, Growth at Blockstack | | Blockstack | | | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10469600

Ep 67 - Bitcoin2019 with Josie Bellini, Crypto Artist and Designer 07/09/2019

Ep 67 - Bitcoin2019 with Josie Bellini, Crypto Artist and Designer Josie Bellini, Crypto Artist On episode 67 of LAB Radio, Crypto Artist Josie Bellini chats with your host, Chris Groshong from . Some might think the path is obvious for an artist and crypto lover. Create, Incorporate and Sell your works for crypto, but not Josie Bellini. Her passion for cryptocurrency and its ethos not only inspires her creative works, but also her innovative side. Having a background in finance, specifically private wealth management, Josie invested personally in Ethereum and became interested more after its rise. After taking a full stack web development course at Northwestern University and doing design for a few blockchain and crypto companies, she knew she could contribute in very cool ways to the industry. After one of her pieces went viral on Reddit, her arrival in the industry was cemented. Crypto Art was now her full time gig. In this episode Josie Bellini shares with us: Which is her favorite piece? If her pieces are political or if they have special meaning to her? Why she uses Augmented Reality (AR)? What's new and coming down the pipeline for Josie's art? The intersection of Cryptocurrency and AR/VR tech adoption issues. How the addition of AR to her existing pieces has increased demand and keeps her collectors gushing. How NFT's are adding to her art repertoire while adding digital scarcity. -"Filter out the Fiat, Breathe in the Truth" - Josie Bellini Josie feels the relationships she's built through these online communities has been invaluable. She is humbled by the great support, interest and knowledge she has received from both the online and the physical world. As much as she loves the online community, the Twitter community that pushes negativity and the plethora of scam projects still marketing themselves well is dragging down the overall morale and needs a higher level of maturity. All in all, Josie's involvement in the cryptocurrency and blockchain tech communities has helped open her mind to a totally different reality. Further Reading and Resources: Josie Bellini, Crypto Artist | | | Download the Artivive app to view Josie's work in AR | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10458368

Ep 66 (Part 2 of 2) - BitShares, BEOS and Quintric, a family of Graphene based Blockchain Projects 07/09/2019

Ep 66 - BitShares, BEOS and Quintric, a family of Graphene based Blockchain Projects (Part 1) 07/03/2019

Ep 66 - BitShares, BEOS and Quintric, a family of Graphene based Blockchain Projects (Part 1) What is Graphene? What is BitShares? And what else has been built on this framework? This episode is a bit of an open long form chat and deep dive with BitShares regular Michael Taggart. This is the 1st of 2 parts for this episode. Michael Taggart, co-founder of BEOS and Quintric Michael is a long time BitShares supporter and recently helped co-found an EOS clone to act as a middle-chain between BitShares and EOS networks and tokens. "BEOS Limited Cooperative Association (BLCA) is the world's first Non-Profit Cooperative Blockchain. Designed as a middle chain, BEOS Blockchain allows interoperability between EOS/BEOS/BitShares based tokens. BEOS is a new privately funded blockchain, a straight clone of EOS intended to serve as a middle chain between BitShares and the EOS main chain. Its goals are token portability and jurisdictional agility. It does these functions without requiring any modifications to or cooperation from either BitShares or EOS communities, neither of which are involved in its development. BEOS tokens serve the same functions as the EOS token on the EOS main chain - giving holders voting and access privileges to network resources. BEOS seeks to develop a new kind of censorship resistance by designing the blockchain to be "intra-jurisdictional" (confined to one jurisdiction) and ultimately "jurisdictionally agile" (able to control which operations take place in explicitly designated jurisdictions). If token portability and jurisdictional agility are what you are looking for, then BEOS is the best alternative to the EOS blockchain." During this episode, you will learn: How Michael got started in Bitcoin buyer around 2012 How he become a liason between the business and technical side of companies A review of BitShares and what's happened to date How BEOS bridges BitShares and EOS as a middle chain Why it will leverage the "$3 Billion R&D Department" that is EOS to benefit BitShares How they are moving toward a trust-less gateway and counterparty system What excites and scares him the most about Crypto For show notes and more visit: https://coinstructive.com/ep66-beos /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10384403

Ep 65 - The Blockchain Agnostic Scaling Holy Grail - bloXroute Labs 06/12/2019

Ep 65 - The Blockchain Agnostic Scaling Holy Grail - bloXroute Labs Uri Klarman, CEO and Cofounder at bloXroute Labs On episode 65 of LAB Radio, your host, Chris Groshong chats with Network Researcher and Ph.D. Uri Zubair. As CEO and cofounder of bloXroute Labs. After graduating from Northwestern University he and his inital cofounder Aleks Kuzmanovic knew that they could solve the relay issue that ultimately keep blockchain systems from scaling. As they progressed down this journey, they added two additional cofounders, Emin Gün Sirer, professor at Cornell and his PhD student Soumya Basu, the creator of the . Falcon can be thought of as a relay network for bitcoin to help pass along the block data faster. In 2017 it was their heads down approach that brought them to discover the real world solution for scaling blockchain networks. “This is a networking problem,” says Uri. Scaling of blockchains has been discussed since Satoshi’s whitepaper, but no one has solved it. At least until now. How can we be so sure that bloXroute Labs can provide this solution? Uri explains: Propogation of blocks across against the network. The relationship between block size and block time at scale. How a blockchain can fork itself into infinity. What is a Blockchain Distribution Network(BDN)? How a relay network works and why its a vulnerability. How to prove that bloXroute is unable to discriminate against and protect against manipulation. (~27 min) “We are a faster internet for blockchains.” – Uri Klarman How bloXroute is blockchain agnostic. How bloXroute creates an incredible Win-Win-Win scenario. Miners will get 100X more transaction fees and Users will pay half as much. (~34-36 min) The more user and miners that use the network the bigger reward for all. How does bloXroute monetize?(~39 min) In the coming months the platform is going live and being incorporated to a few real world and well known projects. After this dive into the tech talk, we take a step back and find out what makes Uri tick. Hope you enjoy the show. Further Reading and Resources bloXroute Labs | | | | | Uri Klarman, Cofounder and CEO, bloXroute Labs| | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/10129819

Ep 64 - Creating Freedom, Anarchy 3.0 and how Content Creators can earn Crypto 05/28/2019

Ep 63 - A Deeper Look at Building Blockchains, Algorithms and Proofs 05/02/2019

Ep 63 - A Deeper Look at Building Blockchains, Algorithms and Proofs Derek Sorensen, Pyrofex Research Mathematician Derek Sorensen is a Pyrofex Research Mathematician, has an MSc in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford and is set to start his PhD this fall at the University of Cambridge, where he will study logic and topology. "I'm a motivated mathematician who wants to solve new and exciting problems. I thrive in a challenging and changing environment, as a boring routine can seem a bit soul-sucking to me. I have learned programming languages, software programs, organizational structures and spoken languages in the past to solve problems and am willing to learn about anything to address new and changing circumstances I'm placed in. Challenges are exciting to me and I'm always looking for something bigger and better to sink my teeth into." On this episode of LAB Radio, Aaron Mangal asked Derek all kinds of deep math questions like: What are proofs and algorithms? What are they for? What are some non-crypto use cases and of course what are the Crypto uses? Who is Pyrofex? A Utah-based Blockchain Startup Founded by ex-Googlers As : "Pyrofex Corporation is Utah Valley’s first blockchain and cryptocurrency startup. Founded in the Spring of 2016 by ex-Googlers Mike Stay and Nash Foster, Pyrofex works hard to create the next generation of blockchain platforms, applications, and development tools. With its headquarters in the Riverwoods area of Provo, UT, Pyrofex has grown from a pair of co-founders to a team of around two dozen professionals. Our focus is on reliably delivering high-quality work and our reputation bears that out. Pyrofex was founded by mathematicians and computer scientists who wanted to build an engineering first company. One that hires special talent, gives them difficult and interesting work, and the tools and support to succeed." CDelta is a Blockchain built on their custom-made protocol, Cassanova CDelta is a proof of stake based Blockchain focused on high speed transactions and throughput for financial transactions. They custom built Cassanova, a leaderless optimistic pre-Nakamoto consensus protocol which is what CDelta runs on. "Pyrofex introduces Casanova, a leaderless optimistic consensus protocol designed for use in the blockchain contexts. Casanova produces blocks in a directed acyclic graph (DAG) rather than in a chain and combines voting rounds with block production by singling out conflicting transactions. C∆’s physical network achieves unparalleled performance by mirroring the shape of the Internet itself. Using a tiered network architecture, local validators connect to backbone validators with guaranteed priority bandwidth. Using this architecture, C∆ ensures the fastest block propagation and the lowest transaction confirmation latencies. C∆ is unique among blockchains. Most blockchains are stuck finding a total ordering of all the world’s transactions. This process is very slow because every block requires an expensive consensus-finding protocol. Using Casanova and a simple UTXO transaction model, the C∆ blockchain eliminates this work and finalizes most transactions immediately. Only when a user attempts to double-spend does C∆ perform expensive and slow consensus finding. As a result of this innovation, C∆ confirms most transactions at wire speed. An attacker can only make his own transactions slower, but cannot materially affect the throughput of the rest of the network." Check out this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmGGJcAdWks During this episode, you will learn: How Derek discovered his interest in Math His impressions of Cryptocurrenc from a math perspective What proofs are What algorithms are and how are they designed What consensus mechanisms are and how do they differ from algorithms (Plus Who creates them and how) Derek's thoughts on Proof of Work (PoW) algorithms vs Proof of Stake (PoS) and Delegated proof of stake (DPoS) His thoughts on Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) and other Blockchain "alternatives" How their "Optimistic Consensus" is different/better than what's already out there The algorithm and consensus mechanism behind it How their customized Blockchain was built How the company plans to tackle adoption with so many other options on the market For show notes and more visit: /episode/index/show/labradio/id/9628145

Ep 62 - Lucid Sight - Fazri Zubair - CTO and Cofounder - Gaming and the Blockchain 04/17/2019

Ep 62 - Lucid Sight - Fazri Zubair - CTO and Cofounder - Gaming and the Blockchain Fazri Zubair, CTO and Cofounder at Lucid Sight On episode 62 of LAB Radio, your host, Chris Groshong chats with Fazri Zubair, a Los Angeles native, about his journey into the blockchain and cryptocurrency space through gaming at Lucid Sight. Lucid Sight is a gaming development studio, formed in 2015, located Santa Monica and has been building video games with frontier technologies like VR, AR and blockchain. Fazri and the two other cofounders had worked together in the past, had great chemistry and knew they all had to work together. The entrance into blockchain for Fazri was through a friend of cofounder, Randy Saaf, who introduced them to Ethereum. The use cases for smart contracts and provable digital scarcity was too tempting for them to ignore back in 2015. Some of the main issues they run into are UX/UI. The crossover from traditional gaming with in-game assets managed by a company producing the game to in-game assets controlled by the end user has a completely different feel. The end user has many barriers to entry, like understanding how to use wallets and obtaining crypto just to get started. Besides hardware, other issues exist like explaining digital scarcity and the basics of blockchain. Two of Fazri's favorite games being released this year are CSC (Crypto Space Commander), a MMORPG and MLB Champions. MLB Champions is this millenniums version of baseball cards and fantasy sports. They have licensing agreements with the MLB and the MLBPA(MLB Players Association), making it the first of it's kind in the blockchain industry. Both games have marketplaces for items to be bought and sold. The game developer takes a cut from each sale. This marks a paradigm shift in the economics of gaming. The implications for game developers are vast and relatively untouched. Things you will learn during this episode: We get perspective from Fazri about growing up and pursuing a tech career in Los Angeles Where he feels the industry is headed and his plans to stay at the forefront The command economy vs. a free market economy in gaming How mainstream adoption barriers need to be lifted Why digital collectibles are easy for collectors to grasp What designing and building games with economies entails What problems may arise from real money economies in a gaming ecosystem Further Reading and Resources Lucid Sight Inc. | | | | | Fazri Zubair, Cofounder and CTO, Lucid Sight Inc.| | | MLB Champions | | | | Crypto Space Commander | | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/9432980

OG Crypto Series #2 - Alena Vranova - Strategy, Casa Inc. 04/09/2019

OG Crypto Series #2 - Alena Vranova - Strategy, Casa Inc. Alena Vranova, Strategy at Casa, Inc. Welcome to the second episode of OG Crypto Series on LAB Radio, with the very talented, , currently heading up Strategy at Casa Inc. There is no doubt that she is an OG in the world of Crypto and Blockchain. For those of you that don't know her past, she was pivotal to the formation of Satoshi Labs, TREZOR hardware wallet and Slush Pool to name a few. Alena and I first met in August 2015 after the Keynote 2015 event in Los Angeles at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. We had some mutual friends in the space already and we instantly connected. I vividly recall how much positivity and good energy she gave off. After a business success, Alena likes to take some time to scan the field and find out what is calling to her next. And after leaving Satoshi Labs, she eventually landed at Casa, Inc. In this episode you will hear about why she chose Casa and how Casa's solutions are powering a safer and more user friendly environment for Bitcoin users. Other things you will learn during this episode: What is the latest from Prague? And why it's a great place for crypto & blockchain innovation The importance of building strong personal connections in a business setting Her advice to entrepreneurs in the crypto and blockchain space Inclusion, Diversity and Global Mentality perspectives If she could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? Alena is one the rare gems in this world, so if you ever get a chance to speak with her, do it. Her passion is obvious and she brings a great intensity to the table. She's also very cognizant of the position she is in now and how much good she can bring into the world. In this episode, you will also find out what the younger version of herself might think about where she is now. Alena says the most important skill to have in business is "Listening". So we hope you enjoy the episode. Further Reading and Resources Casa Inc.| | | | Alena Vranova, Strategy @ Casa, Inc.| | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/9323855

Ep 61 -Starfish Network - Anthony Paglino, Community Manager & Economist 03/27/2019

Ep 61 -Starfish Network - Anthony Paglino, Community Manager & Economist Anthony Paglino, Community Manager at Starfish Network SF Welcome to LAB Radio episode 61. Chris recently spent some time in San Francisco and had the great fortune to run into Anthony Paglino at Starfish Network's coworking space. Starfish Network is an agnostic blockchain community focused on building web 3.0 and providing a space for the community to leverage for events and meetings. Starfish Network was started by Alicia Ferratusco when the SF community was feeling pangs over lack of community space. Anthony came to Starfish from Tampa because he believes in the necessity to build tools for the future and San Francisco is the place where it can be accomplished. Anthony has an interesting past, which includes living in China after he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics in 2008. Instead of looking at the recession as a bad thing, he took the opportunity to focus on learning how the world's most populous economy ran. Anthony is optimistic and realizes timing as well as location are important components to success. As a side project, Anthony is focused on how to token precipitous rainfall called RainCube. Aligned with his mission at Starfish Network, he hopes to help bring dApps into existence that benefit humanity and are easily replicable and adaptable. He believes blockchains will have some hyperlocalization in future, but still remain a part of the main chain. Things you will learn during this episode: We get perspective from Anthony about his time living in China. Where he feels the industry is headed and his plans to stay at the forefront Ideas around how we change the structure of economies to make them regenerative, rather than extractive. The Starfish Network's mission and plan to build a decentralized coworking network. How the path to enlightenment might be through cryptocurrency and blockchain. What other projects Anthony is working on and much more. Further Reading and Resources Starfish Network | | | | | Anthony Paglino, Community Manager, Starfish.Network| | | Raincube, Inc. | | | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/9165728

Ep 60 - Anchor, a Stable-coin Pegged to the Global Economy 03/20/2019

Ep 60 - Anchor, a Stable-coin Pegged to the Global Economy Daniel Popa, CEO of Anchor Welcome to episode 60 of LAB Radio. We had a chat with Daniel Popa, CEO of Anchor. Anchor is a Daniel elaborates on his LinkedIn: "Anchor is addressing one of the biggest issues in the global economy – how to preserve monetary value over time, stabilize the value of any given currency, lower its volatility and prevent devaluation. Anchor aims to solve the problem of transparency, liquidity, guarantee and trust on a global scale and thus tackle these burning issues directly, with the introduction of stability, facilitated by a decentralized true stable token and backed by the purchase of sovereign debt as the backing for the two-token system. Additionally, Anchor goes a step further than other cryptos, and proposes a solution for the systemic issue of instability in the financial markets in general. We have devised an innovative and universal monetary value measurement Standard, in the form of a Proprietary mathematical algorithm – the Monetary Measurement Unit (MMU). The MMU is a true representation of the value of the global economy and an index based on the real GDP of more than 190 countries of the word. In light of this, Anchor’s value will be pegged to the MMU directly, providing a stable and dependable unit to store and preserve monetary value over many decades, as opposed to crypto and fiat currencies that are more susceptible to fluctuation as a result of market forces and the volatility of global and local economic landscapes." How Anchor's System Works What you will learn during this episode: Who is Daniel Popa and his background What is Anchor and what problem they're solving Why we need another stable coin What is the MMU index and why its proprietary Why Anchor uses a two-token system What is the ultimate goal of the project and tokens? (Store of value, Investment vehicle) What resources he would recommend for people to learn more For show notes and more please visit: /episode/index/show/labradio/id/9070712

Ep 59 -bitFlyer- Hailey Lennon - Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs 03/05/2019

Ep 59 -bitFlyer- Hailey Lennon - Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs Welcome to episode 59 with Hailey Lennon, the Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for bitFlyer US. If you're not familiar with bitFlyer, don't worry, it's only the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in Japan. They have been in business since 2014 and are expanding throughout the US and European markets. Hailey and I finally get to sit down and talk about what her new role at bitFlyer entails. When Hailey and I first met in 2015/2016 she was working with Silvergate Bank to help launch their banking platform for legitimate cryptocurrency companies. We get to find out how she ended up at bitFlyer after starting out with one of the biggest and most crypto friendly bank in the US. We also talk about the path that led her to where she is today. Hailey and I both agree, more collaboration around compliance, regulation and oversight, even with competitors, is needed to advance the crypto and blockchain industry. There needs to be more open discussions and working groups stepping up to provide guidance to Regulatory Agencies while leading by example, not through lobbying. This is why bitFlyer and Hailey are leading the charge for a new organization called the , to which its founding members consist of , and . Things you will learn during this episode: We dive into the differences between San Diego and San Francisco from a crypto perspective. Where Hailey thinks crypto US and global regulation may be headed. What are the goals for bitFlyer in 2019? Creating Self-Regulating Organizations(SRO), industry standards and best practices for virtual commodities. If she wasn't in the crypto and blockchain space, what Hailey thinks she would be doing instead. If she had a magic wand, what would Hailey change about the industry. If there is any cultural crossover or influence, since bitFlyer is originally from Japan? What's the environment at bitFlyer like? Further Reading and Resources bitFlyer | | | | | | Hailey Lennon Head of Legal & Regulatory Affairs| | | /episode/index/show/labradio/id/8888081

Ep 58 What is Vault Logic? A Bitcoin Kiosk Provider and Services Portal 02/28/2019

Ep 57 - Reserve Protocol, an alternative to stablecoin projects with Nevin Freeman 02/19/2019

Ep 57 - Reserve Protocol, an alternative to stablecoin projects with Nevin Freeman The Reserve Protocol This story about a stablecoin project called the Reserve Protocol is far different from most stablecoin projects you've heard of. Reserve's approach is to solve one of humanity's greatest challenges by creating an ethical and stable currency without government control. Combatting corruption of governments or central banks while protecting against hyperinflation are just a few of the driving forces behind this project. I really enjoyed speaking with Nevin Freeman, Cofounder and CEO of the Reserve Protocol. Specifically, what really drew me to this project were the positive things that I noticed about the brand. I don't remember the last time I saw a blockchain or crypto company with a whole webpage dedicate to ethics. Nevin and I get to connect over the inspiration and motivation to take on a project of this magnitude. We take a bit of a deep dive into his background growing up and his desire to solve problems for humans across the globe. Reserve Ethics Today there is a severe lack of transparency and trust in many of the world’s monetary systems. Hundreds of millions of people live in countries without stable currencies, resulting in dramatic losses of wealth. This inability to effectively protect savings prevents people from planning for the future and bettering themselves. The world needs a stable, global, digital currency that gives people autonomy and control of their money. This is not your typical cryptocurrency company or ICO. This team has a huge vision and the resume to back it up. They have more investors listed on their website than they have employees. This is not a measure of future success, but what it shows is people love solving problems and money is one of them. I hope a stablecoin solution emerges soon. Enjoy the show. Some of the things you'll learn in this episode: When will the Reserve Protocol launch? Who is their target market and audience? What the is plan to penetrate these markets? Would the Reserve Protocol been able to help with issues like the "US Government Shutdown"? How does Quantitative Easing devalue your savings? Can the use of a stablecoin protocol like Reserve really incentivize better ethical engagements? Further Reading and Resources LinkedIn - Twitter - Facebook - Website - Telegram - Twitter - Facebook - /episode/index/show/labradio/id/8704295

Ep 56 - Caninos Loucos, Labrador (a Raspberry Pi alternative) and some cool Blockchain use cases on it 02/12/2019

Ep 56 - Caninos Loucos, Labrador (a Raspberry Pi alternative) and some cool Blockchain use cases on it I had the pleasure of meeting Geovane and his colleague in a obscure little corner of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the Eureka Park section. I was excited to find a really cool little yet powerful computer that is an alternative to Raspberry Pi (as well as befriend two awesomely Brazilian technologists). This unit is proudly made in Brazil and rivals their English counter part (the Pi). On this episode of LAB Radio we caught up with Geovane Fedrecheski a computer science engineer, Ph.D candidate and team member of a Raspberry Pi alternative called Labrador. Geovane Fedrecheski "In my career, I have helped LG Electronics to deliver great mobile phones for all Latin America and collaborated in the creation of a free MOOC that teaches IoT for non-technical people. I have taught programming for both children and adults, co-founded and dropped out of a startup, and did theater classes for two years to enhance my communication skills. I currently do Research and Software Engineering at University of São Paulo, where I also happen to be a PhD student. I think computers shall help and empower people. Thus, as a scientist, my goal is to use technology to enhance peoples' lives." Geovane is a Ph.D. student where he does research and development of a Internet of Thing (IoT) framework called the SwarmOS. This entails investigating how to best manage security authorizations in swarms of IoT devices. Geovane developed an access control and Blockchain solution as well as a network discovery algorithm. His work was and conferences. The Labrador (Raspberry Pi alternative) is a fairly robust and powerful computer. One of the benefits Geovane mentioned when we were talking at CES was the potential for outdoor applications (like weather elements). Believe it or not, the Raspberry Pi is not ideal for outdoor locations which makes it a pretty poor choice for outdoor IoT applications (which are greatly needed for smart cities as an example). As stated in their collateral: "The Caninos Loucos Labrador board is a Brazilian Single Board Computer, with open Hardware and Software, that can be used to create Internet of Things applications.It is composed by two boards: the Labrador Core Board, which has all features of a modern computer, and the Labrador Base Board, which expands its communication options by providing a large variety of connectors.The modularity of the Caninos Loucos Labrador board allows for greater flexibility in hardware interface prototyping. Other Base Board models can be used, with specific functionalities required by custom applications.This board set features ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection, is compact, resistant, and can be used in a range of applications, from personal projects to commercial applications." Here are more on the specifications of the board: After listening to this episode you will learn: About Geovane's background and how he got into computer science What LSI TEC is What type of research and work he does in Internet of Things (IoT) What the Caninos Loucos single board computer is (Raspberry Pi alternative) Why and how did this project come about What its specs are and what can be done with it A few Blockchain use cases for the board Geovane's thoughts on CES 2019 and technology that got him excited What excites him the most about the state of technology (and the Blockchain) /episode/index/show/labradio/id/8623292

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