Around The Block Podcast

Yiseul Cho is one of the most legendary investors and advisors in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. After co-founding Hashed, she has since created Perceptra, a blockchain production lab that works with hand-picked projects to bring their tech to the Asian market. In this interview, Elaine and Yiseul talk about her background and how she parlayed that into a career in blockchain, leaving South Korea years ago in search of blockchain development only to return after the country took a liking to Ethereum, and the two highest-potential sectors where she thinks blockchain will break through first. List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Yiseul Cho 01:35 - Blockchain as an emerging technology 03:20 - First things to wrap your head around when discovering blockchain 04:24 - Leaving and returning to South Korea, Hashed 06:40 - Blockchain development, especially in South Korea and San Francisco 08:00 - Utilizing blockchain with the end user in mind 10:20 - Perceptra, Yiseul’s blockchain production lab 13:15 - Blockchain and the general public 14:10 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija Follow Yiseul Cho! Twitter: http://twitter.com/yiseulcho

Kyle Samani is one of the managing partners at Multicoin Capital, and also one of the most prominent writers / thought leaders in the cryptocurrency space. Elaine was able to catch up with him at San Francisco Blockchain Week, and they spoke about how he discovered cryptocurrency through Ethereum, the importance of writing in his growth as a thought-leader and investor, and Multicoin Capital’s views on the EOS Blockchain. List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Kyle Samani 01:21 - Discovering cryptocurrency though Ethereum 04:23 - Multicoin Capital and finding a career in cryptocurrency 07:28 - Scalability & Privacy 08:19 - How writing has helped Kyle as a thought leader and an investor 14:00 - EOS (vs. Ethereum) 21:35 - The most important realizations from public blockchains 22:10 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija Follow Kyle Samani! Twitter: http://twitter.com/KyleSamani

Laura Ortega is the Executive Director of the International Business Council at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and her objective is to increase global trading opportunities for Illinois by bringing investments and jobs to the state. In this interview, Laura and Elaine talk about how she's working with the International Business Council to promote blockchain adoption, the efficiency, transparency, and trust that companies can gain by implementing new tech, and the competitive advantages companies can find in Chicago and the rest of Illinois. List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Laura Ortega 01:41 - Illinois Chamber of Commerce 05:42 - International Business Council 08:31 - Unique ways that companies in the state are using blockchain 10:13 - Blockchain facilitating trade 11:19 - Why blockchain companies would want to set up in Chicago or Illinois 13:30 - Biggest challenges for blockchain 14:38 - Partnerships and working on blockchain in the future 15:57 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija

Shamus Toomey is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Block Club Chicago, a media outlet dedicated to giving reliable, hyperlocal coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. It was one of the first news companies that signed on the Civil Blockchain Network, which is now raising its ICO. In this interview, Shamus and Elaine talk about how he came to create Block Club Chicago, the company's partnership with Civil, and how blockchain can be applied at the grassroots level to promote local journalism. List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Shamus Toomey 01:28 - DNAinfo 05:17 - Learning about blockchain and discovering Civil 08:27 - Civil’s offerings 11:39 - Do journalists using Civil need to know about blockchain? 14:30 - Realizing blockchain can help revive journalism 17:31 - Block Club Chicago 19:05 - How does Civil support Block Club Chicago? 24:29 - “Better” journalism and local journalism 28:47 - Risks, challenges, and obstacles with integrating blockchain into the newsroom 30:54 - Civil’s token, CVL 32:10 - Blockchain’s long-term impact on journalism 34:03 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija Follow Shamus Toomey & Block Club Chicago! Shamus: https://twitter.com/stoomey Block Club Chicago: https://twitter.com/BlockClubCHI

Matthew Roszak is one of the co-founders of Bloq - a company that builds solutions, dapps, and protocols for retailers and institutions. In this interview, Matthew and Elaine talk about how the concept of tokenized networks attracted him to the industry, how Chicago is building a local blockchain scene, and the story behind meeting Kim Kardashian and gifting her Bitcoin! List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Matthew Roszak 01:28 - Discovering blockchain and background in tech 03:08 - Investing thesis during the early days of cryptocurrency 04:42 - The appeal of tokenized networks 06:16 - Singapore, China, South Korea, Asia on blockchain 08:12 - Chicago and the local blockchain scene 11:06 - Gifting celebrities Bitcoin 13:17 - Blockchain powering charity, philanthropy, and social good 14:23 - Bloq Enterprise & Bloq Labs 15:50 - Matthew’s mission 16:35 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija Follow Matthew Roszak! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/matthewroszak

Daniel Jeffries is a writer, not only of dystopian sci-fi, but also on the decentralized world of blockchain technology. In this interview, Daniel and Elaine talk about how he differentiated himself from other writers in the blockchain space when he started years ago, how distribution at point of creation will be key for the wider adoption of cryptocurrencies, and how the community will one day create a killer app without even realizing it. List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Daniel Jeffries 01:30 - Sci-Fi writing, discovering blockchain 02:52 - Categories vs. iterations of technology 05:40 - The evolution of money 07:24 - How blockchain can go wrong 10:00 - Parallel economic operating systems 13:50 - Shifting the focus from creation of cryptocurrency to distribution 16:52 - Triple-entry accounting 18:45 - “Right now... If crypto is chess, it needs to become checkers” 20:30 - Bitcoin’s 50/50 shot at survival 23:15 - Daniel Jeffries plan for the future 25:00 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija Follow Daniel Jeffries! Twitter: https://twitter.com/dan_jeffries1 Medium: https://medium.com/@dan.jeffries

Jimmy Song is an investor, an entrepreneur, and one of the most prominent voices in the Bitcoin community. In this interview, Jimmy and Elaine talk about why he was first attracted to Bitcoin, his skepticism of some blockchain projects including Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash, and the surprisingly deep reasons for wearing his iconic cowboy hats (amongst other things). List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Jimmy Song 01:27 - Discovering Bitcoin and blockchain technology 06:10 - Bitcoin vs. Bitcoin Cash 09:05 - Reaching critical mass 11:05 - Issues facing Bitcoin developers today 12:08 - The cowboy hat 15:20 - Jimmy’s daily life 19:35 - Jimmy’s new book, “Programming Bitcoin” 20:45 - What is holding Bitcoin back? 21:25 - Bitcoin stability 22:55 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija Follow Jimmy Song! Twitter: http://twitter.com/jimmysong

Matthew Engel is the Western Community Manager at Achain, a blockchain platform that aims to build “a boundless blockchain reality.” Achain enables developers of all levels to issue tokens, create smart contracts, and build decentralized applications, all of which serve Achain’s goal of making information exchange and value transactions easier. In this interview, Matthew and Elaine talk about problems with the current state of smart contracts in blockchain technology, the project’s partnership with UniFox to bring real-world adoption, and why he thinks building the Value Exchange Protocol is the biggest test for the future of interoperability. List of Topics Covered in This Episode: 00:00 - Introduction to Matthew Engel 01:47 - Finding Achain and the blockchain industry 04:08 - Problems with smart contracts today 06:35 - Value Exchange Protocol (VEP) 07:22 - Businesses adopting the Achain blockchain 09:52 - Expanding Achain’s reach in Asia, especially in South Korea 11:00 - UniFox partnership 12:47 - Achain ICO, roadmap, and community building going forward 15:18 - Closing remarks Follow blockstreetHQ! Website: http://www.blockstreethq.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blockstreethq Medium: http://www.medium.com/blockstreethq Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/blockstreethq Follow Elaine Ramirez! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/elainegija