LAB Radio

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 website. 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 @CoinStructive, @djkinkle, @carlostoriello, #Fiscal_Digital & #LABradio. Enjoy! Further Reading and Resources Carlos Torriellos Herrerrias, Volunteer & Champion at Fiscal Digital – LinkedIn – Twitter Fiscal Digital – Website – Email – YouTube – Facebook – Github – Use hashtag #Fiscal_Digital

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 @CoinStructive @djkinkle @cedricmakes & #LABradio. Enjoy. Further Reading and Resources Cedric Dahl, Founder of 1000X Group - LinkedIn - Twitter 1000X Group - Website - Email - Report

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. Liberland 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 @CoinStructive @djkinkle @joeyyusef & #LABradio. Enjoy. Further Reading and Resources Joseph Langenbrunner, Deputy Head of Mission to USA, Free Republic of Liberland - LinkedIn - Email - Twitter The Free Republic of Liberland - Website - Wiki  

This episode is LAB Radio's "Best of 2019". It's composed of several clips from guests over the past year. For many, 2019 will be one of those years in crypto that won't stand out in people's minds much. It wasn't flashy. There wasn't a lot fanfare. CNBC wasn't pumping XRP. It was quiet and people were busy building great things. I was fortunate to sit down with many amazing people this year to discuss their thoughts and contributions on the industry. Unfortunately, I had to narrow it down to just a hand full of clips but, trust me, all of our guests were fire. I know you'll enjoy hearing perspectives from the likes of: Alex Mashinsky & Leah Jonas, Celsius Network Jan Čapek, Braiins Hannah Rosenberg, Velas Commerce Hailey Lennon, Coinbase Xan Ditkoff, Blockstack Uri Klarman, bloXroute Labs Alyse Killeen, Stillmark Capital Alex Adelman, Lolli Caitlin Long, Lawyer R0ckstar Developer, BTC Payserver So no matter how awful a year in crypto seems, try to remember we are just getting started. Building a foundation for the next quarter millenia of finance, while simultaneously breaking down the current one, is no small feat. The Crypto and Blockchain industry isn't just about changing finance, it's about creating a better world to live in. Whether you're new to crypto or have been following along for years, it's not too late to join the movement. For these technologies to succeed in allowing humans to participate in free global trade without the interference of governments, we need all people, from all walks of life to start by asking the question, "What is money?" We do this show for you, our listeners. Please like, subscribe, share and follow. Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify Add to RSS Brought to you commercial free by CoinStructive.

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 Trace Mayer, Christopher Allen, Jesse Powell, Joseph Pitluck, Amy and Devon James 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 @CoinStructive @djkinkle @CaitlinLong & #LABradio   Further Reading and Resources Caitlin Long | Twitter | LinkedIn | Website Wyoming Blockchain Taskforce| Website  

The Crypto Curator, Paul McNeal  The first person I met at the Avantpay |19 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 Bitcoin Knowledge podcast by Trace Mayer.  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 Joshua and Peter, 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 @CoinStructive @djkinkle @_CryptoCurator & #LABradio   Further Reading and Resources  Paul McNeal , The Crytpo Curator, Founder | Twitter | LinkedIn    The Crypto Curator| Website | Twitter | LinkedIn   

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 @CoinStructive @djkinkle & #LABradio   Further Reading and Resources Lourdes C. Miranda, CAMS, CFE, Financial Crimes Investigator and Crytpocurrency Analyst at Miranda FinIntel Consulting,  | Email | LinkedIn 

    Chicago's Queen of Crypto  When I noticed the talented Hannah Rosenberg would be speaking at the Avantpay |19 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 Brooke Mallers and Pamela Morgan.  "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 @CoinStructive @djkinkle @hmichellerose & #LABradio     Further Reading and Resources   Hannah Rosenberg , Blockchain Institute, Managing Director | Twitter | LinkedIn    The Blockchain Institute| Website | Twitter | LinkedIn    Velas Commerce - | Website | Twitter |LinkedIn   B.O.B. Chicago Meetup - | Website | Meetup    

    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 @CoinStructive @CelsiusNetwork and @LeahNJonas @Mashinsky   Further Reading and Resources Alex Mashinsky , Celsius Network, Founder & CEO | Twitter | LinkedIn  Leah Jonas , Celsius Network, Head of Global Partnerships | Twitter | LinkedIn    Celsius Network – | Website | Facebook | Twitter |Telegram  

  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 @CoinStructive @Insurabit and @DougFMoeller.   Further Reading and Resources Doug Moeller, InsureYourBit Founder & CEO | Twitter | LinkedIn InsureYourBit - | Website | Facebook | Twitter   

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(@r0ckstardev). 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(@JackMallers) on Zap Wallet, a Lightning enabled wallet(@ln_zap). 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 Download MP3 Directly Listen on iTunes Add to RSS   Further Reading and Resources Rockstar Developer, Bitcoin Ecosystem Developer | Twitter   

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 Mike Facchin of Search Scientists 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 Download MP3 Directly Listen on iTunes Add to RSS   Further Reading and Resources Rob Odell | LinkedIn | Twitter   Lolli |Website | Twitter | LinkedIn   

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 Ryan Shea. 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 | LinkedIn | Twitter   Lolli |Website | Twitter | LinkedIn     

  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 Bitcoin2019.  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 Shorthop, 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 | LinkedIn | Twitter | Email      Velocity Markets | Website | Twitter | LinkedIn 

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 Bitcoin2019. 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 Braiins OS.     "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'. RUR 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 | LinkedIn | Twitter      Braiins | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | GitHub | Medium | Telegram | SlushPool        

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 Bitcoin2019. 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 whitepaper. Their library will utilize Rust. In a more perfect world Xan wishes for an increase of cross collaborative efforts.     The "Can't Be Evil" contest.     Further Reading and Resources:     Xan Ditkoff, Growth at Blockstack | LinkedIn | Twitter      Blockstack | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | GitHub     

Josie Bellini,  Crypto Artist   On episode 67 of LAB Radio, Crypto Artist Josie Bellini chats with your host, Chris Groshong from Bitcoin2019. 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 | LinkedIn | Twitter | Website Download the Artivive app to view Josie's work in AR | Google Play | App Store  

What is Graphene, BitShares and BEOS? This is part 2 of a deep dive chat with Michael Taggart, BitShares . We discuss why they created BEOS and the practicality of creating a EOS clone. 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. Quintric has tokenized real gold coins and legal tender   Quintric bridges Gold, Cash (Legal Tender), and Crypto During this episode, you will learn: Why BEOS was created How the marketplace demands certainty such as the identity and location of Block Producers Why Utah was chosen as a venue for the BEOS Limited Cooperative Association (BCLA) How their legal team knows how to get policy accomplished and structure using pre-existing legal tender and  How Terradac, a private enterprise that funded BEOS, interfaces with the BCLA How their operation and fund management system for the BCLA operates How they are moving toward trust-less gateway and counterparty settlements What Quintric is and why it is positioned as legal tender A just announced on this show $50 gold bill that Quintric is rolling out

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  

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 Network. 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 | Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter |     Uri Klarman, Cofounder and CEO, bloXroute Labs| LinkedIn | Twitter

Ashe Oro, Liberty Entrepreneur and founder of Liberty VAs What is Liberty, Blockchains and Anarchy 3.0? Well, you're going to find out in this episode!  Ashe Oro has been around the Blockchain space for many years and has even hosted a podcast called Liberty Entrepreneurs, helping his audience learn the virtues of freedom, entrepreneurship and sovereign money. He began as a Computer Engineering student and eventually morphed into the Head of Business Development for Euro Pacific Bank.  In 2013, Ashe discovered how Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain tech can protect personal freedom due to its decentralized nature and ability to facilitate a free market of non-fiat digital currencies. In the Blockchain community, Ashe is: Building SteemSmarter, an analytics and reporting platform for the Steem blockchain. Advising Chintai, a decentralised leasing platform on EOS blockchain. Advising SelfKey.org, a decentralised identification network on Ethereum blockchain. "I help people build freedom. Everything else is details." ~Ashe Oro On this episode of LAB Radio, Aaron Mangal dives in into more than just the "Blockchain" but rather uncovers the philosophical side of Cryptocurrencies including Anarchy and the experiences that shaped his views.   During this episode, you will learn: How Ashe first discovered the Blockchain and what got him excited about it His political and economic philosophy His impressions of the scene and how its shifted over the years What Liberty Entrepreneurs is and how it began What Anarchy 3.0 is (and how it differs from 2.0 and 1.0) Why inflation is not the enemy How to break-up with your bank How content creators can earn Crypto What excites and scares him the most about Crypto For show notes and more please visit: https://coinstructive.com/ep64-ashe  

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." Source 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 stated on their website:  "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." Source 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: https://coinstructive.com/ep63-derek-pyrofex/ 

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. | Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter |   Fazri Zubair, Cofounder and CTO, Lucid Sight Inc.| Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter   MLB Champions  | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Discord   Crypto Space Commander  | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Discord    

Alena Vranova, Strategy at Casa, Inc. Welcome to the second episode of OG Crypto Series on LAB Radio, with the very talented, Alena Vranova, 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.| Website | LinkedIn | Twitter |   Alena Vranova, Strategy @ Casa, Inc.| Twitter | LinkedIn |    

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 | Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter |   Anthony Paglino, Community Manager, Starfish.Network| Facebook | LinkedIn |   Raincube, Inc.  | Website | Facebook | Twitter |  

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 "stable currency designed to preserve and enhance the value of your holdings. Anchor is pegged to the value of the global economy, protected by a safety net comprised of six pillars." 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: LAB Radio

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 Virtual Commodities Association, to which its founding members consist of Bitstamp, Bittrex and Gemini.   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 | Website (US) | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter USA | Twitter Japan | Twitter Europe   Hailey Lennon Head of Legal & Regulatory Affairs| Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter  

Vault Logic is a all-in-one kiosk containing a traditional ATM and multi Cryptocurrency BTM, while also featuring Cash as a Service (CaaS). Some of the features include: This is not just a "ATM" only dispensing Cryptocurrency (of which it offers many beyond Bitcoin). It can handle buying cell phone minutes and will eventually allow users to pay bills through the kiosk. There is also a feature where the machine will pay users a premium by offering higher than spot market prices to help clear the machine of cash. There are also display ads on the machine which has a revenue share built in with the venue hosting the machines. Here are the technical specifications of the machine: We covered topics including how to pick a company to work with in the Blockchain space, what's the scene like and of course all about the Vault Logic Kiosk itself. We also covered some bio-hacking and practices Cassi engages in to stay balanced in her busy work world.

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 - Nevin Freeman Twitter - Nevin Freeman Facebook - Nevin Freeman Website - Reserve.org Telegram - Reserve Protocol Twitter - Reserve Protocol Facebook - Reserve Protocol

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 published in various scientific journals 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)

I recently ran into Tatiana Moroz, of Crypto Media Hub while we were in Las Vegas together for the Unconfiscatable conference. Tatiana is one of the coolest people in the Bitcoin ecosystem. She throws great dinner parties with awesome guests. If she's not the one throwing the party, she always knows where the best one is. Oh, did I mention she can sing and play guitar. On top of all this, she's a great person and a pleasure to speak with too. On this occasion, we got to chat about maximalism and why she decided to attend the Unconfiscatable conference. She stresses the importance of knowing and "hodling" your friends close during crypto winter. We dive into the intersection her career in music and blockchain technology. Tatiana tells her thoughts about the current state of cryptocurrency adoption. Shout out to Marshall Hayner from Metalpay. Tatiana tells us what she's been up to and what she's got cooking for 2019. About Tatiana Moroz Tatiana Moroz is the founder and CEO of Crypto Media Hub, a PR, advertising, and marketing agency for the Blockchain industry. She is the advisor on several crypto projects. Tatiana is a pioneer female singer-songwriter in the Bitcoin and activist community and is the creator of Tatiana Coin, the world’s first ever artist cryptocurrency. Her music brings a fresh take on that folk style of the revolutionary 60’s and 70’s, and is an original blend of alt country, pop, rock, and blues. As a graduate of Berklee College of Music, Tatiana has had an extensive music career managing and promoting top New York recording studios and touring the globe singing and speaking alongside Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and Judge Napolitano at dozens of events including Inside Bitcoins, SXSW, Bitcoin South, NASDAQ, many blockchain events worldwide, aand several Libertarian National Conventions. With three independently produced and released LPs, EPs and several singles, Tatiana’s third EP "Keep the Faith" released in 2017 having been completely funded with cryptocurrency. As a prominent figure in the Bitcoin community, Tatiana has appeared on NASDAQ, Market Watch, Yahoo Finance, Fox’s Stossel, Reason Magazine, the NY Times, Billboard, RT America, Infowars, International Business Times, Bitcoin Magazine and many more.   Like what you hear? Join our newsletter to get regular updates about all the content we produce. Check out our new YouTube channel too!!

Of all the people to run into during the Unconfiscatable conference in Las Vegas, it was awesome to see Scott Bambacigno. Alphapoint Scott, as he's known, is one of the first people I remember being involved in a crypto company as early as 2014. Not only is he a rockstar amongst his peers, he is a founding member of Alphapoint. Alphapoint is one of those companies that you probably don't know exists. It's a software company with one of its main focuses on helping its clients build crypto exchanges. Scott and I grabbed a quiet corner and some loungey black leather chairs, then settled in to catch up. I asked him why he chose to attend Tone Vays' Unconfiscatable conference and whether or not he is a maximalist. Scott dives into how he got started with Bitcoin and his career in Silicon Valley. He talks about what the industry was like in 2013. We get into topics like, "What is a Blockchain?" and how some archaic systems are poised for collapse. He shares his bright outlook on how the industry may mature and grow. About Scott Bambacigno Senior sales leader with over 15 years of experience driving revenue for startups and well-established businesses. With a consistent and successful record of revenue attainment as an individual contributor, entrepreneur, and sales leader, my focus is on making my company, team members, and - most importantly - my clients successful. As a company leader responsible for the sales and marketing teams I play a lead role in defining strategy and tactical execution to win on product, marketing, and business development. As head of sales, I recruit and hire sales and marketing talent, define value proposition, sales strategy, presentation, pricing, and competitive positioning. Intellectually curious and creative, as a continuous learner I dedicate time for reflection and self-improvement. Strong focus on taking care of teammates. Adaptive and introspective, willing to learn, teach, lead and follow. As one of the faces of the company, I am active in the ecosystem attending events, presenting at conferences and acquiring strategic business accounts on a global scale. Track record of success with world-class enterprises and top brands (some cannot be named at this time) including Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Scotiabank, Credit Suisse, IBM, American Express, Wolters Kluwer, Campbell’s Soup Company, Priceline.com, and Bluefly.com.   Like what you hear? Join our newsletter to get regular updates about all the content we produce. Check out our new YouTube Channel too!!

Ep 53 - Unconfiscatable with Gabe Higgins - BlockSpaces Here we are at the Unconfiscatable conference in Las Vegas. I've been pleasantly surprised with the venue, quality of content and the the number of familiar faces. One of those faces belonged to Gabe Higgins. Gabe and I have been crossing paths since 2013 on twitter and 2015 at events and through the Edge Slack channel as Ambassadors. Gabe is such a great guy. He has the type of values and big picture vision that make him someone you want to work and hangout with. Gabe also runs an incubator/coworking/events space called BlockSpaces, which offers a collaborative environment for the crypto and blockchain communities and also hosts educational events. Gabe and I set up shop in the media lounge and started to chatting. Gabe talks with us about how he got started in Bitcoin back in 2013. We cover why he came to the conference and the difficulties of having to pivot your business' focus. I ask Gabe what it's like to be in a relationship with your cofounder. We talk about if the children they're both raising have any idea about what Mom and Dad are doing and if they understand how this stuff works. We find out about his stance on maximalism. Finally, Gabe shares his views on what may happen with Bitcoin in the next 1 to 2 years. About Gabe Higgins Highly interested in emerging technology, specifically with distributed p2p networks, bitcoin (cryptocurrencies), blockchain tech, smart contracts, IoT, decentralized autonomous organizations, InfoSec, EdgeSec, and anything that promotes autonomy. I've been advising VC funded blockchain companies with branding, PR, social media marketing, and strategic partnerships. Been active in the bitcoin space since early 2013. Lead organizer for bitcoin & blockchain meetup groups together having over 1500 members and sponsored by Edge and Bitcoin.com. Collaborated with leading bitcoin payment processor BitPay for the St. Petersburg Bitcoin Bowl in Dec 2014. Had over 200 local merchants begin accepting bitcoin at the time and the area remains one of the largest bitcoin hotspots in the world. Now starting to merge my Meetup group with the connections in the industry to create a blockchain technology community & development center where we help educate the public, train developers, and incubate blockchain related startups from our center. Further Reading and Resources Twitter - @Crypto_Edge LinkedIn - Gabe Higgins Website - BlockSpaces     Like what you hear? Join our newsletter to get regular updates about all the content we produce. Check out our new YouTube Channel too

On this episode of LAB Radio we talked global remittances, markets, market making and how to use the Blockchain to help the cash-in and cash-out businesses. We brought on George Harrap, CEO and co-founder of Bitspark, a bank-less money transfer ecosystem. Bitspark enables businesses and people to cash in and cash out of cryptocurrencies and fiat across developing nations (and is enabling liquidity for 150+ foreign currencies) George Harrap, CEO and co-founder of Bitspark "A Cryptocurrency and Blockchain pioneer, one of the early users of Bitcoin since 2011, I co-founded Bitspark (Hong Kong) in 2014 with the mission of bringing low cost fast cryptocurrency based settlement to cross border transactions. Often an international speaker around the world, I am focused on empowering individuals and businesses with blockchain based payments to further financial inclusion and bring greater cost efficiencies leading to better world without the need for the legacy banking system." Here's a timeline of their company and activity to date: Their business began as a cash in cash out remittance service and still has roots in it: Now they have added DEX functionality which allows traders, investors and other users to add liquidity and capture market opportunities. All while helping provide fuel to the underlying ecosystem Bitspark provides. Learn more as we dive in with George Harrap on this episode of LAB Radio. After listening to this episode you will learn: George's background and how he ended up in Hong Kong as an Aussie The regulatory landscape and differences between places like Singapore and Hong Kong's rules and approach to Crypto businesses Why and how they chose their current Headquarters location How George got status in Hong Kong as an Australian citizen The original intent of Bitspark and why they are Crypto Agnostic The nature of the cash remittance business and the problems and opportunity George saw to be solved How as little as 5-20% of people have bank accounts in many developing nations How the cash in, cash out shop process works and the value proposition they provide Why George didn't want to change human behavior but rather improve the process of what people were already doing How Bitspark benefits users, shop owners and traders behind the scenes An arbitrage opportunity for traders to help create liquidity for shop owners and cash remittance customers About Bitshares being the first stable coin that has been working since 2014 How MakerDAO is a fork of Bitshares built on Ethereum Why the promise of not having to trust a companies reserves for a stable coin is a big deal (Hint: Crypto-based parallel FX market) How Bitshares experienced a black swan event and what Global Settlement is (and how to avoid that in the future) The process for Bitshares to incentivize traders to create Foreign Currency derivatives on their platform to help add liquidity to their How market making works through a can of coke analogy

On this inaugural OG Crypto Series episode, I, Chris Groshong sit down with Managing Partner at Stillmark Capital, Alyse Killeen to discuss what it takes to have longevity in the Crypto and Blockchain industry. This is a new series we're launching called The "Crypto OG Series" where I tap into my rolodex of VIPs, movers and shakers from the Blockchain space that have been around the industry and share their knowledge, perspective and philosophies. In this one, we talk about Venture Capital in Crypto and Alyse’s philosophical approach to investing through Stillmark Capital. Are there any differences between LA and Silicon Valley approaches to investing? And what does she look for in founders and does emotional intelligence play a factor? Hear a story about the history of entrepreneurship in her family dating back several generations. Alyse and I first met at an afterparty in June of 2014 as part of a conference (no longer in existence) called Coin Congress. She said some very motivating words to me that helped me push through tough times. I point this out because this industry is small compared to other Technology categories. You never know how the words you speak will be received or the importance someone may give to them. The people you affect may become allies, liaisons or partners in the future. Be positive, genuine and spread goodwill. You will be rewarded many times over.     About Alyse Killeen Founding Partner StillMark Co. Founder and Executive Director of City Fellows Consortium and Women in Venture. Mentor at Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play Tech Center and Alchemist Accelerator, and to NYFTL by the Partnership Fund for NYC and Springboard Enterprises. Fintech Fellow at Singapore University of Social Sciences in Singapore. Company Advisor contributing on issues of Strategy, Finance, Org and Ops, and more. First learned about company building alongside a successful entrepreneurial grandfather, catalyzing an affinity for and commitment to entrepreneurs. Rooting for Underdogs and Outsiders.

This episode of LAB Radio was a part of our coverage of CryptoBlockcon where Chris Groshong interviewed Erin Nakamoto. As described on Erin's website, here's a brief bio: "My story is a relatively short one. I was working in DTLV in the group sales department of the D Las Vegas in 2014 when they announced to the staff that they were now accepting bitcoin for payment. They had us open a Blockchain wallet, told us not to lose our passwords (private keys) and gave us all a small amount. That same day, I had a gentlemen call me and ask if he could host a bitcoin meetup at our hotel. We met, and the rest is history! …WELL, fast forward a couple of years, I absolutely lost my private keys, but that same gentlemen that called…not only did we plan an awesome meetup together, but we fell madly in love and are still together today. So, all in all, I lost $75 bucks but I found the love of my life so it worked out pretty well for me. My life has changed drastically. I have since taken over the Las Vegas Bitcoin Meetup and host them monthly. Kingsley and I live in Las Vegas with our amazing pets and we live off of our crypto! It has been an experience, I’ll tell ya. Lots of highs and lows, but I feel like my life got way more interesting since I’ve started living this way. I have way more adventures and it’s a great conversation starter. If you ever need advice on how to survive off of bitcoin, I’m your girl. I’ve got tips for days. I believe in the power of the blockchain and believe it will change all of our lives. I believe in trustless, peer to peer, borderless technology. I use my crypto like I use my cash and while not everyone does that, I feel that this is the only way that we’re going to spread mass adoption. But hey, that’s just my .2" Erin is a consummate influencer, event organizer (Las Vegas Bitcoin Meetup), connector and networker. We were thrilled to connect with her and talk Crypto at CryptoBlockCon. Check out the post here: https://coinstructive.com/ep51-erinnakamoto/  

This episode of LAB Radio was a part of our coverage of CryptoBlockcon where Chris Groshong interviewed Adam Koltun, Lead Business Strategist of Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL). Chris Groshong (left), CEO of CoinStructive Inc, and Adam Koltun (right), Lead Business Strategist of Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) As Adam so eloquently put it in their recap blog post, the conference itself was a cornucopia of very different industries squished together in an expansive venue: "The event was held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. In addition to CBC, the MLB Winter Meetings, and a National Finals Rodeo competition was being held nearby, so many of the competitors were staying at Mandalay Bay. Certainly, literal cowboys, baseball executives and blockchain enthusiasts rubbing shoulders made for some interesting juxtapositions. As much as those of us within the industry can sometimes get weary of terms like “adoption” or “mainstream” or “awareness” — moments like these serve as an eloquent reminder, to me, that blockchain/cryptocurrency are still completely unknown to large swaths of American society, at least. It’s useful, I find, to sometimes recognize that for all the drama this space can sometimes produce, that in the long-run, these are minor speedbumps that will be hardly (if at all) remembered by the vast majority of crypto users within the next 10 years." As stated on their website: "The Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) is a first of its kind, future-proof post quantum value store and decentralized communication layer which tackles the threat Quantum Computing will pose to cryptocurrencies. This is backed by provably secure, peer-reviewed XMSS (instead of 256-bit ECDSA) with a proof-of-work(POW) algorithm, Cryptonight v7, which will later be hard forked to Proof of Stake." QRL aims to future proof the Blockchain from Quantum computing through peer-reviewed and proven precursors like Extended Merkle Signature Scheme (EMSS): "QRL provides a blockchain that is resistant to both conventional and quantum computing attacks. The future of the internet will be built on decentralized protocols and abstraction layers, and we plan on being ready for that future, as well as any sudden quantum computing development (“Y2Q”) that may usher in that reality sooner than expected. Our blockchain will utilize the previously vetted, provably secure Extended Merkle Signature Scheme (XMSS) to ensure that our network is resistant to quantum computing attacks. We aim to secure our network against not only the inevitability of quantum computing, and all that implies for the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, but also the potential for a black swan event to rapidly and irreversibly advance the technology with no immediate warning. By utilizing an address format that allows us to change hash functions down the line if necessary, we have created a blockchain that is both secure today and adaptable tomorrow." For show notes and more visit: LAB Radio

On this LAB Radio, episode Aaron Mangal and Chris Groshong talk security, the Internet and origin story of how MetaCert helps protect users from malicious links with CEO and founder, Paul Walsh. Paul Walsh, CEO and founder of MetaCert and co-founder of W3C Mobile Web Initiative Paul is an early web pioneer in security and safety for users having helped create projects like the W3C Mobile Web Initiative who's mission includes "ensuring that the Web be available on as many kind of devices as possible". He also helped create standards and classifications for Uniform Resource Locations (URLs) as a part of his work at the W3C organization. "I'm CEO of MetaCert. In 2017 we completely eradicated phishing on Slack for the crypto world. In 2018 we pretty much brought a stop to phishing for the crypto world on Telegram. 2019 is going to be our most important year - our mission is to eradicate phishing for everyone who uses our new email security solution for native mobile email. Previously... I was part of the team that helped to launch technologies such as AIM, Internet Radio, Online Games and X2 56K Modem Protocol while working at AOL during the 90's. I co-instigated the creation of the W3C Standard for URL Classification/Content Labeling and I'm one of the seven original Founders of the W3C Mobile Web Initiative. I also own a full patent for Malware and Phishing detection and prevention inside a mobile app WebView with more pending. I own an Indian restaurant in Ireland - Michelin Star for 10+ years. [I am a] Irish. Father. Wine Drinker. Advanced Open Water Diver, Snowboarder, Skydiver Wannabe and Seasoned Traveller." -Paul Walsh This new broad access of the web we are seeing today has brought new challenges such as malicious individuals who seek to steal peoples data and even worse Cryptocurrency and the value within. The MetaCert team began by providing authenticity and monitoring of social media channels like Telegram and Slack which has a wave of malicious bot attacks on users, encouraging them to click on compromised links and put their sensitive data into fake websites which ultimately leads to theft. MetaCert aims to protect businesses from malicious threats and unsafe URLs inside Messaging Apps MetaCert has a patented enterprise-grade security API which can lookup over 2,000 shortening services and check it against a massive database of 10 billion classified URLs across 65 categories in a fraction of a second. MetaCert boasts the biggest threat intelligence system on the planet. The second to them is OpenDNS (run by Cisco) which has classified 2 million domains across 60 categories. One of the reasons for building its own threat intelligence system was to prevent false positives (which is a problem with current solutions on the market automatically blocking too many innocent sites). MetaCert recently released a beta of their email security solution which helps verify the safety of links: After listening to this episode you will learn: How Paul was an early semantic web pioneer in the 90s and created the W3C Mobile Web Initiative Why Paul felt websites and search engines should show more metadata and have an identity certificate What a Universal Resource Identifier (URI) is and why they are important How Webview works and was a vulnerability in our mobile use of the Web Why they got a patent in place for security around Webview to protect themselves from tech giants like Google Why the first iteration of MetaCert was for child safety and built a database for pornographic content How MetaCert saw the opportunity to organize and classify URIs and created the biggest Cyber Threat Intelligence Database to date How the MetaCert API works How MetaCert leverages a reward system for compensating people (Validators) for helping identify and log links Why the MetaCert "Green Shield" icon has become a pillar in their branding and marketing to the public Paul's vision for decentralizing governance around content, link filtering and working group/committee creation A fake news identifying browser add-on called TrustedNews which is 100% powered by MetaCert About how Paul is considering moving away from Ethereum (first time mentioned in public) For show notes and more visit: LAB Radio Episode 49

On this LAB Radio, episode Aaron Mangal talks technology, Blockchain and BUIDLing with Barbara Bickham, founder of Trailyn Ventures and the International Blockchain Accelerator. Barbara Bickham is a CTO, Investor and Entrepreneur and founder of the International Blockchain Accelerator Barbara is a Berkley, University of Chicago Alumni, coder, CTO and Technology Advisor with extensive experience across industries like: FinTech, Fashion, Wearables, Wireless, Security, Media and Entertainment, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. Her current areas of expertise are in Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and Internet of Things (IoT). She even won an award from Gartner for her work writing a REST API for an IoT platform. "I bridge the gap between professionals that speak in technology terms with professionals that speak primarily in financial terms. I represent a company to investors, key clients and strategic partners. I also have over 4 years experience preparing and evaluating companies for private equity or venture capital financing. Founded an investment association connecting Southern California businesses with venture funding." -Barbara Bickham The International Business Accelerator is a combination of private sector and non-profit entities' efforts: "The International Business Accelerator is a joint program of the Community Vitalization Council, an economic development non-profit, and K5 Ventures, an early-stage venture fund that partners with and invests in technology-driven businesses led by visionary founders.The IBA was started in 2014 with support from the US Small Business Administration... ...In 2018 the IBA announced its first sector-specific accelerator cohort on Blockchain for Global Growth taking place at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. In 2019 the IBA will announce new cohorts for more advanced tech, Global Fintech, Female-founders & Women-led companies, a partnership with Southern California's leading hardware accelerator and a Menlo Park cohort partnering with international legal and accounting firms in Silicon Valley." After listening to this episode you will learn: How Barbara began as a coder and eventually CTO, investor, entrepreneur and advisor The Catalyst for Barbara to cross the worlds of Investing and Technology The emergence of Digital Coast and eventually Blockchain Beach in Socal What a CTO is a what role they play in a company About the Blockchain Accelerator being hosted at USC's Blackstone Launchpad What types of people are joining the accelerator and what they learn The most exciting things to Barbara about the Blockchain world For show notes and more visit: https://coinstructive.com/ep48-blockchainaccelerator/

On this LAB Radio, episode Chris Groshong talks shop with Jeff Zhou, founder of TrustNote, a mineable public DAG ledger with a two-tier consensus mechanism. (Cryptographic Algorithms: BLAKE2, BIP32-Ed25519) The architecture is designed for high concurrent transactions and confirmation times.  Jeff Zhou, Founder of TrustNote  Jeff's background began with chip making and eventually led him to realizing the lack of scalability with Bitcoin: "A few years back Jeff Zhou started working on blockchain and at that time he developed BTC+LTC dual mining chips and hardware, the technology was sold to a world-wide market.Jeff then tried to develop an IoT software platform based on blockchain technology, and after several months of trial and development, he encountered serious issues with scalability and the transaction fees were very high. Issues like these prevent mass adoption of the blockchain technology and ultimately drove the foundation of the TrustNote open source project and its development of a fast, scalable, and light platform to provide high-performance for everyone on every device at a lower cost." Now with TrustNote Jeff aims to create a new alternative architecture to the traditional Blockchain construct. The TrustNote whitepaper elaborates on the details of the project and core architecture: "Today’s blockchain technologies face many challenges such as network congestion, high transaction fees, and long delays in transaction confirmation. TrustNote seeks to address these problems by building the world-leading public Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) ledger which is minable, capable of handling high concurrent transactions yet still maintain quick transaction confirmation." Above is a breakdown of how the TrustNote DAG compares with two other DAG focused projects, IOTA and Byteball. After listening to this episode you will learn: About how Jeff worked on secret projects for the Chinese Government before moving into the chip-making industry How they combined multiple algorithms into one chip (allowing multiple mining algorithms under one unit) Why Mining is big and concentrated in China Jeffs thoughts on China and how the worlds borders are opening up thanks to technology like Bitcoin What a DAG is and how they are using this technology as a Blockchain alternative Why Consensus is one of the biggest challenges to Blockchains Why they are aiming to solve this through a hybrid approach of architecture options What TrustNote is and how it works and when it's mainnet will be ready Why Jeff began with learning C languages (like C++) but also like other languages like Rust For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio

On this LAB Radio, episode Aaron Mangal chats with Kylan Hurt about the life as a developer at Edge wallet, a multi-currency wallet with baked in secure Single Sign-On (SSO) functionality.  We discuss how he became a developer, building a wallet, programming various code bases (like Javascript) and other topics from a dev's perspective. Kylan Hurt, Software Engineer at Edge Kylan is a Software Engineer for Edge Wallet, a team that develops a multi-cryptocurrency wallet software and application. Kylan has worked with such organizations as Intuit, Z Global marketing, Knowledge City, Datagonia and Let's Talk Bitcoin. He is also the organizer of the San Diego Blockchain Development Meetup and previously produced and hosted of The Captain Crypto Show, a discontinued cryptocurrency-related podcast. Edge, a multi-currency wallet with over 15 coins including BTC, ETH, XMR, XRP and more Here is some lore about how Edge (formerly AirBitz) came to be from the company website: Edge’s first product, a bitcoin wallet and business directory, was launched in the winter of 2014, under the company name of “AirBitz” and has been securing millions of dollars worth of bitcoin ever since. Like many others, Airbitz was inspired by the bitcoin revolution and set out from day one to build tools that kept bitcoin users safe and in control. The Airbitz Bitcoin Wallet was the first application of a security model we coined as “Edge Security”. By the end of 2015, we had successfully packaged up the tools that make the Airbitz Wallet awesome into a software development kit (SDK) that developers could use for their own applications. Our “Edge Security” SDK has since been integrated into top-tier blockchain projects such as Augur, Wings, and OpenLedger. Airbitz quickly advanced from a bitcoin wallet in 2014 to a paradigm shifting data security solution and multi-currency wallet in late 2017. Given our company’s evolution and coining of the term, “Edge Security”, we thought it would be best to highlight this focus as the core of our brand.   After listening to this episode you will learn: How Kylan self-started learning programming from a previously dissatisfying job The path he took to go from nothing to building an app (Edge wallet) Why Javascript is a more common language for front-end programming How you can do a lot of backend (server side) programming with Javascript Why other languages force you to configure your own server to write and deploy code What nodes are and why they are critical to decentralization How 0x works as a decentralized exchange protocol A day in the life of a developer at Edge How Edge eats their own dogfood through internal Cryptocurrency usage as a company Why development in the Blockchain space is bleeding edge and people should realize everything is a work in progress   For show notes and more visit: LAB Radio

On this LAB Radio, episode Chris Groshong chats with Will McDonough, founder of iCash which provides a Proof of Trust Protocol (PoT). This enables powerful use cases like smart contract validation, settlement and Blockchain insurance. Will McDonough, founder of iCash Will McDonough is an investor and entrepreneur whose storied career ranges from sports and entertainment management to the world of global finance. In 2014, McDonough led the Initial Public Offering for Atlas Mara (ATMA:LSE) with co-founder and former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, for a market cap of $825 million after acquiring eight banks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Today, Atlas Mara has more than 3,500 employees and is operated by former executives of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Barclays, Standard Chartered and Ecobank. Prior to founding Atlas, McDonough and his team in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs managed more than $17 billion in private capital of the firm’s current and retired partners. While at Goldman, he co-founded the Goldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit, an industry-leading conference bringing together the top 100 entrepreneurs in the world every year. Prior to Goldman, McDonough partnered with New York-based Avenue Capital Group to co-found a $250 million distressed debt fund called Avenue Strategic Partners. Since 2001, he has run his own highly successful management company called MMG, which has represented the licensing and partnerships interests of many high-profile individuals, iconic brands, and venerable estates including The Estate of Nelson Mandela, New England Patriots Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, and supermodel/activist Gisele Bundchen. MMG also co-founded a children’s entertainment company with Andy Heyward, Warren Buffett, Martha Stewart, Stan Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger to build educational content for children. iCash, a Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol assuring accurate data from Blockchain transactions iCash’s is a Blockchain-agnostic Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol which provides distributed trust for data input. This means assuring data is accurate using this construct for services like validating smart contract settlements and Blockchain Insurance. Just as courts and lawyers provide validate appeals processes for paper contracts, iCash’s PoT Delegates provide the same process for digital Smart Contracts. While proof of stake and proof of work are certainly breakthrough tech, there is currently no system in place to assure users that the data inputs are accurate. After listening to this episode you will learn: About Will's origin story and how he got started as a childhood entrepreneur How Will got into Boston College after initially being rejected Why he built a company with Tom Brady and represented such figures as Nelson Mandela financially What a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is and the benefit of operating as one Creating a company ("fund of funds") that provided exclusive access to hedge fund managers that money couldn't buy How he developed relationships with JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Why settlement in Blockchain transactions are not always accurate and why that's a pain point for institutional traders What Proof of Trust (PoT) is and how it works? About iCash positioning as an independent third party insurance provider of Crypto (like buying it for your car) How iCash uses Delegates (third-party Oracles) which can be configured for public or private Blockchains For show notes and more visit: LAB Radio

On this LAB Radio, episode Aaron Mangal discusses Blockchain Regulation and the legal side of things with Morvareed Salehpour. Morvareed Salehpour, Attorney and Speaker Morvareed Z. Salehpour specializes in handling a diverse range of complex legal matters both in and outside the courtroom. She is experienced in negotiating a variety of contracts and legal agreements and litigating cases from inception to trial and appeal. She has represented companies and individuals in a variety of industries, including blockchain, technology, entertainment, media, banking, manufacturing, real estate, fashion, retail, food and beverage, and healthcare, among others. She has represented clients across the nation ranging from entrepreneurs and small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Salehpour enthusiastically applies unique solutions to client needs, working hard to devote herself to efficient resolutions. Ms. Salehpour earned a degree in Political Science, summa cum laude, from UCLA in 2007 and received her JD from the UCLA School of Law in 2010, where she also served as a Managing Editor for the UCLA Law Review. Ms. Salehpour previously practiced at BakerHostetler, a national firm where her work included being a member of the legal team seeking to recover the principal lost in the Madoff Ponzi scheme, and then at Strange & Butler, a complex litigation boutique. She is admitted to the State Bar of California, is a member of the bars of the United States District Court for the Central, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California, and a member of the bar of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Ms Salehpour is also active in the tech community and enjoys analyzing and discussing developing legal issues in that field, particularly with respect to the blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual reality/augmented reality, and esports. After listening to this episode you will learn: About Morvareed's background, where she's from and how she got started in the Law (Hint: Law and Order) How Morvareed decided to focus her legal services on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency technology The way she approached applying legal capabilities and the Law to Blockchain About the US-based case law system and how it affects the development of Regulation Why we have been through these cycles before with the Law but with other tech booms Key concepts including Jurisdiction, Liability, Enforcement, Crypto Asset Management, and Copyright Protection The dark side of Cryptocurrency and the Law Threats to Blockchain immutability About the uniform regulation of virtual-currency businesses act  For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio Episode 44

On this LAB Radio, episode Aaron Mangal discusses creating rare digital art on the Blockchain as well as the myriad of platforms out there for artists. Our guest this week is Joe Chiappetta, cartoonist, comic book author and artist. Joe Chiappetta, Author, Cartoonist, Blockchain Art Creator Joe Chiappetta has been involved in cartooning and publishing since the mid-1980s, creating comics and art that reflect something positive about life. As an author, Chiappetta has won many awards, including an Illinois Arts Council Award for his work on the book "Back Pain Avenger." This volume, its research, and the speaking tour surrounding it focused on issues of disability in the history of comic books, as well as presenting a non-medicated memoir of rehabilitation. For his family documentary work on the graphic novel "Silly Daddy," Joe was also the recipient of the Xeric Award as well as numerous other award nominations over the years. Rare Silly Chain from Joe's Blockchain Art Card Collection Called CrystalsCraft While widely known for his award-winning work on Silly Daddy Comics, Joe has also been a prolific cartoonist creating comics about cryptocurrency and blockchain since 2015. He exhibited twelve blockchain comics at the 2018 Ethereal Summit in New York City and was the only cartoonist selected for this event to create live interpretive comics covering the show. As the author of numerous articles about rare digital art, and an early adopter in this field as well as on crypto-social networks, Joe has educated and encouraged thousands of professionals, including artists and collectors, to pay close attention to the rising opportunities that cryptocurrency has opened up for the art industry. After listening to this episode you will learn: Joe's Background and how he got into making art How the old system of collectables works (Creating, selling and distributing the works) What makes something rare, valuable and collectable How Joe sees the opportunity to transition into digital collectables The story behind Joe's rare digital artwork How does Cryptocurrency open new opportunities for Cartoonists and Collectors About Spells of Genesis and their "Blockchanization" in gaming Applications in the Cryptocurrency art realm Joe is excited about Book of Orbs, a platform for buying/selling and storing digital art Platforms Joe likes including Steemit and Ono For show notes and more visit: LAB Radio

On this LAB Radio, episode Aaron Mangal discusses Spark, a web and mobile payments platform and decentralized exchange (DEX) powered by Graphene and built on BitShares. Maxine Ryan, Spark's Chief Operations Officer, discusses the platform and a variety of concepts including the components of a DEX and the process of moving from Spark from Bitcoin to BitShares. Maxine Ryan, COO and co-founder of Spark Maxine Ryan is a Hong Kong-based entrepreneur who is passionate about the freedom of financial services for people. In 2014, she co-founded Bitspark, the world's first cash in, cash out blockchain money transfer platform for Money Transfer Operators which helps business owners send money better via cryptocurrency solutions worldwide. The company in 2017 launched its ICO, $ZEPH, a rewards token for Bitspark's 180+ pegged cryptocurrency network whereby users of networks are incentivised via rewards and the company contributes buybacks to the market via its profits. Maxine frequently speaks at tech and finance events, can be seen on BloombergLive and was selected for Forbes 30 Under 30, 2018. Twitter : @MaxieRyan @BitsparksLtd #Bitshares #Decentralisation #RealSolutions As stated on their website: Bitspark, a Hong Kong based fintech company provides Spark, a secure web and mobile platform for money transfer operators [MTO] to send and receive payments quicker and cheaper utilising blockchain technology in addition to a suite of compliance and analytics tools tailored for the MTO industry. In November 2014 Bitspark conducted the world’s first cash-in cash-out remittance transaction using Bitcoin and has since refined and targeted their services towards money transfer operators. Bitspark has in recent years expanded to over seven countries in the Asia Pacific and African regions including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Ghana, Nigeria, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan and has formed a number of important partnerships and gained recognition at home and internationally. Bitspark has a history of excellent support from many notable organisations. Bitspark is an alumni of the Cyberport Incubation Program in 2014 backed by the Hong Kong government, in 2015 was selected for the Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab APAC, in 2016 selected for the SixThirty Fintech accelerator USA and in 2017 was selected by the United Nations Development Program for financial inclusion projects in Tajikistan. In the financial space, Bitspark has been recognised by Goldman Sachs, Citibank, KPMG and Nikkei and has received coverage by noted publications like Forbes, SCMP, RT News, New York Times, The Australian, Coindesk and many more. We discuss network effects and building technology that can be used across the Blockchain universe. Thanks for checking out LAB Radio! After listening to this episode you will learn: How Maxine got started in her career and eventually into Blockchains The state of the Blockchain market an industry in 2014 Why Spark (BitSpark at the time) shifted from Bitcoin to the BitShares Blockchain About how Spark is bankless, using full Crypto for all of their business The SparkDEX, what it is and how it works on BitShares Core models of Spark's business How Spark wants to create an open ecosystem for the money transfer space The 3 components of a DEX: fund management, order books and crypto transaction How the Sendy App works to facilitate cash-in and cash-out transaction in person leveraging Spark For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio

On this LAB Radio, episode Aaron Mangal discuss Blockdaemon, a three-click Blockchain node deployment and cloud platform with Konstantin Richter, the CEO and founder. Konstantin is a technology Entrepreneur in the Telecom, SaaS, and the B2B space.  Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he was an executive at Deutsche Telekom and Nokia in software/services strategy and business development. He is also fluent in 4 languages. Konstantin Richter, CEO and founder of Blockdaemon Blockdaemon is a node deployment tool that allows you to launch your node on a public blockchain network or join a private network in three clicks. To maintain decentralization, Blockdaemon partners with multiple cloud providers, including AWS, Digital Ocean, and Google Cloud Services. With Blockdaemon you can customize an existing protocol, supply your genesis block, choose the regions you want and how many nodes you need. Current Blockchains supported include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stellar and AION We discuss network effects and building technology that can be used across multiple Blockchain universes.  Thanks for listening to LAB Radio! After listening to this episode you will learn: How Konstantin got his start through telecom and consulting The power of network effects Konstantin observed and how he sought to leverage that construct in his companies About the crossover between network effects and the Blockchain Previous experiences including helping structure the business and strategy for Gem How his previous consulting experiences led him to think strategically about systems The benefits of Nodes-as-a-service which allows users to pool resources and gain economies of scale Why the goal has been to provide self-provisioning 3-click deployment of nodes for Cryptos like Bitcoin and Stellar Their developer first focus in term of the tools and services they provide For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio

In this episode of LAB Radio, Chris Groshong and Aaron Mangal discuss the NEO Global Capital fund, investing in Asia, emerging markets and the Blockchain.  Roger Lim, Partner at NEO Global Capital Roger is an experienced angel and blockchain investor, entrepreneur and technologist. He previously founded Webvisions, a managed cloud hosting company which he sold to a private equity firm. He is an advisor for Bluzelle, Qlink, CoinFi, Selfkey, TheKey, Tomocoin, 0Chain, nOS, Open Platform. Roger is now a founding partner of NEO Global Capital.    Tony Gu, Partner at NEO Global Capital Tony is an experienced Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) professional and blockchain investor. Tony is a founding partner at NEO Global Capital (NGC) and is a partner of Rhodium Capital and Longstand Capital. He has done deals in Financial Services, Consumer, Health Care and TMT sectors, with total transaction value exceeding $1 Billion. We discuss investing in Asia, emerging markets, preserving wealth and the NEO Global Capital fund. After listening to this episode you will learn: How Roger and Tony met each other and began investing together The structure and focus of the two NEO Global Capital funds they manage Key initiatives and project categories that investment occurs in Emerging markets that they see activity and investment in The things that are most exciting to Roger and Tony Why Networking, building trust and opening doors for others is so important How NGC focuses on not just investing in firms but adding value The challenges around finding and retaining talent Strategies and tactics to consider when looking at markets For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio

In this episode of LAB Radio, Aaron Mangal discusses the Bitshares ecosystem, the Graphene engine that underlies it and algorithms like Delegated Proof of Stake (DPOS) with Kevin Messerly. Graphene was originally designed by Daniel Larimer who also founded Steemit and EOS. Kevin Messerly, Proxy and DEXBot Team Manager "I have six years experience as a cryptocurrency investor and advocate. Additionally, I have four years experience as a sales executive/account manager with a track record of high performance and strong work ethics. On top of that I have over fourteen years experience as an intelligence analyst for the United States Army and Department of Defense. I have successfully operated in high stress environments, requiring 13 hour shifts, six or seven days a week, throughout four deployments in Southwest Asia, South-Central Asia, and Africa for a total of 49 months." Graphene is the underlying technology that underlies BitShares and several other Cryptocurrency projects like Steemit and EOS. Graphene is an open source C++ blockchain implementation, which acts as a consensus mechanism. BitShares also has the ability to issued market pegged assets which are tied with real-time real world prices. The BitShares market pegged BitAssets system Ultimately, BitShares operates more as an equity rather than a purist “currency” since BTS tokens are used as collateral for a variety of decentralized financial services like decentralized exchanges, banking, derivative creation (of market pegged “bitAssets”) and currency rails. Thanks for checking out LAB Radio. After listening to this episode you will learn: Kevin's origin story and how he first discovered Cryptocurrency in 2011 Why BitShares, in particular, caught Kevin's eye How BitShares leverages a suite of services including a DEX, bank and even user issued assets (UIA) About BitShares and how it had the first stable coin and market pegged assets (MPA) system The construct of Witnesses who process transactions and maintain price feeds The concept of decentralized banking and how you can borrow against your BitShares as collateral How Black swan events and collateral are handled by the system The risk and challenges of growing an ecosystem like BitShares The benefits of Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio

In this episode of LAB Radio, Aaron Mangal discusses Interactive and Tokenized Television with Gavin Douglas, CEO and co-founder of iPowow. "Our early vision was conceived on a surf beach in Australia, ‘… to give millions of television viewers the power to interact with their favorite TV show and to affect the story, second by second’. Since then we’ve been expanding around the world, transforming tens of thousands of hours of live TV, taped TV and live stream shows into exciting participation experiences. We’re a team of TV thinkers, creators and doers with a passion for Participation TV and we firmly believe that telling great stories leads to great ratings. By moving iPowow onto the blockchain and making use of the best technology available, we can tokenize and monetize viewer engagement to provide better rewards for viewers and valuable data insights to networks, shows, and brands. So basically, instead of earning points, which have limited value, viewers earn HIT tokens just for watching content and more HITs for actively participating in contests, polls, and campaigns. After accumulating a certain amount of HITs, a viewer can visit our digital shopping plaza and exchange them for either digital or real-world products offered by our TV Network and Brand partners." Gavin Douglas, CEO and Co-Founder of iPowow Gavin is a multi-award winning media producer and TV format developer with over 20 years of experience. As the CEO of iPowow, Gavin has driven the business deals and the production of over 100 broadcast television + streaming video projects that link linear storytelling with real-time interactive technology, offering a unique perspective important to bridging blockchain technology and the media ecosystem. Gavin has overseen iPowow’s growth across both linear television and streaming video by negotiating and signing production deals with clients including ESPN, NBC, ABC, Fox Sports, CNBC, CNN, Red Bull, Discovery and Disney. Prior to iPowow, Gavin had written, produced, directed or edited more than 30 television series around the world, including “BBC Top Gear,” “MasterChef,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” “Big Brother” and “MythBusters.” iPowow which led to the creation of the HIT protocol allows viewership to be tokenized, meaning viewers can be paid to watch content. This also brings with it a whole new level of data as this viewership can be correlated with buying habits. After listening to this episode you will learn: About Gavin's background in Television and analog approaches to audience interaction The genesis of iPowow and pitching their interactive tech to NBC, ABC, CNN, ESPN and FOX Sports How they have always focused on the viewing experience and aim to keep viewers excited about the show The key technological catalysts for the evolution of TV from "stuck the wall" 20 years ago to today's on-demand world Why the fact that everyone can consume content on any device anytime is a huge business opportunity for everyone How viewers are incentivized to watch shows through HIT tokens The vast treasure trove of data available behind these tokens and the associated viewing and purchasing habits Why we should always be on the lookout for the next technology and how to put those pieces together For show notes and more visit: LAB Radio Thanks for listening to LAB Radio.

In this episode of LAB Radio, Aaron Mangal discusses Spl.yt, a decentralized marketplace protocol, with CEO and founder Cyrus Taghehchian. Cyrus Taghehchian, CEO and Founder at Spl.yt Cyrus Taghehchian is the co-founder and CEO of Spl.yt, a decentralized marketplace protocol. Cyrus, a Deloitte Consulting alum, is a world-class consultant, co-active coach and Lean-Agile thought leader who has helped C-level and executives improve their organizations’ product management processes, development practices, and team culture at companies such as Intel, Bank of America, Paypal, and more. A serial entrepreneur at heart, Cyrus specializes in technology strategy and implementations in the e-commerce and digital marketing space, including leading his previous companies through product and market fit phases. Cyrus entered the blockchain space in 2015, having taken several notable active involvements, collaboration and advisory roles within the blockchain community where he applies his unique business development perspective, to promote blockchain and distributed ledger technology. Spl.yt, a Decentralized E-commerce Protocol for a Global Inventory and Affiliate Network According to the Spl.yt litepaper: “Spl.yt provides the market reach of Alibaba and CJ Affiliate, with the assurance of Amazon, at the no-cost prices of Craigslist” This is based on their global inventory and logistics system which allows retailers to connect with several marketplaces, not just one, which greatly reduces the labor and management behind multiple postings. It goes on to further explain how retailers can connect with their platform: Spl.yt’s core function begins when an online retailer connects our easy-to-use SDK to load its inventory onto the blockchain. Once on the blockchain, Spl.yt’s smart contract grants access to all other participating marketplaces...Spl.yt uses token economics to promote fair and reliable participant behaviors. Spl.yt’s global reputation system provides peace of mind that reviews and ratings (necessary for buyers to trust retailers) are performed fairly without censorship or manipulation, and reflect behavior across the internet (rather than one website). How Splyt Connects Buyers and Sellers Splyt also have a dispute resolution to take care of any kind of problem that arises from transactions through intermediaries called Validators. These are real people that help figure out any issues whether on the buyer or seller side. Finally, through an affiliate system sellers can leverage an automated way to manage and pay out commissions to affiliate for helping to sell products. After listening to this episode you will learn: About the origin story of how Cyrus went from Consulting into the Blockchain world How consultants think, work and create value for clients Why great consultants replace themselves in the long-term Why people are a super important often overlooked part of building a successful company What Splyt is and how it works as a protocol The way that Splyt increases the reach of a posting across several major marketplaces A unique affiliate system that incentivizes anyone helping sell any product in the marketplace How Sellers can download the Splyt SDK and access a global database of inventory About Decentralized Autonomous Initial Coin Offerings (DAICOs) and one called HAIKU that Splyt is building  The Affiliate system behind Splyt and how it evolves the current Affiliate model How Splyt handles dispute resolutions For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio Episode 37

In this episode, Aaron Mangal discusses the Coinigy platform with Derek Urben, CFO of Coinigy, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Coinigy is a cross-exchange charting, portfolio management, trading, and research platform. Using a monthly subscription model, Coinigy allows users a wide cornucopia of data sets and access to exchanges including the possibility to execute trades through a secure Application Programming Interface (API). Derek Urben, CFO, Coinigy Coinigy's reach stretches across more than 45 exchanges with 75+ technical indicators all under a single pane of glass interface. On the alert side of things you can trigger SMS, E-Mail and in-browser price alerts powered by low-latency data feeds. In addition, they allow instant access to real-time APIs and historical data. There is also the ability to leverage enterprise-grade data feeds for individuals and institutions. The API is live, real-time data powered by the Coinigy CryptoFeed™. This API stretches across 41 exchanges, 3,516 markets and 3.468 cryptocurrencies. After listening to this episode you will learn: About Derek's origin story and how he got started in Cryptocurrency and Coinigy Who the users of Coinigy are Why Coinigy doesn't hold user funds The emergence about just about anything "as a service" Why the membership subscription model was chosen Basic security practices and architecture behind the platform and how it protects users Why APIs are a common practice along with cloud computing for traditional trading houses About the research arm of Coinigy and the types of information they aggregate How they position as an aggregator allows a non-biased exploration of the ecosystem Why the future of firms, mergers and private equities will shift dramatically For show notes and more please visit: LAB Radio