QuantLayer Podcast

As software teams begin to migrate to serverless, they will require more in the way of serverless specific tooling: cost tracking, alerting, monitoring, and so on. Here, we look at a number of serverless tooling providers and discuss what they bring and how they will compete with traditional tooling services. Topics: Installable versus Hosted Platform On Hosted Platform Tooling providers - CloudZero - Dashbird - Hasura GraphQL Engine - IOpipe - Iron.io - lumigo - Node Lambda - SCAR - Sigma - Stackery - Thundra On framework On security - Protego - Threat Stack On Installable Platform Links: Hosted Platform - https://landscape.cncf.io/category=hosted-platform&format=card-mode&grouping=category Tools - https://landscape.cncf.io/category=tools&format=card-mode&grouping=category Framework - https://landscape.cncf.io/category=framework&format=card-mode&grouping=category Security - https://landscape.cncf.io/category=security&format=card-mode&grouping=category Installable Platform - https://landscape.cncf.io/category=installable-platform&format=card-mode&grouping=category

Serverless has caused a massive shift in approaches to application design. On this episode, we explore what serverless gives teams, and the tradeoffs involved in going the serverless route. We cover players like Amazon AWS, Google GCP, and Microsoft Azure, and what else is in store for the space. Topics: What Serverless is On their benefits Monolithic versus microservices architectures How might development teams work on serverless applications versus traditional ones On tradeoffs of Serverless Business benefits of Serverless The drawbacks Links: Serverless - https://serverless.com What is Serverless? - Squadex - https://squadex.com/insights/what-is-serverless/

Relational databases versus NoSQL is of interest today given growing data requirements for businesses. Real-time, internet of things, storing geodata, financial data are examples where traditional relational databases don’t make the cut required for modern systems. We discuss the successes and failings of relational databases, and how MongoDB’s approach to NoSQL data structures allow them to serve specific customer problems with specialized solutions. We look at some customer case studies and finish up with their business model. Topics: What MongoDB is Their database Their overview What are the benefits Customer case studies On their solution Growth Strategy Links: Last 10K - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1441816/000144181619000067/mdb-013119x10k.htm Last 10Q - https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1441816/000144181619000187/mdb-073119x10q.htm Prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1441816/000104746917006446/a2233574z424b4.htm Ycharts financials - https://ycharts.com/financials/MDB/income_statement/quarterly MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com/

Edge computing is a topic that isn’t getting enough coverage. We’ve covered CDNs like CloudFlare before, but we wanted to look at Fastly, an edge computing player that went public early in 2019. On this episode, we cover edge computing topics like rapidly purged caching. We run through a few case studies of the value edge computing brings some of Fastly’s customers. We discuss major risks that the company might face and postulate on why we think they’re trading at a discount compared to other SaaS companies like CloudFlare ($NET) and Elastic ($ESTC). Topics: QuantLayer Mission Statement Analysis Case studies they mention in their prospectus On their section called, "Our Solution: The Developer's Edge" How they categorize their strenghts Who are their competitors and how to they sit there Major differences versus Cloudflare On their sections called, "Factors Affecting Our Performance" Faizaan's major concerns about Fastly Links: Prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1517413/000119312519150526/d702138d424b4.htm Latest 10Q - https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1517413/000151741319000022/fsly-10qx93019.htm Fastly is An Under Appreciated Growth Story - https://www.cmlviz.com/2019/11/12/FSLY/fastly-nyse-fsly-is-an-under-appreciated-growth-story.html Fastly Blog - https://www.fastly.com/blog/build-on-fastly-with-code-blocks-and-tutorials

There has been a lot of interest around developer-first banking APIs recently. On this episode, we go over recent tech IPO Silvergate Capital (ticker $SI), which is a digital currency focused bank and settlement network. We discuss their business, particularly around digital currency initiatives and their Silvergate Exchange Network (or SEN). We get into the weeds of what it means to claim to be an API first financial services company. Enjoy the episode. Topics: On Silvergate Capital QuantLayer mission statement analysis Overview of Silvergate Capital Digital Currency Initiative Silvergate Exchange Network What their API offers Growth strategy Risk factors Links: Prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1312109/000119312519288512/d568616d424b4.htm Silvergate Capital - https://www.silvergatebank.com/ Banking APIs - Open Banking Platform by Silvergate Bank - https://www.silvergatebank.com/api/developer-tools.html Silvergate Sandbox API - https://silvergate.portal.azure-api.net/docs/services/5aec9e3121b53188f5be9853/operations/access-token

Recently, there has been a lot of recent interest in customized semiconductors. Bitcoin mining has highlighted the interest in ASICs, or application specific chips, and as we move up the customized application layer stack, discussion of AI and ML chips becomes necessary. On this episode, we look at Canaan Mining, a chinese Bitcoin mining chip manufacturer. And we look at them in the context of growing trends in AI and ML chips. We compare and contrast AMD and NVIDIA and discuss the new growth in startups in the traditionally capital intensive space. We finish up with what you should be on the lookout for when considering investing in chip manufacturers. Topics: Canaan F1 On their mission statement Quick overview on Canaan Industry overview Overview of bitcoin and blockchain mining economics AI and ML chips What CPU is What GPU is What ASIC is What TPU is On their risk factors Links: History and Corporate Structure - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1780652/000119312519276263/g773846g13c91.jpg Canaan.io - https://canaan.io/ IPO prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1780652/000119312519276263/d773846df1.htm#rom773846_1 Canaan Creative - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan_Creative SEC Form F-1 - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sec-form-f-1.asp Specialized AI Chips Hold Both Promise and Peril for Developers - https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/processors/specialized-ai-chips-hold-both-promise-and-peril-for-developers NVIDIA Gross Profit Margin - https://ycharts.com/companies/NVDA/gross_profit_margin

On this episode, we speak with Barney Mannerings, founder of Vega Protocol, which is a blockchain product initially focused on derivatives markets. Barney understands this space really well, and it was a pleasure talking to him about what he’s building at Vega. Broadly, we discuss the DeFi, or Parallel Financial System, space, and Barney talks to us about why he thinks this space is important. He explains how Vega, in many ways, augments and replaces some exchanges, and how it serves as an integration layer with other protocols. We finish up with some areas of tech that Barney is excited about outside of crypto. Topics: Barney's background All about his company, Vega Parallel Financial System Why DeFi is important Thoughts on building ETH versus BTC Which derivatives does Vega support currently Types of derivatives users could create Market map How ETH moving to ETH 2.0 would affect DeFi business Upcoming product roadmap Links: Vega Protocol - https://vega.xyz/ Twitter - Vega Protocol - https://twitter.com/vegaprotocol Twitter - Barney - https://twitter.com/barnabee?lang=en

On this episode, we dig into Datadog’s (Ticker: DDOG) IPO prospectus. We discuss their approach to analytics and monitoring, and how companies can benefit from using them. We look at a few case studies of how companies derive value from their product, and one in particular, that can generate value from its use. We also run through their developer-friendly offering and how quickly the product can be incorporated into a system. We spend a little time with their financials and then discuss our view of thinking about them as a product versus an ecosystem. Topics: What Datadog is Anecdotes of personal use with Elixir On their IPO prospectus - Industry Background - Opportunity - Solution and Key Strengths - Key Benefits to Our Customers - Growth Strategies - Risk Factors Links Datadog - https://www.datadoghq.com/ IPO prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1561550/000119312519249577/d745413d424b4.htm Chart - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1561550/000119312519249577/g745413g15v58.gif #54: Content Delivery Networks, DDOS Protection and Bot Fighting: CloudFlare as a Web Performance and Security Company - https://quantlayer.libsyn.com/content-delivery-networks-ddos-protection-and-bot-fighting-cloudflare-as-a-web-performance-and-security-company #38: A Look at CrowdStrike’s IPO Prospectus and Their Approach to Endpoint Security - https://quantlayer.libsyn.com/a-look-at-crowdstrikes-ipo-prospectus-and-their-approach-to-endpoint-security #15: Open Source as Revenue Driver: How Elasticsearch Uses Open Source for Revenue Growth, Tech Investing and Crypto, a Cautionary Tale of Bad Crypto Trading Psychology and Flash Crashes - https://quantlayer.libsyn.com/15-open-source-as-revenue-driver-how-elasticsearch-uses-open-source-for-revenue-growth-tech-investing-and-crypto-a-cautionary-tale-of-bad-crypto-trading-psychology-and-flash-crashes

We go over the CloudFlare IPO prospectus, which calls itself a “Web Performance and Security Company.” We discuss their mission statement, their stated competitive advantages, risks they may face and a quick overview of their financials. Topics: The Web Performance and Security Company Cloudflare's mission Companies putting mission statements int their prospectuses How would an early stage startup use Cloudflare versus a Fortune 500 On "Our Industry" section On "Why We Win" section Disruptive Business Model Ease of Use Efficient Go-to-Market Model Product Innovation and Velocity Integrated, Global Offering Trust and Neutrality On "Growth Strategy" section List of concerns that the company and the company's lawyers have Talking about the section title, "Key Business Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures Links: Cloudfare.com - https://www.cloudflare.com/ Cloudflare IPO Prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1477333/000119312519244325/d735023d424b4.htm Yogababble | No Mercy / No Malice - https://www.profgalloway.com/yogababble Google prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312504143377/d424b4.htm

Software Consultant Ron Lichty joins us to talk about all things software management. Ron has a treasure trove of experience helping teams accelerate and amplify their software practices. We look at the history of waterfall-style projects transitioning to Agile projects. We talk about his time as a product manager at Apple and his work with Charles Schwab at the time they launched their electronic trading platform. Ron articulates his views on the different types of developers out there and how to motivate them. We finish up with a couple areas Ron is excited about: Blockchain and Virtual Reality. Topics: Ron's background History of waterfall-style projects transitioning to Agile projects Charles Schwab interactive tools Talking about Extreme Programming On Scrum Software development is a team sport Differences between this notion of "being agile" versus "doing agile" Case of estimating Talking about Brooke's law On being a good managers Motivators versus de-motivators Effective management at different stages of companies Some interesting technologies and trends that he's optimistic about Links: Ron Lichty's website - https://ronlichty.com/ Managing the Unmanageable: The Book - http://managingtheunmanageable.net/ Managing the Unmanageable: Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Unmanageable-Insights-Software-People-ebook/dp/B009CFV8BY Waterfall Software Development - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model Agile Software Development - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development RUP - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_Unified_Process Harvard Business Review case study on motivating employees - https://hbr.org/2003/01/one-more-time-how-do-you-motivate-employees Drive by Daniel H. Pink - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P1JDJO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

On this episode, I speak to Zaki Manian from Tendermint. We get deep into the weeds of interoperability, his notions of interop between fast chains and fast and slow chains. We discuss the IBC protocol, which is a spec for adapters between different chains along with all the complexities when dealing with cross-chain communications. Moreover, we examine design and development principles when building product in this space, and the differences when building traditional software product. Zaki goes over some exciting projects that are building on Cosmos as well. Topics: Who Zaki is Talking about interoperability Two classes of blockchains What is Cosmos trying to do Main issues when getting different chains to talk to one another Main design principles when setting out to design the Cosmos network Interesting projects he see people building with Cosmos Talking about consensus system and incentive system Minimal Viable Ecosystem Acceleration talk Links: Cosmos Network - https://cosmos.network/ Twitter - Cosmos Network - https://twitter.com/cosmos Telegram - Cosmos Network - https://t.me/Cosmos_Network Zaki's Twitter - https://twitter.com/zmanian Minimal Viable Ecosystem Acceleration talk at MIT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqopwqXyURw Cosmos SDK Tutorial - https://github.com/cosmos/sdk-application-tutorial Cosmos Game of Stakes - https://blog.cosmos.network/game-of-stakes-closing-ceremonies-eddb71d3b114

We chatted with Aaron Blankstein, Core Engineer from Blockstack. Blockstack is a decentralized computing network, which makes it simple for developers to build blockchain-based applications. We learn about Blockstack’s incentive system, and what will be changing from v1 to v2. We discuss a few use cases of Blockstack, like the Blockstack Naming Service, or BNS. We also go over Blockstack’s smart contract language Clarity, and the broad tooling that will exist for developers working on the platform. We finish up learning about Aaaron’s fascination with augmented Reality and adversarial machine learning. Topics: Who Aaron is How he describe Blockstack Centralized versus decentralized application architecture What is Blockstack's relationship with Bitcoin How does consensus work in Blockstack What is Blockstack naming system On Clarity smart contracts language Decentralized storage system called Gaia On authentication and how it works JavaScript tools Radiks Blockstack.js Links: Clarity - https://docs.blockstack.org/core/smart/overview.html Blockstack forums - https://forum.blockstack.org Blockstack - https://blockstack.org/ White Paper - https://blockstack.org/whitepaper.pdf Papers - Blockstack - https://blockstack.org/papers Blackstack Docs - https://docs.blockstack.org/ Aaron Blankstein Website - https://aaron.blankstein.com/ App.co - https://app.co/ The Blackstack Javascript - https://github.com/blockstack/blockstack.js/

We chatted with Charles Phan, Chief Technology Officer from Interdax. Interdax is a next generation digital assets exchange with strong engineering roots in High Frequency Trading firms, traditional exchanges, hedge funds, investment banks, market data and liquidity providers. This episode was a lot of fun. We talked about Charles’ background in traditional finance and a prior life as a derivatives trader. We then compare and contrast traditional and crypto derivatives markets. We also talk technical details of perpetual swaps and how they differ from other derivative products. Finally, we discuss the engineering underpinnings of the interdax platform and UX and UI considerations when building the product. We finish up discussing technologies Charles is excited about. Hope you enjoy this one. Topics: Charles Phan's background On derivatives markets and trading Differences between derivatives markets in traditional finance versus crypto On Interdax What his role is at Interdax Building the Interdax Book: Dynamic Hedging by Nassim Taleb Links: Interdax - https://www.interdax.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/interdax

Ben DiFrancesco, software consultant and founder of scopelift, joins us on this one. Two things we really respect about Ben are his ability to break down complex technical topics and also his ability to be honest about what crypto and blockchain offer us. He’s at heart, a technologist, and his passion for and dedication to crypto is palpable. This conversation contains a bit of philosophy around Bitcoin and Ethereum, particularly around how polarized the two spaces have become. We get into Bitcoin and Ethereum’s respective reasons for existing and how they can work together, how developers can use these new digital primitives to build applications, and business opportunities in the space. We also cover DeFi, and how smart contracts enable Maker and Dai. Always enjoy talking to Ben, and I hope you enjoy this one. Topics: Smart Contracts & use cases that excite him BTC + ETH working together DeFi movement Crypto Primitives Quality of Web Dev versus Crypto tooling ETH and “rich statefulness” and what that means Some techs outside of blockchain and crypto that he is excited about Links: Ben’s twitter: https://twitter.com/BenDiFrancesco Ben’s consultancy ScopeLift: https://www.scopelift.co/ Newsletter: https://www.buildblockchain.tech/newsletter Podcast #1: http://quantlayer.libsyn.com/4-a-discussion-with-software-consultant-ben-difrancesco-on-building-great-blockchain-software  - https://medium.com/@QuantLayer/building-great-blockchain-software-smart-contract-scaling-and-elixir-ae94687e34dd  - https://usedai.org  - https://github.com/apbendi/use-dai Philly Blockchain Tech Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Blockchain-Tech/ Austin Griffith: https://twitter.com/austingriffith Mastering Bitcoin: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388/ Mastering Ethereum: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Ethereum-Building-Smart-Contracts/dp/1491971940

We recap our attendance at the Blockchain Training Conference last week. We cover the CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4)’s new certifications and their conference’s emphasis on developer and professional education. We also look at the slew of great talks on The Lightning Network, bitcoin privacy, and smart contracts. Topics: What does C4 stands for Keynote w/ Pamela Morgan and Andreas M. Antonopoulos Announcement: Mastering the Lightning Network C4 and it's Purpose CBP Prep Course w/ Andreas Lightning Network Payment Channels Update w/ Renee Pickhardt Crypto for Creatives w/ Stephanie Murphy Clash of Expectations - UX and usability Bitcoin Privacy On and Offchain w/ Janine Römer Blockchain Analysis versus Surveillance Wyoming’s blockchain laws Law and the Lightning network - Peter van Valkenburg, Coin Center Joining the Lightning Network w/ Beatrice Leung, Project Manager at Radar Advanced Lightning Applications w/ Olaoluwa Osuntokun, CTO at lightning labs aka roasbeef Links: CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4) - https://cryptoconsortium.org/ Standards | CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4) - https://cryptoconsortium.org/standards/ Blockchain Training Conference - https://blockchaintraining.org/home/home/ Mastering Lightning Network Book on Github - https://github.com/lnbook/lnbook PrivacyTools.io - https://www.privacytools.io/ That One Privacy Site - https://thatoneprivacysite.net/ Developer Tools - Radar ION - radar.tech - https://ion.radar.tech/dev-tools Onboarding - Radar ION - radar.tech - https://ion.radar.tech/onboarding

Dr. Ed Felten is a professor of Computer Science at Princeton, he’s served as Chief Technologist at the FTC and Deputy CTO at the White House. He’s also the cofounder of Offchain Labs, a Princeton-based startup that’s focusing on 2nd layer smart contract solutions to improve scalability. This was one of our favorite conversations to date. We discuss smart contracts and their current problems. We discuss Arbitrum, Offchain Labs’ solution to the smart contract scaling problem which uses a system of validators to provide a guarantee to smart contract participants. Moreover, we discuss at length how their AnyTrust guarantee works, and why only a single validator is needed to maintain a working system. We also go through how an existing dApp can get ported over to Arbitrum. Finally, we talk high level tech themes: How technology and public policy are becoming more and more interconnected, how technology advising will become more and more important over time, and other technologies he’s really optimistic about. It’s a really packed episode. Enjoy. Topics: On the idea of "Bitcoin works in practice, but not in theory" Smart contracts Primary problems with smart contracts Real world applications of smart contracts What Offchain Labs is doing with smart contracts Arbitrum & Validators Porting Existing dApp to Arbitrum Offchain business model On blockchain Academia to Industry Advisor to Obama Administraion On his co-authored paper titled, "A Cryptographic Escrow for Treaty Declarations and Step-by-Step Verification" Optimistic technologies people don't know about Links: Coursera course: - https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency - http://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs27philippe.pdf Github: https://github.com/OffchainLabs Whitepaper: https://offchainlabs.com/arbitrum.pdf Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdFelten Princeton website: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~felten/

We have Rob Zuber, CTO from CircleCI on. A lot of the projects we work on implement CircleCI, so we were super excited to speak to Rob. We talk about his background and how he became part of CircleCI through an acquisition. We also get into one of his favorite topics: language. Particularly the words that are used in projects, and how important they are for workflow. We also discuss “Domain Driven Design,” or the idea that when creating a layer of functionality, to keep it bounded within its domain so other layers don’t creep into it. This was an engineering heavy episode that was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy this one. But before we get to the conversation, here’s a word from a sponsor, Blockchain Training Conference, that I’m really excited about. What if there was an educational industry conference, where all of the sessions were focused on teaching you something instead of selling you something? There is and it’s Blockchain Training Conference 2019. It’s going to be hosted August 28th to the 30th in Denver, Colorado. BTC2019 offers every attendee the chance to leave certified and confident in their understanding of blockchain technology. Move past the jargon to gain a robust understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrencies with master classes taught by industry luminaries like Andreas M. Antonopoulos, René Pickhardt, Jameson Lopp, Pamela Morgan, and many others. Register today and learn more at blockchaintraining.org. We also have a coupon code for our listeners that you can use to get a 10% discount for the conference: quantlayer10 Go to https://blockchaintraining.org/attend/ and hit buy on your ticket, and put in the coupon code quantlayer10 (that’s Q U A N T L A Y E R and the number 10). We are going to be at this conference in August, so reach out if you will be there as well. Would love to meet in meatspace. Topics: Rob's background & early time at CircleCI Other technical problems they had to deal with On his favorite topics: Language Concepts he highlighted on his talked, "Words Matter: Ubiquitous Language and Throughput" Domain Driven Design On developer tools and product development around those tools On his blog: Predictions for 2018 from Rob Zuber, CTO at CircleCI Books: Domain Driven Design by Eric Evans Implementing Domain Driven Design by Vaughn Vernon The Lean Startup by Eric Ries Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object Oriented Software by Erich Gamma Links: CircleCI: https://circleci.com/ Rob’s twitter: https://twitter.com/z00b Predictions for 2018 from Rob Zuber, CTO at CircleCI: https://circleci.com/blog/predictions-for-2018-from-rob-zuber-cto-at-circleci/ “Words Matter: Ubiquitous Language and Throughput”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4LNezYjLLM What it means to be remote-first vs. remote-friendly - https://circleci.com/blog/what-it-means-to-be-remote-first-vs-remote-friendly/ High performing engineering teams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E3f6v7zHP8 Devops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdxj5O-a58E 10 ways you’re doing devops wrong: https://circleci.com/blog/10-ways-you-re-doing-devops-wrong/

On this episode, we have Peter MacDonald and Joe Schnare from Wunderite, an insurance startup based in Boston. This was a really interesting conversation around how they are improving insurance workflows for agencies around the country through programmatic data aggregation. We talk about their backgrounds, get into the details of the black box industry known as insurance, and how they work with customers on product development. I learned a lot from this conversation. Enjoy. But before we get to the conversation, here’s a word from a sponsor, Blockchain Training Conference, that I’m really excited about. What if there was an educational industry conference, where all of the sessions were focused on teaching you something instead of selling you something? There is and it’s Blockchain Training Conference 2019. It’s going to be hosted August 28th to the 30th in Denver, Colorado. BTC2019 offers every attendee the chance to leave certified and confident in their understanding of blockchain technology. Move past the jargon to gain a robust understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrencies with master classes taught by industry luminaries like Andreas M. Antonopoulos, René Pickhardt, Jameson Lopp, Pamela Morgan, and many others. Register today and learn more at blockchaintraining.org. We also have a coupon code for our listeners that you can use to get a 10% discount for the conference: quantlayer10 Go to https://blockchaintraining.org/attend/ and hit buy on your ticket, and put in the coupon code quantlayer10 (that’s Q U A N T L A Y E R and the number 10). We are going to be at this conference in August, so reach out if you will be there as well. Would love to meet in meatspace. Topics: Peter and Joe’s background The reason why they are interested in insurance Broad problems overall with the insurance industry that Wunderite is solving Industry verticals that they're focusing on Couple case studies on insurance workflow before Wunderite, and how that changed after On their sales process and how they decide who to reach out to Some big wins they’re happy about and some learning lessons they would have approached differently On regulatory concerns On their business model Are they looking to raising capital What they're looking forward to next Links Wunderite - https://www.wunderite.com/ Wunderite Blog - https://blog.wunderite.com/ BNT presentation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H12tIa0EDY8

We speak with Andreas Antonopoulos, author of Mastering Bitcoin, The Internet of Money, and Mastering Ethereum, and also board member at the CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium, known as C4. C4 will be hosting the Blockchain Training Conference in Denver, Colorado at the end of August. In this conversation, we learn about the conference, how Andreas thinks about blockchain teaching pedagogy, and the certifications that C4 is offering now: the Certified Bitcoin Professional (or CBP) certification and the CryptoCurrency Security Standard (or CCSS) certification. We learn all about the certifications and what they allow the holder to do. Always a pleasure to talk with Andreas. If you enjoyed this one, please rate and review us on iTunes. It would help us out a lot. Thanks for listening to the episode. But before we get to the conversation, here’s a word from a sponsor, Blockchain Training Conference, that I’m really excited about. What if there was an educational industry conference, where all of the sessions were focused on teaching you something instead of selling you something? There is and it’s Blockchain Training Conference 2019. It’s going to be hosted August 28th to the 30th in Denver, Colorado. BTC2019 offers every attendee the chance to leave certified and confident in their understanding of blockchain technology. Move past the jargon to gain a robust understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrencies with master classes taught by industry luminaries like Andreas M. Antonopoulos, René Pickhardt, Jameson Lopp, Pamela Morgan, and many others. Register today and learn more at blockchaintraining.org. We also have a coupon code for our listeners that you can use to get a 10% discount for the conference: quantlayer10 Go to https://blockchaintraining.org/attend/ and hit buy on your ticket, and put in the coupon code quantlayer10. We are going to be at this conference in August, so reach out if you will be there as well. Would love to meet in meatspace. Topics How they decided to do the Blockchain Training conference What a Blockchain Training conference is What are they focusing more on 2019 conference versus 2016 conference How they produce keys Talking about the workshops How they figured out the programming Pedagogical philosphy On certifications Certified Bitcoin Professional CryptoCurrency Security Standard What do the certifications get you Topics they would have liked to see On their long term goals Links Blockchain training conf: https://blockchaintraining.org/schedule/ Certification Information: https://cryptoconsortium.org/ Andreas Antonopoulos twitter: https://twitter.com/aantonop Our last Podcast with Andreas: http://quantlayer.libsyn.com/andreas-m-antonopoulos-and-the-state-of-cryptocurrency-ten-years-in Mastering Bitcoin: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain-ebook/dp/B071K7FCD4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=ELNFUIRYNC1D&keywords=andrea%27s+antonopoulos&qid=1565103889&s=gateway&sprefix=andrea%27s+antonopoulos%2Caps%2C370&sr=8-1-fkmr0 The Internet of Money: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos-ebook/dp/B01L9WM0H8/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?crid=ELNFUIRYNC1D&keywords=andrea%27s+antonopoulos&qid=1565103889&s=gateway&sprefix=andrea%27s+antonopoulos%2Caps%2C370&sr=8-2-fkmr0 The Internet of Money Volume 2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Two-Andreas-Antonopoulos-ebook/dp/B075VB7LVG/ref=sr_1_2?crid=ELNFUIRYNC1D&keywords=andrea%27s+antonopoulos&qid=1565103889&s=gateway&sprefix=andrea%27s+antonopoulos%2Caps%2C370&sr=8-2 Mastering Ethereum: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Ethereum-Building-Smart-Contracts-ebook/dp/B07KGLNL76/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=mastering+ethereum&qid=1565103907&s=gateway&sr=8-3

We speak with Stuart Popejoy co-founder from Kadena. This was a really great technical conversation around the hybrid public-private blockchain that Kadena is building with their Chainweb platform and LISP inspired smart contract language Pact. We cover how traditional finance firms incorporate new technologies into their workflow, real world use cases of Kadena, and what’s happening in the Enterprise. We also get into the technical details of Chainweb’s Proof-of-Work consensus system and the importance of writing safe code, which is an underpinning of the Pact language. Topics: What Kadena is His background, genesis story/interest in blockchain Given his experience at JPM, how do large banks approach using new technologies What is the vetting process at a bank like to incorporate a new tech Real world use cases of Kadena How he thinks about keeping things simple, designing a language for non-developers High level overview of Kadena All the key components of Kadena TPS vs. predictable availability Private vs. Public blockchain vs. Hybrid blockchains What are the things that are being built in Enterprise Your decentralized vision / pie in the sky type of thoughts around what things will look like For developers who want to work with Kadena, what steps would your recommend they take Links: GH Repo: https://github.com/kadena-io Deal w/ USCF: https://prn.to/2MnC7Cp Pact Language Tutorial: https://pactlang.org/ REPL: https://pact.kadena.io/ Key features: https://bit.ly/2K2LF44 The EVM Is Fundamentally Unsafe - https://medium.com/kadena-io/the-evm-is-fundamentally-unsafe-ba486cb17f1f Kadena - Medium - https://medium.com/kadena-io A word from a sponsor we’re really excited about. What if there was an educational industry conference, where all of the sessions were focused on teaching you something instead of selling you something? There is and it’s Blockchain Training Conference 2019. Hosted August 28-30 in Denver, CO, BTC2019 offers every attendee the chance to leave certified and confident in their understanding of blockchain technology. Move past the jargon to gain a robust understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrencies with master classes taught by industry luminaries like Andreas M. Antonopoulos, René Pickhardt, Jameson Lopp, Pamela Morgan, and many others. Register today and learn more at blockchaintraining.org.

On this episode, we look at a recently filed IPO, Father Time. This isn’t a hot IPO. In fact, no bankers are underwriting this. What’s interesting about this one is that it’s entirely self-underwritten by the company founder. They are planning to build a coupon system from scratch, so we talk through how that would look from a technical perspective. We consider their business model and the budget in their S-1. Topics: On Father Time IPO What a blank check type deal is How to work with a client like Father Time in order to build the software application Description of business Challenges of this industry faces On using paper coupons Father Time’s future products LoyaltyExpress CouponExpress StoreFront Central Revenue Model Link: Father Time IPO -https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1702388/000149315219008478/forms-1.htm

We look at the SEC’s charging of Kik Interactive’s unregulated securities offering. We recap the SEC complaint, outlining their argument that Kik was a deeply underfunded, low-revenue, high-expense company that attempted a “hail mary” by circumventing securities law by running the Kin ICO. Finally, we step through the pieces of evidence the SEC presents. Topics: SEC put out a press release along with a complaint on Kik Interactive  - SEC Charges Issuer With Conducting $100 Million Unregistered ICO Links: Press release: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-87 Complaint: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2019/comp-pr2019-87.pdf Fireside #8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irlVLDKKlr4

We look at Martin Fowler’s article titled “Is High Quality Software Worth the Cost?” We discuss the gives and takes of writing good software and managing technical debt. We look at misconceptions around software quality and cost, and how planning and blueprinting (architecting) up front can save teams money in the future. Moreover, we look at how good software offers teams a competitive advantage over others due to the ability to ship new features quickly and confidently. Topics: Who Martin Fowler is On Martin Fowler's article titled, "Is High Quality Software Worth the Cost?" - Are we used to a trade-off between quality and cost - Software quality means many things - Internal quality does not matter to customers - Internal quality makes it easier to enhance software - Customers do care that new features come quickly - Visualizing the impact of internal quality - Even the best teams create cruft - High quality software is cheaper to produce Links: Is High Quality Software Worth the Cost? - Martin Fowler - https://martinfowler.com/articles/is-quality-worth-cost.html Martin Fowler - https://martinfowler.com/ Betteridge's law of headlines - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines

We look at a recent SIM port hack where a crypto professional lost $100k worth of crypto from his Coinbase account. We discuss in detail how he was attacked and how you can safeguard your crypto assets better. We then do a recap of the one-day Elixir conference, Empex, where topics ranged from OTP to LiveView to functional programming more broadly. Topics: What a SIM port attack is How people can be careful Their experience at Empex Their thoughts on Elixir Links: The Most Expensive Lesson Of My Life: Details of SIM port hack - https://medium.com/coinmonks/the-most-expensive-lesson-of-my-life-details-of-sim-port-hack-35de11517124 Monero’s Fluffy Pony - https://twitter.com/fluffypony/status/1130555634330554368?s=21 EMPEX - https://empex.co/nyc.html Erlang Ecosystem Foundation - https://erlef.org/ SimpleBet - https://simplebet.io/ Frame.io - https://frame.io/ Manning - https://www.manning.com/ The Pragmatic Bookshelf - https://pragprog.com/ How to use Mint - https://scoutapm.com/blog/how-to-use-mint-an-awesome-http-library-for-elixir-part-01

We explore the CrowdStrike IPO by delving into its SEC Prospectus: An examination of their technology, and in particular their approach to endpoint security. By wading through the buzzword ocean, we bring you the key areas to focus on in this S-1. We consider their network effects, notably how signing up more customers to their platform improves security of all their customers. We go through a few case studies of their Falcon product line. Finally, we look at their stated risks. Topics: On CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc Security Cloud On Falcon platform Single intelligent lightweight agent Threat Graph Low friction land-and-expand sales strategy Cybersecurity threats are greater than ever Proliferation of workloads expanding the attack surface On-premise security architectures are constrained Other existing security products have limitations Creation of the Security Cloud Growth Strategy Links: Form S-1 - CrowdStrike Holding's, Inc. - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1535527/000104746919003095/a2238800zs-1.htm CrowdStrike - Falcon Platform - https://www.crowdstrike.com/endpoint-security-products/falcon-platform/ CrowdStrike Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrowdStrike#Russian_hacking_investigations

TokenAnalyst’s founder Sid Shekhar joins us on this one to talk about the on-chain analysis tools they’re building for the crypto industry. Particularly, we spoke about the delineation of on-chain versus off-chain and why on-chain data hosts a treasure trove of valuable information. We also talk about how funds can benefit their investors by investigating open ledgers. Lots of really good stuff in here like analogies to dark pools, exchange liquidity analysis and more. Topics: His background and how he got interested in crypto On TokenAnalyst His delineation of on-chain versus off-chain data The reason on-chain data is important Things we can learn from on-chain data Where he thinks on-chain data is going and the things he thinks will play into price prediction On running a crypto-focused company What the next hot coin is Something he's really proud about recently that keeps him going Something he wishes he learned earlier Links: TokenAnalyst - https://www.tokenanalyst.io/ TokenAnalyst – Medium - https://medium.com/tokenanalyst Under the hood of the world computer – TokenAnalyst – Medium - https://medium.com/tokenanalyst/under-the-hood-of-the-world-computer-caf957fb8a4c Dissecting Blocks – TokenAnalyst – Medium - https://medium.com/tokenanalyst/dissecting-blocks-bf218cdff39d

We spoke with Edison Lim, Application Lead at Zilliqa about their protocol. We consider Zilliqa’s approach to scaling and energy usage. We discuss their proof of work consensus model for miner verification, and their approach to sharded consensus groups. We take a technical look at their smart contract language Scilla and its roots in OCaml, and why formal verification is important. Topics: What Zilliqa is On smart contract language Different consensus mechanism What problems are they solving Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance What their consensus model is Types of business or markets that benefit from their solution Links: Zilliqa - https://zilliqa.com/ For Developers - Zilliqa - https://zilliqa.com/for-developers.html Scilla Overview Paper - https://ilyasergey.net/papers/scilla-overview.pdf What is Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance? - https://blockonomi.com/practical-byzantine-fault-tolerance/ Ecosystem Partners - Zilliqa - https://zilliqa.com/ecosystem-partners.html

We spoke to David Baker from Mercadyne Funds, my first Portfolio Manager at Vikram’s first Hedge Fund analyst job many years ago. David is a really smart guy and he takes a unique approach to generating alpha by investing in micro and small-cap companies. He joins us to talk about all things investing. We cover a slew of topics: How he started investing and his first call with a management team at age thirteen, how he parlayed his experience as a broker to starting his first micro and small-cap fund, how he runs his current fund, risk management, and his current investment philosophy. We go over factors that make attractive investment opportunities (huge TAM, compelling biz model, accelerating sales growth, high insider ownership) and also red flags that he sees on a regular basis. He also talks about his experience investing in turnaround self storage units and finally, we finish up discussing his views on the current economy and what sectors he likes right now. Topics: How he got into investing How law school helped mold his interest in investing On raising capital Types of stocks he invested in Investment thesis for small and micro capital What a multiple expansion is and how it works What he likes about the ZAG story Assessing management On trading psychology On private investing Self-storage investment profile Link: FactSet Insight - https://insight.factset.com/ Profiles: Mercadyne - https://www.mercadyne.com Newsletters – Mercadyne - https://www.mercadyne.com/newsletters/

Hey everyone, this is Vikram from QuantLayer and thanks for listening to our 34th podcast. On this episode, Santiago Roel Santos from EON joins us to talk about proof of stake and staking. We speak about Santiago’s investing background, how he entered crypto, and the Staking as a Service business he’s building now at EON. The discussion covers a lot of great topics for crypto entrepreneurs: UX considerations when building crypto products, how EON manages technical and security issues when staking on the behalf of others, and EON’s business model. This is a must listen for anyone building crypto products for consumers. Topics: Santiago's background His thoughts at the time when he's analysing companies When margin changes How he got interested in crypto His peer's responses as an analyst What staking is Proof of work and proof of stake Who/how does a transaction get validated His background on investing What they're up to at EON A scenario how staking works What happens if the server goes down On customer service How they handle availability and security The worst thing that can happen if people are staking with them (EON) Their qualification criteria for what comes on for their platform What gets him excited of what they're doing at EON How they compare and contrast with others His thoughts on exchanges could offer a staking service to their customers Links: J.P. Morgan - https://www.jpmorgan.com/global/jpmorgan Sageview - http://www.sageviewcapital.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ Microsoft - https://www.microsoft.com/ BitMain - https://www.bitmain.com/ Horizon - https://www.horizen.global/ Cosmos - https://cosmos.network/ Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/ Staked - https://staked.us/ Profile: Medium - https://medium.com/@eon_staking EON - https://eon.capital/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/eon_staking

We speak about the problem around connecting smart contracts to real world data, how oracles solve that problem and the gives and takes around oracles. We walk through some example oracles in gold pricing data and prediction markets. We finally wrap up with an interview with Jeff Rosen and Doug von Kohorn, founders at Rhombus, where we discuss their approach and solution to the oracle problem. Topics: Faizaan's thoughts on the ETHDenver event How we should think about oracles The oracle problem What decentralization is from the oracle perspective Centralized oracles Cryptographic annotations What TLSnotary and Town Crier does Astraea by consensus Manipulation resistance What Rhombus is What makes them different from other oracle providers in the Ethereum ecosystem Examples of the kind of enterprise use-cases they see On providing the right price / data How prices of assets completely delisted affects what happens to smart contracts / things Underwriting insurance policies Some areas they're interested in that they think might require more transparency Their thoughts around working with prediction markets Difference between Chainlink and Rhombus How they're doing sales right now Their background What got them interested in the oracle space How they're funded right now What they're excited about for the rest of the year What the lighthouse oracle is and its use Links: Rhombus - https://rhombus.network/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/ r/progresspics - https://www.reddit.com/r/progresspics/ myfitnesspal - https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ Strava - https://www.strava.com/ The State of Decentralized Oracles - https://media.consensys.net/the-state-of-decentralized-oracles-df45bf0dc51d TLSnotary - https://tlsnotary.org/TLSNotary.pdf Town Crier - https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/168.pdf Astraea: A Decentralized Blockchain Oracle - https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.00528 OpenLaw - https://openlaw.io/ Ethereum - https://www.ethereum.org/ Chicago Mercantile Exchange - https://www.cmegroup.com/ Coinbase - https://pro.coinbase.com/ Gemini - https://gemini.com/ Chainlink - https://chain.link/ ConsenSys - https://consensys.net/ Getcoin - https://getcoin.site/

We have Andreas M. Antonopoulos on, who we were really excited to talk to. With his books The Internet of Money, Mastering Bitcoin and Mastering Ethereum, Andreas has been an amazing ambassador for the cryptocurrency space. On this episode, we get into a lot of interesting topics: What’s changed and surprised him since he published The Internet of Money, how Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrency project teams can learn from one another, fighting back against oppressive regimes with cryptography, opsec, how he sees 2nd layer solutions play out, and a host of other topics. Topics: On his books What surprised him since he published his book, The Internet of Money How resilience technologies are Interesting capabilities of a 2nd layer technology How cryptocurrency project teams can learn from one another Difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum Links: Andreas Twitter: https://twitter.com/aantonop Andreas Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop Mastering Bitcoin: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388/ The Internet of Money Volume 1: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ The Internet of Money Volume 2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/194791006X/ Mastering Ethereum: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Ethereum-Building-Smart-Contracts/dp/1491971940/

Zac McClure joins us from TokenTax. I was really excited to talk to Zac because it’s great to learn about the kinds of professional SaaS tools that crypto entrepreneurs are building. This was a fun conversation. Zac has had an eclectic career prior to crypto. He’s been an investment banker, taught financial literacy to high school students, and worked on social investing platforms. He’s been heavily invested in getting people to understand finance and investing, giving them the knowledge to own their own path towards financial freedom. TokenTax is an extension of this by helping people, funds and other institutions easily manage their crypto taxes. We go over how the US and UK treat crypto taxes, wash sales and a whole bunch of other tax specific topics. With tax season looming around the corner, you will definitely want to listen to this one. Topics: Zac's background and his work experiences How he would love to have crypto taxes be a gateway to financial health How he got people interested in crypto How 1031 Exchange works How wash sales work How he recommends crypto taxes be treated What fork means in cryptocurrency On being conservative and consistent How he established a meaningful fork The solution TokenTax provides How TokenTax is different from others How they generate revenue on a business model side On their vision How they decided which feature to build first when they first started TokenTax A feature that did not go as expected Seeing interest in the security token side Links: TokenTax Twitter - TokenTax Twitter - Zac McClure

What happens when a vendor attacks a security researcher who points out security flaws in their software? On this episode, we talk about two white-hat security researchers who discover multiple vulnerabilities in a vendor’s software system. The vendor initially ignores their concerns until the FBI gets involved. It culminates in a physical attack by the vendor’s COO on one of the researchers. We look at all the details around the vulnerabilities, discuss common disclosure concerns and how the FBI has opened up a “Cyber Fusion” unit to act as a liaison between security teams and at-risk vendors. Topics: Atrient has assaulted the security researcher who disclosed the vulnerability On reporting the vulnerability How the FBI got involved Vendor call with the FBI and the security researchers The Bug Bounty call The ICE Conference assault An email from Jessie Gill (Atrient COO) Links: Researcher Assaulted By A Vendor After Disclosing A Vulnerability Shodan Shodan wikipedia Dylan on Twitter Shodan Safari, where hackers heckle the worst devices put on the internet

We look at NVIDIA’s negative pre-announce, how they stopped blaming crypto and are seeing weakness across the board, especially on the datacenter side. We take a tangent on political risk associated with Huawei, and finally finish up by looking at the slew of predecessors of Bitcoin so the next time someone thinks they’re being clever by calling Bitcoin the Myspace of Crypto, you can list off the hundred or so predecessors and attempts at payment systems before Bitcoin. Topics: NVIDIA's negative pre-announce Vikram and Faizan's thought on these articles:  - Cramer on Nvidia warning: ‘If you wanted to issue a call for why you should sell stocks, this is it’  - Long-Term Investors, Ignore the Noise in Nvidia Stock  - Why NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) Stock is a Buy  - NVIDIA's Margin Guidance Isn't As Bad As It Looks On political risk associated with Huawei Teaser about the slew of predecessors of Bitcoin Links: NVIDIA Updates Financial Guidance for Fourth Quarter of Fiscal Year 2019 Shareholder Letter Cramer on Nvidia warning: ‘If you wanted to issue a call for why you should sell stocks, this is it’ Long-Term Investors, Ignore the Noise in Nvidia Stock Why NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) Stock is a Buy NVIDIA's Margin Guidance Isn't As Bad As It Looks Princeton Bitcoin Book

We look at GitHub’s recent move to give non-paying users unlimited private repositories, and GitLab’s subsequent response. Additionally, we discuss DevOps and how teams can save money and improve deployment processes by implementing DevOps best practices. Topics: GitHub offers free private repos What GitHub is How it was acquired by Microsoft On DevOps What DevOps is How companies do DevOps now On being good at DevOps What the goals are The techniques they used Links: GitLab - GitHub now offers free private repos for up to three collaborators New year, new GitHub: Announcing unlimited free private repos and unified Enterprise offering There are 3 public clouds left and we'll use all of them - Medium Multi-cloud maturity model – GitLab Magazine – Medium Twitter - Peter Todd

We discuss comments from the CFTC about developer responsibilities and liabilities. The CFTC posits that there are a few primary groups of users of blockchain networks: (1) core developers of the underlying software; (2) developers of smart contracts on top of the underlying blockchain; (3) miners who validate transactions; and (4) users who transact with the chain’s smart contracts. Their focus is primarily around (2), or the developers of smart contracts, and what responsibilities those developers have when writing contracts that fall in the jurisdiction of the CFTC. Is a smart contract developer who writes options contracts or futures contracts or prediction market contracts - those that the CFTC would call financial products - liable for the code they write? This was a really interesting conversation because it touched on notions of developer responsibilities and law. As the world moves more and more in the direction of software, how do we ensure that code that’s being written isn’t bad? Topics: On Brian Quintenz's speech at a technology event Responsibilities of a core developers Miners that validate transactions Smart contracts Applications of smart contracts Applying old law to new products General analytical framework of prediction market Link: CFTC speech: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaquintenz16

We discuss our time at the CTO Summit at the NASDAQ Marketsite from a couple weeks back. This was a great conference, because technology leaders from startups to larger companies congregated to talk about managing and scaling tech teams. We talk about software process, distributed teams, how deployment is the main cause of all software failures, and a whole bunch of other interesting software development topics. Just as a warning, there isn’t a lot of crypto content on this one, but we thought our learnings from the conference were worth highlighting. Topics: On the CTO Event Recaps  - Eliot Horowitz of MongoDB Inc.: The Right Amount of Process to Scale Your Engineering Team  - Maria Belousova of Grubhub: Building Highly Distributed Teams  - Michael Boufford of Greenhouse: Establishing a Management Cadence  - Bjorn Freeman Benson of Fresnel Research: Seventeen Things that Have Bitten Us But Shouldn’t Have  - Yvette Pasqua of Meetup: Engineering Leadership Through High Growth and High Change  - Angie Ruan of Nasdaq: The Nasdaq Financial Framework Transformation  - Rebecca Miller-Webster of DevMynd: Refactoring Trust on Your Team  - Johnny Ray Austin of Mapbox: Setting Your Team Up For Failure  - Mona Soni of Dow Jones: Is Your Team Built to Be Effective?  - Edith Harbaugh of LaunchDarkly: What I learned From Not Running 100 Miles  - Lena Reinhard of CircleCI: Better Communication for Stronger Teams  - Michael Ellison of CodePath.org: Improving Diversity in Tech by Transforming CS Education at Colleges  - Stacy Gorelick of Flatiron: Growing a Platform Team  - Jean Barmash of Komodo Health: How to Receive Feedback  - Ushashi Chakraborty of Mode Analytics: Run Engineering Meetings Using Improve Skills  -Kwame Thomison of Magnetic Inc.: Your Hiring Pipeline is a Product  - Debbie Madden of Stride Consulting: How to Retain Developers. And When To Let Them Go  - James Kenigsberg of 2U: Standing on the Shoulder of Giants - Adapting Existing Technologies for Speed and Credibility  - Andrew Montalenti of Parse.ly: Fully Distributed & Asynchronous: Building Eventually-Coordinated Teams That Ship  - Randy Shoup of WeWork: Breaking Codes, Designing Jets, and Building Teams Links: Bjorn Freeman Benson - https://twitter.com/bjorn_fb Johnny Ray Austin - https://twitter.com/recursivefunk Lena Reinhard - https://twitter.com/lrnrd Why we re-designed our engineering career paths at CircleCI - bit.ly/circleci-matrix Debbie Madden - https://twitter.com/debbiemadden200 Andrew Montalenti - https://twitter.com/amontalenti Randy Shoup - https://twitter.com/randyshoup

On this episode, we do a recap of our podcast episodes of 2018. We look at how the crypto market has changed since we launched our first episode (things other than just prices being lower) and also all the things that haven’t changed. This was a fun review of half a year of recording with a few glimpses of times ahead. Topics: Reflecting on our podcast this past year Episode 1 - The QuantLayer Genesis Story, Crypto and Stock Market Comparisons, and Why Crypto Needs Reg FD https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/1-quantlayer-genesis-story-crypto-stock-market-comparisons/id1402142700?i=1000414325483&mt=2 Episode 2 - What’s a Crypto Investment Bank? A Conversation About Crypto Due Diligence With Crypto Launchpad CEO Adiraj Gupta https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/2-whats-crypto-investment-bank-conversation-about-crypto/id1402142700?i=1000414325484&mt=2 Episode 3 Crypto’s ICO Legal Landscape, the Attack on Verge, M&A in Crypto, and Better Treasury Management for Crypto Teams https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3-cryptos-ico-legal-landscape-attack-on-verge-m-in/id1402142700?i=1000414357284&mt=2 Episode 4 A Discussion with Software Consultant Ben DiFrancesco on Building Great Blockchain Software https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/4-discussion-software-consultant-ben-difrancesco-on/id1402142700?i=1000415065447&mt=2 Episode 5 Crypto Teams Need to Communicate Better, and a New Segment: Big Drama in Smallcap Land (Zoin and Sumokoin) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/5-crypto-teams-need-to-communicate-better-new-segment/id1402142700?i=1000415464516&mt=2 Episode 6 Digital Ocean Versus Google Cloud, Polychain’s $1Bn Fund, a16z’s $300mm Fund, How to be a Shady Hedge Fund Manager, and 2nd Layer Solutions for Ethereum and Bitcoin https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/6-digital-ocean-versus-google-cloud-polychains-%241bn/id1402142700?i=1000415910825&mt=2 Episode 7 Bitcoin ETF & Alternative Energy ETFs, ZCash Incentive Structure, and How To Spot Bad Code in Your Crypto Investments https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/7-bitcoin-etf-alternative-energy-etfs-zcash-incentive/id1402142700?i=1000416414528&mt=2 Episode 8 Short Selling Explained, Tesla and How Controversial Shorts Work, and Nvidia and Bitmain https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/8-short-selling-explained-tesla-how-controversial-shorts/id1402142700?i=1000416862421&mt=2 Episode 9 Custody Solutions and Infrastructure, Family Offices, and How Funds Should Educate Their Analysts on Crypto https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/9-custody-solutions-infrastructure-family-offices-how/id1402142700?i=1000417280581&mt=2 Episode 10 More About Tesla (This Time About Going Private), Software Developer Personalities and Getting Tangled in IOTA https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/10-more-about-tesla-this-time-about-going-private-software/id1402142700?i=1000417715415&mt=2 Episode 11 Boston’s Growing Fintech & Crypto Scene, Telegram as a Crypto Platform and P2P Lending https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/11-bostons-growing-crypto-scene-mailbag-1-how-to-say/id1402142700?i=1000418146792&mt=2 Episode 12 Tesla Staying Public, How Amazon and AWS Made Angry Shorts Give Up and Why Rejection of the Bitcoin ETF is a Good Thing https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/12-tesla-staying-public-how-amazon-aws-made-angry-shorts/id1402142700?i=1000418644761&mt=2 Episode 13 An Alert Blitzkrieg: Cheap ETH Mining, MANA Land Estate Bug, EOS RAM Vulnerability, Stratis Node Vulnerability, Etherscan Vulnerability, Bitcoin Cash Vulnerability, and How Wall Streeters and Technologists Can Be More Lay-language Friendly https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/13-alert-blitzkrieg-cheap-eth-mining-mana-land-estate/id1402142700?i=1000419016588&mt=2 Episode 14 Turning A Bug Into A Feature: Bugsnag, Why You Shouldn’t Violate Open Source Copyrights (Hint: Your Coin Will Be Down 90% If You Do), The Bitcoin-Dev Mailing List, And Why Crypto UX Is So Bad https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/quantlayer-crypto-podcast/id1402142700?ls=1 Episode 15 Open Source as Revenue Driver: How Elasticsearch Uses Open Source for Revenue Growth, Tech Investing and Crypto, a Cautionary Tale of Bad Crypto Trading Psychology and Flash Crashes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/15-open-source-as-revenue-driver-how-elasticsearch/id1402142700?i=1000419883506&mt=2 Episode 16 Zaif Exchange Hack and How We Called It Two Months Ago and the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/16-zaif-exchange-hack-how-we-called-it-two-months-ago/id1402142700?i=1000420329661&mt=2 Episode 17 Crypto Legal Landscape with Kurt Watkins of MG Miller Intellectual Property Law: Securitized Real Assets and Intellectual Goods, Crypto Patents, Hard Forks and “Derivative Works,” Decentralized Exchanges and Alternative Trading Systems https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/17-crypto-legal-landscape-kurt-watkins-mg-miller-intellectual/id1402142700?i=1000420807788&mt=2 Episode 18 Crypto SaaS Spotlight: John Young With Ledj.io and Building Professional Crypto Research Tools https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/18-crypto-saas-spotlight-john-young-ledj-io-building/id1402142700?i=1000421326288&mt=2 Episode 19 Crypto SaaS Spotlight: Amy Wan, Founder and CEO of Sagewise and Building Crypto LegalTech Solutions https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/19-crypto-saas-spotlight-amy-wan-founder-ceo-sagewise/id1402142700?i=1000421924166&mt=2 Episode 20 ZRX & ESTC: A Tale of Exchange Listing Pops, the State of Crypto Reporting (It Sucks) and How You Can Make Money Being Contrarian, and How Monero (XMR) Sliced Up Transaction Fees With Bulletproofs https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/20-zrx-estc-tale-exchange-listing-pops-state-crypto/id1402142700?i=1000422824609&mt=2 QuantLayer - Episode 21 A look at Stablecoins, Tether and PwC https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/21-a-look-at-stablecoins-tether-and-pwc/id1402142700?i=1000423666435&mt=2 QuantLayer - Episode 22 Everything is Ded (Bitcoin, “Blockchain,” ICOs, Volatility) and Amazon Takes Over New York City https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/22-everything-is-ded-bitcoin-blockchain-icos-volatility/id1402142700?i=1000424132491&mt=2 Episode 23 Crypto Hangover and Market Downturn?: A Look At Semiconductor Market Cycles, NVIDIA Throwing Crypto Under The Bus, And What Nathaniel Popper Got Wrong In His Recent New York Times Article https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/23-crypto-hangover-market-downturn-look-at-semiconductor/id1402142700?i=1000424844720&mt=2 Episode 24 The Attack of the Attack Vectors: a 51% Attack on Vertcoin & the Demise of ASIC Resistance + a Social Engineering Attack on ETCDEV and npm Libraries. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/24-attack-attack-vectors-51-attack-on-vertcoin-demise/id1402142700?i=1000425249491&mt=2 Other links: Substratum to trade ICO funds in order to maintain capital as ETH price drops - https://www.chepicap.com/en/news/6005/substratum-to-trade-ico-funds-in-order-to-maintain-funds-as-eth-price-drops.html Newsletter — Build Blockchain Tech - https://www.buildblockchain.tech/newsletter/ Samson Mow on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Excellion/status/1077717355159900160

This episode is all about attack vectors in crypto. We look at a 51% attack on Vertcoin, and how ASIC resistance is turning out to be a massive security bug, not a feature. We also look at Ethereum Classic and a social engineering attack on the ETCDEV team. Finally, we discuss the event-stream attack which robbed crypto wallets that used that npm library, and what that means for open source governance. Topics: ASIC resistance is a massive security bug, not a feature What ASIC resistance is Vertcoin is currently being 51% attacked What NiceHash is ETCDEV shutdown What ETC is Who ETCDEV is Event-stream situation Links: Vertcoin - MIT Digital Currency Initiative - https://dci.mit.edu/video-gallery/?tag=vertcoin About NiceHash - https://www.nicehash.com/about About Crypto51 - https://www.crypto51.app/about.html Vertcoin is currently being 51% attacked - https://medium.com/coinmonks/vertcoin-vtc-is-currently-being-51-attacked-53ab633c08a4 On Dec 3, Igor put out the following statement - https://twitter.com/etcdev/status/1069625401515872256/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1069625401515872256&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsbtc.com%2F2018%2F12%2F04%2Fcrypto-bear-market-strikes-ethereum-classic-etc-development-group-folds%2F Event-stream situation Synopsis:  - https://github.com/dominictarr/event-stream/issues/116#issuecomment-441759047  - https://github.com/dominictarr/event-stream/issues/116#issuecomment-441749105 Dominic Tarr’s response:  - https://gist.github.com/dominictarr/9fd9c1024c94592bc7268d36b8d83b3a Kate Sills - https://twitter.com/kate_sills/status/1067202990690291712

A look at the semiconductor market cycle, and how recent results from NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, and AMD have spooked the tech market. We look at NVIDIA’s most recent conference call where they place all the blame on what they call a “crypto hangover.” We then look at two distinct predictions about this latest semi cycle, one from JAG capital, who got it completely wrong, and another from a Supply Chain magazine that got it completely right. We finish up with a teardown of a New York Times article by Nathaniel Popper titled “5 Reasons Cryptocurrency Prices Are Plunging Again” and what he got wrong. If you enjoy our podcast, please rate and review us on iTunes. Thanks. Topics: Market downturn What NVIDIA is How earnings call work Examples of good non-street analyse questions Crypto hangover Semiconductor market cycle How slowing down of Nvidia, Texas Instruments, or AMD can affect the rest of the space A teardown of a New York Times article by Nathaniel Popper Book: Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money by Nathaniel Popper - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D8KFX9Q/ Links: Earnings call transcript - https://seekingalpha.com/article/4222728-nvidia-corp-nvda-ceo-jen-hsun-huang-q3-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript Where Are We in the Semiconductor Cycle? - JAG Capital Management - https://jagcapm.com/where-are-we-in-the-semiconductor-cycle/ For Semiconductor Sales Cycles, Winter is Coming - EPSNews - https://epsnews.com/2018/10/04/for-semiconductor-sales-cycle-winter-is-coming/ 5 Reasons Cryptocurrency Prices Are Plunging Again - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/technology/cryptocurrency-price-drop.html Estimated USD Transaction Value - Blockchain - https://www.blockchain.com/en/charts/estimated-transaction-volume-usd

We review the latest proclamations of Bitcoin’s apparent demise: (1) Axios’s report that Corporate blockchain and bitcoin interest is waning; (2) Galaxy Digital dumping their ICO advisory business; and (3) volatility drying up forcing traders to look for alpha elsewhere. We also look at Amazon’s expansion into New York City, right into our backyard. Topics: Bitcoin is ded note - Blockchain is ded - ICO Advisory is ded - Volatility is ded What Axios is Galaxy digital Who Galaxy is and what happened What a high watermark is How a reverse merger works Types of shells that exist What a Friday night news dump is Amazon takes over New York City Links: Bitcoin Obituaries - https://99bitcoins.com/obituary-stats/ Bitcoin Obituary Generator - https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituary-generator/ Corporate America's blockchain and bitcoin fever is over - https://www.axios.com/corporate-america-blockchain-bitcoin-fervor-over-fb13bc5c-81fd-4c12-8a7b-07ad107817ca.html Galaxy Digital Announces Strategic Operational and Organizational Changes - https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/galaxy-digital-announces-strategic-operational-and-organizational-changes-700167182.html Novogratz says BTC going to $20k again next year - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/44d49f15-5617-4a1b-82d9-2f279e2051d4?search=novogratz&searchType=default Digital Ocean Versus Google Cloud, Polychain’s $1Bn Fund, a16z’s $300mm Fund, How to be a Shady Hedge Fund Manager, and 2nd Layer Solutions for Ethereum and Bitcoin - https://medium.com/@QuantLayer/digital-ocean-versus-google-cloud-polychains-1bn-fund-a16z-s-300mm-fund-how-to-be-a-shady-326bab0d29fd Pitfalls of Reverse Mergers Into Public Shell Companies - https://www.clm.com/publication.cfm?ID=24 Galaxy Digital LP Management's Discussion and Analysis - https://assets.ctfassets.net/rbgwch8v5pod/1Zvd5REU0sq8KQwM6i2I6a/09b2b567a7224e9d5f5b2eba2aa322f8/Second_Quarter_2018_Management_s_Discussion___Analysis__Galaxy_Digital_LP_.pdf Streisand effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect Bitcoin’s volatility is hitting its lowest level in two years, and it is forcing traders to shakeup their strategy - https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2018/11/13/bitcoins-volatility-is-hitting-its-lowest-level-in-two-years-and-it-is-forcing-traders-to-shakeup-their-strategy/ QuantLayer Crypto Podcast Episode 20 - http://quantlayer.libsyn.com/20-zrx-estc-a-tale-of-exchange-listing-pops-the-state-of-crypto-reporting-it-sucks-and-how-you-can-make-money-being-contrarian-and-how-monero-xmr-sliced-up-transaction-fees-with-bulletproofs Amazon takes over NYC - https://d39w7f4ix9f5s9.cloudfront.net/4d/db/a54a9d6c4312bb171598d0b2134c/new-york-agreement.pdf Bezos’ helipad comic - https://i.redd.it/7734crgsk6y11.jpg

A look at Stablecoins, centralized ones, decentralized ones, what they’re going to be used for and what kinds of risks might arise from them. We discuss exchange listings again, this time with Basic Attention Token getting listed by Coinbase, and finish up with a discussion on Tether. Topics: What Stablecoin is Centralized Stablecoins - What Fiat backed is and it's disadvantages - What Exchange Traded Commodities backed is Decentralized Stablecoins - What Crypto backed is - Algorithmic Counterparty risk Non-crypto examples of things going bad due to counterparty risk Alerts - Tether’s bank claims to be holding $1.8B backing Tether, the first such confirmation - PwC advising on issuance of CRED, not just auditing   Links: Alerts: - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/7ddd0158-5dac-43b9-99d5-13ad91979a81 - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/33f56e0e-74fb-412b-8a73-5f764e3b93b6?search=stablecoin&searchType=default - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/41128557-5804-4f7b-bdca-4d645485aaaa?search=stablecoin&searchType=default Coin Insider: https://www.coininsider.com/stablecoin-research/ A deeper look at stablecoins and USCDC: https://medium.com/circle-blog/a-deeper-look-at-stablecoins-and-usdc-dd27f48ba5a4 Stablecoins: Understanding Counterparty Risk: https://medium.com/gemini/stablecoins-understanding-counterparty-risk-241d55f0b392

We do a victory lap for alerting our users to the ZRX add to Coinbase before everyone else. We then get into a discussion of how exchange additions are similar to public market IPO first day trading pops, like what we saw in Elastic Search recently. We then talk about the state of crypto reporting, and how it has created a mix of pay-to-play bad actors, mainstream media outlets offering 10 year old FUD over and over, and well-meaning actors who create consensus views that smart, contrarian thinkers can profit on by taking the other side. We then do a deep dive on Monero and its recent success in transaction fee reduction from their implementation of bulletproofs. Topics: Alert indicating symbol $ZRX (the 0x project) has been added to Coinbase Delisting that occurred in early January relating to Mysterium What the Mysterium Network is How MYST went down 25% over the course of 1 hour Why coins that get delisted get hit On doing delisting Why Coinbase is a big player Giving positive guidance when it comes to the roadshow Issues they see in mainstream and crypto-focused media Major reasons alternative energy did so well Why crypto media sometimes feels like an echo chamber What Monero is How Monero transactions work What zero knowledge proof is What range proof is Links: Mysterium Network: https://mysterium.network/faq/general-questions/ Geoff Golberg’s research:  - https://medium.com/@geoffgolberg/i-made-a-bet-with-ripples-cto-david-schwartz-1536b92a22fd  - https://medium.com/@geoffgolberg/when-bots-attack-af7f9f87b612  - https://medium.com/@geoffgolberg/when-it-comes-to-dealing-with-fake-bot-accounts-twitter-is-still-failing-a79d9ece5b5d Bitcoin Coursera course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency Monero Becomes Bulletproof: https://medium.com/digitalassetresearch/monero-becomes-bulletproof-f98c6408babf?__s=tgxgnsfkgdriwzmaykfn Ben DiFrancesco’s site: https://www.buildblockchain.tech/blog/ Link to ben’s newsletter: https://www.buildblockchain.tech/newsletter/ QuantLayer's Twitter: https://twitter.com/quantlayer QuantLayer's Website: https://quantlayer.com QuantLayer Episode 15: http://quantlayer.libsyn.com/15-open-source-as-revenue-driver-how-elasticsearch-uses-open-source-for-revenue-growth-tech-investing-and-crypto-a-cautionary-tale-of-bad-crypto-trading-psychology-and-flash-crashes

Amy Wan, Sagewise Founder and CEO joins us to discuss the smart contract LegalTech solutions they’re building at Sagewise. We go over her background, how she moved from the traditional legal space and into LegalTech, what smart contracts are, dispute resolution, and the tools they’re building at Sagewise to handle dispute resolution. Another episode of people building usable tools in this space. Topics: Amy's controversial tweet Amy's background What Blockchain brings to the legal profession What Sagewise is Fundraising environment for Blockchain/smart contract entrepreneurs What Blokusign is The Blockchain platform Blokusign is built on The EOS project What a smart contract is How real estate tokenization works Links: Sagewise: https://www.sagewise.io/ Blokusign: https://www.blokusign.com/ Amy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/amyywan/status/1042627228863889410 Sagewise Releases Alpha Version of Blokusign: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180917005156/en/Sagewise-Releases-Alpha-Version-Blokusign-Gmail-Integrated-Blockchain-Powered

John Young joins me from ledj.io. John worked at Capital One before starting his first two crypto Software-as-a-Service (or SaaS) businesses in early 2017: Spreadstreet and Cryptosheets. Both these services let users work with crypto pricing data in Google Sheets and Excel. Install a plugin, and you are good to go. Definitely worth checking out. I was excited to speak with John since he is running a crypto SaaS business for crypto research like us. We talk how he has been finding customers, who his customers are, other SaaS tools he uses for his business, and what kinds of data analysis tools he’s building at Ledj. His product is much needed in this space, and it was awesome to get his perspective on it. If you are a trader, investor, or researcher, this episode is worth listening to. Topics: His background and what he did before Bitcoin How Spreadstreet came about The products he's building What made him decide to incorporate Cryptosheets Issues encountered by traders and investors with respect to pricing data Type of customer he has How customers find him and how he finds them Taking a year’s worth of payment upfront in crypto On Excel as a powerful program What they are currently doing on the web app side On Tech Stack hiring a development team Recommendations when hiring or looking for a team member in general Billing they use in SaaS Stack Other areas of research lacking in crypto now The reason they built Ledj Links: Email - john.young@ledj.io Ledj Cryptosheets Spreadstreet Medium Cryptosheets Cryptosheets Templates Trading View Netlify Gusto

We talk with Kurt Watkins of MG Miller Intellectual Property Law. Kurt is a lawyer who works with startups and is heavily involved in the crypto space here in New York. We’re glad we were able to talk to Kurt because some of the most interesting things being done in this space are by lawyers. We talk about how he got into crypto, the Reg D offerings he’s working on (securitized real assets and intellectual goods), a utility token client he’s working with (a sort of “Ripple 2.0” project), how patents in this space work and why they aren’t so bad, hard forks and “derivative works”, and how cartographers back in the day put fake towns in maps and how that’s related to crypto. We also get into the differences between utility and security tokens, how founders can structure their offerings better, and the differences between Reg D and Reg A offerings. We also cover decentralized exchanges and alternative trading systems. If you are an entrepreneur or a lawyer interested in this space, you will find this action packed episode interesting. Topics: How Kurt got interested in the Bitcoin/Blockchain space His role at MG Miller What a General Counsel does Types of projects he's working on Utility versus security tokens What a utility token is What a security token is The differences between Reg D and Reg A offerings Serious problems that stems from security tokens Decentralised exchanges and alternative trading systems Links: Kurt’s email: kwatkins@mgmillerllc.com Kurt's firm: https://mgmiller.legal/

On this episode, Faizaan and I do a victory lap for calling the Zaif exchange hack over 2 months ago. We also a deep dive into IPFS - what it is, what problem it solves, how it works and how Cloudflare is getting involved in the space. We finally look at some alerts that came through our dashboard. Topics: A victory lap for calling the Zaif exchange hack over 2 months ago Cloudflare IPFS The purpose of IPFS and how does it works What IPNS is Where data is stored Why interplanetary What Cloudflare do Alerts: -Scam alert: Betvibe makes false claims -TKeyCoin scam -Transaction lost bugfix -Bitcoin hedge fund records 10,000% returns -India fighting fake drugs Links: Podcast transcript for episode 5 - https://medium.com/@QuantLayer/crypto-teams-need-to-communicate-better-and-a-new-segment-big-drama-in-smallcap-land-zoin-and-8c36a624da6b Coindesk: Crypto Exchange Zaif Hacked In $60 Million Bitcoin Theft - https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-exchange-zaif-hacked-in-60-million-6000-bitcoin-theft/ Zaif - https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000093.000012906.html Cloudflare goes InterPlanetary - https://blog.cloudflare.com/distributed-web-gateway/ Alerts:  - Betvibe - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/86ad01c4-dd7e-3d8b-8a04-1e79e1c413e6  - TKeyCoins scam - https://medium.com/@ICOEthics/tkeycoin-scam-fake-team-bfb635fea486  - Transaction lost bugfix - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/f3b0144e-2524-42db-a647-75ebf93784fc?search=lost&searchType=default  - Bitcoin hedge fund records 10,000% returns - https://cryptobriefing.com/crypto-hedge-fund-records-10000-returns/  - India fighting fake drugs - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/07aa95fd-7100-45a3-97db-001546f23fdb?search=oracle&searchType=default  - Non Tesla Elon news - https://coinidol.com/elon-musk-calls-for-help/

We explore the Elastic IPO by doing a deep dive into its SEC Prospectus. We look at their business model and risks, and how open source software has been a giant revenue growth driver for them. We then get into an interesting discussion around tech investing and how it’s related to crypto. We look at some alerts that came through our platform: a cautionary tale of a trader who lost his life savings by investing at the peak and trying to recover losses with Bitcoin Cash and Ripple, and how to avoid doing that by looking at trading psychology. We also look at a crypto flash crash and compare it with flash crashes in public markets. Topics: Exploring the Elastic IPO Prospectus summary The "search" and the concept of "search" What "Net Expansion Rate" is Tech investing and how it relates to crypto Uber versus Magna Alerts: - Bitcoin crash - Attempt at fixing wallet syncing crash - Crypto flash crash Links: Elastic - Form S-1 SeekingAlpha analyst's post on Elastic search Bitcoin Crash: This man lost hi savings when cryptocurrencies plunged Attempt at fixing wallet syncing crash - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/d56b2357-abdb-46db-9280-45143591bdf6 - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/6ad97baf-d64c-31f5-bd05-13db1366111e September 5 Flash Crash - https://medium.com/ironchain-capital/a-recap-of-the-september-5-flash-crash-98b41b046c60 - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/7753c79e-4823-35c3-9acb-8e21439227aa Caching blockchains for fun and profit with Menlo Core

How do you turn a bug into a feature? On this episode, we talk about how we used Bugsnag to do just that. We then get into an interesting discussion around using 3rd party software applications to move software projects more quickly with less risk. We also highlight just how useful the bitcoin-dev mailing list is for learning about how the Bitcoin core team thinks about the protocol, and how their discussions underpin important considerations around scaling and network growth. We also look at a terrible case of UX in VeChain, how Google is adding Ethereum to BigQuery, how $800mm worth of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash moved out of a Silk Road wallet, and a very suspicious Bitmex short squeeze. Topics: How great Bugsnag is How to use Bugsnag to find a feature Getting to the roots of a crypto projects Bitcoin-dev mailing list What testnet is VeChain alert CertiK AutoScan Engine Google adding Ethereum to BigQuery How $800mm worth of bitcoin and bitcoin cash moved from silk road wallet How does short squeeze work Links: Crypto teams need to communicate better MIT License Bitcoin Dev Mailing List Testnet 3 Reest Blockonomics  - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/0b08c219-e363-42a1-8be2-a1e8ba90e13c?search=mainnet&searchType=default TXN price stayed stable CertiK Autoscan Engine  - https://medium.com/certik/certik-autoscan-engine-53-of-the-top-500-tokens-by-market-cap-were-found-to-have-vulnerabilities-80697fc245af  - https://ambcrypto.com/binance-to-integrate-certiks-autoscan-to-their-exchange-platform/ Google adding Ethereum to BigQuery  Alerts  - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/dda92d48-8342-4359-9115-a2ab8dee49b6?search=crash&searchType=default  - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/34884f60-ea42-35bb-87f3-a3f204e944d5?search=pump&searchType=default&telegramEnabled=false  - https://app-alpha.quantlayer.com/dashboard/alert/c2168670-f055-4d37-9ff9-cfe3fb00250a?search=mainnet&searchType=default

We discuss the alerting platform we’re building for crypto investors and traders. We then cover how Ethereum miners are rolling in dough, and the gives and takes of Proof of Work. We talk about a few really interesting alerts that hit this week: a Land Estate Bug we found in Decentraland ($MANA), an $EOS Vulnerability that exploits RAM, a Stratis node vulnerability ($STRAT) that’s been around for almost all year, and a Bitcoin Cash ($BCH) vulnerability. We also talk about how the crypto space has really gotten a new wave of people interested in learning about how finance works, and what crypto teams will have to do to keep that interest going. Topics: Major issue they have with the crypto market ZEC Sapling news Lightning Network updates Cheap ETH mining MANA land estate bug New EOS vulnerability allows to steal RAM resources directly from users Stratis node vulnerabilty Etherscan security vulnerability exposed by hackers Bitcoin core developer could have wiped bitcoin cash from existence How crypto has opened up people's eyes to how markets work Links: Screenshot of ZEC Sapling and Lightning Network ZEC Sapling news Lightning Network updates QuantLayer's website Vikram's email Miner Says It Costs Just $152 to Mine One ETH MANA Land Estate Bug - https://github.com/decentraland/land/commit/8e87fc3fee53dbc114d7b6d610ddfaa0913a1059 - https://github.com/decentraland/land/pull/93 EOS Vulnerability Allows to Steal RAM Resources Directly From Users Stratis Node Vulnerability - https://github.com/stratisproject/StratisBitcoinFullNode/commit/ef321fb3d98849ad03029c07f7805c78d15811e8 - https://github.com/stratisproject/StratisBitcoinFullNode/issues/1123 Etherscan Security Vulnerability exposed by hackers Bitcoin Core Developer Could Have Wiped Bitcoin Cash From Existence

We re-examine the drama around Tesla, and discuss its similarities and differences with Amazon. We also look at ARK Invest’s Catherine Wood’s open letter to Elon Musk asking him to keep the company public. We cover why we think the Bitcoin ETF rejections are a good thing, and the additional activity we are seeing on our alerting platform. Topics: Some thoughts on planning software projects up front, deploying early, and handling third party integrations early Is "deploy early, deploy often" a thing? Tesla drama returns Describing AWS and how AWS benefits its users Catherine Wood's open letter of why Tesla should remain public Bitcoin ETFs rejected Going through SEC logic Interesting alerts - Seeing multiple chats calling for no price discussion - VeChain token swap - NANO launches charges, first prototype of IoT economy - Lisk Mainnet launch imminent - GitHub activity from Raiden Links: QuantLayer Crypto Podcast #10  Article by Steve Yegge at Amazon How the S.E.C May Pursue a Case Against Elon Musk and Tesla ARK Invest Weekly Newsletter  An Open Letter Against Taking Tesla Private  Elon Musk blog: Staying Public  ProShares GraniteShares Direxion Great thread by Jake Chervisnky Hester Pierce Caitlin Long Two Things That Don't Mix Well: Bitcoin Rehypothecation And Chain Forks Andreas Antonopolous - Bitcoin Q&A: Why I'm Against ETFs Andreas Antonopolous - YouTube Channel  Andreas Antonopolous - Twitter VeChain token swap NANO Launches charges, first prototype of IoT economy Nano Center - Nano initiated charger prototype Link Mainnet launch imminent GitHub activity from Raiden