Episode 35 – Stablecoins will Fork your Chain if they Want to Fork

Stablecoins will Fork your Chain if they Want to Fork – Crypto Critics' Corner

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey talk about the concept that maybe stablecoins play an intimate role in how successful a fork of a major cryptocurrency is or whether the cryptocurrency forks at all.

In this episode Cas Piancey and Bennett Tomlin discuss the incredibly influential position of stablecoins in determining crypto governance.

Bennett wrote an article about it here:

Goddamn Forking Stablecoins

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Episode 34 – The Tether Papers (featuring David Canellis of Protos Media)

The Tether Papers (feat. David Canellis of Protos) – Crypto Critics' Corner

Today we dissect The Tether Papers along with one of the main authors, David Canellis – also the head of the Protos newsroom. Please follow along at home by reading The Tether Papers here: https://protos.com/tether-papers-crypto-stablecoin-usdt-investigation-analysis/

In this episode Cas Piancey and Bennett Tomlin are joined by David Canellis of Protos Media to discuss their recently released investigation into Tether, The Tether Papers.

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Episode 33 – The President’s Working Group and Stablecoin Woes

The President's Working Group and Algo Stablecoin Woes – Crypto Critics' Corner

In today's episode Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey discuss the President's Working Group, which recently released a report on stablecoins, and the issues that the creator of TerraUSD (an algorithmic stablecoin) is facing.

In this episode Cas Piancey and Bennett Tomlin discuss the recently released President’s Working Group Report on Stablecoins and the impact we expect it to have the stablecoin industry.

Bennett also wrote a piece on it:

Rumination on the President’s Working Group Report on Stablecoins and Tether

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Episode 32 – Tracking Tether and Working on Ethereum Layer 2 (with Daniel Goldman)

Tracking Tether and Working on Ethereum Layer 2 (with Daniel Goldman) – Crypto Critics' Corner

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey are joined by a good friend and special guest Daniel Goldman, an engineer working on the Ethereum layer 2 solution called Arbitrum, but who is also a cryptocurrency critic. Daniel helped create a Twitter bot that allowed skeptics to follow any and all Tether prints for years, and without his work the chore of monitoring every large Tether print during the early days would've been an annoying errand. 

In this episode Cas Piancey and Bennett Tomlin are joined by Daniel Goldman, a researcher and developer with Arbitrum to discuss the things he’s skeptical of, the things he’s excited about, and his history with us Tether skeptics.

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Episode 31 – Decentralization and Tribalism (featuring Oliver Beige)

Decentralization and Tribalism (featuring Oliver Beige) – Crypto Critics' Corner

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey talk with Oliver Beige, an engineer turned economist, who tell us whether decentralization is sustainable and how tribalism plays a role.

In this episode Cas Piancey and Bennett Tomlin are joined by Oliver Beige an industrial engineer turned economist who’s work in understanding the structure of networks helps provide an insight into crypto tribalism and crypto networks.

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Episode 30 – Taiwan and Tether (with Sam Reynolds)

Taiwan and Tether (with Sam Reynolds) – Crypto Critics' Corner

Today Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey are joined by Blockworks author Sam Reynolds, a Taipei-based reporter, who discusses the early history of Tether in Taiwan and what can be implied by their issues with their early banking partners.

In this episode Cas and I are joined by Sam Reynolds of Blockwords to discuss the importance of Taiwan to the Tether story. Taiwan is where Tether originally started and where they originally banked.

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Episode 29 – The Pandora Papers

The Pandora Papers – Crypto Critics' Corner

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey talk about a huge investigative drop from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: the Pandora Papers. The leaks will help the public understand how the rich, famous, and politically connected are able to evade taxes and move money without anyone knowing. If you'd like to read about the Papers yourself, please visit https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/ If you'd like to donate to the ICIJ, please visit https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=icij&installmentPeriod=monthly&amount=10&campaign=701f4000001A4kF

In this episode Cas and I discuss the Pandora Papers, why they are important, what has been revealed, and most importantly why this type of journalism is so valuable and so important.

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Episode 28 – Liberty Reserve: The First Stablecoin

Liberty Reserve: the first stablecoin – Crypto Critics' Corner

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey review Liberty Reserve – the first stablecoin and the first stablecoin shutdown by US regulators.

In this episode Cas and I discuss what we call the ‘first stablecoin’ Liberty Reserve. Liberty Reserve was a digital representation of a dollar that was marketed based on its censorship resistance that was frequently used for illicit acts and was shut down thanks to massive cooperation between regulators and law enforcement.

I wrote about Liberty Reserve:

Wildcat Banks, Liberty Reserve, and Tether

Cas wrote about Liberty Reserve:

https://thecaspiancey.medium.com/jurisdiction-is-a-mirage-eb63b1e4868a

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Episode 27 – Evergrande with David Z. Morris

Evergrande with David Z. Morris – Crypto Critics' Corner

Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey are joined, once again, by David Z. Morris, the chief insights columnist at Coindesk, to discuss what's happening with Evergrande, why it matters for other regions and industries, and how the property market on the Chinese Mainland operates.

In this episode Cas and I are joined by David Z Morris of Coindesk to discuss some of the oddities surrounding the current situation with Evergrande in China.

You can find David’s Twitter here, his Substack here, and his book here.

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Episode 26 – Cryptocurrency Lending is Too Good to Believe

Cryptocurrency Lending is Too Good to Believe – Crypto Critics' Corner

Today Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey explore the incredible interest rates offered by centralized cryptocurrency lenders, how they likely make their money, and whether or not any of them are "risk-free."

In this episode Cas and I discuss the problems with cryptocurrency lending companies including BlockFi, Celsius, and Nexo. They are marketed as risk-free while actually you take on significant counterparty risk.

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