Podcast

How Nuklai Is Fueling the Next Wave of Artificial Intelligence – Matthijs de Vries

April 9, 2024 Bitcoin.com

Developing a Keyless Crypto Wallet Utilizing Biometrics – KeychainX CEO Robert Rhodin

March 11, 2024 Bitcoin.com

Hashing It Out: A case for Web3 chat apps with Push Protocol’s Harsh Rajat

December 1, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Hashing It Out: A conversation about spot Bitcoin ETFs and decentralized ETFs

November 24, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin regulation

Joel Kuck, CEO of Decentralized ETF, believes that “the big money will come when the institutions come” after the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States.

As expectations grow that a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will be approved in the United States, it remains one of the hottest topics heading into 2024. In Episode 38 of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out, Elisha Owusu Akyaw talks to Joel Kuck, CEO of Decentralized ETF (D-ETF), about how ETFs work, the potential impact of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs on the cryptocurrency industry and the idea of decentralized ETFs.

Amid the optimism that U.S. regulators are set to greenlight multiple spot BTC ETFs, some projects are also looking to bring other ETFs to the blockchain while riding the wave of hype around the investment products. Kuck explains why the industry is bullish about spot Bitcoin ETFs and why the excitement around them is mounting.

He explains that direct exposure to Bitcoin for institutional investors and funds through spot ETFs will boost adoption, which wasn’t previously feasible because some investors were unwilling to touch Bitcoin directly and be responsible for the self-custody of their assets.

According to Kuck, ETFs are an important wealth management and investment instrument that must be available for people in developing markets. He explains that this is the background for the creation of decentralized ETFs. This new classification of ETFs intends to take traditional ETFs to the blockchain, providing exposure for users who would otherwise not have access due to their jurisdiction or other barriers.

As 2023 comes to an end, Hashing It Out guests are asked to share their thoughts about the future of crypto and give their projections for 2024. Kuck said he is bullish that we will see a spot Bitcoin ETF soon and multiple similar products in the next five years. Moreover, he expects an increase in the tokenization of real-world assets, and the opening up of fractional ownership of assets like real estate powered by the blockchain.

Listen to the full episode of Hashing It Out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or TuneIn. You can also explore Cointelegraph’s full roster of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

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This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Hashing It Out: How Web3 is causing an evolution of traditional finance

November 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Banking

Sarah Clark, the CEO of E-Gates, believes that traditional finance needs to adopt features of decentralized finance as part of an evolution instead of seeing it as a revolution.

As decentralized finance grows in popularity, many wonder what the future holds for traditional finance (TradFi). In episode 37 of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast, Elisha Owusu Akyaw talks to Sarah Clark, the CEO of E-Gates, about how TradFi plans to compete and collaborate with the Web3 space and what that means for global payments moving forward. The episode also highlights issues around Web3 payments, such as regulatory compliance, fraud prevention and customer trust.

Clark has worked at multiple TradFi firms like PayPal and Barclays before pivoting to Web3. She explains that conventional finance could benefit from integrating blockchain technology and Web3 practices to solve major gaps like cross-border payments. Clark argues that these changes should be seen as an evolution instead of a revolution.

On using cryptocurrencies as payments, Clark identifies two main issues: acceptance and trust. She states that the number of merchants today that accept cryptocurrency is small, and there is a need for that to change for crypto-powered payments to take off. Clark explains there is a significant burden on Web3 payment providers to build trust among regulators concerned about funding sources and the potential use of cryptocurrencies to fund illicit activities. At the same time, consumers, too, have fears about the safety of their funds.

Clark argues that the issue with regulations cuts across all forms of innovation, and the frustrations with regulators go beyond Web3 to Silicon Valley. She explains that too much regulation could stifle innovation and add more friction for end users who want a simple user experience. The CEO believes that regulators must move away from existing regulations that benefit incumbents and disadvantage new systems that did not exist when most laws around finance and technology were crafted.

“We face a very similar challenge in the crypto space in terms of regulators not necessarily understanding. And then their instinctive reaction is to be more prescriptive rather than embracing the progress that can come from new technologies and setting a level playing field and saying all payment methods, whether it’s fiat credit cards, digital wallets or crypto, have to meet these thresholds.“

Listen to the full episode of Hashing It Out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or TuneIn. You can also explore Cointelegraph’s full roster of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

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Cointelegraph’s Rise ‘n’ Crypto: Unveiling the daily Web3 podcast

November 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Adoption

Want to keep on top of all the crucial happenings in crypto? Cointelegraph has a new daily podcast that provides a rundown of what you need to know in under 15 minutes!

Looking for a way to get all the crypto news you need each day from the best source on the net? Then look no further!

Hosted by Robert Baggs, Rise ’n’ Crypto is a daily podcast covering the most recent and important news, insights and stories without the fluff or rambling. Every morning at 9:00 am Eastern Time, while you sip your coffee, commute to work, or as you go about your day, you can get a rundown of everything you need to know about from the wild world of crypto.

Long-form, deep-diving podcasts are useful, but sometimes you just want a concise recap of what’s important right now — and that’s what Rise ‘n’ Crypto will do.

Cointelegraph provides 24/7 news coverage from every time zone, with unbiased insights and a wealth of research and data. Baggs will distill that deluge of information into what is essential and deliver it directly to your ears, Monday to Friday. Whether it’s market-moving events, legal drama, new fintech, the highs, the lows or the oddities of the crypto space, the Rise ‘n’ Crypto podcast will cover it all, from the biggest market-shaking stories to the fascinating and quirky of the past 24 hours.

So, if you want to stay ahead of the curve in crypto, follow or subscribe to Rise ‘n’ Crypto on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your favorite platform. You can also check out Cointelegraph’s full catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

Hashing It Out: Roofstock onChain vice president explains how Web3 and real estate interact

November 2, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Assets

Sanjay Raghavan believes that the tokenization of real estate could bring Web3 adoption and provide a diversification alternative for crypto natives.

The tokenization of real-world assets has been tipped as a major use case of blockchain technology that could drive Web3 adoption. In episode 35 of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast, host Elisha Owusu Akyaw interviews Sanjay Raghavan, vice president of Web3 Initiatives at Roofstock onChain, about tokenized real estate on the blockchain and how digital real estate investing interacts with the nonfungible tokens market and the decentralized finance landscape. Raghavan also talks about fractional nonfungible tokens (NFTs), regulations and the risks related to Web3 real estate platforms.

Raghavan explains how real estate is sold on the blockchain using NFTs. Companies that sell real estate on-chain must first purchase the property and create a limited liability company (LLC). An NFT is then created, which is associated with the ownership of the LLC. When users buy the NFT, they buy the LLC, which means they have purchased the property.

Raghavan tells Hashing It Out that regulations for tokenizing real-world assets can be complex. In the United States, for instance, various states have rules on the sale of assets, meaning that com navigate separate compliance requirements across 50 jurisdictions.

Beyond bringing people from the traditional real estate market to Web3, Raghavan believes that crypto natives may see real estate tokenization as a diversification tool. He explains that most investment alternatives in the industry may be highly correlated to the Bitcoin (BTC) price, and having another stable and less correlated asset could be a reason for exposure to real estate NFTs.

Raghavan also talks about the fractionalization of assets, including NFTs, which may require running a securities program that makes it unattractive for companies working in the United States. On the other hand, non-U.S. citizens may be able to access fractional NFTs in the future if firms outside the jurisdiction buy properties and sell the NFTs in other markets.

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Listen to the full episode of Hashing It Out, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn. You can also check out Cointelegraph’s full catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

Hashing It Out: A case for Web3 social media, and is Friend.tech a security?

October 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

CyberConnect co-founder Ryan Li believes that creators who want their content to live forever will ditch Web2 social media platforms for Web3 alternatives.

The Web3 industry continues its mission to disrupt the World Wide Web, and social media is one of its primary targets. In the 34th episode of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out, host Elisha Owusu Akyaw interviews Ryan Li, co-founder of CyberConnect, about the concept of decentralized social media.

Li kicks off the episode by explaining the rationale behind creating social media platforms running on blockchain. Li points out that Web3 social media platforms give content creators the confidence that they won’t be abandoned when the platform gets bigger or shifts its focus to ad revenue, unlike traditional platforms. This feature is built on top of a decentralized financial system, and the speculative nature of the space creates a strong case for SocialFi.

Li also highlights updates in recent years that have shone a spotlight on decentralized social media applications. Developments like the addition of account abstraction by CyberConnect and new gamified ways to increase engagements on SocialFi platforms have created some buzz around the sector.

A decentralized social media platform taking the space by storm recently is Friend.tech. The platform became the most used decentralized application on Coinbase’s Base network after recording revenue of 10,663 Ether (ETH), with total value locked of over 30,000 ETH in less than two months. Despite the growth, the platform has attracted critics, and Li shares an interesting opinion about the platform, describing it as a security:

“However, when you say if it’s a security, I would kind of say it might be because the price of a key, even though it’s trading against a battling curve, it’s not trading with another person.“

Beyond decentralized social media, Owusu Akyaw and Li discussed how the latest changes at major platforms like Meta and X (formerly Twitter) affect adoption. Li explains that X’s new monetization strategy and Meta’s seemingly unsuccessful experiment with Threads may catalyze Web3 social media adoption. According to the CyberConnect co-founder, users are likely to make a move due to a single feature they love and stay because of the infrastructure they find.

Listen to the latest episode of Hashing It Out with Ryan Li, co-founder of CyberConnect, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn. You can also check out Cointelegraph’s full catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

Hashing It Out: Diving into cross-chain DeFi lending

October 19, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

MultiChainZ chief operating officer Aanchal Thakur believes that cross-chain lending platforms will open users up to more liquidity.

Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast talked with MultiChainZ chief operating officer Aanchal Thakur to discuss a popular decentralized finance (DeFi) use case: lending. Host Elisha Owusu Akyaw and Thakur explored what makes a cross-chain lending platform different from other platforms and the potential risks it entails. Other highlights include conversations about institutions, DeFi lending, nonfungible token lending, and how projects embrace decentralized autonomous governance.

Thakur started her cryptocurrency journey by falling for a crypto doubling scam, which she claims taught her an important lesson to take her research of the industry more seriously. She went on to work on multiple projects before moving to MultiChainZ.

Thakur argued there is a strong case for building a cross-chain lending platform. She explained that funds are unavailable for many people globally, and that creating a lending and borrowing platform that cuts across multiple networks opens users up to more sources of liquidity.

The MultiChainZ exec also argued that overreliance on a single network may expose projects to a high level of risk. She explained that one of the proper ways to ensure decentralization is to use multiple networks.

“If a blockchain is not working for even two hours, when Solana was down for a few hours, it impacted so many users. It impacted the trust of those users. So, we realized that it does not make sense to build a product on a particular blockchain.“

Owusu Akyaw asked Thakur about bringing more institutions into Web3 through lending. According to Thakur, most institutional investors are concerned about risk and compliance. On risk, there is a need for a higher security threshold to attract major firms that manage huge sums of money. For compliance, she explained that although most Web3 developers like to look at the industry as a borderless environment, the real world has boundaries with regulations that need to be respected. Failure to work with regulators will keep more institutions away from the ecosystem, she believes.

Listen to this latest episode of Hashing It Out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn. You can also explore Cointelegraph’s complete catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

How big is Bitcoin in Lugano? Decentralize with Cointelegraph goes to BTC school

September 19, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitfinex

Adam Back, Paolo Ardoino and enthusiastic students from all over the world share insights on Bitcoin school as well as crypto adoption in Switzerland.

This week, Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall takes podcast listeners back to school — Bitcoin (BTC) school.

On the latest episode of Decentralize with Cointelegraph, listeners can indulge in interview snippets, soundbites and pearls of wisdom from the likes of Blockstream CEO Adam Back and Tether chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino, as well as professionals in cybersecurity and from Chainalysis.

*Paolo Ardoino (left) in an interview with Joe Hall (right).*

Plus, hear from students who attended the school about what it’s like to live, breathe, sleep and study crypto for two weeks, 24/7. An Italian Ethereum fan comments on Bitcoin maximalism, Latin Americans observe Europeans’ behavior regarding recycling, and Taiwanese students settle into life around the cryptocurrency.

This week’s episode of Decentralize also investigates how deep Bitcoin and crypto adoption reaches in Lugano, the distinctly Italian city in the southern section of Switzerland. The city adopted Bitcoin as de facto legal tender one year ago, and there has been noticeable progress since then — with the Bitcoin “B” logo hard to miss in the town center.

More than 200 vendors accept Bitcoin in Lugano. Big brands like McDonald’s, Rolex and even Lamborghini will take the cryptocurrency, while some pharmacies, convenience stores and tobacco shops also accept it.

However, Bitcoin is still not deeply or broadly understood, and there’s a lot of work to be done if Lugano is to one day fully embrace it, as Ardoino explained:

”I wish I was able to say that our job is done, but I think we are just at the beginning. The most important part is the education of the merchants.”

The point-of-sale devices merchants use across Lugano also accept Tether (USDT) and Luga, a token that locals and residents can use.

To hear a secret from Back concerning MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, learn what Paraguayans made of Switzerland on their first-ever trip to Europe, and discover why the efforts in Lugano could spread to other areas of Europe, plug in and listen in to this week’s episode of Decentralize with Cointelegraph — available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Cointelegraph’s podcast page and more.

The episode also serves as a sneak preview of an upcoming Cointelegraph documentary about life in Lugano. Subscribe to Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel here to catch it when it’s released.

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