Venice

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams founder Jeni Britton joins Guy on the Advice Line to answer questions from three early-stage entrepreneurs. Plus, how Jeni’s newest venture Floura is tackling one of America’s largest dietary needs—fiber. First, we meet Jesse in Washington, D.C., who’s wondering how to best focus marketing efforts for his frozen french fry company. Then Casey from Boston, who's questioning the pressure she's feeling to pursue outside capital for her frozen pierogi brand. And finally, Callie from Los Angeles asks about the pros and cons of contracting a PR firm to promote her purple sweet potato pet treats. Thank you to the founders of Jesse & Ben’s, Jaju Pierogi and Ubae.co for being a part of our show. If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you’d like answered. Send a voice memo to hibt@id.wondery.com or call 1-800-433-1298. And be sure to listen to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams’ founding story as told by Jeni on the show in 2018. This episode was produced by Katherine Sypher with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was Neal Rauch. You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram and sign up for Guy's free newsletter at guyraz.com and on Substack. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeni Britton

Founder

Jeni's Splendid Ice CreamsFLFloura

Jesse

Co-founder

VeniceJBJesse & Ben's

Casey

Founder

JPJaju Pierogi

Callie

Founder

Ubae

AI is quickly becoming the interface through which people think, work, and make decisions—but most users have no idea how much personal data they're handing over in the process. Jon and Jesse from Venice join David to make the case for privacy-first AI, explain why Venice is aiming to become a mainstream consumer AI brand, and explore how $VVV and DIEM transform inference into a crypto-economic primitive. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🧭OKX | TRADE, EARN, PAY to OKX | 120M+ USERS WORLDWIDE https://app.okx.com/join/USBANKLESS 🦊 METAMASK | DOWNLOAD NOW https://go.metamask.io/BL-Pod-Download 🌐BRIX | EMERGING MARKET YIELD https://bankless.cc/brix 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:12 Why Private AI Matters 3:01 The AI Data Honeypot 6:07 Venice’s Consumer AI Ambition 8:01 Beating the Big AI Labs 10:19 Model Aggregation and Agentic Chat 12:29 Open Source, Closed Source, and Private Grok 17:14 Who Actually Needs Private AI? 21:58 Venice’s User Base 23:53 What Drove Venice’s Recent Growth 27:21 $VVV, DIEM, and Tokenized Inference 29:00 Where Venice Gets Its Compute 32:17 Bonding Curves and DIEM Monetary Policy 39:14 Real Tokenomics, Not Just a Pie Chart 45:46 AI Agents Need Inference to Exist 52:54 ShapeShift DNA Inside Venice 55:53 Regulation, AI, and Individual Rights --- RESOURCES Jon ShapeShift https://x.com/JonShapeShift Jesse Proudman https://x.com/jesseproudman --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Jon

Co-founder

Venice

Jesse

Co-founder

Venice

Crypto OG Erik Voorhees joins The Chopping Block crew to dissect the future of agentic payments, the eternal war for privacy, memecoin-fueled AI drama on Moltbook, and why your next DeFi user might just be your OpenClaw agent—plus, a candid look at crypto's core and how AI turns software engineering existential. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, we’re joined by none other than Erik Voorhees, legendary crypto pioneer and founder of Venice, for a no-holds-barred discussion on the wild convergence of AI, crypto, and the meme coin casino. Erik unpacks his journey from anti-surveillance crusader to AI entrepreneur, why Venice is all-in on privacy and free speech for LLMs, and how “provable privacy” is a Sisyphean technical challenge. The crew breaks down OpenClaw’s agent drama, memecoin carpet-bombing of Moltbook, and Meta muscling in on AI social networks. We debate agentic payments (will your first paying customer soon be a bot?), the true game theory behind state surveillance, and why crypto’s greatest killer use case might actually be building tools for robots instead of humans. Plus: existential crises for software engineers, why “AI alignment” is a philosophical dead end, and the childlike glee (or open psychosis) of trading OpenClaw war stories at AI meetups. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights 🔹 Erik Voorhees traces his journey from crypto OG to Venice AI founder, fighting for privacy and free speech   🔹 Explainer: Why all big AI labs store your prompts — and how Venice’s model tries to break the surveillance cycle   🔹 The crew tears into "agentic payments" hype and asks if crypto was really made for humans — or just robots   🔹 OpenClaw, Moltbook, and memecoin floods: Welcome to the unholy spawnpoint of AI agents and CT scam culture   🔹 Meta acquires Moltbook—what happens when agent societies meet social networks (and meme coins ensue)   🔹 AI alignment isn’t as hard as they said—until agents start “optimizing” in the wild (and mining your GPU for crypto)   🔹 Existential crisis time: Why software engineers feel like Paul Bunyan fighting tunnel machines   🔹 Crypto’s endgame: DeFi legos for agents, not just degens—will AI really build its own protocols?   🔹 The game theory of state surveillance and why institutions, not individuals, are the ultimate privacy adversary   🔹 "Provable privacy” isn’t just trust, it’s math—Venice’s plan to win over the tinfoil crowd Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Guest ⭐️ Erik Voorhees, Founder of Venice.ai Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:16 Erik’s Origin & Venice.AI’s Mission 03:51 Censorship Future 08:58 Proving Privacy With TEEs 11:44 Frontier Models Tradeoffs 15:02 Agents & Crypto Payments 18:22 OpenClaw Provider Drama 22:24 Moltbook Meta Acquisition 29:16 Exponential AI Moment 33:00 Alibaba Agent Breakout 37:06 Alignment Reality Check 39:22 Who Understands LLMs? 41:48 Engineers Facing Disruption 47:55 AI Psychosis Meetups 54:24 Pro Models & Pricing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist LinkedIn Jobs - https://LinkedIn.com/twist. Deel - https://deel.com/twist Iru - https://iru.com/twist! Today’s show: It’s a packed TWiST Today! WITH US, we’ve got Erik Voorhees of VeniceAI and Logan Allin of Fin Capital on to talk agents, crypto, and… you guessed it, OPENCLAW! Where does agentic AI meet the financial system? How will agents transact? And what does privacy look like in a world with omnipresent AI? Stick around for some demos! We’ve got George Pickett to demo OpenClaw studio and David Kaufman to show us what he’s building at Siteline! Timestamps: 00:04:31 What was Logan’s original thesis in Circle? 10:08 LinkedIn Jobs - Thanks to our partners at @LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://⁠linkedIn.com/twist⁠ then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs’ new AI assistant. 00:11:52 Logans thoughts on Open vs. Closed Source 00:15:33 How to maintain privacy in AI 20:02 Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit https://⁠deel.com/twist⁠ to learn more. 00:23:29 Why LAUNCH’s token usage is trending higher than payroll! 00:25:05 How Fin capital uses personality types and AI to assess investments 00:29:45 Why Erik thinks Anthropic’s defiance of the federal gov. is bravery! 32:10 Iru - Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. TWiST listeners get 20% off when they book a demo at https://⁠iru.com⁠/twist! 00:42:23 How Siteline is helping understand companies and their agent traffic. 00:57:15 OpenClaw Studio makes OpenClaw as user friendly as possible. 01:10:09 The layers and layers of Microstrategy’s business model. 01:11:44 Which AI tools are the most indispensable? 01:12:25 How Jason uses the Grok button on threads Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons Follow Alex: X: https://x.com/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/ Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Logan Allin

Founder

Fin Capital

Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor are co-founders of Venice, an open-source and uncensored AI chatbot and content generation platform. In this episode, the Venice co-founders discuss the vision and approach of their product in contrast to more restrictive and centralized AI models like ChatGPT. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:43 Origin of Venice AI 02:37 'AI is like Bitcoin but scarier' 07:29 Proprietary AI Models 09:12 Regulatory Inefficiencies 11:16 Global AI Regulatory Regimes 16:46 AI Censorship 20:11 Moderation on Venice 25:01 Freedom vs Privacy 34:11 Venice Pricing Model 36:35 AI Agents 39:44 AI 'Rights' 50:37 Venice Roadmap 54:10 Closing Thoughts This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Polkadot Polkadot is the blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation. To discover more, head to polkadot.network The Block Community The Block is launching a new community experience for fans of The Scoop! Follow us on Lens to stay in the loop: hey.xyz/u/theblockcommunity The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Teana Baker-Taylor

COO

Venice AIVenice

In this episode, Venice AI co-founder Erik Voorhees joins the AI Daily Brief to discuss pressing issues around AI and freedom. We cover the arrest of Telegram's founder, the ongoing debates about California's SB 1047, and the broader concerns of AI regulation and privacy. Erik offers his perspective on the risks of centralizing AI under government control and explores the potential for decentralized, open-source alternatives. This conversation sheds light on the future of AI and its impact on personal freedom and privacy. About our guest: Erik is the founder of Venice.ai, a generative AI chat interface, which enables anyone, anywhere, access to private and uncensored AI powered by leading open-source AI models. A visionary technology entrepreneur, in 2014, Erik founded the digital asset exchange platform, ShapeShift, and served as its CEO until July 2021, when the exchange became the first VC-backed company to fully decentralize all corporate structure by converting into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Prior to ShapeShift, Erik founded SatoshiDICE, the first widely-popular Bitcoin betting game in 2012, and served as the Head of Marketing and Communications at BitInstant, the first venture-backed Bitcoin startup. Erik is a vocal advocate of free and open markets, the right to privacy and the fundamental importance of decentralized applications. Erik continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the narrative around decentralization, capitalism, and cryptocurrency, regularly appearing on Bloomberg, Fox Business, CNBC, and BBC Radio, among others. His influence and insights were featured within the 2014 documentary, “The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin,” and the 2016 documentary, “Banking on Bitcoin”. https://x.com/ErikVoorhees https://venice.ai/ Learn how to use AI with the world's biggest library of fun and useful tutorials: https://besuper.ai/ Use code 'youtube' for 50% off your first month. Concerned about being spied on? Tired of censored responses? AI Daily Brief listeners receive a 20% discount on Venice Pro. Visit ⁠⁠⁠https://venice.ai/nlw⁠⁠⁠ and enter the discount code NLWDAILYBRIEF. The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/ Join our Discord: https://bit.ly/aibreakdown

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

NLW is joined by Venice Co-Founder Teana Baker-Taylor to discuss the most important recent events related to the topic of open vs. closed artificial intelligence. Concerned about being spied on? Tired of censored responses? AI Daily Brief listeners receive a 20% discount on Venice Pro. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://venice.ai/nlw ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and enter the discount code NLWDAILYBRIEF. Learn how to use AI with the world's biggest library of fun and useful tutorials: https://besuper.ai/ Use code 'podcast' for 50% off your first month. The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/ Join our Discord: https://bit.ly/aibreakdown

Teana Baker-Taylor

COO

VeniceVenice AI

On this holiday weekend bonus episode, NLW is joined by Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor of Venice.ai, a new LLM focused on data privacy and anti-censorship. Concerned about being spied on? Tired of censored responses? AI Daily Brief listeners receive a 20% discount on Venice Pro. Visit ⁠⁠https://venice.ai/nlw⁠⁠ and enter the discount code NLWDAILYBRIEF. Learn how to use AI with the world's biggest library of fun and useful tutorials: https://besuper.ai/ Use code 'summerfun' to join the summer challenge and get 50% off your two first months The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/ Join our Discord: https://bit.ly/aibreakdown

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Teana Baker-Taylor

COO

Venice AIVenice

Erik Voorhees, a crypto OG, has launched Venice, a private, uncensorable, open-source competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, powered by a decentralized crypto network.  In the episode, Erik and Venice’s COO Teana Baker-Taylor delve into the problems with censorship and data in current AI agents, including how they create honeypots of information about users’ search history for hackers, or that they can be absurdly politically correct, such as refusing to create images of Caucasian people. As they point out, there’s also the risk that the companies managing them could be censoring the models to please the Chinese government, in order to access the market in that country. They talk about their plan for Venice to gain market share, considering that DuckDuckGo, a privacy-preserving competitor to Google, has a much smaller market share. And they explain why they intend for Venice to eventually use the compute of Morpheus, or other decentralized crypto-powered compute networks.  They also critique the SEC’s current regulatory approach to crypto, calling it “a joke.” Additionally, they explore the concept of AI agents using cryptocurrencies as their primary currency. Show highlights: Why Erik decided to move into artificial intelligence and merge it with crypto What problems decentralized AI would solve and why it's hard to solve sexist and racist views in LLMs The differences between ChatGPT and other similar products and Venice AI Why privacy is so important for users, according to Erik, and how Venice doesn't store the users' information How central governments could manipulate information to their own benefit and how to avoid it Whether people will shift from using search engines to LLMs What Morpheus is and its goal to provide decentralized computation for AI How Erik and Teana believe crypto and AI will continue to work together  Erik's and Teana's thoughts on some of the recent government actions against founders of crypto privacy services such as Samourai Wallet andTornado Cash Why Erik believes that the SEC has become a joke Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com First Bits + Bips episode: Bits + Bips: Does Macroeconomics Point to a Potential Crypto Supercycle? Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot VaultCraft Guests: Erik Voorhees, Founder and CEO of Venice AI Previous appearances on Unchained: Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State Teana Baker-Taylor, COO at Venice AI Links Previous coverage on Unchained of crypto/AI: When AI and Blockchain Meet, How Can Each Technology Benefit? The Chopping Block: Why AI Will Change the Course of History in Crypto 5 Use Cases of AI in Blockchain A Beginner's Guide to AI Tokens Venice AI: Erik’s thread announcing Venice  The Separation of Mind and State Architecture: About Morpheus.Network Messari: What is Akash Network? LLMs: MIT Technology Review: LLMs become more covertly racist with human intervention China Talk: Censorship’s Impact on China’s Chatbots - by Nicholas Welch Recent cases on privacy: CoinDesk: Samourai Wallet Founders Arrested and Charged With Money Laundering Cointelegraph: DOJ’s Tornado Cash arguments show ‘obvious disdain for privacy’ — Lawyer CNBC: North Korea crypto hacking activity soars to record high in 2023, new report shows Reuters: Exclusive: UN experts investigate 58 cyberattacks worth $3 bln by North Korea Erik’s post on the right to have privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Teana Baker-Taylor

COO

Venice AIVenice

What is THORChain? Join David as we explore the liquidity protocol that allows swapping between BTC, ETH, and more without intermediaries. Chad Barraford is a core developer at THORChain, and Erik Voorhees is a Bankless staple who has found a deep resonance with THORChain's mission. Is THORChain helping build the Bankless future? Come find out. ----- 🏹 Airdrop Hunter is HERE, join your first HUNT today https://bankless.cc/JoinYourFirstHUNT  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE ⁠https://k.xyz/bankless-pod-q2  ⁠ 🦊METAMASK PORTFOLIO | MANAGE YOUR WEB3 EVERYTHING ⁠https://bankless.cc/MetaMask  ⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM ⁠https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  ⁠ 🔗CELO | CEL2 COMING SOON https://bankless.cc/Celo  👾GMX | V2 IS NOW LIVE  https://bankless.cc/GMX  💲 USDV | NATIVE OMNICHAIN STABLECOIN https://bankless.cc/usdv  ------ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 3:30 What is Thorchain 7:10 Erik and Shapeshift 10:20 How it Works 13:40 Is this a Bridge? 17:00 Staking and Security 20:00 Rune 28:45 Bitcoin and Ethereum 32:20 Latency 36:00 The Bull Case for Thorchain 38:40 Specialization 40:40 The Roadmap and Community 44:00 Get Involved ------ RESOURCES Erik Voorhees: https://x.com/ErikVoorhees?s=20  Chad Barraford https://x.com/CBarraford?s=20  THORChain Website https://thorchain.org/  THORChain Twitter https://twitter.com/thorchain  ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Chad Barraford

Core Developer

THORChain

✨ DEBRIEF | Unpacking the Episode: https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/debrief-erik-voorhees-why-are-we-here  ------ Erik Voorhees is a crypto veteran of veterans. He’s one of the greatest advocates of open and permissionless systems that we have in this space. In this episode we talk about his legendary debate with SBF—this is the first time we’ve caught up with him since. What are his reflections now? We also dive into how this bull/bear cycle is similar and different from previous ones, how do we preserve crypto’s core principles, and most importantly—why are we here? Why crypto? Why now? Why stay? Erik doesn’t waste a word in this episode. Happy New Year everyone. Let’s keep building. ------ 📣 Kraken | The Crypto Exchange for Everyone http://k.xyz/bankless-pod  ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/?utm_source=banklessshowsyt  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: https://availableon.com/bankless  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://bankless.cc/kraken  🦄UNISWAP | ON-CHAIN MARKETPLACE https://bankless.cc/uniswap  ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum    ------ Topics Covered 0:00 Intro 6:17 Where Did Crypto Go Wrong? 8:43 Crypto Labels 12:30 Responsibility 14:26 Accountability 18:19 FTX Collapse From Erik’s POV 24:05 SBF’s Headspace 28:45 Potential Alternative Realities 30:50 SBF’s D.C. Relationship 34:47 Was this Cycle Unique? 38:58 Lessons From Past Cycles 43:36 Learning Through the Pain? 48:33 Why is Individual Empowerment Correct? 50:20 Coordination & Order 54:26 Power 1:02:22 The U.S. Constitution 1:07:13 Code Enforcement 1:08:07 Why Are We Here? 1:09:49 Baked-In Crypto Principles 1:13:03 Perserving Core Crypto Values 1:16:48 Is Erik Radical? 1:21:44 Will Crypto Ever Go Mainstream? 1:25:53 Cycle Common Denominators 1:28:19 Bear Market Advice 1:29:31 Erik’s Bull Market Forcast 1:32:00 Action Items & Disclaimers ------ Resources: SBF vs Erik Voorhees episode https://youtu.be/Ytaa_5liwMA  A Response to SBF and Principled Crypto Regulation https://www.moneyandstate.com/blog/response-to-sbf  Sophistry and the Savior https://www.moneyandstate.com/blog/sophistry-and-the-savior  24 - Exploring the Frontier | Erik Voorhees https://youtu.be/rLsOHOvUOpM  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, and Jordan Fish, aka Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, talk about the collapse of FTX.  Show highlights: the links between FTX and Alameda what kickstarted the blowup of FTX why Erik and Cobie think that Bankman-Fried's behavior was “sociopathic” why the $10 billion hole is so shocking to Cobie considering the advantages that FTX had as a company whether this would have ever happened if the prices hadn’t plummeted in the bear market the tension between advocates of privacy and those who want to limit criminal activity why Erik believes that SBF’s donations to both political parties are bribery whether regulators can prevent an exchange from collapsing whether Changpeng Zhao did a better job at investigating FTX than anyone at the SEC the likelihood that this will result in criminal charges how blockchain technology is the solution to the problem of centralized exchanges doing things in the dark Tether’s decision to freeze USDT owned by FTX Erik’s response to Bitcoin maximalists who say FTX was caused by altcoins whether it is a mistake for exchanges to issue their own tokens how big the contagion could be in the industry why nobody should leave a significant amount of their net worth in a centralized exchange Erik’s message to regulators whether SBF was aligned with the values and the ethos of crypto Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Erik: Twitter ShapeShift Previous Unchained episodes: Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State Cobie: Twitter Substack UpOnly Previous Unchained episodes: Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market Episode Links Previous coverage of Unchained: Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto? FTX Collapse: FTX Tapped Into Customer Accounts to Fund Risky Bets, Setting Up Its Downfall SBF’s video talking to regulators Unchained coverage: FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero Binance’s dropped deal with FTX CZ’s announcement SBF’s announcement Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves Unchained coverage: Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2 Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX  Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy Crypto regulation Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Cobie

Co-Host

UpOnly

In Part 2, Ryan and David are joined by Brian Armstrong, Erik Voorhees, & Ryan Selkis to discuss what transpired today, how it’ll impact our industry, and what it means moving forward. In case you missed it, we’ve already released Part 1 where Ryan and David recap everything that happened leading up to today, what’s unfolded thus far, what happens next, and what it means for the crypto space writ large. ------ Earnifi | Check For Your Unclaimed Airdrops, POAPs, & NFTs https://bankless.cc/earnifi  ------ SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/?utm_source=banklessshowsyt  ️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: ️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  ACROSS | BRIDGE TO LAYER 2 https://bankless.cc/Across  BRAVE | THE BROWSER NATIVE WALLET https://bankless.cc/Brave  NEXO | CRYPTO FINANCIAL HUB https://bankless.cc/Nexo  LEDGER | NANO HARDWARE WALLETS https://bankless.cc/Ledger  ️FUEL | THE MODULAR EXECUTION LAYER https://bankless.cc/Fuelpod  ----- Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 4:04 Ryan Selkis 11:45 Takes & Prices https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1590088673726717952  https://www.coingecko.com/  https://ultrasound.money/  20:32 Erik Voorhees 42:00 Brian Armstrong 1:00:25 New CZ https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1590103159506341888  1:02:45 Ultra Sound Money https://ultrasound.money/  1:04:45 Closing & Disclaimers ----- Resources: SBF Announcement https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1590012124864348160  CZ Announcement https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1590013613586411520  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Brian Armstrong

CEO and Co-Founder

CoinbaseResearchHub

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Ryan Selkis

Founder & CEO

Messari

A debate between two crypto titans on how to regulate crypto. Whether to regulate crypto? Where do we draw the line? Study and remember this one anon. ------ Push | Try the Communication Protocol of Web3 https://bankless.cc/Push  ------ SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  ️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: ️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  DESO | DECENTRALIZED SOCIAL BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/Deso  BRAVE | THE BROWSER NATIVE WALLET https://bankless.cc/Brave  TRUEFI | CRYPTO FINANCIAL HUB https://bankless.cc/TrueFi  SEQUENCE | ALL-IN-ONE PLATFORM https://bankless.cc/Sequence  ️FUEL | THE MODULAR EXECUTION LAYER https://bankless.cc/Fuelpod  ------ Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 7:36 Should Crypto Be Regulated? 23:50 Transparency 25:55 Showing Up & BitLicense 36:50 Erik's Issues with Sam's Post 52:12 The DeFi Regulation Debate 1:24:27 Why Regulation Now? 1:40:10 DCCPA 1:53:04 Stealmanning Eachother's Points 2:01:55 Closing Arguments 2:06:17 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Resources: SBF https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX  Erik Voorhees https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees  SBF Proposal https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1582835426116575235  Erik Voorhees's Rebuttal https://www.moneyandstate.com/blog/response-to-sbf  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures

Sam Bankman-Fried

CEO

FTXAlameda Research

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Erik Voorhees, the founder of Shapeshift and OG of the crypto industry (joining in 2011). Erik believes crypto can change the world, and this episode explores his thesis on Bitcoin's future, on-chain maximalism, DAO structures and crypto's path to adoption. Highlights include: - What is the best form of money - Bitcoin's tail emission risk - How DeFi will outperform CeFi - Will all financial transactions be on-chain? - The likely path to adoption - Why DAO failures are a sign of innovation - Thoughts on regulation - The future of centralized exchanges - Why Thorchain is a gamechanger - - Follow Erik: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out http://paraswap.io/empire ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices and lowest slippage. Disclaimer: 0 fees are limited to 3 weeks or first 500k. - - Attend DAS, crypto and macro’s favorite institutional conference: http://digitalassetsummit.co/ Use code EMPIRE250 to get $250 off tickets (Only available this week!) -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- (00:00) Introduction (01:32) Moving Beyond Bitcoin  (03:50) Bitcoin Is The Best Form of Money (05:34) Bitcoin's Declining Block Subsidy (11:13) Woke Culture vs Bitcoin Maximalism  (12:50) The Bifurcation of CeFi and DeFi (16:18) Limits to DeFi's Growth  (22:50) Why Users Will Want To Use DeFi (26:50) A Short and Long Term Vision of the World (28:48) Paraswap Ad (29:56) The Path to Adoption (35:38) Is The Worst Behind Us? (37:22) Erik's Current Focus (38:38) DAO Structures and Experimentation (46:08) A DAOs Most Important Use Case (49:30) Iterative Regulation  (55:54) Centralized Exchanges (57:05) Thorchain's Use Case  (58:48) Advice To New People In the Space -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Venture, Eric Wall, former Chief Investment Officer of Arcane Assets, and Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, discuss what happened with the TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA fiasco, Do Kwon’s responsibility, the impact on the crypto ecosystem, and much more. Show highlights:  how Erik used to feel that algo stablecoins were impossible and why he changed his mind why Eric considers that the demand for UST was tied to a sh*tcoin why Nic didn’t think LUNA would work how a stablecoin could theoretically be decentralized whether Nic, Eric, and Erik think this was a deliberate attack why they think whether or not there was a deliberate attack is not even relevant how the de-peg started with a liquidity issue on Curve why Nic thinks that Terra’s biggest mistake was the 19.5% APY on Anchor whether pursuing a decentralized stablecoin is a worthy goal what aspects of UST were decentralized, according to Erik whether algo stablecoins are dead or whether in the future, death spirals of algo stablecoins can be avoided why Erik believes that everything in the crypto space is an experiment, even BTC what it says that the VCs behind Terra knew were so reputable why Do Kwon's arrogance and inexperience might have caused this chaos whether Terra can be rebuilt whether this collapse imposes risks on other blockchains and other assets why the Luna Foundation Guard’s purchase of Bitcoin might have made the UST collapse even worse what Erik thinks about the global financial system and the US dollar how this event could trigger more regulation in the crypto space and why it might hurt the entire ecosystem how regulators might use the Terra case to impose CBDCs.   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io   Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance       Episode Links   Erik Vorhees  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees   Eric Wall Twitter: https://twitter.com/ercwl   Nic Carter Twitter: https://twitter.com/nic__carter   Previous Unchained Coverage of Terra Do Kwon on backing UST with BTC ​​https://unchainedpodcast.com/do-kwon-is-backing-ust-with-bitcoin-and-heres-what-else-he-is-building/ Kevin Zhou on the risk of UST’s death spiral https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-de-pegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/  Jon Wu on how Terra got de-pegged: https://unchainedpodcast.com/did-someone-deliberately-attack-terra-luna-to-kick-off-a-death-spiral/ Terra Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money  UST Mechanics: https://angelprotocol.medium.com/how-does-ust-work-ec7b2f6e2c2c Luna Foundation Guard: https://lfg.org/team/ UST Bank Run: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crash-of-terrausd-shakes-crypto-there-was-a-run-on-the-bank-11652371839 Speculation of a deliberate attack: https://onchainwizard.substack.com/p/how-to-make-800m-in-crypto-soros?s=r Do Kwon’s Proposed Terra’s Revival: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/05/13/do-kwon-proposes-restart-of-terra-blockchain-as-ust-luna-plummet/ Terra Blockchain Halted: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/05/12/luna-issuer-terra-halts-blockchain-after-week-of-losses/ Upcoming Regulation https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/terra-stablecoin-loses-peg https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/146583/yellen-says-the-stablecoin-market-is-still-too-small-to-pose-systemic-risk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nic Carter

Partner and Financial Researcher

Castle Island Ventures

Eric Wall

Bitcoin Researcher & Builder

Arcane AssetsTaproot WizardsArcane ResearchArcane Crypto

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Few things compare to ETH Denver. It is impossible to fully capture the experience of the crypto community at a massive gathering like this, but these two choice talks provide a snapshot of the vibes and ethos of the 2022 conference. Kevin Owocki and Erik Voorhees join to synthesize the respective merits of individualism and collectivism, and Andrew Yang stepped up to give an impromptu call to action for the community to rally around productive goals. We are scaling out the crypto vibes, and that was abundantly clear this week. Far larger than any previous ETH Denver, this conference truly felt like a Schelling point for folks changing the world via novel, elegant mechanisms. We just can’t wait for ETH Denver 2023. ------ 📣 NOTIONAL FINANCE | DeFi's Leading Fixed Rate Yield https://bankless.cc/Notional  ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER:          https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST:                 http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:  👀 POLYGON | LAYER  2 DEFI https://bankless.cc/Polygon  ❎ ACROSS | BRIDGE TO LAYER 2 https://bankless.cc/Across  🦊 METAMASK | THE CRYPTO WALLET https://bankless.cc/metamask  💳 LEDGER | THE CRYPTO LIFE CARD https://bankless.cc/Ledger  🧙‍♂️ ALCHEMIX | SELF REPAYING LOANS https://bankless.cc/Alchemix  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants  ------ Topics Covered: 0:00 Intro 12:01 Journey to ETH Denver 16:18 The Panels 22:37 Vibes 34:00 Kevin Owocki & Erik Voorhees 43:28 Pragmatism 50:57 Public Goods Funding 1:00:00 Andrew Yang & Crypto Alignment 1:06:31 Lobby3 1:13:53  Roadmaps & Executive Orders 1:22:14 Action & Optimism 1:27:45 Audience Questions ------ Resources: Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/owocki?s=20&t=O_vNoy9YMBatb8lIbf9ByA  Erik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees?s=20&t=O_vNoy9YMBatb8lIbf9ByA  Andrew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewYang?s=20&t=O_vNoy9YMBatb8lIbf9ByA  Lobby3: https://twitter.com/Lobby3D?s=20&t=q417PS_HIJMGmpXqJYhPVg  Take the Green Pill: https://greenpill.party/  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Kevin Owocki

Founder

GitcoinSupermodular

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

ShapeShift recently announced an intent to decentralize -- a move that would transition the one-time centralized exchange to a full-on DAO. Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of ShapeShift, comes onto the show to talk about decentralizing the exchange, along with his thoughts on Bitcoin maximalism and crypto regulation. Show highlights: why ShapeShift is decentralizing the company  how ShapeShift used to work what needs to happen for ShapeShift to decentralize why user experience should not change during the transition how the FOX token works what parts of a company cannot be decentralized yet how ShapeShift’s forthcoming foundation will function how ShapeShift decided upon the allocations for the FOX token airdrop why ShapeShift employee and shareholder FOX tokens are locked up for three years what Erik’s role will be going forward how ShapeShift plans to attract devs why Erik believes FOX is not a security how Erik wants the SEC to handle crypto why he believes THORChain is one of the most critical projects in crypto why he is opposed to Bitcoin maximalism Erik’s thoughts on BitMEX’s and Binance’s regulatory issues what he thinks about stablecoin regulation Why Erik believes ShapeShift and Uniswap are not competitors   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2  Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero  Conjure: https://conjure.finance    Episode Links Erik Voorhees Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/shapeshifts-erik-voorhees-on-how-crypto-will-separate-money-and-state/ ShapeShift: https://beta.shapeshift.com/  Decentralizing Tweet thread: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1415339998740508674 Blog post: https://erikvoorhees.medium.com/shapeshift-is-decentralizing-639bb4c82fc8 Airdrop info: https://shapeshift.com/shapeshift-decentralize-airdrop FOX token contract: https://etherscan.io/token/0xc770eefad204b5180df6a14ee197d99d808ee52d  CoinDesk write-up: https://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-to-shut-down-airdrop-fox-tokens-to-decentralize-itself-out-of-existence  FOX token analysis: https://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-fox-token-rally-yield-play-daos  Other THORChain: https://erikvoorhees.medium.com/an-introduction-to-thorchain-for-bitcoiners Getting booed at Miami BTC Conference: https://twitter.com/finematics/status/1401498099441405953 Paxos stablecoin blog: https://www.paxos.com/a-regulated-stablecoin-means-having-a-regulator/ Circle reveals reserves: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/112001/circle-reveals-majority-of-usdc-reserves-are-in-cash-and-cash-equivalents  CFTC and BitMEX: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8270-20 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Since buying his first bitcoin in 2011, Erik Voorhees has seen it all. Erik helped Charlie Shrem build BitInstant and then launched ShapeShift in 2014, just months after the Mt. Gox crash. In 2018, ShapeShift lost 95% of their business when they introduced KYC due to regulatory demands. In this episode, Erik shares how he got through this tough time, and why he recently took a bold leap to integrate DeFi into ShapeShift and turn the company into a DAO.  ––– LUKKA Lukka Prime is crypto asset pricing data aligned to accounting standards like GAAP and IFRS. Lukka Prime Pricing Data is the pricing source used by S&P Dow Jones Indices’ for their new cryptocurrency indices. Lukka Prime is the world’s first fair market value pricing source for crypto assets and the best option for all post-trade reporting needs. Visit lukka.tech/empire to learn more. ––– EXODUS Download the app today at http://exodus.com/empire and iOS users can buy up to $500 in Bitcoin for just $1 for a limited time. ––– Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

ShapeShift recently announced its plans to evolve into a community-owned, decentralized platform. In addition, they held the largest airdrop in crypto history with over 1 million eligible addresses. We bring on (former?) CEO Erik Voorhees to discuss the transition, and how it could be paving the way for all legacy corporations. The Future is DAO. ------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/  🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge  ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: ⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum  🍵 MATCHA | DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGE AGGREGATOR https://bankless.cc/Matcha   🔐 LEDGER | SECURE YOUR ASSETS https://bankless.cc/Ledger  🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants    ------ 📣 SMARTCON | Register for Smart Contract Summit 2021! https://bankless.cc/SmartCon  ------ Topics Covered: 0:00 Intro 8:00 Erik Voorhees & ShapeShift 11:54 The History of ShapeShift 21:04 DAO-ifying 27:10 The Model for Shape-Shifting 32:53 How to DAO 41:06 The FOX Token 47:25 The DAO Launch 52:35 The Regulation Threat 58:40 The Industry Overview 1:05:35 What Erik’s Excited About 1:08:10 A Word for First Cyclers 1:10:34 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Resources: Erik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees?s=20  FOX Airdrop: https://fox.shapeshift.com/airdrop  ShapeShift Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/dVVkMhb  ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

In today’s episode, I speak with Erik Voorhees, long-time crypto advocate and founder and CEO of ShapeShift. In this interview, he talks about how he was able to stop gathering information about his customers and take the exchange back to its roots, by leaning into DeFi. His plan is to create a platform that connects with all of the different DeFi applications, starting with decentralized exchanges. Voorhees holds probably the most extreme view of anyone who has come on this podcast. He thinks we will see the collapse of the US dollar within our lifetime. He argues the level of US debt and continuous erosion of the currency is untenable. When this happens an entire financial ecosystem built on open, immutable blockchains will be the solution. He believes today’s developers aren’t just building a product for their customers. They’re building a life raft for the world after fiat falls apart.

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: http://bankless.substack.com/ ✊ STARTING GUIDE BANKLESS: https://bit.ly/37Q17uI ❤️ JOIN PRIVATE DISCORD: https://bit.ly/2UVI10O 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/ 👕 BUY BANKLESS TEE: https://merch.banklesshq.com/ ----- GO BANKLESS WITH THESE SPONSOR TOOLS: ⭐️ AAVE - BORROW OR LEND YOUR ASSETS https://bankless.cc/aave 🚀 GEMINI - MOST TRUSTED EXCHANGE AND ONRAMP https://bankless.cc/go-gemini 💳 MONOLITH - GET THE HOLY GRAIL OF BANKLESS VISA CARDS https://bankless.cc/monolith 📈 KWENTA | DEVIRATIVES TRADING WITH INFINITE LIQUIDITY https://bankless.cc/kwent ------ State of the Nation #29 Erik Voorhees & ShapeShift (DEX Aggregator, Regulation, Deplatforming, and the Bull Market) Erik Voorhees is the CEO of ShapeShift, a company offering exchange and trading infrastructure, but doesn't act like a typical exchange! ShapeShift ( https://shapeshift.com/) used to be a place where one could atomically trade asset-for-asset. You would set up a trade between two different assets like BTC and ETH. ShapeShift would give you a BTC address to receive BTC, and you would give ShapeShift an Ethereum address for them to return ETH to you. ShapeShift never required you to 'deposit' your money, and never held onto users' funds! It was a very popular product during the 2017 Bull Market, yet the company decided to implement KYC requirements, in a move to protect the company from legal liability. It looks like ShapeShift has found a way to remove those KYC requirements without legal risk, and that is by becoming a DEX aggregator! We discuss this pivot with Erik, as well as a few other topics as well: - Crypto regulations in 2021 - "deplatforming" - The new crypto bull cycle. Tune in to this week's State of the Nation! ------ Don't stop at the video! Subscribe to the Bankless newsletter program http://bankless.substack.com/ Visit the official Bankless website http://banklesshq.com/ Follow Bankless on Twitter https://twitter.com/BanklessHQ Follow Ryan on Twitter https://twitter.com/ryansadams Follow David on Twitter https://twitter.com/TrustlessState ----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research. Disclosure. From time-to-time we may add links in this channel to products we use. We may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. We'll always disclose when this is the case

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Episode: #24 August 3, 2020 ----- Tools from our sponsors to go bankless: Loopring - trade & pay on Ethereum w/ near-0 gas fees! (use "Bankless" for VIP4 status & trades at 6bps!) Monolith - holy grail of bankless Visa cards Aave - money lego for lending & borrowing Rocket Dollar - tax shelter your crypto ($50 w/ "BANKLESS") (Read this on IRAs and 401ks) ---- Erik's been journeying into the bankless frontier since 2011. That's when he first discovered bitcoin. The open road. The unsettled whitespace. The westward trail. The highway to freedom. That's why he's here. And he's remained true to his values. That's why he speaks out against tyranny. That's why he embraces self-sovereign money and pokes holes in the myths of fiat. That's why he so ardently rejects maximalism.  Enjoy our conversation with one of cryptos original settlers.  We cover: Erik's journey into the bankless frontier The libertarian values in the code Why America isn't capitalist Why flag bucks are destined for collapse Gold, Bitcoin, Ethereum 4 categories of coins Crypto vs the final boss China vs America Why Maximalists lost the plot PRICE PREDICTIONS! How Shapeshift helps us go bankless Join us next Monday for a fresh episode! ----- Resources discussed: (Trade) ShapeShift mobile trading app (UX) Portis web3 login (Guide) Bankless guide for starting the journey ----- Episode Actions: Try the new ShapeShift mobile trading app Give Bankless a five-star review on iTunes! (we need 100) Also...subscribe to Bankless YouTube to watch State of the Nation every Tuesday. ----- Subscribe to podcast on iTunes | Spotify | YouTube | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the episode with someone you know! ----- Don't stop at the podcast! Subscribe to the Bankless newsletter program Watch Bankless shows and tutorials on YouTube Visit official Bankless website for resources Follow Bankless on Twitter Follow Ryan on Twitter Follow David on Twitter ----- Not financial or tax advice. This podcast is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions.  Do your own research.

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice

Erik Voorhees says the greatest scam perpetrated on mankind is currency debasement -- and that crypto will change all that. In this wide-ranging interview, the CEO of crypto-to-crypto exchange Shapeshift talks about how crypto will take away power from central banks, why he believes "maximalists" -- those who believe one crypto asset will rule them all -- are wrong, and why someday we will look back and see the intertwining of money and state as barbaric and unjust, just as we now see the intertwining of church and state. We also discuss the prospects for Bitcoin in the face of high fees, how regulation will affect the development of crypto and why 2017 was the kind of year he hoped for when he got involved in Bitcoin in 2011. Shapeshift's products: https://shapeshift.io/#/coins https://prism.exchange/ https://www.keepkey.com/ http://coincap.io/ Erik's blog: http://moneyandstate.com/ His blog post addressing maximalism: http://moneyandstate.com/no-non-bitcoin-blockchains-are-not-disrespectful-to-satoshi/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Voorhees

Founder

Venice AIShapeShiftVenice