The Scoop's year-end special: from memecoins to Microstrategy and outlook for 2025
The Scoop's host Frank Chaparro was joined by The Block's CEO Larry Cermak, Editor-in-Chief Tim Copeland, and Foresight Centures Co-Founder Forest Bai for a year-end special.
In this episode, Chaparro, Copeland, Bai and Cermak covered a myriad of pertinent topics in the crypto market, including the factors that lead to a successful ecosystem, underexposure to bitcoin relative to memecoins, AI, and what they both expect and hope to see in the year ahead.
OUTLINE
00:00 End-of-Year drawdown
5:56 Memes vs fundamentals
08:25 Importance of community
11:47 Shifting investment landscapes
14:34 AI x Blockchain
18:54 Newsroom expectations for 2025
23:48 Telegram games and improving UX
26:37 Standing out in the market
34:19 2025 expectations
41:50 Microstrategy’s Bitcoin bet
47:30 AGI & Quantum attacks on encryption
48:29 Conclusion
GUEST LINKS
Forest Bai - https://x.com/ForestBai1
Larry Cermak - https://x.com/lawmaster
Tim Copeland - https://x.com/Timccopeland
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
Could the Crypto Markets Revive in 2023? Two Researchers Discuss - Ep. 439
Lucas Nuzzi, head of R&D at CoinMetrics, and Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, discuss the current state of the crypto market, including the potential for contagion effects and the challenges faced by VC companies. They also delve into the mining industry and the issues surrounding MEV and Ethereum. The conversation also touches on stablecoins, DeFi activity and NFT trading, and the potential dangers of Binance's dominance in the industry.
Show highlights:
how the collapse in 2022 of FTX and other behemoths will affect the industry in 2023
why there's been a lot of forced selling in the markets recently
why the industry could still be headed to more contagion effects
the characteristics of the current bear market, how it differs from previous ones, and the role of the macroeconomic environment
why it's very hard to predict how prices will behave in 2023
why VC firms will have to focus on long-term projects rather than speculation
what's going to happen in the Bitcoin mining industry in 2023 considering the current tough situation
why Lucas thinks that Bitcoin "drastically overpays for security"
why MEV is a concerning issue and how it represents a single point of failure for Ethereum
how the narrative of alternative layer 1s has changed and why the focus will shift to layer 2s
whether there is a need to develop better blockchain monitoring tools
why stablecoin issuers have a very good business model given the interest rate environment
what are the problems of stablecoins and how they will be regulated
why DeFi activity and NFT trading were down so heavily in 2022 and whether the downtrend will change
how Binance's dominance is "terrifying" and whether it could hurt the industry
Lucas' concerns about the lack of transparency around Binance's BNB token
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com
Chainalysis
Minima
DeFi Saver
Links
Guests:
Lucas :
Twitter
CoinMetrics
Larry:
Twitter
The Block Research
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Larry Cermak of The Block on What 90% of Bitcoin Trading Is For
The year in crypto:
FTX
Previous coverage of Unchained on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX:
Why Martin Shkreli Thinks SBF’s New Judge Could Still Be Lenient – Ep. 438
The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning?
How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing?
Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years
The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He?
Jesse Powell and Kevin Zhou on How FTX and Alameda Lost $10 Billion
Is the Collapse of Crypto Lending Over, or Is It Just Starting?
Did the Bahamian Government Direct SBF and Gary Wang to Hack FTX?
The Chopping Block: Why Lenders Didn’t Liquidate Alameda When It Was Underwater
Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC
NFTs:
The Block: From CryptoPunks to Redditors — and a Trump card: The year in NFT charts
CoinDesk: Over $30B of NFT Trading Volume on Ethereum Is Wash Trading, Research Suggests
NFT Market Overview
MEV:
MEV Watch
Flashbots dashboard
Unchained: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate
BTC Mining:
The Block: Bitcoin mining companies close out year $4 billion in debt: Report
Unchained: Bitcoin Miners Going Bankrupt? Here's How Crypto Winter Is Impacting the Industry
Contagion:
Genesis/DCG:
Unchained:
Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It?
Genesis Owes Creditors At Least $1.8B: Report
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Crypto 2022 Outlook: Where Will the Markets Go This Year? Plus DeFi and NFTs - Ep.305
Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, and Igor Igamberdiev, director of research and data at The Block, recap the most significant trends of 2021 (BTC mining, L1s, NFTs, DeFi, venture funding) and discuss what might happen in 2022. Show topics:
why 2021 was so significant for the crypto industry
why the crypto markets didn’t see a blow-off top at the end of the calendar year the way they typically do about a year after a Bitcoin halving
what Larry thinks about whether the crypto market is in a supercycle
how the state of BTC and ETH mining changed in the past year
why Igor thinks multichain technology was key to a record-breaking year for venture capital entering the crypto space in 2021
how the layer 1 (L1) ecosystem wars played out in 2021 and what it could look like in 2022
what Larry and Igor think of Ethereum layer 2s (L2s)
how Ethereum’s shift to 2.0 could affect the L1 race
what Larry thinks about DeFi tokens going into 2022
how DeFi trends, like decentralized exchange volume and lending, played out in 2021
why Igor thinks KYC-DeFi (know-your-customer decentralized finance) is inevitable
what Larry thinks about NFTs going in 2022 and why he thinks PFPs are dead
Larry and Igor’s outlook on the metaverse going into the new year
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021
Episode Links
Guests
Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster
Igor Igamberdiev: https://twitter.com/FrankResearcher
The Block’s 2022 Digital Asset Outlook Report
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/127723/the-block-research-2021-digital-asset-outlook-report
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Unconfirmed: What $1.8 Billion in Q1 Revenue Means for Coinbase’s Direct Listing - Ep.227
Larry Cermak, director of research at The Block, discusses the upcoming Coinbase direct listing in light of the exchange’s recently released Q1 revenue hitting an impressive $1.8 billion. In this episode, Larry talks about:
significant takeaways from Coinbase’s Q1 results (1:04)
how Coinbase was able to increase its non-transaction revenue in Q1 and why he thinks the exchange gets away with charging higher fees than its competitors (4:14)
why retail consumers are investing in crypto at such a high clip (8:36)
how Coinbase compares to its competition -- and why competition will drive transaction fees down (11:23)
whether it matters that Coinbase has so little Bitcoin on its balance sheet (14:52)
what he still wants to know about Coinbase after its S-1 filing and Q1 results 15:36)
products and services that Coinbase should acquire to round out its crypto offering (17:10)
his expectations for Coinbase’s stock performance (17:50)
why investors may not be interested in NFTs (19:37)
how the crypto markets will perform in 2021 and how that might affect the COIN price (20:43)
Crypto New Recap (22:40)
Thank you to our sponsors!
Download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code “Laura”:
https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021
Check out InterPop, a superteam redefining the future of NFTs and fandom!
https://hellointerpop.io/?utm_source=Unchained&utm_medium=episode-sponsorship&utm_campaign=interpop-launch&utm_content=interpop
Episode links:
Larry Cermak
https://twitter.com/lawmaster
Coinbase Q1 Results
Coinbase Details
https://investor.coinbase.com/news/news-details/2021/Coinbase-Announces-First-Quarter-2021-Estimated-Results-and-Full-Year-2021-Outlook/default.aspx
Larry Cermak Analysis
https://twitter.com/lawmaster/status/1379527265021743110
The Block
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/100749/final-notes-ahead-of-the-coinbase-direct-listing?utm_source=research&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-04-08
John Street Capital
https://twitter.com/JohnStCapital/status/1379526362692788227
Direct Listing Information
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/01/coinbase-direct-listing-set-for-april-14-after-sec-approval.html
https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-sec-form-s-1
Related Podcasts
Gil Luria
https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-coinbase-stock-a-good-buy-this-analyst-says-yes/
Jeff Roberts
https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinbases-s-1-the-number-that-may-make-the-exchange-nervous/
Link to the Crypto News Recap:
https://unchainedpodcast.com/happy-birthday-satoshi1/
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