Built Environments and Blockchain Tech

After a few days in Mumbai meeting with large industrials and regulators (and FPV portfolio company Everledger which just opened a Mumbai office), I spent the past couple of days in London, where I spoke at the World Built Summit, Read more…


Campus Crypto Fever

This past Friday I spoke at Penn’s inaugural Blockchain Conference. It was a special speaking engagement for me, as I am a Penn grad and my interest in economics and business started and flourished there. Over the past five years speaking on Read more…


The Big Chill

The first quarter was not a pretty one for cryptocurrency prices — from January 1-March 31, Bitcoin lost over 50% of its value, with a number of smaller altcoins down over 60%. Regulatory action, hacks and scams weighed heavily, with Read more…


Crypto Chess Continues

“Welcome to #Malta @binance,” Joseph Muscat, the country’s prime minister, tweeted on Friday. “We aim to be the global trailblazers in the regulation of blockchain-based businesses.” Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptoasset exchanges by volume, announced this past week Read more…


Securities Tokens

In the past week, more news started to emerge about the SEC subpoenas that I alluded to in last week’s newsletter. While it remains to be seen what the SEC plans to do with the information, it is clear that Read more…


Consolidation

As I was about to hit “send” on the newsletter this morning, a piece of news came through: Circle, founded by serial entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire (with two successful IPOs under his belt), announced its acquisition of crypto exchange Poloniex for Read more…


Governance

As the price of bitcoin rose to over $11,000 this morning (from lows near $6000 two weeks ago), governance was a key theme over the past week. While public comments from the SEC as well as regulators in South Korea Read more…


Regulatory Support: “My Niece is a Hodler”

Last Tuesday February the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing with SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and CFTC Chairman Christopher Giancarlo to discuss potential cryptocurrency regulation. As the chart below displays, the cryptocurrency market was in the middle of its second Read more…


Crypto is Global

Cryptocurrencies lost over $250B of value last week as more regulators around the world issued guidance. Unfortunately much of the press coverage missed the mark, with many headlines claiming that India was banning cryptocurrencies. Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, during Read more…


Thoughts from Davos

Everywhere I went in Davos at the World Economic Forum, be at the large scale speeches or more intimate dinners, conversation invariably turned to the blockchain. From world leaders to the local baristas, everyone was curious on what the upcoming Read more…