The Scoop

Welcome to The Scoop, The Block's flagship podcast covering finance and technology industries through unmatched interviews with top thought leaders, cultural icons and industry veterans. The Block’s Frank Chaparro hosts new guests every week, diving into breaking news and topics ranging from NFTs, to the impact of DeFi on Wall Street, to Bitcoin's role in the economy and beyond.

The Scoop

Thu Jul 25 2024

Common crypto scam tactics and how to protect yourself

Crypto SecurityScammersSelf-CustodyingOnline SecurityCrypto Space

Jeff Lungelhofer, Chief Information Security Officer at Coinbase, shares insights on keeping customers safe from scammers in the crypto world. He discusses the tactics used by scammers, the importance of being cautious, and the security implications of self-custodying. The episode also covers securing online accounts, staying vigilant against social engineering attacks, and the constant monitoring required in the crypto space.

The Scoop

Wed Jul 24 2024

Inside the market structure of crypto token launches

market makersliquidity provisionprice volatilitycrypto industry

This episode discusses the role of market makers in the crypto industry and their impact on liquidity provision and price volatility. It explores the challenges faced by market makers in the digital asset market and highlights the importance of transparency and adequate liquidity enforcement by exchanges. The episode also introduces Asheron, a firm aiming to improve the image of market makers through real-time access to liquidity KPIs.

The Scoop

Mon Jul 22 2024

The 'perpetual-ification' of all assets is coming onchain

crypto marketsfinancial marketssynthetic instrumentsperpetual contractsscaling exchanges

The episode covers various topics including Keldora Fontana's background and Ostium Labs, open access to financial markets and synthetic instruments, Pax Gold and trading perpetual contracts, challenges in scaling exchanges and onboarding non-crypto assets, building a pricing system for longer tail assets, aggregating data and bringing real-world assets on-chain, and macro indicators and trading behavior in the crypto industry.

The Scoop

Fri Jul 12 2024

Institutions want more crypto asset diversity

cryptotradingfinancial institutionsTalosCoinbase

This episode discusses Talos, a technology provider that offers services to financial institutions looking to trade crypto. Talos provides tools for investing and trading crypto, including portfolio management systems, execution capabilities, algorithmic trading, and data analytics. They also offer a brokerage out-of-the-box product for institutions wanting to offer crypto trading capabilities to their customers globally. The episode explores the concept of a 'one-stop shop' in the institutional crypto market and the increasing involvement of large buy-side institutions in crypto markets. It also highlights the approval of ETFs like Bitcoin and Ethereum as a signal for institutions to enter the crypto market. The episode concludes with insights into Talos' focus on trading digital and traditional assets, as well as Coinbase's impact in the crypto industry.

The Scoop

Thu Jul 11 2024

DeFi and stablecoins are coming to the Bitcoin ecosystem

BitcoinLayer 2 SolutionsBotanicsEthereumTaproot

Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions have seen significant growth, with projects like Botanics aiming to enable Ethereum-like applications on the Bitcoin network. Challenges exist in building layer twos on Bitcoin, but advancements like Taproot have opened up new possibilities. The future of Bitcoin-based innovations is promising, with a vision of a world operating on-chain using Bitcoin as the primary currency. Plans are underway to launch various applications on Bitcoin's mainnet, including tokenized money market funds and decentralized finance opportunities.

The Scoop

Wed Jul 10 2024

Horizontally scaling Ethereum with zkSharding

CryptoBlockchainScalingLayer 2Layer 1

Avi Zerlo discusses his background in crypto research and investing, and the focus of Nill Foundation on low-level cryptography and blockchain infrastructure. The conversation covers the differentiation between layer twos and layer ones, the benefits of horizontal scaling over vertical scaling, and the catalysts for a crypto maximalist future.

The Scoop

Tue Jul 09 2024

Justin Sun's legal victory and the changing perceptions of crypto in China

Justin SunTrondauLegal BattleFake NewsCrypto Space

Justin Sun, founder of Trondau, recently won a significant legal battle against false media. This victory is a step forward for Sun and the Tron community in combating fake news in the crypto space. The court ruling proved fabricated rumors about Sun to be false. The victory challenges the stereotype that Chinese crypto entrepreneurs are not protected by the law and signals a positive direction for Chinese crypto policies. Sun plans to focus on building crypto infrastructure and remains optimistic about the market's strength.

The Scoop

Fri Jun 28 2024

Coinbase's new smart wallet could be a watershed moment for crypto UX

Coinbasesmart walletsMoonwellon-chain financedecentralized social networks

Coinbase has launched smart wallets, providing an effortless gas-free on-chain experience. Moonwell is an open lending and borrowing protocol on base, empowering users with DeFi tools. Challenges with onboarding friction for current on-chain apps were identified through usability studies. Farkaster is a decentralized social network built on top of optimism and Superchain, allowing users to tip each other and perform on-chain actions. The vision of the company is to bring on-chain finance and governance to the world, making financial products accessible to everyone regardless of their ability level.

The Scoop

Thu Jun 27 2024

DeFi is making institutional yield more accessible

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Maple introduces Skirrup, a permissionless DeFi access point to their lending pools. This opens up the platform to non-institutional market participants, providing access to high-quality yield with downside protection. Maple aims to grow the lending pie by capturing market share in the DeFi space and targeting users on the fringes of DeFi.

The Scoop

Tue Jun 25 2024

Ripple's upcoming stablecoin will 'compliment' XRP

RippleCryptoBlockchainPaymentsStablecoin

In this episode, Frank Chipparo interviews the President of Ripple about the company's business growth, expansion into new markets, impact of SEC clarity on XRP, overview of Ripple's business lines, regulatory landscape, launch of a stablecoin, tokenization of real-world assets, and future plans for Ripple. The episode highlights the growth opportunities in the crypto industry and the positive regulatory developments that are driving innovation.

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