Unchained

Michael Casey, senior advisor at MIT's Media Lab and author of the Age of Cryptocurrency, spent 18 years at the Wall Street Journal -- a good portion of that covering currency markets. But he says it wasn't until he learned about Bitcoin that he really understood what money was. In this episode of Unchained, he explains why, plus discusses why he thinks China will play a key role in moving the world to a cryptocurrency- or blockchain-based trade settlement system.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, CEO and President, respectively, of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, talk about the importance of regulation in a sector once associated in popular culture with illicit activity. The twin brothers, who were the first to file with the SEC for a Bitcoin ETF, recount how they went from competing in the Olympics to launching a cryptocurrency company, and explain why they believe private blockchains are really just distributed databases.

“Shifting from a perspective of 'only humans control money' to 'machines and software control money' is really radical and it changes a lot of things,” says the popular blockchain and Bitcoin author and speaker Andreas Antonopoulos. Antonopoulos discusses why the real magic of blockchain is decentralization, why criticisms that Bitcoin is a waste of energy are wrong, and why he now charges a 20% premium to be paid by wire transfer instead of bitcoin.

Jason Weinstein and Alan Cohn, partner and of counsel, respectively at law firm Steptoe and Johnson, discuss their work with the Blockchain Alliance, a coalition of both blockchain and cryptocurrency companies as well as law enforcement agencies including Interpol, the FBI, the SEC, Europol and others. Find out how crime in Bitcoin is similar to all types of crime and what genuinely new questions are being raised.

As blockchain technology remakes financial services, some companies will be better positioned than others, says Adam Ludwin, CEO of Chain, which has partnered with incumbents like Visa, Citi and Nasdaq. Ludwin describes which types of firms will emerge winners and the mindset of the executives who really get it. He also explains why he is certain central banks will one day issue digital currency.

Invest in oil and gold? In this episode, the co-authors of a compelling white paper explain the four reasons why they believe you may soon be investing in digital oil and digital gold instead. Find out why their analysis prompted Burniske to say of bitcoin, "That's an investor's dream," why White mentioned the saying, "On the blockchain, no one knows you're a refrigerator," and how well ARK's investment in bitcoin has performed.

Bill Tai, a venture capitalist who got his start as a computer chip designer in the 1980s, places blockchain in the context of the broader technological revolution of the last three decades. He also reveals how Bitfury, a company in which he's an investor and board member, built a more efficient chip though the designers had never been formally trained, as well as what blockchain advocacy group was founded in Sir Richard Branson's hot tub.

Matt Roszak, a venture capitalist for 20 years, discusses how his new company Bloq, cofounded with former Bitcoin core developer Jeff Garzik (from talks they began on Necker Island last year), serves enterprise clients and envisions a multi-chain future in which different blockchains can connect with each other. He also gives his thoughts on business models in a decentralized future and the influence China will play on the development of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

Elizabeth Rossiello talks about how she went from being a credit ratings analyst for microfinance investors to heading up an "international mobile money" company for sub-Saharan Africa that uses Bitcoin's rails. Along the way she reveals how convoluted, expensive and unreliable the movement of money into and out of Africa can be -- many people sending money in envelopes via regional buses and even traditional banks having to send money from Africa to Asia via North America.